Leaving on a Plane...

I'm leaving for a conference in Virginia on Sunday morning. I won't get back until Friday night. So, my blogging will be on a little break.

The hardest thing though... is that I'm going to miss my boys (and my hubbin) SO MUCH. I've already shed some tears today just thinking about it. Six days and five nights without my boys!

Pray for me?

Caught White-Handed

Sweet and Innocent?? Think again! They were caught white-handed...

A couple of weeks ago, I had an "interesting" experience with the little toots. I told Randall all about it, and he decided to write it down.

Well the boys are up and about, doing what they do. I think they are conspiring to overthrow the authority in the house. They are keeping physically fit by climbing on everything and running around everywhere. I think they are in training for their escape. They are having their "room time" right now. (Room time occurs after they are changed and have their morning bottle. They play in their room for a bit to give Mama and Dada a bit of solitude before the Tasmanian devils are unleashed into the whole house, wreaking havoc and destruction, bringing chaos and disorder.) We can hear them on the monitor, so if it gets too quiet or they start screaming we can check out the situation. They got quiet the other day so Kay went to see what they were doing and they were both on TOP of the changing table. Baby powder was everywhere and all the wipes and diapering stuff were scattered all over the floor. This thing is about 42" high and almost twice their height so it's like climbing up the outside of a twelve foot scaffold with no ladder. But wait... there's more! There were white, wet, fuzz balls all over the room and Kay couldn't figure out what they were, until she found the outer part of a diaper... that they dug out of the trash and ripped to shreds. Please note the trashcan is in a dead space that is formed by the depth of the changing table and the depth of the crib set perpendicular to each other and touching on the inside corners away from the wall. The dead space hole is formed in the corner. So... there is no way for them to get in that space, without climbing up the changing table and down the side to get there. In that same (dead) space, there is the diaper pail, trashcan and dirty clothes hamper. Kay notices most of the dirty clothes are in the trashcan. So when they climbed down in there to get the diaper out of the trash, they evidently tried to cover their tracks by covering up the scene of the crime with dirty clothes. Then, they proceeded to climb out and back on top of the table and evidently shredded any further evidence of the diaper, covering the rest up with baby powder. Unfortunately for the boys they were caught white-handed and their little hand prints were everywhere. There was really no denying that they were the actual culprits and perpetrators. They were taken into custody but were shortly released on their own recognizance. They were allowed to roam freely throughout the house with a suspended sentence because Kay thought it was so funny she couldn't reprimand them. And THAT my friends are how career criminals are born!!!!

A Fun Name Game

Courtesy of Amy's Blog...

1. YOUR ROCK STAR NAME (first pet, current car): Smokey Ion

2. YOUR GANGSTA NAME (favorite ice cream flavor, favorite type of shoe): Cookie Dough Slip-On (???)

3. YOUR NATIVE AMERICAN NAME (favorite color, favorite animal): Red Cat

4. YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME (middle name, city where you were born): Ann Covington (Now that sounds like a soap opera name!)

5. YOUR STAR WARS NAME (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 of your first name): StrKa (How do you pronouce that?)

6. SUPERHERO NAME (2nd favorite color, favorite drink): Black Coke (That doesn't sound too good...)

7. NASCAR NAME (the first names of your grandfathers): John Herman

8. STRIPPER NAME ( the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent,favorite candy): Rouge Milky Way (Yuck!)

9. TV WEATHER ANCHOR NAME (your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Blalock Birmingham

10. SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Autumn Rose (Totally!)

11. CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now): Grape Skirt (Okay...)

12. HIPPIE NAME: (What you ate for breakfast, your favorite tree): Chicken Biscuit Arizona Ash

HOPpy Easter

After we went to church this morning, our family went to my mother's house for a little Easter egg hunt in her big, beautiful backyard. I had bought... I mean, the Easter bunny brought little cars, cell phones and balls to put in plastic Easter eggs. (The boys are totally into cars, cell phones and balls right now.... The Easter bunny must have known that.) The only thing... the majority of toys were too big to put in the plastic Easter eggs. So... we hid (in plain sight) some empty eggs as well as the toys by themselves.

As the festivities started, Adam & David were carrying their Easter buckets and enjoyed finding items scattered throughout the yard. However, once the boys found something new, they dropped whatever else they were carrying, including the Easter bucket, to pick up what they just found. Therefore, the toys and empty Easter eggs remained scattered throughout the yard. The important thing is though... we all had a lot of fun. Adam & David really enjoyed playing with their new "ka-s" (cars) and "bolls" (balls).

I'm a Quilter!

I took my first quilting class today and I absolutely LOVED it! (It was a one-day class just to teach the basic basics... to see if it is something you want to invest time and money in.) It is very therapeutic and relaxing to sew. I made the top part (piecing) of a rail fence quilt. What do you think?


When I came home, my wonderful husband told me he was very impressed. He likes the fact that I'm doing something like this. That made me feel really good. And... the boys picked my (almost) quilt up right away and started loving on it like a blanket. I guess it passed the test! So... I think this will be a hobby that I continue. Now, I just have to find a sewing machine on Craig's List. In the next couple of months, I'll take a weekly quilt class and make a complete quilt. I can't wait!

On another note, I had my first weigh in at Weight Watchers on Thursday night. I lost 4.8 pounds in one week! Woo hoo! What's really weird is that my friend, Jennie, lost the exact same amount.

