CONVERSATION BETWEEN SISTERS

Two fraternal twin infant sisters are on the floor of their parents' bedroom. One -- the smaller one -- is laying on her back. The other is laying on her tummy beside her, head up and looking over at her.

AMY:               C'mon, roll over.

GRACE:           Why?

AMY:               You can see more from up here.

GRACE:           Because you're like, what, 4 inches higher off the ground than me?

AMY:               Four inches makes a difference. Maybe the air is cleaner up here and that's why you're always getting sick and I'm not.

GRACE:           That's not really fair. I had RSV. My lungs are naturally weak now.

AMY:               I was exposed to RSV, too.

GRACE:           Yeah, but you've always been bigger, so that's why you probably didn't get it. You're bigger, I'm cuter. That's how it's always been.

AMY:               Who says you're cuter?

GRACE:           Everyone does. It's probably my soft, unblemished skin. Yours is rougher and all blotchy most of the time.

AMY:               I have baby eczema. I'll grow out of it. Here, let me feel (reaches over to touch Grace's face).

GRACE:           (flinching away) Don't touch me! Sure you're growing, Miss Piggy. Just look at how much you eat. You can't even make it through the night without a snack.

AMY:               And just because you can makes me a pig?

GRACE:           Yes. The doctor said you weigh over thirteen and a half pounds now. That's over half a pound heavier than me!

AMY:               Please. That's barely any different than the day we were born. Plus, I'm a mover and a shaker -- I need the calories. What do you do but lay there on your back waving your hands and feet around all day?

GRACE:           Hands? Feet? What are those?

AMY:               Exactly. You don't even know. Hands are these things. Great for grasping feet, like so. I'm not really sure what else they are used for.

GRACE:           Huh, I wonder if I have those, too.

AMY:               You do. They're also helpful for pushing up when you roll over.

GRACE:           How's that?

AMY:               You know, when you're... oh, never mind, you probably won't know what I'm talking about. I hardly see you roll. Not on purpose, anyways.

GRACE:           Again with the rolling. It doesn't seem so great to me -- how can you look at the fan with your head up like that?

AMY:               True (rolls over on to her back and looks up at the fan with Grace).

A few moments of silent contemplation pass as they both admire the fan spinning.

AMY:               Mr. Fan -- always so dependable.

GRACE:            I agree.

AMY:               I heard dad setting up our cribs the other day. Who do you think is going to get moved over first?

GRACE:           Probably me. You always go to bed so early. Plus, mom already jury rigged James's light -- you know the turtle that you like -- above the bed for you. I don't think she'll want to go through all that trouble again if she can help it. I'm happy enough with the cow jumping over the moon light.

AMY:               I can't wait until we get our own rooms. You always take up more than your half of the bed when you sleep.

GRACE:           Do not! You're the one who's always shimmying off your boppy in your sleep.

AMY:               I'm just trying to get away from you. (Rolls back to her front as she speaks, ending up on top of Grace.)

GRACE:           Hey! What the... get off me! Is this your idea of getting away from me?

AMY:               (Trying to push herself off, but getting stuck.) Sorry... I'm trying... I can't... If only I knew how better to use... aargh... (lets her head collapse on Grace in frustration).

GRACE:           (Wailing) Dad!! Dad!! Amy won't get off me!!

AMY:               So... tired...

GRACE:           Daaaaaaaaaaaad!!!!!!!

AMY:               (Making one final effort) There. I'm off. Happy?

Both pause to look around as they hear a click and see a flash. In horror, they see Dad in the corner taking pictures.

TOGETHER:    Dad!!!!

q2 call

Last week, I was at hospital overnight Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday. Having to stay overnight at the hospital when there's not much going on, as sometimes is the case, gets tedious, so on Sunday, Annie brought the kids over for a couple of hours around dinnertime so we could all spend some time together. After dinner, we walked around the hospital a bit, and even though there's really not much to do, the kids still managed to find ways to amuse themselves. After days and days away, it was nice to see everyone, even if it wasn't at home!

The Badger

Ethan just went to his first Cub Scout Day Camp for 3 days last week. On the second day, it rained for an hour, so we all retired inside for lunch and some... um... shall we say, inspiring, camp sing-a-longs?

When it was nice outside, though, Ethan got to do all kinds of fun things, like the obstacle "Oh I Wish I Were Six Inches Taller" course, shooting bebe guns, and making posters, decorating buckets, and other fun things that boys 8-10 like to do!

My Emergency Room shifts (where I happen to be rotating right now) at the hospital just happened to allow me to accompany Ethan for half days as a parent... how fortunate! We had a lot of fun together -- I'm really glad I got to be there with him!

Happy Birthday from Auntie Mic!

Footloose

Went to Ethan's elementary school performance yesterday evening -- whoa, James, Lilly, and Isaac -- will you take a look at dem moves! (And I thought it was just Ethan who was supposed to be performing! :)

Ethan's Baptism

Arrived at the church early to fill the font (8 a.m.)

