Gymnastics

Dec 13 was the girls first gymnastics meet. Abbey went first in the morning. She did great. She did her pullover on the bar without any help. That is only the 2nd time that she has ever done that. She did well on all events. She didn't fall off of the beam either. :) She got a 9.5 on vault. See the picture of her doing it.

Lexie went in the afternoon. She did well too. She did her pullover, back hip circle and her mill circle all without help. That is the first time she ever got the mill circle. See picture. You strraddle the bar then go face first 360 degrees around the bar. It is apparently rough ont he hands.

I was really pleased with how well the girls did. They both have learned a lot since the beginnning of the year.

We are having the strangest weather this year. First we had a very wet summer here. In fact, it was so wet that our well never had less than a full amount of water all summer long. Usually in August the water is very low. Then we had a very wet fall. It rained almost everyday. Our basement was dangerously close to flooding several times. Now we are having an early winter. WE have been getting snow nearly everyday for weeks already. I keep having to tell myself that it is still NOv. You certainly wouldn't know it by the weather. The kids are loving the snow. It is their favorite time of the year. :)
I took the girls to have their eyes checked yesterday. Abbey's eyes are getting better. She doesn't have to wear her glasses unless reading is giving her a headache. Lexie's eyes got worse again though. She should get her new lenses next week sometime.
The Army finally is doing the right thing with Jay. He is being seen by the dr weekly or biweekly trying to get his medicine straightened out. That should have been happening right when he got back. There really is no excuse for them not trying to help him right away. Jay is still having nightmares and general trouble sleeping.
We are planning a trip to Fl in January. I am trying to finalize our plans. :)
The girls have their first gymnastics meet on Dec 13. They are pretty excited.

Nov 19

Today marks 2 1/2 years since my first back operation. Yesterday marks that day that the lawyer submitted a claim against Dr Baird, North Country Orthopedic Group, and Samartian Medical Center. He hasn't done his research yet though. He will be doing that, and then letting me know if I have a valid case. Either way, today was the deadline for the claim.
We don't have much new to report. Jay is gone for 3 days. He should be home for Abbey's birthday.
Lexie has mastered the back handspring but is scared to do it independently. She actually bent her glasses last night because she didn't trust herself that she could do it and fell on her head.
Abbey's schoolwork is really improving. She is doing much better with spelling words on day one. She is also doing great with her math.
Brayden is eating a lot. I hope that means he might grow. :) He is doing great in piano. He is playing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star after only 3 lessons. Brayden is also reading really well now. He read Burglar Alarm off of a building yesterday. He also told the piano teacher that if her piano said song instead of sons it would say "song". I really didn't know that he knew how ot spell that. By the way, that would mean that 3 of my kids now learned to read the natural way. They were all reading by 6 1/2. We don't teach phonics. We just read to them.
Trent is keeping busy. He loves to build with Legos. He usually spends most of the day playing with them. Trent is keeping his piano teacher on her toes. He always has intelligent questions to ask her. In fact, she asked if I had had him tested because he is soooo smart. lol
Lexie doesn't have CF. I still don't know why she has so much trouble running though.
Jay's dental appt that he waited 3 months for was today. He isn't here. So now he has to wait another month to have the appt. I don't know how long after that appt before they do the work. They will pull the baby teeth and then to a spacer and then either pull down the adult teeth or do implants.

