Ahhh.....Vacation

It seems like just a distant memory now, but it was just last Saturday that we got home from our wonderful vacation. 

We always have the same thought as we start our drive down to SC.  Is it worth it?  We were questioning it even more this year.  Someone decided that we had to take our four legged puppy.  You know the one who doesn't like being in the car.  She drools like you have never seen, cries like a baby and sometimes it involves vomit and or poop.  But I know that so, of course, I got her medication.  The medication I guess is like puppy Valium. 

As directed, I gave her the medication about 1 hour before the start of our trip.  Our drive started at 4:30am.  A bit early but we thought the earlier our drive the faster we get to our destination.  Sadie was not liking the drive.  Not more than 30 minutes in she vomited.  Poor Jay was next to her and had to deal with the stink.  And she was drooling like crazy.  We stopped for breakfast and to clean her area up.

I did have to medicate her a little more but she eventually settled down for the rest of the trip.

We were fortunate enough to have a big enough place and invited my parents to come up for a few nights.  My nephew, who has just completed law school, drove them up.  It was nice to be able to see my parents as it had been a year since I saw them last.  It is hard to be so far away from family.

We took everyone out to lunch at a place called One Hot Mama.  The owner of this restaurant was on The Next Food Network Star.  She didn't win but she did go far.  The food was really good.  We then stopped by the Harbour for a few pictures.




My parents and the grandchildren.




Tee was able to get across the monkey bars.




A lesson in tic tac toe with Popi.




We have to get the picture on the tree.  The tree gets smaller every year....or my kids get bigger every year.



The kids love their cousin.  He was throwing the kids into the pool.



There he goes.



And another child.



Up in the air.




Family picture on the beach.



We had one day of fairly decent waves although that didn't stop the boys.....

Tee loved the ocean

Lots of digging in the sand.



A big hole and sand castles.


  Not only were we lucky to have my parents come up, the husband's Mom was able to fly down and spend some time with us. 

Our house was on the golf course.

Our trolley ride to Harbour town. Even though we were close enough to walk



Gregg Russell.  Of all the years we have vacationed in HHI we have only seen a part of his act one time.  The boys were not overly thrilled but it was nice.




Family shot



Love my boys!



The dog loved the ocean.



Got to the beach extra early for Sadie to have one last swim.



Yes, Sadie does think that Tee is one of her playmates.




114 steps up to the top of the lighthouse.



It was a bit windy up there.



We had such a great relaxing vacation.  I felt like we did a lot but managed to spend some time relaxing. 

We spent every morning at the beach with the exception of one.  The water was so warm and felt really good.  Tee LOVED the ocean.  He told me before we left that he was not going to get in the ocean.  He would just jump the waves.  I had a hard time keeping him out of the ocean. 

The boys spent a lot of time playing in the sand.  They also played beach golf.  By the end of our vacation, I think they were getting a little tired of the beach but they managed to stay entertained.  By the last day, they were catching little fishies in the water. 

One evening we went to another location for singing and games.  There was a baseball stand and you could buy balls to determine how fast you pitched.  The boys took part in the competition.  E and Tee both made the board with the fastest pitches in their age group.  They both won $15 gift certificates for a restaurant on the island.  So cool. 

We were lucky that our first week swimming in the ocean did not involve jelly fish.  We were able to swim freely with out much worry.  Then after a week the jelly fish appeared.  The first day there were just a few stings here and there.  The next day there was sting after sting after sting.  I got a two stings.  It must have been just a little brush up but it did well sting a little.  I put sand on it and after a while it got better.

One day we were called out of the ocean because a shark was in the area.  Many days we would see the dolphins swimming.  Sometimes they looked like they were so close to shore. 

After spending time in Hilton Head Island we realize why we go back every year.  It is such an awesome place.  But it always seems as though our drive home is so hard.  It took us an entire hour more to get home then it did to get down there.  And Sadie, well I gave her medication about 2 hours before we started our drive and she did great.

Summer

On June 8th, I thought summer would last forever.  But here we are at the end of July and we have about 1 month left of summer vacation.  And the best part is that we will be gone for a while on our family vacation.  Very much looking forward to that.

