Gymnastics Boy

I signed the kids up for gymnastics just a couple of months ago, Riley used to do gymnastics when he was younger, Regan had it at her school, but it was just very basic. So, they both went in a beginner class. Regan is doing great, but I have to totally brag on my boy Riley. It's time for summer registration and the teachers gave them all certificates saying what level or class they would be going into for summer, and they want Riley on the team! The boys level 4 team, which is advanced! The only drawback is it's 4 hours of training a week, which also means about quadruple the bill!!

Edited to add that we bit the bullet and signed him up for the team for the summer. We'll see how it goes, but he's excited about it, and so am I!

Groovy Girls

Regan had a Groovy Girl Party at Girl Scouts, she got to pick out her very own Groovy Girl doll, have her picture made with giant girl Lakenzie, and they watched a presentation on internet safety, which really freaked her out! Then they went to the computer lab to log on and play with their dolls and learn about camping tips, and other fun things from the Girl Scouts and Groovy Girls! She had a great time, and she looked so cute in her ponytails, which of course did NOT last all day.

Duck Park

We had some time to kill before gymnastics so we went to the duck park, the kids love to feed the ducks and geese there, and they're usually pretty friendly. Took a few pictures too.

Bat Boy

On Wednesday, with a backyard full of neighbor kids (typical night at our house), Riley comes in and says, "There's a dead bat outside and it feels funny!" Rut-roh! At first I thought he was joking but no, there is surely a dead bat in the backyard, so David puts on a glove and takes it to the trash, we make Riley wash his hands for like 30 minutes in boiling water and ask everyone else if they touched it, no one had even seen it, so thank goodness no one did.

Some friends recommended we call animal control, so the next morning we call and they send out a police officer to take away the bat for testing, and make a report since Riley did touch the bat. Well, I end up calling the pediatrician to make sure we don't need to do anything extra for Riley and in the meantime, animal control calls back and says they they did test the bat, and it was positive for rabies.

Animal control wants us to home quarantine Bailey for 45 days, which basically means he's on house arrest and can't have any more doggy play-dates, which isn't that big of a deal, not like he went anywhere anyway.

Riley on the other hand, has to have a bunch of shots, poor guy. The pediatrician called back and told us we had to head to Brackenridge, the county hospital, because it's the only place in town that has the rabies vaccine, so Riley and I head up there last night, get there about 5:30. We get to see a guy who cut the tip of his finger off and had the tip with him on ice packs, Riley thought that was neat, I almost passed out from the blood, yuck! We wait, then wait some more, and some more...

Finally, we had to go down to the pharmacy to get the vaccine (over $1,000 for that, which I'm hoping insurance covers!) and then head back up to the emergency room in time to hear the doctor talking to the nurses about how SHE had to have the rabies shots once for a dog attack and she was talking about how horrible these first immunoglobulin shots are, and she feels for poor "rabies kid" and at least the new nickname got Riley laughing.

They put some numbing stuff on Riley to help, on both thighs, both butt cheeks, and both arms, and at first gave him this toddler gown to put on, and we had a good laugh about that cause Riley just told them no. It had cute little cows or something on it, and he just looked at the guy and said, "I'm not wearing that." The only other option was the adult size, but he said he would rather be in a huge gown than that little kid thing, it was funny.

Then came the shots, it was rough. He had 5, so they got both legs, both cheeks, and his left arm, and it hurt bad. It took him a while to compose himself after all that, I felt so bad cause I knew he wanted to be so brave and tough, but it was so hard. Then we had to wait another 30 minutes to make sure he didn't have a reaction, which he didn't. So we got to take our super expensive vaccines and leave, a little after 10:00! Almost 5 hours later!!

So now we are on a strict shot schedule, they have to be taken on specific days, so we go again for more shots on Monday, then on Friday, then a week after that, then 2 weeks after that, and I think there will be 18 shots in all.

Riley told me he wished he had a remote control so he could rewind and not pick up that bat. I said we all wish we had one of those sometimes. Living in Austin, I think everyone knows you don't pick up dead bats, but he just wanted to be curious, and I understand that, but we explained next time, wear a glove!! He gets it now!

And then we're having a Rabies-Free party!! I told Riley I will make him a bat cake, we'll go watch the bats fly out from the Congress Ave bridge and just have a bat celebration!!

Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center

CCRC

Regan's class is studying the human body this session, and they had one of the best study trips EVER! We went to the Criss Cole Rehabilitation Center for the Blind. I wasn't sure what to expect, or whether or not the kids would enjoy a trip to such a place, but everyone had such a great time and the people who worked there were all so patient and nice, and just incredible.

First we split into groups, and Regan's group put on blindfolds and they learned how to use the walking sticks, how to tap them back and forth, how to listen for the different sounds and what those sounds mean. They showed them how to listen for sounds of the kitchen, or listen for an echo that might mean you are in a hallway, or feel for the rubber mat that might mean you are by the front door. They had a great time tapping their way around the entire center.

Then we went to the Braille station, and worked on a Braille cell, which is a wooden box with 6 pegs that show how the Braille alphabet works. The kids learned the first letter of their name, and got a take home sheet of the alphabet.

After that we went to learn all about guide dogs (this was my favorite!) The kids had great questions for the two ladies who had their dogs there. We got to meet a guide dog named Madigan, and learn about the process that the dogs go through to be trained as guide dogs, and how people apply and also get matched up with a dog.

Then we went to the computer room and saw some of the computers that blind people use. There was something called a note taker, where the kids could type their name and as they typed each letter, it would say it, and the letter would pop up in Braille. The next computer would say the words as they typed them, and the last computer had games! There was a driving game where you had to listen carefully for the driving instructions, or you would crash.

Lastly, we went to do a craft, where the kids put their blindfolds back on and had to string fruit loops or Cheerios on a string to make a necklace. It was harder than they thought it would be! Then they tried to count to see who got the most on their necklace.

One of the workers there told me that everyone has to wear the blindfolds for 6 weeks when they start, so they can empathize with the people they are working with. It was a really awesome place, and everyone there was very friendly and worked great with the kids.

Tasty iPod

This is the cake I made for Tristan, he has a blue iPod and I can't make a motorcycle cake, so I thought it was a good compromise!! You can't see the "headphones" very well, but it's Twizzlers for the cord and gum drops for the ear pieces. Tasty!

Tristan's Birthday Party

Tristans Birthday

We went to Main Event for Tristan's (and Ethan's) birthday party and it was odd for me to not have to chase after Regan the whole time! The boys had a great time, they played Lazer Tag, then they had pizza and cupcakes, opened presents, and then hit the game room. David and I left to go eat dinner, but Riley stayed and didn't get home until midnight.

Springwoods Park

The weather has been beautiful lately, and since the kids get out of school at noon on Fridays we met some friends at the park to play for a while. Regan especially had a great time, she's usually stuck with Riley and Tristan and lets just say they aren't the best playmates for a 5 year old girl! So she got to bring her friend Morgan home with us for a while and then she went to spend the night at Morgan's house! Morgan has 2 sisters, so she's probably in girly heaven right now!

Regan = Sassy

The last couple of days when I pick the kids up from school, one of Regan's random friends will come over to me and ask me, "Was Regan born sassy?" At first I thought, how cute, they think she's sassy too, but after the 3rd or 4th kid asked me that I finally asked one of them, "Well, why do you ask?" "Regan tells all of us that she was BORN SASSY!"

That's my girl!

Kenzie!

I feel like a Mama Hen, and all my little baby chicks are doing good right now. I know they are my siblings, and they probably don't like my referring to them as my baby chicks, but until they are flying on their own, they're gonna be my baby chicks! So here are some pictures of Kenzie doing praise and worship at her church in Sugar Land this weekend! I heard through a friend that she was awesome!!

She's making all A's and B's in school, and she'll be coming back to Austin to get a job over the summer, so we're looking forward to having her back in our family.

Daniel!

What a surprise! Dave called me yesterday and said that Daniel called and was out of jail and coming to meet him and come to church with all of us this morning. Pam is in New Orleans right now, so we met Dave and Daniel at Celebration Church, and went out to eat after and it was so good to see Daniel and he looks so good! He said he met with his attorney and the prosecutor last week and they wanted him to agree to go to jail for 3 years and he said no. His lawyer said no, that wasn't even a good deal. So the prosecutor sent his case to the grand jury and they said there wasn't enough evidence to prosecute, so they set him free. They woke him up Friday morning and said, "You're out of here!"

