how do those words taste?

Don't ya just love it when God smacks you in the face with things you've said? Well, that happened this week here at Team Swink headquartes.

Pre-swinklets and possibly post swink3, I distinctly remember questioning the parenting skills of individuals who were out running around with their young ones late at night. It usually went something like this, "Good land, what are those people thinking? It's 10:30 at night & they are dragging their kids around Wal-Mart." This was all thought or said quietly to Swink1 while observing said kid(s) either running around like a maniac or dragging around whining through the store. It was also normally said in a superior tone of voice.

 

Gads, did I really cast such crazy judgment on people for keeping their kids out late? Yep, I hate to admit it but I did. That was me & if you're honest, it has probably been you too. Oh, maybe not this particular example of keeping kids up late but something else. Let’s say, “Are they really letting their kid climb those rocks/run screaming in that park/get up ridiculously early/eat nothing but candy & drink Mt. Dew?” OK – that last one will still get the same result from me…just being honest!

 

So what has happened to make me eat my words?

We are now those people.

 

Well, I do avoid Wal-Mart but our bedtime has migrated from rather close to 8:30 to sometime between 10:30 & 11. Since Swink1 has a new work schedule where he doesn’t get off until the middle of the night & since we are living cozily in an 18 foot travel trailer; necessity dictates that our sleep habits adapt to be more like his. This means that if my kiddos need 10 – 12 hours of sleep (and they do) and I need them to sleep until 9:30 or 10:00 in the morning then they don’t go to bed until around 10:30 or 11:00 at night. They are still getting the right amount of sleep, we’ve just moved it to better suit our schedule.

Just like many of those people I questioned probably did to ensure they were doing the best for their family.

On a related note: I’m almost completely positive that one of the biggest detriments to our kids today is lack of sleep. With the schedules that we put on them and that they put on themselves they are not getting an adequate amount of sleep. Do a little sleep research at your house & see what your schedule allows for sleep. Here are some rough guidelines – as always children are different.

Newborns: 10.5 – 18 hrs.

Infants: 9 - 13  (night not including naps)

Toddlers: 12 – 14

Preschoolers: 11 – 13

School-age:  10 – 11

 

Back to the main topic: something I once disdained in other parents is something I know do. Often when we say, “I would never…” it’s only a time until God says, “Oh, but you will.”

 

So tell me what words you’ve had to eat!

Road Trip Review

Awww...finally finished!

I wanted to blog from the road but a) Swink1 had the computer with him & b) the app wouldn't work on my phone so that left me with no blogging until now.

We (the swinklets & I) left Colorado on July 25 and arrived at our destination in Virginia on August 14. In case you are wondering that's 21 day & over 3300 miles. We had a wonderful time visiting family & friends. So here is a quick rundown:

July 25th we went from Colorado to

then after a quick lunch in Clayton we jetted on over to

We hung out with Memaw for a few days swinging at the park, taking walks, seeing a movie & having giant ice cream sundaes.
We then made a slight jump up to

 

where we spent the night with my college roommate (M) & her husband (J). We got to see their awesome house that they have poured a ton of work into, the fire station where J works, play with their family of dogs, & goof off in the sprinkler system. On our way out the door Swink5 says, "Bye Bye My Mitches!"   I PROMISE she has never heard us utter any phrase that comes close to sounding the same. All the same... :-)

We headed back to 

and down south to Houston. A few days spent with Grandpa & Ms. Jean going to splash pads, playgrounds, attempting to geocache, & seeing the Water Wall was enjoyed before heading up to Fort Worth/Weatherford.
On our way we stopped to see some dear friends who love our family as much as we love theirs! The swinklets got to go shooting with G & I got to spend time with P, my sweet sister in Christ. Their house is AMAZING & they have done a wonderful job building it.
Over in Weatherford we saw cousins, friends, the swinklets great-grandmother, and a lady who shaped much of my young life. It's always so much fun to see people you haven't seen in years and to connect with people who at one time or another were a huge part of your life.

Alas, our time in Texas came to an end & we headed north once again.

An overnight stop to see my sister & two of her girls along with another lady who means an incredible amount to me & her daughter. Swimming in the hotel pool & visiting late into the night was enjoyed by all...well, most of us (the swinklets were getting tired but I could have chatted much, much longer). Absolutely loved seeing my family & getting to hang out. The next day we swung by a place that I spent a ton of time at when I was in highschool - Little Niagra. I remember that place as being absolutely freezing but ya know, after you've spent time in the mountain streams of Colorado it doesn't seem so bad! That night we ended up in OKC to spend time with my brother. It is a wonderful treasure to get to know him as an adult; he's 6 years older than me & our childhoods were completely different so we don't share many of the same memories and he has a drastically different perspective on things than I do.

On Sunday the 11th we headed east.

a quick stop at an awesome park in Little Rock was as much as we saw of the Natural State before we were on the road again headed to

well, we didn't actually stay in Memphis but since the "Welcome to Tennessee" sign is in the middle of the freeway in the middle of the bridge, I wasn't quite sure how I was gonna get the kids up there to take their picture. Around 11 that night we rolled into a little north Tennessee town to see my best friend evah! & her family.
   **I'm fully aware that the previous sentence is not grammatically correct...you can't say "evah!" without the exclamation point.
Anyway, the next day the swinklets again went shooting only this time with D & a couple of the girls. We got the tour of the farm which is not eerily reminiscent of the one A & I grew up spending time at in OK, happily enough. The family is thriving as is their garden (minus the tomatoes which have had too much rain). The girls (4 of them) are set to show horses in the State Fair soon - yay for hard work!! Not yay for the extra expense!!
Late morning of the 13th we set out once more

finally we made it to the same state as Swink1! Hallelujah! But we had once more over night stop since we wanted the swinklets to be in good spirits when they saw Daddy rather than completely exhausted from the trip.

Around 2 on August 14th we pulled into the campsite & are together again. Seeing as how that was Swink5's birthday & she kept saying she wanted Daddy to be at her party it was perfect timing.

A great trip with lots of fun times but I'm glad it's finally over!!