Tiki can read my mind.......

He disappeared this morning and wouldn't answer when I called for him. First clue that he was into BIG trouble. I went searching and found him in Emma's room. Wearing a necklace and at least 4 rings. He had a purse on his arm, lipgloss in his hand and markers with the felt pieces pulled out all around him. After his solitary free-for-all was interrupted and he saw my face, I didn't have to say a word. He just answered the question. Cuz. Short for Because.

Mice peanut butter?

I was making Garrett a peanut butter sandwich for lunch when he asked me, "is that mice peanut butter?" Huh? "do you mean lots? are you saying 'much peanut butter'?" "NO! Mice peanut butter". Repeat, please?

Apparently there are two kinds at my house. The one for human consumption, and the other kind (sorry Jiff) that serves as the last meal for the mice under our house. I thought there was just smooth or chunky. Not so!

Christmas Favorites anyone?

Mama of 6 published this list on her blog, Truly Delightful in Every Way, and although I usually hate this sort of thing, I liked the festive feel of it. Not surprisingly, as I was answering the questions, I realized I'm really kind of a hum bug. I'm super interested in your answers though. So, leave a comment or publish on your blog. Let's spread the fun.

So, here are the questions and my grinchy answers:

1. Favorite winter beverage? hot cider
2. Fave Christmas candy? See's chocolates, nuts and chews only
3. Fave candy cane flavor? color? not a candy cane fan
4. Favorite christmas cookie? good old oatmeal chocolate chip
5. Favorite Christmas song? to sing? to listen to? Silent night to listen to, Rudolph to sing with my kids.
6. Fave Christmas movie? The Christmas Story
7. Fave christmas story? the story of Jesus' birth
8. Fave christmas colors? red
9. actual color scheme for your decor? mostly traditional red and green, but I did decorate one tree in silver, turquiose, magenta, orange, green and blue.
10. Fave christmas tradition? as a kid? with your own family? opening one gift on Christmas Eve after dinner and family program.
11. Tree topper? star? Angel? other? angel
12. Christmas lights display?your house? to drive by? small bulbs? large bulbs? white? multi colored? simple? Griswald? simple. small. white.
13. fave holiday icon collection?? Santa? nativity? snowmen? Fenton nativity and Santa Clauses

13.5. Christmas card? letter? picture? last year I did a card and picture. This year? who knows.

14. what is more fun for you White Elephant? or Draw secret Santa names? Secret Santa
15. Holiday budget? extravagant or low budget? what do you wish it was? moderate
16. Tree? real or fake? prelit ? Green or flocked? REAL and green.
17. best gifts are? homemade? or store bought? both. Depends on what it is. I don't want say a homemade DVD player or IPOD.
18. which is better in your opinion? surprises galore? or being sneaky and peeking? PEEKING. PEEKING, and more PEEKING.
19. do you do thank you cards for christmas gifts? I try to, but sometimes I just don't meet that goal. I do think thank you cards should be sent though.

I couldn't resist stealing these....

from Carrie over at Keiser Family. Who are you?

Take the Quiz here!

How do you rate?

You Are a Smart American

You know a lot about US history, and you're opinions are probably well informed. Congratulations on bucking stereotypes. Now go show some foreigners how smart Americans can be.

Are You a Dumb American?

You're To Kill a Mockingbird!

by Harper Lee

Perceived as a revolutionary and groundbreaking person, you have
changed the minds of many people. While questioning the authority around you, you've
also taken a significant amount of flack. But you've had the admirable guts to
persevere. There's a weird guy in the neighborhood using dubious means to protect you,
but you're pretty sure it's worth it in the end. In the end, it remains unclear to you
whether finches and mockingbirds get along in real life.


Take the Book Quiz
at the Blue Pyramid.

And from Arizona's blog Peace, Love and Vegetables, I took this:

What Classic Movie Are You?
personality tests by similarminds.com

Feels like I've been gone so long.....

Here's to randomness (if that's even a word) since I don't even know where to begin......

I'm super bummed that I missed a nostalgic "I'm thankful" post. I just can't bring myself to write it now though. Guess I'll keep my list rattling around in my brain this year.

The twin dogs officially turned 2. We went all out. Sang happy birthday to them. Thought about having a get together to celebrate but went out to dinner instead. Without kids. Including the twins. I don't know if they appreciate my gift to them yet, (taking away their bottles) but they are doing fabulously. I can see them eating us out of house and home.

