Terrible Two times Two

Adam and Zach are two!

And just look how far we've come.  

 (minutes old)

I was scared to death to hold them.  There they were, two very tiny little boys, but - naturally - perfect.  After nine long weeks in the NICU we were finally able to bring them home.  It's still hard to believe just how small they were then.  

And here we are today.  My Big Boys!

  

So alike:  They both have big, dark eyes; their curly hair (fro-hawks) has come exactly the same; and both have goofy personalities. My boys are quite the dancers (I think they get that from Dad).  They love music, cars, balls, and Elmo.  They even have their own language.

But so different:  Adam is a ham.  He'll do just about anything for a laugh, whereas Zach will do anything for a hug.  Adam weighs about 26 pounds, has a rounder face, and is slightly taller.  He has always been a little bigger.  Zach is about 24 pounds, and has a longer face.  Adam usually hits milestones first.  Zach has a dimple under his left eye.  

I can't say one is more dominate than the other.  They take turns being the "bad twin".  

They are such characters - talking dancing, teasing each other and tormenting their big sister.  Rarely a dull moment at our house.  

Happy Birthday Adam and Zachy!

Merry Christmas!!!

More Vinyl Projects

So here are some of my latest masterpieces... haha

This one I didn't quite finish.  

It's a glass brick that I thought I had lots of time to finish before Thanksgiving.  I was going to make the bow all cute, add some flowers, and maybe drill holes for light.  Since Thanksgiving is tomorrow it's unlikely I'll get it all cutesy in time. 

Next is a tile.  Mom wanted this saying and I was just playing around to see what I could come up with.  

If you can't  read it, it says: "When you stop believing you get socks and underwear."

I've told Maren for a few years now if she isn't going to tell Santa what she wants, that is what Santa will bring - socks and panties.  She's never thought it was funny.  

Double paned glass is fun.  

The clarity here is very poor, but I took the picture with my cell phone, so it is what it is.  Don't point out that it's crooked either.  I'm gonna have to re-do this. Where was my laser level when I needed it?

Anyway, this one I layered in chocolate brown and blue (to match my living room).  The blue is kind of hard to read in this picture.

 It says, "together we make a family".

Finally, this little guy (actually he's not so little, he's about 21 inches tall).  Isn't he cute?!  

He is going up in the kids bathroom.  

At least I think he's adorable.

I'm hoping to get off my keester and get my website done soon.  I'll add a link once it's done.  

Things that truly matter

Yes, I guess I have spent a lot of time feeling sorry for me lately.  Sometimes it's helpful to be reminded of what really matters in life.  

I was looking at some ward members blogs tonight and found this photo of Coop linked to a newspaper article.  He's warming up to play Taps for a young service member - a ward member.  

Coop got orders this week.  He'll be leaving some time in January and will be gone a year.  

It really starts putting things into perspective.... 

Rise

Some of you know I've had an interesting week. I needed a lift-me-up and I love this song. I think I especially like it because I got to "hang" with Jamie Jones in Japan (you might remember him as the lead vocal from All4One).  Just a really, really nice family man.  

Anyway, hope you like this!

Our Little Devils.

Ooo 'cary!

or at least that's what Adam said.

Here are my cute ghosts.  For what was suppose to be a simple project, they were quite a headache.  

They are made from upside-down tomato cages, but you have to find something to round out the head.  When I first got them all wired and draped the sheet over them, Coop laughed at them.  He was right, they did look a bit like the klan.  Ironic?  

Now if I can only get Maren's costume done in time.

Late last night or very early this morning Cooper woke me up.  He was sleeping right beside me, breathing really heavy and fast and twitching all over.  I honestly thought he was having a seizure.  I shook him a little to get him to wake up.  The shook him a little harder.  He finally woke up and said, "What is it?".  I asked him if he was feeling alright - he was obviously confused.  I could tell he was thinking, "Go to sleep, woman!".  I told him that he scared me because he was shaking and his heart rate and breathing were so fast.  He started to laugh.  What?!  I asked him again if was feeling alright.  He was smiling and said he was just dreaming.  

