Morbid Mommy Moment

L & M made friends with a little lizard on the sidewalk just outside of our complex. He's a great friend, very fascinating and cute, but the only drawback is...he's dead. I'm not sure what could have caused our little friend's untimely death, but I'm guessing it was pretty gruesome judging by the fact that he is indeed missing a limb. Upon first seeing the lizard, I hoped L & M would not be paying attention to every crack in the sidewalk, but as they miss nothing, seeing a lizard quickly made it to the highlight of the day.
So what's a mom to do? I didn't want them to touch him, so I quickly contrived an elaborate story about how the lizard is sleeping and we have to be very quiet to not wake him up. Maddie immediately got on her tiptoes, put her finger to her lips, and said, "Shhhhh!!" This was two days ago. I had hoped the girls would not remember where our lizard was, or he would have been taken care of by some sort of roadkill crew, but no such luck. Every time we leave the apartment, the girls request to see the lizard on the way home. Yesterday L & M even noticed his "hurt arm" (hurt being an understatement when the arm is no longer attached). And out came another elaborate story about how his mom will put a band-aid on it when he wakes up. This may be getting out of hand, but I don't quite think two year olds are ready to talk about death. So one of these days I'll discretely move him and wait for the next opportunity. In the meantime, we'll continue to talk to our sleeping friend. But L & M know one thing for sure: he is T-I-R-E-D. After what he's been through, I can't blame him. Out of all of this I'm starting to question my reaction to our little dead friend. Am I totally morbid? I'm almost afraid to ask.

This Changes Everything

We got some great news in the mail today: Ryan was accepted into the University of Texas Master's Program in Advertising! It looks like we're going back to school after all! The program starts in the fall 2008, and Ryan hopes to attend part time while working around his current job. We anticipate the program will take about 18 mos. to finish, depending on the route he takes. Ryan's employer fully supports higher education and has been encouraging this from his hire date.
We were pretty tight-lipped about it, but Ryan was intensely applying to grad schools last fall. His first choice was the advertising program at the U.T., so that's why we were vicariously looking for employment here in Austin. We moved out with the grad school application pending and our fingers crossed--and finally heard back from the U.T. today! We feel absolutely blessed to have school and work opportunities come together for our little family.
Ryan is excited about advertising because the program will combine his two strengths: business and art. I am so proud of him for getting into such a cutthroat and prestigious university. He has worked really hard to study for the GRE and submit the necessary application requirements. Ryan eventually hopes to use this degree to run an advertising firm and teach at a University level. We think he'll be great. Go get 'em, tiger!

Weekend O' Surprise

This weekend was full of a lot of surprises, mostly good. And here they are in sequential order.

Old Navy, anyone?

Remember how our master toilet has not worked since we moved in? Well the maintenance guys kept coming to "fix" it, and by fix they only meant unclog. Finally after my third complaint in three weeks two maintenance guys showed up to take the entire toilet apart and retrieve, an old navy gift card. Needless to say, the toilet now flushes like a charm!

Catching on?

Speaking of toilets, for the first time ever this week, London has been telling us she needs go potty--and then sits on the toilet and goes! Funny, nobody is happier when Londie goes potty than miss Madelyn . She runs around the house yelling "Nani went potty! Hooray!" helps her flush the toilet, and then choose out a treat. She's not even sad she doesn't get a treat for herself. Now there is a supportive sister.

The Projects

We never know what Ryan and his brother James will be up to. So when they spent a good portion of Saturday afternoon building these (curved camera track, anyone?), nobody really batted an eyelash around here.

And the very last surprise happened yesterday when the twins went to nursery by themselves! Ryan stayed a little while with them so I could catch relief society for the first time since we've been out here, but then was able to leave without a meltdown. I asked the girls how it went afterward and Maddie said, "Went to nursery, no scary just fun!"

Love Day

Surprise! The girls woke up extra early and made their dad breakfast. On our menu were blueberry pancakes and a fresh fruit plate.


My mom's fruit dip recipe is L & M's favorite. It's so easy to throw together so here it is.
Mix together:
8 oz. Cool Whip
14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk
8 oz. cream cheese
food coloring (optional)


Colored some Valentines. We spread the Spongebob love this year.


Spreading the sister love.


Dug for dinosaur bones!


