Viv being Viv...

... in a dirty shirt with food on her face ;-)

Before we moved...

Cleaning the Old House

Of course, we made Gavin do it...

New House

When I got back from Indiana (on Saturday, Aug 27th), Wes and his brother had already packed one of our several truck-loads for the move.

We finally decided to move (we had been debating it for the last few months) because we found a place that was going to save us a significant amount of money each month (score!), was closer to the main city around here, was bigger, had a ton more charm, and was only 2 blocks from my office (gotta love being able to walk to work)!

I met Wes and his brother at the new house and I got to video it before anything was brought in. Enjoy.

I'll be posting a lot in the next couple of months about our new digs. Stay tuned...

#70: get dental work done

Oh yeah, you read that right. I did it.

I've had pretty jacked-up teeth for about a decade and a half (well, I've never really had great teeth, but they got really bad about 10-15 years ago). And a couple of years ago, I wanted to figure out how much it would cost to get a total mouth restoration. 

Shit. It was expensive. Really expensive. So, we waited. A couple of years. And then, last week, I did it.

I drove out to Indiana (for several reasons, but mainly because I only really trusted my dentist out there) and I got a ton of shit done. And when I say a "ton of shit," I mean a ton of shit. Among other things, I had 4 root canals, 10 fillings, and 4 CEREC crowns put in. In one day. For 8 hours straight. It was intense. But it got done and now I love my teeth!

To be frank, I'm actually quite embarrassed about the before shot, but I figured that you wouldn't be able to really get the full effect without it. So I pushed my embarrassment to the side. Here you go...

I absolutely LOVE them! I also got a serious teeth-whitening system to make them even whiter. I've waited a long time for this and I couldn't be happier!! And, they look even better in person!

Here's a picture I took with the photobooth app on my Mac the day after the procedure.

I was gone for 4 days and spent several thousand dollars, but it was totally worth it!

Defining Busy

Within the last 10 days, the following events have taken place:

1. I drove by myself out to Indiana (a 9 hour drive) to get dental work done.
2. Wes started a new job.
3. We packed up our old house, moved to a new house, and almost unpacked our new house.
4. I started my fall semester at JMU.

It's been crazy. And stressful. And at times, awesome.

Don't worry, I'll post about all of these things. I found my camera cord today, so check back first thing tomorrow morning for the first installment of our crazy last 10 days...

Unprompted Manners

We've been working on manners around here for quite some time. And in the last month or so, Gavin and Vivian have really begun to consistently use those manners on their own, unprompted by one of us.

For instance, just about every time I put their dinner plates in front of them, they will say thank you. Except, their "thank you" sounds like "nit noo" or "nack noo." They also say thank you when we give them something or tell them that we will do what they want to do next: Viv- "Puppy book first." Me- "We will read the puppy book after the hippo book." Viv- "Nit noo, Mommy."

They also have begun consistently saying please, which sounds like "peas," whenever they want something. We have even gotten tot he point where we can remind them by saying, "What do you say?" instead of telling them, "Say please."

Yay for manners!

They're Funny

Me: "We're going to the store."

G & V (in unison): "Oooooh."

Me: "We need to get bananas and boxes and shower curtain rings, okay?"

G & V (in unison): "Okay, Mommy."

Me: "What else do you think we need from the store?"

Vivian (without any hesitation): "Donuts."

Gavin (directly following Viv's response): "Trucks."

~~~~~

Gavin has recently learned that my name is Jennie. And, he thinks this information is hilarious. The other day, Gavin yelled, "Moooommmy! Milk!" To which I responded, "One minute, Gavin." Then, he asked, "Jennie get milk?"

~~~~~

Vivian is learning that raising her voice and yelling things instead of just normally stating them (especially in public), gets her a lot of attention. Funny attention. The other day, I took the kiddos to Walmart after school. Viv decided that she was going to YELL "Hello!" to every single person she saw. This got her several dozen giggles and "she's so adorable" comments from passerbys. She loved it.

~~~~~

Everyday, on the way home from school, I ask the twins, "What did you do today?" And, everyday, I hear, "Color," "Letters," and "Go outside" as responses. The other day, I asked the kiddos about their day, and they only said "Color" and "Letters." I said, "Did you go outside?" Gavin said, "No, rain. Grass too wet." "Oh," I replied. Then, Viv said, "Yeah, Mommy. Grass wet, no outside."

We've been busy

In the last 2 weeks, we have been BUSY. And unfortunately, the blog has suffered. But, things are settling down around here and I promise I'll get back to my daily, or close-to-daily, blogging routine in the next few days. 

The main problem I'm facing right now is trying to find my lost camera cord. I would love to post a few pics of what's been going on, but it seems as though the camera cord was packed away in an unknown location.

Anyways, I'll be back soon. Promise.