Weirdly accurate

My Personality

Neuroticism	63
Extraversion	29
Openness to Experience	41
Agreeableness	60
Conscientiousness	76

You are poised, confident, and clear-thinking when stressed, however you are sensitive about what others think of you. Your concern about rejection and ridicule cause you to feel shy and uncomfortable around others. You are easily embarrassed and often feel ashamed. Your fears that others will criticize or make fun of you are exaggerated and unrealistic, but your awkwardness and discomfort may make these fears a self-fulfilling prophecy. People generally perceive you as distant and reserved, and you do not usually reach out to others. You prefer familiar routines and for things to stay the same. You can tend to feel uncomfortable with change. You are tenderhearted and compassionate, feeling the pain of others vicariously and are easily moved to pity, however you feel superior to those around you and sometimes tend to be seen as arrogant by other people. You have a strong sense of duty and obligation, and feel a moral obligation to do the right thing.

Take a Personality Test now or view the full Personality Report.

My kids like crap

Claire and Delaney have a new love: Go-gurt. They're basically sugar in yogurt form in a tube. Kevin likes them, but the girls can slam down a go-gurt in less than 2 minutes. I have visions of college and beer bongs when I see them do that.

Kevin's love is Culver's cheese curds. We ate there occasionally when it first opened here a couple years ago, but ever since Kevin decided he had a say in where we ate, it's been "I want to go to 'Tul-vers'". Problem is, the darn things are delicious! They're yummy little bombs of calories, fat, and cholesterol and, combined with a chocolate malt, should require a note from your cardiologist before you eat them.

On the plus side, I made a casserole for supper that was primarily brown rice, veggies, mushrooms, and boneless, skinless chicken breasts. I just wish lima beans were as attractive as cheese curds!

Silly babies

We've been having a lot of talks about attitude with Kevin lately. Last Tuesday, he was apparently giving quite a bit of attitude to Mrs. V at preschool. It sounded like "NO!" was the response of the day. I hated to tell her, "Welcome to my world." He was coached into an apology and had a better day Thursday so I'm hoping it was just a very short-lived phase. Mrs. V's comment was that sometimes "he's too C-U-T-E for his own good!" I think she's right about that.

This morning was a good example. I came back from my walk and he looks at me and says, "I bet you're really thirsty. I'll get you a drink of water!" I'm thinking, "awww, how sweet". He goes to the fridge, fills up a glass, hands it to me and, with those big pleading blue eyes, says, "I sure am thirsty too." Guess who got the first drink of water;)

Not to be left out of the cuteness, Claire and Delaney were little bundles of energy right before bed. Claire was demonstrating her superior balance skills by standing on the arm of the couch, the ottoman, the back of the couch, and giggling all the while. I swear I heard her say the word "giggle".

Delaney's trick was spinning. Picture a kid rolling down a hill. Now put that kid standing upright on the couch and rolling along the back. She had her head tipped back, laughing like crazy, back and forth across the couch until she couldn't stand up anymore. Fun fun fun.

Cute, cute stuff!

Twirly dresses and ponchos! It's not as if the kids need more clothes- they're certainly not in danger of going naked!- but it's just fun dressing two little girls. I found these two sites through The Opinionated Parent blog. Unfortunately, we (meaning probably me) lost Bob's credit card at the mall this morning and it'll be a week before we get a replacement:/

Yay!

I'm ridiculously excited:) I just bought tickets for Kevin and I to go to Backyardigans Live. I took him to Diego Live last fall in Des Moines and he just loved it so when he saw the advertisements for "Backyards", as he calls them, he'd say "I want to go to THAT!" Unfortunately, the closest shows were in Sioux Falls or Minneapolis...or so I thought. As I was getting him onto the noggin website tonight, I happened to click on the Backyardigans Live link to see if they'd added any dates closer to us and, lo and behold, they added two shows in Cedar Falls. I think it'll be a fun time!

ETA: I just bought an extra ticket for Bob in hopes that he's not on call. If he is, maybe we'll take one of Kevin's little pre-school friends.

What I love about twins

I love that I can leave two little girls dressed in footie pajamas- zipped, snapped, the whole 9 yards- in the living room while I go look up a recipe and come back to find two little girls clad in only their diapers. Since they're happy as two little pigs in a puddle, I'll just leave them alone:)

I also love that twins are a good excuse for having two little girls in their PJs at 4:45 in the afternoon.

