Moving forward

It's been a week now. Yesterday actually.

Everyone's gone home, back to their lives, back to their families. The world keeps spinning, but for us it still seems to stand still.

My kids are back in school, but where before I would run errands and do all those mom things I do. Now I get ready and head to my parents to help with, well, everything. We are 7 where we once were 8. There is a hole and although we rest in the arms of God through all of this, the pain still hurts.

Last week, I was the strong one. This week I find myself falling apart as soon as I finish my tasks for the day. Last night I sobbed through dinner and afterwards and sobbed some more when we brought the kids home to get ready for bed. I'll probably do the same today.

Yesterday, my parents took his cats to the vet and had them checked out. Today we are hoping they come out of his old room.

I know I have to keep moving forward and I know I will. But I'm also struggling with the day to day. I find myself hugging my kids more and reminding them how precious they are to each other.

Watching their grief has been hard. It's so very real to them, but children process it differently. Micah is in denial that Uncle Mike was his uncle. He will say he was my brother and his siblings uncle, but he keep saying, "My uncle did NOT die." I worry that someday the only memory he will hold is pictures and stories we tell.

Hannah has shut herself up a bit. She talks about it with us, but is mostly just sad and wants to cuddle with everyone. My little girl who was working so hard to be independent last week, his constantly sitting on laps and holding hands.

Jason's grief has been the hardest to watch. He's older and so we were honest about the circumstances of his death. He also asked us point blank about some particulars I hadn't wanted to share, but he demanded that truth. Those are hard conversations to have with a 10 year old. But they are necessary one. I learned of my uncle's suicide at his funeral by over hearing conversations. I didn't want that for him.

Today is another day in my new world. I know I will get through it. I know God is carrying us all. But it's strange. I'm living in a world without my Michael.

Another tooth?

Hannah's due diligence at wiggling has paid off. This afternoon the last of her loose teeth fell out, leaving her with an adorable gap toothed smile. I just can't beleive that my baby girl is growing up so fast.

A Tale of Three Children

Hannah's surgery went very well. Despite her fears, she was a real trooper through it all. In fact, when she woke up she didn't cry and simply went back to wiggling her tooth. So fervently that it ended up falling right out. Her look of delayed surprise was priceless. And I do mean delayed because the reason she felt so good was all the stuff they pumped in her. It took her a couple seconds to realized what she had done.

She's resting right now on the sofa, surrounded by all her favorite things, watching a movie, sipping on juice and eating goldfish. She's happy as a clam.

That is not the case with Micah who woke up this morning after a very bad night's sleep. He'd spiked a fever of 102 and was completely lethargic. So, Andy took him to the pediatricians (Love you Dr. Anne!) who quickly diagnosed him as having pneumonia and strep throat. Poor kids feels horrible and looks even worse.

He's also on the couch, though not nearly as happy as Hannah. We're struggling to get his body to stop coughing enough that he can rest and his fever isn't really coming down very well. We're hoping the antibiotics kick in soon because this is a little scary.

Micah was supposed to sleep over at grandma's tonight and then head to Disney on Ice in the morning. Obviously he can't go and given the complete lack of attention Jason is going to get here, we shipped him off to grandma's instead. he's under strict instructions to have fun, but to not share the fun with his siblings. Too high a risk of weeping and gnashing of teeth with that one.

So, here we are with one recovering kid, one sick kid and one missing kid. It's likely to be a very long weekend with lots of runs to the store, drink refills and very little sleep for the adults. Wasn't this supposed to get easier as they got older?

Tonsils and Schools and Chores, Oh My!

Our lives are just plain busy. Next week is March, bringing with it Andy's birthday which means Micah's is close behind. I still need to rotate the 2 bedrooms which including painting them both. Our Dave Ramsey class is continuing to go well, but it's a LOT of work right now. Laundry is piling up and really need to find the surface of my desk again. Needless to say, I've been struggling to find time to blog.

Jason had his full day trial at the new school on Tuesday. He said it went well and he really, really liked it. I hear a lot about the kids, the gecko and the gym. I also heard a little about the classes, but, well, he's a 10yo boy and felt he had already covered everything that was important.

