Autism Awareness~30 Days of Snapshots 2012: Day 10

Ok, so My goal to post everyday isn’t going so well this year. The challenges of having two teenagers on the autism spectrum in the house are, well…overwhelming at times. We have seen regression in many areas…behavior issues we have not seen in several years have returned. To say I am exhausted would be a VAST understatement!

Today as I logged in to Facebook, I saw a Blog post that struck a chord with me, Hate the Autism/ Hate the Child?  It got me thinking, and I mean REALLY thinking. I have said in the past that my kids don’t need “fixing”, that they are not Broke, just wired different, and I stand by that statement. Does that mean though, that I LIKE every behavior? No…There ARE things they do that I would change. My Heart aches when my son can’t tell me what is bothering Him, and yet I KNOW something is wrong. And that gut wrenching fear that hits when He decides to take off from school, church, or home…yeah I could live without that. It is no different than when I tell my youngest to stop whining, or some other behavior she should not be doing. I Guess what I am saying is this…I Love ALL three of my kids, in SPITE of Autism, in SPITE of those behaviors that I don’t like. God made them EACH Special, and regardless of their challenges, they are ALL Blessings. There are days when my Patience is SHOT, when I want to scream ” I Can’t TAKE IT ANYMORE!”, when I just want to go off and hide somewhere.

Yes, There are GOOD things loving a child with Autism has taught me…like how to appreciate the simple things, to take life at a slower pace, the value of a smile, a hug….One of my favcorite quotes is…

“You can complain because roses have thorns,

or you can rejoice because thorns have roses”

I have learned that wether it is with my kids, in my marraige, or in life in general If all I focus on is the Negative, I am going to be miserable, but I Can’t ignore the Bad all together either. Sometimes to see the Rainbow, one has to go through the storm first.  This past weekend, my Husband and I celebrated our 16th Wedding Anniversary. The road has not been easy, we have had our share of challenges, fights, and struggles, but we have learned a lot along the way….

Lessons learned in the 16 years I have been married to the AMAZING Man God Brought into my life….

 1.) NEVER fight in front of the kids

 2.) I MUST respect my Husband and Honor HIS Leadership. God placed Him as the Head of Our Household.

 3.) HONEST Open communication is KEY.

 4.) Resorting to name calling and fighting dirty won’t accomplish anything.

 5.) Don’t go to bed angry.

 6.) Even after 16 years, It is still fun to flirt with my husband.

 7.) No Matter how hard things seem, He is always there for me, I can depend on Him.

 8.) Without Trust, things unravel quickly.

 9.) I get more help with the kids if when He gets off work I don’t ambush Him as soon as He walks in the door. Give Him time to decompress first.

 10.) He needs “Alone time” as much as I do.

 11.) Submitting to His leadership does not make me weak, It is what God called me to do, and it actually makes me stronger. (Ephesians 5:22-33)

 12.) He can’t read my mind…If something is bothering me I need to TELL him, without backing him into a corner.

 13.) He worries about the kids as much as I do, He just expresses it differently

 14.) There is nothing wrong with being married for 16 years and still acting like newlyweds!!

15.) Even though I am a stay at home mom, that doesn’t mean I should stop dressing up for my husband.

 16.) I Love Him more today than I did when we met. The road has not been easy, but Walking it with Him by my side makes it all worthwhile.

 Our anniversary is April 6th….

16 years ago a Marine from Alabama and a Marine from Upstate NY said “I do” in North Carolina…

I Love you “Bama”,

For better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part

 I am so Thankful God Brought you into my world in the middle of the desert in California!

♥

A Christmas Eve Truce….

As Christmas stories go, the following is one of my favorites. Maybe it is because I am a Military wife, maybe it is because I served active duty myself, I can’t explain it really, but this is one of my favorite Christmas stories….

Following is a fascinating story as told by Private Frederick W. Heath and reprinted by Alan Nothnagle of how World War One stopped on Christmas Eve almost 100 years ago and there was “Peace on Earth,” at least for one night, in the trenches of France where the Germans, French, and British had been previously slaughtering one another.

