With a new lawn mower comes a new lawn mow-er.

Things I learned on our trip to Washington D.C.

• A road trip in a new van is awesome.

• The Duggars must have super-human parent powers. They have almost five times as many kids as we do, and they don't seem stressed out at all when they go on their big-city field trips.

• Once kids (read: Brooke) find all the items from the "Battle of the Smithsonian" movie, they're done.

• Despite the huge (and by huge, I mean HUGE) crowds, you can still find a nice British lady who offers to take a family picture that has no extra people in it.

• The National Gallery of Art is a great place to get in trouble, be it standing too close to a painting, or bouncing on the moving sidewalk from the west building to the east.
  
• When you have to stand way far back in order to get the entire Capitol Building in the picture, you can't really tell that not all children are looking at the camera.
• If you decide to cool off in a fountain near the capitol, a policeman on a bike will tell you to get out.
• Andrew was really looking forward to seeing the Supreme Court Building. (Apparently it came up in class.)
• It stinks when you have to stand on the Metro after a loooooong day of walking.
  
• I would not make a good paparazo. Especially when the object of desire is this: (Remember those crowds I talked about? Out of control in the Museum of Natural History.)

• Yes. She's still there.

• When kids take over the camera, they tell the true story...that even parents need to rest after all that walking.

• This was as close as we were going to get to the south side of the White House.

• All those crowds were worth it to see the cherry blossoms.

• Meerkats, otters, prairie dogs, and even giant pandas are funny.

• Cleveland has a pretty darn awesome zoo.

• There's a National Postal Museum. Go figure.

• Watching General Conference at the Washington D.C. temple on Easter is pretty cool.

• Sometimes when you pick a pizza place randomly from the GPS recommendations, it's some of the best pizza you've ever had.

• Things Andrew wants to be buried with: Nother one bainty, Footprint, his basketball hoop and basketball. Arlington National Cemetery provokes interesting discussions.

• This thing is enormous.

• When you're feet are killing you, when you don't think you can go another step, when you just want to stop but you have so much farther to go, the thing that makes the journey easier is doing it together.

Imagine...

...waking up each morning and eating a hot breakfast. Not one you made, no. One made for you. Eggs, potatoes, pancakes, french toast, chocolate chocolate chip muffins, cereal. Something different every day. With a full belly you're driven to a place where you can leisurely roam and explore and show your kids lots of new things. There are no deadlines or schedules, meetings or appointments. In fact, when you return home after a full day of adventure, the mess you left behind is gone. Vanished. In fact, the couple of dishes you used to make sack lunches (the only thing you did even remotely resembling work) are even put in the dishwasher for you. No early morning exercise, no worrying about calorie intake, no phone, and no internet.

Sound like a dream?

It was my reality for the past five days.

I'll share the whole thing with you soon.

Where have I been all your life?

Missed me?

I hate the fact that this will be only my 4th post all month. I like blogging. And I know you have sorely missed the near-daily posts of yore. I have no excuse, except for the fact that it has been holiday-season, out-of-control busy around here. But at the same time there's nothing going on. My brain is too fried to think of anything clever. I don't even feel like taking the pictures off the camera.

But since I'm going to need all the memory space I can get this weekend, I decided to get myself together, transfer the pictures, and pull together some sort of a blog post.

Except that I can't remember anything.

According to the pictures I just downloaded, Andrew has had a couple pretty big events. Apparently there was a school musical and a Pinewood Derby....? I vaguely remember, but it seems like a lifetime ago rather than just a couple weeks. But look--here's the proof!

Andrew on his best behavior as usual

This is the opening song from this 1st and 2nd grade musical. There is an additional 15 minutes of the program, but since it is taking a looooooong time to upload on youtube, I will email the link to those lucky family members.

The cool thing about this musical was that Macey was in it too! It was the first time our school has put on a program with the younger grades and the gym was Packed. Notice the capital P. So it was difficult to see the kids, let alone get a good taping of it. And Andrew and Macey were on opposite risers. But all those kids singing their hearts out was Cute. Again with the capital.

