Hi all.
Yes. We've been back from Oak Island for awhile now, but here I am, finally telling you all about it!
The drive down there was pretty uneventful. My boys are seasoned travelers already! It wasn't until we got there that we ran into trouble. Our friends, Meg and Joe, are the ones that reserve the beach house every year. They were not told about the construction going on down the length of the street in front of the house. Maybe the rental property people didn't think the work crew would be in front of our house yet. Actually, they weren't. They had stopped digging in front of the space between our beach house and the one to the left of it. However, they did leave a huge pile of pipes in front of the house, leaving us nowhere to park.
The rental property people told Meg they had no idea that construction was going on in front of the house. They wouldn't take Meg's word for it, they had to send someone out there to see for themselves. We eventually got the OK to park in front of the public access two houses down, with a guarantee the police wouldn't give us all a ticket for parking there overnight.
Come Monday morning, a construction worker came to the house and apologized and got the pipes out of there. That's when we learned that the rental property company did indeed know that construction would be going on during the week of our vacation. It was only Monday that the heavy equipment was in front of the house. Overall it wasn't that much of a problem...for those who did't want to sleep in! The equipment made a heck of a lot of noise at 7:30 in the morning. A vacationer across the road let his unhappiness be heard.
It was pretty warm there, mid 80's the entire time, but not nearly as uncomfortable as last year. We also had one rainy day, Wednesday. It was a good down day. We did some shopping and had brought the Wii along for the kids to play.
We went on crab walks with flash lights and glow sticks. We didn't see any jellyfish on the beach this year. After the rainy day on Wednesday, the beach looked completely different! Before then, there was a long, shallow trench of water the kids could play in. It was as warm as a bath tub! We cleaned out the rocks in the stretch in front of the house and Dev and B splashed in it and Meg's son, Stevie, floated with a mask and snorkel, watching the little bait fish swimming in and out of his still fingers. He became part fish that week! LOL
Last year I didn't get much beach time as Bryce was only a few months old. When he went down for his naps I'd take the monitor back down to the beach with me. I did that again this year, but Bryce just needed short time outs in the shade and he was good to go for awhile again. We'd put him under the cow print shade at the top of the beach or under the cover of a beach umbrella, secured in the sand around an area dug out and walled up. It was quite the kiddie pool which I neglected to take pictures of. I didn't want to risk water and sand on my camera. I meant to get a waterproof disposable, but forgot. :(
Hunter behaved the same as last year. He mostly stood in the surf, no deeper than mid shin. He had his toys and did his thing. He did stay longer on the beach this time around. Like Stevie, Devin wanted to be a fish, too! He kept telling me he was swimming as he crawled around in the surf on the sand. He went out a couple times with his dad, but I could tell he was more comfortable on his own two feet at the shore line.
Some of you may not know it, but I don't really like to float out there in the ocean, not being able to see what's under me, but I did it. One of those times I did, a jelly fish stung me. My hubby says he didn't see anything. He was behind me and could seeif something was there, but it felt like the back of my leg, below the knee, was being poked by a needle. I started swimming to shore but kept getting poked. I finally swatted at whatever it was with my hand and I think the force of my hand in the water loosened whatever it was. An area the size of a quarter was red and when that faded there were tiny, dark red spots. Tim says it was probably the spine of a fish.
On another day Tim and I were throwing a football back and forth on the beach. He tossed it out to Joe but didn't quite make it to him. As the ball floated there I saw what I assumed was a small shark surface and then disappeared. Tim assured me that it was just a fish checking it out, nothing to worry about. On the way home though, he said yes, it was a shark. He didn't want to scare me out of the water!
For $40.00 one day we rented a two person kayak. Oh my goodness my body just did a shake remembering all the jelly fish we saw! It was quite a sight. They were as dark as blood in the center, with a paler red underneath. They were easy to spot and I was very helpful telling Tim which way to go steer back there! With that surf, I didn't want any getting splashed into my lap! While floating out there I was also reminded of seeing the rays jumping out of the water like a flat stone skipping across the surface. We were fine, nothing happened to us, until my hubby failed at keeping us straight coming in and a wave flipped us! LOL
I told Tim I didn't want to spend every day at the beach, that I wanted to do something else. So I took the initiative and reserved us some seats on a charter boat that promised we'd see lots of dolphins and other sea life.
It was about a 30 minute drive and we boarded the boat and headed out to sea. It was an hour and a half tour, an hour of which was travel out to the open sea and back. All of us had good sea legs, but Hunter lost his seat to a lady who had to sit down pretty quick. She was looking kind of green! She didn't move the entire trip.
We met up with a shrimp boat that was owned by the same company. We followed slowly behind it while it brought the shrimp nets up. We could see the shrimp in the net and watched as some floated loose of the bunch and were snatched up in the claws of the birds that squawked and hovered all around us. Other shrimp were made meals of by the dolphins swimming under the water. Some dolphins even jumped for us! At the end of that the crew of the boat we were on brought aboard other sea creatures and had dead samples of even more, including a Man-of-War, the most dangerous jelly fish out there! They sold preserved specimens in mason jars, but, uh, no thank you!
Meg and Joe had brought a baby sitter with them, so we got a couple adult night outs. Just dinner out and time away from the kids.
The way home was opposite of the way down. We left earlier than Meg and Joe because Tim had to be back, clothes washed and bags packed to catch a plane to MN the next morning. Instead of caravaning like we did on the way down, we let the GPS lead the way. When we stopped for lunch Tim took a closer look at our planned route and was shocked to see the computer was sending us toward Washington D.C.! With some adjustments and a new route thru the back twisty, hilly roads of beautiful West Virginia, we made it home two hours later than planned and a small bag full of pukey clothes. Bryce had a bit of car sickness. Even in the front seat my tummy was doing some flips.
