August Wrap up!

And here is the wrap up from our August! 



This little one has become quite a reader.  We were waiting for Matthew to get a haircut and I brought books along for the kids. Since I am actually writing this in January, I can report this little guy loves to bury his nose in a book.  It surprises me and delights me to no end.  Andrew is my one child who always surprises me and keeps me guessing as he changes and grows ~ he keeps things interesting!  :)





We  picked wild blackberries along side the road one night and then came home and ate them over vanilla bean ice cream.

 

I did a little baking with them as well.

 

Yum.



We had a delightful visit with some sweet friends.  Here is Kitti with Miss Clara.



The boys adored miss Maggie, as you can see by the expression on their faces.



What's not to adore?




And of course Kaitlin couldn't help but to include Clara in her imagination.

 

We got ready for fall soccer!



We celebrated August birthdays with friends we wished we got to see more...



Reagen is a wonderful mom and a great parenting resource.  I love our visits.



We went to Alderwood Park with some of our favorite people.



We had never been there before and the kids loved it!



I think paddle boats were the hightlight.  A ton of fun and a lot of laughs!



I continued to work on Andrew's writing through summer.
This paper looks exceptional.  As I'm writing this in January, I can report that it is still a major struggle. It frustrates the both of us to no end.



And we sadly started getting prepared for school.  Not an inexpensive venture with 3 school aged!



August turned into September which brought the end of summer, the beginning of school and a memorable (and wonderful!) trip to Disneyland!!

I did lots of labeling.



We took our box of bills and change that we save and saved (and saved!) as a family to the bank for our Disneyland trip!  This was so great for the kids.  They willingly contributed and they really understood the expense of the trip and the length of time it takes to save for something so special.
Every time our jar was filled we'd sort and count and put it into baggies.  They loved it!

And when it was nearly time to go, I enjoyed a relaxing morning with Shannon....



And got a Disney - colored pedicure!

Papers, Puppies & Presents

As the year ends the papers start coming home.  Oh, the papers!  This was the content of the boys' backpacks on the day before the last day of school.  I was really proud of Andrew that he had school supplies at the end of this year.  Over the course of the year he managed to lose every single school supply he had by the end of the year last year.  Even the pencil box.  He came home with a zip lock and a few broken crayons. :)  Not this year! 

And before that, this came home....



Just staying on top of the papers & "stuff" during the school year is a task in itself.  I'm always relieved to be done with this responsibility for the summer.  I do not miss it.



One of the many things I was scrambling to do at the end of the year was pull together "thank you" gifts. The flowers were for our school secretaries whom I pester a lot taking Andrew in and out of school.  I'm trying to stay on the good side of the attendance secretary.  I went to IKEA and found inexpensive vases, then to Costco and bought a mixed bouquet that I arranged between the two vases and attached cards.  It worked great!

The small gift bag in the center was for Matthew's teacher and the large basket was for Andrew's.  I felt like I needed to do something really special for her as she spent so much extra time communicating with me, attending meetings, advocating for Andrew and also just giving him extra time and attention.  It was so appreciated.



His teacher is a little hard to buy for...I ended up doing a little kitchen basket for her that included a gift card to New Seasons which seemed to suit her tastes.



I found these little ones in the kitchen one day.  I'm just going to go right ahead and take that as a hint.



Kitti even taped feathers to the sides so she'd be an "angel dog."

That girl.

She is so funny.

I'm really excited because my next post is the last day of school!  I am going to try to do a post each night this week to get caught up a bit on my blog.  I'm woefully behind!

Cute things & Checking in

 

(An unrelated photo ~ one of many things I need to blog about!)

As Dan looked into the rearview mirror yesterday at the boys listening to their ipods in the van he remarked at how quickly the kids are changing.  Kaitlin is changing by the minute as well, saying things like,

"It really freaked me out!!"

?!?!

And then when I look at her in response,

"What?!  I'm serious!!!"

Oh my word.

But there are still the small remains of her newness to this world and the language she is still learning.  One hold over is how she adds -ed to things.  Most commonly,

"I dided it!"

"I haveded breakfast."

and this....
 
Mama, "Can I have is some Milk?"  :)

Those little things make me smile, because the strings to that sweet little kid world are untying and slipping away faster than I'd like.

~

I thought I'd just do a very quick check in to explain my absence...there is just no time to blog these days.  I have so much I want to post, and will, but I just can't get to it right now.  The time between spring break and summer is starting to feel like a sprint to the finish line each school year.  I'm sure most parents of school aged children can relate to this.   It's packed with end of the year projects, school performances, staff appreciation events, field trips, pre-school "fun day" party (thrown by the parents ~ which we all have honestly grown to dread! "Fun" for who?! :) can you tell my attitude is disintegrating?), Kindergarten immunizations/registration/round up,  a ballet recital, an online photography class (I clearly signed up in a moment of high optimism about my ability to balance things) a new therapy route for Andrew to research and set up for next year, along with meetings with teacher/school to set him up for 2nd grade,  to name a few things on the list currently & upcoming.

