Don't forget the bubbles!

People ask me all the time how I do it. 

I half-jokingly reply "I've lowered my standards."

My house is never clean for more than 2 minutes.  There is rarely an empty kitchen sink.  There are always dirty clothes waiting to be washed. 

I'm constantly finding ways to be more efficient.  But when I'm in high-efficiency mode, I forget about things like bubbles.

  I forget how much two year olds love bubbles. 

 How magical

and mysterious they are.

And how every single one is new and exciting!

So, even though it's a pretty efficient thing to do to bathe two or more kids together watching a timer while scrubbing your bathroom at the same time and reciting your states and capitals, sometimes you have to stop and blow bubbles and then take pictures to remember:

"they're only little for such a short while. "

(I don't remember where I heard that quote.)

We are encouraging Tater & Squdge to feed themselves.

It helps that they insist on doing it too.  Squdge LOVES spaghetti.

They're very enthusiastic about the process.

They encourage Peach too.

They're proud of their work.

A change of heart

Look what I found in the living room corner.  This little set up reminded me of the joy in childrens' hearts this time of year and brought me back to my youth.

I remember laying under the Christmas tree and squinting up at the lights to make the colors blur together. 

I recall looking at my reflection in the ornaments and imagining living in the shiny red or green world. 

I've been pretty bummed this year because we don't have enough lights for our 7-foot Christmas tree.  And to add enough strings of lights to our tree adds up pretty fast.  I can't bring myself to pay $129 for a skinny 7-foot prelit tree with pine cones on it.  So I'm waiting until the after-Christmas sales to get a new one.

We have this little tree and half the lights on it don't work.  But they're still on it because half of each of the strings DO work.  It's gross.  Don't look close. 

But no matter how negative I feel about my sad harrassed little tree, my kids love it.  And they want to turn the lights on all day long.  They want to handle the ornaments and redecorate it.  They want to lay under it and daydream.  They want to be kids enjoying Christmastime.  So I'm letting them.  I have had a change of heart.

I was going to post again today.

First I had to catch up on like 437 blog posts in my reader.  Before I was done, the twins bounced a dozen oranges all over my kitchen and lowered the value of our Charlie Brown Christmas tree by biting a few ornaments, squishing some, and chucking a few more at the living room wall. 

I just know one day I'll look back fondly on this Christmas and the innocence of their youth.  Maybe not this week . . .   or month . . . or year . . .

So you want to have twins part III

See this sharpie scribble on my cupboard?  It made my heart skip a beat.

Then I glanced around the kitchen, saw this and worked at it with the magic eraser . . .

while anticipating cleaning this (which should prove easier being a smoother surface than cupboard fronts) . . .

when this happened.

That's when I lost it and yelled, "Why?  WHY?! 

I could get you the things you need if you'd stop with the messes!"

Then I had to comfort two little twins reduced to puddles of tears. 

Then Danny had to comfort me. 

*sigh*

Why haven't you updated your blog?

I have a curious Tater who keeps me on my toes sometimes more than his buddy Squdge.

Nikki:  Buddy, why are you shredding the garbage bag?

Tater:  I uh no. 

translation:  I don't know.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Tater is a "go get 'em" little guy.  Here he takes a break from harrassing the bookshelf to snack on the couch with lunchmeat.

We took a break from our regularly scheduled calm *snort* to go trick o' treating.

Left to right we have:  Two Daddies (these mini-flight suits are actually closer to the pilot's ones than missileers), Jack o' Lanterns wearing each other's costume - oops (Tater is bigger than Squdge), a fairy in the middle and Superman holding a butterfly who's escaping her costume.  Catch all that?

Other than Gabbers friend party, this brings you through October.  mostly.

Scratching that creative itch

On Saturday we are having an Under the Sea birthday party for Gabbers.  She's celebrating her EIGHTH birthday!



In preparation something good AND bad has happened.  I have discovered Pinterest.  That octopus was on there.  Oh my.  There are so many wonderful crafts and holiday decorations and goodies and party ideas and presents and organization tips and on and on! 

I have been pinning and having too much fun.  Ah yes, I have been procrastinating my time away. 

