Whoopsy, Bad Blogger!! There I said it!

The other day I had a friend send me a message about my Blog, to which I immediately thought "Oh my gosh, my poor neglected Blog"... Seriously, somebody should smack my hands and say "Bad Blogger"... I could give you a million excuses justifiable reasons why I can't hold my focus for more than 60 seconds, but what good will that do. On the good side I didn't bore any of you with endless summer vacation photos, or numerous Birthday photos... In case you feel a little left out here is a quick recap....

Our Summer Adventures

Yep, this is how we roll!

Our 1st stop

Newport, OR

Which ALWAYS has to 

include the Aquarium

 And of Course

The Beach!

Lots of Summertime

Silliness!

 And a 1st haircut

for my little buddy

Whats summer without

Corn?!

Then all of a sudden Fall started

sneaking up on us

  

And I dove into Homeschooling

our kiddos

We decided to make a weekend trip to 

Glacier before Winter arrives

They may look miserable, but I swear

they were having fun

Next thing I knew it was time

to Celebrate someones 5th 

Birthday

Yep, I am now the mom of a 

5 Year Old!

 Well that wasn't too painful, now was it? Yesterday was an exciting day, o.k. not really.. It was actually one of those days that made me look like a complete liar... So LeiLei had her 5 year well child appointment which I booked back to back with all of the kids getting their Flu vaccines. Which normally my kids take the nasal spray version (lucky kids).. So after telling my kids over and over and over again that nobody was going to get a shot, guess what happened? Oh ya, all 3 kiddos had to get old school shots. Not one of my better mommy moments.. The words, I'm sorry I was wrong, just don't mean much to a 4 year old... But we survived (barely) I may have had to straddle JayJay on the bed to restrain her while she received hers. Ugh, the life of a mommy. Today we are off to meet with a Specialist for LeiLei and her ever-growing mental health issues. Wish us luck!

Free Yourself...

Last month we made a HUGE decision.  O.k. maybe not HUGE, but pretty decent sized. This was a decision months if not a year in the making. The Hubby and I both knew we wanted to do it, but it took quite a while to pull the trigger. I can say that we have now been living free from Television A.K.A Direct TV for an entire month. So this may not seem HUGE to everyone, but we found it quite challenging to actually pull the trigger, and walk away from a TV provider.  Hello, my name is Meri, and I am a Housewives Junky... There I said it.

We were only watching a handful of shows (granted we did really enjoy watching those shows, Housewives for me and Deadliest Catch for the Hubby) but to pay $100 a month for those handful of shows just seemed like craziness.  I knew the Hubby and I would be O.K. but quite honestly being a stay at home mom I was a bit worried about my sanity, knowing that our kids would not have television. You know what? They are doing great!!! There is life after the Disney Junior Channel. Who knew... They even have a television in their room, and they have not even asked us why it is not on anymore.  I would have never thought we could transition away from TV this easily.

I will admit that in our bedroom and in our family room, we do still have working televisions which are at the mercy of an antennae. When we need our TV fix we can watch our local channels as well as  numerous PBS Channels, and I might actually be turning into a PBS junky. When did PBS become so cool, or have I just become lame and old? Either way, let me say... If you are pondering making this decision to free yourself from a television carrier, I say do it!!! You will be pleasantly surprised.

One year ago, I started a little Blog...

One year ago, I started a little Blog that chronicled my families life. Some thought it was great that I was sharing our journey with the world, others thought I had officially lost it. The truth, is probably somewhere in between. There have been topics that I have written about that have made me pause just before I hit the Publish button, and then there have been topics that have been 'no brainers'. The truth is that I love to write I always have. Words, writing, reading have all been a form of therapy for me. Lets get real, who doesn't benefit from a little therapy...

I began to struggle though, towards the beginning of Summer. I had plenty to write about, I just could not seem to find even five minutes to sit down and formulate my thoughts. This did not just apply to my Blog, we are talking life in general. By mid summer, I could not even hear myself think anymore. I was letting Life take control of me, and that is dangerous. That is when you stop living, you are merely going through the motions.  I felt like I was standing in the middle of a Highway with cars speeding all around me, and yet my movements were in slow motion. I pray that you never experience this, yet I know at some point we all go through it. For some, it is a constant struggle...

I am one of those people that believes everything happens for a reason. I needed to feel this 'out of control' feeling because we are now coming to the realization that our daughter 'LeiLei' probably feels 'out of control' quite a bit. How can anyone possibly help another individual when they themselves have never felt what that person is going through.  I now see how scary it can be, especially for a child. We have been diligent in keeping her active with Behavioral Therapy, attending weekly sessions for just shy of a year. Her improvements are HUGE, and I am so thankful for that. With these improvements we have now more than ever been able to see that things are just 'off' with her.  As a mom it breaks my heart to say that, as an advocate for my child I say lets fix it. Our next step will be a Neuropsych Evaluation. That will not come easy (or cheap)... Doctors like to wait until the kiddos are a bit older (around age 6) to perform such evaluations. So we have about a year of waiting ahead of us. Which is good because that gives this momma some time to come up with the money... I nearly fell out of my chair when I was told that they cost around $5,000... Yes, you read that right... No wonder so many people go untreated...

