On Charlotte 2015

Our time in Charlotte with my dad and stepmom went by way too fast. It always happens that way, I suppose since we are in the good company of family. The second we pulled in their driveway, we felt right at home (as always). My stepmom had the perfect beds prepared for each of us. I got a bedroom ALL TO MYSELF....complete with comfy bed, pillows and a fan. And across the house from the boys. I slept great! All of us slept well!

The morning after we arrived, all of the boys dressed up as cows so they could get a free breakfast at Chick-Fil-A. I love this picture! :) Gramps is such a good sport. (By the way, we barely got Sammy in this outfit and out the door looking like this.) 

The boys got to watch TWO movies in the theater while we were there. Inside Out for the first time (they loved this one soooo much and are still talking about it daily) and Minions for the second time. Check out these cozy recliner movie theater chairs!

We checked out a local museum one day. The boys had fun running around. Here they are doing "creepy bug faces."

Bath time! Washing off the sunscreen and sweat from the day!

While we were there, my dad/stepmom offered to watch a friend's dog for a few days. They have a dog of their own (Juan), but (sorry Juan!) he's a little bit grumpy and old. Elijah and Sammy were SO excited for Daisy to arrive! Oh my goodness, they were squealing and running in circles when she came up to the door for the first time. She is an old dog, too, but she is so laid back and gentle. The boys and I adored her.

Before we left, Sammy drew this picture for Juan and hung it by his bed in the living room. "So he will remember me!" :)

The boys did story time with Grammie and Gramps every night. A special end to every day!

We went to the Lazy 5 Ranch again this year and this time we drove through it in the car. We drove along the winding path through tons of wildlife, feeding them, talking to them, telling them to GET AWAY, squealing, but loving the entire adventure. We were told NOT to feed or pet the zebras, so Sammy dissed this guy right away.

I loved feeding a giraffe from the sunroof. He was by far the most gentle creature we encountered during the entire adventure. He accepted the food gingerly, almost with gratitude. We all loved him!

Elijah and Grammie, playing on the ship at Lazy 5!

We made it to their community pool 3 or 4 times. The boys had a blast! They loved their swim noodles and time in the water. Sammy began "swimming" (with the help of his floatie and a noodle under his armpits) across the entire pool by himself...kicking, paddling with his hands and all! I was so proud of my boy! He is becoming more adventurous all the time!

When we went to the park by their house, instead of playing on the swing or slides, Sammy started picking up garbage. I asked what he was doing and he said, "I HAVE to clean up this litter! Is there a recycling bin around here?" That's my organized, thoughtful Sammy. As we got in the car to leave, he saw a stray piece of garbage he had missed and felt terrible about leaving it behind.

I love making memories with my precious boys and my parents. This summer's trip was so much fun. We get to see Grammie and Gramps again this coming weekend in Iowa and we are all excited for it. Dan and I constantly express gratitude about our boys have such loving grandparents. Thank you, DAD and PAULA for being so kind, gracious and selfless! We love you guys and love that you let us invade your home without a single complaint.

We drove back to Louisville for a QUICK night after our time in Charlotte, and drove the rest of the way home the following day. It was a long one! The last few hours were rough, involving potty in pants, a smelly car, a VERY windy car ride, VERY loud and excited-to-be-home boys and a VERY crabby mama. I literally pulled into our driveway, got out of the car (without closing the door) and ran inside to ask Dan for HELP. An hour later we were all feeling much better (and sleeping).

This coming week is a busy one for us. Hoping you are doing well and thank you for peeking in!

Desperately seeking sanity

Today will never be forgotten in this mama's mind. It was one of my most challenging days being a mother. Elijah's behavior has escalated to a degree that I never imagined it could. I don't know how many more days like today I can stomach! Please pray for my sanity and for Elijah to feel peaceful! 

