Little Brothers are Super Clever

I open my front door to see this....

 

What are you doing?

 

"Dad said we can't be outside with the IPad."

 

By all accounts, they are sitting in the doorway!!!

I gave them five more minutes and shut the door.

 

The creative problem solving in this house exceeds my creativity and expectations.  5 years ago, I might have been 3 steps ahead.  Not anymore, I am about 3 steps behind. 

 

Gotta love these boys.

Another Fun Girl Quoteable!

Because Fun Girl would not expect me to do it, I am posting this!

Under the influence of end of day fatigue and post-concussion syndrome

and the inability to argue and defend myself.

My girls and my friend put this on my head!

They found it in the back of the store at Kirklands.

Then Fun Girl texted out the picture with the following quote,

"The devil wears discount Prada"

 



Our Yearly Trek to Walter's Pumpkin Patch

 

The most fitted pumpkin of the year !

For the kids to take a pumpkin home with

the price of admission, pumpkin must fit in hole.

 

cleaning up the prized pumpkin

 

it looks like they are up to something

 

Mission Accomplished!

 

So glad Big O Daddy O was able to take off work and join us!

 

Watching my Hockey Player. 
Find myself wondering what it is he sees and is thinking about. 

What Makes a Great Friend?

What makes a great friend?

Well she has to have a great sense of humor.

She loves you and your family warts and all.

She drives 12-15 hours (depending on the number of stops)

to visit.  Once here, she is takes time out for your kids.

Cause, afterall, when you are a mom, you have to share

your friends with the kids.

She is willing to stand outside in 100+ degree temperatures and receive

golf lessons from Dad's Bud.

Please note ** our temperatures are 20 degrees warmer than her home town.



Temperatures so uncomfortable,

I only stayed outside long enough to take the pictures.

I definitely don't fall into the same awesome-ness category as her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And THEN when we are shopping, she is more than willing to try on

the shoes that your sons find for her to try on. 

Not only does she try them on, she MODELS them.

 

 

She is so awesome, I can't wait to see her again.  The

next visit requires me to climb into my vehicle and make that

super long drive!

 

Counting to 375....

Catching up some from earlier in the year, when I wasn't blogging faithfully
351.  Fun Girl winning in a drawing
352. Gracious zoo personnell extending her winnings to the whole family.
353.  Watching my children feed a rhino
356.  16 years with my Fun Girl
357.  Watching my children be the best of friends and enjoying relationships with one another
358.  Cupcakes
359.  Birthday trip with Fun Girl
360.  Getting to know her friends a bit more
361.  Hanging out with Little Princess while the Teens shop
362.  Water Parks, Girls and Giggles
363.  Whether they are 10 or 16, they are girls and kids and fun to be with
364.  Comfortable hotel beds.
365.  Another birthday for Big O Daddy O
366-369.  More Awana awards to add to our collection

366. Dad's Bud

367.  The Man

368.  Little Princess

369.  Hockey Player gets his Timothy Award.

 

To get a Timothy Award the student/clubber memorizes 423 verses over the span of 4 years. 

(4 books, one for each year)



370.  Cousins at Ft. Larned learning together

371. Learning about Wool Coats in early summer = HOT HOT

372.    Period Dress at Ft. Larned...coming off break.  What doesn't belong?? LOL

373.  Cousins being sworn in as Junior Rangers....even if they are "too old"

374..  Cousins being like Gorillas

 

 

375.  Cousins shopping and trying on shoes.

Just for our friend Princess Brylee...more gaps all around

Just for you Miss Brylee over at The Cav 5

Little Princess lost yet another tooth.

Hopefully, you have discovered the joy of the Tooth Fairy.

Rain, Rain, and more Rain

We have had 4 straight days of rain.  What a blessing it was to finally receive the moisture the earth do desperately needs here.  But when you are one of my kiddos, a spring rain shower with no lightening means lots of fun to be had.  With great care and a plastic bag over my camera, these two headed out to play in the rain. 

