Summer 2012

Wow, talk about a hiatus!  With the way things have been going the last  6 months I'm surprised I can even remember my name let alone remember to write a blog post! ;)

After more ups and downs with Dani, she decided to move back in with her mom. She was unhappy in Wink being away from her friends and dance, which is understandable. She's a 16 year old kid and friends are the most important to you in your life at that time. (besides your phone and car, of course).  I know her leaving was good in her eyes but it really hurt me a lot. I'm not the normal 'mean ol' stepmom'. I truly love and care for her like I was the one who birthed her. I don't want to see anything bad happen to her and when she's hurting, I'm hurting.

When she left, in a way, I felt like she was leaving me. Was it because I wasn't a good enough mom? Did I worry over her too much? Does she just plain out hate me? What??

I know those aren't any of the reasons she left, but I was so happy to see Dani come to Wink that I got my hopes up and when she left, my hope went with her. I'm finally coming out of a horrible depression which I've hated to admit. I've always thought it's going to make me sound weak to admit to being depressed. But after talking about it with people, I know, sometimes it's just the way of life. You can't help it and it's not my fault. I'm just glad I'm able to drag myself out of it.

This summer, Dani was able to visit Los Angeles, again. I'm so glad she did because it's a wonderful opportunity for her to dance there but at the same time she missed an awesome vacation with Mac's parents in Wyoming. All the family missed her and hopefully they'll get to see her soon since it's been quite a few years since we've all got to visit.

While Dani was in L.A., she was able to meet Fox Face from the Hunger Games at the mall. Which made her day completely..

Her group also got to meet Brook, Paige & Chloe (and their moms) from TLC's Dance Moms which was pretty cool. 

In July, like I said, we went to Wyoming to see Mac's family. We spent 7 (very long) days up in the mountains with all the deer, moose, elk & mosquitoes that you can stand.. We got to see the Big Horn mountains, Devil's Tower & lots and lots of trees! lol.. all kidding aside it was gorgeous and we had a wonderful time. If I could stand the mosquitoes better I wouldn't mind going and staying there more often.. 

Now that we are back home, we've been getting back into the 'school routine' schedule. Waking up early and going to sleep early. Not exactly the kids idea of fun but, oh well. I'm not having whiney kids on the first day of school because we are all tired and have nothing picked out to wear. This year I'm actually ahead of the ball for once. We already have bought all the school supplies, now we just have to pick a weekend to buy school clothes and we are all set. Hopefully we can stick with this momentum throughout the school year.. 

Shaye started cheerleading on Tuesday and already is tired of it.I knew this was going to happen but she wanted to do it, she has to stick with it. I'm hoping to post here more often. I always have things on my mind and I forget about them without writing. One of my goals for this year is to document things better. 

Anyway, this post is long enough.. down below you'll find a slideshow of our Summer 2012 pictures.. I'll be adding more to the album over the next couple of weeks, so make sure you stop by and look again! 

10 Things To Remember When Your Child Is Disobedient

Here are 10 Things I had to remind myself today when the job of correcting my children felt especially difficult…

1. You disobey the Lord…and He is the perfect Father.

2. His kindness leads us to repentance.

3. God disciplines those He loves.

4. Your child’s disobedience does not measure your value any more than his obedience showcases your achievement.

5. Your child’s disobedience teaches you dependence on God.

6. And sometimes it’s more than dependence He’s after, it’s complete desperation for Him.

7. Your child is clearly a sinner, and needs to hear the truth of the Gospel, and see it lived out through you.

8. Times of correction serve to remind, or establish within your child, his own sense of need for a Savior.

9. It’s not good behavior you really desire…you want his heart. 

10. Your child is a person, not a project.

Article from Grace Laced

WWW Wednesdays

This weekly meme is hosted by MizB at Should Be Reading. To play along, just answer the following three (3) questions…

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?


My answers:

What are you currently reading? I am reading The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. I always love Maggie's books but this one is taking the longest to get into. I'm nearly half way through and I still don't have any attachments to any of the characters and I'm really feeling like I should put it away and try again later.

What did you recently finish reading? I recently finished Ashfall by Mike Mullin which I absolutely loved. The realness of the book and the situations the protagonist had to go through really freaked me out. I really hope this doesn't happen anytime while I'm alive! 

What do you think you’ll read next? I planning on finally picking up Cassandra Clare's Clockwork Prince. It is the second book in her Infernal Devices series. I have no idea why I haven't read it yet, I've been waiting for it for a whole year and when I get it, it sits on my shelf for a month!

PLEASE LEAVE A COMMENT with either the link to your own WWW Wednesdays post, or share your answers in a comment here (if you don’t have a blog).

Nightmares

We joke that our middle child is such a drama queen because she is always going on about something.... She has classic middle-child syndrome and I understand completely why she does.

Dani, the oldest, takes up a lot of the energy and attention in the room. And Gagie, the baby, you have to pay attention to or you're going to get something shoved in a hole or your wall repainted (not kidding). So sometimes she does end up getting left out and the outcome of that is usually a tantrum. It wasn't that bad when Dani lived in Odessa but has really gone uphill ever since October when Dani moved over here. I've been trying to take some one-on-one time with Shaye but it never really seems to help. She has always been the sensitive child. She really reminds me of myself when I was younger. If you look at her wrong or talk in a upset tone of voice with her, it will usually end in tears. She doesn't like to upset you, she doesn't like to be wrong, and she struggles with it all the time.

Lately, Shaye is having more and more nightmares. I remember she started having nightmares around 2.5 years old. She would just wake up screaming. Sometimes there wasn't one, sometimes there were 3 a night and it usually ended with her in our bed. Usually when the nightmares come back full force is when there is some sort of big change. If I remember correctly, at 2.5 is when she first got her "big girl bed". Then when we moved to Wink. When we had Gage. Started School. and I believe this current outbreak is from the onslaught of both Dani moving and Shaye & Gage becoming roomates. (She still hates the fact that she now has to share a room.)

I would say about 4 or 5 nights of the week, for the last month, she has ended up in our bed because some sort of nightmare. I ask her what she is dreaming about and she tells me that it is too horrible to even talk about. When she does talk, it's usually something bad has happened to someone in the family but she won't go into detail. I try to tell her that talking about the dreams might help. That if we figure out the problem maybe she can stop having these dreams but she refuses. I honestly don't know how to ease her mind. I've thought about changing up bedtime a little. Our bedtime is really unorganized. We are usually running around, being frantic chickens with our heads cut off, trying to find pajamas and dirty clothes to throw in the hamper or the kids are so hyped up that there is no controlling them lol.  I think maybe have her go to bed first and we can talk, read, pray.. whatever I can do to make her unwind and be peaceful at bedtime and then get Gagie into his bed after she has fallen asleep. I don't know if it'll really help but I've got to try. Hopefully we can get something going because these nights with her in my bed it wearing me out.

What do you do when your kiddos have bad dreams. Are they open with the dreams or as closed off as Shaye? Have you had to do anything drastic because of nightmares?