Wednesday, September 30, 2009

On Patrol 4

It's crazy windy here in Durango today. Winds are gusting up to 50 mph! Earlier in the week there were reports that it might snow tonight, but I think the rain has moved on, so I'm thinking we've dodged that bullet. But I know you're interested in more than just the weather, so here's what's been going on in town according to the police reports (and these were so "good" I just had to add my own comments).

Friday, September 18th
5:14 p.m. A man in black shorts and a black jersey refused to pay to enter the Rec Center in the 2700 block of Main Avenue.
We're at the Rec Center all the time, how'd I miss the action?!

5:42 p.m. A caller complained about a group of people she didn't know camping in her driveway in the 900 block of Trail Road.
Can you imagine? I guess I'd walk out and say, "Hey Dudes, Can I get ya a s'more?"

Saturday, September 19th
12:00 a.m. Drivers in several cars were blowing air horns at cars from the Blockbuster parking lot in the 1300 block of Main Avenue.
They would have loved having me drive by, air horns always make me jump and squeal.

5:05 p.m. A security alarm went off in the 100 block of east 30th Street. It later was found to have been tripped by a squirrel.
I'm tellin' ya, these squirrels are dangerous up here.

9:21 p.m. Two women were walking in the middle of Ophir Drive wearing only their underwear.
Jason would have loved seeing that!

Sunday, September 20th
6:05 p.m. A drunken woman with a pink tank top and red pants was sitting next to a flower bed near 31st Street and East Third Avenue.
Nope, not me. I do have a pink tank top, but no red pants...

Friday, September 25th
5:50 p.m. A car was taking up three spaces in the Chez Grand-Mare parking lot.
So excited to learn that calling the cops about these kind of annoyances is totally appropriate.

8:06 p.m. Three juveniles were mooning vehicles at Riverview Elementary School.
That's JR's school! I can't believe we missed the show!

9:28 p.m. A man was in the women's restroom at Jenkins Ranch Park in the 400 block of Jenkins Ranch Road.
Aren't the lines in the women's long enough already? We don't need men in there too, geez!

Tuesday, September 29th
10:14 a.m. A husky was harassing wildlife near a pond in Durango West II.
Husky, Dude, I know you're a dog and all, and people here treat you better than their children, but Man, you can't harass the wildlife. I'm pretty sure they take away your Durango residence card for that. (I'd also avoid harassing bicyclers if I were you).

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Hang On, Just One More Day!

The babies start tiny tots gymnastics tomorrow, and as you'll see, it can't come a second too soon:

"Hanging out" at Intercontinental Airport in Houston



Scaling the fridge at home


And "hangin' at the bar"


They also hang from the grocery cart at WalMart. Yes, we're a site to be seen everywhere we go.

Monday, September 28, 2009

Cutting Room Floor

I was working on my scrapbook (and when I say 'working on my scrapbook', I mean slapping pictures down as fast as I can in a photo album) and noticed that there are lots of pictures that don't make the blog (I know, I can't believe it either). So here are some never previously aired photos making their public debut. They're mostly of the babies, but you'll recognize some other familiar faces too.












Saturday, September 26, 2009

So Green Just Call Me Kermit

We're still Republicans and we still don't recycle, but check us out eating organically! That would be Jason and Kyle frying up bacon from the 1/2 hog we bought. Sure we don't buy any other organic products, and we wouldn't "own" a pig if it wasn't for Harry's appetite, but hey, it's so organic I think we're officially allowed to enter the Durango Natural Foods Coop. And for my loyal Foodie readers (Lu, Kristi, Sarah, and Allison) I was trying to come up with some great Top Chefy way to describe the taste, but all I could come up with was "Ummmm, bacon".