This year, Little League is about to put me over the edge (we have 27 games, averaging 4/week + practices!  I am secretly hoping one of the boys decides that baseball is not the sport for him.  I clearly do not have the passion for this sport as those who do the planning as I sit and gripe in the stands about how the games are way too long & numerous for children this age. (Though I DO enjoy a game on a sunny day with friends in the stand)...we're trying to wrap up Andrew's iLS (we're both hanging on by our fingernails where that is concerned), throw in an anniversary, and 3 family birthdays between the end of may & end of school and things get a little busy.  

I am sure most of my friends could write a couple paragraphs equally long,  peppered with their own unique commitments.  (I don't mean to sound like I am the only one scrambling around right now) It's just that time of year!

So we are pretty much living day to day right now.  Taking care of what needs to be done for that day and trying to be ready for the next.  A bit of survival mode.  But we'll get through, and yes, I'll even smile and have fun on "Fun Day"! 

Our way to cope is this:

The paper chain.

We have a paper chain for the end of the boys' school.

One for pre-school.

One for ILS.

And we all celebrate when one of those little circles is torn off each day.

It means white space on the calendar is coming.  (Which I am guarding like a pit bull).
Some freedom and flexibility from schedules and obligations.
It means time with family and friends and a week at the beach!
It means picnics and park time, sunshine and sprinklers and S'Mores and popscicles.

I simply cannot wait!

I LOVE summer!!

Real Time Check in

 I am so woefully behind on my blog.  I'm working on Kaitlin's birthday posts right now, but they take a while...I think that qualifies as a "restful" sabbath activity.  It definitely feels like a luxury these days, so I'm hoping to have a bit of time on Sunday to work on that.

I snapped the above photo before church one day when the kids were looking so cute.  Kaitlin insisted on the gloves.  :)  She has grown like crazy as that dress was quite large on her not very long ago.  They have all just sprouted recently.  I can't believe how big they are getting.

Last week the OT and I noticed some very significant differences in Andrew's motor skills.  I have a video and photo to post when I have time to download them.  But I'm SO happy with the changes that we are starting to see.  We still have a ways to go, but this last week was the first time I really thought, "Wow!  We could eventually get discharged!"  (What a relief that will be on many levels!) Not that I didn't think it would happen, but changes before were so slow before that this feels quite remarkable and made me feel very optimistic!  We've completed 18 hours of listening therapy with a potential of 42 more hours of sensory motor and 40 hours of attention/focus modules.   I am so pleased with what we're seeing and am excited to see where we are at the end of treatment.  It feels so good to feel like time, energy and resources are being well spent and bearing fruit.  What a journey this has been.

The Sabbath observance is going well.  I am really actually enjoying it!  Though I am on the move from sun up to sun down trying to fit in all that I need to during the week.  But it is worth it and so enjoyable for the whole family.  I think this is something that we will commit to trying to maintain even after lent.  While I knew these things in theory before, I'm realizing on a different level that there will always be things that need to be done.  I will never be "caught up".  As soon as I cross something off the list, something else will just be added.  So it really just needs to be a discipline for me to designate a day of rest.  As we are doing this, I'm starting to see how really important that is and how beneficial it is to our well-being.  I do feel less prepared for the week on Monday, but so far, I am able to get caught up.

Here are some photos of my first Sabbath observance.

Michelle and I went to brunch and to the Ballet!  We went to see Swan Lake.  And it was beautiful.  Though neither of us realized it was a tragedy!  I do prefer a happy ending....but it was stunning nonetheless.

We went to a restaurant in the Pearl District called Brix for brunch...

Upon being seated, they serve these delicious warm doughnuts.  That pretty much sold me on the place right there.

I always love my time with Michelle.  We enjoyed a leisurely brunch, chatting away and then headed to the Ballet.  It was a wonderful day!  I came home and enjoyed a game of Scrabble with Matthew while Dan played a game with Andrew and Kaitlin.  It was really nice.

Another random story.

One night I got home and in the shadow of the night I saw the outline of a mouse in our driveway.  There was a period of time when we caught 15 mice in our garage so with dread I crept quietly toward it.  I got closer and it didn't move.  I took another step and it didn't move.  Until finally I realized it was a plastic mouse!

This was many months ago.  Since then, the mouse has become an unspoken game.  It randomly shows up places.  One night I came home late and nearly jumped out of my skin as I passed by the garage refrigerator and it was peeking out on top of the refrigerator door!  Then, when I went to pick up Michelle it happened to be in Dan's car.  So I snapped a photo so I'd remember to record the story.

This is the kind of stuff that goes on in our house.

Have a good weekend!

On Health and Beauty, Books and ADHD...the topics of Insomnia

Oh my poor blog.

It's beginning to look like it has ADD.  :)

Can you even follow what is going on with all of the fipping back and forth?

Here's another real time post.

