Twin Tales

GIVEAWAY: Eco Friendly Cleaning Products

2010-01-12T09:15:00.001-08:00

My favorite non-toxic cleaner is plain white vinegar diluted with water, but sometimes I miss the scent and convenience of prepackaged cleaners. There's a neat giveaway being offered by The Sassy Saver, you can enter at http://www.thesassysaver.net/2010/01/12/eco-store-review-giveaway.

Hi again!

2009-09-03T20:36:00.001-07:00

I've been on a blogging break. Mostly because we haven't been up to much other than the usual, and because I tend to post kid stuff as status updates on Facebook. We did a little project in the kitchen, we replaced the white ceramic tile on the island. The new butcher block counter looks pretty dang awesome, and we painted the island cabinets red. It makes the rest of the kitchen a little bit shabby, but we'll get to the rest of it in due time.

We are going out of town this weekend, I'm really looking forward to our trip. Visiting grandpa and nana and aunt Vanessa is one of our favorite things to do!

I'll post pictures when we get back. Eventually.

A new twist to the seventh inning stretch

2009-07-23T22:21:00.001-07:00

The kids have been obsessed with baseball lately. This afternoon they were playing inside, Alden was the batter and Ruth was the pitcher. He was actually being the leader for a change, it was so cute. Ruthie threw the ball at him and farted really loudly at the same time, then she turned and ran away with a scared look on her face. Alden struck out then said "hey pitcher, I need my pitcher!" From the bathroom I hear "umm....the pitcher has to go poo poo". After the pitcher went poo-poo they decided to do some work on the fireplace. Alden tried to chip up the tiles with his hammer, but luckily he mostly made noise rather than damage. He also told me we need to replace a wall with a new one. He's quite the little construction worker, I love it!

They really do love each other

2009-07-20T15:40:00.000-07:00

We went swimming at a friend's house today, it was so nice to cool off. I was pushing Ruth around on a float and Alden was holding on to the side. I told him to kick his feet and I let go of the float, Roo said "push me mama" and Alden said "don't worry Woof, I got ya" as he kicked all the way over to the step so Ruth could get off the float. Those little moments make me forget how they torture each other, Alden's favorite thing to do is take away something Ruthie is playing with and hold it above her head.

Don't mess with a fat woman and her soft doughy pretzel

2009-07-19T23:10:00.000-07:00

I went shopping at Target this evening. To cap off my rare solo trip out of the home I bought a pretzel at the food court. The desiccated lump of greasy dough the "cook" handed me did not resemble the luscious fully formed beautiful pretzel in the display case in any way. I asked for a manager and patiently waited for 10 minutes, then not-so patiently for another 5. When she finally wandered up I explained that I the gorgeous pretzels in the display case were misleading and that something needs to be done so more fat women did not experience the same disappointment I myself was now recovering from. The manager said the pretzels shrink when cooked and blah blah blah and I said regardless they are selling something that is not as advertised and that is a poor business practice. The manager threw up her hands and refunded my money for both the pretzel AND my soda, which I refilled before I left. Take that in the bulls eye, Target! I didn't WANT a refund, merely the acknowledgement that they shouldn't be advertising something they are unable to supply.

I didn't know I was pregnant....

2009-07-15T21:47:00.001-07:00

I'm watching this show on TLC and I can't believe these women didn't know they were pregnant until their baby was on it's way out of the birth canal. Seriously. How is this possible?? Okay, irregular periods, minimal weight gain, no morning sickness, I can see that. But HELLOOOOOO you can totally feel and see your baby trying to punch it's way out of your belly. There's no way in hell you can write off the feeling of someone playing kickball with your cervix as gas or food poisoning. There's gotta be major denial, lack of knowledge about the human body, and a whole lotta mental illness for someone to not know she is pregnant.

Telling tales

2009-07-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Lately the kids have been mega tattletales, and it drives me nuts. We walked past another mom and kid at Target and the kid had spilled Slurpie on his shirt, they said in unison "Mooommmm that boy spilled Slurrrrpie...." Um....okay thanks. Later we pass a kid who is standing up in the cart: "Mooommmmm that girl is standing up in the cart".....on and on and on "Moommmm that baby isn't wearing shoes...." "Mooommmmm that lady is taking a long time to checkout..." over and over and over they told on people all over the damn store. Thank goodness we weren't at Walmart or the Grocery Outlet or they would have had even more things to tattle on, like babies in diapers chugging baby bottles of Mt. Dew. As I loaded them in the car I told them I was done with hearing them tattle on people, and they need to mind their own business, not the business of others. I hear Alden start to tell Ruthie something as I close the back door, and by the time I open mine I hear Ruthie say "Mooommm, Aldens' minding other peopleses businesses still..." Oy.

Home and hole free

2009-07-04T11:27:00.000-07:00

Nick finally got home after midnight Thursday night (so Friday morning I guess??). After forking over both an arm and a leg, a tow truck deposited him in front of our house. Yesterday morning he took my car to Firestone in Merced, they patched the tire free of charge and said there is no reason why America's Tire couldn't patch it, and yes I do need new back tires but not urgently and not for the price I was quoted. Yay, finally something positive! The tire was patched quickly and we were able to still make it to the circus in Fresno. I'd been talking to Ruth and Alden about it all week and they had a wonderful time. Ruthie's favorite part was when Gravity the naughty clown was caught by the Ringmaster, and Alden's favorite part was the elephants pooping.

Kicked out of a tow truck?!

2009-07-02T20:48:00.000-07:00

Seriously.

So Nick calls a tow truck to take him and the Honda home. Actually, he calls our auto insurance who dispatches the truck, and he makes sure to ask about the mileage limit since he's about 80 miles from home. He's assured there's no charge and no problem taking him that far.

A truck comes within half an hour (impressive). It's a flatbed, and his car is loaded quickly. He gets in the cab and the operator asks for the address. Nick gives him our address and the guy looks at him like he's asking to be taken to Mars. Apparently he's the only truck on duty for his company and can't take Nick home. So, he kicks him out and ditches the car and Nick has to call our insurance company again. The replacement truck isn't there yet, but he was assured that it would take him all the way home. What the hell is going on with our lives that things are this jacked up?

The rotten cherry on this shit sundae is this: my donut tire seems to have a slow leak and I won't be surprised to wake up tomorrow and find it totally flat.

Seriously, do I need to start going to church or something???

2009-07-02T19:19:00.000-07:00

I found the perfect living room curtains on clearance at Lowe's, but the Merced store only had one pair. I found another panel at the Turlock store, but I also got a flat tire due to some lovely bolts and nails I picked up in the parking lot. The twins and I spent NINETY FREAKING MINUTES at America's Tire of Turlock, only to be told they cannot patch it because there's another patch too close to the new hole. We drove home very very slowly on the donut. I have to get two new back tires now. America's Tire quoted me $275 for two. So NOT in the budget right now, but I guess it'll have to be.

Nick still isn't home from his car trouble adventures. Oy.

Cute pajamas for moms and kids!

2009-07-02T11:01:00.000-07:00

With this economy, people who have been let go from their professions have had to find new and creative ways to support themselves. Check out PJs by Pinkie, read her story, and be inspired!! I love the little girl styles, the capris would be so cute paired with a tank top.

Ready for some good karma to come back to me

2009-07-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

Things have been really stressful and hectic here, and quite honestly I'm wondering what I did in a past life that has brought me so much angst.

Nick's car broke down today. He took a half day off from work to do some consulting work (yay for padding the new fridge fund!), but his car overheated and died on his way up to Sacramento. Goodbye new fridge fund, hello repair bill. Ugh. We haven't actually taken it to a shop yet, I'm hoping my some miracle it will start tomorrow morning and run like a dream. Perhaps car fairies will visit tonight and work some magic.

We are also facing an 8% reduction in his pay, that's almost $400 a month. Holy cow, that's gonna hurt. We already live pretty frugally, I'm not sure where else we can cut back. I'm going to look into increasing our deductibles for home/auto insurance, but our rates are already fairly low so I don't think that will do much.

Doing the deep dig

2009-07-01T22:54:00.000-07:00

If it itches, scratch it. Right?

I got caught picking my nose today. This isn't very high on my list of embarrassing moments (trust me, there are worse things), but it was pretty dang funny. I was stopped in traffic, so naturally it was time for some nasal maintenance. I finally dislodged the offender and wiped it on a napkin, then I looked around and realized the car next to me was rocking back and forth from the four guys in it LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF AT ME. Did I blush? Hide? Cry? Nope. When the light turned I stuck my finger in up to the knuckle and twisted my arm back and forth while they roared with laughter, then I rolled down my window and waved while I got on the freeway and they continued on their way.

