My Hubby. Or, Why Things Don't Get Done.

I love my Hubby.  I do.  I mean, look at this face!  What's not to love?

And he makes cute babies, if I do say so myself.

He's kind, and caring, and funny, but he's ridiculously silly.  He keeps this saying in his wallet about how a man should always have the heart of a child, but I'm constantly reminding him that it doesn't say "behavior" of a child.  

I've never taken a running leap to try to touch the ceiling in the office of my son's school, but he sure has. 

He's also spray painted one of the windows of our home just because he thought it was funny when he threatened to do it and I said, "Don't you dare."  I guess saying that sealed the deal.  (He did scrape it off afterwards.)  

And I'd better not forget the time he gave the kids a bath outside with the hose!

He's definitely full of surprises, which is why I don't know why I was shocked when I asked him to take a head shot (you know, "from here up") pic of me for the blog's "Welcome" section and this is what I got.

Thanks babe!  

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Co-Sleeping

Last week  I came down with whatever has been going around, so I gave myself a sick day to lay around  and heal and finished reading Beyond the Sling by Mayim Bialik.

This book has been really amazing for me in more ways than one.  It has been interesting to realize that I agree with much of what is said in the book.  Though we've never practiced Elimination Communication (nor had the thought ever occurred to us), we do practice many of the parenting examples from the book.

Just today I came across This Article at Science Daily stating how modern parenting practices are hindering our children's development, and I wouldn't doubt it.

While we certainly weren't avid followers of the Attachment Parenting practice, I can say that those ideas that we did adhere to while raising Little Guy have certainly proven to be beneficial in his growth.

Before becoming parents we were flabbergasted at the idea that my husband's brother let their child sleep with them in their bed so often.  Once I became a mother, my primal instincts were so strong that I'd wake up a few seconds before Little Guy in the middle of the night and await his cry so that I could run to him in his crib.  It wasn't long before the exhaustion of running back and forth across the house began to take its toll, and we started having Little Guy sleep in our bed nearly every night.  Which soon turned into definitely every night.

Well, that is certainly a way to raise a clingy child isn't it?  One who will never be able to leave our sides.  One who will most certainly be one of those children who grab hold of their parent with a death grip and scream and cry when it's time to go off to school.

Actually no.  Not the case for us.  While it's true that I homeschooled Little Guy for preschool, he asked to go to Kindergarten at a traditional school.  The first day, there were no tears, only excitement.  And he's handled a sudden transition into a new school very well.  No tears there either.

Little Guy does fall asleep in his own bed (Hubby and I do need our own time), but most nights ends up in our bed sometime through the night.  I'm not going to lie, once or twice the thought crossed our mind that maybe he's too old to be coming into our bed, or that we should find a way to get him to stay in his own bed.  Easier said than done.

I read one book that said we should shut and lock our door!  That thought was so horrifying!  Can you imagine your sweet little 3 or 4 year old waking in the middle of the night, running to your room, finding your door locked, knocking and banging on it, crying, and realizing that the two people he trusts most in this world, that he relies on for safety and comfort and everything are not going to let him in?  It hurt my heart just thinking about it, and I knew we'd never do that.  And really, what am I doing at 3 in the morning anyway but sleeping?  I can think of no reason why he shouldn't come on in.

As he's gotten older, the nighttime visits have become much less frequent, although they do still happen.  I see this as a sign that he's growing more comfortable with himself and his ability to feel confident in being in his own space.

He's really very confident in himself, so much so that he taught himself to swim last summer.  Much as I'd like to say I helped, whenever I tried I was only met with, "I can do it myself!"

Though it may not be for everyone, we believe that co-sleeping has really worked for us and for our Little Guy.

Does your family practice co-sleeping?

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The Power of Emotion

One phone call.  Sometimes that's all it takes to change your little world.
                              

    

The day before Little Guy was slated to head back to school, to his friends, to his teacher, we recieved a completely unexpected phone message from his principal stating that, due to extreme financial concerns, the school would be closing its doors effective immediately. 

Um...what?

I was in shock.  I was sad.  I was starting to freak out a little.  

What are we going to do?  Where will Little Guy school?  He will never see his little friends again!  He didn't get to say goodbye to them...or his teacher!  What will she do?  What will all the staff do??

