Tonight after Holland's OT appointment and getting the kids off to bed, I logged on to an online message board I'm a member of. It seems strange to think that I've become 'friends' with people that I've never met, but that's just what has happened. It's been amazing to get to know some of these ladies and they in turn have done some of the sweetest things for me. After Holland's surgery in January, someone from this board sent a card and an electronic Yahtzee game for him. I have never met this woman, but she was passing on kindness she experienced from other board members when her daughter was in the hospital.

Well after I looked through some posts, I discovered that one of the gals on the board had a son who was seriously injured in an accident and asked us all to pray. There were a few updates; a dresser had fallen on him and he had been taken to the hospital, but no other information was known. Then a new post came up from the boy's mother. He had died from his injuries. It all seemed so surreal. I don't even know this woman, but feel a connection because we share a common passion - our children. He had climbed into one of the open drawers and the dresser fell on top of him. His head got caught in a drawer and he died instantly. I feel great heartache for this family. She has two other children. I have several bookcases and dressers that need to be secured to a wall and will be doing that immediately. Here is a link to some brackets to secure furniture: http://www.rightstart.com/global/store/product.aspx?item=253&mr:trackingCode=D0D7606B-B1FE-DC11-AA92-001422107090&mr:referralID=NA

The New Trampoline

We bought a 14 foot trampoline for Holland and Romania's birthdays. We've always celebrated their birthdays together and this year we had a request to have separate celebrations. We gave them each a Lego set, but decided one big present for them both would be a trampoline. We've had a second-hand wood play structure in the back for several years. It mainly was used for the sandbox underneath and seemed to endure much abuse instead of play. I was glad to see it go. Super-hero dad had to clear the space on the grass and dig a big hole for the trampoline to sit on. I didn't think there was that big of a slope, but on one end he dug about 2 inches and the opposite end has about 14 inches dug away.

It's taken several after work nights to get it set up. And the continuous rain is no help - not to mention the hail and snow we've had the past three days. The kids have used it a couple times when the weather clears up in the afternoon and had a blast. I even jumped on it! I'm sure we'll have lots of visitors. I'll have to get some pictures of the kids jumping and post them.

Run, Forrest, Run!

Today Holland had his fitting for his leg braces. And actually, they aren't even braces! So, no Forrest Gump! The orthotics lady came to our regular OT appointment and took a foam impression of both feet. She looked at his ankles, watched him walk and stand on his tiptoes. She said he is very, very flexible and combined with his nonexistent arch, he has compensated by walking on the insides of his feet. She is making molds to fit inside of his shoes. They should be ready in a couple of weeks. By that time, I'm sure his feet will have grown more.

He's a different kid

Holland is now on just two mood stabilizers and the difference is amazing! It's taken several months of tweaking several different meds for his mood. We started around Thanksgiving with one, and were trying to eliminate another. It got really bad, so we kept him on the third one and planned to stop it when his mood became more stable. We ended up tapering off the new one and going back to Lithium. He had a few rough weeks at school. He seemed cranky and tired and just not happy. Last week was the last time with three meds.

He brings home a paper that records his behavior for the day. Two teachers will rate how his behavior was and then he also scores himself. One is the worst, five is the best. One of the teacher's names was crossed out and the program specialist put her name in and crossed out the 5 and wrote a 6 and circled it! I don't even think he saw that until he got home. Romania and I were so excited - cheering for him. I can't imagine what the day must have looked like to have that rating!

He's doing better transitioning between activities. He doesn't erupt when I have to redirect him. He hasn't yelled at me when I say 'no' to a friend coming over. Romania is even pointing it out. The other day he said, "hey, did you hear what Holland said? He didn't yell and said 'yes, mom'. "

Now we've just got to work on these terrible two's of Egypt's. Oh wait. She's three. What is that called?

The last viewing of the van

Today I took Egypt and Romania to get the last of our things out of the van. The other driver's insurance decided to total the vehicle after looking at it. Romania always gets sentimental about moving on. He liked being three because he and Holland got along so well. He was sad when we bought him a new bike because he would miss the old one. Of course, he looked like he belonged in a circus, a clown riding on a miniature bike. And today, he got all sentimental about leaving the van. I told him we hoped to get a van with automatic doors, like his aunt's. Then he got excited!

Getting kids in the car is always an ordeal. You have to make sure you have things to keep them busy, you need to get snacks, drinks, taggies, Legos. They act like we'll be gone for 7 days instead of 30 minutes. While I was strapping Egypt into her car seat, I heard Romania talk about the snack he had picked out for himself and his sister. He said how much he liked the peanut butter flavor snack. Egypt added that "chocolate is my favorite color!" Romania and I shared a good laugh about that.

