Stop the Insanity!

Some days it just seems to start out pretty rocky and then go downhill from there, doesn’t it?  Emotions and energy between parents and kids aren’t really synchronized – for instance,  my kids are high energy today and very playful, I am exhausted and cranky.  It seems like every few minutes one or the other of them is coming up to me crying about something his brother did to him.  Now, I’m generally a pretty fair referee – as long as they’ve been playing rough I don’t really dole out too much sympathy for minor injuries.  I mean, of course they’re going to get a bump or bruise when they’re having sword fights, right?  But at the end of the day, I will have a pang of regret – did I spend quality time with them today, or was I just trying to keep them out of my hair?  Did I let them know that I love them?  Were my words and actions edifying to them, or was I short and snippy?  Unfortunately I would say the latter today – I spent more of my time fussing at them than loving on them, and most of my actions were in response to an incident, rather than in prevention of one.  I could really be down on myself today – I mean, chores didn’t really get done, the fish I was going to make for dinner didn’t thaw in time, I should have done the vacuuming but I didn’t, etc.  I think it is good for parents to get to take the day off, and it is important for kids to learn a little self-reliance, it is good for them to figure out a way to keep themselves entertained.  Even though I may feel a bit of regret and write today off as being a wasted day – I can comfort myself with the fact that even though I may have been on a shorter temper than I normally am they still came to me for every little problem, and they were still apologetic when they disappointed me.  To me, that shows that they know that I love them no matter how irritated I may be; that they believe that I will provide what they need even when I don’t necessarily want to; and that they know that I have pride in what I know they are capable of doing.  All-in-all it is a fairly comforting thought at the end of a very uncomfortable day. 

Here’s wishing you all a great day tomorrow – and some words of comfort if it isn’t all that great.  I’m off to enjoy pizza and a movie with my very cranky family.  Strangely enough, I’m looking forward to it. 

"The Lazy Days of Summer"... Yeah, Right.

When I was a kid, I loved this phrase - it was everything I wanted out of my summer vacation. I was looking forward to staying up late, sleeping in, no schedule, hanging out with my friends - all the fun and laid-back times that you think of when school is out. That was obviously before I became a parent. There is a lot of work that goes into making things seem laid back! And now that we are in the full swing of summer, there don't seem to be enough things to keep my boys entertained. And that whole "no schedule" idea? Forget it. The other day I spent about an hour and a half coming up with a daily routine for our family. It may sound silly, but it has things on it like "play outside" (because if you don't get out there by 7:30 am, it is too dang hot, crafts, reading, and the all-important Rest Time! Currently I am working on a post while my 4 year old is taking a nap, and his 5 year old brother is having some down-time on the computer (per his schedule). We have been so very busy in the past few days - we had a trip up to Cabela's in Phoenix on Saturday after Gabriel's tee ball closing ceremonies. The boys love going to any kind of outdoor/sportsman's store - we always let them 'hunt' the trophy animals that are on display there. We were explaining to Graham that all of the animals used to be alive, but that a hunter shot them and the had the skin taken off and put on display. We were trying to convey the concept that he was looking at the real skin/teeth/antlers of these animals, but that it wasn't the whole animal there. He seemed to understand it just fine, but as we rounded the corner in one of the display areas, Graham noticed a statue of a man in his hunting camp. This is set on a motion sensor, so that when someone walks by it triggers a recorded speech about hunting and game conservation. Graham flipped out! "Mom! That man was alive! Who hunted him?! Why did they take off his skin?!" Poor kid. I forgot about that exhibit. And even though we have been living with a Sensory Disorder and Asperger's for nearly two years now - it does occasionally slip my mind that everything is real for Graham - if you tell him something, that is the concrete fact in his mind. Sometimes it works to our advantage - the kid won't go anywhere near an electrical socket because we've told him that he will get hurt - and sometimes it backfires. Like when he thinks someone has stuffed and mounted a person. Along with our trip to Phoenix, we have been doing some renovations around the house. What started out as a small project (replacing our shower because the shower wall cracked) has turned into something more. We replaced the shower, and then had to select new shower doors (which we ordered today). Because it had leaked, we also had to replace some of the drywall. That of course meant we need to paint in there, and while we were doing all this work, I decided I wanted one of those rainfall shower heads. I then decided that it wouldn't be fair for us to get a nice new shower head if the boys'/guest bathroom didn't have a new one as well. So that was replaced. We also replaced the counter top in their bathroom, because it had this weird piece that went over the top of the toilet - great for having a little more counter space, horrible if your toilet should ever break. So, that's gone, and now we have a regular counter top in there. But, the mirror that was in there was the length of the old counter top. So, that came down and we've had it cut down to size. I'm working on painting some molding that I am going to make into a frame for the mirror. I also had to paint that bathroom - since we pulled the old counter and mirror off, and the drywall was patched up. So, now it is a lovely peacock blue. To make up for removing the counter space, I stopped by Lowe's today and bought some wood and spent the rest of my afternoon sanding, painting, and building two shelves to hang on the walls. The last obstacle that I wanted to tackle in this bathroom was some decorations - it is my sons' bathroom, and I want them to be represented - but it is also the guest bathroom and I want it to be universally welcoming to any company that we have over. Anyway, the I figured out a great art project. Their bathroom is decorated in an ocean theme (whales, fish, submarines) and so we did some hand print art where we turned some of the boys' hand prints into some fish, a jellyfish, and an anemone. It's adorable, and I can't wait to finish hanging these shelves so I can get things put back together in there. I'll have to post some before and after pictures. Well, all that being said - Graham is about to wake up from his nap, Gabriel has discovered some new Lego toy that he wants to add to his birthday list, and the drill is fully-charged and ready to tackle shelf #2 before making dinner for the guys, jumping in the shower, and going out for Mom's Night Out with my friends. Lazy Days of Summer. Yeah, right.

