Revival

Hello old Blog land...

I've been re-reading old blog posts the past couple of days and miss capturing those daily moments and got inspired to make an update...you know, since it's been 5 years since my last post?! Everything has changed...as far as the layout and how I even sign in and go about doing this stuff, so hopefully I can figure it out again. I have not one, but 2 laptops that won't turn on for me, so I've really been out of touch. I'm finally just using Greg's Mac to try to figure it all out! I won't have instant access to pictures for a little bit - I do SO much on my phone these days. I use Facebook to post so much, but you can't just re-read or easily find anything, so basically, that's all lost along the way...

I really wanted to do a post when Dellaina turned 10, because that felt so monumental...and here I am 2 years later, just sitting down to try to capture it all!

I'm nearing my 5 year mark in nursing and all at Northside Hospital Cherokee in Labor & Delivery! Other than the 6 months of training on days, it's all been nightshift. I still love it and am so thankful and happy I get to do what I do with the people I work with (mostly). Greg's company was bought out nearly 3 years ago by a much larger company and business is good again and he feels more fulfilled and like he's contributing to something again.
The kiddos....Wyatt is 10 and still a trying, smiling handful. Dellaina just turned 12 and is still so mature and responsible. They both have awesome senses of humor and still amazing understanding. Wyatt is still doing gymnastics - 12 hours a week, 4:30-8:30 Mon/Wed/Fri, which makes for late nights and limited homework time. Thankfully, he doesn't have a tremendous amount of homework this year, surprisingly for 4th grade. He keeps asking to play football. I've been resistant for so long, but think we'll probably let him this year.
Dellaina is still playing travel softball, still catching and Greg is still assistant coaching. She is still in Girl Scouts and loves art - doing Art Club at school - and writing. She's playing the stand up base in Orchestra and enjoying it. I'm struggling to keep up with all of her Instagramming and Pinterest and texts, but overall, thankfully, she is still desirous of doing the right thing and not much into boys.
Wyatt gets on the bus at 6:45 in the morning - Greg gets up with him and gets hime ready and on the bus then leaves for work himself. Even on mornings I am actually home, they still have their routine and just let me sleep. He gets home in the afternoon about 2:40. Dellaina gets herself up (most days! we've only had 2 where she's overslept and missed the bus!) fixes breakfast and texts us when she's on the bus around 8:15-8:20 and gets home about 4:20.
Wyatt has been struggling with writing and his spelling is atrocious, so we've been trying to come up with "fun" ways to get him writing daily. We have him writing letters back and forth with his Granny and I bought several journals in attempts to get him practicing, but in a less structured way. He could be very good at it if he didn't spend all of his energy protesting and resisting. He's got amazing vocabulary and loves to argue and discuss, but only verbally. Everything, even "texting" gets voice commanded, so there's just a struggle to actually put pen to paper or even just actual typing! I got each kiddo a "daily questions" journal that just poses a question for each day of the year and will collect the short answers for 3 years! It's pretty basic, but I'm excited about capturing their thoughts and ideas over the course of several years. Simple questions like "what was the most boring part of school today?" "what is your favorite time of year" "who is your favorite teacher" "if you could go anywhere, where would you go?" "what is your typical breakfast?" Then, I also got each child a "back and forth" book to pass between myself and them. Dellaina started at the very beginning and we've been filling out each page, in order. Wyatt flipped through and found the page that required the least amount of actual writing and started there and continues to just randomly flip through and find a page that he feels like doing rather than going in any particular order.

Dellaina just had her 12 year checkup last week and is taller than me by a good 3 inches now and weighs more also! Even though I was shocked by the number they recorded, she looks great and works out regularly for softball and runs around the block regularly as well (about a mile in about 10 minutes).

I joined the Lifetime Fitness gym that is right next to our neighborhood at the end of November and have been enjoying getting back into a regular kickboxing class.
Hank is going on 14 this year! He's still lumpy and takes more effort to jump up into our tall bed (I just ordered him some steps to help) and his breathing is loud and labored at times (he'll lay with his head cocked a little at an angle to assist when he's puffing out air/his jowls). He's still a barker, hates thunderstorms, loud "discussions", riding in the car, and the vet. He is a homebody and likes to just be left the heck alone.
Bullet is still full of energy and goes to day camp regularly. I take him on my runs as well. He loves playing fetch and is constantly encouraging Greg to take a break in his workout to come out and throw a ball. He's sweet, scared of his own shadow and always ready to eat. We still keep him mostly leashed and lots of effort to keep him and Hank separated. He is not allowed up on the couch and sleeps in his crate at night, but gets plenty of naps in the bed with me and occasionally lays with Dellaina at night.
They both are still good sleepers - Wyatt will sleep in super late (10 or even 11) if he can. Dellaina knows when she is done and will go on to bed when she needs to. They are decent eaters, but could learn to eat more vegetables.
Think that's a good start at an update...hopefully, it won't be another 6 years before I document again.