An Extra Week Will Do That...

My friend Madeline finally had her baby! She was induced yesterday morning and was in labor for somewhere around 24 hours or more; I'm not sure on the specifics because her husband was too tired to go into much detail (Madeline is sleeping, of course). But both Mom and Baby Girl are healthy. The baby weighs in at an astonishing 11 lbs, 1 oz. I guess she had plenty of time to grow, since she was a week late arriving! We're going to go visit later today, when everyone's feeling rested.

Tomorrow, we're off to Las Vegas for a much needed vacation! My Dad is taking Drew and Owen up to the farm to hang out. I expect them to work hard up there just like I always did-- building hay-stack forts and chasing cows is pretty tiring "work." But I imagine they'll probably spend most of their time indoors since Drew still isn't walking (I hope he starts walking before his 18-month doctor's appointment; otherwise, we have to do a bunch of "neurological tests." That sounds less than fun).

I wish I had more exciting news to report, but we're pretty boring around here lately. Hope everyone has a great weekend; I know I will!

The Housework's Wife

They say the housewife's work is never done. How true that is. Especially if you are a slacker, like me, and do the bare minimum just to get by*--like with laundry. I don't know how I got so far behind, but suddenly I've got all these hampers full of dirty clothes--I didn't even know we owned that many clothes (I haven't seen some of them for so long, I don't even remember wearing them). So for the last two days, and it will most likely continue today, I've been doing oodles of laundry. It's not too bad, thanks to the guy who invented the automatic washer and dryer, but couldn't someone come up with an automatic folder and put-awayer? That would be a lifesaver. But we have to have all our stuff done so we can have something to wear on our vacation. So if you'll all excuse me, I've got a date with the washing machine.

Here are some pictures of the boys I found. I just thought I'd share.

Right: Drew's bed-head.

Below: Owen's crown says, "I am a child of God." He helped me color it in nursery a few Sundays ago. I'm not sure what's with the tongue.

*Here's my rationalization (and I'm sticking to it): I would just rather spend time playing with Drew and Owen than folding a pile of clothes. The practical person (a.k.a. the person who doesn't have kids) would say I could fold while I watch them play, but they tend to forget about toys, preferring instead to tear apart neat little piles of clothes and throw them on the floor. So there has to be a separation of clothes and kids.

Making Some Updates

When I was in school, I would sometimes stay up til the wee hours of the morning rearranging my bedroom. I guess I get bored with things and have to reorganize. It's a nice cost-efficient way to get a new look. I haven't done that recently, because I feel like the way the floor plan of our house is set up, with the baseboard heaters, there's really only one way to set the furniture. Also, I'm not as strong as I used to be, so I couldn't just go around moving things by myself.

So instead of rearranging my house, I made some updates on my ol' bloggie. I changed my display name* and I picked a new silly question to answer in my user profile (who comes up with those questions?). I also picked a new Steven Wright quote. I might even mess around with the color scheme, except that I think I should probably get off the computer and do some laundry and sew some quilt squares. So this is my exciting post of the day.

*I have a little friend named Zach who is about 4 years old. He can't say his "er" sounds very well, so he calls me "Heathie." I kinda like it. There aren't very many good nicknames for Heather. I never really liked being called "Heathe." My dad used to call me "Creature" and i liked that (when I was little I couldn't pronounce my last name so I told everyone my name was Heather Creach. It's not really even close. And I used to spell my name "H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-H-E-R; it sounds close if you say it out loud...). Well, this is turning into a post-inside-a-post, so I'll sign off for real now. Toodles.

My Funny Nephew

My nephew, Westley, turns 2 tomorrow. Happy Birthday! They had a birthday party for him yesterday, so the boys and I drove down to Logan to share in the festivities. Drew and Owen really enjoyed the cake and ice cream. Drew made his eating noise the whole time (MmmMmmMmm). I think Westley had a lot of fun, too, but I think he got a little over-excited and overwhelmed.* He was eating his cake, and he'd just let out a big ear-splitting scream then go right on eating. His mom would say, "No screaming, Westley," and he'd look like he was sorry, then a few minutes later he'd do it again... Then, while he was opening presents, something made him mad and he screamed and flung his present across the room and yelled, "No screaming! Go to time out!" I had to try hard not to laugh; I didn't want to upset him more or have him think I was laughing at him (I was). My brother said he'd already put himself in time out earlier. I guess it didn't work. Silly, silly.

Speaking of laughing at kids, this is one of my favorite stories; I hope Laura doesn't mind if I share (I hope I get it all correct, too): Laura's little sister Kathryn used to say some very funny things (she probably still does, but I haven't seen her for a while). So one time she said something funny, not really meaning to be funny, and everyone laughed. She got pretty upset and yelled, "Everything in this family is about me!" It always cracks me up when I think of that--especially since most little kids want everything to be about them.

Well, I guess I'll sign off; we're going to head over to the in-laws for a Super Bowl "party;" I think it will be Dave, the boys and me, and Dave's uncle there, besides the in-laws. So it sounds like a rockin' good time, and I need to go get ready. Go Colts!

*Is it possible to be just plain whelmed?

No News Is Good News

...or maybe it's just boredom. I haven't had a whole lot to write about lately, hence the lack of updates on the ol' blog here. So let's see if I can scrounge up enough stories and quips to make this at all interesting.

I did go to the meeting with the personal trainer last Friday. It was really fun and she gave me a good workout routine. It consists of squats, lunges, some triceps and bicep workout techniques, some crunches and some "Supermans" (I really can't decide if that should be "Supermen"...), which are the opposite of crunches, to work my lower back. I'm supposed to do the workouts twice a week. I have done them zero times, so far. I was set to go Tuesday, but the boys have nasty colds, so I didn't want to take them to the nursery at the gym and have them get all the other kids sick. Today is my other workout day, and it's not over yet, so hopefully I will get feeling like I can go; I've been a little "under the weather" lately (I love that phrase, even though it makes no sense to me).

Tax Season is upon us which, this year, means a new mattress perhaps, or new couches. I can't decide which; we definitely need all of the above (by need, I mean want, except in the case of the mattress, which we really do need), but we'd also like to put some money back into savings. There's a furniture store in town that's having a big sale, so we'll be able to get a pretty good deal on whatever we decide to buy.

We're going to Las Vegas next weekend. I'm so excited! I'm going to put $1 in a video poker machine and draw a royal flush on the first try and win $4,000. Then I can get new couches and a new mattress! And have leftovers for savings! This is the plan, anyway. I think what will really happen is we'll get up everyday before the crack of dawn to get in line at the bingo hall; we're going for David's grandpa's birthday, and bingo is his game. And he and Grandma have to be the 5th and 7th people in line, and they have to sit at a particular table, and have a certain number of cards... I guess they're a little superstitious. But I'm looking forward to it; haven't played bingo since high school, and I don't know how long it's been since I've played with numbers instead of history dates or elements from the periodic table so it should be fun.

I guess this is enough boredom for today. I'll try to do something exciting before my next post.