My beautiful LeiLei finding her 'Zen' during one of our beach trips this past summer...

I am so thankful for all of you who have followed our journey this past year. I look forward to another year of greatness, sadness, struggles, and adventures! I thank you all for your kind, uplifting, and sometimes down right funny comments you have left for me throughout the year. Most importantly I am thankful for my husband who from day 1 has supported me on this Blog adventure.  Have a lovely day!

I just did the math, send wine quick!

I know you have all heard the old saying 'Elephant in the Room'... Well I have an Elephant in the Room... It has been here for about 10 days, I see it every day, as a matter of fact all day every day, and yet I don't deal with it. You may remember that this past Spring we were struggling with the decision on whether or not we should send our kids back to Preschool... The ages in our home would make everyone a candidate for Preschool. We have one that turns 5 in September just missing that Kindergarten cut off, another turns 5 in January, and our youngest is 3. After great debate we felt that we needed to keep them all home for one more year. That also meant that I had to now take on the role of Teacher. Don't get me wrong, I was already doing that but now I have to up my game... Enter said elephant...

Then there comes that moment when you think... What did I agree to? When this box initially arrived I was so very excited. I felt like a kid at Christmas, I was truly excited. Lets just say it was short lived. By the time I had unpacked half of the box I was starting to break out into a cold sweat...

This can't possibly ALL be for preschool... Yet it is. I quickly placed all of it back in the box, which now sits on a coffee table in our living room. Summer is winding down (OK that was hard to admit) and I know I need to come to grips with this. It was a group decision after all, and I did have a 50% vote in getting us this elephant. Lets be real when we were making this decision I was sending kids off to Preschool 2 days a week, which gave me a bit of a break.... I have now had all three kids under my feet I mean home for two LONG I mean strait months. If I can handle all 3 kids home for the past two months, I can surely do this for another.... Really? I just did the math...12 months....... Send wine, quick!

I am burned out! Researching is highly over rated...

A few months ago we made the decision to keep all three kids home from Preschool this upcoming year. We agonized over the decision. Who would have thought that a decision about preschool would be so hard, but it was. We had a list of reasons to keep them home. Everything from not wanting to deal with the amount of illness that our family had to deal with this last year, to not wanting to spend over $400 a month for all three kids to attend preschool (the kicker is they would be in different classes, so at no time would I ever be kid less). The list of negatives was far outweighing the list of positives. Yet, I still wanted them to attend, because I know they enjoyed it. Shortly before school let out we made our decision to keep them home. Once we came to that agreement I actually felt a huge relief. It felt good to have resolution on it.

About 2 weeks ago, panic set in. The reality of having three kids home with me for another full year made me panic... Its not that I don't love them, they are my world, but two 4 year olds and a 3 year old at your ankles all day long is a lot. I am quickly realizing this as summer drags on. I have come to the decision that the only way we are all going to survive this (no, not a glass of wine every night, o.k. maybe a glass of wine every night) is if I get us on a good homeschool schedule. I have been doing research, lots and lots of research. Did you know that you can burn out while doing research. Ya, I am there. I think I am leaning towards Alpha Omega Horizons program.. If any of you mommas out there have ever used it, I would love to hear from you. Or if you have used another program that worked well for your family I would love to hear from you.

Our plan is not to Homeschool once they hit Kindergarten. We have already put in our petition paperwork for the school we want them to attend. If for some reason they do not get in, well then we will be looking at homeschooling full time. Which is why I want to set them up now with a good program, just in case we end up sticking with it. That will require a nightly glass of wine, guaranteed.

Nobody wants to do a Monday 2 days in a row!

Trying to let it go, but obviously have not. If I could of had a do over yesterday, I would have. Although yesterday was Monday and nobody wants a Monday do over. That's just crazy, let it go and move on to Tuesday. What are the chances we will have two bad days in a row, right? O.K. in this crazy house it could happen. I am just going to chalk it up to crazy atmosphericall changes that had my children (ugh, I will admit, and myself) acting like turds. OK, I don't use that word lightly, its a pretty ugly word, but that is what we had going on over here at my home.

We have clearly emerged into the sibling love / hate territory... One minute they are hugging it out, and then I swear to you the next moment they are pulling the chairs out from under each other. The hot and cold mood swings around here are leaving this only child wondering how she is going to survive the next 16 years!! When we mentioned it to the Therapist (fearing that we were raising angry little kids) she laughed and asked if either of us had siblings. When we said no, she was quick to inform us that sibling tension (to put it nicely) is the next closest thing to murder. It was in that moment that we both released a stress laugh... We were reassured that all siblings go through this, but stressed because neither of us have experienced it.

