I went to Target anyway. By the time Paul got home, I was really annoyed, and when he said, "Babe, if you're leaving you need to go NOW because I need your van out of the garage so I can work on Ruben's car..." I decided to pack up the kids and go.

I hate Target. I know everyone else on the planet loooooooooves Target, but I hate Target. I LOVED Target back when they were slightly better than Wal-Mart and knew it. Now, it's like they think they're Kohl's or Mervyn's or something, except with groceries. Their stuff is so weird and overpriced, it bugs the shit out of me. Want a Rubbermaid toilet brush? Sorry, you have to get one designed by Todd Oldham. Looking for clothes? Hope you like Mossimo! And it seems like almost EVERYTHING is in, like...way too much packaging with fancy fonts on the labels. And the food - again, it's so random. They have like ten brands of one thing, and none of another. I was looking for reduced fat cheese, which in the supermarket (and at Wal-Mart!) they have by the truckload. At Target, they have fat free Kraft singles. Great. But would you like some weird fruit that nobody eats? How about pre-made sushi? Ten thousand food items made with artichokes and sundried tomatoes? Visit Target. All the trendy shit on the planet; none of the stuff you actually need. And those weird commercials too. Hey, Target. You're still a discount store!

And I got rope lights for Kayley's room; $9.99. Paul was sure to let me know they're $5.99 AT WAL-MART. I got sparkling water, but they only had two flavors, tangerine lime and strawberry kiwi. Again with the huge selection of nothing. I got cucumbers, but they were overpriced, plastic-wrapped, ORGANIC cucumbers, because that's ALL THEY HAD. I got parmesan cheese, but it was some brand I've never heard of (on sale) and when I got to the register, it was ringing up as NOT on sale. That's happened to me like FIVE TIMES at Target. And will they fix it? Fuck, no. Go stand in line at Customer Service if you want your money back. Do you know what they do at Wal-Mart? They GIVE YOU THE ITEM. When we walk in at Wal-Mart, a greeter gives my kids a sticker and gets me a cart. At Target, a security gard gives me the hairy eyeball. Plus, all their stupid plastic red carts are always STUCK TOGETHER and there are always these little clusters of carts all spread around from people trying to unstick them and eventually giving up. I can't WAIT until our Wal-Mart opens. I can't. WAIT. It'll be right down the street, so close!! I love my Wal-Mart, but I hate driving for twenty minutes each way every time we shop. And I'll never feel like Target is more convenient again. Whee!

I got lots done today. Did all my laundry, all of Kayley's, finished up Paul's. Cleaned up downstairs, cleaned the kitchen, bathroom, playroom, living room, swept the kitchen and vacuumed everything. And I had dinner all ready and waiting in the oven so I could go pick up K from after school care and we could go to Target and spend some time together just browsing and we could eat when we got home.

So right around the time I was getting ready to go, Paul's little brother rings the doorbell. So he comes in. I call Paul and say, hey, did you know your brother's here? Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you he was coming over. So, I've been just, like...sitting...here...for hours now...with Paul's little brother. Waiting for Paul to get home. And he called and said he wouldn't be home until SIX, so that pretty much shoots my plan to go shopping and spend time with Kayley. Why the hell would I drag the kids out in the dark cold night?

I hate it when my plans get spoiled!!

Nikki slept last night. Miracle of freakin' miracles. She slept!

I should mention, I noticed last night that a big old tooth had broken through her top gums. Yes! She WAS teething, and not just posessed by the devil. Yay! After giving her a Motrin/Benadryl cocktail with a Hyland's teething tablet chaser, she only woke up briefly at 11:30 (which doesn't count, because I wasn't in bed yet) and then slept until almost 9 this morning!!! Therefore, I SLEPT UNTIL ALMOST 9 THIS MORNING!! Oh, it was wonderful! After nights and nights of no sleep - I slept. Yay, me.

(Please don't leave me comments about drugging my children. I researched, figured out the right amount to give her based on her weight, and made the decision to get her some pain relief!)

Good Mo'nin! I'm like the walking dead, thanks to Nikki the Amazing Non-Sleeper. I can't believe how much that kid DOESN'T sleep anymore!! I think she has a cold, or is growing, or hates her crib, or there's a monster in her room, or she wants to slowly drive me insane. I'm really not sure what her issue is. It's a good thing she's cute, or I'd be putting her up on eBay with a little Buy It Now, Suckers!

