A couple weeks ago, John stayed up late perusing the blog. Tonight, I got sucked in. It's way past bedtime and my body is ready for sleep, but I want to post a few quick things to remember these days a few years from now.
Ty is in full gear with potty training. Like Lauren Clay was, if he has anything on his little bottom, he'll use it like it is a diaper. BUT if he is uncovered, he'll find a potty and use it when he needs to. So, for the next few days (or however long it takes), he will remain uncovered while we are around the house.
Ty's big thing right now is super heroes. Until very recently, he hadn't seen any superhero shows or read any books, so his imaginative play was completely fabricated. Did I write in the last blog how he told John one night that he loves Superman because he shoots fire from his mouth and kills the bad guys with his feet? John told him Superman usually sends the bad guys to jail, so he's at least corrected that. So a few nights ago, he came in with a doll (which he calls "Big Baby" in honor of the creepy doll from Toy Story 3), and he asked me if Superheroes have children. When I said they can, he said, "Good. Then I am superman and this is my baby. Huh. (He always ends his sentences with "huh", which is short for "uh huh.") And you're Wonderwoman." I cuddled up next to him to pray and he had Big Baby under the covers and would bring him out every few seconds to give him a kiss. I asked him what he would like to pray about, and he said, "Pray about that time I was in jail." He was still in character, although arguably confusing Superman with the Biblical Superhero, Paul.
Lauren Clay is a reader. She may be a better reader than I am. She reads fluidly, expressively and comprehends what she is reading as she reads aloud. She can read just about anything. She remembers what she reads as well. We were watching a baseball show tonight and Jackie Robinson's name was along the bottom of the screen. She said, "Oh, Jackie Robinson... we have a book about him." Sure enough, we have an obscure book about him that we read a long while back. She will take a kindergarten assessment at the end of July. I am excited to see how she does. I try very hard to avoid labeling our kids child geniuses... but Lauren Clay is a pretty sharp reader and I'm looking forward to the "kindergarten kick off" that will give us an unbiased assessment of my hunch.
Oh, and the fish and crawdaddy didn't die after the tank was cleaned. I think the near-death experience only made the pair stronger. Tonight as John lay down with Ty a few minutes before bed, he heard Ty say, "good night." When John responded with a "good night," Ty informed him that he was talking to the catfish. Tonight's prayer requests were: "my superman shirt," "the green M and Ms, because green is my favorite color", and ... Oh, I can't remember the last request.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Father's Day Fishing
For Father's Day, John chose to take the family fishing.
Lauren Clay's first-ever fish:
Ty's first fish (Ty was the first member of the family to make a catch today):
Lauren Clay did not want to go home when we had to leave. I think John would have stayed all day as well. I am now putting my new washing machine to the test; the kids were a mess by the end of the day.
John finished his Father's Day by cleaning the fish tank which we have neglected the past few months. While have been unsuccessful at keeping multiple rounds of fish in our tank, we have a little shark and a crawdaddy that just won't die. We have considered giving them away or returning them to the store, but Ty is very attached to his crawdaddy. It is going to be a sad day when we say goodbye to that critter (who is growing FAST because he has so much space to fill). Anyway, he is not too happy with the clean tank, and we may be saying goodbye soon. When he passes on, we can finally disassemble what seemed to be a great idea, but has turned out to be one more "to do" that doesn't ever seem to get done.
We're off to greet my brother and Suzi who are arriving to Lexington soon!! The kids are beyond excited.
Lauren Clay's first-ever fish:
Ty's first fish (Ty was the first member of the family to make a catch today):
Lauren Clay did not want to go home when we had to leave. I think John would have stayed all day as well. I am now putting my new washing machine to the test; the kids were a mess by the end of the day.John finished his Father's Day by cleaning the fish tank which we have neglected the past few months. While have been unsuccessful at keeping multiple rounds of fish in our tank, we have a little shark and a crawdaddy that just won't die. We have considered giving them away or returning them to the store, but Ty is very attached to his crawdaddy. It is going to be a sad day when we say goodbye to that critter (who is growing FAST because he has so much space to fill). Anyway, he is not too happy with the clean tank, and we may be saying goodbye soon. When he passes on, we can finally disassemble what seemed to be a great idea, but has turned out to be one more "to do" that doesn't ever seem to get done.
