The amazing bra trick, diaper style

This morning, as usual lately, I was getting ready to go and I turn around and there's a naked baby. Ok 5 more minutes to dress this baby again. As I finish dressing this one (Sam this time), Riley hands me a diaper and says, "Dirty." Sure enough, it is a very dirty diaper. Ugh, more changing, but wait, Riley is fully clothed. After a quick pat down I determine that yes indeed she is missing her diaper. How she got it off without taking off her clothes is a mystery, but I assume it is the same way many of us get our bras off without removing our shirts.

So, after stripping her, and pretty much giving her a diaper wipe bath from the waist down, we got new clothes (the old ones had poo all over the insides), dressed her, and were only 20 minutes late for our play date.

One of these days we'll get out of the house with no snafu's, I swear.

Hockey Tryout Results

Ok, I didn't make Red. I'm ok with that. I totally get that I need more work on my skills, my skating, and my game. However, it doesn't mean that it doesn't hurt emotionally any less. Rejection sucks even if it's warranted.

On the upside, congratulations to my buddies who made it! I don't want to post their names, so that they can share their joy with you themselves. I am truly happy for them though.

The first green practice is tonight, but unfortunately I will have to miss it. Hopefully it's the only one I have to miss this season.

Skate on my friends.

Am I live or Memorex?

While I seemed to have dropped off the planet (no blogs, emails, or IM's) for almost 4 days, I assure you I am still here, just exceedingly busy.

It all started with work Thursday night. Yes, you heard me right, Thursday, not Friday and not Saturday. This was because I was hosting a baby shower (Go Murray) at my house on Saturday, and needed Fri and Sat free to prepare for it. Part of preparing was finishing (or nearly finishing) my office so that we could move stuff out of the family room to make additional space for additional bodies. This required a few extra days and nights and some extra help (thanks Andrea, Debbie, and Cathy) to get it done (or nearly done as the case may be.) Sadly, as with most projects, it took much longer and so I got way behind on everything else.

Friday, I stayed up after work to move stuff, and prepare for the shower. Doesn't sound too complicated, does it? Let's just say that 5 people later (Thanks Liz, Andrea, Cathy, and Bill), more sleepless hours, a dead motherboard, and certain panic, it was finally done. Or as done as it would be for the party.

Saturday dawned fairly clear (we only had some small showers), but there was still much to be done. In a panic I called my sister, Cathy who was a saint and came over to help me ALL DAY on NO NOTICE whatsoever. She was my saviour, and I can't thank her enough. I also got some super help from Tiffani (TQ) who put all her creative talents to use in finishing the party favors and getting other things ready for the party, as well as an entertaining and helpful partner at the grocery store. Lastly, AmyFritz, Liz, and Andrea showed up to help get the final touches on the living room done, and get the food organized. The shower went fairly well despite the fact that the house was packed to the gills. There were so many people there that love Liz and Andrea and wanted to share in welcoming baby "Murray" into the world that there was standing room only at the party.

After the party, we packed up Andrea's car, and sent her, Liz, and AmyFritz on their way. Me? I settled myself down for a long winters nap.

Sunday came, and with it our friends Mike and Catherine with whom we had brunch. Then we took the kids to the park for some much enjoyed playtime until Riley decided that the slide and surrounding structure were hers and was fairly physical in trying to keep other kids off of it. A time out, and some rather stinky pants later we headed home where I relaxed until Red tryouts at 2:30.

I won't lie, tryouts were tough, especially being outnumbered by the current red players at a ratio of 3:1. Andrea was awesome during the scrimmage. She was a hockey fool, stealing the puck, doing fancy spins to get around players, and then the slapshot from the point that was right on goal, very nice. Me, I felt like everyone was going 90MPH and I had joined the brigade of old men with hats. Anyway, I don't know the results yet, but will keep you posted.