Field trip to Forte Frozen Yogurt

2009-06-29T16:13:00.001-07:00

This afternoon the MOMS Club of Merced went on a field trip to Forte Frozen Yogurt, in downtown Merced. The kids were read a story about energy conservation and then made their own frozen yogurt concoctions! Forte features 12 different flavors of frozen yogurt, including multiple sugar free options, plus a zillion toppings like Oreo, fresh fruit, and cheesecake bites. Ruth made a strawberry fro yo with mini M&M candies, rainbow sprinkles, and mochi balls. Alden the purist had Hershey's Chocolate Kiss fro yo and rainbow sprinkles. Mama had strawberry fro yo with fresh strawberries and cheesecake bites. It's a really cool place and I hope it survives the Merced economy that seems to run new businesses out of town in months.

Satchel came along for the trip.

If you look closely you'll see they are wearing the ice cream outfits Grandma Bonk made.

Doing a little coloring sheet, Ruth wrote her own name. Both are now on display at Forte. See how my little gentleman crosses his legs, and my little lady has hers spread apart? Nice.

Disneyland recap and pictures

2009-06-29T15:59:00.001-07:00

We celebrated Ruth and Alden's third birthday at Disneyland! A good time was had by all. I have more pictures to add but these are a preview. We stayed at the Castle Inn and Suites, it was a little shabby but clean and the price was excellent. We went for 3.5 days and I think that was the perfect amount of time, we arrived on Wednesday afternoon and hit the park after checking in to our hotel, then went all day Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The lines got progressively longer as we went into the weekend, and the line for the Princess Fantasy Faire was absolutely ridiculous. Next time we are going to pony up for the breakfast at Ariel's Grotto, so we can meet the princesses and skip the crazy line.

We saw Goofy on Main Street!

Waiting for Tinkerbell at Pixie Hollow

Spinning on the teacups

The carousel in Fantasyland

We love Pluto!

Okay I guess I need to update

2009-06-09T21:42:00.001-07:00

Life has been moving at warp speed lately!!!

A few things we've been doing, and perhaps some topics for future posts with more details:

-had a super fun third birthday party for Ruth and Alden at our house

-awesome trip to Disneyland for their birthday, with Grandpa, Nana and Aunt Vanessa

-Alden got a big boy bike (I cried)

-my grandma fell and broke her leg and is facing a long and difficult recovery, as a result the kids and I haven't been home much (been visiting her down in Fresno)

-painted one wall in our dining room red, it looks awesome

-various art/decorating projects

-Ruth drew on my car with a Sharpie (it came out)

-Alden has been playing with his Satchel doll, he asks me to babysit when he leaves the room

-someone commented to me about Ruthie being "little miss independent" and Ruthie yelled out "that's me!"

Whew!

2009-04-20T22:28:00.000-07:00

I need to take and post some pictures, but here's a quick recap of the projects we've started and/or finished since closing escrow three weeks ago:

ripped out carpets downstairs and put in lovely new laminate wood flooring

painted Ruth's room

painted Alden's room

painted their bathroom and put up wall decals

started painting the downstairs baths

hung a shelf in the laundry room

weeded and planted flowers in the front yard (work in progress)

hung blinds and roller shades in four rooms

made curtains for the playroom (out of an old shower curtain!)

hung up a valance in the kitchen (with thumbtacks, how classy)

unpacked a zillion boxes

arranged and rearranged furniture

I still have a mile long list of things to do, notably more painting and yard work. This home ownership business is very exciting, every little project is enjoyable and makes me smile when i walk through the door. I'm sure I'll be singing a different tune in a few months, but for now we are enjoying life!

We got the keys!

2009-04-01T08:50:00.001-07:00

Finally, at 5:30 PM yesterday, we got the keys!!!!

I immediately started painting, the colors we've chosen are amazing and I'm very happy. The kids' bathroom is a bright yellow, Alden's room is sapphire blue. I haven't started the other rooms yet, painting with two three year olds is just as hard as it sounds. I ended up going back over to the house after we put them to bed, I was there until 11:45 painting away. Aldens' room is a little dark, so I think we might lighten it up with a lighter blue stripe at some point. Or maybe three stripes of varying width....Roo's room will be a medium pink color with beadboard wainscoting on the bottom 36" and a nice chair rail/molding on top of that.

The carpet cleaners are coming today at 11, the oven is being delivered tomorrow. We hope to knock out a chunk of the flooring job today, at least the kitchen so we don't have to move the stove and fridge out later.

An FYI prompted by HGTV

2009-03-30T23:59:00.000-07:00

In anticipation for our move, I've been watching way too much HGTV. I am being driven nutso by the buyers who enter a home and immediately say "oh I wanted granite countertops and stainless steel appliances". The kitchen could be beautifully remodeled but people still want their granite and SS. NEWSFLASH: Granite and stainless steel will not make your food taste better and cook itself. Stainless is going to be the Avocado Green and Harvest Gold of the millenium generation. Now, my kitchen does have stainless steel appliances but that's only b/c the microwave and dishwasher were already there when we bought it and we want them to match. I wouldn't rip out a perfectly good appliance just for the sake of having stainless. Oy. Time to step away from the HGTV On Demand channel.

The list is getting smaller

2009-03-30T13:57:00.001-07:00

I have managed to cross quite a few items off of my to-do list! We get the keys on Tuesday, the stove is being delivered Thursday, and I pick up the truck on Friday. I'm hoping to knock out the flooring and some of the painting by the time we get the truck and start moving furniture.

Today I:

got more boxes

bought cleaning supplies and gloves for the new house

bought a shower curtain and hooks for the kids' bath

booked the moving truck

picked up a few assorted tools for painting and ripping up the carpet

When we got the Budget office, Ruthie said "how we get the big truck outta da store?"

I'm about to have a throwdown with Sears!!!!

2009-03-29T14:00:00.000-07:00

We bought a range yesterday, I was pretty stoked to find out they were having a 20% off sale on Kenmore brand appliances. I just went to their website so I could post a picture here, and I find that tonight from 6-9PM they are having AN ADDITIONAL 10% OFF THE EXACT SAME FREAKING STOVE WE JUST BOUGHT! You bet your sweet Aunt Betsy I'm going to be there at 6:01PM to ask for an additional 10% off. I'm so irritated, that's $100 that we could really use for the multitude of other things we need to buy. When we were there yesterday I saw the signs advertising a VIP After Hours sale (open to the public) but didn't realize it was an additional 10% off the very appliance we purchased. It would've been swell if the salesman had mentioned that little tidbit. If they won't refund us the 10% I'm going to cancel the order and head over to Lowe's. I'd be happy with a gift card for the difference, but cash would be great too.

The signing begins

2009-03-25T22:06:00.000-07:00

This house stuff is getting scary, my to-do list is a mile long and growing by the minute! Yesterday I got to sign a huge stack of paperwork and make arrangements to hand over Ruthie. It was either my first born or an arm and a leg, I figure the bank will give her back once they realize her motor never stops running. Right?

Closing is still set for 3/31, we have to be out of our rental by 4/11. Hopefully we'll be able to finish at least a few projects before moving. Painting is a definite must, the walls are in bad shape, the bank patched and painted over dings and holes, but the paint is FARRRR from a color match! Ick. Flooring would be great too, we are going to install laminate wood in the kitchen/living room/dining room area.

So here's my current list, just in case anyone wants to volunteer to do all of this for me (just kidding, I'm just trying to stay organized)! This doesn't even begin to include all of the things we have as longer-term projects (landscaping, kitchen updating)

-schedule moving truck

-pack

-purge junk

-schedule steam cleaning for upstairs carpets and stairs at new house

-pick out range

-pick out fridge

-ceiling fans (these could wait but summer will here soon and the bedrooms will be toasty upstairs)

-garage door opener (buy and install)

-set up PGE/water/garbage at new house and cancel old service

-change address with half the world (at least it seems like it)

-buy a real phone (we'll have a landline again!)

-buy a new bed (the one we have now belongs w/our rental)

-figure out window coverings (I know nothing about curtains/blinds/etc)

-stop feeling sad that the kids aren't going to share a room anymore

-clean up our rental so we hopefully get all of our deposit back

-plan the twins' birthday party

-prepare for our Disneyland trip

Twin love

2009-03-21T19:50:00.000-07:00

Nick is cutting Ruth and Alden's nails while they draw.

Alden: "Hold my hand Roof."

Ruth: "Be ray-ally ray-ally gentle da-ta."

Alden: "Be soft."

Ruth: "See, it's not too bad."

Alden: "No, not too bad."

Both: "See? All done!"

Alden: "Can I trim your nails dada?"

One blissful hour

2009-03-18T21:55:00.001-07:00

Today I met up with my friend Patty, we had a picnic at the park and enjoyed the sunshine. In fact, we enjoyed it so much we left a pair of Crocs, my water bottle, a ziploc of goldfish and the kids' water bottle behind! I went back for these items, but holy moly where is my head these days?

Anyway, Patty offered to watch the twins so I could go to the grocery store by myself. I was skeptical b/c the kids are rarely away from me, I figured they'd revolt and want to come with me. Ha! Once we got to Patty's house and they saw Merrick's brand new wooden kitchen, they all but forgot my name.

