It's a good thing we tend to get smarter...

When I was in high school, I lived at home. I worked at Solitude. I shared a car with my brother. I had a lot of expendable income. I had a membership to BMG. I'm sure you're getting the idea. I now own a LOT of cd's. I recently noticed that, since becoming a mommy, most of my cd's sit unlistened to in my big CD holder dealy. I am usually listening to toddler music, NPR or whatever Jared put on. I decided that this had to change. My goal is to listen to at least one of my old cd's each week. This way I could decide if I wanted to keep each one or toss/donate them.
The first CD I pulled out was the Refreshments. It wasn't the first disc in the case as before I was a mommy I had time to do things like alphabetize my cd's. (Can you say OCD?) I'm sure the alphabetical order thing won't last for long anymore! Anyway, back to the Refreshments.
Can I tell you that I LOVE this CD!! It takes me back to the time (OVER 12 years ago) that my good friend Dawn and I decided to hike Lone Peak for the first time. The last song that we heard in the car before we started hiking was "Banditos" by the Refreshments. (Many of you may know the song as "Stupid People") When we started hiking, we laughed because we knew that that song would be stuck in our heads all day. Ironically we got caught in a storm, lost our way and got rescued by a search and rescue helicopter after 2 days. Those of you that went to high school with us might remember we missed the first day of our Junior year because we were still on the dang mountain. We even made the news. The whole time, those words were playing over and over in the back of my head.... "Everybody knows that the world is full of stupid people..."
If you are interested in seeing the video you can see it here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfZbFh7qlCQ
I would also like to point out that this is the girls' new favorite song to run around the couch in "daddy shirts" to. :)

The Laundry Room

Here's a pic of the laundry room as promised.

Notice the fancy "L" cut into wood under the windowsill. Jared says it stands for "Lucie," but for the next owner of the house it can stand for laundry just as well.

It is still a work in progress as Jared is planning to build a counter top along the left wall with a.... utility sink!!! Could I be more excited? Heck no!!

Child Labor

As I've posted previously, we've been working on the basement. Lately the girls are constantly begging to go downstairs and "help" daddy work. The other day we put them in some scroungy clothes and let them have at it.

Here's Eva wiping down a wall. She looks so happy cleaning... I'm thinking I'll have to take advantage of this new found love.

Here's Naiya trying out a little painting. (Wish I'd thought of this last year when I repainted to bedroom!)

Then Eva found a piece of chalk and started to write her name on the wall. That was my cue to get the girls back upstairs! ;)

If you look close, you can see her cute little centipede like E. I love it!

When Mommy's Away

I set my alarm for 6 on Monday so that I could go for a swim at the gym. I quietly got out of bed, brushed my teeth, pulled back my hair, got dressed and grabbed my gym bag. As I tiptoed for the door I heard, "Momma?".... "Mommy?" It was Eva. Rats! She's climbed into my bed at some point in the middle of the night and now her sixth sense was telling her that mommy was heading out the door. Reluctantly I climbed back into bed as to avoid waking everyone else up. Unfortunately, she was wide awake and was having non of this "back to sleep" thing.

Lucky for me when Jared got up at 7:00 he noticed that I had gotten all ready for the gym but had apparently not made it out the door. He decided to start work a little late and let me have at it. Let me say that I haven't' been swimming (like swimming laps) in I don't know how long. It was fantastic. Something about the rhythm of swimming and the feeling of the water. It's the best. I hope to do it again soon.

The best part was that when I got home (all relaxed and refreshed) Johnny Cash was blaring on he stereo and this is what I saw:
Wired monkey number one:

Wired monkey number two:

Daddy was ready for a nap at 9:00 AM:

Apparently he fed them cinnamon toast for breakfast. I would also like to point out that those are not the girls pj's. I'm still not sure why but they are both wearing Jared's t-shirts and the necks are pulled back with bag clips from the kitchen. I'm thinking of going to Seattle for a weekend in May. I wonder what the three of them will look like when I get back. ;)

Dear Mom

Dear Mom,
When we come to visit you (either tomorrow or Tuesday) please help me to get the girls measurements so that I can send them to the lady at Kandy Kisses Boutique. She asked me over a month ago for measurements thinking that she might get some thing cute done for Valentine's Day. Two weeks ago I got out the measuring tape that you gave me and set it on the counter while the girls were napping. I intended to measure them as soon as they woke up. I forgot. By the next day it was missing. Eva told me she took it. She told me she hid it. She can't remember where she hid it. I can't find it. I am officially adding it to the list of wonderous treasures we will find in a few years when we are packing up and moving. If it is left solely up to me, the girls won't be getting any skirts until 2010.
Thank you for your help,
Me

600 Steps in the Right Direction

I am supposed to be tackling a tower in less than 3 weeks. I have been to the gym once since I signed myself up to do this. Last Tuesday, realized I had under a month to go, so I decided to do 20 squats every hour for 10 hours during the day. I thought that if I could do this every other day I would be ready. Last Wednesday, I could not walk. Thursday wasn't so great either. Yesterday I had ANOTHER realization that this thing is coming up faster than planned. Last night, after putting the girls to bed, I ran up and down our stairs 50 times. We have 12 stairs. That makes 600 stairs. It's something. Now, at least, I know that I will make it to the top. Making in with a good time, however, that is another story. I'm sure it was helpful that I enjoyed a nice big sugar cookie with pink frosting upon completing the workout. Thank you to Nana Janet and Goompa for bringing those by yesterday. Yummers! :)
Now everyone please take a minute and send me mental vibes to get my butt to the gym (and lay off the cookies). Thank you.

Time to Celebrate

After two months of having a washer and dryer only a day or two here and there, I am pleased to announce that I have a laundry room. My washer and dryer are all hooked up. They work. I do not have to go to the laundromat or my mom's house to do laundry any more. (I know my mom is almost as excited about this as I am.) I have MOUNTAINS of laundry to do. When some of the piles of laundry are out of the way, I will take a picture of my almost done laundry room.
Those of you that have known me for longer than the 5 years that I have been married.... Seriously can you believe that I am celebrating a laundry room? Even more seriously can you believe that my way of celebrating involves doing laundry and no adult beverages what-so-ever. My how the times have changed.