SCARY SPRAY!
So Isaac was having the hardest time with sleep. Didn't want to go to bed at night because he was scared so it was up and down a million times. He kept waking up at night scared and coming in our room. It was getting so ridiculous. I couldn't figure out what was so scary and what to do. It was night after sleepless night and I was at my wits end. I was so tired. Here he was 5 years old and NOT sleeping. I am not one who just puts the kid in bed with us to go back to sleep because I know that habit can be just as hard to break. I was talking about my frustration at work one day when a friend told me about something she did when her kids were done so I decided to try it. Her kids were afraid of monsters so she used monster spray. Isaac was scared of anything and everything. Fires, bad guys, storms, everything. So, after everything I had tried I decided it couldn't hurt to try one more thing. I filled up a squirt bottle with some water and told him it was "SCARY SPRAY." I told him my friend at work gave me some to use. I sprayed it everywhere. Under the bed, behind the door, in the closet, the floor, the air, you get the idea. I told him that it would make it so that no bad guys could come in and no bad things would happen. I told him that because I sprayed his room, it blocked EVERYTHING from entering it and that if something bad tried to come in they would just bounce away. The first night he looked at me as if I was crazy. But I had to play this up big time. I pointed the bottle towards the door for "extra protection" That night he slept through the night for the first time in months. I went in and made A HUGE DEAL of the fact that he'd slept through the night. I literally yelled to everyone that the scary spray worked and Isaac stayed in bed all night. That night when I put him to bed, I sprayed again. This time he was still a little skeptical but he made sure I sprayed areas that I had not sprayed before (in his backpack to be specific) and it worked. That night he woke up to go to the bathroom but went right back to bed. I continued to make a big deal about it working until he convinced himself that it worked. A few days into it he asked me what we were going when we ran out. I told him I knew the special store where we could buy it that only parents knew about. (I put a small amount in it every few days and he never questioned that it never ran out) It has made all the difference in my sleep! One day we will all laugh at this or he will be mad that I lied to him or embarrassed or all of the above. Bottom line is it worked!!!! It's been months and he no longer hates going to bed....

Caden and Isaac were always wanting to sleep in each others room. They were willing to sleep on the floor night after night. I finally decided this was just not making sense. So I made the decision to put them in the same room. We bought bunk beds and put the beds and the dressers in Isaac's room and then we turned Caden's room into "the boy cave." There is the desktop computer, a TV, DVD player, our OLD Nintendo, movies, toys, books, and who knows what else is in there. They love this idea and have had so much fun with the beds and having their little boy cave to play in. During the process we threw out tons of stuff. Old holy clothes, stupid kid meal toys that have accumulated, etc. It was a good move!

Ten things I'm grateful for this week:
1. The few warm days that we have had this week.
2. Both of my boys doing so well in school.
3. Being able to stay at home for the past six weeks.
4. Extreme coupon to teach me how to save moola.
5. A washer and dryer.
6. Having our lawn mowed for the 1st time this year.
7. Fun times with friends.
8. My cute new skirt and shirt.
9. Starting to sleep better.
10. Getting the all clear from my doctor.

Thought for the week:
Dance like no one is going to put you on you tube!

Thought for the day:

Today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday and all is well!

Ten things I'm grateful for this week:

1. My incredibly supportive husband and all that he is.
2. My surgery going exactly as planned.
3. So many wonderful friends and family who have brought food and love.
4. My kids for helping me so much.
5. SOAP net. What else would I watch all day?
6. The crazy spring weather.
7. Cookie crisp sprinkles cereal. (It's gluten free by the way)
8. Matt for not letting me lift a finger while I recover.
9. Grandparents for watching the kids for us.
10. Smart people who become awesome doctors.

What Caden did on his summer vacation

Matt has Monday's off. He took Caden and Isaac to the water slide while I was at work one day. I got a call shortly after lunch that they were coming up to visit me. At first I was excited until I
realized it wasn't a friendly visit. Caden had come down off one of the slides, hit his chin, was knocked out and was lying face down in the pool. Thank goodness Matt was coming down right behind him with Isaac and ran to grab him. He was out for about a minute. Matt had someone grab a towel for the blood and rushed to the hospital because he knew he could get there faster than the time it would take to call an ambulance to get there. He had to get 7 stitches but it could have been so much worse. I'm so grateful for my awesome husband. And now Caden understands why he cannot go swimming with just his friends and no parents. I can only imagine if he was not with an adult this day. This was the before picture and I'm not sure where the after one is.