That Christmas Truce

Written in the trenches by Private Frederick W. Heath

The night closed in early – the ghostly shadows that haunt the trenches came to keep us company as we stood to arms. Under a pale moon, one could just see the grave-like rise of ground which marked the German trenches two hundred yards away. Fires in the English lines had died down, and only the squelch of the sodden boots in the slushy mud, the whispered orders of the officers and the NCOs, and the moan of the wind broke the silence of the night. The soldiers’ Christmas Eve had come at last, and it was hardly the time or place to feel grateful for it.

Memory in her shrine kept us in a trance of saddened silence. Back somewhere in England, the fires were burning in cosy rooms; in fancy I heard laughter and the thousand melodies of reunion on Christmas Eve. With overcoat thick with wet mud, hands cracked and sore with the frost, I leaned against the side of the trench, and, looking through my loophole, fixed weary eyes on the German trenches. Thoughts surged madly in my mind; but they had no sequence, no cohesion. Mostly they were of home as I had known it through the years that had brought me to this. I asked myself why I was in the trenches in misery at all, when I might have been in England warm and prosperous. That involuntary question was quickly answered. For is there not a multitude of houses in England, and has not someone to keep them intact? I thought of a shattered cottage in — , and felt glad that I was in the trenches. That cottage was once somebody’s home.

Still looking and dreaming, my eyes caught a flare in the darkness. A light in the enemy’s trenches was so rare at that hour that I passed a message down the line. I had hardly spoken when light after light sprang up along the German front. Then quite near our dug-outs, so near as to make me start and clutch my rifle, I heard a voice. There was no mistaking that voice with its guttural ring. With ears strained, I listened, and then, all down our line of trenches there came to our ears a greeting unique in war: “English soldier, English soldier, a merry Christmas, a merry Christmas!”

Friendly invitation

Following that salute boomed the invitation from those harsh voices: “Come out, English soldier; come out here to us.” For some little time we were cautious, and did not even answer. Officers, fearing treachery, ordered the men to be silent. But up and down our line one heard the men answering that Christmas greeting from the enemy. How could we resist wishing each other a Merry Christmas, even though we might be at each other’s throats immediately afterwards? So we kept up a running conversation with the Germans, all the while our hands ready on our rifles. Blood and peace, enmity and fraternity – war’s most amazing paradox. The night wore on to dawn – a night made easier by songs from the German trenches, the pipings of piccolos and from our broad lines laughter and Christmas carols. Not a shot was fired, except for down on our right, where the French artillery were at work.

Came the dawn, pencilling the sky with grey and pink. Under the early light we saw our foes moving recklessly about on top of their trenches. Here, indeed, was courage; no seeking the security of the shelter but a brazen invitation to us to shoot and kill with deadly certainty. But did we shoot? Not likely! We stood up ourselves and called benisons {blessings} on the Germans. Then came the invitation to fall out of the trenches and meet half way.

Still cautious we hung back. Not so the others. They ran forward in little groups, with hands held up above their heads, asking us to do the same. Not for long could such an appeal be resisted – beside, was not the courage up to now all on one side? Jumping up onto the parapet, a few of us advanced to meet the on-coming Germans. Out went the hands and tightened in the grip of friendship. Christmas had made the bitterest foes friends.

The Gift of Gifts

Here was no desire to kill, but just the wish of a few simple soldiers (and no one is quite so simple as a soldier) that on Christmas Day, at any rate, the force of fire should cease. We gave each other cigarettes and exchanged all manner of things. We wrote our names and addresses on the field service postcards, and exchanged them for German ones. We cut the buttons off our coats and took in exchange the Imperial Arms of Germany. But the gift of gifts was Christmas pudding. The sight of it made the Germans’ eyes grow wide with hungry wonder, and at the first bite of it they were our friends for ever. Given a sufficient quantity of Christmas puddings, every German in the trenches before ours would have surrendered.

