~~ST. NICHOLAS VISIT TO CHURCH~~

Saturday was St. Nicholas Day and we had a visitor at our church after Vespers! The kids look forward to getting treats in their shoes and a potluck after Vespers! Time to eat and play with friends what could be better!

~~TRIP TO OHIO~~

It has been a wild month. We took a quick trip to OHIO for Thanksgiving. It was wonderful to see all our family! The kids always enjoy going to OHIO. THey get spoiled all the time we are there! So 1400 miles later and we are home trying to get ready for the Holidays. Christmas is coming way too quickly! Two more weeks of school and all will have 2 weeks off. We look forward to spending time together as a family over the holidays.

All for now!

~~HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY MR~~

It is hard to believe MR turned 9 yesterday! Her last time in single digits! The years do fly by. Enjoy a few photos. She celebrated at the Science Museum with a friend on Sunday!

They grow up so fast!

SF's Birthday

I have not been good with messages. It has been a tough week! Here is a photo of all of us on SF's birthday. Which was the 7th of November! I think we have both quit counting the years! But it was a nice evening!

HOW CAN IT BE A YEAR ALREADY??

By the looks of the calendar we have had JM in our family for one year today! JM was awake around 4AM here...so I guess that was to celebrate the actual time in China! Hard to believe it has been a year. To say it has been an easy or uneventful year would be an understatement:however, we are blessed with the little guy and can not remember life without him.

 

He has come so far. Has a long way to go we realize, but with patience and prayer we will take it one day at a time and help him to be the best little guy he can be!

 

Hope all our friends that are celebrating Gotcha Days today are having a great day! May the next year be even more amazing than this one!

~~JM'S GOTCHA DAY ANNIVERSARY~~

~~HALLOWEEN 2008~~

The kids had a fun time out trick or treating!! We just went in our neighborhood! Check out our silly 4!!

JM wasn't too sure what was going on, but to my surprise he liked wearing the lamb outfit I made for MR when she was small!

I worked last night...my what a night! But I survived and I get an extra hours sleep tonight...so that sounds good.

All for now!

~The last week of October~

It is hard to imagine that we are to the last week of October already! This year is flying by. One year ago we were getting ready to go to China to bring JM into our family. He has changed so much in the last year. He is becoming such a little man! He has a long way to go to catch up, but we are blessed to have him in our lives. He teaches us so much.

He is melting the hearts of the OT and SP therapists already! We are blessed to have found them. I see so many children receiving the care they need. It is really an amazing place. In the last year I have come to realize how much we took our children's development for granted. The kids used developmental toys, but they just went step by step without really thinking about it. With JM it has been amazing to watch how he has struggled and how he has learned. On the eating front. JM has found Nutrigrain cereal bars! Not exactly crunchy...but something that I can stick in my purse and have for those times a spoon isn't handy! He is eating larger pieces of bananas and helping to feed himself more and more. For that I am thankful!

He had a difficult first 14 1/2 months of life. He has been affected by it, but in spite of this, brings such joy to our lives.

OK enough of that. The kids are getting excited about Halloween. They enjoy dressing up and going around the neighborhood. We have one family that really goes all out and decorates in a fun way. Lots of pumpkins and scarecrows etc. None of the negative side of Halloween. So we have fun and keep it simple.

Things have been a bit slower this past week. It is still an all out sprint at times, but not quite so crazy!

All for now!

 

~OCTOBER VISIT~

~G&G P. visit!!!~ SO MUCH FUN~

 

So a quick note to catch you up again. Thankfully Alick's bowel obstruction resolved with just medical management...no surgery and he went home last Wednesday! He went to the casino with friends and was in Church on Sunday, so things seem to be back to normal!

SF's parents came in town on Thursday. The kids so look forward to having visits! Friday they went to Grand avenue to check out a few of their favorite shops! (I.e. Cooks, Smith and Hawkins and the Red Balloon bookshop.) SF and the 3 oldest went along. JM and I had an appointment to keep!

JM started his therapy on Friday. He met with a new speech therapist as well as an occupational therapist. It went well. They are looking forward to working with him and we are looking forward to their input! Will keep you posted.

Then we got a new loft bed for the girls room. MR has been patiently waiting for new loft bed. She left hers in the other bedroom, so EM got that one. So Grandpa P. and I put that together on Saturday. The girls are excited to have more room!

I was the only causulty of the build. When I bent down to pick something up I hit my tooth on the bar and you guessed it! I chipped my front tooth! OUCH!

Yesterday we went to church and then after lunch the grandparents left for OHIO. We will see them again in a month if all works out. We hope to head that way for Thanksgiving. Have not done that before, but will this year if the weather cooperates. Then we will stay home over Christmas. Need to establish some of our own traditions for the holidays and traveling to Ohio can not always be done!

