Glors Galore: family

Showing posts with label family. Show all posts

Changes on the horizon: home, school and everything in between

One thing that's changed lately, that really needs to be changed back again, is that I need to stop going to bed after midnight or 1 am. It's killing me the next day. I've been doing this lately, so I can get some things done after the kids go to bed, after Kevin's off to bed, when it's quiet and I can finally sit down. Vicious cycle.

So, lots of changes around here lately, and lots coming up in the near future. It probably started with the trade-in of the Traverse to the Cruze. Financial changes, many tweaks, in different areas to make the money work more for us, and give us some more bumper room in our budget.

Then, there was decisions and discussions and back and forth about school for Kian. He is a very bright kid, he's a super fast learner and loves to learn. His preschool teacher had expressed the same concern I had about him being academically ahead, but socially/emotionally still 4-5 years old, as expected. Because, she had experienced him being bored in preschool, and subsequently getting other kids in trouble, or getting them going. Which, is this a major issue? No, not exactly. But, I am leery of the labeling that schools are so eager to slap on kids. Also, I wasn't eager put him on the bus at 7:40 in the morning and have him only come back after 4pm every afternoon. So, we made some decisions to not send Kian this year. Instead we are doing lessons at home, which he is eating up and loving the time to still have his free play and other options.

This, actually was a great decision for Kian, and us, as we continued to make other choices and decisions and changes. We have not taken any of these recent decisions lightly. We have filled up a notebook's worth of lists, comparisons, pros and cons, and more. All that to say, we've come to the decision to sell this house and find another that is a bit less work right now, with two young boys, and the other stuff we have going on. It isn't something we decided flippantly, and it's a big decision that was not easy to make. We have some options as far as potential buyers. We also have some potential houses to put an offer on coming up soon. We do not have a specific location, and are just looking in the 30 min or less radius of Mid-town so that Kevin doesn't have a super long drive to work. That frees us up for a lot of houses to look at, which is nice. But, since we decided that, it was actually solidified our decision of not sending Kian to school, as he may only have been in a school for a month or 2 before being moved completely out of the district. If he was older, it wouldn't have been as big of a deal, but kindergarten, just knowing all the changes a kindergartner goes through in the beginning.

With all that going on, lessons during the day, house searching in the evenings, daily routines and chores and yard work and all that goes with taking care of a family on a regular basis, we've been busy. Our guests and babysitting children left in August, we celebrated Karter's birthday, we've been sorting through a lot of things to have a garage sale soon (yes I parted with SOME of the boys baby clothes and things). We took a week or two to get back into "normal" routine. And the busyness never stops, or just changes. And that is why I go to bed so late these days, and that is why I need to be in bed about 2 hours ago!

Family day at Seabreeze

Today, we spent the day at Seabreeze! The amusement park here in Rochester, with plenty of water rides, and kid activities. It was kind of a "family-we-haven't-done-anything-all-summer", mixed with "it's-almost-Karter's-birthday-and-we-don't-need-anymore-toys" deal. Seriously, we don't need anymore toys in this house, it's about to explode!

Jon and Kourtney went with us, and we had a blast! The boys are both big enough to do many of the rides, and actually enjoy the water slides. At Legoland in Florida, Karter was too short for a lot of the rides. He apparently grew and inch or two in the last 2 months, as he is now 36 inches (okay, half an inch might be the spiky hair) and meets the minimum limits for the rides. He was only bummed about missing two-the big bumper cars (which was happily replaced by the kiddie thunderbird track) and the kid's rollercoaster.

Kian went on the big swings, and Karter was happy to go on the kid's swings. They both enjoyed airplane rides, water slides, wave pool, train rides, and much more. It was so much fun now that Kian was big enough for almost all the adult rides too. He was so thrilled. Seeing their happy, grinning faces, was awesome. Pure joy, as they got on and off the rides, shooting water guns, enjoying junk food, courtesy of Aunt NeeNee, and all that amusement park stuff. You could just see the memories being made and banked.

Having the 2 other adults with us was great as well. Kevin and Jon could do the crazier rides if they wanted-or Kourt and Jon. There was always a person to go with a child who needed an adult rider, or take the smaller one to the kiddie rides. Or extra hands and eyes for bathrooms and running through the park. And, we picked a great day. A mid-week, cooler, but dry, day meant less people, cheaper tickets and coupons (thanks NeeNee for birthday contributions to the tickets!) and much shorter lines, without sweating all day long.

It ended with the boys coming home, eating a salad and going to bed. Perfect! It was a great success. Kian already asked that next year, this be his birthday gift as well.

Oh-and Kourtney got me to go on the Jack Rabbit....once. No, I didn't open my eyes.

History is in the making

This song by Matthew West, this week's inspiration.

I have heard this song probably a 100 times. But this weekend, while driving (my dad's awesome truck) and driving (my mom's stuff to her new house) I really heard the words.

"You know you can't stay right where you fell
The hardest part is forgiving yourself
But let's take a walk into today
And don't let your past get in the way"

In my moments of failure as a person, as a Christian, as a wife, as a mother, as whatever; i tend to focus on the failure and not the redemption. I forget the past needs to stay just that and dwelling on it only cause me to stumble more. Mercies are new each morning. Fresh start each day I awake. Potential and opportunity written all over the place. What am I doing with it? Kids like sponges, what am I doing to help them grow? In this house, how am I blessing my family with my work? On and on...