Overall it was a good vacation. There have been quite a few times where all of us have wanted to be back there again!
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
A shot of skepticism about vaccines won't hurt a bit
Questioning in itself is not a bad thing, especially since the Internet has ignited an information explosion, some of it inaccurate. It does, however, reflect a larger crisis of confidence in public health officials and policy, which has developed partly because so many new, seemingly unnecessary vaccines have been added to the schedule and because no one can explain what causes, how to prevent or how to treat the new childhood disorders: asthma, allergies, attention deficit disorder and autism. - Julie Deardorff Health and fitness reporter for the Chicago Tribune August 31, 2008
Read the full article here.
Have some time to be fully shocked and upset? Then read this.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
15 Years Already??
On August 2nd, the boys and I traveled one more time this busy summer to my hometown in Northern Michigan to attend my high school class reunion. It was intended to be a quick trip where we'd arrive the night before, I'd leave the boys with my parents the next, go to the reunion and head back to Ohio the next day.
A 10 year reunion didn't come together five years ago. It was attempted but fell apart two years ago. This time my classmate Cindy put it all together mostly on her own. She created a website using http://www.classcreator.com/ that kept us informed and created profiles for each of us that signed in.
When Cindy announced the event, to be held at a Great Wolf Lodge, back in April, I was going for sure. Then I got sentimental about my recently divorced sister in Georgia, remembering the summers past that I intended to visit her but was either pregnant, nursing a newborn, or the timing just wasn't right. My boys were older now, seasoned long distance car travelers already, so I told my hubby what I'd like to do and he was all for it. However, with gas prices at just below $4.00 a gallon, he told me to make a choice; go to my class reunion or go to Georgia.
Oooohhhh, the desicion! I was torn. It would be great to see old friends I hadn't seen in many years, some being lost for the full fifteen, but I was already in periodic contact with the people I held the closest since that parting in 1993. Although I was curious how some people would be, I decided to visit my sister. I hadn't been to Georgia since her wedding in 1995 and could look forward to a well planned schedule proposed by my sister (with no pencil space to spare!) and her two children. (See my blog entry, We're Back From Georgia! to read how hard Karyn ran us! :P)
Obviously I went to my class reunion anyway, so what happened?
Well, my hubby was in charge of a major project at his job. He had a lot of preperation to do, simulations to perform, kinks to work out. With us going to the beach in North Carolina again this year (which we've already returned from but I haven't written about yet) he was running out of time. He called me from work on the Wednesday before the class reunion and told me that he'd be working through the weekend and to go on up north and attend.
He didn't have to tell me twice!
So the boys and I headed up that Friday. We got there about 7:00 and took over my parent's house once more. I headed to the city in an empty van the next day and did some shopping by myself, enjoying the time alone. I did want my boys there when I saw the caurosel and another mom pushing a double stroller...but only for the amount of time it took to walk by!
The reunion was set to start at 6:00. When I arrived I was surprised at how many people were already there! If I hadn't decided back in the spring to visit my sister in Georgia, I would have made a day of it at Great Wolf like many of the people attending did. We were given a package deal with havig the event there. Rooms were reserved at discounted prices that included tickets to the indoor waterpark the resort is known for. However, I had only bought my ticket two days before the event and missed the lower rate deadline. I also didn't have a care provider for three boys lined up to stay with them in the room we would have shared. I actually didn't think anything of it until I got there and saw the waterpark through the glass walls on the second floor and heard of the fun other children had, and were still having. Oh, well.
There was an open bar and a lot of mingling, although you could see invisible lines drawn, outlining cliques of the past reunited. I'm guilty of it myself. When I arrived I focused on the group of girls I spent my time with the most. A large meal was provided with more talk and the intermittant flashing of cameras. Time flew by and before I knew it, it was 10:30 and I had a 45 minute drive back to the house. I said my goodbyes and left the room with a smile on my face.
I had been the only person there without a significant other!
Out of 52 graduates, only 17 of us actually attended, one is not in the picture below. Some people said weren't coming because they'd be on their honeymoon or currently lived in Japan...what excuses! LOL
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Vaccination is a subject that elicits emotional responses from both those promoting forced use of multiple vaccines and those defending the human right to informed consent to vaccination. It involves a personal examination of what we know, fear, believe and value because what we choose to do can profoundly affect the health and lives of those we love the most.Please read more from Barbara Loe Fisher, President of the NVIC, in her blog entry called Vaccination, Ignorance, Prejudice & Greed at http://www.vaccineawakening.blogspot.com/.
Thank you.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
We're back from Michigan!
Hello again, everyone!
Wow. The last 3 weeks just flew by!
We started off with the excitement of having Karyn and the kids coming to our house, staying the night and caravaning up to our home town. We considered riding all in one van with our car top carrier for the luggage, but I wanted to visit my sister in a different town and Karyn wanted to go other places as well. We decided to follow each other for the 8 hour drive north.
We arrived all at once and flooded my parents house with suitcases, toys, seven more mouths to feed and one dog! The parents were thrilled, though. Our parents had called and emailed both Karyn and I in the weeks before our arrival, telling us how eager and excited they were about our visit. We were thrilled ourselves. We've been traveling to Michigan for most of the month of July for a few years now. The party we have for our summer birthdays has become a bash that we send invitations to extended family members to come now. This year, however, we were bummed when four of the young party goers who attended last year didn't come this time! :(
Karyn and I were thrilled with the party this year. It was a Luau theme with hanging fish, themed dishes and cups, leis for all and flowers in the girls' hair. We had a ring toss game and would have even done the Limbo had we not been enjoying the company of family and friends and forgot. The kids made fish sun catchers out of used CD's and took home summer themed sand art (which I did later and thought it was pretty cool!) There were flower tattoos for the girls and pirates for the boys. I think Karyn gave one to all who let her! LOL
My boys and I traveled a bit NW to visit my sister Amanda and her three beautiful daughters Rayne, Randi and Emma. They welcomed a new addition to their family back in June. Landon Jamie Allen was born June 7th. After three girls Amanda and hubby Jamie were thrilled when their surprise baby was the boy they had been wishing for!
