Annathan

Motorcross Fun

2011-02-26T21:21:00.002-05:00

On January 7th, we took the kids to the Worcester DCU Center for the Motorcross event. It was awesome! Anne loved it as much as JD did. We thought she might possibly be bored with it, but it really was a fun cheap family night out. Those guys on the bikes are nuts. They flip in the air, jump off their seats and dance all around the bikes. It was so fun to hear them announce each driver and their silly names. Great night! Next time, I want to see the Monster Trucks.

5 New Posts, check it out, scroll down.

2011-02-01T21:01:00.002-05:00

Cameo Green Belt...hi yah!!!
Our favorite Thursday night place
Elf on the Shelf
Jackson, NH with old friends!
Snow, what else would I have to talk about?

Cameo Green Belt...hi yah!!!

2011-02-01T20:56:00.001-05:00

Congrats to JD for earning his new Cameo Green Belt!!! He is so not shy in front of 100s of people demonstrating his moves! We are so proud of him. He has learned good posture, confidence, courtesy, respect and hard work!!! Cannot wait to see what happens next!

Our favorite Thursday night place

2011-02-01T20:53:00.002-05:00

Just a picture from our favorite restaurant on a Thursday night...where else? The Venus!

Elf on the Shelf

2011-02-01T20:50:00.002-05:00

I am sure some of you have heard of Elf on the Shelf. I got an idea from a facebook friend to have "Sid" do something different one night. Well, he got into a scuffle with some friends of JD, Anne and some marshmellows. They loved it!!! So hilarious!!! JD and Anne were talking about it for days!

Jackson, NH with old friends!

2011-02-01T20:38:00.002-05:00

The first weekend of December we went away with some of my girlfriends from High School. It was the old gang back again, Ann, Erica, Heather and myself. Everyone brought their husbands and kids. It was a blast. We arrived on Friday and had dinner at the Tavern where we stayed. Doug and I brought my cousin Madison to watch the kids, so we could enjoy adult time after hours. My kids absolutely love Madison and it is always fun to bring her on vacation with us.

On Saturday, we went tubing on Cranmore Mountain and a chocolate tour sleigh ride. Ann and Wayne were hilarious, we arrived at the mountain and they put bloody mary's in their jackets for the tube ride down!!!

Madison, Anne and I went down the new ride at Cranmore. The Alpine Slide. It was awesome! Anne was SO NERVOUS to do it and I couldn't have been prouder to have her come down with me!!! It was so fast! She loved it.

Saturday night we went to a great Family restaurant (it had a kid movie room, and a playroom) It was called the Red Fox. Ann and Wayne bought all the kids toys that were hilarious. I wish we had a video of them opening them! Fake guns, fart machines, pop rockets, etc. When Annie and Wayne have kids, their pay back will be fun!!!

We had such a great time with my old buds, that we hope to have it be an annual event.

Snow, what else would I have to talk about?

2011-02-01T17:15:00.003-05:00

I have so much to blog about but right now for some reason, amongst 3ft of snow, all I can think of is snow. Here are some pics of the kids in the last week in the, you guessed it, SNOW!

4 new quick posts

2010-11-14T19:52:00.001-05:00

Read my 4 new posts below....I am sooo behind.

Jog-A-Thon

2010-11-14T19:45:00.002-05:00

Jonathan and Anne's school does a big fundraiser to raise money for the PTO. It is a Jog-a-thon. The kids have to run a combined 26.2 miles with their classmates and they get a big ice cream party or something else that they decide as a class. This was one of the warmest days of the Fall Season that it was held on. Last year, JD wanted no part of it. He actually took a step out of the race and had a meltdown. This year, he was booking it. He went 3 times around. I did the last lap with both kids (separate times) because a couple of my friends were going and I thought oh what the heck. I am very proud of Anne and JD for running so far ...lots of money was raised and they had parties for it!

One picture is of JD and his very new best friend Jason. IF you saw them together, you would know why they are friends. Silly boys! Can you tell Anne needs something to drink in the last photo? oh my...

Being a Daisy

2010-11-14T19:41:00.002-05:00

Anne is a Daisy scout. Last year, I was her leader and it was alot of work. Especially, running a daycare and having two kids. So, I kindly took a back seat. She joined a friends troop and is having a great year. These are pictures from her investiture and marching in the Veteran's day Parade. This troop is so active. We are going on a Mom/Daughter campout in April, museum trips, field trips and TONS of crafts. I think Anne has found her niche.

Anne is 7

2010-11-14T19:34:00.003-05:00

Anne was 7 back in September and here are some photos of her big night. We had 13 of her closest girlfriends and JD go to a craft/pottery place to make animals out of pottery. She loves to do crafts and so does all her friends. It was a fun night.

Check out the cake that Doug bought, holy crap! It was beautiful, you don't want to know the price..cough..cough, Doug says you only are 7 once and should get what you want for a cake. Anne really did like it, but oh nevermind, it was fun and everyone was happy!!!

Last Camping Weekend of 2010

2010-11-14T19:24:00.002-05:00

Well, we camped 53 times this year! I think that is a good way to start our camping lives!!! The last weekend of the year is Halloween weekend, well for the campground. It was a blast!

Anne was Jessie, it was the only costume that was a girl wearing pants. Anne is not a girly girl or a tomboy, she just likes yoga pants and sweatshirts and cute tops. She is the HARDEST person to buy clothes. Oh well. JD was Captain Rex from Star Wars, I thought it was a storm trooper, but apparently, I am old and don't know anything about Star Wars at all anymore. The two boys with JD are friends we go camping with and my Niece Emilee is Dorothy. It was such a fun weekend. I can't believe how much people decorate their campsites, one family was giving out jello shots and chicken!!! Can't wait for next year!

Soccer, soccer, soccer.

2010-09-12T09:32:00.004-04:00

JD and Anne had their first soccer games on Saturday. Anne is now playing with a referee and actual soccer rules. She did well!!! Her team is named Italy. She only knows one girl (who used to come to my daycare). Anne didn't really say much after the game, just that the white team (holland) was all her friends. So, I am not sure if she is a soccer star or not. She does play really well but we shall see how the season goes!

JD is on the Green Monsters (little Red Sox spin I guess) and he did great. The poor kid, I have to tailor his shirt, it was like a dress on him, but it didn't stop him at all. He has 3 boys on the team from school, so he was so happy. He is quite the soccer player!!! We never did find cleats for him, but some of the other kids didn't have them on either, shin guards were a must, now to find socks to wear over them!!

Enjoy the pictures!

Anne before the start of the game. Harder to get pictures of the older kids, they move too quickly!

JD was picked alot to throw the ball in...
Working his way around the field.
His new friend from kindergarten
Doing a red light, green light drill.
Trying his soccer gear on while camping!

Ok, Tears were shed....

2010-09-07T14:32:00.003-04:00

Anne started 1st grade last week on Tuesday August 31, 2010...she was so excited and had so many friend in her class. She was utterly exhausted when she got home. Here she is getting on and off the bus. The weather was a perfect 100 degrees..**sigh** it looked like each kid was showered when they got off the bus.

I only have the one picture of JD getting on the bus, well because he just left about 2 hours ago....enjoy!

Camping and more camping.

2010-08-12T13:57:00.003-04:00

This summer we have camped 41 times!!! (Since April 10) It has been a blast. This past week we went for a week's vacation to Ogunquit, Maine. We went to the Zoo, shops, had a boat ride, campfires, pool time, mini golf (JD got 2 hole in ones)and lots of relaxing....Here are some photos of our trip....

Annie's Garden

2010-08-12T13:53:00.002-04:00

Well our (Anne's) garden is blooming...we have tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and oregano and hopefully the peppers will come too! Anne is so proud and eats something everyday from it!!!

For Kindergarten screening, JD got a package of bean seeds, he planted them (I was wishfully thinking that he would eat what he planted) but lo and behold, he has beans growing and they are quite delicious!!!

HP Placard

2010-07-28T17:58:00.002-04:00

At JD's 5 year check up I mentioned something about a Handicap Placard. Our pedi said it was a great idea for JD to learn to walk rather than always to expect a carriage (more cuz JD is "lazy") if someone will do something for him, like carry him, offer a carriage, he will gladly accept. This way, I can say "we are close enough to walk so you can walk!"

The Doctor's office called today and they signed the paperwork and sent to Boston for approval. I have mixed emotions, I certainly won't use it everytime, but hey if it helps JD out, why not? What do other POLPs think?

To infinity and beyond!!!! Well to being 5 and beyond...

2010-07-19T14:04:00.002-04:00

JD's birthday was at Boston Bowl this year. He wanted a "house" party, but I selfishly said "JD, Mommy watches 10 kids a day, 5 days a week and doesn't want to do it on a weekend..." So, he picked the bowling alley. We invited 14 kids and it was a blast. One hour of bowling, 30 minutes of eating (cake, pizza) and then 30 minutes in the arcade!!! He loved it so much...His buddy Brendon's Mom said "I have never seen JD so excited"

Auntie Debi and Uncle Paul get the prize for best gift. It was Buzz Lightyear wings. He wore them for almost 2 full days. He LOVES them. Toy Story 3 was the gift theme of the party.

Great time had by all...JD had his 5 year check up today..he grew an 1 1/2 inches and is 34 inches tall and gained 2lbs. I have to check the achon chart to see where we sit. Does any POLP have the chart handy? Let me know if you do! Everything else is doing great and we are officially ready for Kindergarten with that lovely MMR shot...OMG! did JD scream, I think you could hear him in New York...but it is over and he got some monster truck stickers. Brave, sort of, boy.

Happy July to everyone!

Anne's last day of school...I am little behind...

2010-07-15T14:57:00.005-04:00

Anne was so happy yet so sad for her last day of kindergarten. She got to bring home all her things, journal, box of art supplies, calendar, etc. She is still writing in her journal throughout the summer, she writes about what she does during the day or our vacation days!

The Kindergarten holds a field day just for the kids in K. I volunteered to help with the hippity hops! So funny to watch 6 year olds hop on them, especially since most of them had never been on one. It was a fun day. The kids got a sports bottle, ribbon and a Graduation certificate. Fun day, cannot wait for JD's field day next year!

Yeah Anne! I cannot believe she is going to First grade.

Planting a garden.

2010-07-15T14:52:00.002-04:00

Anne has been dying for me to post pictures of her garden. The kids and Doug started this garden on Memorial Day Weekend. They planted tomatoes, peppers, basil, oregano, strawberries, cucumbers and beans. We have a little of everything starting to grow!!! Thanks to Nanny Carol for watering it while we were gone camping!

Summer 2010

2010-07-13T14:49:00.002-04:00

Some quick shots of some of the fun we are having this summer...what a great summer so far!!!

Tae Kwon Do Grads!!!

2010-06-25T14:21:00.002-04:00

Hi ya!!!! Anne and JD graduated to their next Tae Kwon Do belts. JD is cameo-orange and Anne is cameo yellow. They did awesome! JD is in the front row on stage and Anne is diagonal behind on his right.