The admissions director gave me good feedback when I picked him up, but nothing concrete yet about if he gets in yet or not. She is supposed to call me sometime later today or tomorrow and let me know if we move forward to the testing phase, so I am a nervous wreck every time the phone rings. Still, we are moving closer and closer to the end of the process and with each step I am holding a bit more hope.

Hannah tonsils will be exiting stage right tomorrow. It's a much needed and long awaited surgery that has my little girl all tied up in knots. She was just fine this morning until she realized that tomorrow is the day. I know she's afraid of the pain so we bought a bunch of popsicles, puddings and ice cream to soothe her throat afterwards. I have a feeling she'll be just fine and going stir crazy in a few days. Still, it's going to be a long day tomorrow with lots of tears from us both. I'll post an update tomorrow afternoon when it's over.

Our class has showed us how important it os for our kids to learn how to handle money now rather than in the future like us, so taking some ideas from Dave Ramsey, we started the kids on a chore chart. Lots of basic stuff them need to do and a bunch of stuff they can get paid to do. then we help them divide it each week into Spend, Save and Give envelopes. Hannah is taking to this with gusto, counting off her checkmarks and looking for more to do at every turn. Micah is enjoying it, but he has the attention span of a gnat, so we might get half the bed made before he wanders away. Although on payday he certainly is engaged because he likes his "monies."

Jason is the one who is driving me to distraction with his chores. He's decided that half done is good enough. Um, sorry. NO. Then I just make you redo it and take away some privileges. I've also started offering up his pay chores to his brother and sister which he doesn't seem to mind right now. Of course, that may change when he realizes I was serious about him paying them for doing the chore.

Oh, and things are moving forward on the adoption front. We decided to pursue adoption from the foster care system. It will be like it was with Jason, a straight adoption without being foster parents. We were thinking about that but decided that the cost to our kids was too high right now. Surprisingly, I haven't had much flack outside of the training department at our county about the age range we are looking at. Because we will not adopt out of birth order, we need to find a child 3 or under. A couple people I have spoken with have been very encouraging. I think us being experienced adoptive parents makes a big difference. We know more of what to expect from a child in care and how to deal with the long term ramifications of drug and alcohol exposures, abuse and neglect. So, training starts in July and depending on the back log, we will hopefully be licensed by Christmas.

Tonsils

This is Hannah today at the pediatricians. I took her back because after 7 days on the antibiotics, her strep wasn't getting much better. The fever is gone, but her throat is stil a bit sore and the blisters remain. They did another swab and it came back positive, again.

After much looking and discussing, we determined that Hannah's tonsils have some spots that are holding on to the strep, but can't get the antibiotic to it. I think the word necrosis was used, which sounded really bad until they explained it to me. My biggest worry was what do we do now and how serious is this. Since she's on antibiotics, she's not contagious, but she isn't very comfortable either. We decide to give her a penicillin shot and the follow up with Augmentan until her surgery. This should keep the strep isolated to those few spots on her tonsils and allow her to feel better.

The bad part was the penicillin shot. Hannah fainted the last time she got shots and this one is a bit more painful. She had it previously last spring when she has strep and remembers how much it hurt. As soon as we mentioned getting a shot, she burst into tears. Thankfully, Dr. Anne got us set up with Lolipops, but we still had to hold her down to give it to her. Then she gave us another fainting scare, although we hadn't taken her from the room yet. The picture is of her recovering. It took 45 minutes for her to be stable enough to leave. Talk about scaring Mommy.

We're home now and she's watching Cinderella on the couch. Snuggled up with her blanket and hippo and basking in all the attention a sick kiddo gets around here. I'm praying hard the drugs do their job and get her better. Her tonsils are MASSIVE now and given what's going on, that's a little scary. Thankfully, they are coming out in 2 1/2 weeks.

The Curse

Hannah, my beautiful, intelligent, witty, blessedly normal child, is driving me crazy.

Years ago, my mother bellowed out a curse that I think we all have heard once-upon-a-time.  "I hope you have a daughter JUST LIKE YOU!"  I scoffed at the idea for years, thinking I would actually be blessed by a kiddo like me who despite my teenage attitude was actually a pretty good kid.  But I was stuck on the struggles my mom had raising my teenage self, I never really thought about what I was like at say, 5.