Time is flying by

Well time continues to fly by. Lexie has started violin lessons since I last wrote. She is liking it. :)
This is the shortened version of what the piano teacher tells me every week. Abbey is doing great. AFter only 4 months of lessons she is reading music. Her playing is good too. She is doing far better than the average student. Lexie is blowing her teachers mind. WE ended up choosing to pay more for their lessons to get them a teacher who is out of the box and really really gifted. I think that we are getting our money's worth. Lexie is playing Minuet in G Major after only 4 months of lessons. That is not normal. In fact, the owner of the store can't believe what he hears when my girls come in for lessons. He knows when they started, and we have lessons when no one else does so there aren't other kids playing too. God has blessed Lexie with perfect pitch. I can't quite grasp that as I don't have perfect pitch. She can be playing a song that she has never heard before and will know by sound if she hits a wrong note.
We are finished with our first quarter for school this year. Everyone is doing well with their schoolwork.
We got new living room furniture, and I also got an elliptical. I love it. I am enjoying some relief from walking which agrivates my plantar fasciatis.
I wanted to post some pics, but that will have to wait until next time.
WE have quite a few doctor appointments lined up. Brayden is being seen for his issues. I can't write them off to shyness any longer. He is missing out on fun things because he can't get the courage or whatever to participate. He even does this at home. He misses out on fun things because he is in the fetal position on the floor.
I went to the dr today about my very very painful periods. He did some blood work. That would indicate whether it is likely that I am perimenopausal already. It is not a 100% accurate test though. He is also running a thyroid test to make sure that that is functioning properly since there is family history of issues. The bonus was that I asked if I could get more of the shoe inserts for my plantar fasciatis, and they gave me 2 more pair. You can't buy these good ones at the store. So I am very thankful for more. In fact, the lady told me anytime I need more just to come in and ask for them. :) Now I don't have to wear the same ones I workout in all day.
The kids are also having their eyes checked in Nov. I hope to "convince" Brayden to have his checked too because he reads with his books very close to his face.
Lexie is having a sweat test to see if she has cystic fibrosis on Nov 5. It is unlikely since the boys have both tested negative. However, it is not normal for an otherwise healthy 8-9 year old to get pneumonia 3 times in the coarse of one year.
The kids are growing up so fast. I keep thinking that once the kids sleep through the night life will slow down, once the kids are all in school, once the kids can do most things independently, but it never does. It seems to be gaining speed at an alarming rate. One thing is for sure. We are getting in all of the quality family time that we can. We are also committed to getting into God's word with the kids daily as well. That is really the highlight of the boy's day. Daddy does devotions with them every night.

Dr Dhawan

So, I saw Dr Dhawan. Everything is great!!! I can ride water slides and roller coasters. I can do whatever I like except run. I can lift the boys now. :)
Mom, he said that he would do your knees too. ;)

Oct 8

The girls are both thrilled. They have learned some new gymnastics skills. Lexie can do a back walkover and a front one really well now. Abbey learned to stand up out of her bridges and front limbre. She is working on her back walkover and front walkover now too.
Brayden got to do the rings yesterday for the first time. He liked it. Brayden made a friend at gymnastics who is also there from 4-8. So it works out well. They get some play time in.
Lexie is starting violin lessons tomorrow morning. She is very excited. :)

We have been very busy since the beginning of our school year. We are now 6 1/2 weeks done. There are only 29 1/2 weeks to go. The kids are all doing very well. :)
The 3 kids that are taking piano are doing terrific. They are all exceeding their teachers expectations. Brayden will probably start piano this week if all goes well.
All 4 are loving gymnastics classes in Lowville. Abbey is going to start going to her level 2 class on Tues and also Lexie's level 3 class on Friday. This will be good for her. :)
We haven't been up to anything truly spectacular. The kids all decided what they are going to be for Halloween this year. Lexie is going to be Iridessa (a fairy). Abbey is Tinker Bell. Brayden is Peter Pan, and Trent is Captain Hook.
The boys had physicals at the new pediatrician's office this week. Brayden is same percentile for height and weight according to them. Seems he is very very thin to me. His ribs have no meat between them so the skin dips in between them all. In addition, he is complaining of stomach pain and weakness in general. I have to get his records from the old pediatricians, and then we will go from there. Trent is only 50th percentile for height. He is almost 75th for weight. He is 43 inches tall and 43 lbs. Brayden is 44 inches tall and 40 lbs.
The girls go for their physicals on MOnday.
Hopefully I will finally be able to see Dr Dhawan on Thursday. I called and asked to talk to him yesterday. He called me back, and I told him that his office needed to get some things done so that I could come see him. He said it would be done that day.

