Catching up

I've been blogging mentally a lot lately but they don't seem to actually appear on the blog so I guess I actually do have to sit down, gather my thoughts and type. I write a lot of good emails and blog posts when I'm running or walking but I can't ever remember them quite as cleverly when I actually sit down. Alas. So this is a catch-up on what's been going on in this crazy world of ours as of late.

A lot.

But I can't really remember all of it very clearly.

The garden is in full production mode and we've been harvesting and eating and canning and thinking about canning and planning on canning and tossing things as they rot because I didn't get them canned.

We've been doing a bit of school...just easing in a bit and it's been going well. There's part of me that wants to jump in wholeheartedly tomorrow but then I have a list of projects that I want to accomplish before we really get to it so I have one week left to do all of that before I lose my summer help so I guess I'd better concentrate on those things first.

The kids are growing like weeds. They still won't stop. They're very cute. The babies are talking like crazy. Like totally crazy and I love it. I adore it. Everything is adorable and funny. They're crossing their arms and putting their hands in their pockets and having conversations and just being totally adorable. The older boys are asserting themselves and finding themselves and it's fun to watch. They've discovered heavy metal this week thanks to daddy. I found them in the bathroom this morning, G was in the tub and M had brought is CD player into the bathroom so they could have a sing-along. I love that mix of growing up and innocence and I love seeing all of the innocence that they still manage to have despite being 8 and 9 1/2.

G man broke his arm last week when he got dumped off of a spooked horse. We were at the farm and they were taking a quick ride before we left. The horse got spooked when a squirrel ran in front of her and despite being well trained and her owner having a good grasp on her, she carried 2 inexperienced riders who couldn't compensate. M landed right and wasn't hurt and G suffered a bow fracture in his left arm. He is currently sporting a splint and has a great story to tell and takes some serious pride in being the first Boos boy to break a bone.

Both boys showed their projects at the fair and loved that. M had a long interview with the judge where he glowingly imparted his catapult knowledge on her and repeatedly demonstrated it. He's bursting with pride and it's just wonderful.

Our new great experiment is that we've taken down one of the gates leading to the school room. This may not seem like a big deal but trust me, it's huge. The babes can ravage that room in seconds and it can take hours to put back together. We've had a rule that whomever leaves a gate open, has to clean up the mess that the babes make. Well, the gate has been down for about a week now with no major incidents. I realize that by actually writing this, I'm probably jinxing myself but I really am looking forward to not having to have those gates up all the time. They're just a pain and it makes everything seem so much more spacious and open just having that one gate down so I'm cautiously optimistic. Very cautiously. Currently, they are both running in the circle that is the livingroom, hall, kitchen and school room (because they can) and saying "hi mom!" every time they run past. They've been doing it for at least a half hour and it's just precious.

Another milestone is that I've cleaned out and organized my upstairs pantry. I refused to put child locks on my brand new cupboards and simply chose to live in the chaos that the babes created by emptying at least part of the pantry daily. Well, they haven't completely grown out of it yet but it's quite infrequent and much more methodical than it used to be so I took a chance and cleaned it out and it's stayed that way for almost a week now. I'm very impressed.

It's amazing all of the changes that are taking place right now with the twins about to turn 2. It does get easier. There's less screaming and more "please", less stress and more laughter, less mess and a tiny bit more sanity, and even a bit less biting! Although I've enjoyed the past 21 months, they've been challenging at times and it's really fun to see how far we've all come and how much they can do now. I've loved this age with all of my kids because they have one foot in babyhood and one in toddlerhood and it's just so darn much fun and I continue to enjoy it with my twins knowing full well that this is the last time any of my kids will be this age and it's quite bittersweet.

So, here's to another week! Hopefully summer will return for a few days and we can bask in the sunshine but I for one am looking forward to cool nights, the hint of fall in the air and all that comes with it which hopefully will include a return to the structure of our days and weeks with school. As much as we all love the free-for-all that summer provides, it really is nice to get back to a routine once fall arrives and I think we're all ready for it.

