Sunday, September 25, 2011

What a Difference a Week Makes

Last week when I wrote my post I felt like poo.  I felt like poo ALL week long.  I finally started feeling better yesterday and slept well last night and feel about back to normal today.  What a miserable week.

Since I was sick I didn’t do much. I thought I was feeling better on Tuesday morning so I picked Lindy up from school and took the kids to gymnastics.  By the time I got home I felt like poo again.

Gymnastics didn’t go as well this week.  Of the three times we’ve been, it wasn’t the best and it wasn’t the worst.  Actually it was the worst she has done in the beginning circle time.  She kept taking off, running across the circle, and tackling Will.  The last time she did it she got close enough where I grabbed her and had a sweet little chat with her.  She did better in the circuits than circle time.  We had another little chat when she had to go to the bathroom, but I’m just not sure she understands consequences.  The theme this week was football and they did some cute football things.  They had to roll down a slope with a stuffed football and then tackle a big mat.  Will is doing great in gymnastics.  He listens well and is having a blast.  He is getting a little less hesitant about trying the new things as well.

That about sums up the week.  Besides the fact that I was sick, it rained the latter part of the week.  Lots and lots of rain.  The kids were stuck inside with a sick mama.  That meant they watched a lot more tv than they usually get to.   They were loving life.

We had a much more exciting weekend though.  Friday night we met Uncle Ed and Aunt Jamie at a Wake Forest girls volleyball game.  It was a lot of fun and we really enjoyed it.  Lindy and Will didn’t love it or particularly sit still very well but oh well, we were out of the house.  Saturday Drew had a youth event at church where they packed 20,028 meals for Stop Hunger Now.  Last night we had dinner with some friends in Greensboro.  We ate with one of Drew’s best friends from middle school, his wife, their almost four year old daughter, and 4 month old son.  Lindy and Will had fun playing with Hannah and all her toys and we had fun catching up.  I didn’t hold the baby since I’ve been so sick all week and still have a cough.  I couldn’t get in my baby fix!  Next time!  Today we went to church and then we went to a Wake Forest girls soccer game!  Even though it was a bye week for the Wake football team, we still saw a lot of Wake Forest sports!

We’ve been having a lot of trouble with Lindy’s hearing aides this week. I keep hearing static and a crackling sound and I’ve had trouble syncing her hearing aides to her FM system.  (Incidentally she likes to ask me to ‘sync’ her hearing aides now.  She has no clue what that actually means.)  I thought it stopped doing it at the end of the week but it’s been doing it this weekend so I’m definitely taking them in to get checked out.  They are just like all other technology, they are amazing when they work and so frustrating when they don’t work right!

It was cool in the beginning of the week and warm by the end of the week.DSC_2950DSC_2951Football day at gymnastics! DSC_2960DSC_2961About the only thing Lindy listened to during circle time was following the directions to go to middle, put your arms in the air and say, “Ta da!”DSC_2964Rolling with the football.DSC_2967Hut, hut, hike!DSC_2968Tackle that dummy!DSC_2975DSC_2984DSC_2987Tackling the dummy was RIGHT up Lindy’s alley.DSC_2988She struggles to walk on the trampoline….DSC_2996much less bounce!DSC_2997Lindy trying not to smile after I caught them in a sweet moment!DSC_3002GO DEACS!!!  We saw the Deacon up close and personal at the volleyball game!DSC_3006Aunt Jamie!DSC_3007I left the pantry door open today and came back to find this.DSC_3054Sneaking chips.DSC_3055Today at the Wake girls soccer game.  It started pouring rain on us so we left, but they were winning 4-1 so we felt safe leaving!DSC_3056

Sunday, September 18, 2011

What happened to Summer?

Our temperatures drastically dropped 25 degrees from Thursday to Friday and I’m not digging it.  85 to 60 is a little much for me.  What happened to those ever so lovely low 70’s?  The temp actually wouldn’t be so bad but it’s been windy, which makes me cold.  Thankfully we warm back up to the 80’s this week.  That’s what I’m talking about.

I feel like poo right now.  I’m freezing cold and I woke up with achy legs and ankles and now I have achy wrists.  I’m sacrificing my achy wrists to type this blog post so my mother-in-law and the Stokes County Grandmother can sleep easy tonight Smile

Anywho, enough about me.  Onto the children you really came to check on.  We had our first full week of school.  Three days at the church preschool and two days for Lindy at the hearing impaired class.  We were all tired by Friday morning.  They did not want to get up Friday morning!  We did 5 days all last year so we just need to get back in the swing of it. 