We're off to greet my brother and Suzi who are arriving to Lexington soon!! The kids are beyond excited.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Adios, Passy
Ty has had some big goodbyes this week. We said Goodbye to Nana, Papa and Carol as they returned to Alabama after a wonderful visit. We said Goodbye to the cast that helped his right tibia heal over the past month. And today, we were told we had to say Goodbye to his passies.
The unfortunate news was delivered to him within minutes of his diagnosis with pneumonia. I let Ty have the passy when we went to the doctor today because he had a high fever, an awful cough, he'd had a tough weekend, and I figured the passy would offer him a little consolation. The truth is, I had allowed the passy to become a major source of comfort over the month with the cast. Where we had pretty much limited it to nighttime pre-cast, after the broken leg I was letting him have it whenever he wanted. Sometimes he'd have one in his mouth and one in each hand. Sometimes he'd have three in his mouth. He would often have one as he ate (Passy, bite of food, Passy, bite of food...) He was quickly becoming an addict, and I wasn't looking forward to the day we would finally say, "no more." I thought we would wait until we got through the cast and then we would wean him of it. The doctor took one look at the passy in his mouth, looked at ME and said, "he is too old for a passy. You need to go home and throw them all away today." Ugh. Ty refused to look at the doctor when he told him the same.
Ty let me throw away the passy that was in his mouth, although Doc had given us a lollipop as an immediate replacement. The lollipop was gone before our x-ray visit (horrors), the shot of antibiotics that followed the x-ray exam, and the drive home with a leg that was sore from the shot. We talked about where we might send the passies. Maybe Lightnin' McQueen or Mater could use them? Mickey Mouse? We settled on Baby Goofy. When naptime came, I tried to put Ty down sans passy, but he really really wanted it... and he still had a fever... and he had pneumonia... and what harm would it be to give him that little sleep aid for just one more nap? As I was pondering options, he came in with a green passy he'd pulled from his hidden stash. I relented. He went right to sleep, and had a nice long nap.
A few hours later, he entered the dining room with matted hair, groggy eyes, his Cars sunglasses hanging on his shirt collar, and that green passy in his hand. He held up the passy and said, "I think Baby Goofy is going to need a green passy", and he handed it to me. We put it in a Thomas the Train lunchbox (his choice) to save for when we see Baby Goofy, hopefully later this summer. He did not ask for a passy the rest of the day.
Bedtime was a challenge tonight. We bathed the kids, then fed them and gave Ty a dose of Motrin for his fever and the pain reliever + cough syrup the doctor had prescribed. We expected the meds to calm him down and help him sleep soundly. Within 20 minutes of giving him the medicine, it was clear that whatever was in that cough syrup DIDN'T cause drowsiness. John called his parents and Ty grabbed the phone and talked non-stop for half an hour. The kids were in bed by 8:30, but Ty didn't fall asleep until almost midnight when John finally cuddled him up in our bed. He never cried, he was just wired. I kept thinking we were going to have to pull out a passy, but as far as I know, he didn't ask for it. Success! Well, success in terms of our progress toward breaking a habit. We are likely going to have to suffer the repercussions of our lover-of-sleep who couldn't calm down until the wee hours of the morning. Maybe this will just make him extra-tired for his nap tomorrow and ready for a good night's sleep tomorrow evening. We will certainly hold off on the cough syrup in the hours leading up to bedtime.
Lauren Clay started drama camp this week. They're doing "Go Dog Go". More on that after I get a good night's sleep... I'm off to bed...
