The Grass is Always Greener in Some one Else's Yard, Right?

I'm all for buying a can of green spray paint and painting my yard green.  It doesn't have to be natural, does it? 

I remember when Alex was a newborn my grandparents told me to cherish him as an infant.  I remember looking at my grandpa and saying, "What are you saying?" He smiled and said, "In a few years, you'll understand."  Well, it has been 6 years, boy, do I ever understand.  Life gets real crazy real fast! 

 I love this picture -- I get it.  I really do!  There are days I feel the way she looks -- LOL!

Today is a perfect example of this craziness -- a craziness that we should be getting used to in the Astley house but  for some reason it still catches us by surprise. 

The surprises started a couple of weeks ago when we learned there could be issues with Alex's insurance so we have been busy trying to figure out a solution to that problem.  We learned that Alex is struggling in school, but trying so hard -- Jacob sat down with Alex the other night and told him we were so proud of him for being such a hard worker. Kids today have to do more in kindergarten than we did 25 years ago when we were in school -- more is expected of them.  As if that wasn't enough on a 6-year-old boy's plate Alex has to work harder at it because of all his issues -- he has speech or OT after school most days of the week. We encourage him and we ARE proud of him but some days it's hard to watch your child struggle.

To add to the fun in the Astley house we have a pipe leaking under the sink in the boys' bathroom.
The computer we use the most freaked out on me this morning and started beeping (or yelling) at me and "saying" it had viruses.  I let Jacob know about the problem and then I slowly and quietly (as not to upset the computer) walked away and pulled out the lap top.

Jacob gets paid once a month and although it's hard to make a paycheck last 4 weeks we know we can do it.  The problem comes when December rolls around.  Jacob gets paid about halfway through the month -- before Christmas break -- and then he doesn't get paid again until the end of January.  Well, I'm not going to lie -- making one paycheck last 6 weeks is quite a challenge -- especially when you have two boys who want to eat all the time.

I sent a sandwich in Alex's lunch today -- only a sandwich.  He has stopped eating the healthy foods and instead eats the chips, fruit snacks, etc. I send for him. So, this morning I thought I'd outsmart him.  I'd just send a sandwich and he'd HAVE to eat it because that is all there would be.  I was so proud of myself.  Alex came home from school and I opened his lunch box -- he didn't touch his sandwich.  He said, "I didn't have time."  WHAT?  I threw the sandwich in the trash and thought about what a waste it was!  Alex shrugged his shoulders and said, "It's a sandwich, mom."  Right.

Logan has started following me around saying, "Mom.  MOM!"  when I'm on the phone.  I move from room to room trying to get away from him because I can't hear and he follows me.  I don't know if maybe it's a game and I'm not aware that we're playing a game, but when I saw this picture I thought it was fitting!

I keep reminding myself that there will always be days like this.  And even though other families appear to have it better I try to remember to be thankful for what we have because there is always some one who is worse off than we are.

And who knows, maybe tomorrow I'll wake up and look outside and the grass in our yard will be greener! ;) 

PS . . . if you want to follow the 30 Day Picture Challenge, it's on my other blog, now!