here's the lovely pear-shaped self working out with billy blanks and the tae bo crew....


here's why it's really hard to be anything other than a pear shape.....

here's why it's all worthwhile......

hard to believe that it's been nearly a week since my last post! LOL i'm not all that interesting, really....LOL i've really been a busy lady, too....

Thanksgiving went well....Erin and Griffin behaved rather well at Aaron's Aunt and Uncle's house....they live in a posh neighborhood nearby, and have so many breakables and nice things that we were all a bit nervous to go over there. i was also relegated to the basement for a while with the babies....oh, joy! LOL After a while, I told Aaron that I could watch my babies at home and get a nap on the couch just as well as in their basement, if not better. Everyone got my point and we were allowed back upstairs...ROFL

I got up early and did my part to fill the stores with people. I went to Michael's and bought the Slab IV, which I've been coveting since I first saw it. I lurve it, to use another person's phrase! hehe....I also bought some bobbins to organize the fibers that I have....I didn't realize how much I'd bought/accumulated until I went to wind them all on those little bits of plastic and cardboard! Oh, well...I've realized that I really don't need to leave my scrapcloset to have a good time! tee hee

Also over the weekend, I realized that I hit my 200 page goal for the year!! Can I tell you how proud of myself I am?? LOL Yes, people, my life has become judged by how many pages I can create a year! ROFL...But I'm very proud. Roll scrapbook wagon, roll!

My mom and stepdad paid us a surprise visit on Saturday. I didn't really anticipate their visit, but it was good, so I won't complain. I hadn't heard from her since my birthday, or shortly after, so I was wondering when I was going to get the call. Turning up on my doorstep was better. It's still very hard for me to feel close to her. And seeing that I really want that with my kiddos, it drives a bit of a knife in me to know that I'm likely to never have that with my own mom. And the older I get, the more I see that I don't think I really want that in the first place. Well, anymore. If it would have been started a long time ago, I would welcome it. But she didn't do her part then, so it's not going to happen now. And I'm finally OK with that, even if it does give me a heartache occasionally.

I've decided to get back on the Flylady bandwagon, at least to a certain extent....I really want to get a handle on my life. I know that I've a big problem with procrastination, and it really bogs me down....so....I'm dusting off the control journal. And Aaron's been helping me along...he stripped the bed this morning. It takes five of us to mess up the house, it should take more than one to get it clean again. We shall see......

note to self: when all is quiet when two girls are playing, sounds of breaking glass is sure to follow

i'm the proud owner of two new pairs of jeans!! :) well, one pair of jeans and a pair of cords....i've not had a pair of good cords in a while, so i'm a little happy. thanks to momma b for the gift cert! :)

it was a busy ol' weekend here in zookeeperland. friday night was spent cleaning out the cages....you would not believe how dirty this place gets! ack!

saturday was spent baking a cake for collin's birthday party at the bowling alley. the party was in the afternoon. can i tell you how much more appreciation i have for aaron's work?? ROFL.....i just about went nutty on the very short fifteen minute car ride over to aaron's parents (to drop off the babies....very very bad babies who weren't going to do well at the bowling alley due to fits of screaming in the morning....). three six-to-eight year-olds in the back of a minivan is just more than one person should endure.....or two, if you count aaron! ROFL anyway, the party went well, and collin's happy!

today was spent doing laundry....ack! and preparing for the week ahead. we're staying here for thanksgiving, which makes me kind of happy and sad at the same time. i'm really tired of traveling on the holidays, but wish that i could spend more time with my side of the family. oh, well....we're getting to the age that the only thing that matters is being a little five-person unit.

so...collin had a solo in his music program today. he did so well!! :) i was so stinking proud of him!

i got home and made some curtains for his newly painted room....i used chicago cubs material (five bucks a yard!! i could have bought curtains cheaper, i think!! ROFL).....we also got him some rope lights for his birthday...i think he's going to have a really cool room once we're done in there! :)

other than that, the only other bit of new news is that i started a new book today. it's called "p.s. I love you"....written by cynthia ahern (who, coincidentally, is only 22 years old and is the daugther of ireland's prime minister). we shall see how it goes... :)