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Obviously, I Need a New Camera

Jason emailed me some pictures today that his assistant, Sam, took waaay back at a golf tournament in May (on JR's birthday to be exact). If I'd have known random shots at the golf course were going to turn out this good, I'd have had everybody in their picture posing clothes! I mean, seriously, check out Reed's eyes. If this camera will work wonders on me (i.e. make me look skinny and hot) I'm buying one immediately!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Fall and Frostbite Part 2

It was only 35 this morning, so JR and I made a deal that if it's freezing he has to wear pants. Not freezing: he can wear shorts. I know, I've got amazing mothering skills. I'm still not exactly sure why we're making deals over whether he can wear shorts or not. I, for one, was trying to put on as many layers as I could find this morning!
In other autumn news, the babies and I went for a little fall walk today, and thought y'all might enjoy seeing some of the color changes here in these parts. (Especially you people of my homeland since Texas isn't exactly known for its leaf changing.) I took a little pre-walk photo so you could see how we are dressing for the elements these days (if you're not a 6 year old begging to wear shorts). Notice the babies are wearing jackets and sun hats. Even though it's cold, we're still at 7,500 ft elevation and the sun is as bright as can be! Cold and sunburned? Yep, Texas this is not.


So here are some of the pretty colors around the neighborhood. Brrrr...it's fall!




Tuesday, September 22, 2009

It's Fall and I Have Frostbite

It's the first day of fall! And here in Durango "fall" must be another word for "freezing". I'm well aware I inherited my mother's flair for telling a good story, and I also freely admit that sometimes we may make a good story even better by throwing in some embellishments. But that's not so today. I even have proof (see photo) that when I use the word "freezing", I literally mean "freezing". JR was furious that he had to wear jeans today, I chose not to tell him that he better get used to it. (Until, of course, it snows...then we have to put the jeans away.) Speaking of JR, it was school picture day today. Note to self: Picture day is not a big deal in the life of a boy. JR could have cared less that his refusal to wear Chapstick has left the bottom of his face so blistered that it looks like he's smeared Kool-Aid on himself. I fretted over it a bit and then thought, well, we'll look back and say, "Just look at JR's face, remember how that child refused to wear Chapstick." I would have taken a picture of him before he left for school, but since it was 31 (see photo) he was already in his jacket by the time I got the camera out.

Monday, September 21, 2009

Keep On Rollin'

I can't decide if this is a trip to the hospital in the making, or a way to keep them from fighting over the dump truck. I think they've put hundreds of miles on it just today. And they don't switch places...Reed always pushes and Kyle always rides. (I had some other cute pictures of them with the dump truck, but as I was finishing up reading to JR tonight, Reed brought me my camera. The camera was unharmed, but this was the only picture left.)

Sunday, September 20, 2009

Sunday Best

Nobody is crying and everybody is looking at the camera. I'm calling this a successful before church photo-op. (Unfortunately, I had the camera set on "soft snap" and apparently it thought JR was part of the background...hence his ghostlike fuzziness.)

Friday, September 18, 2009

Sweet Lessons

Since the babies have been fighting as of late, (Reed has figured out if he tackles Kyle he can jerk a toy right out of his hands...but tackling usually results in Reed hitting the ground too, so squeals and hollers abound.) I decided they needed to start practicing being sweet to each other. They love getting in our bed as soon as they wake up to drink milk and watch TV, so I thought I'd have a little hugging and kissing lesson before their milk. Here are the results:


Next lesson: Teaching JR that they have names other than "Baby" (said with disgust), and which name applies to which child.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

A Durango Workout

The babies were in rare form yesterday. They pretty much cried, screamed, hollered, and fought the entire day. (My friend, JD, can totally vouch for this as he called during one of their many squealing fights.) Since Reed had already hollered out "Oh Mannnn!" and they had finished the "Backpack dance", Dora just wasn't holding their attention anymore, and I decided to take them out for a walk. (Sure they screamed, cried, and fought through most of it, but the screams seemed much quieter outside than in my house.) I know I've posted before about how hard it is for me to walk to the mailbox, but I was so desperate to get out of the house, I thought I'd give walking in the neighborhood another try. So as I left the house, I strapped on my heart rate monitor just so I could report back to y'all about my leisurely walk. (AKA: pushing twins up a mountain.) Just so you know, I wasn't running, jogging, or even doing the fast-booty-shaking-arm-pumping-walk. I was walking (behind a twin stroller). My heart rate reached 158 beats a minute. Now since I haven't worked out in so long, I'd kinda forgotten what that even means, but I figured it was pretty high since I was gasping and sweating. I checked online (mayoclinic.com as a shout out to the MN relatives) and it said that my target heart rate for exercise is 130-157 beats per minute. That means I was above my target heart rate just by walking! Now I know some of you might be thinking, "Well Jan, shouldn't that show you how out of shape you are?" Well, No. It's not about me being out of shape (which I do know I am), it's about how the terrain and the elevation here can make just walking a true workout. No wonder everybody's so skinny and fit in this town!

