Help!

Do you see how proud Brady looks in this picture?

That would be because he climbed up there himself.  And yesterday, it was the kitchen table via the bench.

Heaven help me!

Things that matter most

"When stress levels rise, when distress appears, when tragedy strikes, too often we attempt to keep up the same frantic pace or even accelerate, thinking somehow that the more rushed our pace, the better off we will be.

One of the characteristics of modern life seems to be that we are moving at an ever-increasing rate, regardless of turbulence or obstacles.

Let’s be honest; it’s rather easy to be busy. We all can think up a list of tasks that will overwhelm our schedules. Some might even think that their self-worth depends on the length of their to-do list. They flood the open spaces in their time with lists of meetings and minutia—even during times of stress and fatigue. Because they unnecessarily complicate their lives, they often feel increased frustration, diminished joy, and too little sense of meaning in their lives.

It is said that any virtue when taken to an extreme can become a vice. Overscheduling our days would certainly qualify for this. There comes a point where milestones can become millstones and ambitions, albatrosses around our necks.

The wise resist the temptation to get caught up in the frantic rush of everyday life. They follow the advice “There is more to life than increasing its speed.” In short, they focus on the things that matter most."--Dieter F. Uchtdorf (LDS General Conference November 2010)

Last week was full of sick kids.

Sunday Carter woke up with a fever, and when it spiked to 103 I took him into urgent care where we got him an antibiotic for an ear infection.  We spent all Sunday snuggled up together.

Very early Wednesday morning Tyler came down to our room, and we ended up together in the bathroom for several hours, followed by snuggling all day.

The thing was, I had lots of stuff to do.  Suddenly my big long to do list was no longer important.

It made me think of the above quote by President Uchtdorf.  Why don't I stop and slow down more often?  Why is it that I only do that when I'm forced to?  All those things I thought I had to do, we all survived without doing it.  Do I really focus on what's most important?

Tyler pics

Going through photos and found these.  The first is crazy sock day for red ribbon week.  We had to make a special trip to Target to find some crazy socks.  Luckily it was before Halloween, and we found these Frankenstein toe socks.

And here is the 50th day of school, and our attempt to dress Tyler from the fifties.  And notice he is showing off his muscles.

Man, this boy cracks me up.

(I am actually posting on my blog because the babies are sleeping, and have been for 2 1/2 hours!  This hasn't happened for months.)

Wednesday Rambles

1.  Am I the only mom still feeling the effects of daylight savings?  Brady has been humming every morning at 5 since the change.  And mean old mom leaves him there until 6:30 or he starts screaming, whichever comes first.

2.  Yesterday, I had 20 minutes when both babies were sleeping.  That's it.  And since the only time my house is clean is when they are asleep, it was a disaster until 8:00 last night.

3.  Any multiple moms out there have a suggestion for what to do when one twin needs more sleep than the other?  Is our only option to separate them?

4.  Tyler is such a sweetie.  For the past few months, Dan and I have been getting up at 6 for our scripture study.  I've discovered that unless I schedule it in, it doesn't happen.  So quite often Tyler comes down, and we are still reading.  He is always asked to sit quietly while we finish.  This morning he came into our room carrying his own set of scriptures and asked if he could read with us. 

5.  I love living in Houston this time of year.  We get some chilly days, but for the most part, our weather is gorgeous.  I just have to remind myself of that all summer.  At least we have October/November and again in March/April.

6.  With the lovely weather, we have been spending more time outside--which we all love. Yesterday the babies got to try out the wagon for the first time.  They loved it.

So the pictures don't really show it, but I promise they both liked riding in it.

7.  The memories of the lovely red wagon.  We got it when Tyler broke his leg, which I wrote about here.

8.  I've decided that I really like leftover Halloween candy.  Luckily I have also learned to like the gym.

9.  Brady and Carter have both been asleep for almost 45 minutes.  Let's see how much longer their morning nap lasts.

Fall, finally

Yeah!  Fall has finally arrived in Houston.  We spent last Saturday in shorts and tees, and for the last 2 days we are in jeans and hoodies.  Granted, our fall weather is the lovely high of 62 as opposed to freezing temperatures elsewhere.  I love it.  We had hot cocoa for breakfast and have finally pulled out all our new fall clothes.

On Monday, I swapped out the Halloween decor for the Thanksgiving/Harvest stuff. 

Here is my front door with my scarecrow wreath.  I also got a good look at my yellow mums.  I love yellow mums on porches for fall.  Well, obviously mine are a lovely shade of brown.  I am a mum killer.  One of these years, I am going to keep my mums alive until Thanksgiving.  It's my goal.

National Adoption Month

Did you know November is National Adoption Month?

I am certainly grateful for the blessing of adoption.  It was the selfless sacrifice of our birthmother and the tireless effort of our caseworkers that brought us our miracle x2.

Ha! Now look at them:

Our agency contacted us about a month ago.  They were just trying to network and gather more adoptive families.  They actually had several birthmothers who needed to place quickly--and not enough families to show them.  While we are not quite ready to take the leap again ourselves, it did start the conversation between Dan and me.  Once the twins get just a little bit older, we are going to begin the adoption process again.  I can't help but feel someone is still waiting to join us.  And thanks to the miracle of adoption, we will be able to complete our family.

Here is the link to our entire adoption story.

Happy Halloween!

Even if Halloween was on a Sunday this year, we managed to get our fill of festivities this Halloween.  I hope you had as much fun as we did.