It is already October?!

I am a terrible blogger.
But this school is kicking my tail.
My finals are next week, I have a week to breathe, and then I jump right back in two new classes.

I want to quit.  But I can't.
To be a "full time student" (to receive my awarded money through UTA), I have to take at least 14 hours.
I'm in until Christmas.

Rest.
And then determine if I want to keep moving forward.
or quit.  Again. 

I am paddling as quickly as as my flippers will go, but some days I am still drowning.

Yesterday I took the day off to get back in control of my house.
Floor to ceiling, it was sparkly clean...
but a day later, it seems so useless.

I'll catch up on the last 2 weeks.
They have been an expensive few...

We closed on our land, finally.
10.1 acres.
A nice chunk of change out of our savings to close on it, but worth it.
Done.
Yay!  Exciting!
Now the Pinterest dreaming begins...

My car broke down.
One month after deciding to keep it.
Picking it up from the shop today... mo' money, mo' problems.
I am ready to get rid of it again.

Refinancing our house.
Time consuming, and will cost us our entire escrow out of our pocket until the escrow that we have now is released.
Basically an in and out process.
Still expensive.
Worth it in the end.  (by 3 full points!)

Registered for my next two classes...
Can't pay until these 2 are complete next week... (until I pass)
and then my books will follow.

It has to be done.
And hopefully it will be worth it.

Maddox just completed his 4th week of school and (aside from his one-stick pulling incident) he is doing wonderful.
(This expense is worth every penny)
I created a space in the playroom for all of his school work so we could see how he was growing throughout the year, but I didn't realize we would fill it up so quickly.
He is making friends, and learning songs, and I think we were blessed with two fantastic teachers.
Both seem pretty firm, and personally, I like that.

Beckham is also brilliant.
His fine motor skills are ridiculous.
I just watched him feed a screwdriver into the hole of a tiny toy and twist it, as if he was truly unscrewing something...
He can now answer yes and no with a simple head shake and says "thank you" by shaking his head fast with heavy eye contact...
But my sweet boy still is not talking.
Dr Guthrie said she would re-evaluate him at 18 months to determine what our next step will be.
That comes at the end of this month.
Our insurance sucks.
Speech therapy is pricey.
I have done my best not to compare him to where Maddox was at this age...but I just got an email from baby-center discussing how most baby's are putting 2 words together at this point.
And I lost it.
Maybe I worked more with Maddox?
Maybe this is my fault?
I know the words are in there, he just can't get them to his tongue and out of his mouth.
Prayer for words would be nice.
And for his sanity (it's very frustrating for him to know what he wants to say but not be able to do it), for me (because I try so hard to be the best for my boys, but have some sort of guilt that he can't talk) and for our wallet, that we do not end up needing the speech therapy.

Maybe the worries listed above settled in my neck, because a few days ago I got a pain in my left shoulder blade that dang-near paralyzed me.
It has been better during the day, but is keeping me up at night as I squeel like a pig when I try and change positions.
I am going to load up on ibuprofen tonight before bed, and see if it helps me rest.
If it is still there next week, I am going to break down and make an appointment to be seen.

***
Enough about that.
It is life, and we all have problems and expenses.

I have many, many, many blessings and I am aware of them all.
I am in great spirits...
and despite the mess I have put on my plate,
I feel like I am dissecting it through in the most organized manner I know how!

God is great to us.

***
Other happenings over the 2 weeks worth noting...

Lance took Maddox to his first college football game.  (TCU vs SMU)
They were given killer seats, 10 rows up, right on the 50 yard line.
It poured down rain on them the entire time but he said Maddox loved it.
He was nothing but smiles and chants and pruned feet.
Lance is already trying to find tickets to their next game.

We went to our friend Katie's fourth birthday party...
Pirates and fairies and a grand 'ol time!

We watched Ellie in her first parade.
Maybe I am partial... but I have the best nieces and nephews around.
Those boys played their hearts out and collected enough candy to treat a village. 

We had soccer practice...
Toothbrushes in the mail from Julie...
Time alone with my Baby B...
breakfast with Papa...
And lots and lots of play.

This weekend we have a soccer game, my ten year high school reunion and an air show.

Followed by a trip to the pumpkin patch, 2 days of me working in the office during the day, another birthday party, a fall festival, Halloween, a girls night, and a wedding all within the next month.

There will be pumpkin carvings and carmel apple making in there too.
Spiced cider and open windows come hand in hand with those nights... with fall flavored candles burning.


Fall is my favorite time of the year,
and I am going to try and not let my school overpower the memories that fall is sure to bring.

Hopefully I do better documenting it all.
I can only try.

I can't believe it...
October already?

Saturday success

My sister in law called to say she and her kiddos were coming to Maddox's game Saturday.
Coincidentally, my sister came home from college too, also planning to watch.
My mom and Dave, my Dad and Julie...
And my cousin, Amber and my aunt Missy and Mike showed up as well. (early for Kyleigh's game)

I had told Maddox on Friday night that he was going to have lots of fans, and tomorrow was the day that he was going to score.

He matter of factly told me that he didn't score, but he could ask his friend Caden or Gavin to, because they know how.

He played so well...
A few thumbs up and waves at us also...
But in the first half, he dribbled the ball all the way down the field and missed his goal by inches!
I was so proud and we clapped and praised him from the sidelines.

Then another mommy came up, talking to me.
I heard my name called a couple of times, but I didn't want to interrupt the other momma so I ignored my family.
Finally the mom took notice and I turned around just in time to see my little buck-a-roo, take his shot and score his first goal!

His look of excitement was priceless to me...
and I may have pulled out a few of my retired cheerleading moves from high school!
(sorry, no picture!)

