Gross

The question I just had to ask Asher after I put him in his high chair and walked to get a bib before I fed him dinner was, "What are you eating?" He obviously found something in the cracks of his high chair and was having an appetizer. Ewwwwww.

New Camera

Okay, so I bought a new camera. I went with the Canon Powershot S2. It is last year's model and I looked at the newer one in the store and really liked it. I am happy so far with this camera, but I am having to use some manual options in order to get the shots that I like, which is a little bit of a bother...but it is kind of fun to actually use some photography knowledge that I have stored away! Here are the best of the pictures that I have taken today. I took the ones of Asher outside in the beautiful weather that we are having while Lucy was taken an extra long afternoon nap. God bless her. Any thoughts or reactions???

Quote of the Day

There was a flock of little birds in our yard and Matt looked out the window and said, "If those were crows, I would build a bomb and blow them up."

Ahhh, the father of my children!

Weekend Recap

We didn't do anything exceptionally fun this weekend. We just took care of our house and crap that as an adult you have to do. Here is what we did:

Friday night: Matt and I went on a date to Bonefish Grill. Yummy Bang Bang Shrimp. If you haven't been, you must go with your sweetie and eat this appetizer. It is so stinkin' good, I dream about it. After dinner, we went to Circuit City and Best Buy to take a look at digital cameras. Matt and I decided that we want to give each other a really nice camera for our birthdays. So we are trying to decide if we want a smaller camera like an Elph or a fuller bodied camera like the Canon Powershot S2. We didn't buy anything, we are just doing the research!
We came home to our friend Jenn Wisecarver who was babysitting along with Tim Curlett watching "Men at Work" with Emelio Estevez and Charlie Sheen. We all started watching it as a joke, but ended up all watching it until 1am. Ridiculous.

Saturday: We hung around the house all day, I cleaned out Lucy's closet. We have received so many hand me down clothes and I haven't organized any of it. So I finally did it! I made two runs to Goodwill and one to Ellen Troyer's to drop off all of her girl clothes. I am feeling really good about Lucy's closet (how much of a nerd am I?) Matt got a load of mulch and power washed our rocking chairs that have gotten disgusting after the long winter outside. I got my car washed at the amazing Gorilla Car Wash. We grilled steaks for dinner and Lucy went to be early, 9pm and slept all night long! HOORAY!

Sunday: We watched the kids at church on Sunday. It was great! After we came home, Asher took a nap, Lucy took a nap and then she and I went grocery shopping. We tried to go the Y, but childwatch was full and so we just left and went on a family walk. It was chilly, but fun because the North Buncombe Girls Soccer team was having a spaghetti supper so we stopped in there to say hi, then we ran into the Broadways on a walk and then we stopped at Beth Williams and Kristen Neely's house. Beth got in a really bad accident at Windy Gap on the giant swing last weekend and we haven't been able to stop in and see her, so that was really good. She just had surgery to repair her collarbone and pins put in her pinky. It was a freak accident where a camper knocked her off of the platform as she was trying to get them down. Hopefully, we will get to hang out some this week. Then we came home and it was a zoo because Matt had to get to Campaigners, dinner needed to be cooked. Lucy was going bananas because she was so hungry and tired and I needed to feed Asher. Plus, even though we spent the day on Saturday cleaning the house, it was a disaster again.
I was really sad because the Oscars were on and my two favorite people to watch the awards with weren't here. My sister doesn't live here, but if she did...we would watch every awards show and be quite happy commenting on everyone together. My other favorite person to watch with is Robin Plemmons. She is quite possibly the funniest person I know, so it is always a good time. But she was at a wedding. But then as I was feeling sad, Becca and Ann Marie showed up after watching the Amazing Race at Hampton's so we could watch the Oscar's on Tivo! It was great to watch with these fun girls and laugh at the ridiculousness that is Hollywood. My two comments from the show are:
1. Why did all of the women wear their hair on the side? Nicole Kidman, Gwenyth Paltrow, Jennifer Hudson. They all looked like 80's throwbacks (Especially Cameron Diaz's weird dress)
2. Too many montages and salutes to whoever picked their nose the longest in Hollwood. We need the major awards before midnight please.

So I went to bed exhausted from staying up too late and Asher decided that he needed to be awake from 1-4am. Sweet. Matt got up with him for most of the time, but then he ran out of patience and I took over. Asher went right to sleep with me. It was kind of like when you spend 20 minutes trying to open up a jar and someone walks in the kitchen and just turns the lid. You make a stupid comment like, "I loosened it for you!" because it was so easy for them and it makes you mad. That's what happened at 3:30am with our son. Matt was not happy.

