Carving Pumpkins

Tonight for FHE we carved our pumpkins. I took a bunch of pictures.

Feelin' the goo!

Daddy took care of all the scraping, so all the girls had to do was pull out the stringy stuff.

"I love goo!" And the girls also tried eating the pieces of the pumpkin we cut out. They kind of liked it.

Emma's pumpkin. Check out her eyelashes. (She may have had some help with the cutting)

This is a combination effort from myself and Ryan. We played rock, paper, scissors for doing the mouth vs eyes and nose. Guess who did the JAWS mouth?

Elizabeth drew the face on her pumpkin, and I cut it out for her.

..plus one more pumpkin....

Whatever you do, don't swallow TWO pumpkin seeds.... The seeds really will grow.

I made Ryan laugh with my crazy idea. It's just construction paper and a shirt that really doesn't fit over my belly anymore.

Musings

I came to a conclusion today. Having Dora the Explorer as the "babysitter" video while I try to catch a few zzz's isn't the greatest idea. After a particularly rough night, I get Emma off to school, make sure Elizabeth is set with a sippy cup and a movie, and then I stretch out on the couch to hopefully take a bit of a nap. I am aware of bits of the movie generally. Today, however, my little naps were frequently interrupted by screams of, "MAP!" and "SWIPER NO SWIPING" and the like. Between that, and the general achy-ness of my body, it's a wonder I slept at all. But I did, and I felt much better afterwards.
During these morning naps, I will often turn the ringer off on our phone. I can tune out the tv noise, but the phone? Not so much. When I came to and remembered to look at the phone, I had 4 new messages. Ryan called not once to check up on me, but 3 times. The last message said he was going to come home to check on me at lunch if I didn't return his call by then. So I called him back and reminded him of my intention to nap over the course of the morning.
Others have been checking up on me. One time it was just after I got out of the shower, and I still had a towel on my head. My visitor seemed aghast that I was on my feet. Should I be up for something like a shower? Oddly enough, my discharge paper from the hospital didn't mention anything about no showering for the duration, so it must be ok. Bed rest seems to include small trips to the kitchen and bathroom, so far as I know....?

Ryan's War Machine

Last weekend Ryan built his war machine. He's been needing a project, one preferably masculine. This is called a trebuchet. Not to be confused with a catapult. A trebuchet is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. It is sometimes called a "counterweight trebuchet" or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the "traction trebuchet", the original version with pulling men instead of a counterweight. It originally made its debut in the 12th century.

What you cannot see in these pictures are all our dead and rotting tomatoes that he shot down our street. One time a nasty tomato hit the power lines and rained down on our heads. EEEWWW. I was thoroughly disgusted.

Halloween Party

"Apple Bites" -- Does anyone know of a good orthodontist? What a lot of snaggle-toothed mouths!Let me preface this with, yes, I am on bedrest. Yes, I am being careful. Ok, now that's out of the way.
Natalie hosted a Halloween party today for all the kids preschool age and younger, and their moms. We were requested to bring a Halloween-themed potluck item. Mine was carefully researched to be as easy as possible: Apples and slivered almonds. Definitely something I could make sitting down. Then I got Elizabeth into some of our dress up clothes, since costumes were encouraged. As for me, my festive attire included Halloween socks and an orange t-shirt. (I looked sort of like a pumpkin)
I made it to Natalie's and sat down. I was going to behave myself. I let others get Elizabeth her food, etc. Well, at the end of lunch, Elizabeth starts gagging on something. (Oh no! Not here!) And lunch makes a reappearance. I don't know why she has such a strong reflex. If something gets stuck in her throat, we will never have to worry about her choking to death... But I do catch most of it in my cup. Then I catch the second wave on my plate. Any other time I would have run her to the bathroom, but I'm not supposed to get up.
So our outing was cut short. We came home. I told Ryan on the phone later that it was a sign: I shouldn't leave the house, even for something we think is unstrenuous. I just am so tired of being stuck in the house. Everyone has been so nice though. Christine has been kind to come and clean my house, and we've had people bringing us dinner every night this week. And I get phone calls to check up on me. It really is making this process easier and it's so kind that everyone wants to help. Thanks to everyone.

More Baby News

Me at 34 weeks gestation. So, now for the news. At 3:30 am Sunday morning, I woke up to contractions. Oh dear, they can't come yet! So I chugged my water and kept quiet in hopes they would go away on their own. They got pretty regular and close together, but then seemed to subside. And then they came back. And then seemed to subside for a time. This went on all the rest of the night. And all morning, until noon when Ryan took me to the hospital. I really didn't want to go, for I know what happens. I was monitored for about a half hour and then given a shot of terbutaline. For those of you who don't know what that is, it feels like ANXIETY. Your pulse races, your hands shake, etc. Fight or Flight, they told me. However, as a response to that, my body relaxes the "smooth muscles," and the uterus happens to be one of those. The contractions stopped being regular, so I got to go home after about 3 and 1/2 hours. However, I did start to dilate, so I got a prescription for the same medicine in pill form and the ULTIMATUM: No sweeping, laundry, physical playing with kids, etc. etc. No nothing. I can sit and feel jittery with my wonderful medication. Ugh. Dr. M quipped that this medicine seems to have a low incidence of abuse. Duh. Why anyone would chose to feel like this, I haven't the foggiest idea.

