Kid’s Bunco Night

The kids have been asking for months now if we could have a Bunco night with them.  So, tonight was the night!  We got together with friends and family for a BBQ, Birthday and Bunco.  The kids went for a dip in the pool before (we really follow directions well – the ER doctor said no swimming!) and Marc gave them a little science lesson on sulfur.  All three kids got a Bunco and had to wear the goofy glasses – Paige was really embarrassed.  All in all it was quite a success and the boys asked, on the way home, when we can do it again! 

Whoo-hoo!

She did it!  Paige has been determined to learn to ride a two wheeler this summer.  She latched on to a neighbor’s little bike a few weeks ago and has been putsing on it every chance she gets.  There are five or six little girls on our street that are all out there holding the seat and encouraging her along too.  Well, today she finally made it several yards on her own!  She is SO proud – look at the determination on her face!

At one point a neighbor knocked on our door to ask me if I knew what my children were doing and why wasn’t I supervising them?!  LOL  She was totally giving me a bad time but did want me to come check out Caden.  There are some empty flag lots at the end of our street and the developer has been working on it recently.  So Caden and Ali have turned it into a mountain biking course!  Anyone want to place any bet on us making it through the summer without an ER visit?

Chaos, mayhem and fun…

That about sums up the Fourth around here!  We BBQ’d at the neighbors while the kids lit off as many fireworks as we would allow before dark.  Once it got dark everyone let loose!  There were 4 different groups in our cul-de-sac shooting them off at the same time.  It was so loud for a while we couldn’t even talk to each other!  We finally drug the kids home to bed (they were riding scooters with about five other kids) around midnight.  I’m not sure what I was thinking but I had scheduled a doctor appointment for Paige at 8:30 this morning!  Waaaay too early after a night like that!

Happy 4th of July!!!

We’ll be celebrating in our own little neighborhood this year.  The kids are bummed to not be with the Pritchett family this year but we’ll make the best of it!

Summer time…

 

Caden and Ali playing in the rain!

We made a quick trip down to Long Beach for a quick over night.  The boys got to help with the building of Aunt Cheryl and Uncle Woody’s beach house and they LOVED it!  They also got to go surf fishing in the morning!  It was a beautiful weekend and we all had a good time!

First week of summer

 

What a week it has been!  It started off with three birthday parties, Father’s day and a Timbers game.  The boys absolutely loved the game and can hardly wait to go to another one!  Thanks Aunt Chris for taking us and Uncle Brian for the cool masks!

I’m thinking maybe (hopefully) Trace is hitting a growth spurt.  He ate three of these chicken sandwiches during the game!

On Monday the boys and I went to help close up the classroom I worked in all year.  While the boys were a help, they also had some fun with the toys…

On Tuesday Trace and Caden helped their grandpa wash two cars and a trailer all afternoon; Wednesday they mowed lawns and did yard work with Papa; Thursday they weeded at cousin Brady’s business, Friday was a day “off” and Saturday was back to weeding in the morning a birthday party in the afternoon and a graduation party the rest of the day!  Whew!  When do we get a break?!

Missing these little guys though!  Wish we could go visit them in Hawaii…

I think it’s summer

But I’m honestly not very convinced.  The roar of the school bus has faded, the bickering has escalated, strawberry jam is made but so far we’ve only seen that yellow thing in the sky once.  In a week.  Tomorrow’s high is supposed to make 68.  I just told Rick I’m ready to move anywhere that isn’t muggy or have big bugs.  When moving is joked about Trace panics and Caden gets excited.  We can’t win can we?

So far we have spent each day working in various locations.  Trace is trying to earn money to go to Young Life camp this summer, Caden just likes to spend and knows he has to work to have the money to spend.  I’m planning to join them soon in order to pay for three kids in orthodontics and multiple other activities.  What else is new?  So much more but this program hasn’t been working very well and I hate to type a bunch only to have it not post again!

