#1 Reason Why Not to Leave the Boys Alone with Daddy on Game Day

I thought I would start by showing some pictures of our house before we moved in. We are really enjoying all the space. I can't believe we had enough furniture in our old house to fill this house.

family room

(which of course now houses our big screen that Andrew has been wanting for over a year now)

Kitchen taken from the dining area

master bathroom (my oasis)

Our back yard

This view has already changed due to some heavy machinery coming in and hauling away 10 dump truck loads of dirt. Andrew is now working on a retaining wall, trying to beat the weather. We hope to have sprinklers by the end of the month. Andrew has the trench dug to put in the gravel for the fence. Dirt is a lot different here. It is like a clay powder. I never thought we would be watering dirt.

living room (front room) and kitchen taken from the stairs

The shadows make it a little hard to see the tile work. I also noticed the tags are still on the bath mat, but you get the idea. There are other rooms, but they just look like empty rooms in the pictures. Things are shaping up nicely and I will post the finished product as the rooms are finished.

Now for the title of the post-why not to leave Daddy alone with the boys on game day. Andrew did not really do this alone. Believe it or not, this was actually my idea. There is a website for UT graduates to post pictures of their children and pets in UT garb. Andrew wanted to be the first to post twins. Well, we could not find anything small enough for them while we were in TN or within a reasonable price range. So, I said why not just paint their chests? We have a U and a T. Andrew thought I was brilliant (just that one time) and here you go. Gavin was great, but Drew did not like the cold on his belly. Might as well start them early! Those of you who are not UT fans please do not turn us in for child abuse :)

House guests

We had our first house guests this weekend. My college friend Sue and her husband James came to visit us and meet the boys. It was so nice to see a familiar face. We went for a walk along the river, we went to a winery where they sampled some wines, and we had a great dinner prepared by Andrew. It was a very nice visit for our first house guests.

Unfortunately, James and Sue were not our only house guests that day. We had an unwelcome, uninvited guest too. We had a snake in the house! I did not realize how much I did not like snakes until I had one in my house 5 feet away from where the boys, Sue, and I were playing on the floor. Luckily, it was caught in some packing tape and it was not going anywhere. James was our hero and took the snake outside. I called Andrew and told him I was glad Sue and James were there or I would be in the van on my way to IN right now. When Andrew came home he took the snake to a neighbor and the first said he thought it was a rattler. (Andrew later told me he thought so too.) They took it to another neighbor and he said no it is a baby bull snake. It is a good snake that eats mice and small rattler snakes. He said the head is a different shape and of course it has no rattle otherwise, they look the same. They let it go in a nearby field. For Sue's rendition of the story, check out her blog.

I can barely look at that picture. Like I said I had no idea how much I hated snakes. I had every intention of writing this blog and just ranting about the snake being in my house. I have to admit I have been very disturbed by this event. I have lost sleep and not left the babies alone on the floor or anywhere but in their crib since this happened. Even when they were in their crib I would pray for the Lord to watch them and protect them from the snakes. I have opened every box since then praying that there would be no snakes. Since we had no idea how it got in here I have been on alert. Was it here when they were building? Did it come in when the movers had the doors open? Was it from the warehouse? Did it come in with a plant we left outside over night? Well, this morning in the shower God changed my heart about this situation. Like I said I have been scared to death since this happened and wondered how I am going to get over this. Well, God taught me a little lesson. Through reading some of Paul's letters to Timothy this morning I realized how inhospitable I can be. I literally wanted the snake to die. I wanted it out of my house and never to come back. How many times am I like that with people? Not that I have ever wanted them to die, but just not let them in. I literally have not had people over before because it is too much work or my house is not just right. That is not what we are called to do. I have also not let people into my life or held them at arm's width because I did not want them 'in my house'. How many times have I tried to enter God's house and he not let me in? I have been tangled up in some sticky mess I have gotten myself into (like the snake) and he is always there with open arms. Now I am not saying I am going to invite a snake literally into my house but I realize I need to let some people in. Into my house and into my life. I need to use the gifts and things God has given me to let people in. Both literally into my heart and into my house. God has given us this wonderful home and great boys and I have a husband who is a wonderful cook. I need to be more open to let people in. It doesn't matter if it is clean or decorated perfectly yet, I need to be hospitable. The Bible study we are doing and the theme at our new church is about becoming more Christ like. I know Christ would let 'snakes' into his house. He let me in. I need to be more open to people and not wonder where they are coming from, I just need to let Christ shine through. Does this make sense? I feel like I am rambling and I have not had time to process yet but I feel the Lord has put this on my heart. Like I said I was going to rant about how I was going to IN to get away from the snake (Andrew looked up the snake and they are in northern IN too) but I can't get away from what God was teaching my through this situation. Well, the boys are awaking up from a nap, so I better get them out of bed. Thanks for reading and I hope it was clear as mud (as my dad says).