At class the other night, JD and Anne had to run around the high school track one time....JD's instructor was so proud of him, though he was last place he never gave up and Mr. Whitman ran with him the whole time!!! They are always talking about never giving up and how important it is to keep working....So proud of both of them!

When you have some extra lemonade....

2010-06-05T19:05:00.002-04:00

Lemonade, Lemonade look at all the cash we made. Anne and her friend had a lemonade stand today. In 3 hours they made $18.....not bad for throwing it together in like 10 minutes. Here is a picture of the sign they made...

A couple of my favorite things

2010-06-03T13:40:00.005-04:00

To start off Anne was invited as the first Kindergartener to read to JD's class. She was so excited!!! She read "I will teach my Dog 100 words". She didn't want JD to know so we secretly dropped him off at school and went in the front door and down to his class. He loved it!!! Great thing for siblings to share, hope it keeps up through the years.

Anne reading to the class!

A couple of other things, our new camper, it is soo soo nice. I love having a "second" home!!! The kids ride bikes, swim, catch frogs, fish (well go to the fishing pond), take the dog for a walk, make crafts, make smores, get dirty, etc! It is such great family/friend time! The kids learned to play ladder golf and we got to hang with Auntie Debi, Uncle Paul, Uncle Jody, Auntie Debbie and of course Emilee! Emilee even smiled in a picture for me so I could buy her a prize....I added a picture of Cayman, our boxer cuz his eyes were so freaky looking!

Other news, JD and Anne both earned their red stripes in TaeKwonDo...Anne is working for her yellow cameo belt and JD is working for orange Cameo...Yeah!!!! So that is it, we are looking forward to many more camping trips in our camper and enjoying summer if it ever hits Boston officially!!!

Oh yeah, Go Celtics!!!

Anne waiting to hear if she received the Red stripe for her belt!

Cousins!! Anne and Emilee!

Cayman's camping eyes!

Uncle Jody and JD playing ladder golf

Cousins at the Camping pool!

Me at the campsite after kids went to bed!

JD sleeping at the table, watching Transformers!

A Major leaguer....

2010-05-10T16:45:00.003-04:00

Here are some photos from JD's Tball game...he loves it. I can't get the video to attach...but man did they work him. He was in the position of shortstop and pretty much got every ball coming his way!!! He ran hard, hit hard and well just did very well. Enjoy!

Family Trip to NH

2010-02-18T13:38:00.005-05:00

This time we brought the kids! We rented my Uncle Stephen's friends cabin in NH. It was right on a river and the kids loved looking out the window, while playing DSi's, looking for wildlife! It was fun to have cousin Emilee with us for a couple of days too. The kids love having her around! We got to bring our dog Cayman the laid back Boxer...ha ha. I should have taken pics of him sleeping on all the furniture....

Anne was going to try skiing but was a little intimidated by the chair lift and at Cranmore Mountain they don't have the magic carpet to bring her to the top. So, we all went tubing! I love tubing, JD not so much. He did go down once and say he had "super fun" but didn't want to do it again.

On Sunday for Valentine's Day, Doug and I rented a double sled (snowmobile) and went for a 32 mile guided tour with 4 other sleds. At first it was very intimidating to drive even 15 miles an hour but by the end of the trip we got up to 45 miles and it was so much fun! I can't wait to go again, though this time I will drive my own sled instead of being a passenger!!!

Our New Home

2010-02-18T13:36:00.001-05:00

The weekend I got back we bought a trailer for our camping adventures! the kids are beyond excited and I have to admit, I am really excited too. I love camping, the fires, good company, the food and relaxation! Here are some photos of our new place!!! We pick it up at the end of March beginning of April.

Girls Weekend Away

2010-02-18T13:32:00.001-05:00

The weekend of January 16th, 5 girls went away for the entire weekend to North Conway, New Hampshire. We had lots of fun....dinner, shopping, tubing, and drinks!!! We hope to make it an annual trip. The husbands/boyfriends survived without us, so we know we can do it!!! Thanks to Sister Debi, Pretend sisters Jen and Heather and Sister in Law Debbie for a great weekend. Can't wait til next year!

We will call this post, all over the board..

2009-12-10T13:24:00.004-05:00

I haven't blogged in so long....sorry friends.

Lots of things to chat about. We did all the Brain shunt things and JD is not in need of a shunt, so to speak, right now. Both Doctors agree that his head is big and that they don't understand why he is not having symptoms, but they also agree that putting a shunt in today could open another whole can of worms. We will go back in 6 months to review everything unless he is having symptoms.

I talked to his Neurosurgeon the other day in a pretty lengthy conversation about what we have to look for, do, etc. Oh, and while I had him on the phone I discussed the "enormous egg" on his right temple. JD fell, tripped, on the way into school, the first trip he has had to the nurse's office. It was truly the largest egg I have ever see on a child. ick. He was fine, and once he got home it was like he never even got hurt.

A couple of new things, you might have saw on Facebook, Anne joined Daisy Girl Scouts and of course, I am the leader!

JD joined Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and he now loves it. The first class was a little rough and it has been hard finding someone to tailor his pants...no go yet. Now, JD loves it and his friend Charlie joined so it is great to see him Karate chop!!!

So, we have been well and keeping really busy. I hope I can get back to posting more...Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Ugh, did I mention that I don't like Hospitals...

2009-10-28T18:45:00.002-04:00

First of all, let me say, my little man is doing well. Not the best experience we have had with anethesia...but I can tell you all later what I mean.

JD had an MRI supposed to last 40-60 minutes and it lasted about 3 hours....I will explain later.

All in all, he is fine was doing fine, but I will let you know a little secret, even though you call ahead, meet with doctors, anethesiologists, prep them, talk to them in their cars, on their cell phones, they DON'T do what they say they will do! ugh!

Maybe I will go to Medical school of some sort..........maybe just maybe.

JD is resting on the couch with a yucky tummy as he tells me, you know he isn't feeling well, he won't even eat an M&M!!!

More later, and Happy Halloween!!!!

MRI and doctors appointments

2009-10-25T19:38:00.002-04:00

Ugh, some of you know already but we are taking JD to have a MRI this week. I hate doing all the anethesia stuff..etc....but somehow we do it and it gets done.

Our neurosurgeon has informed us that JD head is getting too big ...over the 2nd standard deviation for kids with achon. Ironically, his only sympton is a big head...no tingling, numbness, headaches, lathargic...NOTHING. So, he wants to put in a shunt. ugh ugh. His reasoning, if JD's head gets too big too fast, he can have some serious problems down the road (maybe not tomorrow but maybe 5 years or 10 years away...no one can know for sure) such as memory loss, cognitive issues, plus a big head with a little body, he might fall alot or children will be even meaner than the usual kids.

So, we are getting the MRI to see what is really going on inside and then we are taking him for a 2nd opinion to another great Hospital in Boston, on our Neuro's advice.

I was not taking this well when we heard the news...but it has been 3 weeks of thinking about it and well, we have to go and do what is right for Jonathan. We haven't screwed up yet, so I anticipate we will make the right decision for him with our very trusting doctor. (our DR has chatted with people in DE and we feel confident he has good info for us) I research everything, sometimes too much to make myself feel like I could intern in the neuro floor at one of the hospitals. Thank you all for your kind words that I have received as we go through this process. Having the MRI on Wednesday seems like such a piece of cake (his 3rd one) compared to a shunt...funny how things get into perspective.

In other plans, JD and Anne are dressing as Bumblebee the Transformer and Hannah Montana for Halloween which is my most favorite holiday, and doesn't look like it is either of my kids. No one wanted to wear their costume for a party we went to today. Oh well, I can hope they will still go trick or treating with me.

Happy Halloween everyone!!!!!

3 posts in one day????

2009-09-25T14:08:00.002-04:00

We are babysitting a bunny for a neighbor which led us into the purchase of our own new Bunny, BUDDY. Here is a picture of Anne holding Vegas the bunny and "cool Cat" from her class. Each child gets to take a turn taking Cool Cat home for a night and writing in a book to tell the class what it did at your house. Can I tell you that Anne was soooo soo excited to have this stuffed animal at our house? If I only had a video camera of her face when I went to the bus stop to get her and saw the blue bag...Oh mY! She was so happy!!!

So, here is a picture of Cool Cat and Vegas the temporary bunny at our house

JD's first day of PreK

2009-09-25T14:02:00.002-04:00

JD started school this month too! He loves it....though he "can't" remember anyone's name and everyone is "the guy that wore the cool transformer shirt"....ha ha. He seems to be doing well there, no complaints. At first, he told me that the kids are laughing at him alot, well come to find out, he is being silly and they are laughing with him not at him...geez, he had me all upset for nothing!!!!!

The picture of all the girls and JD is the bus stop at my house...those girls go to Kindergarten with Anne and are in my daycare...so they all get to go to school together. JD is the proud boy with all the ladies!!!

We carpool with the little girl next door, so that is great for building confidence in JD, he isn't always with Mom..(which I kind of enjoy the break!!)

I had to attach a picture of his Halloween costume, of course, it is a transformer, who else but Bumblebee?

Anne's First Day of Kindergarten

2009-09-25T13:55:00.002-04:00

We have had quite a month....Anne started Kindergarten, JD started Public Preschool (the classroom right next to his big sister) and we celebrated Anne's 6th birthday, and we got a new addition to our family. Who you ask? Buddy the Bunny...he is a 9 week old Dutch bunny that Super Cool Auntie Debi bought for Anne's birthday. He is adorable and very friendly.

Here are some pictures of Anne on her first day. She was so excited!! I almost missed her getting on the bus she was so quick, luckily she paused for a kodak moment.

We went to her Open House last night and she was so cute introducing us to all her teachers, MR. G, Mrs. G and the art and gym teachers. She was so excited. She loves it there and the school is just great.

JD did not like all the attention going to his big sister, can you tell?

Orientation Day!!!

2009-09-03T14:26:00.002-04:00

What a great day we had today!!! JD and Anne had orientations at Kindergarten and PreK!!!! (same public school, two classrooms away from each other!)

Anne has Mr. G and JD has Mrs. E .....Anne was all dressed in her skort and JD is a new cool football shirt....they did great. Anne got to see some friends from PreK and JD met some new ones in his class.

Check out the picture of the structure that they built in the bathroom for JD in his classroom, the janitor did such a great job!!! Go Mr. C....and he changed the faucets in the classroom because the faucet is on the side of the sink so the "hot" is closest to the kids, so he changed them so Cold is now on the closest side!!!! JD is able to do everything!!! I love it....not to mention it made me a little teary eyed..but luckily I know the teachers already (anne had them) and they said on his first day next Wednesday, they will give me a tissue!!!

So, I took the tradtional picture in front of the school...just like my parents did when I went to the same school. The kids had so fun...and I can't believe that I have a PreK kid and a Kindergarten kid!!!

Good luck Anne and JD....show the teachers how smart you are!!!

Ahoy matey...JD is 4!