There has been a lot of bickering in the house this summer.  It seems as though it is always two of the boys that hang together and then there is one man out.  The arguments are ridiculous.  I get a lot of Mom he touched me with his pinky or Mom he is looking at me cross eyed.  It has been a bit frustrating to me.  Typically, if the boys are having a hard time, I get them out in the pool. But at times even that does not settle the arguing. 

We only had a few camps lined up for the summer.  Yes, I made a mental note to have more camps for next summer.  It helps for the boys to have an activity in the morning.  The boys recently did vacation bible school at our church.  They really had a good time.  Tee went to a Wee chefs camp and had a good time making and eating the food.  The older boys did a baseball camp last week.  They were taught by professional baseball players and learned a lot.

The boys have been working on their summer homework.  I ended up finding a package for Kindergarten for Tee.  So he has been working on that as the older two work on theirs.  Summer is just so long and it is good to keep their math skills sharp.  In fact, the boys have a tutor who is reviewing some of the math concepts they learned last year.  She will only come once a week for 4 weeks but I think this will help for when school starts.  I really noticed that the tutor helped last summer.

We decided we were going to ban all technology (itouches, computers, xbox, wii) for three days during a week.  The boys will go from one thing to another and I just get so frustrated.  We sat down with the boys and made a list of all the things that they could instead.  It was so nice.  They found other things to do.  I am getting ready to pull another round, maybe even do 4 days this time.

Garden was a bust this year.  I ended up planting it late and have had very small yield.  I usually have more cucumbers than I know what to do with.  This year, I have not had a one.  Zucchini, same thing.  I have had a nice helping of green beans and the boys just picked another round today.  I am fairly certain a family of bunnies have nested in my garden and are having an easy time getting their meals.  So mad at these creatures.  At this point, I will probably pull it all up.

I have made progress on some of my home projects.  It has felt good to clean up and clear out.  I still have a ways to go but progress is progress.  It makes me want to keep on going.  Of course, I always get sad when I have to clear out the stuff Tee has outgrown.

But now my focus is changing to get ready for vacation.  And that makes me happy.

2 Wheels

The husband has worked hard on teaching Tee to ride his bike without training wheels.  He did not have a lot of motivation to learn.  He was forced a bit.  But has picked it up pretty well.  Dad has tried to teach him at home but we have a few hills.  We have taken him to a flat parking lot and he worked on turning.  He definitely likes turning left and not right. 

Let's get started.

It is a family affair!



Every once in a while he goes off track!

He has fallen a bit but always gets up and right back on.  He took a big spill the other day and scraped up his hand really bad.  He did not cry. 

We had hoped that he would be ready to have his own bike on our vacation but he is just not there.  He tends to look down at his feet and crashes.  But is will work out with a tandem bike.

How did we get here?

I am not sure how we got here but I know for sure this is not where we can stay. At first it appeared to come on very suddenly. Then we realized it has been a problem for a while and we got little bits of it here and there. Now it just seems really big but we are hoping to be on track to get it under control. 

Our first born is having so many issues. We really took note of it probably about a year ago. He would have these crying fits. He would typically say that he hated his life during these periods. We, the husband and I, knew this wasn’t normal but at the same time thought he would grow out of this stage. It was hard for us to understand and we were not really sure where it all was coming from. These fits eventually became less and less but the problem didn’t go away.

The problem is a little more evident during sports. He strives to be the best and is disappointed when he is not. It was a little problem during basketball in the winter but really came to a head during the baseball season. They practice throughout the winter and start tournaments in March prior to the season starting in April. They played many more games this season.


He was giving the coaches (including Dad) a hard time during practices. He did not like being corrected and at times he would end up crying. Prior to every practice a talk was usually had but it really didn’t help much.


The end of the season was worse than it had been all year. He had started to struggle a bit with hitting which would spark this terrible attitude. He did get taken out of a few games and he only played in a few innings in the last tournament they played in.

Summer and non-routine days has not been a good thing for my child. He struggles with what to do minute by minute. Any suggestions given are shrugged off. He has really been so angry much of the time. If you correct him for anything, he will usually stomp off and get really mad.


I can’t describe how frustrating/upsetting this has been for both the husband and I. It hurts so badly to not be able to do anything to help your child. It is hard to see your child suffering. It just sucks all around.


You would never know any of this if you just met my child or were around him for a little bit. He is such a sweet caring child.


