Attention! I have a very important, possibly life-changing announcement: You can let someone else watch your kids for a few hours and THEY WILL BE OK. Even during dinner time! Even during bed time! I have done some very scientific research in this area* and not only were they FINE, they both slept a full 12 hours and Evan woke up asking for her to come back and play. I am suddenly drunk with the power of babysitters – we could go see a movie in a theater! We could eat dinner at a restaurant without high chairs! We could get fancy dressed up and go to a ball! (No, really, the Navy loves to throw balls)(Insert balls joke here). But mostly I feel one bazillion percent better about leaving the kids with my parents next week.

*Scientific research = one evening out for a charity auction where E and his co-workers attempted to kill their livers.

Sunday:

Rearranging

My new view from the couch

Now I think we need a bigger couch

Monday:

Ok, we moved all the furniture. When does the organization fairy show up to clean up this mess?

Still hates shirts

Hanging a new family gallery

Tuesday:

Wheeeeeere's Evan?

The Bubble Guppies are stalking me

Sunshine

Wednesday:

Excited to be at gymnastics

Sitting like a big girl

Awwwwwwww

Thursday:

Eating her breakfast off the floor like a dog. Typical morning.

Somebody get those kids away from the escalator!

That looks...not comfortable

Friday:

Watching the birds

I love baking, really, but biscuits from a can are the BEST BISCUITS

The family that brushes together, avoids ridiculous dental costs together

Saturday:

Please Mom, I want some more

Checking out couches. E was not impressed.

The intended theme of the silent auction was a luau. The ACTUAL theme was alcoholism.

Today I had a much-needed spa appointment, although not the kind of relaxing appointment you’re probably thinking of. Much-needed because I’m going to be in a bathing suit all next week. So yeah, now that I’ve shared way TMI, I’m going to go watch a movie with my boys and eat hummus.

Did you take any camera phone photos this week? Link up with one or lots using the linky below and grab the code (so it shows on your blog too!) over at Amy’s . It’s really fun!

We rearranged the first floor over the weekend, flipping the dining room with the family room and taking down all our baby gates. The new layout involves a lot more kid-chasing but it means we’re using our WHOLE HOUSE instead of just one corner. And gosh, the light in the yellow (former) dining room sure is pretty.

Our vacation is quickly approaching – 19 daaaaaaays!!! – and although I am insanely excited about it I’ve started to think about the practical aspects of leaving the kids and house in someone else’s hands for a week and I’m freaking out.  My reasons are two-fold, and I will of course tell you about them now in great detail.

Reason 1 is because how can anyone besides me take care of my beautiful, special, magical snowflakes? They are delicate flowers! Fragile angels! Helpless babies! No one besides me can give them the care and love and constant attention they require to blossom and grow on a daily basis. I am their Mother, giver of Life, completely Irreplaceable.

Of course on a daily basis my love and life-giving mostly involves handing them cheese, playing trains, pouring juice and making sure they don’t kill each other. Not exactly rocket science.

But on the other hand, there ARE a lot of small things that matter an enormous amount to two toddlers but other people wouldn’t know. At bedtime, Evan wants me to sing his songs in a specific order. Caroline likes different sippy cups than Evan does. Her favorite games are hard to understand unless you realize punching you in the face is playing. When Evan asks for a “chocolate bar” he means a granola bar. Are their lives going to be RUINED if someone else does things differently for a week? No, of course not. And because my folks are coming here to our house the amount of change really is minimal. I just want things to be as easy as possible for everyone.

Reason 2 is because there are going to be PEOPLE in my HOUSE and I won’t be here to help them find things which means when they need extra towels or more toilet paper they are going to be opening closets and looking under beds and oh God it’s giving me heart palpitations just THINKING about it. Despite my best efforts and intentions, I am not a well-organized person. Yesterday I “cleaned” the guest room, which consisted of ten minutes untangling yarn, three minutes staring hopelessly at the giant pile of stuff still left to organize and thirty minutes of shoving craft supplies under the bed. Success! Or…not. At least it looks better than the cabinet under the bathroom sink. Or the pantry. Or our bedroom. Or – OH GOD – the basement. THE BASEMENT.

