Sandboxes and Popsicles

Saturday, March 16, 2013

We have had a busy weekend...(thankful for the quiet first part of spring break).

Thursday night we had Jbird's 6th birthday. Some friends and us each got a hotel room then we invited a few boys from Jbird's class over to swim. They had a ball. We bought some water blasters (guns) from the dollar store. They were a hit. They shoot water about 40 feet and the boys had a blast. A few random pictures.

(I did not want to deal with the mess of a cake, so made rice krispie cake. The frosting was a little too much.)

One of the favorite gifts...It is a snow tube but they work great in the water and are way more durable than a normal raft.

And a parting shot of my now six year old. What a joy he is!

Monday, March 11, 2013

This past weekend was day number 2 for Jbird on the slopes. JR, B, Jbird and I headed up to the ski slopes. JR actually took them up to start skiing at 9 and I hung with JB for a bit before arriving at 11. They started on the beginner hill - it was JRs first time in 8 years snowboarding. Then they went up the lift. From what I hear Jbird kept falling so about half way down the hill he took off his skis and walked down.

When I arrived I skied the bunny hill with Jbird. The first time down, I wanted him to go around the cones. Every time he attempted to turn, he fell. First cone, fell...second cone he fell...third cone he fell...fourth cone he fell. He was up as quickly as he went down. The second time down the hill, he pointed the skis straight down the hill and did not turn at all. He ended with a baseball slide at the bottom. The third time down he headed straight down and ended with a baseball slide into the lift fencing. The fourth time down he headed straight down and weaved out the 'gate' and slid around several people watching - one of them a lady holding a small baby. I followed him down and told him he needed some control. A man nearby laughed and said 'he had control' and I said 'control enough to know when to fall'. That kid...he looked great on skis until he had to turn, then he would find himself sprawled all over the snow.

At the beginning of his lesson I casually mentioned to Jbird that maybe his instructor would help him learn how to turn instead of doing the slide. She said 'you are the one..I have been watching you do hockey stops all morning!'. They could get him to turn a bit, but not much. After the lesson was over, he went down the bunny hill probably another 30 times. It sure was fun riding the lift and watching him. He is a liability on the hill though...he needs to understand why turning is beneficial and how to stop.

During Jbird's lesson I went up on the lift with B. He wanted to use my poles. I have told them no, that poles are just a distraction until you get more comfortable turning. For some reason I gave him my poles as we headed to load the chair lift. Bad idea. Somehow he managed to sit on the lift with the poles but got tangled up enough that his skis fell off. I turned back around to see the lift operator grab the skis and hand them to a man behind us. I turned back around and then it was probably another 30 seconds before B looked down and said 'my skis...'. He did not even know they had fallen off. So, of course when we got ready to download at the top, they stopped the lift so he could 'walk' off. He is more comfortable on his skis but still tends to use more of a wide snow plow, which tires the legs very quickly.

They are both anticipating the last day so that we can eat in the lodge cafeteria!

This week is spring break - not a lot planned except the one night in a hotel room.

Friday, March 8, 2013

Once again, every day I thought I need to sit down and type.

Jbird was home sick on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Not really sick enough to go to the doctor, but sick enough that I felt he would be sent home anyway. Always a low grade fever - yet up and moving around quite a bit. Every afternoon I would tell him he was going the next day to school and he would wake up with a 100 fever.

JB has not yet had an evaluation for OT. They are really backed up and not sure with spring break if they have any openings for next week. The boys all go to the dentist next week and B goes back to orthodontist. We are about 7 months in and I think he is finally getting his appliance tightened for the first time.

Today JB had a tea party at school for one of his teachers. They each had to bring 6 cookies and wear party attire. He chose to wear a button down shirt and tie! He looked so dapper. I tried to get a picture of him but he just wanted me to get a picture of him doing the splits.....

For probably the last 8-9 months we have been saving....

Saving our change for some fun. We ended up with $126 worth of change. Whenever I spend bills, I save the change. So, next week we are getting a hotel room with some friends of ours so the boys can swim, swim and swim. Since it also coincided with Jbird's birthday, figured we would have a few other kids and make it a party! So, will be fun next Thursday! Our jar is now empty and I guess we will start saving for 2014 spring break!

Tomorrow JR and I are heading to the ski hill with the older two. Will be fun to have an almost 'family' outing. JB will be hanging with a friend of his. B is excited to get on the hill with dad. They will have several hours together in the afternoon. The weather has been really nice lately, sure hope the snow holds until end of March for all the lessons.

