Countdown!

Only 84 hours until Brandon finishes his last final and we're officially done with this horrendous semester! Neither of us know why it seemed like a good idea to have Brandon take on a new part-time job, a new part-time internship, and a full-time course load all in the same semester. We must have been delusional. We knew it would be hard, but it turned out to be harder than either of us expected and made for a really, really tough 4 months. I started joking about being a single mom, but after a while it wasn't funny anymore. Probably because it was basically true! But we're so close to the end now! I'll get my husband back, the boys will get their Daddy back and Brandon will get his sanity back!

He gets a 10 day break before he starts his summer classes but he'll only be taking two classes and working just one job. We're looking forward to a much more normal schedule this summer! Hopefully we'll have plenty of time to just spend together as a family. The boys are excited to get to play with their Daddy every night and do a lot more of this:

Random Thoughts

There's no rhyme or reason to this post, just a jumble of random thoughts and other stuff that has been going on lately:

*It hit 70 degrees last Friday so we spent the day in the backyard. It felt like heaven to feel the warm sunshine on my arms! Then we got an inch of snow on Monday. What?!? The weather here is out of control!

*I've been slowly plugging away on my long list of spring cleaning projects. It feels so good to be getting my home in order!

*Jack and Cullen have been saying more and more two-word phrases including "daddy bye-bye" (in response to my asking them where Daddy was), "I baby" (as Cullen snuggled onto my lap this morning), "go bye-bye" (demanding that I take them outside), and "right here/there".

*Jack also drew a sort-of-rounded shape this afternoon and proudly pointed at it saying "circle!"

*The boys have taken it upon themselves to make sure the cats are behaving. They use their hands to gesture that the cats should come and they also love to shake their finger and shout "No No Huck!" when they catch Huck scratching the furniture.

*Jack is currently pants-less because he stubbornly refused to let me put his pants on after his diaper change. He insisted on doing it by himself and whenever I offered to help him he furrowed his brow in concentration and shouted "NO!"

*Brandon had the day off from work yesterday and admission was free to Mount Vernon because it waS President's Day so we went for a few hours in the morning. Besides being very crowded and cold, we had a great time visiting all the farm animals. We forgot our camera though so no cute pictures of the boys next to the giant bull :-(

*Last night, Brandon got home from class and found me on the couch with a plateful of my favorite cookies watching the Bachelor.
Brandon: "Geez, how many cookies are you going to eat?"
Me: "Probably 6, like I usually do"
Brandon: "You're just lucky you have a good metabolism because otherwise you'd blow up like a balloon with all the cookies you're eating lately"
I just burst out laughing and then went right ahead eating my cookies. Although, now that I've just typed it and put it out there for the world to read, 6 cookies does seem a little excessive. Especially considering I make these cookies about twice a week....

*Cullen has been head-butting me lately. When I tell him not to because he's hurting me, he gets a sad face and kisses my "owie" Sweet... until he head butts me again!

*I needed something to fill my Tuesday nights while Brandon's at class until 10:30 so I started watching Glee a couple weeks ago. A little late, I know. So I ordered the first season on Netflix and convinced Brandon to watch it with me and it turns out, he loves it! Who'd have thought? Our favorite character is the cheerleading coach Sue. And now he's going to kill me for telling you all that he likes Glee. I don't see what the big deal is, though. I'm not ashamed to admit I watch the Bachelor, he shouldn't be ashamed to admit he watches Glee.

Recently

*It's been really cold this month so the boys and I have spent a lot of time just hanging out at home. We're definitely ready for the spring weather so we can go outside again! The boys grow more stir crazy each day!

*Brandon started his 2nd new job yesterday. (This job will be a permanent part-time job for the rest of law school while his other one at the FCC is an internship that will be over in April). His new job is working in the Air Force General Counsel's Office at the Pentagon! He showed me his badges last night, one of them has a barcode that apparently stores all his identification information, including his fingerprint. I find that just a bit creepy! I told him that if he ever commits a crime, he's in the system now and he can't get away with it! ;-) This new job is quite a change for him, he can't work from home or wear jeans and a t-shirt to the office anymore. But he's very excited about it and I'm excited that he'll have more regular hours, get Metro benefits and, of course, government healthcare again! Yesss!!!!

*The boys have been continuing to learn new words and combine two words together more often. Slowly and steadily, they're making progress!

*Jack broke the DVD player last week when he pulled the television off the shelf. Thankfully the TV is really small and didn't hurt either of them. Also that they didn't actually break the TV because we can't afford to replace that. The cords that were connecting the TV and DVD player broke off and somehow the DVD player was damaged during all this. So you know what that means... no Thomas the Train videos for over a week now! There's always a silver lining!

