31 for 21: Chilly Disney Show

Braska reporting: A couple weeks ago after we went to Bears Sunday at Grandma C’s house, we went to another place. Mommy and Daddy didn’t say where we were going. We fell asleep on the way, and when we woke up, we were at the place where we have done some cheer competitions, so we thought we might be cheering.

But nope. It was Disney on Ice!  We were so surprised, and very excited!  It was a little cold in there, though.

We’ll show you more pictures later, but here’s a couple for now.


We LOVED the princesses!

Selling without trying is fun!

I just got notification that I sold something on CafePress.

I had completely forgotten that I set up a “shop,” per se, a few years ago.

But someone chose my design out of many options, and I find that so fun! 

Partially because I forgot it was on there, but mostly because I actually created the design myself. It’s not a stock image or something.  It was one of the first attempts at image work that I’d ever tried…  and still one of my faves, I must say.

So there ya go.  Good times. Thank you R.L. in Ohio for choosing a tshirt with my DS awareness design!

In case anyone else wants one….  it’s out there!

This is also kind of funny to me, because now I make shirts like crazy. Another thing I need to update any of you who still come around here about…  I made one for me for Kinlee’s school, and it caught on like wildfire.  I’ve sold 20+ since August, I’ve got over 12 shirts on my hobby table that are waiting to be done, with several more orders pending. And they’re all hand done, lots of bling!  Who knew?!?  (I’m drooling over a new super-gadget that would make it easier, but M hasn’t ok’d the $6000 expenditure at this stage. Men….)

Not to mention the cheer squads I’m doing bows for, the salon who is selling my “everyday bows” for little girls, and the gymnastics teams who want bows AND bling shirts for their Olympic trials travel wear.  Oh and then there’s the photography that I just began doing for fun and practice and for which I now have lots of requests for bookings… 

Nope, I’m not at all busy.

Braska Cameo on TV!

Mommy reporting: Check out this link for a story on a Special Olympics event Braska was a part of yesterday morning.  She got to skate with some of the cast of Disney on Ice… and Mickey Mouse!!  I saw this reporter there with a camera yesterday, but I didn’t know her and just assumed it was SO promo stuff.  So when M was walking through the waiting room at his office and saw this on TV today, he called me. “Um, I just saw Braska on TV!”

She’d never been skating before, and I was amazed that she could even stand in the skates on the carpet.  Once she got to the ice, it was a bit more challenging, but they were great. The coach of the SO hockey team that was there ended up skating around the ice with her for almost an hour, holding her.
(photo by www.algiepix.com)
And she LOVED it!  She begged to go back out when I would take her for a break.  “Mom, I wanna skate more!  Mr. Tim, take me back to skate, please!”  It was plugged as a Young Athletes event in the info I got, but Braska ended up the only little one. The rest were teens with the hockey team, but they were great with her.  She just looked especially tiny next to them!

She was one totally jazzed little girl about the whole thing, even kind of curious about Mickey (and we’re not really a big Mickey house at all…though she knows who he is, of course).  By the time I took her to school before lunch, she was wired and talking all about it.  Pretty fun to see.

(Note to self: When going to an ice rink, to go ice skating, don’t forget the ICE element, and put the child in something more than a t-shirt.  Thankfully there was a fleece jacket in the car and she borrowed some gloves.  And Mr. Tim kept her warm while he carried her, too.  So great… )

Icing on the cake…. We got 4 free tix to the Disney on Ice show!!  But don’t tell the girls, it’s gonna be a surprise Sunday evening!

I’ll post more pics from the skating event soon…

First day of school 2013

The day didn’t start out on a perky note for Braska. She did not feel well and just was so pathetic to see. The classic front porch pics were a bit uncomfortable for Kinlee.  But still, a photo must be had. Even if it’s an unhappy one.


Braska went with Daddy to school, 13 minutes east of our house, and I took Kinlee 10 minutes west of the house to her school. And I kept thinking “the juggling has begun….”