Somehow, James thought I was filling up a personal bathtub for him and kept trying to get in...

Let the kids play piano with the innards exposed to keep them entertained.

Gotta love the jumpers!

Definitely gotta love the food (dessert crepes with all the toppings -- thanks to Wifey Supreme!)

Mmmmm... I love baptisms :)

Speaking of Dentists...

It's been a while since I've bragged about Wifey, but after today's performance, she definitely deserves some bragging rights. On Sunday, more-or-less on a whim, we decided to host all the dental types in our ward for brunch this morning (around 20 people besides our family, adults and kids included). I was thinking, you know, go buy some bagels, some mini muffins, some mini quiches, serve them up with a little bit of orange juice and cream cheese or something -- no, no, no, Wifey was not going to stand for such mediocrity. If we were going to throw a party, darn it all, we were going to do it right!

This is what she made instead:

In case you can't tell, that's four different kinds of juices, seven different kinds of fruits/berries, two kinds of quiches, two kinds of breakfast casseroles, two kinds of scones, and two kinds of homemade pastries. Hello yumminess!! Needless to say, if people didn't enjoy themselves while here, it certainly wasn't for lack of preparation on her part! She recruited some guests to bring some of the fruit and juices, otherwise, she pretty much made everything herself. From scratch, even. Wow.

Didn't get any good photos of the adults, but here's a cute one of Lilly chatting up two brothers. Good times!

A Very Merry Gingerbread FHE

Last Monday night, one of the other families in our ward and us got together to eat candy for dinner -- I mean, decorate gingerbread homes, then attempt to eat a nutritious meal afterwards (yeah right!). Gotta love the final products, pictured here:

Lilly's House

Ethan's House

James's House <-- you can tell where the majority of his candy went to (hint: not on the house!)

Isaac's House

Unfortunately, beautiful though they may have been, they didn't last very long:

(18 hours later)

Poor kids -- so obviously candy-deprived! You'd almost think they live with a dentist or something :)

Training for the Circus?

I dunno what they're teaching these kids in gymnastics, but if one day I get back from the OR to find out that Ethan's gone to join the Shriners, all I can say is, "I guess I should have seen it coming!"

A Season for Remembering

One year tomorrow... still miss you, mom.

Church Face!

Mom had a "church face" that was characteristic enough to bear special mentioning by Steve when we all got together last year. I always thought it was something she'd picked up from all those years in church meetings, but I came across this photo (circa 1953) as I was cropping a bunch of scans I'd made of popo's photo albums:

In case you couldn't tell, mom's the kid in the back -- hello, church face!

Um... WHAT kind of honey was that again?

As I was working out downstairs today, I happened to glance over at the storage shelves, and what should meet my eye but this shocking sight:

Gross!! I mean, I didn't even know this kind of honey existed! One thing's for certain -- no self-respecting Chinese family should ever consider patronizing this brand. I'm going to have to have a little chat with Wifey about this...

Open Sesame!!

If only it were that easy! So, you already know about the trench that I made Ethan and Isaac dig for me over July, August, and September. Finished the trench and *poof!* went all my motivation to proceed further, until... free labor arrived on Sept. 26!

"Why certainly, Andrew, you are welcome to stay at my place for as long as you want... as long as..."

Work harder slave!

What's that? Afraid of a little glass, you say? You wimp, keep working! Faster!

Okay, fine, so I did work a bit too -- introducing brothers Dai Pig Pen and Sai Pig Pen. (That concrete saw sure creates a lot of dust!) Unfortunately, we didn't isolate the work area very well and the concrete dust got all over the basement, so all we managed to get done that day was to knock out windows and make a few cuts in the concrete block. Then, Andrew and I spent the rest of the evening vacuuming pretty much the whole basement. I think we spent more time cleaning than we did working!

A couple of weeks after Andrew left, I started knocking out the concrete block one evening after work. A scarily easy task, to be honest, considering this is what is supporting the entire house!

Hello, daylight!

If it weren't for that silly grin, I'd say that coolie's pretty hot...

...especially when he strikes a pose.

Last weekend (Oct. 10) we finally had a dry Saturday, which I promptly took advantage of to cut out the second window opening (much faster this time -- Sai Pig Pen must have been slowing me down, haha).

Had enough time to frame the opening and install the windows that same day (night?). Ta-da!!

Outside view!

Panoramic view of the basement bedroom, window and all!

Now, to finish the window well... I'm thinking of waiting until spring, what do you think?

And Then There Were Two

I even wiggled this one out on my own!! Dad and mom both offered to help, but (and how do I say this tactfully?) I guess I'd have to say they pretty much suck at pulling out teeth painlessly.

"Dad, dad, take a picture of my teeth, too!!"