My new favorite song

She was trying to get better presents.

It worked.

We caught one

Just a couple of comments.
1) Mark is helping. That branch he's holding is very heavy. I'm not sure Jason could do it with out him.
2) Anna is helping too. She's walking. She wieghs 15 lbs more with all that stuff on.
3) You can't tell in the this picture but it was brutally cold. We spent the rest of the day with our lips pressed up against the side of hot cocao mugs to get the frost off of them. It was COLD!
4) It was a fun day.

A day in the kitchen

In my tiny pool of available time, I am managing to squeeze in a very small amount to baking. It is that time of year after all. I have a new little helper. I've always had help in the kitchen. And I still have my big boy helper sometimes. But now I have a cute little helper whose smile lights up my kitchen. See what I mean. She asks a million and one questions. I understand about half of them. That is big. I used to not understand anything. We are coming along. I think it is moments like these that are helping. She and I are spending time together just talking. No big brothers around. She can't just nod to what he says; she has to talk to me herself. And to top it off, she is learning to make apple crisp. In another year I will be able to send her to the kitchen to make me dessert while I veg. on the couch. It's an investment in the future I figure.
BTW, what do you think of my new wall color in the dining room? I told you I couldn't stand wood paneling. I'm not sure just how I feel about painted wood paneling yet. But replacement wasn't in the budget for this year. $20 worth of paint was. I like the color a lot. We also painted the kitchen a bright sunny yellow. And I used a yellow green as an accent. I will show you these things another day perhaps.

The day water stopped leaking all over the floor

Since when is my life so boring that I am beside myself with joy over the delivery of a new washing machine. Really. But I am. It's coming sometime today. And I just can't wait. Of course the fact that our old one died last week with only about half the laundry done, and we are all sitting around in our underwear for lack of anything to wear, could have have something to do with it. Maybe. It's cold here you know. And I have on my last pair of clean undies. So I am glad it's coming today. I'm sure you need to hear all of that.
In other news, you may have noticed a lack of me lately. You did notice right, right!! My first college course ended yesterday. My next one starts today. I am having a blast. It's so nice to have something that is all mine. If I pass, it's on me. If I fail, it's on me. I like that I have something to do that has nothing to do with anyone else.
The one and only downside to all of this me time is a lack of leisurely me time. All of the time that the kids are sleeping is spent doing school work. There isn't a lot of time for blogging lately. I will squeeze it in where I can. My posts may be a little shorter and include more pictures of my nutty crew. I will still be hanging around though.


THIS JUST IN.....It's here. It's here. And it already has laundry in it. No more sniff tests to see if I can get one more day out of that shirt. No more water leaking all over the floor. No more mountain of towels to mop up the pools of water under the washer.


When did I get so boring?


I don't care. This is awesome.

I know they grow up quick

But this just seems ridiculous. Rocking chairs!! At least they managed to maintain their silly even in old age.

Digging for gold

Anna has always had a bit of a fasination with her nose. It was the first body part she learned to idenitfy on her own. It was the first one she said. It's just a cool little thing.
Since the begininng of school we have had a long string of colds. We just barely get well from one, and we are knocked flat again. I lost count somewhere around 5. 5 colds in two months. Let's just say I am sick of being sick.
All of this sickness has brought a new level of fun to Anna's life. Not only is the nose fun to say and touch; you can reach up in there and get stuff out. There is a certain threshold of yuck for every mother. For some it's poo or puke. For me it's removal of things from your nostril with your finger. Anna has me all figured out too. That kid digs and digs up there. And I didn't even realize just how much she does it until I downloaded the pictures from my camera the other day.
I didn't take a single one of purpose. But here they are staring at me. ICK!!!
That look of concentration on her face. What does she think she will find up there anyway?
Just gross. I have to go wash my hands.

Football season

Have I ever mentioned Jason's passion. The man loves loves loves football. Seriously, obsession. He knows the Packers stats from the 1985 team. If he put as much brain capacity into science as he does into football he would have come up with a cure for cancer by now.
So imagine, if you will, standing in the delivery room. Now imagine him jumping for joy when he sees a baby boy pop out. OK, so there was no pop and we already knew it was a boy. So shoot me for embellishing a little. This has been a long time coming for JasonSome one may have told Mark this is called a 'spin move.' Hence the spinning.
Not to be out done by the boys.