And so we stayed together for a while and talked, even though all the time there was a strained feeling of suspicion which rather spoilt this Christmas armistice. We could not help remembering that we were enemies, even though we had shaken hands. We dare not advance too near their trenches lest we saw too much, nor could the Germans come beyond the barbed wire which lay before ours. After we had chatted, we turned back to our respective trenches for breakfast.

All through the day no shot was fired, and all we did was talk to each other and make confessions which, perhaps, were truer at that curious moment than in the normal times of war. How far this unofficial truce extended along the lines I do not know, but I do know that what I have written here applies to the — on our side and the 158th German Brigade, composed of Westphalians.

As I finish this short and scrappy description of a strangely human event, we are pouring rapid fire into the German trenches, and they are returning the compliment just as fiercely. Screeching through the air above us are the shattering shells of rival batteries of artillery. So we are back once more to the ordeal of fire.

 

we interrupt the regularly scheduled Blog posting….

Hurricane Irene, she may have hit miles away from where I live, simply because she turned East and headed up the east coast rather than coming into the gulf of Mexico. I am deeply grateful for that fact, but Irene still impacted me deeply. Not only did she hit the Carolina’s where I was stationed while on Active duty in the Marines, and where my Husband and I were married, but she also tore up the east coast and devastated parts of Upstate NY, my childhood home, very near and dear to my heart.

It has been very surreal the past few days to be sitting in the southeast praying for, and watching the devastation caused to NY State by a hurricane, waiting on word from family and friends that all is well.  I am used to it being the other way around, them waiting on ME to call, them praying for ME as a storm moves in.

My thoughts and prayers are with ALL those effected by Irene, from the Carolinas to Canada, and my heart aches for all the farmers in the rural areas devastated by all the flooding who have lost so much more than just their homes….but their crops, their very livelihood to this storm. My heart breaks for upstate NY, but I am VERY Thankful that all my loved ones are accounted for and are all ok.

This is Our Autism

Fellow Autism Momma, Blogger, and Military wife, who also happens to share the same first name as me posed the question “What is Your Autism?”

I started to respond as a comment there, but there is just too much to say…..

Autism is a journey. It started as speech, eye contact, and all other social development screeched to a halt when our son was 18 months old. It is Doctors who wont listen. It is family members in denial, critical , blaming me. It is other family members embracing us, coming along side and being there the best they know how. Autism is sensory issues, meltdowns brought on by the sound of the vacuum cleaner, the lawn mower, the sound of his little sister crying. Autism is cupping his hands over his ears and repeatedly opening and closing them as a thunder storm approaches.

Autism is no sense of danger, jumping into the deep end of a swimming pool or darting into the street without stopping to look. It is wandering away from the safety of home because he gets an idea in his head and decides to go to Toys R us on his own.

Autism is knowing an animal for every letter of his ABC’s. It’s watching the same movie over and over and over and over and over….(you get the picture ) repeatedly, day after day. It is randomly, usually out of context repeating lines from said movie, at any given moment of any given day.

Autism is long sleepless nights. It is non stop hyper active energy.

Autism has sent my world upside down, into a complete tailspin, and yet, it has shown me so much about myself, about my children, about the world we live in. I have seen the best come out in some people, and the worst in others. I have heard it all, “but He looks so normal, there is nothing wrong with him.” “He is just spoiled, your a bad mother” “Autism is ruining your lives, you should put him in an institution” “Oh we will watch your girls, but you have to take that boy with you”. It is rejection, Pain, sadness. A loss of dreams and hopes, a bundle of fears, a constant, daily struggle.

Autism is learning about things like IEP meetings, meltdowns, seizures, elopement, and echolalia.  it’s piles of paperwork. It is Dak standing up at church, in the middle of church and announcing “I done, I go home NOW!” It is screaming and wanting Daddy home NOW when Daddy goes away for Military training. It is taking something, anything he can get his hands on when Daddy’s gear comes out of the closet to go away for training, and hiding it.