Had a nice Thanksgiving with Jeff's family and dessert with my sister and her family. Didn't cook a thing. Not a thing. Weird. But I'm not complaining. Loved it. Everyone said something they were thankful for. My husband said he was thankful for me. My heart melted.

Accomplished one goal while I was in Southern CA. Went to the Mattel outlet store and stocked up on gifts for my kids to give at birthday parties. I was almost banned from shopping there again on vacation since the gifts take up all extra space in the van (I do this every year), but I got some mega deals, and when one's children get invited to about 10 birthday parties a year each, it pays to have toys on hand. Jeff says that when birds fly over me they say, "cheap, cheap", but I think he's secretly pleased that I saved him a bunch of money. At least that's what I tell myself.

Stretched ourselves thin trying to see family and didn't have time to visit even one friend.

Did I mention that my dad flew up to visit us for a few days before Thanksgiving? It was great.

I can tell I was tired when I wrote this because I thought this was worth mentioning: On the way home I swear I saw a cow putting out the vibe. I had forgotten that this is sort of an inside joke, but putting out the vibe is standing with your back to someone sticking your butt out, like Jim Carey does. The cow in question was right by the freeway with his/her butt to the traffic with it's front legs bent so it's back side was directly at us.

My kids are super travellers. I mean amazing. It took us 18 hours to get to Los Angeles, and the twins only got out of their car seats for 10 minutes once. No complaints. None.

My new favorite dessert is a pumpkin cake (the recipe calls it Pumpkin bars, but I think it's more like a cake) that my friend Shannon shared on her blog. I love BBQ'd carne asada, fresh pico de gallo, and grilled green onions sprinkled with lemon and salt.

When I'm "home" in Oregon I miss Del Taco and In and Out.

Bought our Christmas trees tonight. Douglas Firs. One is 10 feet, one is 6. $30 bucks total. Yep, $30 bucks. I think Christmas trees are the one good bargain here. Jeff put the Christmas lights up on the house, too. It's beginning to look alot like Christmas. See what delirium does to me? I start singing Christmas songs.

I've missed blogging and your commets.

OK. Done. Finito. Off to bed I go.

On the road again......

I'll be back to the blogging world, soon. Promise.

FOUR word Wednesday

Drove 1,000 miles today.

Pre-Birthday Bash

We decided to kick off the twins SECOND birthday with an early bash.....Happy early Birthday to my sweet, naughty, adorable, fiesty, loveable, surprising, tenacious, miracle boys.

Jacob
John

Jacob

Daddy and John

Mommy and John

Hey guys, check me out........

I'm a featured blogger over at the Mom Salon. It's a post you've all seen, only the one you saw was revised. I'm sort of embarrassed that they published my "I don't know what Blog" means business, but I submitted it the Mom Salon, not thinking there was a chance they'd pick it to be featured so it didn't matter anyway. The best part? The Mom Salons slogan is "Where Women Find the Smartest Mom Blogs". Er, except for this one, apparently. Oh well........go see me in lights.

http://www.themomsalon.com/whydoyoublog.htm

The answer is:

Emma

It's been fun, Dr. Brown.........

but you're banned.

That's right. I decided to give the twins a gift for their 2nd birthday. The gift of taking away their life line. Not nice, I know. I decided on Wednesday that they've had bottles for long enough and I'm sick of them. They LOVE their bottles and drink way more milk than they need to, but more than that, their bottles are their safety net. They wanted to carry them around at all times like a blanket, and it was getting old. Plus, Jacob started biting holes in the nipples and it was getting expensive to replace them. So, they gave me a gift in return. Dry diapers. Yep. They are showing me. Take away our bottles and we won't eat or drink. A real treat to not have to change their diapers, but worrisome all the same. I'm expecting that today they'll give in and eat and drink. They better. This is rough. On all of us. But I'm not giving in.

And the winner is.........

ME! I'm SO excited. Melissa, mastermind behind Hope for the Hopeless had a "lunch on her at Panera Bread" giveaway and I won. I was so excited that I had to call Jeff at work to tell him how thrilled I was. I won! I won! My luck is changing. I can feel it.

And now for the lucky recipient of my first ever blog giveaway:

Tamara, it's your lucky day. Jeremiah (lucky number 12) won my 200th post giveaway. Hope you both enjoy it!

