First Day of School!

*sigh* Thus begins another mother's bittersweet journey of sending her babies out of the nest and into the wild. George and Josh are in school. Hard to believe, it just happened so fast. Of course, everyone says that. And cognitively, I knew it would go fast because EVERYONE said that it would. But the actualization of it is another matter. The fact that school is upon us now...well, it's just really happening! But that's okay. I feel that having the big boys gone for a whole week with my parents just prior to starting Kindergarten was a hugely beneficial step in preparing my heart for it. And I got excited about it. I didn't even cry on their first day! I started getting misty at the sneak peek the night before, but I was amazingly composed, if I do say so myself. The quiet and calmness of having just Blake was probably a good selling point too. I could see myself enjoying a lack of chaos for a few hours each day. Sure, I have a two-year-old to contend with, but it helps that he is pretty adorable and carries on hilarious conversations (no lie!).

So without further delay, the documentation of the first day of school:

Ready to go! And no, I didn't buy them (nor did they pick out) purple backpacks. These were prizes they received from playing Flag Football last year, and they were the right size. So we're reusing them until the boys care enough about style/color/theme.

George loves to ham it up for the camera. Meanwhile, Josh's less-than-natural smile makes him look like he is in pain.

In front of the school building.

At the front doors!

And finally, in the classroom. They walked in and never looked back. This was the only day for them to be in the same class (before they got assigned to their teachers).

So for the past 2 weeks, they've only had one "stagger day" each week. But today marks the beginning of school every day. My babies are in school! Wow.

Summer Sabbatical and Tadpole Town

It hasn't been an intentional neglect - I have been meaning to post about so many things: the goings on of this summer, Chris' job situation, retro posts to include the boys' birthdays, deciding to send the twins to Kindergarten, etc. But due to the funk and just being out of the habit - time has once again run away from me. But rather than try to do too much all at once, I'll start with a fun new development - what I like to call Tadpole Town. Behold pictures taken late one night in June, when Christopher discovered that we had some tree frogs who were fond of our kiddie pool:

Just having a leisurely swim, enjoying the night in our pool.

What are YOU looking at?

And another new little friend.

In late July, George & Joshua went to visit my parents for a week, and we took Blake to the neighbors' pool rather than clean out the kiddie pool just for him (plus we wanted to swim). So the cleaning of the kiddie pool went undone and unnoticed for about 2 weeks. We had drained it, but there were still a couple of inches of water left, which started accumulating a nice layer of algae, along with a huge dead spider and some other dead bugs. The day I decided to have Chris clean it (yes, this is most definitely a job for him, like most outdoor jobs), something caught my eye when I bumped the pool. A little flicker of movement. Upon closer inspection, I noticed that there were, in fact, tadpoles in the pool. A LOT of them! I counted at least 30. Such a cool thing to see (especially when you have little boys), albeit a bit gross considering that we allowed our pool to become a breeding ground for algae and frogs.

Here are the boys, checking out the tadpoles (as has become the daily custom).

And here are a few of the little fellas:

I have done a little research on raising tadpoles, and it seems as though we may be able to just keep them outside and watch them turn into full-fledged frogs without too much effort. The water in the pool is diminishing daily, and the hot sun has to be almost cooking the little guys, so we need to get them out of the pool and into a nice shady spot with some cleaner water (not to mention that we'd like to use the pool for, oh I don't know, swimming?). But it has been fun to check on them every day. Oh, and for those of you fond of the grotesque, here's the icky dead spider that went from floating to stuck onto the bottom of the pool. Eww.

In a Funk

I have been struggling with crippling fatigue and the blahs for several weeks now. I am functioning at a less-than acceptable level, and it is starting to really affect my general well-being. I'm overwhelmed, I'm snappy with the kids, I'm getting depressed, I can't exercise, and I'm suffering from sleep problems. I saw the doctor a couple of weeks ago for a complete physical. He decided to test my thyroid along with the other blood tests. A couple of days after the Dr. visit (and before getting all of the bloodwork results), I came across a recommendation for a book from one of my favorite bloggers. Some time ago she talked about getting off coffee without any negative withdrawal symptoms by using amino acid supplements. Then in the more recent post she talked about this book and how it is helping her to eliminate cravings for sugar and alcohol as well. She actually went to a weekend seminar the author was giving, and learned even more about nutrition therapy.

The book is called The Mood Cure, by Julia Ross. I got the book from the library and plowed through it in a couple of days. And let me tell you, this is profound stuff. I will be buying this book. Not only is it applicable to pretty much every American (especially those consuming the Standard American Diet), it is also downright fascinating. I was pretty immediately convinced that my problems are all due to deficient brain chemicals, and that I needed to change up my diet and get on some amino acid supplements. I decided to wait to hear from my doctor before springing into action, as I wanted to make sure that, if it was my thyroid at the root of things, I could take care of it first. The doctor (himself!) called me and went over all of my results. On paper, I am in excellent physical health. Even being quite a bit overweight doesn't show in my bloodwork. He had recommended during the exam that I get outside for Vitamin D every day (15-20 minutes, midday sun, NO sunscreen), and I've been working on that. It has helped perk me up a little bit, but not enough to really get me going.

So I talked to him about reading The Mood Cure (which he was familiar with, which makes me love him even more as he is very knowledgeable in natural healing/living), and told him I'd like to try some of the supplement. He was fully on board and offered his assistance should I need it. So I am anxiously awaiting my supplements (had a shipping snafu with an online vitamin company), and I have a lot of hope that this will be the solution. It will take some serious discipline (the supplement schedule, plus the change in diet, for example), but I think once I turn the corner with my energy level, I will be able to start exercising regularly again and get my life back.

I know it has been a long time since I posted anything, so I wanted to give a little explanation for that. I'm hoping to get some motivation to get back into the important things of life again, and I think I'm on the right track.

If you are interested in taking the mood questionnaire, you can do it online here. It will give you a good indication of whether or not you may need to correct a deficiency in your brain. I can't recommend this book enough, and I haven't even started my supplements yet! I will definitely be posting about my progress, so check back in on occasion. I may even post some fun stuff too. :)

5 Years: A Snapshot

It's hard to believe that it has been 5 years since I had two newborn babies in my arms. I had to reminisce a bit and look through some old photos. And while I was at it, I thought I'd share a few:

One month old, and already full of personality.

The morning of their first birthday party, with their buddy Elmo.

Two years old, on a nature hike with Daddy.

Three years old, and wanting to do everything Daddy (and Mommy) does. Helping Daddy move some dirt here:

Four years old, and they each caught a fish (and got their first serious sunburn) on their very first fishing trip with Daddy.

Today, at barely five years old, at their church preschool graduation. Onward and upward!

It went so fast. Everyone tells you to enjoy the moments when your children are small. Everyone says the time flies by. And on some level you can understand that in your head when people say it. But to experience it as your children go from 0-5 in the blink of an eye makes you truly understand. And you become part of that group of "everyone," who wistfully tells someone else to enjoy their baby, because it really goes by fast. Even though they will know soon enough.