Old news

This article is like a week old now, but I only just saw it - therefore I'm pretending like it's new, since the subject matter rates about a 9.5 on my HOLYSHITBALLSNO! scale:

Guatemalan woman finds huge sinkhole under bed

Johan Ordonez - AFP/Getty Images

The article - which is not from The Onion, in case you hadn't seen this either and were wondering - mentions that the woman was relieved there was only material damage to the house, since her grandchildren were running around that room. I mean CAN YOU IMAGINE? Just thinking about it is making me all nervous and caps lock-y. *shudder*

This and that

Red velvet ice cream. ZOMG. YES. I must make this.

It says a lot about my precision loving personality that I looked at this kinetic sculpture of San Francisco (made out of 100,000 toothpicks) and thought, "Yeah...I could do that."

Better Book Titles. Yes they are. If you don't want to scroll through all of the entries, just look at the archive with thumbnails of the covers. Awesomeness.

Every once in a while, I get into a home renovation blog. This is the one I'm currently loving. She pretty much rocks.

It's an indicator of just how nerdy I am that I really want to watch this documentary about early text based computer games. Like, REALLY want to watch it.

Pirates in their natural habitat

Yesterday I had to head down to Sydney to get ye olde tattoo touched up, so Ben and I decided to gather up our courage and pack the Pirates into the car for the - six hours round-trip - drive. The longest car trip they'd been on until this point was about 45 minutes; they did amazingly well during the first three hour haul, and we decided to reward them with a little detour to the beach on our way back home.

It's still winter so we didn't go stay long, but they got to walk on the sand and dip their toes in the ocean for the very first time at Bondi Beach.

We weren't sure how they'd react to something so big and loud, but we needn't have worried - they LOVED it.

Especially the sand...

...which was excellent for throwing, and also so tasty that we spent half the time scooping it out of Will's mouth. Who knew that dirt, salt, seagull crap and other unmentionables were so delicious?

Meanwhile, Dash was so enchanted with the ocean that we had to keep an iron grip on him to keep him from running straight out into the surf.

As you can see, he was thrilled about this:

Parents. Such kill-joys.

Of course, this little impromptu detour meant we didn't have any towels on hand, which led to a long, itchy, sand-filled drive back home. But so worth it!

I'm gonna be ripped

Every time I read one of Erica's weightloss posts, I look down at my twin-flabbified midsection and think, "Yeah. The boys are over a year old now. Probably about time I did something about that mess." (I won't show you a photo of what my stomach looks like these days. Let's just say it's like two very elderly, very wrinkled pigs napping under a damp blanket.) And then I eat s'mores and think happy thoughts about the person who invented them.

But this week, I decided that motivation is overrated, and the only way to deal with the elderly pig stomach issues is to justdoitalready.

So I busted out the ole' Pilates DVD and have now worked out three consecutive nights in a row. I figure this means my six pack abs should be showing up on Friday, right? Well, maybe next Friday, considering it's going on 10pm and I am just now eating buttered toast for dinner. Right? Right.

Kiss

The Pirates are a bit under the weather at the moment, and Will is having an especially hard time. Tonight he was curled up in my lap, nestled into my chest, when Dash came over to investigate. He peered in at Will, then leaned back, obviously concerned. After a bit of thought, he reached forward and gave Will a hug...and a kiss on the cheek.  

His very first kiss.

Dash has never kissed anyone before - not me, not his daddy, not anyone - but tonight there it was: wet and sloppy and smeared on his sick brother's cheek. And it was so right and so good that I don't mind admitting I got a bit choked up at that moment.

Sometimes that twin thing really is special.

Milestones

Today I looked across the table and saw two pairs of my underwear whizzing past.

My sons were wearing them on their heads like hats, running around the dining room.

They're 14 months old - I thought I had until they were at least 18 before they thought wearing undies on their heads was a good idea. 

My husband said I should be glad they hadn't pulled them over their faces like ninja masks.

I was just glad they were clean.

Links of the day

In case you've been living under a rock lately, The Bloggess has what is possibly the funniest blog post I've seen lately.

This article on the Met Museum guards is fascinating.

Michael over at Forgotten Bookmarks works at a used bookstore, and posts images of the things he finds in the secondhand books they buy. It's strangely evocative. 

In another literary vein, Bill Ryan attends book signings and asks the authors to inscribe his copy of their book with an insult.

Fairy tales as math equations. YES. I don't care if they're ads - I would totally put these up in the Pirates' nursery.