No School Like The Old School

I'm not sure if I have mentioned it or not, but I am married to a hardcore, never-say-die gamer. I am pretty sure we own just about every system ever made (or have at some point in time - he traded up the XBox for the XBox 360, and I don't think his GameBoy Advance works anymore) and still have all the games for them as well. While tearing through the garage in a panic this weekend - yes, we HAD to find the headset/microphone for the computer so that we could still chat and coordinate our plans for playing World of Warcraft, even if we are in separate rooms of the house - we found the mother of all great games, and the source of some of my first gaming memories. Yes, that's right - Duck Hunter. Troy and I both enjoyed a chuckle while we dusted off the faithful old gun and that horribly angular controller. Little did I know that I was setting myself up for unlimited entertainment this evening. Gabriel and Graham were of course curious about this prehistoric game - "Why do you blow on the game, Mom?" - and we thought that we would introduce them to it - surely they would not be entertained very long by the techno-sounding blips and beeps and the very awesome 8-bit graphics. Wrong. Apparently this is the best game ever! I'll have to post some pictures soon, but it is just the cutest thing in the world to see the boys tethered to the game system by *gasp* a non-wireless controller, and tracking the ducks with that little gun. Gabriel is surprisingly amazing at Duck Hunter, by the way. He lays down on the floor in front of the TV - much like a sniper - and just goes to town. He'll hit every bird, usually without needing all three shots. I think Troy told me that the highest he got was level 11 - with a high score of 180,000. Troy has a t-shirt that has the original Nintendo on it with a caption that says "Classically Trained" - I'm tempted to find one in a size 5 :)

Oh My - Call the Police!

Because it should be illegal for parents to get sick. Especially moms. There is something so inherently UNFAIR about feeling miserable, missing time with your family, and then having to reconstruct your household when you are better, isn't there? I started running a fever on Wednesday, and have been sick ever since! Troy has done a great job of taking care of the kids - I mean, they're clean, they've had all their meals, and they go to bed every night after brushing their teeth. However, there are about 4 loads of laundry piled up around the house that need to be folded and put away - and they're only clean because at various points during my illness I crawled into the laundry room with the hamper full of dirty clothes and tossed them in the washer. The dishes need to be done; the trash needs to go out; we need fresh fruit and veggies; the 'business' side of keeping the house needs to be done - bills, mail, phone calls, etc.; we have appointments that we still have to keep - Graham has an evaluation by the school district tomorrow morning, and his OT appointment on Friday. On top of all this, I'm helping with VBS at church this week. Honestly I was feeling so yucky today that it just meant that I was a conscious, alive adult - I wasn't good for much else. But, I'm feeling better - I was able to actually eat something today! Food! Yay! Hopefully I'll be back to 100% in a few days. In the meantime, I am kind of enjoying all the pretty pictures that the boys draw for me to cheer me up, and being able to say "Babe? Can you...?" Troy had the day off of work today, and it is our anniversary, so we enjoyed going out to dinner (the boys were with Grandma and Grandpa) and then just being at home and relaxing. But all that relaxing and dining wore me out, so now I'm back in bed while Troy is picking up the kids. It has been awhile since I've been posting on here (sorry sorry sorry!) so I am using this time constructively before getting two very sleepy little boys in the jammies and off to bed. I think bedtime has to be one of my favorite times of the day - and no, not because they're asleep! I like putting them to bed - the snuggling, comfy clothes, nice and quiet mood around the house. I love the bedtime stories and songs, the cuddles, the requests for "just one more hug, mom" and Gabriel's recent phase of "Mom, I love you so much I can't let you go!" or Graham's requests for "Mom can you sleep in my room this night?" There is something about bedtime that just makes me feel like even if I lost my temper, or gave in and let them spend too much time on the TV because I wanted to be on the computer for longer, the day was pretty good - and we all know that we love each other very much. Here they are - Gabriel: "We got new Batman toys"; Graham: "Acid can burn you". Apparently Grandpa was telling them about Batman and Two-Face. Excellent bedtime material.