Research Randomizer Results
1 Set of 1 Unique Numbers Per SetRange: From 1 to 40 -- Unsorted
Job Status:
Set #1:
12

Timber............

Do any of you live in a Tree City USA? If you do, you'll understand the frustration that comes with needing proper authorization to remove trees on your property. We've had this blue cedar in our front yard majestically cracking our driveway, blocking the view of our house, dripping sap, shedding needles and pods and driving me crazy since we've lived here. We finally got the permit to cut down the tree, and I couldn't have been happier. Until I saw the tree on it's decent to oblivion. Then I got this really sick feeling in my stomach. We electively killed a really beautiful tree because it was a nuisance. One can actually see our house from the street now, and I'm thrilled about how it looks, but I still feel a tad sad. Part of that may be though that now I either have to get window coverings or stop scampering around in things I don't want my neighbors to see me in. Sigh.

Going, going, gone.

The tree pre-death.

200th POST!

*NEW POSTS ARE BELOW THIS ONE UNTIL CONTEST IS OVER*

Drum roll please..........

Why I BLOG

Melissa over at Hope for the Hopeless gave me the inspiration for this post. Thanks, Melissa.

Someone recently asked me what "blog" stood for since I am a regular blogger. I researched (for about 2 seconds) didn't find anything promising and then CecilyR suggested WEBLOG, which is the correct answer. I guess when it come down to it though, it doesn't matter, BLOG just sounds fun. And that's one of the things that I love about blogging. It brings me hours of enjoyment and I LOVE that I can let my fingers fly and throw out there whatever suits my fancy that day. Inane musings, life lessons, funny and touching things that happen. Every once in awhile I even produce something of quality. A blog can encompass past, present and future. It can be anything one wants it to be. Gotta love that!

I appreciate instant formatting. I appreciate the ability to add personal touches and fun pictures. I really appreciate that unsung hero that made blogging possible for people like me. And, I can't tell my friends, blogging aquaintances, and family how much their comments mean to me.

And now for the fun part......my first give away. Come out, come out, where ever you are. I would LOVE to see who actually visits my blog. I'll leave this post on top for two weeks and at the end of that time a random number will be drawn. If that number corresponds to your comment number, then you will be the lucky recipient of..........................a $20.00 gift card to Bath and Body Works. Indulge a little!

Four eyes *ARE* better than two...

Wanna play a game? The game is: guess which one of my sweeties got to pick out some super cute glasses yesterday? Have you seen the frames they have for children now? Ultra stylish. I took my mystery child to the optometrist yesterday because a letter arrived saying the child had failed the school vision test. Apparently the child's eye has a turn or tilt (not apparent with the naked eye) so depth perception is lacking, plus one eye is nearsighted, and there is a stigmatism. Getting glasses this young is a great thing because the eye and brain connections are still developing and having glasses can allow those connections to be made properly, hopefully allowing the child to grow out of the need for glasses. We're optimistic! I know first hand how annoying glasses and contacts can be, so I'm sympathetic, but if the child does not grow out of glasses, it's totally OK, the child looks "to die for" in glasses. Makes me want to get some "dummy" glasses just because they are cute. And here's some trivia for you......did you know they have to dilate children's eyes to get the correct prescription? The great reveal will be coming soon......as soon as the glasses are made and I can snap a picture! :)

Do you see what I see?

I just *don't* get it. I wish I could say this was the first time Jacob has stuck something up his nose, but it's not. John likes to put things in his ears. What is the fascination? I'll never know. I hope they get their fill soon though. I don't relish fishing things out of noses or ears. Especially things that don't belong there.

Who do YOU look like?

This is hilarious. Upload a picture of yourself and it'll tell you what famous person you most resemble.
http://www.myheritage.com/FP/Company/tryFaceRecognition.php

I tried a couple different pictures and each time it gave me different results. Some of them are Delta Goodrem (whoever that is), Kirsten Dunst (when Spiderman came out I did get lots of kids asking if I was Spidermans girl friend), Julianne Moore (I get told I look like her the most-but always when I'm thinner) and my all time favorite: Harvey Keitel.

It said Grace looked most like Alexandre Dumas, Julia Styles, Dennis Rodman and Michael Jackson. Um, OK. Had me laughing out loud though.