Uh OH!

When you're outnumbered, even at just three to two, it's good to have kids that can police them a little.

Yesterday, Bob and I were putting laudry away in the kids' rooms when Delaney zooms in saying, "Uh-oh, UH-oh, UH-OH!". We follow her back across the house through our bedroom and into our bathroom, the whole time hearing "Uh-oh, UH-oh, UH-OH!" Apparently she turned the water on in the tub and couldn't get it shut off! She was so serious- pointing and "uh-oh-ing"- that it seemed like she thought for sure she was in deep trouble.

No harm was done since she came and got us right away. The new handles are easy to turn, but the spout is on the opposite side of the tub and, unless she'd actually been in the tub, she couldn't reach the water. I think we're pretty safe because neither Delany nor Claire is a big fan of the tub since I let them try it out. When I turned on the bubbles for the first time, it scared them and they couldn't get out fast enough. They eventually got back in, but the bubbles, even for Kevin, are a no go.

Whew!

Last week was busybusybusy. I went down to Des Moines on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday for State Wrestling. I haven't driven that much in a year! Trevor wrestled on Wednesday and got pinned in both his matches so he was done pretty quick. He didn't wrestle poorly, but the competition was pretty good. Still, for just starting as a freshman, Trev improved dramatically over 4 years and just qualifying for state was quite an accomplishment. Plus, he's just a good kid overall and what aunt wouldn't be proud of that?

Bob and I took Kevin down on Friday for both sessions and ended up staying overnight at the same hotel with Sharon and the PV bunch. Kevin had a blast running around with Brett at the tournament and then getting to stay at the hotel and swim. We took the boys to PF Chang's and even talked Trevor into testing out a bite of calamari. It didn't kill him, but he only took one bite;) It was pretty fun getting to hang out out with my nephews for a while. Since they've gotten into jr. high and high school and I've been busy with babies, I haven't gotten to do that too often. They're sure way easier to take to a restaurant than the my little bunch!

We went down on Saturday for the finals- we were up in the top level, but we could see everything. Unfortunately, Trevor's teammate Travis lost his bid for back to back championships so it took some of the fun out of the evening. There was still some good wrestling, though, and I'm looking forward to seeing how Kevin likes it.

Well, that was fun.

I don't know where January went, but let's just move on.

Yesterday was quite a day. Mom and I loaded up Kevin, Delaney, and Claire and headed over to watch my nephew Trevor wrestle at the district tournament for a trip to the state wrestling tournament. Trev's a senior, but had never wrestled before his freshman year and just getting through sectionals to districts was a little bit of an upset. Of the other 3 kids in his bracket at districts, one was ranked #3 in the state, one he'd already lost to 3 times this season- including at sectionals, and one he'd never wrestled before. He lost to the ranked kid, beat the unknown, and ended up in a wrestleback for 2nd place and a trip to State with the one he'd wrestled against before.

He ended up finally beating this kid for the first time! He got a reversal with just a couple seconds left in the match to go to overtime, then got a takedown 13 seconds in to OT for the win.

It was just the best match I'd ever seen:) Claire and Delaney weren't so sure. Sitting in the middle of a bunch of clapping, cheering, screaming fans was a bit scary for them, but once it was over, they were out like a light.

Trevor's state meet starts Wednesday and, unfortunately, Bob has to work, so it'll just be me going to cheer him on. Hopefully he'll still be in by Friday so Bob and I can go down together and watch. Two of Trev's teammates also made it so there'll be plenty of cheering to do!

An interesting Christmas giving concept

On one of the forums I participate in, a poster gave her friend's idea for giving gifts. I thought it was a very practical and meaningful way of remembering the gifts that the Baby Jesus was given.

"My good friend... told me how she and her husband give their children gifts every Christmas in a way that reminds them of Jesus. They each get 4 gifts symbolizing gold, frankincense, myrrh and swaddling clothes.
Gold -- whatever they really, really want. A toy, video game, etc. Whatever is in your budget but it is only one thing.
Frankincense -- a scent... perfume, cologne, bubble bath, toiletry set even
Myrrh -- myrrh is a symbol of suffering and used for embalming. As a gift to the Christ child, it was a practical gift since He was to suffer and die. So this gift is something practical that they will need in the upcoming year. New clothes, shoes, backpack, school supplies, a book, etc.
Swaddling clothes -- pajamas, slippers, or a robeI thought some people here would be interested in a more Christ-centered gift giving plan. "

We've done some of those things. I've already gotten the kids new Christmas PJs, socks for the girls, and peppermint smelling shampoo and body wash, but I think I might try to follow this next year. Hopefully Kevin will be able to understand the meaning and it will help restrain the urge to over-indulge.