All for now

More photos later

 

~GINGER ANYONE??~

Thought I would try and catch you up on our week. Things seemed to be going rather smoothly. I had worked Friday night and then we had potluck at church Saturday evening. The kids all enjoy that. Time to play with their friends after church and food to boot! I had called Alick to see if he wanted to go. Usually he is there...but he had been feeling a bit rough. Friday his stomach wasn't quite right. Well Saturday he felt good so he went. Seemed fine. Well Sunday morning about 8:30 I get a call from Alick that he needed to go to the Hospital. To make a long story short, he thought he had a "bowel obstruction". Since I had 2 kids in the tub, we decided if he felt that bad he should push his "alert" button and the ambulance would need to take him. I would meet here there as soon as I could.

    Fast forward "kids dressed and ready for church". We go out to the garage and the tire is flat!! I mean pancake flat! We just got new tires in June, so we must have picked up a nail or something. Thankfully my brother bought us a tire pump! Automatic wonderful. That got us on the road in about 15 minutes. SF took the kids to church and I went to the hospital to meet Alick. Spent from 10:30 till 3:30 with him. Yes a CT scan showed it was a  SBO and he needed a NG and hopitalization. He didn't like that idea, but it did feel better!

    So home I went to get dinner. Sandwiches sounded good. The kids like grilled ham and cheese with horseradish sauce. I thought I grabbed the horseradish when SF asked me what are you making! Well, oops I had the bottle of ginger instead of horseradish. Let me tell you they are not interchangeable. I thought "well, they are made I will see if the kids notice." SF took a bit and gave me a look, You have not made a great culinary discovery. Ginger on ham and cheese, "NOT SO GOOD". But he didn't say anything. EM took a bit and said "WHAT IS ON THIS SANDWICH???" Needless to say they were not impressed. We scraped them a bit and made it OK to eat! I guess I was a bit distracted!

    Thankfully Alick is doing well. Looks like the Obstruction will resolve without surgery. He has history of Colon CA, 19 years ago and ends up with adhesions. Thankfully they have always resolved with Bowel rest!

    Not how we planned on spending our weekend, but thankful that things are turning around.

    SF's parents will be here on Thursday. The kids and SF don't have school Thursday, Friday or the weekend, so they are looking forward to getting spoiled!

    OK all for now!

Just remember Ginger = Horseradish is not a true statement!

~Being silly with DADDY~

JM had a great time playing before bed last night. I love the shot of him with his dad. What wonderful smiles they both have! Enjoy!

~93 AND COUNTING~~

Our good friend from Church turns 93 today. We had him over for dinner last night, as today just wasn't going to work. We had a good meal and played cards! He enjoyed it. This is our friend that had open heart surgery in June. We saw his MD's last month and they think he is ready to make a shot at the century mark now!! I'm just glad he is doing well and able to enjoy life!

~APPLE ORCHARD 2008~

I took the older 3 to an Apple orchard on Sunday with a group from church. They had a great time! Hopefully by next year JM will be able to go too...but church and then no nap a trip to the orchard and another outing yet that evening didn't seem like a good idea!

EM's NEW DESK

 

I stopped at the Goodwill the other day and picked up this desk and chair for EM!! He was so excited. It fits under his loft bed well and gives him a space of his own to get away from the girls!! The next evening he was in there  looking at books and practicing his homework. Gotta love when a plan comes together!

~HOME IN RECORD TIME~~

I am happy to report that all went smoothly with JM's tubes this am. The surgery was delayed about an hour. Didn't get all the details on that...but as it turned out it worked to our advantage. When we got to the room this am, the anasthesiologist that had JM during all his trouble the last time....stopped in to say "Hi" and that she was filling in the MD that would have Joshua's case as she was not assigned to him. Well, since things were delayed it worked out that she was able to take his case. She said quote,"must have been devine intervention!" Her words not mine. She said if that is the case who is she to argue!! Man I love her!! We talked over the "game plan" and all worked out well. Started surgery at 10:15...done by 10:30 in recovery minutes later home before noon!! Gotta love when things work out.

 

Thanks for all the prayers that helped with that "divine intervention" for my special boy!

 

Hugs

~Please remember us in the morning~

JM will have tubes put back in his ears in the am. The OR time is 9:15am. So we will be up and to the hospital by 7:45. Thankfully it is only 3 miles from here.

As most of you remember anasthesia for JM is not a good thing...so hopefully it will go better in the am.

    

When the ENT checked his ears at the beginning of the month he had wax in one of the ears...so in trying to get out the wax the tube came out too. OOPS!

 

Thanks for remembering us.