Hannah has realized that she is smarter than me.  And in all likelihood, she is.  But I do know more than her right now which is causing us to butt heads a bit.  She pontificates about the house on the things of her world, telling us all how things would be if she were in charge.  I have a feeling that she will be the child the teacher leaves in charge when she steps out of the room.  In fact, I think they have already done that a bit.

I really love that she is so stinking smart.  Reading already, working out basic math and writing all the time.  But I'll tell you, it can be incredibly annoying to have a 5 year old tell you how to play Wii, fold the socks or make your breakfast.  Part of it is that she is just so verbal and talks all the time.  In fact, she talks so much that it is a problem at school and I am sure that we will be discussing it at conference time.  She remembers EVERYTHING I say or do and will call me to task if I mess up.  Which I do...constantly.  Because, lets face it, I'm raising 3 kids and it's taken it's toll on my mental and physical abilities.

But she's also incredibly kind.  Including those who would otherwise be left out and going out of her way to make people feel better when they are down.  I can't tell you how many times she has said we are too tough on Jason.  I shared the story of when she realized the harshness of Jason's adoption story.  I think it's great that she's got such a huge heart to go along with that incredible mind she has.

So, she's probably going to run the world and I will just have to get used to her telling me what to do.  Of course, she can't run the world for a few more years so maybe I still have a chance at getting her to clean her room.  Maybe.

Winter Wonderland

We got hammered. Yep, my guess is we have 12-14 inches on the ground. And it's beautiful, moist packing snow good for snow men, snow forts and snow ball fights. The kids were out last night in the heart of the storm and then again this afternoon for over 2 hours each time. It's great exercise especially since driveways needed to be cleared 2-3 times.

Here's a few shots of all the fun we had today.

A view out the back...

And the front, pre-shoveling.

Daddy and the kids building a mini-sledding hill since we couldn't get off our street this morning.

Hannah

Jason

Micah

Hannah got the first ride since she worked the longest at building the hill.

Micah thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Jason was just looking for some speed.

Daddy

No, he's not stuck to the tree, he's eating the snow that was blown to the trunk.  To each their own.

Hannah's Tonsils

Well, after consulting with our ENT yesterday, it was decided that Hannah's tonsils need to come out.  They are massive, impeding her ability to eat and breathe and she keeps getting strep. On the plus side, she's little enough that the recovery will be easier, but it will still be hard.

The surgery won't be until the end of the month, after her strep is cleared up.  I think she is pretty stoked about the prospect of eating all the popsicles her heart desires.

Lots and lots and lots of stuff...

We have so much going on right now, my head is spinning.

First, we have been invaded by illness.  Micah and Hannah have strep throat and Andy has tonsillitis, bronchitis and pink-eye.  Jason and I are so far healthy, but I think our days are numbered.  I think I might take my friend Nancy's advice and build us a bubble.

Jason's observation by the new school admissions department went well and they are "interviewing" him on Friday morning.  So far, we have no indication of how things are going, but they do have some concerns about the underlying causes of his LD as well as his language issues.  Still, we're praying that they will at least give him a chance.

Jason's present school situation is continuing to chug along.  We have his new MFE/IEP meeting tomorrow.  He's making great progress on his goals so I don't know what he will still qualify in.  For special education parents, this can be a good and a bad thing.  We don't want to see them lose there assistance, but we also want to see them make progress.  For example, Jason is doing great in math, but it's because of how the math is being taught to him.  Put him in a regular math class and he will fall behind again.  It's a bit of a catch-22.

Jason's also still struggling socially as school.  We've had a few more incidents of bullying behavior and I have a feeling a portion of tomorrow's meeting will be devoted to talking about it.  Honestly, we are doing everything we can to work with Jason on his social skills and he is making progress.  He's in individual and small group therapy as well as participating ins social groups at school.  Yet, the game of frustrating and bating Jason continues.  I've honestly reached the end of my patience, so tomorrow's meeting should be an interesting one.

We also started doing Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University at church.  It's a great class and we are really learning a lot.  Still, it also means that we have tightened our budget and there are no more Starbucks Fraps in my near future.  On the bright side though is we'll gain financial peace and all this eating in will make me a better cook and healthier person.

Which leads up to our final bit of news...