Tried to get a good picture of JB but he was goofing off....

I started a 400 page book about a week ago and almost done with it. Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand (who wrote Seabiscuit). Unbelievable book! A true story about WW II and one of the POWs - . Before being drafted he was predicted to become the first man to run the mile in under 4 minutes. In the book, he at one point survived a plane crash along with 2 other guys and they spent about 45 days adrift at sea. (Interesting that two of them fought to keep hope and their mind active and those were the two that survived the raft ordeal - the other guy had hopelessness from the beginning and he succumbed to it while in the raft). The things they did to survive and how the elements racked their bodies. Then they thought they were being rescued and turned out the rescue plane was a Japanese plane that made like 7 passes over them, every time smothering them with enemy fire, yet they survived and managed to repair their raft. They eventually were captured by Japanese ship and became POWs for 2 years. The treatment they were subjected to is hard to read. How any human being could treat another human being like that. Sure makes me appreciate our armed forces more and what they do for us. I think it is easy to be like 'oh, those vets...' but reading first hand what is endured....unbelievable. I am not yet finished with the book but the war has ended and it is talking about all the statistics, psychosis that the men lived with, hunting down war criminals, etc. An excellent, eye opening, sober read.

Off to get in a few more chapters.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Saturday was suppose to be Day 2 of skiing.

Jbird woke up and said he did not feel good, so did not want to go. (He had been looking forward to it all week, so I knew he had to be sick). I contemplated not going at all, since B was not signed up for the weekly lessons. However, I decided to commit to a program they have that allows you to earn a free lift ticket for the day. I told them I would spend 2 hours on Saturday afternoons (when Jbird has his lessons) to help the younger kids ride up the lift during their lesson. So, they were counting on me to be there. B and I headed out.

I was grumpy and irritable - not sure why, just not in the best frame of mind. As B and I got in the car, I was praying that we would have a good day.

We got up to the mountain fairly early and all the rental stuff rented. As I was getting my free ticket for the day, I asked B if he wanted to take a lesson - no, he was good. We took a few trips on the beginner hill (my first time on skis in over 8 years). I was trying to encourage B to make more turns. He reassured me several times that he could turn and was doing fine - he after all DID know how to ski. He said he wanted to go up the 'big' lift. I was not 100% comfortable with that, but I also know that my oldest sometimes has to learn lessons the hard way. So, we headed up. About half way through the 7 minute lift ride, he looked down and said that maybe it was not such a good idea.

We got off the lift and headed down. I have often told him that his greatest hurdle to overcome is his mind. He gets in panic mode and self destructs. The ski hill was no exception. "I can't do this", "look at all the younger kids who are better", "I will never learn".... He would get to going downhill and forget to do his turns, then get going too fast and then not know what to do. Several times I had to ski down below him to help him stop. One time, under the lift no less, I was below him waiting for him and he came straight toward me. He did not know what to do so he ran right into me. Fortunately I stayed on my feet, but he did not. Poor kid was just a mess, laying in the snow. People that had seen him run into me while on the lift were skiing down to see if he was okay. Lots of wounded pride. I made him continue to pick himself up and make his way down the mountain. By the time we got to the bottom, he decided a lesson that afternoon would be a good idea.

I signed him up for a lesson. I was not sure if one would have considered him a level 2, so put him back in a beginner lesson. Turns out, once again, he was by himself, so a 1.5 hour lesson. I sent them off at 12:30. They made one run on the beginner hill and I saw them head to the 'big' lift. I prayed for the best and headed at 1pm to help the younger kids ride the lift. At 2pm B and his instructor found me. B told me he spent the whole lesson up on the big hill and he was ready to go by himself. I gave the instructor a look and he assured me B could do it. So, I sent my 8 year old off by himself, while I spent another hour with the young kids.

I actually had fun with the young kids. Myself and another lady would stand around waiting and then a wave of kids with instructors would come through. We would scoot up with the kids, make sure they actually sat on the chair as it came around, talk with them on the way up, help them off and then ski down to do it again.