I am not sure why I didn’t do something prior to now and why I let it get this bad. But that is no longer the case. I have a friend who referred me to this great psychologist. She works just with children.


The husband and I met with the psychologist a few weeks ago. We were able to share all of the experiences we have had. She is certain she can help us. What a relief.


E’s first appointment was last week and boy did he throw a fit. I literally had to drag him to the car and into the office. But I felt so much better when he walked out with a smile on his face. I asked him after the appointment if he liked her and he said yes. I also asked him if he thought she would be able to help him and he says yes. He is getting help, now, while he is young and before we get too deep into whatever we are dealing with.


Today was his second appointment. There was no fight to have to go. He came out with a smile on his face. He told me a little about what they talked about. So I guess I don’t really care how we got here anymore…..and I know we have a long way to go but I am just focusing on getting better.

Summer

It is July already.  June seemed to drag a bit but that may have been due to baseball season extending to the end of the month. 

The boys had their end of season tournament.  The team played so well.  They ended up winning the tournament.  Out of the 6 games they played, they won all but one. 

Happy boys with Coach Dad!

I have not enrolled the boys in many camps this summer.  I did put them in a track and field camp.  I wasn't sure how they would like it.  They did it with a couple of friends.  They had such a good time.  The camp is held one week by a local small church.   

All week the boys did different activities leading up to the meet on Friday evening.  All of the running races would be held Friday evening.  In order to get all events in they have 2 kids qualify for each of the other events.  E and Jay wanted to do the Discus and long jump.  E qualified to compete in both events. 

E threw it beyond where the tape measure ended.  He got first place.



E was struggling a bit with this one, he ended up taking 2nd place.

 The boys decided to participate in the 100, 200 and 400 meter runs.  The 100 meter was first.  They placed second and third.



2nd place



3rd place

The event also did a fun run for the younger siblings.  I had Tee do the run.  He was pretty excited about it. 


Loved his ribbon.

 I took this photo and was texting it to Dad.  Dad was in SC with his Dad who had surgery earlier in the morning.  He was bummed he didn't make the meet.  So as I was texting I motioned to Tee to come around the fence.  I looked up thinking I would see Tee right next to me or walking towards me.  I didn't see him anywhere.  I couldn't imagine where he had gone.  I started to panic a little bit.  I then looked around and noticed he was running around the entire track.  Then my laughing started.  He thought my motioning was to tell him to go around the track not to come to me. 

Unfortunately, the meet was stopped early because of lightning in the area.  We were bummed!  This camp will be on the top of my list for next summer.  All the boys will be able to participate. 

When I am able, I take the boys to Speed and Agility training.  It is a really good work out for them. 

Tee took swimming lessons.  He really improved from the first lesson. 

In our free time, we have been working on a puzzle.  We are at the point where we only get puzzles that have 1,000 pieces.  We have had a puzzle sitting around a while but we finally got to working on it.  It was a hard puzzle.  But we managed to get it all done.  The big bummer was that when we got to the end we realized we were missing a piece.

It has been so hot here lately.  We have been spending a lot of time in the pool.  It is the only way to stay cool but be outside for a little exercise. 

We are on the countdown to our vacation in August.

A little bit about Tee

I still have a hard time believing that my little baby is 5 years old.  He is as old as the boys were when we moved to Maryland.  The time has just flown by.

This kid cracks me up.  Some of the things he says are so grown up.  A few weeks ago Tee was really tired from our busy weekend.  He had been disrespectful to me.  I decided that he was going to get a spanking.  Yes, I have to admit I was a bit miffed he didn't cry but none the less he got the point.  Fast forward to the next day, we were in the car on the way to the ball game.  He said Mom I am sorry for the way I acted yesterday.  We talked a bit and I told him I knew he was tired but his actions were not appropriate and I was sorry I had to spank him.  He said Mom that is ok it didn't hurt.  Really?  He really had to say that?

He has said so many other funny things and I am kicking myself because I don't remember them all right now.  I knew I should have written them down.

Tee had a great baseball season.  He absolutely LOVES baseball.  Many times he tries to copy his brothers in stances and throws.  So adorable.

Tee had a great preschool year, despite my views on his teachers.  He loved going to preschool everyday.  He made so many good friends.  He is definitely a social butterfly. 

