Bad Day

So, it's been awhile. I go back and forth between babying and abandoning this blog. And I am just having a bad day.

Most of it, is just that I am in a bad mood. It's difficult to be in a good mood when the person you live with is always in a bad mood. And it's difficult to be in a good mood when you feel like your life is crumbling all around you. Nothing goes as planned anymore, and I am not sure how much more of it I can take. And on a bad day, it's just the icing on the cake when your children decide not to listen, not even once.

I have to go back to work next week. The cheer season is going to be starting up full swing. But I am stuck in a bad position. I have to be at practices, but I also have to drive Adam to and from work each day and to and from Fort Wayne twice a week. So, I am either going to have to quit coaching, or Adam is going to have to quit his job. Neither is a good situation. I can't be in two places at once. And I am getting seriously stressed about it. I don't know what to do.

I talked to a lady from Headstart....it's basically the preschool for the needy. And we are in strong need of this program. The school I want to send Alex to, we can't afford. But I was told that Heacstart will base qualification off of our last year of income. Well, if they do that, then we won't qualify. Why do they base it off of what we were making a year ago?? We don't have that income any longer, we barely make more than half of what we were making a year ago. So we will not be able to send Alex there, and can not afford to send him to a different preschool. I can not afford daycare for Alex while I am working next year either....we are in quite a pickle.

And it's all I think about all the time. I am stressed, and it just seems there's not a damn thing I can do. I snap at the kids. And the kids misbehave, so I snap at them even more. Just at my wits end.

Crazy weekend!

It has been a crazy weekend/beginning of week!

On Friday, I took the kids to the pool, they had so much fun as usual. And I took the opportunity to sit and chat with a friend I ran into. I am so glad the kids are both old enough to be in the pool and not need me hovering over them the entire time (don't worry, I still kept a very watchful eye on them both)!!

 Meanwhile, a huge storm front rolled in, so we had to leave. What happened next didn't seem like much at the time. We packed up and went home. I learned later on that the tip of the storm is all that hit our rinky dink town, but further south...chaos ensued. I massive storm went through that still (4 days later) has left friends without power and have forced many out of their homes until the threat of downed power lines can be neutralized. This is hard for me to imagine going through with temps in high 90's and low 100's.

Saturday, I went to the lake with the fam! It was fun and exhausting at the same time. We left in the morning and spent the entire day fishing, swimming, boat riding...but best of all, hanging out with family. However, I would say my favorite memory of the day was taking each of the kids kayaking. They loved it, and I got a great upper body workout!!

Sunday was actually pretty uneventful until later in the evening. My mom wasn't feeling well (she had been in the hospital earlier in the week). She had many symptoms of a heart attack, so I went to the ER with her and her fiance. The ER doc ran some tests and determined that she was NOT having a heart attack, but was kind of stumped as to what was causing all of her problems. SO he admitted her for the night. The kids and I went up to visit her on Monday, and they had a blast. My kids are weird like that and really love hospitals. But I can't blame them when our hospital has a totally awesome (and relatively unused) play area for kids. Anyhow...We think they finally figured out what was wrong my mom, and have it under control. She seems to be feeling MUCH better today. :)

A plus about today....I got to help watch my little teeny tiny brand new 2 month old baby niece. While mama took a nap since she had to work third shift.

I am hoping for an uneventful tomorrow; however, as I sit here I am remembering more items on the to-do list. Maybe I can find some time to incorporate a few things from our Bucket List.

We have no plans for the holiday, but I hope you all enjoy your holiday! What are your plans? Any fun traditions?

Enjoy your week and please keep those without electricity or access to their homes in your thoughts!

Bucket List

Without going into details right now (mostly because I want to write about something different), things are looking up for me and my family :) So thank you to everyone for your kind comments and generosity! You all have really helped to lift my spirits! XOXOXO

Sooo....
I have realized something recently....Summer is going by way too quickly! For some of my friends, they are just entering their summer break. But I have relaxed into that comfy spot on the summer sofa. The spot that is lightly wore in, the arm pillows are propping me up nicely, I even have a little foot stool to prop my feet on, and the warm summer sunlight is spilling through the window and warming my skin in the chilly air conditioned air.. Yes, I am talking about the two week mark (it's not actually here yet, I am two days early, but who's actually counting). We have quickly fallen out of our morning routines, and staying up late seems like nothing new. We are quite comfortable with where we are in summer break. It's that point in summer break where I am deliriously happy that break has finally arrived yet it feels like we have the entire summer to look forward to. WRONG!!!