2009-07-13T13:27:00.003-04:00

Well, folks JD is 4!!! I can't believe it. We had an awesome time at a pirate ship down in Plymouth Mass. The kids were so excited!!!! We had 10 of JD's best buddies and family members help us on the mission to find the treasure, out in the ocean!!!!

When we arrived each kid got a face painting or a tattoo and a hat! Then we boarded the ship. Captain Paul explained our mission, with a map and all. We headed out into the harbor and looked for a pirate ship....once we found this icky looking man, we were able to shoot him with water cannons!! Hello, give 10 kids water cannons to shoot...are you kidding me? This was great. Then we had to rescue the treasure chest he was holding ransom...we almost had to sacrifice Charlie's 12 year old sister, Maddy, but we were lucky, he surrended!! Full of booty...each kid got a bag of booty to take home.

Then we pulled up a lobster trap filled with spider crabs that we had a race to see who won! number 3 was a clear winner! JD got to band the lobsters claws!!! Then we had some cake and did the limbo and the hokey pokey!!! JD got to drive the boat too. He was a great listener and got a certificate for being such a good boat driver...(Daddy must have taught him well on our boat.)

Phew, what a fun packed 1 1/2 hours that trip was!!!!

JD had a blast and we did too! Fun stuff being a 4 year old. Happy Birthday little man, we love you!!! Don't forget you said now that you are 4 you will eat vegetables all the time..... :)

3 posts in one day....what is going on? lol

2009-06-15T13:42:00.002-04:00

Believe it or not, the sun did come out on Saturday this past weekend. I made a mad dash for the beach. We live 3/10 of a mile from the beach and never go. This year I made a decision to go anytime there is sun. The kids loved every minute. JD is finally walking barefoot in the sand. Anne won't/can't/shouldn't get out of the water, she gets all sandy, wet and gooey and loves every minute of it!!!

JD took a little snooze at the beach, he went right under Miss Laurie's umbrella and went to sleep. Nice!!!!

I don't dare go into the ocean EVER....even in 90 degree weather, it is still ice cold here in Mass. Oh well, sitting on the beach, reading a book, kids having a blast...what is better?

504 and JD's new school

2009-06-15T13:30:00.006-04:00

These pictures are some of the accomodations that the other elementary school in our town has made for another little person in our town!! She is in the 5th grade and we are very friendly with her parents. They were so nice to share stories, pictures, etc with me. I was able to have Maddy "walk" me around to show me everything in her school for her...it truly was eye opening and very reassuring for me. I learned that other than a few simple hygiene accomodations, there wasn't much that needs to be changed. I am glad to have the oppurtunity to have gone there and talk to so many wonderful teachers, and administrators. (plus many of JD's teachers, I had when I was little, so that was fun seeing them again...lol)

We have finally got our written 504 plan for JD. We have met with the school he is attending in the fall (the same school he will go K-5) and they have been nothing but great. We have a relationship with his teacher already as she is Annie's teacher currently. They are buying a new water table, adjusting the faucet so he can reach, making a platform for hand washing, platform for the toilet, etc. They have been great and we are quite pleased with our outcome!!!

Now, are they ready for JD???? LOL Ready or not,, here he comes!!!!

Camping for Memorial Day Wknd

2009-06-15T13:25:00.003-04:00

We rented a pop up trailer for Memorial Day weekend and took the kids camping in Brewster (Cape Cod). My kids love to camp...right after my own heart!!! I love hanging by the fire, exploring the area we are camping at...eating off the fire pit...etc.

We tried to go "fishing" ... but the weather here in New England, Specifically the south shore of Massachusetts has been HORRIBLE...seriously we went from spring to fall..60s with no sight of the sun. The kids didn't mind the sprinkles of rain we got while camping, they only lasted minutes...

All in all, we had a great time. We are looking to get bikes for everyone so we can have another thing to do while we are camping, there were so many bike trails at this state park, it would have been great to have a bike!!!! Next time!!!

Long Lost blogger.....

2009-05-29T15:16:00.006-04:00

Not sure what we have been doing, but I haven't been blogging...so here is a recap real quick....

We met with the Camenga Family at the New England Aquarium, geez, what a month ago??? We had a blast...It was nice to meet our first blogging family. We hope to have them back for a boat ride and a cookout!!!!

We went to LPA regional...Anne started Tball...JD graduated from his gymnastics class...(not happily at the ceremony) and we went camping and we have been faithful fire pit users in our backyard...thanks new england for the ick weather my kids were wearing winter hats roasting marshmallows.....I guess we have been busy!!!!!

We had a great 504 meeting with the elementary school about JD entering this fall into the PreK program, the custodian is building platforms and changing door handles and buying stools, etc. What a great meeting and JD goes next week (hopefully) with Anne to walk around the school (he is going to the same teacher Annie has now) and he will actually share a bathroom with his big kindergarten sister!!! So fun....

So I will attach some random pics of our recent events!!!

Just to catch up!

2009-04-20T09:34:00.003-04:00

Kind of a scrambled post!!!!! We went to the Boston CHildren's musuem one really, really wet Friday night...why I am not sure? Gluten for punishment, maybe? The kids had a blast, how could you not at a place made for just kids???? On Friday nights, it is only $1 for admission, how can you beat that? As opposed to spending $45 for a family of 4 to enter the building. JD liked the water table room, the golf ball room and the construction room, (big front loaders, bob cats, etc to climb on!!! a little boy's dream). Anne liked the shopping room (that's my girl) and the rock climbing wall.

The other pictures of Easter are from my grandfather's annual Easter Egg hunt which is also in Boston. Actually this year was held on Boston College's campus for 300 kids! I should mention that my Grandfather passed away almost 27 years ago...and his tradition of doing things for the kids of Boston still holds strong!!! They put 16,000 eggs out and everyone runs wild...well except for JD, he is NOT fond of the Easter Bunny, the thought of the Easter Bunny, the looks of the EB, etc. He went for a short walk with Daddy to check out the fire trucks. That was more up his alley!!!

So, jumbled post but still fun. The picture of the kids with socks on their hands is a puppet show where they made the sock puppets. JD was a snake, and Anne was a beautiful princess....

Hope everyone has a great week....Go Bruins, Red Sox and Celtics!!!! Yeah Boston.

Trout Farm and Bowling

2009-03-30T12:57:00.006-04:00

Anne being a lobster at the Cabby Shack.
JD's turn to be a lobster!!!
I tried to catch them all feeding the fish together...
JD and Anne watching the baby trout swim for the food.

Living on the south shore sure does have it's perks at times (especially when the weather is nice). A friend of mine told us about the Trout farm on Cape Cod. Well the Cape is only 25 minute ride and it is nice so we went on Saturday with the kids. What a great place. The best way to describe it was long bowling alley type bays filled with trout!!! You buy some food for a $.25 and feed the fish...what could be better!!! These days it is hard to find something cheap and fun to do!!! JD and Anne had a blast..the fish sort of jump out of the water to eat the pellets...

After the trout farm we went up to Plymouth for lunch and ate at the Cabby Shack and walked out on the Plymouth Jetty, it was pretty windy, so we didn't stay long but got a couple of pictures of the day!!!

On Sunday, we went bowling with Cousin Emilee and Auntie Debbie #2...we have two Auntie Debi's. We had a blast. THe kids bowled... Anne's first time without needing help...JD went up to the red line and dropped the balls and was as happy as can be. Emilee was a great bowler and came in first place...ah hem, I think she plays the Wii bowling too much!!! ha ha!!!

**Don't mind the bandaid, JD was rubbing his head on the floor as he walked and managed to get some rug burn....nice...

After bowling Deb and I took them out for food at a restaurant then back to my brother's for some more fun...all in all a great weekend was had by all.

JD in training for the Olympics!!!

2009-03-24T21:24:00.003-04:00

Now that we have the brace off, we (I mean JD) have been living the life. We joined Tumblefun Gymnastics today. It is a gymnastics program for 2-14 year olds. The run, jump, slide, crawl under things, walk on balance beams, swing on monkey bars and play games! It is a fun filled packed 45 minutes!!! JD loved it. He learned to do the swan, a scale, a V seat and impressed the teachers with his flexibility!!!!!

This week the theme was animals. You had to fish for an animal and bring it back to its home. JD had a camel. He got to bring it back to the desert. What a great experience and boy was he tired at the end of 45 minutes!!!!

Here are some photos of him in the class....I had to walk away a couple of times because I was cramping his "style"...god I love not having a brace....FREEDOM!!!!

Swinging like a monkey through the forest!

Walking with Miss Vicki on the beam 4ft high!!! So brave and so proud of himself!!!

JD walking with Miss Heather on the small beam, crossing over the beanie babies...

Walking across the rope ladder for the first time...doesn't look so sure does he?

Happy Official St. Pat's Day!!!!

2009-03-17T13:13:00.004-04:00

JD getting his Green on!!!! His shirt says "Dad's Little Leprechaun" (This is apparently JD's tough leprechaun look....LOL)

We had a visit from Lucky the Leprechaun at my preschool today...he left shamrock glasses and some gold coins for each child. Yahoo! Every year, he comes to my school and messes up the room while we are outside and leaves his hat and some footprints on the floor and tables...crazy little guy...

Oh how I love this holiday!!! Happy Day!

My favorite Holiday!!!! St Pat's Day!

2009-03-16T13:27:00.003-04:00

Top o the mornin to ya!!!!

It is definetly the Irish in me...I love St. Pat's day...the parades, the parties, the drinks, etc. We started off the weekend on Saturday celebrating with all kinds of fun. The leprechaun spread "golden" coins (aka pennies) on the lawn and the kids went crazy looking for them! Thanks to Beth for a great party!!!

On Sunday, we went to the Scituate parade. We did not brave the Southie parade in Boston this year. Scituate was alot of fun. We packed sandwiches, snacks and brought a blanket and some chairs and found a nice piece of grass near the waterfront (sort of) to watch up close. Our friends showed up with their two kids and we had a blast watching all kinds of funky people march in the parade. I love wacky people and St Pat's day never fails me in seeing some!!!!

Happy St Patricks' Day everyone. May the luck of the Irish be with you!!!!

50th Post!!! Missing Tooth!! what a day!

2009-03-10T14:37:00.007-04:00

Yeah, my 50th post!!! I know, I am not that great at posting to begin with but hey still cool right???? Better than sister Debi...ah hem, when did you post last? LOL

Ok, Anne lost her tooth today!!! Yippppieee! Those of you who know me well will know that teaching kids under 5 I can handle anything BUT TEETH. Especially wiggly ones. So, there was no blood and the tooth just wiggled it's own way out after 3 weeks! Anne is so happy it is contagious!!!

Let's see what else we took a cooking class with the kids and made all kinds of Valentine snacks (chocolate, cookies, candies, etc) the kids, Daddy and I loved it. JD didn't like touching the candies but we got through it.

Auntie Debi bought Rock Band on the Wii and JD loves to play the drums. He is a maniac on those drums. Emily, I was thinking if Seamus goes on the road can JD join?
Rock Band here I come!

