Two Front Teeth

Yup.  We're all familiar with that Christmas song "All I Want For Christmas is My Two Front Teeth."  Well, our two little munchkins will be getting early Christmas presents this year. 

They are "Arrrggghhh"-ing like pirates.  Giggle

That and when I take a close look at their teeth, I feel such sympathy for them.  They are both going to have to endure years of orthodontia work once all their adult teeth come in.  Peaches seems to have been blessed with my undersized jaw (even after 4 years of retainers and 2 1/2 years of braces, my teeth are still slightly overlapped), there simply isn't enough room in her mouth for all the teeth.  She lost three lower baby teeth in order to make room for two adult teeth that completely fill the space.  And she'll most likely need retainers for the rest of her life (like me).  Mr O is a little luckier, he got his Daddy's smile.  Still going to need braces so that he'll be able to bite properly, but as it looks now (and from x-rays), he may get off with just braces and no retainers (like his Handsome Daddy).  Ahh well...Life!

A Really Fine Whine

So, don't read this if you don't want to hear (well read about) my whining. 

You've been warned.

I'm tired.  Constantly tired.  Fatigue is yet another daily friend that has become a shadow.  There is no energy for anything.  Yoga is still in my daily routine, but even the 10-15 minute routines that I do (very simple poses geared towards stretching and endurance) leave me exhausted.  I'm tired of being tired.  Getting up and simply being a mother to my kids is hard.  I have to mentally pep talk to myself to get up and do things.  The simple act of walking two blocks to take the kids to the park puts me close to collapse.  We stay at the park for at least 30 minutes so that I can recover sufficiently to walk home.  2 blocks!  I shouldn't be that tired from 2 blocks!  At my age I should be jogging, walking, swimming, biking, and ready for more. 

And then there is the pain.  Constant, mind-numbing, pain.  Half of my brain is always focused on how much pain I'm in.  Will I be able to do a certain activity, or would it be too much?  I find myself constantly weighing the odds of if I do this, will I be able to do that, and on and on.  Over simple things like going grocery shopping, walking the kids to the park, playing with the dog, doing dishes, loading the washer/dryer, making dinner; every day things that I should be able to do without thought, I cannot.  Unable to do much, and even the few things I can do are curtailed.  Because of the constant pain.  My shadow. 

Life isn't fair, I know that.  This is my problem to deal with, and I'm doing my best.  But there are days that it's just too much. 


No I'm not quitting, not even close.  But I wouldn't mind a day, or even two, pain free.

Just sayin.

Last Days of Summer

So now that the kiddos are in school, I need to write about the last few days of summer that we had.  Since we live up here in the northwest corner of the northwest, it doesn't really get sunny until late in the summer.  Late as in mid August usually.  So we had our fill of drippy and cloudy "summer" days, wearing jeans and shoes instead of shorts and sandals like most people expect to do.  We didn't mind the weather, we're used to it and actually enjoy it most of the time.  Although I do need to get the kids rain boots.  But I digress. 

The last days of summer.  They were beautiful!  Sunny and hot, just like it is supposed to be.  We enjoyed the sunshine by getting out the sprinkler and water balloons.  That was fun!  The kids weren't really patient with me, so I only filled about 20 balloons the first time, and away they went!  Running, giggling, throwing and missing, jumping on the trampoline with them, and ultimately having a ton of fun.  I love watching the smiles and laughter of my two beautiful kids!  That, to me, is priceless.  No one could pay me enough to leave this behind.

They also discovered a lovely freshly dug hole next to one gate, thanks to Four Legs.  It is fairly long, like a trench, and also a little over a foot deep.  Perfect for a river.  Or a dam.  Or mud pies.  Or a water park.  Or a whole host of other things that the kids have come up with.  So they found it, came rushing inside to see if they could proceed to flood it.  The answer was the expected one, and two very happy kiddos proceeded to get absolutely filthy.  Playing in the mud for the next 2 hours, they finally complained of hunger.  I'm actually kind of disappointed that I didn't grab a photo.  They were covered in mud, head to toe.  I actually needed to rinse them off in the hose before they could come in and take showers, that is how dirty they were.  But oh it was so fun to listen to them imagining different things, playing together, and just having fun.  Ahh, childhood.  I hope and pray that they don't leave it behind too quickly.

Quick Update

Yes I know, I've been very very neglectful.  I'm almost sorry, but not quite.  *Giggle*

So....life as it has been over the past couple weeks that I've been not posting.

We went to the fair, did not ride any of the rides.  Watched a horse show.  Ate cotton candy.  And attended the way way cool country music concert.  It was The Band Perry, just so's y'all know.  Awesomeness!!  The kids sang along, and it was soooo cute!  Dancing and singing, until they became totally worn out (the concert didn't start until 7 and didn't end until almost 9).  Absolutely fabulous experiance!

We have been picking blackberries.  We (the kids and I) will go out in the morning and come back with buckets and buckets of berries.  I've been freezing and jamming them.  Not as much as last year though, we've had a very wet summer, and the berries are still mostly green. 

Handsome made a rather large purchase for the family by way of Costco.  A large TV and a X-Box/Kinect.  Thank you Costco for making it a whole lot cheaper for us!  I just need to get a timer to go with it.  And yes, I'm a good mom and make the kids do their chores and homework first, and even then they only get 20 min.  Really though, I have a feeling that it will save my sanity this winter.  When the kids are bouncing off the walls, and can't stay outside very long because of the cold.  They will still be able to be very active.  Woot!!  And yes, I've played it.  You have to be active to play, none of the sitting and waving a remote around.  The person has to jump, dodge, kick, duck, or whatever, in order to get points.  It's a game system, no I don't promote video gaming, but this one is actually ok.

The kids and I made a short (2 days) trip to Walla Walla to put up corn with my parents.  It was crazy busy, very sticky, and tasty.  Very very tasty.  I love sweet corn!  After putting up a cooler full (read fridge freezer full) we went out to this beautiful park, met up with some cousins, and played all afternoon.  Had a picnic, chatted with some family that I haven't really conversed with in a couple years, and really just relaxed and had a wonderful time.

Handsome and I have made some progress on the Fiat.  It is all torn apart and the body work is almost half done.  It's looking pretty good!  I need to get in gear and do some sanding though...

And since we live in the Northwestern corner of the great northwest, it seems that our summer may be over already.  We had about 3 weeks of nice sunny weather, but we're already into grey rainy days again.  I don't mind, it's part of living here.  That is why yellow and red are my favorite colors.  Bring on the rain!  I've got rain boots and an umbrella!

Yup, that's about it for updates for us.  School doesn't start for another few days, the kids are getting really excited though.  (me too)