saddle up AZ, here we come!

Hello insanity!!  I don't even know where to start.  Jonathan got the job offer we have been holding out for!!!!!  WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!  He also got another job offer, and one of the previous job offers got better.  AHHHHH!!  All that said, we are 99.999999999% sure that he is going to take the one he has been hoping for.  We have to tell them tomorrow, so there is still time to totally change our minds, but as of now, we are pretty confident.  Although, if I had a wool fleece I would be headed outside to place it on the ground and be checking for dew ASAP tomorrow morning!  But as it is, it's safe to say....we are headed to Arizona!  The crazy part, we are leaving Friday.  Yeah, that's in 2 days.   They want Jonathan to start October 11th.  That means if we finish packing tomorrow, load up the truck Thursday, leave Friday, drive Friday through Monday (about 8 hours a day) we will get there on the 4th and have 6 days to find a house, buy it (or rent it depending) and move in.  AHHHHH!!!  It's all happening TOO fast!  I would write more and post pictures right now, but I really should be filling boxes and taping them shut, so I am off to do just that.  Peace out blogosphere, I will write when I get to Arizona.

My kids like organization and rain

My children are attracted to order, organization and tidiness.  For example, on one end of the couch I can have a pile of laundry that is ready to be put in the washer, it's just tossed on there, chaos, dirt and all.  On the other end of the couch is a pile of neatly folded laundry, ready to be plunked into drawers.  Which pile do you think my kids go for?  Yep, the folded pile, the pile that's a picture of order, organization and tidiness.   They take that pile and neatly and evenly spread it throughout the house.  The pile that's a mess and already dirty, they leave that sucker right where it is.  Like I said, they are attracted to organization.  

Today we had a little bit of rain, and by that I mean it was a torrential down pour for about an hour and then rained off and on the rest of the day.  The twins love rain and after we made them come inside from splashing around, they stood at the window and watched the rain come down while playing with cars. 

Rain is great (when you don't have a huge outdoor activity planned)!  So cozy and refreshing. Growing up in a desert I think I have an extra appreciation for rain.  The smell before and after rain, the way everything looks a little more green after the rain, I love it.  And in New Mexico rain almost always meant thunder.  Oh how I LOVE thunder.  I used to lay on my bed and listen to the sound of the thunder as it rolled down the canyon.  It moves my soul just thinking about it.  

 

post-rain puddle splashing is great too, here are my two favorite little puddle jumpers:

it's difficult to get a close up of little buddy when he is on the move!

Well, I am going to have to cut this short, cookies are done and I am off to go get said cookies.  Gotta get them while they are still hot and fresh out of the oven.  I love cookies, and these cookies have a whole stick of butter in them!  How can you go wrong with that?   If me and Cookie Monster ever got together, let me tell you, it would be a party!

Future Mountain Climber?

Funny story - Austin has learned how to climb into his (or Lanna's) crib by himself.  He learned to do this because he wanted his binky.  The binkies in our house stay in their cribs and they only get them at nap time and night time, one day we will take them away but I am not ready for that yet.  Anyhow, I finally had to start storing binkies somewhere else since Austin would climb in to get his.  So one day I was in their room playing with them and Austin started climbing in his crib so I told him "Buddy, your binky is not in there."  So he shifted to climbing into Lanna's crib and I said "Buddy, your binky in not in there either, mama has the binkies."  As I said that I pointed to myself.  You know, kind of tapping my chest saying "mama has the binkies."  So Austin got down and walked over to me and pulled the neck of my shirt out, leaned his little head over, looked down at where I had been pointing to myself and said "binky?"  :)  Not quite little buddy. 

Here is Austin climbing:

starting out


up he goes


switch to the other side?!?!


almost there...


almost there...


success!  now to try and help Lanna :) 


He knows he can climb into cribs, yet he has not figured out yet that he can climb OUT of them, my day is coming though! 