Do you think Metallica needs a drummer?

And last but not least I got Anne to ride a bike! Last year she wasn't so sure of getting on it, even with the training wheels. This year, she loves it. Her friend Cameron is learning too, so it was fun to ride with him...sad that they have sweatshirts on and snow is in the background. Too bad the bike is a little small....but we made it for 2 hours on the 2nd day of the year that the temperature made it past 55 degrees...oh how I miss South Carolina!!!!

Cameron and Anne riding together with snow in the background!!!

Anne being cool on her princess bike!!!

January Happenings

2009-02-03T14:36:00.011-05:00

We have had a lot of snow this past January. We had the chance to go to North Conway NH for 4 days. My In-laws rented a condo and we stayed there with them. Doug and I took the kids tubing! Anne loved it, JD not so much.

Anne built JD a snowman just his size in our front yard.

Grandpa making the most of the hills right in front of our condo...when you are in Rome, sled like the Romans...ok, maybe not, but Anne loved "sledding" on a shovel.

JD prior to the big "scream" down the tubing hill with Daddy.

Have fun going down the hill, JD and Daddy.

The hills that we up against....

Anne and I ready to hit the slopes!

And the best for last a couple of Pictures of JD being a "man"....see if you can tell what he is doing...LOL

We have had a busy month! We are going to take the kids to New Hampshire again, hopefully this month for more skiing and tubing. Enjoy the pictures!

Tag I am late being it....:)

2009-02-03T14:31:00.002-05:00

The 4th folder and 4th picture in it, is a picture of JD when he first was trying to stand up....yeah...oh the days of him in one place...LOL

Enjoy...so those who have not been tagged, sister Debi, SIL Aimee, and Sarah (I can't remember if you did or not) have fun and remember pick your 4th picture folder and the 4th picture in it.

Side note, now that JD is brace free (YEAH) we are starting potting training officially today...ooooh boy, it might take a bit!!! I will let you know the progress

Quick Really good update

2009-01-29T16:42:00.002-05:00

JD went to the Orthopedic today for his 6 month check up...and after 2 years and 5 days, (not that I am counting) he does NOT have to wear his brace anymore.

The Dr. said his back looks great (better than ever), the wedging looks great, his legs/feet are great....GREAT GREAT....

Did I mention it has been 2 years and 5 days?

I am so physced it is kind of giddy...no more brace, no more onesies and he can finally wear regular shirts and sweaters, I must get shopping!!!!!

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOO

Day late (ok a month late)dollar short

2009-01-13T14:34:00.005-05:00

Ok, so I never posted pics of the kids on Christmas. We had a great day! The kids loved every second of the 5 minutes it took to open presents....LOL

Here are a couple of highlights:

1. Spreading reindeer food on the lawn for Santa and friends. Picture of the kids with their bags and new pjs before heading outdoors...

2. Mrs. Claus calling on Christmas morning to make sure Santa had done his "job". Jonathan wasn't really wanting to get on the phone, but Anne sure did, she was walking around the house and then sat down to chat while eating her breakfast. Thanks Mrs. Claus! You rock.

3. We got the Wii. Need I say more, this machine is the best. JD is so good at it. We even got the grandparents to box on Christmas Morning. Sister Debi bought us Guitar Hero...and I am embarrassed to say I can't get past beginner level on Living on a Prayer...ugh, I always get boo'ed...

4. We went to Frog Pond in Boston the day after Christmas for some ice skating...then back to my Uncle's new apartment. I hope this becomes a tradition, it was alot of fun to see all my cousins and their kids and spend time with family. What a great day!!! JD did not take to the ice, but Anne, Auntie Debi, Uncle Paul and I did...what a fun trip.

JD's favorite place to look out the window at Uncle Patrick's house, he said to me, "I like this Boston better than the hospital." Poor kid only goes in town when we have appointments.

Can you see JD in the green Celtics hat with my Mom?

Look Mom, no hands!!!

So, all in all we have had a busy month...we have so many birthdays. Happy Birthday to me, Jack, Mom, Uncle Tommy, Aunt Patty, Uncle Gerald, and anyone else I forgot!!

I H*** Insurance companies

2009-01-06T20:53:00.003-05:00

Where do I start? Today is my birthday...thank you to all who sent Birthday wishes on Facebook. It started out sort of stressful....like I need to worry about anything...so here goes:

Doug calls me around 9am and says "did you read Boston.com?" Um, no, I have 10 kids here getting dropped off...LOL. So, Doug continues, "The hospital that we take JD to is as of January 31st not accepting our insurance, not to just us, to 1000's of patients" Ok, now the 10 kids are running, playing and all I can say is ...WHAT???? The doctors have decided that they don't get paid enough for their work and are no longer going to take a major insurance company. I just don't understand why they are doing this.....well, I kind of understand that no one thinks they get paid enough, but couldnt' they just rewrite their contracts to a higher rate.

I am sorry but this is freaking me out. We have 6 specialists there, ortho, neuro, pulmo (added the o for good measure) eye doctor and MRI, etc. My luck is that our ortho appointment is 2/2/09...so I called and practically begged for an earlier appt (not easy to do with MS. Friendly on the phone...LOL) so I got one on 1/29.

JD wears a brace and has not for about a month now because it is way too tight...WAY TOO TIGHT...he has worn it everyday for 2 years minus these 4 weeks and I need answers...how do we get the brace covered now? How am I going to get an appointment in Boston in the next month without fighting everyone else who is looking for new doctors....ugh ugh.

Now mind you and please keep this between you and I .........please hush, JD has not been sick in months, maybe even a year....oh god, I shouldn't even say out loud, but I did...but you know what is going to happen, god forbid...ok enough no more chatter...

I do feel a little better, I have had 1 cupcake and 1 piece of cake and two kids smiling at me all day giving kisses and hugs (god, kids love birthdays) and I am trying not to stress about finding 6 new doctors....

I digress and not going to think more about it tonight. If any of you want to start an insurance group to cover all expenses at all hospitals...that would be great. In the meantime, I might just go and have some more cake...and smile...life is good.

Happy Trails everyone!

Photo of the kids

2009-01-02T08:57:00.003-05:00

So late, but better than never. We got the kids professional pictures done and well, I didn't send out as many as I usually do...only 25. I hope everyone had a nice New Year's!!!!

What is happening?

2008-12-23T13:26:00.003-05:00

Ok, everyone. First off, I would like to wish everyone a Happy Holiday! We have had alot going on here at the Leahy Household.

I went to the Boston Bruins game the other night with my brother and SIL. Her brother works for the Garden and we got up on the Jumbo tron. Just like JD, however, I was too busy eating a hotdog and drinking an "adult" beverage to take a picture like Doug did. Funny story, I was dropping Anne off at school yesterday and a woman I don't know stops me and says "did you go the Bruins game the other night....were you eating a hot dog..." yikes. It was a great time and they won 8-5!!!!

In other news, we got a ton of snow here on the south shore. Anne LOVES the snow, JD not so much, he was good with a 10 minute trip outside and that was that. He prefers to stay inside and keep warm...I put some pics of the two of them outside and one of Doug, the kids, and Cayman (our boxer).

The other picture of JD is with his very best friends, Jack and Jack. Oh my god...he loves these boys!!! I can't get through a day without him asking me to go to their house for a playdate. I thought this picture summed it all up...he loves them!!!

I wish everyone a safe, healthy, holiday season and look forward to "chatting" with all my blog friends in 2009!!!! Happy Holidays everyone!

Christmas Survey

2008-12-21T12:36:00.002-05:00

I copied from Jamie's post...I thought it looked fun : )

Christmas Survey

Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!!!
Just copy this entire post and paste into a new post/e-mail that you can send with the changes in answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you......Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapped, definetly...

2. Real tree or Artificial? REAL this year, but next year FAKE

3. When do you put up the tree? Usually the 1st weekend in December.

4. When do you take the tree down? As soon as possible, usually the weekend after Xmas

5. Do you like eggnog? Not at all...:(

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My Annie Doll and my red wagon...oh good times.

7. Hardest person to buy for? My brother, and sister. Kids are easy...

8. Easiest person to buy for? JD and Anne, they like everything!!!

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No

10.Do you send cards or email cards? a little of both this year!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? oh I don't think I have had one :)

12. Favorite Holiday Movie? Frosty the Snowman

13. When do you start shopping for Holidays? This year? ugh, the last possible minute, I am still shopping and thinking of ideas.

14. Ever recycled a Holiday present? hmmm, uh yeah, most definetly :)

15. Favorite thing to eat at Holiday? Homemade cookies and hot cocoa

16. Lights on the tree? yes, colored ones this year, by request of JD and Anne.

17. Favorite Holiday song? Transiberian Orchestra. (sp?)

18. Travel at Holidays or stay home? We stay home for Christmas and not sure what we are doing Xmas eve yet.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer's? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and of course RUDOLPH (Jamie was correct, so I am sticking to it)

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? We actually have a large dog bone...he he. DOn't ask

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas Morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? People who insist of buying gifts just to buy...Christmas should not be so retailized (is that a word?)

23. Favorite ornament? My personalized ones from my Dad each year...I love em!

24. Favorite for Holiday dinner? Ham and some munchies.

25. What do you want for Christmas this year? an electric blanket.

Merry Christmas!!!

A family Christmas

2008-12-15T13:51:00.003-05:00

We had a great weekend. We went to Sturbridge MA to see my Dad's side of the family. All his brothers and his favorite Sister. I think someone said there was 35 of us that showed up!! Not bad. Some of the cousins were missing (they don't live near here) and Uncle Tommy made a quick visit...it was good to see him. Aunt Diane if you are reading, I hope you are well, and remember a smile a day keeps the doctors away!!!

It was good laughs, good fun, and we are hoping for a reunion of sorts for ALL of us. Geez, what place can hold 50 or more of us...we will find it. "we are the Scannells, the mighty, mighty Scannells...etc. (a little song we made up when we were kids...thanks Andrea for reminding me of how "cool" we are...)

I attached some pictures of the family. Enjoy. My kids did not attend, it would have been to crazy and I would not have been able to catch up like I did with everyone.

Also, thanks to Aunt Patty and Shawna for "Sid" the Elf on the Shelf!!! What a great little concept. JD and Anne were fascinated by the elf changing spots the other night...thanks for sending him all the way up from GA!!!

Off to take a rest, I had a long night with Annie last night, she is not feeling well and no one got any sleep :(

Family Day

2008-12-10T17:08:00.004-05:00

Today was family day at Anne's school. We were lucky enough to have both grandfathers come to it!! Thank you to Pops and Grandpa!!!

The kids sang two songs and then we made gingerbread houses!!! Yummy!! Anne didn't have any idea who was coming to Family Day. This morning, I said "I will see you at Family Day" and her response "oh, just you?" He he, I kept a secret all day...

You should have seen her face when both grandfathers were there!! How exciting!!! Everyone had a fun time decorating (ah hem, eating) the candy to stick on the houses...