We have stayed very busy and that likely has been a contributing factor to the madness. On Friday the little boys and I were able to go to the zoo for a few hours, courtesy Hope Kids. We had fun!  We scurried around and saw as many animals as we could before bedtime crept up on us. Here are the boys in the "stinky jungle." :)

Dan made it home safely from DC on Tuesday night. The following pics are moments the boys asked me to capture and send to him while he was away. 

Elijah re-started OT/PT this week! We decided to take a break back in February when life was really overwhelming, so we will see how it goes starting back up. Both his OT and PT did testing on Wednesday to see how much service he will be able to receive. His PT called me back at the end of the session to show me Elijah's new accomplishment! He never would have done this a few months ago!

The boys and I have been loving on a few plants this spring. It has been fun watching them grow. Elijah and Sammy get so excited to water their flowers and veggies!

We made it to the pool for the first time early this week. Elijah is so much more capable in shallow water. I worry much less than I did last year about him wading around. He starts another round of swim lessons next week, so things will only improve!

And guess what?! Sammy did not even hesitate to remove his shirt and socks. WOW! He got into the pool right away. WOW! He even got upset when I told him to stay a little bit closer to me. In fact, I believe he said something like, "I'm going to swim away from you FOREVER!" See how that works out for you, Sammy!

Elijah has his first appointment tomorrow with a new psychologist. The timing is great. I/We need her more than ever. Thanks for checking in!

Very random post-trip thoughts

Today was weird. I was foggy-brained, exhausted, sore and impatient. Dan worked at the dz while the boys and I wandered aimlessly around our messy home. Dan had the house totally clean when we got home last night and now? It's a disaster and I don't care. Maybe on Sunday I'll care. Tomorrow I'm shooting a wedding and Dan will be working, so the boys will be spending the day at their Auntie Christine's. Please pray for good behavior and a great day! (Gulp..a little worried.)

Some miscellaneous thoughts.. (Have you noticed I like to write in bullet points lately?)

- I have big plans to organize our home! Mainly for Elijah because from what I've read, NLD kids thrive when their surroundings are organized. In the next few days/weeks, I plan to: 1. create an "alone" space in our closet for Elijah and Sammy to retreat to when they want to be alone, 2. organize our disastrous storage closet, 3. organize our garage, 4. get rid of some toys, despite the boys' pleading not to and 5. go through the boys' clothes/closet. 

- Potty issues were very frustrating on our trip, and even at home today. Something with E is still just not clicking. During our long days of driving in the car, I may as well have had a newborn with all of the pulling over for poop clean-up that was going on. This is extremely frustrating, as it is such a regression from 8-9 months ago.

- We were able to spend time with my brother and his girlfriend while we were in North Carolina and we cherished our time with them! The boys also got to go to two days of VBS at my parents' church, which they both loved. We swam in their neighborhood pool a handful of times, and Sammy even got in the water! And he removed his shirt (major improvement from last summer)!

- I am determined to teach both boys to swim within the next year. Also on the agenda is music lessons! In the NLD book I just read, I learned that musical talent tends to come naturally for these kiddos and it is a great outlet for them. And Sammy has always been musically inclined, so...we will pursue this. Violin? Piano? Both? 

- My dad and stepmom brought us to the Lazy 5 Ranch in NC and it was such a cool place! We traveled in a large wagon amidst very large roaming animals, feeding and petting them. If I hadn't been fending off Elijah attacks, it would have been even more enjoyable. For the first 8-10 days of our trip, the meds (I believe) caused E to totally lash out at me, both verbally and physically. It was rough. And sad. But I kept reminding myself it wasn't "him," and that helped.

Here are some fun L5R pics! Thank you so much for peeking in!

Zoo and MOA!

These photos are a bit out of order, so please forgive me. I went along with Elijah's class on their MN Zoo field trip today. Whew! I'm happy to be sitting on my butt right now! I had a GREAT group of four awesome kids who listened well and stuck by my side. We had a fun day, but it was a wee bit long. I had one kid (Elijah) who tired very easily and another who acquired a blister on her heel pretty quickly. Hence, two hours of piggy-back rides. After lunch, I rented a stroller and pushed the two of them around while the other two did a great job of keeping up. It worked out great! AND I got my workout in for the day!