Andy and I are praying about adopting again.  There is still a long way for us to go on research and prayer, but it's in the open now.  The kids think it's great and Hannah is begging for a baby sister.  Right now, we're thinking it will like be a waiting child from the foster care system.  We have a lot of questions, but know that God can answer them as He has in the past.

Returning

No, I haven't gone anywhere.  I just disappeared into the lovely holiday madness we have around here.  Since I last posted, Micah has had 3 more ear infections, Hannah's taught herself to read and Jason started a rapid spiral down that finally hit bottom a few days after Christmas.  Those are both fairly normal things for this time of year around here, but it still doesn't leave me much time to write although I probably had plenty to say.

That said, Micah is getting a 3rd set of ear tubes in a couple of weeks.  Looking back, I realized that for the last 4 winters, he will have had surgery on his ears 3 time starting when he was 8 months old.  We got a reprieve from the whole thing las year as his tubes were still in and functional.  They fell out in July and his ears have proven they just can't handle things on their own yet.

On the plus side, this should mean he can hear me again, be able to talk quieter and no longer need dose after dose of antibiotics.  And yes, I know research shows that ear infections in children over 2 don't need to be treated with antibiotics, but my son has blown his ear drums out no less than 3 times each.  I'm a bit paranoid about it.  He's already testing with borderline hearing loss in both ears so we need to really be proactive hear.  Micah's making this easier too because he can now tell us when his ear hurts and is willingly letting doctors look at them.

As I said, Jason did his standard holiday crash and burn.  I could list a hundred reasons WHY he does this.  The short of it is he has a tough life and the holidays don't make it any easier.  We did all our usual things to help him but nothing seemed to work this year.  He was determined to see just how far he could push things. It culminated one evening shortly after Christmas with his declaring he didn't need any of us and wanted to go back to his foster home.  All of this is a lie, of course.  He doesn't want to leave but he was hurting so badly and didn't know what to do with everything inside him, so he lashed out at the safest people in his life, Andy and I.

I am not immune to emotions, exhaustion or general holiday stress and my own stuff coupled with the weeks of venom Jason was spitting at me pushed me to brink as well.  I ended up in tears.  Then he was in tears because he made me cry.  Then he finally started wailing about all that was inside of him.  He feels stupid and mad and abandoned and worthless and unlovable.  So, of course, it made sense to him to take all that out on the people who tell him he is the opposite.  We're his safe people, his family.  And once he finally let it all out, we were able to refill him with all the good stuff we can and talk through so much of his wrong thinking.

Once it was out, it was a near complete 180.  He started cooperating again, helping out around the house, being kind and smiling.  Thankfully, we had therapy just a couple of days later and were able to process this all some more.  Still, it's hard as a mom to get that good of a look at how your kid really feels about himself.  We've been working hard to correct it for years and while he knows that in our family, he is none of those things, I think he still feels it's how the world sees him.

Hannah just seems to sail through all of this.  I say seems, because I know that it is hard on her to have a little brother who is constantly sick and an older brother who, well, is so needy.  She's continuing on her quest to finish kindergarten before she even gets there.  She's constantly wanting me to teach her.  We do math and reading.  Over Christmas, she learned to tell time on a digital clock, read Green Eggs and Ham and basic addition.  Couple that with her desire to just do everything on her own and she is growing up way to fast for my liking.

Life is settling back down.  The kids are all back in school today and I get a Mom Retreat this weekend with 3 of my friends in Chicago.  It's fun when a group of moms all raising similar kids get together.  We can laugh (and cry) about thing no one else can.  I'm looking forward to going, although I will miss Andy and the kids while I am gone.

That said, it's good to be back to blogging.

Those Stellar Parenting Moments

Today is grocery day and Hannah was my loyal helper.  To start, let's say that I am very picky about what foods I buy and what they are made with.   I have strong opinions on processed foods in general and work hard to make sure that what goes in my children's bellies is good for them. That said, here comes the story.

I'm standing in the snack aisle, reading the ingredients on a box of organic animal crackers while my daughter peruses the surrounding items.  Hannah was holding a box of Chocolate Teddy Grahams which I had already told her we were not buying.

Hannah:  Mommy, can we get these?  

Me: No, those things are full of crap!