Sunday Morning Solo

Yesterday the twitters and I went to church solo.  Ok, I was solo, they had each other.  And really, I had them so I was not solo either...  We went without Jonathan.  There.  Jonathan was headed to Atlanta to fly out to VA for a job interview.  In my head I had great aspirations of making to Sunday School, those were gone before Sunday morning even hit.  But I was still planning on going to church.  The twitters were up in plenty of time, we said goodbye to Jonathan when he headed out the door.  All was going well.  Then somehow in between 10:45am and 11:10am something went horribly wrong.  I am not sure what, but it translated to screaming, wailing, weeping and the gnashing of teeth.  The twitters were dressed and had food in their tummies, all I had to do was put their shoes on and get them out the door.  I don't remember exactly what happened, all I know is I looked at the clock and it said 10:45am and I thought "well, might as well get their shoes on, maybe I will have time to drop by Starbucks on my way."  Hahaha, I am funny, Starbucks, extra time, I crack myself up sometimes.  Anyhow it ended up with both of my two and a half year old children refusing to walk and me carrying them out to the car.  Have you ever tried to lock a door with wiggling and crying 50+ lbs in your hands?  If not, you should, it's awesome, especially if you have a door that you have to pull toward you in order to get the dead bolt to slide into the locked position.  We made it to church and the twitters had miraculously calmed down and we walked and in hand to the door.  Then a nice lady held the door open for us and looked down at Lanna and Austin and muttered those fateful words "Good morning, aren't you two cute."  At which point they both dissolved into tears and were clawing at my legs saying "carry, carry, carry."   It takes some doing to pick up both of them at once, it takes even more doing when you are wearing a skirt and there are lots of people looking at you.   I walked through the door, told the poor confused lady thank you and went to check them into the nursery.   As I am sure you can gather at this point, we were late.  So by the time I walked into church they were well into the worship section and everyone was happily singing.  I walked down the rows looking for a place to sit....packed, of course.  Finally I spotted a descent chunk of empty space on a pew way in the front, so I walked down there and asked the guy standing there if  I could sit there.  He looked at me and said "well my wife is coming."  Then he looked at the amount of space and said "well, is there anyone else with you."  Me: "No, it's just me."  Guy: "ok."  Ok?  Does that mean go ahead and sit?  So I did, I was standing in the aisle in the front of a packed church.  Awkward, but whatever.  I took my spot as far to the edge of the pew as I could get and started singing.  Then after a while his wife came, and boy did she give me a look.  I am not trying to hit on your husband, I am married, with two kids, and trust me, I would rather be sitting just about any other place right now, but thanks for making this even more awkward.  As soon as the service ended I practically ran for the door.  Picked up the twitters, Lanna had peed through her diaper, sweet.  I saw my Sunday School teachers and just looked the other way and ran for the door with the twitters in tow.  If you all ever read this, I am sorry, I am not usually that rude.  So that was my Sunday morning.  How was yours? 

He knows MY name

While we were sitting and eating in Chick-fil-A today a wonderful song came on.  I love Chick-fil-A, our family alone probably keeps Chick-fil-A in business.  We go there so often that Lanna now recognizes the red and white color theme and as we are driving up to or past a Chick-fil-A building she starts joyfully saying "Chicken Nuggets?  French Fries?"  I digress, I want to talk about the song.  It's called "He Knows My Name."  Here are the lyrics: 

I have a Maker
He formed my heart
Before even time began
My life was in his hands

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call

I have a Father
He calls me His own
He'll never leave me
No matter where I go

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call

And suddenly I felt at peace.  The creator of the universe known my name.  Lately I have been feeling pretty cool.  Have you heard of the new TV show coming out called Lone Star?  Maybe you have seen a preview/commercial?  Maybe a billboard advertisement?  I know the guy who wrote that show.  And by know him, I mean that he and his wife have twins that are the same general age as mine and she comments on the same twins message board I do AND we are friends on facebook.  Anyhow, I practically know the guy who wrote this tv show that's going to be on national television.  Pretty sweet huh?  Like I said, I have been feeling pretty important.  But when I heard this song today, I was floored.  God, the creator of everything that exists, He knows my name, and not just that, but He knows my every thought, He watches when I get up every morning and throughout the day, He sees when I cry, and He listens, He hears ME when I call.  He knows my name.  So while no decisions have been made yet regarded Jonathan's next job and our immediate future and there have been no lines have been drawn in the sand, the creator of the world knows my name, and for tonight that is enough.  I will probably wake up stressing out again tomorrow (thank goodness God is patient right?!), but tonight, I am at peace.  He knows my name. 

and He knows their names too, which is key seeing as how I love them a lot