The Last Hurrah

Well, it is the last day of Summer Vacation, and we all made it relatively unscathed. Surprisingly Gwen is a little more anxious/bonkers than Trevor has been. The past week has been kept busy by going to the State Fair, Back to School night, and taking one more trip to the cabin for the summer. I went with the kids to the State Fair on Wednesday. We got into the grounds at 9:00 and left after 1:00. It was my first time going solo, so rather than even attempt the rides this year we just walked around leisurely. We did go on the sky ride, the big slide, and sat down to eat, but otherwise the kids were on their own power walking around. They both did really good. I think we are starting to get a good routine down where we do the animals and a few snacks first, then end with the kids rides. By the time we were going to do the kids rides, I could tell the kids were running out of steam. But it will be a good goal to have for future years.

Then on Thursday evening, we were able to go to the back to school night at the Elementary school. I had already introduced myself to Trevor's teacher earlier in the week, so it was nice to know that I didn't need to try to talk to her for longer to get to know her more. As is normal Trevor, I'm pretty sure he would have chatted with his teacher forever, but he was easily distracted as soon as he saw a few of his former classmates. I think it is really going to be a different situation with him really knowing a few of his classmates, knowing his school, and being really excited to be at lunch and recess. That and I'm sure he has matured since last year too. Gwen was surprisingly timid and a little scared by the whole thing. I think she wanted Trevor to go back to his old room with his old teacher. We put Trevor's supplies in his desk (first year for that!) and picked up his paperwork and then headed out to the cabin for the weekend.

We had been really lucky this summer to get such warm weather at the lake. Both so we could swim and that the water temperature was so warm. We were hoping to be able to swim one last time this summer, but no such luck. Looking back over our family Labor Day vacations up to Brainerd, we never had warm enough weather to swim, or at least it was rarely. I will take the summer weather we had over being able to swim on Labor Day anytime. Although I am sad to be chilled and have to get out the long pants and shirts for fall.

So this closes another summer vacation. I know we will have many more adventures in the next year. Here we go!!!!

Maybe I will get more time

Once both kids are in school for a total of 4 hours a week, I will have more time to run errands. I am worried about the time I'm going to lose when I need to go pick up Trevor from school and then wait to put Gwen down for her nap. But we will have to see how it all works out. Right now I'm just trying to get things done on my mental to-do list.

Last weekend, we were lucky enough to run up to Derek's and Kyrsten's house to say hi to the pets before heading out to Dave and Busters. The kids had a blast, like I knew they would, but both were a little questioning when I said it was like Chuck E. Cheese. They had been to that place before, but never a Dave and Busters. It was a little too old age-wise for Gwen, but she still found her favorite places to be and pretend to play games. Except for Deal or No Deal. She knows how to play that one, and had gotten the top two prizes out of the 3 times we played. Trevor probably could have played all day. When it came time to pick out prizes, Gwen immediately found a Sleeping Beauty nightlight that she wanted. Lucky for us it was the last one, and the lady felt bad giving it to me without a box. I think it would have been worse if it would have had a box because she wanted to play with it right away. Trevor got a Twins teddy bear and Viking's mini helmet so we were set with the prizes.

Then on Tuesday this week we headed out to the waterpark of America. It is right near the Mall of America and we had never been inside it before. Tracy and Kyrsten were generous enough to go with us, so with a ratio of three adults to two kids, we were golden. It says on their website that they keep the air and water temp at 83 degrees, but when they have the fans blowing, the water by the fans seems much cooler. We were swimming for over an hour before we took a lunch break, and the air temp in there was even cooler. Gwen had just begun to get chilly before lunch, and the break didn't help her. Although she did get a bit dryer. When we went back to the water, I think she only lasted 15 or so minutes before she was blue and shivering. I had found a nearby pool where she couldn't touch, but the water was much warmer. She could tell and she pinked up within 5 minutes. Not only that, but by a few more minutes she was asking me to let her go underwater after she jumped in from the steps. I have a feeling if the water temp is warm at the lake again, she might be jumping in by herself without jumping to anyone. Trevor also enjoyed the pool area so he could do his somersaults and such. While I know he feels safer in the lake with his lifejacket on, it gains his confidence when we are in a pool that he can touch and practice swimming in shallow water.