But, Autism is so much more. It is a reminder to slow down, to cherish the simple things.

It is the first time I heard my son say ” I love Mommy” at age 4.

It is seeing Him jump up and down with excitement and yell for the first time EVER, at age 11 “That’s MY BEST FRIEND!!”

It is the leap my heart felt when He ASKED, guest list and all, for a Birthday party for his 11th birthday.

It is the sound of his contagious laughter ringing through the house as he plays WITH his sisters instead of alone in his room.

It is trying not to laugh as my youngest daughter comes flying out of his room screaming “MOM tell Dak I am NOT evil!” with Dak HOT on her heels swinging his lightsaber and yelling ” I Dak-man, I battle evil”, and wanting to jump for joy that he is PRETENDING, while having to explain that he can not hit his sister with his lightsaber, that she is in fact, not evil.

Autism is a journey, paved with tears, patience, and LOTS of prayer. It is hoping for the best, and preparing for the worst. It is a battle some days, and on those days, I feel like I simply can’t go on. It is a rollercoaster where the highs are WOW! and the lows are……well, Ouch.

Like my husband tells anyone who will ask, our son is not broke, He is just wired different.

Autism is love, Unconditional, deep love, stronger than any meltdown, bigger than any low. It is a love that keeps me going even on those days when I want to give up. It is a love that enables me to pick up the pieces, calm him down when he falls apart, to fight with doctors, to stand up for his rights at school. It is a love that is like nothing I have EVER known in my life.

Some Gave All: Memorial Day 2011

This weekend is Memorial Day weekend. What does that mean to you? Do you know the difference between Veteran’s Day, Armed Forces Day, and Memorial Day?

Armed Forces Day is for those who currently serve. Veteran’s Day is for those who can be considered a Veteran. Memorial Day is for those who have GIVEN THEIR LIVES for our country.  For most, it is simply 3 days off work. For others, it’s a lot of savings at stores nationwide. But for Me, and my Family, it’s a day to remember our fallen troops that have fought in battles WORLDWIDE. Please remember the reason for your 3 day weekend and don’t confuse the days.

“All Gave some, Some Gave All”

Remembering The fallen,

the men and women who have served our country,

and are no longer with us here on earth….

“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the death of these men, rather we thank the Lord that such men lived”

Gen. George S. Patton, Jr.

Grandpa Day: US Air Force Retired , Died 1998

Andrew Susi: US Army ,KIA Vietnam, May 27,1970

Ruth Rabeler: WAAC

Bovina WWII Honor Roll

Specialist Matthew T. Bolar : US Army, KIA Iraq May 2007

Sgt. Michael M. Kashkoush USMC, KIA Iraq Jan 23,2007

Sgt Travis Pfister USMC KIA Iraq Feb.07,2007

Robert Banhorn, USMC Retired

RIP, and Semper Fi

“Each of these heroes stands in the unbroken line of patriots

who have dared to die that freedom might live and grow and increase in its blessings.”
— Franklin Delano Roosevelt

My Husband, My Hero

Two weeks ago, I looked around my house, as it erupted in Camo Green. It was time for my Husband to pack and leave for his annual two weeks of Training for the Army National Guard.  I had been preparing myself with Prayer, and begging for an attitude adjustment, I was NOT Thrilled with the timing this year…..Right in the middle of Ball season, REALLY? But, I put on a brave face, and helped Pack two weeks worth of clothes, uniforms, and gear into 2 seabags.

He left on His Birthday, so I baked a cake, and cooked Lasagna, giving an order that the Guy who was nice enough to give Him a ride to his unit was GOING to stay for dinner. Since Among other things, He was going to miss our Youngest Daughter’s Birthday, I surprised her with the cake and we celebrated BOTH Birthdays…..

