Football Camp

Each year the beginning of August marks the end of our summer and the start of football season.  The first 2 to 3 weeks of the season, before schools begins, is called camp.  I'm not quite sure why they call it camp.  To me camp signifies a fun and entertaining place however I don't think anyone involved in football camp thinks it's much fun.  All the practices (2 or 3 a day) and meetings (2 or 3 a day) take a physical and mental toll on the players and coaches.  Then there are the coaches families who go days on end without seeing their spouses/daddies for more than 20 minutes a day.

I'm not saying this to complain this is the place God has put us and we really do enjoy the football lifestyle.  I've just come to accept these 3 weeks of football camp as a part of each year.  And only by the grace of God do I make it through each day. I think this year has been more difficult simply because last year while I had just had a baby I had lots of help from family visitors.  This year it's just me, a spirited 2 1/2 year old and a clingy 1 year old all day long.

In light of this dynamic I have made it a point to keep pretty busy so the kids don't get bored and I don't go crazy.

We've had lots of playdates to the park, to our house, and at our friend's houses.  If we have no plans for the day we usually run errands in the morning.  Every night for dinner we go to the cafeteria to eat with daddy. Which is a special treat each day! We got to visit a fire house, eat at Chick-fil-a, go to church, visit the park, go bowling, and attend a wedding.

My time with the children has not been without some harrowing experiences.

One night while eating in the cafeteria Sawyer leaned over in his booster seat and fell off the chair onto the hard tile floor while hitting his head on the chair.  A cookie from daddy made him feel better.  After leaving supper that night we went to a nearby children's store.  Sawyer was walking around when the saleswoman came around the corner and he tripped over her foot sending him flying through the air and his first point of contact was his eye on a changing table shelf.  Immediately his brow bone swelled to the size of a ping pong ball.  The sales lady felt bad so she gave him a sticker and that seemed to calm him down.  I was a little worried about a concussion so Kyle left a meeting to check on him.  We vacillated about going to the ER.  Since he had stopped screaming we decided to give it until the morning.  Thankfully besides a swollen black eye he seems to be fine.

The night it happened

A few days later looking like he is wearing eye shadow

 Later in the week I was getting the kids ready for a bath.  I was checking on the water.  Sawyer was going potty and Nora was playing with a wash cloth.  The next thing I know I turn around to help Sawyer, he is already off the potty flushing the toilet and Nora is throwing the washcloth in the toilet.  I quickly grabbed for the washcloth as it went spiraling down...we all just stood there in disbelief as it disappeared.

In other news Nora wore her first ponytail.

After 2 weeks of the children never leaving my care it was time for a girl's night!  We dropped the kids off with a babysitter(s) and the coaches wives had a spa night.  We really just got facials and talked but it was so refreshing to be sans kiddos!

In my free time :) I also helped coordinate a wedding.

Amidst all the activities I had a doctor appointment for my thyroid.  It was not good news.  I don't want to get into the numbers but lets just say they are significantly out of normal range.  They want me to get on medicine right away, but I have to be done nursing.  I'm ready to be done nursing but until Nora decides to drink from a cup regularly I can't quit cold turkey.  Thankfully I am still experiencing no symptoms (to the dr.'s disbelief).  I may try to get a second opinion.  I don't question the blood test results or the diagnosis but my dr. is very black and white and doesn't really explain things well.  He tells me how it is and what we are going to do and doesn't like when I ask questions.  So, I am looking for other options.

The end of football camp is in sight. We are all looking forward to the start of football games so we can get on a schedule that includes more daddy time!