Visitors

Yesterday, my mother came to visit.  She lives out of state, so her visits are always very exciting for the kids.  Even though there was quite a bit of rain this weekend, there were intermittent periods of sunshine.  The kids and their grandma, whom they call "Namma," read books, played with toys, roller skated, and got EXTREMELY dirty playing in the mud puddles!  It's been a while since they've been that dirty!  They called it playing "beach."  Basically, they sat completely in a mud puddle while playing with the mud and watering cans!  This is what childhood is all about, though, isn't it?

This afternoon, a neighborhood dog came to visit.  Personally, I'm a cat person, not a dog person.  However, this soft, red dog somehow managed to weasel his way into my heart!  He's a pretty tall dog, very quiet and gentle.  Even Kevin was okay around him.  You could see the intelligence in his eyes.  Looking at him made me think of the book "Where the Red Fern Grows."  If I were to ever have a dog, I'd want one like the one who came to visit us this afternoon.

Last but not least, I'll share some videos I took of us doing some counting and math over supper.

Busy, but nice, weekend!

Goodbye, Tuck!

After several days of fun with Tuck, the turtle, I decided that he'd be a happier turtle if he were set free.  Also, having to worry about a turtle is not something that I'm up to at this point.

For those of you who have kids, you're probably familiar with "Go, Diego, Go!"  In this cartoon, the characters are animal rescuers.  My kids love this show.  So, I decided to talk with them about "rescuing" our little turtle, Tuck.  We talked about how he probably wasn't too happy in his little fish bowl, especially since he hadn't eaten a bite in 2 days.  Amazingly, the kids decided that it would be okay to "rescue" him by releasing him near a stream not too far from our house.  So, that's what happened.

I have to give it to the kids.  There was no crying and only a minimum of screaming from Kevin.  The screaming was probably unrelated to the turtle, though, since two-year-old Kevin's big hobby is screaming.  As soon as we set the Tuck on the ground, he headed straight for the stream and jumped right on in.  We watched him float and swim happily around, then eat a bug.  He'll be a lot better off in his new home.

Saying goodbye to Tuck

At the Memorial of Christ's Death last night

Getting some answers

Today was Kevin's first appointment with the speech pathologist.  We went in today for a speech evaluation.  Because of his age, the therapist asked me a lot of questions about his speech and development, instead of testing Kevin in any way.  There were two forms.  Each had around 50 questions.  One for was for his receptive skills.  That is, how he understands spoken language.  The second form had to do with his expressive skills.  That is, how he expresses himself with words.

On the receptive end of things, Kevin did excellent.  He's 25 months old, but scored as if he were 33 months old.  On the other hand, he did very poorly on the expressive aspects.  His verbal speech is on the level of a 9 month old.  The therapist described it as a "severe delay," which sounds disheartening.  But...the fact that he is so delayed makes it a sure thing that we will be able to qualify for their services!

The therapist said that they don't officially do any official diagnosis on patients until further down the road, once they've had a chance to work personally with them.  But, she said that her gut feeling is telling her that Kevin may have what's called "Apraxia of Speech."  I've been doing a lot of research about speech delays, and this term keeps popping up.  So, frankly, I was not surprised when she brought it up.

This is a definition I found of Apraxia:

Childhood apraxia of speech (CAS) is a motor speech disorder. Children with CAS have problems saying sounds, syllables, and words. This is not because of muscle weakness or paralysis. The brain has problems planning to move the body parts (e.g., lips, jaw, tongue) needed for speech. The child knows what he or she wants to say, but his/her brain has difficulty coordinating the muscle movements necessary to say those words.

The therapist has suggested speech therapy for 30 minutes 2-3 times a week.  Right now, she'll be preparing a report to send on to the insurance company.  Once they reply, which could take anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks, we'll set up a schedule for his therapy.  She was very positive, though.  She said that there are many kids at this time who receive therapy there who have apraxia of speech and that they do make progress.  The therapists work with the children until they reach a normal level of speech. However, she did warn me that children with this problem progress at a much slower pace than children with other speech delays.  We're looking at a long-term project here.  But, we have to do what's necessary to help our son.

At least we've gotten the ball rolling.  Hopefully we'll be able to get started with all of this soon.

Tuck

You may be asking yourself, "Who or what is Tuck?"  To get straight to the point, Tuck is the kid's new pet--a red-eared slider turtle.  Here's the rest of the story:

Adam has some relatives visiting from out of town, so today all of us got together for a meal at his grandparents' house.  Well, yesterday, the relatives found a small turtle, and kept it, realizing that it might be fun for the kids to look at.  As you can imagine, they were thrilled with it.  They looked at it, held it, put it in a bowl with water, named it, and begged for mommy and daddy to allow them to keep it.