Lance was jogging beside him the entire way down the field, telling him he had it-- to move left or right or whatever-- and he said it was the coolest feeling see him put it in the goal!

He was so excited, however, that he forgot to do his celebratory front roll for himself!

But Lance reminded him, and he put it down in the center of the field!

Our other point, yesterday was scored by another little boy who hadn't scored before.

Super cool.

Our first goal of many, many, many.
I know.

Upward has been such a blessing to us.
I don't think I have mentioned before, but we play in a Christian organization.
At half time, all of the teams join together and listen to a testimony from a speaker.
We all pray together after, and go back to playing.

They pray together before the game, and at practice and learn scripture together, each week.
We feel blessed to have found this awesome organization.

And blessed that so many of our family members have come to watch our sweet boy grow and learn in Christ and soccer.

Great stuff!

After the game, we went to lunch with our cousins.

We came home for a family nap, and then my mom and sister and SIL came back for a GNO!
My sweet husband agreed to watch all of our kiddos, (even despite him having to wake up early this morning to go to work) and we met my aunt at Joe T Garcia's for Mexican food, margaritas and lots and lots and lots of laughs!

We shut the place down at 11:00 and all crammed onto pallets and cots and beds back home.

 

I had to work this morning also, but it was most certainly worth my yawns...

The boys played so hard with their cousins, however, they took a late and long nap and we had to all but hog-tie Maddox to get him to sleep tonight.

Grrrr...

Oh well, Saturday was a success!

pushing through

After 2 texts, asking me where the blog is, I thought I would catch up.

School was trying this week.
For both of  us.

I failed a quiz in my art class because my shoddy AT&T dumped me 5 minutes in.
I wrote an emotional, pleading email to my professor, who reset it and Friday morning history repeated itself.

AT&T contacted her for me this time, explaining that there were errors on the line on their end, and she reset it once again...  An hour before it was due, and a 2 hour times test.
I called my neighbor, who let me bomb her house late Friday night,
and I completed it.
I kicked it's butt, actually.
And life seemed better.

I also turned off our DSL and ordered UVERSE so I would never have the problem again.
What a joke.
It sucks too, and after talking to approximately 6 representatives, they finally sent a guy out this morning.
Who never came.

Another conversation with a new guy, who is going to start at point A, running all of the same tests we have ran already-- a spilled cup of water onto the iPad, a bonked head and tears from both kids...
I was inches from losing it.


But I can say that I have found personal growth in myself by recognizing my verge of psychosis...
I closed the computer, packed the kids in the car...
and headed to Dallas to meet Lance for lunch.
(And Luke, and Josh and their friend Robby, from high school.)

And at 4:00, a nice young man came out and traded me boxes.
...10 minutes of work and we have working internet again.
For now.

Week 5 of 8 of Cell and Molecular Biology and Art are finished.
3 weeks left.
I can do it.

***
Maddox went into this week of school, exhausted.
(and I took him in without makeup, feeling the same)

Soccer and school, and learning to survive without naps, is a whole new world to us.

He also got sick over the weekend, which was anticipated for a child who has had zero exposure to the germs of the other little-folk of the world.
We honestly get a snotty nose every time we went to the water park with friends...
I was ready for it.

I wasn't ready for him to stay awake until 11:00, wiping snot across his face causing breakdown across his cheek and the tears.

He wasn't running fever, however, so we sent him.

Monday the teacher said he did fine.
They gave him tissues and he seemed tired, but fine.

Wednesday, I arrived a little early and I heard one of his teachers call him to the wall of sticks and say, "you have 4 sticks today, Maddox, so you get 4 M&Ms.

Right outside the door, I thought, "four sticks!!  What in the hell did he do?..."
They start each day with 5 sticks.  If they act up, they remove a stick.  At the end of the day, they are rewarded an M&M per stick they have left.

The other teacher, who was busy reading a book to the class, saw me standing there and stopped reading to come tell me what happened::
Apparently, Maddox wadded up his star (that they stand on in circle time) and threw it on the ground.

I was shocked!
And disappointed...
And thankful that the ex was earlier than I that day, and wasn't there to experience my bad kid.

Maddox made eye contact with me and the tears started falling.
He knew what was coming before I even opened my mouth.

We passed another mom that we know from soccer and she asked him why he was crying and he told her he was going home for a spanking.
She said, "we've been there..."
and we kept moving.

The lady who runs the entire program stopped us at the door to ask why Maddox was crying and he had to tell her the same story.
We honestly do not spank often, it just isn't the most effective form of discipline for Maddox-- but we had to make this episode a memorable one.
The director said that he didn't feel good today and told him that he had next week to be better.

So seconds in the door, at home, we sat down and discussed how it hurt his teachers feelings by destroying her property... and he let mommy and daddy down too.
He got his spanking from me and 2 minutes later he was asleep.

Then Lance got home.

He really hated to stir up a discussion that was hours past us at this point, but it had to be done.

My good friend, Candace, once told me, "they are much more forgiving at 3 than 13.  Enforce the rules now, and they will enforce themselves later."

We all have different styles of parenting, but this has always stuck with me.

A. I wanted him to know, that no matter what, he does what his teacher says.  We are on her side... (he can't think he has us in his pocket)
and B. disrespect is never okay.

We nipped it in the bud.
He promised to never do something so ugly again...
We all agreed to move forward.

***
After our series of bringing-down-the-law, we played.

We do that well.

My step-mom sent a package full of super hero things and candy for the boys, and they had the best time digging through it.
Since opening it, however, I have had a house full of little super-heroes.
And one super-dog.

Soccer comes bright and early.
And we have many fans ready to watch!

I'm out!