Pumpkin Patch

This year wasn't as magical as years past...but it will do. 

It's still fun to be out in fall weather and run from pumpkin to pumpkin, finding the right one. 

Pumpkin roller.

Then for some reason he decided to pout on the tires. 

We are still working on the potty train. There are good moments and horrible moments. Today featured a cold bath because I'm sick of poop in the underwear mere seconds after climbing off the toilet insisting he doesn't have to go.  

But we are getting there. I would say we're at 75%. And that's generous. 

I think I hear him in his room playing with legos when he should be asleep. 

Anyway, on our drive home, the sky looked like it was doing pretty things, so we drove down to the bay...

and ran around under a rainbow until it got too cold. 

Hunker Down

Yeah, another one of these pictures,

but this is one is important, so pay attention. 

Here we are, bounding around the trails, up, down, side to side to see Chuckanut Falls...

almost to the car when: snap.

I rolled my ankle. 

I have never sprained an ankle before, so it really freaked me out. I was afraid I would never be the same again.

When the kids got home from school, I told them I was gonna need extra help with stuff, and they were so sweet about doting on me. What little nuggets of gold I have for kids.

With this color combination going on so close to the race...will I really be able to run?

Cut to 5 days later, it feels almost completely normal. It's still a little bruised, but I am so amazed at the human body. I keep asking Jim, "how do ligaments heal?" what is the process? Who is in there repairing the damage for me? I want to thank them. 

Think about our bodies and all the complex processes going on. Can you ever imagine complaining about how you "look", or if this or that is a little out of place aesthetically? They are the most incredible machines. I love my body. Thank you for getting me back to normal, white blood cells (?).

Anyway, so this was the best timing for ankle spraining, and let me explain why.  

This weekend we had a massive storm head our way. All the weather alerts said it would be the biggest storm ever to hit the PNW...This was going to practically be a typhoon, so get ready.

With that mentality, we went into the weekend equipped with our generator greased and all emergency supplies ready. We were READY! 

Soccer practice and Saturday games were cancelled. Everyone must stay home and hunker down. 

So we did, and It was just what the doctor ordered in every way. 

Thursday night we ventured out to a blustery Open House. 

We love Mrs. Shapiro.

Besides that, our calendar was swiped totally clean. Remember how complainy I was a few posts back about how busy we are? 

And now: hunker town. 

This hunkering accomplished two really big things:

1. I was able to lay around and RICE my ankle to perfection,

and

2. I committed to potty training Andrew. It couldn't be a more perfect time, right? 

He took to it, no problem at all. (He IS almost 4. I'm ashamed I put it off so long. I would shake my head at me too, if I were you. So go ahead and shake your head at me. I deserve it. No really.)

Today he woke up with dry diaper. Today he went to nursery with undies on. Today he requested and pooped twice in the pot. You know once "poop" is checked off, it's a done deal. 

Done deal. 

Avery is over there on the other side of Jim.

He climbed into the middle of us saying, "good thing we got a king bed". 

Andrew was at the foot of the bed playing cars.

This is the kind of thing we did all weekend.

Did this too.

The storm wasn't as powerful as they thought it would be. We lost power for a couple of hours. 

Take a moment and thank your light switches and dishwasher. 

If I was a better writer, I would draw a parallel between the human body and functional power lines...

Instead I will just reiterate: this storm was a blessing from heaven for me. It was so nice to regroup, reconnect, "get bored", lay around, heal.

At the end of the day, we felt the pricks of cabin fever. We ventured out for a car ride to see if there was any damage around the valley. 

We saw high tide and bright sun rays breaking through the horizon clouds. 

It was beautiful. 

Loop Holes

Andrew is never far from his Toy Story or Cars. When learning about M, he's got them gathered at his side. 

Last week when it hurt to talk...I realized how often I have words flying out of my mouth that are mostly nonsense. But last week, only the very special things I needed to communicate were spoken. 

I wasn't able to sing random songs as I puttered around the house. 

I couldn't nag.

I stopped answering the kids' (pretty much rhetorical) questions. 

Turns out, I talk more than I need to.

Today I went on a bike ride through the autumn. 

I turned a short ride into a long ride because I was enjoying myself so much. It felt good to not be at home taking a sick day. It felt effortless.

Then I turned around and realized I had been riding a tailwind. 

So: headwind all the way home if you did the math right. 

Jim and Joe have loop holed a way around the problem of the sun going down early. 

