A prayer for parents

As I indicated in previous post, it's been a rough couple of weeks.  Yesterday I searched online for a prayer for parenting, and I couldn't find anything I liked so I decided to create my own.

Lord, thank you for the blessings that are our children.  Thank you for the joy and laughter they bring to our lives every day, and thank you for the opportunities we have each day to not only be a teacher to them, but to be taught by them.  Please help us to not only acknowledge their differences but to celebrate them.  Please help me to be the different parent that each child needs.  Please help me help each of them be the best they can be, and yet be humble.  Please help me show them each how to take pride in who they are, and yet not be vain.  I pray that they are each mentally and emotionally strong, and yet that they will show compassion and empathy in everything they do.  I pray that we, as a parents, will be strong enough to make the tough choices, yet always loving and patient.  I pray that our hearts be filled with peace and open to His guidance.  I pray that we all be forgiven for our mistakes.  May we always remember our many blessings, and be grateful for the new opportunities each day brings.

I am trying to keep this close to my heart!

Parenting

I kind of didn't want to write today...and I still don't.  But, it's been over a week and I guess I should update life.

There have been good things happening...and not-so-good things.  Catherine's behavior was pretty rough last week, but other than that she is doing great.  Her determination for school is amazing.  She is doing yearbook and drama club after school and really enjoys her activities.  She is so goofy I often role my eyes, but there are other times her goofiness is exactly what I need at that moment.

Thomas is struggling with middle school in terms of his grades.  There is a lot less "hand holding" at this level and he needs to remember to turn the work in on his own and not wait for a teacher to ask for it.  He also needs to understand that the chrome books (from h***, as far as I'm concerned) is a tool for the classroom and not be constantly playing games.  He is doing yearbook with Catherine and has also joined engineering club.  I absolutely love seeing him grow up into the person  he is becoming.

Robert is still on crutches.  It's very disappointing because it basically means the end of cross country season after he had worked this summer and made such great strides.  He seems to be taking his disappointment out on his school work by not doing it anymore.  His grades have absolutely tanked.  Last evening was parent teacher conferences and it was not a lot of fun to be a part of that.  He has some very tough choices and hard work that need to happen right now or there won't be any dive this winter either.  He's also got some swollen lymph nodes and while the blood test came back negative, the doctor feels it needs to be explored further.  We go Tuesday for that appointment.  He's just having a tough go of it right now, and as his parents, so are Andrew and I.

This new computer isn't exactly great either.  I'm not sure why it seems to have so many bugs, but hopefully things will smooth out as it continues to update and I become more familiar.

Hard to believe the end of September is upon us.  We actually had the a/c on for about 36 hours but the weather has definitely changed.  Fall is here!

The phrase "GRRR" comes to mind

My computer absolutely bit the dust last weekend.  Dead and more dead.  Fortunately, I had received a warning that hard drive failure was imminent and made sure things were backed up...mostly...but that's another story.  We debated about simply replacing the hard drive, but the computer was 5-1/2 years old so we decided to go ahead and get a new one (Merry Christmas to us...cause that's the way it's gonna be!).  Of course, it means all new updates of programs, software, etc.  And I very, very, very much dislike change.  In fact, I really can't tell you how much I dislike it because it isn't nice to use the "h*te" word.  I've especially missed reading other blogs, and I'm really looking forward to figuring things out...hopefully sooner rather than later!  I had everything down to an absolute routine and it's suddenly gone...GRRRR!

The last two days have been fabulous

The weather the last two days has been almost absolutely perfect.  It is such an absolute blessing.  My heart could not be more full of gratitude.

My mother and paternal grandmother came down yesterday afternoon. It was such a nice visit. They stayed for several hours and we ordered some dinner in.  My aunt even came in to visit for a bit.

