Gotta love eBay..

So the girls love playing with my old Fisher Price Roly-Poly Chime Bear. Sadly, there's only one bear to go around and, as some of you may have noticed, there are two of us. Mom's solution? Ebay, baby! I was really afraid that he would be a pricey vintage toy, but toys from my birth era are not quite collectibles yet. So I was able to snag a twin for our current Roly-Poly for a mere 5 bucks! (9 w/ shipping) This is the picture straight from eBay. He's in pretty good shape. I guess I'll just stand by the door with my Febreeze Anti-Microbial at the ready....

I'm squeezing in...

...those things I can't really do when the girls are up in around. Every night after they go to bed, we tidy up, do some laundry, watch the Daily Show, then it's Choose Your Hobby! I've been choosing to surf/blog/listen to iTunes/scrapbook a lot lately. I so desperately need to get my book club book read, as well as the others I've got stacked up. I've also got a few things bunched up on TiVo that need attention. I'm also taking an online course in Photoshop Elements, which is turning out to be a good investment (only 20 bucks). I've continued to play with templates, and just had to share some fun pictures we took at my folks' house. Grandpa once again busted out the hats, and added some GV t-shirts for fun. Sacriledge!

I'm layin down....

....my OWN little Ten on Tuesday! I'm stealing an idea from the twinstuff forums--Do the iPod Shuffle! Put your iPod (or media device of your choice) on shuffle, and list the first ten songs that come up. It's kind of fun!

Here are mine:

1. Y.M.C.A--the Village People (hey...it's a workout song!)
2. One Flight Down--Nora Jones
3. Theme From Harry's Game--Clannad
4. Lubbock or Leave It --Dixie Chicks
5. Vogue--Madonna
6. DOA --Foo Fighters (love me some Foo)
7. Overture/And All That Jazz--Chicago Soundtrack
8. The Long and Winding Road --The Beatles
9. Come See About Me--The Supremes
10. Trouble--Pink

I'm tagging Jen, Amy, Donavan, Sabrina, Megan, Carol, and Angie!

The best laugh in the world...

...is my Aunt Gail's. It's infectious, and immdediately lights the room. I love that she loves to laugh. I love that she gives me a huge squeeze that almost pops my eyeballs out every time I see her. I love that she's always so excited to see her nieces. She's just the best. The best!

I really should be....

....doing my chores. Yet, while the girls are napping, I'm playing some more. I'd better go get some house business done!

32.....it's the new 31!!!

So, I turned 32 today. How did that happen? Sheesh. Yahoo! just happened to have a 'what happened on July 16 in history' link up today, so I browsed. The Catcher in the Rye was published (kinda cool). The District of Columbia became the seat of our government (obviously important). The first parking meters were installed (eh). Apollo 11 blasted off from Cape Kennedy so that they might later embark on their historic moonwalk (obviously cool). Oh.....and Sadaam Hussein was elected President of Iraq! So, yeah...I suppose we take the good with the bad. And I don't like to brag, but I was also born on the very same day as Orville Redenbacher AND Corey Feldman! Icons, people! ICONS!

More importantly, I got to spend my weekend surrounded by good friends and family and lots of yummy food! I got some really cool gifts. My camera is dead, so I'll be sure to post some pics when it's good and charged. I have some crafty friends!

Also, my Jen came to see me! She brought Becca with her, so we got to spend some time doing digi-scrapping and catching up, and the rest of the time having fun with our girls. The girls are so in love with Becca! She's older, and can spin and hop. That's HUGE in their book. They were starstruck and cried buckets when she left. I wish I could see them everyday. Jen taught me so much today, so I was inspired to make a new page with some of the elements that she taught me. Hope you guys like.

Playing with templates...

I'm just learning how to use pre-made templates in photoshop. Since I have no eye for design, perhaps this is the route I should go. This is my first attempt at using that, and it's quite a bit 'busier' than I would like it to be. But it's fun to play. Cute Char.

Bedhead....

....and a nuzzle with Daddy. This is the part where you go, "Awwwwwwww!"

Grandpa is on a mission...

First, it was the headgear, and now we're on to the old over-sized shoe bit. It's a good thing they're such big hams. Oh, and now Grandpa is "Puh-Paaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"


And I just think this one is cute.

Partying Like Rosckstars

...we had a Girls' Night on Saturday, and the girls got a special treat. The bedtime sanctions were lifted for a night so that they might frolic and scream with their crazy pal, Kara. They even got to nibble on some of the best cheesecake I've EVER had. Good times.

The ringleader. The hair says it all.

Toes Gone Wild!

The girls have these cute little Robeez shoes with vents, and they're so good for early walkers. Sometimes, however, our big toes just bust right out! Scandalous!

Godspeed...

Today was a landmark day. The girls watched their first ever shuttle launch. Take a moment today to not only think of those who have fought and who are still fighting for our freedom, but of those who risk their lives in the name of science and exploration. Have a happy and SAFE 4th!

Let the countdown commence!

....t-minus 4 days until our next Megan visit. You know what that means? It means new (and surely gorgeous) quilts for the girls, games, movies, The Movie/Actor Game (at which I believe I am the reigning Queen), and lots of fun. She's getting married in November to her sweetie, Seann. Or as I like to call him: He Who Makes Garlic Bread To Die For! Aren't they sweet? Also, Seann just got a job in Portland, so they'll soon be moving out of state. *Sniff*

Ripping off Amy's "Music" Post....

...Amy had such a cool post about how we relate songs to certain moments in our lives. I loved it! So, after reading it, I began to think of songs that were tied to key events in my life. There have been so many. I thought of how "Sittin' on the Dock of the Bay" will always remind me of the first time I came through the tunnel to see Candlestick Park. How "Pretty Fly For a White Guy" reminds me of dancing with the girls at Jen's wedding, and "Chop Suey" reminds me of my OWN wedding, where my husband taught me that, YES, you can head-bang at a wedding! "Unbelievable" will always remind me of flying down 101 (notice I didn't say THE 101, Megan?) in Megan's flying deathtrap of a car, clinging to Donavan for dear life!! Sting's "Fragile" will always be tied to 9/11 for me, as it's what Adrian and I heard in the car on the way home from Monterey, during the live telethon. Amy wrote of holding a brand-new Spence in the hospital, hearing "Home" by Coldplay. I recall the moment they sat me on the operating table to administer my spinal for a C-Section that was happening 6 weeks too early. I should have been a wreck, but I wasn't. The atmosphere in the OR was so relaxed and light, and someone had turned on a Shuffle. As I received the spinal, Alison Krauss and Union Station's "The Lucky One" came on. The song has very little to do with babies or families, but all I could think was, "I am the lucky one (as corny as that sounds). That song put me in just the right frame of mind. I can listen to it endlessly, as it will forever be tied to the moments leading up to meeting my daughters. Of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the song that was playing at the moment that they took the girls out was "Rock n' Roll All Night" by Kiss. So that was the first song the girls heard in their new outside world! We just had to laugh. Thanks for the memories, Amy!