What's Going On

I feel like I've been kind of neglecting my blog lately, but I don't have much to write about at the moment. Not much of the exciting variety has been happening around here. Our summer has mainly consisted of lazy days, messy house, and a crazy mom.

Riley has been coaching girls club and high school soccer. We are heading into the last week of that and will have the month of August off. The Southridge girls won their tournament last weekend and that was a nice little victory for Riley going into his first (and possibly only) season of coaching them. He's been swamped at work as well and we don't see a whole lot of him. This week has been especially busy for him with meetings at work and heading up a project for his branch on implementing new selling techniques. When he is home during the evenings he's catching up on the lawn and yard work and trying to spend time with the kids. His ankle has been bothering him again and I don't know if it will ever heal up properly, especially as hard as he goes all the time.

Kendle took two sessions of swim lessons and has kept up piano lessons during the summer. She is improving a lot in both areas. She likes to play on the computer a lot so I have to make sure that she gets outside for lots of bike riding and playing in between. She has enjoyed visiting and playing with her cousins. She is really excited for school to start and be done with summer, but I think she secretly enjoys her lazy morning and has even started sleeping in a little bit. She's excited to be singing the national anthem at the Watermelon Festival next weekend, which is my hometown's summer tradition. I'm always surprised that she doesn't get nervous to do things like this, so I'm crossing my fingers she'll be ok. I know she will. She is as brown and tan as can be and would spend all day in the water if she could.

Morgan is an outdoors type of boy. Summer is the perfect season for him. He loves being dirty and exploring. Every day I can find him out digging in the dirt, looking for cool rocks, or trying to water the plants. He tries to be very helpful, although sometimes that translates into more work for me. :) We've been kind of going through a terrible 3's stage lately, but his sweetness still shines through at the moments he needs it the most. He is very charming when he needs to be, (reminds me of his dad). He has an incredible imagination and will play so well by himself. He loves to pretend he's driving off to work, killing bad guys, and driving tractors at the farm. He is going through a summer growth spurt and getting taller, we'll be shopping for longer pants soon.

Cooper is quite the mischievous little guy. He is always cracking me up. He gives me little smiles out of the corner of his eyes, is learning that it is funny when I tell him "no, no" and likes to try to pull things out of drawers. He hasn't been sleeping very good lately and it has been pretty frustrating, but I try and get through it with the best attitude I can and enjoy the extra snuggling time. He has mastered getting around the house with what we call his "injured soldier crawl". He pulls himself with one arm and gets from here to there in lightening speed. I don't know what will happen when he decides to throw in the use of his other arm. He absolutely loves bath time and is a champion splasher. I put him and Kale in the bath together last night now that they are sitting up so good and he splashed the heck out of Kale. Kale was not amused. Cooper is an enthusiastic eater and will clench his fists and start shaking until you give him his next bite and will even grunt if you take too long. It is quite the site.

Kale is still a teddy bear most of the time. He has been sleeping amazingly well. He loves to scoot up to me in his walker and just hold on to my pant leg or grab onto my hand. He's also crawling really well and getting into everything. I have to make sure the floor is swept twice a day now. Kale gives the best little smiles when he is happy and likes to put his little hand up on my face when he is drinking his bottle. When he gets really excited about something he will start jumping up and down whether you are holding him or he is standing in his walker. When he is sad he will say, "mama, mama" and have the most pathetic little face that will break your heart. He enjoys pulling my dishtowels down and taking off with them around the house.

Both boys are usually very happy little guys and love playing with each other. They have started waking up in the morning and talking to each other through the bars of their crib. They travel around the house together and will tag team me when they need a snack, coasting up to me in their walkers and storming the fridge or pantry the minute I crack it open. They make me laugh every day and are growing up so fast. They love cheerios, graham crackers, pancakes, bananas, oatmeal and rice cereal, veggies, fruit, mashed potatoes, french fries and the occasional taste of fudgesicle.

My summer has mainly consisted of trying to not to go crazy with being stuck home more and my house looking like a tornado has struck every hour. I love my kids dearly but I miss the freedom of being able to throw everyone in the car and go somewhere without it being a major ordeal that takes an hour to get out of the house. It's nice though to not have to worry about having a busy schedule at this moment in time and I know it will pick up soon enough in the fall. I love getting a free moment to sit outside with a good book and enjoy the sunshine. I haven't had much time this summer for gardening or much yard work, I only managed to plant a few little tomato plants and some zucchini and cucumber but that is good enough for right now. I enjoy sitting outside and watching the kids play and run through the sprinklers. I'm looking forward to doing some more fun things in August when Riley is done with soccer and we'll try to pack as much in as we can.

That's about it. Not much to report.