Another week is almost gone. Getting closer to the start of school-yea!!!! This is a good thing, because the kids are really starting to get restless hanging out around the house. The big girls have had zoo camp this week. It occupies them from 8:00am-12:00pm. Rachel is not old enough to go yet, so she hangs with me. They have really seemed to enjoy it, despite the fact that Leah declared it was "boring" thirty seconds after walking into her classroom. Thank goodness it only last a week, because Leah's interest is quickly waning. She started with her school year whine of, "I am too tired to go" last night. I told her "Well, then you can just stay home!" Who knew that she would think that was a good idea. So, this morning I had to convince her that it was going to be fun and that she needed to go (and not waste all the money I paid!)
It appears that we now live in a rainforest. It has been raining everyday for the last month or so. The sun is out during the early part of the day, but anytime after lunch you risk getting wet. It started raining before lunch today. The little pond behind our house was a couple of feet below it's normal level a month ago, but it is now full to the top. The rain really eats into the swim time! Today the kids put on their swimsuits just in time to hear thunder. They had to sit and wait a while for that cloud to blow over. Then they got in the pool, only to have to get out twenty minutes later when we heard thunder again. Now that we haven't heard thunder for sometime now, they are asking to get back in again. Ugggh.....I am so ready for school to be back in session. Did I mention that I have three of the neighbor kids over too, for a total of six kids! Where do they get all that energy?
Mike is on his way to Oshkosh, WI in a little private plane. He is going up there to the airshow for work. It is a short trip and he is flying himself, so I am sure he is going to be worn out when it is over. I hope the weather is good for him. The last trip he made, the weather stranded him on the last leg of his trip. He was supposed to drop off the plane he was flying in Boston, but ended up having to leave it in Pittsburgh to get home in time for the surgery I had.
It has now been three hours since I started this post, but with lifeguarding duties, serving snacks, etc., I have yet to complete it. Now I have sat back down at the computer, Rachel is bringing me food from the kitchen (ice cream, to be exact), so I better get this wrapped up and feed the kids some dinner.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Okay, now for the blogging...
Most of you I have talked to at some point relatively recently, but for those of you that I haven't, here is the latest update from the Keirnan clan. In February of this year, Rachel had to have a tonsillectomy because a sleep study in October had shown numerous bouts of sleep apnea. The surgery went well and she had two long weeks of recovery. I spent each day struggling to get her to eat and drink, but after about two weeks she perked up and all was well. Her follow up sleep study in May should much improvement, thank goodness, and the ENT told us that we did not need to come in for anymore followups! Yeah, one less doctor to have to keep up with. Rachel completed her second yer in school this May. she will be moving up to the 4-5 year old class room this year. We really like the school she is attending and all the therapists are very attentive to Rachel. We have loved her teacher and the aide too, but are glad to see Rachel getting a change of scenery after two years. She seems to like school, but the last teacher did not push them too much. Next year, Rachel will be old enough to go to kindergarten, so she needs someone to start pushing her.
Allison completed the third grade again this year. We held her back this past year to give her some time to mature a little. She had been the youngest in her class, making the age cut off by about two weeks. This seemed to work to her disadvantage, so despite her successfully completed third grade in 2007, we had her repeat it. The school she attends is ranked pretty high in the state of Florida, and they really push the kids hard, so I am hoping that giving Allison the extra year will help her survive the intense pressure she will have to face in the coming years.
Leah is going into first grade this fall. She is already so bored with school that she is starting to complain about already, and it is not even August. I sent a request to the school last spring to give Leah the most creative teacher they have. Hopefully, she will get a teacher that is not "boring." I have sent out pictures of Leah and her new haircut......she did this in April. She kept saying she wanted her hair shorter, so each time I took her I let the stylist cut a little more. Each time she came home, she was disappointed that it was not shorter. Finally, in April, I let her chop it all off. It has taken me a while to get used to it, but I think she may have won me over to the new look. You should see her in the mornings, though....it sticks up everywhere!
Mike has been working lots and lots of hours. He had a trip a couple of weeks ago that took him to Atlanta, GA, Greenville, NC, Indianapolis, IN, Minneapolis, MN, and Duluth, MN. He was so tired after that trip. The past weekend or so he has finally had some time off. This past Sunday he took his kayak offshore to fish and said he saw a manta ray and a sea turtle. He said the sea turtle actually came up under his boat and hung out for a while. So cool. In June, Mike got to have "men's" weekend, when three buddies from college came down for a long weekend. They checked out the tourist stuff here and chartered a fishing boat. We still have freezer full of fish, and the neighbors are getting tired of the fish we keep sending over their way when Mike cooks a batch. These college buddies are also friends of mine and it was great to have them around for a visit.