The unfortunate news was delivered to him within minutes of his diagnosis with pneumonia. I let Ty have the passy when we went to the doctor today because he had a high fever, an awful cough, he'd had a tough weekend, and I figured the passy would offer him a little consolation. The truth is, I had allowed the passy to become a major source of comfort over the month with the cast. Where we had pretty much limited it to nighttime pre-cast, after the broken leg I was letting him have it whenever he wanted. Sometimes he'd have one in his mouth and one in each hand. Sometimes he'd have three in his mouth. He would often have one as he ate (Passy, bite of food, Passy, bite of food...) He was quickly becoming an addict, and I wasn't looking forward to the day we would finally say, "no more." I thought we would wait until we got through the cast and then we would wean him of it. The doctor took one look at the passy in his mouth, looked at ME and said, "he is too old for a passy. You need to go home and throw them all away today." Ugh. Ty refused to look at the doctor when he told him the same.
Ty let me throw away the passy that was in his mouth, although Doc had given us a lollipop as an immediate replacement. The lollipop was gone before our x-ray visit (horrors), the shot of antibiotics that followed the x-ray exam, and the drive home with a leg that was sore from the shot. We talked about where we might send the passies. Maybe Lightnin' McQueen or Mater could use them? Mickey Mouse? We settled on Baby Goofy. When naptime came, I tried to put Ty down sans passy, but he really really wanted it... and he still had a fever... and he had pneumonia... and what harm would it be to give him that little sleep aid for just one more nap? As I was pondering options, he came in with a green passy he'd pulled from his hidden stash. I relented. He went right to sleep, and had a nice long nap.
A few hours later, he entered the dining room with matted hair, groggy eyes, his Cars sunglasses hanging on his shirt collar, and that green passy in his hand. He held up the passy and said, "I think Baby Goofy is going to need a green passy", and he handed it to me. We put it in a Thomas the Train lunchbox (his choice) to save for when we see Baby Goofy, hopefully later this summer. He did not ask for a passy the rest of the day.
Bedtime was a challenge tonight. We bathed the kids, then fed them and gave Ty a dose of Motrin for his fever and the pain reliever + cough syrup the doctor had prescribed. We expected the meds to calm him down and help him sleep soundly. Within 20 minutes of giving him the medicine, it was clear that whatever was in that cough syrup DIDN'T cause drowsiness. John called his parents and Ty grabbed the phone and talked non-stop for half an hour. The kids were in bed by 8:30, but Ty didn't fall asleep until almost midnight when John finally cuddled him up in our bed. He never cried, he was just wired. I kept thinking we were going to have to pull out a passy, but as far as I know, he didn't ask for it. Success! Well, success in terms of our progress toward breaking a habit. We are likely going to have to suffer the repercussions of our lover-of-sleep who couldn't calm down until the wee hours of the morning. Maybe this will just make him extra-tired for his nap tomorrow and ready for a good night's sleep tomorrow evening. We will certainly hold off on the cough syrup in the hours leading up to bedtime.
Lauren Clay started drama camp this week. They're doing "Go Dog Go". More on that after I get a good night's sleep... I'm off to bed...
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Dedication to Papa
Summer started last week, but it finally feels like vacation now that we can all get into the pool. Ty's cast came off yesterday afternoon after a month of confinement. Big Day!
After a very brave showing at the ER, yesterday's doctor's appointment was pretty dramatic/traumatic. We were all excited to be done with the cast, but our first stop was the cast removal--which took place at the time Ty usually goes down for his nap-- and the saw was loud. Really loud. As the tech removed the cast, he mentioned that the first time you move your leg after a month in a cast, the knee feels like it has a Charlie horse. Sure enough, Ty wiggled his leg and went into hysterics. Thankfully, the tech placed the cast back on the underside of his leg, and wrapped it until the x-ray. Ty fell asleep between cast-removal and x-ray, and was awakened by being placed on the hard x-ray table as another tech removed the cast again to snap some pictures. He began to *scream* and cry (loudly enough that he is hoarse today). When he could form words, he kept saying, "Put it back on!! Put it back on!!" The wailing continued until after we had seen the doctor, who gave us a clean bill of health and removed the cast for good.
After a visit to Sonic, a warm whirlpool bath, and some joint cream we borrowed from Granddaddy, he was much better. He was willing to straighten out his leg by the time he'd finished eating and even tried standing on it before we headed home. Granddaddy had lots of good ideas for how to get Ty to stand up, like by trying plies. He did them well! He improved by the hour last night, but was still walking on tippy toes at bed time. By lunch today, he could stand flat-footed. He is now walking very short distances and with an extremely pronounced limp, but at least he is moving.