Rayne hasn't gotten so tall and with her long dark hair and beautiful eyes, she looks older than the 8 years that she is. If you visited my website a couple months back you may have read the alert about six year old Randi. Her mom had to rush her to Grand Rapids because that little angel was in kidney failure. After first being diagnosed with Lupus, the doctor's now think her condition was a one time thing and are weaning her off the medications she's been on. She's gained some weight since I saw her over Christmas, but her cheeks aren't chubby, they are puffy from the meds and once she's off of them her face should return to normal.
Once silent baby Emma, who will be 2 in September, was pretty vocal during our visits. Especially when either Devin or Bryce wanted the toy she was playing with. With her curly black hair and chubby thighs, I just want to take her home with me!
Landon was thrown a welcome party that almost wasn't. It was the idea of a co-worker of Amanda's. She sent out the invites and was planning it. Their was no mention of it being a potluck and everyone assumed, as I think was right, that there would be finger foods or other snacks there. When we arrived, however, there was only a cake and a punch bowl! The host and her two friends had brought nothing else.
Family members left the gathering and returned with food for all of the 20 or so people who showed up. I'm sure there were some words exchanged and overheard by the hostesses and they were probably embarrassed and upset. They behaved immaturely (early 20's I believe) and left with the cake! If there hadn't been punch in the bowl, they probably would have taken that, too!
It's always wonderful to see Amanda. She's had a pretty rough time of it but seems to have come up on top. Her daughters are beautiful and I can't wait to watch Landon grow!
Back at my dad's we ate just about every evening meal outside and ended the day at the camp fire. The kids enjoyed sitting there with us and even roasted their own hot dogs as well as ate too many S'mores!
Our summer wasn't as involved as last year or my week in GA - Karyn. Put down that pencil! Seriously, she did a good job researching what we could do together and where we could go to get the most out of our time together without spending a lot of money.
It only cost us gas to go to a park with lake access. It wasn't one of the warmer days so we didn't pack any swimsuits but we did bring towels because we were there with kids and water is like a magnet with them! Kyler and Bryce got the most wet. There was no stopping B from walking into that water once he started! There was one special picture I wanted to share with you all, placed in the center of the home page of my web site, but Karyn was the photographer on that one and said she would send it to me before she left for a two day trip to the beach and she FORGOT!! :P
The furthest we traveled was to a museum about 45 minutes away. The plan was to stay there for a bit, have an early dinner and watch Karyn float away in a hot air balloon ride she was given for her birthday. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't right that day, or any day the rest of the time we were there. Either it was too windy, raining and not her backup day but someone else's. She'll have to try again next year. The main attraction at the museum were pictures made out of lights and colored glass. There were also some more interesting things there for kids and adults. See the picture slide show for more.
The last place we went to was a discovery center. It had all kinds of neat things to do and see. I talk more about it under the pictures I took.
We attended a local festival that benefited a nursing and retirement home. There was a big garage sale, music and games for the kids. There were also vendor's there selling things homemade like bags and scarves to someone pushing Pampered Chef. There was one particular man who's slogan was something like, 'You spend it, we destroy it.' What he did was take state quarters and cut out the designs on one of the sides. Karyn bought a key chain of a Michigan quarter where the lower and upper peninsulas were cut out and everything else left. So what you saw was the state of Michigan cut out in the middle of the coin! He had just about every state there and could make them into necklaces as well.
Since I had the stroller and in it Karyn's wallet, she didn't get it at first. Later, after we dropped off the kids to run in the sprinklers with the parents and me headed to the store, she asked to go back so she could buy that key chain...and flirt with an unmarried man with no kids beside her! LOL :P
My parents have a good sized, fenced in yard. Like at home Devin can come and go as much as he pleases. All the kids did, and so did Kit! They had the sprinkler to run thru, a slip and slide to zoom down, squirt guns, bats and balls and even hula hoops! Nothing but fun and a little cousin rivalry going on. Devin and Kyler had their moments and although we had to separate them quite a few times, no blood flowed like in GA. There were actually quite a few really good moments!
Devin learned how to ride a tricycle while we were there! Hunter did ride a bike, but after a couple falls he was frustrated and upset and would not try again. K'ryn is a master on her bike now and it won't be long before Kyler loses those training wheels!
There was an incident the night my parents attended an event out and it was just Karyn, the kids and I. I don't make spaghetti too often at my house so we were cooking some up with garlic toast and I had the idea of putting Hunter's fake roaches (which he got with a toy plate of spaghetti) in his real spaghetti. Hunter loves the humor that grosses people out so I thought it would be a hit...but it bombed.
There we were sitting at the picnic table, everyone mowing down on yummy spaghetti. Here comes Hunter's plate, served by his Aunt Karyn, no sauce, just butter, Parmesan cheese...and three fake (freshly washed) roaches.
When he picked up one of the bugs and we all went, 'Ewwww!', he did crack a smile. Then he put it back down on the plate, stood up and walked away. Oh...so not what I had anticipated!
