Wow!! What a summer!

It happens EVERY year - as the school year nears the end, I can HARDLY wait. With two teens that are ADHD, the demands of the school year can absolutely wear me out - I have the job of teaching them how to cope with their limitations, build on their strengths). I sometimes feel like I have two jobs - the one that comes with a paycheck and the one God has placed before me (parenting). I sometimes look forward to my daytime job because the demands of God's job seems to take every fiber of my being. I always seem to covet the end of the school year - time to slow down, take a break from the double-duties. It never fails to be an illusion!

While there aren't the extra demands of the school year, my kids have always had busy summers and this year was NO exception! We started off with a bang right after school got out May 22nd. Cait and I had plans to go to Savannah with the Girl Scouts and Sean had a trip with the Boy Scouts. We all left the morning of May 27th - we were all very excited (Rick was going to have 5 days to himself!) I was looking forward to the break (my parents' house sprung a leak - more on that later) and the trips to Mobile had worn me out.


Cait and I had a great time on our trip! It turned out so that it was just the two of us traveling in the car the whole time - great time to talk, great time to have fun, a time I know I will cherish for a while. I'll do another post with more about our fun. I had a chance to see Cait maturing into a young lady - what a treat! We were driving partners, I depended on her greatly and it was really nice to share the load behind the wheel. She's a good driver - seems to have always been good. She took to it well when she got her permit 2 yrs ago. I was never really nervous, but cautious at times (especially when I had to have her drive the last 4 hrs of the trip - from the other side of Atlanta) I just could not be behind the wheel another moment. She did very well - I was very proud.

Sean's trip was to "Sea Base" - it's a high adventure trip. They traveled to Key West to board a sail boat for a week - they were the crew. The group was divided into 2 boats, 8 persons each. They cooked, cleaned, navigated, manned the helm - they did it all. There was an experienced captain on board, but the scouts and their leaders did the work. Sean had a ball - took to the nautical world with ease (any surprise with my mother an experienced sailor, and Rick and I former Navy??)

The week after these trips, Cait turned 17 and got to take her driving test. Unfortunately, nerves got the best of her and she did not pass the first attempt. She went back the very next morning, passed with ease!!! We now have 3 licensed drivers and 2 cars. Cait is limited in when she can use the car - only to help us, because she must finish her Gold award first (Girl Scout equivalent of Eagle Scout). Her project packet was submitted the day of her 1st driving test and she was approved after her interview later in the summer. She just has to get the project done now (still waiting!!) She left for two weeks of Girl Scout camp 2 days after her birthday/drivers license!!!

We made the tough decision to enroll Sean at Lyman Ward Military Academy for Summer school, which started a week after Cait's birthday. We had hoped visiting the campus would shake him enough to change his attitude/disrespect, but it didn't, so he went to summer school. We were hoping to make him understand that he had exhausted all our patience - we were running out of options to turn him around. He started a day late since he returned from Impact late Monday.

Rick's grandmother passed away the next day. Sean took it much harder than we expected. We had given both kids the option of staying (school/camp) or coming home for the funeral. Sean came home, Cait finished out her last week as a camper. We were all sad to lose Gonga, but at 92 yrs old, she had lived a very long, full life - it was time for her to be with Dick again - her beloved, only child. I was at peace thinking of them together.

Sean returned the week after July 4th - it has been a downward slide ever since. Not necessarily him, our "routine". We've had NO routine, NO responsibilities, nothing but being lazy (well, the kids at least!!!) Getting them (and me) back into routine has been brutal! School started Aug 11th and here we are. We decided not to send Sean back to Lyman for the regular school year (more later) - I pray daily that it was the right decision. He still seems to be rebellious - trying to figure out what is "normal", what is ADHD/ODD, and what is pure, willful defiance boggles our mind daily.

I will get my photos together and try to put things together and update soon!!