stuff we been doin

pinterest is brilliant, really.  i mean, yeah, it's a time-sucking vortex that will turn a quick recipe check into a 45 minute web surf, but as far as ideas go, it's great.  i joined it for the sole purpose of being able to organize my recipes (and it was SO worth it), but it's opened my eyes to a host of new things.

one of the things i appreciate most is the easy access i now have to activity ideas for the wee toddlers that inhabit this space.  i love children, i really do, but under the age of 2 i really don't know what to do with them.  my boys have both taken a long (LONG) time to get past the "everything goes in my mouth" stage.  tesla's just now able to color and play playdough and do tactile/sensory activities like texture soup.  (looking at that and picturing desmond makes me cringe.  paperclips?  coins?  dry pasta?  beads?  MARBLES?  there's no way in heck i could bring that stuff out around him.  he's just recently gotten over the need to chew on diapers.)

unfortunately, the depression thing has made it hard to do anything above the bare minimum.  most days have just been a countdown to bedtime, and i haven't been able to shake the fog enough to really do anything.  the paxil didn't help.  it sort of numbed my feelings and i stabilized at about a 4, which isn't bad, but not great motivationally either.  plus the constant exhaustion it brought on meant 2-hour naps every day, which cut into my "doing stuff" time.

 however, i've had several good days in a row (off the paxil now), so i've been taking advantage.  and when i tell you that we've done two activities, i mean TWO WHOLE ACTIVITIES.  i need you to grasp the magnitude of this.  please celebrate with me.  i know it seems really simple, but it is seriously a big deal.

 did you guys ever "clean" your desks with shaving cream in elementary school?  i remember doing it a few times and we LOVED it.  who doesn't like to squish shaving cream in their fists?  some of my teachers would have us write spelling words or math problems in the shaving cream.  somehow it upped the fun factor by about a million percent.

so we tried the shaving cream + food coloring idea i saw on pinterest.  needless to say, the boys loved it.  (and they only ate a little of it.)

tesla's been asking to do it again.  like every few minutes.

 notice how mundo has a double crease on his bum cheeks?  bahaha

body art.

we've also done some bowling with toilet paper rolls.   (i didn't realize how much tp we went through until i started collecting the rolls.  insane.  sorry, planet.)

silas is busy 99% of the time.  when he's not studying, he's running, biking, or playing intramural soccer with the podiatry team, Victorious Secret.  here is a dashing picture of him.

 and here's a picture i drew of him.  (from back when he was bearded.  obviously.)

it's a pretty accurate representation, i'd say.  compare.

besides going on and off medication without consulting my doctor, i've been doing the usual mama stuff.  plus a lot of eating and reading.  i made a goal to read 50 books this year.  (i've knocked out 12 so far.)

  i also made a goal to join a gym.

haven't gotten around to that yet.