Yesterday we split the kids up and my mom took Gwen to the Children's Museum and I took Trevor to Edenborough Park, an indoor climbing gym. He went at it for over 2 1/2 hours. From what I heard from my mom, both kids enjoyed their day.

We are on the brink of refinancing our mortgage to a 4.375% rate and a three year term reduction. Who knew that could be so easy. Next week, we will hopefully be golfing with a couple that we both know at the golf course we play at. Then maybe going to the fair one day. After that, bring on the school! It is almost time for summer break to be over.

Trevor's behavior recently has had it's ups and downs, and right now we are in an up stage, so I almost don't want to jinx it. But he has been doing a lot better with completing tasks that I give him. Or maybe I've just been better at sticking to my promises. Either way, I had to give him a big hug today for all the help cleaning up that he has been doing when I ask. He has even been reading an occasional book to Gwen if it is a book I know he can read. Pretty cute I must say.

Now Gwen, I'm pretty sure she can sense a big shift in schedule coming up. She has been fighting going to bed, especially her naps. She has developed a screaming fear of bugs, any and all. So that is what happens for her day-naps. She gets into her room and she thinks there are bugs on the ceiling, in her bed, if she is outside and sees one, she screams. Poor girl. I've been combating it every way I know how. I even told her that Prince Naveen (the stuffed frog that she has from Princess and the Frog) loves to eat bugs, so if she sees one, she can tell Naveen to eat the bug. She got a chuckle out of it, but I wonder if it doesn't calm her down a little bit.

Now if I can just stay ahead of the homework stuff....

It's been a week?

A week ago we were at the lake for an extended week-end. The weather was so nice and hot. The water was so nice and warm. Even Wednesday afternoon when we got there, the kids didn't want to get out of the water for dinner. It was calm and so warm that Gwen could swim and swim for hours. We did it again on Thursday after Trevor, Russ, my dad and Dave were golfing. I was so surprised and had really forgotten what it was like to swim while the water was like bathwater.

There was no air conditioning in the cabin, but as everyone knows, I like that. By opening the door to the bedroom and the windows as well, a breeze blew around in the room so it kept it non-sweating at least for me. We had a really fun shower, mom you really can throw a good one :-)

We came back early so Russ and I could play in a couple's tournament. I guess my luck finally ran out when it comes to golfing. I played as bad as I had all year. I hit two balls out of bounds, and I hadn't done that all year...honestly I can't ever remember hitting a single ball out of bounds on these two holes ever. I made it over one water hole, only to hit three balls in a row off of trees and backwards. I had a 10 on one hole and an 8 on another. I was nowhere near close to where I wanted to be on my round. It would have been nice to play with a couple we knew, but maybe next year. It seems we have a pattern of winning one year and then losing the next. So we are due next year.

After that horrible round, my attitude stunk. The kids were crabby and so was I. Trevor has been taking the bus to his sports camp this week, but after Friday we are done with activities. Hopefully he will behave for the two weeks until school starts.

I played golf again on Tuesday, and had a very good round, so I guess that improved my mood a bit. I haven't even started my reading for class, which is very unlike me. Someday soon, I'll have lot of catch-up to do. My two professors this session have been very absent the last week. So I haven't gotten a lot of information on how I am doing in the class.

Wednesday, I met with some of our PTA officers because I had gotten my responsibility as Fall Fundraiser Chair. They were stuffing envelopes, and we ended up staying over an hour after they were all stuffed sharing ideas for the next year.