I was planning on writing this tomorrow, but I am in bed with a cold and can't sleep.  So I thought I might as well get a head start.  I can only lay and listen to my thoughts for so long before I have to just get up (or at least sit up) and do something productive.  I just hope my clicking keyboard doesn't wake Dan....

First, to all of those following my hair loss drama....I got my blood work back.  My thyroid levels were fine, so my medicine is at the right dose.  But I'm low on iron.  Of the possible reasons, this was what I was hoping for!  I did a little research and read a board about people who are anemic and hair loss is something that they've dealt with, so I am hoping that the supplement will help turn things around.  I was a little bummed reading about how long it takes, but am just grateful for what appears to be an easy solution.  I'm also encouraged that this is not how tired you are supposed to feel at 38.  So that was great news!  I have approximately 7 months of hair loss to grow back.  Now grow hair, grow!   (On a side note, I thought it was funny to read that "pale skin" was a symptom of anemia....perhaps I can blame my ultra white legs on that?)  :)

The other little tip I thought I'd share has to do with skin care.  My face had been breaking out horribly.  Dan had even noticed and commented on it...I was at the  point of going to the dermatologist and decided first to invest in a clarisonic.  You can read about it here.  I had heard great things about them but they are quite expensive and couldn't justify the cost...until I was looking at the cost of a doctor visit and whatever they would prescribe.  As I started to tell Dan about it to get his buy in, I only got a few sentences into my "sell" and he said, "I think you should get it."  Really, my skin was bad.  So I bought one at the Nordstrom Anniversary sale and it's fantastic.   I don't use expensive cleansers on my face ~ I use Cetaphil to wash my makeup off and then put Oil of Olay anti aging cleanser on my face (it has a bit of an exfoliant in it) and use the clarisonic with it.  And it has made a HUGE difference!  My skin is more clear, and less red...it's better than it has been in recent years.  So I thought I'd share that if anyone else is enjoying a second adolescence with their skin!  It was a worthy investment.  It is the same technology as the Sonicare toothbrush.

Tomorrow at 10:45 is my appointment with Andrew's pediatrician to talk about medicine.  My mind is swirling with what I have read about cerebellum stimulation, supplements, medicines, mind exercises to increase attention, and nutrition.  I took my book to my hair appointment the other day, as I always do for when I have to sit under the dryer.  My hair stylist asked "Do you always read to learn, or do you ever read for pleasure?"  I realized after she asked me that, that my books in recent years have been on ADHD, Sensory Integration Disorder, Parenting, and different faith based books.
This is my current (and favorite) ADHD read.

I realized how in recent year's I've felt so uneducated on topics that are really important to where I'm at in life.  I have squeezed in the Hunger Games and I'm a tad embarrassed to say, the Twilight series, which in my opinion weren't well written, but I couldn't keep myself from reading them through once I started.  And of course, a list of children's chapter books that I read with the kids each night.  The one I'm reading now with Matthew is this....

 

It's the first in a series and it's great!  

I went to Andrew's classroom last week and was able to talk with his teacher and help out.  He had a great day that day.  She really likes Andrew and had lots of positive things to say about him.  I haven't shared yet that we have a BIT meeting that will be in the next couple weeks to see if Andrew qualifies.  I forget what the B stands for, but it's an Intervention Team meeting.  She doesn't thing Andrew will qualify...she said he is reading above grade level, his math skills are at or above grade level, and she had some writing samples from class that while they weren't great, they are better than what is coming home in his planner each day.  She said his writing needs to be two standard deviations below normal to qualify for OT, and she doubts he will.  I am frustrated with that.  The OT will be at the meeting along with his kindergarten teacher, his teacher, the special ed teacher, the school psychologist, the school counselor, and possibly the principal, if her schedule allows.  So, we'll see what comes of it.  I did feel encouraged seeing him in class though.  He did quite well while I was there and was happy and engaged.

He also got a chance to play forward at the soccer game!  That was great.  And in fair reporting, Dan says that he has a good soccer coach and that someone might be a bit sensitive about her child.  In fact, Andrew and Dan went to the field early this last saturday for team pictures before the game and I followed with the kids later.  As I was pulling in to my parking spot a text came in from Dan that read, "Andrew is starting at goalie because he asked to."  I thought it was funny he felt the need to warn me before I arrived.  He knows when I'm on the edge.



Photos of Andrew playing sports reminds me of a puppy who is trying to get all its limbs to work together.  :)



He had a good time, and I love the post game sweaty hair and pink face.

I feel like most of my updates have been central to Andrew right now because getting this sorted out is such the priority, but everything else is going great.  Kaitlin is loving school and is my little helper.





She is loving gymnastics and school and still sings the funniest songs. She is such a character. A friend used the word "theatrical" to describe her. I thought that was perfect. Matthew is starting tennis tomorrow with his friend William. He is excited about that, and is doing just great as well.




This is one of my favorite recent photos of him from Sausage Fest last weekend.  Which I'll get to blogging about some year.

'night!