"About what? Running a marathon?"  

"No.  I was on a Japanese game show...."  

What a goof!  

Man Tag!

ok, I'll play along since I get tagged often and never respond.  :)

A.  The rules are posted at the beginning.  

B.  Each person answers questions about their sweethearts. 

C.  At the end of each post, the person then tags people and posts their names; then goes onto their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know they have been tagged. 

All right people, here are the facts and details:

What is your husbands name?  James Arnold

How long have you been married?  3 years

How long did you date?  That is very complicated....

How old is he?  39

Who eats more sweets?  For sure me.  He says sweets hurt his teeth.

Who said I love you first?  He did both times.  (The first time he thought I was sleeping.)

Who is taller?  He is - but not by much.

Who can sing the best?  Cooper.  I can't carry a tune in a bucket.

Who is smarter?  Me, duh!

Who does the laundry?  Usually me, but he does help.

Who pays the bills?  Both of us, but again, usually me.

Who mows the lawn?  He does.

Who cooks dinner?  Both; however, he does most of the time.  There is something about a man and his grill.

Who drives?  He does.  He says I tailgate, but he has a really poor sense of direction.  Driving leads to arguments no matter who is behind the wheel.

Who is the first to admit when they are wrong?  Neither of us are ever wrong.

Who kissed who first?  I think he kissed me.

Who asked who out first?  Cooper did a few times before I said yes.

Who wears the  pants?  I let him think he does.  :)

I tag Kelli B. if she checks in, Wendy T. , Cathy D., and.... uh... that's all I know.  :(  So sad.  I don't have many blogger buddies.

Do you like?

I found this quote and thought it was cute.   Very Mom appropriate.  What mom hasn't received a bouquet of weeds.

Anyway, tell me what you think.  It's actually on the front side of my kitchen bar.  I thought it turned out nice.  The picture was taken with my cell phone, so pardon the quality.  :) BTW those are dandelion seeds floating....

I'm bored

Yes, I really should add something to this, but I can't think of anything worthwhile to write. 

I don't have any deep thoughts (or shallow ones for that matter) or even a cutesy quote.    

The main reason for this blog is to get rid of the frogs on my page.  They're cute and all, but when I think that my kids were swimming in the same pool as the frogs, it makes me a little sick.  Ok, so they weren't in there at the same time - actually the kids hadn't been in the pool for about 2 weeks prior to the infestation, and the pool has since been drained and put away.  All the same, it still makes me want to add Clorox to the bath water.  

Baby pictures...

We got 'big boy' pictures done today. If you have ever seen the beginning of John & Kate plus 8 you'll have an idea of just how well the photo shoot went (and I only had 2 - LOL). The boys were pretty good and bless the photographers heart she was patient. She took about 100 pictures and gave them all to me on a disc. Here are just a few - not all the best, but some of these made me laugh.

Time flies

Holy cow!  The boys are 20 months old today.  Goodness they have gotten big.  They were still so tiny when we brought them home from the hospital - both under 5 pounds.  Now they are big boys! 

These pictures are prettyrecent.... Can you tell them apart?

Frogs in the pool

Anyone that knows me, knows I like frogs.  Last night I could hear one croaking in the yard.  Not that uncommon here.  In fact, I have a toad that sits on the front porch every night.  His name is Virgil.

Anyway, the croaking came from the general direction of the pool, but certainly not in the pool, right?  There are chemicals in there......

Uhh, meet our guest.

The water is not green as it appears to be in these pictures.  Obviously I need to add more chlorine, but it is fairly clean.

I had planned to take the pool down once school started anyway.  Now that critters have taken over, I have a little more motivation to get it done.

He is a pretty big frog too.  And you have to admit he is kind of cute.

