Sara and the scissors

  Well I knew it was coming eventually.  My curious, headstrong little girl has cut some hair.  We had a snow day last Tuesday and Wednesday and as I started to vacuum the family room I saw chunks of hair on the ground.  Hoping it was doll hair I screamed for Sara.  It was  perfect match to her.  She chopped her hair chin length in with a few cuts on each side.   The front of her hair was pulled back in a rubber band and that was our saving grace.  Her hair looks choppy right now but isn't overly noticeable.  So in  a few weeks we will get it cleaned up.  A few months ago she cut her Sophia dolls hair and a Barbie head.  I knew she was very tempted but didn't think she would cut her hair (well I prayed she wouldn't). 
    In a fit of rage she received two spankings and was sent to her room.  Then I proceeded to put some fear into her.  Sara is very vain.  I told her it looked ugly and we were going to have to cut it short, that she would have the shortest hair in her class.  She sobbed she didn't want to be bald.  I told her she was staying in her room until dinner.  Its not often that I am this angry but its not the first time she has been in trouble with scissors.  Evan and I did homework the night before and left them out accidently.  I went to check on her after ten minutes and she was combing her hair to make it grow.  I let her come downstairs but made her sit in a chair for an hour.  This is the longest punishment she has ever had.  She cried don't tell Miss Lauren (her dance teacher).  I told her I am going tell everyone but Miss Lauren how naughty she was.  I asked her why she did it and she told me she doesn't remember.   I pray we have learned our lesson, now all scissors are on the fridge.

    Today the Speech practice that did Sara's evaluation called and told me I am 14th on the waiting list.  We have our private therapist coming to the house.  Depending on how the insurance actually reimburses this I may skip the clinic.  We would drive 30 minutes each way for a 30 minute appointment twice a week.  Currently we have a one hour appointment at our own home once per week.  I don't think the savings will be worth the time spent in the waiting room, city parking, traffic, and dragging two kids out after a full day of school. 


    Sara is obsessed with playing baby.  We play this scenario over and over she calls me on the phone to tell me she is going to have a baby today.  Then she pretends to come over with her new baby so I can fuss over her.  She then calls me Grandma for the next hour.  It is really sweet but I'm not ready to be a Grandma at 40!  Funny when I think many of my friends are or will be before 50!  We have twenty years to go! 


    NYS has made school districts implement a APPR Plan.  Its a crazy evaluation plan.  Each teacher is supposed to have two observations and two unannounced 15 minute evaluation.  We are almost half way through the school year and I haven't had either.  Because I teach computers classes and Accounting using iPads I teach for 15 minutes and then the kids generally work independently with me checking progress, so when this does occur it should be interesting. 

Blizzard!

Wow it is officially labeled a blizzard outside.  We had returned to school last Thursday and then had Friday off due to -20 wind-chill.  Although Friday was Sunny and beautiful it was very cold.  Today we returned to school again but everyone knew we would have a snow day called for tomorrow.  The forecast is predicting -20--30 wind chills again.  Tonight the winds whipped up and it is officially a blizzard.  Even thought we live in Buffalo, we haven't had an actual blizzard in over 20 years.  The past few years have been very mild.

     This year Marc did not want to pay $400 for our plow guy.  I argued and won.  Our Driveway is not unmanageable and we have a very good snow blower.  Marc leaves for work at 5:45am, when he is home, and I leave at 7:25.  Getting up and snow blowing with two kids sleeping in the house would be a disaster or coming home and not getting up our steep driveway would never work.  Thank goodness for the plow!  I grew up with 3 older brothers and never mowed a lawn or snow blowed until I was married.  Now my female neighbors give me grief when I do it.  At our old house I did it often but now with kids it doesn't occur frequently. 

   Tomorrow there is driving bans and everything is closed.  I'm wondering if we will be back to school on Wednesday.  We have now used 3 of our 4 allotted snow days.  It looks like it will be an interesting winter. 

    We had a play date with Evans friend Brady on Saturday.  He has a younger sister who is 3.  The kids play wonderfully together. 

  Thursday is a big day, we find out which Catholic schools will close and consolidate.  I think and pray that our school is safe, but if not we will be scrambling to decide what to do next year.  Currently my kids have a 5 minute bus ride, I can't imagine anything over 30 minutes.  Growing up I had an hour bus ride and it was unbearable.  I cringe at thinking of changing schools, Evan is very hesitant to change and would be lost in the enormous elementary school in our district. 