I keep almost posting here and then getting sidetracked. So, we're going to half-ass it and do a bulleted list.

* Went to a birthday party this weekend for like, five minutes. Actually, more like an hour and five minutes, but it was still fun. My parents could only babysit for a brief little bit. Still fun, though.

* Paul's dad and stepmom spent the night here Saturday on their way back from LA. They brought some big toys for the kids from Paul's Tia out there who also has twins. Her twins are 15, so they've outgrown their Little Tikes house and big slide tower. Yay! New stuff! The kids are SO stoked about it. They've been CRAZY climbers! Pictures to come.

* I got new stuff with our wedding money! New dishes, new canister set for the kitchen, and a new teakettle. Now we need towels. Bed Bath & Beyond will be seeing more of us.

* On my way to buy new stuff, some douchebag motherfucker in a convertible came within a few feet of hitting us head on as he was passing a semi on a 2-lane road. I hit my brakes and sucked my breath in, and he snaked back into his lane just feet away from my bumper. Fucking moron. I had to pull over and cry for awhile because I was so shaken up! So much for THAT route - I'm taking the freeway from now on, tolls be damned.

* Wasn't Desperate Housewives good? I'm so happy it's on again! And didn't Rex look dead as SHIT? Paul and I both winced when we saw him - they did a great job of making him look like a dead guy! His eyes looked glued shut and everything.

* Oh! Remember when I said I was making that Prairie Land Pot Roast from the Kraft magazine? It sucked ten kinds of ass. It was AWFUL. Paul is OVER trying new shit. It's spaghetti and meatballs tonight. (Actually, penne and meatballs, because I hate spaghetti.)

* I talked to my sister! Actually, it was over a week ago, but I forgot to mention it. You may or may not know I haven't talked to her since early last summer and haven't seen her in over three years. She has a lot of issues, and lives far away. I had a bad feeling that something was wrong, so I was Super Sleuth Laura and tracked her down. I love her and I miss her. I also mourn the relationship that I wish we could have had. I'm hoping and praying my girls grow up and have close, sisterly relationships. My sister and I don't have that. And it's especially hard for me because I IDOLIZED her for the first half of my life, and she's disappointed me SO many times. I think I might finally be over feeling completely abandoned by her, but it's taken like, fifteen years. Guess I have issues too!

* I'm out of diapers and almost out of wipes. I'm also out of bread and milk. We HAVE to go to the store, even though I'm running on four hours of sleep. I'd drink a Red Bull if they didn't give me the caffeine shits. HAHA! Somehow that doesn't happen when it's mixed with vodka, but I don't think that's the type of drink I need to get my butt in gear today!!

Have a splendid day.

Today's been an exciting day, sort of...

I was sitting on the floor with all the kids, trimming fingernails one kid at a time, and Pablo was sitting right near me. He picked up the Elmo phone, held it to his ear, and then in a soft little shy voice, said, "Ha-hoe?" I about fell OVER. Yay! He spoke!! Right when I was getting ready to share this big news with the world, he wandered over to the couch and projectile vomited all over it. Yay!!! Puke for me to scrub out of fabric!! And, it smelled like Hooters fries. (And vomit.) I think I'm officially Hootered out. No more cravings for this lady.

Soooo. After scrubbing the fucking hell out of the couch, it looks fine, but smells. I need to get out the carpet shampooer - and the Febreeze! While the big kids took a long nap, the little kids and I did some laundry, picked up, and vacuumed the whole downstairs. Go, us. It's so funny, Nikki and Lexi are a lot like Mallory and Pablo, personality-wise. Nikki marathon-race-crawled after me and the vacuum, chasing it all over the room on hands and knees. Lexi cowered in the corner of the room and pouted. I have to vaccum ONLY when Pablo is in bed because he is TERRIFIED of the vacuum. Not just a little, but...crying without sound, choking on his own snot, terrified. And Mallory wants to ride on the vacuum. Silly kids!

AND THEN! While Pablo and Mallory were in their booster chairs at the table just now, munching away on PB&J and milk, Pablo bumped his cup and it fell to the floor. As it fell, he said, "Uhhhh ohhhhh!" I about fell over AGAIN! Two words in two days. So now I can say my son's first words are HELLO and UH OH. At age 2 years, three weeks, and two days.