Hannah, picking up another box, deadpanned: Are these full of crap too?

Ugh.

Fainting

Hannah decided to give me a real scare this afternoon.  She couldn't get her 5yo shots at her physical because of being sick.  Since then we have rescheduled it 2 times and I was making it today gosh-darn-it!

To Hannah, this was a very important day.  She calls these her "kindergarten shots" because she knows she has to have them before she can go.  I think she gets now that she isn't going until next year, but I also think she is holding out hope that we are wrong, will recognize what she believes is a grievous mistake and enroll her on Monday.  Needless to day, these shots are a big deal.

To start, she was very, very brave.  She did little more than squeak for the first one and then laughed that the second did not hurt.  The third however did hurt and she fought to not cry.  I told her she could cry, she didn't and I hugged her saying what an awesome kid I have.  Then Hannah, Micah and I bundled up again and made our way out to the elevator.

Our pediatrician is on the 2nd floor or a 2 story building, yet we ALWAYS take an elevator.  Why?  Because my kids LOVE TO PUSH THE BUTTONS.  They are physically fit kids who run up and down everywhere so I don't feel guilty about them riding the elavator. (I, however, should be walking.)

So, we get on the elevator and I am asking Hannah is she feels up to going to preschool.  I was giving her an out since sometimes she is a bit tired after her shots.  The elevator started down and she didn't answer, but instead just tipped her head back.

The she slumped a bit.

Then she banged her head on the side of the elevator and collapsed.

I freaked.

She was non-responsive and a bit stiff so I scooped her up and ran up those stairs we have just avoided.  A very nice lady in the elevator help corral Micah to follow as he yelled.  "I comin' Mama!  Hannah okay!  I comin'!" He grabbed her stuffed Hippo and she my purse as I just ran.

Someone, I don't know who, opened the door to the office for me as I continued to try and get my baby to come to.

She still wasn't moving.  Or blinking.  Or anything.

I was screaming and crying by now as I barreled to the back of the office through the sick room and yelled for help.

A nurse scooped her from my arms and another doctor from our practice immediately took her into an exam room.

By the time she reached the table, she was coming to.  (My guess is she was out for maybe 5 seconds tops even though it felt like 5 minutes.)

They started oxygen and the doctor asked for her chart and started listening to her heart.  Micah was there by now and telling everyone "Hannah, you okay!  Hannah okay!"  I was crying and Hannah was just calmly answering everyone's questions.

It turns out that she fainted.  Granted, it was dramatic, but she was okay.  Her heart and oxygen levels were just fine and although she was a bit shaky afterwards, she was going to be just "okay".  We hung out for a few minutes while she felt better before leaving.  Obviously, she wasn't going to school now, so we went home, had lunch and the three of us took naps.

It took me a bit longer to stop shaking myself.  Adrenaline does that to you.  I just pray I never, ever see one of my kids like that again.  Ever.

Friday's Random Bits of Nothing

It's been a long week.  A very long week.  Lots happening and lots to do.  Gotta love the holidays.
__________

We finally heard from the neurologist and Micah has an appointment...in April.  Yep.  You read that right.  April.  The day before he turns 4 in fact.  Meanwhile, he's still doing whatever it is that he is doing although, seemingly, not as often.  (or I could be having a kind of week where I'm too busy to notice.)

On a positive note, we aren't seeing near the effects of his horrible food issues.  He doesn't eat enough protein throughout the day and therefore has many highs and lows from his body processing the veggies, fruit and carbs he does eat.  So, we started giving him some Boost Kid Essentials over the course of a day to keep him more level.  He calls it his "chocolate milk."  Dinner is no longer a battle and he is actually picking up some of the foods he dropped earlier this fall.
__________

Hannah's teacher started her in a reading group.  She's now bringing home high frequency readers and learning sight words along with the phonics I as teaching her at home.  It was a big boost for her to hear from her little kindergarten friend, Margo, that she is bring home the same books each week as well.
__________

Jason is continuing on his downward spiral.  We believe it is simply a culmination of life in general, but that doesn't make it any easier to deal with.  It's hard to parent him effectively when he's being so darn oppositional and dishonest.