So back to yesterday amidst the yelling and pushing and growling and crying and tattling, and... I am just going to stop right there because I think you get the point. I decided to pull out a craft that the kids were doing for someones upcoming Birthday (yes hubs, yours). It was a disaster, spilled paint all over the driveway, tantrums of the paint brushes not working (I still have yet to figure out how exactly a paint brush doesn't work) but let me tell you when it doesn't, it results in feet stomping, crying, and a paint brush flying through the air. Shortly after our craft disaster I mean adventure we had lunch which nobody enjoyed, and actually all complained about.. Its amazing how in the Grocery Store they just HAVE to HAVE specific food items. You get it home and make it, and all of a sudden its disgusting. At this point Mommy was so over it... So off to nap time they went...

If only my day could have ended there... But noooo my kids decided to dump every toy bin in their room, remove every book from their bookshelves, remove the bedding from their beds, and disassemble a doll house. We then spent the remainder of the day in clean up mode. If you have never spent more than 3 hours in clean up mode with your kids it is one of the most painful events you will ever endure. I refuse to put their stuff away which means I supervise, which also means everything I want to get done comes to a screeching stop. It was brutal, and yes by the end I was Bitter... I wanted a do over, but I am glad I was not granted one because nobody wants to do a Monday 2 days in a row!

Till Next Time Dear Ocean

I have made the decision that retirement will find me living at the Beach. Thank goodness Hubbs is on board, that would have been a problem. I am so in my element at the beach... I love the heavy ocean air, I love the warm soft sand, I love staring at the awesomeness of the ocean. I am not just any beach kind of girl, and I think I have a lot of beaches to explore before I settle on the one. Thank goodness we have quite a few years before retirement so that we can test them all out to see which one fits the best.

At the moment my favorite is Newport Oregon. It is a fishing community, a true working community as opposed to just a tourist community. Complete with a lighthouse!

This last trip was just as amazing as our prior trip. Mother Nature was moody but that is to be expected when you are on the coast. After our visit to the aquarium we did what any good parent would do. We headed to a Brewery. Don't worry its kid friendly. Not just any Brewery, the Rogue Brewery. Its a must see if you are ever in Newport.

They have a little cafe upstairs that serves everything from Fish Tacos to Kobe Beef Burgers. We dined on Burgers, Corndogs, and Chicken Strips... 

Had the kids not been with us, I would have opted to sit out here. Unfortunately none of our kids were thrilled with the smell of the Brewery. The last thing I wanted to listen to during our entire meal was "this place is stinky". So we sat inside the cafe.

This year we were adventurous and purchased a license to go clamming. Maybe next year we will purchase the correct supplies to do it. I made Hubby go out there with a kids sand shovel and a CARS sand pail to go clamming. He came back with some! So we decided to do a show and tell with the kids.  Our kids thought it was hilarious when the clam peepee'd on daddy, and when the clam shut close on daddys finger. I might have laughed a bit too.

Well till next time dear ocean... 

Oh Ocean how I love thee!

I think I am starting to recover from our time at the beach. Although our washing machine is not.I came back thoroughly exhausted, and that might be an understatement. Gone are the days of sitting at the beach watching the ocean for hours, letting your mind completely veg out. Now I spend the majority of my beach time telling the kids that it is not o.k. to step on each others sand castles, or reminding them not to throw sand (as I am flushing out another kids eye that is filled with sand), or pulling out snack after snack to keep my kids from melting down. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't change it for the world, I am just saying there is no relaxation in any of our vacations anymore.

We spent quite a bit of time at the beach. We have a lovely campground that we go to every year. They have direct access to the Bay (which is fabulous when you have Littles). The Bay is great because the water is pretty still allowing the kids to really have a great time in the water, without having a nervous nelly mom constantly getting after them.

From the beach (and our campground) we could see the seals sunning themselves!

Whats a day at the beach without flying a kite? I will be honest with ya, it took quite a while for the hubby and I to get these kites up in the sky. Apparently our kite flying skills are not the greatest, good thing our kids don't know any different.

Remember that comment earlier about the throwing sand thing... This is what I am talking about... At least he wasn't upset...

No visit to the coast is complete without a trip to the Aquarium... It is one of our favorite things to do, and since Mother Nature threw us some rain we fled to the indoors.

I know our kids did not appreciate this the way we did, but this was the coolest moment...

Then came my favorite exhibit, the shark tunnel... If only I could be a better photographer.. It really is cool being in a tunnel and having sharks swimming around you.

A good time was had by all of us that day... Mother Nature even chilled out as the day went on. Allowing us to be outside once again.

Since mommy hood does not stop, I now have three kids looking at me demanding breakfast. So this post will be continued tomorrow. Stay tuned, mommy and daddy went to a brewery!