I found him closed up in the bedroom and told him it had been a prank and one that obviously wasn't funny to him. He was upset and told me that it wasn't funny and that he could have eaten the toy and been poisoned. I explained that both Aunt Karyn and I were watching him closely and would never have let him actually eat the thing. I said we were going for the icky and funny fact of finding such a disgusting, but fake, bug in his spaghetti dinner. I think I made myself understood, but he didn't come back outside.
We took one of the pontoon's from my dad's old marina business out. It was a cloudy and a bit of a windy day, but it never rained on us and the temperature was comfortable off the bigger lake we crossed. It was a nice leisurely cruise where we ate a picnic lunch and did some fishing. Once again, my SISTER HAS THOSE PICTURES! :P The first fish I caught...maybe I don't want to share a pic! LOL It was a bait fish!! Kyler caught the biggest bass and Hunter caught a good sized and beautiful sun fish!
For awhile there the worms kept the younger boys occupied and then it was the fish we caught and kept in a spare cooler to release once we were back at the marina. The kids got to take a turn at steering the boat if they wanted and Bryce fought his life jacket for awhile. Kit didn't act like the dog that she is. She didn't want to sit on the floor of the boat but up on the seats, preferably on the lap of someone with a blanket!
And then there was another incident.
As you all know, Hunter carries around a variety of small items, not necessarily toys. One of these that day in his over sized sweatshirt pocket was a large thimble. He likes to use it like a cup sometimes. This particular time his refreshment of choice was his own saliva. At first it was funny and a bit gross to see him put his own bubbly spit into the thimble, show it off to everyone and then drink it. But he kept doing it over and over and over again, holding it up to his grandma's face in the wind of the boat on an already windy day. He would also put the spit in his hands and it would string between his spread fingers. Seeing that made my stomach flip actually and I told him to put it away or it was mine. I repeated myself several times before giving his stomach a smack with the back of my hand to convey how serious I was. I pocketed the thimble and he frowned at me. He does not like having one of his small toys removed from his person. I told him I was going to hold onto it for five minutes only and that when I gave it back he was to put it into his pocket and it was to stay there for the rest of the boat trip. After the five minutes I did give it back and he did put it into his pocket. I noticed he kept his hands in there alot after that.
He actually does that quite often, not knowing when enough is enough and it's time to stop. His grandma wasn't laughing at him anymore but he didn't pick up on those cues or else he didn't understand them. This is something I'm going to work on with him with and possibly put it in next years IEP.
Oh - I forgot to talk about going strawberry picking. I would of remembered had my camera been the one to take the pictures, but, once again they are on my SISTER's camera and she hasn't sent me anything! (Is she scowling at me yet??) One of the first days there we went out to an orchard and both kids and adults picked strawberries. Bryce was eating them right on the spot! Aunt Tiffany was so happy with her recent purchase of a white shirt with a go green type saying on the front. She shouldn't have gotten so close to a toddler on uneven ground with strawberries all over his hands! She got a perfect little red hand print and a smear on her lower back! LOL Later the kids mashed the strawberries and Kathy made strawberry jam she sent us all home with. (It turned out great, Kath!)
Karyn and I were quite the crafting couple there for awhile! I had brought up material and thread with me to make a baby quilt for Landon, but as I looked through Kathy's many books, I found a more personal design I liked and tweaked it to my own needs. I suggested to Karyn the idea of making a wall hanging for the parents with a couple pictures of the kids to remember the summer of 2008. We put our heads together and we were quilting queens! Phew! See the slide show for pictures!
Another thing came to my attention on one of the last days we were there. We had gone to Kathy's place of employment so a coworker could meet the kids. As we were leaving, K'ryn pointed out that Hunter had taken a pen and was leaving with it. She used the word steal. Hunter became upset, held up his hand in that, 'Talk to the hand', way we all know, and then put his forehead to hers and pushed her over backwards. I've seen him do the head thing before, but he pushed K'ryn back so far, I thought she'd break her back! We had driven separately there because of car seats so I spoke in private about what he had done. I brought up the pen first and then talked of what he did in detail with K'ryn, how he hurt her back bending her backwards so far. I expressed how important it was to use his words when he was angry and not to ever force someone in any way like that again. K'ryn later told her mom that Hunter had done that to her before, so here's another addition to my personal To Do list and definitely one to mention at the IEP meeting.
We had plans on going up to the bridge and into the city but Kath got an emergency call and that trip was cancelled. We'll have to do it next year.
When left on Friday and arrived back here in Ohio in time to watch Tim place softball. It was so hot! On Saturday I packed up Hunter and Tim packed up his bags. We took him to the airport to catch a flight to WI Sunday morning and later that day I left Dev and B with a friend and took Hunter to his summer camp. He seemed OK while we were there and I stayed longer than I had in the past. When it was time to go he got upset and started rubbing at his eyes and taking deep breaths. I saw one tear fall and that broke my heart! I reminded him of all the fun he was going to have and that he wanted to be there. I mentioned that he'd get a week away without any annoying little brothers and he cracked a small smile. The boy that he did some things with last summer was in his cabin again...and so were the two that had some behavior problems. There are four adults in each cabin; two that have been there the past two years and two new ones. One of the new guys wasn't really new to the experience, just new to the cabin. He's one of the older counselors with a background in behavior. When he saw me leaving he offered Hunter a piece of gum and asked him if he still liked Yu-Gi-Oh (that was Hunter's thing last year, that cartoon has a card game and Hunter had some with him). I loved that man at that moment because he was a stranger to Hunter and I but he had taken the time to read about Hunter before he meant him and that makes that man special in my eyes.
It's just Dev, B and me this week! I tried to watch a movie last night but Bryce was a stinker but today I can see why. He has his bottom two eye teeth coming in and the top two haven't finished yet and he still has some molars that look like they still have room to grow. Poor little guy! Both the boys slept with me at my parents house and the first two nights with Tim gone Devin has come back. Since he stayed in his own bed the night his dad was here, maybe him going back to his bed when his dad returns won't be a problem. I better try before that night arrives! Until then, I don't mind them drooling on my pillow!
