Life with our Lads: 3 Month Catch-up

Dave & Bobby's Wedding

I can't believe I haven't posted for over 2 months!
Theres so much to say. Where to start? Maybe with Danny.

Danny is my little superstar. Good lord he's funny. Now a 3rd grader, he's fullfilling his role in our family as the peacekeeper, the one who'll make you laugh, the one who'll step back and say "you first" and mean it. And he's the best tickle-giver.
But... he still won't eat anything good. He has a cavity in his tooth but we've had at least 3 visits to dentists that will go down in the annals of history as far as how bad a kid can physically fight a dentist before being arrested. At this point I'm waiting till it hurts him so much he begs me to take him back. Yes, I'm a terrible mother. He still refuses to play sports or do something on command, but I actually admire his independence. I'm leaving Danny alone - he's going to be ok.

Jack's a middle-schooler and after a week of belly aches and high anxiety is doing great. He loves his teachers and got "Student of the Week". It's refreshing to hear him rave about school and talk excitedly about learning. He is a Boy Scout now and got his Tenderfoot. He's earned 7% of the Eagle Scout. No pressure for him to keep going of course, but I have to admit I'd be devastated if he gave up. He's given up the cello, but plays soccer. Watching You Tube in his room is becoming more common. Damn it! I had a cunning plan not to let him have a TV in his room so he wouldn't be a teenage hermit, but these kids don't give a rats ass about TV. As long as they have access to You Tube & Netflix it's all good. I was the same as a teen - I'd spend hours in my room listening to Michael Jackson LPs and dancing like I thought I was a superstar. He's a tween & perfecting the eye rolls, back-chat and awkward humor in front of others. On more than one occasion I've had to furious whisper in his ear about being respectful to me in public or I'd kill him at home. But I keep telling myself - I DID THIS AND MUCH WORSE, LOL!

Me and Craig? .. are over-worked, under-paid, stressed, adding to the "to-do" DIY list every day. I used to think babies and toddlers were hard work, but this is another level of busy. We are both 110% involved with Scouts but we LOVE it. I have stepped away from a lot of other volunteer commitments because it finally dawned on me to volunteer doing something I like that's not a "chore". I love Scouts and it's our family "thing".

What else?
We have loved camping in our pop-up this year. That's our thing.

Dave got married. I was glad I was there and he's very happy. It was a gorgeous wedding. But I miss Eric every single day. Not a day goes by I don't miss him.

Loved visiting England. Would we like to move back? Yes! Will we? OMG, depends on sooooo many things.

Our pet family has grown - we now have Ben (dog), Bart, Slinky & Cinnamon (cats) and Tiger (Beardie). Cinnamon Sticky Buns is our newest addition. He was a stray shot in the leg with a BB gun. Slinky will allow him to eat and poo sometimes, when it suits him. He's such an asshole.

No mention of Trump or the devastation I still feel? Yes. He's still a racist, homophobic, narcissistic, woman assaulting, embarrassing bloated orange moron, and yes I'm still devastated.

And so now, a photo dump..............