On another, another note... when I came home today, the living room was completely filled with little boy toys. I started singing the "Clean Up" song and Adam & David automatically started picking up their toys and putting them away. And they're only 15 (and 1/2) months old! Yippee!! I'm actually teaching them something good!

Room Time!

I finally thought of something creative for the twins... and me!

Since Adam and David have become mobile, our house has been littered with tons of toys. And the thing is... the boys really didn't even play with the toys. They would pick something up, carry it to another place in the house and drop it. We had toys in their room, in five baskets under the changing table as well as a big basket of the bigger toys. Then, we also had a drawer in the living room that had toys for them. I can't tell you how many times a day we picked up toys... and our house still looked trashed!

After 938,462nd time picking up toys, I thought things through. They didn't get enjoyment out of most of the toys and they certainly didn't pick things up.

I took those baskets of toys from their changing table and put them in the closet. Then, I started giving them "room time" right after they wake up in the morning and after a nap. I give them one basket from the closet and put the gate up in their room. They love it because they're out of the cribs and have some "new" toys to play with. Their room is a giant playpen!

They're in the room for 30 minutes to 1 hour... however long it takes for me to get my morning "FlyLady" routine accomplished. I get dressed (instead of staying in pajamas or sweats all day), make my bed (shock!), pick up the living room, clean the kitchen ("shine my sink") and eat breakfast. I do not even think about turning the TV on until I sit down to eat breakfast. Because of this, I actually get some things accomplished as well as have some time for myself.

When I'm through, I go to the boys' room and we sing the "Clean Up" song. Before I take the gate down, we put all the toys back in the basket and back where they belong in their room. The cool thing is... the boys are actually starting to help me! Woo hoo!

I've almost got my FlyLady morning routine down. Now, I just have to move on to the daily zone assignments, weekly blessing hour and nighttime routine. Speaking of nighttime routine, we read the boys a story every night before bed. Here's a pic from tonight...

Strolling at the Arboretum, Camping and Erranding

We had a great weekend! On Saturday, the twins and I went with my dad to the Arboretum. (Randall stayed home and had some quality "guy time" and jammed on his guitar.) The boys had fun strolling along in their strollers. They even saw ducks AND fish. And at one point, we let them out and they ran around in one of the grassy areas. They had a blast.

When we got back home, Randall put the tent up in the backyard. He even started a campfire in the fire pit and lit the tiki torches. It would have been TOTALLY romantic if we hadn't had two little 1-year-olds running around! Regardless, we had a great time. We all slept in the tent and the boys totally dug it. They had so much fun playing around and jumping on Mama and Dada's mattress. And... they woke up in the best of moods and were so funny.

On Monday, Randall went to work. Tyler went with me to run some errands with the boys. We went to Chick-Fil-A and Tyler was amazed at how much a mess Adam made on the floor. Then we went to Barnes & Noble, Walmart and the library. I checked out some Baby Signs dvds and the boys totally loved watching them. They're going to be signing all over the place soon! Adam and David were absolutely wonderful all day long, but woke up from their naps quite angry for some reason. David woke up first and cried non-stop for 15 minutes. Then, Adam woke up and cried non-stop for about an hour. That was fun! I never figured out what was wrong with them. They're back to normal now (and in bed)... Hopefully having sweet dreams!

I'm doing good with Weight Watchers. I've stayed within my points range and I know I'm losing. Woo hoo!!

Weighting...

Well, I did it. I committed to Weight Watchers! My friend, Jennie, and I started last night and both of us are totally motivated. Now, we're just "weighting" to see the pounds melting away. I've added a weight loss ticker on the blog, so you can watch too! Woo hoo!!!! If I were brave, I would attach a picture of how I look right now. Maybe later...

Since we went to the meeting last night, I didn't get to see much of the boys (or my "Hubbin") yesterday. Adam is still getting over a virus, so he has been a little needy lately. David, on the other hand, has been a little sweetheart. They're both so cute these days and learning so much. They're continually learning new words and new baby signs. So far, they can say Mama, Dada, BaBa (bottle), ball, bye-bye, bubba (brother), bite (lots of "b" words, huh?) and versions of kitty and Tyler. And... they're signing "eat", "more" and "outside." They LOVE to dance (especially to the "Corner Gas" theme and the "Two and a Half Men" theme). They also love going outside, riding in their wagon, taking baths and books.

A Work in Progress

Well, here I am... venturing into the blogging world. I am an avid reader of other blogs (a lurker, but not a poster) and have seen the value of documenting one's history and daily life. So, here I go!

As the blog title states, I am living A Blessed Life in the Midst of Chaos! I am the wife to a wonderful man (Randall), and mother to an amazing teenage son (Tyler, 17) and adorable identical twin boys (Adam and David, 15 months). I work full-time for the Department of Veterans Affairs and... I'm an Avon Lady!

I will talk about more in future posts, but I am working on a few things...

• Keeping my house clean and under control: I just became a FlyBaby (flylady.net)!
• Learning to quilt: I'm taking a one-day class on March 22 and will continue if I like it.
• Losing weight: I'm starting Weight Watchers TODAY. It has worked for me in the past. Now, if only brownies and fast food would stop interfering!!
• Catching up on scrapbooks: I LOVE scrapbooking, but feel bad working on them if my house is a mess.

That's it in a nutshell for now. I'll keep you posted!!