Tomorrow JD gets to make a similar house with his speech teacher...he is going to love it.

All is good!!!

2008-12-09T20:45:00.004-05:00

Jon did awesome! We arrived at the hospital at 6:20 and he played until about 7:40am. The Surgery was scheduled at 8am and he was in the OR at 7:57 and out at 8:15....

Everything went very well. His ears were filled with fluid (not infected), he drained the fluid and added the tubes. All went very well. Jon (JD) got out of recovery at 8:45 and we were headed home at 9:30....

Phew! Another thing to cross off our list...so far so good.

Each night we ask the kids their "favorite part of the day" and "not so favorite part of the day"....

JD responses:
My favorite part of the day was playing at the hospital with my Dad. (my thoughts were "hey I was there too, remember me, I gave birth to you....LOL)

My not so favorite part was "not eating my peanut butter crackers after surgery" (Mommy made the mistake of bringing his favorite peanut butter crackers, and they wouldn't let him eat them because of allergies...I felt so bad for everyone involved)

On a side note, I had the kids pictures done this weekend. I will have to scan to share with you all. They came out great!!!!!

Tubes, tubes, tubes

2008-12-08T22:13:00.003-05:00

I forgot to post but JD will be sporting 2 new tubes tomorrow AM. It should be an easy procedure (he had the last one in July 07)

I have to be at the hospital at 6:30am, surgery is at 8am.

I will update when I get back :)

Need some advice...or help...

2008-12-05T10:14:00.003-05:00

(these pics are from 2007, look how little the kids are..)
Ok, the story goes like this. Doug and I took JD to Dupont Hospital to see Dr. Bober, and Dr. Mackenzie in March 2007. I was feeling guilty that Anne was not going with us so I purchased her a betta fighting fish. Yes, folks, I did. Another living breathing animal/human to feed, clean and take care of. What was I thinking?

Well, Nemo (the greatest fish in the world) is now not doing so well. Our first experience with Death. Now, I own a daycare, I talk to parents on how to deal with this all the time. Cats, dogs, even grandparents, friends, etc. So different at your own house, the questions are flying from Annie. What is heaven like? Do only cats and fish go there? Can he bring a picture of us to remember? Will he like it there? Can he visit us?

Nemo is sitting on the bottom of his very clean tank today...(Anne wanted to clean it up so he was in cleaner water) and not looking so well. I am tempted to go to the store and "replace" him...Am I a terrible mom? Should I pretend to take him to the "vet" and come home with a new one...I am perplexed....

So close to Christmas and she is devestated...and guess what she wants for Christmas? That is right folks, A HAMSTER....no way...I am not going there....

Any advice?

Facebook

2008-11-24T09:12:00.001-05:00

Ok, who else is addicted to Facebook? I find myself looking on that site way too much....ugh! Is there an intervention? LOL

How many of you LP families are on there? I posted a video on there, but still can't here...what is up with that?

Oh well, I digress, off to check my FB page!!!

dum dum dum da dum.....

2008-11-23T19:49:00.003-05:00

The line from my title is from JD's favorite part of the Celtics Game minus the phrase "DEFENSE"!

We have good news!!!! We went to the ENT doctor and JD needs to replace his ear tubes, no big deal...>BUT no ADENOIDs removal.....a year ago, he had adenoids that were too big to breath and now he had an airway to his throat!!!!!! Thank god we didn't do surgery.... I can't tell you how happy I am...Go JD!!!

Just a little update on my little man, he is doing great with his speech 1/2 hour week for articulation and is just a great kid...dare I say...you know, now that I have jinxed this,...I am not even going to say...

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, we all can be thankful for the incredibly great kids that we have been blessed with...Happy Turkey Day!!!!!

Celtics Game!!!

2008-11-18T13:06:00.002-05:00

JD went to his first NBA game (the Boston Celtics)last week with Daddy!! Doug said they had such a great time! My SIL's brother works at the Boston Garden so he made sure to get JD and Doug up on the Jumbo tron several times, I attached a picture of Doug taking a picture of them on the screen...he was waiting for them to be up there!(I think like 4 times!). One of the pictures of him on the big screen he was doing "peace out"...crazy kid...everyone was cheering!!!

My Uncle was at the game and told my Dad he saw them on the Jumbo Tron! A waitress at our favorite restaurant saw them too! JD is famous (ok, Doug too!) The ate M&M's, and a hot dog!!! JD was cheering for both sides, I guess every time someone got a basket, he would just cheer!!!

Doug bought them matching Celtics hats and JD was sporting his really cool Celtics sweatsuit (thanks Auntie Debi). So all in all, he had a blast and Doug really wants to take him again!!!!

Random thoughts

2008-11-10T08:12:00.004-05:00

Just a couple of pictures from the last couple of weeks or so. I don't think I should post the pictures I took with JD and his friends at LPA...I didn't get permission. :( I did post a couple of random photos. My dog Cayman, who dresses as Batman each year, my brother, sister and I...and JD as a pirate...

We had a fun weekend, we took the kids to the park in our neighborhood and played hide and seek. Kids are so funny, there really is no place to hide yet they "found" poles to stand behind and slides to sit under...it was too funny.

On Saturday night, Doug and I went to my FIL's retirement party...it was a great time and Jack seemed to have a blast.

Tonight JD is going to his first official NBA basketball game with Daddy. The Boston Celtics!!!! Hopefully, he will enjoy the game and won't think it is too loud!!! I will have Doug take lots of pics of the night...

LPA Regional and misc stuff!

2008-10-31T13:34:00.004-04:00

Happy Halloween everyone! I just wanted to post about our happenings. We attended District One's Regional Meeting. It was alot of fun. JD met a friend for the first time since going to 6 of them now!!! He and Owen played for 2 hours in the kid room and then we danced and had a great time. JD was telling all the girls to play with him...I attached a picture of his friends. It was a good time. I enjoy meeting new LP's and getting valuable information at the parents meetings. Tonight is Halloween and JD is a pirate and Anne is a cheerleader!!! I will post some pics soon.

Tag: I am it!!

2008-10-23T21:53:00.003-04:00

I have been tagged by Kim, Here goes:

10 Years Ago I
1) started my first "real" job after college....admin assistant, wait wasn't my degree in teaching...LOL
2) Met my husband at work, total computer geek, ah hem, phone guy...
3) bought my first house by myself...woo hoo! still here!
4) was having a blast hanging with friends, future husband etc.
5) I went to the gym almost all the time (to impress soon to be hubby...)

Things on tomorrow's to-do list

1) Try not to sign on to facebook, (why is it so addictive?)
2) watch 10 kids in my daycare including a 9 week old baby...so cute...
3)Figure out how to get to the Wine and cheese party LPA District 1 is having....
4) Take Anne to school
5) Go to Roche Brothers and fascinate Amy how thrifty I am....

Things I would do if I were a millionaire

1) Pay off my mortgage
2) PUt money aside for the kids for whatever they need it for.
3) Give some money to family to help everyone be happy
4) Take my family on a kick A** trip to the caribbean...
5) Remodel my house so I can have a great kitchen....

5 Places I have lived

1) Marshfield
2) Marshfield
3) Marshfield
4) Columbia South Carolina
5) No worries Kim, I only have 2...REALLY pathetic

5 jobs I have had

1) Paper carrier
2) Bakery Girl
3) Hallmark cashier, um, gift store girl
4) Nanny
5) daycare Provider/Preschool teacher

Hmmmm, I tag my sister Debi (who never blogs), Sarah, Jaime and Aunt Mary on Facebook...hee hee...gotcha!

Great news everyone!!!!!

2008-10-23T21:44:00.002-04:00

The best words you can hear from your most favorite Neurosurgeon/....

NO SHUNT OR DECOMPRESSION SURGERY AT THIS TIME

I can't believe it...well yes I can, JD, JON, Jonathan, has done so many good things in the past year that I should not have been worried...but come on, he has achondroplasia...there is so much to worry about. Plus, I worry about everything, I think the worst, then when good stuff happens it seems so much better...not a trait I hope my children pick up.LOL

I am happy to report, that through my neurotic (is that a word?) medical behaviors, we are in the clear til next May or June (depending on an opening for an appointment) with Dr. H. He is the greatest, I trust him completely...

So, tonight I sit and laugh and play with my two great kids and hope that we have many happy times ahead...

God yesterday was tough, I was so scared and now I think "why"...but I know why, I don't want my son to be in this situation, but hey he is, and if you saw him lying on the bed to enter the MRI...you would be so proud, he turned to daddy and said "can I get a blue and red race car when I am done?" I cried my head off, if that is even normal to say, but I did. The anethesialogist (why can't I spell that?) just said to me "take a minute and kiss your son, we have time...."...ugh...what a tough day...but now SOOO WORTH IT.... no brain surgery..I can't even tell you how happy we are...

Good night to everyone and thanks for the prayers, they truly worked!! :)

Medical SMedical

2008-10-23T14:53:00.005-04:00

JD had an MRI yesterday. What a grueling process on Tuesday trying to find a doctor in the anthesia department....I spent 4 hours at the hospital and found the most amazing doctor (pedi anthesialogist (sp)). He took time out of his surgery to speak with me and JD....great stuff.

I was a nervous wreck yesterday, I could not really think straight. I knew what was going to happen. JD couldn't eat for what seemed liked days (just 14 hours) and he did REALLY REALLY WELL. He even said to Doug and I "I will just eat 2 bites and be done..."

With all the precautions for having a breathing tube (intubation, LMA) he ended up just using a mask...and breathing on his own!!!! Yeah JD.

Now I await the results. Dr. H is supposed to call me today and let me know, I hope to God that is ok.

I will post when I know more : ) Save a prayer for JD if you can that he will not need a shunt or decompression surgery......I will be a nervous wreck again....

Rain Rain Go Away!

2008-09-28T18:30:00.002-04:00

The Northeast has been hit with some heavy rains this weekend! Ick, makes for some cabin fever!!!

We used our time wisely. Yesterday I went shopping with JD for an anniversary present for Doug. Our anniversary is today (6 years!) and the traditional gifts were chocolate, iron and wood. Well, last year it was wood too and I bought Doug a Japanese Maple Tree. How romantic right? The tree is tiny and is in our yard, but it is fun to care for and now it is a memory of our anniversary!!! So, I couldn't think of anything fun for iron, chocolate or wood...I ended up buying a fire pit made of iron!!! Doug has been dying for a fire pit and I thought he would love it...I was right! Score for Jill.

For our anniversary, we got our new favorite babysitter Madison to come over so we could go for a very delicious dinner last night. Have I mentioned how much the kids love Madison (she is my cousin and is 13) but oh boy, I love the fact that she plays with the kids the whole time. She even made a huge sign with JD and Anne that said "Happy Anniversary" and hung it on the wall in the kitchen!!!She is the best!!! Thanks Madison for a great night out!

We went bowling today. It was JD's first time actually bowling(he has been several times), he did great. This time he was even "big" enough to finally fit in the shoes!!! Oh boy, watch out they are slippery. He did very well. No strikes but lots of fun. I will attach pics when I download them on my other computer.