Take care!
Yo
Wow. The last 3 weeks just flew by!
We started off with the excitement of having Karyn and the kids coming to our house, staying the night and caravaning up to our home town. We considered riding all in one van with our car top carrier for the luggage, but I wanted to visit my sister in a different town and Karyn wanted to go other places as well. We decided to follow each other for the 8 hour drive north.
We arrived all at once and flooded my parents house with suitcases, toys, seven more mouths to feed and one dog! The parents were thrilled, though. Our parents had called and emailed both Karyn and I in the weeks before our arrival, telling us how eager and excited they were about our visit. We were thrilled ourselves. We've been traveling to Michigan for most of the month of July for a few years now. The party we have for our summer birthdays has become a bash that we send invitations to extended family members to come now. This year, however, we were bummed when four of the young party goers who attended last year didn't come this time! :(
Karyn and I were thrilled with the party this year. It was a Luau theme with hanging fish, themed dishes and cups, leis for all and flowers in the girls' hair. We had a ring toss game and would have even done the Limbo had we not been enjoying the company of family and friends and forgot. The kids made fish sun catchers out of used CD's and took home summer themed sand art (which I did later and thought it was pretty cool!) There were flower tattoos for the girls and pirates for the boys. I think Karyn gave one to all who let her! LOL
My boys and I traveled a bit NW to visit my sister Amanda and her three beautiful daughters Rayne, Randi and Emma. They welcomed a new addition to their family back in June. Landon Jamie Allen was born June 7th. After three girls Amanda and hubby Jamie were thrilled when their surprise baby was the boy they had been wishing for!
Rayne hasn't gotten so tall and with her long dark hair and beautiful eyes, she looks older than the 8 years that she is. If you visited my website a couple months back you may have read the alert about six year old Randi. Her mom had to rush her to Grand Rapids because that little angel was in kidney failure. After first being diagnosed with Lupus, the doctor's now think her condition was a one time thing and are weaning her off the medications she's been on. She's gained some weight since I saw her over Christmas, but her cheeks aren't chubby, they are puffy from the meds and once she's off of them her face should return to normal.
Once silent baby Emma, who will be 2 in September, was pretty vocal during our visits. Especially when either Devin or Bryce wanted the toy she was playing with. With her curly black hair and chubby thighs, I just want to take her home with me!
Landon was thrown a welcome party that almost wasn't. It was the idea of a co-worker of Amanda's. She sent out the invites and was planning it. Their was no mention of it being a potluck and everyone assumed, as I think was right, that there would be finger foods or other snacks there. When we arrived, however, there was only a cake and a punch bowl! The host and her two friends had brought nothing else.
Family members left the gathering and returned with food for all of the 20 or so people who showed up. I'm sure there were some words exchanged and overheard by the hostesses and they were probably embarrassed and upset. They behaved immaturely (early 20's I believe) and left with the cake! If there hadn't been punch in the bowl, they probably would have taken that, too!
It's always wonderful to see Amanda. She's had a pretty rough time of it but seems to have come up on top. Her daughters are beautiful and I can't wait to watch Landon grow!
Back at my dad's we ate just about every evening meal outside and ended the day at the camp fire. The kids enjoyed sitting there with us and even roasted their own hot dogs as well as ate too many S'mores!
Our summer wasn't as involved as last year or my week in GA - Karyn. Put down that pencil! Seriously, she did a good job researching what we could do together and where we could go to get the most out of our time together without spending a lot of money.
It only cost us gas to go to a park with lake access. It wasn't one of the warmer days so we didn't pack any swimsuits but we did bring towels because we were there with kids and water is like a magnet with them! Kyler and Bryce got the most wet. There was no stopping B from walking into that water once he started! There was one special picture I wanted to share with you all, placed in the center of the home page of my web site, but Karyn was the photographer on that one and said she would send it to me before she left for a two day trip to the beach and she FORGOT!! :P
The furthest we traveled was to a museum about 45 minutes away. The plan was to stay there for a bit, have an early dinner and watch Karyn float away in a hot air balloon ride she was given for her birthday. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't right that day, or any day the rest of the time we were there. Either it was too windy, raining and not her backup day but someone else's. She'll have to try again next year. The main attraction at the museum were pictures made out of lights and colored glass. There were also some more interesting things there for kids and adults. See the picture slide show for more.
The last place we went to was a discovery center. It had all kinds of neat things to do and see. I talk more about it under the pictures I took.
We attended a local festival that benefited a nursing and retirement home. There was a big garage sale, music and games for the kids. There were also vendor's there selling things homemade like bags and scarves to someone pushing Pampered Chef. There was one particular man who's slogan was something like, 'You spend it, we destroy it.' What he did was take state quarters and cut out the designs on one of the sides. Karyn bought a key chain of a Michigan quarter where the lower and upper peninsulas were cut out and everything else left. So what you saw was the state of Michigan cut out in the middle of the coin! He had just about every state there and could make them into necklaces as well.
Since I had the stroller and in it Karyn's wallet, she didn't get it at first. Later, after we dropped off the kids to run in the sprinklers with the parents and me headed to the store, she asked to go back so she could buy that key chain...and flirt with an unmarried man with no kids beside her! LOL :P
My parents have a good sized, fenced in yard. Like at home Devin can come and go as much as he pleases. All the kids did, and so did Kit! They had the sprinkler to run thru, a slip and slide to zoom down, squirt guns, bats and balls and even hula hoops! Nothing but fun and a little cousin rivalry going on. Devin and Kyler had their moments and although we had to separate them quite a few times, no blood flowed like in GA. There were actually quite a few really good moments!