I'm so happy!

We went to Hooters for Paul's birthday last night. At first I thought we were going to that fake In-n-Out burger (it's called Old School Burgers, and yeah, to a novice, they taste just like INO! I love 'em, Paul "accepts" them since the closest INO is a few states away.) Paul wanted to go to Hooties for $.25 wings and "theme night" - when the girls dress in costumes. Last night was toga night, and I was unimpressed. I don't know where these girls learned to tie togas, but they just looked like crap. Schoolgirl night was much, much better!!

The kids were all SO good, even after being wired from going to playgroup. (And that was lots of fun!! I'm so glad I went!)

Here are a few pictures of our dinner. Pablo loved looking at this little "book" during his dinner. He flipped through it like a hundred times.



Nikki and Lexi really enjoyed their first pickles. I wish I'd taken a picture of them together in these outfits because they looked adorable! This is Nikki.



There were only three highchairs, so Mallory ended up climbing all over Uncle Mike.



Here's Lexi with her pickle.



And my cute boys!



Everyone's awake, babbling away in their cribs, so I need to get my booty in gear and get breakfast started. Have a nice Thursday!

Edit: Oh, and in the sidebar, I put up some bathtime pictures on Flickr. All my kids in the tub together!!

Happy Wednesday. Tomorrow is the first day of fall, didja know that? And in addition to today being MY HUSBAND'S birthday, it's my half birthday. Woo-hoo. I'm 32 and a half today. (Guess that's a bigger deal when you're 10 1/2.)

It's windy and LOOKS overcast out - we haven't been outside yet, so I don't know if it's hot or cold. Yesterday was hot as fucking hell; it came within a degree of breaking a record. I don't remember the temp, but it was definitely in the 90s - in mid-September! It's not usually like that in Colorado. In fact, usually by this time of year, it's getting to be jacket weather. It cools off FAST in September, but I guess not this year! Yesterday, Pablo and Mallory had bright red faces from playing out in the yard.

Okay, enough babbling about the weather. I'm trying to decide whether or not to take the kids to playgroup. It's not the usual one we go to, it's one organized through my twin club, so all the kids are twins. I'm sure it'll be lots of fun, and lots less stressful, since I won't be the only mom there with twins, running her ass off trying to keep them out of things. But it is ALL the way across town, and it does mean giving up precious naptime. The kids will probably sleep in the car, since it's a good half hour drive. But my house is a pit, and I need to get some stuff picked up before I can even consider leaving. What should I do?? I think when I get done here, I'll go clean the bathroom and pick up the playroom and call it good, then we'll get out of here and go play. Tomorrow's trash day too, so I need to run up and get all the stinky diapers out of the kids' rooms. Bleck.

So, does anyone besides me and Gina get that Kraft Food and Family magazine? Sometimes, they have the most awesome, kickass recipes. Other times, the recipes in there suck big time! I've read several sites where people raved over the foil wrapped chicken, but we didn't dig on it that much. Paul thought it was really bland and neither one of us liked the half-cooked mushrooms. Last night, I tried making some dish with kielbasa and macaroni and cheese and broccoli and tomatoes. It was as gross as it sounds. The first couple of bites were delightful (because we were starving) but the more we ate, the more the cheese and tomatoes congealed, and the nastier it was!! Paul ended up pulling all the kielbasa out and eating it and we threw out the rest. Now Paul is like, honey? Can you just make the regular boring shit you always make? LOL! I have one more recipe to try, the Prairie Land Pot Roast - mostly because I want to try making a roast on the stovetop in my new cookware instead of in the crotchpot like I always do. If it comes out shitty, I'm gonna be mad!

Oh, and did you watch that show last night, My Name is Earl...? It was HYSTERICAL. Paul was working on his van, but watched it on his garage TV - yes, he has cable in the garage - priorities, y'know! If he only had a urinal out there, he'd probably never come inside. Anyway, I laughed my ass off through the whole show. And then Paul was finished outside, so we watched The Office together. That show is SO funny and well done - one of the things I like about it is it seems so REAL, like you're watching live theater or something - I found myself actually, like, BLUSHING in embarrassment for these people!! LOL!