Going to the grocery store alone is a very different experience from shopping with two almost three-year old kids. I didn't have to hunt down a cart w/two seats, I only wiped down the handle not the whole seat, and I was able to complete my list in about 15 minutes, plus another 3 for getting an iced latte at the in-store coffee bar. I did miss the back and forth banter, Alden usually holds the list and Ruth quizzes me on random things and asks if we are going to buy beer and Cheetos for daddy.

Tonight as I was looking at the circular, I told Roo that chicken breasts are on sale. She grabbed the Longs ad and said "I sink (think) beer and wine are also on sale mama". Thanks Roo. She still has her little lisp, I love it. Her little tongue peeks out when she talks and her mouth makes the cutest little shapes.

The other night I was brushing her hair and she was being very....theatrical. Alden walked up and said "hey, what are you doing to my baby girl?" He's such a protective big little brother.

I knew this process was going too smoothly

2009-03-17T15:20:00.000-07:00

I think I'm going to puke. Our tax refund was supposed to be deposited today, it hasn't shown up yet so Nick called the IRS. So far all he's been told is that we should be getting a letter in the mail. Where the hell is our money? We have enough saved for closing costs but we are counting on our refund to buy our fridge and stove, and the new flooring and painting. I hope this gets fixed quickly, but we have two weeks until closing and we all know how swiftly the government moves. Ha!

3 going on 13

2009-03-15T22:16:00.000-07:00

Last night at dinner Ruth was being silly, she grabbed some pasta from the serving plate instead of from the pile on her plate. I told her she had some noodles on her plate and she said "Oh, I didn't realize that mama, sorry". What kind of not quite 3 year old says she didn't realize? OMG. She had a bad case of the wiggles too, and was squirming all over the place. After Nick told her to sit still for the 1000th time, she sighed, and said "Daddy, why you being difficult tonight?"

Please bring me a cake with a chisel

2009-03-11T15:26:00.000-07:00

I had to go to traffic court today to clear a ticket I got for speeding. I did traffic school online but I didn't realize the completion certificate had to be mailed to me, and I didn't receive it in time to turn in by the deadline (today). I figured online school=print your certificate from home. Oops.

Anyway, I packed the kids up with some snacks and told them they had to be on number one best behavior, and we set out for court. Now, you'd think that since people are going there for being shitty drivers, they'd be more aware of their driving habits, right? I saw two cars over the line and taking up two spots, two stop signs that were rolled through and quite a few seatbelt violations, all in the parking lot.

Luckily the line was super short and the twins were happy to munch on their goldfish crackers while I took care of business. The clerk wouldn't accept my completion acknowledgement I'd printed out, even though it had my name, completion date, my driver's license number AND the docket number. After waiting in line #1 to get this info, I was told to go outside the building to the exterior walkup window (which is staffed by someone who sits three feet away from the woman who told me to go to the outside window). We trundled outside and the kids sat on a handy little bench that had "puta" and "norte gangstas" scratched into it in a lovely old english font. This woman kindly gave me an extension and warned me it was my last one, as if I'm a chronic traffic school shirker. She didn't even look at my paper that said I'd indeed already done the damn course. Oh well.

The process was entirely too easy, I was expecting more drama and kid chasing. I got the bright idea to call Nick and tell him I was being arrested for not turning in my certificate and he needed to come get the kids ASAP.

Me: I'm being booked for not meeting the terms by the deadline, you need to come get the kids.

Nick: Um..oh god oh god! Um hang on. I'll be right there. But it isn't even the end of the day!

Me: *sniffling for effect* They said I can do it now during business hours or if we wait till 5 I have to be in jail overnight *sniff sniff* and be arraigned in the morning since there's no night court.

Nick: Ungghshhhsdssshitshitshit.

Me: Hahahahahahah just kidding!

Nick: You &*#$%.

I'm expecting some kind of awful payback.

Bathtime Conversations

2009-03-10T22:19:00.001-07:00

I love eavesdropping on the kids during their bath. Tonight Ruthie decided our little rubber frog is her baby, and the baby needed to visit the doctor. Alden is playing the part of the doctor.

Ruth: My baby has an ouchie.

Alden: The doctor is clo-sed.

Ruth: My baybeeee neeedzz the docTOR!

Alden: The.doctor.is.clo-sed.,

Ruth: OPEN!

Alden: Okay, what you want?

At this point I stepped in and asked if the baby needs a bandaid. Ruthie looked at me like I'm totally clueless and said "Mommy, only if it is an ima-gin-na-nary bandaid cuz we in the water". I mimed handing a bandaid to Alden and he put it on the frog. All was well.

House Update

2009-03-08T21:30:00.001-07:00

Inspection: The inspection went well, there are a few small things that the bank will be fixing, but nothing surprising popped up. The bank will steam clean the carpets, retexture and paint the wall dings, install a new master bedroom door, install splashguards and extended downspouts, and repair the water pressure problem in the master bath. Yay! Those are all pretty minor things but I'm glad we won't need to take care of them ourselves, we will be busy enough doing other work.

Appraisal: The house appraised for $100 over our purchase price, woohoo instant equity! Also, it measured 15 square feet larger than the specs our realtor provided.

Closing date: Our closing was set for 3/31, BUT the approval from the bank came back last week and we can close much sooner if we prefer. I'm not sure what we'll do, on the one hand I'm itching to get in and start painting and installing new flooring, but we are paying rent on our current place until mid-April.

Packing: Much to Nick's chagrin, I've already started packing. We are trying to help our landlords find new tenants, and I figure a decluttered house is more appealing than our usual bursting at the seams style. We are looking into hiring movers since our new place is 2 stories, we like our friends and would like to keep them, so it probably would be prudent to not ask them to help us move.

I feel like my to-do list is 10 miles long, but overall the process of buying a house hasn't been as nerve wracking as I thought it would be. Actually FINDING a house was the hardest part, we started this journey 3 years ago when I was pregnant! Back then, we could have purchased a 50 year old 3 bedroom with 1 bathroom at the top of our price range, we actually made an offer on such a house, which was rejected. That turned out to be a good thing though, I'd be kicking myself now, as I'm sure many homeowners are.

The things kids say

2009-02-27T16:44:00.000-08:00

I try not to use certain words and phrases around the kids, things like: that sucks, hate, stupid, etc. Last night at dinner, Alden asked me where my hot dog was (the kiddos got hot dogs, steak, and broccoli--Nick cooked), I told him I didn't get a hot dog and he said "that's a bummer" and gave me a slice of his. What a sweetie.

Little Diva

2009-02-27T16:39:00.000-08:00

This morning Alden pulled out a hunk of Ruthie's hair, they were having some sort of argument. We separated them, I took Roo to the bedroom with me so I could finish drying my hair and getting dressed. I placated her by promising to brush her hair and let her put on a little makeup. Alden had to sit in timeout without his precious brown blankie from nana. This boy is ATTACHED to that dang blanket. Anyway, I brushed Roo's hair and put a bow in and I figured she forgot about the makeup promise. Not so. I should've known better. We were running late for story time, so I rushed us out the door. As soon as the other kids quieted and sat down so we could begin, Ruthie yelled out "Wait, I forgot my makeup!!" She was rather upset so I had to give her my clear Chapstick, whew. That girl, oy. She's already better at applying makeup than I am.

Ruth's Room

2009-02-21T21:24:00.000-08:00

This is Roo's room, on the left you can see the pocket door to the bathroom! Her Tiny Highness has requested pink walls and pink carpet (so not happening!). Our big idea for her room is to do white beadboard with a nice molding, and paint the walls pink on top. I want to get a little decorative chandelier and maybe some kind of canopy over her bed. I feel bad that I have so many girly ideas but I'm lacking in the ideas for Alden's room. Ruthie is just so strong in who she is and she makes her desires known, Alden is more of an enigma for me.

Alden's Room

2009-02-19T21:00:00.000-08:00

Alden has requested we paint his room dark blue, he also yelled something about "Lightning The Queen" and Mater when he was sprinting away from me at Lowe's. I'm not a big fan of character stuff, but I don't want to deny him something he genuinely likes. Maybe we'll do some Cars pillowcases or something easy, I don't want to have to redecorate every three years as his tastes change. One of the first things we will do is install a ceiling fan, I wanted to get something cutesy but decided a plain fan will look great with some removable embellishments, and when he outgrows his beloved Cars, we'll just take off the stickers and have a plain fan.
We went to look at carpet and Alden grabbed a square of the most hideous blue carpet I've ever seen, he insists on blue carpet. He WON'T be winning that battle.

One of the big things I'm looking forward to doing is a growth chart, I've seen some neat ideas online for actually painting a chart onto the bedroom wall. I kind of like the family idea though, and just using a doorframe to record everything. We moved a lot when I was a kid, so I never ever had anything like that.

Bathroom ideas

2009-02-19T20:37:00.000-08:00

One of my *FAVORITE* things about the new house is the Jack and Jill bath that connects Ruth and Alden's rooms. I found some awesome Thing 1 and Thing 2 wall decals, isn't that such a great theme for twins? I'm totally excited. Damn I'm lame. I'm stuck on a paint color though, there aren't any windows in their bathroom, so I want a bright paint color to keep it feeling like a light space. I'm thinking a super bright aqua color so that the hair on the Things still stands out against the paint. This is going to be a super crafty creation, I have quite a few grand ideas.