The first hair cut

I have waited a long time for this day. Anna was determined to never grow hair. Then, when she did grow hair, she had a raging mullet. I've been waiting to cut it because once she finally got a little hair I didn't want to scare it away be cutting it. But this could wait no longer. It was getting very straggly looking. And no matter what I did with it, it still had mullet characteristics. Ever put a mullet in a pony tail? It still screams I am a mullet. Besides we are going on vacation soon and I didn't want Jason's family to think we don't like her. This is our beautiful son and we think the one with the mullet is a girl. We didn't want that.
So we went. Anna was a very big girl. She's seen Mark do this lots of times. She was sooo ready to try this out for herself. I've heard horror stories from other parents about their kid's first hair cut. I am happy to say that has never happened to us. We are fortunate that both of our kids go in a trance like state when their hair is played with.
The day ended with Anna's hair looking marginally less like a mullet. We are just hoping now the sides will catch up soon. I am also hoping she will start letting use barettes on her. She ripped out each and every one I have ever put in there. With each barrette assult also comes two to three or ten hairs. She's very lucky she isn't completely bald on top.
As for the men, well, they did what all men do in salons. Stay out of the way and try to be invisible. And hope none of their friends see them in here.

Hooky on the first day

Because I am an A+ student, I didn't have a whole lot to do on my first day. I posted my first assignment on Monday. I am not a teacher's pet, so don't even think it. That left my day pretty open yesterday. We decided to go look at fall leaves and visit a local cider mill. Yesterday will forever live in my memory as a really fun family day. We took the very scenic route to the cider mill. We stopped several times to view the sight along the way.
We stopped at the wind mill farm we always pass on the way to my parents. We have wanted to stop many times but always are in too big a hurry. This was just amazing. You don't realize how big they are until you are right there. Need perspective? That's Jason and the kids at the bottom. They make this loud woooshing sound when the blades spin. You can't help but duck even though they blades are thirty feet over your head. This was a very cool part of the day.
Then we drove on and saw some absolutely gorgeous leaves. Fall is really something here. Our final stop was the cider mill. They have a waterfall behind the building that was not to be missed. Just so pretty.
The kids really enjoyed watching them make cider. It was a unique viewing because the building and operation is so old. There isn't room for ropes to separate the viewers for the doers. We got a very up close look. It was a lot of fun. We will almost certainly make it a yearly tradition.

Back to school days

I feel like I am back in ninth grade. I'm having those first day of school jitters.

I hope I don't get lost on the way to homeroom.

Will the others kids laugh at my high water pants. I grew three inches since we bought them two weeks ago. It was a most inconvient growth spurt.

It would be the worst if I tripped over my shoes when I walk in the door.

I hope no one notices my grey hair.

Did anyone see me pull up in my "mom van."

I will tell you one thing, not a lot has changed since ninth grade. I still trip over my own feet. I still drive a "mom van." The big difference is now it's mine instead of my mothers. I have way more grey hair. I still go through growth spurts. But now, I go out instead of up. Yep. Online school will be good for me.

I may be a little absent until I get in my groove. I'll be back.

A love of Fall

After living down south for so many years I have really come to appreciate this time of year. They have some fall color down there, but nothing like this. It's one of the benefits of having a real winter. The leaves put on one last hu-ra before they die. And let me tell you, this year has been really something. The leaves are so bright it almost hurts your eyes.
But the leaves aren't the only ones putting on a show, in my yard, this year. This is a red twig dogwood bush I got back in June. All summer I have patiently waited for it to do its' thing. And now it has. Don't you just love that color. It makes that whole side of the yard just happy.
And I can't leave without telling about my other favorite thing regarding this time of year. Hats. I love hats. It's a sickness really. I have lots of wintry hats for myself. And I am constantly getting them for the kids. My aunt made these for the kids a few months ago. I couldn't wait for the weather to turn so they could wear them. I know, I'm just a tiny bit strange. But look! Don't they just look so cute.

I love this time of year.

