Random Updates

*This week has been a bit of a doozy when it comes to my big boys. Like WILD. We've had public meltdowns, fighting, flying popsicles (that land on carpet), throwing of things that shouldn't be thrown (that cause marks on walls), more fighting, crazy injuries, terrible two's drama from my middle, parenting battles with my oldest, and more fighting. Good gracious I am over it. Why must we have rough days after spending the weekend away? WHY?? Woe is me. And just last week I was thinking how grateful I was that I'd finally gotten my bearings this summer and that things were going smoothly... oh well. As our favorite cat says, It's all good.

*But on a happy note, I've noticed recently that my kids are grateful. YAY. They may fight. They may have meltdowns. They may cause me to become emotional because I'm questioning my parenting skills, but they are GRATEFUL. They say thank you a lot. They appreciate the little things. And the big things too of course. But they appreciate Terrell and I as parents and things we do for them and the way we love them. They thank us for taking them fun places. They thank us for making their favorite foods. They thank us for letting them spend the weekend with their grandparents. They thank us for reading them a new book. It makes my heart smile every time they say thank you and express their appreciation and joy over something. I'm so thankful they're thankful.

Okay, back to the updates.

*We are currently preparing for our "Spring" yard sale. It was supposed to take place during the Spring but since Terrell had back surgery it was put on hold indefinitely. But now we're ready. We're determined and motivated and have promised help, so we're purging and selling and decluttering to the max! Woohoo!!

*My biggest has swimming lessons this week... and he's swimming!!! Like really, truly, jumping in the deep end swimming! Yay!!! It seemed to really click with him today and I'm so thankful... and proud! He has 2 more days of lessons before it's up to us to keep him practicing throughout the rest of the summer.

*We have a really busy weekend coming up. Friday is Garrison's swim "performance" to show us everything he's learned this week. Then I'm on my own for the night because Terrell has a work thing. Saturday we're going to my sister-in-law's house to celebrate Father's Day and my sister-in-law's birthday with Terrell's family. And then on Sunday we'll be in the hometown all day for church and Father's Day with my side of the family. Soooo, not sure when we'll "celebrate" with Terrell. In the past we've always done something on Friday night, but since that's out we're sort of left with Saturday morning. So not the most ideal time for taking him out and celebrating. Honestly Terrell is fine with whatever whenever, but I sort of feel like part of my love language is making things special. (I know that's not technically a love language by itself but I still count it for me personally.) I want to do something for him that will be special and meaningful and to show our appreciation for all he does for us, and it's been really bothering me that I can't figure out how to fit that into our weekend. But now that I think about it I guess I should focus on HIS love language and what HE wants since it's FATHER'S DAY. Oh my the shame. 

*Tomorrow my baby boy will be 4 months old. How did this happen? How can it be so? I can't believe it's only been 4 months OR that it's already been 4 months. Craziness. 4 months is a biggie at our house. With Garrison and Austin both I felt like 4 months was my I can relax and breathe and function again point. Things calmed down at 4 months. We found our consistent routine. We finally figured out all the cues and cries and issues. We settled in. Oh how sweet it is to experience that feeling. And guess what? We are already there with Layton Thomas! And I am praising God because it's been such a blessing to reach that point a little earlier than I anticipated.

And one last thing totally unrelated that I just wanted to share...

This post is a really good read about technology and kids (and therefore family life). As you know, Terrell and I have slowly embraced new technology... as in we were the last people we knew to get an iphone. And Terrell's had a mini ipad for less than a year. And Garrison got a Kindle Fire for Christmas. But that's about it. No Wii. No DVD players in the car. No family ipad that everybody fights over. We just have never really "drank the kool aid", and honestly have never really wanted to. While I do enjoy technology (hello I love my blog and reading lots of other blogs!!) and believe it definitely has it's benefits, this post is so very true. It's why technology is not a big deal at our house. Downtime is important. Being bored is okay. Everything in moderation. I especially love her "healthy technology diet". Such a great reminder and way for us as parents to hold ourselves accountable and to the same standards we expect from our kiddos. I definitely recommend reading it. =)