This afternoon and evening

we set up the girls' room-

put together their beds, hung shelves and curtains and pictures. It looks so girly and cute! Now we just need a couple sweet girls to make it complete.

I'm so excited that the room is taking shape because the girls will be staying with us for nine days in about a week. I want them to feel like they have a place all their own. I can't wait.

Autumn

Crisp, cool air
Orange pumpkins
Red leaves
Caramel Apples
A warm fire in the fireplace
Rainy mornings
Cinnamon rolls
going to school
watching a movie
hot chocolate
with a shot of peppermint syrup
Cozy naps wrapped in
a warm, fuzzy blanket
holding hands
wearing my denim jacket and
the scarf Lisa gave me last Christmas

Ingrid Michaelson on Carson Daly -

Love this song! It's on the Old Navy commercial.

Wednesday's Blessings

• Running errands in my hip new minivan-oxymoron?


• Napping while the girls napped


• Pink roses from my student, Madison


• Dinner at Outback Steakhouse with Matt and the girls


• Hugs, cuddles and kisses from my sweet girls


• This quiet time when when everyone else is asleep


• Assurance that God is working out His plan in our lives

I want to write something happy

and fluffy and funny to all of you.

But I am just so overwhelmed. The past few days I feel like I am running on empty and the slightest irritation may push me over the edge.

• a visit to the gynecologist
• a mysterious rattling in the back of my car
• dog hair on my shirt
• the neighbors putting on a new roof

You get the idea. I'm just so emotionally drained. I'm tired.

But I did read a cute joke on my juice box. So I'll end with something light :).

Q: How do you find a princess? A: Just follow the foot prince.

My sister, Lisa,

makes incredibly beautiful jewelry. I am continually in awe of her new designs.

Be still my heart

I put their hair in buns this morning, and it was just about the cutest thing I've ever seen.

They are such beautiful girls-inside and out. It's so much fun getting to know their personalities.

Today I went against everything I believe in

and bought the girls Barbie song players that came with a Barbie song book.

We went to Borders before preschool this morning. I was thinking we'd have fun looking at books together.

All they wanted to look at was Disney princess and Barbie books.

I have never been into dolls or princesses and certainly not Barbies. I remember my friends would want to play Barbies, and I would be sitting there thinking, "What do we do with these things?" "What is the point of putting different outfits on them?" I just didn't get it.

But I guess the girls get it, because they are about all things girly-nail polish, make up, dresses, jewelry, and prinesses and Barbies.

I bought them the song players because I figured the pros outweighed the cons. There is no picture of Barbie on the player, and they have lots of cute kids songs, sung in a non-obnoxious tone.

The book, on the other hand, is filled with images of the buxom, blond-haired, blue-eyed, midriff-baring woman. Let the warping of their body image begin.

I don't think we'll keep the books.

Gracie woke me up this morning

by barking loudly and persistently at an intruder. She's such a good guard dog.

Actually, it was just John, our friend who is fixing up the backyard for our girls.
There is a nasty old dried-up pond that John is disassembling. It has to be done for our home inspection and it has needed to be done for a long time.

Things are buzzing at the Rouses. Everything is in disarray. Everything is half complete-the garage, the backyard, the girl's room. There is the transition all about. Very unsettling.

Just so cute!

I love how their hands are positioned exactly the same way.

Our little sweethearts.

We are now having them sleepover 2 or 3 nights a week. In October they will be spending nine nights with us while their grandparents are in Tahoe. Wow!

It seems like the transition of bringing them to live here is moving forward slowly but surely.

We did it!

We are now the poor, I mean, proud owners of a 2004 Toyota Sienna. Such a mom-car, and I love it!

We just bought bunk beds

and now we are researching vans. I'm kind of freaking out. It's just really big. So so much bigger than me. And it's really good, but it's hard too.

So much to do, so little time

The girls spent the night again last night. Good times-park, painting, singing, dancing, bath time...