'Tis the season!

Nope, not Christmas. It's wrestling season! My nephew, Trevor, is a senior this year and Trev
s brother, Brett, will be starting wrestling once basketball is over. Trev had a double dual tonight and won in OT in his first match, then got a pin in the second. The first match was big because he beat a kid who had beaten him before and he'll have to wrestle again down the road. The kid he pinned was a JV filling in for a highly ranked (top-ranked?) teammate who was injured so what could have been a huge challenge for Trev turned out to be an easier match, but he wrestled well. It's great fun seeing how Trev has improved since he started wrestling as a freshman. Kevin will probably start wrestling a lot earlier than his freshman year of high school, but I hope he's as good of sport as Trevor is.

Kevin had a funny tonight. Bob asked him where his liver was and Kevin started off that it was on his toe and he gets them from stepping in the sharp grass. He thought Bob was asking him about a "sliver" instead of "liver"!

Oh, where to start?

Las Vegas was great. Lots of food, amazing shows, a nice hike in Red Rock canyon, some time with Bob, what's not to love:) We stayed at Mandalay Bay and saw KA at MGM and La Reve at the Wynn. Both were terrific. KA freaked Bob out a little. We were in the front row so the platform and heights got him a little nervous. La Reve is diving/water type stuff and quite beautiful. The theater is round so there's not a bad seat.

We ate at Strip Steak at Mandalay on Friday. Yum. Anyplace that can make french fries that make you want to lick the plate and even better steak is worth the $$. Saturday night we ate ate Diego at MGM. It was good, like a B, but compared to Strip Steak and then Aureole on Sunday night, it placed 3rd. Aureole was delish. We did the 7 course tasting menu and the only course that wasn't wonderful was the cheese course, but that's mostly because I don't care for strong cheeses. The tuna tartare was really excellent.

Speaking of food, the girls decided that weaning wasn't on the menu yet so we're still at it.

Thanksgiving was nice even though Bob was on call. He wasn't too busy and was around all Thursday while everyone was here. We had, as usual, plenty of food and lots of visiting. We're going to do Christmas at Beth's the Friday after Christmas so it looks like our Christmas Day is free since Becky is having Bob's family's Christmas the Saturday after Christmas.

Our bathroom still isn't even started, maybe the beginning of the year...I hope. We have everything except the labor.

Christmas shopping is basically done. A few toys and books for the kids, practical stuff for mom, the bathrooom and an Iowa t-shirt for Bob. I gave it to him early in case he wanted to wear it to the UI-ISU wrestling meet- won by Iowa:) - but he declined. Gift cards for the boys. Pretty basic.

Kevin has his pre-school program Thursday. They're singing "Away in the Manger", "Jingle Bells", "Mary Had a Baby Boy" and "Happy Birthday". I hope he behaves:) We made Christmas cookies with icing today. He's been hot to do that for a few days now and even though it's a great big mess, it's kind of fun and he loved it. He said that toys used to be his favorite, but now it's food (meaning candy!) and he really wants a lollipop for Christmas. There's a picture of a big, multicolored lollipop in one of his books that really caught his fancy. I found a green and white one at Target for his stocking, but I'm going to keep looking to see if I can find one that will fit his image.

The girls are getting new clothes. They are getting into a lot of 18 month stuff already. It seems like they should still be my little babies instead of my little climbing monkeys! Nothing is safe in the house, but they're sure fun to watch!

ETA: Delaney's in the red, Claire's in the black:)

Daylight savings time, holidays, and the Halloweenies

I used to love "falling back" to CST. Unless I had to work that night, it meant one more hour of sleep. Then I had babies and the extra hour was lost in the turmoil. Last night we put the kids to bed a little later than usual and they slept to about their normal time, which was fine until they all decided that they wanted lunch at 10:15am! Oh, well. They were satisfied with toaster strudels and a side of their favorite green beans. I, on the other hand, have been out of sorts since this morning has seemed extraordinarily long. I've watched Claire learn that throwing herself off the couch onto the blanket is great fun, Kevin cry really loudly when he got his finger pinched in a book, Delaney discover "hair" equals the stuff on our heads, and the Backyardigans discover that you can shake chocolate milk in the absence of a stirrer.



