Ordinary Time

These babies have acquired an amazing collection of head wear. The hats were knitted for them by a dear family friend. G. is in yellow and L. is in green. The stuffed puppies were provided by TM who has developed quite a love affair with these two little girls. Yesterday G. fell forward on her face trying to reach a toy and hit her cheek on a pointy object. After we finished caring for the baby, TM looks at me and announces that he wished he had hit his head instead of her. Really, what else is there to say after that?

One of B.'s assignments in biology this week was to build a model of a cell. This is what he came up with using clay, plastic, wire, and hot glue. A bright spot in what has been a less than stellar week.

I'm having one of those days where I wish I could fast-forward to tomorrow. First, the babies are teething and it is making them miserable. Plus, G. has a cold with a very stuffy nose and an off and on fever and I'm afraid L. is following close behind. Consequently, the only time it seems they are not fussing is when they are nursing or asleep....in my arms. It doesn't make for very restful nights and I'm feeling more sleep deprived than usual. A crabby, too tired mom often results in bickering children and today is no exception. And to top it off, M. discovered one of her gerbils died this morning resulting in an (understandably) upset girl. I had planned on finishing a pair of dresses I am making for the babies, but that is looking unlikely since, unlike typing, I can't sew one-handed. But that is probably just as well because my (very expensive) sewing machine is behaving oddly and I think I'm going to have to take it in for servicing. Oh, and the ta...

These are M.'s new boots: 6-inch, all-leather construction boots. Why you ask, does a 16 year old girl need such footwear? Because she is travelling to Samoa this summer with an organization called Teen Mission International . She and other young people will be helping to rebuild after last fall's tsunami. M. will be gone for about two months. The first couple of weeks will be spent in training in southern Florida. The group then travels to Samoa for the actual mission work, returning to Florida for a few days at the end for a debriefing session. (The debriefing session will be the first time they experience air conditioning and have access to ice in their drink since the beginning of the training camp.) The boots are required of all participants...to protect feet during construction and from picking up any unwanted parasites. M. has undertaken this venture all on her own. She has done her own research, is working on buying her own supplies, and is writing and sending out sup...

When I was pregnant with P., A. hoped and hoped that the baby would be a girl so that her new baby sister could, "Play dollhouse me". A. was so excited when P. was born and she had a dollhouse-playing sister. It was a bit of let down when A. discovered it would be a while before P. was quite able to play dollhouse. In the ensuing 9 years, A. and P. have become quite the dollhouse playing pair, often with A. running out steam long before P. So how sweet is it to discover this this morning? Four sisters all playing dollhouse together. A., L., G., and P. (P. is philosophically opposed to smiling for cameras.) L. and G. (in hat) -- Putting things on the babies' heads has become the newest past time for brothers and sisters.

The past 15 months of being pregnant and nursing babies nearly constantly has taken a toll on my home. There are piled-up projects and other things that need attention all over. I am finally feeling as though I'm able to come up for air and am beginning to sort through the chaos. As I do this I am struck with how similar it feels to when J. and I went through the process of getting out of debt. Like living with debt, living in a disorganized home leaves me feeling anxious. There is so much to do, I don't quite know where to begin. Just as debt robs a person of financial resources because of high interest, living with disorganization robs a person of time. Instead of being able to take care of something small right away, too many small things pile up into a monumental task. And neither are a quick fix, it took a while to build up both debt and chaos, it takes time and hard work to make both go away. So how am I going about the process of digging out? The first thing I...

I know this will seem obvious, but when you have twins, everything is doubled. But there is a difference between knowing there will be two of everything and experiencing two of everything. I am constantly surprised by this 'two-ness'. We now have two high chairs set up for the two babies who are starting on solid food. (Not that full tummies is helping them with their sleeping much.) We make more beginning baby food than we ever had before and need more hands to feed them. And then there are two faces (and hands and heads and knees and...) to clean. But they really are twice as cute to watch and play with. L. on left and G. on right And while I'm on the subject of doubles, I never really thought about what two teething babies would look (and sound) like. J. asked me the other day if I thought two screaming babies could cause permanent hearing loss in parents.