*Brandon and I babysat our friends' 4 month old baby on Saturday night. It was a lot of fun to have a little baby around again but, over the course of the evening, we must have looked at each other and said "I'm so glad we don't have another baby right now" over a dozen times. Haha, no baby fever for us!

Lesson Learned

Tanning is so not worth it! From the ages of about 13-21 I almost never wore sunscreen, tanned all summer long and even visited those awful fake tanning beds a few times each winter. I knew this was all bad, but I thought myself invincible and never really gave it a second thought. I was half-Mexican after all, and I tanned easily and rarely burned. I figured I was very low risk so why not enjoy the sunshine as much as I wanted? Turned out I was wrong!

Maybe a year ago, I noticed a flat dark freckle on my leg that looked different than all the rest but just shrugged it off. In September, I went to the dermatologist for my first ever skin exam. I really went in to have a wart removed from my hand but they said I needed a skin exam since I'd never had one so I agreed. Turned out the doctor was a little concerned about the "mole" as he called it and wanted to cut it off to biopsy it. "Ok, sure, whatever," I said. They cut it out and told me to call back in 2 weeks for the results. I honestly didn't care at all about it and completely forgot to call back. 3 weeks after my appointment, they called me to say that there were actually a lot of atypical cells around the mole... the kind that lead to skin cancer in 5-10 years if not removed. So I needed to come back in for a minor surgical procedure where they'd cut out more skin around the area where the mole had been "just to be on the safe side."

At this point, I finally started to take it seriously. And so on Friday morning, I went back in to the dermatologist. They ended up cutting out (what I considered to be) a huge chunk of flesh from my leg and I left with 3 stitches. He told me to keep off my feet as much as possible to reduce swelling and pain. Well, as a busy mother of 2 crazy toddlers, that's pretty much impossible. I think I overdid it on Friday by running errands all afternoon and my leg was pretty swollen and killing me by the time I got home. Ever since, I haven't been able to walk or stand for more than an hour before my leg starts throbbing. Once that happens, I have to sit with my leg elevated for about a half hour before the pain will go away. This is easier said than done. I never realized how much I am on my feet until this weekend! I sit down for a few minutes here and there throughout the day but rarely for more than 10 minutes at a time. Somebody is always needing help, needing to be disciplined, needing a snack... there's always cleaning to be done, a meal to be prepared, errands to run, etc. We moms work very hard!

Today is much better, thankfully, and I was finally able to clean the house during the boys' naptime without any pain in my leg. But to think all this, and any future mole removals, could have been avoided had I just worn sunscreen or not used tanning beds. And this was the best case scenario! The doctor told me there was a good chance I could have had skin cancer by the time I was 30 if I hadn't had the mole removed! He said he's putting me on his "watch list" and that I had better keep getting annual skin exams to catch any more trouble spots. Yikes! You won't catch me outside without sunscreen anymore! Not to mention that 90% of all signs of aging for non-smokers are caused by sun damage. Hmm, do I want to be a tan 35-year-old with leathery skin, wrinkles and skin cancer? No thank you! I'm perfectly happy being a pale 25-year-old! And I'm thankful to have learned my lesson sooner rather than later!

All Moved In

And boy does it feel good! I am so over moving! All of our friends laugh at us because this is the 4th place we've lived in 3 years. But you know, Brandon and I just think that life isn't any fun unless we move every single year. We have to keep it exciting after all! Seriously, though, I am ready for a permanent home next time, preferably on the west coast.

Anyways, we're all unpacked with just a few small things left to do. And we couldn't have done any of it without my wonderful mother-in-law! She was a machine! She worked so hard and helped pack up the old place, move everything, and then unpack and organize everything at the new place. Seriously, we would have been lost without her! And also a big, huge thank you to our friend Tosh who helped us out on moving day too! Again, we couldn't have done it without his help, there's no way Sari I could have lifted some of the heavy furniture. What a blessing to have friends and family to help out! We are SO thankful!

So far, the boys just LOVE the yard! It's small but they don't care, they love it! They get mad if I close the sliding door because they want to be free to run in and out as they please. Too bad it's winter now and it's getting too cold to leave the door open all day. They also love the stairs (uh oh) and the fact that they can reach the light switches in the new house. As I type this, Jack is flipping the switch off and on, and off and on...

We are so excited to no longer be in a high-rise apartment building. Getting the boys out the door is SO much easier! Our car is right outside our door now! And we have a washer and dryer in the house! And a spare bedroom for Brandon to work from home and study in. We doubled our storage space too! And of course the yard. That's our favorite feature by far! I do miss having my favorite grocery store right down the street, but now I just have to drive a few minutes to get there. The boys miss their beloved fire trucks a lot though. I, on the other hand, certainly don't miss those sirens going off during naptime!

