Dixie Classic Fair Time!

Last week wasn’t really all that exciting – except for the Dixie Classic Fair. 

Tuesday I volunteered in Lindy’s science lab special.  Our children are so different!  Will hardly acknowledges your presence and Lindy runs and hugs you and is so excited to see you!  I have enjoyed volunteering in their classrooms to see who the trouble makers are!  Lindy was really good so I was proud of her!

Wednesday I spoke to a group of NICU nurses at the hospital where the kids were at the longest.  They are getting these cameras for the isolettes that parents can log in from a computer and see their baby.  The nurses are a bit apprehensive so they wanted a parent to speak to them.  We would have loved them!  Even though I spent all day with them.  They would have been especially helpful when Lindy was at Duke for 1.5 months after Will came home.

Thursday we checked the kids out of school early (gasp!) and we headed to the Dixie Classic Fair.  There was a nip in the air and overcast but hardly any crowds.  The kids hardly had to wait to get on a ride.  They loved it.  Of course.  We looked around and finally let them ride rides.  We ate lots of bad food – Amish doughnut, corndogs, apple dumplings, London broil sandwich, funnel cake and deep fried milky way!  One day a year we eat that bad! 

Friday after school Drew picked the kids up and stopped by my office before driving them down to Charlotte for the weekend.  They went down and spent the weekend with Mimo and Anna.  Drew ate dinner and then headed home.  I went to Katie’s house Friday night and we started Will’s Halloween costume.  I won’t say what it is yet – but it involved my first ever experience with papier mache.  And it lasted all night.  And it’s nowhere near finished.  uggggg.

Saturday I was up and gone early in the morning on my way to Cary to see my bff from high school, Carrie.  Carrie just birthed her third girl baby so I went to meet Miss Nora.  What a sweet thing she was.  I can’t believe she has three kids.  It was great to snuggle with Nora and then hand her back and leave! ha!  After I left Carrie’s I met up with my college friends, Nicole and Joanna, and we headed to the big city of Tarboro for the night.  We met up with two other college friends Heather and Julie and a new friend, Julie’s cousin, Jennifer.  We had a fun evening hanging and eating at a really nice restaurant in Tarboro.  Sunday morning we headed back to Durham, then I headed back home. I stopped and did some shopping for Lindy’s Halloween costume.  I got everything I need and I hope hers will be quick and easy.  Fingers crossed!

Lynn and Anna brought the kids back up but first stopped at the fair again!  The kids got to go twice!  They met Anna’s boyfriend, Brian, as well.  They spent the afternoon there and got back to our house around 5:30pm. 

Lindy has turned into the kissing bandit this week.  I have never seen a child lay on so many kisses as she has lately.  She loves to hug and kiss you.  I guess that’s good because Will told me this morning that sometimes my kisses bug him.  He is not a happy camper in the morning.  I’ll just have to start kissing the bandit some more!

I do finally have some interesting pictures!

Cute outfit from last week – and the big black ‘soccer brace.’  We gave it back on Thursday and I really don’t think it helped her.  We are trying her tall brace with the strap on this week.The firemen came to school last week.Dixie Classic Fair Swifty Swine pig racing!DCF 2013Fun on the rides!He did this strange face the whole ride – on purpose.  It was actually pretty funny!Dizzy Dragons for the first time.  We ran into Lindy’s primary nurse from the NICU at the fair.  I had seen her the day before at the hospital and we saw her again.  First time on this ride too.It was a hit!  It dropped them down a little at a time.He rode the super slide over and over and over.Lindy wasn’t tall enough to go by herself – and she was not happy about it either!With the DCF Mascot.First time on the Fire Chief.  Another big hit!I got flowers last week.  From my sweet husband.  For no reason   Sweet Baby Nora!College friends from UNCW!Second fair trip with Lynn and Anna!First time on the swings.  I hear it was a big hit!He looks like he is praying!We didn’t have time for the Ferris wheel so I’m glad they got to do it on Sunday!

Hello October!

Hard to believe it’s October – and I don’t have Halloween outfits figured out!  So obviously I haven’t started on them.  One would think I would have until Halloween but oh no – we have family fun night at school on the 18th that the kids wear their costumes to.  I better get hopping this week!

September ended with sickness and October started with sickness.  Thankfully we were able to get some important days in this week. 

