Highlights and Lowlights

So, I haven't done a weekly wrap in oh-so-very-long. There's no way I could really catch everyone up on everything that's been going on, so I'll just do my best to fill you in on some of the highs and lows.

My sweet Kaitybean was baptized in June. I think I already mentioned it, but it was a rather sacred and beautiful experience for our whole family. She is already such an amazing person. I'm excited to see the woman she will become. The two pictures of her are from a photo shoot with her uncle. The second one is my favorite image from the shoot. Classic Kaitybean.

We have been to two SL Real soccer games in the last month. The first was on the Fourth of July with just JDub and I. The second was just last weekend. We got free tickets for the whole family and sat right up front next to a group of hecklers with loud drums and terrible singing voices. Mashuga and Kaitybean loved it. Scud was about ready to crawl out of his skin by the end of the match. He's my most sensitive, introverted kid. The other two just THRIVE on being in a crowd.

Work is going furiously to finish things up for the charter school Kaitybean and Scud will be attending this year. I got to attend part of the teacher training in July and it was a fabulous experience. How exciting to be around teachers who are THRILLED to be teaching at this school, excited to learn all kinds of new things themselves and excited about the curriculum. It ought to be a fun year.

I've also been working on buying school uniforms and supplies for the kids. WOWIE! That is expensive. And to think, they'll still need clothes to wear when they're not in school!

I have been teaching Birthing From Within classes every week. I love mentoring the couples in my classes. What beautiful work it is that I do. How amazing it is to be part of this formative and powerful moment in others' lives, to witness their little miracles and revelations and growth. There's nothing like this kind of childbirth class.

Now, if I could just get out of my head enough to do the same things I ask the parents in my classes to do! It can be so difficult to be a birth professional and know so much about birth on a mental level. It makes it that much more difficult to connect with myself on a deeper level and remember what I know as a woman, as a mother -- the things I really need to know to get ready to have another child.

So, Scud just came home from his friend's house to tell me a joke. That's all. Just to tell me a joke. He has been such a joy lately. He always is, but he is just so eager to please and love me, so willing to help. Such a sweetie. The joke?

Knock Knock
Who's There?
Ike
Ike Who?
Bless You!

Attended my 10 year class reunion last month. It was good to see some old friends and see how others were doing. Not sure whether or not I'm glad I went. It was an interestingly emotional thing for me. Not the reconnecting with others in my class, but the reconnecting with the 18 year old girl who had a rather rocky high school experience.

Just a few days ago a huge microburst hit our area. It completely knocked down several powerlines and uprooted many large trees, including the 50 foot pine tree in our front yard. Knocked it over into the street. The Red Cross actually drove through our neighborhood to check on everyone and tell us that we could expect to be without power for 2-5 days. Strangely, ours was one of only about 6 homes in a 1/2 mile area that had power that evening. There are still some homes without any power. I'm grateful for our good fortune, but at the same time feel a little bit cheated. It would have been a fun adventure to live without power for a few days. I'll post pictures as soon as I can find the cord that connects our camera to the computer.

Scary thing. Mashuga had been outside roaming the neighborhood (stark naked, by the way) just minutes before the microburst hit. I felt a strong impression to find Mashuga, NOW! So glad I listened. If the wind was able to knock down powerlines and trees, who knows what it would have done to a naked little Mashuga boy.

And speaking of Mashuga, he has been naughty lately. NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY, NAUGHTY!!! I have no idea what to do with this child. If I tell him to do something, he will do exactly the opposite. Right in front of me. And if he wants to do something, there is nothing more important in his mind. He has absolutely no sense of adults as authority figures. No guilt in disobeying them. There is no motivating him. Yesterday I told him that I was going to sell him to the indians. He was actually worried! Very worried! And I really didn't know whether to reassure him that we'd never give him away or let him keep believing that I would. It was the first time in weeks that anything has even reached him and I was hesitant to give up that bargaining chip. I'm finding that he need much more firm boundaries than my other two. We're talking giant concrete barriers here. And I don't have a track record of being good at setting boundaries.

Our baby (whom our whole family now calls Coco, thanks to a silly Daddy) is moving like crazy. I am still deciding on a care provider. I've been going to a group of midwives, but I am just not keen on the idea of seeing a different person at each appointment and not having any idea who will be there for the birth. And I'm not all that excited about the idea of a hospital birth either. So, as soon as I just get the courage to make the change, we will probably be transferring care. Blech! I have NEVER been this wishy-washy or unsettled about care during a pregnancy.

JDub continues to be frustrated at work. It's an interesting workplace. And he really has to work SO many hours both at the store and home to make ends meet for our family. I'm hoping he'll find some solutions soon. I sure love the guy for his devotion to providing for our family and hate to see all the stress and worry he goes through to do it. I'm thinking a change of career may be on the horizon. Probably not for a couple of years, but I don't know how long he can hold out with this.

We've begun a new budget system that is working wonders for us. If I find the link I'll post it here. The basics are that we are actually budgeting, as in assigning EVERY dollar at the beginning of the month, that we are keeping track of everything we spend and (here's the kicker) we're living on LAST MONTH'S income. I can't tell you how much the stress level in our home has gone down in the last little while. No question as to whether or not we'll be able to pay the bills - the money is already in the bank and has already been budgeted. No guilt at all when I spend money on things we want and need -- already in the bank, already budgeted. It's been such a huge improvement.

I'm having a hard time coming up with everything that's gone on over the last little while. And it feels like very little of what I've written is actually significant. It's been a busy month. Perhaps crazy and trying from the inside-out more than from the outside-in. There's been a lot of emotional work happening for our family, especially between JDub and I lately. A lot of issues that we've swept under the rug for a lot of years that we're really trying to work through right now.