How my summer failed ... and the successes I did not expect

So when I decided to quit my job at the beginning of summer vacation, I had this plan of how our days would go. Breakfast, cleanup, play time, lunch, cleanup, fun activity, nap, dinner, evening activities, house cleaning bed. That was my schedule. That schedule has actually happened maybe 2 days out of 2 months.
I forgot to take into account doctor's appointments, grocery shopping, laundry, cheerleading practices becoming more frequent, baseball games getting rescheduled because of rain, zoo trips being canceled for heat, birthday parties to attend, hours spent on the phone with insurance companies, billing specialists, and government agencies.
Lately I have been feeling like I am failing miserably as a stay at home mom. When I worked, I would do something good and my boss would send me an email of appreciation. I would help a co-worker and hear thank you. I got tons of positive messages about what I was doing. I quit my job and then the hard work began. I was with kids day in, day out, and for 19 of those days I did not have any help. No one says thank you when you change a diaper, wash some dishes, shop for groceries, spend time on planning that grocery trip to maximize your money with all the rising costs. It is hard to feel good about things when you hear all the fighting, complaining, and dont hear the postives to counter it.
Last night I had really bad insomnia because I had all these cheers going through my head. Witchlet missed out on early cheerleading practices. Well she went, but because of a scheduling conflict she was practicing with the senior squad and since this is her first year she is a junior cheerleader. The squads do the same cheers .. but they have different movements. This has caused her some confusion and I said that I would put my high school cheerleading skills to use and work on reteaching her. Thus the cheers in my head. So I got to thinking about the smile on her face when she gets it right after I have spent time working with her on a cheer. It's her success of course .. but that smile is my reward.
Goobie-kins loves the computer. He will sit in front of it for hours if we let him. It isnt just the games though. He likes to use the different programs and see what they do. He created some artistic picture using paint and he was so excited about it. When he wanted to show it to me my first thought was the laundry I needed to be doing. But I took the time and went to look and he had a picture that he had made and the words said "I love my mom" (I think something might have been misspelled but that was the message) My heart melted in that moment and I hugged him. Another success.
Then there is my little Butterfly. With her every day brings new things .. at least new to her. Every day is filled with lots of smiles, happy giggles, her happily babbling to anyone who will listen. Isn't a happy baby a success for her mom? I mean if I was really failing, she would not be this happy all the time, would she?
Those are some of my big successes, but I have had little successes too. I got to taste green peppers that I grew in my garden and tomorrow I get to try a tomato that I grew. I have planned how I will do my garden next year too. I pulled off a really good party for the kids, which was a lot of effort but then I realize in the big picture not so important. Next year I wont do so much. I did quite a bit of yard cleanup from the junk that the previous owners left behind.
So my perfect summer schedule went right out the door .. and now we are heading overseas for 2 weeks in Sweden. When we return, I do have to get on a schedule in preparation for school starting, but I think that once Witchlets cheerleading is over, I want to be very careful about not overbooking the calendar.