I'm glad TV watching season is back! I'm still seriously coveting a TIVO, and I just don't see us getting one. The problem is that we don't have TIME to watch the shows we would record. It's now or never for us, y'know? That's why I try not to commit to watching too many shows. We only have a handful we really like. (Still, I want that fricken Tivo!! What do I have to do to talk my man into it?)

Okay, I'm outtie - gonna clean up so we can go play with the other twinsies! Have a nice day!

This is the latest toy getting a lot of play around here!



And the kids are really enjoying the backyard:

Mallory pushing the little girls in the swing:



All three on the swings:



Nikki and Mallory swinging together:



Pablo giggling about throwing sand down the slide:

So, it's already Tuesday. Time is doing that flying thing again!

Saturday night, I went with RaeJean to a birthday party. We had a blast! I got a buzz super fast (drinking Red Bull with green apple vodka - deeelightful!) but stopped drinking about two hours before I had to come home, since I had to drive all the way back to Denver! At 12:30, the drive only took me about 15 minutes though - it was just me and one trucker all the way down the interstate! There we are over on Flickr, being saucy together. <----

Sunday morning, Paul and I took the kids to the flea market. We walked around people watching for a few hours - we even ran into my nephew there! I forgot he works at a kettle korn stand there on the weekend. We noticed an interesting phenomenon I've never seen anywhere else. A few months back, Zuba had this joke on her blog. (And as a white girl married to a Mexican with lots of black friends, I found it pretty hysterical!) Anyway, while at the flea market, we saw tons and TONS of kids being pushed in strollers - kids who were like, at least five years old. We saw kids almost as big as Kayley being pushed in strollers. It was so weird! Immediately I remembered that joke! So, we ended up getting a bunch of produce really cheap. I got four pounds of bananas for $1.25, a whole basket of tomatoes for $3.00, three enormous zucchini for a dollar, and eight baggies of green chiles for a dollar apiece. Almost made up for spending $2.50 for fountain Cokes!! We also got the kids a goofy hanging monkey for their jungle-themed playroom. He hangs from the ceiling and whenever someone screams, he kicks his legs and makes monkey sounds, then sings some speeded-up version of a lame song. The kids love it. I'm starting to get annoyed by it.

And yesterday, we didn't do much. The kids and I went to the supermarket, then my nephew Casey came by to visit. I made homemade refried beans, Spanish rice, and green chile, and we had burritos for dinner. The beans sucked, though, and we ended up throwing them out. I think I used too much salt pork. And we sort of half-assed watched the season premier of Las Vegas (Paul loves that show) while the kids ran around all crazy, winding down before bedtime. I put Pablo and Mallory to bed right as Medium started, so we got to watch that in relative quiet.

Nikki was up about FIVE TIMES last night. Ugh! I was SO tired this morning. Actually, all four kids ended up waking up about an hour early. And we're going to have to either go out today or get someone to come visit, because we're on our last can of formula and it's going to run out today. I didn't buy it yesterday because we didn't go to Wal-Mart and formula is about $5 more at the supermarket. It's biting me in the ass now!

There ya go, all caught up on the excitement that is my life!! Don't you feel better?

Today was a long day. A nice Friday, but still a long day. My kids were total shitheads by bedtime, and I have only myself to blame. I know absolutely well how children thrive on routine, MY children in particular, yet I disrupt their routine REGULARLY just for my own selfish reasons. This week, they've missed out on at least two, maybe three naps, because I dragged them out somewhere because *I* needed to get out of the house! On those days when we stayed home and had lunch and played on the floor and played in the yard and they had nice long naps and hot baths, they behaved SO much better and slept better too. So what the fuck is my problem, then? Do I need it spelled out for me in black and white? Evidently I do. Stay home, Laura. Stop dragging your kids all over the fucking city. They don't need it, even if you do.

Anyway. We went to the mall today and met RaeJean and her boys, and it was mostly delightful. The kids all played and we had a yummy, delicious lunch, and I had fabulous conversation with my best friend. My kids were beginning to melt down after we ate, and if I had half a brain in my friggin head, I would have left THEN and brought them home for a nap, but nooooo, I had to drag them into the Disney Store and then back down to the play area for more running around and THEN, it was 2:00 and K gets out of school at 2:45, so why drive all the way back home when we would have to leave to get her anyway? So we went to visit my mom, and they TORE IT UP over at her house for an hour and a half. She was happy for the visit, or faked it well anyway, and we chatted and had a nice time. Then I left her place and picked up K, and the kids slept all the way home, and K and I drove around the neighborhood killing time so they could get a little bit of sleep.

