Thursdays are stealthy! Too often, they slip by unnoticed. So, hey, here it is Friday again and I’m lacking a T^4.

Yesterday wasn’t actually a very good day, but surely I can find three terrific things…

• Josh called. I’m so ready for him to be back! He’ll be home late tonight and doesn’t fly out again until Tuesday.
• School! That’s nearly 3.5 hours of errand running that I get to do by myself.
• Brown rice tortillas and Hatch roasted green chiles… I could live on that.

Tomorrow, my sister and I are going to spend the day wandering in and out of various galleries and museums in Dallas. Now that will be terrific. I miss art. Art is even better than green chile.

Brandon & Josh, at the mall a few weeks ago:

Max and Khai have been such… BOYS lately. They have so much energy; I don’t understand where it all comes from. I’ve taken to having them run laps around the back yard in hopes of burning some of it off, but I think it actually cranks them up some more. Truly, it’s maddening. They have taken to jumping on each other and me, leaping off the furniture, and wrestling with anything they can get their hands on (pillows, chairs, toy trucks). It’s exhausting. I’ve been trying to keep their minds occupied, but it’s tough. Max asks questions faster than I can formulate answers– why does static electriciy exist? Are there electrons in water? What happens to friction in water? Did you know you could modify a staple gun to shoot pennies? Mommy, let me tell you how an internal combustion engine works. I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING. He is also a Jedi Knight, having caught and squished a fly with his bare hands. Max claims to have some good ninja moves, and thinks when he is eight or ten he might want to be in a fight — don’t worry, Mommy– I’ll probably win. Khai thinks his ninja moves are better, and that he will win even if they fight right now. Khai is still very much into superhero everything, and leaps from things as if he expects to defy gravity. I have to give him credit, though: he’s a tough kid. There are times when I expect tears, but he sits for a moment to gather himself and then tries the stunt again. He has started sounding out words so he can write secret passwords and notes– because he’ll probably be a spy when he grows up. Or maybe Spider-Man… a ninja Spider-Man, with super-duper-alley-ooper-trooper radioactive powers.

Fortunately, we’ve had the tv off for most of the summer. When it is on, the only kid show Max will watch is Beakman’s World — he thinks cartoons are boring. He has filled our DVR with episodes of Mythbusters, How It’s Made, and Whose Line is it Anyway. The latest tv gem? “Buttcracks of the rich and famous”, a term which Max learned from Whose Line is it Anyway. I’ve now asked him to only watch that show with me or daddy.

Khai is a little easier– he doesn’t really want to watch any tv unless it’s Superfriends or the Justice League. Even then, he’d still rather be running around pretending to BE a superhero. However, Khai is more Nintendo-obsessed than Max. He’d be happy to play games all day long if I let him (and thinks I’m pretty mean because I won’t).

In an attempt to quell the ninja-spy-Mythbuster-superhero-death-defying-flying-Jedi-action, we have been doing crafts and reading a lot of library books. There’s only so much mess that can happen with construction paper, and it doesn’t usually involve broken bones or furniture. Recent crafts: kangaroo puppets, pirate costumes, necklaces for Aunt Rachel’s birthday, stamped cards, totem poles, and a clubhouse made out of a giant box. Max & Khai are both still enjoying the Magic Treehoues series, so we’ve been reading as many of those as we can get our hands on (yay, Half-Price Books!). Science books from the library are also a hit, and we’ve found a few Star Wars books there, too.

School starts this Thursday… I survived the summer! Both boys are very excited, and I so look forward to solo grocery shopping, errand-running, and doctor appointments. Hmm, and having them at school for part of the day means that they have less time in which to mess up the house! At the same time, I have to admit to being a little sad that summer’s already over… even though they make me crazy sometimes, I’ll miss them.

Something crawled into my sock yesterday while I was mowing the lawn. It bit me twice, and now my whole ankle is red and swollen. Khai thinks I should probably get ‘incivility’ (invincibility) because he says that will fix all of me. If it were only that easy, yeah?

I actually got out of bed to come do this. Now that’s proof of commitment! Or proof that I should be committed.

Three Terrific Things Thursday:
1) I got to do dishes again today, and yes, I am still excited about doing the dishes. It takes me less time to unload the dishwasher because I no longer have to unstack, strategically re-stack, carefully place the stack, and then pray. It’s so easy now! I open the door, put the clean dish in, and close the door. OMG, I had no idea it could be like this. And the sink! I do love this sink. I might be going a little OCD on it– it’s so easy to clean! So I keep cleaning it, smiling all the while.

2) Max and Khai are terrific every day. I know they are common T^4 fodder, but how can they not be when they bring me more happiness than I thought possible? They are so different from each other, and it makes me love each of them all the more… such unique, creative, loving, curious little guys. How’d I get so lucky?