Here are some pictures of the boys enjoying the yard this morning:

Hammering on the shed, probably should use the other end Jackson!

Praying before dinner tonight. Yes we stopped the prayer to take a picture...

Random Thoughts

*I LOVE fall! I love that it's finally cooling off and we can go outside and to the park as often as we like. We have been taking full advantage of the awesome weather! Can't wait until next week when we have a yard!! And a real neighborhood! And a playground across the street!

*I also love fall food! I've been making all my favorite soups this week, Tortilla Soup a few days ago, Zuppa Toscana today! I'm eating it right now, so delicious! And tomorrow I'm going to take the pumpkin we got last week at the pumpkin patch and make homemade puree out of it to bake with. I'm thinking that I will make these, my mouth is watering just thinking of them!

*Just saw a preview for Harry Potter for the first time! I almost forgot that it's coming out next month! Can't wait to see it!!

*Totally fell behind on my packing the past few days, I am going to have to work hard to catch up!

*Jack and Cullen are starting to really like movies. So far they've seen The Jungle Book, Peter Pan, Robin Hood and a Thomas the Train video. They love the animal videos especially, I think we've watched Robin Hood every day for a week, sometimes multiple times in one day! They ask me to put it on (just by pointing at the TV shouting "Please!") all the time and then jump on the couch together to watch it. They only last 10-15 minutes quietly on the couch before going to play, but then come running back to watch their favorite parts, the songs. They like to clap to the songs and make animal sounds when they see an animal they recognize. And anytime anybody splashes in or falls into the water, they laugh hysterically. Apparently, that's one of the funniest things in the world to a toddler!

*Brandon's old laptop is still hanging in there and I'll get to use it until it does finally die. I'm hoping that since I won't be using it for 12+ hours a day or running big programs, it might last longer than it would have if Brandon kept it. For the time being, I'm really enjoying having an extra computer to use. Before, I could only use the desktop which is in our bedroom where the boys aren't allowed to go because they empty our drawers, pull Brandon's school books apart, and push buttons on the computer and printer while I'm using it. So I could only get online during their naptime. Not that I don't have a HUGE list of to-do's for that same small window of time! So, having a laptop out in the living area that I can use while the boys play is wonderful!

*We can't wait for Gary and Sari to get here on Friday night! It will be so fun to have family in town! We wish more friends and family would come visit us- hint, hint!

Ok, I better go pack for a couple hours now that the boys are in bed and Brandon's still at class.

Yikes!

I feel like we are hemorrhaging money lately! And as a reformed spender and now a big-time saver, I hate it!

On Wednesday, we bought our plane tickets home for Christmas. It cost us $1500 but we know it's well worth it to see our families. Still hard to pay for though. And I cringe when I think that the cost is going to double after this trip once the boys turn 2 and can no longer fly on our laps for free!

And Brandon's laptop has been dying a long, slow death over the past few months. It's going on 5 years old and it overheats and randomly shuts down often. But it's gotten much worse recently, shutting down on him while he's in class and working from home. Brandon was afraid that it would just shut down for good one day and he'd lose whatever he'd been working on (he backs up his work every day but he can't afford to lose even a few hours of work right now, especially with finals coming up). So, on Thursday night, we took a rare family trip to the mall and bought Brandon a new laptop. He was pretty pumped to get a brand new Macbook (I think he's been anxiously awaiting this day for a while now) but neither of us were very pumped about shelling out that much money in one night. Those things are expensive!! We sure hope this one lasts 5 years too!

And, because when it rains it pours, on Friday Brandon went out to the car and saw that it had a flat tire. No biggie, right? We didn't think so. Brandon took it across the street to the auto shop hoping to just have the tire repaired rather than having to purchase a new one. But no, both front tires were shot and needed to be replaced. And, of course, they found a ton of other things wrong with the car, all relating to the tires and wheels and which caused it to go flat in the first place. $600 later and we have our car back with two new tires. We've put about $1500 into our car in the past few months, that's like 30% of what it's worth! But we can't afford a new car, and we don't really need one either. Our Camry is 12 years old but only has 110,000 miles on it so it should last us a lot longer if we take good care of it. And since we don't plan on outgrowing it anytime soon, we're praying that it does last!

This weekend we also have to pay a HUGE deposit for the new place. And probably won't be getting a penny of our current deposit back thanks to our kids and cats who have stained the carpet beyond recognition.

