Life with Three Littles

Lately, I've been hearing this question a lot: "So, what's it like having three kids now?" Is there really an easy way to answer that?

Here are some pictures to give you a little taste of what it's like. I apologize in advance for the poor quality of the photos--they're ones I took myself instead of getting them from my amazing-with-a-camera sister-in-law Amy.

Adam: "Look at the new toy Mom and Dad brought home from the hospital!"

How do you walk to church with three kids under one-and-a-half?

Climbing on the table is a "No"

Climbing on the piano keys is also a "No"...

...it's just a "No" I never thought I'd have to mention

Oliver plays dress up with the Barnard girls in Christy's sweater (AKA medieval chainmail?)

Oliver "helps" Mom make a batch of granola

Good stuff, huh?

Adam experiences the delight of fruit snacks

I love seeing this boy smile!

Marcus -- all wrapped up and nowhere to go

Oliver loves holding Marcus

We're just not so sure what Marcus thinks about it

Birthday Boys

True Confessions: This month I decided to challenge myself to meet the same writing word goal per day as all the NaNoWriMo's (to make a total of 50,000 words per month). I am currently at around 14,000 words--which puts me at about 8,000 words behind where I'm supposed to be. Sometimes real life just gets in the way of writing fiction...and I have to remind myself that that's OK. And sometimes, it's even better than OK--it's the way things should be.

The NaNoWriMo website suggests using your "free" weekends to rack up huge word counts of 5000 words a day. For me, the weekends are actually the hardest time to get any writing done. There's always some family activity or outing that's more important. We've spent the last two weekends partying for the twins' first birthday. Their actual birthday was on Saturday, November 5. A few friends and relatives dropped by with gifts and balloons--the balloons were quite a hit.

Adam

Oliver

That night we took the boys out for dinner at Bugatti's, the only semi-nice Oregon City restaurant that seems to be able to stay in business.

On Sunday, after church and after afternoon naps, we headed over to Aunt Amy's so she could take the twins' one year portraits. By the time we got there, there was only about half an hour of sunlight left (thanks to the time change). But the sunset and the twins all cooperated beautifully, and Amy got some lovely shots. I frequently thank my lucky stars that we have such a talented photographer in the family.

Adam on the left, Oliver on the right

Oliver

Adam

This weekend we had the "official" birthday party over at my parents' house. The boys were very eager to open their presents and quite pleased with the cake Aunt Abigail made them.

It's a new day now, and I should be writing. But what am I doing instead? Trying to find a place to store all the new toys, using OxiClean to get chocolate cake out of white shirts, and uploading pictures of all the festivities.

Did I mention that sometimes real life gets in the way of writing fiction? And I have to remind myself that that's OK....

My Two Favorite Crusader Knights

Yesterday was not only All Hallows Eve, but also Reformation Day which commemorates Martin Luther's dramatic publication of the 95 Theses on October 31, 1517. Our church held its annual Reformation Day celebration last night, and attendees decked themselves out in medieval and renaissance garb. It's been several years since I found the time to come up with a costume for myself, but it was the first year I had kids to dress up. Adam and Oliver went as Crusader Knights--I guess I must have the Crusades on the brain, or something....

Snacking on their swords....

Oliver

Adam

Holding onto his "treat bag"

Thanks to Amy for the pictures!

Having My Cake, and Eating It Too

Today my nearly-eleven-month-old twins actually went down for their morning nap without any resistance. Today, after washing up the dishes and throwing in a load of laundry, I actually got to do some writing on my current WIP. And today I have been particularly thankful that I get to do more than one thing with my life.

I get to raise two--soon to be three--little boys, and I get to write novels. I get to discover scrumptious new dinner recipes (Jamie Oliver's bolognese sauce!), and I get to explore the world of publishing. I get to decorate my kitchen, sweep my floors, check my Facebook, and do my grocery shopping--and I get to do historical research. In many ways, it feels like I get to have my cake and eat it too.

And speaking of having cake...

Oliver

Adam

So happy to have these two munchkins crawling underfoot and making it hard to get any writing done!

Enjoying Our Summer

There's something glorious about having the summer "off." I thought that when I gave up teaching I would no longer have that to look forward to. But with David being in school at George Fox University, I now have his holidays to anticipate, and I think that I've never been so excited about summer break as I have been this year.

During the spring semester David was taking a full class load and working four days a week, which meant that on some days he left the house at 7:30am and didn't get home until 11:30pm. Not the happiest of schedules for him, and definitely not the happiest of schedules for me and the twins. But now that school is out, he has Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday off, and gets to stay home the rest of the days until the early afternoon (since he works swing shift). We've been enjoying our summer and the twins, and like everything else in my normal schedule, this blog has been put on the back burner.

Here are some pictures of our summer "off."

Adam experiences Pop Rocks for the first time

Oliver crawls under Adam in the Exersaucer

Uh-oh...Mommy's caught us playing with her shoes AGAIN!

Waiting in line for "Elephant Ears" at the Oregon Zoo

"There's the elephant, Oliver!"

"And here's a wild pig, in case you're interested."

Eating solid food is so much fun!

It's nice to always have a friend to play with!

This summer has been so amazing (well, ok, not the weather, just everything else) that I don't want it to end. I assumed that George Fox, like most semester schools, would be starting up mid-August. But David informed me just this week, that his first day of school is not until August 29. That's two more weeks of summer than I thought we were going to have!