Peace at last...Bill Murray style

I haven't blogged this year. Oh I've written posts only to delete them. Blogging was feeling so narcissistic, I just couldn't bring myself to write. Why would anyone care about my day? Then I reminded myself, this isn't for others to read as much as it is for me to read. For me to read back years from now and remember what 2010 was like.
Our sweet little baby Wyatt is now our sweet little toddler Wyatt. We started noticing some delays in speech so we became proactive. His hearing was fine and he was cognitively A-OK, he just had no words. He started speech, developmental and occupational therapy on a weekly basis and he is now doing great. Within the past few weeks, we have seen an enormous jump in his vocabulary. He's a talking machine. A difficult to understand talking machine but a talking machine nonetheless.
In Jan, we decided to remove Seth from public school. It was not a good fit. We started to homeschool. I can honestly say that I love looking at curriculum, coming up with field trips and making out lesson plans. You would think that would make me a great teacher. Instead I was forced to deal with the fact that in the face of adversity (or an unwilling, eye-rolling student) I found myself irritated and easily beat down. The wind can be removed from my sails by a six year old faster than I had ever expected. I was unprepared for the stress of homeschooling. The responsibility to teach your child everything they need to know academically in addition to teaching them how to be a good and productive human being can be overwhelming. I knew plenty of homeschoolers and they seemed to be doing just fine. I was not. I knew plenty of parents to higher needs children and they seemed to be doing just fine. I was not. I knew plenty of stay at home moms who managed to have clean, well behaved children, clean homes and dinner on the table and they were doing fine. I was not. We sit down every weekday morning to have our school time and all the while...Wyatt is systematically destroying the house. He is a viking. Seriously. While cleaning crayon off the floor with the same towel I used 7 minutes earlier to clean a quart of half & half up from the floor it hit me. Remember the scene in Meatballs when Bill Murray was telling the team that it didn't matter if they lost the game because in the grand scheme of things it just doesn't matter? It just doesn't matter. It just doesn't matter. Little losses like a basketball game at summer camp or crayon on the floor..really..it just doesn't matter. Really. I'm blessed with a very unusual situation. Scott works from home. Seth is home and I get to teach him myself. I get to shape his education. I get to control (as much as I can) the amount and type of stimulation to help him have the best day he can. Seth and Wyatt get to spend more early childhood quality time together than most non-twin siblings. While I do enjoy (and miss) my quiet time, I realize I'll have plenty one day. Maybe more than I want. For now...I'll remind myself daily that the little stuff..it just doesn't matter.


Cleaning and scrubbing can wait 'till tomorrow,
for babies grow up, I've learned to my sorrow.
So settle down cobwebs, dust, go to sleep.
I'm rocking my baby, and babies don't keep

This Old Gingerbread House

The supplies!


Getting started :)


Seth concentrating.


Wyatt being sneaky


S-n-L


Luken rocking the icing.


Wyatt (as always) was such a good boy.


Keeley did a great job!


Seth and Luken working hard


Wyatt is watching.


Seth's Snowman


Seth's house is complete


Today we had some friends over to play and build gingerbread houses. Well..technically they weren't gingerbread houses at all. We built them out of graham crackers and decorated them with icing and candies. As in life, Mom and Dad laid the foundation and then turned it over for the children to take over. They took their time decorating each little house. They all did a great job. Wyatt enjoyed table surfing for stray crackers and unsupervised candies. Happy Holidays!!

Do You See What I See? Do You Hear What I Hear?

Seth's "cool face"



Whats going here this holiday season? First of all, Seth got glasses. Despite the fact that Seth failed several eye exams given by the school...despite the fact that he can't catch a ball...despite the fact that I too, wore glasses as a child...I didn't think he actually needed glasses. I thought he just wanted to look like Scott. We took him to the eye doctor and his vision is 20/150. Poor kid. His glasses came in today. I wouldn't say that he's exactly excited about wearing them but I know the difference it will make. He keeps asking me when he can take them off. I told him he could take them off when his contacts come in...in about 8 years.
And Wyatt...sweet baby Wyatt. Wyatt doesn't talk. At all. He grunts. He's like an adorable, tiny Tim Allen. At his 18 month wellness check up, the pediatrician suggested we have is hearing tested. Today I took him to an audiologist and thankfully there is no hearing loss. It's not uncommon in cases of a difficult birth like the one he had. I didn't know. He will start speech therapy in early January so we'll have him up to speed soon :)
We are now enjoying the season...seeing all of the sights and hearing all the sounds perfectly. Perfect.

Feels like Felt

Felt supplies


Wyatt and Sesame Street felt guys


Seth telling a story to Wyatt


I had saved a post from The Green Wife's blog about felt boards a while back. Seth loved felt boards and I thought Wyatt may like one. Friday, Wyatt and I loaded up and headed to Hobby Lobby to buy supplies. It didn't take long to cover the board and I spent a little while that day cutting out shapes. Seth made of list of things he wanted me to make so I stayed up that night making them. A boy, girl, tiger, etc. The boys have had so much fun since. Seth loves coming up with stories to tell Wyatt and Wyatt enjoys putting the shapes up on the board.

It's Christmas Time in Texas

It's Santa's Rodeo..we'd hang our boots for stockings but our feet would get too cold..so gather around the campfire and thank God for all your blessings..yippee ki-yi-yay get along little doggie, it's Christmas time in Texas :)

Did I mention it snowed? Yep..for about 2 hours it snowed. Hard. Of course it didn't stick because two days earlier it was 70+ degrees. We didn't let that ruin our good time :) Seth had to go on to school but Wyatt got to play in it. He played until his little baby hands were frozen and I forced him to come in. Good times though.

Cabin Camping in Oklahoma

I haven't blogged in a while. We've had Halloween, parties and camping trips since my last blog. Boooo me, right? The camping trip was the most recent. I had been feeling a bit closed in. I needed to get into some wide open spaces and fast. The boys needed to be able to get out and explore. We picked Beaver Bend, OK. While it was lovely, it was far. Too far. We've decided to do this more often but closer to home.

In Beaver Bend, we rented a cabin. It was beautiful. Very fancy. That's right..a fancy cabin. Not what we were looking for. Did I mention it was in a neighborhood? Yes..a fancy cabin with a HOA. Whatever dude. We complained and switched cabins the next day. The 2nd cabin wasn't as "nice." It was absolutely perfect. The boys explored. We built camp fires, poked things with sticks, had fun at a little festival...it was exactly what we needed. Wish we could have stayed longer.

Oktoberfest

Last weekend we enjoyed a family outing to Oktoberfest in Addison. In the past, it was always near 100 degrees. Last weekend it was in the 80s and perfect. The kids played in the fountains, watched a puppet show, did the chicken dance, watched me lose my new lens and win a carnival goldfish. Good times. Timmy the goldfish (or Oktoberfish as Rebecca named him) passed this morning. Good-bye Timmy.