Sometimes I think, "Heaven help us, how are we going to pay for anything?" Four people living on a part-time salary in one of the most expensive cost-of-living areas in the country. Add on travel out West a few times a year and miscellaneous expenses (like cars breaking down) and it's so easy for me to become anxious about it all. Thankfully, though, we do have God helping us. He provides for our every need. We're just called to be responsible and faithful with the money he does give us and trust Him with it. It's a good lesson to learn, certainly not a fun one, but good. I just keep praying for God to help us be wise with our money, as frugal as we can be, and always more trusting of Him.

Randoms

*I am so glad to be moving out of this place before it falls apart! The other day I was scrubbing the bathtub (it seems to attract mold like nothing I've ever seen) and one of the tiles just caved in! I could have put my entire hand in there - but didn't because that would be disgusting! The maintenance guys came to fix it this morning and were in there for over 3 hours! Well, I had had 2 cups of coffee and needed to use the bathroom so I decided to just use the one in the boys' room that never gets used. But the last time it was actually used last month it overflowed and caused a huge mess. So I had the brilliant idea to 'test-flush' it just to be sure it was fixed. Good idea right? Nope. Water started gushing out of the tank. Literally gushing. I screamed for the maintenance man to come, he lifted up the tank's lid and said he'd stopped it, then went back to work on the other bathroom. I went to work cleaning up the mess but within 30 seconds it was gushing out again. Something was wrong with the pipes and the tank was filling after each flush but not stopping once it was full. I screamed again and the maintenance man came running in again, this time he fiddled with something on the floor and shut off the toilet's water supply for good. But by then there was a good 3-4 inches of water on the floor. He ran downstairs to get a wet/dry vac and sucked up all the water for me. Of course, the boys were crowding around and trying to splash in the water the whole time... because what else would they possibly be doing during all that excitement? Well a couple of hours and a load of laundry later, the bathroom was clean and dry. But what a crazy morning!

*Aside from the bathroom, my entire house is a shambles. Between purging our clothes/furniture/junk before the move, organizing and packing, and those twin tornadoes that live here there's no room to even walk across the floor right now. But we're moving 2 weeks from today so I better get it together!

*The boys are saying so many more new words: apple, juice, out, church, book, bus/truck, shoes, feet, uh-oh, and poo-poo ;-) They don't say all of these words by themselves, though, some of them they only repeat when we've already said it. And I even got Jack to 'count' to 5 the other day! I would say the numbers and he repeated most of them after me! He had a lot of trouble with four and never really got it out, but loved the others. His favorites were two (dooooo) and five. By the time he gets to five he's so excited that it's barely discernible!

*We are so excited that Brandon's parents are coming out to help us move and spend some time with us at the end of the month! We can't wait to see you guys again! You won't believe how fun the boys are now! I know I say that all the time, but they actually do get more fun and cute every single day!

*Jack's been giving me the sweetest unsolicited kisses lately. Sometimes I'll be holding him but be busy with something else and he'll just swing his face in front of mine, flash a sweet smile, and plant a kiss on me! Oh be still my heart!

*I have lots of pictures to upload from the past week. We went to a pumpkin patch in Pennsylvania on Saturday and had so much fun! I'll try to get them up soon!

The Weekend

This weekend was very busy for us! The biggest news is that we found a new place to live! It's a 3 bedroom townhouse in Alexandria and the best part is that it even has a small, fenced yard in the back! We're moving in on November 1st. I'm dreading the move but looking forward to being all settled into our new home. It will be so nice in the spring and summer to have a yard for the boys to play in! And it's part of a townhouse community so we'll still have access to a pool in the summer. And there's a park and playground right across the street! As you can tell, with two active toddlers, outdoor areas were our main criteria!

On Saturday morning, I also shopped a few kids' consignment sales - my favorite! My biggest score was a toddler bed for only $10!!! I also got a few new toys for the boys (including a lifelike tool set that was an instant hit) and some cheap fall clothes. And I had a Starbucks gift card from Swagbucks so I treated myself to my first Pumpkin Spice Latte of the season! The only thing better than a Pumpkin Spice latte is a free Pumpkin Spice Latte! I love this time of year!

And, on Saturday afternoon, we took a family trip to the zoo. We were busy all day and didn't get there until around 4 pm and were worried that we wouldn't see many animals, but we saw more than ever! The boys loved it! Last time we went it was miserably hot, very few animals were out, and the boys were hot and cranky. But this time was a blast for all of us! Here are some pictures:

The boys especially loved the lion and spent a long time watching him pacing up and down. They even made roaring sounds :-)

Watching the lion with Daddy

This tiger was pawing at the door for a while - waiting for dinner I presume?

