back at it

It's been a little quiet here the past month. Actually, it's been silent. And I would like to blame that on a little thing called a new curriculum in CMS. 

I can scarcely look at that picture without feeling a ridiculous amount of stress. And it's over and it's still that daunting. Thanks (or no thanks? Ha!) to a good friend, I was able to join a team doing some freelance curriculum work for the district where I used to teach. When she presented me with the opportunity to work on something I know well, from home, on my own time, I thought, 'Heck yes. Contribute a little something financially to this family while using my hard earned and ridiculously expensive degree? Sign me up!'  But, whoa, when people talk about well laid plans and blah blah blah, this is what they mean. It was a lot harder to juggle everything with the girls and life and housework than I had anticipated. {Shout out to my husband, mom, sister, and brother-in-law--thank you for your help!} I know people do it all the time and maybe I would get better at it--but it took over my life. 

I'm truly thankful for the opportunity and it felt good to talk to other humans throughout the day that were taller than 2 and 1/2 feet and had a vocabulary beyond dog, whoa, dog, yes, and dog. But I am glad it's over. I would be happy to never spend 9+ hours in a coffee shop multiple days in a row. Let me just warn you, you hear way too much wedding planning/premarital counseling if you're in a coffee shop that long. Although we were lucky (?) to be distracted by a blind date and, at one point, two very heavily tattooed men who, while sipping their coffee, discussed how they only bring cash to bars to make sure they don't 1.) spend too much money or 2.) get too wastey faced. But then their friends always want them to stay so bad so they buy drinks for them and they end up wastey faced anyway. What a conundrum. Then they proceeded to talk about all the times they were drunk on flights and how if they ever committed a crime they would know exactly where to hide any evidence--in a locker at a cigar shop. Did I hear that right? Is that such a thing? I don't now. But, despite my apparent problem with eavesdropping and being easily distracted, this project is done. Praise Jesus. 

In the past month these two were also up to quite a bit. 

A lot of walks...

Grammy keeps up better than I do. 

{It snowed the day after they wore these sandals. Oh, North Carolina.}

Some puzzle making.

A little random stroller sitting.

Some stirring. 

Hat wearing. Because, ya know, that's fun.

Diaper-wearing with their boots with the fur.

A little neighborhood football watching. 

And, yes, that's an old-school Charlotte Hornets jacket...which is about to be new-school thanks to the New Orleans Pelicans. Pelicans. That cracks me up.

And this. I love this. 

A little discovering. 

And A LOT of box-sitting and reading. Often at the same time. 

And, lest you think ALL they do is read...A tiny bit of Mickey Mouse Club House or Veggie Tales. Because, I'm serious, sometimes it's downright IMPOSSIBLE to cook dinner. Impossible. 

catching up

  Two days ago, while the girls and I were on a very chilly and blustery walk, I came upon a new street in our neighborhood. This street was the street P-dubs and I should have moved to. Almost every house on the street had their Christmas wreaths still up and a few even had lights and inflatable figurines in the yard. We would be over achievers on this street. Or at least average-achievers.

I distinctly remember sitting on the couch the first week of February last year, each snuggling a sleeping baby, and every once in awhile hearing an ornament slip off a branch of our very dry tree and bounce across the floor. I would make a mental note to pick it up later. But, not right then. I was too busy. 

Well. Wouldn't you know? We moved ourselves right onto a street chock full of over achievers. The type who have their Christmas lights all set up (but NOT turned on) a few weekends before Thanksgiving. The type that leave their fall wreathes up but I swear have the Christmas replacement right inside the door ready to be switched as soon as the last bit of pie is eaten. The type who have green, freshly manicured grass all year long. {How is it green?!?} The type who wash their car every weekend. And their screen doors every other week. Oh, and the front porch rocking chairs, too. We are not those types of people. We love those types and, in college, I was one. But, now, we are just not. Last year, our Christmas tree went up a little over a week before Christmas. And didn't come down until February. And my car hasn't been washed since goodness knows when. 

Our whole street isn't this way. But we are conveniently located at the end of the street with the highest concentration of over-achievers. On one side we have the retired military, law-enforcement, spy-on-you-with-our-creepy-flower-bed-owl-that-mysteriously-moves-its-head-yet-you-never-see-it-actually-happening and on the other side we have a frazzled family of five with one member lovingly dubbed 'Dennis the Menace' by the rest of the street. We are a happy middle ground. But it appears that our neighbors to the right might be rubbing off on us. Our tree was up the weekend after Thanksgiving and down right after New Years. That thing barely got a glimpse of January. And it made me wonder if we were starting to get the hang of this crazy twin life and if we were starting to catch up with the rest of society. 

Or maybe not. To keep myself humble, I feel I should mention here that there is still a pennant banner from the girls' birthday hanging in our dining room. It kind of...goes? And our walls are still mostly bare. We have maybe four things hanging up. {Five, counting the banner.} We haven't finished painting. We honestly haven't even finished unpacking a couple boxes. {Guess that stuff's not exactly needed. Hmmm?} But maybe this year is the year. For catching up, for settling down, for enjoying these moments with our girls without sadly unseasonable Christmas ornaments bouncing across the hardwoods. Maybe I'll get around to posting first birthday pictures and setting up their playroom and hanging pictures. But maybe I won't. Maybe I'll just spend another year learning to be their mom, being thankful for a husband that works his tail off to make our little life possible, and taking walks on my new favorite street. 

kix happen

 Sometimes, Kix happen...

...and, when it does, you call your other child over to eat her snack off the floor. Naturally. 

And then the perpetrator tries to walk on her snack and they get stuck to her feet. And she cries. Because stepping on Kix is almost as bad as stepping on Legos. 

Poor, poor child. 

the days after

Since our family got hit with a domino-effect-mysteriously-terrible sickness, I'm about three weeks behind on life. Which, because I'm normally about two weeks behind on life when I'm completely healthy, puts me about five weeks behind on everything. So because that's the case, it's totally acceptable for me to post pictures from the week after Christmas. Right?

I loved this week after Christmas. A lot of times the week after Christmas can be just so...blah. But I loved it. Nowhere to be. No errands to run. No groceries to get. No shopping to do. No expectations. No stress.

And when you have one-year-olds, it's like Christmas every morning just because they wake up to a tree with toys underneath. We really had five Christmases--all with the same toys. Their Uncle Dusty was here for a few days after and that was probably the best part. Not only did he fix some things and baby-proof some things around the house, he doted on these girls and SPOILED them. We are ready for him to come back.

I love everything about this picture. {Except that pillow. I will recover them. I will.}

The week after Christmas there was just plenty of time. To snuggle. To play. To just be. 

And now we're ready for the New Year. Only 16 days late.  

 

toy du jour

Things my children have chosen to play with over the last few days instead of the ridiculous amount of toys received from doting relatives:

A cup and a highlighter.

So fun. Just so, so much fun. You just wouldn't even believe.

Anything and everything in any and every cabinet or drawer they can get into. {Don't worry we have since baby proofed. Yet, oddly, my kitchen still ends up looking much like this multiple times a day.}

An empty Coke box.

The lid to her new play Lego stove.

Pots and pans. A given?

My phone. {Not sure what Lo was searching for but there were no results.}

Bowls and spoons. Keep a-practicing, ladies!

Pajamas. {Now there's one I wasn't expecting to entertain them for a solid 35 minutes.}