I want to make this:

I would LOVE to bake and decorate for Halloween but I need to focus on baking and decorating for Gabbers' birthday party.  This IS the year for her big friend birthday party.  So I have to file away my fun ideas for next year when I don't have a big party to plan. 

However, it hasn't stopped me from making a pumpkin basket craft with the kids (that I cut on my Silhouette) and painting pumpkins (we were given a dozen on Sunday while we waited in the van during Danny's meeting).  Pictures later.

Today I learned how to make these:

Picture and tutorial here.  (and p.s. if you add a half teaspoon of shortening to about 1 1/4 cup candy melts when melting, it makes it smoother and easier to coat the marshmallows.)

Have you seen any cute crafts or goodies lately you couldn't resist adding to your to-do list?

30 lbs. down and 100 days logged

100 days ago I publicly declared I needed to lose weight.  You can read that here.   I had a vague idea of what to do.
Get motivated.
Tell other people (family and the blogosphere) I was planning to get in shape.
Eat healthier.
Exercise more.
Make goals so I know if I'm winning or losing.

I had no idea what a difference how invaluable Fat2FitRadio podcasts would play in my journey.  They have played a HUGE role in my healthier thinking and healthier lifestlye.

I drank minimum of 8 glasses of water a day.  In fact, there were probably only 2 days that I drank that little.  Usually I drank 12-14 glasses.  Sometimes I drank 16.  Once I had 20. 

I learned that I should keep my sodium intake below 2300 mg. 

I ate my 5 a day fruits and vegetables.  There were only a handful of days I didn't get enough. 

I learned that I did NOT want to lose weight fast.  My goal was to lose 1% of body weight per week to make sure I wasn't losing muscle and inhibiting my metabolism. 

When things slowed down and I didn't seem to be losing even half a percent a week, I UPPED my calories and dropped the weight. 

I averaged (while nursing an infant) 2200-2600 calories daily. 

I didn't deprive myself.  I learned about portion sizes.  I discovered that if something was low-fat there was a good chance it was either high in sugar or sodium. 

I tried to eat whole foods with less processing.  But I am busy and a mother of 7 and therefore must be realistic with my time and money.  Oftentimes, sadly, processed foods are much cheaper.  Happily, they are making less of an appearance in our home and meals. 

I did eat Cheetos, ice cream, butter, fast food, even French Fries a handful of times.  But I kept things in check.  I didn't order the large fries or just eat Cheetos out of the bag.  I measured out portions so I could make an accurate journal entry.  I realized that oftentimes, one serving was plenty for me. 

So, yeah.  I didn't feel deprived.  I don't feel like a slave to the food scale or label.  I feel like it's liberated me. 

Now, after measuring so often, I can eyeball portion sizes pretty accurately. 

I find myself craving vegetables and fresh fruit more.

I'm not as tired in the afternoon.  2-3 p.m. used to be my low-energy, low-motivation and self-control time.  It was the time of day I was most likely to eat processed junk food or candy for a pick-me-up. 

Here's to the next 100 days!

Hammy's bed Kiddie Kwip

After I got everybody to bed tonight, I heard a faint little voice calling from the big boys' room,  "Mommy, I'm scared."

So I went and gathered up Hammy and his blankie and his baby duck (Fluffy Duck is in surgery) and brought him back to my bed.  Danny's been gone for two weeks to his eye surgery and appointments and Hammy has had a hard time with it. 

I lay in bed next to him and we sang and signed a few primary songs.  Then he said, "Mommy?  Why your bed doesn't have words on it?"

I pondered this for a minute trying to decipher what the heck he meant.

And he said it again, "Mommy?  Why your bed doesn't have words on it like my bed?"  Instantly I thought of all he crayon and pencil I scrubbed off this evening with a magic eraser and then I remembered, Oh yeah.  I put laminate words on his bed that say, "A ducky and his boy sleep here."

(that's Fluffy Duck)

I chuckled and said, "Hammy, what should it say?"  Thinking I might seriously put something there before Danny gets home tomorrow to surprise him. 

Hammy was quick.  He knew just what it should say,

"Our Mommy and Daddy sleep here, and our Hammy."