Outdoor School 2011

I remember going to outdoor school as both a sixth grader as well as a counselor a few years later.  Now I can add to those memories the time I went as a cook!  The kids go to the same school I went to and it has always had an amazing outdoor school program.  This year, for the first time in 7 years, they went back to a three day/two night sleep away camp.  It is by far the best memory most of these kids will have of their school years!

I was given the honor of being able to go along as a cook.  I didn’t realize what an honor it was until after it was over though!  We hit the ground running on Wednesday morning and didn’t stop for three days.  We worked from 5:45 AM until 10:30/11:00 PM and I had one one hour break in three days!  It was an amazing experience to see what goes in to feeding 150 people (cracking 15 dozen eggs and making over 300 pancakes were my personal highlights!).  What I learned though is that once you go, you keep going.  No one wants to give up their spot on the “team” and there were people there who had been coming since their children were in sixth grade.  One man’s last child graduated high school this year and he is thinking he still may be back next year!  It’s that awesome!  No sixth graders in our family next year, but I hope to be there!

The Columbia River

The kids and I went down to check out the river the other night.  Though it was just above flood stage it wasn’t up to the sidewalk where we were.  It was however very high compared to what it usually is! 

The Demon Bird

So we have been hearing the sounds of birds in the vent above our microwave for probably about a month.  I finally got Rick to to out and take a look.  After much poking and prodding he eventually had to take apart the cupboard above the stove.

This is what he found…

It was no small task to pull all of that out of there either!  I don’t think that bird was building a nest so much as a nestmansion!  Criminy, that thing was huge!  Rick cut a piece of chicken wire and put it over the vent and after several hours we were finally done.  At least that’s what we thought…

After dinner Trace told Rick he thought the bird was back – to which Rick scoffed.  Then I agreed with Trace and Rick said there was no way they could get in again.   I went out to have a look and here is what I found…

Apparently those blasted birds are pretty determined little buggers!  After that Rick took four screws and screwed the chicken wire on!  There is strong evidence that the birds do not appreciate his handiwork but they have yet to defeat it this time!

The Parade of Bands

Trace marched in his first parade this year! He has worked really hard to help his band placed first again. One more parade to go - hopefully they get that blue ribbon! We are very proud of you Trace!

Life is such a gift…

I couldn’t decide which collage I liked the best, so you get them both!

If there is one lesson thing I’ve learned about life it is that it is not a guarantee.  It passes us by so quickly.  One day we are anxiously awaiting our high school graduation and the next we are watching our children walk across that stage.  One thing I have never wanted was to grow up.  I remember fervently praying as a child for God to please let me stay young.  And yet here I am nearly 40 years old.  My children are growing before my eyes and I am growing old(er).  Part of me still wants to beg God to not let me grow any older but I know now that that is futile.  We are all nothing more than a vapor in the wind of time.  So why do we spend so much of our time on unimportant things?  All that matters is people.  Our memories will live on in people and a life we touch today may continue touching countless others long after we are gone.  The kitchen floor may be sticky, you can’t walk through the garage, clothes are balanced precariously on top of the washer and dryer and dinner is only mac-n-cheese, but if the backyard is crawling with children whose shrieks and laughter echo throughout the neighborhood, you know you are loved and you can crawl into bed each night knowing you are blessed more than anyone deserves then really, does anything else matter?

“…I just want something beautiful…”

Something Beautiful by NeedtoBreathe

What we’ve been up to…

Really isn’t much, but I’ll humor you anyway.  Caden, our little socialite, has had friends over here nearly every day lately.  One day his friend called and was here before Caden was even off the bus!  Another afternoon he had two friends come home from school with him and three more showed up!  It makes for some crazy afternoons, but honestly I wouldn’t have it any other way.  I’m so grateful that my kids want to be here and want to have their friends here.  In all too short of time they will be gone more than they are home.

I think we have had two days where the temperature was at (or real close to) 70 degrees (since last September).  On one of them I decided to get our and do some power-washing.  Rick eventually took over which led to a few wet kids!  No one was complaining though! 