Finally!

No more hiding out inside the apartment! The humidity is leaving, it's cooling off and we've been able to go outside a lot this week! We've gone to the park almost every night after dinner. The boys love it because they can run, climb, jump and slide to their hearts' content and I love it because they're finally old enough that I don't have to follow their every move with my arms outstretched waiting to catch them in case they fall. They still might fall but I'm not nearly as worried about it now (they're much steadier on their feet and the playground has that rubber padding below it) so I can let them explore and just be little boys.

They love to climb up the steps on their feet (not crawling anymore), go down the slides by themselves, run across the bridge over and over, and they've even started climbing up the ladders (they're only about 3 feet high). They also still love to swing and have thrown a couple tantrums when I tell them they have to stop and let another kid have a turn. Tantrums aside, this is such a fun age! I love playing with them! And I love how proud they get when they accomplish something (like climbing up a chain ladder) for the first time! Every day Brandon and I turn to each other and say "Aren't they just the coolest? We're so blessed to be their parents!"

My boys at the park last night

Cullen sliding down by himself. They finally learned to lift up their feet when they're sliding so they don't get stuck every few inches. Ever since, they are sliding maniacs!

Just for kicks ;-)

What Have We Been Up To Lately?

*Well, mainly we've been hiding out indoors, avoiding the last of the heat and humidity. I've been doing lots of cleaning and organizing. And thankfully, fall is almost here so we can start venturing outside once again.

*Brandon and I celebrated our 3rd anniversary on the 17th. He brought me home roses on our actual anniversary and that weekend we went out for a lovely dinner at one of the nicest restaurants in DC. When he made our reservation, he mentioned it was our anniversary and we were treated like royalty! The best table, free champagne, free desserts with "Happy Anniversary" written across the plate in chocolate sauce, and probably the best service I have ever had on the east coast! After dinner, we went for a romantic walk around the tidal basin, where we got engaged 3 1/2 years ago. It was a wonderful evening! Hard to believe it's already been 3 years though!

*Brandon started school a few days after we got back. Bummer... I so enjoyed having him around. His schedule this semester isn't too bad though, he only has 2 night classes and the rest are in the afternoons. But he already has lots of assignments and reading to do as well as applying for internships for next spring and summer. Lately, I've been referring to his Mac as his "mistress" because it steals all my time with my husband. I just keep reminding myself that there's only 20 months left until he graduates!

*After nearly a month-long break from couponing, I've been getting back into my money-saving groove. I actually really missed my coupons and my little game with myself to see how low I can get our weekly grocery budget.

*We recently made a big, exciting purchase- a juicer!! We've been wanting one for a long time and have been waiting until we had the money and found a good sale. We got an even better deal because we used a few of my free Amazon giftcards (from Swagbucks) for a Jack Lalanne juicer! And we love it! The first batch we made, we didn't use a recipe, we just threw in random fruits and veggies that we had lying around. It wasn't terrible but it certainly wasn't great. The last couple juices have been so yummy though! And it's a great way to sneak in raw vegetable servings! Talking about it is making me thirsty!

*We've been looking for a new place to rent. We love our neighborhood now and don't really want to go through another move, but we would really, really love a yard for the boys. We looked at the most perfect little house on Saturday. The inside was nothing special but it was affordable and had a big, beautiful backyard. Love at first sight for me! But there were three other applications turned in besides ours so I think our chances of getting it are pretty low and I'm not getting my hopes up. Too bad... we haven't found anything else with all our criteria and in our budget yet so we'll just keep looking. I'm sure we'll find something eventually, we're not in a hurry so we'll just wait for the perfect place.

*Renee and I went outlet shopping this weekend and I found a fantastic new pair of jeans from the J. Crew outlet that were only $40!! And I like them as much/more than any of my Nordstrom jeans that cost 4 x that much. I can't wait to wear them, yet another reason to be looking forward to fall!

*And, last but not least, we took the boys to the fair for the first time! It was crazy hot of course but we still had lots of fun. No rides for us, just food and free activities :-)

Cullen loving being this close to a fire engine

They literally walked up and down the engine, stopping every couple inches or so and yelling "Dat!" Each and every time we would have to share their excitement and say "Cool! A fire engine!"

After we dragged them away from the fire engines, we went to see the animals. This was my favorite part (aside from the funnel cake of course). The boys loved seeing the animals, they especially thought the pig was funny because he was snorting.

Laughing at one of the animals

Clamoring for a better view

Their other favorite part of the fair was a John Deere display that had over a dozen real tractors for the kids to climb on as well as a fenced area with miniature toys for the little kids. The boys spent most of their time at the fair playing in here, they literally tried out every single toy.

