Changing a Few Things

Life moves quickly here at the Lucas house and although I am open to change, there are some changes that I am just not sure I am ready to tackle.

The easiest change going on right now is a name change.

No one in this house is safe from a nickname:  JTizzy, Biscuit, Zachfu, Zachnado, Splat, Lizard, Rickterd... Since the girls have started talking more, they've also developed their own names. When looking for JT and Zach, they combine them in to "boys." Although actually it is said more like boyz. They have just recently starting using names for each other and that has led us all to adopt Kat's preferred name for Lizzie. Officially Lizzie is now Lou Lou. No idea how Kat picked this one although occasionally we would call Lizzie, Lizzie Lou but not as often as we call her Lizard or just Lizzie. Regardless we all love it and for now it is sticking.

The other change we are working through is moving the girls out of their bed. They can officially climb out of the crib. We are still pondering what bed to get them so in the mean time we turned their crib in to a toddler bed. We are slowly establishing a bedtime routine although it results in the girls tearing apart their room and sleeping where ever they drop. They've made it back to the bed a few times, they've blocked the door so we can't open it several times, and yesterday Rick went in the room to check on them but could only locate one. He admits to having a bit of a panic attack until he turned to walk out and found Lou Lou.

The most difficult change at the moment is JT getting ready to move to middle school next fall. We've had to commit to classes (he selected all pre-AP classes) and a fine art already (he picked the trombone). I can't believe my baby is going to middle school.

My birthday celebration week started off last night with a surprise night out for dinner with the Ace Gang. Not sure how my birthday has rolled around again but I am ready to celebrate the final year of my 30s.

Happy Friday!

After the boys did a few rounds of snow dancing we woke to this:

The photo is courtesy of Lizzie who insisted on taking a photo. It is from her level at the back door and that white stuff is ice or snow if you are the boys. It basically sleeted most of the night. 

Aside from that if you are like me you are wondering a few other things about this shot:

1) the chair is knocked over because the winds we insane last night 

2) the blue tarps in the background are for my garden - Rick is helping by killing the weeds so hopefully I can plant in a few weeks (hopefully more on that soon)

3) Rick doesn't know it yet but it is time to repaint my chairs just need to figure out what color this time around. I am in a blue and gray phase so maybe a turquoise.

So school is canceled but oddly not work. We are all home and enjoying a quiet day. I am trying to focus on work but I have a million projects, plans, ideas in my head and sitting at my desk with little desire to work means I may spend too much time looking at websites that only give me more ideas.

Right now I am trying to finish this one.

Rick built this bookshelf when we first moved in (see not so fabulous photo of a photo below). They lived in the then guest room, turned nursery, turned office, turned chicken room. Rick moved them for me to our bedroom. And of course that meant I had to paint them. As you can see I am still missing one shelf because it needs to be fixed and that big blank space in the middle is where I hope to move the TV. Big surprise I somehow have too many books (truth be told to relocate said shelved, Rick had to cut them which meant losing one shelf) so I am negotiating the building another shelf.

Hoping to wrap this project up this weekend. It seems so simple but in between work, kids, and life it seems like these types of activities move at  a snail's pace.

DoD Put an End to Baking and Popcorn

I don't usually cook but when I do it is to make popcorn and of course I often bake. And when I do either of these things I use one of my favorite Williams Sonoma items, the melamine mixing bowl. I love them so much that I have two sets of them.

The Daughters of Destruction also love these bowls especially to use them as a stellar accessory.

Sadly though we learned the hard way that while they look stunning they are a very fragile accessory.

I am now down to just two bowls. Not sure how all 6 bowls survived two boys for the past 8+ years but they barely made it through 2 years with the girls. To be perfectly fair, I think we started the morning with 4 as one had broken over the weekend (by the hands of a chicken) and another one had been broken a while back without assistance from a chicken.

And then the two were two...