Came home from hockey planning on putting the girls to bed, and then having a little romantic time with Bill, but Sam had other ideas. The little imp would not/could not sleep and was up until 11:30 which for those of you that know is WAY past her bedtime. She is my little clock and usually goes right to sleep when it's time, and sleeps till morning.

So, now it's 1:11 in the morning, and I'm blogging. Why, cuz I just cleared my email (nearly 1000 junk mails) and I have a second wind. Good morning Bubbles. I know you're out there.

Not last night, but the night before...

No, there were not 24 robbers knocking on my door, but there was some "illegal" activity going on. Let's just say that an unknown accomplice helped me dispose of some excess materials from my office renovation and that it involved middle of the night escapades, 4 wheeling, and a little stealth.

Beanbag Heaven

If pictures can say 1000 words, then these two pictures should tell you exactly how much Sam and Riley love their new beanbag chairs. They have been rolling on them, jumping on them, snuggling on them, and today they had their morning snack (cheesesticks) while sitting in their beanbag chairs. Now I just need to get a few more beans to fill them completely.

The chairs have pockets on them, but the girls have not discovered those yet. I'll let you know the results of that exporation when it occurs.

They are quite happy. Can you blame them?

Puzzle leg

Riley has a new storage place. It's better than a toolbelt as far as she is concerned, and it all started with puzzle pieces. A few days ago I picked up Riley to change her diaper (the room had become rather odiferous) and noticed that her leg was about twice it's normal size and rather lumpy. Upon unzipping her pajamas I discovered not one, not two, not even a few puzzle pieces, but an entire pile of puzzle pieces, enough for several puzzles. Maybe she was protecting them from Sam.

Later in the same day, I noticed that her leg was again "swollen", but this was a different shape. As I was quietly observing I saw her unzip her pajamas, take out a water bottle, take a drink, and then put the bottle back in her pajama leg and zip up her pajamas. Quite entertaining, and I guess it's a good way for her to always have her water with her.

I can't wait to see what we discover this week. I'm sure it will be even more entertaining.

OUCH!!!

Ok, after the red hockey tryouts yesterday, everything hurts. My shoulders, arms, back, butt, legs, even my little toe. OUCH, OUCH, OUCH! I'm such a wuss.

Cuz I was feeling 12 a couple of weeks ago...

also makes me think of Bubbles.

My Tribal Girls

How is it that within one hour of being up, I have turned around twice to find my youngest completely naked, just calmly sitting on the dining room chair as if all were completely normal in her world? I use to have the problem with Riley disrobing constantly, especially when trying to get out of the house. However, as that situation has improved, little Sam has gradually learned to undo zippers, buttons, snaps or anything else in the way of her physical freedom from material confinement. This all despite the fact that she complains of being cold once the clothes are gone, and emphatically agrees that she needs her clothes to be warm until I turn my back and she strips again. sigh.

And the perfect birthday just keeps on going

How lucky am I? I've received even more wonderful birthday wishes in the past 24 hours, I had a great meeting with my twins group this month, and when I got home my sister came over with her birthday present for me. It's a painting that she did of the twins walking down a mythical garden path under the trees. I LOVE it and think it's her best painting yet. It's so amazing that she just took up painting a few short months ago and she's already so good.

As an added benefit, it goes great with another picture hanging in my living room, and the quilt that Deb made for me. This has got to be one of the best birthdays ever. I can't believe that they went through so much trouble for me. I will treasure both gifts forever.

Another perfect birthday

Well, it's almost over and I can't complain. The day was great. It was sunny and warm and just perfect. The day dawned with some early birthday emails which brought electronic cards, a birthday web page (still giggling Bubbles), and many warm wishes. Throughout the day I continued to get emails, and even some lovely blog entries with more birthday wishes.

First thing in the morning, a friend of mine brought me a good morning birthday chai and a chocolate croissant along with some good company to start the day, and Bill made cinnamon buns. It proved to be prophetic for the way the rest of the day would go.