While He was gone, we did the best we could. We stayed INSANELY Busy, and the nights were the hardest. We Missed Him Terribly, but I took MORE than enough Photos of every event He missed. We found a way to make it through Every ball game ALL three kids had, we managed to make sure Prom was a wonderful special night for Sara, we helped Shawna through missing Daddy on her Birthday, we worked together when Dak decided he was DONE and wanted Daddy home NOW.   We celebrated Easter, and did school field trips. We Prayed through a severe Tornado Outbreak. I Vented here on the Blog , I was VERY Overwhelmingly blessed by the friends and neighbors who stepped up to help me when I felt as though I could not handle anymore.

Today, when He got home, when He surprised the kids ( who thought he would be home tomorrow) it was somehow ALL worth it. It was PRICELESS!!! Shawna was waiting for her softball coach to come pick her up for Practice. She saw a truck slow down at the driveway and went to get her softball gear, then realized it was not her coach, it was Daddy, and she RAN in the house screaming “DADDY’S HOME!!!!” and then came FLYING back outside…..

On one hand, today was bittersweet. There was no Major overjoyed reaction out of Dak or Sara about Daddy’s return home, yeah, they are glad He is home, and they Hugged Him tight , but after the past two weeks of Dak screaming and crying about wanting Daddy home, His reaction today was…..anti-climatic.

~~*~~

What reduced me to tears though, was Shawna’s reaction. My sweet lil Shawna-bug…she had spent the past two weeks clinging to me like glue, crying herself to sleep, her precious light up a room, melt your heart smile had been hiding, coming out for brief glimpses, and then back into hiding again. Today, that smile was back, and has not left her face….

Shawna’s heart warming smile is back…

My Princess has her Daddy home…

and I find myself thankful that My Hero is home, and Praying for all my Military Family who are going through deployments,  thinking of those who are nearing the end and inching daily closer to their own joyful homecomings, thinking of those who are just beginning the long journey, and praying that each and everyone of them get the chance to feel the joy I saw in my child tonight. My heart breaks for the families who have lost a loved one, who will not see the joy I saw in my child’s eyes tonight, who will not get their joyful reunion.

As You prepare to celebrate Mother’s day this weekend, as You go about your daily routine, remember Our men and women serving in the Military, remember the Gold Star Mothers whose sons and Daughters will not be coming home. Remember the Military wives Missing their husband’s, raising their children with Daddy away, and PLEASE also remember the Military Husbands who are raising their children while Mommy is deployed!!! Say a Prayer for our Military Families, Semper Fideles, and may God Bless America!

Just keep swimming….

Writing has always been an outlet for me, a stress reliever, a breath of fresh air, and so, here I am. I don’t right because I want anyone to feel sorry for me…I write because if I don’t, I will explode! I write in hopes that maybe somehow, my rollercoaster ride will help some other mom feel less alone.

This past two weeks have been a HUGE Rollercoaster ( more so than normal due to my Husband being gone). When He gets home, He is going to find a Bazillion Photos to look through, and I am gonna hand off the kids and RUN! ( LOL J/K though, the idea is not a bad one :P)

We have survived two weeks of non-stop activity, softball games, softball practices, Prom, Tornado threats, Baseball Games, School field trips, Easter Festivities, My Youngest Daughter’s Birthday….phew, No wonder I am exhausted!!!!

Dak informed me last Wednesday, as the weather man talked about severely dangerous weather moving into our state, that he wanted Daddy home NOW! Of course, due to the fact that teleportation only exits in movies and Virtual reality, I could not make this happen. As a result, He has declared war on my sanity. Refusing to listen, meltdowns and acting out at home, at school, on the bus, at the ballfield…everywhere. I get that He misses Daddy, and we have been marking off the days on a calendar ( which USUALLY works) , but I have come to the conclusion, that Daddy being gone during Ball season is an all around BAD Idea. We have had little to NO down-time. We are ALL exhausted. we ALL miss Daddy. It’s just, Dak is expressing this Louder than the rest of us! He has declared every day this week, as we prepare to head out the door, that he is DONE!  NO school! NO Ball! NO church!

