It's cold, windy, and raining.

And it has been one of my favorite days EVER.
It's 5pm and I'm still in my jammies and slippers.
I haven't exercised.
I haven't showered.
I haven't brushed my teeth (okay, that's kindof disgusting and I'm about to hit my limit and cave).
I haven't mopped the kitchen floor which has the rugs out of it and has been ready to be mopped since 11 this morning.
I haven't put in a load of laundry.
I haven't even thought about what to have for dinner (and like I said, it's 5pm).
BUT...today:
I WRESTLED with my kids on the floor.
I PRETENDED doggies with Carter.
I NAPPED PEACFULLY for more than one hour on my couch with a warm blankie (BLISS).
I WATCHED a movie with my kids (and the baby is so sick that he actually sat with me and watched, too)
I CUDDLED with my little sick one and didn't feel guilty that I wasn't getting something done.
I STARED at the rain out of our back door and was SO glad I didn't have to get dressed and go anywhere or do anything today.
I LISTENED to the heater kick on and off all day, greatful to be warm and cozy in my little home.
I ENJOYED a cup of hot chocolate and marshmallows with my favorite 3 yr. old in the world.
I was PATIENT and didn't lose my temper, not even ONCE.
I LOVED today. And I needed it.

Sleep in Heavenly Peace...

I went to bed early with a migraine last night and had finally slipped into peaceful slumber when all of the sudden both kids were screaming bloody murder. I swear I threw the covers off and went from completely asleep and relaxed to in their room in 1.2 seconds, flat. And what was the problem??
I have absolutely no idea.
They were both crying the "there is something seriously wrong" cry. Not just your every-day "I woke up and am a little upset" cry.
But seriously, am I the only person who thought that once my kids slept through the night it would just be like that every night?
First of all, it took us two years to get Carter to sleep through the night every night. Nolan has been fast and did really well for like 2 months. But recently if we get through the whole night without a bed-tinkle, bad dream or teething baby, it's like the most refreshing thing ever and the day just goes so well.
And I think I have a sleep-walker on my hands. The other morning we went in to get Nolan and Carter was still asleep but the curtain rod and the thing that holds it onto the wall were completely torn off the wall, it had swung down and knocked over the lamp and Carter has NO idea how it happened....another mystery that will never be solved.
So I have finally let go of my attachment to a good-night's rest.
No longer shall I stare watery-eyed at the clock at any odd hour of the morning in disbelief that I am up.
Never shall I be surpised to be awakened 3, 4, 5...8 times a night with an infant who puked all over himself, his bed, and has to be bathed at 3:30 in the morning.
I have resigned my naiiveness of thought that I must get 7 hours of sleep to be funtionable the next day.
I am now resolved to just be satisfied at just 4-5 hours (even interrupted...if I'm lucky).
Because who would want to be sleeping when you could be outside in the garage throwing in a load of laundry at 2am?? Seriously.

A Random Thought

You may or may not know that I'm a video game nerd. How often do I play them? Practically never. It's not really tempting. Plus the only console we have is xbox, which is only like 3 years old but now almost as outdated as Nintendo 64 (which was SA-WEET).
So growing up I played a lot of video games. Not because my mom and dad let us just sit around and dink around all day (when we got our Sega Genesis we had to actually log in and out on a piece of paper) but usually when I'd go to friend's houses and stuff we would play for hours, until all hours of the morning.
It all started when we got our first Nintendo when I was like 7 and had no idea what all the hype was about. Until I was a little older and discovered Zelda, which was SOO cool (when I could get it to work...the proven process was to take the game out, blow really slowly, lips pressed to edge of the game, all the way up the game (a tid bit of spit is helpful), replace game before condensation evaporates from the inside, push down, push down again to pop up the game, repeat at least 12 times, wiggle the game side to side at least 4 times while game is in the console then turn it on, rejoice that it worked, and pray that it won't go wonky before you are done playing). Then I was all up in the 3 Mario Brother's, Excite Bike, Master Blaster, Spy Hunter, Friday the 13th (the creepiest game ever. Still scares the crud outta me. Did you ever play that one? You actually try to save other camp children by hunting down JASON who, once you find him, you try to kill him by chucking rocks while he throws machetes at you. Did anyone ever WIN that game??), Bubble Bobble (the innocent game I'd play after Friday the 13th to un-creep me), and anything else I could get my hands on.
But what the heck is with video games these days? What ever happened to beating the bad guy and winning the princess (and pulling vegetables out of the ground to throw at bad guys, what??)? It's SOO not like that any more. And it used to be a no-brainer. You go from the left of the screen until it stops moving all the way to the right, where you would either fight the bad guy or go down another tube to find the bad guy who you had to bop on the head a total of 3 times to kill.
Anyway, I've been hearing that the gaming industry is like the only one not suffering from the recession and is still thriving. And as a mom I'm going, "uuuhhh...are people insane?? Get off your butts and go play outside." But then I remember all the time I spent playing video games and can honestly say I think I have benefitted from them.
What do you think?? Did/do you play video games? Do you think they helped or hindered??
(speaking of "hinder", when the heck are they going to kill off Mohinder on Heroes? Can there be a more annoying character??)

