Today's accomplishment!

I just tried blogging this so if it repeats sorry. We worked on the boys bathroom/laundry room today. The first two pictures are now and the last one is when we bought the house in May.

The "Ice Age"

We decided to take a walk today to Bostwick Lake. We had to walk over "hill and dale", through trails, over a river and an icy bridge, and along very icy roads to get to it. Once there we slid down a set of stairs to the icy lake. The boys were absolutely amazed at the lake. We walked out to near the middle of the lake. There were a few ice shanties to be seen and previous ice fishing holes to look through. Though they had frozen over again, we could see through the clear as crystal ice. It was a great learning experience for the kids, though next time we might drive instead of walking there.

We were only on the ice about 20 minutes when Veronica informed us all that she had to poop, so we gathered up. I threw Veronica into the backpack and carried Pickle and we all ran, yes ran, the 2 + miles back to the house. Of course once home she no longer had to go poop, so instead we savored a nice cup of homemade cocoa. MMMMMmmm

So to caption the pictures: The first one is of Pickle and me just after we got on the ice.

The second Picture is of Patrick and Sean wondering whether or not they could go even further out.

The third picture is Sean and Veronica "ice skating".

The fourth picture is the kids all pooped out from the long walk, and investigating a fish hole.

If there is anyone out there that likes to ice fish and is looking for a place to go and some company let me know, we'd love to fish on this lake and see how it is done :).

More of the winter thaw....

I don't know if you can add more than 4 pictures or not to a blog, but here are the ice skating in the tunnel pictures. It is amazing that they were able to hold their balance like they did. Sean can barely walk without falling over, but on the ice he held steady. Pickle was just happy as can be being in the backpack...

So some of you have asked what has been going on here....so here it is:

Patrick is borderline autistic with ADHD. We will be starting him on meds sometime in the next few months as well as therapy for the autism. We also will begin meetings with the school to get an IEP going. Finally with this diagnosis we are able to get the necessary help that he needs to succeed. The good news is that Patrick is beginning to sound out and spell words. Amazing given that last year we struggled the whole year just to get him to write his name. He had trouble just learning the letters necessary to spell Patrick. He now is able to spell words like cat, hat, pickle, mom, dad and write the word love.

Sean is flying through school. He is learning all his letters, beginning to read and write. He loves socializing with the other kids and learning. His favorite part of the day is being line leader for the bus in the morning and lunch. He has really taken to bologna sandwiches and fruit by the foot. Oh the corruption of youth in school. HAHA. The boys love playing Wii and their leapster.

Veronica is finally potty trained. She has so many words as of late that we are constantly amazed at what she is communicating to us.
She will tell us exactly what she is thinking and will even use her words instead of pushing her brothers around about 15% of the time. She is really into babydolls right now. Her other favorite activity is reading books and coloring. She can't get enough of either of these.

Pickle is healed from his surgery. We have another drs appt on the 22nd, I think, to see what the dr thinks he can do with the scar tissue from the surgery. Another surgery may be necessary, we of course are really hoping it doesnt happen. Nicholas thankfully isnt much of a climber, but he finally mastered the stairs yesterday. Up and down all day long...what a fun game. He has quite a few words like mama, daddy, fish, nigh nigh, up down, all done, book, baby, ball, etc. It is exciting to see him grow.

Other than the colds and flus that have come through we are all doing well. Tom has been busy with work, but has been able to take off a few days around the holidays. That has been nice. I have been busy with painting, organizing the house, and taking care of me. I am still trying to get in at least 45 mins of exercise in a day...the treadmill is my best friend.

The winter thaw...

Today we thought we'd take advantage of the warmer temperatures before winter returns tomorrow. We have a trail that runs the outside of the neighborhood that offers many examples of nature and a moment of quietness, that is if you can truely find that with four children ages 17 months-almost 7 years. Here are some pictures from today. I am hoping to add some pictures later to another post of our trip to Grandma and Grandpa's in South Lyon, Mi the weekend before Christmas.

This first picture is walking up the first incline of the trail. Patrick is in the front, Sean in the middle and Veronica taking up the rear. Nicholas was on my back in the backpack.

The second picture is of the kids in the woods looking out over the pond. Patrick asks where do the fish and frogs go when the water is ice? Good question so we will look that up later tonight.

Sean took this picture of the sky and the trees. If you look closelythe tree branches look like a spiderweb.
Nicholas peeking over my shoulder. For the most part he tried to hide from the cold wind that seemed to be swirling about. There are other pictures of the kids "ice skating" through the tunnel in Tillicum Farms subdivision.

Christmas 2008

Christmas was fantastic this year. Santa left a great note for all and a tree full of presents. The kids fed Santa's reindeer some magical oatmeal and glitter. Santa played tricks by taking a picture of himself, eating the reindeers food, and putting presents in the tree.