Eight years ago today (well, eight years ago in about an hour) I gave birth to my first baby.......Are ya kiddin' me?? EIGHT YEARS??? LOL

He's such a big boy, you guys. You wouldn't even believe. He needed a hair cut, so I told him last night to get ready for it....he wanted a buzz cut!!! He wanted a buzz cut!! LOL All that pretty hair is gone!! He's pretty happy with it, so that makes it all good... :)

OK, so I'm depressed....I bent over to change a diaper today, and ripped my favorite pair of cropped pants!!

Going now to do Tae-Bo.... :)

so, i scrapped 2 more pages today.....coupled with the two from yesterday, and i now have done 18 pages in four days....i was figuring out when i did all the pages that i'd done in my 2001 book, knowing that all of them have been done this year....the bulk of them done before this latest scrapping frenzy were done in MARCH OR BEFORE!! i've had quite the dry spell this year! crazy shit, i tell ya....

so...over the weekend, collin's room got painted....way to go daddy! :) collin is now moved back into his room after spending two consecutive nights on the bed. the bad thing about his sleeping on the couch was last night, when i got to hear him cry himself to sleep over wizard! :'( on the bright side, however, is the fact that collin now has a decorated room! :) we are doing a sports theme, and so he has pennants and posters on a few of the walls...and all his karate belts on the rest of the walls...looks pretty sweet if i do say so myself! :D will post pics soon!

Rest in Peace

Wizard the Lizard

Beloved bearded dragon lizard, who would grace our presence on school holidays.

Sometime in the 1999-2000 school year -November 15, 2004

(anyone have tips to make it easier on my soon-to-be-eight year-0ld?)

The past few days have been really great! :)

On Thursday, I did wind up cleaning up a bit in my scraproom. So Friday, I was able to get in there in the evening and do a few pages. So far this weekend (and I'm not done, by any means!), I've done nearly 10 pages! Go me!! :)

Yesterday, I got the rare date with Aaron. We went downtown to see Phantom of the Opera. The tickets were an anniversary/birthday gift to me. Phatom is such a tragic story!! :( I've seen it before, and have most of the music memorized. My biological mom's parents went to see it in London with the original cast *green with jealousy!*.

After the show, we went to eat at Maggiano's. It's a newish Italian restaurant in Indy. The food was awesome! The worst part about it was that it got busy toward the end of our meal, and people were hovering for our table!! A lady actually came and asked us if we were leaving soon! ack!

OK, off to change a shitty diaper before going back into my scrap-closet! :)

ok...today's the day. today's the day where i shall get something accomplished. today will not be the day where i do the following:

1. see if i can make two stars in Scrabble Blast by beating my score.
2. see if i can find yet another fun blog to read
3. post on every message board that i am member of
4. piss off Aaron any further by having an unreasonalby high score in Zuma
5. play back-to-back Literati games with Nancy and Andrea

but today will be the day where I:

1. clean up my scraproom
2. clean off the computer desk of anything other than bills (ack!!)
3. maybe even scrapbook a page? perhaps start the babies' albums?

wish me luck....and if you see my butt on here, tell me to get to work! ;)

happy thursday, all....it shall be a yucky day..it's raining to beat the band outside... :(

could someone please pass the aspirin?


or....better yet...could someone take two 21 month-old babies off my hands for a few hours? ;)


on a high note, i'm going to a scrapbooking class tonight! :D

Collin's little lesson of the week....

"the average towel bar will not withstand the weight of an average eight year-old boy"

Well, I went to the March of Dimes Volunteer Leadership Conference, and I have to say that it was a good learning experience. I am going to be a team captain for a walk team this year, and I'm also looking into what else I can do for the charity. Because my babies were so incredibly premature, I could volunteer to be an Ambassador for March of Dimes. So many of the things that MOD has been a part of are what kept the babies alive those first few months. So this has become quite a mission for me.