Then the final bridge plays over and over and it was my 'aha' moment.

"Would you believe that you are history
In the making, in the making
Every choice that you are making
Every step that you are taking
Every chain that you are breaking
History is in the making
Every word that you are saying
Every prayer that you are praying
Every chain that you are breaking
History is in the making
History is in the making
History is in the making"

Yes! Every word I say, every step I make, every choice, every action-good, bad, neutral, whatever I do is history in the making. Amen to chains being broken. Wait-what? Every word I say? Uh oh. Crap. See? Those words too huh? Yep. So, I've been thinking about that all weekend. Every single thing I do and see is shaping my past, shaping my future and that includes my kids, my husband, and anyone else I might come in contact with. I want to be sure that what I do is for good.

Of course there will be bad times, rough roads, harsh words, but if I can try to focus on the fact that every thing I do and say is history in the making, perhaps it will be easier. Perhaps I'll slow my tongue just enough so that someone isn't hurt by my words. Perhaps I'll put down the windex, the computer, the chocolate and remember what it is exactly that I want my history to be made of... The great things I gleaned from my own childhood experiences to pass on...

The history I want to my kids to remember--cookies for breakfast once in awhile, bubbles up to the ceiling in the bath, mama reading them so many books in the rocking chair, daddy laying on the floor building castles, not being told "stop/don't touch/no/too young" but being taught how to handle scissors and knives, confidence building, esteem so strong, love so tough, learning through life experiences instead of just reading or being told, doing is believing, knowing where to rest, and knowing where history was made... What's your history today?

Preseason

Watkins Glen camping trip

Yes, this was about 2 months ago. But, since i just got my computer back with all the pictures on it, you'll have to bear with me!

Best part? The tent, hands down.

Ready for a hike in the Glen at 8 am...yes we were up at 6 that morning...

Best seesaw ever!

Spiderman?

So sweet...

It's not camping if you're not dirty!

He stood up and had a s'more stuck to his butt!

A night at Gravel Ponds

This was a few weeks ago, hence the sweatshirts that would be causing severe heatstroke today!

He was happier in the Ergo on my back, but no, everyone has to comment how bored he must be. So I put him in the stroller and he fussed the last half hour straight. That'll teach ya.

Neah, we're not busy.

Let's just say with an almost three year old and an almost 9 month old (he can't be already!) and a 9 week old puppy, all of whom are extremely physical...I'm beat by 8pm most days. Whew!

Finn-pretty good dog, when he's not nipping at our ankles. Gives relevance and definition to the term "ankle-biter", the likes of which I never knew. Sheesh. But, he's a smart dog. He learned sit the first week, lie down this week, and last night in a few minutes I taught him to shake. Yeah, I know shake isn't necessary, especially right now, but I took advantage of an action I saw him doing and rewarded it to continue it. Anyway, it's just another element in our busy day. Thankfully, he's taken to the crate well now and most of the night too.

You would think that the crate improvements would mean extra sleep right? Wrong. Karter's top right tooth finally popped through a few days ago. The other 3 top ones are right behind it, swollen, hurting gums and all. Poor kid. He prefers chomping on real table foods more than ever right now, even opposed to nursing. I give him frozen sweet potato fries, as he won't do ice or popsicles, and that seems to take the edge off. The kid is a maniac lately. At my grandma's this afternoon she worried he'd go up the stairs. I said, "neah, he might pull to stand on the first one". So we continued talking and he was slightly out of view. Kian says "mommy, Karter's upstairs." Yeah....he was 4 or 5 steps up. Oops. =) He insists on walking around holding our hands a lot, something Kian wasn't really interested in for a few more months. He says "ni-ni" all the time now when he's tired. Unlike Kian, who if he fell asleep in the car for a few moments would never go back to sleep once we got home, Karter actually asks to go back to bed! The boy loves sleep and his bed, just like his dad. He will say "ni-ni-ni, ni-ni" over and over when he's tired, rubbing his eyes until i put him in bed. We're officially saying that 'night-night' is his first word.

And Kian...oh the boy. Never still. Neither is his mouth. I never knew I loved three this much. (Yes, I know he's not even three yet.) I always told everyone that I loved babies and wasn't sure about older kids. Maybe I just wasn't sure about other older kids. Actually, ever since having Kian, I've found myself not as eager to inhale everyone else's kids like I used to. People would see me and hand me their baby, others would ask if I wanted "my baby" and just give them to me. Now, I am so in love with my own, I sometimes forget there are others around haha. But, three? Oh, three, I love you. We've turned a corner with behaviors in the last month or so, for the better. His mind, amazing. His imagination, fascinating. His vocabulary, spectacular (sometimes to a fault!). People would tell me, wait until three, ti's the magic age, you can do anything at three. I was like "yeah right". But, yeah, right! Your child is three? Here's the keys to the city. You can now attend so many programs and groups, it will make your eyes bleed. Your child now has the developmental skills mentally and physically for things that will entertain you and can go anywhere and be a great companion. And the things that come out of his mouth-those are the best parts of the day, hearing what he comes up with. Three definitely is the magic age. I am loving it (three weeks premature).

And so, Kevin and I just hang on for the ride with all these active whippersnappers. =) It's a busy house, but it's fun. Tiring, but entertaining. Wouldn't trade it for the world.