Time To Get Back To Reality

The weather has warmed up nicely today. We had some chilly days for the first of the week with the highs around 60....that IS chilly by Florida standards. Today is warm enough to go without a jacket, though, so I am taking the opportunity to open a few windows and let in some fresh air, and the kids are out enjoying it too. I love this time of year here in Florida! I think it is supposed to get chilly again for New Years Day, though.

The new year is fast approaching now. That means I have to start planning Sunday school lessons. At our church, we teach every other month, and starting January 3rd, it is my month. I have been trying to remind myself over and over that I need to plan. I am afraid that Sunday is going to get here, and I will not have done anything. Today, I decided to get started. I went by the church to pick up the supplies, only to find that December's teacher still has the stuff. I have called her and left a message for her to call me back, but nothing yet........oh, dear! Sunday is also Leah's birthday. She will be eight. It is so hard to try to come up with a birthday gift so close after Christmas.

I have been trying to get my mind in gear to get back to reality by starting to make notes on the 2010 calendar. We have really been goofing off since the girls got out of school, and it is about to catch up with us! Allison is supposed to know all the state capitals when she goes back to school on the 5th. We really need to get started on that again!!! We were studying before the break, but she has not looked at them since and has probably forgotten the ones she knew. Leah brought home a list of school supplies at the beginning of break that she needs to bring back to school on the 5th. I really need to get that done.

I want to get Rachel's room reorganized soon to include a study/work area. I am making it my New Year's resolution to work really hard with her on her speech this year. She is still struggling to talk, and you can just tell she has so much she wants to say. Right now, she communicates with one word requests. Many times I have a hard time understanding it. The teacher and I have started thinking about using an assisted technology device that would talk for her. I am not sure if that would be a good idea or not. Hopefully it would help her communicate better, but I am afraid it would decrease her desire to talk to us. If anybody out there has any good ideas, I am listening!!!! And thanks F for the suggestion about Signing Time videos. We have a few, but they are just words. Like you, I am not sure how we would have gotten by without them. I did not know they had videos with phrases. I will certainly look into that, because Rachel has loved the videos and watched them for years.

The girls and I are going to go over to Tampa tomorrow to visit with my sister. The 31st is her birthday so we are going for that, but we are also going to take care of her girls while she works all day Friday. Allison and Leah are looking forward to hanging out with the cousins for a second time in a week! Since my sister works at a zoo, we can get in free, so maybe we will do that for New Years Day......that is what we did last year, too. I think Mike is going to head up to Palm Coast to visit with his dad while the girls and I are at my sister's.

Christmas 2009

We had a busy week leading up to Christmas. On Sunday the 20th Leah and I went to see the Nutcracker ballet. After the ballet, we met up with Mike, Allison and Rachel and the big girls went ice skating. Cocoa Village has an outdoor rink in the park along the river-the same park where we have our Buddy Walk-and the weather was chilly, so it was a great day to try it. The girls had a good time. Rachel is still too small for the skates, so she played on the playground nearby.

Monday, Rachel and I had to drive over to Orlando to see the ENT for a follow up after the tube insertion. The doctor said everything looked good and Rachel passed her hearing test this time! Yay! Funny thing is that since getting the tubes, she has been blasting her tunes on her little radio she got in October. I would figure she would be able to hear it better now! Go figure.

Tuesday I finally made it to the grocery store to stock up on supplies and after that I made one final trip to Walmart and Target. What a wonderful feeling it was to finally be done! I got home from shopping about 10:30pm and then sorted through all the Santa stuff. Mike and I were up until 1:30am! Uggghhh!

Wednesday the girls and I did some house cleaning-FINALLY-and then baked cookies. I was surprised that the girls pretty much did the cookies all by themselves. Rachel was not into it, so it was just the big girls. Thursday I started baking again for our Christmas Eve dinner. Leah was a big help with that, and it was fun to have her in the kitchen. After lunch, our company arrived. We went to church at 5:30pm and sat down to dinner about 7:00pm. I think Rachel was hungry, because she sat down at the table a good 20 minutes before it was done and just stayed...........waiting.