That's the problem with the summer sofa. It wants you to feel cozy as if you have all the time in the world to spare. And then before you know it, it's two weeks until the start of the school year and we are running around like mad men trying to get ourselves organized for the school year...shopping for schools clothes, new kicks, and school supplies. And then that dreaded first day arrives. Well, it's not entirely dreaded as the kids still get uber excited about school...but I dread it because I am NOT a morning person by any means. If I were childless, I would be perfectly happy working 2nd shift, staying up until 3 or 4 in the morning, then sleeping until 2pm every day. But I DO have children, so sadly, I have to deal with early morning wake up calls. My SAHM days are a thing of the past, but at least I still have my summers. For me, summer is about sleeping in as late as the kids will possibly allow (usually 7:45), staying in my pajamas, until at least 1pm, and letting the kids stay up as late I can tolerate in hopes they'll let me sleep in longer in the morning (yeah right lady, in your dreams!!).

Anyhow, in honor of Summer being "nearly" over. I have decided to copycat some of my fellow bloggers and create a summer bucket list. And since I am one of those people who hates lists and finds them completely overwhelming...I [naturally] put a few things a top the list that I/we have already accomplished :)

: make homemade ice cream
: go on a bike ride (x2000)
: water balloon fight
: play in the sprinkler
: fly a kite
: wash our car by hand (a favorite of my kids)
: play at these parks/playgrounds at least twice
        - Moore Park
        - Washington playground
        - Imagination Station
        - Roseland Park
        - Lincoln playground
        - others that I don't know the names of...
: have a picnic at a park
: go camping (even if it's just in the back yard)
: make s'mores
: go fishing
: play at the pool
: swim in a lake
: PAINT with sidewalk chalk
: make our own Trunki Town
: visit the winery
: run in another 5k
: re-finish the antique desk I purchased at Goodwill (it will be awesomeness)
: garage sale
: lemonade stand at garage sale
: go "garage sale-ing"
: let the kids have a living room slumber party
: go to the library!!
: have a tie dye party with the kids and their friends!
: Zoo trip
: go bowling
: go to a Drive-In theater (sadly, I have never been to one and hear it's amazing, so we MUST go...this one should really be at the top of the list!)

Some of these are just for me, but most are for the kids and I to do together. I don't even care if cross everything off the bucket list, but it's nice to have a list of things to do and try our best to do as much as we can. When school starts back up, the kids will look back and think (hopefully) Wow! What a great summer this was!

So get off the summer sofa, join me, and make a Summer Bucket List!! If you've already made one, or have ideas to share, please add them in the comments!

Enjoy!!
Rebekah

Indoor summer fun??

UGHH...This heat is killing me!! It is {HOT HOT HOT}. Full sun, no breeze, and temps in the 90's.

My kids want to go outside and play. I just want to lay inside in the AC. This means sticking them in front of the TV all day for them to cooperate, and I hate doing that. Alex wants to go out and ride his bike, I am half tempted at bringing his bike in the house (if only we had more room).

We were invited by a couple of friends to go to the pool today which would have been nice, but I passed because I didn't have the extra money. They even offered to pay, and now I am regretting turning them down. At least I didn't tell the kids we had been invited...they would have been heartbroken.

I know there are plenty of outdoor water activities that we could do at our own house. I could turn on the sprinkler, or fill water balloons, or play Sponge Bomb (I game I saw on pinterest...linkity link), but I want to know what YOU all do to have fun INDOORS when you just don't want to brave the heat or have a water fight with the kids.

Please comment!! :)

My favorite park!

Yesterday I decided to take a break from all of the stress.

And I took the kids to a park that we haven't been to in a long time, let them run around, and snapped a few photos. It was definitely the break I needed. (Them too, I am sure!)

They played at the park for awhile, but then Kaetlyn saw the "climbing tree" (that's what I call it). We spent the rest of the time playing on the climbing tree. It's a magnificent tree, and if they ever cut it down, I will be very sad! It's perfect to play in, on, under, and around, and especially perfect for cautious kids like my own. I remember playing on it when I was not much older than Kaetlyn is now.

And this is my favorite photo of Alex. He sat there for quite awhile, I think he might like the tree as much as I do!

We have a few parks where we live, but none are as glorious as this one... It's kind of hidden, so I think even most of the people that live here don't know about this park. It's really quiet, with lots of space, and great for the old and young alike.

My favorite part is just watching the kids be kids.

Do you have a favorite park? And what are you best memories of playing with your children at a park/playground?