Wednesday, September 16, 2009

Conversations With Harry 3

(A bit of background information before I begin: Harry's dad, Johnasen, was working in Zimbabwe when Harry was born. They didn't know if Harry was going to be a boy or a girl, so before Johansen left China they decided they would name the baby "Jin Wei", which is Chinese for "Zimbabwe". Which is what Harry's real name is: Jin Wei.)

I volunteered in JR's room at school on Monday, so last night at dinner we were talking about some of the kids in JR's class. During the conversation, I mentioned something about a little girl named, Nevada.

Harry: NEVADA?!
Me: Yes, there's a cute little girl in JR's room named Nevada.
Harry: Isn't that a state?
Me: Yes.
Harry: Why would she have a state as a name?
Jason: I guess the same reason somebody would have a country...like Zimbabwe...as a name!
Harry: Huh?
Jason: (laughing) Um, I know you think you're an American, but your name is Jin Wei...Zimbabwe.
Harry: Oh, you mean my Chinese name.
Jason: Yeah, your real name.

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Fright Site!

Not only am I admitting it, I'm flaunting it! I've put out my Halloween decorations. I tried to hold off until October 1st, but the babies spotted a new black cat my mom had given me. Far be it for me to deny their little "Ohh! Ohh!"s. So I decided it was time to just bring it all out. Jason completely ignored the Halloween decor when he walked in yesterday, so after a while I said, "So, do you like the Halloween decorations?"
Jason: "Um, they've kinda taken over this area."
Me: "Yep. Just getting you ready for Christmas."

Monday, September 14, 2009

Back in Town

It was so good to see this little smiling face this morning! (And make sure and check out that new Buc-ee's T-shirt.) We made it to and from Houston without incident, and although the babies aren't "JR good" on the plane, they were good.
I was scared to death of the notorious "puke ride" from Durango to Denver. The morning we left Durango I even solicited prayers for a smooth flight on Facebook. And praise The Lord, all my prayers were answered as both flights to and from Durango were smooth as could be.
As for our flight to Denver yesterday, I was quite excited to have a non-English speaking Latina woman who was doing some fast and furious signs of the cross sitting next to me. I figured between the two of us we could pray that airplane safely to Denver. But I was concerned about the guy sitting next to my mom. I had noticed him at the gate on my pre-board terrorist watch. As the plane took off I was quite certain I was going to need to spring into action as he reached in his back pocket to pull out a small handheld object. (My big plan was to slap him upside the head with Kyle's Little People Wheels on the Bus pop-up book.) Luckily, I had kept Kyle's book to myself since he pulled out his chewing gum. He turned out to be so incredibly helpful (especially with working the DVD player). So, Young Terrorist Looking Dude, my apologies and my thanks.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Think We Can Bend the Rules?

We're heading back to Durango this evening. (My mom is flying back with me to help.) And by the looks of things Kyle is going to have a real problem with the Carry-On Regulations. How many are you allowed again?

Friday, September 11, 2009

Cut It Out

Today is such a sad day. It always brings back all those old emotions, and I wind up feeling nervous and scared. We Ingys will always remember, and we thank all those who are protecting us and our freedoms each day. So if you're like me, you probably need something to give you a little giggle today. Here's Foxy's latest before and after haircut photos. Not sure if this is funny or just downright pitiful, but it sure makes me laugh! Poor Thing!