With cousin Gwen! And if you are wondering we produced a similar looking pile of sand at home when we dumped out our shoes. :)


Ryan got home late from work but charmed all his girls with flowers and new throw pillows for the couch.


Bibbidy bobbidy boo! they kept saying. Hope everyone had a great day and was able to pamper and be pampered by the ones you love!

The Pictures to Prove it

Hello everyone, we are back in business. I really wasn't sure I could last much longer without tv and internet. We had totally exhausted Cinderella, Winnie the Pooh, and then on Sunday the girls got an idea: how about Charlie Brown Christmas? Awesome. I have learned a few things in the last 17 days. Most importantly that I do in fact have time for scripture study while the twins are awake. I wrote in the family journal more, I read the Ensign. We spent more time outside. Things I had wanted to incorporate into the daily routine anyway, new years resolutions. Seventeen days gave me a good jump-start. But ah, it feels so good to be back!
So London has not let me out of her sight for seventeen days. I'm not sure if she'll ever recover from her recent fear of abandonment. (Can you blame her?) She has also become extremely attached to Minnie Princess, pictured above. The girls have been going through this phase where they'll randomly pose and say, "Mom, take a picture!" On this day in particular, they must have thought the power box they were standing by looked like a great background. And they did their thing. This is just a little snippet of the pda that goes on around here, ha! :)

Leslie's Post

Welcome to our little red apartment. We have been here about 10 days. I apologize for the lack of posts, blog comments, e-mails, and contact with friends and family in general, that is, unless you live out here. It must appear to most we have dropped off the planet. However the real problem lies in our not being scheduled to have tv or internet hooked up until Feb. 12! I am going through some serious withdrawals from these addictions. I need the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse like my right arm! Anyway, some highlights of what we're up to:

windows, windows, windows

Here is our apartment. We are on the second floor. This giant octagon-shaped room is the great room, of which I will post inside pictures as soon as I can. Ryan and I love the way the light comes in in the morning. L & M love the view as they can now dog watch from every angle.

toy time out

Some of you may have noticed, my job title relies heavily upon the word 'referee.' So what once was a rack for pots until I hit my head too many times, became a make shift toy time out. It works like a charm every fight, every time.


we bleed orange

Our apartment complex has four colors to choose from for 'accent walls.' I decided to show off my newfound Texas enthusiasm and go with Burnt Orange. But when the painters first put it on the wall, I almost told them to pack up and go home. It was so bright! However, since drying has become more burnt and even now matches the Mighty Thor.


lucky number seven

Our second spare room is the most oddly shaped room ever with seven sides. It's the bigger room of the two, so I decided to make it L & M's room. And oddly enough, we have made use of each wall. There is even be a little nook for the retro kitchen. And this new addition...


making mama proud

My mom has been encouraging me for years now that there is value in childrens' organized play. That is, keeping similar toys together, playing with them and putting them away before getting out the next one. I love any excuse to buy new furniture. These bins have little chalkboards on them and are labeled princess dishes and play food.


And princess shoes.


master bath

I regret to inform you this is the only thing working in the master bathroom! The toilet must have been for show, because since moving in we have had it fixed twice and only used it once. Ah, the joys of being at the bottom of the maintenance list. And let's not even get started with the air conditioner...


i love the '80s

Seriously, last week temps were in the '80s and we were sweating in these sweaters. This week has cooled off a little bit, but I heave a sigh every time I go to get dressed or get the girls dressed. Our closets are full of sweaters! In moving here I feel like we have cheated winter. Or have been cheated out of winter, I can't decide yet. I do love this sunshine.

the view

Here is our view from the great room. The girls and I keep ourselves busy outside for hours every day. They still ask to go home a lot, and they miss their grandmas. Heck, I miss their grandmas. I keep waiting for that overwhelming homesickness to sink in, but we are blessed to have family close and new experiences ahead. Ryan likes his job. I have friends in the ward. So far Texas has been good to us. And there is our update.

plug for ryanbarlow.com

I'm not in the mood to cut and paste what I just finished writing. Besides, I have to try and up the traffic to my forgotten blog (I promise to update it more). Anyway, for an Austin update, go to ryanbarlow.com. Leslie will be back to updating barlowing on Feb. 11, when we get our internet.