Even though November is still, technically, autumn, once Halloween is over, it just feels like winter. I'm thinking about roasting turkeys, prelit fake vs. real Christmas trees, and how amazon.com is trying to screw me over on their 4 for 3 promo. (Pssst, Amazon....splitting my order into 2 so it doesn't meet the eligibility criteria should get you a lump of coal in your stocking.



The kids did a good job trick or treating. Bob was on call so I loaded the girls in the wagon and Kevin walked until he could hitch a ride in Katherine and Samantha's wagon. We just went around the cul de sac and then up to visit Bob, which was just about right. Kevin was a lion, Delaney was a polar bear, and Claire was an elephant (all costumes Tom Arma- love them!)

The ending of an era

That's Claire in the white and Delaney (with her very best oversmile) in the brown.

How do you turn down these smiley faces?? I'm feeling a little verklempt tonight. My babies went to bed without their nightly snack from Mommy because I've decided to try to wean Claire and Delaney before we go to Las Vegas in 3 weeks. It's partly because I don't want to wean by abandonment, although they do fine with whole milk and regular food, and partly because my supply is going down and their more voracious nursing sessions cause some pretty bad vasospasms that I could sure do without. It'd also be nice not to have to haul the pump to Las Vegas.

Bob and I took Kevin to Trev's last football game on Friday night and had Assembly last night so they hadn't nursed for the last two nights, but this is the first time I've been around at bedtime and not nursed. It was odd to be just cleaning up the kitchen and not snuggling them to bed. I think I'll try the "don't offer, don't refuse" plan that I used with Kevin. It'll probably be more challenging for me than for them.

We made it 15 months and I always had it in my head that once we got past a year, it'd be a mutual decision to keep going. If we aren't completely done by the time we leave and they want to pick it up when I get back, it's no big deal, but their sessions have really tapered off in number and duration so I think they're ready too.

In other news, I'm typing this from the kitchen table. That's right- I've gone wireless. I found a relatively inexpensive laptop (allegedly a "family Christmas present" and for Kevin to use instead of my desktop;) ) and, with the invaluable help of my friend Nancy, I got a router set up. It's pretty neat and even Bob thinks it's handy to have a computer in the kitchen!

Top Chef finale

Casey choked, Dale missed big on one dish, and Hung was the winner. I was sort of hoping to see Casey win. She seems to have a good sense of what she needs to do even though I think she's by far the least experienced of the group. Hung was the best technical chef and just didn't make many big mistakes. Yes, he did stupid things like finish the trout challenge way early, look all arrogant, then forget lemon juice, but what he lacked in personality ( and perhaps caution- no running with knives!) he made up in skill. Dale was good with the BS, but he seemed to lack focus and had a hard time executing his vision completely...plus I didn't need to hear about the cowboy conquests!

St. Louis

St. Louis was a good trip. The weather ended up being in the low 80's- good thing I brought some warm weather stuff for the kids. It's got a ton of things to do with kids, but it's pretty easy to get around and would be good without kids too. We went to the zoo, Grant's Farm, the Arch, and Bob and Mom went through the courthouse. We stayed at the Hilton at the Ballpark. Terribly slow restaurant, mediocre room service, but decent rooms.

I'm always surprised at how much longer it takes to get places with kids, especially twins. People seem fascinated with them. We got so many looks and comments that after a while I just quit counting. I need some flip cards that say: Yes, they're twins. 14 months. Both girls. Yes, they keep me very busy.

Kevin had a bit of a rough trip. He came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease on Friday/Saturday. He'd complained that his tongue hurt when he ate, but we thought he had just bitten it because Bob didn't see anything on the middle of his tongue where Kevin complained of pain. Sunday morning he was super cranky and I finally convinced him to let me look. The whole edge and underside of his tongue was covered with sores. Poor guy! We were going to stay in Iowa City Sunday night, but decided to push through, which turned out for the best. Kevin was completely wiped out, but slept better in his own bed. In St. Louis, he'd insisted on sleeping in the regular bed instead of the crib. He had a little bit of a time getting to sleep and staying in the bed. He also fell out the first two nights, but I think our crib days are numbered!

