today i completed phase one of my reorganizing effort, and managed to get all of the art supplies sorted into bins, grouped roughly according to function--thus there is a paper and sticker bin, a painting bin, a drawing/cutting/gluing/etc bin, and a random materials to make into things like space helmets bin. this is a vast improvement over previous method, which was to shove everything into a dresser in an increasing state of randomness. i would try to keep the dresser organized, and it seemed like a good idea, but it pretty much turned into 4 junk drawers. which i hate. i have never freed myself completely from junk drawers, but i do hate them. i am not a person that is 'out of sight, out of mind' -- if there is a mess in a closed drawer or closet, i feel like i can somehow see through it, and it is mocking me. it is basically one of my neuroses. anyway, this successful reorganizing inspired me to launch into phases 2 through 5 all at once, a phenomenally bad idea. this meant that EVERYTHING was pulled out of every drawer/closet/nook/cranny and all over the place. and it was at this point that both kids decided that they needed 100% of my attention. and i needed to get ready for the afternoon's outing, to boot. sooooo...i grabbed everything and shoved it in the pack-n-play, and put it out on the porch. now i don't have a junk drawer, i have a junk playpen. brilliant.

ava went to tumbling today--this was 'big kid's' tumbling, where the mommies were supposed to stay out of the room. this was not up her alley, so i stayed in the room, on the sidelines, while she sat next to me and considered joining in. eventually she could not stand watching any longer and the urge to have fun overtook her. she parted with me and had a great time. but i also was in sight at all times.

i managed to overcome my own separation anxiety, and did not go running after her, but i sure did want to join in. it was SO HARD to let her go off on her own.

after class we went on a walk around the lake. this was a 2.5 mile walk that took us, oh, 2.5 hours. set up the stroller, nurse carter, pack stroller with essentials, dress carter warmly, dress ava warmly, put carter in backpack, hoist backpack on back, realize i am not dressed warmly, take backpack off, put coat and backpack back on, push stroller, go a couple hundred yards, stop, talk to dog, push stroller, stop, get ava out so she can push stroller, go insane at pace and put ava back in, push stroller, stop and talk to mom friend from dance class, let ava out again, suggest that she run, put my gloves on ava, put ava back in, push stroller, realize carter needs an adjustment, take backpack off, adjust, put backpack back on, look at a red fire hydrant and explain the concept, get stumped at how they get the water out and cannot answer where the internal pressure comes from and suggest looking it up, am reminded that i am also supposed to look up why the zamboni is named as such, push stroller, let ava out, hold her hood as she tries to walk backwards, put ava back in, go past playground, explain that it is a pit of mud and we cannot go, watch the skateboarders (who have HORRENDOUS potty mouths), and repeat the in-out routine til we finally make it back to the car. introduce twizzlers and skittles to ava in an attempt to make sure she does not fall asleep in the car on the way home so that she does not ruin her bedtime which is only 2 hours away. it worked. it also conveniently induced a sugar crash at roughly the bedtime hour. three cheers for sugar. make up for it by making her a hummus-avocado-shredded carrot sandwich on 12-grain bread for dinner. this was not as enticing, but she did eat it.

funny part of this is when i told her i was going to make her a hummus and carrot sandwich when we got home, she started poking her leg and saying 'like this?' -- i could not figure it out, and she kept jabbing her leg and finally she said 'like candles?' and i realized she thought that i was going to poke the carrots into the sandwich like candles on a birthday cake. which made me laugh, and contemplate the idea--but decide to go with the original notion of shredded carrots inside the bread.

carter continues to work on his crawling. he has finger foods down, and is constantly hungry. he is just so cute. he will not sit still for anything, and his frenzy of arms and legs is usually accompanied by "dai dai dai dai mmmmmmm ya ya ya blllblbllblllll buh buh buh dai dai dai DAIIIIIIIIIIIIII.

and if ava screams, he screams. and laughs his head off. i look at the 2 of them and think "uh oh..."