     We started speech therapy for Sara last week.  After calling all the agencies around and adding her name to the waiting list I decided to pursue private therapy.  We found a woman that teaches for a college and has a small private practice.  She is coming to our home once a week.  The killer is the rate it is $80 per hour.  Our health insurance will pick up 80% of the customary rate for our area after we reach a $100 deductible.  I am hoping it will work out to around $20 after we are reimbursed.  We started with three sounds the K, G, and D sound.  Sara tested very high with an IQ in the 130's but has terrible articulation.  Her vocabulary is outstanding but tough to understand.  So hopefully tomorrow it will clear enough for a visit. 

As I sit in our family room right now I can feel a draft coming through our fireplace.  I can't see across the street and all I hear is the wind outside.  I can't imagine living in an area with tornado's or hurricanes.  Our only fear is losing power and we do have a generator and a gas fireplace. Marc is somewhere in PA tonight and I would be begging a neighbor for help!  I have flashlights ready just in case.  We have never lost power during a snowstorm and hopefully never will! 

   The kids and I filled balloons with water and food dye yesterday  and only one actually froze solid, Evan dropped one and broke it, and one is still outside to freeze.  I saw it on pinterest.  The frozen colored balls look really neat in the landscape if they aren't covered by snow!  Tomorrow we will attempt to do some valentine crafts a few weeks early.  Tomorrow I will add some pictures. 

Christmas

Wow, that went by so quickly.  What a wonderful holiday.  We spent Christmas Eve going to Mass, and then came home and Marc's Dad, brother, and my Mom joined us for dinner.  I set the oven to go on while we were at church to warm up a ham. Well it wasn't successful and we came home to a cold oven.  So we enjoyed some appetizers and had dinner a bit later.  The kids loved playing with Marc's half brother who is 16.  As they were leaving Sara was very upset she said we needed to sing "O' Christmas Tree", she then wanted us to join hands and circle around the tree as we swayed and sang the song.  I think she saw this on Charlie Brown but it was very sweet and a wonderful way to end the night.  She may have started a new tradition. 

 

    Christmas morning, Marc and I woke up at 5am.  I turned the Christmas tree lights on and we waited... until 6:50 when Evan awoke and I told him to wake up Sara.  The kids were ecstatic to see the tree.  Evan kept searching for the Lego Marvel game he wanted, he was funny he searched his stocking and presents looking for the game.  He was getting very nervous that it didn't arrive.  Luckily it did (I had to make a last minute trip to Best Buy since this became the number one item on Friday and I hadn't bought it).  I did order one online and it still hasn't arrived from WBshop.com.  Sara loved her Sophia desk and her doll bunk beds.  We relaxed at home until around 1 and then headed to my Mom's.  The kids exchanged gifts with their cousins and Grandma gave out gifts.  Sara received a American Girl (Target version) and instantly fell in love with it.  She is very impressed with her American Doll and has dressed and redressed her all day long.  She asked if we could go to the American Doll Store and leave Evan at Grandmas today.  Since the closest store is 6 hours away this isn't happening anytime soon!
     We went to lunch today with the retired teachers aide I used to work with.  She was my savior last spring when our babysitter quit unexpectedly and over the summer during the wake and funeral.  The kids chose Applebees and we ran into the babysitter who quit on me last year.  We had a lazy day at school exploring the new toys, games, and remote control cars.  I bought Sara a very basic one and Evan a more advanced one.  The basic toddler one is the winner.  I think I ordered it over the summer from Amazon for under $10. 
    Tomorrow we head to the dentist for the kids check up.  Evans lower teeth are getting  pretty loose.  I don't think we will make it to his birthday in February without loosing his tooth.  Sara has asked to go to Viddlers an old fashioned 5 and 10 store.  We may stop at my Aunts to see her Christmas tree too.  Saturday Marc is working all day, his company was bought out and they have a mandatory meeting.  I may call Evans best friend for a play date.  He has a younger sister that is 3 and the four of them have a blast together. 

Christmas is coming

The excitement is building at our house. Each morning we have bounced out of bed asking to open advent calendars.  Evan has a Lego City one and Sara has a playmobile princess one.  There have been no complaints about getting up for school each day.  I told my mom we need these year round.  We have also done Elf on a Shelf.  Although the kids love it, I find it stressful!  Some days they are very excited about "Gordon" the elf's activities.  Some favorites have been a naughty and nice list on the bathroom mirror, toilet papering the bathroom, a spoon under the pillow (hoping for a snow day) and mustaches and funny faces drawn on their pictures.  We have also done PNP.com and had video messages from Santa.  The advent season and the coming of Jesus has been a daily conversation at our home. 



