Struggle bus

Anyone else riding the mom struggle bus? We started the day with two out of three kids asking for crepes and one kid asking for a breakfast smoothie. I did just that, I made a breakfast smoothie for all three kids AND crepes for all 3. I was in the kitchen for about an hour, prepping homemade crepes, smoothies and doing dishes.

Next up, tears. Tears from not enough Nutella on a crepe, tears from having no more Nutella, tears from a tummy ache from too many crepes, tears from having to turn off cartoons, tears from not JUST mangos in the smoothie, tears from a sibling touching you, tears from a sibling touching another sibling, tears from having to help clean up the house… yeah so lots of tears.

Some how, some way, the kids managed to play for a solid hour without fighting. They made a mess from hell from they were quiet. That could mean trouble, big trouble. In the moment, I opted to take it… my house wasn’t burning down (yet!) and my kids were quiet. Sometimes you take the quiet and the mess, because we all know they typically go hand in hand.

Then I opted to create some sanity for myself, prep for the gym. That would provide me with a good soul lift, a good sweat, the feeling of being strong and in control. I also decided to pack swim suits and pool stuff, just in case.

Well, just in case came… and went. People were losing their shit once again before we left the house. It was like trying to wrangle three wild circus animals into a cage… did I mention that they are different animals and aren’t even in the same circus? Oh and they eat each other?! You laughed, you know you did. That’s how it felt.

 

Today, I rode the struggle bus. At the end of the day, I sat on the back porch and cried while my husband held down the fort. Thank God for being partners in this madness. I was able to sit there and cry for as long as I needed too. He was supportive. I’m thankful for having him on my team and being my biggest support.

Today, the struggle bus pulled into the station at 7pm when their little butts hit the sheets. Today, I did the best I could. It didn’t seem good enough. I felt like I failed more times than not. Today, we all made it out alive. Today, I did the best I could. Tomorrow is a new day.

Bike victory!

Like I said in this post every day is a new day. We went on a play date yesterday and there was a strider bike that Bella decided she wanted to try.

"Mom, this isn't that hard!" I smiled and watched.

"Mom, we should take the training wheels off of my bike." We had a little conversation about how she first needed to work on her confidence and comfort so that bike riding was fun. Once that happened, we'll take the training wheels off.

Last night when we got home, Bella wanted to go on a bike ride. The boys were losing their minds one at a time so I opted to stay with them and have Ryan and Bella go. She came bursting into the house when they returned

"MOM, come watch me! Watch HOW FAST I CAN GO!" she was beyond excited. Fast for her is different than fast for Luca (his whole life is at a high speed level!)

I went outside and watched, I videoed and took pictures. I told her how proud I was of her. She talked about how she felt confident and comfortable.

"Mom, I'm getting WAY better at this. I feel so good riding my bike. It's fun and I feel comfortable now!" I was proud. I was proud that she had initiated bike riding, that she initiated speeding up a little, that she didn't get off and pull her bike... that she persevered and kept going.

Proud mama moment, proud daddy moment and most importantly, she was proud of herself!

Packing up for Camp No Limits

Before I start, a BIG thing you to everyone who has made this experience possible for all of us. Without your help, there is NO way that we could fund this experience for our family. I think it's highly important that we attend Camp No Limits for several reasons I've mentioned before and I'm sure you'll hear again after this camp is complete.

I've been packing for camp for several days. Packing with three kids is no easy task. I have a LONG, detailed (VERY detailed) packing list, as well as about 8 bags all set out. This trip we tried to get away with having each kid carry their own backpack and then a carryon. At the last minute, Ryan decided that was a bad idea and that we should try to condense down. We ended up with every one of us carrying a backpack, 3 carry on's and 2 checked bags. This cost us $50, however this was still a better deal than any other airline that had free bags so it worked out.

Here's what worked for us.

Sarah	Bella	Grayson	Luca		Toiletries	Misc
Toothbrush	Toothbrush	Toothbrush	toothbrush		Toothpaste	Snacks
Shorts	Shorts	Shorts	shorts		Sunscreen	Gum for plane
t-shirts	t-shirts	t-shirts	t-shirts		Bug spray	CNL raffle
Pants	Pants	Pants	Pants		Kids meds	Blankets X5
Jacket	Jacket	Jacket	Jacket		Baby wipes	Sheets X5
Underwear	Underwear	Underwear	Underwear		Hand sanitizer	Pillows X5
Bra			diapers		Soap
Flip flops	Flip flops	Flip flops	Flip flops		Shampoo
Tennis shoes	Tennis shoes	Tennis shoes	Tennis shoes		Conditioner
Water shoes	Water shoes	Water shoes	Water shoes		Deoderant
Hat	Hat	Hat	Hat		Hair brush
PJ’s	PJ’s	PJ’s	PJ’s		Swimmer’s ear drops
Makeup	Bunny	Giraffe	Frog?		Diva curl
Water bottle	Water bottle	Water bottle	Water bottle		diffuser
Sunglasses	Kindle	Kindle	Kindle			Paperwork
Prescriptions	Head phones	Head phones	Head phones		Razor	itinerary
Swim suit/coverup	Swim suit	Swim suit	Swim suit		Brush/comb	Hotel papers
Cell phone/charger	Booster	Booster	Car seat		Diffuser	Car rental
Towel	Towel	Towel	Towel		Chapstick
Wash cloth	Wash cloth	Wash cloth	Wash cloth		Tampons
Ear plugs					Pads
Lip gloss
Glasses
Pony tail holder

While this may seem overboard when you are packing, it worked for us. Maybe it'll help you. Packing for all of us makes me stress out (poor Ryan got to deal with all of that!), having a list helps ease some of that. I will say that there's only one thing that we missed. Luca's headphones weren't working so we ended up buying a $2 pair on the plane, not the end of the world. I've also added a few things on since the original list so I'll come back and update this post when I find that and you'll see the word "UPDATE" at the top :) Hopefully it helps!