This pic was taken at the MOA on Saturday. We went to a family birthday party and were able to ride on a few rides with my cousin Trevor and his cutie, Veda. Here's E and Veda on the ferris wheel!

This is my Sammy! Here's what I get when I ask him to pose for a picture. :)

For the first time ever, Elijah went on the "fast cars" with someone besides Dan or me. He and Veda had so much fun together! The blurred heads say it all.

So cute!

Happy cousins!

Here is a pic of the boys as we waited in the cell phone lot to pick Dan up from the airport on Saturday evening. We couldn't wait to see him!

And here is our sad car tonight. This is cosmetic and poor Big Red will not be driven with duct tape. :) Hopefully within the next few days we'll have a new hood and be ready for our road trip!

It was such a nice day here in MN today despite the forecast, so I hope you local friends were able to enjoy it!

Weekend and some Elijah funnies

We had another fun weekend. Elijah got to spend a night with his auntie, so he was on cloud 9. Sammy and I spent Saturday night at the dropzone with Dan. It was strange being there without Elijah! Dan and I loved the special time we got with our youngest boy! That doesn't happen often.

This pic is from last week's zoo trip. We have tried to go to the zoo as a family once a week through the summer, on Dan's days off. The boys love it there. Elijah has nicknamed this "daddy buffalo" Puffy. The "mommy buffalo," who we cannot see, is named Buffy. :)

Sammy loves crawling into this huge bird's nest. Except, he will not accept help getting in, of course. If I try to help him, I get to hear, "MY DO IT!" And he starts over.

I found a few photos I forgot to post from our recent vacations! Here is my wonderful dad, reading to the boys before bed one night while we spent time at the family reunion in Iowa. Precious!

Have I mentioned how much I love my dad? He is honestly the kindest person I know. I love him to pieces, and my boys do, as well. I love this photo of him and Sammy.

I have been sharing on Facebook all of the funny things Elijah has been saying lately. This boy is a riot! I will paste a few of them below. I hope you all had a great weekend! xo

"Mama, you are the olive in my soup!"
"Hmm, do you even like olives?!"
"NO."

Yesterday E was reading a book and suddenly got very excited. "Whoa! The word 'stupid' is in a book?!" (Thinking that if it was in a book it was ok to use.) I'm thinking, Jeez, what the heck is he reading? Upon inspection, the word was "stooped." I explained the difference in meaning and pronunciation and he seemed slightly bummed. Then today, as he was yelling at his hair for touching his forehead (this happens often), I heard him say, "Ugh! Stooped hair!" The kid found another of his many loopholes.

E was talking about the movie Tangled tonight. "Rapunzel has a mean mommy and a nice mommy?" "Yes." "And you are a mean mommy and a nice mommy?" "Well, I'd like to think I'm mostly a nice mommy!" "Weeellllll, you are nice, but sometimes you are mean."

After a very challenging morning of being a mama, I laid down with E in hopes of getting a nap. He rolled over to me and rubbed my hair and said, "Don't be sad, Mama. Be happy!" Then, "You are brownie-fresh and totally wild!" 

We were all standing in the driveway waving goodbye to Dan as he left for the dropzone, E in his underwear, Sammy and me in our pjs. Elijah yelled, "BYYyyyyeeee, Daaad! Have a good luck today!"

After nap-time today, E said, "Mom?" "Yes?" "You are sailing in the sea of my ocean." :)

I was so tired today, lying on the couch with my eyes closed for a few minutes while E read books. I felt a little hand gently rubbing my cheek and a whisper in my ear that said, "Mommy, you are kind and weird and clean and very giggly!"

Trying to get Elijah to nap today, he kept lifting up my eyelids with his fingers. "Mama! Open your eyeball shells!"