My SIL, Deb and her Mom took me and the girls to lunch, and my Dad met us there. We had a great lunch, and the girls were introduced to jello. Girls, jello...jello, girls. They also had ice cream which as you will see was a recurring theme. I was very touched by the fact that Deb made me a miniature quilt replicating the larger quilt she made earlier this year, and that I liked so much. It's going to look great hanging in my living room.

After lunch, it was off to the bank to take care of some necessary business. While there, I saw the oddest of things. Apparently I have not been in a bank in longer than I thought. Some of the physical security measures like plexiglass, vault gates, etc. have been removed, and instead there were a gajillion security cameras. Ok, that might be a slight exageration, but I did count 15, and those were just the obvious ones. After leaving the bank I went to my credit union where the same bizarre phenomena had occurred. They are a little smaller, so there were only 5 security cameras there, but all the bullet proof plexi that they had put in about 5 years ago was gone. I was once again face to face with the tellers. How odd.

Anyway, after that it was home for a little birthday nap - I am aging you know, and then off to dinner with some of the family. We went to Benihanas and I had lobster which Riley happily shared. Sam would have no part of it. The real entertainment however, was at the end of the meal when the girls got more ice cream. They proceeded to pick up their bowls to eat the ice cream while simultaneously pouring half of it down their shirts. All in all, it was a good time.

Lastly, to top off the day, Liz and Andrea were here when we got home (patiently waiting cuz we were late). They brought a delicious lemon cake complete with shimmer candles which the girls helped me blow out, and a HUGE chocolate eclair, not to be confused with a Yule Log. It was such a nice treat. The girls got to play, had some cake and eclair, and a little milk. They were doing their best to entertain us (and avoid going to bed of course.)

About 10:15 I finally had to trundle the little ones off to bed (WAY past their 7:30 bedtime at this point) and Liz and Andrea quietly slipped out.

After the little ones were tucked into bed, I hopped into the bathroom for some personal business, tooth brushing, etc. and found the following: It had apparently been left by some mischievious elves while waiting for us to get home. I have to say, it was a great end to a great day.

Thank you to everyone who came together to make my day wonderful. I hope I can return the favor when it's your turn to celebrate.

I am snow - interesting.

You Are Snow

Magical yet potentially destructive You are well known as fun to play with People anticipate your arrival but then are quickly sick of you You are best known for: your serenity Your dominant state: reflecting

What Type of Weather Are You?

Correct Link

Sick of me yet? Huh, huh? How 'bout now? Now? What about now?

Nothing to post

As I was sitting here tonight reading blogs, I realized that other than a couple of people, everyone I know has slowed down or stopped their blogging. It also made me contemplate my blog, and realize I didn't have much to blog about at the moment which caused me to reflect on what has happened in my life.

In the last year, my babies have turned 1, my oldest turned 20, I returned to hockey, and I cut my hours at work in half. That's about it, not a lot of excitement. However, my children have had many firsts this past year and I have lived them all through their eyes. As much as I could anyway. It never ceases to amaze me how wonderful it is to experience life through the eyes of others and either remember being there, or just sharing the excitement that they are experiencing in doing something new and different.

So, in order to return to the level of amusement that I choose to enjoy I am requesting that all of you return to blogging and/or blog more frequently because we all know that it's all about me. (Just kidding, but I do enjoy hearing about what's going on with you.)

Not for the faint of heart

This is something I've been meaning to blog for a week now, but just couldn't decide if it was something to be shared with the general public (aka: my 3 loyal readers.) So, for those of you that are not amused by potty antics, stop reading now and wait for the next post.

Ok, if there's anyone still left reading, here goes.

My good friend Andrea introduced me to the saying, "See ya later corn" a few months back. I have to admit that I didn't get it at first, and when it did sink in I thought, "that's gross." However, after a few months it has become somewhat humerous especially since during that time I have changed quite a few diapers in which the thought, "See ya later corn" has come up. I have found that it also applies to many other items the girls eat.