     The lists for Santa continue to grow by the day.  This week our number one item by Evan changed dramatically.  I ordered on online but am afraid it won't arrive in time, so Sara and I headed to the busy big mall at 8:30 this morning.  We were fortunate and didn't wait in line. 
     Sara has been busy playing with her dolls the past few months, our doll is named baby, and goes everywhere with us.  She has been referring to her as my daughter the past few weeks.  Evan is often the dad and when they argue she is in tears because he won't be the dad anymore. 
     I am determined to find some new foods for Evan this week, and am very frustrated by his limited diet.  He does eat good foods out of each food group but they are repetitive.  Tonight we had roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy, and broccoli.  It sounds great right but ... we have this at least once a week.  It is the one meal he will ask for seconds with.  Other than beef, he eats pizza minus the cheese, chicken noodle soup, chicken fingers, turkey (real turkey not lunchmeat), chicken (grilled or rotisserie ), and bacon.  He will eat corn, peas, and broccoli, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes and sometimes oranges.  His diet also includes noodles with butter and rice.  He eats cookies, crackers, chips, and some chocolate.  We gave up on apples after he had the stomach flu in the fall.  He won't eat eggs, cheese, or anything he deems as sticky or messy.  He won't even eat a fruit snack or gummy since it might be sticky.   He still insists on having a wet washcloth close by to wipe his fingers.  His lunch at school is even worse, raspberries or blackberries with a small amount of sugar to dip them in (they are often sour this time of year, and expensive), Italian bread from Tops (without anything on it), and some chips/Doritos.  I know its terrible but he refuses everything else and will go hungry.  Last year he would do a half of fluff and peanut butter or a smore made with fluff and nutella on a graham cracker.  The pickiness is not improving.   Bribes, threats, holding food back does not work, he just refuses and becomes miserable from not eating.  So we continue to eat our limited diet.  At times I think its OCD but he will get his hands dirty outside or painting at school.  He just likes to be neat and tidy all the time. 
    He is not neat and tidy with his toys.  We can find legos in every room of our home.  Sara is not so fussy.  Lately she has refused all cooked vegetables.  She will eat tons of raw vegetables so I am not going to battle her at this time.  She will taste anything Marc eats.  She eats shrimp, crab, chili, any fruit even pomegranates.  Sara will drink milk, have milk in her cereal, but has not been eating cheeses like she did as a toddler.  Hopefully we can make some small progress over the next few weeks. 
    Evan is reading everything these days.  He is constantly trying to sound out words and spell them.  It is so fun to see how quickly they do this.  He won the coloring contest in Kindergarten for his Thanksgiving book. 

    We have had observations days at dance and you can see Sara with her best friend from prek Abby.  Also a video of some ballet.

Almost 40...written a few weeks ago..

Tomorrow is the big day, well really I am hoping its unnoticed. As I was reminiscing on my 30's, it really was a busy decade.  I found a job in my home district, my commute is 3 miles to work.  we bought a lot and built our long term home, in the same neighborhood as my parents.  We love our neighbors, location, and house.  We dislike the rise in school taxes, our taxes have risen a $1,000 since 2008 and our approaching $5,000. Yikes and that is only our school tax, county taxes arrive in January.
      This decade gave us 4 pregnancies, 3 angels, and our beautiful kids.   We found a few incredible doctors in Syracuse, Buffalo, and New Jersey.  Unfortunately we came into contact with more poorly trained doctors than good ones.  We found the same to be true while my Dad was sick.  I made many friends through my losses.  after losing Rachel my obgyn had a patient that lost a daughter a year earlier call me.  I then went to one support group meeting and ended up with more friends.  two years ago my ob called and asked me to call Katie and another new friend.  I also made a group of 5 friends through our attempts to adopt. My adoption star friends all successfully adopted and we meet a few times a year to catch up our kids are All around the same age.  I guess life does put certain people in your path and I am glad they have remained.  If I had went to school with these women I probably wouldn't have made friends but I am glad we have crossed paths.
    During the last ten years my Grandma had a major stroke and spent 5 years in a nursing home before peacefully passing on.  Marc's Uncle Gary passed away after emphysema and dementia.  My old neighbor lost her battle with breast cancer at the age of 49.  Lastly my dad, I never would of imagined ten years ago he would be gone this soon.  A funny thing keeps happening, my dad used to get giant bags of nickels from the bank.  He would unroll each roll looking for certain nickels of value.  It used to drive mymom and I crazy.  Well at school I am in charge of the bookstore and sophomore class and while depositing money the first nickel I picked up out of each box was a valuable nickel.  I feel like he is laughing as I find these. As much as I hated the nickels he spent time going through I love finding them appear.
     We are all surviving school.  Evan loves his teacher and the challenging kids Are no longer in his class.  Sara is missing mom and crying most days.  I think the class size is overwhelming and noisy.  We had our first play date yesterday with two wonderful families.  Evans friend Brady gas a sister that is 2. Sara's friend abbey who also went to preschool with her and is in her dance has 3 older siblings

