Was I born?

When we got up this morning, we had totally forgotten that my Mom had a doctor's appointment. So since it seems that every doctor's appointment she has is scheduled before 830a, that means Keree doesn't go to school. So after my Mom's doctor's appointment, we got some running done, picked up some fresh veggies (okra, cucumber, 3 different types of peppers, bi-color sweet corn and 4 different types of tomatoes) from our friend and then paid a few bills. When we got home, we immediately started working on business. I went in search of my Halloween ribbon because almost all my Halloween bows were purchased this weekend. Since we got so caught up in everything we were doing, we didn't even notice it was after 1pm until Keree begged to take a nap. So, since we usually do school before nap time, we decided to skip today.
When I laid Keree down in bed, she seemed to have something on her mind but didn't want to talk. After awhile she wanted me to sing to her, which only when she is really upset or not feeling well does she want me to do that. So after singing the 50th rendition of Farmer in the Dell, Keree finally started talking. Keree goes "Uncle was born to Grandma just like I was born to you right? Main Teacher said I grew in your tummy. Why does Main Teacher's baby have to be born after Christmas?" *I will just add here, that I think it's totally inappropriate that they are discussing the Main Teacher's pregnancy almost every day of class it seems like. Everyday, Keree comes home with another statement or question about Main Teacher's baby. So being totally caught off guard by all this, I start by saying "Your right Uncle was born to Grandma, but remember Mommy adopted you, so that means you weren't born to me but you were born in my heart and we are now a family forever. Remember I told you, you were born to your Birth Mom. And the reason Main Teacher's baby can't be born until after Christmas is that baby has to keep growing." * Now I'll add that I hate the whole "you were born in my heart" line. I had vowed to never use it but for some reason it came out of my mouth. Even though I have told Keree her adoption story, we have talked about her being adopted and I've always tried to be open about it, I honestly felt uneasy when we talked. I guess because this time it wasn't on my terms. Keree laid there for a few minutes and then in what I swear was one breath goes "What is a birthmom? Why weren't I born in your tummy? How can I be born in your heart (damn, knew that line was going to come back and bite me)" So, I started to explain to her that she grew in her Birthmom's tummy and after she was born she went to the orphanage. That the "grew in my heart" was a saying because our heart means love and I loved her before I even got to hold her for the first time. Keree's next question were a little too much for me to handle but I'll list them here "How did I grow in my Birthmom's tummy? How did I get in my Birthmom's tummy? How did Main Teacher's baby get in her tummy? How are you born? Why didn't I grow in your tummy? Main Teacher said that all babies grow in their Mommy's tummies but I didn't grow in your tummy? Main Teacher said that all babies have Daddies too but I don't have one." I was overwhelmed and honestly failing as a Adoptive Parent, I didn't have the answers at that moment for her and I didn't want to lie to her, I didn't want to tell her any untruths. So what did I do....I took the chicken way out. I told her "you know it's naptime and your suppose to be laying there quietly and we will talk later." I knew someday we would be talking about this, I have read book after book, I had rehearsed these scenarios a thousand times before and I really thought at the tender age of 4, a simple answer would appease her. But that didn't happen, so know I'm trying to sort through my mind the appropriate answers and how much information is too much at this age. After nap, she spent the little bit of time we had drawing ladies, a tummy and a baby growing inside. Seriously, she's only 4!
This evening we had cheerleading. I think their practices would go much better if the Coach wasn't constantly changing the Cheers & Dances every week. They learned there entire dance last week and then this week, she changed almost 3 - 8 count sections. Then half-way through the practice, she goes "you girls better learn all this because our 1st game is next week." All I could think was seriously, they've had 4 practices (counting today's) and only 3 of them with her. After practice was over, we headed home, ate some dinner and then watched a little tv before heading to bed, which is where I should be right now.

Muffin Tin Monday and Lesson 39 & 40

We had a rough morning, I forgot how much my body aches after a weekend show. Keree was exhausted but I finally managed to get her out of bed without much fuss. I dropped her off school and ran some errands. As I was heading back to pick her up at school, it started pouring down rain. These were some of the largest drops of rain, I think I've ever seen. I read the class summary, they worked on a new class book about friends, read a book and played outside. When Keree's Main Teacher opened the door, the first thing out of her mouth was "Keree had a traumatic incident today." Having not seen my daughter through the window ahead of time, a million things ran through my head. I'm imagining her with bumps, bruises, missing limbs and the next thought was "why didn't they call me if she got hurt." Well in what seemed like forever, the Main Teacher finally started to explain. The class was outside when it started to rain. Keree's shoe on her brace had came off (still not sure how that happened because it practically takes a crowbar to get it off), so of course she can't run and come in. So, since the last few storms, has had lots of thunder and lightening. Keree panics and starts crying, her Teacher ended up having to save her. So she was just a little damp from being out in the rain. Thank goodness it was just a little rain and nothing something worse.