This is a really long post and so I am going to get off of here. But just to tie you over, here is are some fun pics:

Back from Columbia

Hi Everyone! We are back from Columbia and so I thought that I would post some pictures from our time there. Yesterday, we decided that it would be a great idea while we had all five cousins together that we would go and get all of their pictures taken. what a nightmare. Well, it probably would have gone GREAT if it weren't for my kids.

Asher decided that he did not want his picture taken under any circumstance. Thank you very much. And he decided to throw a serious tantrum and capped it off by punching Lucy in the face, which set Lucy off (I don't blame her!). We took one picture that was halfway decent, but the lady at the Wal-Mart picture studio erased it while we were dealing with Asher. How great.

So, we managed to get one picture during a tantrum break and not one kid is actually looking at the camera, but none of them are crying either. As soon as I get one, you will see and LAUGH!

After that, we took all of the kids to the zoo in Columbia. And I know that this might seem hard to believe, but they have an amazing zoo there and it was 75 degrees outside. It was awesome! The kids had a great time and not one of them acted out the whole time. Asher learned how to say, "monkey" and it is so cute to hear him!

And then last night all of the kids spent the night at Gammy and Doc's house and we sent all of the kids to bed with Doc playing on the banjo, kids dancing and singing and getting all kinds of wound up! But they all went to bed eventually and it was really fun!

I am glad to be back in Asheville and Matt and I are going on a date tonight to celebrate making it through the week!

BTW: Make sure to scroll down to see the jumping off of "White Fancy" pictures!

You Knit Me Together in My Mother's Womb...

Great news from Buffy today! I will just let her tell you,

"The twins are both looking great and growing. The gap between the girls has gotten smaller. Last time there was a 30% discordance in their growth and this time it's a 20.7% discordance! We are thrilled that the little one is growing, and that the bigger one is growing too! The doctor said we need to keep watching things and come back again in three weeks. We are praying that they will continue to grow and that the difference between them will not increase."
We are so thrilled that the little twin is growing, I know one day we will all look back and laugh as the little one beats the crap out of the bigger one!
Speaking of that, we (me and the kids) are at Matt's parent's house for a few days as Matt is in Arizona and we are having a "grand ole time" as my niece Maggie puts it!

Maggie came up to visit with us while we are here and she is hilarious. I am sure you saw her YouTube video below, but she just turned four and has more personality that anyone in the house!

Today, the other cousins, Watts and Nate came over and Asher had quite a time playing with all of the older kids. He learned a new word today, "bup" which means (of course) "jump." The kids throw the pillows off of the all-white couch that we call "white fancy" and they jump on the springs like it is a really long trampoline. At one time or another at least two of the "monkeys" have fallen off and bumped their heads (just like the song). A little kiss and a rub on the forehead and they are back at it. I am sure that years ago when Linda bought this couch, she had no idea that her nice all white couch would become the playground for her four grandchildren, but so be it!

Away at the Moment

Hi everyone! Don't fear, I haven't disappeared off of the planet! I am just at my in-laws in Columbia for a few days and internet access is iffy at best. So I might be able to blog, I but I might not! I'll see what I can do! Ciao!

Church

For the last year and a half, we have had a hard time going to church. We LOVE our church. We love the people that go to our church, our pastor, the music-almost everything! EXCEPT, there is no nursery. All of the kids of the church just are in church throughout the service. Which can be great. Except when you have a kid as busy as Asher is. I mean, he can not sit still for two minutes. We have been working on it and two minutes is the limit.

We have had some discussions with our pastor and with several friends and we have come up with a solution. We have come up with child watch co-op. Our dear friends the Knauers (this is Natalie's picture), took the rotation this morning. They watched their little boy, Bennett along with Asher and Lucy. Next week, we are going to do it. After that, we are going to ask a few other friends to volunteer for the duty. That way, we could sit in church without our kids, our kids can all play with each other and we don't have to worry! Also, it doesn't seem that hard to take care of a bunch of kids once a month.

This morning was the first time since Asher was born that we really got to hear about the Shorter Catechism and the sermon. We actually got to stand during the hymns! It was great! I am so thankful that we have friends that we can trust our kids with and friends that our kids love being around. It is such a blessing and I am truly thankful! Anyone out there want to volunteer for the first weekend in March or anytime thereafter???

Prayer

I wanted to ask those of you that read this blog to pray for Buffy and Ian, Matt's sister and her husband. Buffy is 24 weeks pregnant with twin girls. The girls have been growing at disproportionate rates and on Tuesday they will have another ultrasound to see how things have been going during the last month. The doctors are not sure why they are growing at different rates but suspect a placenta problem. Please pray that the problem has corrected itself and that the girls would continue to grow inside of Buffy.