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Don't Pass The Buck

Well I guess I'm giving up my dreams of a career in technology because now my email isn't uploading pictures. Looks like my literary stylings will just have to stand alone once again. But not to worry, this is one of those stories you can file under "it has to be true because there's no way I could make this stuff up". So besides high speed Internet, this little East Texas town of 500 also lacks a large selection of entertainment venues for the babies. Luckily my dad came up with the idea for us to drive over to Madisonville (about 40 miles away) to check out the new Buc-ee's. If you know what Buc-ee's is: Yes, you read that right, we drove 40 miles to check it out. If you don't know what Buc-ee's is: It's a really big gas station/convenience store/souvenir store with really clean bathrooms. And yes, we drove 40 miles to check it out. But even worse that us driving that far to go to Buc-ee's, was me running around Buc-ee's taking pictures of the babies so I could post them on here! How sad do you think the other Buc-ee's patrons think my life is that I'm taking pictures of my kids at the Madisonville Buc-ee's? My parents have actually been to this new Buc-ee's before. That was the time my mom spent $14 on 6 pieces of fudge...or was it $25 on 12 pieces? or $36 on 8 pieces? The price and the number of pieces changes everytime I hear the story so I'm not exactly sure. Needless to say, my mom is still shell-shocked over what she felt was overpriced fudge, so according to her all the candy in Buc-ee's is expensive. Under normal circumstances the babies would have left with arm fulls of candy and sweets, but since the fudge incident is still fresh in her mind, they only waddled out with an ICEE (one for each of them, of course). While I was perusing all that Buc-ee's had to offer, I did notice they sell 14 different types of beef jerky. Jason loves beef jerky so I quickly called him to report. Jason could have cared less, since he was more interested in telling me that we are now the proud owners of a quarter of a steer. (Surely half of a pig, a quarter of a steer, and my mastery of the crockpot will keep Harry full.) Yep, just another exciting day in the country.

Wednesday, September 9, 2009

ChickyWooWoo!

I'm really thinking of taking up a career in technology. I went back to work this evening trying to upload pictures with no luck. Finally I decided to use one of the features here on Blogger, and I emailed these pictures directly to the blog. It took about 30 minutes for them to show up, but show up they did! They have miraculously appeared here on the blog, so now we can let the Cuteaplooza begin. Baby chicks and babies...let's all just give a collective Ooohhhhh!

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Chicken Dance

I've been trying to upload pictures for what feels like hours now, so I'm finally giving up. You'll just have to visualize the absolute cuteness of the two-day old chicks my daddy has been raising in a dog kennel. This post was supposed to be pictures of super cute baby chicks being looked at by my super cute babies...a cuteapalooza, if you will. But since I can't sugar coat your eyes with cuteness, you'll just have to visualize the sitcom antics that were my mom and me chasing baby chicks around the yard this morning. My dad called from work and told my mom to go out and check and see if anymore chicks had hatched. (He had moved all 9 of the two-day old chicks to a big incubator in the chicken coop, but still had about 4 eggs in the dog kennel.) The babies, my mom, and me all made the trek out to the barn to check the chick situation. (One of the eggs had hatched.) As we were heading back toward the house, we heard baby chick cheeping coming from under the barn, then a baby chick ran by. My mom screamed, "Oh no! All the chicks are out! They've escaped!" Not one to let my mom outdo me in the dramatics department, "Oh no! Daddy's going to die if anything happens to these chicks!" Before I knew it, my mom was gone and I found myself chasing a black baby chick with help from Kyle and Reed. I rationalized that the chick should respond to me similar to the babies so I called, "Here little baby chick, come to Mama." And the little black chick actually waddled over and climbed in my hand. (Kyle really wanted to hold it, but I was afraid he might just love it too much.) About that time I hear my mom coming. Phone to her ear she's telling my dad, "All the chicks are out. Jan's chasing them all over the yard. Well, she's got one in her hand now." Next thing I knew, I was on the phone with my dad. "Yeah Daddy, I'm holding one now. They were running around under the barn." My dad told us to find as many as we could, and put them back in the incubator. We then started chasing a little yellow chick. This one didn't respond to me like the black chick did, and I was pretty sure Kyle was going to step on it since he was right in the middle of the chick chasing. By this time, my mom was definitely tired of chasing chicks, she swooped in and grabbed that yellow chick up like nobody's business. After the chicks were put away she turned to me and said, "I don't even want these things and here I am having to chase them! I never imagined myself having to chase bittys around the yard!" Y'all think I'm not very outdoorsy? You should meet my mom. Anything that might mess up her hair is definitely not on the approved list of enjoyable activities. After things had calmed down she said, "I don't think those chicks could have gotten out of that incubator and lived. I think those chicks hatched under the barn." And my mom, lover of indoors, was completely right. The chicks we were chasing didn't get out of the incubator, they were "hatched under the barn chicks"! As we were discussing the chick activities of the day my dad's new peacocks walked by. He said, "Ya know, peacocks live 30 years." I said, "Oh my goodness, I'm going to have to be dealing with these same peacocks when I'm an old woman." To which my mom quickly replied, "Welcome to my life."

