All of the sudden I feel a bit tiny!

Now I've never thought of myself as a small person. I'm 5'7" and wear size 8 or 10 clothes and weigh 1** lbs. :) Growing up I played basketball and toted plenty of wood, buckets of cow feed and water and such. I've got enough muscles to make me feel not tiny but here lately that's exactly how I'm starting to feel.

 

All because of my kids!

They are a growing. Just look at Yahoo here. She'll be five years old in two months (holy cow) and look how tall she is!! She's already past my waist and 45lbs.

 

Do you like here hat? That's how she goes to bed after she takes a bath! She hates getting her pillow wet.

 

But here's the dude that really makes me feel little! Yap!

 



 

Look how tall he is!! He's a good inch or more taller than his twin brother Yip. In our stocking feet too he's already up to my chin! Heaven's sake!!

 

He's only 9 1/2 years old and he's a head taller than everyone else in his class. Of course he's skinny as a rail isn't he? He eats like a horse though.

 

And look at how big his feet are!! They are just as big as mine! Yip and Yap both received new boots for Christmas and I can wear Yap's now! I told him to choose a pink pair but he just sneered...ha ha!

 

I knew that one of these days my boys would get bigger than me but I didn't figure it would come quite so soon. At the rate these kids of mine are eating (I feel like I don't buy anthing but food)  I wouldn't be surprised if all three of them would be taller than me by next Christmas!

The Reason You Can't Go Barefoot in Kansas.

Since little Miss Yahoo is in preschool every morning now I've been enjoying running outside again rather than on a treadmill all the time. I really enjoy running in Kansas. There may not be hills or trees to enjoy but the sense of incredible spaciousness (and wind) can be exhilarating! 

I finished a morning run just the other day where I had ran through town, through a few ditches and dirt roads....overall a great run. But then I went to untie my shoes. 

This dear friends is the reason no one ever goes barefoot in SW Kansas. This is the reason why so many people out here wear boots. Burrs. Folks, these aren't anything like those sweet little burrs you'll find in Illinois or Indiana. Those little burrs that grab onto your clothes after walking in the Indiana woods, you know, the ones you easily brush off.  Nope, Kansas burrs are downright NASTY!! 

They are big and their spikes are HARD and painful.They sting even if you try to pull them off gently. So much so that I won't touch them with my bare fingers. I pulled these off my shoes with toilet paper. They stick to everything! 

I even found some securely stuck onto the sole hard soles of my running shoes. 

I've heard these called "goat burrs" and "sand burrs". I'm not sure if there's a difference between those two names or exactly which burrs were stuck all over my shoes. I have my own special name for these burrs "*#$&*@@# BURRS!!!!!" 

Burrs are also the reason you don't sit or lay down on the ground either. Yip learned that the hard way the first year we were here. We were out in the country at a friend's house and he lay down in their yard and came up with his back covered in these burrs!! He's never forgotten it either! 

The Pool, My Camera and a Foot Injury

Kansas summer in my teeny tiny town is awesome mainly because the town pool is only a block from our house. Heck I can see it as I'm typing this! For the last two summers, when we've set records for high summer temps and consecutive days over a 100 degrees, the kids and I spent a LOT of time there!! Thankfully this summer, so far, has been much more pleasant. Can you believe that this week our SW Kansas temps have only been in the mid 80's?? And greener than I've ever seen it at this time of year! 

We've still been at the pool plenty this summer though. The boys especially have enjoyed it because this year they are old enough to go to the pool all on their own...no Mom or annoying sister! (And boy have they been annoying one another lately!! How many days until school starts??) Why is it that when there is TONS of room at the pool (or in the house, outside, etc.) they INSIST on being RIGHT NEXT to their sibling and bugging the heck out of one another?? 

Usually I spend pool time in the pool playing with Yahoo. I'm not the average Pool Mom. I LOVE getting in and playing with all the kids. Wrestling with the boys, and them trying to dunk me, has gotten a bit more difficult this summer though. Whoa, my boys are getting big...and STRONG! One of these days, not too far in the future, they'll be able to just pick me up and throw me in the pool! 

OMG, just found this image of Yahoo from two summers ago. Wow!! Didn't realize how much she's grown!! 

As much as I love playing in the pool with the kids I've had to take a break from the pool (more about that in a minute) but the upside is that Yahoo can go in the pool on her own and I've been sitting poolside playing with the zoom lens on my camera. It's got a manual focus on it that I'm still trying to master and I found the pool is a great place to practice! 

I can't believe I got this shot of Yahoo!! LOVE IT! 

I just love watching how confident my boys are in the pool! I don't think there's much they aren't comfortable doing in the water. 

Yip was such a great brother (one day at least) while I was sidelined he played with Yahoo and as he said, "took over" for me. 

I'll have to keep this image for when they get older as proof that they do love one another!! 

So, why am I sidelined? Turns out I've overdone it wearing my Vibram Shoes!!  I was having some major pain in my feet and turns out I have a heel spur and patellar fasciitis which means the tendons across the bottoms of my feet are inflamed. OUCH!! Which makes walking barefoot on the bottom of a concrete swimming pool practically unbearable! 

So no running for a while! Honestly, it's driving me nuts too. Doc did say I could bike or swim, which I've been alternately doing. I don't know how Lance Armstrong does it though. Those bike seats!!! OUCH! And  I've been trying to swim laps at the pool in the mornings but most of the time I feel like I'm flailing and drowning. Michael Phelps sure makes it look easy! I REALLY miss running but I'm trying to be a good girl and do exactly as the doc says. Hopefully by the first day of school I'll be back on the track! 

Do you like my duct tape feet? Ha!! I know it's hillbilly but it sure works better, and is cheaper, than athletic tape! Has anyone out there had a heel spur before? Is there hope for me and my sanity? 

Just feet....