survival mode

We are a teeny bitty bit more settled.  Teeny.

But there seems to be a sensor in my fridge that knows when I will feel settled.  Because then it starts to go out.  It is a common thing.  A constant battle with the stupid thing.  I never knew how much I loved a good working fridge until I got a house that has a stupid one that works every once in a while.  Our back up fridge is on the fritz too.  I didn't know fridges can be moody.  They can.  Stupid moody fridges.

Here is a slice of my life... The kids "helping with laundry."  Maximus sits in the basket.  Then takes the sheet and lays in on Karl who is laying on the kitchen floor trying to fix the fridge that is currently make me want to curl up in bed at the thought of it (sounds dramatic, doesn't it?  I'm weak, I know).  Eva and Samuel roll around on the clean laundry complaining that there is too much to separate for about twenty minutes.  So I divide the two laundry into the two piles.  Make sure that Samuel agrees that his pile is not bigger because if he loses he inevitably complains that his pile was bigger.  They race to separate the laundry.  It takes two minutes.  Sheesh.

We got a yellow watermelon and a dragon fruit on top of the regular produce that we get at the farmers market.  They are both beautiful.  It is so fun to eat such fancy fruits.

Maximus is still an active kid.  Actually, he is getting more and more active.  The doctor joked that it is always the active kids that he sees.  He wears tights on his donor sight to help with the itching and to stop him from rubbing his skin so much.  His hip just healed and now he rubbed a new blister on his thigh.  Sigh.  We may never get to the beach.  If you have any spare baby tights that you don't need, Maximus could use them.  Lucky he isn't old enough to complain that he is wearing Eva's old stripeys or ballet tights.  

We have toys scattered all over the house all the time.  I love it.  And I hate it.  He lines up these dinosaurs in random places and it makes me laugh.  

I do want to put him in a bubble.  I follow him around more than I would have before.  Because he can't be the boy that got burned that has a big bruise on his knee, or got soap in his eyes, or plays in the street.  There are also things like he can't be the boy that got burned and has bed head, or sauce on his face, or avocado on his t-shirt.  How about we can't be the family whose little boy got burned and they have a messy garage, or a broken fridge, or an over grown lawn, or is late for everything, or has cheerios all over the floor, or the mom hurries and changes from her pajamas just because her kids are about to come home from school.  Right?  We are using up all the leeway for being a normal family.  We can only have one of the things on the list and we seem to have every single one of them.  Ya. A bubble.  My whole family needs a big safe bubble.  

Samuel goes to the animal shelter with his school every week.  They are studying animals. He loves it so much.  I love that he loves it.  I also love that I don't have to feel bad that I don't ever take him there.  

We have taking hula and ukulele classes.  And it is making it super obvious that I have the least amount of skills in my family.  But I take one for the team because we are making some good family memories.  

We went to the annual farm fair.  That place is so hectic and loud and brings out all kinds of people.  It is fun, and fun that it is only once a year.  Eva and Samuel were holding hands when we walked in so I had to snap a picture as evidence that they aren't always fighting.  We grabbed malasadas as soon as we smelled them.  The kids got to pet baby animals, we got some herbs, saw a circus show of sorts, rode a ride, and experienced all overindulgence that we could handle in one evening.  

They were making flower arrangements and auctioning them off.  Eva won this one.  The trick to getting a good price is to have a little girl bid.  No one really wants to outbid a munchkin.  It is so fun to see all the tropical flowers.  Not at all like the mainland flowers that I am used to.

We moved Samuel and Maximus into the same room so that there could be a "boy room" and a "girl room."  Eva and Samuel who always seem to be at each other, who were so excited to have separate rooms, who seem to be fighting 90% of their waking hours, still ended up sleeping in the same room.  It was sweet.  I am glad that they have each other.  They are actually pretty hilarious together.  

We are surviving.  Doing our best.  I still miss my family and all of their help and it makes me sad that they miss Maximus so much and they are missing so much of the kids' lives.  I miss Sunday dinner with my family.  Heck, I miss all the dinners with my family.  We eat together a lot.  I try not to let it get me down.  But it does.  Feeling kind of like a Debbie Downer lately.  My friend and I were joking that we aren't glass half empty people.  We are more like glass 2/3 empty people.  Hehe.  Take that.  Half is just way too generous these days. I know there is lots to be happy about.  I am totally aware of the so many ways that we are blessed.  Maybe it's that stupid fridge.  And our stupid back up fridge.  Maybe it's... well... I don't know.  Maybe I am just in survival mode for a while and I just need to accept that.  I can do that.  I know how.  Is this too real?  Kind of is, huh?  I know this will pass.  Don't worry.  Pretty flowers, cool fruit, sweet kids, cuddly furry creatures, happy memories...