We drove past where the new K-8 school is being built, we drove past the house that burned up earlier this summer to see how the renovation is going, we drove past two, no, three friends' houses to gawk and see if they were out in the yard (they weren't) and I yelled at some kids. Man! We were near our street, and these three little kids who could NOT have been more than 4 or 5 were PLAYING CHICKEN with cars. (!!!!) They were standing near a parked car, running out in the street, then running back when a car approached - this on a busy street in the subdivision, where the speed limit is THIRTY. I pulled right over and got out of my van and they seemed SHOCKED when I walked up to them and pulled out the mom voice. "WHERE is your mom?" I barked at them and they pointed and said, "She inside..." and I said, "You get out of this street RIGHT NOW before I go tell your mama you were out here!" As I drove away, I started thinking, fuck that, I should just go tell their mama they were in the street, and when we turned around to go back, the parked car and the kids were gone. Guess they were just visiting my neighbor. Fucking asshole parents just letting their kids run around like that! I honestly can't even imagine behaving that way. I don't even let my TEN YEAR OLD run around out where I can't see her, in this day and age!!

So, my honeybun hubby decided to go out with his buds, which is totally fine, and I'm happy he's out having fun, but I wish I had a babysitter who could come over and sit here while the kids sleep, so I could go MEET HIM and have a little drinky myself. Hmph. Instead, K and I had movie night, and we ate ice cream and watched a DVD. It was nice. I just tucked her into bed. All of my children are snoozing peacefully (for now - I'm sure someone will be up shortly!) and I'm about to run back downstairs and pick up - nothin' like cleaning house at midnight!

Have a super weekend. I think we may try to take some pictures of the kids in their Halloween costumes this weekend just for fun. Well, it's a nice thought anyway, even though we probably won't get around to it! Hubby-hub is going to work on his van (and hopefully my van too? Vacuuming it anyway?) And I need to drag all my children to the mall again (the ghetto mall!) to return K's boots that are too small. Woo! I'm outtie!

I can't even believe it's already Friday. It was Monday like five minutes ago.

You know what I forgot to mention, as if it even matters? I stepped in a hole when I was in a parking lot the other day and started to fall down and smacked my wrist against the mirror on my van. It looks like HELL - it is so black and blue and purple - it looks like I get regular beatings or something. Ha! I thought for a second I might have even broken it, but it only hurts when I push my stroller for a long time, so I know it's just bruised. I broke my wrist when I was 18 and I remember it hurting like hell all the time for days on end.

We're getting ready to head over to the mall and meet RaeJean and her munchkins for playtime and lunch. We got together last Friday too, and it was a lot of fun! I think we're going to make a regular day of it. Yay! They've made a ton of improvements at our mall, almost enough to make you forget you're in the 'hood! LOL! Did I mention there was a shooting there earlier this summer and someone got shot in the fucking head and died right outside the Sears store? Can you imagine, spending your last moments of life in the mall? The shooters ran all through the mall and through the store where my mom works and she had to get down on the ground. Can you even imagine?? Now they've instituted a curfew where you have to be 18 or have a 21-year-old or your parents with you after 5 p.m. Whatever - I NEVER go to the mall that late in the day. We're pre-nap shoppers - heh.

Y'know, I'm starting to think I've been in the house watching kids' TV too much. The kids are really liking the Doodlebops now, since they come on when the Wiggles used to. I just spent about ten minutes looking for pictures of them without their makeup on, just to see what they look like. LOL! That Rooney Doodle is actually kind of a hottie. Ha!

All right, we're heading out of here. Have a nice Friday!

Feeling blah lately. I know it's mostly post-wedding letdown! It's hard to plan all summer for an event that's over in one day and feel anything but down.

The kids are well, the babies are growing like crazy - they're almost 8 months and STANDING unassisted. Little monkeys! They're also eating everything in sight and have expanded their favorites to include non-pureed items such as crackers and mushy noodles and the occasional pizza crust. The toddlers are also growing like crazy - my big girl is talking a lot now, and we understand a lot of it. She and her brother are both regularly signing for "more" - and once she signed for "eat", but only once. We're starting speech therapy for the boy in about a month. Takes forever to get through the system, y'know! Miss K started dance this week and this will be her third night in a row dancing, because she hasn't found a class yet that's a good fit for her. We're at a new studio now, so we'll see how that goes.