The preschool holds an art show every year.  They showcase a few of the different art projects for each child.  He was so proud of all his art work.

One of his many art projects.


 The preschool had a graduation for the kids.  The kids performed a few songs.  They picked their favorite songs.  I know they spent a lot of time practicing. 

One of the songs.

Another song!

Graduation beads were given.

Diploma time.

All his good friends from class.

His best buddy.

I was determined to get a picture of just us but he was not happy at this moment.

The family.

Tee thought after graduation he would be going to Kindergarten, like now, not in the fall.  I have had to explain summer vacation. 

Tee had the opportunity to meet his Kindergarten teacher at an orientation.  We are so fortunate that he got a really good teacher.  I am so happy as I have heard so many good things about her.  I think he will have a great year. 

But now we get to enjoy our summer before the big day.  And I am going to do just that.  I am going to miss my little buddy.

Done

Finally, I am back.  I think I committed myself to way too much during the last few months.  I will need to start using the word "no" a little more.  I still have a few more things to wrap up but for the most part all major events are over.  Yes, just a little tired.

The big boys last day of school was Friday.  The last three days of school were only half days.  They did not do much at school this last week.  A lot of cleanup and watching movies.  Friday was the 4th grade picnic.  There were two of us responsible for putting it together.  Actually, there were 2 other people who signed up to help and neither one did much to help us.  So we did it all.  My friend put the games together.  It was a minute to win it picnic.  We had 14 games and the kids loved it.  It was a great way to finish up 4th grade!

The boys had another great quarter.  They both had great teachers.  They brought home straight A's.  I am so proud of them.

Tee still has another 3 days of preschool left, but his graduation was held on Friday.  I still have not downloaded pictures.  Graduation was held Friday evening at the church.  The kids did a few songs and then were presented with their diplomas.  We took him out to dinner to celebrate.  He was so excited.

The husband's dad and his wife planned a visit up this past weekend and were here to attend the graduation.  Nice to have extended family here to help us celebrate. They have played a little bit of golf and were able to see the older boys play baseball. 

We have 2 regular season games left.  Do you hear the excitement in my voice?  The boys are off next weekend.  Then they will have the end of season tournament the following weekend. The last weekend of June is one last tournament.  We will then have a break for a while.  Looking forward to a bit of a break.

Not only did I plan the 4th grade picnic, I agreed to help my friend with a neighborhood homeowner's picnic.  I am not sure why I said yes.  I had to go from one picnic on Friday to another one on Saturday.  It wasn't a ton of planning but still took time out of my weekend to help set up and clean up.  It is unfortunate because the picnic are not well attended.  I did have to sit through the annual HOA meeting.  At the end they were looking for volunteers to sit on the board.  I made sure I did not volunteer myself for anything.  Maybe I am learning.

The husband is off of work this week.  This is his staycation week.  I have a lot of projects on my list and just maybe he can help me with them.  But I am sure that the week will fly by and we won't get much  done.

So I hope to be back here more often this summer.  There is so much to write.  I hope to get a lot accomplished this week. 

Mother's Day weekend

I can remember being young and knowing that I wanted to be a Mom.  Being the last of 5 children, two of my older siblings started their families while I was in high school.  My Mom watched my oldest sister's children while she worked. 

My sister had two children 15 months apart.  I lived at home while attending a local college.  I would help watch the kids so my Mom could take a break.  They were like my real live dolls.  So I learned how to take care of children early on. 

I was lucky,  I met a wonderful man and we were married.  A few years later, we decided it was time.  Mother nature didn't cooperate very well.  We got discouraged as the months passed with no  luck.  We were finally referred to a reproductive specialist.  There were many tests and procedures.  I didn't have a plan B for having children.  There was no thinking about anything else.  Well, after about 9 LONG months we were finally blessed with two little boys.  Not an easy pregnancy but how awesome that I got not only one but two babies.

At some point during the next few years, I decided that I needed another baby.  We decided to not really try and if it happened then great.  Well, it became problem when it didn't just happen.  So we went back to our special doctor.  And after getting all the prep completed, I ended up pregnant on my own.  It was the best feeling in the world. 