My mind is a flutter with lots of random things to get done soon. While school is just over 2 weeks away, I can't even get there yet mentally. Thank goodness I have already gotten the school supplies or that would also be grinding on me.

On to a few more things to try to check off the list....

There went the weekend

Well, at the end of the week, I could tell that Trevor really enjoyed his Tennis lessons put on by the Summer Spectrum group. He had the class with a few kids he knew, and got to ride on his bus for the entire week. We picked him up on Friday and headed to my parents house for the weekend so Russ and I could golf. I was excited that the weather was going to be hot, although there was a good chance of rain, which is never fun to play in. It never got called off, so all that meant was that there wasn't any lightning.

On Saturday, I was playing in the rain until hole 12. I shot a 99 and was tied for first place after the first day. Then on Sunday, the heat and humidity really kicked in. I don't know why I tried to make it through without taking an electric cart. But I did. And I was pretty exhausted after that round. I shot a 105 that day, which ended up winning my flight. I feel kind of bad because I didn't care at all if I came in first or last. As long as I shot under a 110 both days. Russ came in a tie for 2nd in his flight, so he did well as well.

The kids seemed to have a blast as they always do when they are with their extended family. They got to go to the county fair, teddy bear park, and play in the sprinkler. Trevor also lost his 3rd tooth there. I knew it was a possibility, but I forgot to send his tooth "pillow" with him so he had to make do. It is a bottom tooth, but it still changes his smile. Looks like his top two teeth might not be out for a few more months. Maybe it will be a Christmas time event. Then he can sing the song, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth."

Trevor's attitude seems to have slowed down over the past week. I wonder if it is getting him back to the park for a few days, or just his cycle. Gwen has turned it on in the mean time, but I seem to have more patience with her because I know she doesn't get it yet. But today, when I came downstairs this morning, Trevor had turned on the FSN channel and they were recapping yesterday's baseball scores. Trevor was loving it. He was able to tell me scores and what was going on around the country. I thought it was really cute. I would have thought he would have been tired out with baseball by this point, but it sure doesn't sound like it!

We are off today for a longer weekend at the cabin. We are celebrating the new nephew coming into our family! That time sure is getting close!

Hoping to give myself a break

It has been a little better week all around, with a little trouble from Trevor, but I'm actually confident that I'm letting him make his choices and if he wants to keep making not good choices, it will lead him to not getting things he wants.

It has been a pretty good week from the perspective that I've been playing a lot with the kids. While I don't get all the other things I need to take care of done, it at least relieves some of the mom guilt I have.

Gwen has been wanting to play food or babies all the time. So that is where I have been spending most of my days. While she is starting to imaginatively play, she can't quite grasp the concept of naming something. I think she thinks that things either already have a name or that whoever is playing with the toy, inherits the name. So we have mommy baby, baby, and daddy baby that we play with. She plays with them similar to a real baby, we dance, we change diapers, we put them to bed, we give them bottles, but she is not the mom. She is Gwen. I am mommy. Because it is my name. Now she gets that my mom and other people call me Krissy, but my name still is mommy.

We went school supply shopping for Trevor, (more on that later) and at the end, because the kids were good we headed over to look at the toys. Gwen is starting to understand that you need to get something in order to take it out of the store. So she is starting to ask to get things. Target just set their toys that will be in the stores for Christmas, so they have a bunch of new toys. The one she found that she really wants is the one fairy that she doesn't have. She was kind of a "bad" fairy in the first one, and not even in the second one, but I hear she has a bigger part in the new movie coming out. So when she saw it in the store, she wanted it. Now is the time she needs to learn how to wait for her birthday. It is under 2 months away, so she won't have long to wait, but she now is asking to have her birthday so she can get the fairy. What I thought was a cute sidenote: Trevor asked in a quiet voice if he could get that for her for her birthday. I thought it was a nice gesture, so I think we will be doing that.