Fun, fun!

Okay, how lucky am I to have a goreous new sister-in-law who doesn't mind whipping on her wedding dress and letting me try my hand at bridal shots? We had the best time romping around in the wilderness, trying out different shots and positions. Here's what came of our efforts...

I am still such an amateur but am learning a ton and loving photography. Yay for hobbies!!

Let me know what you think...(and be gentle!)

When it rains...

It pours.
Spencer decided to put his hand through our window this morning when he was struggling to open it. Luckily he did not need stiches as there was no skin left to stich up the gaping hole in his ring finger.
We are quite the pair, huh??
(presents, packages, and even cash donations may help boost our spirits)

Adding Insult to Injury...

Or just more injury to injury.
So I told you about my disjointed right pinky toe.
My brother, sister-in-law and their two girls are staying with us this weekend.
In our 1,100 sq. foot house. Things are a little......cramped. But we love it.
ANYWAY, I wanted to do my niece's hair because I only have BOYS with short hair. So she said I could blow it dry and do it. YAY! So I set up my salon in my bedroom.
She sat on my bed.
But the cords of the dryer and hot iron didn't reach anything to sit on. So I laid the hot iron on the floor.
It was pumped up to 25.
I was distracted and moving around her to reach all the hair. HOW COULD I MISS IT??
I now have a 2nd degree, 3-inch-long burn on the bottom of my left foot.
Maybe it was fate. There's some reason I'm not supposed to run the 1/2 marathon.
Or maybe I'm being tested. Will I wuss out and give up just because my right pinky toe is black and-blue and my left foot is throbbing??
Stay tuned....

We're back....again.

We really get around, don't we?

I love going on spur-of-the-moment trips.

There's a rush in the rush of flying about the house packing up every little thing you would ever need at your destination or on the way to it.

So my most recent was going up to Utah last Wednesday with my mother-in-law and my new sister-in-law. We drove ALL DAY and by the end of the trip Nolan was about to implode. Poor kid. Then from the lack of physical movement the entire day he decided to stay up most of the night and slept a good bit the next day. It was a viscious cycle to break. Which brings me to this point...Babies are the worst travelers ever. At least mine have been. Then after the traveling you are in a totally different place and they are just unhappy about that.

Anyway, I had a chance to take some pictures of this cute family.

And we got to visit Wheeler Farm and enjoy the gorgeous scenery, fall weather....and throw leaves at the ducks.

and take tons of pictures of surprisingly cooperative kids...

and crash another wedding reception to take advantage of all the delicious goodies.

Thought bubble..."Mmm...what is THIS delicious morsel??"

We got back Tuesday and I was ready to get back to the gym. I woke up the next morning to get back to my normal routine to arrive at my gym, a completely empty lot and a sign on the door informing me that they are sorry for the inconvenience but they have closed permanently. ARG. But that doesn't really matter now because last night I kicked the door frame again (this has happened maybe 149 times in my life now...I still haven't come to terms with just how freakishly long my toes are yet) and dislocated my pinky toe on my right food. What a stinking useless toe and now it is preventing me from my much-needed runs.

OH, and lastly, how about Prop 8, eh??? WAHOO!! Too bad some people are poor sports and don't care about the majority vote and choose to be hateful and rude and target people who stand up for what is right and spend lots of time protesting something that should be a closed case and vandalize sacred properties...but I'm not going to mention any names.