This post has turned into a potpourri of information. Sorry for the rambles...I get ahead of myself sometimes. I thought I had nothing to say and then BAM as I type I can think of 12 things to share....for instance,

JD and Anne had Open House at the Elementary School. They are in the same classroom, JD just sits in the back with the speech teacher. Everyone was so excited to show us around...Mrs. Lester thinks JD should come to school 2 days a week, because she said he is the smartest 3 year old she has worked with in a long time!!! Yeah JD! We are still keeping him home though...he is in my preschool 5 days a week and doing just great. Anne was so proud to show us her classroom and all the artwork she has done so far this year. She loves school so much!!!!

I am off to finish laundry...I will post some pics soon!

First Day of School

2008-09-19T08:59:00.002-04:00

Wow! JD, uh, I mean JON did great for his first day!!! He was rearing to go just by putting on his shirt!!! Bye Mom, is all I heard all morning!!!

His teacher Mrs. L came to get him, and he walked with her down the hall in the elementary school ALL BY HIMSELF. I really never thought he wouldn't, but I tell ya, it was nice to have him so willing to go with her. Leaving on the other hand he was an emotional mess. I don't want to go home, I want to stay at "tool"<--- why he is going to speech, LOL.

All in all, he loved it and can't wait for next week!!! Enjoy his pictures!

Off to school!!!

2008-09-14T11:50:00.002-04:00

Anne started her first day of PreK last week! Same teachers, same kids as last year so it was a breeze to drop her off with all her buddies!!!She goes to the intergrated program at the Elementary School. I actually went there when I was a kid (the school not the PreK). She loves it. It is 4 days a week for 2 hours and 45 minutes. She can see her friends in the Kindergarten which is so cool!!!

On another note, JD is going to the same school!!! If you remember correctly, he was tested for speech back in June and passed with flying colors, but the teacher approached me the other day and asked if they could do some "articulation" speech classes with him for 1/2 hour a week. She feels it will be a great way for the elementary school to get "ready" for him (oh boy are they going to need to get ready LOL) So, he will go on Thursdays for 1/2 hour by himself with the speech pathologist and hopefully he will not rule the classroom. He is so excited to be in the classroom like "annie"...I will fill you in oh how he does on Thursday.

Funny story about my little man, he is a talker (really he doesn't stop talking EVER) so everyday in my daycare/preschool, he talks all through lunch and always misses the book and puzzle time after lunch because of his constant chatter. So, the woman the works with me says to him

Miss Sandy: Jonathan, do you know why you always miss book and puzzle time?
JOnathan: Why MIss Sandy?
Miss sandy: Because you are talking too much while you are eating....
Jonathan: Then stop talking to me.

I almost fell over with laughter, it was really funny. Typical JD..who now occasionally wants to be called "J-O-N" and he will spell it for you. So, JD, JON or Jonathan we wish you luck at your big kid school on Thursday, and more luck to the teacher LOL

Good news all around!!!

2008-09-03T21:25:00.003-04:00

We had such a good day today! JD had his first dentist appointment and all looks really good, no cavities and he even opened wide for the dentist. Anne was great with her appointment too, no cavities for these kids. (hopefully they have my good teeth, and my OCD about brushing)

We had JD's 3 year check up today as well. The medical center we go to is so far behind in appts! JD grew an inch in a year!!!! I couldn't believe it. I think all the other times, they measured on the table but today JD was standing up against the wall. So, he is 30.25 inches tall (76 3/4cm)and 29 lbs, a little on the chunky side...so we might have to cut down his enormous breakfast down to something smaller. I am sure it is closer to 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch, but hey it was fun, JD was really excited to mark his height down on the chart for the DR.

In other exciting news, the DR asked JD to draw a circle, which he did great, and then he drew a triangle, the DR said "nice triangle Jonathan" and Jonathan replied, "that's not a triangle, it is a camping tent...." he was shocked. JD has an answer for everything. I have to admit, I was pretty damn proud of the kid. He knocked the socks off everyone in the office. They must have given him 20 stickers...spoiled???? He loved it.

I have to admit, I really liked having a very positive DR experience!!!! Since our last one was about his possible Shunt...I will take these well checks any time!!!

How to comment?

2008-08-22T14:30:00.002-04:00

Someone recently asked me how to comment on the blog. If you look down at the bottom of this text you will notice a box that says 2 comments or however many comments are listed, click on the hyperlink and you will get a dialogue box on "commenting". Fill in your comment and hit send!!!

FYI: I enjoy reading your comments, so come on family members say hello!!! Jump on the blogging bandwagon!!!! ha ha.

Vacation at Point very wet Sebago

2008-08-22T13:19:00.003-04:00

We had a great time in Maine at Point Sebago this summer, however, Mr Sun did not cooperate at ALL with us. We had 6 days of complete rain, oh wait, one day we did make it to the beach and the sun was shining for 20 minutes then the skies opened up and we got soaked. I have never been so wet without swimming!

In true vacation fashion we stayed busy, I think busier than usual because it was raining and we didn't want to sit around the "camping" house. JD learned to be quite the fisherman and was pretty darn excited when Daddy caught a sun fish!!! He can cast his line like crazy. Anne did some fishing too, but she was more interested in touching the worms (she says the word like we are from Jersey). Some of our other fun events were going on a Pirate ship for a dance show, making Tye Dye Shirts, seeing two plays that the camp staff puts on. Anne loved the music to Alice in Wonderland.

My claim to fame is I won a t-shirt at Point Sebago!!!!! All my family members know that if you go to Sebago, you work at every competion to get one so you can rub it in to everyone else how great you are (LOL) I got one! Doug did you? just jokes. I know you know I am the 08 champ!!! I won a Tshirt for a little act I did on stage for my friend getting "shot" and I had to react with emotion to his falling....the crowd had to cheer for the best "couple" and we won by a landslide!!!! It was alot of fun!

Vacation was great, geez, it seems so long ago, that I forget what else we did. We are going back to Maine (different place) this weekend to try out some kayaking and of course, JD and Anne want to fish.

In other news, JD had his ENT appointment the other day, his right ear tube fell out and they took it out of his ear (right in front of me, amazing) and put it in a treasure chest and gave it to JD (eeewww). So, his left ear tube is pushing out and we should expect it to be fully out in the next 6-8 weeks. He is concerned about the size of JD's adenoids but will not perform the surgery because JD's neurosurgeon has not fully cleared him for intubation...so we are moving up his MRI to check on the foramen magnum status and hopefully he will be cleared to get the surgery soon. Dr. C did confer with a Dr. Tunkel in baltimore and they are all on the same page. JD doesn't really snore (only if he has a cold) so right now there is no super rush...but obviously we need to get them out, just waiting kills me.

Another day in the life of a LP parent!!!

Anne starts school in 2 weeks. She is going to the intergrated Pre-K program at the local elementary school, she went last year too. She will have almost all the same kids in her class and same teachers. She cannot wait to see everyone again!!!

So, I attached some pictures of various happenings from our trip and what nots from the past weeks so Enjoy!!!

Rambling on about this and that....

2008-07-29T21:00:00.006-04:00

Hello, geez, a week has gone by and I haven't blogged : ) and no one said anything. :)

Lots are happening here at our Bungalow. We started going to a dance on Friday nights with the kids in the beach parking lot. This really nice guy sets up his DJ stuff and plays all kinds of kid related music! The adults make a circle and the kids just dance away til the sun goes down. What a way to spend a nice night on the beach. Anne has taking a-liking to Miley Cyrus and Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline", JD is into just watching his buddies dance to "you got to move it"...good times.

JD dancing with Daddy

In other news, we caught our first crab on the boat. Well, yes,we got a crab trap (ew, for all that know me well) and we set the trap down into the water with only the best bait in town (ritz crackers, JD told us they would work) and after 3 quick tries in the water and one really long one (If I remember correctly, like an hour and 1/2) we caught our first crab...ew ew ew, but Anne and JD loved it. Again, I disgress into how fun it is to be a kid.

On other notes, we did some rounds of Doctors appointments yesterday that left me feeling a bit sad and happy at the same point. JD's ortho appointment went well, his kyphosis is down to 31 degrees and his wedging of L1 vertebrae is down to 28 and looking fabulous!!! The brace works. The doctor even used the term "you can give him some breaks"!! What I never give the kid breaks...he wears it all waking hours, ok, if you want to be technical not on the boat, too hard with the lifejacket and all....but a REAL break...YIPPPPIEEE! I love this part of our day. I was hoping for the brace to come off all together, but I should be thankful that the brace can be "breaked" here and there. The kids were so good for such a long 6 hours at the hospital, thank god Nanny came and had a limbo cane!!

So, off to other news. The neurosurgeon......notice the dots...I hated it here. JD's head is bigger than it should be all of a sudden he is off 1cm, now to AH parents, that doesn't seem alot but to us LP parents, 1 cm??? I thought immediately, measure again Dr. H. He did and got the same measurement....ugh again. He asked a bunch of questions...does he vomit? no. Headaches? no. Fatigue? no. Digression of movement? certainly not the kid doesn't stop playing sports!!! (thank god) Speech issues? again, he is half me, the kid doesn't keep quiet....so all in all, the doctor went back and forth, hmmmm CT scan, another MRI....SHUNT? what did he just say Shunt? Not my boy. Could this just be a random spot in his life? Should we wait a few months to see? Geez, I am rambling now aren't I? Are you still reading this? yikes. So, he decides along with me (my Mom was with me entertaining the kids) to wait 6 months and we will perform his 2nd MRI to see what is happening with his fluid and his foramen magnum. Scary stuff if you ask me. I really don't like all this talk of a shunt, it scares me to death and quite honestly, when I think of it, it makes me sad :) No pity though, I just want JD to be happy and if putting a shunt in his brain does that well, I will try to be strong and do it. Ugh. Doug and I have decided to get some more opinions from maybe Baltimore at Johns Hopkins. I am calling them tomorrow when I can say Shunt without being sad. JD is JD, happy as a clam for now, he is really smart (if I don't say so myself) and I will keep my head up for him and enjoy him being this way. Dr. H said that if he stays this way and doesn't get bigger, then we might not have to shunt him. God, I hope that is the case. Is it a bad trait to think the worst? Then if they say no shunt, I will think it is even better!!! Ok, so let's hope he stays the same or smaller (does that happen?)

Oh boy, this goes down as one of my rambling posts. That is what these are for right?

I forgot to mention for an extra special treat, we took the kids (Nanny and I) to the Boston Commons for a swan ride! We read the book "Make Way for Ducklings" and the kids were on the hunt for Mr and Mrs Mallard. We found them!!! It was a really nice day at the park and just the put the mind at ease kind of place to go after crazy hospital junk...Thanks Mom for coming! The kids took some silly pictures sitting on the ducks, but they are hilarious so I posted them. See kids are fun!

