I’m terrible with dates. Birthday, anniversaries, appointments- I’m awful at remembering them. It usually takes me a good couple of seconds to remember my kids birth dates for goodness sake! But for some reason Jan 16th, the date of  my first date with the Hubs, stays stuck in my head.  It’s not like we celebrate this anniversary- I make a remark about it, the Hubs rolls his eyes, we kiss and the kid’s groan. No presents or cards- just a passing comment and we’re done.

I think this one is boggling my mind the most because I was 19 when we met- which means we’re fast approaching the point where I’ll have known the Hubs as long as I didn’t know him. And frankly, that astounds me.  And makes me feel old. And lucky. I knew I liked the Hubs on that first date, but I could have never have imagined the crazy, awesome life we would build together!

Happy Halloween from my goblins to yours…

I often joke about living out in the sticks.  And while it’s true that seeing a tractor of some sort chug up our hill is a common sight and our next door neighbors have raised a cow on their 2 acres of land, we really don’t live that far out in the country. If you head one way down our road, you’ll hit a grocery store and Wal-Mart within 2 miles- how rural can that really be?!

Judging by the visitor sunning himself in our backyard this morning, we’re rural enough!

Why hello, Mr. Coyote!

We’ve lived here for almost a decade and we’ve heard the coyotes plenty of times, but I’ve never seen one up close.  We visited with a few of our neighbors today and it turns out, this guy has been making the rounds and we seem to be one of the last on our street to be honored with a visit.

See you- no need to hurry back!

While I don’t mind the occasional visits, I’m very, very thankful our cats stay in doors and our dog is too chicken to pick a fight.

My kids are not adjusting to our crazy weather very well. Last month we had almost 2 weeks of warm weather- it even hit the 80’s for a few days.  We all but lived outside- dinners normally eaten at 6 weren’t served until 7, bedtimes at 7 were pushed back until 8.  We were out of sorts and tired, but we sucked up every minute of the sunshine and warmth on the swings or at the baseball diamond.

Sadly, the weather has turned much more seasonable- in the 40s and 50s. The sunshine has stayed around though so my kids are convinced we need to continue our streak of outside time. The problem with that is that 1) it’s freaking freezing out and 2) I’m a wuss. But, going outside means my kids get tired out  much more quickly so I suck it up.  We usually log at least a good hour outside every afternoon- running around, riding bikes, playing in the creek.  Since we living in the country the kids have a lot of privacy to run around like crazy people.

Which is why I had to have the fun discussion with Scorch about the effects of cold weather on certain parts of the male anatomy when he was too lazy to go inside to use the bathroom. That was a conversion I never really expected to have. Ever.

I went out tonight with some of my favorite people for our monthly girls night (more on how freaking happy these nights make me soon). Anyhow, when we were out, conversation  naturally turned to our kids and I joked around with the women I was out with about my kids- the Bean’s temper, Scorch’s tears, our bedtime frustrations, the puking incident last night.  We all had a lot of laughs but on the way home all I could think about is what impression the new person in our group must have had about me, my kids and my mothering after the conversation we just had.  I hope she had enough of a sense of humor to find my stories entertaining and enough intuition to pick up just how much I love my kids.

Because I really, really do- that is the God’s honest truth.

The Bean makes me crazy and drives me to such extremes I don’t know what I’m doing sometimes.  She’s stubborn and strong and such a gigantic pain in the ass some nights that I do wonder what I did to deserve all this.  She can lie like a criminal, fight like a boxer and dig her heels in deeper then anyone I know.

She’s also funny as all get out, sweet as pie, and the biggest love bug I know.  The Bean is sunshine and joy and pure enjoyment 90% of the time.  She’s as smart as a whip and a complete delight to talk to.  I laugh so hard I get tears in my eyes when she “reads” me stories every night, complete with her own funny voices.  Although I often joke about giving her to the circus, I can’t imagine a single day with out her in it.  That’s the God’s honest truth.

Scorch is a drama queen.  For as stubborn and mule headed as the Bean can be, Scorch is equally as dramatic. The boy is ridiculous about all this stuff- his fossils, his stuffed animals, his rock collection. Throw anything away and be prepared for 30 minutes of tears.

But Scorch is also a compete joy.  He’s funny, sweet and caring.  For every time he wacks his sister, there are 10 other times that he give her what she wants just to see her smile.  He still wants to sit on my lap and is known for just wanting a hug and kiss just because.  He’s smart and coordinated and funny and goes out of his way to make people happy. He’s polite and simply a lot of fun to be around as he always has a fun comment or observation.  The God’s honest truth is that little boy owns my heart and I’m blessed to have both him and his sister in my life.