SH*T HAPPENS...

... all over the bedroom, down the stairs, and into the living room. Pee also happens. All over the basement floor. And, I think I'm taking some extreme liberty with the expression here, but coffee and strawberry jelly also happen. Think kitchen floor and, where else?... beige carpet. And this is all before noon. Throw in there a cake that needs to be made and the most major ingredient forgotten. If anyone needs me (and, I really hope no one does because I'm basically tapped out), I'll be huddled in a corner somewhere.

Dominic lost his 6th tooth on Sunday. The boys had their regular cleaning at the dentist this past week and Adrian did MUCH better than last time. He wouldn't give the hygienist the time of day or look her in the eye, but he did cooperate, hold still, and open his mouth for the cleaning and exam. Huge progress!

The other day we were grocery shopping and Dominic asked me how they get milk from cows. Before I could totally formulate my answer he said, "I know! From their gutters!"

We are still living up summer around here. We spend almost part of every day at the pool (looooove having a pool I can see from my front door!) and Dominic's swimming skills are getting better every time. He swam in the deep end the other day for a few short distances.

My boys are growing up!

Well, around here we are busy enjoying summer! We spend lots of time at the pool. Dominic's learning how to really swim this year and Adrian paddles around with his floaty vest and inner tube. Yesterday we enjoyed the 4th of July parade and Ian and Dominic went to the fireworks last night. (Adrian was out at 6 and I couldn't stay awake past 9:30 - are we lightweights or what?!) Dominic (and possibly Adrian) will be attending Vacation Bible School the week after next and the week after that Dominic goes to all day (9a-3p) summer camp. Follow that up with a trip to North Carolina and we should be plenty tired out just in time for Dominic to start all-day first grade on August 25.

For the last couple of months, Dominic's had an obsession with calendars. We have a calendar with family pictures that my aunt sent at Christmas time that he particulary likes. Every morning, the first two phrases I usually hear are, "I'm hungry" and "Can I look at the calendar?" He likes to go through every month and talk about every.single.birthday.and.holiday. It gets a bit tedious as we talk about the same events day after day. I don't know how we'd passed over Passover (get it? har har) until today, but he asked me what Passover was. I gave him a brief explanation, which he quickly refuted by saying, "Oh, I know! It's when Jewish people pass out papers!" Oh, Dominic. :)

Not much in other news. It's snowing again today. Imagine that. I keep giving myself little milestones to look forward to so I can make it through every long winter day. It's almost the end of February and, right after that, we have Daylight Savings to look forward to! (Fake it til you make it, right?!)

Winter is rough on my mental health and this particular February is proving especially challenging. We've had three snowstorms in the past two weeks and more snow days than I can even remember to count. Come on, spring!

Dominic turned six on the 10th of this month. We offered him the option of having a "friend party" or just going as a family to an indoor water park about 30 miles from here. He picked the water park, which was a big relief to an OCD mama who doesn't want the snowy, muddy shoes of god-only-knows-how-many kindergarteners all over my carpet. (I am so shallow. Really.) We couldn't go ON his actual birthday... anyone want to take a guess why?! We ended up going yesterday instead. Fun, fun, FUN. Let me tell you, if you closed your eyes in that lovely heated water park and tuned out all the screaming kids, you could almost FEEL summer. It gave me hope. Winter doesn't last forever. Well, unless you live in the tundra, I suppose. Thankfully, in Ohio we have beautiful springs and summers, we just have to make it to them. So, I am hanging on!

Really... how did it already get to be "that time of the year"? I refuse to acknowledge the ""C word" until after Thanksgiving (as it darn well should be), but seriously? Is it so much to ask to just pause June for like a year sometime?
In other news, I've been sick. Despite my OCD behavior with the antibacterial wipes and handwashing, I managed to go ahead and catch H1N1without really knowing it until that nastiness turned into pneumonia. A million doctor's visits, a hospital stay, and a visit from my mother (thank you God for mothers - I'd surely be dead by now without mine!) later, I am working on getting better... sort of. The on again/off again episodes of not being able to breathe are a bit disturbing still, but I like to keep life interesting. More disturbing than not being able to breathe is that I am currently banned from the gym. NOT GOOD. It would just be super fabulous if my body could stop betraying me and I could go back to my weights and my spinning, pleaseandthankyouverymuch.
Moving along...
Boys are great. Dominic is loving school. Adrian is loving light posts. That's right. folks. Not to be outdone with his brother's weird trash can obsession, Adrian has developed his own unique passion for light posts. The one and only advantage to it getting dark earlier now is that I can use this fascination to my advantage. When the neighborhood light posts come on when dusk hits at, say, 5 pm, I can announce, "Oh, it's dark... the lights are on! Time for bed!" This seems to work relatively well.
So, that's it for today. I'm all out of words. That is all.

Am I the world's worst blogger or what?

Dominic's been in Kindergarten for a few weeks now and LOVES it. He is like his mama and just thrives off of social interaction. Playing with the other kids is probably his favorite part! Well, his favorite part right after riding the school bus. That is definitely the highlight of each and every day.

I had lofty plans for all the errands I was going to start getting done with only ONE kid while the other one was in school, but school time has sort of become Adrian's new naptime, so the house is blissfully peaceful and quiet for awhile in the afternoons. Of course, that still leaves me with an endless to-do/errand list that I have to knock off with both of my "helpers." Oh well... :)

These sweet boys are growing like weeds and although I am run ragged by the end of the day, I couldn't imagine life without them.