Did you know that 1 in 10 babies in the US is born too soon? (before 37 weeks)
Did you know that March of Dimes helped fund the research for things like:

• the Polio vaccine?
• Surfactant therapies for extremely premature babies (like Erin and Griffin) so that they could breathe easier and get off the ventilator sooner?
• education for Folic Acid in prevention of neural tube defects?
• education for the promotion of Newborn Screenings (such as the Apgar) for EVERY child?

The list goes on.

For those of you who are the scrapbooking sort, I'm running a campaign of my own until November 16. November 16 is National Premature Awareness Day. The profits from any Leaving Prints order placed on my website : http://stephaniebyers.leavingprints.us between now and November 16 will go ENTIRELY to the March of Dimes. So, go ahead and place an order to help save babies! Not only will you get great scrapbooking supplies, you will get the satisfaction of knowing that you've helped the March of Dimes further it's mission!

i've just recently signed up for Blog Explosion. it's a fun way to see other people's blogs and to get more people visiting your site....g'ahead...check it out....you know you want to! HAHAHA

anyway, you can surf other people's blogs that way.....i've enjoyed it thusfar.

The weekend's here....well....in seven hours it will be! The last kiddo is leaving at around 6:00 pm. tonight, but I'm going to have to leave earlier than that....I'm going to a conference for the March of Dimes. Since the kids were so premature, I've realized just how much MOD has done to help save premature babies. My twins (born at 26 weeks) are alive today because of some of the research that MOD has funded!

On a more personal note, Griffin (one of the 26 weekers!), sang "If You're Happy and You Know It" with me today!! What a big boy! *sniff, sniff*

Blog Explosion really does get more people surfing your blog! :) Thanks to all who have been surfing as of late! :) It's been really neat to see that there are so many people out there that keep an online diary.

And for those of you who have asked, yes, I can speak German. I was a German teacher for a year before I retired from the profession. That's a long story for another day! :)

So, ja, kann ich ein bißchen Deutsch sprechen und lesen. Aber es ist seit so lange, daß ich sie nutzen, so ich habe so viel verlernt! :(

(So, yes, I can speak and read a little German. But it's been a long time since I've used it, so I have forgotten so much!)

i'm a bit on the headachy side today.... :( i think it has something to do with the ever-changing weather. this time last week, while a bit on the rainy side, was completely warm....now it's cold and rainy.... :( oh, well....i'll eventually get to sit outside and let the kids play on a cold DRY playset! :D

you know, i really love the fact that i live in America....but what i don't understand is how skewed the news and media are worldwide.... who's getting the wrong views? are we not being told the entire truth in the news? or are we being told the truth and are choosing to ignore it? it's truly bothersome to me! it's amazing how this election has spurred me into WANTING to read the news more and to be more educated in world events. funny how i was so content to simply exist in my own little smaller-than-an-acre piece of this world and to simply deal with the issues in the house. not that there aren't issues to be had here! but i exist on a more simplistic scale than most people. in a recent conversation with my grandpa, he told me that living in a country is like being part of a club. in order to be a part of a club, you generally have to follow certain rules and have certain duties to uphold. that was a very powerful conversation for me.

and, i can't vouch for this election or any other election except 1996, when i voted last, but i am going to be a more active participant in the next election. voting at the primaries and doing my part in choosing the right candidates. i can't see myself standing for any certain party. i just simply can't say that any one party has all the answers. that makes it incredibly difficult. perhaps i will make it my duty to do a better job in researching that, too.

i'm sad.....the twins have taken to hitting my face when i ask for a kiss!!! *waaaaaaaaaaaaah!*

why must children do this to their mommies?? if they're hungry, and dad's in the same room, they still will run and attach themselves to my legs....if i want a kiss, they'll act like they're going to kiss me and then hit me with quite a whollop! :(

*returning to my little space of self-pity*

Two Major Reasons Why It's Not Always Fun to Be the Zookeeper....