When I was done, I hooked up with B and we tried the lift again. He did great. It was fun to follow him down the mountain. He had gained so much more confidence and it just reaffirmed that although I think I could teach some kids to ski, I definitely cannot teach my oldest. He will forever do better with an instructor. We went on a second big lift and all the way up B told me about the gully. He wanted to ski the gully - the narrow, really narrow gully. I told him to head out and I would follow him. I don't like narrow skiing places. I am sure it has something to do with a narrow slope/gully in my younger years and going too fast and feeling like I did not have room to turn. We made it through though. He did ask me, as he waited for me at the end, why it took me so long. I told him I did not like narrow places but that he had challenged me to do it.

We got all our stuff put away and then headed to dinner. Overall a great day and I am really looking forward to exploring more of the mountain as the boys get older.

When we got home, Jbird had been resting all day and even took a nap. He had a fever, that is still lingering a day later! It seems that one of the boys have been home just about every day the last two weeks - sure ready for some healthy, feel good boys!

Thursday, February 28, 2013

No fun pictures today! Just randomness.

JB has been puny most of this week. Missed 2 days of school thus far. You know your 3 year old is not feeling well when you ask him if he wants to ride the bus to school or take a nap and he chooses a nap.

JB has gotten into cheering these days. He gets excited and says "wahoo, wahoo". He still has not been evaluated for OT yet - guess lots of people are requesting evaluations these days at the facility we go to.

The older two are counting down until they get to hit the slopes again!

B asked yesterday 'why is it called a pair of underwear when it is only one'? Anyone have an answer for that. Leave it up to that kid to come up with that one.

Jbird continues to do well with reading, gaining more and more confidence!

I asked one of the older boys recently what word they thought of when they thought of me. That was a tough question I was told, so I told them they could come up with 5 words. They came up with 4....merciful - although they told me it was optional, argumentative, caring and loving. I had to think about the argumentative one...maybe I need to quit trying to reason/explain myself and just say no.

I have sold 3 items on Craiglist and made $90 this week. I could get into more of this....Even sold/traded a few things on Amazon and hoping to add to my account gift card balance so I can get another camera lens. Always more fun to purchase something when you have been saving up for it.

JR continues to work a lot. So thankful for a good, steady, secure job! I put in 35 hours this month - which is just perfect for me. Looks like March will be somewhat busy with spring breaks happening. I have already talked with them about summer and sounds like things will ramp up quite a bit for me with the rental cars. I guess it makes more sense, since people feel more comfortable driving in the summer instead of taking taxis and buses everywhere like they do in the winter.

Off to get dinner and then to Cub Scouts. The boys officially advance tonight. Which means B is now a Webelo. He can start going on some overnight camping trips and can now attend their 3 day summer camp! They are slowly introduced to Boy Scouts too, when all the fun and work really begins.

Sunday, February 24, 2013

The boys had a blast on the ski hill today.....Jbird is signed up for 5 weeks of Saturdays. B decided he wanted to try it too. So, I signed him up for a group lesson and as I had hoped, he was the only one his age and skiing ability, so he got a private lesson for an hour and half.

I tried to get them to wait to put on their skis....was not gonna happen.

B and his instructor Tom

Look at the snow....

He likes the ski lift.

J had so much fun doing one legged - still not sure how that came about.

He was frustrated with his fogging goggles.

A big thumbs up

J's first time getting on the lift.

Hopefully the first of many pictures of them on the hill.

The two of them road the lift by themselves several times!

Poor little JB, he was not feeling well. He slept for 3 hours in the lodge. JR and I would swap off sitting with him. He would briefly wake up, look around and then snuggle with whoever was sitting down with him next.

It was a blustery day at times.

The overall concensus of the day...they had a blast and cannot wait until next Saturday. I know now why I have not attempted it earlier...it is a ton of work getting everyone geared up and in their right place. Hopefully next week will be much smoother.

Friday, February 22, 2013

We headed out recently to feed the ducks at the college duck pond.
I don't think any of us expected to be stormed by the ducks. I don't know if they were just really, really hungry (it was President's Day so there were no college kids around) or if they just need a lot more calories during the winter.) Surprisingly, the kids were not too freaked out about them being so close.

I love this picture because you can see the ducks following the boys around the pond.

