A real solicitation for advice.

Here's the thing...
We are struggling with bedtime in a major way around here.  John gets fixated on the fact that he can't sleep and won't let himself fall asleep.  Then once asleep he wakes up screaming from bad dreams and won't go back to sleep until I snuggle with him.  I feel like the mother of a newborn-- I've been up with him at least 5 times a night for the past week.

And it's not just at bedtime.  The irrational fear is creeping into our everyday life too.  He asks me to accompany him to the bathroom "just to get started" and so I can check behind the shower curtain.  He won't venture into any part of the house alone.  He usually asks Kitty to go with him.

I've discussed it with our pediatrician, counselor, and psychiatrist.  They have all said the same thing, "Yeah.  That's the anxiety and OCD manifesting itself..." They have made suggestions.  We have tried them and are still struggling.

Just so you don't duplicate here is a run-down of things we have already tried:

Conducting a "room inspection" to make sure everything is safe before turning off the light.
Turning up the sound machine to drown out any other noises.
Bringing the dog in to sleep with and protect him.
Sleepy time tea.
Hot shower before bed.
Letting him read until he gets tired enough to fall asleep (ie. 12 am)
Writing a list of "good thoughts" to choose from.
Praying (usually with the "please bless me to fall asleep instantly" caveat).
Letting him sleep in my bed.
Yelling.
Letting him have a melt down in his room (aka the "cry it out" method).

Help.

Fancy Party

The Fancy Nancy party is over and I think everyone had a blast!  Here are the highlights:

Sandy's famous cupcakes... Fancy!

Five years ago today...

I didn't even know this existed until today...  As if being born isn't enough... 

Motivation problem

Here's the thing...

I can't think of anything fun or witty to write about-- so get over it.  I hate when "the blog" starts to smell stale and when it sits on my shoulder begging to be updated. 

It's true my kids are in school all day.  It's true I had tons of plans and tons of motivation the first week they went back.  It's true that last week everything went out the window and the motivation was lost.  Do you know how I lost the motivation?  I started thinking about it too much. 
 
If you ever need to lose your motivation (because really, it's not worth keeping), just make a list of all the projects you've started and never finished, oh yeah, and include the one's you never started but meant to a few years ago.

Here's an example:

The kitchen has two different counter tops
The bathroom has half the tiles on the wall
The TV stand is not painted
Those chairs are STILL here
The laundry room is a mess
The garage needs to be cleaned out before it snows
The weeds are almost taller than the fence (and when they get taller than the fence then the neighbors might notice...)
The car still needs new tires
Did you vacuum within the last five days? 
Kitchen curtains? Yeah, didn't think so.
Garage sale or Craigslist?

Oh, and here are a few other ways to get rid of that pesky motivation:

Run errands
Go to lunch
Watch HGTV
Read your blog list
Catch up on Facebook
Take a shower (because really, it's a waste to clean your house after you've showered)

There you have it. I don't need advice, I give it.

First Day 2010

I knew I had something I wanted to put on the blog, but forgot what it was until my Mother-in-law asked about first day of school pictures...

Katherine started all day Kindergarten!  She LOVES it.

I can't believe John is in 2nd grade this year.  He doesn't quite hate it.

John was complaining about the rules his teacher has been enforcing and I said, "Well, that's her job." And he said, "So you mean she's getting PAID to be mean and torture children?"

Pretty much.

Not the "magic" variety

Every year Bogda (my Polish neighbor, remember?) and her sister spend a day in the nearby mountains gathering mushrooms.  She is an expert mushroom hunter.  I have been to her kitchen more than once to see wild mushrooms spread on newspapers covering every flat surface.  She has explained to me how delicious "real" mushrooms are.  I have explained to her how nervous I am about eating foraged mushrooms. 

She told me a story about some French people she and her sister encountered on a mushroom hunt who were also looking for the best wild mushrooms.  But by the questions they were asking, Bogda could tell they knew nothing about mushrooms.  She thought it was funny that they were French-- what do they know of mushroom hunting?

A few years ago I watched from the sidewalk as Bogda harvested mushrooms from our neighbors' yards as we walked to and from the school.  Later, when Kitty brought her one that she found in our yard, Bogda explained that she discovered the mushrooms from the yard are "not good taste".

When I encountered these tasty little morsels while mowing the lawn yesterday I thought of Bogda and her words of warning lest you feel confident enough to hunt mushrooms yourself:

"Eat for breakfast, dead by lunch."

Which is why Jared has made me promise not to indulge in Bogda's mushrooms.

Vacation pictures... jealous?

I'm super impatient.  So I don't blame anyone for skipping over this post of tons of pictures.  This is one of those posts that goes down for posterity.  Although, I acknowledge that I do have a few "readers" who prefer blogs with pictures, so if you qualify-- this one is for you.

I have been going to Priest Lake for 20 years. I have only missed a few summers. We love it, and now my kids love it too. John had tears when we left, and for a few nights after we got home. He misses it that much. When he was crying on the way to the airport, Kitty said, "I know! Let's think about what we won't miss."

We made this list:


Big bugs (I think we saw three)
Getting sand in your bottom
Rinsing sand off your feet

That's all we could come up with...

She asked me to take this picture-- it is totally posed.

Kitty's energy quickly ran out and she couldn't keep from laying on the sand and going to sleep.

Ok, really?  I forgot to format this one?  Turn your computer. Remember? Impatient.  Steep, rickety stairs leading down to the river.

Drive-by fishing at the bottom of the stairs.

Love this boy.  Don't love the freckled, wrinkled look I'm sporting. Hand me the airbrush...

Kitty's photos of the flowers at the gallery.

Kitty's version again.

Kitty's shadow.

Until next year...

My nephew, the pole dancer

Have you heard all the buzz about the health benefits of pole dancing? 

 

Vacation blues

So here's the thing...

Coming home from vacation is hard.  It sucks, actually. 

Why does it seem like we come home to chaos even though I (mostly) cleaned the house before we left?
Why is it so hard to unpack? 

Why do you spend the whole first day back trying to organize and refind a semblance of control?

My house always looks a little funny to me when I come back from a long trip.  It's like I see it with new eyes.  Why did I hang that picture there?  What was I thinking when I chose those drapes?  I still hate those chairs.

Did you know the average noxious weed will grow to your waist in ten days? 

And then there's the catching up with local and world events.  There might be big news I totally missed while I was gone and for some stupid reason that stresses me out.  Like the dream I had last night that Glenn Beck was missing (some might call it a nightmare, others- too good to be true, I'll leave that up to you).  I almost googled it this morning thinking it was a real news story I missed while on vacation.

At the lake I spend time idealizing how to make daily life better.  Especially now that school is getting ready to start.  I make plans.  I visualize all the projects I finally finish.  I can see it happening.  I get motivated.

I cross the threshold and it all goes whooshing out the front door.  I remember why I was stuck in the first place.

Vacation posts coming as soon as Kitty and I get over the depression of reality.

The Sandpoint Mystery

We spent Saturday in Sandpoint, Idaho.  So did a gang of boys in coordinated cut-off shorts.  Luckily John was willing to pose in front of their Frisbee game...

I also inadvertently got another picture of them in the background when I snapped one of Beth and Penn.

Then they decided to play a game of basketball.  First they took off their shoes.  I guess you don't need to wear shoes when you don't really know how to play anyway.  Then some guy in baggy shorts and shirt joined the game.  He actually knew how to play-- even with the cigarette in his mouth.  Wish I had a picture of that.

Jared tried to convince us they were gay because there wasn't a fat one in the group.  I don't understand his logic, but he was adamant. The rest of us remained undecided.