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.