Gukey's Picks

Movie: Cars
Book: Dinosaur Roar
Food: salad--with "stinky cheese" and "dwessing"
Animal: guinea pig
Activities: trampoline and scooter

And last, but not least...

Imp-- noun

1. a little devil or demon

2. a mischievous child

All I can say about my fourth child is that it is a good thing he had you-know-who for an older brother! Since child #1 was SO hyper, SO dangerous and SO daring, I am completely mellow and rarely alarmed when #4 does his monkey impersonation.

This guy likes climbing, swinging, jumping, and living life on the edge. He pushes the kitchen step-stool around like it is on skates...using it to gain access to chocolate chips, goldfish crackers and Tums. His main obsessions are water, matches, food coloring and batteries...so I have to keep an eye on him at all times! He can be very quiet and sneaky. He has also conned his wombmate into becoming accomplice to the following crimes: flooding all four of our bathrooms, painting the walls with White-Out and stuffing pennies in the car CD player.

Luckily, L. is extremely adorable. His personality is charming and generally very agreeable...it seems like he talks his twin into doing all the dirty work, like throwing a Sam-trum so they both can have an ice cream sandwich!

The main squeeze in "Gukey's" life is his kiki...a grey, smelly, usually damp blanket that has gone beyond the typical comfort object. Each twin started out with three kikis...and now L. is down to only one. I shudder to think what will happen if it ever gets lost. (One night, a babysitter could not find it, and hours later, on that frosty winter night, I found my little guy curled up in the corner of his crib, with only Check-Up-Elmo for warmth!)

My little Linus reminds me a lot of his uncle Josh, his Opa, and a little of William Shatner (especially when he cries). He is sensitive and artistic and likes "alone time". Every night he rocks in his crib until it bangs into the wall...the pediatrician calls it "self-soothing" and he does not like being disturbed at naptime until he decides he is ready. I guess even imps need to decompress sometimes!

Carrying on the Tradition

It's General Conference weekend and I'm loving it...watching church on TV, in my pajamas and eating "General Conference Trail Mix".

This tradition was started when I was a kid by my wise and wonderful parents who knew that the only way to get seven kids to sit and watch all four sessions of Conference was to feed them junk food.

Because, although it sounds nutritious...G.C. Trail Mix has had all healthy components removed, resulting in a big bowl of candy and peanuts. But, hey...that's why we love it.

I know each of my siblings will have his/her own version of the original recipe and I would love to hear all your secret combinations.

Over the years, Brad and I have played with the recipe and each have our own personal favorites:

Our Family's G.C. Trail Mix

Cracklin' Oat Bran Cereal

M&M's...plain, peanut, and peanut butter

Tiny pretzel knots

Peanuts

Craisins

Spiced gum drops

Chocolate chips

Raisinets

Candy corn (October Conference)

Jelly beans (April Conference)

*Mix according to taste....serve and enjoy!

Top Ten Reasons Why I'm Excited for my Dad to Come Tomorrow

1. He will laugh at all Oma's jokes.
2. He will get up at the crack of dawn and play with the kids.
3. He will read all the obscure books in my house.
4. He knows more historical facts about my hometown than I do.
5. He will take Em to the graveyard and look at tombstones.
6. He will take great photos of the twinkies.
7. He will go to bed at 8 pm.
8. He will show J. cool old stamps and coins.
9. He will tell me he's proud of me.
10. He will do his own laundry.

**"It's always fun when Opa comes!"

Top Ten Reasons I'm Glad My Mom is Here

1. She brought cinnamon bunnies.
2. She thinks my kids are cute.
3. She thinks my house is cute.
4. She thinks my hair is cute.
5. She thinks my husband is cute.
6. She always has the zaniest of adventures on plane/train/taxi rides here and she tells us all about them!
7. She can sing "Baby's Boat" to the twins.
8. She tells Shakey adventure stories.
9. She gives Em her undivided attention!
10. She is as bubbly as the Coke she drinks and sweet as the donuts she likes.

***"No one loves me any better than my M-O-double-M-Y!!!"

Sambo's Picks

Book: Chicka Chicka Boom Boom
TV show: Wonder Pets
Color: "o-mange"
Fearful fascinations: carwash, blender, vacuum
Breakfast cereal: Rice Spispies

Sambo's Turn

"I almos' free!" is his new line. It is truly amazing to realize in just a month he will really be free-years-old and into kid-hood. These days S is into Lightning McQueen, mom&me gymnastics, the trampoline, and pouring water from one container to another...over and over and over!

Because he looks so much like his dad and that side of the family tree, it is hard to see any of myself in Sambo. (I think that is the problem with 'biological' kids...you're always trying to figure out who they look like and where their traits came from. Adopted kids are easier to accept as they are!) From his father, S has inherited a very independent streak, a love of precision and (according to the shoe salesman) big, sweaty feet. However, today he sat very still for six storybooks in a row and ate approximately a half-pound of raw cookie dough...so I think he's mine, too!

Although he's tough on the outside, with his football-player physique, Mr. S. is teddy-bear tender. Often he asks, "You happy, Momma?" and he always checks my reaction to the other kids' behavior. I feel that he may be the one who takes care of me when I'm old. (I'll be screening future wives very carefully...)

This is also the kid who has the throw-himself-on-the-floor-in-public-places kind of meltdowns. His scream can shatter crystal and he has been known to bite. Luckily, Sambo's social skills are very advanced and he can charm just about anyone his million dollar smile.

What can I say? Temper tantrums come and go, but dimples last forever!

Warning: This is pretty sappy...

Today at the gym snack bar, a woman noticed the twins. The older two weren't with us and S. & L. were being very adorable--so it was a good kind of noticing.

We started to chitchat and she told me that this morning--at 10 am-- in a far-off city her daughter-in-law was trying in vitro.

"Oh, wow!" I said, "these are my IVF babies!"

I could tell the woman was ready to cry and I felt a lump in my throat, too. I just said, "It really does work, sometimes!"

At this point, the two of us had bonded and she sat down and we talked about Clomid and dye-tests and laparoscopies.

Then, I told her, "I tried IVF ten years ago and it didn't work."

"Oh, no!" she said, "don't tell me that."

"But, you see, " I explained, "it was the best thing that ever happened to me because now I have the most beautiful eight-year-old boy and the sweetest six-year-old girl alive and adoption is a wonderful thing."

"Wow," this new friend said, "we've never even talked about adoption."

"I know," I replied, "I didn't want to talk about it for a long time either."

"She's so nervous," the woman explained, "I think if it doesn't work, it will be the end of her world."

"I know."

After she left, I thought of times when my world ended... You'll never be able to bear children. The procedure didn't work. We're moving across the country. They have to stay in the N.I.C.U. Your son might be autistic...

And then I thought of times when new worlds opened up...You've been chosen! It's a boy! It's a girl! It's twins! Mama! I love you!

I'd love to explain all this to the girl in the far-off city, waiting anxiously in her hospital gown...but there are some things you just have to learn on your own.