Big Weekend

Usually we let the 4th of July weekend go by without much fanfare, but this year, we've decided on an impromptu camping trip. Unfortunately, since it's impromptu, that means Steve can't come, because he has to work, but the boys are REALLY excited about going.

The ONLY hesitation the boys had was missing our town's parade. I'm all for it, because I've been IN this parade for many MANY years, and then watched it for many MANY years, and it's not that impressive...in fact, it really sucks. We won't miss MUCH, but the boys are devastated. I told Cameron that I'd ride around in a car and throw candy at him (Jake piped in and said, "Mom, you'd HURT him!") I have even offered to buy the boys their own flags.....this has calmed them a bit, but they're still disappointed. They WILL survive, I'm sure.

Because I'm tired of putting up my tent all alone, we're doing a car camping trip this time. We'll sleep in our suburban. Since all we really ever did in our tent was sleep and dress, I figured it wasn't that big of a deal....we'll see once the weekend's over if this is a good plan or not.

I'm excited to spend this holiday out in the woods. I absolutely LOVE Independence Day and all it stands for. I get weepy when I hear those special patriotic songs and my heart stirs when I see flags flying around town.

We are truly blessed to be living in this country with the few freedoms we enjoy. God must have helped out those Founding Fathers for them to have created such a special Constitution for our lives.

God Bless America!

We've Become THOSE Parents

You know, the ones you SWEAR you will never allow yourself to become?? The ones you just KNOW are too lazy to correct their children, who allow the kids to do whatever they want whenever they want....the kind we promise ourselves we WON'T become.

For the last month or so my boys have been terrible about going to bed. For a while they shared a bunk bed. Then when they'd be in bed together, Cameron would shake the bunk bed and wake up Jake, just because, and Jake would reciprocate. I got annoyed with the squeaking and the fighting, so I took the bunk bed apart and then downstairs. Right now, the boys' beds are just mattresses on the floor, nothing more.

Since I took the blasted bunk beds down, bedtime has been a nightmare.

Cameron will poke/hit/kick Jake, and Jake will bug/poke/annoy Cam. We tried separating them (which worked!), but then I spent a week at my parents' house. Things were completely messed up. This week I've been on the brink of tears every SINGLE night.

The boys scream, yell and fight even more than usual. Bedtime has NOT happened before 11:00 all week. Both boys are cranky, and to tell you the truth, I'm grouchy myself.

Tonight, Steve helped out. He's truly been a HUGE help when the boys won't listen to me. After 3 times trying to send the boys to bed together/separate times, he'd had enough with the fighting and let Jake stay downstairs until Cam fell asleep. (This is what we've been doing, and generally it works....) Soon Jake was running around playing with pillows and blankets, then he was playing with his toys. At that moment I saw myself through someone elses' eyes....I was the lazy parent who let their child stay awake as long as they wanted and just let them have free reign of the house.

I yelled, "We're THOSE parents!!! We let our kid run amok and haven't enforced their bedtime!!"

Steve laughed.

I sent Jake off to bed and just allowed World War III continue without intervention.

Again, it was after 11:00 before the screaming stopped, but I've hit my limit....I'm DONE! I don't want to fight this fight any more. I want my kids to listen the FIRST time I tell them something (maybe the second, but not on the 10th time....)

I'm so disappointed in myself...I'm one of THOSE parents.

Sweet Peas Saying Sweet Prayers

The other day my boys and I were going to go to hang out with some friends. We were all really excited about going and didn't want to miss this for anything. We headed out to the suburban and buckled up. We were ready to leave, but the suburban wasn't. It wouldn't turn on. (Now, let me preface this a bit....We're buying my parents' old suburban. It's been having issues with the starter for about a year....if you hold onto the key too long after the engine has turned over, it dies. The trick is that you have to let go of the key as SOON as it starts up. So far, we've not had many problems.) The engine wouldn't even sputter. I was worried that this was the end of the suburban until we could afford to replace the starter. I was sad. My boys were in the back seat complaining loudly.

I had a thought, 'Let's say a prayer.'

So I told the boys we were going to pray. Both boys folded their little arms, squeezed their eyes shut, and listened as I prayed for our car to work so that we would be able to go to our fun activities and continue through the week.

I worked with the vehicle for a while (probably 5 minutes) and it FINALLY started! As we pulled out on our way, I told the boys, "Guys, we need to remember to tell Heavenly Father thank you."

In that instant Cameron called out, very loudly, "THANK YOU, HEAVENLY FATHER!!!"

I giggled at that, and we were off.

Then yesterday we were doing some more running around, and we'd parked the suburban in the same spot. It was just me and Jake this time. We were preparing to leave, and the car immediately turned over and Jake called out, very loudly, "THANK YOU FOR STARTING OUR CAR, HEAVENLY FATHER!!!!!"

I think now we'll work on thanking Heavenly Father IN our prayers. ;)

What Can You Do In the Freezing Rain??

How about attend Webelos day camp with your son, friend and another scout?? I did.

Besides falling flat on my backside not one minute outside of the car, it was a fun day...filled with interesting tidbits of information taught by "educated" scouts. For true-life examples, visit Deanna....it's all true!

The boys loved the little bit of sun we saw...as well as the baby racoon (that would be MY favorite part.)

I'm just glad to be home now. Can someone carry me upstairs to bed?? I think my body is aching all over....

Happy Birthday, Dear Jacob....

Today was my munchkin's 3rd birthday. My, how the time has FLOWN!

He got a few cool things for his birthday: a big monster truck, a pitching-tee, and then some Cars characters. He loved it and couldn't wait to play with his bat and pitching-tee, unfortunately the rain settled in before he got a good chance to play.

He'd asked for a monster truck rally cake, so I made one (it was SO yummy and WAY rich) and then we went bowling and out for burgers for family home evening.

Overall I'd say it was a VERY fun birthday for a certain little boy. I'm so glad he's in our family!

(By the way, the big-eyed face he's making in these pictures is new. We all laugh HYSTERICALLY when he makes this face.)

Dream Night at the Zoo

On Friday night we went to our local zoo for "Dream Night." A night dedicated to special needs kids and their families. It was completely free and COMPLETELY fun! They had people all around the zoo with things for the kids to feel and see (pelts, skeletons, feathers...) then they handed out free water bottles, animal crackers, tattoos, ice cream, stuffed animals for the kids....

I was so happy that our community provided this service.

Cameron was thrilled that he could see his friends and the zoo at the same time.

Jake loved the painting, animals and playing the drums.

Steve was happy to spend time with our family and not be working.

It really was a great night. We topped the zoo by going to the drive in and seeing Kung Fu Panda 2 (good, very kid-friendly...) and Thor (good parent movie, and VERY good!) It was a happy night, one that we said celebrated the start of summer break. :)