"A House of Order", back up and running...

After a really long hiatus from organizing, I've finally "recovered" from the twins and am ready to start working once more! I am really excited to start taking clients again and in a strange, sick way have really missed helping people sort through their stuff. So, if you decide you want to de-clutter after the holidays or know someone who could use some help getting organized, let me know. I'd love to help!

Did I mention the twins are in a phase? Mischievous? Yes. Naughty? Absolutely. But, also very, very cute and entertaining. So you saw the picture of the 5,000 Perler beads all over the place?? Here's another example of what happens around our house when you turn your back for ONE SECOND!



So, Jakey got a bit over-anxious and jumped the gun while we had our backs turned. Made for a cute photo and a lot of wet clothes (notice the shoes and the windbreaker as well as a jeans and a sweatshirt!) These babies are keeping life interesting, that's for sure! We love them!

Oh, and here's two quick shots of our Halloween crew. Macy was a 50's girl, Cort went as a BYU football player for, I think, the 2nd or 3rd time, Caleb went as Batman with a dog nose (don't ask), Jake was a clown and Emmy a bunny:

Twin Terrors

The twins are definitely going through "a phase" right now. It entails climbing up on anything and everything and DESTROYING whatever they found on top of wherever they are. Rest assured, it's a real treat for all involved. Just this morning my sweet Emmy fell off of three different tables...all before noon. Which left me wondering, why don't the skills of 1. being able to climb and 2. having the sense to not fall off of wherever you are DEVELOP IN TANDEM??? Seems logical to me, but it apparently doesn't work that way. Here's what I stumbled upon last night.



The colorful things you see all over the desk are roughly 5,000 Perler beads (that you arrange on a template and then iron together). What you don't see are the 30 or so Kleenex they ripped out of the tissue box and shredded all over the carpet. They also pulled the batteries out of the white noise maker Emmy is holding and were sucking on the batteries. Fabulous.




Do these children look even remotely remorseful to you?? They are LOVING every minute of this. Spencer suggests putting every bench, chair, or step stool we own in the garage until they grow out of it. Sadly, we actually might get that desperate before too long!

The Morning After...

Am I going to wake up tomorrow wondering what in the world I was thinking? Hopefully this haircut doesn't turn out to be a major disaster. It's been a while since I went so short. Wish me luck!

 

 

 

I know I'm partial....

but aren't these babes some of the cutest you've seen?!? Jake and Emmy are now 16 months old and getting to such a fun age. They think they are pretty grown up and enjoy jumping on the tramp, playing on the swingset, and digging in the sandbox with the older kids and their friends. I can't believe they are getting so big.

School Daze...

The title of our blog feels particularly appropriate these days...Just Keep Swimming! The premise being that if we keep swimming we will avoid drowning, which appears to be a very real threat given the pace we are expected to move these days. After a rough summer (more about that in a minute) I was so looking forward to settling into the routine of fall - school, soccer, dance, etc. I had no idea my simple stay-at-home life was about to be thrown into a blender. Seriously, am I expected to go at this pace for 9 months?? My kids will hate, no LOATHE, me by spring. And I can't blame them. I've turned into this crazed person since September 2: barking orders at my 6,5,and 3 year old and expecting results??, ripping clothes off children and redressing them into the next uniform in record time, frantically force feeding tiny people in the 20 minutes we have until we all have to be back in the car and off to the next event. WHEW. I seriously don't know what's gotta give but SOMETHING'S gotta give. It's gettin' ugly around here and I don't like who I'm becoming. It's like soccer mom gone way wrong. Any tips? Help!

Also, I have been thinking quite a bit about our summer this year. Those of you who know us know that it was a doozy. There's no question that adjusting to two, tiny newborns last summer was tricky but we weathered the storm. In late spring this year I was just starting to feel like I was getting my wheels back under me. I had taken a few trips to the park with my kids, run a few errands, and was feeling like the dark clouds were starting to part. Then BOOM. One fateful road trip to St. George and on the last day of school Caleb broke his femur and ended up in the infamous body cast for 6 weeks. Spencer and I couldn't help but feel like we had been kicked when we were down. The wind was completely taken out of our sails and we were back to being homebound...only worse than the summer before, if you can imagine. Surviving those 9 weeks with three kids unable to walk or bathe or potty without major assistance was probably one of the hardest things I've done as a mother to date. I recount all this not to whine (although I'm not above a little whining every now and then) but because I was commenting to Spencer that I can't help but feel that this summer was an important one for me as a mother and as a person. There is nothing like fighting through something that you just don't think you can get through--and realizing that you are stronger than you thought you were. It's incredibly empowering and humbling all in the same breath. For back to back summers now I have been so overwhelmed with what life has dealt me. Really overwhelmed. But I survived. And I learned. And I grew. And I had a lot of help. I am grateful to have these hard experiences behind me. But, like Susan Tanner taught, our motto should be: "I can do hard things!" Because each of us can. And each of us does. A big, huge heartfelt thanks to all who helped me weather the storms of '07 and '08. Here's hoping for a bright and sunny '09!

That's my boy!

The other morning Spencer was a guest on the KJZZ morning show called The Home Team. He was talking about some basic Sports Medicine stuff and the kids and I were glued to the TV watching and cheering him on. About ½ way through the interview, Caleb hopped off the couch and made his way to the TV, saying casually: “I need to tell Dad something.” He patiently waited there in front of the TV for a while and then got impatient. He started shouting: “Hurry! Hurry! Get the scissors! Get the scissors and cut the TV open ‘cause I need to tell Dad something! Cut the TV open! Cut the TV open! I need to tell Dad something!” It was hilarious and very cute…until he would NOT get over it. I was trying in vain to explain that Dad was not, in fact, inside the television and that we could not and frankly would not be cutting the TV open. He drowned out the last part of Spencer’s interview with his wailing and it took me a solid 10 minutes after the segment ended and the TV was turned off to help him work through it. It was quite a moment.