Intellectually, I know that these are left over and learned behaviors from those attached-challenged days and the only way to turn this around is for him to have enough, purge all those emotions he is building up inside of him and start making better choices.  And it doesn't help that he's feeling BAD about himself for doing all of this and bottling all that up as well.  I can consequence and talk and limit until I'm blue in the face, but he has to make the change here.  This can take as long as a week (which we're well past now) of over a month (looking that way).
__________

Today is my 10th wedding anniversary and if I can get my scanner hooked up, I'll post some pictures of the blessed event.

Although we celebrated last weekend, it's still a special day.  When I was at Target buying Micah's "chocolate milk," I picked up a bottle of wine and a card.  We'll have about a glass a piece while I fold laundry and he fiddles around with his guitar before becoming so tired we can't do anything but fall asleep.  Romance is overrated for parents.  Sleep is the in thing.
__________

The Boog (a.k.a Hannah)

Hannah has informed me that she doesn't like her nicknames. She has several., but the one most used is Boog. It started when she was an infant and Andy called her Sugar Booger. That became Sug Boog and then just Boog. We called her that so much that her friend Toby was calling her that when they were 2 and it's pretty much all Jason calls her.

Most of the time we don't even realize we are saying it.

But Mommy made the mistake of yelling that at a soccer game and all was lost. She has strict restrictions that she will only be called Hannah outside of the house. I do slip sometimes and she always makes sure I know about it, however, I have found the unhappy response I get from her to be a not so good thing.

She's also vetoing the use of Hannah Banana, Banana Baby and Naner. She's informs me that her name is Hannah. H-A-N-N-A-H. Just in case I had forgotten.

So, for those of you who may be tempted to call her anything other than Hannah, consider yourself warned.

Another Perspective

We have also always talked about Jason's adoption story.  At 5, Hannah has only a vague idea of what adoption is.  Her basic understanding is that Jason was born to another mommy before he came here.   She knows that he has a "mamawl" that he lived with for a while as well as brothers she doesn't know except in pictures.  Only recently, she began to ask more questions, seeking, I assume, to fill in the blanks in her head.

It's been interesting to watch Hannah gather information and piece together just how and where and why babies come into the world.  She'll ask one question then seemingly drop the subject only to pick it up again 2 weeks later.  She'll continue to ask questions until she feels she has enough information.  Then she stops, thinks on it for a while and asks some more later.  It's kind of fun to watch. 

One morning after dropping her brothers off at school, she asked me why Jason didn't live with W.  That is a hard question to give to a 5yo who's knowledge of the world does not include abuse, neglect and foster care.  I told her in the most basic of terms that his birth mommy wasn't able to take care of him when he was born because she didn't know how to be a good mommy to him.  I explained that sometimes when that happens, kids live with other mommies for a while called foster mommies.  Jason lived for a long time with his foster mommy, M, while W tried to become a better mommy for him.  Then when Jason was 4, he left M to come and live forever with us because W couldn't be the mommy Jason needed and M wanted Jason to have a forever mommy.  This was Jason didn't have to worry about moving anymore and Daddy and I would be his mommy and daddy forever.  

I did not extrapolate on Jason's feelings about all of this, but simply delivered it as facts knowing that more questions would come.  All of this was told in very 5 year old terms and nearly all the information was because of Hannah's continued "Whys?"

By the time I had answered all the questions we had arrived home and were taking off coats.  Hannah looked fairly troubled and then burst into tears.  I expected her cries to be about her or Micah being taken away or something of that sort.  What came out of her mouth floored me.

"I'm just so sad that all that happened to Jason!!!"

She threw herself in my arms and sobbed.  She clung to me and asked me why anyone would hurt her big brother and why couldn't he have just come out of my tummy and never been hurt.  She cried for what seemed like hours, and I being the emotional woman I am, cried too.  I couldn't answer her question any more that I could answer it when Jason asks it.

When I picked up Jason from school that afternoon, I pulled him aside and told him about the conversation I had with Hannah and her reaction.  I made sure he understood that I didn't share any of his details, but just the basic timeline and that it had been rather upsetting to Hannah.  I wanted him to be aware in case she asked him any questions and told him he could always just direct her to me or Daddy if he didn't feel like talking.  Jason, without my prompting, went immediately to Hannah, hugged her and told her that she shouldn't be sad because he wasn't.  He didn't like the idea of her feeling any of his pain.

