I am an Expert Present Stasher

Want to know how? I leave them in empty diaper boxes in my bedroom and explicitly tell my family not to look in the box or they'll ruin Christmas.

I said "ruin Christmas" quite innocently, but Katie seems to have taken it to heart. A box arrived at our house (probably because someone to whom we are related ordered it online and had it shipped directly here) and Mike told me not to open it. I jokingly picked up the scissors to tease Katie, who burst into near-hysterics because I was going to "ruin Christmas" by opening my present. Geez, little Drama Queen. I don't know where she got that.

In other news, I need to go get some fudge that I made yesterday. Hold on a second.

Aaah, that's better. What was I saying? Oh yeah. Christmas angst is really accelerating around here. Even with Katie's serious "ruining Christmas" panic issues, it's obvious that her curiosity is nearly getting the best of her. More than once have I come into the living room to find Katie holding one of her presents close to one of her brothers, saying, "Here Joshy, want to see my present?" And you can see on her face the little, "If Mom catches us, you'll be the one in trouble." Little stinker.

Lucky for you, I have a notepad full of ridiculous Katie quotes I can try to relate. But my brain is only slightly functional tonight on account of I just COULD NOT sleep last night, until 3 am when Katie decided she wanted to get in bed with me and "snuggle." So if it seems kinda ramble-y, forgive me. And come back later when I've written a moderately more coherent post. For now, this is what you're going to get.

So, the last couple of family home evenings, we've been trying to talk to Katie about different parts of the Christmas story. Last week, I did a little lesson about the wise men, and how they followed the star and brought gifts to Jesus because they loved him. She totally got it, by the way. I caught her telling the story to her brothers with her little Fisher Price nativity. In puppet show format.

Wise Men: Here, we brought you some sanks and myrrh.
Baby Jesus: Oh, thanks. That's great.

On a (sort of) related note, we've also been trying to help Katie expand her prayer abilities. She's been saying her own prayers for a while now, but it's gotten to where she says the same things every time, and speaks almost unintelligibly quickly and quietly. So Mike and I have tried to explain to her that you don't have to say the same thing every time. You can say whatever you're thankful for. So now, every single prayer of Katie's, she is thankful for Daddy, Mommy, Katie, Josh, Peter, a bed, and shampoo. But you know what? So am I.

She has also been expanding her exercise repertoire. Now she does ballet. Watching it, I thought to myself, ninja-gorillas doing parkour. But she performed multiple shows for me the other day, and announced their names as she did them. I got lucky front-row seats to "France and Nancy," "Super Doo," and "Frankenboobie." You know you're jealous.

Two more short quotes:

Looking back at her hard work: "Look, Mom! Those are handsome, good-looking poopies."

After cuddling on the couch, when I had to get up because the boys woke up: "Oh! My body hurts! Your body was making me nice and warm, but now your body got away from me! Oh my heart!"

See what I mean? Drama queen.

As for the boys, I think they're starting to get this mischief thing down. They totally double team me all the time. And if I notice and say their names, they turn and look at me with the rascal face. The rascal face! At their age! Geez, I'm in for it.

The other day, Peter found the tube of Desitin. Rather than smack it on the floor, like he does with pretty much everything else, he started hollering at his brother, and they both army-crawled to the middle of the room (from opposite ends) to work on opening it together.

If I'm ever holding both at once, it automatically becomes a wrestling match, with each boy trying to both push his brother off my lap while simultaneously stealing his binky. Luckily they're still pretty evenly matched.

Oh! And Joshy is finally gaining weight, but I'm fairly sure he's never going to be chunky. Want to know why? He's got a whole inch on his brother. Peter still has the weight advantage, but Joshy's getting super tall! Also, he has the metabolism of a hummingbird that runs hurdles. He is a bottomless pit. I can only say that it's a good thing Mike's going to be a doctor because any salary smaller and we'd go bankrupt just trying to feed these guys when they're teenagers.

Merry Christmas, you guys. Next time you'll probably get to see a bunch of pictures or hear ridiculous stories about our Christmas shenanigans and tomfoolery.

Merry Christmas Card 2013!

Merry Christmas!