Wrapping-Up

Oh my - it's that time of year again. We are in the LAST week of school. There are only 3 days left in the school year. Tomorrow is Graham's last day of preschool and Wednesday is Gabriel's last day of Kindergarten. Insane. Where did the time go? I feel so lucky to be able to stay home and take care of my family. And so thankful for a husband who works hard to support that. It has allowed me to chaperone a field trip to the Fair, volunteer almost weekly in Gabriel's classroom, take Graham to the park, zoo, library, etc. during the day, read to a room full of 3 and 4 year olds, and all-around love my life! This morning Graham and I planted some flowers that we had left-over from a teacher's appreciation project we made last week. Granted, I don't expect these flowers to live very long (see my Pinterest boards for evidence of my lack of a green thumb) because I planted them, but also because I had to plant them in the long-vacant flower bed under our Tombstone Rose. Now, if you have ever heard me tell about potty training, you will be familiar with this story: when the boys were potty training and they would play outside, I would tell them that if it was an emergency, they could pee outside - as long as it wasn't where they played or on any plants. Well, I had an empty flower bed, and I guess that became the official "outdoor potty". It took a while, and a few seasons of everything dying in that bed before I put 2 and 2 together - the boys had just been using it as a bathroom. I don't know what it is about peeing outside that fascinates little boys. Or big boys. I guess I just don't see the appeal. But anyway - today I put some new dirt out there and planted these very pretty little flowers. Keep your fingers crossed that they make it! In other news, Graham has an appointment to see an OT this Friday. We found a practice where they offer occupational therapy, speech therapy (since Graham has a speech issue and hearing loss), AND they focus on kids with Sensory Processing Disorder & Aspberger's. Wonderful! Of course, right after I made this appointment I heard from the lead Speech Pathologist for TUSD and she agreed that Graham should be evaluated for services next school year. Again, if you've been around me at all in the past 5 months, this is undoubtedly all you have heard about. If not, I can fill-in briefly: Graham was referred to an Early Intervention program by his PreK teacher; they evaluated him and said he failed his hearing screening and needed speech & behavioral services at school (this all happened from November to early March); then they literally ignored his file for a month, and when I called to check up on it, I guess I ticked off the girl who works there, because they suddenly said his hearing wasn't enough of an issue, his speech was consistent with his age, and he would "figure out" his behavioral stuff; after much effort, I got him into a private OT for evaluation because our school psychologist (who can't see him until he is in Kinder) said that if we had an OT plan from a private OT, the school would have to follow suit, and I could by-pass this program. I honestly don't understand why they would make it so difficult to get services for a child. "See a need, fill a need" right? Maybe people who work with children should actually LIKE and CARE for those children? But then again, I am a pretty radical thinker. Sadly, (and this is completely against my nature) I had to drop the hint that a law suit could be filed because under the district's own regulations it says that once a child has been found to need services at school, the plan must be completed and in place within 60 days. After they realized that I did my homework, and was going to insist that they help my son be successful in his school they agreed to help. That's pathetic. Okay, I have to stop thinking about that now, or I'll get all worked-up. Gabriel's last tee ball game is this week. He is so cute - he loves being on the team, but he is just not a competitive person. Well, maybe he is and it is just dormant or something. He likes to win, of course. He just is afraid of the ball, so he hasn't quite got the hang of catching it; and he's a jogger - you couldn't PAY that kid to actually full-out run around the bases. I think over the summer we are going to enroll him in some art classes - maybe he is just more creative than competitive. Or maybe he's musical. I'm not sure, but I know we will find something for him to do that he loves. Well, I think I need to go for now. DH and I had some kind of stomach bug yesterday, and we slept for most of the day. Which means that the boys have stuff EVERYWHERE. Legos, rubber bands, shoes, books, crayons... the list goes on and on. Guess that means I better get crackin'. Have a blessed day!

2012... ALREADY?!?!

Here I thought I was doing so well on keeping everything up-to-date, and then I saw that my last blog post was in September! Sheesh! Well, Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year everyone! I hope the holidays were as wonderful for everyone as they were for us. We got to take a trip to Texas to see my family for Christmas, and it was great to be back home. Now my fingers are crossed that when DH gets the academy over and done with, we will be stationed somewhere in Texas :)

Anyhoo... A friend of mine asked me yesterday what my resolutions were for this year. I have to be honest, I rarely make a list and as a rule I never keep any of the resolutions. But I figured this year, I'd give it a shot and see how it goes. So, I'm brainstorming this evening what my resolutions will be. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to post an official list, and hopefully making it a public thing will keep me more motivated to actually complete some of the resolutions. I know there will be the generic items like "Lose weight; eat right; write letters; connect with old friends" but I'm hoping that I'll be able to spice it up a bit and add some things that will be real challenges. That said, what are your resolutions?

Pray For Your Kids

To follow the last post about praying for yourself, here are some verses to pray for your KIDS:

"And this I pray, that your love may abound till more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of God." Philippians 1:9-11

"So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified." Acts 20:32