The downstairs bath is probably going to be a fishy theme, just because that's what we have already and we won't need to buy anything.

I have no ideas yet for the master bath. I'm going to concentrate on the public areas first and save our bedroom and bath for last. So, it'll probably be decorated in about six years. Haha!

Mr. Convincing

2009-02-18T23:30:00.001-08:00

Tonight as we put the kids to bed, Alden asked Nick to lay down with him. Nick said he had to go help me clean up because people were coming over, Alden told him I can clean by myself (apparently men stick together). Nick said "no, daddy needs to be nice and help mommy". Alden leaned in close and whispered "be naughty daddy, lay down". Hahaha!!! I'd much rather be snuggling with my little man than doing dishes!

Alden's newest thing is playing tricks. The other day in the car he asked where Ruthie was, I replied that she was in her carseat, and he said "No, that not Roo, that's just a stuffie", then laughed his head off. Of course I had to pretend that we left Ruthie at home and that made him laugh even harder. Little trickster.

Kitchen Ideas

2009-02-15T22:39:00.000-08:00

After almost 3 years of living with a galley style kitchen that has ONE drawer, I'm so excited to finally be able to fully unpack and spread out. I have boxes and boxes of cooking tools, wineglasses, baking pans, etc. that have been sitting in the garage because there was no room in the kitchen. I also have quite a few ideas for my new space. It's currently very plain, white ceramic tile counters, plain oak cabinets, linoleum, etc. Our first order of business is a new refrigerator and range. Fortunately there is a gas line, yay! Our dream fridge is a french door behemoth, and I'm debating the merits of a double oven. It would be nice for cooking large meals and for parties, but I don't know if it's really worth the added expense.

Here are some pictures of the new digs, so you can see what I'm talking about, I swear these are the worst pictures on earth. The listing agent must have been in a hurry:

My big ideas are (in no particular order):
1. Butcher block on the island, with an 8-10" overhang into the living room, so we can use it as a breakfast bar.

2. Paint the cabinets white and put a beadboard insert in the door faces for a cottage look.

3. New light fixture, something funky.

4. Glass brick tile backsplash, I love the brightness of glass tile!

5. Solid surface countertops, maybe Silestone or one of the new acrylics, with a seamless integrated sink for easy cleaning.

6. New flooring, we are going to do laminate in the kitchen, living room and front formal dining room area. Our dog will thrash the carpets in no time, laminate is so easy to clean and the newer handscraped styles look wonderful.

7. I want to paint the panels on the pantry doors with magnetic paint on two, and chalkboard paint on the other two. The kiddos can play while I cook, and I can write notes when I need to re-stock!

8. Slide out shelves in a few of the cabinets, great for pots and pans!

9. New window coverings, the dirty aluminum blinds will do for now, but eventually we'll put up something a little nicer looking.

As you can see, I've been spending way too much time daydreaming about the new house!

Home Sweet Home......in 2 months

2009-02-13T16:47:00.001-08:00

Adventures in homebuying

2009-02-12T16:46:00.000-08:00

I DO NOT recommend bring your twin toddlers along when you are looking for a home.

1. Your daughter will need to pee, in a model home that has locks on the toilets.
2. Your son will want to jump on the model home's cardboard bed.
3. Both kids will try to eat the rubber grapes so nicely displayed on the model dining room table.
4. You'll walk into a foreclosure that is so freaking nasty you won't leave the foyer AND you will hold your kids the whole time in fear of disease.
5. You'll walk into a smelly house and your daughter will say "why you say this house stinky mama?" So much for under the breath muttering.
6. The dead gopher in a pool looks like poop to a 2 year old.

On #4, we walked into a house that looked beautiful from the front. Unfortunately the previous owner decided to graffiti XXX rated drawings on the walls, burn the newel post, drip something nasty and black all over the floors, and knock holes in the wall with a hammer. This place was so disgusting we held the kids the whole time, and after seeing the downstairs from the foyer, we ran away as quickly as we could. Another house smelled like someone had peed all over the carpets and locked the house up for a year. There were dead cockroaches all over the kitchen counters too. Lovely. My favorite house is the one that had the marijuana smoking lounge in the converted garage, and the kitchen had been remodeled.....but apparently the owners didn't actually use the kitchen to cook, they had taken out the countertop range and put in shelves..... oy.

Hello Kitty

2009-02-11T15:12:00.001-08:00

Roo and I are sitting at the dining room table, eating Sees chocolates from the boxes my dad sent us (thanks dad, we will call you tonight!). She pulled all of the paper cup thingies out of her box and piled them on the table.

She says:
"I'm taking out the trash cuz I don't like to eat trash. Oscar the grouch does like to eat trash, but I don't". I grabbed her up and gave her a big hug, then I asked her if she loves me. She leans in for a kiss, but when I lean in, she licks my nose and says "I love soda".

I wish I had hidden cameras, she's sitting here in her bling tee that says Big Sister, wearing baggy Hello Kitty underpants, with a side ponytail. She's her own person, and I love it.

Why that lady no find a freaking spot?

2009-01-22T22:14:00.000-08:00

I need to stop underestimating my kids. We were driving through a parking lot and this woman was blocking the lane, I muttered something about finding a freaking spot rather than jamming up everyone else. From the backseat I hear a little voice say: "why that lady no find a freaking spot mama?". Oops. Then Alden piped up with a "what's the heck!?". They've also learned to say dammit, courtesy of their father. We passed a big billboard and Alden told me the sign said a naughty word, he totally just wanted me to ask what naughty word so he could bust out with a dammit. When we leave places Ruthie likes to say "us bouncing now", sometimes we bounce AND roll. Yeah, my kids are hip to the late 90s-early 2000 slang. Haha.

Too dang smart

2009-01-22T22:10:00.001-08:00

I was talking to Ruthie about getting rid of her bunty (pacifier), she's turning 3 in May and I just feel like she needs to give it up! Right? Maybe not. She's usually very generous so I suggested we box up her bunties and mail them to babies who don't have any, I tried this tactic a few weeks ago and it didn't go over well, so I tried again. The following conversation ensued:

Me: So we are going to mail your bunties to babies who don't have any, right?
Roo: No.
Me: Why?
Roo: Dey's mommy can go to Target and buy der own.
Me: Sometimes they can't do that honey.
Roo Dey have lots of colors at Target. My bunties is mine.

Disneyland or bust!

2009-01-11T21:57:00.000-08:00

We will be celebrating Ruth and Alden's third birthday in style, with a trip to Disneyland! We went last summer and they had a blast, we decided to go again, and make it a longer trip. We only did one day last year, and Ruthie pried Nick's eyes open the next day and said "more Disneyland?" We figured we'd do three days this time, hopefully that will be enough for some real exploring, but not TOO long. I'm already doing some research, we'll probably stay at a different hotel this time, and I'm trying to figure out which character breakfast to attend, where the kids' favorites hang out, etc. Ruthie told me that she wants Tinkerbelle to hold her. What a crackup! Alden wants to see Mickey's house, he loves that mouse.

I think I'll wear this shirt, isn't it cute?

Cheers, not just for glasses!

2009-01-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

Ruthie is very into "cheers-ing" just about anything, ice cream cones, crayons, drinks, dollies, and now......vaginas. We went to our favorite thai place the other night, it's THE BEST thai restaurant in Merced, and of course, it is freaking closing at the end of the month because of the stupid economy. Ruthie insists on bringing her Chloe doll everywhere, it is the ugliest thing ever, but she treats it like an appendage. The service was a little slow, so the kids were getting punchy. I heard Ruthie saying "cheers, cheers, cheers", I looked over and she was doing this weird dance, I asked what she was doing and she said "me's cheers-ing geenas with Chloe, cheers, cheers, cheers" while basically dry humping her doll. OMG, this girl. She cracks me up, I love her so much.

How bad will it get?

2009-01-04T21:34:00.000-08:00

The local casualty list:
Mervyns--boo hoo, cute clothes at great prices
Circuit City
Linens n Things
random Japanese restaurant that had just ironed out the kinks and become a good place to eat
Crescent Jewelers
my favorite Thai restaurant
countless other small local businesses

Really, how "bad" will this recession be?? There are hundreds of empty/abandoned/foreclosed houses here, as time goes on the weeds get taller, more graffiti adorns the walls, and the danger of vandals accidentally setting a fire grows. It is freaking depressing to drive down a street and see these empty homes. I can't feel any sympathy for the greedy investors who thought they were buying a 400k bargain as an investment, then lost their shirts when they weren't able to flip their "bargains" as expected, and when the rental market shriveled up because they were WAY more homes than renters. The opening of a UC doesn't mean there will be a sudden mass migration of people to fill your overpriced homes, at astronomical rental fees, just because you are the idiot who paid $400k for a house in Merced AKA the butthole of the flea in the armpit hair of California. The upside of this, for us, is that we are moving closer to buying a home. I'm still leaning towards an older home with charm, but the rock bottom price for a big, upgraded house that has never even been lived in sounds pretty darn good. Benefiting from someone else's misfortune isn't usually my thing, but in this case I think my karma will survive intact.