I dropped them back off at their grandparents this morning, and then I was off to work. As I was heading out the door, I asked the girls for hugs and kisses. One was willing, but the other said, "I'm too busy."

Oh, sure, I understand. Maybe you could check your daytimer and get back to me some time next week. You're THREE!

They make me laugh.

Yum!

My friend, Kelly, is starting a cupcake business. How fun is that?

She is beautiful, talented and creative. I can't wait to order some!

We have to clean out our garage

The requirement on our foster care home inspection checklist is stated like this:

• Garage is to be free from clutter and hazards

Now, I've always thought garages were specifically set aside for all the clutter and hazards you don't want to keep in the house. So needless to say, we have a lot of work to do. Paint, a rusty weight bench, an old chainsaw, gardening tools, and on and on. So, I've started going through our stuff, deciding what to get rid of and what to give away and what to reorganize.

The first item to go was the old beat-up weight bench and the 500lbs of weights that go along with it. Not as easy as you might think. It cannot be thrown into the weekly trash bins-too heavy. I called for a special trash pick up-they don't take exercise equipment. My last and only option-drive this stuff to the Irvine dump and pay $37.35 to get rid of it. Whatever, I'm desperate at this point.

So, I found the dump in Irvine after circling the block a few times. Let me tell you, it is another world. It's a scary, loud place that smells of fish and fruit loops. Hills and hills of refuse.

I went after work, so I was in a white skirt and flip flops. Everyone was looking at me like, "What the &*^%?" I probably had the same look on my face. And I had to unload the stuff myself. Surprise! Filth, stench, and me hauling weights out of the trunk. Hilarious!

I need your advice

on some good toys for 3 1/2 year old girls. I want to get quality things for them that stimulate their imagination, but aren't ugly, noisy or Disney.

Some of my favorite things I to do with them are:

• beading necklaces
• watercoloring
• magnetic dress-up dolls
• sidewalk chalk
• bubbles
• playdough
• large legos

So, what do you think?

Remembering Made Me Laugh

Yesterday I was driving, and I had a memory from high school. It made me laugh out loud, in my car, by myself. So, here it is:

Lisa and I had two best friends in high school, Staci and Amy. The four of us were inseparable.
Every summer, the four of us would vacation at a lake in Northern California with Amy's family. Tanning (or burning in my case), skiing, swimming, jet-skiing. Chocolate malts at the Shake Shack, lunches at a little restaurant called The Kettle. So much fun.

Oh yea, and we thought it was really cool to howl, whistle, and yell out to cute guys driving or walking by. Thinking back now, I can't believe we did that.

One night, we were walking down the road as a jeep was approaching with four guys piled inside. So, we launched into our typical reaction-calling to them, whistling, etc. As they drove past us, one of them called something out.

We were split on what exactly he said. One of us thought he said, "Meet us at The Kettle!" Another thought he said, "Go back to the kennel!"

Ha! I guess we'll never know if we were complimented or insulted that night. What a bunch of geeks we were!

105

I didn't know a temperature could get that high.

But last night one of my little sweeties was that sick. Just burning up. Poor thing.

She was up most of the night. It was so sweet to be able to take care of her. To soothe her by giving her medicine and a cooling cloth and snuggling her and smoothing her hair.

I'm beginning to feel I need them as much as they may need me.

It's good to be a "mommy."

Sushi Love

Fresh, healthy, flavorful. Matt and I can't get enough sushi.
Tonight, around 9:30, we decided to get some for dinner. Neither of us had eaten yet.
Well, let me tell you, it is impossible to get sushi on a Tuesday night after 9:00 pm in this town. After driving to three different places, we gave up the fight.
We ate Mexican food instead. Good. But not sushi.

Overwhelmed

My head continues to spin, spin, spin. I am grumpy. I am stressed. I am not very much fun right now.
But, I did get to have a tall, ice-cold glass of fresh-brewed iced tea during lunch today with my sister. Iced tea and my sister at the same time. How bad can things really be?