Tuesday Lindy had PT and it didn’t go so well.  The PT at her IEP meeting asked if she walks on her toes on her left foot.  Lindy has been in her short brace on her left side for 3 months now and apparently she has gotten weaker in that time.  Jill put a knee immobilizer on her and she was definitely dragging her toes on her left side.   I had brought her tall brace so we put her in that as well.  On the other hand she did great on some things.  She had the best balance I’ve ever seen on her left foot.  She was able to jump 2.5 times on her right foot.  She almost got one jump in on her left foot.  She couldn’t do this 3 months ago!  So frustrating that she is doing things she has never done but somehow is weaker and looks worse on her left side.  ugggg.  So what we ended up with is a new brace that we are trying for one week.  It’s a big, black ugly brace that I don’t love!  Partly because I hate the thought of having to go back up to a big brace but mostly because it’s black.  Not some cute color or one that blends in.  She is to wear the brace for one week, all day long, to see if it helps her stop falling so much and if she gets better heel to toe contact.  Apparently it’s an expensive brace (shocker) and Jill wants to see if it’s actually helpful before we order one.  It’s been 6 days and so far I don’t see any difference in the toe walking.  I know I really don’t want the brace but I seriously haven’t seen any improvement. 

Wednesday was the day Will’s been looking forward to all year.  At his open house we brought home a large star and we had to decorate it.  We put pictures of Will with us, with Lindy, playing soccer, t-ball, and putt-putt.  We had to bring it to school a week after school started and then he had to wait.  He is at the end of the alphabet so the poor boy had to sit through most of his class.  Finally Wednesday was his day and he was so excited.  He got to share his star and wear a star crown all day at school.

Wednesday night we met my parents and their best friends, Ken and Carolyn Cone for dinner.   I think I’ve known Cones most of my life.  They were the closest thing to family we had when we lived in Vermont and we spent many a holiday at their house.  They came to visit my parents last week and drove over for dinner so we could see them.   We enjoyed a nice evening downtown and I loved seeing them!

Thursday was another special day for Will.  He was the boy helper and he got to bring in a sharing object in a bag.  He picked his favorite stuffed animal Spot and we had to write three clues.  He got to read them in class and his classmates got to guess what was in the bag. 

Thursday night I got home from work and Will’s cheeks were flushed and Drew said he felt a little hot.  He told me his throat hurt.  Great…He was getting sick.  I took Lindy to choir practice and Will stayed home with Drew.  We put them to bed that night but he ended up in our bed.  Whenever he has a fever he always wakes up in the middle of the night soaking wet.  I changed his pjs and he felt like he was going to throw up so we put him in our bed.  He was feverish most of the night so he earned himself a day off of school.  I took a sick day and stayed home with him.  He laid on the couch and watched tv all day long.  He would only eat gold fish and he drank lots of water.  We had an uneventful day at home and a quiet evening.

Saturday Lindy cashed in on one of her birthday presents from Aunt Jamie and Uncle Ed.  Aunt Jamie bought them tickets to two plays at the Children’s Theatre.  They got to pick their plays.  Lindy’s play was first.  Jamie picked her up at 10am and they headed off to the play!  They got there early so they could sit on the front row but apparently Lindy said that hurt her ears because it was too loud.  It was her first real play so no one knew what to expect.  They made it almost to the end.  After the play Lindy went with Jamie back to their house where everyone was going to tailgate before the Wake football game.  I definitely wasn’t taking Will to the ball game but he was feeling better so we headed over for about an hour.  We headed home, with Lindy in tow too, while everyone else went to the game.  I seriously thought Wake would get beat badly so I was okay staying home.  Of course it was the best Wake has played in a long time and they killed State.  Of course.  

Today has been church, laundry, and I ended up grocery shopping.  I actually got a good bit done today.  Back to the grind tomorrow!

I took barely any pictures this week.  Here they are!

Lindy, Will and I with Ken and Carolyn. Will can curl up in a ball in the smallest places!  I couldn’t find him at first – he was hiding!Not too sick to build a Halloween decoration out of magna tiles!  Lindy and Aunt Jamie headed out on their date!

Catching Up

I skipped a week on the blog.  GASP!  Don’t think I haven’t heard about it from the select few who I consider my ‘die hard readers.’  I had no clue what was in store for me last week at work when I didn’t get a post written last Sunday.  If I had known how the week would end up then I might not have crawled out of bed last Monday morning.

Nonetheless…let’ss back this thing up two weeks to Monday, September 16th.  The 16th was the big kindergarten lunch party.  It was the first day we could eat lunch with our kids at school.  They have all parents wait a few weeks to let the kids get acclimated to school.  They had the gym set up with 10 rows of tables and the classes all came in 10 minutes apart.  Will’s class was the first class in so we got to sit with him and his classmates and all their parents.  I ate lunch with Will and Drew just visited with us.  We spent a nice 30 minutes with Will and his class.  His class left at 11:40am and we headed out to the hallway to wait for Lindy’s class, who came at 11:45am.  We did the whole thing again with Lindy except this time Drew ate with her and I just visited with them.   Both kids were very excited to see us.  We weren’t the only ones who did it twice.  I know of two other parents who did the same thing we did and then I’ve heard there is a set of triplets but I haven’t seen them and don’t know who they are. 

Not much went on during the week.  I sold both of the kids’ old cribs/toddler beds last week and Lindy’s baby/toddler bedding.  It’s been sitting in our house taking up room since they got their new furniture.  It’s nice to have it out and make some money, but it was kind of hard to see it go.  Seems like they should still be in cribs!

