Twins...................

When my twins still slept under my heart, I could feel their movements and knew when they touched. At first they would lurch away from one another, strangers in a shared space, but as the weeks went by, they touched and bumped constantly. On the ultrasound, I could see them grabbing hands and touching faces, content with knowing they were together.
After their birth, they spent several days apart, each on a separate but similar journey to survive in this cold and dry world. Then after they stabilized, they were put together again and in a short moment, their hands found one another again. They would sleep with fingers stretched, touching one another's faces. They would reach, and stroke and let their fingers drifted over the other. The foreign feeding tubes and eye shields were often slid off and pulled out by the curious fingers.
As they grew large, we moved them to separate cribs, always in sight of each other, but not in touching distance because they would keep each other awake.



During rest times, they often stretched on the floor together, toes tapping legs, hands touching heads. When separated, they would inquire for one another and voice their frustrations at being alone.
When we started them with "big boy" beds, they each had a mattress on the floor, and invariably, we would find that they had rolled, to the center, to touch once again.
They grew even more, and at school, during nap time, they would often stray towards one another, seeking the comfort of that one they had know before birth.

They changed, they grasped their individuality. They had separate beds, different tastes, different clothes. The sought change, they explored at different levels. They sought each other in moments of difficulty and joy.


And now....they are six, gazing firmly at seven. They have touched briefly with reason, but don't fully grasp it. They stand firm with each other, but on occasion against each other. They cheer each other, they support each other and they compete with one another.


And yet....................and yet, the last several nights, when I steal quietly into their rooms, to stroke their soft faces, to kiss their heads and whisper goodnight................they have once again sought each other out. Sometimes on the top bunk, sometimes snugged in the cave like bottom bunk. Arms, draped over each other, fingers seeking that familiar other, legs sprawled and their breathing matching.............as they did when they were new.

Shakespeare quote.....

I mentioned on my facebook page, that Shakespeare was a universal man, his thoughts and writings are as applicable today, as they were years ago.

I found some of my books, and was excited to see that, despite many moves, my copy of the Riverside Shakespeare, unabridged, is still with me.

This one seems to suit my life right now:

"..It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying, nothing."

Macbeth, act 5 v 26

Macbeth, for those who haven't read it, is a woeful tale of ambition and deceit. It is in the story of a previously honorable manwho is lead down a road of fantasy, most in his own head, that leads him to commit dark and terrible acts. Acts that he feels justified about. It is in the end, when his wife commits suicide to escape her conscience, that he realizes the futility of his actions and utters these words. However, like a glacier, his actions are unstoppable. He knows he turned off the correct path, but is incapable of turning around, he crossed a line with his actions and internally understands this.

Yes, this is a departure from my whimsical reflections of my family, but after posting a couple of "overly educated" quotes on Face Book, and getting told that I made other people look stupid (not my intent) I decided, well, my blog is my own! So I can fill it as I wish..............


"As you wish........" (movie quote, The Princess Bride, loved it!)

Laundry Loot

Into every Mother's life, laundry must fall.
In mine, there remains the mystery of
Laundry Loot.
These are all things that I have collected that
have gone through my wash.
Not included are handfuls of dessicated fuzzy wuzzies,
one lizard tail, innumerable flowers, twigs and branches.
Here are the highlights.

Keys

Hardware, not mine.

Money, foreign, domestic and fake

Toys

items to help me "stone wash"

And finally, Huh?

A vinyl shamrock
a seashell (???)
a corn on the cob holder
a bird leg band
and what I think are G.I. Joe's dog tags

Only in my world

Only in my world, do I have a Houdini dog that removes the front panels of wire crates.....

Do I get great satisfaction in running over a snake- multiple times.....

Learn that you can't wear chap stick on a riding lawn mower without the grit blowing back on you and sticking to your lips.

do I have to crate my dog for chasing remote controlled cars.

and only in my world, does James come up to me and say...

"Mom, he's doing it again."
"Doing what? Who?"
"that guy in the mirror, he keeps copying me." followed by gales of laughter.

and I am still searching for where they hid the fake snake.....

and the icing on this grand four tiered cake......

I got a summons for Jury Duty....again.

I think I have gotten a summons at least once a year since the twins were born. One year on my deferment papers I gave the kids occupations: Eater of paper, clogger of toilets, she who falls going up the stairs. They deferred me very quickly that year.
This year I may do something completely different. I might just give my blog address as my reason for my mulligan. I do have a friend her marched her four kids to the courthouse to ask for her deferment.

Now, don't get me wrong, I would LOVE to be on a jury and make sure the criminals get their max time. I am a hanging Bob. But why now when I have four young kids? Who will load batteries in the R/C cars? Do the laundry, make a snack and scrub the mystery stain off the wall?
I'll bet it won't be the Court Clerk!

*wink wink* and how was your day?

Holly the Levitating Dog

Conner now is FIVE and he so wanted to start sleeping on his top bunk.
We set him up with his stuff and then thought, poor Holly, she always like to snuggle with Conner
when he went to bed.
We shouldn't have worried.

The ins and outs

My car stalled the other day. Not fun and while I have trusty Bruno (the 15 passenger van) I do like to drive a car that doesn't require a loan to fill the tank. We are guessing it is a clogged fuel filter or something. And yes, to those who mentioned it to me.....we put gas in it.

Cricket ate about seven eggs that she stole off of the counter. They were unwashed and direct from the coop. So after several days of her having a constant stream of......hmmm....output, a call to the vet was placed. I really like the folks at Caprock Vet. It is very easy to explain my issues to them without sounding like I need a huggie jacket (comes with the men in white coats). We are guessing that dear Cricket has salmonella posioning. When I went to pick up the meds for her, they casked if Holly needed some as well. I replied no, Holly doesn't steal eggs, she steals crayons. Her philosphy is, eat crayons and poop a rainbow.

My Mom's dog is also having out put issues and it was a bit of a hassal to get things straightened out. Apparently our town of Portales, doesn't sell kaopectat in pill form. And you can't give dogs Immonium AD. Mom's dog is stressed because Mom had the nerve to visit my sister in sandy Eggo. Haven't seen her and the kids for a little over a year. The one time the poor woman tries to take a vacation.... And apparently Tess (the dog) had her issues when Aunt Claudia was visitng over at my place. This is very unlike Tess and I am sure her guilt over that is making her worse.

Oh, and I am not officially the worst mom ever. I was driving the kids over to Mom's barn to feed her horses. Being in Bruno, James decided he didn't need the seatbelt while off the road. I stop, sliding a bit on our fresh rain (thanks, God!) and SLAM! Face, throat, nose and chest into the front dash. I will have a lot of fun explaining those bruises to CPS.

And how was your day?

Weapons of a Rural Homemaker

Ok, so the boys went to pick strawberries. They came to the door to show me the Larry (toad) they found. I asked them to please put Larry back. Then they come running into the house screaming, snake.

I go out and move the Larry (soon to be eaten by the snake) and hear a rattle and see the edge of the snake. I ask the kids to bring me the shovel. They give me a broom and a flat rake. The snake goes under the fence, into the back yard and under the grill. I hear it rattle, but I see the head and it looks like a bull snake.

I can't get it with just a rake and the kids can't find the shovel. I get the fire extinguisher from the laundry room and blast under the grill. it comes flying out. I cover it with the extinguisher which super chills it. Then I beat it to death with the rake. I take it out, find the shovel which was on the side of the fence, and take off it's head. Bull snake. The body is still moving and it currently entertaining the chickens in the pen. After the sun goes down and the body stops twitching, the birds will eat it. I buried the head.

I need a new fire extinguisher.