And here they are on a real tractor, aren't they just the cutest little farmers!? I'm always telling Brandon I want to live on a farm!

Too cute to not post:



Too funny to not post:

Engaged!

Scott asked Ashlee to marry him yesterday...and..she said yes! We're incredibly happy and excited for them as they move towards this tremendous gift from God!

And, you have to admit, they're one of the cutest couples around! We're so glad to have had the chance to get to know Ashlee over the past couple years. She's a wonderful, godly young woman and we're so excited to welcome her into the family. Now she'll be on every family vacation in Stanley!

Congratulations Scott and Ashlee! We can not wait to get to Stanley and celebrate with you both!

The happy couple on Redfish Lake

On My Heart

Haiti has once again been on my heart a lot recently. Mainly because of the tragic story of a little 6 year old girl that died there last week that I read about on my friend Brittany's blog. You can read the story here, I'll warn you though, you will be in tears by the end of it. It will break your heart and convict you. I was especially convicted when Brittany wrote, "We failed. We who have everything we could ever need yet we call ourselves middle class. We who say we follow Jesus yet spend all our money on ourselves and our family, buying them ipods and games and movies and then maybe shedding a tear when we read a sad story of someone in Africa or Haiti."

She's right, it's not enough. We all have extra money. And we spend most of it on ourselves. I often think that Brandon and I live pretty frugally. In fact, I pride myself on it. We don't have cable or iPhones but we do have an old beater car and I use coupons religiously. We certainly don't have a ton of money right now, but we do have much, much more than we could ever need. And you all probably do too if you think about it.

If you regularly drink Starbucks, if you've bought a new outfit recently, if you're going on vacation this summer, if you've gone to see a movie lately... these are all extravagances. They may seem commonplace to us, but to many people these are luxuries reserved for only the wealthy. They struggle to survive because they can't afford food or clean water. I'm not saying that we should cut out all or any of these things. These are all fine things to spend money on occasionally, but we should remember that there are better things to spend money on. Such as giving to the poor and needy. And I'm preaching to myself here primarily. You can ask Brandon, I'm the first to complain that I "need" new clothes for the summer even though I have a closet that's full to the brim. I'm the first to think that Jack and Cullen have to be dressed cute all the time. I grumble about our car and how it's too small for our family and how we "need" a bigger car soon. But these are lies. All lies. Straight from the mouth of Satan.

God has provided for us abundantly. And with that abundance we're commanded to give to others who are in need. You might be rolling your eyes and thinking, "I can't believe Kim of all people is saying that. She's such a hypocrite." And you'd be right, I am. I struggle with materialism and selfishness very much. That's why I say I'm mainly preaching to myself here. But I thought it would still be good to share these thoughts with you all in the hope that you might consider your own giving. Don't we all have so much? Couldn't we all cut back in certain areas so we can give a little more than we are now? I know that's certainly true for Brandon and I, even at this time when he's in school and I'm not working. I will be praying that God gives me increased love for the poor, a spirit of joyful generosity, and a willingness to spend less on myself and my family and more on those who truly need it.

If you read the sad story of little Dianise and would like to donate to Danita's Children's hospital fund, you can do so here. Danita's Children is a wonderful organization doing incredible things in Haiti. They're a solid Christian organization that helps support an entire community and have received exceptional ratings for their ability to efficiently grow and manage their finances for 4 consecutive years from Charity Navigator. This means more of every dollar given goes directly to support the children and community rather than towards administrative costs. Danita's Children also posts their Statement of Faith right on their website. They have many needs right now, including a hospital, a new orphanage, child sponsorships and many more. Please prayerfully consider giving to Danita's Children- or any other charity- out of the abundance that God has blessed you with. And above all, let's not forget to pray for the people of Haiti too.

Father's Day

We had a nice, laid-back Father's Day last weekend. We just went to church, napped and swam in the pool. It was SO hot (I know I say that all the time, but it's true all the time) and the pool felt like heaven. I woke up early and cooked Brandon's favorite breakfast and then the boys gave him a card they signed themselves and a new travel cooler they picked out. Now we can go on lots of day trips and bring drinks and snacks along!

All my boys relaxing poolside

Jack

Daddy and Jack

Cullen offering Daddy some more sunscreen

* I knew Brandon would only be home for dinner today and then have to leave right away for class so I timed it so that dinner would be ready right as he was walking in the door. Then we could at least enjoy dinner together before he left. Well, 5:00 came, so I pulled the chicken out of the oven and waited... No Brandon. So I called him, he's stuck in traffic and can't make it home. Oh bummer. I enjoyed my Chicken Satay alone... such is the life of a law school wife.