That's about it in my world. The kids are going to be waking up from their nap shortly and I think we're going to pack up in the stroller and take a walk to get some fresh air.

P.S. As I do my sporadic blog surfing, I have to bitch about something: I hate the way Blogger pings weblogs.com whenever someone leaves a comment, so blogs show up as updated on Blogrolling when they have the same old shit I read yesterday. Y'know? It's annoying. Can't they set it up so it pings weblogs.com ONLY upon publishing a new post? How hard is that? Every other content management system works that way! Or why can't everyone be like ME and disable that feature, and then manually ping blogrolling when they update? Gahh!

I think I finally have most of the wedding pictures uploaded. If you'd like to see them, just ...

Click here!

It's like you were THERE!

I know it sounds gross, but I just took the babies' mesh feeders and stuffed them full of macaroni and cheese. They went to freakin' TOWN! I've only ever used them for fresh fruit, but hey, whatever's clever.

Last night, I went to my monthly twin club meeting and it was lots of fun. The speaker was boring but still informative - she was a financial planner and had lots of good information, she just spoke for over an HOUR and I was starting to get sleepy! Afterward, a bunch of us (like twenty!) went over to Chili's for some drinks. That was SO much fun! I didn't get home until MIDNIGHT!!! It was the first time I've gone out on my own just for ME since, well, before ANY of the babies were born! I had SO much fun! Amazing what a little grownup interaction will do for ya.

Oh, and a happy belated birthday to LaDonna - her birthday was Sunday, but I didn't get online at all. I meant to blog her a happy birthday then. Oh well! Hope it was a good one! :-)

Bye for now - I'm organizing my Tupperware cabinet (actually, the kids have it emptied out and are playing in it!) and plan to throw away a BUNCH of shit today! Yay!

You know, as I've gone through life, I've had moments here and there where I've thought I was pretty damned clever. Y'know, like, maybe smarter than the average Jane on the street. I'm beginning to think I've been fooling myself, though.

I'm having my very first non-pill regulated period in, like, forever. Since before I met my husband. I got my tubes tied, remember? But I had to stay on the pill for a few months to make sure it all worked right, right? Okay, but I stopped taking the pill, and so now my bleeding is REAL BLEEDING, the kind from a REAL cycle, not the fake kind that comes from stopping taking hormones for seven days out of every month. So, the day I started, I marked the calendar like a good girl, so I'll know when to expect it next month. I carefully counted out 28 days, just like I did for YEARS from age 12 on up to adulthood, and then realized...all this time, I could have just counted ahead four weeks.

Can you believe that shit? I'm 32 years old and it JUST NOW OCCURRED TO ME that getting your period every 28 days equals EVERY FOUR WEEKS.

I wondered why my Mensa membership card had a Fisher Price logo.

Someone asked me for the recipe. I don't really have one; I just throw shit together. But I will tell you how to make it - the technique is more important than the ingredients! It's all in the hips, baby. Not really, it's actually in the stirring. LOL!

To make broccoli cheese soup, start with a big pan, like a dutch oven. Melt about half a stick of butter. Throw in a big scoop of flour, like...half a cup to a cup, at least. Stir, stir, stir until it makes a funky paste. Then sllllowly pour in cold chicken broth, a little at a time, stir stir stir stir stir stir stir stir stir, a little more, stir stir stir...until you have a nice, thick liquid. This is called making a roux. Use two of those boxes of chicken broth.

Add to this about a two bunches of chopped up broccoli or a bag of chopped broccoli or a frozen little brick of chopped broccoli, it doesn't really matter. Then add about, oh, fifteen twists of your pepper grinder and about half a dozen shakes of your salt shaker. Add a little dry mustard and some onion powder.

Now, the cheese. I use about 3 to 4 cups of sharp cheddar. Pour it all on a couple of paper towels and sprinkle a couple of spoonfuls of flour on it. Work the flour through the cheese with your fingers (like for fondue!) and then dump it all in the pot. Stir, stir, stir, stir, stir.

