November 27th-December 3rd

(11/27) No good, very bad day.  Remember when I said we were almost done with Leakfest?  Yeah, no.  My cell phone fell out of my pocket and into the toilet yesterday.  I fished it out, but the back came off and went down.  The toilet worked like normal and I assumed all was fine... until today.  Today it clogged, overflowed and leaked down into the laundry room.  *AGAIN*   Plumbers are coming out tomorrow. 

The one bright spot today was watching the boys play on the cars that Jake & Amber got them for their birthdays (that I finally got around to assembling). J got so mad when D came over to check out the first car while I was working on assembling the other one.  Ah, sibling jealousy.

Perfect timing on the cars though.  J has figured out the rocking giraffe and really gets how to operate the cars.  I think J says "rock" now as he's rocking. 

Babies in a basket!

(11/28) No good, very bad day, part 2.  I set the time for my alarm, but forgot to actually turn it on, so missed my early bird class at the gym.  Oh well, back to bed after texting an apology to Sarah.  C had swim class, and Nanan arrived just in time to watch the littles while we ran off to his class.  This was the last class this session, and I'm thinking we're all in need of a break for a few weeks.  Especially with the Christmas coming up!

I rushed back home to meet the plumbers.  More bad news.  The toilets are original to the house and only have a 1" opening.  To pull it and attempt to auger it would be half way to a new toilet.  I mentioned that I wished this had happened to the upstairs toilet with the leaky flapper that was responsible for the earlier continuous leak and the plumber mentioned a deal on two for $1,000 (or 1 for $800).  Sold.  Not what I wanted to spend that money on, but what are you gonna do? 

After the plumber had finished, the contractors arrived to finish replacing the baseboard and now I can say we are done.  And if anything else happens, we're just burning the house down and starting fresh.

The little boys are doing well.  J took 2 steps today before realizing I wasn't holding onto him and then he plopped back down.  Nanan replaced the batteries in the quacking/singing duck and J loved that!  They also played some more on the cars that I put together yesterday.  Their nap was interrupted by the work being done, but they were in pretty good spirits aside from a few whiny/clingy moments.  I was ready to go to bed when they did though.


(11/29) Sigh.  I didn't see the boys all day.  I had a busy day at work and then I hit the gym to make up for sleeping through yesterday's class.  The boys were with their dad all day, so at least they got one of us... but I miss them.


(11/30) Today was a work day for Dad & me.  Dad's schedule has changed, so he goes in later and stays later, which means I don't see him at all on Fridays.  We might have to arrange a lunch date to remedy that!  The littles had a good day and we crammed in some playtime before bed. They're so fun!

(12/1) Today was not a very fun one for kiddos.  C had pictures for hockey, followed by practice.  Which meant about 3 hours of stroller time for the twins.  I came armed with last night's dinner (homemade pizza), oranges, and of course Cheerios.  We had snack/lunch while we were there and then I just walked them around in the stroller until they passed out.  They only got a shortish nap though, so once we got home and had some proper playtime, I put them down again and they were out until 5pm.  I woke them for dinner, bath, and more play time before putting them down for the night.

(12/2) Today was lovely.  I slept in (til 8a!), had breakfast with the fam, and then Dad and C left for a play date at a friend's, and the little boys and I had the morning to bum around in our jammies. I didn't change out of mine until well after lunch when I ran out to coffee with Sarah.  After I got back, C and I headed to his Skate-a-thon to raise money for next season's hockey fees. Once C was done going around in circles, we zipped over to pick out a tree to take to Granddad's. We stopped by the house to grab Dad and the twins, and off we went.  We had such a nice time having dinner and decorating!  My pictures were all very dark, so I'll have to mooch from the rest of the family.  We came appropriately dressed for the holiday in Christmas bones.

D was so cute.  Granddad gives them 'poppers' (kisses on the head) and D decided he liked that a lot and would lean in for more.  Not to be outdone, J started making kissing noises too.  Aww! ❤ my boys!


(12/3) Work day for me and then we have a dinner date with Oma & Opa as they're passing through to visit the California grand kids.

J & the bus.

Attack Mom!

D & the walker.

November 20-26th

(11/20) Heehee, J now says "Go!" but puts his arms up like he wants up. Kathy said the little guys had a good day, but the big guys butted heads. They act like they're brothers.