Devin learned how to ride a tricycle while we were there! Hunter did ride a bike, but after a couple falls he was frustrated and upset and would not try again. K'ryn is a master on her bike now and it won't be long before Kyler loses those training wheels!
There was an incident the night my parents attended an event out and it was just Karyn, the kids and I. I don't make spaghetti too often at my house so we were cooking some up with garlic toast and I had the idea of putting Hunter's fake roaches (which he got with a toy plate of spaghetti) in his real spaghetti. Hunter loves the humor that grosses people out so I thought it would be a hit...but it bombed.
There we were sitting at the picnic table, everyone mowing down on yummy spaghetti. Here comes Hunter's plate, served by his Aunt Karyn, no sauce, just butter, Parmesan cheese...and three fake (freshly washed) roaches.
When he picked up one of the bugs and we all went, 'Ewwww!', he did crack a smile. Then he put it back down on the plate, stood up and walked away. Oh...so not what I had anticipated!
I found him closed up in the bedroom and told him it had been a prank and one that obviously wasn't funny to him. He was upset and told me that it wasn't funny and that he could have eaten the toy and been poisoned. I explained that both Aunt Karyn and I were watching him closely and would never have let him actually eat the thing. I said we were going for the icky and funny fact of finding such a disgusting, but fake, bug in his spaghetti dinner. I think I made myself understood, but he didn't come back outside.
We took one of the pontoon's from my dad's old marina business out. It was a cloudy and a bit of a windy day, but it never rained on us and the temperature was comfortable off the bigger lake we crossed. It was a nice leisurely cruise where we ate a picnic lunch and did some fishing. Once again, my SISTER HAS THOSE PICTURES! :P The first fish I caught...maybe I don't want to share a pic! LOL It was a bait fish!! Kyler caught the biggest bass and Hunter caught a good sized and beautiful sun fish!
For awhile there the worms kept the younger boys occupied and then it was the fish we caught and kept in a spare cooler to release once we were back at the marina. The kids got to take a turn at steering the boat if they wanted and Bryce fought his life jacket for awhile. Kit didn't act like the dog that she is. She didn't want to sit on the floor of the boat but up on the seats, preferably on the lap of someone with a blanket!
And then there was another incident.
As you all know, Hunter carries around a variety of small items, not necessarily toys. One of these that day in his over sized sweatshirt pocket was a large thimble. He likes to use it like a cup sometimes. This particular time his refreshment of choice was his own saliva. At first it was funny and a bit gross to see him put his own bubbly spit into the thimble, show it off to everyone and then drink it. But he kept doing it over and over and over again, holding it up to his grandma's face in the wind of the boat on an already windy day. He would also put the spit in his hands and it would string between his spread fingers. Seeing that made my stomach flip actually and I told him to put it away or it was mine. I repeated myself several times before giving his stomach a smack with the back of my hand to convey how serious I was. I pocketed the thimble and he frowned at me. He does not like having one of his small toys removed from his person. I told him I was going to hold onto it for five minutes only and that when I gave it back he was to put it into his pocket and it was to stay there for the rest of the boat trip. After the five minutes I did give it back and he did put it into his pocket. I noticed he kept his hands in there alot after that.
He actually does that quite often, not knowing when enough is enough and it's time to stop. His grandma wasn't laughing at him anymore but he didn't pick up on those cues or else he didn't understand them. This is something I'm going to work on with him with and possibly put it in next years IEP.
Oh - I forgot to talk about going strawberry picking. I would of remembered had my camera been the one to take the pictures, but, once again they are on my SISTER's camera and she hasn't sent me anything! (Is she scowling at me yet??) One of the first days there we went out to an orchard and both kids and adults picked strawberries. Bryce was eating them right on the spot! Aunt Tiffany was so happy with her recent purchase of a white shirt with a go green type saying on the front. She shouldn't have gotten so close to a toddler on uneven ground with strawberries all over his hands! She got a perfect little red hand print and a smear on her lower back! LOL Later the kids mashed the strawberries and Kathy made strawberry jam she sent us all home with. (It turned out great, Kath!)
Karyn and I were quite the crafting couple there for awhile! I had brought up material and thread with me to make a baby quilt for Landon, but as I looked through Kathy's many books, I found a more personal design I liked and tweaked it to my own needs. I suggested to Karyn the idea of making a wall hanging for the parents with a couple pictures of the kids to remember the summer of 2008. We put our heads together and we were quilting queens! Phew! See the slide show for pictures!
Another thing came to my attention on one of the last days we were there. We had gone to Kathy's place of employment so a coworker could meet the kids. As we were leaving, K'ryn pointed out that Hunter had taken a pen and was leaving with it. She used the word steal. Hunter became upset, held up his hand in that, 'Talk to the hand', way we all know, and then put his forehead to hers and pushed her over backwards. I've seen him do the head thing before, but he pushed K'ryn back so far, I thought she'd break her back! We had driven separately there because of car seats so I spoke in private about what he had done. I brought up the pen first and then talked of what he did in detail with K'ryn, how he hurt her back bending her backwards so far. I expressed how important it was to use his words when he was angry and not to ever force someone in any way like that again. K'ryn later told her mom that Hunter had done that to her before, so here's another addition to my personal To Do list and definitely one to mention at the IEP meeting.
We had plans on going up to the bridge and into the city but Kath got an emergency call and that trip was cancelled. We'll have to do it next year.