Then, get a big container of half and half. Pour half in and stir, stir, stir, stir. Then take the other half and add a few spoonfuls of flour to it and shake it up really well, and pour that in, too. Stir and stir and stir. When it looks like broccoli cheese soup, turn the heat down to low and put a lid on it for half an hour or so.

The end.

Man, I can't believe today's Thursday already. I can't believe a week ago, it was THE DAY BEFORE EVERYONE CAME and it was our last day to get everything done. And I'm sure YOU can't believe I'm still going on and on about the wedding. LOL!

We're having trouble getting back into our routine, which I'm blaming on all the damned crap in my house. There are still ginormous bouquets of flowers nearly covering my kitchen island and a fuckton of rapidly spoiling food in my fridge, all of which are destined for the trash, but...we have SO much trash, I can't really see bagging it up and just throwing it on the PILE in the garage. Yes, pile. We ran out of room in the garbage cans before the wedding was over. And our trash day is generally Thursday, but not the week of a government holiday, so it's not until tomorrow. And then, I'm throwing away tons and tons of stuff. The kids' birthday was also last week if you recall, so I have several LARGE toy boxes to throw out too. All of which is just litering my house and making me crazy!

I made a big pot of broccoli cheese soup this morning. It came out really quite good. I dished up a huge Rubbermaid container and the kids and I all went to visit my mom. Such a good daughter I am, bringing soup to my crippled mama. LOL! She had surgery yesterday to remove a bone spur from her foot and she's laid up for awhile. My dad was there too; he took a few days off to take care of her. And his truck died the day of the wedding, which I didn't realize until a few days ago (wondered why they came over in my mom's car!) so he just bought a new truck, too, and had to show that off. We had a nice visit, most of which was spent plucking the boy down from various high objects and getting him out of bedrooms and such.

Now guess where we are? Out on the patio. Yep, I'm blogging from the great outdoors. My HUSBAND wired up an outlet and an internet connection right here on this pillar, so we could have the laptop outdoors. It's quite delightful, I must say. Holy fucking CRAP, the most GIGANTIC spider just scuttled past my toes, and the bare toes of both babies sitting in the walkers. Aaaaaaaah!!! I've seen this kind before and I know they're harmless, but Jesus? Give a mama a heart attack, why dontcha? Why can't they just HIDE while I'm out here??

I guess that's all I had to say. I'm still sickeningly IN LOVE with MY HUSBAND, and getting married seems to have made us even mushier. It's sick. I'm really thrilled that it's September and it's beautiful outside and the wedding is over and we can RELAX and hopefully enjoy the rest of the summer. I'm almost thinking my littlest baby picked up on some of my stressed out attitude and nervous energy those last two weeks and that's why she wasn't sleeping, because she's slept through the night for three nights in a row and I've gotten EIGHT FRICKEN HOURS of sleep for THREE NIGHTS now. All my aches and pains seem to be mysteriously GONE, too, oddly. Yay for good sleep!

Back to the sights and sounds of the backyard!

So. How are ya? Did you know I got married on Saturday? Yep, I sure did! I keep meaning to update about all that, but I haven't really had the time to devote to typing up a proper post that would do the event JUSTICE!

I'm not sure what to say about my wedding, except that it was PERFECT! It was so, so, so perfect and wonderful and amazing and if I could relive it all without changing a second of it, I'd do so in a heartbeat. I felt like a princess, and my wedding day really felt just like it did when I daydreamed about it as a little girl. Standing up in front of everyone with the love of my life, promising to love him forever - wow. It was just so powerful and emotional and I can imagine looking back on it fifty years from now, going, you know, that was the best day of my whole life. It really was.

One of the things that made it great was seeing my girlfriends from all over the country. Colleen, Cindy, and Kim all got here on Friday and immediately started doing everything that needed doing - loving on babies, feeding them and changing diapers, decorating my house, baking the wedding cake... they made my veil and the bouquets for the wedding, they decorated the arbor we got married under, they organized the layout of the tables and chairs, they helped me make VATS of fruit and pasta salad...they cracked me up for three whole days and their being here made my wedding SO MUCH BETTER - I don't know that I could have pulled it off without them. I don't think I could have. Thank God for good friends, and don't ever let anyone tell you that "internet" friends aren't the real thing!

Here are some of my favorite pictures:

My Hottie Hubby:



I love this one:




Me and my best friend:




My beautiful family - look at my sweet girls! I love those little legs:




Miss K:




My parents:




My father-in-law with the girls:




And me with my Groovy Girlies!