Man I love this kid!

One cute kid, and all boy too!

He is Risen!

After making Resurrection Cookies last night I hurried everyone off to bed.  We spent the entire day working outside and were all pretty exhausted.  Unfortunately it took the bunny until after midnight to get through all of his/her work!  The kids were under orders not to appear until after 7:00 but apparently Paige didn’t get that memo.  Just after 6:00 I awoke to a loudly whispered, “Caden, wake up!  It’s Easter morning!” being repeated over and over.  I groggily told her to go back to bed but of course it was too late. 

The boys were less than thrilled at having to get “all gussied up” (Caden’s words) for the obligatory picture.  But they just look so cute, don’t they?  Don’t let the brightness of the picture fool you.  It rained all. day. long. 

Thank you Trace, for getting photographic evidence of what is quickly becoming a tradition – burnt marshmallows on the sweet potatoes!  At least this time they didn’t ignite into 3 inch flames like they did at Christmas!

Rick spent the day in Seattle on a trip.  We all missed having him here but over all it was a nice day with friends and family!

An Exciting Day for Paige

This morning Paige and I took all of her paperwork down to the school and registered her for Kindergarten.  She was SO excited!  It was fun to see her so happy and I know she is ready but…

As I helped he put on her dress this morning and pulled her wet hair out of the collar there was just this little pang of, “how did this happen?”  This is my baby.  The one I waited so long for!  I’m not one to get overly emotional with these kinds of events, but I think with Paige it is a little different.  We worked so hard, went through so much and ultimately waited so long for her that it just doesn’t seem possible that she can be growing up so fast.  I’m excited for the future and to see each of the kids grow, but …

Time to Color the Eggs!

Before Rick left for his trip we wanted to color eggs with him.  As usual, the kids were very excited.  Paige was especially excited – she didn’t remember doing it last year very much.  We all had a good time though and in the end we had 2.5 dozen (a few broke in the process) hard boiled and 18 unboiled, brightly colored eggs!

 

Oops!

As I was walking in the house from work last Friday I stopped to figure out where the “sssssssssssssss” sound was coming from.  It didn’t take me long to figure it out and it didn’t take long for the tire to look like this (about an hour to be exact!).

Yep, that’s the nasty culprit! As you can see, those nice bald tires needed to be replaced anyway.

 

Caden got to learn how to change a tire though!  See, there is a bright side to everything!

Can you believe my kids get to go to school here!

If that isn't the most beautiful setting, I don't know what is! We are very blessed.

As for the other parts of life around here...

I finally made a decision about a doctor for Caden. That apparently was the easy part though! Then I spent two days on the phone calling insurance and offices to find out if we could even go to him and then if we could even get an appointment. To make a long story short, we have an appointment made for July with what sounds like an exceptional doctor! I was initially very upset at having to wait so long, but after a night of sleep I had a new perspective and am now just grateful to have an appointment at all. Rather than be angry with God for another delay, I am thankful He made an opening with a doctor on staff at one of the best hospitals in the country!

Yes, we're still alive!

There just really isn't anything going on. The kids and I were on Spring Break last week and we pretty much sat around and played video games all day. Pretty pathetic, but it rained for all but two days of the break.

