Whew.....

I am so beat.....these two little boys of mine take so much more out of me than I ever would have imagined before having kids. The past week I've had a hard time coming up with blogging topics because, well, we just haven't done much worth blogging about!

Last week was not our best ever. It always seems to go like this....we'll have one great week, followed by one (or more) really crummy ones! Grant is so wild and crazy. I think some days go by without him sitting still for more than 10 seconds (except during his naps and meals). He's climbing on top of things, pushing cars off tables, running around, riding on his scooter and tricycle, opening drawers and taking things he's not supposed to have (many times this is my fault because I'll open a locked drawer then leave it ajar), yelling at the top of his lungs (often just being playful), playing with Drew in a not-so-nice manner, and throwing fits when things don't go his way. In the past two weeks, we didn't have our TV for a combined 10 days, so I didn't even have Curious George or Handy Manny as a temporary distraction for him (unless we happened to be in our bedroom and I thought to turn it on for him).

The summer is so hard because it is almost impossible to be outside in the daylight hours. They have limited patience when we go shopping somewhere (although they're both getting better, especially when I bring lots of snacks). And I don't know if he's a boy or because he's still too young, but Grant is NOT into crafts or structured activities of any kind. He'd rather be bouncing off the walls!

So days just get very boring (we have so many toys at our house, yet Grant just gets bored with them and ends up getting into tools and other non-toys), and even getting together with friends can be difficult because it seems impossible to have a complete conversation with the other adult(s) there! But don't get me wrong.....days always seem to go MUCH better when we have plans with friends, or when I take the boys on a random outing (I love finding cool things to do that aren't just typical activities). It's just that many of these non-typical outings tend to be outdoors (which is an impossibility in August). I love going up into town (there are so many fun parks and things to do), but I just don't know many good indoor things to do up there (at least that are kid-friendly!).

So.....all that to say.....it's just a frustrating time for me. My goal earlier this summer was to do one "fun" thing every day......which could even be something like playing in the sprinklers, getting a treat from Sonic, or going to a kid-friendly store we rarely go to. I've definitely gotten away from this. If I can think of something to do the night before (when it involves getting out somewhere), we tend to get an early start and we have fun! But if we just sit around the house while I try to think of what to do, those days almost always end in disaster.

And the one thing that I still haven't fully accepted (or realized) about being a mom is that my list of projects will continue growing much faster than I am able to keep up. I so desperately want to work on a picture wall that I started in January......and I would love to get caught up on scrapbooking and putting pictures into albums......and about a thousand other little projects around our house. But my free time every day is so short....I think one of the hardest parts of this "mom of young kids" stage is the feeling that you're not really able to pursue things that interest you personally. I feel like I do a pretty good job playing with my kids (and I love doing this), but it would be nice to have a small break from them every day to work on something that doesn't involve them!