I’m VERY happy to report that gymnastics went 1000% better this week.  There were many things that made it better.  I think the biggest thing was that it was a smaller group.  There were only 5 people in L&W’s group.  The circuits they did this week were easier and Lindy was able to do more of them herself.  I brought her FM system, which sends her teacher’s voice straight into her hearing aides in her ears, so she was able to hear the directions better.  And most importantly she listened and followed them a lot better.  She still did a bit of wandering but much less than last week.  We had talked a lot to her about listening and waiting in line and following directions.  The first thing she said when she came out was, “Mom I listened!”  Besides all of the above, the instructors knew what to expect with her.  They knew they had to help her out more and had to watch her closely.  The pit is like a magnet and drew her in a few times when she wasn’t supposed to be in there, but she did so much better.  Oh, and she wore her leotard.  Which my mother thinks is the real reason she did better.  She says she must have felt like a real gymnast that day.  ha ha!

Thursday was another busy day.  We dropped Lindy off at school and Will and I went to story time at the library again.  What a great, little free program they have going on there!   I was excited that Will actually participated in some of the dances this week.  We left there and picked up Lindy at school and did a parent session with her and her teacher.  She did pretty well during the session.  We left her school and headed to the mall to eat lunch and return some things.  When we were done I dropped Will off at Uncle Ed’s and Lindy and I headed to PT to see Jill.  She thought Lindy was doing great.  We worked on walking up the stairs while alternating feet, stepping over things without holding on, and kicking a soccer ball. 

The only exciting thing we did this weekend was go to the Wake Forest football game.  It was at 6:30pm on Saturday night and it was the kids’ first night football game.  GrandBob and Uncle Ed came over earlier in the afternoon and watched football and we ate pizza.  We headed to the game and it ended up being a blow-out over Gardner Webb.   We left in the third quarter when the score was 41-5.  I’m glad we got home early and got the kids in bed.  Lindy had not napped at all so she laid down and was asleep in about 5 seconds.

Hope everyone had a good week!  These pictures are Lindy heavy.  Apparently she was around me and the camera more this week.

Cuteness in a cute outfit.DSC_2874Lindy has been playing with these wedgits a lot lately.  She has been building ‘cool towers’DSC_2878Lame attempt at a before school picture together.DSC_2883We had the big pear tree in our yard cut down this week.  The kids enjoyed watching it come down.DSC_2886More cuteness.DSC_2906Busting out some cuteness from the little man himself.DSC_2909Uber-cuteness!!!!!!  Loving this outfit!DSC_2912DSC_2916”Mommy, I built you a cool diamond.  Can you take a picture of me?”DSC_2921Lindy was being so funny Friday night.  She was totally spazzing out.DSC_2922DSC_2926She kept putting her hands on Drew’s face and saying, “Do you understand me?”DSC_2930DSC_2934Saturday morning I gave the kids a bath in our bathtub.  Something they have only done one other time.  They were loving life in the big tub!  DSC_2937DSC_2940Lindy loves checking herself out in the mirror.DSC_2941Will found these new toys in the cabinet and we got them out.  They are Xmas presents from Mimo from last year that I had put up for later.  They have had fun making up different tracks and watching the cars go round and round on them.DSC_2944More church dress cuteness.DSC_2948

I’m off to bed,  hoping I don’t feel like poo in the morning! 

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Are you ready for some football??

Yay!  There is a cool, crisp feel in the mornings and Wake had their first home football game on Saturday.  We love the fall!