Birthday...me this time

Today is my birthday. I love my birthday. I'm very childlike about it in a way. I love getting the cards and talking to people on the phone. I totally loved getting the birthday wishes on Facebook today and I love getting to spend the day with family and friends and just take that time to honor my life and those who are in it because it's a good one.

Ever since I was little, I've marked the coming of my birthday by a few things. First, when the cicadas start their summer song, I know that my birthday is approaching. And when the county fairs get going, I know that my birthday is coming. And when it gets really hot and humid and we get thunderstorms at night, I know my birthday is just about here. I love marking this time every year. I don't have that aversion to getting older that I see so many people around me having. I didn't have a hard time turning 30 and I don't think I'll have a hard time with any other "milestone" birthdays or anything in between. I guess I just see getting older as a rite of passage. With age, you hopefully gain wisdom and a different perspective on life. You lose some of the pettiness that comes with being young. You start to see the falibility of life and realize how very precious each day is and learn to be grateful for every day. And that's what I feel. I'm grateful to be here each and every day. Grateful to watch my children grow up, grateful to be in this world and have the opportunity to learn, love and grow every day. Grateful to have the opportunity to make a difference in someone's life. I just think that life is too short to lament being another year older and therefore, I refuse to do it. I will continue to love my birthdays and to celebrate them with great abandon because it's better than the alternative and Life is Good!

New Beginnings

At this time of year, I get motivated to look towards our new school year. We've had some time off even though I have this grand idea every year that we're going to do school all summer. One of these years, I may let go of that and enter our reality which is: we don't do school in the summer. We read and hang out and go on vacation and go into water and think deep thoughts and some not-so-deep thoughts but we don't "do school". So, when I feel that feeling in the pit of my stomach that says "It's time to start planning" I go with it and I love it. This year, we've come up with a whole chore chart, "schedule", plan thing and we started that last Monday. It's been going rather well so far and we all agreed that it's nice to get our bodies and minds used to all of that before starting school. This week, we've started doing some reading and some Spanish. Nothing major, just something to wake up the ol' brain cells. I have to say that as much as I really enjoy creating our days each day, it's also nice to get back into some structure. It's a beginning in the middle of the year. I find that it's really nice to have several "beginnings" throughout the year because, let's face it, we lose motivation. Things are so exciting at the beginning of something and then the sheen wears off and we have to stay motivated and that's not nearly as fun.

We've all been there: started an exercise program on January 1 but by February 1, we're tired of it. We love the idea of going back to school and love shopping for clothes and supplies and all of that but by October, it's worn off and you're just in school for the next 8 months and looking forward to summer vacation. I have found that by creating several beginnings in our year, it helps to keep us motivated and by recognizing and honoring each season and mid-season it doesn't seem like it's all taking so long.

The fall feels like a beginning to me because we do get back into our school groove but also, I love the crispness that fall brings, the harvest, time with family and friends and that leads into the Holiday season where we take plenty of time off of school to enjoy all of the concerts, parades, baking, preparing and all that is the Holiday Season. We start back up with school again after we've taken down all of our decorations...sometime in the 2nd week of January. Candlemas comes in February and is the midpoint between Winter Solstice and Spring Equinox and let's face it, we all need something to celebrate in February! Of course spring is so full of new beginnings with the earth waking up and everything (including the kids) growing like crazy. We love feeling the warming days, being outside and rosy, muddy cheeks and always new rain boots for stomping in all of the great puddles! And before we know it, we're planting gardens and watching things grow and summer is back with all of the long days, and everything we can pack into them. By seeing each of these things as a new beginning, we're able to consistently be motivated throughout the year and that's really lovely.

Unfortunately, I seem to be missing my motivation right now and it's bugging me. I know that quite soon I'll find it again so I figure I might as well ride this out - especially since we seem to actually be getting summer again this week. Time for some good dog days of summer and then, when that crisp fall air hits, I know that I'll get that feeling in the pit of my stomach and we'll be off to the races once again with another new beginning.