It snowed ALL DAY yesterday here in Chicagoland, and now it officially feels like Christmastime. (Sing it, Bing.) Luckily, I spent Saturday afternoon trying to bribe the heck out of my kids so they'd be cute for some Christmas Card photos. Since I don't think I'm going to be sending out physical Christmas cards to everyone, this is what you're getting. Here ya go!

Summary 2013:

Mike is now in full swing as a medical student at Midwestern. He LOVES it. He comes home ragged and exhausted and stressed but still all excited about all the gross things he's seen and learned. He's even got a best friend/racquetball buddy. Because he's all stressed and we have way too many babies for real jobs, he's now been called as a sacrament meeting greeter. It's only difficult because they've discovered that I play the organ.

Katie is almost totally potty-trained. (YAY!!!) She is now 3' 2", but still pretty skinny (except for after dinner). She had her first haircut about a week ago, loves to wear her puffy coat (always with the hood up), and really just wants me to get off the computer and go let her play in the snow on our porch. Maybe after lunch. Her favorite food is definitely still noodles and clementine oranges (they're like candy!) and her favorite Christmas movie is Frosty the Snowman. Oh, and Curious George: a Very Monkey Christmas. But sometimes Mommy needs a break from that one. Her favorite Christmas song is "Jingle Bells," but she only sings the first half of the chorus and it turns into the song that never ends. Oh well.

Josh is the cookie monster. Whenever I put crackers or puffy snacks on his tray, he goes at it two-fisted. He's still the skinny twin, but he's gaining weight like crazy and now has a little bit of neck-fat that gets all wrinkly when he's giggling. Oh, and he definitely has more than an inch on his brother (not to mention the most stylish hair in the family). He's got sitting up and doing the inchworm DOWN. He's got two teeth (the bottom front ones) and he LOVES bananas and graham crackers. Also, he ate two of the ginger snaps from relief society all by himself.

Peter is SUPER mobile. He army crawls like a boss and can almost really crawl. He's also super vocal, and while both boys said "mama" first, Peter's favorite sound to make is "dadadadadadadadadadada." (grrrr.) He loves food but still would rather that I pop them in his mouth for him. It's okay, he's got the weight advantage. I'm not going to say he's chubby (heaven's sake, he's one of my babies!) but he definitely looks it next to his brother and sister.

One thing they all have in common, though, is the gorgeous sparkly blue eyes with long lashes that just make you want to die. (See above pictures.)

As for me and my black-sheep-brown eyes, I'm sticking it out. I managed Thanksgiving all by myself, and I'm planning Christmas like a real live grown-up Mom. (It's weird.) It still makes me all sad that we're not going to go see family over the holidays, but at the same time it's kind of exciting to do Christmas all by ourselves like a real family. Katie's certainly excited. I'm fairly sure one of those before-the-sunrise things is going to start happening just like my siblings still do. Geez.

Besides that, the ward has figured out that I'm musical, so I've been playing the organ once a month, I'm participating a lot in the Christmas program, and I'm still on the Relief Society fellowshipping committee. I've made some pretty awesome best friends who have everything in common with me and who make my life a lot brighter and happier. And somehow I'm managing to stay alive with these ridiculous kids all over me (quite literally--Katie sees me with both brothers and decides to join the pile, saying "Mom, now we're a big pile of people!")

One thing that I've been thinking about recently is that even though this is probably one of the hardest times of my life so far, I have way more to be grateful for than I ever have. I'm grateful for three beautiful, healthy children, even when they wake me up at 4:30 every night. I'm grateful for an amazing, handsome, ambitious husband who is only not around because he's studying hard so he can be a good doctor and take care of our family. And I'm super grateful to be here with such good friends and neighbors who have welcomed us, even though we're so far away from family. Even with the trials, I've got a pretty good life. And as always, I have the Savior, who came to this earth to save all of us, which is the whole reason we have Christmas. I just need to keep remembering that.

Merry Christmas everyone. Be happy. We love you.

Vacation Spoiled Me

So there's this magical thing called Mike's school gave him two whole weeks for Thanksgiving because it was also the break between quarters. You know, bolstering morale and all that. It was beautiful.