The girls are feeling it too. Shawna is clingier than glue, and has cried every night. I think it has been hardest on her, to be honest. it was HER Birthday Daddy missed this year. Daddy is coaching HER softball team, and has missed several games. When Daddy was gone for 4 weeks after Hurricane Katrina, she was only 6 years old. And Sara, well Daddy missed her FIRST Dance , which also happened to be the 8th grade prom.  She has had to deal with nobody cheering for HER specifically at her softball games, because her brother can’t sit through games that START at his bedtime. Her “teenager attitude” has flared up BIG time. In the midst of all this, we are in the process of working on getting her evaluated as we think she may be on the spectrum as well.

In the midst of all the meltdowns, the tears, there have been blessings. The friend taking Dak out of the sanctuary during worship at church for me because the music was bothering his ears, and she noticed I needed a break. The friend who followed me into the gym during Sunday school when Dak had a meltdown because she didn’t want me to be alone. The guy from church who came over and cut my grass. The phone calls from friends and family checking to see how I was, and just to talk.  Shawna’s Head coach for softball calling to check on us, coming to pick her up for practices and games, my neighbors going to games, and helping out with Dak when they can. Watching the kids laugh and play with their friends on the rare day when we have NOTHING going on. My oldest and her best friend stepping up to watch Dak for one of Shawna’s games because he sat down on the floor and REFUSED to go. My friend coming over to take Photos of Sara before Prom so I could deal with Dak and be SURE we got Photos at the same time.

I am thankful this was only two weeks, and find myself praying for all my fellow Military wives who are going through much longer separations due to deployments, and trying to help a child or children with Autism through said deployment. I find myself Praying for all the families effected by Autism whose routines have been shattered by the Tornado outbreak of April 27,2011. I find myself crying out in sheer exhaustion, my heart breaking for these families who are going through the same meltdowns and stress, on a much bigger scale than my small two weeks.

I caught myself singing this morning as I was doing housework, but unlike the usual songs, today it was something from Finding Nemo…..

Just keep swimming….

Autism Awareness~30 Days of snapshots: Day 27

We are almost through the month,

Autism Awareness Month, and the Month of the Military Child

For those of us Military Families, Raising a Military child with Autism,

when the month of April end, the daily battles, the awareness, continues,

we live it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year….

We juggle Training, Deployments, and the Military way of “semper Gumby” (Always Flexible),

Play the game of “Hurry up and wait” while also having to maintain rigid schedules for our children ,

We tackle meltdowns, celebrate the smallest of accomplishments,

and often live miles , even states away from our support structures,

and yet, we continue to press on

supporting and loving our Military,

advocating for our children,

looking for the simplest blessings….

Today’s Montage…

To the simple things…

A Rare moment…A Quick Hug

“I Love you”

To Board Games…

To a Treasured Gift

To Hayrides…

To Watermelon….

To the love of a favorite book…

We Cherish the small moments…

The Glimpses into His world…

when Exhaustion strikes

I realize I have not posted in a few days, and that puts me behind on my 30 days snapshot series, but I am feeling rather overwhelmed lately. We have gotten through the first of two weeks of Daddy being gone, and Dak is starting to come “unglued”. We have done ballgames, and church events, and managed to make it to everything on our schedule, but Dak said last night he is DONE.

We have gotten through field trips for school, and a LONG night of severe weather threats, church events, Easter, My Youngest’s Birthday, Ball games for all three kids, softball practices for both girls. Each night it has been tears and “Miss Daddy” wails from both Dak and my youngest. Weds. Night, April 27,2011 was the worst, Our entire state was under seige by Mother Nature. Dak as I mentioned in an earlier post, does NOT do severe weather. Thankfully, the area where we live only saw rain, but the Northern half of our state has been just devastated. It is truly heartbreaking. As the death toll climbs over 200, I find myself counting my blessings, yet utterly and completely exhausted. Last night my oldest had a softball game, and while It broke my heart to do so, we dropped her off at the ballfield and came home. Dak simply could not handle sitting and watching the game. I cried all the way home.  We ate dinner, and headed back to the ballfield with 30 minutes left in her game. My youngest played with the other younger siblings at the ballfield, but Dak just wanted to run….He ignored the limits I set for Him, refused to listen. When I attempted to enforce a time out, He slapped me across the face and took off running for the parking lot.

