Trying something new

September 2nd, 2008

We are testing out a new place in the world of Blogger. We recently updated this site with the new version of WordPress and somehow managed to lose all previously uploaded pictures. I’d also been wanting to make our blog private, so we’re testing out wisetwins.blogspot.com.

If you’d like to read it and don’t have permission, e-mail me at my first name then last name at gmail dot com. (This is Jena, BTW).

I’m liking how easy Blogger is to use, but I think I like this format better, so we’ll see which one wins our business…

Perfect

August 24th, 2008

One of the only things we bought one of last night.  Easels are seriously made for twins.  I love it.  This one is $24.99 at Ikea – stools purchased for use at the sink, but are apparently cool enough to get some use under the easel.  Look at Hudson’s little attitude (above right).

I could fill a lot of space with some funny quotes from the weekend but I’ll just share one conversation:

Aaron: how do you get these guys to wash their hair these days?

Jena: ask if they want to be a cat, dog, or horse.  depending on the animal they chose, let them know that s/he needs his/her hair washed.  they won’t complain a bit.

Aaron: [no words]

One more:

Aaron: Hey guys, go get your shoes on

Beckham: “Mommy… noise??”

Aaron: Yes, that’s what your mom says too.

It’s late.  These were funny at the time…. really.

Snippets of life

August 22nd, 2008

The Volvo is totaled; we are waiting to hear what they are going to give us for it (though rough estimates look pretty dang good… just don’t tell State Farm I said so).

We are pooped from swimming.  How can the sun make one (three) so tired?  It’s not like I actually did any swimming, just watching.

I am running 16 miles tomorrow with Kristin.  I have to say I’m dreading this run.  I should go put some Gatorade out near the end of the trail.  I don’t feel like going to do that right now but I know I would really appreciate it tomorrow at mile 13.

I’m regretting how I spent the two hours the boys napped today: washed windows, weeded, swept patios, mowed front and back lawns, folded laundry, etc. etc.  Why can’t I just sit still and read a book?

Still amazed that sitting on the side of the pool for 3 hours can make someone so tired.

Boy what a week it’s been

August 18th, 2008

We were greatly enjoying our summer until last week resulted in a few highly unfortunate events.  On Thursday I managed to cause a 4-car accident that sent one woman away in an ambulance (not badly hurt, but as a precaution), 3 cars away on flat-bed tow trucks, and promises to add 2 points to my driving record.  The Volvo held up fantastically and we were not hurt.  It was a tough acident for me mentally, however, as the boys were in the car with me and I obviously should have been paying better attention.  We are still waiting to hear from State Farm as to whether they want to fix the Volvo or total it.  There are pros and cons for both so we hope to hear by tomorrow.

On Friday I dropped my iPhone and shattered the screen.  After having caused such a great accident the day before I pretty much felt like I shouldn’t own anything expensive.  I didn’t really want to pay the $200-400 to fix my iPhone (especially since I felt I no longer deserved one).  I was really bummed about this for a day but on Saturday Aaron let me know that American Express would pay to replace it because Aaron had purchased the phone on his AmEx card.  I was thrilled.

On Saturday the Jeep broke.  It was to be my car for the week or two while the Volvo either got repaired or we needed to look for a new (to us) car.  It was a happy moment for Aaron to be able to say, “So let me get this straight… my Bronco is our most reliable car at the moment?  Can I take this time to say how great it is that I have this third car?”  I had to agree… I was grateful for his Bronco (did I really just say that?).  Surely Aaron will *never* forget the time when his 1975 Bronco ran better than our other two much newer cars.  I’m sure I’ll be reminded of this many times in the future!

Sunday we rented a car for the week.  We chose a Prius because I thought it would be fun to drive one for a bit.  I like it and it has some pretty nifty features besides the great gas mileage: integrated Bluetooth, back-up camera, etc.  But I don’t feel safe in it.  I don’t think I feel safe in cars that aren’t SUVs.  There are just so many SUVs on the road that if you don’t have one it feels like you are at a disadvantage.  The boys think our “little car” is pretty neat as well, but have declared the Bronco their favorite.