We are off to a week's vacation with the kids! I cannot wait. I need the rest and time to think. All is good. Both of my kids are healthy and super happy so, what more can I ask for?I will add pictures of our trip when we return. Happy Week!

What is happening these days....

2008-07-16T20:43:00.004-04:00

I am on a roll now....blog readers!!! JD and Anne had cousin Emilee stay over last night and they had a blast. They all slept in sleeping bags in JD's room. Surprisingly, they were asleep by 9:30ish!!! Funny, I didn't take a picture of the sleep over party, in fear that I would wake them up...he he.

We took a mini vacation to Connecticut a few weeks ago to my cousins' graduation party. I haven't seen my relatives in so long! It was great to see everyone and catch up! I put a picture of just a couple of my cousins and some of their kids, amazing if we really all got together to see how many there was of us. (Shout out to Aunt Diane and Aunt Mary...thanks for reading! and of course, Debi and Paul, faithful blog stalkers! Just jokes) So, I have attached some fun pics from the day. We spent the night in a hotel in Connecticut to make a mini vay kay for the kids so we could swim and hang out. It worked out super good and the kids even brought sleeping bags and camped out under a work table in the hotel room, (so much for beds!) the fun of being a kid. They loved it.

Happy Birthday JD!

2008-07-13T14:21:00.004-04:00

Well, it is official, my little man is 3!!! We had a lot of fun for his party. Nine of his buddies came to the party. I made a bean bag toss, had little boat races and played in the yard. JD got so much stuff, remote control everything! We set up the bubble machine and the kids always have a blast running through the bubbles.

I hope this year brings JD, health and happiness. We are off his nebulizers and we have appointments at the end of July to find out if he can come off Singulair too. We are doing the usual full day of appointments in Boston. I thought since I have the day off, I might take the kids to the Boston Commons for the famous Swan boats, and the Make Way for Ducklings statues. It should be fun, hopefully we will be brace free!!! I will probably cry all day if they say to take it off forever! The poor kid wears it 10 hours a day even in the heat and NEVER complains. Cross your fingers for us!

Here are some more pictures from Auntie Debi...who by the way gave JD the coolest Spiderman fishing pole, he was on the boat last night fishing for over an hour!!!! Thanks Auntie Debi! I love the one real close up with him sticking out his tongue...he he, he was really exhausted at this point.

Welcome to Holland, we have arrived!!!

2008-07-08T21:19:00.002-04:00

I know some of you LP Friends have read this, but for some reason I came across this today and thought of how lucky we truly are to have become parents of our kids. They really all seem to have been given the "happy" gene and brought us all together. So, with JD's birthday this weekend, I am so glad to have landed in Holland rather than my "original" plans. I hope that you all feel the same!!!

WELCOME TO HOLLAND
by
Emily Perl Kingsley.

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.

The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

7 More days...

2008-07-05T19:53:00.004-04:00

JD's 3rd birthday is Saturday....he can hardly contain himself. He is having a race car party with 10 of his closest friends. We are in party planning mode and he was so excited to send out his "invitations" to all the kids in the preschool. I will certainly take lots of pictures and post.

I have a question for all you "pro" bloggers, How do you get the cool backgrounds and personalized stuff on your blog? Do tell, I want to change things up a bit :)

Calling Florence Nightingale or Calgon....

2008-07-02T19:27:00.002-04:00

Well, we should have known that a week that ends in a holiday would bring someone or some people being sick : (. We started the week with JD and his high temps, ending up with an ear infection (and oh great, his tube fell out...another obstacle and DR appt in Boston...). Well, we survived a lovely 2 days of "getting better", then poor Doug got his hernia aggravated...we spent last night 6 hours in the ER and it was from 10pm-4am ish. Oh man, I am so tired. Doug is scheduled for surgery and will hopefully be in no pain after the surgery. Right now he is really uncomfortable without taking some ibuprofen (SP?) So, I was able to take a nap for 3 hours and get up and work in my preschool downstairs with 9 children. Oh the fun we had!!!!

Well, Doug is a trooper and we hope we can safely get through his surgery and enjoy the rest of our summer.

NO MORE ILLNESS!!!!!!!!!!!

I jinxed myself : (

2008-06-29T21:51:00.002-04:00

I was talking to my Mom today and I foolishly said "Geez, since JD came off his Pulmicort a month ago, he hasn't had a runny nose, illness or anything" Why, why, why did I speak these words????? He came home from playing at the boat with Daddy and Anne and he has a fever of 103.5. We called the DR...said all the old usual things and did everything we are supposed to do (bath, motrin, tylenol after an hour, etc.) After an hour he went down to 102.7 THANK GOD. I literally had a bag packed for the little man to head to the ER. He is so tired, we went on a mini vacation this weekend, I will blog about it later...we had some fun, apparently too much!

JD is sleeping peacefully albeit a little hot, but asleep. He is such a trooper. The poor kid is such a good patient. I tried to give him another bath and he just said "I already took a bath, I don't need another one." Being JD though he did it with a smile on his face. Let's hope tomorrow brings a happy, healthy JD....

Weddings, Father's day and some boating!!!

2008-06-25T21:12:00.007-04:00

To catch up and keep to my promise of being a good blogger...I will tell you about the last couple of events we have done.

First is Erica's wedding! It was beautiful, the weather, the bride, the setting, etc. It was so great to hang out with the "old" gang again. Did we get too crazy towards the end of the night? I will never tell. I attached some pictures, one thing that was hilarious is Erica's little flower girl, Autumn, asked her mom during the ceremony if she could sit...well little did Mom know she would pull up a chair to the ceremony area...it was hysterical. Congrats to Erica and Greg, and I wish you many years of happiness!!!

Off to Father's Day...we started the day with breakfast in bed. I was so proud of my new waffle maker. The kids were beside themselves to bring Dad breakfast in bed. He got waffles, blueberries, strawberries and whipped cream. From the kitchen to the bedroom, the kids were chanting "daddy, daddy" It was a great morning. Then we headed to my Dad's house (pops) to spend some time there. We ate some pizza and enjoyed some fun family time. Jody, Debbie, Emilee, Debi and Paul were there as well, we had some fun. Auntie Debi is quickly learning to play JD's favorite game of Memory. Debi could you please watch Dora the Explorer a couple of times so you can learn all the key names? he he. JD has so many Memory Games...So I attached some pics of that day as well. Then we headed off to Grandpa's house. The picture of the 3 kids is of Grandpa...the kids had a blast playing together there too. A long day but a fun day!

Boat time! Over the weekend was my sister's best friend 30 bday, so we decided to take her out on the boat for the day. We had alot of fun. We went sight seeing down through Plymouth Harbor and saw all the important landmarks from the ocean side. The Mayflower, the plymouth Rock, the Gurnet lighthouse, etc. We ate lunch out near an island in Duxbury and tooled around the ocean for like 5 hours or so. It was very relaxing and I think everyone had a good time. Happy Birthday Christy!!!

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Do you like feet?

2008-06-22T19:33:00.003-04:00

Ok, just so all my friends and family know after 34 years...I finally had a pedicure today. Annie and I were bored and I thought what the heck. I did enjoy the relaxing massage chair and the nice leg massage. Anne got bright pink nails and feet with daises on them. She sat for 1/2 hour with out a movement in the chair. I will take a picture to share with you : )

Where have I been? Geez, I need to get out more. I have never ever liked to show my feet but now maybe I just might. My feet were getting too hot in the covered sneakers working with preschoolers all day....

Can't wait for my next one!!! Anyone want to come with me????

Just an update

2008-06-22T14:10:00.004-04:00

I was told by my sister(thanks Debi and Paul, LOL) that I am not a good blogger. I haven't updated in a bit. So, I am going to try and keep up with it. I love to read others blogs so why not mine?

JD had a Speech/Communication evaluation by the public school on June 2 & 9. He is currently in Early Intervention but they turn him over to the public schools on his
3rd birthday (which is in 3 weeks, I can't believe it) so I had him tested for Speech and Communication skills. I knew he was doing good but I wanted to confirm. We have made the decision to keep him home next year if he does well. Well, our little man has proven himself!!! We couldn't be happier. They have no reason to suspect a speech issue that needs "assistance" at this time. My underlying concern is that with him looking small, people, mainly teachers, will be ok with an articulation issue or a cognitive issue. We will not be ok with it, so we want to nip it in the bud if it is coming. So here are his results!!!!

Auditory Comprehension 118 Standard Score 88 % Rank
Expressive Communication 106 Standard Score 66 %Rank

Expressive One word Picture Vocabulary Test R
106 Standard Score 66 %Rank

Goldman FIrstoe Test of Articulation (GFTA)
90 Standard Score 32%Rank

So, as you can see if you look at the best score being 100 (standard score), JD did awesome!!! This is where I can brag!! What a smart boy. The expressive test was just a flip book of pictures and he had to name them, and the teacher doesn't respond yes or no, just "thank You'...I thought the only one he didn't understand was a picture of a skeleton. He stared at the picture and kept saying "ummm ummm" then he yells out "a body!" I had to laugh, hey it is a body right? My smart guy.

So, needless to say the plans for this kid for the near future are staying at home in my home daycare/preschool with 10 kids a day then next year he will go to public pre-K in elementary school.

We went on the boat yesterday with AUntie Debi and her friends and we took a bunch of pictures...PS...please send to me!!!

So, when I get them, I will post.

Summer is unofficially here!

2008-06-01T14:02:00.009-04:00

I haven't blogged in a bit because we have been so busy these days. Our Memorial Day weekend was a blast, we went mini golfing, to a cookout at Laurie's house, a parade (where we managed to get alot of candy!!) and our favorite ice cream store opened for the summer!!! We love the unofficial start of Summer in New England!
Anne and JD had such a blast at Mini golf, we have to go back soon.

At the cookout there was a tire swing, and Anne cautiously watched as Shawn was being swirled all around and up and down. Now if you know Anne she is cautiously anxious about things. She watched and asked alot of questions about the swing. "can you fall off", "how high does it go?" and "is it tied tightly to the tree"...after about 2 hours of watching kids swinging on it, she jumped on and loved it. Here is a picture of her enjoying her cute little self.

On to the boat, JD and Anne had their official first 2008 boat ride today. It was a little hairy at first. JD didn't like when the boat moved too much and he was very tightly holding on to me when Daddy took off out of the slip. JD would not even look up. He just sat on my lap saying "I am ok, momma". Well, after an hour he wasn't the same little boy, he and Anne were fishing and having a great time eating snacks and sitting on the side of the boat. Daddy bought a remote control boat for the "kids" he he, I am sure Daddy wanted it too LOL but they put it in the ocean and off it went. These are a couple of pictures of them fishing, eating and lying down underneath resting for a nap. Gotta love the fresh salt air around nap time!!! If you look in the background of 2 of the pictures you will notice a Wizard of Oz looking sky...that's right, we ended up with Lightning, thunder and a little rain shower for our first adventure...luckily we were headed in anyways but it got scary for a few minutes. Now we are at home and the sun is shining again. Umph!