Then there’s the tiny issue that my mother is the kind of person who cleans my microwave every time she visits and my father is the kind of person who builds a new patio every time he visits so things need to be CLEAN and projects need to be FINISHED. Of course, I’ve known about this trip for a year so obviously my anxiety levels aren’t at the level of “get off my butt and do something” yet.

So here is my question for anyone who has left their kid(s) before OR hes watched someone else’s kids for them: How many pages of instructions are helpful vs. crazy-pants obsessive? Evan isn’t helpless, he can ask for the sippy cup he wants, but no one’s going to know what he means when he asks for the “camp-it hoot show” (Captain Hook show = Jake and The Neverland Pirates). Do I need to catalog our exact bedtime routine, or just “Bathtime at 7, in bed by 7:45” good enough? The most stressful part is I’m going to be virtually unreachable, so if I forget to write down “We usually ride the elevator a few times when we go to the mall, even if we don’t need to” I’m imagining the kids sobbing on the floor while my parents look on helplessly.

I don’t think there’s any advice for the house-mess situation, unless you want to come over and clean it for me. Ok, thanks, see you soon.

Apparently the only things I took pictures of this week were my kids, so I hope you enjoy those.

Sunday:

Oh hi Mom, Let me just take that for you

I watched the Golden Globes with Twitter, which made it much more fun

I'm a cat lady at heart

Monday:

Caroline's new favorite part of Stroller Strides is pretending to ride the carousel

Dirty face. Happy kid.

First snow since Halloween.

Things Caroline likes: Baths. And everything.

Tuesday:

Caroline kidnapped this doll, perhaps because she thought it was her twin sister

We've upgraded from Nemo. I'm very happy.

Caroline's been wearing a lot of leggings. I think she likes it.

Wednesday:

This time she stole a wallet. I'm afraid I have a tiny klepto on my hands.

Stylin' in Mommy's sparkle aviators

I own a lot of ridiculous sunglasses

Thursday:

Running stairs at Stroller Strides is not my favorite

Not my idea of a fun game but Caroline loved it

You know your friends read your blog when they see the kids stacking blocks and go "Look! Block stacking! TAKE THAT BABYCENTER!"

Friday:

Cart safety fail. Again.

My beautiful, well organized craft area is now...not so much.

Toddlers are gross, man.

Saturday:

If you've seen Toy Story 3, you know this is near the END. At 6 am. Guess what time we got up.

What do you mean it's too early Mom?

Must be beautiful this time of year...all that snow. (FINALLY)

Happy Snow Day! I need to knit myself a new hat.

Our plans for today were rescheduled due to the storm, which means we get a day at home. I’d like to say it’s all hot cocoa and fireplace cuddles but a) my kid HATES hot cocoa, b) E spent most of the morning fixing the world’s most disgusting kitchen sink clog and c) there’s no couch in the fireplace room so we never use it. I have Really Big Plans to rearrange our entire first floor in the next few weeks and I’m looking forward to a day when we CAN have a fire and a movie at the same time. But first I need a baby gate for the bottom of our stairs – there’s a wall on one side but a bannister with spokes and a twirly thing at the bottom. (Terrible description, if you care you can look at my home tour.)(WOW, my house was clean. It doesn’t look like that AT ALL anymore.) Any suggestions?

I am thankful for my nice warm house. I am thankful to be home in my house and on my own couch. I am thankful my couch is so super comfortable. I am thankful there is a giant TV in front of my couch that is playing a weeks worth of recorded TV. I am thankful for my giant king sized bed, where there is plenty of room for a tiny baby-shaped barnacle to cling to me all night without causing a crick in my neck so painful I considered REMOVING MY HEAD. I am thankful I did all the laundry before we left so I only have 7 loads to do now that we’re home. I am thankful I have a full day tomorrow with E before he goes back to New York so we can get started on all the Christmasing. I am thankful I labeled all the boxes so I know where the Christmas decorations are. I am thankful I have a house to decorate. And BOOM, full circle of thankfulness.