Make Me Laugh

Okay, so I had a bad day today. I mean, it could have been A LOT worse than it was. But as a person who dwells on the negatives, you can all trust me and just believe that I did indeed have a bad day. I won't go into details as I think some things are meant to be kept private. {I can't share every detail of my life...otherwise I may as well change the name of this blog to Facebook! haha} All jokes aside, I will say that some of the "bad" was work related and some was a whole mess of personal stuff. And I don't really want to badmouth my work for fear of retribution (hey! A girl's gotta earn a paycheck!(but seriously, who am I kidding to think someone from work will EVER care to read this!!)) And the personal stuff...well, I'd rather just keep it personal until I figure it all out, and even then, I may not blog about it.

BUT (in spite of me being a negative person) I do like to laugh. So, as of recently, my favorite thing to do when I am down is to peruse Pinterest's Humor section. Here are some of my favorites {literally, these things had me laughing until I cried!}

Sometimes I say to my children they drive me so crazy I could eat them--but now I know people actually do this! haha

 I seriously thought this lady was "nakey"  from the waist down!!! Almost had a heart attack, and then I nearly died laughing.

No caption necessary!

 I look at this photo often because it ALWAYS cheers me up, he he he

 Whoever thought of this is a genius, and I am going to resort to this so I don't ever have to clean again!!

 I say this to my kids all the time, true story.

I can't math either, friend.

If you were having as bad of a day as I was, then I hope these cheered you up a little.

Enjoy!!

xoxo Rebekah

Free Range Kids

Today, I craved a sandwich that I haven't eaten in YEARS! A peanut butter and Doritos sandwich. Some of you may gag at the thought of that combination, while others may be wondering how I came up with that concoction in the first place.

It happened years and years ago when I was a kid. My parents left me home alone during the summer months while I was off on summer break. While they were off at work, it was my responsibility to make my own meals. Basically, I was a young kid experimenting in the kitchen and trying to figure out a way to shorten eating time to be able to get back out and play with the neighborhood kids. My lunches usually consisted of a sandwich and chips, well, I combined them and...Viola, a masterpiece!

Anyhow, it got me thinking about my kids and summertime. I was a product of a time when kids were allowed to roam free without an elevated risk of abduction, getting lost or hit by a car. It makes me wonder what kind of summers my kids are going to grow up having as I have been known to sort of be a helicopter mom, meaning I hover over my kids every possible minute. This also means, my kids depend on me for absolutely everything.

I recently discovered a website about free range kids, and since then, I have been "free ranging it" in hopes that my kids will learn a little independence and confidence. I urge anyone who reads this to check it out. Free Range Kids isn't for everyone, but a lot of what the lady says makes enough sense that it was worthwhile to evaluate my parenting style, and you may think so as well.

We are starting in little steps. I think it's important to really consider your child's abilities (among other factors that may be unique to the area in which you live) and not what most 7 year olds can do unassisted. For instance, there is a kid in Kaetlyn's grade (but is about the size of my 3 year old) who rides a bike that is way too big for him without training wheels (or a shirt, yeah he's pretty bad ass) all over town. His parents, apparently, have been "free ranging it" for awhile. My daughter, ALWAYS wears a shirt while outdoors (hehe), and rides with training wheels, she is nowhere near being able to remove them. But the point is that I could NEVER let her ride her bike around town on her own, she would get totally completely lost. And I am fairly certain she has no idea what to do when losing herself happens.

But we are taking the steps to get there. We go on bike rides together (actually I walk alongside Alex) and I let her lead the way and allow her to determine when it's safe to cross the street. And I let her ride ahead of us. She loves this, and feels so grown up and important...especially when she beats us home. So she is getting there. But the most important part is seeing a more confident 7 year old.

We free range in other ways, too. Simpler ways. Ways that a weary parent could begin with his/her child. My kids have began picking out their own clothes, and I do not advise them differently...Hey! They've got to start somewhere, and I don't want to be picking out clothes for my kids even after they've gone off to college!

Alex picked this out today. His favorite shirt with blue shorts that have cream colored "Jolly Rodgers" on them. It matches in HIS mind!

I also have been allowing them to choose what they eat for lunch. They have chosen pizza sandwiches for the past several days. Normally, it would bother me to have them eat the same thing two days in a row, but we're almost out of pepperoni and then they'll have to choose something else ;)

Another thing I strongly suggest (when your kids seem ready) is to let your kids play outside by themselves. Even if you're sitting inside in the AC watching your kids through the window like a hawk. They'll surprise you. I did this with my kids, and guess what?? They stayed in the yard. They really did!! There is a whole wide world for your kids to explore in their yard, regardless of how much space there is for the kid to play. And kids really do enjoy being able to look for bugs, collect sticks, and play with their outdoor toys without mom or dad hovering.

Have a happy "Free Range" summer!!
xoxo Rebekah