Home Sweet Home...

Today, I am having a down day. I don't do this very often.  Maybe not enough. I'm not sure... I didn't PLAN to stay home, but I am trying to read cues from my kids and maybe follow their lead and anticipate their needs a little more. In this specific case, Luke's needs.  We had a wedding yesterday (more on that later) and he spent the night with his Papa.... and from what I hear, they went out on the town with Grace yesterday... needless to say, today when he got home he was a disaster!!!!! Whiney... clingy..... throwing short bursts of tantrums. I think I need to listen to what he is saying and allow him to nap... and have some down time.

We had planned to go out to Duck Lake to celebrate Adam's birthday with some family, but just found out about it Friday. We also had friends in from Chicago who just left this afternoon... so sometimes trying to squeeze it all in is not in anyone's best interest. I think that's a tough lesson to learn. I don't like to miss out.. I like to go, go, go and do just fine with it..... I don't think my kids do.... and I need to listen to them a little more often.  So.... Luke is now napping, and Scott and Ally are off to the Lake to "represent" at Adam's dinner.  :-)

We will see if Ally does any better.... as she too had a sleep-over last night, with my mom and was up half the night....   She has a full week of gymnastics camp ahead too!  So, at a minimum, she needs to get home and get to bed on time tonight!!!

Summers are so great for all that we can do with out kids... and with our friends. But, I find that with my kids at least, I have to find that balance of what they can handle before it's just too much.  We've been exploring a lot about our kids lately... through some professional help and reading.... and I'm trying to arrange our lives in such a way that allows them to have more more structure, routine and stability.  Mind you... this is not easy for me... I despise all those things. ;-) Seriously... I like to fly by the seat of my pants most days, change it up as often as I can... and I really don't need things that stable. HA!  But, I think this will be good for all of us.

For the past few weeks, Ally was not doing camp and I was finding different sitters for different days for both the kids.  We have to stop doing that... the kids don't know what to expect every day.  This is especially hard on Luke who has some anxiety issues... and even for Ally, who gets overwhelmed easily. So... Scott and I worked hard to come up with a routine for the rest of the summer that we are going to talk over with Ally... present her with some options.... and see what we can do to make life a bit more calm around here!

Ally has the option to go to Y Camp every week from here on out. I think she will likely choose this.  If she chooses camp.... she will go each day....  Scott or I will pick her up from camp and we will have a snack for her in the car (she's starving when we get her and I swear this drop in blood sugar makes her crazy!). Then, we will come home... and she will have to find an independent activity (that is NOT WATCHING TV - cuz I swear to god TV scrambles her brain and makes her act out) while one of us makes dinner. We will have dinner together (obviously, when we can) and then, the rest of the evening the kids will get our undivided attention.  This is her reward for giving us the time we need right after work to get things done.  And, frankly, they need and deserve this time!  We will play a game... go on a walk... to the park.... get ice cream... what have you... but, we will spend this time together and it will be the kids' choice!

We have a pretty good bedtime routine already established.... and honestly, our kids are great about going to bed. I have no right to complain about that. That is the one thing we did right.  Ha!

If Ally does not go to camp, she will stay home with Luke and my cousin who is going to watch Luke for two days a week for the rest of the summer.... and then, we will have to establish a routine for her to follow then.  I do believe that this will be the exception though....

Luke just needs more routine in general... and is to young for there to be a choice just yet!  This is not to say we won't go out and about and sometime skip nap.... but most of the time, Luke needs to know what's happening next... to really be comfortable.  And in all honesty, Luke is doing GREAT lately.  He has been as happy as he's ever been in a long time.... today being the first day he's really been as out of sorts as he is.

So, this is our plan for the next six weeks or so of summer.... obviously, there's a lot more to it... but it's what Scott and I have been working on.... we are both learning that our sensitive children need things to be a bit different than maybe what we've done in the past.  Yes... there are a lot of things we have done right. Dammit, we ARE good parents... but we have learned we have done a few things wrong too... and yay us that we are "man enough" to admit it and try like hell to make some changes!!!  I give us both a pat on the back for that... we always work together to get to what is best for our family... and sometimes it's hard and not fun at all.... but the best decision in the end for sure!!!!!

Seriously people.... this parenting business is no joke!  :-))))))))))))

So..... all that said (and I really didn't mean to go on and on about it - if anyone is still reading I am going to get to more fun stuff, I promise!)...... we had a busy week last week!!!  I worked three days (a long week for me ha!)

My mom has been in town, so we have spent some time with her.  We took our weekly trip to Nixon on Thursday and since Ally was at camp, I took Grace with us. WHEW!  That was harder than I thought it was gonna be!!!!!  Little things that I don't have to deal with like taking a two year old to the bathroom... while taking forcing the other to get out of the pool and go with us cuz he can't stay in alone!  Ally is super independent... can swim and go to the bathroom by herself... so I just have Luke to contend with.  But they had fun...

Friday, we had some friends over for a playdate/dinner..... it turned out to be a GREAT time.... we drank a lot of tequila, ate a ton of Mexican food.... and watched the kids play together so well!  Luke is really coming out of his shell and played with everyone like a champ... even going into the basement all by himself with the boys.  I am really proud of how well he's been doing.  The kids put on a little dance show for us at the end of the night that was one of the highlights of the evening.  Birthday shots were the other highlight in my book! Adam turned 30 the next day!

Saturday, we had a wedding in Marshall.... and our good friends from Chicago came and stayed with us too.  It was a GORGEOUS wedding, in one of the most beautiful locations (garden) I've ever been to for a wedding!  If I had it to do all over again.... this is where I would get married.  Just awesome......  I didn't get near as many pictures as I would have liked... but I got some pics of us four girls (my college life-long friends) and that was enough!

What a great night.... I just love getting together with my girls and their hubbies.... and it was so nice to come back home with Beth and Scott without the kids and just drink some wine and sit around and talk some more... then, enjoy a yummy brunch this morning before they took off!

So, here I sit now.... another week in front of me.... it seems as if the summer is flying by! I only work two days, and the week is a busy one it seems.  Ally will be at Gymnastics camp all day, all week.  We have a wine tasting event tomorrow night... Luke has a couple of appointments (some sensory testing) and I have a birthday bar night out for some peeps this Saturday up in Lansing... oh, and rumor has it some boys are shooting for a Cadet night at some point too (HAHA!!).

Summer is going too fast............... so today, I'm gonna take it slow.....................