This morning was equally wonderful. It has been an absolutely insane couple of weeks, but with the house picked up for company yesterday, I really had nothing that had to be accomplished this morning.  I allowed me myself to go back to sleep after everyone left for school, and sleep I did!  Even after getting up, I've allowed myself to relax by reading some magazines and taking it easy. I've been enjoying the views, I and really just can't how grateful I am for my life!

Thankful for the ipad

Several years ago we bought a "family iPad" as a Christmas present for the kids. It has never been my favorite piece of technology, but today I am very grateful we have it!  Last weekend the desktop notified me that hard drive failure wads imminent...and yesterday it died. None of the laptops we have purchased over the years are working either, so while it isn't terribly convenient, I am extremely grateful I'm not completely cut off from my email...and blog!

One of those weeks

This was one of those weeks where nothing went terribly wrong (very grateful), but nothing was quite right either.  It was an extremely busy week as well, and I can't believe how much time I spent in my vehicle.

Robert is continuing to attend cross country practice even though he can't run.  He can ride the stationary bike and work on some core exercises.  He can still play his instrument, so even though he can't march, he's still at those practices as well.  Catherine & Thomas have joined yearbook, and Catherine has also joined drama club while Thomas has joined engineering club.  They also participated in the after school community bowling, and we had some doctor appointments to go with it.  Andrew worked one evening and had a meeting another, and I had a meeting myself one evening.  I also attended the football last evening to help out with some things and have spent some time at the high school helping with some things there.  And of course, I started my own new job on Monday afternoon, so it's been a very busy week.

On the upside, everyone is healthy, and we are together, so that is all that really matters!

The tooth situation got really ugly

Friday was T.O.U.G.H.  Thomas's tooth was still bothering him a great deal, to the point that I ended up taking him to school Friday morning because he was having a little bit of a meltdown.  He had a birthday party to attend after school, and then that evening all you-know-what broke loose.  He mentioned that "something yellow" was in his mouth, and I recognized it as puss from an infection.  After his shower, his mouth had blood everywhere and the gum was very swollen and deep purple.  If he hadn't already been on antibiotics we'd have gone straight to an urgent care, but I decided it could wait until morning.  And it was amazing...by morning things looked better and Thomas had no pain.  He took not one bit of pain medication at all yesterday and is back to being his chipper self.  I am so very, very grateful that we did get into the dentist when we did, and I feel badly for not getting him there sooner.  On the upside, he is doing well, and hopefully all will go well next week for his procedure!

Today's new opportunity

I am so excited about a new opportunity that is happening today.  Last winter, our pastor had approached me about possibly being our church's assistant treasurer.  It's only about 15-20 hours per month, so 3-4 hours per week.  It is absolutely a perfect opportunity for our family!  It gives me the flexibility to set my own hours, for the most part, and gives us just a little bit of extra money.  I don't actually take over the job until December of January, but my training begins today.  I am so very excited about this!

A long short week

For only four days, it was a pretty long week.  I think that is often the case though.  So many want still want to get five full days of things in which make for some long days.

The biggest news in our house comes in the form of two doctor appointments.  Thomas's tooth has been bothering him for quite some time and earlier this week it got really bad.  Andrew and I had forgotten it was the same tooth that he broke off over three years ago, and that the dentist had warned that even though it had reattached and all was well, there was no guarantee we wouldn't have problems down the road.  The dentist informed us yesterday that the nerves are very inflamed.  He is on some antibiotics, but is going to need to go in to the roots/nerves and "clean them out".  Unfortunately, he can't be seen until the week after next, and seeing my little guy so uncomfortable is hard on this mom's heart.  Robert also had an appointment yesterday with a sport medicine doctor.  He'd been have recurring leg pain for about three weeks and the trainer suggested he really should be seen.  The x-ray was inconclusive, but the doctor strongly feels there is a stress fracture.  He is on crutches for at least the next two weeks, then will be reassessed and we'll go from there.  So no running, marching, or even walking, for two entire weeks.  I'm proud of the way Robert is handling this disappointment, and we point out that we don't want any permanent damage to occur that would keep him from running in the future.