So we brought Trevor's school supply list to Target last night and I read the list off while he searched for the items. We found everything we needed, so we are all set. I could see his excitement growing, and he even said it himself - yes doing the wrist flap and jumping up and down - I'm so excited for school to start! I thought it was another moment of cuteness for him. Or maybe I just like remembering what it was like to be in his shoes.

And one more cute moment for Trevor, but this has to be something that is not teased because I know it could easily be. Hopefully those that would think of teasing will remember the many times where they themselves could have been teased for what they enjoyed doing. Anyway, after Gwen went up for her nap, I left it to Trevor to decide what we were going to do. Sometimes it involves a game, a card game, me watching a Nascar race of his, or playing Cars. That day, he wanted to play with Gwen's Fairies. I wonder why he chooses things like that, and I think it is because he likes the Tinkerbell movies, and always likes to act out or slightly change the stories in the movies. I acted out whatever Fairy he asked me to be, and I think we had a good time. Not having a sister around screaming at you to stop playing with your things is nice for him from time to time. There isn't going to be much more time of that, I don't think. I'm not sure how much time he will have to himself once he is back from school.

So this weekend, the kids are going to the fair with Bubba and Papa. They are both really looking forward to it, and I hope the weather is good for everyone. I have plenty of homework to get done in addition to having some fun times at golf. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

And of course the guilt comes back

I feel like it was too much of a downer to leave everyone (all two of you) that read this thing on such a down note. I believe as a result of letting it all go, things have turned around, even if only a little bit at a time.

Things that have been happening with the kids: Trevor finished vacation bible school at our church this week, and also had his last golf event of the season on Friday. Since Russ does not have a similar outlet to record his stories, I think he would appreciate me recording this one for him: So we were at the closing lunch for Trevor's golf league on Friday. There were close to 100 people there. Some grandparents, some parents, but someone had to have been a member at the lunch. Russ and his dad had won their event not more than 2 weeks previously, so he introduced me to some of the people that he wanted me to meet since I had not been there. The pros have always been really nice to the kids in that they give trophies and pictures in frames of the kids as well as little prizes when they play their fun games afterwards.

So Trevor was in the three hole league this year, and they had a very low turn-out in their group for the season. He played with 3 other boys and two girls in the league. They never mixed guys and girls, so when they announced the winners of the 3 hole group, there were only 3 boys total and gave prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Trevor had a good final round and ended up taking first place with a score of 27. They read off the scores by something to the effect of, "in third place, with a score of 32 was Joe K. In second place, with a score of 28 is Danny M. And in first place, with a score of 27 is Trevor." Immediately following his announcement, you hear a grunting, belted out "YES!!!" And see a fist pump after he jumped out of his chair. After finding the floor pattern by my shoes, I couldn't help but overhear the table next to us say, "Well, I never would have thought that was something that is genetic." And anyone who has ever played with Russ or his dad would know exactly what sound that Trevor made. But what can you say? He enjoyed his win. I hope someday he can be convinced to change the way he holds his golf club.

And then a side event that happened today, as a result of something I did yesterday really makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. Yesterday we went to the library. It just so happened that they had a museum pass available for the MN Zoo. I checked it out and saw that it was good for two people for up to a week. Spur of the moment today we took the kids out there. They accidentally rang up two passes, so we actually got all 4 of us in for free. Saved us $42 bucks! That's not a little coupon deal! We didn't have a lot of time, so we headed out to the farm and then spent all the rest of the time on their splash pad. On an almost 90 degree day, I don't feel all that bad. We may not have had the most nutritious meals this weekend, but I didn't spend a whole lot of money on them either.

So it is the start of a new week, and new activity for Trevor. I'm curious to see how it compares to his park program. There are only 3 weeks left of activities. One of these days we will have to have the fun school supply shopping day. I like to get there before things start to run out.

It is time to get going. I stayed up late last night to get through the final episode of Lost. I was pleasantly surprised. Maybe because I didn't have high hopes, but I liked the corny way it ended, exactly like it started. Anyway, I'm going to try to catch up on some of my shows that I have been neglecting. Hopefully I can find the time.