 Not snow, not hail....pear tree blossoms ~  Kansas Spring Snow

Dara

Dara wrote this amazing post that summed up our visit.  She humbles me with her excitement about a friend who will pack up on a moments notice to visit.  You see, it blows my mind how blessed I am with a husband who will send me off on whatever adventure that awaits me with his blessing.  It blows my mind how my Heavenly Father has blessed me with this amazing friend Dara. She exudes joy.  She bubbles all over everything and everyone she meets.  She is like a washing machine filled with way too much detergent and she bubbles.  Except you don't want to clean up these bubbles.
In this friendship we all have a buddy or two.  Hockey Player matches up with her oldest.  Dad's Bud and The Man match up with her second.  All 5 boys will play together really well.  Little Princess and Brylee are best buddies and have a blast.  The Man is engaged to Brylee on the condition he buys her a purple house but they are a year apart in age and have fun playing together.  Fun Girl is loved as the best babysitter ever and influences Brylee's fashion choices and mostly hangs out with Dara and me these days.  It is a great family friendship.  Husbands aren't mentioned cause our husbands work a lot of evening hours.  Most husbands are home with their families in the evening.  Not us.  Perfect set up when we are looking for something to do in the evening...when we lived closer.
So back to all of those bubbles flowing over.
I have tears running down my face as I type this.  You see, she accepts me and my kids as we are.  Warts and all.  To me, that is just so humbling and brings me to my knees.  My life is nutty.  My life is messy.  I can't imagine anyone wanting to get involved and be around it.
You see I have a kiddo with bi-polar.  Every day is unpredictable.  Every moment is unpredictable.  Life is like walking on egg shells.  Life centers around how this child will adjust and will go with the flow.  Lots of counseling, some medication and things are much better than they were.  We have a hope for this child's future.  A hope I lean on sometimes hourly, cause I have a brother I only hear from in the oddest of situations.  Diagnosed too late.  He is a statistic.  He is my brother. I love him.  I miss the boy I once knew.  I grieve the unfilled potential.  I have amazing childhood memories.  I have other kinds of memories.  Memories that make me an advocate to try and make things different for my child.  I want a hope and future for this child, just as I know God has a hope, a future and plan for each one of his.  Still each day has its challenges.  Some are normal developmental challenges, others are unique to the situation.  But the elephant is always in the room. People try to understand, but it is hard to understand.  I have hesitated to travel alone for a long time.
I did it.
It was good.
We struggled. We persevered.  We were loved through it and it was okay.
Dara even saw what I try to hide from the outside world.  I don't want my child labeled.  I don't want my child rejected because of these struggles.  I don't want to be mis-understood.  If only all could be summed up by my bad parenting, I would gladly take that label and free my child from this challenge. But that is not the case.  Even though Dara saw my child disappear when bi-polar took over, she saw my child return through the windows of a person's soul...his/her eyes.  She got it.  She understood what we go through.  She asked some questions.  She asked about the future.  But most of all, her love didn't change. She still sees the heart.  She sees the child without the label.  She sees the blessing.  She shared her love and bubbles and joy.  She didn't miss a beat.
My heart is full.  I am humbled.  I am blessed to have a friend who accepts me and loves me and my children warts and all.  I humbled by seeing the joy on her children's faces when they saw me.  You see we stopped in at school the first afternoon. Just the two of us moms.  We popped in to see Brett and Jacob.  I felt so loved by their smiles.   I blessed to have a friend who would write such an awesome post about my family!

Sneaking out at Night!

Yup!  That is what I did.  Last Monday night after Hockey Player's Award Ceremony for hockey. We snuck out of town.  Why did we sneak out of town?

Maybe it was guilt?

Abandoning my Granny.  We are in the early stages of establishing in-home care for her.  What if things went wrong and I wasn't here to take care of her.  Leaving meant school would not get done.  Leaving met canceling activities.  Leaving meant not being at Awana Wed. night.  What if something happened with my father-in-law.  He is in hospice care.  My husband would not be going.  He would have to stay and work.  What if my dad ended up in the hospital again.

Maybe it was fear? 

 Fear that those around me would judge and criticize me for abandoning my "duties".  We canceled going on the hockey trip to St. Louis to instead do family things and I was leaving my husband behind.  Through in all of the guilt items into the fear items.  What if I wasn't here to pick up the pieces where Granny was concerned?  What if I wasn't here for....

Honestly, I don't know? 

But I have had a lot on my shoulders lately. I just couldn't bear to hear any criticism or negative feedback.   I had my husband's blessing.  The kids were excited.  I desperately needed to escape for a while.  My friend's husband was out of town.  Her schedule could be cleared. My schedule could be cleared.  There was a plan in place, that I didn't even have to make.  I just had to drive.
So drive I did. We stopped just outside KC for the night and the next morning we drove and drove.  All the way to Wisconsin.  I have never been to Wisconsin until then.  What a trip it was!
 Fun Girl, says she saw the Sparkle return to my eye.  I would imagine she is correct. 
I laughed like I haven't in a while.  My only "burden" was to have fun and have fun with my kids.  It had been a long time since I had done that.  I mean down right good fun.  I try to find the joy and something good in all that I do.  It is better to laugh than cry.  But there have been more than a few times lately, that I felt the laughter coming forth was more manic than joyful. 
Though I hope my children never sneak out at night without me, this is one clandestine trip I am ever grateful to have made.

No photography this week

Thinking we need to post a "No Cameras" sign on our front door this week. 
Both my girls had oral surgery today.  The eldest lost her wisdom teeth, the youngest, some gum tissue. 
Fun Mom wants company.  She wants sympathy.  But she won't let her friends near her, until their lack of photographic equipment is proven.  I have thought about sneaking a few pics while they sleep.  But their suffering hurts this momma's heart too much.