My now 11 year old facing his fear of heights in a BIG way!
My son has completed his time as a Cub Scout and is now enjoying adventures in Boy Scouts. One of his fears has been high places. I am not sure how this fear came to be, I never noticed this fear before. During one of our camping trips while he was a Cub Scout, we climbed a stair tower that was off the ground about 40-50 feet. He never showed any fear during that climb. It wasn’t until last summer when we went to another Cub Scout camping trip where the boys were going to climb a wall. They had on helmets and a safety harness. He was all excited about this, but when he got on the ladder he just couldn’t do it. Same thing happened with a return trip to this same wall just a couple weeks before the picture above was taken.
I decided NOT to go on the outing they were going to be cliff climbing. I did not pay for him to climb, but while there he decided to give it a shot. WOW! He harnessed up and after taking on the practice route, he went for it. 70 feet off the ground, and he was climbing! Wish I had been there to see it, but some of the folks that went got me some great pictures for his scrapbook that I will make one day.
So, I got up at 2:30am to “wake up” for my 3:30am pickup from Mrs. Grizzly. She and her mother were awake and ready to shop.
We first headed to Kohl’s where I was able to pick up an Oster bread machine, makes 2 lb loafs for $59.99 with a $20 mail-in rebate. Regular price $89.99. This is at 4am opening.
We then headed to Wal-Mart, which was open, but the sales and pallets didn’t get opened until 5am. I was able to get a board game, which was supposed to be $5, but rang up $15, so I’ll have to go back on that one. I got a DVD for $9.99, new release. I got a couple Better Homes and Gardens 30 x 56 towels for $4/each. I got a 320 GB portable hard drive for $49. I got 600 ct sheets for $29.
We headed to Target, which it was about 7:30am now since we waited so long in line to checkout at Wal-mart. I wasn’t able to find what I wanted there.
Then we headed back to Kohl’s where I picked up a Quesadilla maker for $19.99 with a $10 mail-in rebate, and a reversable down comfortable, regular price $149.99 and they were on sale for $29.99!
I received $10 in Kohl’s cash during the first trip, so I’ll go back next week after they post their weekly sales and see if I can pick up another gift.
I’m just about finished with Scoober, and I need to be creative with Winks.
One tip: Black Friday doorbusters for Toys R Us are still going on, online till 10pm, so go check it out if you still have some kids to shop for!
It’s been quite a while since I last posted, and so much has happened, which I don’t care to rehash at this point, but I am so thankful and grateful that I have my husband! We almost lost him and we are just so happy that modern medicine saved him and we still have him.
We are all adjusting and getting back to some normallcy now. Scoober just realized a week or so ago, that daddy is going to have this condition forever, but we explained to him that if he didn’t have it, he would not be alive. Winks is a little young to understand, she just knows she can now give daddy big neck hugs again.
We still struggle with our normal parenting issues, and I’ll soon be diving back into the Total Transformation program, which Lesson 4 is getting your child’s attitude back on track. This comes just in time, as Scoober is still mouthy, but it seems as he continues to find himself, it’s getting a little more intense.
Winks is on the verge of potty training, as she asks to go to the potty and she will go #1, and #2 she’ll go only if she absolutely cannot hold it in anymore. Hopefully that will change as we started yesterday on “no bottles”. She didn’t drink any milk all day, except at bedtime I gave her a bottle before bed. We’ll see how day two goes.
I’m also very thankful that I have a job during this rough economy. I have money to spend on Christmas gifts early this year, and will be attending the Black Friday sales tomorrow and shopping a little online, too for those deals I cannot find in the stores. This year I’m approaching it a little differently and realizing that my kids don’t need LOTS of gifts. I think Santa told me that he was only going to get them 1 gift, since things are so expensive nowadays. I think that’s plenty considering some kids don’t get anything for Christmas.
Please take time out, if you read my blog to be thankful for all you have and all you can give this year, and reflect on what you could/should do better in your own lives.
God Bless!
Filed under: Step Life
More and more, I am realizing how lucky and fortunate I am to have Husband in my life. Although the EX is trying her best to make Husband upset, she is only making herself out to look like the insensitive, heartless and wreckless person she really is, and I’m being nice here.
Husband and I kept going back and forth about telling EX about his pending medical tests and we felt that she needed to know, as she is the mother of his other children. This summer she has started in on Husband about pending college costs for SD and how their court order says the parents shall pay for post secondary education. Well, Husband really is wondering how this will all work out and the courts will likely be the final say on this issue. Of course EX doesn’t like that answer and she is doing everything she can to try to make Husband blow his top, or have a heart attack. This way she can take it to the judge and say look, he’s not cooperating and he’s being mean. By the way, WA State doesn’t “make” parents pay for college and unless there is some extreme income involved, it’s rare that a judge would award post secondary support unless there was a significant need.
All he asked of her, after he answered her claims with her own letters and information for other issues she raised which probably upset her that she was caught in her web of lies, that she hold off on any other correspondence unless it was absolutely necessary. I would’ve given her the benefit of the doubt, as she might not have received his last letter stating this and that he was undergoing tests for his heart, but she referenced this letter in her reply.
She had the nerve to say that if Husband were to die, she would come after his estate to make sure HER kids got what was coming to them. Can you believe that? Just amazing!
