We spent a good portion of today trying to get Grace excited about football again. She used to get very excited when football would come on, she loved watching it with daddy. Lately, she's too busy. Too many other distractions. And we haven't been focusing in on our main teams this season, so she didn't have a team to root for. Now that Ben's fantasy football league is done, I thought it was the perfect time to remind grace how fun it is to root for your home team! ...wamp wamp. Not a great game to use for excitement for the home team. Ha! We got one celebratory dance for a touchdown before she got bored of shouting "defense!" and gave up.
Maybe she'll like the playoffs?
She did thoroughly enjoy cheering for the first quarter. We learned the difference between offense and defense, the importance of the first down, the point values of a touchdown with and without the extra point (thanks Cards), as well as the field goal. She did a lot of chanting, a lot of tackling daddy, and several high fives. We're getting there!
Here's a video of Gracie during the game:
Mommy got to sleep in this morning before we headed off to church. Grace loves Sunday school (she earns the role of "line leader" often!) and our church has a special needs program so Caleb has his own less-crowded and less structured room to hang out in. Janet comes to church and acts as his 1:1 aide, though they offer that to any of the special needs kids. Caleb is just a bit harder with his aggression, it takes someone who knows him well to keep him and his friends safe. I adore this church, the two main pastors are brilliant and relevant and inspired. The worship is on point, as well. Mission critical for me.
Because mommy slept in, Daddy got Caleb dressed and ready, which means he wore athletic pants. Always athletic pants. :) today was superman day, though! I love when he wears his superman stuff. His room is fully decked out in superman decor to emphasize our little man's hidden powers. He may not seem super powerful at first, but get to know Caleb and you'll always be surprised! Not only is his strength shocking, but his determination, his persistence, his ability to overcome and keep on smiling- it's beyond explanation. There are things that we struggle with about Caleb- his attention deficit, his aggression, his stubbornness and defiance at times, but I am continuously amazed by what he can do, what he can understand and grasp, and what he brings to our family. People have been changed fundamentally by knowing Caleb, in wonderful ways. Now that's super power.
Another one of Caleb's super strengths? Napping! When he wants to, little man can rock out a good 3 or 4 hour nap and still sleep for 10-12 hours at night. Of course, I should probably emphasize that a good night's sleep happens about 15% of the time and a nap at all is always hit or miss. But today was a nap day! It started with resisting nap for over an hour but when he finally passed out, he was out! We woke him up at 5:30 so he might actually fall asleep tonight. So far, so good!
We planned on hitting Costco for our monthly trip but the nap shut that down. I'll figure out how to get there with the kids tomorrow. We do a monthly trip and try to stay under $150, but that's tough! We used to spend hundreds of Dillard's there before the whole single income thing. We've tightened things up quite a bit now that I'm home full time. Our goal is to keep the weekly grocery trip under $100 in addition to our once monthly $150 Costco run. We stay pretty close to that in general. That's budgeting super powers if you ask me!
The rest of the night was spent lounging, tickling, and cooking. The kids got their favorite Mac and cheese with turkey and peas (in a glass bowl with a big kid spoon for grace) and mommy and daddy cooked some delicious steak, sweet potatoes, and sautéed mushrooms for dinner after bedtime (and opened our last Salvestrin Three D bottle of wine, Papa!!!). ;) Yummmm! We still aren't eating as a family often- usually because Caleb requires 100% attention when being fed and we often have a Hab provider here so family dinner means something different for us. We'll get there one day, but for now it means I make dinner twice each night if ben and I want a home cooked meal (unless it requires grilling, than ben takes care of business!). One day!
Enjoy some good photo shoot shots from today!
I love Caleb's super powers! He single-handedly has influenced a big change in my understanding (and acceptance) of the needs of special needs children.
ReplyDeleteHe loves your nana super powers as well! He's a lucky guy!
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