I can't promise this is my last Fall post. We are supposed to go on a scenic drive tomorrow. We will go if it doesn't snow. Yes, snow. There is snow in our forecast for tomorrow. Which, if it happens, will be earlier than last year by a good two weeks.

You don't need a pool to make pool toys fun

So a weeks ago Jason came back from the store with a present for the kids. He does this a lot. He goes out in to the world and finds little treasures for them. They always delight in his findings. But honestly, this time, I thought it was a dud. He brings out these "wacky noodles." I did point out to him we don't have a pool. He assured me it doesn't matter.
The kids humored him for a few minutes. Then they put them down and went back to the sand box. Oh well, he said, they were on clearance.
The "noonles" (as Anna calls them) hung around a couple of days. No one really played with them. Then one day, someone (Jason) picked one up and whacked someone (me). Game on.

They have turned into the best toy we have. Score one for Daddy. They are some much fun, in fact, we went back and bought more. Still on clearance. Apparently, people don't buy many pool toys in September in NY. Go figure.
There are just all kinds of things you can do with a noodle. Sword fight. Yep. You can do that.
Pick on the swing people. Yep. Much to their delight.
Harass your mother. You can. But you shouldn't. Mommy fights back. Even when you are as cute as this one, Mommy takes no prisoners.
Leave it to Daddy to find a toy where you can beat the tar out of someone and no one gets hurt.

Took the leap

So last week I told you I was going to take the leap. This week I tell you I took the leap. I am a college student. Did you read that right? I AM a college student!! I start on Tuesday. It all happened very fast. I have been working like crazy to get everything done before the start of class. It's been a pretty hectic week. But it's all done now. I have my books. And am ready to go.
Now, let me tell you the rest of the story. Jason is starting school again too. In fact, he is the one who gave me that little push I needed. That's right he told me he was going to do it. That's when I decided to start myself. Not because I want to better myself, but because I don't want him to be smarter than me. He would walk around here with his giant smart head spewing forth knowledge. We can't have that, now can we. That's why I had to go too. I kid of course. He has been very supportive. He even took the kids and left for two whole hours so I could fill out the application in peace. That's love, baby. Have I mentioned, lately, I really like that guy.
Speaking of support, Mark asked me if Mrs. H. (his teacher) is going to be my teacher too. When I told him no, he said, But Mom, she is a reeeeally good teacher. I think you would like her. He's right. I would love to go to his school. I wonder if the GI Bill would cover that.

Taking the leap

When I graduated high school I knew I wasn't ready for college. I needed a break. So I joined the Air Force. It was one of the better decisions of my life. I got the break I needed. And I got an opportunity to see and do things I never would have been able to do otherwise. I also made some wonderful life long friends. Oh yeah, and I got a pretty great hubby out of the deal too. So all in all the military was a good choice for me.
The one thing the AF didn't set me up for is future employment. My job in the military isn't very marketable on the outside. I could go work for an airline. But they aren't hiring much right now. Besides there aren't many airlines in my tiny town.
The thing the military did do for my future was my GI Bill. I have a college education just waiting for me to take advantage of it. I've started school two times in the past. The first time I stopped because they called my reserve unit up. I deployed and was unable to continue my schooling. The second time I quit because I was two months from popping out a baby. Then came the sleepless night, feedings, and constant needs of a newborn. I just couldn't fit any college time in there.
I think, finally, at the tender age of 31 I am ready to go back to school. Now if I could just figure out what I want to do when I grow up. My employment search presents some unique challenges. It is important to our family a parent gets our kids off the bus. Since Jason works so many hours that parent is me. Another challenge is summers. I need to be home with them in the summer. Jason and I arranged our lives before we had kids so that I could stay home. I wouldn't want to mess that up now that they are starting school. We don't feel it would be fair to them or us. They will only be young this one time.
Now what can I do? I've always wanted to open my own business. I think it would be fun to take a newborn business and grow it into something more. But baby businesses suck even more of your time than actual newborns. They never sleep. What kind of business would I open. A restaurant? A boutique? Also something like 99.99% of small businesses fail in their first year. Am I really willing to risk our financial well being on one of my hair brained ventures. I don't know.
I've always said I want to work with kids. I think I still want to do that. The big problem is here in NY you need a masters to teach. Great for our kids. Not as great for someone staring down eight years of education before I can enter the work force. But when I really think about it that's what I want. I want to teach the little ones who are just starting their education. They are so full of fun and wonder. I want to be a part of that.
So I guess the end of the story is I am starting the admissions process for college. I may be a little absent around here for a bit. Just bear with me. I promise, I'm coming back.