For the last two weeks, Mike has been more available to help with kids in the night, diaper changing, nap time, and Katie tantrums. And we've had lunch together and I've taken a few naps and it's been great. And after the kids were in bed, when Mike would have been studying while the quarter was in full swing, we got to play games and watch grown-up movies (you know, like Phineas and Ferb). And talk to each other. Sigh . . .

And unfortunately, Monday is school again. And Mike's feeling the pressure, so he's downstairs studying. At least it's good for you guys because I'm blogging. (But not cool for me because I'm using the almost dead computer and it took about 45 minutes for me to get blogger up and running. I've also been spoiled about getting to use Mike's fancy new laptop for the last couple of weeks.)

Enough griping. Let's talk about what we did over vacation!

First of all, we did close to nothing some days, which felt SO GOOD.

Second of all, we did cool things because we live next to a giant 'ole big city. Like go to the Shedd Aquarium, which is the largest indoor aquarium in the world. Also, a few times a month it has free admission for Illinois residents (woot woot!). So last Monday we went for free. Never mind that it was in the middle of a huge blizzard and we had to park in the Soldier Field garage which requires a walk (through the blizzard) to the aquarium. Brrrrr. I'm shivering just remembering it. Totally worth it, though.

Unfortunately, they have cool mood lighting in all of their exhibits so I didn't get a lot of pictures where you could actually tell what was going on.

This is probably the closest thing I got to her looking at the camera.

Then, there was Thanksgiving. It was AMAZING. I made pies on Wednesday, then spent all of Thursday morning cooking, but it turned out fantastic. I've never done this much by myself before, but somehow it all worked. AND the boys were totally napping for the meal so Mike and I got to eat in peace!

Mike was like, "No, stand in front of the table!" So I look all proud of myself. Well, I was.

 After dinner, we all just kind of collapsed in a food coma, even Katie (she was pretending to play on the floor, but it quickly turned into playing sleep).

Things I learned about this Thanksgiving:

• I really miss my family, but sometimes it's possible to do things on my own.
• Katie LOVES LOVES LOVES cucumbers.
• There is way more to be thankful for than we tend to think about.
• I should never use the recipe I have in my box for Chocolate Chiffon pie again--it tastes like chocolate jello. Not bad, just too weird.
• Holy cow, Chicago is cold. And it's not even all the way cold yet.
• I'm a seriously good cook. And it's all my mom's fault. Thanks, Mom, for the lots of pounds I just gained in the last three or four days. Now I have to start some serious working out before Christmas when my friends start bringing over the treats they've already threatened us with.
• Even though medical school is really hard on all of us, we are together, safe, and healthy, and we have lots of family that loves us. I can do this.

This picture is only clear because we ruined the lighting with flash.

And now that Thanksgiving is over, guess what it's time for? (YAY!!!!!)

Yeah, Katie definitely helped decorate the bottom of the tree so she could play with all the little plastic ornaments. (Yeah, you know you have had M&Ms on your tree too.)

Merry Christmas!

TORNADOES. And Autumn's Last Hurrah!

Hey you guys. Tornadoes. Seriously. Last Sunday we were on the front page of various national news services because there was a gigantic tornado that passed just South of us. Church was cancelled on account of extreme weather and we all got text alerts from the National Weather Service warning us of flash floods, tornadoes, thunderstorms, and hail the size of quarters. It was awesome.

Okay, Mike thought it was awesome, and we were not in the danger zone, so I should have thought it was awesome too. But I really couldn't, because I have lived my whole life in the desert. There, "extreme weather" was the inversion we got every year and couldn't use our fireplaces. Oh, and we had to wear coats in the winter. Now I'm being warned about all kinds of craziness. Not to mention, Mike had the news on to see what was going on and they kept showing pictures of all the crazy damage that the 60 tornadoes did (yes, I said 60). Also, there was one tornado that was over a quarter of a mile wide and stayed on the ground for two miles. It's a miracle that as few people were hurt or killed as there were.

Maybe it's selfish of me to be freaked out. Or a little bit dumb because we just had crazy rain and wind, which is totally survivable, and nothing really happened to our family except missing church. But really, I've never had to deal with this kind of thing before. I had a little bit of a panic attack. *Breathe in, breathe out.*

Okay, we're cool.

Anyhow, how have you guys been? It feels like I haven't blogged in a while. Here are some quotes to lighten the mood.