I got some scary news that my dad (Granddad) is in the hospital.  He went in last night for an abscess.  We're hoping for a quick recovery!    


(11/21) Whirlwind day today. C had swim, and then I remembered his early release wrong and took him directly to school only to realize it opened 45 mins later.  Oops.  So I dropped him with Kathy, and ran the twins home for a snack and play time before nap. We then scooted over to grab Jax from preschool and then home for nap. Nanan came a few hours later and wrangled all the kids (including my niece, Audrey) for a few hours while Jake and I went to visit Dad. The littles were in bed by the time we got back and the bigger two were running laps around the house.

(11/22) Happy Thanksgiving! We decided to have a small dinner here for the kids and invite Nanan.  I had a half marathon in the morning and got home around 2p.  Dad cooked quite the spread, and we won the stuffing war by default this year since Granddad's hospital stuffing was NOT the same. The twins practiced with bowls and spoons today, eating some homemade applesauce.  Yum!  They had huge dinners and nice, big bellies after dinner like the rest of us.


(11/23) I was once again off and running today.  I'm doing 4 half marathons over 4 days and today's was down in Gig Harbor (1.5 hrs away).  Nanan came to watch the kiddos again today and stayed until I got back. They were just waking up as I walked in the door. Figures!  But she stayed until I had gotten warmed up a little.  C was away on a play-date with Jordan, and came home late in the afternoon. We had a repeat dinner from last night, and once again enjoyed it thoroughly!


(11/24) Nanan watched the boys today while I ran all over tarnation.  I ran a half marathon in the morning, went to lunch, then ran to the expo for tomorrow's race, and finally off to visit my dad.  He's looking SO much better! I am so relieved!  They are talking about him going home on Monday. 

Twinsies were "starving" when I got home (in quotes, because they can always eat) and I ended up high-chairing D because the stinker will not stop climbing on the train table and I needed to cook.  Well, J assumed it was time to eat *again* and fell apart, wailing for more food.  Mind you, he had eaten about 10 minutes earlier and I was cooking for myself.  Sigh.


(11/25) Last half for the weekend. Dad had the kiddos today, and I once again ran allllll over Seattle.  I was out with the girls much longer than I anticipated, and the twins were up from their nap when I got home.  Dad went to grocery shop and the twins and I stayed home.  C spent the night at Nanan's, and still wasn't back, so it was just the little guys and I hanging out.  I pulled D off the train table no less than 52 times and have tried numerous things to redirect him.  J has figured out "uh-uh" and will get down. D just thinks it's hilarious.. and I may have inadvertently paired tickling him with climbing on the table since he laughs and laughs when I take him down.  Goofus.  We had a nice dinner together once C got home and had some family time for the rest of the evening.


(11/26) Yay, I get to sleep in!  Oh wait.  I was probably supposed to do that sometime this weekend. Oh well.  Dad has the kiddos today and we're off to another week!

November 13th-19th

(11/13) Poor J.  He had an upset tummy and threw up at Kathy's house, then got knocked by the toy box lid, and then came home to get his fingers stuck several more times.  He seemed to be in good spirits when he wasn't complaining about his fingers, so I'm hopeful he was just gagging on snot, and not that he's actually sick.

(11/14)  Busy day today.  We had C's swim lesson in the morning, and then Nanan came to watch the babies while I volunteered in C's class.

It's official, Leakfest '12 has come to a close!  The plumber came while the boys napped and replaced our kitchen sink and upstairs toilet.  Now all that remains is some baseboard placement, but honestly, I could care less at this point because WE'RE DONE!!!

We had Nanan stay for dinner, and had a very nice day over all. Nanan asked about some board books, and I said that I had a whole pile of them upstairs.  While I was up there, I discovered all the puzzles I had stashed for when the boys were older.  J loves the sound puzzle and 'dances' when he hears any of the pieces.  So cute!  We've decided he's the only one in this family that has rhythm.

(11/15)  Dad had the kiddos today, but I was home in time for dinner part two (meaning I shared my stew with the babies), and bedtime.

(11/16) Work day plus sucky traffic left only an hour tonight to be with kiddos.  Luckily, dinner was already made, and just had to be warmed.

Kathy sent me a picture today of the twins moving all of the toys out of the way so they could get to the lamp.  Hmm.  That looks an awful lot like my house.  The boys are into *everything* they're not supposed to be.