While dropping Kinlee off, I was still in her school, Braska’s school called (8:20 am) to tell me she was feeling worse, and asking if I thought I should get her.  We discussed, and they felt that wanted to allow her a bit more down time to adjust, and it turned out she did perk up and did well for the rest of the day.  Belly issues, apparently.

When it was time for Braska to arrive home on the bus, Kinlee and I went out to the porch to wait for her.


She got off that bus, happy as a clam, and marched independently up to the house with her monstrosity of a backpack in tow.  My fave photo of the day…

Thankful for a successful end after a rough start.

The girls are not in the same school this year. Kinlee is in half-day kindergarten at the private school where they both went last year.  She has the same (AWESOME) teacher that B had last year.  Braska is in our public school district, but not in our home school, by our choice.  We chose another one that had a program we liked better, a “cross cat” room that better suited her needs and a much more receptive and flexible staff/administration.  Her team is great, and with the to-be-expected tweaks, she’ll have a successful year, I think.  She really likes her sped teacher and paras and her gen ed teacher as well.  So we’re pleased so far!

Happy Father’s Day and see ya later

 
Me and KiKi are going to church camp this week with Grammy and Auntie Ju.  We went to see Grammy and Papa this morning so we could get in Grammy’s car. Here’s Kinlee with our Papa.  She’s looking funny because it was bright outside and she smiles weird lately.
 

I don’t think Daddy liked that we were leaving on Father’s Day, but he knows we’re gonna have fun with all those big kids. 


And Mommy had to have a goodbye picture, too, before we left for 6 days.

We’re gonna play outside A LOT and swim and play with little kids and big kids and sleep in a great big place with lots of bed.  And Grammy and Auntie Ju are gonna be there the whole time.  Kinlee was sad that Mommy would miss us, but I think they’ll be alright.

Father’s Day Send-off

Today my dad was preaching at a church in the metro, so some of us went to be there on Father’s Day.  This is three of the four sisters. Rachel, me, Dad, and Julia (our summer live-in nanny) One sister and two brothers were not there.


And Kinlee with her Papa Beagle.


In the same meet-up, the girls switched Siennas (our family has 3 in these get-togethers, one more wasn’t there) and climbed in with Grammy and Auntie Julia for a week at music camp!  They’re getting to experience their first week of church camp, and I’m a little jealous.  I used to spend several weeks every summer there. 

So they said a good bye to Daddy on Father’s Day.


And Mommy had to have a goodbye picture, too, before they left for 6 days.

I’m sure they will have a super week with dozens and dozens of jr. high, high school kids!  M and I are kind of looking at each other like “what do we do now?”…..  guess it’ll be a long work-day week while we have the chance!

Field trip. On a bus!

My class is going on a field trip today. And we get to ride the big bus from the high school!!  I love riding a bus so much!

This is me and two of my friends. Both their names begin with A. I say they are awesome!

Simulpost: What? A post? Don’t pass out…

I know I’ve been MIA. I know that my readership is basically nil. But I know there are a few of you who may still happen by.

So in this moment, as I sit at McD’s after a very healthy and balanced lunch, I’ll pause to post instead of logging in to work for a few minutes.  Don’t you feel special? 

Wait. Maybe you want to wait til after you see what overly-awesome and super-interesting things I have to share first.  Then you can be the judge of it all.

Why am I at McD’s? Good question. It’s not a place you find me often at all. But it’s close to both of the schools where my girls are this afternoon, and I didn’t have a long period to go do something involved, so lunch and some quick internet time was about what fit.

Both schools? And in the afternoon? Don’t they go to the same school and isn’t it half-day for mornings?  Well, let me back up a bit.  We’ll see if I can get it explained in the few minutes I have left. 

Oops… Happy Valentines Day.  Didn’t want to miss that. I am thankful for all my online valentines.