Here are some great pictures of Holland at his OT appointment tonight. It was the best visit so far. He followed directions, didn't get too distracted, and he learned to TIE HIS SHOES!!! In case you're wondering, that's a big deal because he has trouble with some small motor skills.

Hip-hip-hooray for Gameboy!

I just may have figured out how to get Holland to cooperate. I've found his "love language". A Nintento Gameboy. We went to an auction at our church a few nights ago and he bid on and won a used Gameboy and two games. He lost the use of it the second day he had it because he snuck it to school. He lost the use of it for one week. He kept asking for grace. I told him I give him grace everyday! I finally decided if he could have outstanding behavior over two days on the weekend, he could earn back the right to play with it. We went out to dinner tonight with a birthday coupon to Red Robin for Holland. He did very well, not getting upset at the littlest thing. And when we got home, he transitioned through 4 different activities flawlessly. I was stunned. Then I asked him to sit for 5 minutes on the toilet (usually if he is going to be sent over the edge, this will do it). He sat down without incident!! I almost fell over. I told him because he did such a good job transitioning and overall for two days, I would let him have the Gameboy back on Sunday. He asked if he could prove he could give it back if I gave it to him while he sat on the toilet. (Hey, guys usually read there anyway, right?) I asked what he would lose if he didn't succeed at that. He thought and then came up with "friends" (playing with them on Sunday). I told him that wasn't big enough. I said he would lose the Gameboy for another day if he didn't give it back without incident. He agreed. And did it! Woo-hoo!!

Science Fair at Heron Creek

Here are pictures of Holland and his classmates at their Science Fair. Holland's group presented on Dental Health.

By the way....

Your son needs leg braces. That's what we found out during Holland's Phsyical Therapy evaluation today. We were referred by the Occupational Therapist we've been seeing weekly, for help with gross motor skills now. I've always known he walks on his toes, and kind of pidgeon toed. But today we found out just how much the Spina Bifida is affecting the rest of his body. He's bow-legged and very weak at the ankles which is causing him to favor one side. He's compensating for the hip rotation problem by sitting in a way that doesn't hurt his back, which is only causing the leg problems to worsen.

All I could picture was Forrest Gump. I asked her if that's what they looked like. She was like, "no sweetie!" Hopefully when we go in next week for the OT appointment the lady who does the fitting will be there. Honestly, if you told me there was some other ailment he had, I would not be surprised at this point. The leg braces kind of put me over the edge.

Birthday Marathon

We celebrated Romania's 7th birthday and Holland's 9th birthday this weekend. Here are pictures of a sleepover/Wii party, a bowling party and a family get together.

Sharing

Last night I asked Romania what he was bringing for sharing. He always wants to bring Legos, but I don't want the pieces lost and his teacher probably is not thrilled when kids bring things like that. He asked if he could bring Holland to share.

Romania's problem solving skills

He's the middle child. So am I. Sometimes he gets so over-the-top emotional that continuing to talk is pointless. Tonight I broke my own rule and was going to let him play the Wii for 10 minutes before the final countdown to bed. I was in another room, but could hear him struggling. I finally asked him what was going on and he made some complaint about how I never listen to him. I came over to him and figured out that the Wii was not working and he was getting extremely frustrated. As I was trying to reboot the Wii, he starts crying, saying I don't help him and he's just mad (he's saying all this as I'm sitting there. Helping him.) Finally I said the Wii was not going to happen tonight and he needed to finish getting ready for bed. He flops back on the floor, crying and announces he is quitting school. He also decided to quit basketball last Tuesday when his thumb got jammed during practice-for the second time. I could hardly get him to bed. He just kept announcing he was not going to school anymore. He's so dramatic. I doubt I was ever like that.

The OT

Holland has a standing appointment with an Occupational Therapist every Monday. She's working with him to improve his upper body strength. It's his favorite doctor so far because he gets to play. There are heavy ropes hanging from the ceiling and all kinds of things to hang and swing on. Tonight he had to lay on his tummy and grab kushi balls that the therapist would drop in front of him and then toss into a basketball hoop. His mind is on everything but the task. He lobbed a few into the hoop and then decided it would be much more fun to hurl it like a major league pitcher. It smacked into the metal blinds on the window behind the hoop. He starts laughing his head off. The OT just looks at him and asks him what's so funny. (She's so brilliant with him. I wish she could come live here for awhile!) He has so much trouble following directions: his mind is elsewhere, inventing things and planning strategies. She was very patient and would just wait for him to come back to the task. He still had to do everything, but wasted a lot of time.

