Summer Craziness

I often get the response- "Oh, you are a teacher. Must be nice to get the summers off." Well, yes, it is. Oh, I still do work for school. I am in charge of some testing, so every Monday and Wednesday night I set up online testing. I have gone to school for a few hours at a time to test. I have 2 workshop days coming up. BUT it is nice to have the summers off. There is one thing that I never have time off from... FAMILY! We have had an extremely busy summer. Remember my last post about the swim Nazi? Well, she is a miracle worker. After two weeks, Anabelle and Jack are swimming. Not the dog paddling, struggling to stay afloat swimming. I mean legit SWIMMING! Anabelle is swimming using her arms and legs. She is even underwater swimming and diving for toys on the bottom. Jack is swimming so great, too. He is not very excited to dive and retrieve things on the bottom, but he is swimming. Both of the kids feel comfortable jumping in and swimming in the deep end. Really, the swim lessons were some of the best money we spent this summer.

Russell is rearranging our furniture one piece at a time. He is pushing and walking behind anything he can grab. Yesterday, our bar stools and our kitchen chairs were in the foyer. He gets hung up in a certain spot and just abandons his furniture and searches for more. He has 4 of his front teeth now, and blonde hair. This morning, he decided to get up at 5:45. He and I went downstairs, and by 8:00, I rocked him down and he took his first "nap" of the day. Early mornings are no fun, but the time with just him can be great. He will be 1 next month. I can't believe it, but at the same time, I can.

Josh and I went to a beach wedding in Seagrove, FL this past weekend. My mother-in-law kept the kids for us to leave on Thursday and return on Sunday. We had so much fun! About 15 couples from college were there. The wedding was beautiful, and we were able to relax. My father-in-law told us an hilarious story about Bea (mother-in-law) and the kids. She put Russell down for bed, and Anabelle asked her to cuddle with her for a minute before she went to sleep. Jack was downstairs. Bea was only in there for a minute, and when she came down, Jack was gone. She started to panic. Long story short, she found him in our bathroom using the restroom. She kept telling him how scared and worried she was. With big brown eyes, he looked up at her and said, "I really sorry Bea, but I really had to poop." He is a ninja... fast and sneaky so I totally get it. One reason he had to go upstairs is because the little stinker locked the downstairs bathroom door from the inside, and they couldn't get it open.

Josh is doing great. He has had some really good days. Yes, there are days that are better than others, but we really can't complain so far. Someone made the remark to him,  "Wow, you really have a tough life." (They were being sarcastic.) It really hit him the wrong way. I don't think people realize that sometimes, life is tough and not everyone can see it. You can really look at that statement two ways.
1. Yes, life is tough. MS diagnosis is tough. Fatigue is tough. Overwhelming feelings are tough. Tecfidera side effects are tough. Future planning is tough. Worry is tough. Mood Swings are tough. Raising a family of 3 kids is tough. Work is tough.
2. Life is great. Being alive and breathing is great. Taking a nap is great. Feelings of peacefulness are great. New and improved medicines are great. Looking forward to the future is great. Enjoying the moment is great. Good moods are great. Raising a family of 3 kids is tough great. Having a job is great.
I guess there will always be a glass half full and a glass half empty approach. It really is about perspective.

I really intended to blog more this summer, but with all of the activities and things going on, it has been harder than I thought.
I have a special post coming up that has been on my mind. Being at the beach for the wedding has really made me think about it. Josh has also given me part of his story to add to the blog. He is working through the other part, so hopefully I will post that soon.

Anabelle is with me at work right now. She and I are going to leave here and have some girl time today. Love her and her sassy self...

Happy Tuesday. Hope it is a great one-
Lori