Now, the backstory. Over Christmas break we started the process of “dual enrollment” for Braska, so she could attend an elementary school in our local district in the afternoon while continuing to go to her half-day kindergarten in the mornings.  The process has been beautifully smooth. We are really blessed, I admit.  The team at C School is wonderful, they basically let me set up her schedule exactly like I wanted, and I’m really pleased.  We’re doing this just to boost her in the areas she’s struggling with. And so we can get some additional therapies as well.  We’ve been on our own with therapies since August, and much of that time she’s had none.  She’s doing GREAT at LWCS, but some concepts are hard for her (math!!), so this is what I thought might give her some help.

She’s just going to be in special ed in the afternoons. There’s 5 boys in there. That’s the whole class. She’ll love that!  She’s a fan of boys, especially since one of her faves is in there, too.  She’ll go to specials (art, music, etc) IF she doesn’t need to have a therapy during that time.  My priorities are academic instruction and therapies.  I don’t worry any about inclusion in that environment because she’s with her gen ed class all morning and she does specials then.  I like that it’s a lot like tutoring in the afternoons, with therapy thrown in. What’s not to like, if you ask me!  She’ll go Tues, Weds, Thurs for the afternoons. We’ve moved her private OT, ST, and PT to Monday afternoons or Friday afternoon.  (Plus, of course, cheer on Sun and Mon evenings, swim on Friday evenings. Cheer competitions on Sat or Sun once or twice a month and Learning Program on Saturday once a month, too. So she’s all booked up.)

So today is Braska’s first day of attending C School in the afternoon, going directly from pick-up at LWCS to C School. 

This morning I took both girls to school at LWCS where they both go 5 half-days each week.  They love it. I love it.  It’s awesome. Period.  Can’t even tell you how much I love that place.  I dropped them off at 8. Should have gone to work for a couple hours, but decided (with my boss’s permission) to forego trying to get out there, set up, work for maybe 45 minutes, then tear down and leave again to get back for the Valentine’s parties in both girls’ rooms.  So I went to WM to get pink icing, my contribution to Braska’s party, per assignment.  I also picked up a precious pot of tulips for B’s teacher and a little mini-rosebush for K’s teacher.  And a super neat bright bouquet for the office staff/principal.

Got back to school in time to deliver each of the florals, then off to set up for B’s party.  Then bounce across to K’s party a couple doors down and around the corner.  And back and forth. Repeat.  Both girls had a great time. We packed everything up and headed out at dismissal. Drove across town to F School and dropped Kinlee.

F School is a local church preschool/parent’s day out program that she went to occasionally last year.  We like the people there a lot.  So nice.  And since Braska “gets to go” to a second school, Kinlee decided she wanted to as well.  She got some money for her birthday last weekend, and this is what she likes to use it for.  Win-win.

So we dropped Kinlee and her lunch box right in time for lunch with her friends.  And in time for the second Valentine’s party of the day.  She’ll be there til I get her on the way home from Braska’s pick-up.

Then it was on to C School. I fed B in the car (lucky for me she loves greek yogurt. woo.) and in she went. Her buddy Jack is in her class at C School, and it was so funny to see him look up and see her walk in. Totally like, “Huh? What are YOU doing here?” She went right to the bead toys and activities and didn’t even look back to see where I was. 

So I came to McDonald’s to spend an hour eating some lunch and waiting til time to return to Braska’s class Valentine’s Day party in a few minutes. 

All fits just perfectly, right?!?

Tonight, I may collapse. But then again, this kind of day is more the norm than a rarity lately.  I drive almost 100 miles a day often, and that’s not even leaving the county.  Most of that is east and west and east and west on 70.  Thankfully, most everything is right off of the interstate, which makes it easy. Just repetitive.

We’re going to get Daddy’s favorite pizza for dinner, watch Beauty and the Beast with the girls (their first time!) and head to bed early.  Sounds like a lovely Valentine’s evening. 

Time to head to the 3rd party of the day… hugs to all your valentines!

Big News!!!! Button Free!!!