And then the Pinewood Derby. While Andrew had an awesome looking silver car, complete with gold vinyl detailing and Andrew behind the wheel (courtesy of Uncle Nate). Andrew (and Glenn) worked hard on the car...but...well...here's an example of how the evening went...

What are ya gonna do? It was fun to participate and I think the boys learned some lessons for next year. Besides, did we really want to go to another competition? (Nah.)

That's all I got. Time to recharge what little brain cells I have left, so that maybe I can remember what all happens next month.

Breaking up is hard to do.

When you've done just about everything with another person for nearly twelve years, you kind of get into a groove. You've shared a womb, a bedroom, clothes, toys, teachers, vision problems, piano lessons, diving class, a swim team, and a guinea pig. You may have even become just a tad bit co-dependent. Like maybe to the point where you have difficulty just cleaning your room by yourself. But it's all you've known, and most of the time it's fun (and comforting) to have an automatic, built-in best friend. That's life as a twin.

But then there comes a time when there are two fun activities coming up on the same day and you know you have to choose one over the other. Like maybe a movie night with your cousins and a sleep over birthday party with friends (except you know you won't be sleeping over since the party is on a Saturday). And as you start weighing the options, you realize that you are leaning toward one activity and your twin is leaning toward the other. Since you might be just about to turn twelve, you are pretty much only able to answer (in an exasperated tone, possibly followed by some huffing and grunting or maybe even some stomping off) "I don't know!" when asked what you want to do.

But time is running out and your friend is calling to find out if you're coming and you tell her you'll tell her at school the next day. You might even make a pro/con list to help you decide. And you come to your decision. But it's kind of scary because it's different than your twins'. You'd be going it alone. Something you've never done before.

You might get to school the next day and regret your decision. The other choice seems more exciting, or maybe more safe. But you have to be confident in what you've chosen, and not let others (even your twin, maybe) sway you, because no matter what, it's a good choice. No matter what, you're going to have fun.

It might have been the first time you've gone it alone. It might have been a chance to discover that a little independence is not so bad. And at the end of the day, you might have been really really excited to share all the juicy details with your other half.

Coming clean.

It's true confessions time.

#1- I am not a big fan of cleaning.
#2- But, I love a clean house.
#3- So, I delegate as much as I can to the small army I gave birth to.
#4- However, there are some jobs that are just too big. Like the shower tile.
#5- Our white shower tile and its accompanying white grout have a tendency to get moldy. Very moldy.
#6- I have made half-hearted and at times even full-hearted attempts to clean said tile and grout without much success.
#7- I discovered a way to keep it clean (and by clean I mean *sparkling* white) without a single bit of scrubbing.

The newest recruit in the Franklin army...
But wait! It's not what you think!

I got this little gadget a while ago. Every time you step out of the shower, you press the little button, it beeps long enough for you to close the shower door, and then is sprays the cleaner around the shower which then drips down, taking all the gunk with it. Supposedly. I am not sure what the actual substance consists of, and while it (I guess) kind of made the tile easier to scrub down, it didn't touch the mold.

Fast forward to me having a moment of clarity during my shower (doesn't that always happen?) as I noticed that the cleaner was almost gone and realized that I didn't have a refill. A-ha! Who says I have to fill it up with their cleaner? The device is really just a means to deliver the cleaner to my tiled shower walls, so what if we filled it with...bleach! Bleach is cheap, bleach is effective...I think we're on to something.

I recruited Glenn to refill the bottle (delegation, always) and ever since, our shower has gotten a daily shot of bleach water. Within days we went from this:

(Sorry, no before picture. Why would I want to remember how gross it was?
Although, if I knew how drastic the change would be, I might have considered it.)

to this:

(no photoshop here, folks!)

Gorgeous, right? And the only finger I ever lifted was to push that little button.

#8- I've been home from my exercise class for almost two hours now and I'm still in my workout clothes. Good thing I have a lovely, mold-free shower to clean up in.

Record-Breaking Season

Andrew's last basketball game was this Saturday. He had scored ten points the week before, a career high. So, of course, he was going for twelve this week.

And what do you know...? He did it!

Here are 3 of Andrew's 6 baskets:






Congrats on a great season, Andrew!