I've had a great deal of responsibilities and time commitments involving my volunteer "job" this week.   It's a little frustrating when everything seems to hit at once and everyone seems to need something done.  I spent literally all day at school on Wednesday, and can't even count the number of hours I've put in.  I keep telling myself it's all for a good cause, and the kids will benefit!

We are having some issues parenting teens and tweens as well.  Some of the stress they've brought on themselves, which is not only makes me sad, but also frustrated and at times angry.  The harder ones though, are the hurts that are just part of being that age.  Each one of them has a piece of my heart with them, and when their heart hurts, so does mine.

Of course today's date of September 11 helps none of this.  Such a terrifying date in American history, and one that could realistically be repeated at any time.  It's also a wet, dreary afternoon, and that doesn't help either.  I wish our family could spend the evening together, but Robert and Andrew will be at the football game (Andrew does stats, and although Robert can't march he can play in the pepband).  Today is a day that has been pretty continual prayer for peace!

Our long Labor Day weekend

It was a very nice weekend...most of the time.  Friday began with a bang...for hours.  A horrible thunderstorm came through and I kept waiting for the lighting and thunder to pass so I could finish running errands, but after two hours I just had to go and get it done.  It meant that the football game couldn't be played, and that made Saturday a very long day for Andrew, but everyone was able to be in bed at a decent hour Friday since the cross country bus left at 7AM Saturday!

The meet Saturday morning went really well, and for the first time Robert ran under 20 minutes.  He came in third on his team this time, and we were really pleased with the race.  We had to rush back to town to get him to a band function and he was there the bulk of the day.  In the meantime, I was able to watch a lot of football while Andrew was working at the girls soccer game and rescheduled football (which had more weather delays before they were finally able to get the game in).  That evening I caught Robert in some lies that break my heart and make me sick.  It's not the same really big stuff that we were dealing with last year, but it's the same little stuff that happened last fall that started leading to the really big stuff.  I take comfort in knowing that Andrew and I are doing the best we can (even according to "experts") and I just pray.  A lot.

Sunday I woke up feeling lousy, but took Robert to church before I took him to work.  I ended up admitting defeat and taking some heavy duty cold medicine and allowed myself to sleep the evening into overnight.  Andrew took the kids to our friends house for a cook out and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves.  I'm so grateful that I woke up feeling better yesterday.  We were able to spend a little bit of the day at my mother's house, and both of my grandmother's, my aunt, my sister, and two cousins and their kids (including our newest addition, Ava, just three weeks old!) were there as well.  It was such a great opportunity to be able to visit with them, and I was grateful for the day.  We got home just in time to get Robert to band practice and it allowed Thomas, who was an emotional basketcase, to get some extra sleep.

Overall, it was a decent weekend...and now we are ready for another busy week!

The early mornings are starting to feel really early

The newness of the school year is definitely beginning to wear off, and the mornings are getting a little rougher around here.  Thomas in particular is no longer jumping out of bed, although he is still making it to the bus in the mornings.  I think I might suggest that tomorrow be a day where I drive them so he can sleep in a bit.  Catherine has entered the phase of life where she is completely convinced that her parents are the dumbest people on earth and are put here only to make her life difficult.  Since she has decided that she knows everything, not only will she not listen to us, but she feels the need to make sure Thomas knows what he is doing as well.  As you can imagine, this does not particularly go over well because a) Thomas doesn't really want to hear it and b) Thomas has more common sense than Catherine and realizes that she doesn't always have the answers she thinks she has.  The disagreements are constant and it is beginning to wear on my nerves...especially first thing in the morning!

Ready for some football!