JB spent about 15 minutes with an occupational therapist yesterday. She definitely sees some issues. She is hoping to do a more detailed evaluation soon to see if he qualifies for more therapy. She cannot quite pin point it yet but having to do with hand eye coordination, bilateral movement, visual tracking,etc. I told her I have always considered him coordinated. She said it is not necessarily coordination, so to speak. She compared it to how kids will often walk on the parking 'blocks' (the concrete blocks that you find at the top of a parking space) with no problems. But when she gets them in her office and asks them to walk on a balance beam, they can't. If it requires a thought process, they struggle with it. Since apraxia is a neurological issue, affecting motor planning, we are assuming that the motor planning issues are starting to show up in the gross and fine motor areas. This OT saw him at 22 months, so she has a baseline to compare it to once she re-evaluates.

I of course came home and emailed JB's teacher, since the therapist said she wanted to talk with them. The teacher said they have seen some of the same things and have some of the same concerns (she was just waiting to address them at our next IEP meeting). So I am glad everyone is seeing the same issues. Now to get the official eval and then deal with insurance.

Tomorrow is the big day...Jbird is finally going to hit the ski slopes. He has ski lessons for the next 5 Saturdays. B has been given the option, he just is not sure yet if he wants to commit to all 5 weeks or just take a sporadic one or two lessons while Jbird is taking his. Will be fun to see how he does with a new sport.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

A recent outing to a children's museum....
Here is JB playing on a homemade pinbell machine.

The boys building with some sticks and connectors - sure glad we don't have all these in our house !

They had a really fun farmers market with lots of play fruit and veggies

This is a bubble wall. You did the long rod into the trough of soap. Not sure if you can see it, but everything in front of JB is a wall of bubbles. The kids love blowing on it and watching it move and wave and eventually pop.

We were treated to a puppet show.

JB in a row boat, trying to figure out the life jacket.

Jbird was also with us, but he was elusive when the camera was out.

I pulled out the 4 year old and 6 year old clothes. I have learned with Jbird to not assume he will wear something. He went through everything size 6 and he either put it in the 'yes' pile or the 'no' pile. The 'no' pile gets put right back in the crawl space for when JB turns 6. (Most of Jbird's clothes are not worth passing on when he finishes with them.) I also pulled out all the other in between sizes and ended up giving away probably 250 items of clothing. Two huge, waist high garbage bags!

Talking with JB's speech therapist today. She is going to have a occupational therapist observe him on Thursday. The speech therapist is starting to see some differences/delay with his bi-lateral movement (I think that is the movement across the body). The speech therapist just wants to catch anything early, especially since what she is currently seeing could affect things when he starts to read or write. He obviously is not to the reading or writing, but I have learned - early intervention. Apraxia is all about finding things early and retraining the brain before bad habits are developed. So, will be interesting to see what the OT thinks on Thursday.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

Yesterday was Feb 16th and absolutely gorgeous. It was probably close to 50 degrees out and sunny. Amazing how warm 50 feels when you are use to 20 or 30. We got out and washed the car.

The boys for some reason love climbing on the van. Jbird had been to a party that morning and one of the party favors was a cool mask that the mom had made - striking the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle pose.

JB was out without a shirt on! He tears it up on the bike. A few weeks ago I went walking with a friend and their street was very long with little traffic. I took all three of the boys' bikes in hopes that they would ride and ride. JB was the only one that rode and rode and rode. He went for a bike ride yesterday and he rode and rode and rode. Jbird wanted to roller blade - that did not work too well. JB got so far ahead of us, that I had to send B on his bike to ride with him. JB gets in the middle of the road and those training wheels make so much noise, he can't hear anything. It was precious though watching B come along side him and ride with him.

The older two got in some soccer action. At one point B was encouraging Jbird with his amazing moves. Jbird was quite proud of himself for sticking it to his older brother. They both have good moves, but Jbird is just amazing. I was so thankful that B could be excited for his brother and recognize his talent.

This was one tired little boy after all that fun in the sun. All three of them were sitting in the desk chairs that swivels. I am very thankful that the older two boys had the insight not to spin in the chair - otherwise JB would have been hurting.

Thursday, February 14, 2013

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! Holding on to the greatest love there is today, that from our God and Father!

The cheesecake is finishing up in the oven and have plans for mac n cheese, chicken nuggets and buffalo wings for dinner. Sounds exciting, doesn't it? I like to save all the laboring for when the kids are older and will appreciate a finer selection of food:-)

The boys made their own valentines this year...(These are for you Kenna - I am trying to dust the camera off and take more pictures for you)

They actually had a lot more fun doing it than I anticipated. The best part, they finished them. I thought for sure I would end up doing the last half!