Twin love

2008-12-17T23:29:00.001-08:00

The kids and I went to the mall today, of course we had to make a potty stop and this sweet scene unfolded:

The three of us crowded into a stall at JC Penney, Alden decided he wanted to stand to pee, so I got him into position and he let loose. I was encouraging him and he was smiling, then all of a sudden Ruthie leaned in and gave Alden a bear hug and said "Good job, I'm so proud of you Awwlden"! The hug knocked him a little off balance and the spray went a little crazy, but I hardly noticed through my misty eyes. I love it when they are so caring and supportive of each other.

This evening my dear friend Patty and I went shopping for the family my SAHM group has adopted for the holidays, we had a blast while Nick entertained the twins and Patty's son. When we got home Roo was asleep but the boys were up, waiting for their mamas. Alden's been waiting up for me when I have a rare evening out, it is so cute, he always looks a little surprised to see me then runs up for a hug.

Privacy Time

2008-12-15T22:35:00.001-08:00

I walked into the playroom to find Alden in his poo crouch, I asked him how he was doing, and he said "go back in the kitchen and finish your eyeballs (buckeye balls)". I asked him if he was okay and he said "I already told you, I need privacy time", then he pushed me out the door and closed it. WTF. Are these kids 2.5 or 13?

Any ideas on how to get him to poop in the toilet? He's fine with going pee, but for dropping a deuce he needs a diaper.

I telling you last time!

2008-12-12T23:32:00.000-08:00

"I want to watch Handy Mandy! Last time mama, I mean it! I not joking around."

Well, I suppose it is good that she's listening and understanding me when I say things to her.......

Ruthie is a Narc

2008-12-10T23:56:00.000-08:00

Tonight as we were driving home from looking at Christmas lights:

"Careful Doug, that's what Nana says to Gwampa" says Ruthie.
I say "When did Nana say that?"
"When him driving us to him's house, him's a cwazy driver and nana says careful Doug!"

My little tattler! Over Thanksgiving weekend we'd gone to downtown Placerville w/my family and nana and grandpa took the kids back to their house so Nick and I could have a date night. My dad is a pretty wild driver, he talks with his hands and likes to look you in the eye when you are talking, even if he's the one driving on the scary twisty narrow roads to his house.

Christmas 2008 formal pictures

2008-12-07T00:12:00.000-08:00

I took the twins to Kiddie Kandids on Friday, we always have good results there, although some minor injury ALWAYS occurs before we step up to the platform for pictures. For their 2nd birthday session, I accidentally pinched Ruthie's thigh when I was snapping her onesie. This time Alden slammed his fingers in a drawer. Oh well, I think they are pretty darn cute!

Alden is potty trained!!!

2008-12-07T00:03:00.000-08:00

My little sweetie is turning into such a big boy! We started potty training over Thanksgiving weekend while we were visiting my dad. I guess things just finally clicked for him and it's been pretty smooth sailing. Back when Roo decided to potty train, I figured I may as well try with Alden, but no dice. He could hold it for hours but wouldn't pee in the toilet no matter what I tried, he insisted on a diaper. Anyway, he looks so stinking cute in his little briefs, he even has little boxer briefs for the super hubba-hubba look. We are still wearing diapers for poop, and for overnights. I'm not quite ready to close the final chapter on this last shred of babyhood. This is a great step for him, preschool requires that he be potty trained, so I'm glad that's out of the way before next fall. We are working on his aim, maybe he and Nick can both learn at the same time! Haha.

Is there such a thing as too sensitive?

2008-11-24T16:29:00.000-08:00

On Friday night Nick was reading Dumbo to the kids. It's one of their favorite movies and they love the book too. When Nick read the page where Dumbo's mommy gets locked up for going crazy, Alden got very very upset, and kept asking where she went, then he finally dissolved into tears. It was so sweet and sad at the same time. He was inconsolable until finally we read the page where Dumbo flies and then is reunited with his mom.

He has so much empathy in his little soul, I don't want that to change but if he's this emo as a toddler, what will I be dealing with when he is a teenager?

More funnies

2008-11-24T15:14:00.000-08:00

Wearing only her baggy underpants, Ruthie walked into the kitchen. She had one of I'm Up To No Good smirks on her sweet face, and she said:

"I hide-a my bunty inna my panties, dat's how me rolls."

and turned and walked away.

As she was walking, I noticed a little tail in her undies, sure enough, she'd stuck her bunty (pacifier) in her panties to hide it from Alden.

Alden's favorite song is "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes" but he puts his own special spin on it:

Head
Shoulders
TESSICLES AND PENIS
AND BUTT
AND FARTS
AND BAGINA
HAHAHAHAHA

OMG, I'm not sure I'll be able to take him to story time at the library next week, that dang song is a staple. I can just picture him busting out with his special lyrics and those stuck up bitches from last week running out of the room in horror.

Use your inside voice when talking smack

2008-11-21T15:19:00.000-08:00

Our local library has a story hour every Friday, a few weeks ago I noticed two newcomers. I believe they are a grandmother/daughter/granddaughter, and the grandmother is babysitting another granddaughter too. Got that? Okay. Anyway, during story time the kids tend to get up and walk around a little, nothing too bad. The twins like to get up and sit with their friends or just stand up to get the wiggles out. No biggie, right? It's a room full of toddlers, not a mausoleum. Anyway, after the story time the granny and her daughter were complaining about the level of chaos and bitching about the moms who are "just letting their kids run wild, how will they ever learn". Dude. It's story time. For toddlers. If you are that uptight now, just wait till your little darling is two. Of course, they were only complaining to each other, loudly, in front of other moms. Passive aggressive much? Ugh.

Real life is scary

2008-11-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

So, yesterday we had this fancy box installed. It gives us over 100 TV channels! For the last 2+ years we've had an antenna and only watched ABC, CBS, NBC and sometimes Fox. Ruthie started resenting the aluminum foil helmet we made her wear, and she got too big to perch on the windowsill, so our reception has been pretty fuzzy lately.

Anyway, a whole new world has opened for me. Did you know there is a show called My Big Fat Redneck Wedding? I am seriously frightened. The episode I'm watching features a hot dog eating contest during the reception, the grandma of the bride popped out her dentures in preparation. Holy crap. Damn those red states!

Election Night

2008-11-04T21:31:00.001-08:00

Go Obama!!! I'm so excited for this new chapter in our lives, I think Obama will do great things for our country.

The California measures, I'm not too stoked about . Prop 8 seems to be passing, mega bummer dude. I think all people should be allowed to marry, but apparently others don't believe in equal rights. Merced County voted in favor of Prop 8 at 72%!!! No wonder I feel like such an outsider. Gee whiz.

These kids!

2008-11-04T21:29:00.000-08:00

Most days end with my stomach hurts from laughing so hard, that's the only abdominal workout I've had in a long time.

Ruth: Alden jacked my peas!
Alden: I love poopoo, yummy!
Ruth: Only us ladies can go inna here, you boys go inna other one *points to the men's room door*.
Alden: I voting for John McCain!
Ruth: Write my name mommy, R-U-T-H spells Ruth!
Alden: Turkey makes my tummy hurt, we have McDonalds?

After I got a speeding ticket:
Ruth: Why that man make us stop? Us going fast.

The Mommy Blahs

2008-11-02T21:48:00.000-08:00

I'm in the mood for some retail therapy courtesy of my Amazon.com giftcard.

First order of business, shoes:

Did you know that Chuck Taylor Low Top Converse are now almost 40 freaking dollars??

WTF!

I'm way too stinkin' cheap to spend that much money on a pair of shoes for myself. I do need something more sensible than my usual flip-flops, so I'm going to bite the bullet. The twins run super fast now and wet flipflops aren't so good for sprinting after them when they decide to dash for the road full of pedophiles and candy and razorblades and other unsavory things.

An ethical dilemma

2008-11-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

What would you have done?

I went to Target by myself (a rare treat). I picked up a few essentials and checked out. As I walked out I noticed that two of the items in my bag were not on the receipt. Score for me!

Okay, not really. I would have felt way guilty for keeping the items without paying, so I hustled over to the customer service desk to pay. The woman sort of acted like she thought I had stolen the items. WTF? I will always remember this Dateline or 20/20 type of show where people were on hidden camera in various scenarios. One scene involved a cashier "accidentally" giving people $20 too much in change, the people who realized it and still kept it seemed like such jerks. I wouldn't want to be that jerk on TV.

This is officially the most boring entry I've written. **Insert cute and folksy Sarah Palin eye-wink here.**

Some Ruthisms

2008-10-06T16:25:00.000-07:00

Aunt Squeaky is getting married on Halloween, this weekend Ruth and I attended her bridal shower. Poor Roo was very confused about why everyone was coming to Auntie Amy's house to take a shower. When I told her it was almost time for the shower to start, she said: "I don't WANT to take a shower"!