We swam today at Bubba and Nana Vic's pool and mommy had hoped everyone would nap well after burning off so much energy, but Ty doesn't transfer to his bed well if he falls asleep in the car. So after a 10 minute nap, he's up again. I'm shooting for an early bedtime... and not just for the kids.
Lauren Clay is resting right now. I agreed to let her play some music if she would lie down. So she is in our bed with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat soundtrack piping out of the CD player. I am pretty sure I can hear her singing along. So much for her nap. Again, my goal is an early bedtime.
On a cute note, earlier this week the kids and I ran to Old Navy to buy some t-shirts. In the swimsuit section, Ty kept pointing to the bikini tops and saying, "mommy, look at those cute boobie covers!" It was hilarious and embarrassing all at once.
Papa got onto me this week for my blog absence, so I promised him I would post more often. I'll try, Papa.
We are heading outside to fill up our backyard pool and enjoy this weather.
After a very brave showing at the ER, yesterday's doctor's appointment was pretty dramatic/traumatic. We were all excited to be done with the cast, but our first stop was the cast removal--which took place at the time Ty usually goes down for his nap-- and the saw was loud. Really loud. As the tech removed the cast, he mentioned that the first time you move your leg after a month in a cast, the knee feels like it has a Charlie horse. Sure enough, Ty wiggled his leg and went into hysterics. Thankfully, the tech placed the cast back on the underside of his leg, and wrapped it until the x-ray. Ty fell asleep between cast-removal and x-ray, and was awakened by being placed on the hard x-ray table as another tech removed the cast again to snap some pictures. He began to *scream* and cry (loudly enough that he is hoarse today). When he could form words, he kept saying, "Put it back on!! Put it back on!!" The wailing continued until after we had seen the doctor, who gave us a clean bill of health and removed the cast for good.
After a visit to Sonic, a warm whirlpool bath, and some joint cream we borrowed from Granddaddy, he was much better. He was willing to straighten out his leg by the time he'd finished eating and even tried standing on it before we headed home. Granddaddy had lots of good ideas for how to get Ty to stand up, like by trying plies. He did them well! He improved by the hour last night, but was still walking on tippy toes at bed time. By lunch today, he could stand flat-footed. He is now walking very short distances and with an extremely pronounced limp, but at least he is moving.
We swam today at Bubba and Nana Vic's pool and mommy had hoped everyone would nap well after burning off so much energy, but Ty doesn't transfer to his bed well if he falls asleep in the car. So after a 10 minute nap, he's up again. I'm shooting for an early bedtime... and not just for the kids.
Lauren Clay is resting right now. I agreed to let her play some music if she would lie down. So she is in our bed with Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat soundtrack piping out of the CD player. I am pretty sure I can hear her singing along. So much for her nap. Again, my goal is an early bedtime.
On a cute note, earlier this week the kids and I ran to Old Navy to buy some t-shirts. In the swimsuit section, Ty kept pointing to the bikini tops and saying, "mommy, look at those cute boobie covers!" It was hilarious and embarrassing all at once.
Papa got onto me this week for my blog absence, so I promised him I would post more often. I'll try, Papa.
We are heading outside to fill up our backyard pool and enjoy this weather.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Week 10: Arriba, Abajo
We started with a new "hello" song today, from Dr. Jean en español. Looks like it is not longer available for purchase or preview through Amazon, but here's a link to the CD:
...and here's a link where you can purchase the CD through Dr. Jean's website.
Here are the words, with corresponding actions in parentheses or via sign language link:
Hola, amigos
¿Cómo está Usted?
Estoy muy feliz (we draw a smile on our faces)
de verlo a Usted. (we point to our eyes, then to a friend)
Salude su vecino (we wave to the friend(s) next to us)
Bugi para abajo (we dance)
Dése un tope (we jump)
Y de la vuelta. (we spin)
Since we sang about the little pollitos last week who get cold (tienen frío) and get hungry (tienen hambre), we sang that song again, then read a fun book today about a rinocerous who gets hungry, prepares a lunch, loses his sandwich, then spends the rest of the book trying to find it. This book is easy to understand because the pictures give a clear context, and most of the vocabulary is familiar to the children. It is called Rino Maní. Looks like this book is also out of print.
