Pretty much since Kevin's graduation he has been AWOL.

Ok, not completely AWOL, but we really only see him when he is sleeping and then he takes off for the day to study for the bar-he even goes to sleep at night studying in his mind a different subject every night. I have 5 more days till I have a husband again.

While it has been a long couple months, I have had a few things to do around here...

refinished a decorative birdhouse

roughly 30 loads of laundry

chased around dirty little hands in hopes to cut back on those 30 loads

spent hours weeding only to have the weeds grow back again the next day-curse the fertile land/weather here

watched B discover the world that is mischief

(this is only a slightly devious act-I assure you he has found much more interesting and dangerous adventures)

read so many books I can't even begin to remember them all

posted homemade signage to warn those who come knocking on my door

will see if it worked next week when the

Jehovah Witness' will surely make their weekly rounds

watched so, so, so many movies while doing projects at night

(this one is my current favorite-I have watched so many period pieces lately that I am starting to think and speak "British")

tried to teach Ben to help me,

but not in such a destructive manner...

...with my potted garden

finally got around to making the silhouette of B

I have been thinking about doing for months

and this wood is currently beckoning me to cut it up into small alphabet blocks to try to keep little hands busy

All in all,

it has been a productive summer,

but I will be happy to have

Kevin back again.

To the cutest twins...

...welcome to the world little ones. I can't wait to meet you guys!

I Know, It's Time Already

As I was combing Ben's hair tonight after his bath I realized maybe the ladies in the grocery store are right, I do have a cute GIRL. In the back, when it is combed his locks were reaching his shoulders.

So, one Baby Einstein and a lot of chasing later, little B looks like this.

Much better, if I do say so myself.

Do You See It?

A couple months ago I was at Ikea with my family and found the cutest kids towel-a little white mouse! It was so cute and my mom talked me into buying it, because it is just that cute. Bennett loves his little towel, but every time he wears it I hear my brothers words in my head...

...My brother waited until after the towel was purchased and at home with tags removed to say, "Doesn't it kind of remind you of something else?"

I still like the towel-the very very cute mouse towel.

Should I Be Offended?

Despite how close the homes around us are, you hardly ever hear or see any of our neighbors. The least private part of our house is our kitchen, because we have large windows and no trees blocking our view. These windows look toward the mountains and also toward our neighbors house.

Today, as I was feeding B lunch a tree started moving along our fence. Our fence is pretty high, so I am guessing the tree has to be about 12 feet-surely costing a pretty penny. The tree came to rest squarely between our kitchen window and our neighbors kitchen window. I sat there thinking about what that tree was really saying, when along came another tree just to make really sure that all areas between our kitchen and theirs were effectively covered.

I guess what I am really wondering is should I be offended, or relieved that now I don't have to worry about not walking around in my skivvies? Really, I should have just taken more advantage of my snooping opportunities and spent my days watching their every move!

I Could Scream This From The Mountains

First off, I am not one to post something of this nature; that is how happy I am. I just have to tell someone about this.

Bennett is a great kid, horrible teether. He is definitely not one of those kids that one day you simply notice he has a new tooth. We know that tooth is coming days/weeks before it makes its ugly appearance. Its arrival is accompanied by shortened or absent naps, waking during the night, long periods of crying without reason, an insane need to be by his mother, and general discontentment. My normally very happy boy is turned into a screaming monster. This in turn takes me to a place where patience is gone and I dream about the child I normally have, half convinced that he will never return.

A dear friend, that heard we were in the woes of another bout of teething, the molars proving to be the worst so far, brought me this little beauty:

This is what I know-his nap yesterday was 1.5 hours (teething naps usually last 20-45 minutes tops) and slept 12 hours through the night last night. For the first time in a week he woke up happy this morning and I could cry because this all makes me so happy. Two doses later and I am totally converted to this stuff! If a shipping strike does happen here, if nothing else, we will have this in our food storage.