You can't bike in the dark. Or can you?...

Remember today when I spent hours cleaning all three bathrooms? They were bad, so I did a really thorough job. 

Then remember when this same exact day Andrew pooped while taking a bath in the shiny tub? 

And Evan just now scrambled down from the top bunk to go pee, but couldn't quite get the toilet seat up in time, so he peed all over scrubbed tile floor? 

hmmmm.

Today, right before the kids got home, Jim was out in the garage with the wheel off his car, working on something to do with breaks and rust. 

I came and sat by him on the cement floor and we cracked a few jokes. 

We heard the sound of shoes slapping along the sidewalk as Evan did his loud, daily sprint home from the bus stop.

Jim said to me, "we better get used to each other because before we know it, the kids will be grown and gone from this house and it will just be me and you."

It's so crazy to think about - the idea that these kids will not be "ours" for very long. We only get to be a family-family for a couple of handfuls of years. Then they go and get their own darn families. 

Andrew and his Cars obsession, carrying all the characters throughout the house in a green basket,

Evan and his hand flapping while he explains the details of his days,

Avery and her long winded explanations of things, standing at our bedside right before she hugs us goodnight. 

Too Busy

Right now in our world, I feel so busy. 

Why are we all so busy? Most days have three big things on the agenda and it's killing me. I value down time so much, I'm about to write off extra curricular activities as bad for our health. 

But it's just life. 

Yesterday I taught about monsters and the letter M at preschool. For soccer we focused on ball control and staying in your positions. From Pipeline Fields, I went straight to a Stake auxillary training in my soccer clothes. 

This week, a cold is scratching at my throat. I drank pomegranate juice and ate little oranges as a battle cry.

Today I subbed in Evan's class and halfway through the day, my voice was a squeaky whisper. 

It's painful to talk. So here I sit in bed with a Ricola, trying not to talk.

My kids keep asking why I'm whispering. 

Tomorrow I am reading a book to Avery's class, then soccer in the evening. The next day teach more preschool. The next day, a soccer game. 

It's just relentless. 

Now, I am happy we have so much richness in our life, but it's also taking the voice right out of my throat. 

My absolute favorite thing in this whole world is when the kids are asleep, and me and Jim lay in our fluffy white bed watching Top Gear. Ahhh...the routine, quiet, and down-ness of it all.

Anyway, I know you're busy too. September is a freight train.

****

Moving on. The top picture there is from a few weeks ago when I joined Evan's class for a walking field trip to the library. 

Evan was a few kids ahead of his best friend Logan. Something was making Logan upset; he was folding his arms and arguing with some boys. Evan looked back, saw something was wrong and said,

"are you ok Logan? are they bothering you?"

Then he walked back to Logan and put his hand on his lower back protectively. They walked together confidently and the "problem" dissolved.

It wasn't a big thing, but I love that both boys look out for each other. I've never known Evan to have this kind of relationship with any other friend. They are bosom friends.

***

Since the school year started, Evan has talked about this kid in his class who has a "mustache". 

We couldn't figure out what this meant. A real mustache? He would try to describe it at the dinner table.

So the first day I went to his class, he whispered which kid had the mustache. 

It cracked me up...It's actually a kid that's maybe Irish? and he has some peach fuzz on his face. Like, around the sideburn area he's kind of fuzzy. 

I would have never noticed the "mustache" ever. But Evan noticed. 

One day Avery had a "walk a thon" for a fund raiser. Parents were invited to come, but I didn't think I would make it since Andrew had preschool that day, and I had to run 10 miles while he was at preschool. 

So, la la la, I was running along through Blaine, and I turned down a street and realized I could totally run to the school and join Avery in her walk a thon! Why didn't I think of that before?

She lit UP when she saw me. She thought I wasn't coming.

Avery's the best. See that cheetah shirt? She wore it on purpose to "make me go faster". 

Fall foggy morning on the way to the bus stop.

Conference Sunday we didn't have to leave. the. house.

Not a thing was on the calendar. 

I finished a puzzle.

It was such a treat.

After each apostle talked, we hung up their picture on the wall. 

Evan was Johnny on the Spot to hang them up.  

The other day Avery started a "business". 

She made these "fliers" to pass out to neighbors. 

I didn't know what this paper taped on the chair in our driveway said, 

so you can imagine my chuckle when I read it. 

Go away big green monster! 

Go away sore throat!

Go away busy calendar. 

And don't come back.

Until I say so.