First Day of Summer Break

Okay.  Technically we have half a day today.  But, I'm packing lunches and swimsuits and as soon as I pick up the kids we are headed to the pool for our half day of summer break!  I cannot wait!  Lazy days and lots of fun, here we come!

Summer Movie Scene

Oh the places we'll go......which includes the movie theater!  This summer is going to cost us a small fortune in matinee fees.  The viewing list for the family includes Kung Fu Panda and Cars 2.  For my adult list see my other blog Living Harmonies.

Summer Reading

Me:  "How many books can I check out at a time?"  
Librarian:  After he appraises me....."25."
Me:  "Thank God.  My son will be finished with the Summer Reading requirements by the end of the first couple of days."
Librarian:  Silence.

Maybe I should have asked him if there is a prize for not only 10 hours of reading during the summer but for at least 10 hours per week during the summer. I walked out of the library with 8 for him today.   Thank goodness for the pool, Nashville Shores and all of the history sites around the area!

Noah the Hunter

For those of you who even REMOTELY are considering that you can avoid gender stereotypes and raise your child gender neutral, read this.

1.  You are an idiot and sorely mislead by reading ultra feminist rants by people who more than likely never had children in the first place.

2.  You CANNOT take out of a person what we are naturally designed to be like.

We sort of held this notion that we would let Noah be whomever he wanted to be.  We wanted it to be okay if he wanted to play with dolls.  We did dress him in traditional clothing and we fulfill traditional husband and wife stereotypes but we wanted him to see that anyone can be who they want to be.

When Noah's first word was "truck" and he had an obsession with trucks despite the fact that we are not big car people or really into our vehicles, I knew that all of the things I had read about gender stereotypes to be largely false or at least misguided to a degree.

We also did not want to raise our son around guns.  We (meaning I) have lots of family members who hunt and have guns and I grew up with guns in our home.  But, as I was pregnant with him when 9-11 occurred and we had entered a war we did not support, guns were not something we wanted modeled for him.

Fast forward 9 years.....we have a war obsessed gun lover who I would allow to go and hunt but to be honest, I don't think he has the heart or the stomach for it.  And, as I am not particularly fond of meat  and am really not fond of game, we are putting off the hunting lessons.  So, for now, he is content with shooting at cans with his grandparent's BB gun and saving his money to buy his own.

Here are a few photos from Pop!

More Surgery

Well, we knew it was a possibility. I have put lots of energy into not having it. But, we are at the point where there is a chance that Arwyn will undergo what is known as a P-Flap or Pharyngeal Flap surgery. We are in speech therapy 1 day a week and we work with her constantly at home. But, she is hypernasal and her speech, though making HUGE improvements is not always clear.

We have her scheduled for a nasal endoscopy which will give definitive answers as to whether or not a secondary surgery should be scheduled. It gives me some comfort to know that the cleft team she sees has given her palate surgery a year to shake out, along with speech therapy to see how far she could come in making speech sounds.

This surgery does not come without risks. Not the traditional risks of palate closure - which are mainly anaesthesia risks....but real risks. Serious sleep apnea, snoring, possibly never being able to breathe out of the nose again due to how it all comes together. Is clear speech worth it?

If it all turns out the way it should, then yes. If it goes wrong, then no. Our little Moonflower is a fighter, though and very determined. I've rarely seen a more strong willed child. And, our cleft team we see is top notch. I am very hard on doctors and if I did not have complete faith in this surgeon, well, we would not even consider this option.

So, keep Arwyn in your thoughts. Let's hope that what she needs is shown to us and that the right decisions are made all around. Ugh.....parenting is not for the feint hearted!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

Well, I did it.  I took a leap of faith and left my job.  And, I convinced my husband that it is a leap that will benefit the entire family.  Two and a half years ago we decided to enroll our son in private school with the agreement between ourselves that I would work to pay for said school.  For nearly two years that worked fine.  Then, we were blessed with our Moonflower and for the last few months we have juggled the kids, the house, volunteer work, family and ourselves.  Though the balls have been in the air, I have found the circus quite overwhelming and not so fun.  Okay, to be truthful, I'm miserable.  

We eat out more than we should, when I am not at work or shuttling to and fro work I am cleaning, I never see the kids and when I do I have zero patience for them.  I have wondered over and over why we are doing this.  I realized several months ago that someday we will look back and see that the quality of our children's education was wonderful but the quality of our lives was awful.  

I am not leaving the workforce.  Over the summer I decided to go into business for myself and am an Independent Consultant for a great direct sale company.  I want to continue to have an income and hopefully a career, but it has to be on my terms this time and on my family's terms.

I'll be writing more about this on this blog and my more grown up blog Living Harmonies, but for now, just now that you are about to be seeing lots more from me in this forum and out in the world as after next week I'll no longer be tied to someone elses idea of what my week should look like.

What are you waiting for?  What in your life needs to change today?  Look around and take a leap.

Happy Sunday.

Dana

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year

We interrupt this broadcast to bring you some of my favorite holiday music.