Me: What do you guys want me to plan for Thanksgiving dinner?
Mike: Stuffing, Cranberry sauce, Pumpkin pie
Me: Well, duh. Anything else?
Katie: Lollipop. I love lollipops. Can you please write down lollipop?

(When we told her she couldn't play on Daddy's computer)
Katie: You are not my mom and dad! You are just responsible people!

Katie-on-the-potty: You are my best Mommy ever, but you got ated by the big hungry bear. And then I was the hero and I got ated by the big hungry bear and went down in his stomach and protected you.

There, feel better?

One thing that has bugged me recently is that Katie has been calling me "mother". I know what you're thinking, it's actually really funny and a little bit cute when Katie says it. But the only time I think she's heard people call their mom "mother" is on Tangled (when "mother" is the evil witch) or on Cinderella (when it's the evil Stepmother). I'm much more comfortable with "mommy". Call me crazy.

In other news, Peter is the king of raspberries. Whenever he's not shrieking in excitement or whining to be held, he's blowing raspberries. The big, juicy, tongue-sticking-out, rude noises kind of raspberries. I think he learned them from his sister. More than once have I gotten sprayed in the eye when I was trying to play with him or feed him sweet potatoes. Yuck.

Joshy, on the other hand, is more sneaky. He waits until they're on the floor playing together and I'm busy doing something, then will only be satisfied if he has whatever toy Peter currently has. Joshy is super flexible and bendy and is really good at using his feet like a monkey. He uses this to his advantage. So no matter how many shaky toys or teethers I leave next to Peter, when I come back they are all on Joshy's side and Peter is sad and toyless.

I guess they both get each other, though, because their favorite game recently is "binky wars." They'll wait until I'm not looking, throw their binkies across the room, then steal brother's binky. When I come back, the culprit is happily gnawing away on his brother's binky and the victim is whining pitifully, trying to wriggle his way over to his brother to get his binky back.

Okay, enough talk. Let's pictures! Why? Because my children are adorable. And the whole reason you read my blog is to see my babies.

Here's the last two weeks: puffy eyes, runny noses, all piled on Mommy.

Peter loves the bouncy toy.

A rare smile when Josh was still sick.

Joshy has beautiful twinkly eyes.

Peter has beautiful twinkly eyes.

The last hurrah! Quick, let's go to the park for ten minutes before we freeze our buns off!

She thought she was invisible.

 

"Whoa, Mom! I think he's going to actually let me have one!"

I'm not sure if I'm going to blog again before Thanksgiving, so . . . Happy Thanksgiving! Eat lots, don't get sick, and if you're one of those Black Friday types, don't get trampled!

I had good intentions. Honest.

So, this one time (today) I made some cupcakes. Mostly because I was going nuts not having baked anything exciting recently. But I also had the thought cross my mind that we had new neighbors move in a week or two ago next door, and we still hadn't met them, what with all the Halloween hullabaloo and then getting sick. So I thought perhaps we could take them some cupcakes. I even got all excited and made green frosting with red sprinkles. (What? I'm ready! Christmas all year long!)

Then, when I've got the frosting made and the cupcakes made and I'm ready to decorate, Katie brings her chair over, leans over everything, and says, "What are you making? Cupcakes? I love cup- achoooo!!!!"

Yep, I guess we're not giving these cupcakes to anybody.

We've spent the whole week with runny noses and boogers and coughs and vomiting (but just because of the boogers) and lots of not wanting to do anything but pile on Mommy, who has also been sick and doesn't particularly want anyone jumping on her ribs right now, thank you. Gack.

So I don't have anything particularly interesting to say except that I'm grateful for tissues with lotion and aloe. And also Vick's baby rub and humidifiers and booger suckers. And also Mike not having some of his classes this week because it's the end of the quarter so he could come home.

I will tell you that I've been thinking of doing a secret project. Top secret. And I might be able to do it in the next two or three weeks. But I'm not sure if you'll like it. It's a top secret experiment project. Katie will help me.

Hope you have a good Novem- achooo!

Party Week!!!

Hey everybody. Yes, I perhaps took slightly longer to write this one. But I had to get my life together first. And by "life" I mean pictures.