Here they are!

Here they are in their Bumbos. I remember when their heads could not even go above the back of them and there was so much space in the seat. Not any more! I love the no neck look. I have found that collared shirts do that. Who am I kidding they really have no necks. This picture was taken Thursday night right before we left for a small group get together. Can you guess which is which? I am going to let you guess on your comments. I love their shoes. We don't have many shoes that are the same or that fit them so I love it when I can find some that match their outfits. They are growing up so fast!

Here is a picture of our new house: 1833 Talon Court Richland, WA 99352. It is great to have so much space. I will post more pictures of the interior when I have a chance. It seems like I can only get things done when they are both napping so I have to use my time wisely and do things that I can do without a baby in hand. I have found that typing is one of those things that is much easier with 2 hands.

Andrew and his little clone. They are alike in a lot of ways even besides the way they look. He is a mommy's boy though. It is nice that he is finally enjoying Andrew now. There was a phase in the condo that he would scream unless I was holding him. It is much easier now that he is over that. (Notice I am not saying his name but I think what I just wrote will give it away.)

Here is his bigger brother (another hint). He is a great baby and really is only upset when he is hungry or tired. He is very smiley and loves to kick. I say he doesn't cry much but when I was looking for a picture he was crying in all of them. Andrew said it was the shoes.

Well, I am one handed now. Gavin just woke up so I guess that means I am done writing. Don't forget to comment on who you think is who. I made it very easy! Yeah, I m out typing w/ 1 hnd iz nt wrkin.

A change in plans

Okay, so I know it has been over a month since we have blogged. Well, a lot has happened in that month. Where to start? Well, the night before the movers were to come our realtor in WA called with some bad news. You know that cute little house that I had in a previous blog? Well, the builder went bankrupt and was unable to clear the lean on his house. So that meant that we could not close. Yes, the day before we were to close. So, we had no house to move in to and now where to move our stuff to and no place to stay for who knew how long. So, as the movers were packing our stuff Andrew got a call from a friend that said we could stay at his house. Well, that was not ideal. Not too much longer and he got a call from the HR department in Richland and said that we could stay in the company condo. Praise God! The condo was fully furnished and we could keep Harp there also. So we at least had some place to stay while we looked for a house.

The flight with the boys went very well and Harp arrived not terribly traumatized. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and started looking for houses Mon. morning. We found nothing we liked on Mon or Tuesday with our realtor. so we just started driving around. We had a house we kind of liked so we drove by it again and on our way saw some new houses and one that was still under construction. The guy working said we could come in and look but it still had 3 weeks until it would be on the market. So, we looked at it and loved it. We called our realtor and the next day we put in a offer. We also had some things we wanted to pick out such as tile and hard wood floors. They agreed and by Thurs. we were looking at tile and picking out house colors.

To make a long story short, we moved in the 29th of Aug. All of our stuff made it across the country with just a few dents and dings (even our cars) and now I have Internet back so we are getting things back to normal again. The neighbors are great, Andrew loves his new job, and we have found a great church. We are slowly but surely settling in.
The boys are getting so big. I would post pictures but I am not sure where the memory card is -oh, the joys of unpacking. We visited Mt. Rainier a couple of weeks ago so I will post pictures of us there. Even Harp went along for the ride. The boys are 13 weeks now. My how time flies, everyone said it would but they did not warn me it would go at warp speed. The boys are smiling a lot now and I am waiting any day for a giggle. They make the facial expressions of a laugh but nothing comes out. They are now reaching for things also. They sleep from about 9:45ish until at least 6, so things are good. They are also good eaters and nappers (most of the time). Things are going well. I am in a rush to get things moved in because my college friend Sue and her husband James are coming to visit in a week. It will be nice to see familiar faces and I don't get to see her enough, so if we don't update for a while you know why, but I will post pictures soon. Thanks for reading and all of your prayers for our family we all made it and are getting used to being Washingtonians. (What is someone from Washington? I am going to have to find that one out.) IN- Hoosiers and TN -Vols.