(11/17) Busy day today.  I was an awesome mom and forgot to turn on the monitor until 7:45a.  Apparently, I was very intent on sleeping in. Boys were both awake when I went in about 20 mins later and were happy, so we'll go with the accidental win today.

We had hockey this morning, and Jasmine's birthday this afternoon.  The littles and I went shopping this morning and then we met Dad & C at hockey.  The twins zonked out on the way to hockey, so I had to wake them to take them in.  We had snack while we were watching C play.  It sure was nice to have an extra pair of hands to wrangle babies at practice.

I cleaned C's room today during nap and moved the train table downstairs and put all the puzzles on it.  The boys saw it and immediately threw all the pieces & some of the boards onto the floor.  Sigh.

I mainly moved the table to make room for C's new desk/bed.  I'm so excited to get all the art stuff upstairs!  I know the boys aren't quite ready for the train stuff yet, but I think C was around 18 months when he got his first Thomas.  We're all set for round two here!

(11/18) We assembled C's bed and did some juggling of stuff.  The bunk beds were disassembled and moved into the twin's room and stacked.  I shifted the cribs around to try to make room for everything, and J discovered the light switch.  After nap, he was laughing it up, and I'm pretty sure he was turning it off & on.  Once we get the futon listed and sold, that will free up a lot of room in there, and his new toy will once again be out of reach.

We decided to go to a hockey game this evening, and Grandma came to watch the twins.  She said they got a cat nap around 5:30p, and were up and full of beans when we returned.  They still went down at normal time and were happy boys.  I love having family close by! 

(11/19) And Monday again.  I know I say this all the time, but times sure flies.  Today is a work day for me, and the boys are with their dad. 

Thirteen Months

(11/6) Election Day!  C and I were glued to the television tonight and I let him stay up, coloring in the states until they called them.  He'll probably be grumpy tomorrow, but I don't care!

I love D's crazy hair!

Kathy said J was beating up D today.  They seem to take turns at this, and it cracks me up every time D pats/slaps J on the head.  I know it shouldn't, but it makes me laugh. J climbs on/over/through D too, so I'm sure it all evens out.  I'm just there to supervise and make sure all the "owies" get kissed. 

J likes to stick his fingers in D's mouth, which means D will bite him, so I have to monitor that.  We say "no" and J just shakes his head, smiles and goes back to whatever it was we just told him not to do.  Stinker.

(11/7) This morning we had swim for C, and then Nanan came while C and I went to kindergarten.  The boys have still not adjusted to Standard time and are waking at between 6-7a and are having a hard time making it noon for lunch/naps.  D fell asleep at the end of swim today (10a).  Doh!

It was tough to keep the boys up, but they made it to bedtime, and went down without a peep.

(11/8) Poor Dad had to deal with the workers today, and juggle kids.  They put in the floors, which meant moving the fridge and stove out into the living room, effectively eliminating all the play space for the twins.  It was a pretty miserable day for everyone.  The workers took a long break, and they assumed we'd be okay with having our fridge in our living room until Monday.  Uhm, no.  So they had to come back and fix that. Finally our kitchen was done enough that the twins got to go back to playing in there!  Yay for Tupperware all over again?

But our new floor is AWESOME!  I love no longer having a *white* floor! When you live with four boys and forget and wear your own dirty shoes in... Let's just say this makes me deliriously happy!

(11/9) Work day for us and the kiddos were at Kathy's.  She said everything went well today.  We booked it home to have a few hours together before bed, and I was thankful Friday night traffic was pretty decent, and that I was able to pick them up a little earlier than normal.

(11/10) Today was long and frustrating. We unfortunately shared our plague (norovirus) from last week with Nanan and she was unable to watch the boys for me while I was at a run.  I decided to just stay home and keep our germs contained today. I did get in a few miles with Sarah before the boys woke, but my happy sure didn't last long.

Both boys, but particularly D, shriek when they're ready for food. Between their screeches and C whining, I was about ready to pull my hair out before 9 am.  Since we didn't have hockey (no ice today), or any other commitments, I was looking forward to just having a chill day.  Yeah, not so much.  C and I were at each other all day.