Emma looked like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sophia Xie, Emily Watson, and Harvey Keitel (OK, so Emma and I must be related) while Garrett most resembled Jessie Jackson, Leonardo Di Caprio and Shirley Temple.

Jeff: Tony Blair and Joe Pesci.

Also, upload a picture(s) of your family and see who your children look like the most.

Guitar Hero

Has it invaded your home yet?

Fifteen years.

Jeff reminded me today that it has been 15 years since he asked me to be his girlfriend. Whew! That's like half our lives. Crazy. This is a picture from our carefree days of only having one child.

Just thought I'd throw this out there.....

I have no idea what I'm doing. I have 5 kids and there is something about the learning curve that just isn't sinking in. I'd like to know where to find the manual that tells me how to keep the twins out of trouble. The boys get into about 10 times the trouble that my "singletons" got into at the same age. And so, for my higher order multiple mother friends, if the trouble is expotentially greater with each additonal same gestational child, I DO NOT know how you are sane (um, if you are still sane after reading that sentence that just kept going). Here, I'll say it. Sometimes the twins (well, Jacob, really) make me crazy.

From this post this you might get the impression that today is a particularly rough day. It's not. I just wanted to say it. Sometimes they make me crazy. Done!

I *HeArT* Japanese Maples

One of the best things about fall around here are the Japanese maples. Right when all the leaves that *were* glorious have turned brown and fallen off the trees, and you think if you have to rake up one more leaf you'll commit suicide, the Japanese maples pop. It's like a second fall and it's a reminder how wonderful autumn really is........even if it doesn't last as long as I'd like.

This little game

The kids and I play this little game.....well, let me amend that. I always try to make the kids play the "back guessing game" since I get a free back tickle out of it, but it goes like this: The kids draw a number, letter or shape on my back with their finger and I guess what it is. Tonight Garrett and I had this converstation:

Garrett, "what number is it, mommy?"
Me, "Um, a 12?"
Garrett, "NO, MOMMY! It's an F!"

Words that make me run, not walk......

"MOM! The twins got in your make-up!"

The thoughts that ran through my mind as I was sprinting upstairs: "crap, why did I forget to put it back after cleaning the bathroom? Please, please only be on the twins, and please, please let my lipstick and lipliner be intact".
Whew......it was. Just a little mascara.

Here's my question: do you think they applied the mascara to their own faces, and then passed on the wand, or do you think they applied mascara to each others faces?

I'm thinking they decorated their own faces and then decided to be good little sharers.

Loving my new header...

and it's all thanks to Melissa over at Are you Serious? I bought a bundle of headers without realizing that I'd need special software to manipulate them. Duh! Right? So I asked Melissa for help and she inserted pictures and text into all of them for me. It was such a nice thing to do and is a shining example of her obvious kindness and willingness to help. For nothing. I so appreciate all the time she put into helping me out, and now I get to enjoy her labors each and every day.

Happy Birthday to SevEn cLoWn CirCuS

Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear blog. Happy Birthday to you..........

2007 Halloween Retrospective

Cowboy 1 & 2, pirate, witch, vampire
All were on their rounds last night, sometimes in ire;
In the moon's golden ray,
Collecting candy in their own unique way.

Juannie says "sanks" and then turns back around for more,

Jacob says "trick" and holds his bag wide as if the candy will pour,

Garrett, Emma and Grace all on a race.

Today it's begs to shove that candy in their face.

This is what happens when mommy gets the kids ready (for a Trunk or Treat last weekend), and when daddy gets the kids ready (for real Trick or Treating). Um, can you tell he's a little better with accessories and makeup?

Jacob (L), John (R)

Jacob (L), John (R)

Garrett

Emma

Grace (my SIL, Jan actually did Grace's make-up after Jeff told her his vision)

Halloween in West Linn

Reasons I love Halloween in West Linn.......

*No one charges admission to their haunted houses because to do so means it has to have been inspected and given a permit.

*When we go to another neighborhood trick or treating because it is less hilly than ours I can ask a random home owner if it's possible to come into their house to use the restroom when someone has to go, NOW.

*When Jacob got left behind the group he was with and I came upon a thoughtful group of strangers asking "who lost a cowboy?" I didn't freak out.............too badly.

*The weather is usually moderate.........not too cold, not too warm.

*And best of all.............they give out GOOD candy. If I had received a bag full of the "premium" candy my kids got as a child, I would have been blissfully happy for months.