I'll See Your One and Raise You.

Have you ever wondered what would happen if you were to take two pregnancy tests at the same time?



Well, we found out.

You Get Twins!



It's confirmed, we're expecting again.
More to follow in future posts.

Backyard Sunset Slideshow

Nothing Better

I love the Fall; it's my favorite season. There's the temperature: not so hot as summer nor so cold as winter. It's a great time to be outdoors, to catch up from a summer's worth of air-conditioned imprisonment. The only real competition for Fall would come from Spring, and, well, let's be honest - there's no football in spring.

Too, Fall is a visually stunning experience. The color palette of Fall is all the more pleasing because of its complexity and subtly, a more mature and textured arrangement than the bold and aggressive rapid color explosions of the spring.

But beyond the tangible there is a simple change, a completeness that my year couldn't mark the passing of time without. It's an exciting time, a brisk and enjoyable milestone worthy of waxing lyrical. Maybe it's the anticipation of the holiday seasons, or the adventure of a new beginning just around the corner and a fresh start with January 1st.

Or maybe it's just the thought of family, of sharing and happiness, of cooking and hot chocolate, of snuggling and fireplaces, of road trips and holiday music.

Or maybe the greatest excitement is of sharing it all with Cadence as she experiences it all anew. What wonderful gifts to enjoy and what an enjoyable gift to share them.

:j

The First Birthday of Cadence June

Cadence in Wonderland

Seems Like Forever, Don't It?

Me and the Vunder Girl are kicking it and chillin' on the couch. She really is the Greatest! The video is from a month or so ago; I'll have to post some newer video as she is now in the habit of saying Daa-daa and standing and trying to walk. She has decided that Crawling is not dignified enough for her, so she's been pushing the walking efforts to the extraordinary.

Missed it By That Much

Given the title of the blog you're reading, I was fascinated by this web page: Coffee Mugs.

What really caught me as a stroke of Serendipity was the actual name of the blog that link takes you to. And an R and it would be down right creepy.

By the way, the telephoto lens is my favorite mug, in case anyone wants to turn this concept into a reality and mail it to me.



:j

Something Small is Coming

Braving the Crazy (and House Pics)

So, Thanks Giving is one of my most favorite Holidays, not only because of the good food and the chance to be thankful, but also because it's more or less my gateway drug to the Crazy that is Christmas shopping. Yes, I am a junky when it comes to that blackest and most addictive Friday of the year. This year, same as about three years ago, we were in the Dallas Texas area. Now, I'm not sure exactly why the Dallas area doesn't have the greatest of deals, but it's my distinct impression that they get shorted quite a bit compared to other parts of the nation, such as the Pacific Northwest. Of course, that didn't stop us from getting started at Midnight, Thanks Giving night. And even though there wasn't anything in particular that we were shopping after, we did manage to pick up a couple of nice to haves at a pretty good price. But, oh, the sheer fun and frolicking amidst the madness... I really can't think of a better way to kick off the holiday cheer.

So, all that aside, Lilah and I have taken a frugal's challenge this year. We each have 11 gifts to buy our significant other. However, there are rules: each of 10 of the gifts can't cost more than $10 each; the 11th gift can cost $50. Any two gift allotments can be combined to buy one gift of larger value (i.e. $20 or $60), but only once. AND on Christmas morning receipts are compared to see who got closest to the $150 limit - the winner gets a prize (undetermined yet, so don't ask cause we don't know).

As for Cadence; well, she gets whatever she wants, really. Good thing she's not much in want of anything special at this age in her life.

To the house: we're in! We received our house hold goods from Japan and have a messy house; but we're making progress and there is a ton of space to put our ton of stuff. It was quite a show, really, because we had new carpet installed in all the bedrooms and just about every surface in the entire house repainted - and we started everything 3 days before our stuff got here. It was pretty hectic, but we managed to pull it all off. The pictures included here don't show the new color scheme or carpet, but should give you a good idea of what our house looks like. The fence installers will be starting on the brick this week and we'll have the aluminum "wrought iron" fence finished hopefully by Friday or Saturday. And that's it for now. Not a whole lot left for us to accomplish until we settle our debts and balance our books. But wow; what a house!

Okay, that's all for now. If we don't talk in the next 10 days, Merry Christmas!

EDIT: There are more photos, but Google is giving me fits right now, so this is the start of more to come.

At Least Do it for the Children!

Yeah, Yeah, I know. I owe you like a bazillion blog posts. And I have a few choice ideas in my head; but time is limited and there are many many things happening, so I just haven't gotten to it yet. Sorry. Here's a tidbit to tie you over.

Pics of the new house to follow.