We had a fabulous time in Ohio. The days flew by. Porter can't wait for Cooper & Tate to visit. Victoria is already planning the princess sleep over in her "queen" bed. We sure miss the Fuhriman's as well as all our amazing friends there. Porter, Casey & Victoria resided at the Fuhriman hotel. Rebekah, Isabelle & Sam enjoyed their stay at the Bauserman dormitory while Ryan & I slipped away to the Harris Bed N Breakfast. We enjoyed a fun soccer game, dinner, flag football, scratch and roller hockey. I think we may have a few more roller hockey lovers in the family. Tate & Porter were rarely out of their skates. Cooper joined them after recovering from a few good spills. Everyone is looking forward to our Texas trip to visit with more family over Thanksgiving.
The warm days of fall are giving way to brisk mornings and cool evenings. We had our last Tuesday evening roller hockey this week. We brought in some wood and had our first fire... I love having a warm house without having to turn on the heat. This is our first home with a wood fireplace. We are LOVING it. I split a little wood today. Ryan sharpened the ax... it worked much better. If I could hire a maid and work outside all day I would be one happy housewife! There's nothing like physical labor and accomplishing something to cure a blue day.
After dropping Sam and Casey off we've been going to the church. It's too cold to play outside anymore & enjoy it. We practice piano, read, write spelling words on the chalkboard, snuggle together, jump rope and play ball. Then everyone walks to school together. It brings back memories of walking to school as a young girl. I love walking to school with our kids.
Parent-Teacher conferences were great. I can't go anywhere without someone telling me how responsible & wonderful Samantha is. Casey's teachers praised his ability, kindness & respect. Rebekah's... LOOOOOVE her!!! And that is VERY understated. They just went on & on... & on! Izy is reading like crazy. The librarian LOVES her. She's ordered a few book series just for Isabelle. She's still a little guarded at school... not sure who to let in. Hmmm who does that sound like? Porter is a reading mad man. He takes an AR test everyday... 100% Porter is his name! He is doing much better with his anxiety. He's handling the mornings very well.
My own issues creep into the whole parenting thing at times. I've been struggling with unrealistic expectations AGAIN! I think my expectations of others leave me disappointed and sad then I carry it over to my kids. I find myself disappointed when my kids aren't always selfless and aren't jumping at the opportunity to help me... which is CRAZY! I know how insanely crazy I sound... I'm expecting perfection & what kid is ever going to be 100% all the time? They are suppose to be self absorbed and selfish. They aren't suppose to love doing chores & it IS unfair when someone else rarely does their job then they end up with more work because they always do it. As an adult I don't like life & how it all pans out a lot of times. It isn't fair & it's hard! Sometimes I want to yell and scream, run to my room, fall on my bed & cry my eyes out. Hopefully, a loving someone will come in rub my back, tell me they love me & that everything is going to be ok. Of all the hard things this life has to offer, the hardest for me is parenting. It's what pushes me to the very edge and dangles me there. There's so much to loose... and I can't imagine messing that up and having to live with the consequences. Which in itself is another unrealistic expectation. They have their free agency. I only have the ability to teach. They decide what to do with it. So, we'll have movie night tonight with carmel popcorn. We'll laugh and snuggle. I'm sure someone will get upset about something. Hopefully, I'll rub there back tell them I love them & that everything really WILL be okay.
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