Daniel is currently living with his AA sponsor and this week he's going to work on finding a job, and doing what he can to get his life back on track. Dave had some bikes at the office that just needed air in the tires so we got one fixed up for him, aired up, he was so excited, now he has a way to get around a little bit. I bagged up some food for him, he was so happy to be out and around, he loved church, he loved seeing everyone. Regan and Riley loved seeing him, I think they think they have a new big brother now, since they think Kenzie is their big sister!

So I've got his cell phone number and I know where he lives if you want to get in touch with him, email me, I can hook you up!

NYOS Dance

NYOS Dance

After the Sweet Harvest, we booked it back to town for the NYOS K-5 dance. It was K-2 for the first 2 hours, then the 3rd graders could stay for an extra hour to mingle with the 4-5th graders, sort of a meet and greet since the 3rd grade will be moving up soon with the 4th grade. It was so cute to see those little kids out there, most of them have more moves than many adults I know!! They would play Soulja Boy and the kids would go crazy, and most all of them knew all the dance moves (Riley included)!! Then a Hannah Montana song would come on, the girls would SQUEAL, the boys would cover their ears and RUN off the dance floor! It was so cute. Of course, my kids started off as wallflowers, stuck to the side of the wall with some pizza, but after a while they got warmed up. Riley ended up in some type of Conga line or something. They had a good time and the principal ended up getting out there and doing the twist with them too. And for the "grown up" portion where Regan wasn't allowed out, she helped sell drinks and sweets, so she even enjoyed that. It was a LONG day though, it was so nice to get home!

Sweet Harvest

Sweet Harvest

We got up semi-early (for a Saturday) and headed to Marble Falls and had breakfast at the legendary Blue Bonnet Cafe, then met the Daisy Scouts at Sweet Berry Farm for some Girl Scout activities. It was a wonderful day for it, the weather was beautiful, not too hot, and it wasn't too muddy out in the strawberry fields. First we got our strawberry baskets and walked up and down row after row of ripe, red strawberries. The farmers talked to the girls about picking "the redder the better" and Regan had it in her head that she only wanted pointy ones, for whatever reason, so we had to pass over a bunch of nice juicy looking ones because they weren't pointy enough for little miss perfect.

Once we filled our baskets, we went to the Giant Ladybug area, and learned about how ladybugs are good for strawberry plants. They gave each of the girls their very own ladybug to take and "re-home" on a strawberry plant.

Then we got to go on a bumpy hay ride and look at all the goats and donkeys and feed them some of the grass. And then the best part, ice cream! We all got the pumpkin flavor, it's the best ice cream I've ever had, and worth the drive out there just for that! I can't wait to go back in a couple of months for blackberry season.

April Fools!

What a crazy day!! First my kids make a HUGE mess, they spilled cocoa ALL over the place, it was a horrible mess...
Then after they cleaned that up we ate dessert for dinner!! Big fluffy cupcakes, with yummy bright blue icing, they were so light and moist and delicious!!

And then, for dessert, we had sushi! The kids weren't too sure about sushi, but hey, you only live once, right? So they were brave, they tried it, and surprisingly enough, they LOVED it, they kept going back for more! And they want to eat like this every night!


And of course, APRIL FOOLS!! I made the cocoa mess out of glue and brown paint and marshmallows a few days ago and left it on the computer desk and really got them good with that today when they got home from school! I was yelling at them for having drinks by them computer when they aren't supposed to, the look on their poor little faces, until they picked up the cup and the "mess" came with it, was priceless!

The cupcakes, were meatloaf with mashed potatoes on top, with blue food coloring. Regan was kind of mad, she really was looking forward to dessert for dinner! And she took that first bite, and the look she gave me, I'm surprised I didn't melt right there from the heat of her stare!

And the sushi was rice crispy treats wrapped in fruit roll ups, with gummy worms inside. Those were a big hit though, Tristan was wanting to hit those hard!!

And of course the pranks were out in full force, I got Alex with the rubber band around the water sprayer trick, sprayed him good, it was great for me to get someone for a change, usually I'm the one that's on the receiving end of the pranks.

But the day ended too soon, I had many more tricks up my sleeve. Maybe we can extend it just a little bit?? They really won't see it coming then!!