This weekend there was lots of wedding talk, and on the ride home from the festivities, I asked the twins if they were going to get married someday. Ruth said "Mama, us getting married". I asked for clarification and she said "Me and Alden, us getting married". Well, I guess that is one way to save money on their weddings. We might need to move to Arkansas.....

Today we met up with Nick for lunch, as we were leaving he took Ruthie to the potty. When they came back he showed me a wet spot on the back of her jeans, she likes to lean back when she pees, which results in a stream of urine shooting over the front of the bowl. It's lovely. When we were loading them into the car, Nick decided to take off her pants since we were just going straight home for naps. Ruthie yelled "Mama, daddy peepee onna my pants, now I naked!" I said: "Daddy peeed on your pants?" She yelled: "Yup, him peed on my pants!"

On the ride home from lunch, both kids were a little punchy. Ruthie had her bunty (pacifier) and she decided to hide it from Alden. From the backseat I hear: "Mama, I hidda my bunty in my bottom. It's inna my panties", then she has a fit of giggles. Me, horrified, driving on the freeway: "Your bunty is in your booty?" Her, giggling: "Yup, I hide it from Alden so he no take it." Giggle giggle giggle. OMG. I don't know where she actually hid it, but it was in her hand when we pulled up in front of our house.

Violet has an ouchie.

2008-09-08T13:22:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning little Miss Violet jumped out the bedroom window and went to visit the dog next door (technically behind our house). We went looking for her after we realized she got out, and Nick found her cowering in a corner of the neighbor's yard. He scooped her up and we decided to bathe her because she was covered in dirt. We thought she was fine then realized she was definitely NOT fine, her leg bone was sticking out all crazy. Not through the skin thank goodness, but definitely not in the right place. He rushed her to the vet while I stayed home with the twins. We were able to save her, but her leg had to be removed. The vet says she'll be just fine, in fact she's already getting around pretty easily. We are keeping her in our bedroom for the next few weeks while she recovers, we need to make sure her stitches keep clean and that our dog doesn't bother her. She's still a kitten so mobility-wise she will adapt and still be able to do all the usual cat things like climb and run and pounce. Ruthie doesn't understand why Violet can't sleep with her, last night she asked for her and Nick told her Violet has to sleep with mommy and daddy, so Ruthie said "give her my Aunt Jeffer blankie". Awwww, she meant the quilt my sister Jennifer made for Roo when she was a baby. How sweet is my little girl?!?

Here are some pics, they are pretty graphic. I wasn't prepared for this at all, I didn't realize how shaved she would be and how big the incision is.

Dude, where's my freaking leg?

You take my leg AND I have to wear this stupid collar? Oh well, at least it is purple.

Ruthie is A-OK

2008-09-01T13:16:00.000-07:00

Well, she's still sassy, but I didn't expect that to change. We waited around until noon on Friday for the all clear. Grrr. Not too impressed by the service we received at the ped's office. We had a fun weekend at my dad's house. Nana and grandpa babysat so the husband and I could go out OVERNIGHT. We stayed at a cute little hotel in Placerville and went out to dinner and did some window shopping. We attempted to see a movie but arrived at the multi-plex and realized that we had NO IDEA what any of the movies were about. The posters gave a little clue, but rather than waste $20 on something that might suck, we decided to go walk through Nugget. Nugget is like Whole Foods on steroids, tons of organic stuff, and the prepared food area is amazing. There's a salad bar, Chinese bar, grilled chicken, beer/wine, Mexican, on and on and on. The new store in El Dorado Hills is crazy big.

So yes, we spent our date night walking around a grocery store. When did I get so old and boring? Oh well.

Don't call CPS on me

2008-08-27T22:44:00.000-07:00

Ruthie had a little tumble today, she fell off her scooter. It seems she may have broken a bone in her foot, I should know for sure tomorrow. Poor little bit, I have to carry her around, so she calls to me: "mommy, please take me potty" or "mommy, I want to sit in the other chair". So sad. I took her to the pediatrician and we had x-rays done, but the radiologist hasn't reviewed them yet. In the meantime, ice cream, an ACE bandage, and some Motrin is holding her off until the morning. The medical imaging place has a special separate room that is quite obviously the mammogram room, while we were waiting no fewer than three little old ladies came in to get their boobs squished. They all looked slightly nervous, and when the door to the special room opened I saw posters about breast self exams. Ruthie kept asking "what the ladies doing mama?", it was cute. She's such a little chatterbox, her latest kick is knowing everybody's name. The mailman, the homeless guy looting our recyling bin, the little girl having a tantrum at the doctor's office, the x-ray technician, etc. she must know everyone's name or else!

A (not so) Happy Meal story

2008-08-15T14:11:00.000-07:00

I was stumped for ideas of what to do today, so I took the kids to McDonalds for lunch. They can run around and work off some energy while I sit on my butt in the shade. Sounds awesome, right? The husband met us there and immediately Ruth had to pee, so he took her to the men's room. Ew. Apparently there was poop on the back of the toilet and that upset Roo, so later on when she had to poop she chose to crap her pants in the middle of the play area. This was our first crappy pants experience, she hasn't had any poop accidents since she potty trained. I took her to the ladies room and cleaned her up, but I didn't have any bags so I had to stick her poopy panties and shorts in a happy meal box. Luckily I had spare panties and shorts in my car, but she's been so good about not having accidents, I was really caught off guard. When I asked her why she pooped in her panties she said "no go bafroom, it dirty"! Is there a good way to get poopy panties off without getting crap all over her legs? I pulled one leg out then the other, so we only got poop on one leg, but ew.

She has such a big heart

2008-08-10T22:21:00.001-07:00

We went for a bike ride today, pics to come later. There's a gorgeous bike path in town that runs along a creek and through one of the older neighborhoods in town. About a year ago a house burned down, the elderly couple who lived there were both killed (the fire was set to cover up the scene) and the crime is still unsolved. :-( The house is still standing, though basically destroyed. I was dying of thirst and we just happened to stop right across the street from the house, and Ruthie and Alden were very curious about what happened. I explained that the house caught on fire and burned down. Naturally, their response was "why?". I said someone was naughty and played with matches. Ruthie reflected on that for a minute, looked at the house, then looked back at me and said "Mommy get house ice?" Ice you see, is the miracle cure for everything. Your brother bites you? Ice! Your kitty scratches you because you are trying to stick your finger up her butt? Ice! Mommy refuses to read Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See for the thousandth time? Just cry and ask for ice! She's such a sweetie. I wish ice could fix everything wrong in the world.

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2008-08-04T23:00:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we went to Monterey in order to escape the heat. It was so refreshing to be out of this hot weather and gross air. Towards the end of the day we actually had to buy sweatshirts! I felt like such a tourist. We started out at the aquarium, which the kids l-o-v-e-d. We did the older part first, and the newly remodeled Splash Zone. We discovered that European tourists are extremely rude, and that it was pointless to bring the strollers in because Ruth and Alden preferred to sprint between exhibits. Ruthie's favorite animal is the "habapuss" aka octopus, Alden seems to prefer the starfish and kelp. We took a break around lunch time and had some pizza on Cannery Row.

After pizza we went to Trader Joe's and bought some flowers, then we went to the cemetary and put them at my grandfather's grave. To escape the somberness, we then took the kids to Dennis the Menace Park. Unfortunately our battery died at the aquarium earlier in the day, so no pictures of the twins having fun. While I was waiting for Ruthie at the bottom of the slide, I had a nice chat with a woman who just moved to the area a year ago. I commented that the park had changed a lot since I played there as a kid and she said "oh the park has been here that long?" I'm not sure what her interpretation of "that long" was, and I started to wonder if I'm really old, then I realized that I played there TWENTY YEARS AGO. Crap I'm old.

After we left the park, we walked around Fisherman's Wharf and chowed down on some free chowder samples, and we had a caricature drawn of the kids. We also went to the candy store and Ruthie picked out "candy balls" and Alden chose gold coins. That boy, he's all about the money! He loves carrying coins and paper dollars.

After the Wharf we went back to the aquarium and went through the Outer Bay area. The aquarium is open until 8PM on weekends in the summer, but it was mostly deserted. It was so neat to have room to let the kids run and shout without worrying about losing them or getting the evil eye from the previously mentioned rude European tourists. Seriously though, at the Splash Zone, Alden splashed some water. Approximately three drops landed in the vicinity of this little girl's sleeve. The five adults with her all shouted "hey hey hey" and shot Alden dirty looks and clucked their tongues and shook their heads. WHAT THE HELL?! I looked at them and said "he's 2 and you don't all need to yell at him". Ugh. Asses. It's not like he dragged her into the bathroom and gave her a swirlie.

Anyway, here are some pictures!

Big news from Ruth!