New Rope Swing

Ryan brought home this rope a couple of days ago. Today he decided to make it into a rope swing in our backyard. He used his boy scout knot knowledge for it. There was a long tail left, after it was tied around a piece of wood for the seat. Ryan used the long end to pull the swing along, to make sure the swing didn't crash into the tree. Also, he could get the girls up very high. They loved it. It was Emma's turn when I came outside with the camera.

Elizabeth's turn. They loved being up high.

Mommy trying to get on the swing.

Daddy the Mastermind of the Rope Swing playing Tarzan. Or maybe George of the Jungle?

"Twice Upon A Time"

I got a really big surprise Tuesday. Instead of going to dinner at Reagran's house, I found myself at a baby shower for me and our "buns in the oven." SURPRISE! Ryan's mom Kim drove all the way here just to be there for the baby shower. I think that was the best gift. That's not to take away from the wonderful surprise party any. It was beautiful. There was a Cinderella theme for the baby shower. Just a little twist, as there are two babies on their way.

All the yummy (and pretty!) food.

Look who found the food....

The party favors were pink pumpkins.

Some of the ladies at the baby shower.

Here are the gifts all laid out on the table. The twins received a lot of really adorable clothing and other useful items (like diapers, wipes and baby shampoo). Also, we got two new high chairs. Our last was a $20 number from Walmart we bought in college. It made it through Emma and Elizabeth, and we sold it for $3 at our garage sale. So, thank you Grandma and Grandpa Kannely! And thank you everyone who planned, helped with and attended the baby shower. Thank you, thank you! However, Ryan may need to meet with the bishop to discuss his lying problem. He's had to tell a number of "stories" the past week or so. It's amazing how easily he comes up with them...

Latest Baby News

I had another ultrasound today. I've had so many now, they are correctly pronouncing my name! They are measuring about 4 lbs 7 oz a piece, and have moved UP my due date. So, the babies are growing well and looking great. They are both head down at the moment. Please pray for me that they stay that way. If one moves, I am having a C-section. And I'd rather not. Baby B, aka "Lefty"

Baby A, aka "Righty"

People have been asking us what names we've chosen. I get sceptical looks when I tell people we haven't decided yet. No, we are not being coy. We truly don't know yet. So, in the meantime, here are two names: Brunhilda Louise Kannely and Helga Dagmar Kannely. What do you think of those as possible names?

Making Apple Cider

This morning we went to the Baugh's to make apple cider. It started at 8:30, but we arrived about 10 minutes late. (We weren't the last to arrive though. Whew.) There were an entire truck bed of apples to press into cider. We only brought 3 gallon jugs, so we were sent home with 2 more. Most of the ward members who showed up brought more containers than we did. It's a good thing, as I think there was much more cider than we knew what to do with. We are going to freeze the cider we brought home, rather than can it.
Here are some pictures we took. Everyone had the "I didn't shower this morning, just threw on some clothes and came" look. So pardon us our lack of glamour. Our assembly line started here. The kids filled buckets with apples for the next station. Well, filled buckets and ate apples.

The cleaning station. First washed, then rinsed.

This is the table where we cut the whole apples. We started out just chopping them in half, but later someone had the idea that they might go faster through the chopper if they were cut in quarters. And they did. So, the first round of cutters cut the apples in half, and the next set cut those halves into quarters and put them in buckets.

Ryan and Sis. Scott were putting the cut apples in the chopper. Watch out for your fingers!

Once the apples were chopped, they were moved over to be pressed. Then the juice was put through a strainer to get out the rest of the pulp. The fresh cider was very tasty. We are looking forward to making it into spiced cider when the weather gets cooler. Love that smell!

More About Elizabeth

I took Elizabeth to an eye specialist today. We've had to put drops in her eyes for the past 3 days to dilate them, since the usual kind only works for children age 5+. (Come to find out that it will take a week or so for her eyes to go back to normal. NOOOOOOOOO....) So, here's the scoop.
Elizabeth is getting glasses! She is +3.25 on the far-sighted scale. (Most kids being at a +1) That makes it difficult for her to focus with both eyes at the same time. The doctor said at a 3 is when you start seeing kids have difficulty focusing. So, her vision isn't too horrible and he seemed pretty confident that the glasses should be able to correct that. And, she could outgrow the need for glasses by her early teens.
Tonight we went to Costco and bought her some Dora the Explorer glasses. They should be ready in 7-10 days. At which time a picture will be posted for all to see. :o)