There were some definite tears that entire evening.  It was such a feeling of loss.  Little Guy had acclimated so well to his school.  We loved the small environment.  We loved his teacher and his friends.  And now it was just gone...all gone with no goodbyes.  No preparations.

I fretted all night with Hubby wondering what we should do, and we came up with the idea that we'd just put him on the waiting list for the school that we'd originally intended for him (and the school his big brother had attended), and homeschool until a slot became available.

We awoke the next morning at peace.  I knew that whatever happened, we would be just fine.
Little Guy and I went to the school we knew we had no chance of getting into, and put his name on the waiting list.  While it was very nice to see the familiar faces from when Big Bro attended in the office, we left feeling good that we'd be on the waiting list, and hoping that he'd make it in for first grade next year.

We drove over to Little Guy's closed (for business, but not literally) school to see what we should do about his records, and to our great surprise, his teacher happened to be there cleaning out her room.  I was so glad that Little Guy got to see her one last time and say goodbye.  As was he.

Not more than an hour later, I realized I'd gotten a call from the school we had no chance at.  They'd left a message saying that they were going to make a spot for Little Guy!  After dancing like fools, jumping up and down, and sending out gratitude into the universe, we drove back to the school and enrolled Little Guy.

Ever the social diplomat, he is excited at the prospect of making new friends, and we are all glad that everything worked out.  I've found many, many times in my life, that when I've stayed calm and trusted in life's ability to work things out, it usually does.  Despite the inconvenience, we never got angry at the situation.  I think that, in our minds, the children and the teachers with no where to go took precedence over our minor inconvenience of a last minute change.  While I'm sure that other families were not as lucky as ours, I have confidence that all will work out for them in the way it is meant.

Have you had a time in your life where you knew that trusting in God/Life/The Universe would get you to where you needed to be?

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Sandy Hook

I don't even know where to begin.  I'd heard vaguely about last Friday's tragedy while on my way to Little Guy's school.  As I walked into his classroom to volunteer my time I looked around to find the children having such fun in their centers.  The teacher gave them "Fun Friday," and they were just stoked.

As Little Guy and I drove home, the story of what happened in Connecticut came on the radio, and picturing the sweet faces of the kindergarten class I had just left, I couldn't stop the tears.  Little Guy asked, "Mom, are you crying?" 

"Yes."

"Why?"

What do you say?  What do you tell your 5 year old when something like this happens?  I have always been of the belief that when a child asks his or her parent a question, it is the parent's duty to answer it to the best of their ability.  For if your child can't count on you for the real and proper answer, how will they feel about coming to you later in life for those really tough questions?  Will they be able to trust you?  Will they feel comfortable talking with you about the difficult stuff? 

So I told Little Guy something I never imagined saying to him - that a man went into a school with his gun and shot people.  And that I was crying because I was so sad for the victims and their families who are going to miss them. 

After much discussion on who (6 year olds!?), and how, and why (why?!), Little Guy felt clued in and our discussion dwindled into silence. 

All I could think was, I shouldn't have to have this conversation with my 5 year old.  But you know what?  I did.  The truth is that things like do happen.  And they are happening more often.  I'm not going to get into why or what we should be doing to stop it, because I don't have answers about national policies, but I do have answers about our children. 

Pay attention to your children.  Show them love.  They are people.  Their needs and feelings are important, and building a trusting relationship with their parents is extremely important. 

I wonder maybe if instead of being a people that strive for money and success, we could become a people that strive for better relationships with eachother and our children. 

I cried myself to sleep that night, my heart aching for the victims and the families. 

This weekend was our town's Holiday Parade, and we were participants.  I couldn't help but thinking as I watched all the kids putting the finishing touches on their floats or costumes, that this could be the next place.  This could be the setting of the next crazed gunmans rampage.  And then I got mad. 

I realized that this horrific event has affected the population in numerous ways.  It has caused despair and sadness, it has caused fear and panic, and it has caused love and kindness.  It is up to you to determine how it affects you.  Once I moved past the despair and sadness, the fear and panic moved in.  I quickly pushed that aside to make room for the love and kindness. 

There were hundreds of children lining the street that night as the parade rolled by, and I looked into the eyes of each child as I wished them a Merry Christmas and handed out candy canes.  Their sweet, innocent little eyes which should know nothing of fear and tragedy. 

Make time for your children, say hello to your neighbors, let that car switch lanes, give the woman behind you in the checkout line with only 2 items the go ahead.  These are such small things, but they could be making an immense impact on the world. 