I have been counting down to today!  I know that sometimes, the Thursday night college football lineup is nothing to get excited about, but I'm just glad that it's here, and there is going to be something to watch on TV.  Tonight my game of choice is Michigan vs. Utah.  Everyone knows as an OSU fan we can't be rooting for Michigan, but honestly, I'm looking forward to them being a better team...it makes it all the more delightful when they lose to the Buckeyes!!!!!  I am also very excited about the Buckeyes having the Monday night game at Va Tech (although it might make Tuesday a very long day) and of course our Fighting Irish play Texas Saturday evening.  Loving this weekend!

Last night's dream

Last night (more accurately, this morning) I had a dream that I saw my dad.  In this dream, I was back at my job where I worked with him.  I had turned around, and there he was, the man I knew before he was ill.  He looked great and there were no oxygen tanks.  In my dream, I began to cry because I knew he really wasn't there.  I began to walk towards my desk and my dad's best friend/boss came out of his office to ask why I was crying, and I cried even harder because I knew he wasn't really there either.  I was trying to explain to someone that I had seen them so vividly even though I knew they weren't there...and that's when I woke up.  It was one of the very few dreams I've ever had where I wake up and I'm either actually crying or very near to doing so.  While seeing my dad look so good was in some ways very peaceful, this particular dream was more upsetting than peaceful.  Frotunately, I was able to fall back to sleep and it wasn't how I began my day.  I sure do miss that man.

Sixty five years

Sixty five years ago today my paternal grandparents were married.  They were wed in my grandmother's parents' living room by a Rev. Floyd.  I remember that my parents had us all go out to dinner for their 40th anniversary, and then my aunt, uncle, & cousins gathered together at my parents' house for their 50th.  Grandpa passed away less than two weeks before their 54th anniversary.  He had suffered for over seven years with Parkinson's disease, and spent the final seven weeks of his life in a nursing home.  Grandma had been such a devoted, conscientious, and selfless caregiver during his disease.  I was heartbroken when he passed, not only because I would miss him, but because I knew how much Grandma had loved him.  I know they had so many wonderful years together, and I'm sure Grandma feels like it went by in the blink of an eye.  I'm very grateful for the 30 years I had him in my life, and I'm very grateful for the example of dedicated love I was able to witness!

It's a slow process

As a sixth grader, Thomas is in his first year of band.  Years ago, we had thought perhaps he would want to play the trumpet like Robert does.  However, he wanted to do his own thing and I can't blame him.  He decided saxophone was to be the instrument for him!  We had been very blessed that Robert's trumpet we were able to purchase used (although there was still sticker shock!) and Catherine has used my clarinet so that was free (my favorite!).  I had put off and put off worrying about getting Thomas a sax, in part because he changes his mind and I wanted to make sure that was what he really wanted.  Finally at the beginning of August, I decided it was time to get serious.  I was able to connect with a friend's sister, who had purchased a used sax eight years ago that had been sitting in her living unused for the last seven years.  We were able to get a great deal on it, and Thomas was very pleased.

Even though school began two weeks ago, yesterday was the first day the students were expected to play their instruments.  Thomas was excited that they learned a note.  I had to chuckle to myself at the patience of the instructors in teaching and listening to just one note, the exact same note, over and over again.  Today when the kids got home, I asked Thomas if they had worked on a note today.  He enthusiastically answered, "yep!"  I replied, "Now you know two notes," and he responded, "Nope.  Still the same one."  I smiled at his enthusiasm over knowing just this one note...and again I admire the instructors who can teach this!

New month, new background (and new weather)

Another new month has arrived.  I'll be honest, August felt like it took forever.  It wasn't a bad month (gratefully) but it just felt like September would never get here!  Here we are though!

Ironically, the weather has changed as well.  One would generally think that going from August to September, a weather change would mean cooler temps.  Oh no!!!  It is hotter than the blazes around here, and going to get hotter all week!  This is not my kind of weather at all!  I am fortunately in that I don't have to be out in it much, but Robert is really going to have some very long, hot days.  I almost feel ridiculous that my new background looks fallish...it does NOT feel it around here!

I am so looking forward to Labor Day weekend and all that it is going to bring...in the form of college football!!!!