The kids woke up after 8 am to open presents...that really doesnt take into effect that Patrick was up at 10:30 pm Christmas Eve telling us that he slept enough...

Thank you to everyone for all the great gifts, thoughts and blessings for us on Christmas. We hope the same for you and your family through the next year.

Christmas in South Lyon, MI

A few weekends ago we went to South Lyon to visit Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. Uncle Mark, Noah and Nora were up visiting from South Carolina. Just in time for their arrival we got nearly 2 feet of snow. The first picture is of Tom pushing Veronica down the hill.


Next is Mark and Nora going down the hill...please note that steep first 4 feet...nearly a straight dropoff .
Finally here is Pickle going down the hill....no we didnt just push him. Patrick helped him slide controlled down the hill. We had a great time with the cousins, despite the fact that Noah had the flu, and Grandpa was down for the count with the flu too the day that we were there.

Snow day...

What do you get when you have 14 inches of snow fall in just a few hours?????

A snow day home from school and an early start to Christmas vacation.

Sean in a snow cave.

Veronica is the smart one....she stayed inside the whole day.

Halloween

Thought I'd just share some pictures from Halloween. Pickle didn't go trick or treating as he wasn't feeling all that well. The kids pooped out after only 1/4 of the subdivision. Patrick went as Superman as superheros has been his theme for the past 3 years. Sean was a pirate...in honor of his best friend Colin in West Bend. Veronica was a butterfly/fairy. Pickle a pumpkin. I dressed up as a hockey player to hand out the candy...

Pickle's Surgery

Pickle had surgery to correct his birth defect, a hypospadias, in layman's terms he had two urethra holes. So they had to close one up and move the other to the appropriate position. He was also attached too far down on his scrotum. So basically he had a total reconstruction of penis and scrotum. It was about a 2 1/2 hr surgery. And he's had a catheter in for the last week and a half. Veronica saw it during one diaper change and told me that he had a sucker stuck in his butt. Yep that is what it looks like. A dum dum sucker.

So the first week we had a lot of swelling and pain and bladder spasms. We just finished the tylenol-3 script and still need to use the meds for bladder spasms and the antibiotics. He isnt too fond of the meds so we've been sneaking them into bottles. Tomorrow he is supposed to have the cath taken out as long as everything is healed.

There is a possiblity of one more surgery depending on how this one heals and how he urinates, but for now we are done.

Patrick's Diagnosis

Edit

Patrick's Diagnosis...as of 10/16/08 9:58am

Patrick has definite autistic markers, but is also showing a lot of ADHD markers. After a 3 hr appointment and 8 forms asking questions about his personality we are a bit closer to finding out what we can do for him. The two drs that we met with yesterday are going to meet and discuss what was found in his mental and personality/behavior that would qualify him as a certain Autistic. The teacher has two or three forms to fill out yet about his behavior in school. And we need to do conferences at the school. Once those are all done we will meet again for a feedback session and see what we can do from there. The ADHD can be treated with meds, but that isnt necessarily the best route to go so we will see about that. The autism will need lots of training to get over the sensory issues, the personal space issues, the attention issues, and the overstimulation issues. You may ask what our ultimate goal is here...well it is for Patrick to lead as normal a lifestyle as he can with successes just like any other person. We want him to be able to function in society by being able to figure out himself what needs to be done from beginning to end to accomplish a task whether it be tying his shoes or if he so desires designing with a CAD program. He will have to understand the consequences to actions and be able to think ahead. I am not sure how we will accomplish all this..right now as always I am just going one day at a time, sometimes just one minute at a time. With a lot of patience, repetition and caring I hope to get him where he needs to be.

Feel free to ask questions, offer suggestions, or if you know of something out there or another person who can help feel free to give them my email address.

Not much...but then again a lot

Not much is really happening though a lot is... The last two weeks have been filled with dr appts for preops, annuals, and this week there is the autistic clinic in Grand Rapids for Patrick. We also have school field trips, family life, and oh this little thing called work. It doesn't seem like a lot when it is on the calendar, but once you go through it all it is a lot.

Last night we got a call to send in a treat for the Halloween Party that is coming up on the 31st. We don't have costumes picked out yet. I am not even sure we will be able to go trick or treating. It all depends on how Nicholas' surgery goes on the 27th.

This weekend was supposed to be my weekend in Wisconsin but plans changed on that too. I am tired and overwhelmed right now. I am hoping that feeling passes soon cause the 1/2 pot of coffee sure isnt helping it.

Patrick and Sean are doing well in school and making a lot of friends. I really wish that the Kindergarten program here was full day and that the 3k had room for Veronica. It throws them off so much having this time off every other day. I don't get a lot done in the house on Tuesdays or Thursdays either.

The growth chart orders are still coming in and I have been doing some marketing to hopefully keep them coming. Tom is still busy busy with work and life....guess I better go and play.

Is it really almost October???