We also bought Nanny a cake for her hip surgery. She has waited a LONG time to get her hip replaced and is FINALLY going to get it done on Wednesday. We are going to miss her terribly in the daycare (she works with me) but now when she is in full recovery, she will be a brand new bionic woman! Good luck Mom, aka Nanny...we wish you a speedy recovery! We bought her a cake for good luck, I wasn't sure what to write on it, so I was a little creative. It was yummy!

Make New Friends, but keep the old...

2008-05-19T14:24:00.005-04:00

This past weekend was my friend Erica's bridal shower! It was nice seeing the old gang again. (We really need to get together more often girls) Kate and the bridemaids did such a great job. We had a nice brunch and some sangria's...(I didn't like, but hey I tried them). Erica got a ton of stuff! One of my favorite gifts that she got was a handmade quilt from her aunt, it was beautiful and huge!! What a nice gift. After the shower, Heather and I went down to Marina Bay and had a couple of drinks...it was fun and we got to watch the Celtics win game 7!!!

Now, we just have the wedding to go to in June. I am sure Erica will make a beautiful June bride...she always has the coolest clothes, so I am sure her gown will be gorgeous!!!

Other things that we did this weekend we to have fun in the sun! We put the boat in the water (finally) and the kids had a blast with Daddy while Mommy was at the shower! JD was a really good fisherman and Anne even took a nap on the boat!!! Woo woo, gotta love chilling in the sun and sneaking in a nap!

Funny after I type all the words and look at the pictures, they seem all crooked...oh well, the novice blogger in me needs more practice!!!

My little silly kids

2008-05-15T14:28:00.006-04:00

Well we tried to get the kids pictures done at Sears with the cousins. JD was being a little ham and trying to be silly the whole time. You will notice in the pictures of the samples here, that JD's face is all red, that is what happens when you have a kid who thinks he is hilarious in front of a bunch of people! Here is a picture of him showing off...like the eyes pointing the other way...I had to buy a little 5x7 just to remember this moment. By the time Annie joined in, everyone was just being plain silly. Oh well, next time, I will bring more bribary to convince the kids that taking professional pictures is fun!

Been tagged, please try!!! : )

2008-05-12T21:29:00.002-04:00

After reading a bunch of blogs tonight I thought I would start this one: Please consider yourself "tagged":

What I was doing 10 yrs ago:
Working at RRI as a Administrative Assistant trying to get the phone guy to fix my phone...he he. (those of you who don't know, the phone guy is now my great husband.)

Five things on my to do list for today: How about for tomorrow?
1. Drive Anne to preschool
2. Find activities for the week for the preschool for the letter X (any ideas?)
3. Call new payroll company
4. Water the plants I was given for Mom's Day...or else!!!!
5. Take Cayman for a walk early in the morning, maybe that should have been first..lol

Things I would do if I were a billionaire: Buy a preschool building and hire the most incredible teachers and have the best school for kids that ever existed!!! Buy a house on the ocean or a lake.

Three of my bad habits: Procrastination, waiting to tell somebody something until it is too late, eating things I know will bother my stomach

Five places I have lived: Columbia, SC and my famous hometown of Marsh-Vegas...

Five jobs I have had: Bakery assistant, telemarketer, hallmark girl, Administrative Assistant, Marketing Analyst, Lead Teacher Preschool and Owner of Preschool/Daycare

Bits and Pieces of life...

2008-05-12T16:04:00.004-04:00

First off, Happy day late Mom's day to all my "blogging" friends. I have lots to blog about but no pictures as of yet. :)

JD came off his nightly nebulizer treatment!!!! He has been on it since he was 5 months old!! Yeah, finally he can go to bed with no neb treatment, or as he says "no more Green medicine!!!" (the package is green) Knock on wood, we have no side effects a week later (I really should keep my mouth shut...LOL, I always jinx myself with this stuff.)

We went to the Red Sox game last Tuesday night and sat in Pavillion seats...oh la la. It was a very chilly night at Fenway Park, but they won and we had a great time. I will try and attach some pictures that I took from our seats! Sorry Kim, we do like the Sox.

Let's see what else is happening around here....My Dad let us borrow his bike helmet for JD and now he can ride his bike/big wheel like the "big" kids. JD had his first official playdate the other day with his best buddy Jack. Jack will be 4 in September but you would think they are the same age!!! They play so well together! It was fun to have a playdate with him, even Annie joined in the fun.

Mother's day was a good time too. JD and Anne made me breakfast in bed and gave me some pretty cool presents. Anne gave me a necklace that says "#1 Mom" and JD got me a sign for my preschool/daycare that says "BSU"...it is really really cool!!! Now everyone who comes to the school can see the official name...

Tonight we are going to attempt to get the grandchildren's official portrait...oh, how I hope JD cooperates, (christmas pics did not go so well). Tomorrow night I am very excited; we are going to the Patriots Celebrity Basketball Game at our local high school...I am sure Tom Brady won't be there, but we can settle for 2nd or 3rd string players...I will post about it on Wednesday!!!

I will post some pictures tomorrow!

It's Potty Time!

2008-04-28T09:02:00.003-04:00

This weekend was a weekend full of cool things! JD and Anne were doing their nightly bedtime routine (brush your teeth and go to the bathroom, etc) So, Anne sat on the potty and JD "I wanna go peeps too!" He sat on the big potty cover with all his clothes on exclaiming, "I use little potty" and then he DID!!! I couldn't believe it. He went on the potty!!!! Now do I encourage this movement because as some of you know he wears a brace (a full spinal brace) and it will be very difficult to remove and put back on each potty trip. What did other LP's do with the brace on? Oh, another LP chapter, I am not sure we are ready for!!!! It was still exciting !!!

We went and bought the "pup stairs" from Bed Bath and Beyond on Saturday, so JD is the same height as Anne when he is brushing his teeth, and making cake with us on Sunday. He is just loving his new stool! THanks Jaime for posting Caitlyn's stairs!

What a fun weekend!

2008-04-22T14:55:00.001-04:00

I was reading Kim's post about the great weekend we had here in New England and thought I would tell you about what we did.

On Saturday we took the kids to the beach to fly some kites. Anne had the famous "My Little Pony" kite and JD was all too thrilled to fly "Go Diego Go" kite. The kids were so excited to fly these kites, the whole 5 minute ride to the beach! Well when we got to our location, Doug and I got to experience flying the kites while JD giggles and Anne said "cool Dad"...That is it, all the hoop-la, and nothing!!! JD ended up sitting and throwing rocks into the ocean and Anne and Dad ran up and down the beach. It was a beautiful day and there was even people there sun tanning in 58 degree weather...

On Sunday the kids took to the grill (oh, don't worry Auntie Debi a fisher price one) and we taught JD to say "order up". We had a picnic with mini oreos and water. It was such another nice day. I have attached pictures to show off the fun we have had.

Today at school, Beansprout University, JD and Anne competed in an obstacle course, I gave them each a medal (all 10 kids) for completing the course. JD really liked pushing the wheelbarrow in and out of the cones! On to the next course.

AAAAHHH Spring is here!

2008-04-16T14:36:00.000-04:00

I had to attach a picture of what spring means to our family these days! The boat is in the yard! JD and Annie are so excited. Just a little cleaning up to do for Dad and the kids, (notice I say Dad and the kids...he he) then we (this is where I come in) can all enjoy sitting on the slip enjoying the spring weather.

JD loves his new SpongeBob life jacket. Though we looked high and low for one, we still need to find one that doesn't come right into his face. The poor kid will suffocate with it that close. For now, he is happy with his jacket. If anyone out there has a suggestion on a good one for an LP, please let me know!!

This will be the first year for the us with everyone walking!!! JD was not walking last summer and had to sit in a car seat most of the time. Maybe that was a good thing! LOL I am sure that I will be commenting on the good and bad of him walking on the boat. Hopefully he will love his freedom and of course, I will have to post a picture when he attempts fishing with his pole.

Also, if someone can help me post a video, I am having a heck of a time. JD can sing the ABC's backwards and I wanted to show it off. LOL The blogger keeps saying it is too big, and when I shrink it down it still doesn't work, ugh... : ( Can you tell I am a novice blogger? Oh well, I am still having fun doing it.

2008-04-10T13:12:00.000-04:00

Here is one of my favorite recent photos of the kids. Anne is 4 and Jonathan (JD) is 2 1/2. Just to introduce ourselves to the blogging world. We are the happy parents of 2 children, Anne is Average Height and JD has achon. We found out about JD about a month before his planned CSection. It was so difficult those 3 1/2 weeks before he was born. We had no idea what to expect. The best day was the day he was born and the Doctor from the NICU (was there just in case) said to me "thumbs up, your baby is great and perfect. We have never been so happy to hear such reassuring words. JD had RSV at 6 weeks and we dealt with a pretty nasty New England winter his first year. We did hospital stays, synagis shots, more X rays than I care to count...All and All we have been blessed with a little boy that couldn't possibly make us happier. He didn't talk until he got tubes put in and now he does not stop...he is a TALKER...we laugh with the DR, ok, he proved his ears work, can we take them out?LOL He walk Halloween 07 and again is fast as can be. He wears a full spinal brace for kyphosis and has since January 2007. It slowed him way down in the beginning, but now he will occasionally ask for it. We are just happy that in the summer, (possibly for his 3rd bday) they believe the brace will come off!!! We can only hope!

I own a home Daycare/Preschool with 10 kids a day. It is busy and we always have something to do here! My husband is an IT professional and we have a dog and fish. I wanted to start a blog because I read all the ones on Tonya's blog and you all have inspired me to write. (which I am not confident about) so Here goes the trials and tribulations of Jill, Doug, Anne and JD!! Enjoy!

Nerd alert??? :)

2008-04-07T13:44:00.000-04:00

Well, I went to a Tastefully Simple party the other night, and while eating and chatting with some of the girls, I was invited to join a book club. The First book is actually something I have been wanting to read, and now I have incentive. In high school and college, I would read all the assigned books but could never give a great review of them. This club should be interesting for me and the others that I "entertain" with my thoughts. The book is Nineteen Minutes by Jodi Picoult. I have read "My Sister's Keeper" and thought it was good. Again, I won't bore you with my review, it won't be worth your time : ) So, on the last Wednesday of this month, I will join a book club. Am I old or what? Let's see how long it last for me. I hope to at least get some good reading out of it. With the summer coming and boat weather, I will have plenty of time to sit back and read a good book!!!

Memory King

2008-04-02T14:35:00.000-04:00

Here is JD with his new favorite past time these days. He is a professional Spiderman Memory Game player. Watch out! In the past few days he can beat anyone he plays!!! He loves this game.

I thought I would start my blog out with something that made people smile. He is a really smart little boy and if playing MEMORY is what we have to do for the next 10 weeks then we will.

When JD gets a match he says "I win, I win" and when he flips over two unmatching cards he says "oh man, no match". Funny little kid. I will try and post this funny conversation, though being so new to blogging, I am not sure I can do it.

Until next time, enjoy!

2008-04-02T14:33:00.000-04:00