Wordless Wednesday, Pumpkin Patch Edition

Yes, it's my favorite time of year - fall!  Now if the weather would just cooperate so that it would actually feel like fall....

Anyway, a sampling of this year's trip to the pumpkin patch:




(Yes, he has a faux hawk...very fitting for him, no?)

Letters

Dear Ryan,

Happy Birthday!  Love you!

Kisses,
Your Wife

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Dear Grocery Store,

Please quit remodeling and moving things around.  I can't find anything and neither can your "associates"!  I'm down to one box of macaroni and cheese and if I can't find it again next week, you get to explain to my two year old and three year old why they can't have any for lunch.

Sincerely,
A Disgruntled Shopper

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Dear Radio Station,

You claim to play today's latest hits.  Let me clarify, you claim to play today's latest rock/pop hits.  Please quit sneaking in a country song every fifth or sixth song.  I know I live in Texas, but if I wanted to listen to country music, I'd listen to an actual country music station.

About to Find Another Station,
The Only Texan Who Doesn't Like Country Music

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Dear Helicopter Parents,

I understand the desire to both give your child some freedom and protect them at the same time.  Really, I do.  But you either need to pick them up from school in your car or ride your bike with them as they ride their bikes home from school.  Driving alongside them as they ride their bikes a)blocks the road for the people going over 5 mph and b)makes you look like crazy parents.

Thanks So Much,
The Mom in the Red Minivan Who Keeps Rolling Her Eyes at You

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Dear Political Pundits on Both Sides of the Aisle,

Seriously, you need to either put your money where your mouth is or just stop talking altogether.  Either get some guts and run for office or keep your opinions to yourself.   Quit telling people what to think and let them think for themselves.   YOU are what's ruining this country - not the government, not the church and not the people who have opinions contrary to your own.  YOU.


And to the people who spend all day watching one-sided "news":  get a life and find a new hobby.

Seriously,
A Voter Who is Sick of ALL of You

Nearly Wordless Wednesday

Look who learned how to ride a two-wheeled bike this past weekend:




He's still having trouble turning and starting, but he's now riding without training wheels!






After a hard day of riding, he had some relaxing to do:




And later that evening (after the kids had gone to bed), Ryan and I were watching a little TV when we heard some snoring from the hallway:




Big day!

Theme Song

I've heard that as a person ages, they get more of a "I don't care what anyone thinks" attitude.  From what I've read, for many women that comes around age 40 and while I'm just shy of 35, I think I'm just about there.  I've gotten to where I really don't care what others think about my not fixing my hair or wearing makeup six out of every seven days.  I don't care that I'm the only minivan-driving mom in the neighborhood who doesn't like for her kids to listen to cheesy children's music (Sydney's current favorite group is ABBA).  And I don't care if others think I'm weird for having kids who read food labels and talk amongst themselves about why limiting their sugar intake is a good thing.  In fact, I'm kinda proud of that one.

In the spirit of not caring what others think (about most things anyway), I have a new theme song.  What?  You don't have a theme song?  I highly recommend it.  It's actually kind of empowering to have a theme song, especially when it comes on the radio and you think the singer is singing it just for you.  You might find yourself dancing around the house belting out the lyrics right along with the radio (look - another thing I don't care that you know about me!).  Anyway, here it is:

Ryan and I went to see Sara Bareilles in concert a couple of weeks ago, and boy, she can sing.  She's not one of those singers who has to have her voice re-engineered by some sound tech after she's recorded a song (I'm lookin' at you, Taylor Swift).  She has a fabulous set of pipes and as great as the song is on the radio, it was ten times better in person.  No, I didn't get up and dance around while she sang it.  But I did feel like she was singing it just for me.  Well, maybe not for me.  But I'm pretty sure she was singing it for all of us who really don't care what others think anymore.

S-E-C-R-E-T-S

We gave up the whole "trying to hide things from the kids by spelling them" gig a few years ago when Sydney began to read.  In fact, I was kind of irritated when our pediatrician said at Sydney's last check-up, "She doesn't need any S-H-O-T-S this time around."  Really?  Has she come across a seven year old who can't spell the word shots?

Anyway, we've decided to go to DisneyWorld next summer (hurray!) and out of sheer excitement, Ryan and I discussed it at dinner last night.  Not wanting to spill the beans on the big trip, we reverted back to our old spelling tricks.  Knowing that most of the words we were spelling were unfamiliar to Sydney, it wasn't too hard to sneak things past her.  If there was a critical word that I knew she knew how to spell, I spelled it out super-fast.

Me:  So I was chatting with some friends today and they said we really need to plan out any D-I-S-N-E-Y L-U-N-C-H-E-S or M-E-A-L-S that we're going to have with C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-R-S in the next couple of weeks.

Ryan:  Like which ones?

Me:  There isn't a T-O-Y-S-T-O-R-Y one, but there is a P-I-R-A-T-E one and a P-R-I-N-C-E-S-S one.  There is a T-O-Y-S-T-O-R-Y pizza place that we could do for lunch one day.