Mommy note:  Tonight as we were leaving the in-laws’ house at about 9:45pm, I heard an “Uh-oh” and turned around to see PaPaw holding Braska button.  It was not attached to her. 

We all kind of paused, I said flippantly, and half joking, “Well, I guess we’re going to be done with that now.”  I then quickly had anxiety start creeping in.  Over the next minute or so, quick conversations happened, and M agreed that we were probably ready to just let it stay out.  We were 45 minutes from home, had no supplies with us to reduce the balloon (which was still intact, weird as that always seems to me) and put the button back in, so we had to make some decision pronto.  Break the balloon in order to get it back in and hold the stoma open---but we don’t have a back-up button at home---OR just call it done and move on.

I called our nutritionist right then, not realizing until it was ringing that it was 9:45pm.  After a quick chat with her, and her assurances that she felt Braska was also ready to let the button go (we have discussed this recently, possibly planning to take it out in the next month or so), I agreed that this was our pivotal moment.

This is the moment we have been working toward for 5 1/2 years. 4 1/2 years with the g-button. 

So we put a makeshift bandage over the stoma, which was not leaking one drop, even though she had just had a late meal, and gave hugs and goodbyes.

As we were leaving in the van, I said a quick prayer that it would be all good. That she will continue to do as well as she’s done.  That the stoma would heal quickly and without complication.  And that I could adjust to this new strange life.

Because it seems like it is a new strange life, and it’s only 90 minutes old.  I suppose when everything has been about feeding, and getting off the tube “someday,” and being a mom of a tube-fed kid, it just feels really odd to have a sudden change in identity and shift of goals. 

But it’s a good strange. A positive odd-ness.  I’m excited…

Braska did stop to look at what was happening, she seemed slightly confused, but went right back to wrestling and playing immediately.  She’ll not miss it one bit, if my guess is right.

So celebrate with us, pray for her continue progress, and if you’re on this journey, know that it CAN happen…  I am realizing that I never really visualized that this day would come.  But it’s here. And I’m going to have to adjust to this new button-free “normal.”

Mommy life: Personality changes

Lately, Braska has been showing signs of some changes. Not only is she growing physically—which she IS doing, though SO slowly—but she is really exhibiting changes in her personality.  Some are fun, and some are quite frustrating.

 

She’s 3. Someone must have told her that 3-year-olds are famous for being difficult.  Now, in fairness, and because I know there are some who will defend Miss B, she is nowhere near a “difficult child.”  But she has found her independent streak a little bit, and she has decided that she knows best in many cases.  These are good things, great milestones, really.  But it sure has made life more interesting and challenging around the house.

 

One nice thing is that when she disagrees with an instruction or does not want to cooperate in some way, she says, “No-fank-you” very quickly, like one word, but at least it’s polite.  It’s a hit with people who offer her a bite of food or something like that, generally people who don’t know her background.  They love that she is so polite about her refusal.  It’s cute, but it gets in the way just a tad sometimes.

 

On the positive side, she has really found a silly sense of humor.  She is laughing at appropriate times in TV shows or her learning DVDs.  There is always a “Ha Ha! So funny!” offered when Kinlee does something silly.  And the girls chase each other in small circles and tackle each other quite frequently.  The laughter is nice, I admit.

 

Yesterday, she did something else new.  She is usually very mellow in her high chair.  She sits there to eat or to get her tube feedings.  It’s usually a uneventful situation, except for the occasional, “Eat your food!” that she barks at Kinlee while tapping her tray.  But yesterday she had energy from somewhere like never before.  She just started bouncing around in her chair suddenly. The thing I found most impressive, which was prior to the video below—of course she wouldn’t repeat herself like I wanted—was that when I asked her “What are you doing?” she said, “Jumping!”  Answering a “what doing” question, as they’re called in her IEP, is a big deal, something we’re working on. And it is something that she’s not all that strong at recently. 

 

But this day was different… so I captured a piece of it.

 

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