Well the chickens are officially 2. We have all survived and we hope to survive the next 2 years as well. We had a quiet time around celebrating their birthday. They were still not 100% so we didn't plan much.  And truth be told the boys and I couldn't really figure out what to get the girls. So on Saturday the kids and I headed out to a local toy shop to see what we could find. I was hoping to get them some furniture for a dollhouse they got for Christmas. Long story short, the toy store was miserable and I for some reason decided that we had to go to Ikea. Of course I'd never advise anyone to take 4 kids on a Saturday to Ikea but we did it and we survived. Even better the girls got some great dollhouse furniture and a kick-ass castle to play in. They may be the only 2 year olds that spend a birthday at Ikea. I have some dollhouse photos that I will get up soon. Needless to say, I placed all the furniture but there has been a lot of rearranging and the baby keeps ending up in odd places like stuffed in a bench.

the end is near

It is a very special day today, January 4th. It marks one month until the most significant day in history, my birthday. This year is especially important because I will be in my final year of my 30s. Holy shit! I am going to enjoy the last 30 days of my 38s and I get ready for 39 to bring it on!

And then they were two...

The chickens rang in the New Year with some illness that included no sleeping, puking, and then a sleep marathon. So we are putting a day delay on formal birthday celebrations so we can ensure complete wellness and maximum birthday enjoyablity. It is really hard to believe that they are two already.

Here are some shots of sick babies on New Years Day. Hopefully we will get some better ones tomorrow when they are feeling better.

And yes apparently when the chickens are sick they prefer to be naked.

A Rare Moment

A photo of me with the chickens and JT. Not sure where Zach disappeared to.

Super Deep Thoughts for 2014

As I sit here watching the Rose Bowl with sick babies on either side of me I have the same thought as the rest of the world right now, “Wow! 2013 seemed to go by fast!” and probably the second most popular refrain “God, I am getting old.”

I am not sure if I will make a list of resolutions this  year. I haven’t done one in a few years as I went on my big “no more planning for more than a few weeks out” kick after a series of life events that seemed to throw us of track. That being said, I am constantly and perhaps even more so thinking about myself and things I want to do or change. I doubt I’ll provide that list here as I’d hate to bore everyone. I would be more than happy to provide the “house to do” list I have started developing for Rick if anyone is interested.

What I am providing today is a reflection of my deep thoughts for 2013.

·         Twins are hard. Really hard. Having 4 kids is hard but it isn’t the same as having twins. I have new respect for anyone who has triplets (or any version of multiple births beyond twins).

·         People say  silly, annoying, strange things to you in public when they see you have twins. Perhaps the best still being “Are they twins?” The one that is currently driving me a bit batty is “I always wished I had twins.” Really? I don’t wish twins on my worst enemy.

·         11 and 8 year old boys are stinky. And starting in 2014 and for the rest of my life, I will say an apology to their wives. I’ve tried so hard to instill in them that they must pick up their socks, that pee needs to stay in the toilet and if it lands outside it should be wiped up immediately, showers are important but more important is a shower that involves soap, clothes do not belong on the floor even if their socks are there.

·         I hate the Xbox and someday when I have free time I will write Bill Gates a letter detailing my hatred. Briefly it involves things like a ridiculous amount of menus to get my kids up and running on the stupid system, constantly locking us out of the console, a stupid requirement to pay 50 cents and prove that I have given my children permission to play on the Xbox, introducing my children to games that involve killing any number if things but mainly zombies and aliens, and a slew of other things. I will also someday write a letter to Nintendo and let them know how much I love them.

·         Even at age 38, friendship is hard and some days it makes you cry.

·         At age 38 having a few amazing and fabulous friends who love you regardless of what you do or say is the best comfort.

·         Always, always trust your gut especially when it comes to people.

·         Making a TV show is hard work but also lots of fun especially when you walk away from the experience with some fabulous friends.

·         Taking a spontaneous trip to NYC when A&E is paying for the hotel is an excellent choice.

·         I will continue to judge people by whether or not they read books and if they don’t it will help with above stated reflection to always trust my guy in regards to people.

·         Laughing is important and equally important is being with someone that makes you laugh. Life is shitty and sometimes the only way to get through it is laughter.

·         The wise words of your mother always hold true and you will find yourself repeating them more frequently to your children (and yourself) – such as “This too shall pass”  “A watched pot never boiled”

·         No one has a perfect life and there is no use in pretending that someone does. In fact it helps to actually talk to your friends about things and admit that none of us or our lives are perfect.

So there you have it. My super deep thoughts on life based on 2013. Happy 2014 to everyone! I am looking forward to see what this year brings.