Happy Birthday Sara

It amazes me with each birthday how fast the time passes.  As we were trying to conceive and adopt the weeks dragged on.  I put off vacations, parties, and life hoping that pregnancy or adoption would occur.  Luckily that saved a ton of money, but we also missed out on traveling alone.  We would do a yearly vacation but could have done much more.

Well we have been celebrating this Birthday for almost a week.  I was very brave and decided to host a princess party at our home.  I hired two of my incredible juniors to be princesses.  They were just as excited as the little girls.  We asked them each to wear a princess dress and come for 1 1/2 hours.  The girls made crowns, magic wands, necklaces, we painted nails and put lip gloss on, had dancing games, ate pizza and cupcakes and opened gifts.  It was a complete success.  I looked at the pictures and there are complete smiles the entire time.  I thought the moms would stay since the girls are only 4.  Only 1 mom stayed for the party.  I know if it was reversed Sara would never let me leave.  The girls told there moms to go back home when they arrived for pick up. 

The girls believed that the big princesses were real, many times I heard, Cinderella could you help me.  Snow white, I watch you on TV.  It was a crazy party but a so magical.  Evan and Dad left so we wouldn't be terrorized ( I imagined the Batman costume would appear).

Sara had the cafeteria sing to her on Monday, while my mom and I did lunch duty.  Tuesday she brought a treat to school and received a red ribbon and a crown.  She even wore her crown to church!  This morning we awoke to balloons in her room (I bought a helium tank that fills $50 balloons for $20 and can use it for both kids birthdays).  We opened presents and today we are going to see Frozen. We saw Frozen is was over 2hours long but adorable! My mom laughs and said she never gave me birthdays like this.  Well, all the more reason to make them special! 

Yesterday I had parent teacher conferences with both teachers.  Evan had nothing but a glowing report.  Of the tests they do on kindergartner's, sounds, letters, numbers, writing, identification.  Evan was one of four students to get 100%.  The teacher told me he is a perfectionist.  No surprise there, I think he is destined to be an engineer.  His fine motor skills have always been amazing.

Sara also had a positive report.  The teacher told me Sara is the youngest pre-k student she has ever had.  She said Sara hold her own very well and is very self confident.  No surprise there.  She is on track with writing, numbers, letters, etc.  I do have a meeting with the school district this week for speech for Sara and I am hoping she qualifies.  If she is approved by the committee and the school board (the district I work for) then they will send a speech therapist to school.  She has a vast vocabulary but blending sounds are very tough.  Yesterday she asked for a quarter and I had no idea what she wanted, she told me it was a circle and bigger than a penny.  She has no problem expressing when we can't understand but it happens to often. 

Untitled..

I started this post early in the summer and never finished it....
Its been an emotional summer.  My Dad was admitted to Roswell Park Cancer Institute for the first two weekends in May, the third weekend he attended my nephews first communion, and the following week was admitted again.  He was diagnosed with Colitis and then became Septic.  He slowly improved but his bone marrow refused to kick in.  After 4-5 transfusions a week and shots to help produce blood cells, the Doctors met with us.  They told us there wasn't any more they could do.  My Dad hasn't been eating normally since he had the stem cell transplant.  The Doctors said sometimes when the chemo kills all of the bad cells/bacteria it also destroys the good cells/bacteria. 


Yesterday my Dad was transferred to Hospice.  He is sleeping 99% of the time.  Yesterday he groaned and nodded his head when I spoke to him.  I have been going almost every day to visit.  The hospital is about 30 minutes away and Hospice will be about 20.  The kids have been great.  Evan knows Grandpa won't survive but it hasn't completely hit him yet.  My Dad had promised Evan this huge Lego and wanted to give it to him.  So Saturday we had Grandpa give it to him and it brought him such joy to see Evan dance around with excitement.  Evan was so sweet he told me I really want the Arkham Assylum Lego but I want Grandpa to come home more.  My Dad is afraid the kids won't remember him.  I hope they always do.  I was trying to remember my first experience with death.  I think I was around 4 when my Great Grandma passed away.  I can remember going to her apartment and having fig newton cookies, I remember what her bathroom looks like but not what she looked like other than from one or two pictures.