He's gonna be a rockstar

He said a few weeks ago he wanted to be a rocker for Halloween. I think he has rocker potential for when he grows up too. That would be a mighty nice way to support his old decrepit parents.

Parenting-A lost art

We don't go out much. It was one of those things we gave up when we became a single income family. We go to a sit down restaurant maybe once every couple of months. It's a treat. Our kids know it's a treat. Mark and Anna behave really well in restaurants. When our kids were smaller and didn't understand how to behave we more than once had to asked for to go boxes as soon as our meal arrived. We didn't want to ruin any other diner's meal with our children's bad behavior.
Yesterday we got one of those very rare meals away from home. We sat down and almost immediately a kid started crying on the other side of the restaurant. That child kept it up the entire meal. And it wasn't just little crying either. We are talking screaming at the top of his lungs. Luckily, we were sitting pretty far away. I can't imagine sitting right next to that.
I am a parent. I know kids cry. I would never advocate hitting a stranger's child. But I could totally get on board with hitting a stranger who refuses to parent their child in public.

Because of this post, these two will no doubt be a horror show next time we go out.

He can chew gum and walk at the same time

I try to make being the big brother fun. Lets face it. Being the oldest is a drag sometimes. He gets time outs for things his sister gets away with because she doesn't understand. She gets thrown up in the air and tossed around much more than he does. She's a peanut and he is huge. His responsibilities are bigger. His jobs are harder. He is charged with not hitting back even if his sister hits him first. It's just not that easy being the oldest. But every once in a while we make being the oldest extra special. Last night Mark got his first ever piece of gum. This was a much anticipated milestone for him. He's been obsessed with gum for a long time. The smell, the look, the why. Think about it. Why would someone chew something and not swallow it. The question has plaqued him. But finally finally he gets it. The kid was so excited he couldn't sit still. Back and forth he paced. He came and showed us his gum. He told us how it tasted 109,854 times. He couldn't wipe the grin off of his face. He was happy.

His best fake smile

A change in the air

The nights are getting longer and the days shorter. Everyone seems to be in a frantic rush to get those last few things done before winter. Work on the flower beds has gone into over drive.
The search for winter hats, coats, mittens, snow pants and boots has begun. The stores now stock ice scrapers instead of bikinis. My thoughts are turning to indoor cooking. From Mac and cheese to homemade breads and cookies. They make the house feel like home. The kids and I started our afternoon tea ritual again. I have missed it.
These two are getting in the last of the sandbox playing for the year. It is conceivable in a month they will be building snow castles instead of sand. Last year we got our first major snow fall three days before Halloween.
The season is changing here in my little piece of heaven. I look forward to the fun the next season brings.

Sickness

We are sick. Once again sickness descended upon our house. I should have known it was coming. After all, Mark did start school. That place is crawling with germs. Before you even open the door to that place you can see them ooze out through the cracks. It's disgusting. I should have known Mark would catch a cold before the end of the first stinking week. He would then take his filthy nasty gross germs and pass them on to the rest of us. He couldn't have passed it on any faster if he came home and licked us. Now we are all sick. And let me tell you these are the crankiest sick people you ever want to meet. The little one is down right mean.

So that's us this week. Sick.

But wait there's more. Anna had her hearing test on Friday. She has perfect hearing. It's like she hasn't ever been to any rock concerts or anything. Oh wait, she hasn't.

Now go wash your hands. You don't want what we have.