I spent the past year volunteering in Leah's classroom a couple of times a month and chauffeuring Rachel back and forth to school. She attends school from 8:00am-12:00pm, so it seemed that every time I turned around it was time to get in the car again. Now that Rachel is in school in the mornings, I got to go on a few field trips with the girls too. In May I did LASIK-for the first time in thirty years I can see with out glasses or contacts. It is great. It is weird too. Now when I wake up i the middle of the night I can see the clock across the room. It is cool. Two weeks ago I had a hysterectomy. It went well and I have spent the last two weeks trying to take it easy. That is not an easy feat when you have three kids to clean up after. The recovery has been easy, mostly me just trying to make myself take it easy. Today, I was taking Allison and Leah to zoo camp and Rachel decided she didn't want to walk. That is a problem, since I am two weeks post op and under orders not to lift anything, but after much cajoling I was able to get her to change her mind and we were on our way, thank goodness.
The rest of the summer, the girls go back to school August 18th, will probably be spent hanging around the pool and swimming-when it isn't raining. We have a neat get together August 17th. A family in the area hosts a Beach Bash each year for all the families in the area affected by Down Syndrome. It is great to see all the families and get a chance to visit. This is the third year they have done it and we have attended each time, what do you know, we have had a 'blast'. The have the local surf shop donate their instructors time so the kids get free surf lessons. Mike wishes they would let the adults participate in that.
Okay, I guess I will end it here. The girls are hovering, and Mike is waiting to use the computer. He had to come home early because he rode his motorcycle to work and he had to race the rain home. He just barely made it home without getting soaked. It is pouring here now. Anyway, he needs the computer for work stuff.
Allison completed the third grade again this year. We held her back this past year to give her some time to mature a little. She had been the youngest in her class, making the age cut off by about two weeks. This seemed to work to her disadvantage, so despite her successfully completed third grade in 2007, we had her repeat it. The school she attends is ranked pretty high in the state of Florida, and they really push the kids hard, so I am hoping that giving Allison the extra year will help her survive the intense pressure she will have to face in the coming years.
Leah is going into first grade this fall. She is already so bored with school that she is starting to complain about already, and it is not even August. I sent a request to the school last spring to give Leah the most creative teacher they have. Hopefully, she will get a teacher that is not "boring." I have sent out pictures of Leah and her new haircut......she did this in April. She kept saying she wanted her hair shorter, so each time I took her I let the stylist cut a little more. Each time she came home, she was disappointed that it was not shorter. Finally, in April, I let her chop it all off. It has taken me a while to get used to it, but I think she may have won me over to the new look. You should see her in the mornings, though....it sticks up everywhere!
Mike has been working lots and lots of hours. He had a trip a couple of weeks ago that took him to Atlanta, GA, Greenville, NC, Indianapolis, IN, Minneapolis, MN, and Duluth, MN. He was so tired after that trip. The past weekend or so he has finally had some time off. This past Sunday he took his kayak offshore to fish and said he saw a manta ray and a sea turtle. He said the sea turtle actually came up under his boat and hung out for a while. So cool. In June, Mike got to have "men's" weekend, when three buddies from college came down for a long weekend. They checked out the tourist stuff here and chartered a fishing boat. We still have freezer full of fish, and the neighbors are getting tired of the fish we keep sending over their way when Mike cooks a batch. These college buddies are also friends of mine and it was great to have them around for a visit.
I spent the past year volunteering in Leah's classroom a couple of times a month and chauffeuring Rachel back and forth to school. She attends school from 8:00am-12:00pm, so it seemed that every time I turned around it was time to get in the car again. Now that Rachel is in school in the mornings, I got to go on a few field trips with the girls too. In May I did LASIK-for the first time in thirty years I can see with out glasses or contacts. It is great. It is weird too. Now when I wake up i the middle of the night I can see the clock across the room. It is cool. Two weeks ago I had a hysterectomy. It went well and I have spent the last two weeks trying to take it easy. That is not an easy feat when you have three kids to clean up after. The recovery has been easy, mostly me just trying to make myself take it easy. Today, I was taking Allison and Leah to zoo camp and Rachel decided she didn't want to walk. That is a problem, since I am two weeks post op and under orders not to lift anything, but after much cajoling I was able to get her to change her mind and we were on our way, thank goodness.
The rest of the summer, the girls go back to school August 18th, will probably be spent hanging around the pool and swimming-when it isn't raining. We have a neat get together August 17th. A family in the area hosts a Beach Bash each year for all the families in the area affected by Down Syndrome. It is great to see all the families and get a chance to visit. This is the third year they have done it and we have attended each time, what do you know, we have had a 'blast'. The have the local surf shop donate their instructors time so the kids get free surf lessons. Mike wishes they would let the adults participate in that.
Okay, I guess I will end it here. The girls are hovering, and Mike is waiting to use the computer. He had to come home early because he rode his motorcycle to work and he had to race the rain home. He just barely made it home without getting soaked. It is pouring here now. Anyway, he needs the computer for work stuff.
I sort of understand it now......
I am moving up the learning curve! I have figured some things out and am still working on others. I have added lots of pictures. Thanks F, for the info.....still not sure how to add captions to the slide show, though. I am hoping that I will be able to start adding recent pictures and a little blurb on a regular basis to keep this blog current and fun. I have had a hoot of a time playing with this. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Thursday, July 24, 2008
First Post
I am going to give this a try. This will allow me to send post stuff and let you all look whenever you want. I am hoping it will allow us to share more photos. Particularly with those of you who have slower set ups.
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