Oktemberfest 5K

Bob and I finished the Oktemberfest 5K in Marshalltown yesterday in 33:48, so about 5 minutes faster than our first 5K on Labor Day. It was a lot flatter than the run around the lake, but we ran more too. Bob's sister Peggy started with us, but sent us ahead after a couple miles. I can't believe I'm saying that a 5K was really fun, but it was, even though we did get passed by the top 2 10K placewinners. Oh, well, I guess my next goal is to not get beat by the guys running twice as far as us!

We stayed in Marshalltown Friday night and the kids did fine without us so I think we're good to go to Vegas:)

The Beauty of Twins

Sometimes that fact that I have identical twins just amazes me. It seems like such a miracle that two little beings came from the same egg/sperm hookup. Yes, they are different in some ways. Claire smiles with her mouth, Delaney smiles with her eyes. Delaney has thicker hair, a little cafe au lait spot on her left forearm, a tiny notch in her ear cartilage, and will put her hand up to her mouth like "Oh! Oops!". Claire can scream like a horror movie star. Delaney is a little more laid back, Claire a bit more intense, but I couldn't say "Oh, that's Claire" or "Oh, that's Delaney" just based on behavior.

Sometimes, their sameness is almost comical. This morning, they fell asleep as we were out walking. They tend to fall asleep in exactly the same position- arms, legs, head, everything-and I was reminded of this picture from June when they fell asleep in their stroller as we walked around the loop.

Sometimes it's just the joy they seem to derive from having each other around. This afternoon, they were playing here in the office and pulled down their pajamas from the changing table shelf. They were just delighted with these new "toys" and put them over their heads and around their necks like the fanciest scarves, crawling around the house and giggling with each other. I grabbed a litle video and tried not to disturb the moment:)

Of course, 20 minutes after I took the video, they were tired and getting a little cranky. I had given Delaney the tiny piano toy and when Claire heard it, she high-tailed back over and tried to grab it away. Delaney put up a good fight, but Claire didn't earn the nickname "Pirate" without good reason. Delaney ended up in my lap getting a little snack. I'm not sure Claire was convinced she got the best deal when she saw that, but then they switched places and everyone seemed content in the end. I imagine it was a vision of the future.

A Kevin funny

This morning, we were driving out to my mom's house. She lives on a gravel road so there are just stop signs. Kevin just turned forward facing in his seat so he has a lot of questions like "Why isn't there a green light here?" so I've been telling him about red lights meaning stop, green mean go, and yellow mean watch out.
Since we were with my mom, I asked him to tell Grandma what red lights meant.
Kevin: "Stop!"
Me: "Green lights?"
Kevin:"Go!"
Me: "What about yellow lights?" thinking that he might not remember.
Kevin, without missing a beat: "GoGoGoGoGo!"

My mom about busted a gut laughing. I'm sure I've said "GoGoGoGoGo!" when I've come up to green lights turning yellow, but I had no idea he'd put two and two together!

November 16th

November 16th. That's the next day circled in red on the calendar. Bob and I are going to Las Vegas! Without kids!! I am positively giddy about this. I never traveled much before Bob, but he got me addicted to nice hotels, room service, and general sight seeing. We still travel with the kids, but it's just not the same and we haven't been away from home for more than one night since Kevin was born except for when I was in the hospital with the twins...which definitely did not count as a vacation. However, here's our chance to stay up late and not have to arise to the sound of "Mommmmmy, where aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrreeeeeeeee you?" or just "WAAAAAAAAAAH!" We're staying at the Mandalay Bay and I even went ahead and got tickets to KA. I.cannot.wait. I'm sure I'll miss my little sweeties some...okay, a lot...but I think we'll all be okay.

And what, you may ask, are we going to do with the kids? Mom and my aunt Marie have kindly agreed to take on the challenge of wrangling the bunch for 3 nights. We're doing a practice run on Friday night. Bob and I are going to go down to Marshalltown and staying over at Bob's sister's house so we can do the Oktemberfest 5K on Saturday morning. Hopefully the kidlets sleep through the night and don't scare off our good help!

We're going on vacation! Woohoo!