There are times I can't believe how blessed I am to have the children I do.  They care so much about each other and love each other so very much.

Soccer Recap - Hannah

Today was the final game for Hannah's first soccer season.  Watching Hannah play is such a joy.  She has a smile on her face the whole time and whether they win or lose, she still has fun.  I think it probably helps that she is the scorer extraordinaire for the group.

It's been really neat to see her pick up some skills while she plays her first season.  At this level, the kids sort of move in a pack chasing the ball around the field.  The games are usually played 4 on 4 although the coaches can change that depending on how deep their bench is.  At the first game, Hannah stuck to the pack, but showed everyone how fast she was with a couple of breakaways, scoring 3 times.  By today's came, she was stripping the ball from her opponents and cutting then off as they approached the goal and keeping clear of the pack. Not bad for only having played 5 games in her first season.

It was bitter cold this morning and we bundled her up sufficiently.  Unfortunately, we didn't realize just how cold it gets standing on the sidelines. We froze while she ran her little butt off up and down that field to score 9 times.  The final score was 9-3 and at the end, the other team was so frustrated they were resorting to violence to keep her back.  Once during a breakaway, the poor girl chasing her grabbed Hannah's penny to stop her.  Hannah scored anyway.

I'm looking forward to Spring when Micah will join her too.  It's the only time they will be on the same team and I relish the idea of one more season with only 2 games a Saturday as opposed to 3.

The Roller Coaster of My Day (Part 2)

You didn't think it ended with getting kids from school, did you?

Micah was none to happy to be dragged back out again.  And I don't blame him.  Although we now knew what was wrong, it'd be another 24 hours before he felt well (or more as we are on hour 24 while I write this).  Plus, he was tired and needed a nap.  Something that just wasn't happening that day.

So, off we went for the school pick-ups.  I was the very last car in the line at Jason's school.  He's gotten used to this although I always feel badly.  Now in the car, he starts chattering away about his day and we drive off to pick up Hannah and her friend, T.  A quick stop at the pharmacy to drop off Micah's prescription and we're off to drop off T.

Here I learned that earlier in the day when they were driving Hannah to pick up their son before school, Hannah shared with T's dad her newfound knowledge concerning babies.

"Did you know that babies come out of VAGINAS?  VAGINA is a silly word.  Isn't it? VAGINA, VAGINA, VAGINA!"

Apparently, we need to cover private parts being private words too.  Oy!

Home again for a quick snack and for Jason to practice his recorder.  (As excited as I am that he is showing an interest in an instrument, did it have to be one so annoying? I think I now understand why my parents were thrilled when I quit the violin.)

Back in the car for a run down to Jason's occupational therapy.  It's the second day of his evaluation and on the way down, I realized I didn't have my parent score sheet.  Ugh.  Too late to turn back, I have his therapist give me a new one to fill out while we wait.

Jason's OT is in the same OT gym that Micah's class used last year.  This made Micah MAD and Hannah thrilled to be reunited with the toys she played with so much while we waited last year.  By now my head was pounding and Micah's wails of distress didn't help.  I so get that he was over-tired and sick, but there wasn't anything else I could do.

Thankfully, one of Micah's old teachers was setting up for tomorrow's class which stopped the tears.  Micah ran over and gave her a big hug.

"I have missed you ALL DAY LONG!"

I love a 3yo's concept of time.  Miss L was thrilled to see Micah and was super impressed with how well his speech has continued to progress since school ended last year.  Off she went and Micah was sufficiently distracted that he forgot his tears enough to play house with Hannah while I filled out my forgotten form.

Finally, the form was completed and Jason was done.  A quick review of the session with Miss J while I tried to keep my kids from bouncing off the walls in the waiting area and we left.

Ah, rush hour traffic...what a joy.

The kids were hungry and crank and so was I.  I pulled in the driveway, handed they kids off to their dad, declared I didn't want to talk to or see anyone, including him, for the next 30 minutes and disappeared into my bedroom.

They gave me an hour because apparently I had THAT look.

It was a LONG day and thankfully it is over and we are onto a new, much better one.

Soccer, Hannah style....