When left on Friday and arrived back here in Ohio in time to watch Tim place softball. It was so hot! On Saturday I packed up Hunter and Tim packed up his bags. We took him to the airport to catch a flight to WI Sunday morning and later that day I left Dev and B with a friend and took Hunter to his summer camp. He seemed OK while we were there and I stayed longer than I had in the past. When it was time to go he got upset and started rubbing at his eyes and taking deep breaths. I saw one tear fall and that broke my heart! I reminded him of all the fun he was going to have and that he wanted to be there. I mentioned that he'd get a week away without any annoying little brothers and he cracked a small smile. The boy that he did some things with last summer was in his cabin again...and so were the two that had some behavior problems. There are four adults in each cabin; two that have been there the past two years and two new ones. One of the new guys wasn't really new to the experience, just new to the cabin. He's one of the older counselors with a background in behavior. When he saw me leaving he offered Hunter a piece of gum and asked him if he still liked Yu-Gi-Oh (that was Hunter's thing last year, that cartoon has a card game and Hunter had some with him). I loved that man at that moment because he was a stranger to Hunter and I but he had taken the time to read about Hunter before he meant him and that makes that man special in my eyes.
It's just Dev, B and me this week! I tried to watch a movie last night but Bryce was a stinker but today I can see why. He has his bottom two eye teeth coming in and the top two haven't finished yet and he still has some molars that look like they still have room to grow. Poor little guy! Both the boys slept with me at my parents house and the first two nights with Tim gone Devin has come back. Since he stayed in his own bed the night his dad was here, maybe him going back to his bed when his dad returns won't be a problem. I better try before that night arrives! Until then, I don't mind them drooling on my pillow!
Take care!
Yo
Saturday, June 28, 2008
I hope Hunter learned a lesson this week...
Hi all!
It hasn't been too much of an excitng week around here. It rained a lot and it was only above 80 two times, so on those day we went to the spray playground as it is being called. Hunter could stay there all day but Devin and Bryce can only last an hour or so. Then I get them dried off and into some clothes and we go to the playground next to it for about thirty minutes. Glad it's free because we don't spend too much time there at once!
This week the Amish crew that clean houses came over. Tim bought me a 2 hour slot for Mother's Day. I wasn't too keen on all the chemicals, but I knew I'd never deep clean as good as these ladies would do. They said they'd be moving furniture and washing baseboards!! We left them to their work with the house windows open so the place could air out.
Hunter's bedroom has been a mess for so long now. I told him that four woman were coming to deep clean our house and I wanted his bedroom to be one of the rooms that got some attention. Tim and I looked behind and under things to make sure there wasn't any disgusting surprises, most of you know what I mean, for the ladies, but there wasn't. Every day that went by I told Hunter to clean up his room. He didn't do it and he still didn't do it and he had only an hour left when Tim said enough and took a big black garbage bag into Hunter's room and tossed everything but the books I could save into that bag and out to the garbage can it went.
Hunter hovered by and I knew he wanted to say something. I had to tell him to speak up but all he did was reach out and grab something here and snatch something there. I thought, I hoped, he would get upset, but all he did was watch and listen. Maybe in his silence it was hitting home and we won't have to play that scene again.
I did get a return call from the DAN! doc I mentioned in my last update. To make a long stroy short the woman was rude. She pretty much told me I wasn't commited to making my son well and that I was looking for a quick fix. Therefore, I will be looking for a new DAN! doctor. I did take Hunter to see a gastro doc who told me what I already knew, but I just wanted to make sure. He recommended an enema, but Hunter had to endure those a few years back and I'd rather not go through that again. I picked up a root beer flavored laxitive to help clean up any blockage up there and bought him some fiber crackers. If he's still having problems after our return from Michigan, the doc will look deeper. If he still is messing his underwear, I will probably have to keep him home from his summer camp this year.
Are boys born to it? Is it in their genes?? Devin has seen a few scenes of a couple older kid/adult shows and movies, but is that still too much??? He is continuously shooting me and starting to wrestle with Bryce. He does have some cute moves though where he jumps up and down into a spread legged position and holds his hands like he's doing karate. I just hope I can keep him tame so he doesn't hurt anyone.
Bryce has come into the monkey stage of toddler hood. He is climbing on to everything! When walking across the room he has to sway over to a toy and step on it and down before carrying on his way. With us hovering nearby he's climbed the stairs and gone part way down them. He's more interested in going up right now than down. We were at an indoor playground this week and I looked up and he had climbed up the slide and was happily standing at the top with a new view he hasn't seen before!
He's almost running but if he gets going to fast he falls on his knees. He tries to eat everything I give him, but he can't contain the urge to throw most of it on to the floor. Devin on the other hand...I don't see where he gets all his energy with just two bites at each meal!
Tomorrow my sister Karyn and her wonderfuly behaved children :) will be arriving. They'll probably get here in time for dinner and Monday morning we'll be on our way to take over our parent's house in Northern Michigan. Ready or not, dad, here we come! We'll be there through the 18th, but I think Karyn is leaving the day before.
So everyone have a great next couple weeks and look for an update and a ton of pictures around the 20th (which is my wedding anniversary. Yikes!)
XXOO
Yo
It hasn't been too much of an excitng week around here. It rained a lot and it was only above 80 two times, so on those day we went to the spray playground as it is being called. Hunter could stay there all day but Devin and Bryce can only last an hour or so. Then I get them dried off and into some clothes and we go to the playground next to it for about thirty minutes. Glad it's free because we don't spend too much time there at once!
This week the Amish crew that clean houses came over. Tim bought me a 2 hour slot for Mother's Day. I wasn't too keen on all the chemicals, but I knew I'd never deep clean as good as these ladies would do. They said they'd be moving furniture and washing baseboards!! We left them to their work with the house windows open so the place could air out.