Because it took him so long to get through all the exercises, he had no time to use the equipment of his choosing. He was disappointed, but actually took it better than I thought. Every time she asked him to do something, he was off in another part of the room trying to figure out how he could hook up something to catapult it somewhere else.

This week we have exercises to help strengthen his back and also help with coordination. One more thing to squeeze into a day that already needs about 28 hours.

Green Light; Red Light!!

Yesterday I played a game of Red Light, Green Light with a pickup. Apparently I lost. I was less than 2 minutes from my house. I think there's some research that says 90% of all car accidents happen less than 2 miles from your house. We've proved that theory.

I had taken Romania to school and was planning to hit the jogging path to walk with Egypt. The path is only 1/2 mile but it started to rain and I was getting cold. So after just one time, we headed home. I had a green light heading through an intersection. I could see this smaller pickup coming at me from the right and could do nothing about it. He slammed into the back right side of the van. I hit the brakes but spun completely around and blew both back tires. It was awful. The noise was so loud. I was rattled and crying but was able to get out of the car to check on Egypt who is sitting cock-eyed still strapped in her seat. Luckily she was sitting on the driver's side and her door opened and I got her out. Some very nice people from a hair salon came out to help me get Egypt and my things and go sit inside their business.

It's been hectic trying to figure out where to send the van to be fixed, talking with insurance people, buying a new car seat for Egypt, visiting the ER and a chiropractor and getting the boys to and from school. I just picked up Vicodin and muscle relaxers and am heading to bed.

I brought Egypt with me to the chiropractor this afternoon just to be sure everything was in the right place. She was very tired from going two days without any naps and was kind of crabby on the drive into town. I told her that God would not be happy with the way she was talking and if it continued she would be punished. She kept saying she didn't want to go to the doctor and said, "Jesus said he wants you to take me to Fred Meyer." (a local grocery store) I had to fight back the laughter to keep from driving off the road. How do kids come up with such hilarious ideas? I said we couldn't go to Fred Meyer but I could take her to "Star Chicken" (what she calls Carl's Jr.) if she obeyed at the doctor. Lucky for me she obeyed because I was hungry!

Freezer Burn

Last week I spent five hours with my mom cooking 10 meals. I've cooked freezer meals before, but I convinced my mom to come help me cook by enticing her with 5 meals of her own. Tonight I pulled out my first one. Little disappointed. It was Lemon Chicken. I had made this before, but don't remember it tasting so bland. I also made it fresh the night we ate it, so maybe that was the difference. (Super-hero dad didn't even notice, whew!) I was cleaning out the freezer (in search of ice cream) and starting to pull stuff out to throw away. I can't believe some of the stuff I found! It's really quite disgusting how long you can keep food. Every time I would look at something, I would convince myself that I would be in need of that someday. I'm embarrassed to admit (but what are you going to do about it, right?) that I pulled out 6 year old homemade spaghetti sauce. Yes, that's right. For some reason, I've been looking at the same spaghetti sauce in a plastic box thinking I would use it for the past six years. Can you top that??

The Messy Scientist

The first two pictures were taken in Holland's room. I've emptied his room three times now. I've limited his 'stuff' to Legos and Rokenbok. Not really working that well. My room is half-filled with his stuff because I've run out of room in the garage. This is what happens when he has too much: he gets overwhelmed and everything becomes a project. He uses every available object in his room. He likes to create "scenes" on the Rokenbok table: Lego guys battling it out with Star Wars ships; some guy swinging down a zipline he's rigged from his bed to a stool; little green army guys riding around in Rokenbok vehicles looking for someone to battle.



The second set of pictures is an experiment he did in the kitchen. Apparently I had decided to do unimportant things like laundry and cleaning and came back (hours and hours later) to find this set up in the kitchen. I don't know if you can see what he did, but he rigged a series of objects to carry water; through the paper towel tube, and eventually fill up a bowl. It was a great idea, but the water didn't make it past the paper tube. This is why my house is in complete disarray all the time. I cannot keep up with the experimenting. It doesn't do much good to remind him not to do it. He forgets. The only way to stop him from doing this is to glue him to my hip.

