snapshots

at the children's museum.

it's fall. finally.

when the temp dips below 60, we will now warm our hearts with some fruit pizza. it definitely cheered up the gray day.

cutie ran up the stairs when i came outside and hugged my leg.

no worries, the bottle was empty. but it looks like avery was the one that emptied it.

what i've been doing.

instead of blogging.

or having any other kind of social life.

this isn't even all of them. i have a bunch i already returned to the library and a few more that i own that are already back on my bookshelf.

the good news is that we're done with the fiction reading portion of this class. now it's on to non-fiction, which means more critical readings and the big projects due in november and december.

and then i have my other class that still makes little sense to me. this semester is hard. and from rumors about one of my classes next semester, it's not going to get much better.

whine over. can't wait until christmas break with NO homework and attention on family and friends and fun. only 7 more weeks for me. i can make it!

a post to remember.

since i'm on the mend, i hope to remember writing this post. especially since i just finished my paper that's due tonight. so if this writing isn't memorable, then chances are what i just wrote for class isn't either. and that writing is a touch important. you know, career wise and all.

so, the weekend! we had big plans to go up to new hampshire and have fun at pumpkinfest in keene. then we realized it didn't start until noon, and at that rate, the girls would probably be cranky and cold and we'd have a good 2 hour trip there and back before we were safe at home. instead, we went in search of the girls' halloween costumes. and when we didn't find them at the first place we checked, we decided to stop at the grocery store and pick up a few things. when we finished, we started to pile back into the car to head to costume place #2.

but nola had other plans. i don't know what prompted the fit, but lets just say she screamed (no exaggeration) for 20 minutes straight as we drove home. and then just as she quieted down in our driveway, i must have set her off again because zane had to haul her by the waistband of her jeans so she couldn't kick him in to the house, where she proceeded to scream for another 10 minutes in her room.

2 year olds are a force to be reckoned with.

the poor thing finally stopped crying and we cajoled her to come downstairs. her face was blotchy, she was hiccuping and trying to catch her breath. the picture of pathetic i tell you.

all of this to say that i'm so grateful we didn't end up going to new hampshire.

the rest of the weekend was lowkey. we did finally get costumes, zane went to see noam chomsky talk at the occupy boston site, i coughed and couldn't sleep, i tried my best to get my paper done before the day it was due, we had our first lasagna of the season, i braved target on a weekend (ugh, i hate the weekend crowd) and finally replaced our burnt out porch light.

and now i'm almost convinced nola has an ear infection. she was up 4 or 5 times last night, crying meaningless things, and this morning whined "ears" when i asked her if anything hurt. hmmm. that would explain a lot of her behavior this weekend.

did any of this make sense, or was this just my way of working off the mocha i got from starbucks this morning.

weekend!

*to tell you the truth, i don't remember writing this post. that's sleep deprivation at it's best, folks.*

this week has been tough! zane had to stay late at work just about every day. it rained. i have bronchitis and a sinus infection. nola might have had some sketchy milk and has had the worst diapers and now diaper rash i've ever seen. and i've had to read a ridiculous amount of ya books in a short amount of time to make up for the week that i did virtually no homework at all.

but now it's friday! and medicine is sloooowly kicking in and making it almost possible to remember what it feels like to be healthy!

i like them apples.

we went apple picking again today. finally! we went right as the season opened, and then because of rain, other stuff, and life, we haven't been back. we made up for lost time today. beautiful weather, TONS of apples, running in the fields, apple cider donuts, more apples and smiles. it was just the kind of day we needed around here after sniffles, work loads and rainy days.

7 years and some queso.

yay for long weekends! it was a busy one, a hot one, a "i'm getting sick" one, a laid back one, a fun one.

*saturday:

-birthday party for my college friend's 3 year old.

-picked up our new freezer for the basement

-grocery shop

*sunday:

-boston for zane to check out occupy boston

-children's museum: bought a membership, SO MUCH FUN. the girls had a blast and we only saw 3 rooms out of the 3 floors they have. can't wait to go back

-85 degrees on october 9th. what?!

-visited my dad in the hospital--(he's fine! checked out his blood pressure)

*monday:

-huge bj's trip to stock up for the winter (or maybe just the next 3 months ;)) the girls were insane again, i asked zane if it was a full moon. he didn't know. (it is on the 12th).

