Yes, we're still breathing...

About six different times in the past month I've sat down to update this thing, but inevitably someone wakes up from a nap or I get writers block, or the pictures won't load correctly, or some other fool thing that keeps it from getting beyond a draft and onto an actual post.  I had thought that the coming of summer would mean more leisure time for this...but...I guess that hasn't happened.

So...what are we up to these days???  Here we go:

I've always enjoyed baking - my whole life, it has been something that I've liked to do.  When I was little the toy I wanted soooo darn badly was and EasyBake Oven.  I never got one, by the way.  My mom said that if I wanted to bake brownies (or whatever) I could use the real oven (with her supervision) and make enough for the whole family.  I didn't like that logic at the time...but she was right, of course (as moms tend to be...I can say that now that I am a mom, too).  Anyway, the point is that after almost two years off, I've begun again and am LOVING it.  Although, I think that if baking is going to be a hobby, then I'd better also pick up running or something, too.  I get lots of ideas from several blogs.  I've got them listed over on my blog list if you want to take a look.  With the help of the blog-o-sphere I've made some really neat things, like...

Cherry pie pops. Yum.

Chocolate Cake Pops. I also made these in lemon (but don't have pictures). Yum. Yum.

This June my sister and I took a cake decorating class, and we had a blast. 

This was my first cake.  Apparently I have difficulty finding "center"...

The "Final Project" cake:

And, a couple days after the class was over, my very good friend from grad school (Gretchen)'s daughter turned ONE...so here is her cake (and the smaller one is her "smash cake")

We've also been busy doing some minor home-improvement projects around the house.  Now, when I say "minor" I'm not joking....we are not skilled in the art of fixing stuff.  For us, a semi-major project is changing lightbulbs.  Ok, not really...but almost.  We've been working on cleaning up the yard and trying to keep all the weeds pulled and look, basically, just presentable.  I think we've done a pretty darn good job, especially considering that our yard is HUGE (too big, for us, really) and considering that the past two years we've looked like the hillbilly neighbors who hide cars in the yard (but I think I've mentioned this is a previous post).  The yard work is something that never ends.  And then...last Sunday I was pulled out of bed in the morning by a loud CRASH.  The CRASH turned out to be...

A huge limb (the size of most trees in my parent's neighborhood) fell off of our gigantic, 100+ year old oak tree that was right behind the house.  Notice how the limb is suspended...this is because it fell on all of our power lines.

The tree lies between the house and garage, so it could have been a lot worse.  It was just a bit of damage to the garage gutters:

And bit of damage to the wood siding of the house - where all of the electric/cable lines were ripped out of the wall:

NOT a fun day was had by all as our good friends (to whom we are immensely grateful) Ann and Larry helped Ian (or I should say Ian helped Larry) chainsaw it to moveable bits and haul it away:

 

I'm taking three classes this summer, hoping to make a lane-change on the payscale by the start of next year.  (For those of you who are not teachers, that just means that raises are in part tied to education level - the more graduate-level classes you take, the more it will benefit your pocketbook in the long run.) I'm taking all three classes independent study (which works out well, cuz I can work on them after the girls go to bed), one on Medieval Europe and one on Modern China.  As of last night I have finished both of those, just have one more to go on Effective Assessment.  I'm looking forward to this one, it looks like it will be really good.

And then there are those darling girls....We haven't taken a whole lot of pictures of them lately.  Sorry.  Maybe other parents of young children can relate - I have a VERY difficult time getting them to sit still for a picture.  I think it is the digital camera.  They know that they can see the picture from the other side, so they always want to be on my side of the lens.  Doesn't make for very good pictures.  But...I do have a couple (I'll get to that in a minute).  I do want to say that this is SUCH a fun age to have the summer off.  I thought the same thing last summer...so either I timed it just right (I doubt) or just having the summers off with them is fun (probably).  Makes all of the hectic crap during the school year worth it. 

They are talking more and more.  Well, at least Cora is.  Evaline is...communicating in ways other than actual words most of the time.  That's alright.  It's pretty common for twins to be a little behind on the verbal communication scale.  At least that's what the doctor told us (although he also said that the girls weren't actually below the normal range).  They communicate with one another, which is the cutest thing ever to have them yell - their own little language, mind you - to each other from the living room to the kitchen or whereever they happen to be.  And everyday they play with one another more.  They do the whole side-by-side play that is normal of kids their age, but they also interact and play with one another on a pretty advanced level.  Its a twin thing, I guess.   Ok, onto some pictures:

We took them on their first outing to the local splash pad a week ago or so.  They HATED it.  I'm not sure if it was the cold water, or the splashing in the face, or the rowdy seven year olds (you don't let a  kid run at a pool, why do you let them run at a splash pad?  Am I missing something here?), or a combination of it all...but I'm not sure that we'll be going back this summer.  They were, however, stylin' while they were there:

 

And...here's how we've spent lots of the summer...just hanging around outside:

Sidewalk chalk!

Climbing in and out, and in and out, and in and out (you get the picture) of the gazebo:

Climbing the stairs...

to help Mom pull weeds!!