Some random pieces of our lives...

• Apparently Bethany is actually learning something in Sunday School! I don't know if she is learning what her teachers are teaching or if she's creating her own lessons, though... On Sunday I asked her what she had learned, and she said, "The Bible!" On further questioning, I discovered that she learned about Noah's Ark. What about it? "There were two monkeys. And two flamingos. And Noah changed the flamingos' diapers!"
• Kiersten is a snuggle-y bundle of rolls! I love how fat her thighs are (don't worry, I won't say that when she's 13!), and the dozen comments a day I get on how big her cheeks are. I also love her great big stretches and snorts when she is just waking up, how totally calm & chill she is (sometimes we don't know when she wakes up... she just lays there quietly), and her huge grins. She is such a love-able baby!
• Bethany and Kiersten are "getting along" better. In other words... taking away a favorite toy every time Bethany squishes/pinches/kicks Kiersten is working! She is VERY motivated by the threat of losing her new dollhouse or train set.
• Speaking of Bethany's toys (which almost always come from garage sales) - I cannot express how big a fan I am of garage sales!! If you read my last post, you know that I even went out garage sale-ing while I was in labor with Kiersten. I just can't help it - it is the PERFECT answer to my love for shopping and my extreme discomfort with spending money. And this is a hobby that pays for itself! Last week I found an almost-new double Medela breast pump ($300 new)... for $10. I felt like I was stealing it! It is now going up on craigslist for $100. Umm - you just can't beat that. Recently I've found everything from new nail polish to a down-filled toddler-size comforter to an Old Navy corduroy jacket in great shape (for 50 cents, I might add). I think I'm a candidate for becoming a garage sale addict.
• Todd dropped a class! This might be the first time in his life... I'll have to ask him. We both realized that going full-speed for the past year (4 classes every quarter instead of the typical 3, two summer classes, a September intensive class...) and no end in sight for the coming year was driving him to the point of burn-out. I think the "overwhelmed" in his brain finally got big enough that it beat out the "high-achiever" side of him. Whew! It still won't be an easy quarter, but at least he'll have time to breathe... and maybe even eat meals. :-)
• I miss my Pittsburgh friends & family! Almost every night after the kids are in bed and dinner is cleaned up, I think about calling someone back home - but because of the time difference it's too late. Wish I could see you all and hang out with you randomly (or purposefully ;-)! 
• Living in a 2-bedroom apartment is very different from living in a house. And I think I'm past the "I'm on vacation" state of mind now... I'm now reaching the "Oh my - we will be in this apartment for at least two more years" stage. In a small space like this, it's hard to hide messes - and even harder to hide from the messes. The clutter - and the migrating toys - just seem to reappear as soon as I banish them. Aside from that... how in the world do people manage to put two kids down to sleep in one room? We are experimenting, but I am very afraid of the results! What if I end up with not one but two screaming kids in the middle of the night? Sounds scary. 
• The travel in our lives never seems to end! From our month-long cross-country trip this summer to a week in Des Moines for Labor Day to my work travel (4 days in Colorado next week) to weddings and holidays... It feels like there is little "normal" life. But at the same time I am so grateful that we are able (financially and time-wise) to travel as much as we do and to see family so often.