Rain rain rain

I decided that I would pa up today and take the kids to Chuck E Cheese as I promised Brayden I would for swimming all summer. The drive there was rainy but fine. Then we left there to go to gymnastics. It was a long drive. We were almost there 1hr 45min into drive when the wipers broke again. WE just had them fixed a few weeks ago. I am not very happy about that. So I had to drive through Lowville...not a big city but a part of it that I had never been through before with no wipers in the rain. Then when class was over we made our way home. Of course, it rained the whole time. So I guess that I have had better days.

Also Wed and Thurs the girls tried out the swim team on post. Jay and I are still deciding whether they are going to do it or not. They both really like it a lot. However, it would mean taking them to practice on post twice a week for swim. I already have to go once a week for groceries. So, it would mean one extra trip to post. They can go any days that work for us M-S. That is a good thing too.

piano and gymnastics

Today was a big day for us. I had a dentist appt. Then the kids all had piano lessons. Then they all had gymnastics.
The dentist appt went well.
Piano was 75% good. Brayden just refused to even look at the piano let alone play it.
Gymnastics went really well for everyone. Lexie level 3 class has 16 girls. Lexie loves it. Abbey's level 2 class has 24 girls. Abbey said it was the best yet. Trent's class had 5 kids. He had fun. Brayden's class had 8 boys. He had fun and did the whole class.
Well now I need to get some dinner because I sat at the gym from 4-8.

The beach was closed.

I took the kids to Southwick Beach this afternoon to take the beach pictures that I have been wanting to take all summer. The lady there told us that the beach was closed. You can see that I listened to what she said. She still charged me $4 to get in.

OH, and I had to take Lexie to the dr today. She has an eye infection and also an infection surrounding the eye. I have to take her back on Friday to have it rechecked.

Labor Day weekend

We were blessed to have Rae Ann come visit us for the weekend. We had a nice visit and the weather was very nice too.

On Sunday we went on a 2 1/2 hour boat ride in the Thousand Islands. Then we toured Boldt Castle.

August 25

Jay did well preaching both services yesterday. Many could not believe that that was his first time. Praise the Lord!!
I took Trent to the orthopedic group this morning. Although his bone is broken it isn't displaced at all. Casting it would cause more trouble than benefits....so he can walk or limp on it.
I am busy making all sorts of phone calls today to get the kids signed up for sports for this fall. The girls want to do full gym gymnastics and swim. The boys want to do tumbling....though Trent can't start yet and swim too.

August 24

Today Jay is preaching both services at our church. He is pretty nervous. He has been preparing for quite a while though and spent nearly all day after noon yesterday studying too. I will have to let you know how it went tomorrow when I report on whether Trent got a cast on his foot or not.

August 22

Lexie diving.

Abbey doing the breast stroke.

Brayden doing the back crawl.

Trent being silly.
Today was the last day of swim for the kid's summer session. They all did great. They said that Trent would repeat level 1, but I am not sure why. He only doesn't swim fast because no one else does. He just goes with the flow. I will put him in level 2 when we take lessons next because he passed everything. Brayden is still in level 2 because he is so scared. Again, he passed all of the skills. Abbey passed level 5. So now she is in level 6!!! How exciting. She started the summer in level 4. Lexie just had fun. They taught her how to dive better, and she can hold her breath for longer now. Otherwise, I don't think that she learned anything.
Then we get home....and the dr's office had called twice saying that it was urgent. Trent's foot is broken. They had made him an appt with the orthopedic dr at 10. Too bad they didn't call yesterday to let us know. So now I sit waiting for news on when to take him since we missed the 10 appt.
Jay also lined up a babysitter for tonight. Now we might not even be able to go out. :( We are waiting to see.