You can hear D screaming in the background of this video, where I was really trying to get J grooving to the music, but gave up after Mr. Clingy would not let me.  I brought the Cuddletunes bear down and once I get the a/c cord back for my computer (long story), I'll upload some more upbeat songs for J.  He loves to turn on the kids' laptop and leave it running the jingle that says "Choose a category!" over and over and over again.  When I turn it off and he hears it say "Goodbye!" he comes back over to turn it on.   Anyway, the bears are MP3 players and have buttons on their paws. J figured it out fast, and later I saw him testing all the rest of his toys.  Too.dang.smart.

I did manage to sneak in a little sleep while the boys were down (I think *I* am the grumpy one from lack of sleep all this week), and it helped a little.  I watched the clock a lot this evening and willed it to bedtime.

Monkeys! J climbing on top of the giraffe into the easel.

(11/11) Veteran's Day ~ Thank you to everyone that has served. 

Today was a HUGE improvement over yesterday.  For one thing, C had a play-date, which got him out of the house for some fun.  The little boys and I had the morning to ourselves since Dad went shopping and then went out to pick up a bed/desk for C.  The twins will get the bunk beds once they're old enough. 

D took a step this morning!  He was hanging onto the easel and J was a few steps to his right.  He let go of the easel long enough to turn and pounce on J.  He's also standing & cruising much more than dropping to a crawl. 

After C came home and the littles were down for a nap, he and I went over to Sarah's.  Sarah and I walked to Starbucks and then to the used baby store, where I scored new coats for the twins for $10!  Win!  I also picked up a few more crib sheets, as two is not enough when one or both are in the wash!

(11/12) Happy Monday!  Today we're supposed to be getting our counter tops done and then I think we're done with Leakfest 2012?!  Finally!

Update: No such luck.  The plumber is off today, so it's looking like we may be out a kitchen sink for a few days.  Eye roll.  

October 30th-November 5th

(10/30)  Kathy had the kiddos today, and when I went to pick them up, D was far more interested in his graham cracker than coming to see me.  J is terrified of her hubby, so she had him facing away from him on her lap, nomming on his graham cracker.  She said they are both very huggy lately.  I love this age! 

Traffic was awful, so that put us home late, and then it was the dinner-play-bedtime rush.  Not enough hours in the day. 

Dad tries to work...
(10/31) Happy Halloween! 

Nanan came to watch the littles while I volunteered in C's classroom in the morning.  C's school has been on early dismissal schedule, so the boys' schedule has been a mess.  I was really glad that they had the opportunity to have an uninterrupted nap today ~ they needed it!

The weather was awful up until trick-or-treating time, so my plan bad been to leave C with Sarah to go trick-or-treating and run the boys home, but magically it cleared up so we were able to trick-or-treat with them!  D kept saying "nah-nah" (night-night) and refused to keep his blanket on, but J was in a happy mood for our trek to Starbucks and back.  Us adults got to trick-or-treat too!


The twins were up well past their bedtime, and didn't utter a peep after I put them down. They were *done*.

(11/1)  Yay!  Painting was finished in our house today!  I cannot wait to have my kitchen back!

The boys had a day with Dad and I hit the gym after work, so I hardly got to see them at all.

(11/2) I stayed home so the workers could install our cabinets today.  WOOHOO!!  It was great to get my kitchen reassembled.  Living out of tubs and having no microwave is the pits!  The boys now have most of their play area back.  They are still being blocked out of the kitchen, since the floor was torn up, but they have all of the living room area. They are getting quite good at escaping now that they're older though. Time to break out the lead paint chips to slow them down.

Rough night for the big boys. It seems a tummy bug is making the rounds. Dad said D had been sick in the night on Weds too.

(11/3) Today was mostly spent sleeping and trying to not be sick anymore.  Ugh.  J was the only one that escaped the bug.

(11/4) Oh yay, the time change.  The boys woke at the new 6:30a and struggled to reach their new nap and bed times.  I'm so not a fan of this back and forth every six months. It throws everyone off!

Luckily, we were all feeling much better today and had a nice day hanging out and doing a whole lot of nothing.

D has a new word - he says "na-na" for both banana and Nanan, and occasionally night-night.  He also goes "ho ho ho" and cackles.  I haven't gotten the latter two on video yet.  J will say "book" when he's trying to steal my book. 