We also listened and danced to a song called El baile de las manos by Jorge Anaya:
Betsy at MDO is placing a bulk order for the Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya CD. Be sure to see her soon if you'd like to be part of that order. It contains lots of songs we have sung--and will sing-- this year, including Los pollitos, Los niños cuando bailan (very similar to Juanito cuando baila), and Vengan a ver mi granja.
You can also purchase that CD here:
Next week we'll practice the parts of the face and continue with the parts of the body. Songs relating to both are also on Whistlefritz CD.
...and here's a link where you can purchase the CD through Dr. Jean's website.
Here are the words, with corresponding actions in parentheses or via sign language link:
Hola, amigos
¿Cómo está Usted?
Estoy muy feliz (we draw a smile on our faces)
de verlo a Usted. (we point to our eyes, then to a friend)
Salude su vecino (we wave to the friend(s) next to us)
Bugi para abajo (we dance)
Dése un tope (we jump)
Y de la vuelta. (we spin)
Since we sang about the little pollitos last week who get cold (tienen frío) and get hungry (tienen hambre), we sang that song again, then read a fun book today about a rinocerous who gets hungry, prepares a lunch, loses his sandwich, then spends the rest of the book trying to find it. This book is easy to understand because the pictures give a clear context, and most of the vocabulary is familiar to the children. It is called Rino Maní. Looks like this book is also out of print.
We also listened and danced to a song called El baile de las manos by Jorge Anaya:
Betsy at MDO is placing a bulk order for the Whistlefritz: Jorge Anaya CD. Be sure to see her soon if you'd like to be part of that order. It contains lots of songs we have sung--and will sing-- this year, including Los pollitos, Los niños cuando bailan (very similar to Juanito cuando baila), and Vengan a ver mi granja.
You can also purchase that CD here:
Next week we'll practice the parts of the face and continue with the parts of the body. Songs relating to both are also on Whistlefritz CD.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Big Race
I have a big race coming up this weekend: The Bourbon Chase. Here's the whole run; I'm running three legs of the race to equal 19ish miles. I get to finish the race. Looking forward to it, although there are lots of unknowns (like what it will be like to hang out with 6 sweaty runners in a van for almost 36 hours.) We'll have breaks in there, but I'm not sure if we'll get to take showers.
A few cute things the kids are doing:
Ty keeps saying, "wanna go wu kay game, mom." I have this recorded on my phone but I'm not sure how to download from it. I'll try.
Not going to finish this post right now because the kids are really needing me to focus on them and not the computer (thus the lack of blog posts over the past 6 months.)
Will upload pictures and write more stories when I get a few minutes.
A few cute things the kids are doing:
Ty keeps saying, "wanna go wu kay game, mom." I have this recorded on my phone but I'm not sure how to download from it. I'll try.
Not going to finish this post right now because the kids are really needing me to focus on them and not the computer (thus the lack of blog posts over the past 6 months.)
Will upload pictures and write more stories when I get a few minutes.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Picture-Perfect Easter
We have had a crazy-busy weekend. Looks like Ty's nap that began at 4:30 this afternoon has transitioned into his overnight sleep. I'm tired too, but if I don't post these pictures now, it could be June before they go up on the blog.
Most of our time this Easter was dedicated to spending quality time with family and friends. The first shot below is of the family lunch on Sunday. The family has grown exponentially since last year. This couch is holding most of the kids, but we have two young babies who didn't make it in the shot and one more due in a few weeks. The best part of this picture is actually the mirror behind the kids. The adults were going wild to get the kids to all stay on the couch and all smile at the same time. You can see a few of our antics in the reflection.
