Predatory criminals often mark their victims as a warning to others who would incur their wrath. Well, around here we fear one particularly terrifying "dark mark": the dreaded Smiley Face of Doom. 
Biting is the twins' preferred method of expressing their most extreme displeasure, and the irony is that their bite marks look exactly like smiley faces. It's the bruise that warns, Don't ever steal my Hot Wheels car again or I'll kill you. Have a nice day!
I loved playing with Play Doh as a kid, which was fine except that I was terrible at it. The only thing that I could ever make was a bird's nest. I'd roll out a big ball and press it on my chin to shape it into a bowl. Then I'd roll up some smaller balls, drop them in the chin-depression, and voila: a remedial bird's nest. Seven-year-0ld me could have learned a thing or two from seven-year-old Haley.
Haley displaying her wedding cake
The matching bridal bouquet
Today is Adam & Drew's second birthday! How time flies. I was thinking back today on the chaos of their birth day. There were so many people in the delivery room: a team of NICU nurses for each baby, a cardiologist because boy multiples have a higher risk of heart problems, the anesthesiologist, my doctor (who ordered an extra shot of epidural for me in case he had to "go in there and get the second one"), and a bunch of random nurses who came to watch the show. All of the comotion had me expecting some kind of crazy complication, and when it was go-time, I braced myself for several hours of pushing as had been my experiences before. But the doctor stopped me halfway through my first push, saying "that's good", and out came Adam. Two mintues later Drew followed, without a single push. It turns out that all of the extra precautions and commotion was unnecessary: they were healthy and beautiful, and everything went exactly as it should have.
I think of our experience that day as a metaphor for life with twins. We have experienced so much chaos, and so many things can potentially go wrong, but everything is working out the way it should be in spite of all that. I am so grateful these two are in our family. I'm grateful that they came together. These two will always have each other, and that thought brings me peace.
These days, Adam & Drew love Hots Wheels cars more than life. Still, I don't know what possessed me to spend my Halloween making not one but two Hot Wheels cakes for kids too young to appreciate them! Maybe I wanted to redeem myself after my laughable attempt at a Noah's Ark cake last year. All I know is this: you boys better hook me up with a sweet nursing home someday.
Adam & Drew enjoying their new car table
Mmm ... cake
Aunt Jen gave the boys the most adorable dinosaurs ever. I'm sure they'll love them once they get used to them!
Hee Haw Farms
Jack-o-Lanterns
Carter as, well, Spiderman
Adam & Drew as a cop and a robber 
We hope you had a Happy Halloween!
Happy Homecoming!
I had an early morning choir rehearsal, so I wasn't in my Cougar Blue yet when I checked in at the College Gameday broadcast. Since I was wearing - gasp! - a red hoodie, I was feeling too treasonous to get any closer to the crowd than this:
And I must admit that there was really nothing happy about the game. But since Chris and I only make it to one game a year these days, I was happy just to be there. And we were very happy to be there with our dear friends Brad and Cristina Hubbard, who abandoned us to live in California. I was glad we had somebody to catch up with so we didn't have to pay too much attention to the bloodbath on the field!
Some people coupon as a way to stock their food storages with essential items like tuna and flour. I coupon as a way to stock my food storage with essential items like Diet Dr. Pepper.
"Hi, Katie!"
So, I've had several requests for more pictures of the new house. And while I'm happy to share those with friends and family, I hesitate to put pictures on this blog because it's a public blog and I don't really want the layout of our house available for all the world to see. (What kind of mother does that make me? I'll post pictures of my kids but not the inside of my house?) I feel like I need to clarify this. The reason that I don't want the layout of the house available online is that I don't want any would-be burglars to know how to get around our house in the dark. I'm not trying to be secretive about the house plans! If we know you, I'm happy to share. If we don't know you and you break into our house, have fun stubbing your toes in the dark.
Anyway, I decided to set up a separate, private blog where I've posted a virtual tour of the new house. (Which is not nearly as cool as it sounds; all I did was walk around with my video camera.) If you'd like to see the new place, don't mind listening to my obnoxious voice, and aren't prone to motion sickness, leave your email address and I'll send you an invitation to the new blog!
When Adam was a tiny baby I started calling him "Boogie." He had a clogged tear duct until he was about ten months old, which meant that I spent the first ten months of his life wiping boogers out of his eye. His eye eventually cleared up, but the nickname stuck for this reason:
I can count on one hand the number of times poor Adam and Drew have been to a playground. It's not that I'm trying to deprive them; it's just that I can't follow them both around by myself. So today while Haley and Carter were at Mari's birthday party, Chris and I seized the opportunity to let the little guys run wild. They were a bit timid at first (I'm not sure that they really knew what to do at a playground), but that all changed the moment they discovered the slides.