First day of school

Today we started school after we got home from swim at 10:30. The day went pretty smoothly. We were all done by 4. However, no one started math today. We did take a time outside for a bit. Lexie learned how to mow the yard. :) She is pretty excited. She mowed the whole front yard. Tomorrow she will work on the back ifwe have time.
This year the girls are doing the second half of American History (1850-present). They are doing electricity and magnetism for science.
The boys are doing intro to World History. Their science covers a wide range of topics too.
Both girls are learning to play the recorder which is very easy since they are learning the piano too. They are also learning spanish.
For sports, all 4 are tumbling. That is really all that we have figured out.

August 17

Since we are staying here for a while, we are starting on some home improvements. On Jay's list are tiling the kitchen and both bathrooms. He also wants to replace the countertops in the kitchen and the sink. I would like a new frig. Jay is going to take out the closet in the big bathroom, and we are going to buy some nice linen closet and matching cabinets and counter tops. We wants to tile from floor to waist height too. And we are looking at bay windows to replace the patio doors. WE think that we will get a window instead of a door.
In addition there are a bunch of small projects. He is replacing the lighting and mirror in the small bathroom today. We will replace the cabinet and sink after the bathroom is tiled. WE both think that these improvements could only add value when we sell in 1 1/2 to 2 years.
I finished another blanket for Jay's cousin this morning. I have been reading a lot and organizing the house.
The kids have been busy with swim, practicing piano, and the girls have started a Spanish program too. We will start school tomorrow though we might take Tuesday off already if some friends can go swimming. Also, if there is nice weather later this week, I want to get some beach pictures of the kids. :)
Trent's foot is still causing him a lot of pain. I am going to try to get someone to see him tomorrow.

VBS week

I taught the 2 and 3 year olds VBS this year. It was a lot of fun. It was also very challenging. I had 4 kids who don't go to church or Sunday School. Those kids wanted to do their own things instead of what was planned.

Our 4 kids had a lot of fun at VBS. On Thursday, Trent was jumping off of the stairs onto the wedge mat. That part is fine except that he jumped from too high and didn't clear the stairs and has been unable to walk since then. I did take him to the ER on Friday. It took 4 hours to determine that he has just badly bruised the bottom of his foot.

AFter the church picnic Saturday, Brayden complained that his stomach really hurt. I thought maybe something didn't set well. In the morning he complained that he hurt in the groin area. We didn't know what to think. When he got out of the shower though we saw that he was covered in red dots. We suspect that he has chicken pox. He has a slight fever too. He has had 2 vaccines for chicken pox already.

Brayden's birthday party

The baseball cake...


Brayden playing t-ball. ONe croc and one flip flop on his feet were the secret weapons.

promotion day

Jay taking the oath...to become a captain.

Jay with LTC Bailey. He was very nice to us. He gave the kids all a coin. IN the military world, that is a big deal to get a coin.

Jay thanking me in his speech.

Jay cutting the cake with a saber.

Brayden's birthday

We are celebrating Brayden's birthday on Sat, but he still got to open some gifts on his birthday. The kids went to swimming lessons. Then we went ot Mc Donald's for lunch. The kids and I went swimming at the pool on post for a few hours.

Swim

Lexie and Abbey diving in.

Brayden swimming in the deep end.
Trent smiling as always.

Well the first half of the summer swim is over. Abbey advanced to level 5. The rest all stayed put.

The menu is set

So I finally have decided on the menu. I have started to buy things. I will be making 150 wraps. I am making chicken caesar, turkey bacon ranch, club, italian, and ham and cheese. We are buying fruit trays from the commissary. We are having chips and pretzels. I am making buckeyes, choc snap cookies, and rice crispy treats. We will also have a cake. WE are getting soda, and Jay is working on getting ice for the drinks. I have to borrow coolers for the wraps. I need to find large serving bowls for the chips and ice and platters for the cookies and candy. Other than that, I have more shopping to do next week to get the meat, cheeses, lettuce and tomatoes for the wraps.