When we got home, I worked on Keree's Muffin Tin lunch. This week's theme was Numbers, Counting, 123's. Well since we had a show this weekend, I saw tons of Christmas stuff. So, the first thing that came into my head when I thought of the theme was the song 12 days of Christmas. So I present to you the first 5 days of Christmas. The first compartment is a Partridge in a Pear Tree, it contains shaved ham for the top of the tree, a slice of cucumber for the trunk and a bird shaped out of cheese. The next compartment is Two Turtle Doves and contains a bagel chip with two cheese birds. Up next is Three French Hens, which is also a bagel chip and three cheese birds. In the next row is Four Calling Birds, which is four cheese birds on top of four cherry tomatoes and lastly Five Golden Rings, which are 5 Oatey-o's (sort of like a Cheerios). So before we ate lunch, we sang the 12 days of Christmas song. After lunch, we worked on Lessons 39 & 40, which introduced a few what they consider tricky words and also a new phonic. Once Keree finished her lessons, she laid down for a nap. Even though she was exhausted, she fought resting tooth and nail. She only slept for about a 1/2 hr and once she woke up, she spent another 1/2 hr just resting in bed. Keree spent the rest of the evening drawing. I think she drew at least 40-50 pictures and I worked on craft stuff since in two weeks is our big show in Kentucky.

Havest Thyme Festival - Day 2

We got up bright and early, drove the hour to the Festival, got all set-up and then waited for the customers to arrive. Well it seems, they failed to mention to all the vendors that they had moved the start time from 9am to 11am. So for 2 hours, we sat around, talked and visited with the other vendors. When 11am rolled around, my Mom and Keree went for a walk, while I manned the booth. I couldn't believe it, that every time my Mom and Keree would leave, I would be slammed with customers. We tried out the theory over and over and it happened without fail. Luckily, the playground was nearby, so my Mom and Keree went there and also just walked slowly around to advertise. You wouldn't believe how many people mentioned seeing Keree walking around. Honestly, you couldn't have missed my little girl in her tutu and fairy halo. By the time the festival was over, I was exhausted and just couldn't imagine packing everything up. Amazingly, as slowly as I was moving, it only took us 2 hrs to pack and get on the road. When we got home, we were all ready for bed. I couldn't believe how dirty everything was, just by moving our clothes, there were clouds of dust. I think my feet told the whole story, I couldn't believe how dirty they were. By the time we were all cleaned up and climbed into bed, we looked at the clock and couldn't believe that it was barely 830p. While we were watching television and relaxing, Keree started complaining and itching. When we looked at her leg, we were shocked to find what appeared to be a swelled line on her skin. We thought it was some type of bite even though it looked like a worm crawled under her skin. We smoothered her leg with bug medicine and hoped it will clear it up. Our only thought on how this happened is, we think a bug got stuck between her leg and brace and that's why it was such a straight line.

Harvest Thyme Festival - Day 1

We got up before the sun, loaded Keree into the car still in her pajamas and started the hour drive to finish set-up. Amazingly, even though it seemed to take us forever to set-up, in reality it was only about 2 hours. After set up was finished, my Mom went to get Keree changed into her clothes. This is when I win Bad Mother of the Year, my Daughter who has worn a brace since she was 13 months old, the same Brace that is always the first thing I pack....well I didn't pack it. So that meant, my Daughter couldn't walk around, that meant she had to be carried everywhere. She was so upset that I forgot to pack her brace and I felt so awful because there was nothing I could do about it. Then the real fun began....we were really worried when for the first 2 hours there was no one visiting our tent. We finally had one customer and I kept thinking postive thoughts. Since it was so slow, I grabbed the backpack put Keree inside and I walked the almost 4 miles around the park to visit all the different stands. I was doing well until we hit two huge hills, the climb up wasn't too bad but I thought I was going to die going down the hill. All the while, Keree was laughing and pointing things out and I was trying my best to not pass out. Keree had spotted the giant blow-ups and my Mom told her that she could go on them. They were suppose to have "Free" activites for the kids, so we assumed that the blow-ups were probably free. That whole weekend, we never saw any of those free activites because it turned out that the bounce house cost, $5 for 8 minutes. I told Keree that they cost lots of money, she was disappointed but it was short lived when I suggested we get a snowcone instead. So while I walked back to our stand, I would hold the spoon over my shoulder to feed her the snowcone. When we got back, Keree decided she needed to just chill. She watched several movies and drew in her notebook. Occassionally, she would want to come out of her area but she was content to stay there. Surprinsgly, we had lots of Customers and being that this is only the 2nd year for this show, we were pleasntly surprised by how well we did. When 5pm rolled around, we dismantled everything so it would fit back in our tent for tomorrow. Being that we were all exhausted, we ended up picking up dinner. When we got home, we sat on my Mom's bed and ate dinner. My Mom and Keree fell asleep before the news but I fought sleep so I could watch the news. Another early and long day tomorrow.