Christmas morning the girls were up at 7:00am and ready to check out their loot. They got lots of stuff and since it was off and on cloudy and rainy, I was glad that they did not have any outdoor toys this year. That is a first for us! Allison got a Netbook and guitar: Leah got a Lego pirate ship and Littlest Pet Shop; and Rachel got a Kidz Bop CD, a Tinkerbell game, and a Leapster toy that teaches how to write your abc's. She likes the CD the best.

This weekend we have been beyond lazy and have done nothing. My sister came over to visit for a little bit last night and her two girls are staying with us until Monday. Leah and Allison are LOVING that. The girls really love to be together, but they are hard to take when they are all together!

It Is Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas.....In Some Ways

Over the last week I have managed to finish up most of my Christmas shopping, finish putting up the lights outdoors, finish putting the Christmas cards together, and finish wrapping presents. So, it is starting to look a lot like Christmas!

It is not starting to "feel" a lot like Christmas, though. It has been really hot here, with the temps in the 80s! Sunday we loaded up the kayaks and kids and went to the lagoon for a few hours. The weather was beautiful.

This week is the last week of school for the girls before the Christmas break. They are getting excited! They are already starting to check out mentally. Leah just totally checked out today and stayed home. She got up complaining of a sore throat and stomach ache. She put on a good show, so I let her stay home. By 9:00am she was up watching TV and playing Wii. She has been fine all day! I think I have been had!!!!! So, you know what is going to happen......she will complain again tomorrow, I will make her go to school and they will call me two hours later to tell me she threw up or is running a fever and I will look like the mean mommy!

It Is That Time of Year........Again!

One would think that it would get easier as the kids get older, but one would be wrong! Lessons learned...........1) don't lay down in the grass, because apparently the bugs swarm about six inches from the ground; 2) don't shake Rachel's toy in the air to get her to smile, because then you shake the camera too; 3) no matter how hard you try, Rachel is not going to smile for the camera; and 4) the older the girls get the more they are going to complain about having to sit down and have their picture taken!

Time Is Slipping Out Of My Hands

Okay, so I have not posted anything since before Thanksgiving! I have no idea where the time has gone! We went to Grandpa's for Thanksgiving. He lives just an hour and a half North of us, so it was a nice trip. Here are some pictures from Thanksgiving.

Allison makes brownies.

Rachel hangs out with Mildred......and surprisingly, Mildred seems to like it.
Grandpa enjoys the weather.
 

Leah takes over Grandpa's chair!

We came home from Grandpa's on Friday, and my sister came over with her girls for a short visit. Allison and Leah were so excited to get to see their cousins!!! Saturday, Grandpa and Lou came down to visit us. They spent Saturday with us and headed to the airport Sunday morning to get Lou back to Vermont. Saturday evening we (me and Leah) put up our Christmas tree. Leah was a great helper, hanging around for most of the hard work. Allison and Rachel came in at the end and helped hang ornaments. Putting up a tree goes so much faster when you have three little people to eagerly (fight over) hang all the ornaments.

Where was all this help when I was putting the tree together and stringing the lights?
Rachel had a great time helping this year.
Today, Rachel and I were up before dawn to drive over to Orlando for surgery. Rachel had tubes placed in both ears. We had to be at the hospital at 6:15am and we are an hour and a half away!! Rachel did great and we were home by noon!! Kids are so tough! Now she is in the living room dancing to the music on one of her favorite movies. The doctor said to get her to rest today, and I figured that would be easy. I assumed I would have her sleeping on the couch all afternoon, but apparently she is feeling better with every passing minute. She is wanting to drink and eat, but the doc said to take it easy until dinner tonight, so all she has had is Gatorade and crackers. She wants milk and pasta with cheese!

Rachel watching a movie just before going into surgery this morning.

Here is Rachel post op. She looks a little tired, but doesn't seem any worse for wear.