So, I've been stewing for a while about a couple of different things. It really just boils down to making the right decisions for your kids. That seems like it should just be so simple and yet we all know that it is anything but simple. The first issue for me right now is dealing with Caden. While I have been pretty open on here about most things there is a small part of this that I feel needs to be kept private. For him to share if he ever feels like it. Unfortunately that has a lot to do with the decisions I'm trying to make for him. So, hopefully I can explain in a semi understandable way! I counted up the other day and figured that we have seen seven different medical professionals since he was born. Three of those have been in the last six months. All of them were consulted about his anger. None of them gave us any answers. Several of them tried, they really did, but it wasn't the answer. Six months ago I decided I couldn't take another day of the anger and violence. Our home was in constant turmoil and Caden was never happy. So we went to our pediatrician. He tried to help but ultimately sent us to a behavioral pediatrician. I was so unhappy with that guy that I took him to see my doctor. Now I just feel like we are in limbo. My doctor really isn't ideal for the long term and I won't go back to the behavioral pediatrician (he asked Caden the same questions every visit and told us about three times that he definitely doesn't have Asbergers (Autism) - no kidding!? Since that isn't what we brought him in for I'm so comforted to hear that! There were several other issues with him too.) So where do we go next? I'm so tired of "trying" out doctors and having to repeat our story and all the tests. I'm really, really just tired of it. Mostly for Caden's sake though. He is sitting right there when I'm telling the doctor what is going on! That just isn't right and I refuse to do that again. So, I have the recommendations of three different doctors and some center for testing and evaluation. But I need someone who is going to listen to me. I definitely don't know everything, but I've lived with this kid for nine years, read everything I could get my hands on and consulted with seven doctors. I've also worked with young children for over 20 years. I think I have earned the right to be listened to and worked with. I'm not a quack job or a nut case, really I'm actually pretty reasonable (so I've been told). At this point I'm trying to decide between a referral from my doctor, one from a special ed. assistant and one from a parent. The one from the parent happens to be at OHSU which I think would be fabulous except that he seems to specialize in Autism - which you will recall we've been told he definitely doesn't have! I don't know what to do anymore. I really don't and that's probably why I haven't done anything.

The other issue is Paige and school. I've been asked many times over the last couple of years what we were going to do with her when she started kindergarten. For about the last year now I've been trying to figure that out. My first choice is to send her to the private school Trace went to for kindergarten and part of first grade. We were very happy with the school and they are certainly more advanced than the public schools, but they have a high price. The public school is obviously the easier choice in some ways - no cost, no uniforms and bus service to name a couple. Our principal though has made it very clear that she will not move kids up a grade. Not a whole grade and not even for a subject. I have a real problem with that and did find out it is not a district wide policy - just hers. I am in pretty good standing with everyone at the school and I don't really want to rock the boat. However... my child comes first. If she tests into first grade reading or math I want her sent to a first grade classroom for those subjects! There is study after study after study that shows the benefits up placing kids with like-minded peers rather than age equivalent ones. I haven't seen anything that says it is detrimental to a child or their development. Now if she doesn't test that high I'm totally ok with that too. She isn't a genius just very bright and I don't want her bored with school right off the bat. Anyway, that's what I've been tossing around in my head for a while now. I'm open to any thoughts, ideas or suggestions from the three of you who actually read this blog (if there is more than that I wouldn't know because you never comment!).

It just seems so wrong...

I don't have any pictures to post! What is the deal with that you ask? I'm blaming it on the weather - which has been nothing but crap forEVER! We had 30 straight days of measurable rain and I am so sick of it I could scream. Me and everyone else. So without getting outdoors and just feeling generally gloomy I haven't been inspired to take any pictures.

But, for the few of you who still bother to check in here...

We are doing well. The kids are keeping busy but without any Spring sports it does feel a little strange. I'm not complaining though - Fall is just around the corner! Caden finally got a 100% on his spelling test this week and earned an ice cream date with Mom. He was SO proud and rightly so. We have tried everything to help him to just pass a test so the perfect score was particularly exciting. Trace has to bring his math grade to an A in order to earn the same thing. He is at a B- right now so it isn't too far to go. Paige is just doing her preschool thing and growing socially everyday. Kindergarten won't know what hit them!

Rick and I are also pretty much the same. Rick is flying quite a few hours which is helping us save for our Disneyland trip this summer! I'm still working with the special-ed preschoolers and enjoy it most days. Some days can definitely be a challenge though. There is a chance I'll have a permanent position next year which would be so much nicer than spending the summer wondering whether or not I'll be working.

Well I guess that's it for now. Time to vege a little before heading up to bed....