They both have started screeching when the other steals a toy, or when they are frustrated.  Makes for a *loud*, head-splitting evening.  Or maybe that was because we're all still trying to recover from yesterday. 

Dad bought the first satsumas of the season.  The boys are fans.  D stuck his finger through the wedges and then sucked them dry and J inhaled them.  I can't stay away from them either.  I have a feeling this bag will be gone lickity-split.

(11/5) Back to work with me!  Hope Dad & the boys have a fun day.

October 23rd-29th

(10/23) Short week this week.  My "little" brother is getting married! I am working today and then will be off until Monday.  Kathy watched the kiddos and then we had a mad scramble to get dinner made, everyone fed, and the kids to bed.  Tuesdays are always such a blur. 

(10/24) We went to storytime at the library today with Sarah & her boys.  My little boys are not quite ready for it, but they were happy to crawl around and get into other people's things.  J grabbed a cookie out of someone's diaper bag and had it in his mouth before I discovered what he was up to.  Oops.

Jordan made their name tags for them.  D was DENTE and J was JATN.


Then we had school for C / nap time for boys.  D & J chatted through nap and had just barely fallen asleep before I had to wake them up and take them to get C, and then to Granddad's for the rehearsal dinner. 


Dinner was fun!  The boys crawled around and snacked while people chatted.  We were planning to eat right around the time the boys would normally go down, so I went ahead and put them down a little early.  They were most unhappy, but by the time I went to check on them again, they were moaning, and then by the next time, they were out.

(10/25) Jake and Amber's wedding was today. The ceremony was lovely and the boys were very well behaved. Their outfits were adorable!  Nanan picked out black turtlenecks, red bow-ties, red socks, and black jeans.  Darling!  I hope I can snag some pictures from other sources.  I neglected to take any, so I could just be there to enjoy.

Photo Credit: Brady Wolf.  Love these!

(10/26) Today, C had an early dismissal from school, and an earlier start time.  So I piled us all in the car to take him to school, and J zonked out, but D stayed awake.  J kept right on sleeping when we got back, and I put D down after giving him a snack.  The boys slept until it was time to go get C.  We hussled back to meet the dry wallers, had lunch, and then the boys played while they worked.  They were good up until about 5pm, but that short nap hours and hours before just didn't hold them, so I put them down for another catnap.  Got them back up around 6pm, and let them play until about 7:30-8ish when they went down for the night.

Love my family!!  L to R: Granddad, D & me, Dad & J, C, Nanan, Jake,
Audrey, Amber, Craig, Shannon & Grandma

(10/27) Nanan came and watched the kids while I was at a run.  C had hockey this morning, so it was just the little boys and Nanan. I called around 11:30am, and they were just going down for a nap, and Sarah & I were en route to Starbucks to warm up from a very wet half.  We had to hurry through so I could get back and meet the dry waller again.  He finished mudding and will be back Monday to sand.  N.e.v.e.r..e.n.d.i.n.g.  Granddad came over to carve pumpkins this afternoon, and poor J gets really upset with Granddad for some reason.  Part of it was that he was tired because they were woken up when the dry waller worked in their room, and part of it is just the age, and OMG MOM IS GONNA LEAVE!!!  I ended up putting the babies down for another catnap and they went right out.  I woke them so we could run and get some dinner. We had teriyaki, and they decorated themselves in rice.  Yum.


(10/28) What a fun day!  C had his first race this morning, and we headed out before the littles even got up.  I did hear some "Dada"s over the monitor, but I figured since they were calling him, he could get them up. When we got back, the little boys were playing.  We hung around for a little while before I realized we had time to squeeze in Halloween with the Lights On at the children's museum.  Can't wait to take the little guys next year!  Dad had a writing event to go to, so we played at the museum for a few hours and got home in time for him to go.  The twins were down for a nap by this time, and continued to sleep until Dad left.  I got them up and brought them down for a snack and more playing.  They played up until 5, and then were ready for dinner, bath, and bed. 

Both boys are randomly saying "Mom," and D will still have long arguments with me.  I say "Mama" or "Denton" and he exclaims "DADA!"  Very cute.

J is taking a step in between launching himself at us. He thinks walking practice is really flying practice. 

(10/29) Back to work with me! The dry waller will come back today to finish sanding.  They're thinking they can paint on Thurs.  Here's hoping! 

Don't these guys look like trouble?