2008-07-27T22:36:00.000-07:00

About three weeks ago Ruthie woke up and decided she wasn't going to wear a diaper anymore. Yes, she is AMAZING. She peepees on the potty like a pro, and poops too. In fact, she makes family poops. After she dropped a dooce last week she proudly pointed to the different...um...elements and pointed out "there's a mommy poopoo, a daddy poopoo, and a Woofie (Ruthie) poopoo!"! She also does two different types of poop, pieces or a choo-choo. Pieces are little nuggets, a poo-poo choo-choo is a log. Fascinating, isn't it? We talk about poop all the time here. Finding tiny panties has been a little hard, she can wear size 12-18 in the waist and panties come in 2T-3T as the smallest size. Gymboree fits her pretty well, and Hanes from Target. The funny thing is that quite a few of her shorts and capris are way too big now that she isn't wearing a diaper! The good news is that I got out her last year's fall/winter wardrobe and discovered that since she isn't wearing a bulky diaper, she can wear most of her bottoms again this year.

Alden isn't as taken by the potty, he has peed in it on occasion, but I don't anticipate him being ready to potty train any time soon. He wears little underpants but tends to pee in them or take them off and streak through the house. We do a lot of streaking here. Well, the kids do.

As a reward for being a big girl and saying bye bye to diapers, Ruthie got a new kitty. She's a little Siamese named Violet.

San Diego

2008-06-21T22:18:00.000-07:00

After our Disneyland sojourn we packed up the car and ventured down to San Diego! We have lots of family and friends in San Diego, and it was nice to spend quality time with all of them. Our hotel was definitely a huge step up from our Disneyland Dive, my brother in law scored us a room at the La Jolla Marriot for a super cheap rate. There was an indoor AND outdoor pool AND Bath and Body Works toiletries in the bathroom. The parking lot was the worst in the world, just ask my sister's brand new minivan. People have no conscience. The highlights of the trip included visiting with college friends, checking out the beautiful grounds of the Mormon temple, and walking around La Jolla.

Disneyland

2008-06-19T22:07:00.000-07:00

Disneyland was awesome. I totally misunderestimated (thanks GW for that gem) the twins. I thought they'd be overwhelmed and not have fun, or they'd be bored. HA! In hindsight we should have planned on going to the park for two days rather than just one. Our hotel was a dive but the location was awesome, right across the street from the Happiest Place on Earth. We checked in on Wednesday, hit the park on Thursday, then drove down to San Diego for more family fun on Friday! Ruthie loved the princesses, specifically Tinkerbell. Well, I guess she isn't a princess.....whatever. She loves her! I had to stalk some new pajamas on Ebay so now she has two pair of Tink jammies. We didn't take our camera in so I only have a few pics that my sister took. Enjoy. The first one is Ruthie with her cousins and uncle Tyler, and Cinderella.

My baby sister and my nieces, and Ariel.

Pollock Pines

2008-06-18T22:27:00.000-07:00

We had a super fun visit with Grandpa and Nana and my sisters and brother in law and sweet nieces. I loved holding my newest niece Madeline Kate, she is so sweet and cuddly! Makes me want another baby. Shhhhh don't tell the hubster, he'll have me send up the river. Our visit marked the first time I went to the lake part of Lake Tahoe. I've been skiing up there several times but never actually ventured into the lake. It is very nice, lovely sandy beach, decent parking, not too crowded....we brought plenty of drinks and snacks and had a ball playing in the sand, splashing in the freezing water, and spending time with family we don't get to see often enough.

Travel plans

2008-06-11T22:57:00.000-07:00

We are gearing up for a fun week+ of traveling throughout the state. On Friday we head up to my dad's house for Father's Day festivities, and Nana's birthday. Nick has to come back for work on Monday/Tuesday, but the kids and I are staying up there until we all leave for Disneyland on Wednesday. We'll drive through Merced for a potty break and to pick up Nick. We head down to LA and go to the park on Thursday, then Friday we drive down to San Diego to visit some dear friends. I'm looking forward to it! I want to go to Mexico too, we'll see what we have time for. Nick says we can't b/c someone will steal the kids. Whatevs, I'm sure I can translate "terrible twos" into spanish and that will scare everyone off.

Two year pictures!

2008-06-11T22:44:00.000-07:00

We finally took the twins in for some pro pictures! It was a rough trip, they weren't really in the mood for photos, Alden is getting molars so his fist was in his mouth constantly. When I was changing Roo's outfit I accidentally pinched her leg when I snapped her onesie. Oops. Poor chicken little, her face is all blotchy in the pettiskirt pics, but she's still hecka cute. See for yourself!

Nana made the sock monkeys in the photo, she is amazingly talented! Their matching library bags are hanging on the bench. The twins have been getting a little rowdy at the library, so we bring their sock monkeys and they hold them while Ms. Carr reads books. It is so cute to see them sitting with their monkeys on their laps. Ruthie's favorite book is Brown Bear Brown Bear, What Do You See?, she has it memorized! Alden likes any Sandra Boynton book, but especially Hippos Go Berserk.

Alden wasn't happy about posing, I call these his calendar pics. I see a modeling career in his future, what do you think?

Happy Birthday to my Twinkles!

2008-05-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

I'll post pictures later, too pooped right now.

We celebrated Ruth and Alden's second birthday with a big bash at the lake. It was a Rootin' TWOtin' good time. Yes, I'm a dork about themes. I can't believe my lovelies are two, the second year flew by, even more quickly than the first. They learn new things every day, Ruthie knows all of her colors and can count to 5. She sings a bunch of songs, and has memorized a few of her favorite books. Alden is alway studying how things work, hinges, doorknobs, wheels, etc. His love of animals continues to grow, we saw some dogs at the park over the weekend and he immediately squatted down to their level (the ever-popular Merced Chihuahua) to say hello. I can't wait to take them to the fair this summer, they will go nuts.

Their size differences remain fairly constant, Ruthie is a hair over 23 pounds, Alden is a hair over 32!!!! He's also about 4 inches taller. The funny thing is, she eats way more than Alden. We eat lunch together and she scarfs hers down, then steals pieces of my food. I'm doing Weight Watchers, maybe she's just trying to keep me on track?

We have a busy summer planned, we are going to my dad's house next weekend, then we are off to Disneyland and San Diego. All told the kids and I will be gone for a week, my older sister and her family are in the states before their move to South Korea. We are all looking forward to spending time with her and her family, including my newest niece!

Had a crappy Valentine's Day (literally)!

2008-02-15T14:22:00.001-08:00

Man, us Mercedians sure know how to party! We started off with a romantic breakfast of green eggs (scrambled eggs with steamed broccoli mixed in), then went to the park for a playdate with friends. We had an intimate lunch at the local Indian buffet, just us and our friends Harper and Merrick and their parents. To cap off the day, Nick and I took the kids to McDonalds for a gourmet meal of chicken nuggets and apple slices. Alden showed how he feels about me by climbing into the top of the play structure and taking a gigantic dump. I mean GIGANTIC. As in, down his legs, all over his pants, onto his socks and shoes gigantic. Now, this sort of thing doesn't happen often (read: ever) so I was totally unprepared and didn't have any extra pants for the poor little chubster. Once I had decontaminated Alden and finished gagging, I realized I didn't even have a manly diaper to put him in!!! Poor little guy had to wear Ruthie's Paper Doll diaper. Sorry Bubba!!! Did I mention that he started crying after he pooped and I had to worm my way into the twisty turny part of the tubes to get him? Yeah. Awesome.

A new kind of babywearing!

2008-02-13T13:59:00.000-08:00

The whole family has been sick and, well, I got a little crazy with the home confinement, barfing, snot, crying, etc. Roo picked up my backpack and somehow this brilliant idea was born!

Isn't she the cutest little thing? She was happy to sit in the backpack, I even put her on and carried her around the house! Forget those pricey Ergo and Mei Tei carriers! My highschool-era Jansport puts those to shame with it's style and ease of use. We probably could have crammed a doll and some Cheerios in there too.

I think we are all on the mend now, cross your fingers! If things get bad again you may see some "twins in a rolling suitcase" pictures.

Obama your mama!

2008-02-07T22:47:00.000-08:00

Monday and Tuesday were full of political activities! On Monday we joined some fellow Dems for a little sign waving at a busy corner in town. Apparently Republicans thing it is really funny to honk then FLIP ME OFF! Seriously, what the heck? Don't agree with my political views, but have the class to not flip me off in front of my babies. Ugh.

Tuesday we voted. On the drive to the polling place we practiced saying "vote" and "Obama". While I was filling out my ballot Ruth kept yelling "vooote" with a long Minnesota-esque long O. Alden kept yelling "O-MAMA"!! I don't think the VFW hall has seen so much excitement in many years. We all got "I voted" stickers, Ruthie opted to put hers on on her sippy cup but Alden proudly affixed his to his shirt.

