I'm going to be 34 this weekend... (I guess it should read that I AM 34... since I'm posting a little late)

Sometimes I feel like time is passing me by too quickly.

I like my job. I love my kids.

I go to work, I go home, I take care of my family.  And that's pretty much it.  Me, at thirty-three, soon to be thirty-four.  Just gettin' older by the day.

But...

Sometimes I don't feel like I'm a thirty-something, responsible (more or less) adult. 

Sometimes I feel like a kid.  Waiting for summer to start.  Waiting for the sprinklers to come on in the heat of the afternoon so I can run through the water.  Waiting for the "ahhh..." of the first week of not having to wake up for school.  Waiting to hear the the other kids outside... the sound of the neighborhood "waking up."

Unfortunately, now that I'm old (thirty-four, in case you weren't paying attention the first time) the only thing that appeals to me at this very moment is not having to wake up early for school work.

But when I was a kid, the summers I remember were totally AWESOME.

Playing outside all day until mom called us in for dinner.  Eating around the table as a family... eating as quickly as we could so we could get back out with our friends.  Silly string fights in the kitchen (*ahem* which totally did not happen, no way, not once). 

Pleading to stay out "just a little longer" in the evening, and then trying to kill time when we got permission for 10 more minutes.  Riding our bikes to the library, or Dairy Queen, or just around the neighborhood.  (Way back when I was a kid, I was way more coordinated on two wheels.  Now, not so much!)

Rollerblading with my brother... and him waiting at the bottom of the hill (if you can call it that) at the end of our street to grab my arm as I whizzed by because I wasn't very good at stopping myself with the tiny piece of rubber they call brakes (by the way, thanks for not missing the catch Mike, a fall would have hurt... probably as much as the time I rode my bike into a parked car.  Or that time I fell off of my bike at the bottom of the tiny hill.  Ouch.). 

Basketball in the driveway.  Playing hide-and-seek.  The slip and slide in our back yard.  Parties with cake and ice cream and party group pictures in the living room.  Roller skating in the basement (I had problems with brakes even then... and our washing maching had the dents to proove it).

So much fun...

But now?  Now I think about bills, my kids, pre-school for Katie, bills, how much Jake will miss her when she's gone each day, oh, and did I say bills?

Now I wait for the end of my workday to come, so I can get home to my family. 

Now I wait for the weekends so I can sing the kids the good morning song when they wake up (Katie likes it, Jake isn't always thrilled). 

Now I appreciate that time in the evening when the sun starts to set and everything is hushed except for the sound of kids playing outside (because if I can hear kids playing outside, it means that the kids playing inside aren't screaming.  Or breaking anything.  Or fighting over a toy.  And that's a good thing) and I can cuddled with my sweet kiddos. 

And sometimes sharing "where does she get this stuff" or a "who does Jake think he is? Superman?" looks with John when Katie gives a musical performance using a waterbottle as a guitar... or a violin (huh?) or Jake decides to climb tall tables in a... well, you get the picture, helps us both to appreciate the uniqueness of our kids.

After Katie was born, I think I started to gather the memories that are made in moments.  Moments that sneak up on you.  When you breathe out and everything in the world seems right.

And I try to remember to watch for the little things that will make those memories.  Memories that I can replay when the kids are off on their own, with their families and lives... or when they're 12 and I'm wondering why we didn't give them away when they started to reach "the tween years".

Sometimes it's hard to remember "making memories" when I'm cleaning up milk from the floor, or watching as an open baggie full of cheerios is flung across the living room, or wrestling to keep Jake away from the open dishwasher as I'm trying to fill it.  Yep, sometimes it's tough.

And then I get a grin from one of my kids (a kid with cheerios stuck to their leg).  A hug from Katie that comes out of nowhere.  A slobbery kiss from Jake.  Katie putting her clothes away without being asked.  The kids meeting me at the door when I come home from work and they are so excited to see me that they almost push me over.  Jake's grin as he pulls yet another baking pan out of the cupboard.  Katie's questions that she thinks mommy can answer (thank you Google!).  And everything gets set back to rights.
Sometimes I wonder what life would have been like if I had chosen a different path.

But all I have to do is look around me and I'm reminded of my many reasons to be thankful that I get to be *me* on THIS path.