Hugs

 

~~Checking in~~

BUSY BUSY BUSY...I think that pretty well sums up our month of September so far. The kids are enjoying school. Somedays more than others, but so far so good. EM and SJ have 1/2 day Kindergarten so they are home by noon. I think that is about right for them. SJ is tired some days so she will lay down for a nap. She also started dance class last week. She is asking about every day when she has class again. Both of them wanted to go to school on the weekend...but I think they will be ready for the break  most weekends.

JM and I are getting used to a bit more alone time. Although we have had multiple appointments so far this month, so hard to get into any kind of routine. Went to the ENT and while he was getting the wax out of JM's ear the tube came out too...so he will have those replaced next Monday. Also trying to get a good hearing test to make sure his hearing is OK.

I know he hears somethings...but does he hear everything. THat is still to be determined.

MR is enjoying 3rd grade. No sure about the homework...but so far OK. She is really tired by bedtime each night.

 

The kids are all excited to start church school on Wednesday evening. They will be in separate classes which will be a first. I think it will be good for them.

I am just trying to keep everything straight at this point. Our 92 years old friend will have some heart tests done in the next two weeks. Just routine stuff, but more appointments.

Please keep us all in your prayers. I have had a couple migraines in the past month and that sure doesn't help! I'm sure it is the stress...but I do need to get my eyes checked. I think I need bifocals. I must be getting old! Those pages are not as clear as they used to be.

All for now.

~~A BEAUTIFUL DAY AT THE ZOO~~

We got up and going this am and spent a nice morning at the zoo. All seemed to enjoy it! The weather was perfect. Then we went to a Vietnamese Restaurant we used to go to when we lived in an apartment before we bought our house! The kids all ate and ate! They really enjoyed the food. It brought back memories! When MR was little if we couldn't get her to eat anything else, she would always eat the soup and wontons!!

 

~~SJ and EM's FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN~~

    Well, It is official. We now have 3 kids in school! The years have gone so quickly...it is kind of scary to look at the kids that were 8 when we moved here with MR...they are now Juniors in High School and my MR is 8!! I guess I need to slow down and enjoy each day...they will be in High school before I know it!

    MR stepped up to the plate and took the younger two on the bus this am. Then she made sure they got to their rooms! All seemed to go well. The only thing was that SJ was HUNGRY!!! as soon as I picked them up. I had intended to take a snack for them, but forgot it on the counter! Need to make sure we get some crackers in the van for that! SJ is used to eating whenever she is hungry, so waiting is a new experience!

    EM was to have speech class at noon, but when I got to the High Bridge it was closed. Thanks to the RNC...in St. Paul. I called the office and told them we would be there next week. By the time I had found a new route the class would have been 1/2 over! Not sure why they closed that bridge too. It was open yesterday...so I guess the protestors are getting too close and they are closing more areas. I will be glad when things are back to normal around here. I take too many of the roads that are closed too often. I'm glad it is only 4 days long!

    Enjoy the photos!

~MR's FIRST DAY OF 3RD GRADE~

How it can be that my little MR started 3rd grade today??  I'm not sure, but the reality is she did and she had a great day! We took her to school this morning and she was excited and ready to get going. She had supplies to organize and put away so that had her occupied from the moment she got to her new room. The report tonight is she likes her teacher! She has 3 new classmates and the bus home was OK!

    She will take the bus to school in the morning so we will see how that goes! MR is not much of a morning girl!

    SJ and EM will start Kindergarten on Thursday. They seem excited. They each wanted to stop down and check out their homerooms. SJ seems a bit anxious. EM isn't showing it if he is! Time will tell how it all plays out. Check back in a couple of days for their photos from first day!! for them!

~~ORGANIZATION?~~

OK, as many of you know...organization is not my strong point! SF laughs and says he has looked for something in all of my normal "hiding" spots...do I have any idea where X might be? Usually I don't know. I try, I'm just not good at it. All that being said the kids helped me try and organize our pantry today. We hve shelves in the basement and then a nice cupboard in the kitchen that were really a mess. They look much better now and I will try and keep them that way. I know it wont last too long, but I will do my best.

 

I must admit I found I have 20 cans of tomato paste. I guess I bought them when I bought canned tomatoes and used the tomatoes at a much quicker rate than the paste! Oh well. I admit my shortcomings and do my best!

 

MR thought it was really funny that I would have so many of one thing!

 

We took the kids to a volleyball game tonight. SF's school had their first home game, so we thought it would be a good idea to support them! They won and the kids did really well. JM enjoyed the bleachers and actually seemed to enjoy watching the girls get all excited!

 

It is nice to say that we are all healthy again. And hoping it might last awhile!

~CARD TOWERS~

Yesterday the kids got out the decks of cards. They were playing games to start and then started to build. Michaela ended up using 4 decks of cards. Pretty interesting what they can find to entertain themselves with.

SF has his first day of school today. Hard to believe 8 years ago he started there, just a 6 days after I got home from China with MR. It has been a busy 8 years!

All for now!