Orthopedic Clinic, Set-up & Cheer

Our morning started out with our 1st trip to the Orthopedic Clinic at the Children's hospital. It was a little strange because all check-in's are handled in one giant waiting room. So we were sitting there with all the sick kiddos, well kiddos, those there for specialists (like us), and those there for surgery. It took them over 40 minutes (we got there 1/2 hr early) before they even registered us, took our insurance card and put a bracelet on Keree. Once she had the bracelet, we were then told to sit down and wait for our name to be called. Well that took another 20 minutes, which was over 30 minutes after our appointment time. We then meet for a short time with the nurse, who took some intake info and then we waited again. Keree was then seen by the Intern, can't remember his name but he was great with her. After a thousand and one questions, he then sent us for x-rays. Keree has always had x-rays where she had to stand up, so she was a little panicked when they laid her down on the table. But she stayed pretty calm, until the x-ray pulled out the little piece of tape to mark the spot on the board. She started to freak out thinking he was putting it on her. After the X-ray Tech and I convinced her that the tape wasn't going to touch her, she calmed down again. When the X-ray's were done, they sent us back to our room. We were almost there, when the Intern sent us back down for a few more X-ray's. The X-ray Tech's were a little confused but they were sweet about it. Once we got back to our room, we waited about 20 minutes and then the Main Doctor and another Intern came in. When the Doctor started talking to us, it truly cemented the fact we made the right decision in going there and I really wish I had decided this much sooner. I was surprised by quite a few facts he shared with us regarding the leg length difference Keree has. He also discussed that more than likely the strange popping we keep hearing on Keree's good leg is not damage she is doing by over compensating but she more than likely has a meniscus deformity, which since she is not experiencing constant pain they don't want to do anything just yet. Which I'm just glad to have an answer and not feel like our observations mean nothing. They also ordered her to continue physical therapy until our next appointment in 6 months. So, I have decided to make a request to move Keree to the Hospital PT's office that is closer to our house for continued treatment. Now when we left the Clinic, we were starving, I'm super excited that not even 2 blocks away is the last remaining Del Taco in the area. I have a love affair with Del Taco for some reason. So after grabbing some lunch, we were back on the road. Since we passed by our house on the way to Set-up, we stopped and changed into some shorts because it had gotten so freakin' hot. It was over an hour drive to where our show was this weekend. When we got there, it took awhile to figure out where our spot was but it was a great spot opposed to some of the other ones we saw. Keree sat in her chair, while we set-up the tent, placed the grids and assembled the racks. We could have assembled our items on the racks but there was another Vendor sitting there watching our every move. Which honestly creeped us out, so we choose to keep our items boxed and then really secured our tent. Our finally stop for the day was an hour drive back to town for Keree's cheerleading practice. The Coach really seems to have a bad attitude or it's the vibe and way she handles the whole practice and girls. What also ticks me off, is she will correct another girl who is maybe doing the move wrong but she doesn't help Keree. The other thing that annoyed me during this practice, was instead of telling Keree to scoot over, she actually would pick her up and move her. I'm sorry, my daughter is old enough that all you have to do is tell her where to stand and she will move to that spot. When we got home, it was more packing. My Mom and Keree went to bed early but I still had a couple more hundred things to do before I can get to bed.