I really love Buffy and Ian and their daughter Maggie. I am so excited that they are having girls that will be so close in age to Lucy! It is one more aspect that I love about our families! On both sides we have cousins that are so close in age to one another and so they will always have little playmates when we get together. So please pray for a healthy outcome from this pregnancy and this hurdle to get over will be examined on Tuesday. I love you guys!

Okay, I did it

I registered for the NYC Marathon Lottery.

This is not a guarantee that I will be running in the marathon. I have just submitted paperwork to get into the lottery. Over 38,000 people will be running this race and I am sure that around 90,000 people apply to get into this race, so the odds are not that great. I am just throwing my hat into the ring and if I am supposed to do the race, I will. And if not, I will sit on my couch on November 4th eating cookies instead.

Oh, and I found the pictures of me from the Nashville Marathon six years ago. I didn't throw them away, I just stashed them where Matt wouldn't see them and make fun of me anymore!

Happy Birthday Yesterday Maggie

This is our neice Maggie last year as she ate a lemon for the first time. Maggie had her fourth birthday yesterday and we are so sad that we couldn't be with her to celebrate. We love you Maggie!!!

A Note to People Who Drink and Drive

STOP IT.
Last night, as Matt was on his way home from Work Crew Training (high school kids who are learning spiritual disciplines to prepare them to work at YL camps this summer), he was sitting at a stop light when a drunk driver swerved into his car and hit him going at a pretty fast clip. Thankfully no one was hurt. But the guy hit Matt's car right perpendicular to the front wheels of the car. Matt is pretty sure that he broke the axle. After the police arrived, he was arrested on the spot. Matt said it was really sad and heartbreaking because the man knew that his whole life was about to change and he had to just sit there and wait for the police to come.

This is only a two-year old car that the YL area bought for Matt and his staff to use. Now it could possibly be totaled just because this guy decided to drink and get behind the wheel. And from what Matt says, he didn't just have one beer! It really could have turned out much worse if he had hit the car at Matt's door instead of at the front wheel. We are so thankful!

One other note about this incident, it proved to both of us how different Matt and I really are (as if we needed confirmation!). After I picked Matt, Anne Marie and Nate up; Matt realized he had no idea where his car was towed to and that he forgot to take all of his other keys off of the keyring! So today is going to be an adventure trying to track down where the police tow all cars that have been in an accident and hopefully retrieving Matt's office and home keys off of the keyring!

My Sweet Husband

I have to use today as a reason to brag on my husband. For the last thirteen days, Matt has left little Valentines on my pillow before I go to bed and they are hilarious. And very cute. Matt picked up a box of Nascar Themed: Jeff Gordon, #24 valentines and they make me laugh for several reasons. 1) Who knew that someone else would want to buy Jeff Gordon themed valentines. 2) They have sayings on them like, "You're #1 Valentine" with Gordon holding his hands up high and "You take 1st place Valentine" or "To a Friend Who Can't be Beat!" But the best part has been that Matt has written little notes on the inside of the valentines that are along the same lines. For example; "To a lady who's prettier than a new set of tires." or To: A woman who's hotter than the pavement at Daytona." or my personal favorite, "To: The lady with the best paint and body scheme."

He has made me laugh every night for the last thirteen days with these little gifts. It has been awesome. The irony of it all is that we just got to spend $1500 on the Jeep in car repairs!

I love Matt more than anything and I could not imagine my life without him. It is crazy to think that we have been together for seven years and married for five Valentine's Days. It makes me think of a quote from Elizabeth Bowen, "When you love someone,all your saved-up wishes start coming out." And it is so true. I have a life I never could have dreamed up by myself, it required Matt to make me even realize my wishes and to see them fulfilled. How great is that?

Michael and Dwight: SexyBack

This is a little Valentine's Treat from me to you. Have a wonderful day!

taxes

Just take a look at our little tax deductions!

I did our taxes last night and let me just say, it is not financially great to have kids during the rest of the year. But it is great fun to add a new child to your tax return and see the dollars just grow! People thought that we were crazy last year when we told them that we were pregnant again when Asher was just eight months old (so did we!) but since Lucy was born in November, we get to count her as having been alive the whole year!

You all should be proud of me for wading in the deep end and taking care of our taxes, but since the government just got a nice sized loan from us, interest free for the whole year; I decided to go ahead and make them pay us back pronto. I am very excited for the day that our return will just magically appear in our bank account. According to Turbo Tax, this ought to happen before the end of the month. Then all of the money will be used to pay off debts and we will be able to end the year DEBT FREE! How great is that? Maybe we will be able to start saving for once...nah, let's go buy something! Just kidding mom.

