Where to start...

I've realized that it's been almost a year since I've written anything.  And a lot has happened in that time.

A Lot.

Ladybug will be turning sixteen in less than a month.  I don't know where the time has gone.  She is growing into an amazing young woman.  We are still having sex talks, but thankfully it's still just talk.  (Big sigh of relief)  Her letter to Santa, from last year, has mostly come true.
She and Duckling are talking and texting again.  This past summer when Duckling came to visit was tough for us all.  The closeness just isn't there anymore.  But the girls are talking, laughing, and sharing their lives.  I know in time the closeness will come back, because time really does seem to heal the hurts.

Monkey just turned thirteen.  And now I have three teenagers!  Yikes!  I really thought that having a teen boy would be easier than teen girls.  It's not.  He's moody all the time.  One minute we're laughing and having a good time and then the next this teen monster is controlling my little boy.  I have recently learned that he is having some issues with a teacher at school.  (More on that later)  So I'm sure that is helping create the mood swings.  But I really just want my fun loving little boy back.

Potato, well he's been the biggest challenge.  He has SPD (Sensory Processing Disorder) and Hypotonia (a fancy word for low muscle tone).  We have just recently found out.  It really explains a lot of things about him.  Why he doesn't eat most foods, why he had and has so many querks about sounds, smells, and being touched, why he has no stamina, and why he often seems so clumsy in his movements.  I've always just accepted that he was a querky kid (except for the food part, that just freaked me out), until he started to really struggle at school academically.  Last year he really started falling behind with his writing.  We are working with the school to get him some help.

My husband has started in a new position at work.  He makes more money.  Yeah!  But we don't see him much any more because he works from noon to 9.  Which leaves me to do all the fun and not so fun stuff with and for the kids.  I miss him and so do the kids.  We are hoping that the hours will only be temporary, because I know he misses us too.

I've been busy and all over the place (literally and emotionally).  The last few months I kept saying to myself, "I really need to get back to writing".  It helps me relax and think more about what is going on in our lives.  I can remember the good, and evaluate the bad.  I'm hoping that by writing a little bit about a lot of things, I'll be able to jump start myself back into writing more.  Maybe I'll even revisit some of the fun things we did this summer that I planned to put in my blog, but never made the time for it.

~Earthy Mom