As usual, when Texas forecasters predicted snow this week, we didn’t hold our breath. However Thursday we were hit with this giant snowstorm with huge flakes and snow that actually stuck. I was in shock! Even more shocking was Texas’s reaction to the snowstorm-that’s right, shutting down school (even preschool) an hour early, traffic accidents left and right, and pretty much widespread panic in all directions.
It didn’t stop Mad and Liv from getting right to work enjoying the backyard.
and yes, that is our backyard-to be recognized by the weeds.
All day Olivia kept going to the back door and saying “Mo!” which is actually translation for: figure out what I want or you will suffer the wrath…
But outside she was actually quite peaceful.
The other day we were at Costco and the girls found this little play cabin complete with a grill, cordless phone, puppet show, basketball hoop, and porch. Ryan and I joked that if we brought this thing home, the girls would likely move into it. Well, he took me up on it because Friday he surprised us all coming home in James’s van with the cabin in the back. So far nobody has moved out yet because it’s only been in tact for a couple of hours, but the girls have grilled up a mean plate of dinosaur bones, placed a few thousand phone calls, performed hours of puppet shows with puppets Honey and Honey …
If there’s even any question, Liv is to be found trapped outside the cabin, ringing the doorbell over and over and over. Tonight I overheard London say to her, “Livvy! Go play with your baby!”
Which brings me to:
I am pregnant. Yes folks, come September we will be evening things out for good! Every day the thought of four kids puts me more in a panic; however not as much as our current odd number of kids puts me in a panic. 
As expected, L & M were the last to know about their new little sibling, and seem pretty excited about it, telling just about every random stranger in Boston Market that Olivia’s getting a twin! It’s even added a new dimension to every dinner conversation yes, the ol’–how did the baby get here/how does the baby come out/is there a baby in my tummy? hoopla. And I believe we have Brent to thank for the phrase “pooping out a watermelon,” which has strangely made its way into our discussion. (Just wait until that one comes up at Boston Market…)
But I did chuckle that London’s solution to the cabin situation was to have Liv go find her own twin.
When we all know she’s just waiting for them to go to preschool so she can break into their stash. Oh that sneaky Liv. And in case anybody is wondering, L & M & O have already come up with a name for the baby (which we are 99.5% sure is a girl)-are you ready? Our baby will be named–
CUTIE.
Saturday I went to the library kidless, and even then I couldn’t leave without picking up a few selections for the twins on the way out. One in particular:
Oh look, a book about summer with a little girl on a swing. What could be better for two little girls who love swings and summer? Or rather, as we learned circa 8:30 pm tonight, the first chipper line in this book is:
Grandma and Grandpa are getting a divorce.
REALLY? The Days of Summer is about Grandma and Grandpa’s divorce? By the time I’d read the first line out loud to the twins, at least the part down to the last word that kind of, trailed: ‘divoooooor– hmmmm!’
Ryan snickering in the background, incredulous. And the next ten minutes or so trying to explain the pictures to the children without in fact disclosing an inkling of the story. Oh look, they’re eating ice cream! Oh look, they’re going to bed. Finally Maddie asks, “Are you reading it or just telling it?”
Don’t get me wrong, I have no qualms about explaining hard life events to children via storybooks. Our potty training book did wonders, even down to the fact that the main character, who happened to have blonde hair, triumphantly explained ‘I don’t like to be dirty! I don’t like to be wet!’ From then on, she became the little pigtailed, potty-trained heroine of the story, not to mention of our lives. We brought home story books about moving and starting school, and especially about being a big sister. Yes, I would say we rely on books quite often in life, except to explain life events that frankly, and thankfully, aren’t events in our life.
And so, for the next three weeks Ryan and I will have to circumvent the actually story part of this story, maybe concocting a whole new tale out of the pictures of a sad, sad looking mom and a sad, sad looking dad. I might also note there is no mention in the story of swings, or summer for that matter, which makes a person wonder what could possibly bring about the title, Days of Summer. I guess the old ‘book by its cover’ adage holds true even for kids books…a brief flip-through could have prevented the whole thing. Oh well, at least The Great Pig Search did not disappoint!