And, oh look, he has a little friend......  Oh goody. 

Uh oh... Big frog and little frog were playing leap frog.

Yeah, the pool is definitely coming down tomorrow!!!!  

(By the way, Maren took these pictures.  Quite the little wildlife photographer, wouldn't you say?)

B2S

Maren's first day back to school.  

She's been quite a trooper.   This will be her third time being the "new girl".  But one thing about being an Army brat, she's certainly not the only new one in her class.

Hard to believe she's so grown up.  I got to walk her to the school this morning, but she asked me not to wait with her until it was time to go in.  Yeah, how embarrassing would that be?!  :)  We only live a block from the school so tomorrow she said she'd walk by herself.   Makes me a little sad.  

Vinyl Projects

Here are some of the vinyl projects I have done.

For Maren's room:

I love the butterflies

Very Maren

Well, it's in our house, but there are days I wonder.... lol

This is one I did for my neighbor. I think it turned out very pretty.

Let me know what you think.

Ever wonder?

Oh me, oh ouch!

One more reason to not like Texas...

I was outside last night visiting with my neighbor.  

This morning I noticed I had a "rash" all over both arms spreading to my back.  As the day went on it got worse and starting itching like crazy.

I've concluded it is chigger bites.  Maren and I started counting on one army, but lost count quickly.  I figure there is close to 300 bites. 

Like I said, I have them all over both arms, on my back and neck, and even a few on my legs (not to mention my backside).  

Yes, it itches as bad as it looks..... 

Cute boys...

The boys love napping in the big recliner.  Aren't they precious when they're sleeping?

ABC's

Tana tagged me and Erin said I needed to update my blog, so....

A) Attached or Single - Attached

B) Best Friend - Natalie and, of course, Cooper

C) Cake or Pie - Pie

D) Day - Saturday

E) Essential Item - I'll have to get back with you on this

F) Favorite Color - Black, but lately I've been liking rusty oranges

G) Gummi Bears or Worms - Worms

H) Home Town - Laketown

I) Indulgence - Ice cream and Power Tools

J) Jan. or July - Normally I would say July, but in Texas I'm thinking I'll like January better

K) Kids - 3: 1 girl and twin boys

L) Life is incomplete without - my husband

M) Marriage Date - July 15, 2005

N) Number of Siblings - 7

O) Oranges or Apples - Apples, but only green

P) Phobias or Fears - oddly, ladders scare the h*ll out of me

Q) Quote - "Time is element to do great things" MLK

R) Reason to Smile - My kids

S) Season - Spring

T) Tag - I don't have anyone.... :(

U) Unknown fact about me - If I tell you then it would no longer be unknown

V) Vegetarian or Oppressor of Animal - I agree with Tana, meat is good!!!

W) Worst Habit - Sleeping in

X) Rays or Ultrasound - Ultrasound

Y) Your favorite food - I like Greek but there is nothing like good Mexican either

Z) Zodiac sign - Pisces 

Finally

So we are sort of back among the living. Well, sort of...

We made it to Texas and I have to admit, I'm not that impressed. Ok, so I know I'm going to offend some people. It seems that everyone from Texas LOVES Texas. I don't get it! All I can say for now is it is brown. Yes, everything is bigger and Texas, but here is what they don't tell you. It's only bigger because someone took a rolling pin and flattened the hell out of it.

Things I just realized I miss: Mountains, trees, green, grass, and shade.

Maybe I'll feel better once I see an armadillo.

I was looking at everyone's blogs and realize that I desperately need to update mine, but our computers are with everything else - - on a boat somewhere between Japan and the US. Hang with me. For now we are still in our home sweet hotel room. Hopefully we'll have housing soon. Then again, I could get use to the pool and maid service.

Final blog...

This will be my final blog from Japan.  The movers are coming tomorrow to pack us out.  We don't actually leave Japan until the 19th, but I won't have computer access from home after tomorrow.  