See ya later edamame
See ya later cranberries
See ya later raisins
See ya later popcorn kernals

And the list goes on. About a week ago we had a surprising addition to the list from my little Sammi.

See ya later puzzle piece.

Enough said.

Our Mysterious Disappearance this Week

Ok, so it's been a bit quiet on this site of late. That's because we secretly plotted an escape to the snow and snuck out in the middle of the day on Monday. ;)

Actually we went up to Bear Valley for 3 days. The timing actually ended up being pretty good as far as the weather went. It started snowing just as we were getting to BV, and snowed through Tuesday night sometime. Wednesday was nice and sunny, would have been the PERFECT day skiing due to the nice light powder left by the storm and the good weather.

As for the girls, they had mixed thoughts about the snow. They didn't really like the snow falling on their faces, and they didn't like having to wade through it. When they could walk on top of the snow, or on the road, they were much happier. We didn't get to try any activities until the last day when we took the girls sledding on a little hill behind the condo. Sam said she liked it, but didn't want to do it again (too close to naptime). Riley on the other hand kept saying and signing more, more. She loved it for about 3 rides, then she signed that she wanted to eat. I guess she had worked up an appetite. All in all, they were both very cute in the snow even if I couldn't get them to make snow angels with Mommy.

We are now back and have reported in to the appropriate "authorities". I can't wait to take them again.

Before I nap...

I have to mention the rain gear that Auntie Helen sent from Seattle as an early birthday gift for the girls. The UPS guy got here really early (8:30 A.M.), so we quickly openend the box, donned the gear, and went out to play in the rain. The girls LOVED it and didn't want to come in for breakfast. We compromised and let them wear their boots to breakfast. It was all good fun.

Ok, now I'm off to nap before work tonight.

Busy week, no blogging

This week has been busy with many visitors. The babies (and us) had our usual visits with Aunties Liz and Mo, although one came rather late at night and with ice cream - yum! Auntie Cathy also stopped by for horsie rides, reading, and to show us the painting she made of Rich, Sam, and Bill when Rich first met the girls. Also of note, her hair is growing in great after the chemo loss. It's very curly and her new style is very cute. I am oh so jealous. Bill's Mom also came and stayed for a few days as well.

I also met with my quilt group. We use to take turns meeting at each others houses, but we have become so spread out that now we are looking for new places. We tried meeting at Borders, in their cafe, but that was too difficult. Not enough room, if we had to meet outside we couldn't do it in the winter months, etc. Plus, they only serve coffee and sodas. Our new place, which we all like very much, is the Embassy Suites lounge. We can order cocktails while sharing our latest accomplishments and news of our families. Last night I had a really girlie fru-fru drink, a chocolate martini. It was ok, but a little strong for me. Hmmm, what should I try next month?

Well, the house is all mine again, so I'm off to nap. Have a great weekend all.

Ok, I was asked what kind of helicopter it was...

this is it.

There is a whole web page set up about Stanford's Life Flight Program if you are interested. Check it out.

If you have any medical or law enforcement connection, you can go for a ride along. I might have to sign up for this, so I can check out the other aspects of their program. I've often thought about pursuing this, but I'd have to transfer to the ER and work for at least 3 years there, more like 5 from what I hear before I could apply. Something to think about.

My children are doomed

"Why?", you ask. Let me give you an example from a conversation with Bill this morning.

Me: I thought you should know, Riley has started bringing things to me and saying, "Name?" to find out what they are.
Bill: And do you make up answers for her?

Yesterday he was having an IM conversation with a friend of ours that was trying to get the girls sizes. She told him she couldn't follow his conversation to which he responded "I like cake." Rest assured there was no mention of cake or culinary preferences in that conversation until that very moment.

My poor, poor children. They will never know the difference between reality and what randomly comes spewing out of their Dad's head.