Hannah played her first EVER soccer game this morning. To be honest, I didn't set my hopes too high. My princess is just that...a princess. I thought she would spend the practice/game picking flowers and looking at the cloud shapes. Heck, it's how she has spent countless of Jason's baseball and soccer games.

However, I was WRONG! My baby girl went out there and kicked some serious soccer butt. Well, okay. Maybe not. But for a first time player in a preschool league, she did AWESOME! She was aggressive, stayed with the ball and tried very, very hard to score. What a great morning!

Happy Birthday Hannah!

My baby girl turns 5 today! I can't believe it's been that long. Here's a look back. I tried to choose pictures I haven't used before. These are some rarely seen shots of the Boog.

Disney Day 6

Okay, sorry for the delay. We had company and they company fall-out. Now, back to your regularly scheduled Disney Day.

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June 18, 2009

After such a long day yesterday, I think we really needed a day off. However, looking at all the Disney planning information I had, I knew that if we didn't get back to Disney Studios this morning, we weren't going to get there. We still had a couple of things to do there that were tops on the kids list. However, it's the closest park to where we stayed, so we didn't have to leave super early. Giving them about 15 minutes before we left, we woke the kids, dressed them, fed them and slathered them with sunscreen. We were ready to go, only Micah was ready too. He came around the corner, dressed for a day in the parks, carrying his Nuk, Bear and Blankie. This was a bad sign. ( And I seriously wish as had taken a picture of this.)

We made it to Studios in time for the rope drop, something we had been advised to do and hurried to the back of the park to get our Fast Pass for Toy Story Mania. Apparently, everyone else in the park got the same advise. So Hannah, Micah and I picked a bench to hang out at and let Daddy and Jason get the pass. Forty minutes later they returned with a pass for 11:50am. Again, another bad sign.

Fast pass secured for later, we headed over to catch the Voyage of the Little Mermaid. It was cute and Hannah LOVED getting to see her favorite mermaid. Across the plaza was Playhouse Disney, but it was so hot, we decided to see the Art of Disney Animation until the next show time. This was cute and I was really encouraged because our "host" was a woman with disabilities. In my previous trips to Disney, most of the cast members were made up of young college students and the like. This trip we saw many senior citizens and now someone with obvious disabilities. Way Cool.

After the "show," we wandered through the animation gallery. The last time I was here, there were animator actively drawing Pocahontas. Seriously cool stuff. Times have changed though and now the rooms are simply displays of animation desks and such, despite my disappoint at seething this, the best was yet to come. Rounding the corner, there stood Sorcerer Mickey!



I think the video pretty much covers the coolness of the moment. Really? Mickey and Micah! Can it get any cuter?




Once done here, we headed out find out we missed Playhouse Disney. No problem. We have cute photos of our kids with the Mouse. We decided to head back towards Toy Story Mania and the wear and tear of the morning was starting to show. Micah was seriously whiny and tired, Hannah started wilting and Jason adopted that preteen attitude we all know and love. A quick stop in Narnia, our Fast Pass time was here.

Okay, let me just say that Toy Story Mania is AWESOME! Once inside, you see that you are now "toy sized." Surrounded by giant crayons, jacks and game pieces, you work your way to the loading area. Here we had a slight mishap and Hannah slipped walking down the stairs. I caught her, but it gave her an awful fright. The cast member let us sit off to the side for a few minutes until she was okay, all while checking on us often. Soon the tears dried and the call of the ride was too strong. We were off.

The ride itself looks at first to be a little lame. You don your 3D glasses, sit in your "bed" and are whisked around the corned to see...a giant TV screen. Huh? Then you realize that "gun" in front of you shoots 3D objects at the screen and you score points based on how many you hit. The console in front of you keeps score and you fly from one screen ot the next. Each with a different theme, each with new challenges. EVERYONE loved this ride. So much so, that gettng off was a major problem.

It was here that we decided they had enough. It was lunch time and we were all hot, tired and sweaty. We headed back home too cool down, get some lunch and nap. Our plan was to come back in the evening if they were up to it or maybe hit the pool. As it turns out, we were saved the rain and took the kids to see a movie instead.

UP was playing and we LOVE Pixar films. This was Micah's first movie at the theaters and as he put it "Daddy. I like this TV."