Where did this funk come from?

Ug....hasn't been the best week for me. No real big events that have contributed to it. It might have something to do with getting my grades back for my classes and starting my next session. I am really looking forward to my tax accounting class, but not my sociology class. The end of this session marks the start of the family birthdays. I'm excited to get there, but know that it is going to be a hard process. I have also been hit with a huge "mom guilt" blow this week. I feel like I haven't paid enough attention to both of the kids individually lately. Gwen has been doing great with her potty training, and I think she is just hitting her milestones, so she has been more clingy and upset more than normal. Trevor has been going through a frustrating "won't listen" stage. Coupled with everything and I've been taking it out on myself more than normal.

I know all of the feelings are sooo temporary, and that my current mom guilt is so unfounded. But still frustrating. I think I need to get something on the calendar to look forward to. When my plans involve indecisiveness, that never helps my situation. That and maybe more vitamin D is in store for me. Ok...time to turn it around. I do have a golf tournament to play in next weekend!

Still a lot going on

Well, as I told my mom, my week off from school usually entails cleaning and organizing for another 10 weeks of classes coming up. I do usually get to a point where I can just do a little bit to keep it up, but there are always things that get pushed off because I don't have time to keep up with everything.

I took Gwen to where Trevor calls "the jump-jump place". It is an indoor climbing contraption and bouncy house. I figured she was at the age where she could get up the levels by herself. But I always struggled with if I should bring Trevor with because he seems to find the kids that can get him into trouble and play with them. So on a park day, I took Gwen. There were a few kids there, and then a busload of daycare kids came as well. I noticed a few new toys from the last time I had been up there. And I was right, she could get herself up very well. The only problem was there were a few steps that were still of a height that she could get herself onto it, but they were made out of lego material. So not the best to try to squeeze and pull against your skin. I'm surprised I wasn't more sore than I ended up being.

Trevor had two adventures this week. On Wednesday, his park group went to a Twins game. Then on Thursday the group biked to a nearby ice cream shop. He had been on longer bike rides with Russ when he would go running, but I think this was longer because they had to bike down and back. I'd have to measure it but I'm pretty sure it was a few miles away from the park. The best part was that he found someplace in Minnesota that has Blue Moon ice cream. It is his favorite. While they didn't have it that day, he got his next favorite which is Superman ice cream.

Thursday during the day, we were able to squeeze out a golf round with Kevin, Brian, my dad, and me. While the forecast was calling for rain most of the week, we avoided it. It was overcast the entire round, but it made the temperature cooler than if the sun would have been beating down on us. So for them, it was a great day for golf. For me, I'd rather have had it be a little more warm. But a chance to play golf with the family is always welcome. Thank you to Kyrsten for watching the kids!

Next week is VBS at our church. On to the next week!

Just a little bit of stress

Well, I can finally breathe. At least for a second. Trevor had his last baseball game a week ago today. We left for the cabin directly to the cabin for the weekend. We had to stop in Eau Claire because I'm a nervous nighttime driver anyway. I couldn't see when you add heavy rain on top of darkness. We stayed for a half hour maybe? Then made it the rest of the way. Gwen had fallen asleep, but Trevor was trying hard to stay awake. When Gwen woke up in the morning, she had hives on her legs. Trevor, my dad and I all went golfing the next morning, while my mom stayed with Gwen. I called our doctor's office and talked to a nurse who thought that it was unlikely something that she ate, more likely something she came in contact with on her legs. As long as she didn't get a fever, and the bumps didn't turn dark red/purple, she was ok. On top of no fever, they didn't even itch her.