Is it really almost October? Did summer really fly by that fast? I just can not believe that this year has gone as fast as it has. Last year at this time we were just learning how to live in a house with a single parent...had a child catch on fire and a hot pad...a window on the house replaced and a basement wall shored up. Patrick was just starting school and we were busy with picking grapes in the old backyard.

This year....Two kids in school, business growth charts flying out the door weekly, Tom busy with work, building a guest room and office in the basement, all the outside work to get done before the snow flies. Oh and trying to find time for me and seeing and talking to friends that I greatly miss.

We spent last weekend in Wisconsin and had an awesome time seeing everyone that we fit in. I wish I could have fit in even more. We are hoping for another weekend in October that I can get over there, but not sure when that will happen yet. In the future months we have family soccer games, parades, school fundraisers, a wedding in South Carolina, and all the holidays and then we start all over again.

The first day of school. Pictures

The boys on the first day of school

After a slow start the boys were excited...to put it mildly... to get on the bus and go to school.
Everyone made it through the day with just minor problems. Patrick was biten by another student and also got on the wrong bus. Sean's lunch got thrown away before he finished it all. Today they had a good day with gym and art as specials.

A new school year.... and another year of running

Today was the first day of school for Patrick and Sean. Both will be going to school on Mon, Wed and Friday. Patrick in regular 5k and Sean in Dev-5. They were up and running this morning and couldn't wait to get onto the bus. Veronica waved goodbye. Pictures to be posted later.

Me...this marks the start of year 2 of running for me. My goal is to lose another 30 lbs by Thanksgiving. I have added weight training and a lot of walking into my routine and really hope that I can continue it through winter. The treadmill is my friend..the treadmill is my friend....I might just have to go buy some new music for the mp3 player.

Also the growth charts have been flying out of the house. I have made and sent out a dozen in the last 3 weeks. I am loving the quiet time and
art therapy" it is bringing.

Well two kids are down for a nap so I am going to to go fit in an hr of running while I can and 30 mins of weights.

Into August we go....

We are heading into August and are just getting the hang of getting to and from different places in Rockford. Yesterday night we spent a great night downtown listening to some folk music, eating ice cream, and walking around the beautiful gardens.

Tonight we spent the night cleaning out the van as we are hoping to trade it in and get something a little more reliable. I can't believe that the Kia is just over 5 years old and already falling apart. Then again we also put on 100k in the five years that we've owned it. Just don't think it is worth putting that many more dollars into it. Crazy isnt it?

Life ....

So we just got back from a weekend in northern Wisconsin with my family over 4th of July. Crazy crazy crazy. Mom and Dad are in the process of building a log cabin up there. For those that don't know, last year their cabin burned down with a lightening strike. Well their new home is gorgeous, but still needs to have the finishing work done on it. We laid nearly 1500 sq feet of flooring and the boys build a new dock.

So life here in Michigan...

Not sure where I fit in yet. I don't know many people and I truly miss my family and friends back in Wisconsin. My cell phone bill really shows it. I've even added 5000 txt msgs to my cell just so I can stay in touch without a million phone calls.

Life ending in Wisconsin

My life as I know it will be ending soon as I move out of my house of 4 years. Here I am at 30 years old and starting over again. We have had our house on the market for 6 1/2 months and an offer came in on Saturday. We grabbed it and ran with it, just to find out today that the buyers financing wasn't what he made it out to be, so we are working with them to try and make the offer still work. We will be losing out on money, but in the end we need to decide if it is more important to get the family together or lose a little bit of money. I choose family. In the end that is what I always decide.

About us...we've been married for 8 1/2 years and have renovated 2 homes now in that timeframe. We've also had 4 beautiful children ages 6, 4 1/2, 2 1/2 and 7 1/2 months old. They keep us busy night and day. Even when they are sleeping I am keeping busy. Like right now I am blogging, checking email, paying bills and a few other things.

Life around here starts about 5 or 6 am when the sun comes up and first potty stops are made and ends around 11 or midnight. Patrick is in school, kindergarten, and loving it. We are having some testing done to help him in school. We are trying to complete it before the end of the school year so that we have something to work with next year. I can't tell you how much of a failure I feel as both a mother and an educator knowing that I can't even help my own child learn and that he is so far behind.

Anyways Patrick goes to school at 8. I have my nephew dropped off here nearly every day around 730am to play with the kids. By 8 am everyone else is up for the day, in fact most days breakfast is done by 715 and we are moving onto morning snack by 830-9am. between 11 and 3 it is naptime around here. No they dont sleep that long. The kids are up and down the whole time, but we attempt at least 1 hr of sleep. By 430-6pm my nephew gets picked up and we start dinner, homework, baths and getting ready for the next day. At 7pm the kids all head to bed. And I finally get a few hrs of quiet to myself.

Well I need to get back to some things around here....more on life and the house later