It's sad.  There is a part of me that is ready to go, but another part that is really having a hard time with it.  I'm excited about a new duty station - even if it's in Texas - but we have made some terrific friends here.  It'll be very difficult to tell them all goodbye.  

No, I didn't get to see all I set out to see when I first got here.  It's ok.  My time in Japan has been very fulfilling.  

Sooo, to all my fans (ha ha).  Sianara for now.  I'll send out a big ole Texas howdy from Ft. Hood once we get settled.  

When Dad's in charge

Is this just my husband or is it a Dad thing?

The house was clean when I left this morning.

When the Tooth Fairy Forgets...

This morning Coop got up at 5:30 for PT and found Maren in her room sobbing.  As it turns out, the Tooth Fairy forgot to visit her last night.  Maren had to have a molar extracted yesterday.  To say the least, it wasn't a very good dental experience (is there such a thing?).  The only thing that managed to cheer her up was the thought of the Tooth Fairy.

Whoops!

So Maren was crying and Coop sent her in with me after explaining to her that the Tooth Fairy has a schedule.  She knows when to come because teeth are normally loose for a while before they come out.  Hers was unexpected and also because we're in Japan, like mail, it sometimes takes longer.  

About 7:00 it was time to get ready for school.  She decided to look under her pillow one more time.  Wouldn't you know it, she found $5.00 (I think the TF had a guilty conscience).  

Maren concluded it was because she had gotten up too early.  The Tooth Fairy only works at night and when it's morning here, it's night in America.  

We've determined the Tooth Fairy definitely lives in the Western Hemisphere.     

So messy....

....but it's so good.

Rant

Yeah, I know I've already put up 2 blogs today, but I have to rant for a minute. Stupid drives me crazy. There is a difference between unlearned and lack of knowledge and just plain stupid. Read on, you'll understand.

So someone came to me and said there was a problem with the copy machine. She was trying to copy a document and it kept printing on the wrong size paper. I went with her to see exactly what was going on. She pointed to the copier and told me she needing something printed on 11x81/2" paper. Again she said it was printing wrong and she showed me the copy. I showed her how to turn her original and try again. She argued that it wasn't working and it would print on the wrong size paper. Here's the funny part, it was printing on 81/2 x 11" paper. She again argued with me when I said it was the same thing and she just needed to turn her original. One more time I tried to show her and again she argued they weren't the same. At this point I just made the copy for her.... She was like, "That's what I needed". She held up the two copies, one horizon and one vertical, "See, they aren't the same size." Yeah, whatever.....

My last event in Japan.

Cherry Blossom

This is my favorite time of year in Japan. The trees are all in bloom and Saturday (5 Apr) was our Cherry Blossom Festival. I thought I would be excited to get it over with, but I have to admit, I'm a little sad now. This was my last major event here at Camp Zama.

Early in the morning Maren and her dad participated in the run.... Maren was excited at first, but she wasn't all that thrilled by the time she got to the finish line.

Later that day she got to dance as part of the entertainment. I think this made up for the run :)

And there was plenty of playing the rest of the day.

Busted!

The conspiracy...

The attempt...

So busted!

"We have the meanest mom, ever!"

Washi Paper Eggs

 For Easter this year, Maren and I decided to make 

washipaper eggs instead of colored ones.

    

Yeah, 

we started out a little rough....  

After a few attempts, we got a little better.

Little changes

Yeah, I was bored and changed up my backgrounds. Tell me what you think...

A Work in Progress

... just like me. :)

Cooper-o-rama

Cooper /n/ a. proper name
-o-rama /suffix/ used to mean a. surrounded by or inundated by a specified thing: tack-o-rama (something incredibly tacky). b. denoting a superb or extreme example of a specified thing: spunk-o-rama (an incredible spunk). c. generally denotes a display or spectacle: Cooper-o-rama (a family that invokes comedic curiosity)