State of Obvious

So today Carly put on a swimsuit that is about 2 sizes too big, on a good day. It was a hand-me-down from Marion/Kiana and Carly-barley has a bit of growing to do before it fits. Lets just say that the top of the swimsuit was hanging down to just about her belly button, or so. Joshua found this to be quite funny, he was actually rolling around on the floor laughing* while Carly proudly strutted her stuff in her baby suit. That's when I pulled out the dirt: To his credit, Josh laughed at himself too. I'd post the pictures of their dad, a real fashion plate in his own right, but I don't want to give him grounds for divorce. *Josh's laughing was more of a fake laugh, a rolling around on the floor guffaw that wouldn't fool anyone.

Upon watching a Drake and Josh wherein Drake is breaking up with a girl, my Josh (not TV Josh): I can't imagine what my life will be like when I have to do that. While sitting on the side of the bed, bouncing, Carly sings: I have a brain, I have a brain! She may possibly have been saying: I have a green, I have a green - I couldn't tell which. Josh is dressed up as a knight today and Carly is curled up at his feet in the blanket that serves as the trappings for his throne. And yesterday Carly was looking out the window while the air conditioning blew up her tutu/princess skirt a la Marilyn Monroe. Cursed, cursed camera giving away!

Oh the joys of a new neighborhood. Well, most people would be happy about it. Don't get me wrong, I am gleefully finding things to stick in empty cupboards and choosing paint colors and curtain colors and thinking about possible furniture. But.... My neighborhood is very friendly. Like, super we've-met-a-new-person-every-day friendly. This is a bad thing. Perhaps, perchance you don't know I am very shy and nothing terrifies me more than being thrust into situations where there will be a lot of new people - except maybe the dentist. Today we forced Joshua to go outside and play (yes, I said force). We banned him from TV and computer games and said "go play in the park or something dangit!" or something like that. So he chose the front porch. If he could figure out a way to do it, I think he would keep a body part inside while playing outside. This was really irritating Eric, he was all like "so why did we move to a place with a yard? and a park out it

So funny, I had to share before it blanks out of my memory: Carly's daddy bought her this Barbie purse set as a welcome home present from vacation. Today she was playing with the keys - her favorite part of the set. (Looking at the picture of the set I just realized that she totally got ripped off, there was no little driver's license/credit cards in there!) She sat on the edge of my bed and the following transpired: C: "I need to drive 20 minutes." Me: "Oh? Where are we going?" C: "Shopping." Me: "What do we need to get?" C, very thoughtfully: "Um, milk and juice and stuff and milk." Me: "Oh, okay." C pinches the bridge of her nose, closes her eyes and sighs. A little later she finds a ring and necklace that I bought her while we were on our vacation trip. The necklace is from CA, a key that has pink crystals in it* and the ring is from our trip home with Cha-Cha, a tiny silver ring with a single turqouise stone. She

Ever wondered what the <3 symbol is, exactly? Well about a year ago I finally decided that no, in fact, it was not a sideways ice cream cone. Or a view of Big Bird from the top. I sucked up my pride and I asked someone. Its a heart. <3, heart. Ohhhh. Duh. The internet has given us all kinds of fun things. Like blogs. Like lolcats . And Gizoogle *. It lets me keep up with my friends, some who (or is it whom?) I have never met and probably never will. Its the perfect medium for a girl like me, an antisocial, shy, at-home addict like me. I like it almost as much as text messaging. Almost. Just thought I'd share. *Gizoogle can be crazy funny but also a little bit over the top, so view carefully - like not with kids who can read.

So every now and then, the Lord throws something in your path that is like a little nudge. A little bump that says "Hey, look how lucky you are" or "Hey, I know that your kids are making you want to have ear plugs surgically implanted but most of the time you love the sound of their voices. Like when they aren't yelling, that's good. Think about that more." Reading the very good news of llegue and her family, I had one of those moments. I was literally holding back tears and remembering back to those sweet, sweet moments when I was waiting to meet my baby girl for the first time. There is a perfect agony that accompanies "the news" that a baby is coming - whether biological or adopted, the wait is so wonderful and so painful at the same time. Finding out that your baby - the one you've paid money for, opened up your home to strangers for, exposed your financial and personal background for - is breathing in the world and you're missi

And so is the move! Today the movers brought our stuff, all 5600 (estimated) pounds of it. While the new place has lots of extra room - so much more room that we don't have furniture for all the rooms - I still feel like the age old question can not be answered: where are we going to put all this stuff!? Although hiring movers to finish packing and move us seems like a huge, lazy indulgence I am so so SO glad we did it. I can't even imagine trying to pack up and move all this stuff in the 90+ degree humidity - even if we did only move a couple miles down the road. Our carefree "let someone else sweat" move hasn't been totally carefree though. We found that in the soon-to-be-den there is a leak of some kind running down the wall. The drywall and carpeting and such is all damaged and will have to be replaced. One great thing about renting is that it isn't my job to pay for said repair. One not so great thing - we can't use that room until its done. It's

of our favorite moments, but many only exist now in memories. Here are a few I managed to wrangle: We stopped at El Morro National Monument on the way to NM from CA. Cha-Cha and I both remembered having fun there when we were kids and visiting again did not disappoint: Cha-Cha gives Carly tips on the fine art of photography Josh couldn't figure out why I was laughing: Kiana said she was really good at taking pictures of herself. Whatcha think? Please note: My Grandpa (in the middle with the cane) and my dad (on the right in the white shirt) are doing EXACTLY the same thing! The cousins, lined up in order of age to sing my Grandma's favorite song (with Cha-Cha helping coordinate) Left to Right: Marion - 11, Josh - 9, Kadin - 8, Kiana - 8, Alex - 6, Ethan - 3, Aunt Cha-Cha - forever young, Carly - 2 My Grandpa, king of the water gun Aunt Nancy and Josh locked in a fierce, to-the-soaked battle (Angie is in the background trying to look inconspicuous) I managed to get a photo

So, we're home after a long 3 days of driving and I've been thinking of some lists in my head that recap our (unexpected) extended vacation. Numbers: 9 - leaky diapers 100 - average amount spent on gas per day while traveling 6 - hotel rooms 1 - exploded pop in the car 4.85 - highest price per gallon paid for gas (at a DQ in California) 7 - grandchildren altogether for the first time in one place 2 - trips to Albuquerque (an all time low for a visit back home) 1 - broken mug that was supposed to be for Poppa 3 - green chile cheeseburgers consumed by me (I could only finish 1 because the other 2 were so hot - and it wasn't all on the same day!) 20+ - mosquito bites on Josh 0 - sunburns (woot!) 1700 - miles from Grandma's house to my house on the way back 1 - time I got lost in OK City (seriously people, post some detours!) Best Quotes: Carly: "I hurt my scratch" "Bug by my eye!" "I hurt my eye!" "I hurt my owie" "I hurt my we