-another hot day.

-went for a run even though my throat hurt and i didn't feel great. i ended up doing just under 2 1/2 miles a bit faster than i have been, who knew?

-signed up for my first 5k

-the girls had an awesome nap, so i took avery to get them milkshakes and queso while zane took nola to buy enchilada sauce (this is fascinating, i know.)

-picked my dad up from the hospital with my mom

-happy anniversary! we celebrated with mexican leftovers and fresh queso :)

now it's back to being fall in the traditional weather sense. the girls' colds have settled into coughs and raspiness and we're taking it easy today. love long weekends, but they're exhausting!

my piggies with piggies.

halfway through.

it's wednesday. and i have a "big" (20% of my grade) assignment due on friday, that i can't FOR THE LIFE OF ME do. not because it's all that difficult. but because i just can't make myself do it. i don't know what i'm waiting for. i'm driving myself crazy.

anywho...i hear avery singing songs upstairs and while i'd rather her be quiet and not wake up nola, i also don't want to risk going up and having her cry as a result of me telling her to quiet down but not letting her come downstairs yet. (before i even finished this post, i heard avery get up and shortly after, nola's voice. i'm 99% sure that avery woke her up and i'm not happy. i love that they love each other, but please, if someone's sleeping, let them sleep!)

some random thoughts:

*avery has been very concerned lately (the past few months) with roads breaking. she'll ask us questions about our car falling through the road if there's a crack, see road construction and ask what they're doing, etc. we try and reassure her that roads don't just break, and that there are people to fix things if there are problems. poor thing, i can't imagine what her little mind is thinking.

*two phrases of nola's that crack me up:

"me AM, mommy" her exasperated, in response to me telling her/reminding her to do anything (ie come up the stairs, nola. finish up your snack, nola.)

"okay, mommy!" her sweetly following along, in response to random things that i say (ie that's not a toy nola, that's a drill.)

*the girls love school. avery had a hard time for a while last year, but there have been no problems at all so far this year. nola talks about the other kids there and on nights before school when i tell her what she'll do the next day, she grins and giggles.

*nola still doesn't have her last 2 molars (on top) and i blame a lot of her irrational and insane behavior on those teeth (and being 2).

*avery is 38lbs and nola is 32lbs. i love having a scale at home :)

*i started bridge to 10k (b210k) yesterday. the first week has 4 intervals of 10 minute runs, with a minute walk in between. it was pouring when i left and even though it wasn't as easy as i expected, i finished it and felt good and tired. then i ran back up our street (a hill) to go buy some wine to have with dinner. that's dedication ;)

*i really have to do this homework. but i really don't have it in me.

not dirty, but not clean.

(photo via amazon.com)

i've come to a very important realization. at most times i'm capable of doing 2 things, and doing them fairly well. the problem these days is that there are three things that need doing...

1. kids clean, fed and happy (you'd think that those are 3 things, but given how connected they all are, i count them as 1.)

2. homework done, done reasonably well and done on time.

3. house clean and organized.

i could do 1 and 3 and let 2 slide, but that's a whole lot of money down the drain and the future (mine, my family's) on the line. i could do 2 and 3, but i'd get in all sorts of trouble from all sorts of people. and #1 is actually the one i enjoy the most.

so. 1 and 2 it is. i just have to accept that i cannot do all three. zane has been doing such an incredible job pitching in (with starting laundry every morning, loading dishes when i have my night class, gathering the toys and clothes strewn about) and i should do a better job thanking him!

it usually gets to a point (rainy days, weekends, etc) where the build-up of life's mess starts to irk both of us and we do our part to get things back in order. but it's a relief of sorts to let things go a bit and focus on work and happy kids. they're not going to remember the pile of halloween placemats that sat on a chair under a blue bin for 4 days. they'll remember being tickled by zane til they squealed tonight. and that's the way it should be. i need to keep reminding myself of that...

case of the tuesdays

tuesday SUCK around here! i'm assuming it's the combination of me having class on monday night and their nightly schedule thrown off a tiny bit and not having school. maybe it's something else entirely? all i know is that there's usually a lot of whining, tantrums, testing, and tears. i've decided that there would be no homework done on tuesdays, just girl time and house chores. today, i decided to prepare and focus on having fun. by golly, we had fun. there was still a lot of ugly behavior (nola just kicked a pair of scissors across the room and avery stole her balloon), but we managed to have fun in the meantime!