3) Fresh strawberries, kale, red chard, broccoli, eggplant, bell peppers, onions, blueberries, squash, spinach… we went to Sprouts today. Yay, fresh produce! It makes me happy to see my kids excited about it, and even happier that they love to eat most of it. Khai won’t eat tomatoes and Max won’t eat avocados, but they ask for everything else by name. Hopefully they will eat this well when they get to make their own choices about food later on in life.

Extra bonus happy thing: mah hubby comes home tomorrow! I sure do miss him.

This Thursday really has been terrific. WE HAVE A WORKING SINK!!!! This morning we had the countertop with integrated sink installed… that was terrific all on its own. But then! My dear husband, who happens to be a Guy Who Knows How To Do Things, got to be both a plumber and an electrician. He not only rewired the stove and got it working, but also hooked up the sink and dishwasher. How lucky am I to be married to such a versatile man? It was a beautiful thing to cook a *real* dinner and then wash those dishes. No more restaurant food for like… months. Talk to me after Christmas.

I’m about to fall over, I’m so tired… but I got almost all of our dishes put into the cabinets. We actually have room for everything. That has never happened before. It’s a little weird because I have to decide where I want things to live– before, it was a shove-it-in-where-it-fits situation. No longer! There are actually empty shelves in there. It boggles the mind.

Next up: our grout gets sealed in the morning. We have to put up some new drywall on one side of the room and then retexture everything. I need to figure out what color I want to paint the walls. Then, crown molding and baseboards. The under-cabinet lighting needs installed still. Only ideas are in place for the tiled backsplash– once that’s all figured out I’ll get to work on it. The new light should be here any day now that goes above the sink. We need to move the fan and replace the doors for both the pantry and the a/c closet. I think that’s it. There’s a long way to go still, but at least we’ve got a functional kitchen in the meantime! I see lots of ridiculously joyful dish-washing in my future.

Ok, so that was just a handful of terrific things tossed in a blender… I can’t pick only three so you get a terrific milkshake, instead. Mmm, tasty. Happy Friday, all!

Yesterday: gooshy love, contentment, happiness and fun with my kiddos.
Today: Khai bit me on the rear end.

The boys and I drove my niece up to my parents’ place yesterday– they drove up to Norman to visit Matt & Chris, and offered to take Evie with them. I cried when it was time for them to go… I’m such a sap. I only had her here for five days, and even though it was not an easy five days, it was hard to say goodbye. She will be much more content at home with her Mommy & Daddy, and I can return my family to our regular schedule (and clean all the things that did not get cleaned last week).

After we returned from dropping Evie off, I took the boys to play Lunar Golf in Denton. It’s your basic indoor miniature golf setup, only with blacklight and lotsa glow. Max and Khai left much to be desired in their putting techniques, but each got a hole in one (which is more than I can say for myself). We had a good time, and I was just feeling happy and grateful to be their Mommy.

But today? We need a do-over.

They’ve been fighting with each other (the screaming, OMG, the screaming) and have been grumpy all day. I reached the end of my patience before we were even done with breakfast. Seriously, I won’t go into details, but Khai bit me 45 minutes ago and it STILL HURTS. He’s still in his room. I don’t know what to do with the boy. His Nintendo will be in exile for the next week or so, though.

It’s a good thing that Josh is at the office today, because he’d probably be even angrier than I am.

What a week it has been… you so quickly forget how much work babies are! Also, did you know that babies drool A LOT? I forgot that part, too. Evie is quite enamored with Max and Khai– her whole face lights up when they come into the room. When she can hear them but can’t see them, she leans her entire body toward the nearest door, as if she’s trying to steer me in their direction. So cute. :) The boys are getting a taste of what a baby sister would be like, and they have decided that they don’t want one. They didn’t realize that she’d want to play with whatever they are playing with, nor that babies are loud. Now they know. Max has been especially helpful; Khai seems to be a little jealous of my time and has been a little more difficult than usual. Understandable, all things considered. My sister-in-law got out of the hospital today, and I hope she’ll be able to get better rest at home. They determined that it was not meningitis, but have apparently left her with a vague diagnosis: she has an infection. Go, medical science, GO!

So, terrific things, three of them:

1) Eve slept last night! Which means I got sleep, too. Oh, that was wonderful… the night before I got about three hours of sleep. Ouch. I’m too old for that, and she’s too young. Helloooo, cranky baby.

2) Max & Khai would be a great big-brother team, but I am content with my family of four. These two kids amaze me daily and make me happier than I thought possible. Oh, and they make me laugh a lot– icing on the cake.

3) I have an absolutely kick-ass new vacuum sweeper! It’s so, so sad how excited I am about it. It’s a Dyson– and while it wasn’t cheap, I am happy to pay for something that actually works. We have been through too many hundred-dollar vacuums. It pulled up SO MUCH DIRT out of a patch of carpet that I’d vacuumed about 20 times already with my old vacuum. There’s a story behind that, but it’ll have to wait! I have to get to bed just in case Eve decides to have another restless night. Wish me luck, ok?