I have been blessed with friends helping me throughout the week, getting the girls to their events, but last night, I had no help, and I felt so alone.  It broke my heart that my oldest had nobody cheering for HER, sure there were people there watching the game, but nobody there just for HER. It Hurt that Dak just wants Daddy home, and we still have another week to go. I hurt for all the people in the northern part of my state who have lost everything in weds. night’s Tornado outbreak.

Tonight, my oldest has her first dance. I am excited for her, and I hope that those who have promised to help me tonight will help make sure her night is a night fit for a princess, and that somehow every moment possible is captured on camera so my husband can see it all.

There was a time when I would apoligize for not keeping up with my 30 days of snapshots posts, but I am not going to this time, just simply state that I just can’t do it. I am overwhelmed, I am exhausted, I miss my Husband. He is my rock, my back-up, and I am doing the best that I can, but I just can’t do it all.

I am thankful that we are half way through, and as we mark another day off on the Calendar tonight, I hope that Dak sleeps, that Sara has an enchanted night, and that Shawna enjoys time with a favorite cousin, and that all three of my children realize just how precious they are and that mommy is exhausted because they come first, and because I love them more than words can say. I Know that God will never give me more than I can Handle, and That HE is in control, and I am leaning on Him for strength, and Patience. I also know that sometimes I need to just fall apart and Cry, and that is where I am at.  I know I am blessed, I know God is with me, I know all of this, but when Exhaustion strikes, the tears fall, and I need to vent.

Sometimes you gotta know how to pick your battles

My Husband and I usually take the divide and conquer approach on nights like tonight. He takes the girls to their softball practices and I stay home with Dak, or vice versa, but He is away for two weeks for his annual National Guard training, so since Thursday I have loaded up ball gear, all three kids, and off we have gone. Dak has done quite well (for the most part) though He is less than thrilled about his routine being thrown all out of whack.  He showed me yesterday just how done he was with a meltdown that lasted MOST of the afternoon, but he made it until we got home from church, and Grammy’s house first!

Tonight we headed out to the ballfield as my oldest had practice. thing is, being that she is older, their practices are generally from 8-9pm. This poses HUGE problems for Dak as he is in bed by 8. Still, he did quite well for the first half hour…

sort of…..

I Told him about 10 times to stay OUT of the dirt ( we needed to stop at the store on the way home)

But I gave up ….

He was Happy, and Quiet, and in ONE spot….

then his shoes came off….

I tried to coax Him to put them back on…

but again, this was not a battle worth fighting….

He proceeded to cover his legs and arms in dirt…

“Look Mommy, I am a bear” He said

I Could not help but smile….

I DID manage to talk him out of covering his face with dirt….mostly

then my bear tried to climb a tree….

and got frustrated…

then things went downhill….Fast

He decided He was ready for bed….

and soon was bolting for the road…and home…

we ended up sitting in the truck till I got Him calmed down…..

then he went back by the ball field and sat down to watch Sara Practice….

meanwhile….Shawna made a “Dirt Cake”….

and watched Sara Practice…..

and my little bear curled up in a tree to go to sleep….

We are now home, and after much protesting, the bear got a bath, and I got my Dak-man back. He is now peacefully sleeping in his bed and all is right with the world. We are missing Daddy very much, but are thankful it is only two weeks. Hoping and praying the rain stays away tomorrow so my youngest will be able to play her softball game, AND Celebrate her 9th birthday with her team. I Thank the Lord for giving me the patience and strength I need to face each challenge that arises, to help my kids through missing Daddy, and through the heartache they are still struggling with since our dog died 2 weeks ago.