July 4-25, 2025

I have been such a slack blogger!  I've never gone three weeks without writing.  I think it's because I have hardly any photos to show, and because the kids are so independent now, there's not as much to write about.  I think this is a good thing!

We've had a good few weeks. There has been drama, of course, and it is a constant struggle in the mornings to get the kids out of bed at a decent time.  Carmie has been very nauseous in the mornings upon waking, but we might have solved this problem.  She ate a few crackers this morning before she even sat up, and she said it helped.  Not that she is any more awake and motivated to move, just not nauseous.  Haha.

Arley has been doing well.  He sleeps a huge amount during the day - maybe that's why life has been easier lately!  LOL.  He is sleeping at night too, so I am trying not to be concerned.  He has been helping me in the mornings with his breakfast (this is massive, has been an ongoing struggle for years!!), and today I was able to take him to the hair dressers, get his hair cut shorter than he has in years, and he barely complained or argued with me.  It sounds small, but it is a win!

Carmie is still absolutely loving her D&D, and gets picked up and dropped off most sessions, so I have little involvement now.  A few weeks ago one of the boys from her group asked her out for coffee, so they met up at a nearby cafe for a couple of hours.  Carmie insists it wasn't a date, but I'm not sure the boy would agree!  Carmie is getting stuck into being a teen girl, experimenting with makeup and nail polish that she got for her birthday, wearing jeans for the first time in her life (we found some really good stretchy jeans that feel like leggings, because jeans are a bit of a sensory nightmare for her). She gets her own dinner at least one night a week, and has been doing a lot of writing and drawing.  Now I just have to get her exercising more.  She has been playing handball with me a little, so that's a start.

Jeffrey is back in the swing of things as far as his guitar school goes.  He has quite a few new students since returning from the US, and he is quite pumped to see the business expand.

I've been painting a fair bit and have just started a large painting for my brother.  I have found a gallery space that will take my work as I create it, which is giving me much more incentive to paint with a purpose.  Things are looking up!

Sorry about the lack of good photos, after three weeks of not posting!  No photos of Carmie at all :(

Arley and I on a morning walk.  And yes, I chopped my hair off again, and feel much more like myself!

730, 731 + 626, 627 Weeks

It has been a rather hectic week, what with Jeffrey coming home from the US and the kids having their birthday.  I spent Monday getting ready for their birthday, wrapping presents, getting the house tidied up, did some work, and it feels like I never stopped and suddenly it is Friday afternoon.  Jeff arrived home on Tuesday morning.  It was very good to see him again.  It was a long three weeks, for both of us, I think!  He is still quite jet lagged, getting tired early and waking up even earlier.  Luckily he is not starting back to work until Monday, so he has some recovery days.

It was the kids' birthday on Wednesday.  They turned 14 and 12.  I don't quite know how that has happened, but suddenly they are both big kids!  They got to do exactly what they wanted on their birthday, which meant that they opened presents first thing in the morning, then Lolo and Dida came over for morning tea / birthday cake, and then Carmie went off to her D&D group, and Arley stayed home and played his computer.  On Thursday morning Arley had a couple of friends over for his birthday.  It was supposed to be four kids, but two kids ended up not making it because they thought they were going to be back from camping, but they weren't.  Arley and his two mates still had a really good time.  We set up the fire pit for them so they could build a fire and roast marshmallows.  They played with balloons and darts (always a fun combo, LOL), and then Xbox, meanwhile eating a whole lot of candy and junk food.  And Carmie avoided them at all costs.  Haha.

So, Jeff had a good time in the US, but he is very happy to be home.  The kids are very happy he is home too.  Arley was asking about him several times a day for the last week.  Arley has had a good couple of weeks.  He has started seeing a psychologist, which is great - we really like him.  He has two new foods, and he now helps me with one of his meals that I prepare him.  Carmie has been pretty good, except that she has been quite nauseous again over the past few days.  She had an appointment with her gastroenterologist.  He thinks she might have gastroparesis, which is delayed emptying of the stomach, and has given her a med that we are hoping helps.  It seemed to be working at first, but not so great the past few days.  He said to double the dose if her nausea isn't better within two weeks, and I think we are about at that point.  If this doesn't work, she has to have a gastric emptying scan done, and then we move on to different meds.  So keep your fingers crossed!

They clearly did not like our singing!