*I put the boys down to nap this afternoon and they played in there for almost an hour!! I could hear them jumping, shaking the crib rails, running back and forth in the cribs, and laughing and 'talking' together the whole time. I finally gave up any hope that they'd nap and decided to just go get them out. So I finished up the dishes and went to their door, but by then it was silent. They finally fell asleep!

*We haven't left the house today. To tell the truth, I'm sort of hiding out inside. What am I hiding from? The humidity. It was so terrible yesterday while we were at a backyard barbecue, poor Jack and Cullen, their hair was completely damp with sweat. And I had a horrid experience on Sunday morning that left me crying in the car while blasting the AC. So now I'm afraid to go outside even though the weatherman promises it's much better today. I don't trust him, though. I've been trying to think of a way to describe it so that my west coast readers can begin to understand what it feels like. Ever been to Hot Yoga? I think that's a pretty accurate comparison. We left the barbecue last night and were about to get on the freeway when Brandon made a wrong turn. I asked him where he was going because the freeway was the other direction. He just smiled and turned into a 7-11. Then he said, "I saw this on the way here and I've been thinking about a slurpee for the past 2 hours!" I don't think a slurpee has ever tasted so good to me!

*Despite the stifling humidity, last night did remind me of something else that I like about the east coast, though. Fireflies!! I'd never seen them before I moved here and I think they're so wonderful! I forget about them and so every summer I'm always surprised when I see my first firefly! Maybe next summer I'll take my boys out to catch fireflies in a jar, I've always wanted to do that!

Arrrgh!!

Most of the time apartment life is not so bad... most of the time. Sure, I'd really, really love a yard for my boys to play in, I'd love to not worry about them getting run over in the parking lot, I'd love to not have to haul my groceries through those heavy front doors which are too small for my stroller... But I can live with all that. I remind myself that this won't last forever and of how blessed I already am.

However, I am getting extremely frustrated this week! On Monday (a very hot, humid day) they turned our air conditioning off all day, yesterday they turned our hot water off all day, and today they're doing work on the apartment next to ours - the one that shares a wall with Jack and Cullen's bedroom of course-  and hammering very loudly during naptime. I keep hearing the boys groan over the monitor each time the hammering starts up again. And I'm sitting here furious and crossing my fingers they can sleep through it.

I need to take some deep breaths and pray for patience and contentment.

It's About Time

A few weeks ago, I found myself vegging out on the couch, eating a pint of Ben & Jerry's Half Baked and watching The Biggest Loser. Ironic, huh? Keep in mind, this was a pretty regular thing for me, the only variance was that sometimes I might have a brownie or a cookie instead of ice cream. Anyways, it was a couple weeks before my birthday, so call it a pre-midlife crisis, but I felt terrible about myself and the very next day I went and ordered a fitness DVD from Amazon. It came a few days later and I tried it out and, believe it or not, I have kept up with it for almost a month now!

Until a few weeks ago, I had not worked out in over 2 years! Seriously, 2 years! I go on several fast walks each week pushing a 70+ pound stroller, so that might be considered some form of exercise, but I have not been to a gym or done any kind of formal exercise in over 2 years. The last time I did was about a week before I found out I was pregnant and I got so nauseous and exhausted that I was sure I was coming down with the flu so I decided to hold off on working out until I was feeling better (which never happened of course).

And then after the pregnancy, I just kind of shrugged and thought, what's the point? I have stretch marks so I'll never wear a bikini ever again, I'm back to my pre-pregnancy weight, my clothes fit fine, good enough right? So why bother working out? Plus, I'm a mother of twin toddlers, how would I EVER find the time???

But for some reason a few weeks ago, I was finally motivated to try something. I may be back at my pre-pregnancy weight, but I would still like to tone up and replace some extra fat with muscle. I definitely have the dreaded "mommy-pooch" of extra skin around my middle, but I'm hoping that if I tone up and build core muscle, that at least it won't be as noticeable.

So that's where Bob Harper comes in. I wanted an exercise routine I could do from home while the boys nap and I didn't want it to be too intense or else I knew I'd never stick with it. I started out looking at some of the most well-known workouts, like Jillian's 30 Day Shred or P90X (or whatever it's called), but let's face it, I would have died if I'd attempted either of those at this point. Waaayyy too intense for me! Then I spotted Bob's pretty face on the cover of The Biggest Loser Weight Loss Yoga. I read some reviews and it sounded perfect so I used a few Swagbucks and got it for free! (I just love Swagbucks, but that's a whole different post!)