Trevor was pretty exhausted after golf, but he was still able to ride on the waterski trainer that afternoon. Poor guy is so scared that he is going to be thrown off into the water that he is very nervous to do anything new. Gwen slept most of the rest of the afternoon. We went to our local restaurant and had the usual wonderful dinner. Gwen had her usual french fries. I decided to try to get to sleep early in preparation for late weekend nights. Unfortunately, I was awoken to Gwen getting sick multiple times. Poor girl. I remember the hungry/thirsty feeling associated with it. I also know enough to try to keep her away from food and water at this point. I let her sleep in my bed so she would feel better. Trevor stayed asleep through it all. But when he woke up, I warned him that if Gwen was still sick, we were going to have to head home.

She was starving in the morning, but never got sick again. We stayed with dry food or bananas and water until dinner time where I allowed her a handful of french fries. She would have eaten more, but I thought not to tempt it. Also on this day her hives had spread up to her stomach and back, and arms. Still no itching. Brian had joined us overnight and was able to take Trevor swimming during Friday afternoon. Friday evening was another dinner at the local restaurant followed by dominoes. Saturday was the birthday celebration evening and again swimming for both kids. I have to say, I love Gwen's love of swimming. The life jacket swim thing I got really is helping her not get as high in the water as a typical life jacket, yet keeps her floating a bit. When she got the hang of it, she was ready to swim to the middle of the lake.

We headed back home on Sunday to say congratulations to Russ and his dad for winning our local golf course's member/guest tournament. The rest of the week has been a blur. I had my final for my auditing class which I am sure I will have destroyed my gpa. I really wish we had the summers off from classes. I guess there is only 6 weeks before school starts now anyway, but it would be nice to get things a bit more organized.

As it is, I have a week off from classes, and will try to get as organized as I can.

As a p.s. Gwen is completely potty trained with the exception of #2. However, she will get a diaper for herself and ask to change into it. I have even had success at going to bathrooms outside of homes and going. Goodness, if I had known it would be this easy, I'd have done it years ago!

And...it's almost been another two weeks.

Sorry again. I guess that the summer really does fly by. Trevor spent a week off of his park adventure "class" and it was much easier than I thought it would be. I know now that if he has a spare moment, he wants to be playing his DS or Wii, but I can bribe him into doing things that are healthier if I promise DS time in return. So he has been keeping up with his reading, doing cutting/crafts and playing his usual imaginative play stuff. His imaginative play is now centered around Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story type games. He has taken the story to heart and wants to make sure that his Toy Story toys don't feel under-played-with.

We spent the 4th up north at Russ's dad's family place. We saw a lot of relatives, the boys got to play golf, Gwen really picked up on her swimming, and the weather was great! It only rained on the morning of the 4th, but by the afternoon it had cleared out enough to be swimming. I didn't even try to work around Gwen's napping, so she fell asleep a few times in the car, and on the 4th she asked to be put in her bed in the bedroom we stayed at. They put on their own fireworks display, which is awesome, however neither kid enjoys the loud noises. Gwen wanted to be in the house, and then when Trevor joined us, both kids simply wanted to sleep. Rather than wake up early in the morning to head back, we decided to drive back that night to avoid traffic and let the kids sleep in the car as opposed to get unhappy being in the car during the day.

Slowly we have been getting back into a semi-routine. Trevor did have his golf on Friday morning. I have to say that I have had some quick success today with Gwen and potty training. I did start it right before we left for the 4th, but didn't even push her to try in a different location. Then coming home, I haven't really pushed it a hole lot. We had one other day where I knew she was ready and she went after she found out I wasn't going to stay with her forever. And then today, I was prepared to wait it out again, and I knew she had to go, and she went within two minutes of being in the bathroom. I was ready to call the day a success when not more than 2 hours later, she told me she had to go to the bathroom and went without me even having to wait a second. I am almost ready to call the home portion of potty training complete! Now the harder parts are coming. She is VERY independent and doesn't like my help with much. I think the only parts she lets me help with are the parts she knows I can do faster than she can. I will say she is one proud girl! Preschool here we come!

Hot weather....keep coming! I have so missed you!