Friday morning I volunteered in Will’s class for his science special.  The classes are so large they are asking for parent volunteers during certain specials.  Will didn’t pay me one bit of attention but it was nice to get to see all his classmates.  Friday afternoon Drew picked the kids up and headed straight to Mooresville.  It was the first time Drew had been. I came after I got off of work that day.  We went out for Drew’s first ride on the boat.  It was a pretty sunset.  We docked the boat and walked up to their house to see the progress.  We headed back to their house and went out to dinner and then Drew headed home.  The kids and I spent the night with them. 

Saturday morning, Drew’s mom came up to the lake to visit.  Our plan had been to take her for a boat ride but the stinking weather prevented that.  We kept checking the radars and we decided to go try a short ride around 11:30am.  Dad had gotten the cover off the boat and we were headed down the hill when it started raining.  Everyone headed back inside and I helped Dad get the cover back on.  It rained, lightly, the rest of the day.  We ended up going out for lunch and rode around downtown Mooresville to a furniture store and an ice cream parlor.  Not a boat ride but we enjoyed the afternoon together.   The kids and I headed back to home around 6pm and it was horrible.  The steady rain all day turned into a mess on the highway.  I was so glad to get home.

Sunday evening we had a concert at church by the Rain Jackets band.  They play old 50’s and 60’s music and they are awesome.  The kids danced their tiny little hineys off.  I was practically on the ground laughing at them.  They were the only two out there most of the time but that didn’t stop them.  Will had dance moves I have never seen.  It was so funny. 

And now onto this week.  Thursday night was one of our three big fall fundraisers in my office.  I knew it would be a busy week but I didn’t realize how busy it would be.  I worked till at least 8:30pm Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday nights.  I hadn’t prepared myself for it and was shocked!  I was not a happy person most of the week.  The actual event was Thursday night and I got in bed around 1am that night.  LONG WEEK!  The event went well but it was a lot of work leading up to it.  The Honorary Chair for our event was Joey Cheek, Olympic Gold Medalist, from Greensboro.  He brought his gold and silver medals and it was so cool to hold them!  I held a Gold Medal!! 

I have no clue what my family did most nights.  The kids went with Drew to a youth meeting Wednesday night and then out to dinner with some church people.  They got home late and I did actually get to kiss them goodnight that evening.  I missed my babes this week.  Big props to Drew for taking over this week.

After getting in bed at 1am Thursday night, Lindy woke up crying at 4am.  She said she didn’t feel well.  She had a fever when she woke up.  We brought her to our bed and she ended up throwing up one time.  Mostly drainage I think.  She slept with us the rest of the night – a very short night for me.  She was still feverish in the morning so she missed her first day of kindergarten.  Drew got up and took Will to school for me.  Lindy fell back asleep so I got ready. I had to run by work but then I headed to school because I was signed up to volunteer in Lindy’s class.  Poor girl wasn’t even there.  I felt bad not going so I went.  Drew said she perked up some in the morning but around lunchtime she was feeling bad and took a nap.  She ate some soup for dinner and seemed to feel better after that.

Saturday morning we headed down to Charlotte to celebrate the birthday of an old, old man – GrandBob.  He turned another year older Thursday and man is he old!  We had a delicious lunch and had a little cornhole tourney in which Drew and Anna won.  A nice afternoon was had by all.  We came back for dinner and baths and bedtime.

Today we had church and I went to a pampered chef party.  That sums up the last two weeks.  Nothing too exciting has been going on.

Lunch with Will!Lunch with Lindy!Special hats from school.For a couple nights Will set up an exercise class and made Lindy and me participate.  Playing hide-n-seek in Nana and Papa’s house.  Didn’t work real well since there aren’t any walls!  ha!Drew’s inaugural ride and drive on the boat.We saw a beautiful sunset that Friday evening!Last Sunday Will knew someone was coming to look at the baby bedding so he made a sign and was planning to stand outside all afternoon till they got there.  I finally convinced him to just leave it on the front step and come inside!These pictures from my phone don’t do any justice to the dancing.  On the Rock Around the Clock song Will pretended to be a clock!  See the swinging arms?!Dancing with our fave, Ms. Martha!Looking handsome before school one day.Silly goo looking cute but being silly!Me and Joey Cheek!  He was a nice (looking) guy! ha ha!Me, Joey, and my coworkers, Jonathon and Velvet.  Jonathon photo bombed us.Holding real Olympic medals.  How cool is that.  And speaking of photo bombs, this might be one of the best I’ve seen lately!Celebrating the old guy in the middle’s birthday!So old he can’t keep his eye lids open for a birthday picture!Will did a little ninja warrior trainingwhile Lindy pounded on things.The cornhole champs, Drew and Anna.The champs and a cute little girl!

Anita, Janice, Lynn – are you happy now?!