Bet they've got their hands full.....snicker snicker

2008-01-16T21:41:00.000-08:00

We went on a shoe buying adventure this weekend, Roo is now the proud owner of some super cute Vans. They run very fast and go JUMP JUMP JUMP. Anyway, as we were leaving the mall I saw a double stroller with two little baby buckets inside. As I stopped to admire the babies, I spied a single stroller with a THIRD baby bucket! Yup, TRIPLETS. The dad saw me staring and I knew the look on his face. It said "oh geez, please don't ask me any stupid questions". I knew that look well, as I have worn it myself on many occasions. Anyway, I swiveled my stroller around to show off my duo, and we traded genders, ages, etc.

As we walked away, Nick and I went through the List Of Questions* as a joke.

It started with Nick saying: "Triplets huh, bet they've got their hands full."

I followed up with: "Triplets? Are they all related?"

Our other favorites are:
Oh god, I'd kill myself.
Twins? That's grounds for suicide.
That's what you get for playing god (people rightly assume we used fertility treatments).
Boy and girl? Are they identical? No? Are you sure? They look so much alike!
So are they brother and sister? Both of them? Huh.

*These are ALL things people have said to me or Nick!

I think the "hands full" comment aggravates me the most because I hear it so frequently. Yes,, I do have my hands full. Instead of standing like an idiot and gaping at me, why don't you hold the freaking door open!!!

Our formal Christmas photos...

2008-01-07T22:33:00.000-08:00

They are getting so big!! I figured this was my last year to dress them up in silly outfits, so I went all out with Alden. I love his little coveralls!

New pictures y'all

2007-12-29T22:21:00.000-08:00

went to the Habitot Childrens Museum In Berkeley, it was tons of fun. We met up with some friends and their toddlers, they all had a blast. Alden especially enjoyed the water table, Roo liked the climbing wall. After playing at the museum we ventured into San Francisco and walked around Union Square. The highlight of the day was setting the twins loose in the Square to run off some energy. Alden ran around the square making airplane arms, and Ruthie stood in front of the huge Christmas tree and said "wowwwww"!

...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

2007-12-24T20:50:00.000-08:00

The stockings on the wall were made for Ruth and Alden by my incredible stepmother. They are absolutely beautiful!!! We never got around to putting up outside lights, so no exterior pictures. Yes, my tree is on the coffee table and tied to the wall. After the Great Tree Topple of Christmas 2006 we aren't taking any chances this year. Note my kitty licking her butt. I'm going to show this picture when her boyfriend comes to pick her up for their date.

It is Christmas Eve, according to Norad, Santa is Ontario. I better go to sleep soon or he might skip my house! Tonight we drove around and looked at Christmas lights, and we discussed how they need to go to sleep so Santa will come visit our house. We also made sugar cookies! Mmmm tasty.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

2007-12-04T15:38:00.000-08:00

The tree is up and the mantle is decorated. I love Christmas!!!

That's Okay Ruthie, You Can Keep It!

2007-09-15T22:40:00.000-07:00

I think it is really her color anyway, right? Ruthie is very girly, she must have her purse and shoes before we leave the house. She's also become interested in makeup, it must be some innate girly instinct b/c she certainly didn't get that from me! She picks up anything cylindrical and rubs it on her lips. She slipped a little and stuck this one in her nose, I don't think I want it back.

A Chick Magnet in Patent Leather Mary Janes?

2007-09-15T22:36:00.000-07:00

Ruthie is obsessed with shoes and apparently Alden is too! They discovered a drawer full of shoes that don't quite fit and INSISTED on wearing the black patent leather pair. We have two pairs and Alden, who normally wears a 5.5W crammed his feet into these little 4.5 shoes. He happily wore them for hours. We also played with mommy's makeup. I'm filing this photo in the "blackmail" file!

Monterey Bay Aquarium

2007-09-15T22:27:00.000-07:00

I was feeling brave (or foolish) and took the twins to the Monterey Bay Aquarium last week. I was a little worried that they are too young to enjoy it, but I am happy to say I was wrong! They had a wonderful time and Ruthie learned two new words: fish and bird. I also discovered that Alden loves kelp and tasting sea water. Our favorite exhibit was the touch pool and the Outer Bay exhibit. The touch pool has special raised areas for the little ones and the twins were able to dip their hands in the water and fish out things like abalone shells, kelp, starfish, etc. The Outer Bay exhibit is the world's largest fishtank. There are huge huge windows and the fish and sharks are not shy about coming up to the glass to say hello. The whole aquarium is VERY kid friendly! Many of the exhibits have little knobs or levers that kids can manuever to reveal questions, pictures, etc. There was also a little slide in the sea otter area, the purpose was for kids to watch a video on how river otters slide down banks, but I think that was a little advanced for the twins. We had an incredible time and I can't wait to go back! It was pretty hard being by myself because they both wanted to run/walk and rarely in the same direction. It would have been more relaxing if daddy was able to join us, maybe next time!

Happy Labor Day!

2007-09-03T12:10:00.000-07:00

We went to the coast on Saturday, pictures will follow when I can get Nick to download them from our camera. It was a very exciting day! We had an altercation in the parking lot at the wharf, our friends (we all rode together in their van) have a handicap placard and the HummerBitches tried to jack our spot. We prevailed but (of course) the HummerSkanks ended up on the same boat tour and the kids and I sat right next to them!!! I almost plucked at the lady's G-string that was peeking out the back of her pants, but I thought better of it when I saw her gigantic faux-Prada bag that probably contained a can of mace.

It was so nice to escape the heat for a day, it was 105 here but a balmy 76 in Monterey! The kids were angels (as usual) and we had a great time.

On a side note, if a restaurant touts their "new and improved children's menu" don't you think they would/should have more than two highchairs and one booster seat? I'm just sayin'.

Roo Update

2007-08-28T22:58:00.000-07:00

So Ruthie had a reaction to the MMR vaccine. Not very pretty, huh? We've been housebound for the last three days except for pediatrician visits. She seems better every day and she's mostly back to her usual happy self; she just looks....mottled. We had a visit from a public health nurse from the county health department, (THAT was interesting) I was a little worried that she would put on a HazMat suit and tape plastic around our door but she must have been all out of tape. The weather is supposed to get super hot in the next few days so perhaps it is best if we stay inside anyway.

Lazy Friday

2007-08-24T12:49:00.000-07:00

Playgroup was cancelled this morning so that left the twins and I with no plans. We spent the morning at the park but the heat drove us inside after about an hour. Alden was crawling on the play structure and he popped some jolly rancher type candy in his mouth. I grabbed it and threw it over my shoulder into the acres of wood chips on the ground. After a few minutes I feel a little tug on my pants and there is my little Roo proudly holding up the shiny pink gob as if to scold me for littering.

Now we are home, and the babies should be waking up pretty soon, hungry for lunch. After lunch we might go see what's crackin' on campus; the freshmen are moving in today! Daddy has been busy all week helping out with emergencies and mysterious equipment failures.

In other news, the twins got their first haircuts this past weekend. They looks so grown up!

Before: Dig the mullet?

<---After

Alden before:

After: Clutching my boob for comfort, such a man!

Blogs

2007-08-24T12:31:00.000-07:00

So yeah, I started a blog.

Twin Tales

GIVEAWAY: Eco Friendly Cleaning Products

Hi again!

A new twist to the seventh inning stretch

They really do love each other

Don't mess with a fat woman and her soft doughy pretzel

I didn't know I was pregnant....

Telling tales

Home and hole free

Kicked out of a tow truck?!

Seriously, do I need to start going to church or something???

Cute pajamas for moms and kids!

Ready for some good karma to come back to me

Doing the deep dig

Field trip to Forte Frozen Yogurt

Disneyland recap and pictures

Okay I guess I need to update

Whew!

We got the keys!

An FYI prompted by HGTV

The list is getting smaller

I'm about to have a throwdown with Sears!!!!

The signing begins

Twin love

One blissful hour

I knew this process was going too smoothly

3 going on 13

Please bring me a cake with a chisel

Bathtime Conversations

House Update

The things kids say

Little Diva

Ruth's Room

Alden's Room

Bathroom ideas

Mr. Convincing

Kitchen Ideas

Home Sweet Home......in 2 months

Adventures in homebuying

Hello Kitty

Why that lady no find a freaking spot?

Too dang smart

Disneyland or bust!

Cheers, not just for glasses!

How bad will it get?

Twin love

Privacy Time

I telling you last time!

Ruthie is a Narc

Christmas 2008 formal pictures

Alden is potty trained!!!

Is there such a thing as too sensitive?

More funnies

Use your inside voice when talking smack

Real life is scary

Election Night

These kids!

The Mommy Blahs

An ethical dilemma

Some Ruthisms

Violet has an ouchie.

Ruthie is A-OK

Don't call CPS on me

A (not so) Happy Meal story

She has such a big heart

Monterey Bay Aquarium

Big news from Ruth!

San Diego

Disneyland

Pollock Pines

Travel plans

Two year pictures!

Happy Birthday to my Twinkles!

Had a crappy Valentine's Day (literally)!

A new kind of babywearing!

Obama your mama!

Bet they've got their hands full.....*snicker snicker*

Our formal Christmas photos...

New pictures y'all

...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...

Bet they've got their hands full.....snicker snicker