I was hesitant, but outnumbered.  I've agreed to keep it temporarily.  Basically, until the novelty of having a turtle wears off.  I realize that I'll end up being  the primary caregiver for this little animal.  I've put him in a fishbowl that we already had, along with some seashells, some colored rocks, and an octopus with a sign that says "No Fishing."  We stopped by Walmart and spent $2 on turtle food.  (He hasn't eaten a bite.)  I've also put a piece of lettuce in his bowl.  (He hasn't eaten a bite of that either.)  Great.  Now I have another picky eater on my hands.  Just what I need.

But...the kids are happy.  That's what everything boils down to anyway, right?


(P.S.  If any of you out there have successfully kept a turtle alive for more than a few days and have some suggestions for me, feel free to let me know!)

Love is in the air

For any one out there reading this who doesn't already know-- We are raising our kids in a Spanish culture. We attend all of our meetings at the Kingdom Hall in Spanish and have many Hispanic friends. Our children stand out among our associates because of their blonde hair. Also, since both of my kids are outgoing, they make friends fairly easily.

Well, Hispanics tend to be romantics at heart. Girls often are taught to cook and care for household responsibilities at a young age in preparation for marriage and it's not unusual for even teenage boys to talk about having a wife and children one day.

Because of this, in our circle of friends, crushes are common even among young kids. Sarah likes a little boy in our congregation and several boys like her. I even caught one of them trying to kiss her recently. I've seen Sarah and the boy she likes holding hands. And today she received a love note. Help! I never imagined I'd be facing these things at such a young age. It's all very innocent right now, of course, but it's hard to always know what to do. It's normal for kids to have crushes, but I'm not real sure how to handle everything. It's a shame that kids don't come with a manual like cars do!

Lip gloss

This afternoon, we had to buy Adam a new suit. On the way to the mall, we decided to swing by Goodwill. And, surprise! There was a suit there that will work fine for him! So, after saving some $90, we decided to splurge a little and take the kids to Chucky Cheese.

They ran around and played to their little heart's content! After all of the tokens had been spent, we added up our tickets and got prizes. Kevin got a top and some candy. Sarah was thrilled to get some purple sparkly lip gloss. She asked, "Is it real lip gloss? Does this mean that I'm a mommy now?" Her concept if what being a mommy really means is a little flawed at this point.

Anyway, a few minutes after returning home, I heard Sarah screaming. Kevin decided to eat about a third of Sarah's new lip gloss. He had some in his mouth and a great deal smeared all over his face! What a mess!

Changing the subject, on Tuesday, we finally will have an appointment with the Speech pathologist. It will be an evaluation to see if he qualifies for their help. Finally, though, all of our insurance requirements are finished and we are ready to see the speech pathologist!

Paper Chains

While I was teaching today, Adam and the kids made a paper chain in order to count down to our Disney trip.  174 days until we leave!  The chain is so long it wraps around a big area of our bedroom.  It's a cool idea, and it'll be fun to see it get shorter by the day!

Yesterday I contacted the speech pathologist to make sure everything's going well on that end, since I hadn't heard from them in a while.  They informed me that the insurance company lacked two papers from the pediatrician's office, and that they faxed over a request for the papers 5 days ago.  So, once again, I got on the phone to call the pediatrician's office.  Once I explained the situation to the lady, she said, "No.  We never got a fax requesting those papers."  Well, if I've learned one thing through this whole experience, it's that offices are big cluttered places.  If you want anyone to get anything done for you, you need to be persistent.

So, I insisted to the lady that the requests had been faxed over.

"Well, give me a minute.  Let me look through the stacks of papers on my desk.
Nope.  It's not here.  I really don't see it.   No.  Not here.
Oh, wait.  Look at this!  It's the last one, on the bottom of this pile!"

So then I told her, "You know, last time that I needed papers faxed over, it took 3 weeks.  This time around, it's already been 5 days.  I now have about 2 weeks to get my son approved for speech therapy, or we have to start the whole process over.  I really need you to put my son's papers on the top of that pile, if possible and send over those papers as soon as possible.  Thanks!"

She agreed to do that.  She was supposed to fax over the forms today.  So, tomorrow I'll be calling the speech pathologist to see if they've received the papers.  What a mess!

