Embarassing Situations

Well this week the kids and I are at "Camp Forest Springs" a family camp that I used to go to from the time I was 4 until I was about 17. It has been a long time since I have been back up here and it is amazing how many amazing memories I have recalled since arriving on Tuesday night. Today the kids and I went to the Mini Farm - the kids love playing with the baby kittens and rabbits and even took a little ride on the burro (donkey). Courtney was completely freaked out the whole time - but I had fun sharing an experience with them that I had done countless times during my childhood.

After a much needed nap by Courtney and myself - we headed to the Waterfront. The kids have really really enjoyed swimming and hanging out on the beach. They have a ton of old tired tubes that the kids use to swim with and spent a good hour floating around and torturing one another and other helpless children nearby.

At 5pm - all the activities closed for the evening so people would prepare for dinner. As we started walking back to the camper Andrew yelled "Mom, my boo-boo's hurt" I busted out laughing and looked closer....sure enough - he had two very red nipples. Now mom and I were a bit stumped. How on earth does a 7 year old boy hurt his teeny tiny nipples while swimming. Then it dawned on me that they were probably rubbing on the tube the whole time he was swimming. Poor kid - but he just kept yelling his boo-boo's hurt - his boo-boo's hurt and I was starting to get embarassed. Then he started running and fell and scratched up his hand. Now he was full out crying and saying he needed a bandaid and that his boo-boo's hurt. This actually made it much less embarassing for me as we finished our last block to the camper - now he had another kind of boo-boo that did genuinly hurt and no one would have to know that he was talking about his nipples :)

I will share pics when I return....anyone who wants an easy - spiritually encouraging - amazing family memory making week during the summer I would highly recommend it here. I hope we make it one of our two family tradition vacations that we can carry on with our children - I know that I will never ever forget our summers here and would be fun to share those same memories with my children.

Motorcycle Mama

Well - I did something I was determined not to do this summer. Took a motorcylce ride with my hubby last night. I told him when he got his license that I wouldn't ride with him until next year cause I didn't want to orphan our children.....but I knew it meant alot to him to have me hop on an enjoy a ride.


The thing is...the first 15 minutes were pure terror. See I am a control freak - and as the passenger on the bike, obviously I had no control. Seems the on/off ramps where the worst - but I think that I could go again without the sheer panic this time :)


Here is a photo of my hubby and I and our friends Andy and Amanda who went along on this emotionally uncomfortable, but nice ride with us to Lake Nakomis last night...

After our dinner we went for nice walk around part of the lake and then headed back to the bikes to go back to their house. All around it was a fun experience, but somewhere between 15 and 32 my dad says I turned into a woman....I got all afraid of stuff. I guess its true - it happened, the daredevil child I was has faded into oblivion. But.....at least I can cook and clean now !

I thought he was over this!

Well today was a rough day. Courtney didn't listen at dance...suprise. And we went to River Falls tonight to celebrate my nephews Brady's birthday. Andrew did well at social skills therapy today, but apparently something clicked this evening that set him off. As I dragged him to the car to avoid anymore embarassment from his freakout, I was so saddened that I was having to relive some of those moments. That this behavior wasn't really totally gone - he was just doing better at controlling himself. Lord, I didn't ever want to experience that again - I didn't want to feel the embarassment, feel the helplessness, feel the dread of wondering when it would happen again. Please calm him, remind him that he is your child and that you can take control when he is losing it, and remind me that I am doing the best I can and that sometimes it is out of my control. Just when I get comfortable in where he is at I am reminded of the struggles I could be having everyday - when I quit praying for his healing every night I am reminded that he is not healed that he has yes a long way to go, but also that he has come so far.

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you konw that the testing of your faith develops perseverane. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. James 1:2-4

What I want to be when I grow up.

"Mom, can I be a rockstar when I grow up?" Courtney said. I'm not sure how she came to the conclusion she wanted to be a rockstar when "My deliverer is coming" was on the radio, but I have already decided I will never understand how her brain works. "Sure, you can try." I replied. "OK, then I want to be chef and then a good mommy. So first a super rockstar, then a chef and good mommy and then........" She couldn't decide what her fourth career should be. I didn't press her for an answer, I think she's already got her work cut out for her. I often feel I can't even get the good mommy one right so more power to her if she can be rockstar chef and a good mommy. I guess we'll have to wait and see where life takes her.

Pottery

My friend Conni and I were looking for something fun to do while she was in town last week. So we ventured off to a paint your own pottery place in Woodbury and had a great time. I started out with this....

And finished our three hours with this....

Now it is not the finished product. Once it comes back from being glazed and fired it will be much much, more vibrant and I can't wait to see it finished. I'll add a finished product pic when I'm done. Hope you go out and try it sometime - so much more fun than a movie :)

Busy busy busy!

Ok - so it's been like two weeks since I've had anything intelligent to say. I can say without hesitation that my brain has been mush and my schedule out of control. I went from being a 24 hour a day/ 7 days a week stuck at home therapy mom - to having to drive all over tarnation this summer and I'm not so sure I like it. I thought I would like it, I thought it would be so fun to get out - but I'm finding it very expensive and stressful actually. But, who am I to complain, things are going well.

We have been painting....

I think it is pretty obvious who painted what :)

We have done some dancing....


And we have had some serious drama.....I'm sure we will talk about that later. Let's just say Courtney and mommy have had a few heart to hearts last week in an attempt to get her to function more typically with her age group. She struggles so much with focus and her ability to see her peirs or authority and copy them or participate with them. I see some similarities between her and Andrew, but am praying that God will bring her up to where she needs to be and that he will give me the patience and grace to work with her through her stuggles. None-the-less, was a frustraiting week for the teacher of "The Jungle Book dance and drama class".


All in all though - the first half of the summer had flown by....I can't believe how fast it has gone. Another week is here and another round of company.....I'm tired already.