Hunter's bedroom has been a mess for so long now. I told him that four woman were coming to deep clean our house and I wanted his bedroom to be one of the rooms that got some attention. Tim and I looked behind and under things to make sure there wasn't any disgusting surprises, most of you know what I mean, for the ladies, but there wasn't. Every day that went by I told Hunter to clean up his room. He didn't do it and he still didn't do it and he had only an hour left when Tim said enough and took a big black garbage bag into Hunter's room and tossed everything but the books I could save into that bag and out to the garbage can it went.
Hunter hovered by and I knew he wanted to say something. I had to tell him to speak up but all he did was reach out and grab something here and snatch something there. I thought, I hoped, he would get upset, but all he did was watch and listen. Maybe in his silence it was hitting home and we won't have to play that scene again.
I did get a return call from the DAN! doc I mentioned in my last update. To make a long stroy short the woman was rude. She pretty much told me I wasn't commited to making my son well and that I was looking for a quick fix. Therefore, I will be looking for a new DAN! doctor. I did take Hunter to see a gastro doc who told me what I already knew, but I just wanted to make sure. He recommended an enema, but Hunter had to endure those a few years back and I'd rather not go through that again. I picked up a root beer flavored laxitive to help clean up any blockage up there and bought him some fiber crackers. If he's still having problems after our return from Michigan, the doc will look deeper. If he still is messing his underwear, I will probably have to keep him home from his summer camp this year.
Are boys born to it? Is it in their genes?? Devin has seen a few scenes of a couple older kid/adult shows and movies, but is that still too much??? He is continuously shooting me and starting to wrestle with Bryce. He does have some cute moves though where he jumps up and down into a spread legged position and holds his hands like he's doing karate. I just hope I can keep him tame so he doesn't hurt anyone.
Bryce has come into the monkey stage of toddler hood. He is climbing on to everything! When walking across the room he has to sway over to a toy and step on it and down before carrying on his way. With us hovering nearby he's climbed the stairs and gone part way down them. He's more interested in going up right now than down. We were at an indoor playground this week and I looked up and he had climbed up the slide and was happily standing at the top with a new view he hasn't seen before!
He's almost running but if he gets going to fast he falls on his knees. He tries to eat everything I give him, but he can't contain the urge to throw most of it on to the floor. Devin on the other hand...I don't see where he gets all his energy with just two bites at each meal!
Tomorrow my sister Karyn and her wonderfuly behaved children :) will be arriving. They'll probably get here in time for dinner and Monday morning we'll be on our way to take over our parent's house in Northern Michigan. Ready or not, dad, here we come! We'll be there through the 18th, but I think Karyn is leaving the day before.
So everyone have a great next couple weeks and look for an update and a ton of pictures around the 20th (which is my wedding anniversary. Yikes!)
XXOO
Yo
Thursday, June 26, 2008
What do you do to beat the heat?
That's the question Nature's Child Wholesome Goods for Mothers & Babies is asking their readers. If you share your answer with them, your name is put into a drawing and you could win a bumGenius 3.0 Starter Kit! Wowzers! You could get 18 diapers, a diaper sprayer, a dozen cloth wipes and a bottle of bumGenius Odor Remover!
bumGenius, otherwise known as BG in the cloth diaper world, is a one size pockt diaper that was recently redone to include, among other things, two inserts instead of one. In my opinion, BG is the closest thing to disposeables out there. Pre-stuffed, they go on as quick as a disposable, secured with a strong Velcro type fastner called Aplix.
I want to win just for that diaper sprayer! Every time I clean up a poopy cloth diaper I tell myself to just get a sprayer already! I haven't seen them for sale for less than $35.00. They are similar to what some of you may have at your kitchen sink, but these obviously hook up to your toilet and you spray the diaper somewhat clean into the toilet and into the wetbag or diaper pail it goes!
You gotta have cloth wipes if you use cloth diapers. It doesn't make any sense to reuse a diaper but not the wipes. Besides, it can get pretty annoying to have to seperate icky disposeable wipes from a cloth diaper. I know because switching to cloth wipes was the last thing I did.
I haven't used an odor remover, but with cleaning both cloth diapers and Hunter's dirty underwear, I should invest in some!
So, tell Nature's Child what your family does to beat the heat. A name is randomly drawn on August 10th. If you win, you can see first hand how easy it is to use cloth diapers and realize how much money you save by not buying disposeables and what about Mother Earth? Not adding more plastic and human waste to a landfill is a big plus for me!
bumGenius, otherwise known as BG in the cloth diaper world, is a one size pockt diaper that was recently redone to include, among other things, two inserts instead of one. In my opinion, BG is the closest thing to disposeables out there. Pre-stuffed, they go on as quick as a disposable, secured with a strong Velcro type fastner called Aplix.
I want to win just for that diaper sprayer! Every time I clean up a poopy cloth diaper I tell myself to just get a sprayer already! I haven't seen them for sale for less than $35.00. They are similar to what some of you may have at your kitchen sink, but these obviously hook up to your toilet and you spray the diaper somewhat clean into the toilet and into the wetbag or diaper pail it goes!
You gotta have cloth wipes if you use cloth diapers. It doesn't make any sense to reuse a diaper but not the wipes. Besides, it can get pretty annoying to have to seperate icky disposeable wipes from a cloth diaper. I know because switching to cloth wipes was the last thing I did.
I haven't used an odor remover, but with cleaning both cloth diapers and Hunter's dirty underwear, I should invest in some!
So, tell Nature's Child what your family does to beat the heat. A name is randomly drawn on August 10th. If you win, you can see first hand how easy it is to use cloth diapers and realize how much money you save by not buying disposeables and what about Mother Earth? Not adding more plastic and human waste to a landfill is a big plus for me!
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