I Guess I Ought to Blog Something

I have been in a blogging funk. Sorry, Grandma(s). I have just been so busy trying to get my life back to normal around here. My house is in complete disarray and I am trying to re-array it.

I almost have all of my Christmas decorations up. Rinar just needs to put some on the outside of the house. I cleaned up a lot of corners and stacks of clutter downstairs. This weekend I also purged all baby clothing, separated it, and put things in proper bedroom spaces. I cleaned out three bookshelves and re-put things in new places. It is all so convoluted because when I was pregnant we moved all of the kids' bedrooms around. Raef and Zach's new room is pretty set, but the other two are just sketched out. They both need to be painted and redecorated and everything. So I am just trying to take it one step at a time. Lots of little things add up to big things. I am a big believer in that.

On top of trying to restore order to my home, I also have to nurse two babies, change loads of dirty diapers, and shuttle kids to music lessons and such. My one saving grace is that I started a little dinner group co-op. Hence, on Tuesday and Wednesday I don't have to cook. I have a lovely meal delivered to my doorstep. Then on Thursday I cook for me and the two other families. I have been able to be more thoughtful about my cooking day and plan for it without the burden of daily cooking duties. It has truly been a huge blessing.

Harry and Julia are doing fantastic these days. They are growing like crazy and are sleeping longer at night. Last night they did 6 hours, from midnight to 6:30am. Hence, I slept for about 5 1/2 hours uninterrupted. It was great. Each night it gets a little bit longer, so I would guess that within the next 2-3 weeks they will probably sleep 8-10 hours. I look forward to normalcy.

We had a wonderful double Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day we spent it with our good friends Stan and Amy O. They have 4 kids about the same age so it worked out well for all of us. It was a very traditional dinner that was a breeze to put together because we split up the cooking duties. Then on Friday we went to St. George to have Thanksgiving with Rinar's family. We have been doing this for many years now and it works out great. There is no conflict with other family functions with all of his brothers and sisters.

Here are a couple of random photos from the last couple of weeks.

Nobody Drowned!

We got back on track today with our schoolwork. My kids did their reading, writing, and 'rithmetic. Yeah for me! But I just remembered...we didn't practice the violin!!! AAARRGH! I have got to be more diligent at having them practice. They are really starting to get it. I decided to start reading a new book to them, so we started the first Lemony Snicket book.

Do you have any recommendations for good children read out-loud books?

After reading to the for 30 minutes, I fell asleep on the futon. I was expecting my friend to come over with her three little children around 12:30. Well, at 12 I heard the kids and a little girl, who I assumed was our neighbor. Then I heard them around the pool and the sound of a little boy, who I also thought was the neighbor, a 3 year old that I am certain does not know how to swim. It pulled me right out of my nap because I didn't want anyone drowning in the pool. So I rushed to the balcony to make sure everything was okay and I saw a teenager and several little children I did not recognize. I was very confused, owing partly to the fact that I was not completely awake. Then I heard my friend's voice and realized that they were here early with some of her family that I didn't know. What a relief! Nobody drowned. I still have a perfect record.

With solar heating, our pool warmed up considerably this week and the water was quite warm. I love having the swimming pool swimmable because the kids stay busy for hours and then they sleep really well at night. They play hard when they are swimming. It is great. It is one of the many benefits of the desert. I decided to go running while everyone was hanging out, and after about 2 miles it was bloomin' hot! I couldn't believe it. But I got it done, so I am going to give myself a pat on the back.


These pictures are from a couple of years ago, but the kids look about the same. Raef is in the floatie and Zach is holding on to the wall.

Aaahhh summertime!