and now we're heading out for a nature walk to find leaves! i'll turn these tuesdays around gosh darnit.

goobers.

love these little munchkins and all their silly little ways. (don't so much like the fevers, throwing up and sore throats that have been hanging around for a day or two, but that'll pass).

days are too short!

there seems to be so much going on these days...funny things the girls say, fun outings we've gone on, good food we've made and eaten, sweet ways the girls are turning into true sisters. but at the end of the day (or 7:30 when the girls go to bed ;)) we all crash. i either need to take up coffee drinking in the afternoon or work harder during the day to get everything done that i need and want to get done.

i'm slowly falling into a routine around school work. mondays are great--the work for my online class is posted sunday night or monday, so when the girls are at school on monday morning, i can spend my time prepping and organizing for that class. right now, i'm in the middle of printing out a 3 week module that we're working through. during nap times and school time, i plan on working on my online class. it's about information organization, and my brain just doesn't easily understand this stuff. at night and on the weekends i plan on doing my young adult literature homework--mostly reading novels, writing journal entries, etc. a bit more my speed and fun :)

so, now that i got that boring bit out of the way, a few pictures and fun memories.

zane fired up the grill at 8am yesterday. yep. AM. he smoked beef brisket and made us burnt end sandwiches. they.were.amazing. we used the gates bbq sauce that we always have in stock and i've got to say they were every bit as amazing as the sandwich i had this summer in kc. well done, love. well done. add to that a homemade apple pie, and we went to bed happy and full.

the other morning i walked into the living room to find avery brushing nola's hair. very gentle. and then i noticed nola was feeding her baby. what good little mommy's we have :)

mema sent these sweaters for the girls last week. looking at them, i figured they'd wear them with some leggings. they looked too small to be dresses, but too big to be sweaters. i need to realize that the girls are no where near as little as i picture them in my head! they LOVED the sweaters, as evidenced by them not protesting when i wanted to take a picture...

good day, sunshine.

i like a lot of things about where we live. and i love even more about where we live. the sunsets never cease to catch my attention and awe. just about 10 miles outside of boston, you wouldn't think there would be much in the way of sunsets. but we've got them. and i try not to miss an opportunity to take a picture :)

these were taken in the last few weeks, and i'm pretty sure there was another one but i can't seem to find it. all looking out our front door. all beautiful. the girls have even started to notice the pink skies and the fiery look of the sun. truly magical.

5k!

I did it. I didn't really mean to, but I did it. I ran 3 miles and it was awesome! Before I left tonight, Zane told me that if I ran 2 1/2 miles he'd have a beer with me when I got back. When I hit about 2 miles I thought there was no way I'd get to the 2 1/2 mile mark, mostly because I was fairly close to home and wasn't planning on doing loops back where I had already run.

But I did it, and I did it under 30 minutes. (28 something to be "exact")

Yay. Bring on the cooler weather, cause my body really doesn't seem to appreciate heat or humidity ;)

Ps, you can thank my professor this semester for me all of a sudden using capitals. He called me out on it on one of my posts (a response on my introduction post, rather informal I had thought) and since we're talking about cataloging and information organization in his class, capitals mean a great deal. I didn't realize I was capitalizing until halfway through this post. I don't expect it to stick around ;)

busy-ness

we had a busy, fun, exhausting, fast weekend. here's a small part of it--

i'm in my online class full-swing, and tonight i have my first in-person class on campus. things seem to be kind of insane around here and in an email i wrote to zane this morning, i almost asked "are things really not going to slow down until christmas?" but then i erased it because it was too overwhelming and the last thing he needs to read on his first monday back to work is that things are nuts at home too!

i started week 6 of c25k this morning after i dropped the girls at school and before i came home to do homework. it went okay. i covered more ground in less time today than during my longer runs, so that must count for something. but it wasn't easy. or pretty. especially when nola has been waking up multiple times a night for a week (or more?) now. so now while they nap, i should too. i haven't had to be coherent from 6-9pm since last spring, but tonight it starts again....