The first day

In all my speech therapy evaluation drama at the beginning of the week I haven't told you about the other big event in our lives. Mark started school on Monday. Don't expect any pictures of the big day. The little snot wouldn't let me take any. Moooooommm, not right now. I swear he is already a teenager.
Anywho, right, starting school. So we walked up to school. He immediately noticed they replaced the doors on the building. The new doors look exactly like the old ones. The boy misses absolutely nothing, ever. We went in and I swear the room seemed smaller than last year. Or maybe it's that Mark his grown so much. You should have seen him. He walked in like he was the king of the world. It was such a sharp contrast from last year. He wouldn't let me leave for half the morning last year. This year he was picking out the new kids and asking them if they wanted to play in the sandbox with him. He has grow so much from that shy boy I dropped off a year ago. I just love to watch him.
So I was finally able to tear myself away. Anna and I went on our walk. We came home to a pretty quiet house and spent the morning together. It was fun but in a different sort of way than the day before. We played dolls instead of trucks. We had quiet fun instead to wrestling.
When it was time to go get Mark, Anna was soooo ready. I'm fun but I'm no Mark.
We sat on the stairs for the end of class. I watched as my big boy led the other kids in what they were supposed to do. I couldn't have been prouder. Mark is a born follower. We have been driving home, to him, this year he is a big kid. He needs to help others do what they should. And, shockingly enough, he was listening. He did it. My heart was bursting.
Our walk back home was so much more fun than last year too. He told me about his day instead of having major overstimulated, overtired, meltdown. Last year he thought he was only getting that one day of fun. And didn't want it to end. This year he knows he goes back on Thursday.
It was a wonderful start to what I hope is a really great year.

It's not easy finding a dependable babysitter

I am frustrated

So stinking frustrated. We had the evaluation with the speech therapist last night. And Anna did really well. Except that isn't what we want. We want her to do badly so she will qualify for this program.
OK, let me explain. There are two qualifying scores for language.
There is cognitive; what the kid understands. To test this the therapist named objects and asked Anna to point to pictures of the objects in a book. Anna got them all. Then it got harder. She asked Anna to point to different actions. drinking from a cup, sleeping baby, running boy. Then it got even harder. She asked Anna to follow simple two step directions. Give the baby doll a drink then hand me the cup. It kept getting more difficult until she was asking Anna to do things I didn't know she could do. Anna did them all. No prompting. Nothing. She aced it. She is testing at a three and a half year old level here.
The second part of the test is verbal. She asked Anna to say things. Say ball. Say baby. She didn't do as well here. I knew she wouldn't. She has major trouble with enunciation. She will hear a sentence and repeat a jumble of syllables sounding nothing like what she just heard. She tries but it just doesn't come out right.
So here is where it gets sticky. The great of New York takes the two scores and adds them together. Then averages them. They, then compare that number to a chart of the overall averages of kids in her age group. If a child scores below a 73 they qualify. Above 73, they don't. Anna got an 86. She scored in the low 70s in the verbal portion and got a 98 in the cognitive part. Having a high score on one portion of the test drags the other score up. So the end result is she's smart but she can't tell you anything she knows. And now we have to wait six months for another evaluation. By then she will be old enough to qualify through the school system instead of the state. The school system qualifies the two scores separately. So she will probably qualify then. I just hate waiting though. We caught this early. I would like to have it dealt with now.
We have our final meeting with Early Intervention on Thursday. I am going relay our concerns to them at that time. I hope there is still something that can be done. The kicker of the whole thing is they switched our coordinator on us. We haven't even met the woman who is coming. I think this puts us at a disadvantage because the other coordinator had met Anna and knew she needed help. This one is just relying on the write ups done by the others who came here.
Frustrated. That is my word of the day. I am just not loving NY today.

Her hearing test is still on Friday. I will keep you posted.

Disclaimer: the averages and qualifying are a little more involved than what I said above but that is the gist of what they do.

One of the many reasons I love this little section of upstate NY

You just can't beat the view.

Just laying around

Take a moment to yourself today. Sit quietly with a loved one for a few minutes. Call someone special and tell them you care. Maybe say a little prayer for our military members who are protecting those freedoms we hold so dear.
And most of all, have a great weekend!

Author's side note: I am not so bright. I know I told you all on Monday that Anna's audiology test is today. I really should have looked at my calender before I wrote that. It's next Friday. See...Dumb.

And Mom said it was too cold to play in the pool

I'm having an affair

First of all, thank you all for your kind words yesterday. I will keep you posted on our progress. My SIL suggested Sign Language. I had thought about it when our kids we small but never followed through. It hadn't occurred to me as an option to help with our current situation. Thanks Gina. I appreciate your help very much.