Lunar Eclipse

Well, we saw it. But the batteries in my camera were dead. So no lasting memory pictures. But the boys were so excited to watch it. They both ran back in the house to grab pencil and paper and draw what they saw! Romania even took his to school to show his teacher. I love it when kids get excited about learning! The night sky was so clear that I was even able to point out some constellations.

10 Things.....

That will send me to the nut house:

1. Going to use a strainer in the kitchen only to find it's been mangled by the resident scientist.

2. Canning jars of peaches and not being able to find the gripper. Again, compliments of the scientist.

3. Reaching for gum in my purse, only to find that it's been stolen.

4. Having computer paper used for art projects.

5. Finding frozen colored ice pops in the freezer that have been made with ink from a pen.

6. Vacuuming 20 minutes ago and still being able to find bits of crackers, popcorn or pretzel trails on the floor.

7. Finding old sandwiches, dried up food and banana peels under a bed.

8. Stepping on Legos that I just asked to be taken upstairs. They must have walked down on their own.

9. Answering the same question 5 times, asked 5 different ways, and still giving the same answer in less than 10 minutes.

10. Washing clothes and finding legos, rocks, food wrappers and hard candy in the dryer after the cycle.

The Immunization Crisis

For the past week and a half, I've been on the phone almost daily trying to track down medical records for the boys. We're on our third pediatrician and somehow records never got transferred when we changed peds. Neither facility can locate the records. One place went private and sent all their records back up to a teaching hospital and the other facility changed computer systems. The receptionist tried to tell me since we weren't in the system, they didn't have our charts. Luckily, our former doctor walked by and I joked that "you lost my boys!" She was able to explain to the receptionist that they would have to locate the records by hand (what a concept! Something has to be done without a computer!) I still have not heard from either facility.

The whole reason behind this is Holland's school waited until 2 weeks ago to tell me they didn't have his immunizations and he would have to leave school on February
20th if they didn't have them. What they do have is incomplete. In some cases they don't have record of 4 sequences of shots. I know that I didn't miss any, but no way to prove it. Last night I was watching a movie and got this weird feeling that I had seen a yellow folded card that I could picture his immunizations charted on. I went through several drawers, craft boxes, and receipt boxes. I did find the record that came from San Diego where Holland was born (with his given birth name. Wouldn't that be fun to explain??) And then as I was standing in the school room looking at a stack of drawers, there it was. The record I must have used when Holland went to preschool!! I was so thankful because it meant he didn't have to miss school or go through about 6 more shots.

Water, Water Everywhere

Everything's so much more fun with water, right? So why not on Valentine's Day? Not that we were planning anything spectacular, but you never want to have to deal with an overflowing toilet.

I had just finished getting the kids dinner. Egypt had been finished for a few minutes and called to me saying she needed help with her clothes. This is always a clue to some greater mischief. She said she needed to change her clothes because they were wet. We're very close to being finished with potty training and any time she gets a little wet, ALL the clothes come off and she finds clean ones in her drawers. I put her back on the toilet to see if she would go again. No luck. So, got her dressed and went back downstairs. The boys were playing a game on the computer, so I sat down for a breather. Not even 5 minutes later, I hear a strange dripping noise upstairs, like someone forgot to turn off the faucet. I had Romania go investigate. Needless to say, "you're not going to believe this!" is not what you want to hear. I ran upstairs and water is gushing out of the bathroom floor onto the hall carpet. I get in the bathroom and the toilet (I'm thanking higher powers that it was clean water) is running over. I turn off the valve at the bottom and start yelling to the boys to get towels. I had no idea how I was going to clean this up. How do you pick up an inch of water on a floor? I race back downstairs and see that the water is dripping through the ceiling from a vent. Fabulous! Now we're going to have moldy drywall. I grab a plastic bowl and throw everything off the table it's dripping onto, shove the bowl under the drip and grab a broom and dustpan. Back upstairs the boys are stomping on the very wet towels. So basically I swept up the water and kept throwing it into the tub. It worked pretty well.

I even had time to page super-hero dad and tell him about our little fiasco. But his pager has been on the fritz and he didn't get the message. When he opened the door, the boys run at him and start explaining about the big water mess. We figured out (process of elimination since she was the only one up there) that Egypt kept flushing the toilet. Practicing for when she actually uses it.

Tonight super-hero dad and I ignored the humongous mess in the kitchen and watched a movie. How romantic! Too bad I didn't think to get a picture. Now that I have some where to write about all our mishaps, I'm constantly evaluating if the situation would make a good blog post and if so, how fast can I grab the camera. Sorry. I grabbed a bowl instead.