Firstly, and most importantly, this was a big week in baseball history. Want to know why? Because we watched the World Series. In which the RED SOX WON AT FENWAY PARK!!!!!! YAY!!!!!

Anecdote: My parents don't pay for any television at all, but Mike and I have rabbit ears in a big city, so we at least get Fox. So Game 1, my dad texts me in a panic, "Could you Skype the game?!?!"

Yeah, I really am that cool. But it just meant that we got to watch all the games because we "had" to Skype them, and during commercial breaks I got to talk to my family. And when Uehara was about to throw the last pitch of game 6, I heard my dad frantically trying to get his hat and #18 jersey (which he picked the "Damon" letters off of after 'ole Johnny defected to the dark side) so that he and James and Sarah could go run screaming into the cul-de-sac in victory. It was awesome. Peter was still awake (which has now resulted in Operation Bedtime) so I was holding him, and when I started to jump up and down, he thought it was hilarious. I totally am, by the way. You know, hilarious.

Okay, fine, Mom. Now I'll post Halloween. Here are some pictures of when Katie's Rainbow Dash costume first got here in the mail (before I added the "cutie mark"). Note: there are very few good, front-view pictures of her because Rainbow Dash does not hold still very often.

And now, just Halloween.

I had to tuck her tail into her pants so it didn't get wet.

If Rainbow Dash were a human, I'm sure she'd wear bright pink "puddle jumpers."

Trick-or-treating with her buddy Ironman.

Oh, it's a jolly holiday with you!

I have now decided to wear bright red lipstick with everything.

Yeah, it was pretty great. It had been raining all day, but it stopped (miraculously) for a couple of hours for Katie & Co to go trick-or-treating. We (of course) didn't get to bed on time, but we did initiate Operation Bedtime. (YAY!)

So, if you know me, I'm not a "training" kind of a mom. I never have a strict schedule, and I'm probably not enough of a helicopter parent when Katie's on the playground. But the last couple of weeks, the boys have been taking turns refusing to sleep until after midnight. (Not cool, Robert Frost!)

Nowadays, when it's time for sleeping, we make sure the boys are fed and changed, sing them some "I am a Child of God", then lay them in their bed, kiss them goodnight, and walk out the door. And twice they've cried for about 15 minutes, but every other time (naps and bedtime) they've just gone to sleep. This decision has officially saved the sanity of the whole family.

And now, to finish, here is a picture of what happened when I stuck the boys on a blanket (shown) next to me while making dinner. We now have the gate up on the stairs at all times.

Happy (late) Halloween! I hope you all got a good sugar buzz!

Catching Up!

Hey guys. What's up? Yeah, I know, I made all kinds of promises about posting at least once a week and then blew it. But, you know, I didn't actually tell you guys that, and therefore I felt no accountability. Which equals a fail on my part.

In any case, I'm posting now. I finally got all the kids in bed and Mike's downstairs studying the lymph system or other such nonsense. Unfortunately, I'm way too tired to be witty tonight. We've spent the entire last week not sleeping, and now Josh has two teeth. (The two front bottom teeth, in case you were wondering. They are both adorable and very sharp.)

Fortunately, I'm really good at documenting my adorable children. So, this is a picture post. And I couldn't decide which were the cutest, so you just get to see them all.

"Dr. Katie" complete with "white coat" and "stethoscope"

"Yeah, Mom! We're naked! Bring on the sweet potatoes!"

Pumpkin cupcakes with cream cheese frosting *drool drool OMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM*

Yeah, Peter's wearing a Boston hat. Go Sox! (And this was even before they beat the Tigers!)

This is the closest thing I got to a smile while she was coloring her pumpkin (which is now almost solid red).

This is the face Peter is constantly making. Pretty sure it means, "Okay, that thing over there is mine. I want it. Now I must get to it without Mom stopping me."

Joshy makes this face pretty frequently. It means, "Oooh, what's that, Mom? Can I eat it?"

Apple spice cupcakes with caramel buttercream *drool drool slobber MMMMMMMM drool*

I tried to take a picture of all my kids in their Sunday clothes. This was the most successful one I got.

She is both smiling and holding still. This day should be documented in history.

We have decided that Joshy has the best hair in the entire family.

Ready for the Windy City? (And no, we weren't. BRRRRRRRR!!!!)

AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH MONKEY JACKETS!!!!!

Please note that there are several toys within both of their reaches (though off-camera) but they still spent ten minutes fighting over this one.

This is what Mike came home to for family home evening. Go ahead, try one. BUAHAHAHA!

Yep, that's my life. Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go furiously crochet some blue hats. (You'll see next week!)

Conference, Coughing, and Cat Jokes!

Before we get to the silliness, I have to put in a plug. This weekend was very well timed, because all three of my kids (and probably my husband) were sick all weekend with a really nasty cough and cold. I'm amazed that I came out of it unscathed. (Not that they would let me be sick anyway . . .)

Want to know why it was perfectly timed? Because there was no nursery to miss. It was Conference! (Yay!)

Twice a year, the entire church (all over the world!) gets together (via internet or broadcast or something) to watch General Conference, where there are five two-hour sessions (I know, that's a lot. It's worth it.) in which the prophet, the apostles, and various other leaders of the church speak to us on any topic they feel we need to hear. It's amazing. One thing that I really love is that the leaders of the church are unafraid to expound the gospel without being influenced by popular opinion. They tell it like it is. And it helps me to be strengthened and not be moved in my own beliefs.

And the older I get, the more I feel I am able to come to conference with the right attitude and spirit so that I feel as though they are talking directly to me, telling me exactly what I need to hear to bring me closer to the Lord. This was definitely the case this time.

In case you didn't get to watch it and are interested, here are a few of my favorite talks (these are the video clips, but you can find the transcribed talks there, too).

Come, Join With Us, by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Do We Know What We Have? By Sister Carole M. Stephens

Look Ahead and Believe, by Elder Edward Dube

Like a Broken Vessel, by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland (Warning: I cried during this one.)

No Other Gods, by Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Power in the Priesthood, by Elder Neil L. Anderson

Okay, I have to stop before I link to the entire conference. If you go to one link, you can find the rest of it. Please do. It is wonderful.

Now, just a few funny Katie quotes this week.

Mike: Where do we keep the cereal?
Katie: In the hamster! You know, that door over there!

Me: Eek! Joshy is a nudie brother!
Katie: Eek! Hahah, Joshy is a noodle brother! Noodle brother, noodle brother!

Katie: (measuring my head and arms and such) Okay, Mommy. I think you have two arms.

Me: (To the tune of the Spiderman song) Sandwiches, sandwiches! Time to make some sandwiches!
Katie: Look out! Here come the sandwiches!

Oh, you still don't think she's hilarious? Well, here's a video I caught at the pumpkin patch last week. You're going to die.

Final note: I want to know if my comments are working. I'm going to set them to moderation again (because I know it didn't work the other way) and I want you to comment. If you watched conference, give me your favorite quote (or quotes). If you didn't or can't think of a favorite, tell me a joke I can teach to Katie (she wants to expand her repertoire). Ready, set, go!

Pumpkin Patch and Chocolate Dreams. Oh yeah.

Hey team. So, I meant to blog this afternoon while the chilluns were sleeping. (Well, the boys . . . not Katie.) But as soon as the men were sleeping I got taken by a crazy urge to clean my ENTIRE house. I'm not kidding. First of all, with all the shenanigans we had going on my house was kind of . . . a disaster. Like, picture a place that had been hit by a tornado. So, I went nuts. I tidied the . . . everything. And cleaned it, too. And vacuumed and mopped the entirety of my house. And then I made real dinner and cookies. I think I was feeling domestic or something.

Anyhow, moving on. Also, this is going to be a long one, guys. Stay strong.

First, the notepad. (Because the notebook was too big and inconvenient but the sticky note was just too small.)

After I let Katie put on some lotion, she needed me to help her turn the doorknob because she had "spicy hands."

We had to get a new plunger because we chucked our old one in Boise and Katie has . . . a thing for toilet paper. She and Mike went to the store and got one with cool colors, which Katie calls her "silly green plummer."

"Want to hear a secret? I . . . love . . . bananas!" "Want to hear another secret? I . . . love . . . pants!"

"If you didn't have any bones, you would be dead like a jello!"

(I put in a movie for her, then walked away during the previews to do something. Then I heard the menu music.) "Mom! It's the recipe! I need you to start the movie!"