We actually had an unusually eventful week.   Tuesday Lindy went to her hearing impaired classroom and Will and I picked her up.  We headed to our friend Katie’s house and had lunch with her and Claire.  I changed Lindy’s clothes and we all headed to the kids’ first gymnastics class.  Lindy, Will, and Claire were all in the same class together, along with about 13 other children.  While I know Lindy and Will had a blast, it was actually a disaster. Will did fine – even though he is a little uncertain and wanted some help a few different times but Lindy.  Oh Lindy.  She was the one child out of 16 children who was wandering around, not following directions, not standing in line, basically doing what she wanted to.  It was miserable to be the mother of that child.  In any other situation in life I would have gotten her and reprimanded her.  But for 45 minutes I was stuck outside a wall and not allowed to go do anything.  Not only was she not listening, she had trouble doing most of the things.  She did okay in the beginning when they did some stretching in a big circle because one of the teachers had her right next to him and was telling her what to do and she could follow what he was doing.  Then they split up into two groups and the first thing they did was the balance beam.  uggg.   A balance beam for my child with cerebral palsy and vision loss is hard.  The instructor had to hold her hand and walk her over all three beams and she did good then.  Thankfully all the other kids could do it by themselves.  The second circuit the instructor was helping kids do somersaults while they were going in a big circle over some blocks, down a slide, through some hula hoops.  She ended up doing okay with this circuit.  She’d go down the slide 4 times and then move on to hula hoop but she was at least going around in a circle.  The third circuit was not good.  There were three different bars they were supposed to be doing something on and only one instructor.  Lindy was even having trouble walking on the cushy mats they had under the bars.  She couldn’t even reach one bar she was too short.   During that circuit she just wandered around.  After the class I asked the guys if she was too much and they said to give it a few more times.  One guy said she just needed to get the hang of it and he thought she would since she was semi following the second circuit.  I hardly ever feel sorry for myself but every once in awhile I do.  Tuesday was one of those days for me.  It just reminded me that Lindy is different and does have special needs.  We treat her so normally and so often we forget all her problems but every once in awhile it’ll smack me in the face.  We’re going to give it a few more tries and keep our fingers crossed she doesn’t get kicked out!  It is such good physical therapy for her.

Wednesday was a much happier day for everyone.  The kids both started school at the church preschool that Will went to last year.  Will started in Ms. Sue’s class and Lindy started in Ms. Bobbye’s class.  The are going M/W/F to these classes.  They both had great days and came home very happy!  Will has friends in his class from last year but Lindy doesn’t know anyone in her class.  We’ll have to start learning everyone’s names. 

Thursday Lindy went back to her hearing impaired class and Will and I went to story time at the library.  It turned out to be really cute.  They played music, had the kids up and moving around dancing, and then would read books.  All the kids were dancing around – except Will.  He can be so stinkin shy!  He definitely has to warm up to new situations.  He loves books so we’ll probably try to do this most Thursday mornings.  I dropped him off real fast at home and headed to Lindy’s school to get her and do a parent session with her teacher.  Lindy did pretty good.  She has moved on to higher level listening skills like counting syllables and answering questions about stories. 

Friday night Drew took the kids up to the church for dinner and the beginning of a movie while I went to help set up for my mothers of multiples club consignment sale.  They tried watching the movie but the kids just wanted to play around so they headed home. 

Saturday was finally game day for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons.  It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon to be outside at a football game.   We tailgated with Ed and Jamie, and Jamie’s parents, Richard and Lorrie.  Wake came out looking pretty awesome and kept it up for most of the first half.  They tried to lose in the end, but thankfully held out and beat NC State.  What a great day with a great win!  We headed home after the game and ate dinner, gave baths and got the kids in bed late.

Today we went to church and then had our neighbor friends down to play outside in the backyard.  The kids are off in dreamland, getting ready for another day at school tomorrow! 

A busy week means lots of pictures.  Let’s see if I can keep it to a manageable number!

A cute outfit my girl wore to school last week.DSC_2673An even cuter hair bow crocheted by Mimo!!DSC_2663Gymanstics class.  Claire is next to Will in the purple shorts.DSC_2678DSC_2687They each had to go to the middle and put their hands up and say  ‘ta da’DSC_2692DSC_2693DSC_2706DSC_2707DSC_2729DSC_2733How we found Lou sleeping one night!DSC_2734DSC_2735Will’s first day of the 2011-2012 school year!DSC_2749Lindy’s second first day of school.  First day at ‘Will’s school'.  DSC_2751DSC_2754DSC_2759DSC_2763DSC_2764DSC_2775DSC_2777DSC_2780DSC_2783Being sweet and getting along.  I have to document it these days when they are not fighting!DSC_2786Our little WF cheerleader!DSC_2793The best part of the tailgate = Krispy Kreme donuts!DSC_2795The honorary grandparents for the day were Jamie’s parents, Lorrie and Richard.  Even though they are diehard Alabama fans, they showed up in black and gold to support the Deacs!DSC_2797DSC_2799DSC_2800DSC_2804DSC_2810Such a diva!DSC_2812DSC_2831Her shirt says “Honeychilde.  Sweet child of the South”!  DSC_2841Swinging with friends is always fun!DSC_2860

We want to offer our condolences to Drew’s stepmom, Suzette.  Her father passed away Saturday so they had to head to WV instead of the WF football game.  Her father was a sweet man who will be missed by many.  We’re thinking of you, Suzette!