The LONG paper chain

My tired boy trying to eat a sandwich!

Allowances and Pull Ups

There were several things that got done today.  First of all, we've been trying to help Sarah start to understand the value of money.  So today, we explained to her that if she picks up her room before going to bed, she'll get a quarter.  We designated a special jar for this purpose.  She's determined to save up for an Etch-a-Sketch.  We'll see how this all goes!  Tonight, she actually remembered the deal and was eager to put her toys in the toy box!

Second item on the agenda:  I made a trip to Walmart.  On my list of things to buy was diapers.  This time, I decided to get Pull-Ups instead just to see what would happen.  When we got home, I showed them to Kevin and explained that he could put them on if he used the potty.  (He's never gone on the potty before.)  Well, after a few attempts, he used the bathroom on the potty!  After seeing the big excitement, he wanted to sit on the big toilet and do it again!  All in all, he went 4 times!  For all of you parents out there who may be reading this, you'll understand what a big deal this is for me.  I know from experience that this potty training project takes a while, probably several months, to complete.  But, I think we're off to a really good start.  I'd love to have it finished by September because......

Today, we made reservations for our September trip to Disney World!  This was the third big thing that we did today!  We've been planning and saving for this trip for about a year and a half now, and finally have enough money saved up to actually go forward with our plans.  We'll be staying at the Pop Century Resort on Disney property.  We also ordered our Disney World tickets.  Woo-hoo!

 The kids found a ladybug outside and had lots of fun with it.  I'm not sure how much fun it was for the ladybug, however!

Cleanup day

Today was a big cleanup day at the Kingdom Hall. The kids loved it! Sarah got to be with many of her friends and Kevin got spoiled to his little heart's content.

This evening, the kid's grandparents came over for supper. I had made a big roast, so there was plenty to share. I apologized to everyone before the meal, because I just know that we will all be gaining weight tomorrow!

We've been busy these last few days trying to hash out some details of our trip in September. We'll be hanging out with Mickey in Disney World! Hopefully it'll all work out the way we want.

Tax day

"Let me tell you how it will be.  There's one for you, nineteen for me.  'Cause I'm the taxman.  Yeah, I'm the taxman."--The Beatles

After several weeks of trying to find time to do it, we finally sat down and completed our taxes.  It's good to have them out of the way at last!  It's kind of tricky, since we're both self-employed.  But they're done for another year!

Today was a learning day for Sarah.  First, she helped her Daddy do the dishes.  She learned how to do it correctly today, instead of just splashing around as she's done in the past.

As a reward for all of her hard work, Adam took the two of them to the Dollar Store.  For a while now, Sarah has been begging for a hula hoop.  I'm not even sure how she knows what they are.  But, that's what she's been wanting.  So, Adam got her a hula hoop and Kevin got a baseball bat and ball.  

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Junky Violin Rant

I also had a few hours of teaching today.  If you have taught music at one point or another, you will understand what I'm about to say.  Sometimes I just get so sick of cheap instruments.  A student today was trying to play on a terrible violin.  She bought it NEW on Ebay for $40.  New, with a case and a bow.  What are people thinking when they get something so cheaply?  That it'll be a great find?  The purfling is drawn on with a marker, and the D string absolutely refuses to play separately from the G. Fortunately, her parents were understanding when I told them she needed a new instrument. 

The worst violin I've ever seen come through my door:

A student bought a violin at a garage sale.  Do you know what the former owners had been doing with the violin?  Get this...they had spray painted it white and were using it as a flower pot.  So, after buying this wonderful find at a garage sale, my student cleaned it all up (no idea how), and then used a sander to get all of the paint off, thus completely destroying the varnish and wood in the process.  Needless to say, it was awful.  At least she didn't need much convincing either to purchase a better one!

Enough ranting for one day!

I hate socks

Ok.  'Fess up, all of you mothers out there of small children.  Have you ever considered buying new socks for your kids simply because you do not want to face another daunting pile of socks?

I admit.  I let it get way out of hand.  I hate folding socks so much that I will let them accumulate until there's a mountain of the little white things.

Little and white.  That's the perfect description.  There are very few colored ones.  They all look the same, except for the mysterious fact that some are supposed to be for "12-24 months," others for "2-4 years," and the vast majority of which are not labelled in any which form or fashion.  Thus, it's left completely to your discretion to guess who in the world the little socks belong to.