Ryan:  OK.

Sydney:  What are you talking about?  Where are we going?

Me:  And I heard that at E-P-C-O-T you can go to F-R-A-N-C-E and eat.  R-E-M-Y might be your server.

Ryan:  Who?

Me:  R-E-M-Y.  The one from R-A-T-A-T-O-U-I-L-L-E.

Ryan:  Oh.  That sounds like fun.

Me:  And we definitely have to go the M-O-V-I-E park.  They have a really awesome T-O-Y-S-T-O-R-Y R-I-D-E that I heard all three of them will like.

All the while poor Sydney was moving her lips and trying to sound out all the things I was spelling.  I don't think she caught any of them.

We'll eventually tell them what's going on, but with the trip still many months away, I don't want to hear about it non-stop from now until then.  So for now we'll keep spelling - at least until Sydney's spelling skills reach the point of no return.

Here We Go Again

Last week was such an awesome week.  Liam got into the new speech program, Sydney found out her new best little friend from school lives in our neighborhood, I had my teeth cleaned and the dentist found no other problems (this, in itself, is a miracle), my Bible study was lots of fun, Sydney brought home a fabulous report card and the weather was beautiful all week long (hence the lack of posts).

It was seriously one of the best weeks I've had in a really long time.  And then....

...Ryan had another seizure early Friday morning.  He didn't fall out of bed like last time; he just had a seizure at 4:30 in the morning.  Because he didn't hit his head, I didn't call 911 this time, but I did watch him carefully until his neurologist's office opened up and then I gave her a call.

Per her instructions, he spent the weekend resting and I spent the weekend playing chauffeur since he wasn't cleared to drive.

We went to see her yesterday and she lined up a couple of tests and handed him a prescription for some hoity-toity anit-seizure medication that, even with insurance, is going to cost us an arm and a leg.  Seriously, is there such a thing as a doctor who knows how much tests and medications actually cost?

But you know what?  I'm willing to do whatever it takes to never have to watch him have another seizure again.  He doesn't remember them, but I sure do and they are some of the scariest things I've witnessed.

We're doing everything we can to solve this mystery.  And by everything, I mean everything.  We're researching.  We're looking into generic medications.  We're looking into dietary changes and exercise regimens.  Ryan's co-worker has him looking into acupuncture.  Vitamins, minerals, nothing's out of the question at this point.

It may take us a while to find the solution, but we're determined to find it.  If nothing else, his seizures have reinforced for us that life is short and we're going to find a way to get him healthy so that we can enjoy life to the fullest.

An Answered Prayer

Liam has now been in speech therapy through the local school district for six months.  Granted, he missed a couple of months during the summer, but I worked with him all summer practicing the exercises his therapist gave him.  He's made some progress, but he still has a long way to go.  In fact, his therapist pulled me aside after his session the other day and asked me how I thought it was going.  I replied that he's slowly getting better and she replied that he's not getting better fast enough.  In fact, she thinks he's regressing on a few things.

I honestly think he was having an "off" day, but she got me worried.

I started looking into putting him in private lessons again (in addition to the ones through the school) and just got overwhelmed at the cost of it.  I got all hand-wringy (my usual response when these sorts of things occur) and I honestly had no idea what to do.  So, I did what I usually do - I prayed about it.

And then, the speech therapist called me and said that the speech program at another school in the district was trying to fill a couple of openings.  Instead of two 30 minute sessions a week, it's two 2 hour sessions a week.  Four hours a week vs. one!  "Sign him up!" I practically shouted at her.

I'm going to fill out all the paperwork today and meet the other therapist to make sure he's a good fit for the program (ensure that he's potty trained and has only articulation problems), but I think it's going to work.  It's perfect for him, actually.  It'll be on two days that he's not in Mother's Day Out and one of the little boys who is currently in therapy with him now is switching, too, so he'll know someone.  And it gets even better!  The mom of his therapy buddy approached me about carpooling so she's going to drop them off and I'm going to pick them up.   Evan will still get his afternoon nap and I will have a bit of free time, too.  And, since it's through the school district, it's free (well, our taxes pay for it, but at least it doesn't cost us anything extra).

Score another one for God.  He definitely answered our prayers on this one.

Friday Funnies

Each of the kids had has laughing last night during or after dinner:

Sydney:  Can I pack my lunch tomorrow?

Me:  OK.

Sydney: 'Cause I want to put a cookie in my lunch.

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During another conversation with Sydney (who, as a rapid talker can dominate the entire dinner conversation):

Liam:  My turn.......My turn!.......MY turn!.......MY TURN!.......MY TURN!

Ryan:  Ok, your turn.

Liam:  We saw a fire truck and firemen at school today.

_________________________

And last night as I was putting Evan's pj's on him:

Me:  Where did my baby go?

Evan:  I don't know.  Let's go look.  (He looks around his room.)  Oh no.  Where did baby go?

Me:  You're my baby.

Evan:  I not a baby.  I a big boy.

Sad, but true.