Joys of the Army

So Jay comes home and tells me that he gets to throw a promotion party for himself. It is one of those protocol type things in the Army. So guess what I am doing?? Going to price stuff for 150 and buy tons of baking stuff because I am making the desserts. I have to keep reminding myself that this is only relative. It is only one lunch.

So now I am busy preparing for VBS. I am teaching the 2 and 3 year olds. I am also busy with swim and summer reading program. I believe that this is a Calgon moment. :)

My foot

I guess that I should post. I have been off of the crutches since last Thursday. The insoles that the dr gave me allow me to walk. I do still have a limp because my foot doesn't go to or beyond 90 degrees because of the swelling still. I am walking every morning again.

Happy Day for Jay (and Lexie too)

It is a good day for Jay. He has been anxiously awaiting the promotion list for August since the 4th. It came out today. He will be Captain Huffman on August 1. :) This is great for us. It is a significant raise.

Lexie went to gymnastics today to make up a class from last week when she was sick. She stood up out of her front limbre for the first time. She is excited.

Spelling Bee

Today was the county spelling bee. Abbey went first. There were 26 first and second graders. She made it 4 rounds and misspelled dresses. Lexie went next. There were 26 3-5 graders though I think that all schools sent only 5th graders. Lexie did well. She went 5 or 6 rounds. She misspelled dancing. Both girls knew immediately that they had gotten it wrong.

They've all had it now.

Abbey is finally getting over the viral illness. They have all had it now. Hopefully we will be well for a while now. Block leave is over tomorrow. So Jay has to go back to work.

Fever of 105

Lexie got feeling bad around lunch yesterday. We still ended up going to the beach thinking she was ok. Well, after we had been there 45 min Lexie said she couldn't even walk anymore. So we packed up and came home. I took her temp. It was 104.8 one way and 105.3 the other. So I called the dr to see if I should just give her Tylenol or if I should bring her in. They wanted to see her. Before they left I noticed that Brayden was now dressed like it was winter. Sure enough he was running a fever too. So Jay took them both. They have a virus that is going around. It causes high fevers and headache.

Ouch!!

I was so pleased that the kids all went happily off to swim this morning. That gave me an hour to walk. I walked for about 30 minutes when I had this very intense pain in my foot. I slowed and made a phone call then sped back up so that I would be in time to pick up the kids. My foot was very sore by the time we got home. I went to see the dr. Apparently the pain is from the bone spurs....strained a muscle or tendon or something because of it. So I am on crutches for right now. I need to go see my primary care dr tomorrow for a referral to see the podiatrist.
This is a big bummer for me. I was looking forward to walking everyday.

July 1-3 trip

These are in reverse order. This is a picture of how a soldier would have dressed during the encampment at Valley Forge in 1777-1778. He is holding his musket with the bayonet attached.


This is an example of the type of cabin that the soldiers built for themselves to live in. About 12 soldiers lived in each of these cabins. The girls learned quite a bit about Valley Forge this year so this was interesting to see.

This is Kiss Works. The kids got to package Hershey Kisses.


These pictures are at Sesame Place.

This is Trent going down the big water slide.

This is Brayden splashing into the pool at the end of the big slide.









Our trip was a good one. The kids enjoyed it all. They all went on all of the rides. I couldn't believe that the boys wanted to go on the big water slides. They did great and went on them all quite a few times. We only had a couple of minor incidents. They have this 4 story tall ropes tunnels to climb in. The only problem is that there are about 12 exits from this structure. Trent climbed all of the way to the oppostie side, and then started bolting down the stairs to find us. We were on the opposite end. Luckily we saw him doing that. Jay went to go get him. He was calling his name, but when Trent got to the bottom and hadn't found us, he curled up in a ball against the fence. The next time, Jay just went right with Trent on the ropes so he wouldn't get scared. The other minor incident is that Trent fell asleep while standing next to me. I looked down, and he was face down on the ground. I asked him what happened while I was helping him up. He didn't know. He just kept on licking his lollipop.