This past week I ended up in District Court. A friend of mine, who is a single parent, had to go to a hearing. Her boys were assaulted last year and I was along for moral support. When we got there, we entered through a back door and then headed to the victim services office. A lady told us what she knew about today's proceedings and then the three of us walked down to the courtroom. As soon as we sat down, my friend noticed a man standing outside the door looking at her through a window. It was a very intentional, intimidating stare. The victim services lady left for a bit and when she came back in, my friend mentioned the man. She assured my friend, as did I, that he was just trying to intimidate. We were not sure who he was but confident he was with the perpetrator and his mom. My friend, after about 15 minutes, became very uncomfortable and the man was still standing there. So the victim services lady went and asked him to move away from the door. He in so many words, was very rude and said absolutely not. The three of us then decided to leave the courtroom. My friend and I were not in the courtroom for the hearing but the perpetrator pled guilty, which we expected. I would have liked to have seen the process. But as they escorted us back out of the building and to our car, it occurred to me that we had not walked through any metal detectors. Given the day and age we live in, I was really surprised. We were in district court, where some are given lenghty sentences and emotions can run high. My friend started putting two and two together and realized the man was the perpetrators father, who had recently been released from a federal penn in Texas for armed bank robbery. I don't know about other courthouses, but our security seems pretty lax. I am thankful for God's protection yesterday and that someone was not packing a pistol. Needless to say, I don't know that my friend wants to go back for the sentencing phase.

Not much else going on around here, which I am coming to appreciate the mundane days!

Thursday, February 7, 2013

JB and I headed back to the ENT this week. Seems that one ear is doing great. The other ear, not so good (this is the ear that JB 'failed' in his hearing test). Seems the tube was laying on the outside of the ear drum but the original hole where the ear tube was is about 4mm, instead of 1mm. To have an ear drum not close up after ear tubes is not unheard of. We knew it was a potential complication. The doctor is giving it 6 more weeks to see what it will do. He is thinking it won't close up. If that is the case, he will go back in for a very short procedure where they will cover up the hole. I did not fully get the details but he talked about taking a small bit of fatty tissue from the ear lobe and using that!? I did tell him that beginning early June we plan on lots of swimming, so I want to make sure we have time for surgery and healing. If surgery was done early April, he would be cleared to swim towards end of May.

Last week were parent teacher conferences. Both teachers told me how much my boys love to write. It seems that Jbird gets upset when writing time is over. The teacher thinks he would write for an hour, if given the opportunity. B's teacher said that he has so much creativity and how much he adds to the class. They are both doing very well. Jbird can sound out most 6-7 letter words. B is still reading close to 45-60 minutes most nights. I think he would stay up until 10 every night reading if I let him.

There are several mantras that are becoming common around our house. One of them, that I read about in the book Unglued is "Remember Who You Are". Just wanting to instill in the boys who they represent - our family - and how they act out in public is a direct reflection on what people think our family stands for. The same for being a Christian. We represent Christ. The same when B has on his cub scout uniform - the scouts are expected to behave in a manner of respect.

Speaking of scouts, we have a den meeting tonight and we are working on our whittling card. We are carving things out of soap tonight. I must say, I had fun today as I practiced. Was thinking it would be a fun activity for a birthday party!

No school tomorrow, not sure why but a kick off to a fairly quiet weekend!

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Here is a picture JB's preschool teacher sent me. They made muffins yesterday and she got a picture of the little chef. He was so proud of himself - although he did not share them with me.

Yesterday was the 100th day of school - 80 more days. They seem to really fly by in the spring though.

B got his mouth appliance put back in. We negotiated on a payment at the beginning and the rate we are going, we will come out ahead. When he went in to have his appliance replace, the Dr. realized it was not a good fit, so had to, once again, make another. This time he did it with B sitting in the chair. We are about 5 months in and he has yet to get it tightened.

I have been working on the piano. Not practicing as much as I would like, but still making progress. My 'teacher' told me she sees some natural ability. Since I am right handed, I am finding it hard to have my right hand hold a note while the left hand plays. All about practice, right?

Busy next couple of days with work. I am just amazed at the money that people can/are able to spend. Great job security for those of us that are in the 'customer service' jobs. I thought a plus to the job would be that I could take the boys with me, but I have found it twice as hard to clean when they are with me. No sooner do I get things vacuumed out then they walk back over it. Amazing how a kid will not touch a window until you clean it!