Six Days From Now...

Kicks off the start of the Amazing Race All Stars! This is by far my favorite show on TV. I have watched every season except for the first one and so the All-Stars make me so very happy! I am in a pool with the Young Life staff at Windy Gap and so here are my picks for this season:
1. Dustin and Kandice 2. Rob and Amber and 3. Jill and John Vito.

A little note on Jill and John Vito, she and I played soccer together back in the day on Staten Island. Sadly, she lost her brother on 9/11 as he was an executive for Cantor Fitzgerald. She first applied to do the show with her brother and after he died, she reapplied with her then boyfriend and brother's best friend John Vito. Since they first did the show, they have broken up but have emerged as friends. I am especially excited about the TAR All-Stars because there are five different people on the show from Staten Island. I find this exceedingly hilarious. What other show would have this many people from the same town? I am guessing that Staten Island is SO full of nut jobs that it is a casting agents dream! I have so many funny memories from living there for four years in high school. I have loved over the years watching shows like the TAR and MTV's Sweet Sixteen and the True Life, I a Staten Island Girl and how accurately they have captured the mindset and the flamboyant personalities that you run into on the island. You just can't get that anywhere else in the world!

treadmill dance from Windy Gap

For those of you who haven't seen this yet, Matt, Brian Hancock, Matt Williams and a dude that Hancock brought with him all did the OK Go treadmill video at Windy Gap a few weeks ago. Several donors came together to make this a wow in anticipation of Hancock doing program at Windy Gap this summer. Matt is now trying to figure out how to get eight treadmills to Crooked Creek in Colorado for our assignment this summer! It was amazing to watch these guys 1) put together eight treadmills overnight. 2) Learn this dance in a little over two hours. 3) See how much abuse crappy treadmills from Wal-Mart can take in an afternoon (It ain't much). Happy watching!

Beautiful Sunday

It has been a beautiful Sunday here in Asheville. Little Miss and I went outside so that I could capture her at the three-month mark. When Asher was this age, I did the same thing and I treasure the pictures that I was able to capture. I don't know if it is the age, the surroundings or what; but I love seeing their little faces with so much potential and so much life ahead of them. It is hard to believe that Lucy is already three months old and she is just about to change so much. Sometime in the next two months she will begin to sit up, laugh and play with toys. The days of being a lump are leaving us behind!!!

Matt says he's sorry

Last night Matt and I were talking about running. He and I have been working out at the Y lately and we were talking about how hard it is to stick with it! We then shifted to talking about how I ran the Nashville Marathon just before we were married. Matt has consistently made fun of a picture that we have from the marathon where I look like I am going to die. I wasn't going to die, I was just so emotional after coming across the finish line. Running 26.2 miles was one of the most amazing experiences of my life and I was overwhelmed by it all by the end of the race and the pictures captured that incredibly well. Matt has made so much fun of it, that I actually took the pictures down from the fridge and got rid of them. Last night, for the first time since we have been married, he admitted that it was an amazing feat and if it had been him; he would have been crying his face off! Because of that conversation, it started me thinking that I might apply for the lottery in the NYC Marathon in November 2007. The start of the race was right next to my house when I was in high school and I always thought it would be an amazing race to take part in. I think that I will apply and see if I actually can get one of the coveted spots in this race. It would be really hard to train for it with two kids and all, but I would like to try. Anyone want to apply and train with me???

One of Lucy

Just to be equitable, I have to post a picture of Lucy. She has been crying non-stop today. As long as she has been awake, she has cried. She has been a delight to be around-sike. The only saving grace was that she slept from 10:30pm last night until nearly 10:30am this morning. How a three month old made it 12-hours, I have no idea. But I will take it. Normally she is so cute and smiley, I can't get enough of her. Today, I can't get rid of her. But that is for now. In an hour she will probably wake up all cute and cuddley and everything that I am feeling right now will be washed away. That is how children survive, by smiling and cooing and showing you their adorable dimples and all of the crimes from earlier in the day are gone. It is magic.

Here is a little picture of me and Asher from Christmas. Of course he has his hands in his mouth. It seems like a minor miracle anytime I can capture either of my kids without something in their mouths!

Why?

I thought that I would start a blog because I was never updating our family homepage because it took forever for charter let me upload any edits that I was making, so I thought that this might be easier. Also, there are moments every single day that I think to myself, "I ought to go write that down right now." And yet, I don't. And so many things; thoughts, ideas, dreams, and self-reflection has been lost because I haven't taken the time to go ahead and write it up. I have no idea if anybody is even going to read this thing, but I am going to pull the trigger and see what happens!

Happy reading and welcome to my blog!
Leslie