The weather was beautiful today. Friday's storms gave the grass and flowers a generous drink of water, so the spring colors were especially vibrant against the clear blue sky. The first outdoor shots below are of our final egg hunt of the holiday. By this point Ty had the hang of the game. When we practiced with Ellie next door earlier this week, he stopped after one egg because he didn't want to put his treasure into the basket. At Saturday's egg hunt, he was pretty good at collecting the eggs until he came upon a few that were fashioned after sports balls. Egg hunting then took a back seat to his pitching/passing practice. By this afternoon, though, he was a pro.
Lauren Clay has grown a few inches lately. I don't think she could have reached this egg last month:
Aren't those some precious smiles? I had to do a lot of reverse-psychology today to coax them out of her! Hopefully the end justified the means.
Most of our time this Easter was dedicated to spending quality time with family and friends. The first shot below is of the family lunch on Sunday. The family has grown exponentially since last year. This couch is holding most of the kids, but we have two young babies who didn't make it in the shot and one more due in a few weeks. The best part of this picture is actually the mirror behind the kids. The adults were going wild to get the kids to all stay on the couch and all smile at the same time. You can see a few of our antics in the reflection.
The weather was beautiful today. Friday's storms gave the grass and flowers a generous drink of water, so the spring colors were especially vibrant against the clear blue sky. The first outdoor shots below are of our final egg hunt of the holiday. By this point Ty had the hang of the game. When we practiced with Ellie next door earlier this week, he stopped after one egg because he didn't want to put his treasure into the basket. At Saturday's egg hunt, he was pretty good at collecting the eggs until he came upon a few that were fashioned after sports balls. Egg hunting then took a back seat to his pitching/passing practice. By this afternoon, though, he was a pro.Lauren Clay has grown a few inches lately. I don't think she could have reached this egg last month:
Aren't those some precious smiles? I had to do a lot of reverse-psychology today to coax them out of her! Hopefully the end justified the means.In the below shot, I didn't have to coax a bit. The kids were very loving with Great Grandmother Doris during our trip to the nursing home to get her ready for Easter lunch. They showered her with hugs and kisses.
We took the next pictures during our morning visit to Poppy Joe's gravesite. John had never been to the cemetary during the Spring, so he grabbed a camera and joined us for the visit. I bet we took 100 pictures there and most turned out looking spectacular. We will make this visit an Easter morning tradition, I'm sure.
The last pictures were taken on Saturday afternoon at the party of our life group at church. Here all the girls waiting for their Easter lunch.
Here are all the kids after Saturday's huge Easter egg hunt. The backyard was large and each family brought a dozen eggs per child. Lots of eggs plus lots of space makes for an especially fun hunt.
Below, Ty is trying to taste his candy. He's never really had candy before, so he doesn't realize he has to open the box or take off the wrapper to get to it.
The final shot below was taken just after Sunday's party, after a packed weekend. Look at Lauren Clay's precious feet curled around each other. Also notice the Starburst in her hand. She carries the Starburst around and calls them her gum.
I'm off to bed... I can't believe I'm up late again. I have been waking up super-early to run with friends before our husbands have to leave for work. Between that and the non-stop reveling this weekend, I should have no energy. Maybe the candy has me a little wired. Or maybe I'm pushing through because I don't want to hear any more nagging from Jason U. about my lackluster blog performance for the past few months...
The last pictures were taken on Saturday afternoon at the party of our life group at church. Here all the girls waiting for their Easter lunch.
Here are all the kids after Saturday's huge Easter egg hunt. The backyard was large and each family brought a dozen eggs per child. Lots of eggs plus lots of space makes for an especially fun hunt.
Below, Ty is trying to taste his candy. He's never really had candy before, so he doesn't realize he has to open the box or take off the wrapper to get to it.
The final shot below was taken just after Sunday's party, after a packed weekend. Look at Lauren Clay's precious feet curled around each other. Also notice the Starburst in her hand. She carries the Starburst around and calls them her gum.
I'm off to bed... I can't believe I'm up late again. I have been waking up super-early to run with friends before our husbands have to leave for work. Between that and the non-stop reveling this weekend, I should have no energy. Maybe the candy has me a little wired. Or maybe I'm pushing through because I don't want to hear any more nagging from Jason U. about my lackluster blog performance for the past few months...
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