Katie has confused a couple of words. And she does it regularly. And one game she likes to play on Daddy's computer on occasion is "Nervous Birds."

Whenever we're telling stories and/or Katie is doing my hair, we take on special nicknames which Katie has given us. Especially when I'm wearing every hair clip she can find. She is Princess Rainbow-Dash-Katie, and I am Princess Twilight-Mommy. I look awesome. But I'm not going to put up a picture. So don't ask.

A couple of weeks ago, I went over to a friend's house for a REALLY AWESOME craft night. It was at 7:30, so I put the boys down and then left Mike to put Katie to bed. And he was successful, but the rest of the week, whenever we were getting toward bed time, Katie would stop and look at me all pitiful, and ask, "Are you going to a Mommy Party tonight?" And make her little pouty face. And then I want to cuddle her. And then I get kicked in the stomach.

Recently, Peter has taken up a new method of communication. When he is very happy or when he is EXTREMELY mad at me, he does the same thing: he gurgles. Like, the same thing I do when I'm gargling water, but he just uses spit. Copious amounts of it. And I know he's super angry if I hear a furious, "ggggggggggg!!!!"

Another of Peter's oddities is that he DOES NOT LIKE PEAS. Okay, so maybe that's not an oddity. Mashed up nasty-looking canned green peas might not be super delicious. Joshy thought they were cool, but then he had a sore tummy. I think we're going to stick to sweet potatoes for a while longer.

Joshy is such a cuddly kid. He's had a really hard week with his teeth (or, you know, soon-to-be-teeth), so he doesn't have anything funny to put on the list. But I do have to mention how cuddly he's been. When I bring him up to burp, he sticks his face in my neck and hugs me. It's super warm and sweet and he loves me and this is the reason we have babies. Cuddling.

Last weekend, Katie woke up and had a rather . . . smelly disposable underwear. And, of course, she and Mike started bantering about doing surgery. They decided to do a "poopectomy."

Speaking of Mike, guess what! He got a white coat. He went to a ceremony and everything. But it's just a short white coat. So he convinced me not to go. But he's got a white coat! Oooh!

Also, it turns out that Mike and I are totally old people. Last Friday (which is designated no-studying day) we got the kids all to sleep in a timely manner, so we were like, "Wahoo! Let's pick a movie that is for grown-ups! And stay up late and talk to each other without having to pause to change diapers! It'll be great!" So we both stayed awake for about . . . 40 minutes? And then Mike woke me up when he woke up at about quarter to one. And we zombie-walked upstairs and fell asleep there.

Now for the news!

Last Wednesday, I had my very first turn ever of TEACHING PRESCHOOL. AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!!!! I think it went well. We made bumblebee letters and sheep and played a significant amount. There were no tantrums. It was awesome.

Today I dropped Katie off and then didn't do anything productive until after I picked her up again.

And now, for the pumpkin patch. I'll let the pictures explain.

SLIDE MOUNTAIN!!!!

ISN'T THIS THE COOLEST BOUNCING PILLOW EVER? (Also, see my beautiful friends? Hi Katy and Jessica!)

There were an abundance of tractors.

They said pumpkins, they meant pumpkins.

Also an abundance of tire horses.

Katie was particularly excitable about feeding the goats. I didn't have quarters for goat food, so Katie took to asking the other moms. Little panhandler.

See what I meant? Abundance of tractors.

Porter's such a trooper.

It was a pumpkin patch/apple orchard/food place/AWESOME playground/corn maze/lots of other stuff. It was so cool! And when we got home, Katie was offended that she didn't get a patch for picking out her pumpkin. Also, we came home bearing apple cider and apple cider donuts (!!!!!!) and now we're trying to coordinate a return trip with Mike. It needs to happen.

Now, to finish, I will make you all jealous. It's called Sogno di Cioccolata. (Translation: chocolate dream.) (And I'm fairly sure it's not actually an Italian dessert, I just got it from my Carrabba's cookbook.) (I love my Carrabba's cookbook.)

I'm currently drooling. Maybe next time I'll do an exhibition of Katie's photography. That might not make you drool. It might make you dizzy instead. So maybe take some motion sick medication before you read my next blog.