It makes me very angry that she did this. The words she wrote were very hurtful and even after 12 years of being divorced, she still cannot move on. I could see if he didn’t pay child support, didn’t have medical coverage that she doesn’t have to pay for by the way, and even supports them in school fundraisers, etc. when he knows about them and is financially able to contribute. What is not fair is that she took the only thing away from him that he wanted, and that was to be a father to SD and SS.
I feel my Husband has been as supportive and loving as any human being could possibly be. With the interference and unwillingness to coparent, EX has robbed SD and SS. If there is anything good that comes of this, I hope it’s a renewed sense of love and appreciation from SD and SS for all their father did for them, even if it was from afar.
We love you SD and SS. I hope one day you’ll get to hear that.
Filed under: Family
Tomorrow afternoon Husband goes in for his Eco-Cardiogram. He turned in the Holter Monitor on Saturday morning. Hopefully by midweek we might finally have some answers.
Filed under: Family, Kid Behavior, Total Transformation | Tags: Total Transformation
Well, I can say that I’ve listened to the CD for lesson 3 and it talks about how to use other roles like coaching, to help your kids and effective ways to do it. The other 2 roles escape me right now, but I did listen, honest.
I still need to read lesson 3 in the workbook, but with Husband’s medical stuff going on, we’ve been focused on that.
I can tell you that Scoober has been trying to push buttons and he’s really getting a smart mouth, which we are not standing for that in our house. I have to admit that I’ve raised my voice and even yelled during this stressful time and I feel badly that I did that. BUT, I do think Scoober is realizing that he cannot get away with his bad behavior and talking back and talking at us the way he does. He’s taking forever to get good behavior check marks on his chart we made before school started!
I’m determined to get back on track by the weekend and have lesson 3 read and work through the examples. I will try to post back on what it says, briefly, and what I am going to try with this lesson.
Filed under: Family
I didn’t really share a whole lot, but Husband was having chest pains, aching in his muscles and some heart palpitations. Very scary stuff. He had his stress test and he did very well for not being in shape. 😉 He has a heart arrhythmia and throwing 3 pvc’s. He feels these happening and his neck buldges out like you think it’s going to explode as it’s beating.
Test results from stress test show that he has 100% oxygen flowing to his heart and through his blood, so that’s GREAT! There is NO blockage, so that is GREAT! Now, we have to figure out why the heart is doing this, so he is scheduled for a cardiogram and he’ll get to wear a monitor for 24 hours at some point either this week or next to see how the heart is working and what exactly is going on, hopefully.
In the meantime, Husband is still to take it easy, no strenuous activity. The Doctor, which we’ll call Doogie because he’s a young one, was very nice and seemed very knowledgeable. He changed his Rx, so we’ll see if it helps a little more with Husband’s triglycerides and bad cholesterol levels.
Got to get on Husband for not going in to get his blood work sooner. So, I asked if we could schedule that today so he doesn’t forget about it. 1 month, Husband will go in for bloodwork to check his levels again. Cannot let it go this long, almost a year since last blood test, when you’re on statins. Big no no!
Filed under: Family, Kid Behavior, My kids, Total Transformation | Tags: Total Transformation
Hi everyone! So sorry I haven’t posted, but we’ve got some families health issues going on right now.
I will say that although I’ve listened to Lesson 3, but I’m going to have to listen to it again. I’ve just continued working on myself in how I deal with Scoober. I’ve raised my voice a few times, but Im trying not to yell. He did get a little lippy with me yesterday, but I stuck to my guns and he wasn’t changing my mind. For the past 2 mornings he’s given me trouble about getting up. I wake him up, tell him what time it is, tell him breakfast is ready, that we are leaving at 8:15am. If he’s not ready, I simply say that Winks and I will be in the van please shut the door and make sure it’s locked when you come out. He was almost late yesterday, but he’s got to learn about time management. He was awake, he was just doddling.
I will hopefully be able to listen to Lesson 3 tonight and start working on that next week. I will update about Lesson 3, what it’s about and what I took from it. Then post during the week on our progress. With pending medical issues, forgive me if I don’t post right away, as my family is my number 1 priority.
Filed under: Step Life
I am wondering why exwife has to continuously make Husband feel like he’s no good. Is she not grateful that she gave her 2 wonderful children that she has successfully alienated their father from them? Is she not grateful that Husband actually has paid his support on time and every month without fail for the last 11 years? Is she not grateful that Husband has carried their children on his insurance since they divorced in 1997? Is she not grateful that Husband has kept attempting to contact the children, but she won’t let him e-mail or encourage the children to want to communicate with their father?
That’s something she’s going to have to live with, what she’s done to her own children. Once a person has been beat down emotionally, it’s no wonder that Husband feels the way he does now. How is he supposed to pick up the phone and talk to a complete stranger?
Husband use to call all the time, at least once a week, or every other week when he could get ahold of the kids. NEVER did exwife let them call him back. I can count on one hand in the last 10 years they’ve called. Actually daughter called him on her own a few times, but she was hiding in a closet. Son has called once on his own.
I hope and pray that either she will get a reality check soon, or that when the kids are finally on their own they will seek their father out. If not, Husband can look back and know that he tried his best to be a part of their lives, but an obstacle stood in his way, their mother.
Daughter is 16 and son will be 15 this year. One person once told me that exwife is teaching them how to treat her one day. We shall see.
I have a wonderful family. News of a death in Newfoundland of a young cousin of Husband’s today; not so great news of Husband’s blood results and a terrible, manipulative, mean letter from CA today. I don’t think this day can get any worse!
Mommy Can I 