Things were still feeling stresful because we are waiting to hear what will become of the Volvo and at the same time wondering if the Jeep is worth fixing.  But likely because we had just rented the Prius for the week, Aaron fixed the Jeep on Sunday night.  He pretty much rocks and figured out how to get the Jeep to give the code that stated where the problem was, look up that code online, fix the problem, and successfully turn off the check engine light.  Of course the same day we got the rental car Aaron fixed the Jeep, but I was thrilled nonetheless.

I’ve had some incredibly painful shin splints that are finally beginning to subside.  It helps a lot when you don’t feel a sharp pain every time you take a step.

Today and last Monday we went to a pool with Michelle and her kids.  All 5 kids had a grand old time and were very well-behaved, earning the right to go back yet again before summer ends.

Hopefully things continue to improve this week… they must… because for a point it was feeling like they couldn’t get much worse (minus the whole uninjured in the crash miracle on Thursday).

I have pictures, but keep receiving an error notice when trying to upload them…. we’ll try again later (and by that I mean “I’ll see if Aaron can figure it out later”).

In the lime light

August 11th, 2008

The other night we all went to BJs for dinner. It was a fun night; we were really impressed with the boys’ behavior. We talked a lot about how to behave in the restaurant on our way there. Once we got there we were waiting outside for our name to be called and the boys started dancing. Figuring that it would be good for them to dance off some energy before dinner, we encouraged it. There was music playing and both of the boys started getting into it. They were spinning and running like this:

and THEN…. Hudson dropped to the ground and started break dancing:

We were laughing so hard that tears were streaming. He was such a ham – all we could think of was WHERE did he learn this? He solicited so much attention from onlookers; the kid was seriously a freak show. Tears. Streaming. Too funny. Hudson is intense. He’s not an easy kid, but when he’s in a good mood he is funny. (And he knows it).

Anyway, we had brought fun books to color in with dry erase markers to occupy the boys during dinner.

They were so good and so happy to be there. They talked about it non-stop until we went swimming today (and that good time replaced the good time at dinner)… that’s another post in itself. Hud Bud: you’ll never let us down.

work bbq

August 8th, 2008

Highlights of our bbq at work on Wednesday:

getting to ride in the golf cart

tattoos with washable markers

playing with Taylor

coloring on tables

running around and getting a lot of attention

My manager put together quite the bbq with activities for the kids (even though there are only 6 of them) by setting up coloring stations with markers, crayons, and colored pencils, buying nerf and other soft balls and race cars for each child, and providing food that all the kids would like.  The boys had the best time running around playing catch, exploring, and relishing in all the attention they got.  Unfortunately now they think that there is a bbq with fun and games awaiting me every time I go to work and want to come with me.  I’m glad they had such a good time.

cupcakes for breakfast?

August 5th, 2008

This morning we had a little cupcake decorating activity.  Beckham called them “happy cakes” – I couldn’t agree more!  Amazingly enough, they didn’t eat a single one.  They must take after their mother – Ha!

This part is to answer the question Brooklyn posed here:  http://caimaya.blogspot.com/2008/07/one-reason-i-love-girls.html

I didn’t do it.  Perhaps it’s not gender related, just OCD vs. non-OCD.

Sunday morning

August 4th, 2008

One great thing about having the iPhone is the fact that I have a camera on me at all times.  I can easily capture random moments that I otherwise couldn’t since I never carried an actual camera around everywhere.

We rode in the “beep beep” to church on Sunday.  It was really exciting for one of the boys, and I think the twins enjoyed it too.

(This was Hudson acting crazy, per the usual).  Later, with only a few minutes left of sacrament meeting, we needed to keep Hudson occupied.

she’s still a babe

August 1st, 2008

I love you.

All ready for the day

July 30th, 2008

Almost ready to go to school.

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