Today we are talking lighter topics. Or rather heavier as the case may be. Have I ever told you about my love affair. No. Well, here goes. I love cheese. All cheese. It can be so many things from creamy and smooth to crumbly and sharp. I love it all. Well, except Swiss. I don't love Swiss. Ick. So imagine my surprise one day driving by this sign. A rather plain looking sign I'll admit. And if it didn't have the name of one of my favorite things on it I would probably just pass it by.
You look up from the sign and see this simple little building. Nothing special about it right. Look closer.

You just know I am going in here.
Right inside the door is one of my other favorite things. Samples!!
Then this man with these two very unruly, but gorgeous,children showed up. They were crowding the table so I couldn't get in there for my samples. It was the rudest thing I have ever....oh wait...never mind.
Just look at it all. My heart just sings in here. I asked the cashier on our first visit; the store is a co-op owned by the local farmers. They have a lab in house and develop new flavors of cheese all the time. That explains, in the the above picture, all of the milking supplies. Farmers don't like to waste space you know. I really appreciate their efforts.
And of course no trip to the cheese store is complete without visiting Lucinda the cow.
It's 7:15 in the morning and my mouth is watering. Good thing I bought provisions.

OK, so now I wish she would just start talking

We have known for a while that Anna should be talking. Mark was talking by 26 months. Long before in fact. Anna tries to talk. But she doesn't form words. During her WCC in June the doctor confirmed our fears. She should be talking. The doctor set us up with Early Intervention. We have had a number of experts here to talk with her and us. They all say Anna is average/even above average everywhere else. The next step is a hearing test on Friday, to see if maybe she fluid on her ear drum. This would explain her not being able to repeat things said to her. But I don't believe this is it. She understands everything going on around her. She follows direction very well. Her comprehension of things said to her amazes me.

The whole process is going painfully slow. We have been dealing with this since the beginning of July and still haven't gotten anywhere. I am incredibly frustrated with the whole thing. I just want to know what is wrong so that we can start taking steps to fix it. Whether it be speech therapy or tubes in her ears I just want to get it over with.

Anna is an incredibly special little person. It's so hard to watch her struggle. She wants us to understand. She repeats herself over and over then dissolves into tears. I want to cry with her at times because I want to understand her and can't.

Hopefully Friday will bring a few answers for us. No matter what, it will be one more thing we can check off the list of possible things wrong. And one step closer to a solution, I hope.

Today I shall dine on nothing but funnel cake

Oh, and salt water taffy. Love that.
And nachos with that delicious fake squirt cheese stuff. Yum.
And a free glass of milk at the agricultural building. I wonder if they even still do that. It was a highlight of the day when we were kids. We always got chocolate.
Then maybe top it all off with a quick spin on the tilt-r-whirl.
I think I will also bring the Tums. Just in case.
And the best part of all, the grandparents are going to join us. It's a surprise. The kids have no idea. I think I'm going to keep it that way until we get there.

It promises to be a great fun day. Hope yours is as good.

Love this

Even though these Hydrangea flowers are just about the last thing to bloom, even though they mean an end to summer, I anticipate and look forward to their arrival every year. They put on a spectacular showing. The tree belongs to my neighbor and hangs over the fence that separates our properties. It makes a lovely backdrop for the flower gardens I am putting in.
On a side note, there is only one way to get both the sky and that flower in that same picture. It's OK though, the neighbors already think I am a little strange anyway.

The day the troll came back for a visit

Let me paint you a little picture. Imagine one big brother minding his own business.

Now imagine one little sister poking, teasing, prodding and all around bothering the big brother.

Imagine the big brother taking it. He turns away. He doesn't get upset with the little sister. He asks his sister to pleeeeeease stop bothering him.

She keeps pestering. She is in the mood to tease.

Finally the big brother has had enough. He turned to the little sister and says in a growlly yes it is a word sort of voice, I am getting grumpy. And when I get grumpy I eat little girls.
The little sister laughs at him.

She does look kind of tasty, I think.

Want to hear about the first troll visit. Go read here.

The kids call it fuzzy

I just call it a pretty morning.
Have a great day!