Sunday, September 6, 2009

Hadn't Heard That One Before...

Yes, Jason's dad's 70th birthday extravaganza was a success. And you know it just wouldn't be an 'event' unless I had a story for you. So you'd think a 70 year old birthday party would have an older male clientele, and I'd be the one getting hit on. But alas, it was my husband who was on the receiving end of a pick-up line that I'm quite sure won't be catching on anytime soon. Jason and I were on the dance floor when a woman stumbled up to us. She got inbetween Jason and me like I wasn't even standing there, and quick as could be, she was all over him. And what was her big come on line?
Gesturing with her hands up and down her body: "I'm an all natural 52 year old."
Now you know I couldn't make this up. Jason's comment to me, "I guess I really do need to dye my hair if All Natural 52 year olds are thinking they can come on to me."
Today we were telling my mom this story and she says, "Jan? What did you do?"
Me: "Um, I just stood there and laughed."
My mom: "What? Loretta Lynn wouldn't have stood for that! She would have whooped that woman!"
So basically I've been away from Colorado for 48 hours and I've had a 52 year old Cougar try to steal my husband, and my mom preach from the playbook of Loretta Lynn. Seriously Y'all, Don't Mess With Texas.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

This is Worse Than a Math Problem

Alrighty so here's our schedule for the next week or so...follow along closely or you'll get lost:
-Granny Sherry arrived in Durango today.
-Jason, the babies, and I are flying out of Durango (to Denver then to Houston) tomorrow morning.
-JR and Harry are staying here in Durango with Granny Sherry.
-Jason, the babies, and I are meeting my parents (and Cousin Angie) at the airport, and my parents will take the babies home with them.
-Jason and I will drive to Jason's dad's house to attend his two-day 70th birthday party celebration.
-Jason and I will drive to my parent's house Sunday morning.
-Jason drives to the airport and flies back to Durango on Monday (Labor Day).
-Sherry continues to stay the week in Durango to be with JR when he gets home from school.
-I'm staying at my parents' house for the week, then leaving on Friday to drive to Dallas for my friend, Marcia's, baby shower.
-Sherry leaves to go back to Houston on Saturday.
-I'll drive back from Dallas to my parents' house on Saturday.
-My mom, the babies, and I will fly to Durango on Sunday.
-My mom flies back to Houston on Monday.

I know. Thank goodness my husband in an engineer by degree to figure all this out.
And don't worry, I'll be updating the blog from Texas.

FAQ:
Why are you taking the babies with you? Um, because I can't be away from them for 9 days. JR is hard enough to leave!

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

That's the Book for Me

We all know how Kyle loves accessories and "packing" things around the house (preferably in a purse). Well, for the last two days he's been "packing" a new accessory. He even slept with it last night. It's his baby Bible he got when he was dedicated at church. I have no idea why he's taken on The Bible as his new accessory, but do you think there's anyway he can keep this up through his teenage years?

Praying before the sermon.


K: "I'll be preaching from The Book of Acts this morning, if you'll all turn with me."


Uh-Oh, Kyle...Dancing with The Bible. Though it does sound like a great new TV show, The Baptists are not going to like that...


I told you you'd get in trouble. No dancing for the Baptists...


But they do let you jump for Jesus...March for Jesus too.

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

T Minus 2 Months

I finished Reed's Christmas stocking today! And how appropriate since it's exactly two months until I start putting my Christmas decorations up. I'm so excited since I only put up one tree last year due to the babies and the move. I've even started rearranging furniture in my head so they'll be plenty room for the trees. Last night I informed Jason that I'm going to need to buy some new Christmas ornaments this year. He actually took the news much better than I thought he would. (Of course I waited until he was almost asleep before I let him in on that little tidbit.) Jason's comment: "Um, I thought we weren't putting all those trees up this year." My comment: "Um, No. We're putting them all up, having an open house, and actually I'm adding a Colorado tree to go with our Texas and Chinese trees." (Hence the reason I need some new ornaments.) I was talking to my friend, JD, this morning and we were laughing about what would be appropriate decor for a Colorado tree...Let's just say my "W" paraphernalia on my Texas tree probably won't work for both!