And how much I appreciate this life I've chosen.

With him...

and with her...

What about you?  What's your favorite summer memory from when you were a kid?

A visit to Urgent Care does not a fun night make. But at least if you're 4, it's entertainment.

I got home from work last night to find Katie in her room diapering her babydoll (who is actually named "Babydoll" which is easy to remember.  And that's nice.  Especially when she's got a piano named Daisy and invisible friends named Honey, Lola, Goga, Zola, Emma, and Daisy) with one of Jake's diapers. 

I don't mind this so much... now that we've talked about the fact that Babydoll is a D-O-L-L, and as a DOLL she does not dirty a diaper in the same way Jake dirties a diaper and so the diapers Katie puts on Babydoll (for two minutes before Babydoll's diaper gets "dirty" and needs to be changed again) do NOT need to be tossed in the trash.  Becaues they aren't DIRTY. 

So, once we got that established, she was given the okay to use Jake's diapers for Babydoll.  Now, when she wants to throw them "away" she rolls them up and tosses them into Jake's diaper holder.  I'll admit that I panicked a little when I saw the tube of A&D next to her on the floor... in her freshly painted room... but she wasn't actually squeezing any out.  *HUGE sigh of relief*

But the baby thermomator (it didn't work anymore so Katie decided it would make a good baby toy), also on the floor next to her, was a little strange to see.  It was stranger still to see her taking Babydoll's temperature.

I admired (?) her creativity until I heard Jake wake up from his nap.  Usually he plays in his crib for a bit before needing attention, but he woke up crying.  I went to get him and he was really warm so I took his temp (under his arm... and yes, I know that under the arm temps aren't as accurate, but I also know that he isn't going to keep a thermometor in his mouth long enough for a reading... and the other temperature taking method is just too... icky) and it was 102.6!

We decided it would be a great night to go to urgent care.  When Katie heard that a doctor visit was planned, she asked me if she could come too.  And she was very excited.  Now, this is the same kid who insists she's not sick, when it's obvious she is, just to avoid the doctor.  But she loves to come along when someone else is going to be subjected to the process.

Grandma came with us (Jake likes her more than me anyway) and off we went.  I was so relieved to find that we were the only ones there!  Last time I was there with him we were waiting for an hour and it was... difficult.  Especially since Jake has learned that he's big enough to be "seen" by the sliding doors.

It was a quick visit.  The usual crying, the usual 20 questions, the usual... strep test?!  Yes, they did a strep test (Jake seemed to recover from his way faster than Katie did.  I think she's still mad) and it came back negative.  Which was good but now the doctor thinks he has a viral infection and of course there's no treatment for it.  Arg.

We stopped by the restroom on the way out and I went in with Katie.  She did her business and washed her hands and looked around for the paper towels.  When I showed her the air blowing thing (I hate those) she looked at me and grimaced.  I knew it was futile to push her to use it, and Jake was crying in the lobby, so I told her to *gasp* "Wipe your hands on your pants."  She paused for a second... then reached out and wiped her hands on MY pants.  And I let her.  Partly because I was a little surprised, but mostly because at that point in the evening, with snot on my shirt and my hair falling out of my ponytail, I realized that I just didn't care.

We ended up going to eat and then going to Target (yay!).  Then home, where Jake went to sleep AFTER I laid him in his crib.  This is a big thing for us... we didn't sleep train our kids very well (at all) so we usually cuddle them to sleep.  I'm trying to get Katie to stay in her bed and go to sleep as calmly as Jake has done these last couple of nights but, no such luck. Again last night she carried on about me making her stay in her bed.  At least she stayed in her bed last night.  The night before she kept popping out of it.  I was very surprised when she fell asleep without getting up (she only cried for what seemed like for.ever and she only woke up once at about 5 a.m... when she fell out of her bed).  *sigh*  A suitable ending to our night.

Soil Bag Garden Update

Here are updates from day 8 and day 10. I really can't believe these are growing so quickly. The cucumber plant has started to spread a little and the pepper plant has grown up!

Katie is going to be so excited to see an actual vegetable grow on our plant! (Okay, so I'll probably be the most excited, but it will be so cool to eat something I've grown!)
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