After 30 minutes or so of trying to match the ones with high cuffs, low cuffs, blue stripes, gray stripes, butterflies, lace, stretched elastic, etc., you finally have separated them all into a variety of smaller piles.  One for each member of your family, and one sad pile of lonely socks who have lost their soulmates to the hungry dryer.

This was my evening.  How was yours?


                                                                  The original pile

The pile of lonely socks without soulmates at the end of it all

Firemen

While I was working this afternoon, My husband took the kids to the fire station to get a tour! Fun, huh? They saw a "real fireman," a truck leaving with the lights and sirens on, etc. Sarah was a little disappointed that that particular station didn't have a pole. But overall, they had a great time!

Grocery shopping

Today, I accomplished the near-impossible:
Grocery shopping with both kids in tow.

But, no, not just any grocery shopping.  I've been determined to save money on my groceries.  There have got to be ways to do this cheaper.  So, last night, I spent about an hour preparing my grocery list.  I started off with a big pile of coupons.  Then I took the sales paper from the local grocery store, and saw which sale items interested me.  Then, I looked among the coupons I had and figured out how best to combine the sales with the coupons.

Several of my finds:  A deodorant for 25 c.  (It was on sale for a dollar.  I had a coupon for 25 c, which the store tripled.)
A can of spaghetti sauce for 1 c.  (It was on sale for a dollar.  I had a coupon for 33 c, which was tripled.)
A bag of salad. (normally over $2, on sale for $1.15, I had a coupon for 55 c off of that)

And on and on with the sales and coupons.  I also had some WIC items included.  Here's the final run down:

I got $124.18 worth of groceries for a grand total of $61.86!!  Yay!  Mission accomplished!

It was not without it's moments, though.  Sarah and Kevin were both in what we call a "car cart"--a shopping cart in the shape of a race car.  Big and bulky, but they love it!  Well, they kept trying to honk each other's horn, which caused problems.  Also, Sarah brought a baby doll with her and about 10 rubber bands.  Kevin had a small rubber ring.  Of course, these items kept getting dropped and I'd have to find them.  Over and over.  Have you ever had to look on the floor of a grocery store for a light purple rubber ring, while juggling coupons, ad papers, and 2 pages of lists?

Whew!  But now we have plenty of food in the house, and there's still a nice amount left for groceries for the month!

Zoo day!

Today we took the kids to the zoo. The One we took them to is excellent! The animals appeared happy, the scenery was beautifully done, and there were plenty of activities for the little ones. I think that the lions were everyone's favorite!

After a long day of walking, the kids were sticky with pizza and cotton candy, which was proof that we all had a great time!

An encouraging note

To all of my fellow mothers whose children like to wake up at seven in the morning:

Due to the time change this weekend, for a few blessed days (until our kids adjust to the new time), our kids will wake us up an hour later than normal! Of course, they'll be staying up later, also. But won't we all enjoy sleeping in for a few days? Take advantage of it as long as you can. I know I will!

He passed!

This morning was Kevin's hearing test. And, yes, he passed! The audiologist conducted several different kinds of tests or exams and concluded that Kevin's hearing is well within the normal range. So now, what this means is that we will now be able to move forward with speech therapy! I'm glad for this. The audiologist was used to dealing with small kids. Kevin probably thought that the whole thing was one big game! She blew bubbles to distract him, used light up toys that made noise, etc. It was interesting to see how it was done.

This afternoon the kids have been up to he usual activities. The played in one of their rooms for over an hour. I'll post the picture of how it looked after the play time, and then how it looked after we picked up the toys. I've been trying to get the kids to help more with picking up their toys, so the room was an accomplishment. Also, they spent a nice amount of time digging in the dirt outside. It's turned out to be a good day!

It's almost the day of Kevin's first appointment!  Tomorrow at 8:45 we have an appointment with the audiologist.  It's very nerve-wracking.  I feel that there must be a fair chance that his hearing is defective, simply because it's a very common issue with toddlers who have speech delays.  The good thing is that most hearing issues are fairly easy to correct.  However, he does seem to hear everything that's said to him.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow.  

I'll be on edge until this whole thing is over.  In order to start his speech therapy, he has to be able to pass a hearing screening.  So I'm hoping that everything goes well tomorrow, so that we can make an appointment as soon at possible with the speech therapist. But, at least part of the waiting time has passed.  Tomorrow is a big day!

Nice weather

Today was such perfect weather that I kept the kids outside for hours! It helps them burn off some energy. Also, the more time the spend outside, the less time they have to make a complete disaster zone out of the house! It's incredible what two small kids can do within minutes.  I'm hoping that his nice weather will last a while.