There are soooooo many more pictures, I haven't even begun to go through them all. I don't even know if you can get how wonderful it all was from the pictures, though. I cried as soon as the music started for me to walk down the aisle and didn't stop until my big twins started throwing sand at each other and giggling during the ceremony and everyone laughed. It was such a perfect little moment. I saw SO many people crying after we finished with our vows. And the food ... and the dancing... and the DRINKING, my God, the drinking! And just being around people I love. It was a perfect, spectacular day. I really do think it was the best day of my life.

I'm sad today.

I knew there'd be some post-wedding letdown, so I'm not surprised by it, but I am sad. I'm all alone today - my HUSBAND went back to work after being home all last week - K went back to her dad's house yesterday - and of course, Kim, Colleen, and Cindy all left yesterday. I'm home alone with all the kids. It's pretty quiet here except for the occasional bickering among the big twins. Plus, it's overcast and a wee bit chilly out, which is really adding to the whole "The summer's over, and the wedding's all done..." vibe. I keep seeing little reminders that we had a houseful of people and laughter just yesterday, and today it's quiet and blah.

Wah.

The kids will be up in a minute, and then we're going to run out to the market for baby food and milk. It'll be nice to get out of the house and get some air.

Such a downer of a post, eh? I'm going to try to post more pictures tomorrow. I have a whole bunch, and they're very nice. The wedding was beautiful, classy, joyous...so many people came up and told us how nice it was and how perfect everything went and how it just FIT us. That makes me happy. :-)

Have a nice Tuesday!

The wedding was beautiful, magical, and absolutely perfect. Everything went wonderfully! I had so much fun with everyone...I'll post more later, but for now I wanted to share just a couple of pictures... here they are.

I'm a MRS!

This will be my last post until after the wedding. Colleen and Kim are here - Colleen is bathing all my children and Kim is baking cake after cake after cake. Cindy and her daughter Shannon should be landing...(checks watch) right about now, so I'll be heading off to the airport to get them shortly. And then it's decorating and veil preparation and salad making and wheeeeee! It's almost here! I haven't taken a single picture, but other people seem to be on it, so there will be many.

See you after the wedding!

Colleen and Kim will be here in the next two hours! Woo!

Fun little meme, stolen from Echo.

One Year Ago my older twins celebrated their first birthday. My mother-in-law moved in with us for what turned out to be six horrid months. I was beginning to get used to the idea of having another set of twins.
Two Years Ago today I came home from the hospital with my new twin babies. We had lived in our new home for close to a month.
Three Years Ago I was hopelessly, madly, deliciously in love with the man I'm marrying on Saturday. He was on my mind 24/7 and we spent lots and lots and lots of time together.
Four Years Ago I was miserably depressed and getting through each day was a true struggle.
Five Years Ago my oldest daughter had just started Kindergarten. My best friend had just married her soulmate, and I was trying like hell to fight for a marriage that wasn't worth fighting for.

Today, I'm sitting in my kitchen eating Triscuits and drinking Sprite at 11:18 p.m. while one of my beautiful babies crawls around my feet, cooing and giggling, wide-awake, refusing to sleep. Today, I'm giddy because I'm marrying MY soulmate in a matter of hours and three of my dearest friends are coming all the way across the country to be with me when it happens. Today, life is magical. Today is a beautiful day in my world, one I'll look back on fondly when I'm old.

This is our last day of preparation for the wedding, or is supposed to be. We decided we'd rather relax on Friday and hang out, waiting for our out-of-towners to arrive than be running around all crazy, so between now and midnight, we're gonna bust ass and make everything perfect.

I don't have much left to do, actually...some laundry, vacuum the stairs and our bedroom, vacuum downstairs again...finish making the photo cd we're going to have playing on the TV and finish the WinAmp playlist for the wedding. And when my girls get here (Kim, Cindy, and Colleen - I ain't linkin' right now!) we need to make pasta salad, fruit salad, finish making my veil, put up decorations inside, decorate the trellis, and Kim's making my wedding cake. Whew! Not much relaxing there, but it should be fun!! Whee! I'm giddy! Kim's already en route! (At this point, it probably would have been cheaper to fly!)

Two days from now, I'll be married already. Wow.