So far, I love it! The first time I was so sore I had to wait a few days before I tried it again but I took that as a good sign. It's not intense at all, just a lot of slow moves but they're still hard - for me at least! My arms and legs are shaking during the last few moves because they're so tired by that point! And I'm not gonna lie, my favorite part is at the very end where we do the corpse pose which, as the name suggests, is where you completely relax and lie on the floor like a dead body. Well, that and when Bob says reassuringly "You did it!" Anyways, there are 3 different levels, I'm still on Level 1, but I'm going to move on to Level 2 next week. We'll see how that goes...

The best part is that it's only 30-40 minutes (depending on which workout you choose) so it doesn't take up all of nap time and I can still gets lots of other things done before they wake up. So, 3-4 days a week, as soon as the boys go down for a nap, I just do the video for 30 minutes, take a super quick shower and still have at least an hour before they wake up to clean or do some 'internet errands.'

I'm already seeing some results too, not on my waistline unfortunately, but I definitely feel stronger lately and I have more energy too. It's also helping me to remember to drink more water which makes a world of difference. I feel so much better when I drink lots of water, I don't eat as much, I'm not drinking empty calories, and I swear it gives me more energy.

Anyways, I'm glad I've found a workout that is easy for me to stick with but I'm still afraid I'll start slacking off so that's why I'm publicly writing about it. Hopefully this will help motivate me to keep on with it! Even if I don't lose any inches off my waist, (and I'm not especially hopeful about this since it's all skin and not really extra fat) there's still something to be said for getting back in shape, right? And I'm sure I can count on Bob to whip me into shape!

Seriously?

East Coast newscasters are SO weird! I've thought this for a few years now because they are usually over-the-top dramatic and use strange inflections and waaayyy too long dramatic pauses when they're talking. I usually just roll my eyes, but today was just too much!

We had a Severe Storm/Tornado warning this afternoon ,which really isn't uncommon, we probably have these at least once a week during the summer. And so, the weather guy warns about the strong winds which could maybe, potentially blow over a mobile home if it hit it just right. And then he says (no lie), "So if you live in a mobile home it's best to leave your home and go seek shelter as low to the ground as possible." Where does he suggest? Oh, just a ditch on the side of the road. Not. Even. Joking. A ditch.

At first, I thought I was the crazy one and that I must have heard him wrong. But no, he repeated it again about 10 minutes later, also suggesting the crawl space underneath the mobile home (umm, like where the rats are?). For real? That's the best place he can think of to hide from a not-so-severe storm? What planet are these people from?

My Very First Sewing Project

This is photographic proof that I did in fact sew something. It was much more tedious than I ever expected, what with all the pressing, measuring, cutting, pinning, and stitching/re-stitching. And I swear, I thought I was going to wear out my seam-ripper! I had to re-stitch a lot of the quilt because I had either stitched the wrong sides together or hadn't sewn it in a straight line. But it was all worth it for my niece Violet! I was so emotionally invested in it, and I worked like mad to get it done. I'm so glad I had such a fun project for my first sewing experience!

I bought a "quilt-kit" at Joann's which was super convenient and which I highly recommend because it had 6 pieces of fabric that all matched and went together beautifully. It saved me the hassle of measuring at the fabric store and the time of having to pick out coordinating fabrics. As my first step, I ironed all the creases out of the fabric.

Then I set to work cutting most of the fabric pieces into 7 1/2 x 8 in. squares. I also cut the side strips and back lining out of two other pieces of fabric.

Here are my squares all ready to be sewn together.

Next, I sewed 3 squares together into a row. I did this with all of the squares.

Brandon even tried out sewing! I think he liked it too!

This is a finished row. I then sewed all 4 of my rows together.

Next, I sewed the chenille sides onto the finished block of squares.

Then I pinned the front of the quilt to the back and made sure that all the sides were exactly even before I sewed them together. Then I just flipped the quilt right-side out, pushed the corners out and hand-stitched the closure.

And Viola! The finished project!

Today, I pulled out several clothing items that I've been saving for someday when I had a sewing machine. Many of them need to either be repaired or taken in a tiny bit and I haven't been able to wear any of them in years.

I also bought a pair of jeans on sale at Nordstrom's while I was in California and rather than paying the $15 charge to have them hemmed at Nordy's, I decided to take a risk and try to hem them myself! I may be crazy, but I figure that if I screw it up, I can always take them back to the store and pay to have them hemmed. But I might as well try, right?! (It helps that the jeans are skinny jeans and have navy blue thread so if the hem isn't perfect, it will be very hard to tell.) I'm going to try to get to these projects this week, if I'm successful I will practically have a whole new wardrobe!