Mother's day is always a special day for me.  I love my job as a Mom.  My boys did such a good job at making the morning special.  Jay was the first one up and cuddled up next to me to wish me a happy Mother's day.  Tee was up next and did the same exact thing.  E was the last one up but followed suit. Then it was card/present time.  The older boys did coupons at school.  Love these!  I need to keep these handy.  I got lots of cards.  I think Tee made 5 on his own.  He brought a plant home from school for me also. 

Next up was breakfast out.  My rule is I don't make meals on Mother's day.  Yes, the day did include enjoying two baseball games but they won both.  We had dinner out.  It was a nice day with minimal Mommy work.

I guess it was a little bit of Mother's day weekend.  We went out to dinner with another couple on Saturday evening.  I made reservations for a place called Volt a month ago.  Yes, reservations are required a month in advance.  Why you ask?  The restaurant owner was on Top Chef.  I don't know much about him, I guess I should have researched prior to going. 

The menu was a bit odd.  You had to do a 4 or 7 course meal.  With the 4 courses, you had a choice in each category.  The waiter had to explain just about everything on the menu.  It was a bit odd.  I am not really even sure what I ate except for the chicken as my main course.  Portions were small.  It was good.  It is certainly not a place you would frequent often, but good for a special occasion.  After our dessert, they brought out more desserts for us.  And they sent up home with coffee cake muffins. 

It was an awesome weekend.

Exhausted

It has been a month since I have last been here.  Yes, a month.  So much has happened in this month.  Let me see if I can catch you up.

14 Years!  Yes, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary last month.  My husband planned a night away for us.  It is unfortunate that we are so busy with kid activities that we left late on Saturday evening and had to come back early on Sunday.   

It was a little comical.  A little while after we left the house, we got a call that one of our smoke detectors was beeping.  I have asked my husband to make it a point to change the batteries every 6 months.  We called a neighbor who changed it for us. 

We checked into a great bed and breakfast.  We did a little walking around.  Well, more than a little as my husband made me hoof it to the restaurant for dinner.  It worked out because I ate way too much.  It was a bit of a walk but a good way to let it digest a bit. 

I turned my phone off at night because I didn't want to hear the ding as emails came in.  I did happen to look at it in the morning and noticed I had a missed call but did not think about it.  Later on I found out that one of the boys opened the door to let the dog out and the alarm went off.  So they tried to call the house, then us and then our neighbor.  It worked out, thank goodness, the police did not show up. 

Next year, yes, there will be a next time, decided to keep him another year, I suggested we do a trip after basketball ends and before baseball starts. 

Baseball!  We are in full swing.  E and Jay have 2 practices a week and a game on Thursdays and a double header on Sundays.  Tee has games on Thursdays and Saturdays.  Thursdays can be tricky trying to get the older boys to an away game and get back in time for Tee's game.  The older boys' team is doing well. 

I organized a Flapjack fundraiser for the boy's baseball team.  Kudos to Applebee's for giving back to the community.  We sell tickets to friends and family....well more friends for us.  Our friends come to the restaurant on our assigned day and they get served by one of the boys.  Of course, parents have to help in the kitchen with getting food on the plates.  It was a nice time and a good way to raise some money.

Auction! My friend and I have worked so hard on planning the auction.  There were two parts to the auction.  The first one was held at the end of April at the church.  We had 50 items to auction.  Every item got a bid.  Unfortunately, not all "winners" stuck around to pay for their item.  I ended up having to track down 21 people.  I met some people at the church and others I ended up delivering to their house.  It was so much work.  It ended up that 3 people did not return my call and we re-auctioned those items.

A week later and just this past Monday was the golf tournament and auction.  All went well until we had winds to content with.  Trying to set up signs was impossible.  We had to move to plan B then plan C.  We ended up taping everything down to the table.  It was so ridiculous.  We had 40 items to auction.  Happy to report that every item had a bid.  And this time I only had to contact 4 people.  I am still in the process of getting payment. 

The auctions went really well.  We were able to raise $6,700 for the county's only homeless shelter.  We were very excited about the outcome.  The two of us put a lot of work into this auction.

School!  There are 4 weeks left in the school year.  I can't believe the boys get out so early in June.  It will definitely be longer summer, which sounds nice at the moment but we will see come July.  Trevor finishes his last year of preschool around the same time.  My little baby is graduating from preschool.

There is so many other things that we have been doing but I will need to update at a different time.  I hope to download pictures soon.