a few of my favorite things

I have been busy of late. Our car is broken down and while we are waiting to save the money to fix it Dave has been riding his bike to work. Why you ask does that make ME busy.... well in order to ensure that he gets there in time he has to leave two hours before work begins and in order to ensure that he gets enough to eat I have to cook two meals in a very short time every day and make them big enough that there are leftovers for his dinner at work. So it has been a little hectic around here. I imagine that pace will keep up for a while though.... because it is becoming increasingly clear that we need more income in.... not much but enough to cover the basics better. So Dave is going to get another part time job. We had discussed me getting a job... but we learned last year that in a lot of ways me working doesn't pay out for us. It actually cost us money last year when I got a part time job. We are hoping that will not be the case if Dave gets a second job. We'll just have to see won't we?
At any rate our house has been a little bit of an uproar during our schedule change and we are still trying to get used to it. Add to that the fact that my oldest daughter has decided that naps are nothing other than a bother and has given up on them all together has our household scrambling to find normalcy. Though I have found that with one child normalcy is an illusion and with two it is a figment of your imagination.... I can only imagine that with every child you add that figment gets smaller and smaller. Every day is an adventure in this household one that we have no idea what it will look like when we start the day out. I as a regimented person have found that I have a hard time swimming in the pool of chaos that can be our home. Before the kids I had a house that I could keep up on and schedules and lists that I lived by... now I am lucky if I remember to make a list before going to the grocery store.... and if by some strange twist of fate I did I will forget it when I go. I am learning to live with the chaos... and maybe some day will embrace it. As for right now I am surviving and I try not to look at the mess that my house is!

Feast or Famine

I do apologize because feast or famine is exactly how it must seem for all of you. There is so much to do though and we get swept up. Taryn is grabbing with her hands now, and can make a toy play music. I KNOW RIGHT!!!! How quickly they grow. The changes in Ash are not as lightning fast as they are in Taryn, but there none the less. We are planning Ashlynn's second birthday party right now. Time FLIES!
My brother is home on leave and that takes a lot of our time for the last week and will continue for the next week. Ash knew him right away and they have only gotten closer during the last week. It was amazing to watch Ariah hug and refuse to let go of her father. AMAZING!
I only have a few seconds here because Ash is insisting on Sesame street time.... so I am attaching a few recent photos... ( Taryn's as recent as this morning.) and maybe a video if I can get it to work. There is no sound because it is from our digital camera and the quality is less than perfect but it is worth a try!