1) Vote? Nope...there's no voting because the wait was TWO HOURS LONG!!! I had to get back to the babysitter who was babysitting the babysitting kids...lol....oh, well......while every vote counts, mine wasn't going to be one of them this year. i'm pretty disappointed about it... :(

2)Your sheets could meet the fate that mine did yesterday....i'm sparing you actual pics and leaving it to "one of the babies let 'er rip on my bed yesterday". 'nuf sed

first day back at work was a pretty good day. i enjoy my little ones so much....most of the time! :D it seems like everyone gets bigger with a week without their Miss Steph, ya know?? *sniff, sniff* what big kids... :)

i'm having trouble sleeping at night.....i don't know what is causing the insomnia, but i'm definitely having issues with it!!! grrrr......i'm dog-tired by the time beddy-bye time rolls by, and toss and turn before finally settling in to sleep. *shrugs* maybe i got too much rest over my vaca? ;)

i'm still hem-hawing over my voting decisions.....i live in a historically republican state, so i'm sure that Bush will win out, but i still feel it's my duty to figure out whom i support more, ya know? what still kills me is that this is only the third time i've been old enough to vote! ROFL

like Hammer, i think i'm going to support Bush this go. is he a perfect President? nope. i think that he's done some cock-a-maney things in the past four years....i don't necessarily agree with the war if it's true that there really wasn't any threat of WMD's, but i do think that we need to give the troops the suport that they deserve. i do think that we need to do a better job in afghanistan, too. but you know? i'm definitely no expert on such matters, so i think that Bush is doing the best that he can with what he's been dealt. and at this point, it's not that i'm voting for him, but more voting against Kerry. i think that he would be a poor leader for our country, somehow. maybe it's the fact that he runs around toting the fact that he's Catholic but is supportive of partial birth abortion?? if the things i've read are correct, the baby is partially out before it is killed. hel-fucking-lo? how could you even dream of that? maybe i'm just a little too emotional, being the mother of former 26 weekers. i've seen the miracles of what medicine can do to make such premature babies as "normal" as possible. and i've heard stories of women who very well could have died if they didn't deliver their babies at such devastatingly premature gestations. at any rate, toting the fact that he's Catholic really burns my ass. yes, i'm Catholic...but i'm a convert, too! ;) and i do know that kerry stands for things that go against the very grain of Catholic beliefs.

*stepping down off my soapbox*

at any rate, it's my goal today to call five people (at least) and see if they'll have a Leaving Prints show for me. i really want to get things going, and i'm afraid i've been lazy for way too long.

so...off to the phone i go... :)

Here are the Halloween photos... It was a bunch of fun.

Griffin was an Army-man...but didn't keep the breastplate on for more than five seconds....


Collin, complete with ghouly mask and cape......


She's definitely a princess, but Erin is no lady! LOL


They made it walking for a few houses, and then got to ride around the block....

ok....we're going to hit the camping pics first..... :)

we went to Versailles State Park in Versailles, Indiana. It was a quiet little park, where you go when you just want to hang out. Unfortunately, this isn't good to do with toddler twins when it rains..... We still had a good time, though! :)

On Thursday night, we got to the park and set up camp. Here is our little site, complete with the new camper. :)


Here are Dad and Collin, playing cards.


We went to the Newport Aquarium (just south of Cincinnati, OH) on Friday, as the weather reports stated that there was a hefty chance for rain. Well, the weather was absolutely beautiful, so we could have stayed where we were and lounged (and saved $50!!), but we had fun, anyway.

On Saturday, we went to Madison, IN. It is an absolutely adorable little town. I'd never been there. It's right on the Ohio River, and is nestled in the valley of humongous hills that Aaron refers to as mountains...if for no other reason than to piss me off. hehe

Here is my little man and I at the lunch table at the "Downtowner". I had some absolutely yummy chicken salad there! :)



The most important people in my life....minus one. :)


A stinking cute photo of the babes. We found a little playground to run some baby energy off.