Our hearts and prayers are with the victims and their families of Sandy Hook Elementary School.   



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Adventuring

 

 

A friend told us about a trail just out of town that we hadn't heard about, so we'd been were itching to check it out.  We love exploring new territory, but hubby was especially excited because he'd heard there were some awesome biking trails there.  Even with the slight cooling of the weather here, it was pretty buggy out, so we didn't make it too far before we became a breakfast buffet for the mosquitoes and had to turn back.   

 

I don't know where our attraction to banana spiders comes from.  Perhaps it's the fact that they are just so huge.  Or maybe it's that you can get so close to them and really examine them from all sides while they are sitting up in their webs, waiting for a meal.  I suspect it's mostly because you always need to be on the lookout for them while in the woods, unless you'd like to wear one on your face since they build their webs almost anywhere.   

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Florida Autumn

  

 

 

The arrival of autumn in Florida, most importantly to us, means the beginning to bearable weather during nature walks. There are no orange and red leaves decorating the trees quite yet. No, instead we enjoy examining the enormous banana spiders and taking notice of the oranges slowly changing colors on our trees. Not cool, crisp weather like you would imagine other parts of the country to be having during this time. Just a dialing down of the sweltering heat and humidity that plague us during the summer months; and for that we are grateful. To be outside in a nonwater related activity is such a treat after the long, hot months of summer. We take full advantage of our few degree drop in temperatures and spend as much time as possible enjoying our landscape.

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Our Favorite Camping Spot.

 

 

 

 

 Princess Place Preserve.  While we love to camp here, it's also a wonderful place to spend the day.  This particular day there was a festival, hence, the pony rides.  Little Guy adored the pony.  His GreatGrandpa was a rodeo champ, so it must be the cowboy blood in him.

As you can see, I've decided to continue the blog.  It's been calling to me, each time I upload photos, this feeling that I could be weaving them into our story.  Our life.  You haven't seen the last of us. 

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Blogging Break

Kindergarten has started around here, and yet I haven't posted a single blog.  Honestly, I'm just wayyy to busy to blog anything.  Here's what's been going on:

I found out that since Little Guy won't turn 6 until after the deadline, we're basically "off the hook" for in the state of Florida for kindergarten as far as evaluation and testing are concerned.  Hooray! 

That being said, we are still doing school. I planned all summer, and got as far as Thanksgiving all worked out.  Right now, we are doing an "All About Me" unit in which we are talking about ourselves personally, our place in the world, and our bodies. 

I haven't been taking pics and posting because I just don't have the time, and since I know I don't need a serious portfolio, I'm taking advantage of the time I would have spent blogging and using it elsewhere. 

We've got some big things in the works on a family/personal front over here, but as soon as everything settles down, I will get back to blogging. 

Hope everyone's having a great school year! =)

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Memorial Day Fun

We spent our long weekend doing a lot of this:

and some of this.

We got to see a couple of manatees:

And..... then we got a tropical storm! 

How was your Memorial Day weekend?

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A Few Days in the Country

There's just something about the stillness of the country.  Even though there is life all around, everything seems so peaceful and still.  It's lovely.

The property belongs to my grandparents, but not the cows.  Their cows are a few years gone.  I think it's wonderful that the property can still be a home to these beautiful girls (and boy).  We have grown such a fondness for them.  They are starting to equate us with food.  Everytime we come to visit, we start pulling handfulls of grass and weeds for them to eat and feed them by hand.  It's a pretty amazing experience.  We have begun to develop a system of spreading out and getting the big girls in one area while one of us feeds the little ones.  Otherwise, the big girls get pushy and the babies can't enjoy any long, fresh greenery.

There are no video games or computers or playground equipment; and Little Guy thrives.  I mean, thrives.  He is never bored when we stay, though he would love to spend every moment outside.  We even ate our breakfast on the front porch swing.  We could really get used to this kind of lifestyle.  

We've been on such a journey these past few months.  We're lucky that hubby's job is the type he can take anywhere.  Deciding exactly where has been such an issue, but we've finally started narrowing down our search.  We've gone from the hustle and bustle of the city, to being over an hour from a "real" shopping mall.  It's been quite a learning experience about ourselves and what we want as a family.  While we still aren't sure of anything (are you ever really?), I can say this: We're getting much closer.

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