Lessons 37 & 38

This morning was the start of the new school time start. I still have no clue why they picked a Thursday to change the start time and not the beginning of a week. Honestly, I wouldn't have thought that a 15 minute time difference would make it so much harder getting out the door on time. As we walked into school (only 2 minutes late), Keree fell 4 different times. Luckily since she holds my hand and I'm use to her falling, I am able to have a split second response to grab her arm hard enough that she doesn't hit the ground. So when I left, I told my Favorite Assistant Teacher that Keree was a little tipsy on her feet today. I have to say that I honestly feel like we won some sort of battle, it's only Day 7 of school and this is the first time I had to tell them this. When I came to pick Keree up, the summary on the board said that they talked about the special surprise snack they were making the other Assistant Teacher for her Birthday tomorrow, read another book about School and the 1st day and wrote their name using their name plaques. Now the funniest thing was, when the Main Teacher opened the door, she goes you'll be so surprised what Keree wrote on her paper. She goes she wrote it all by herself. The Main Teacher continued, "I walked by and looked at her paper and saw that she wrote Mickey Mause and Mine Mause. I asked Keree how did she know how to write that" and that's when Keree piped in "I don't know, I just know." What cracked me up, was the Main Teacher was so proud of herself, like she was the one who taught her how to sound out and write words. I didn't want to burst her bubble, so I didn't tell her we've been homeschooling.

When we got home, Keree didn't feel like lunch, I got her to eat a little bit of chicken and that's it. She ended up wanting to take a nap almost immediately and I'm think it's because her allergies/sinuses are doing a number on her. I asked Keree if she wanted to do school now or after nap and she totally perked up. We learned the long a sound today, which it took Keree a little time to remember the differences but once she got it, she got it. I feeling sort of like a failure because it doesn't look like we will reach Lesson 50 by September 1st. We should be close but knowing this weekend we will be at a show and were hoping it's super busy, I'm not sure we will have time at all for Lessons. After Keree took her nap, she went outside and played, while I worked on packing the van for our show. We ended up being outside until almost 830p tonight, I hadn't even realized how late it was, other than I knew the sun was setting. When we got in, Keree jumped in the shower, when she got out, we located all her mosquito bites from this evening. Keree spent the rest of the evening watching NFL football trying to see if she could see the cheerleaders on the sidelines. As for me, I feel like I'm running around like a chicken without a head, which isn't unusual the night before set-up for a show. Then compound that also the meeting at the Orthopedic Clinic, Cheerleading practice and all the time we are going to spend on the road tomorrow, it's a little crazy. So, going to wrap this up and finish the few more things I have to before heading to bed.

Today

I had to laugh this morning because yet again it was chilly but Keree really wanted to still wear summer clothes. After I dropped Keree off at school, I came home and worked on shop stuff. I spent the entire morning photography all the new items we have gotten finished over the last few weeks. I've got to say,I was really happy with the photos. When I went to pick Keree up, the summary said that they finished up their Book about the Friends in the Morning Class (each kid drew a picture, suppose to be of them self and then the teacher wrote whatever the child said about the picture or about them self). It also said they read a different book on the 1st day of school and learned a few new songs. As for Keree, she was miserable when I picked her up. Before we even made it to the car, she broke down into tears in the middle of the parking lot because her feet/leg was hurting so bad. As soon as she was strapped in her carseat, I gave her some chewable tylenol...which since giving medicine lately has been a battle, it lead to more tears. Then basically the entire drive home, she cried miserable because of the pain. Once we got home, I was meeting with the Homeschool Coordinator at noon, so we were staying outside. So while we waited for her, Keree laid miserably on the glider and since we had a little time, I finished up the Shop pictures. Well about half way through taking pictures, Keree decided she wanted to help. Which consisted of her trying to stand in front of the camera to block the shot. If I didn't know she miserable and in pain, she would have been in some major trouble, instead she just got in mild trouble. And since she was in rare form, I got some really amusing up close shots of her. Finally the Homeschool Coordinator showed up, she made copies of some paperwork and since that is all done, we are now submitted to the Committee. She will let us know there decision in a few weeks. Before we headed in, we picked the lonely cucumber and the one ripe tomato we have so far. We planned on eating it for lunch but Keree just wanted a hot dog and some fruit. As soon as she finished lunch, she was wanted to go to bed. She ended up taking an almost 3 hr nap before she woke up. I'm thankful that once she woke up, she was feeling back to her old self. We ended our evening with cheerleading practice. This is the 1st time that Keree has practiced with the Coach. The Coach had an attitude the minute she showed up. While Keree practiced, I talked with J's Mom and another Mom. We were trying to figure out everything with regards to the league that each other knew. They were only able to practice for a 1/2 hr because a couple of the girls needed to use the bathroom and of course the bathroom there was locked (just like last week). The Coach was like, I had no idea that they would have the doors locked. Umm, the Substitute Coach we had last week, she told you that the bathroom thing is an ongoing issue with alot of the squads. She even admitted that the Substitute Coach told her this. But the best part during the whole practice was when the Coach called the girls mediocre. I thought J's Mom was going to flip out right then and there. Seriously, you are calling the girls mediocre and this is only the 2nd practice you have been at and only the 3rd practice these girls have had. I honestly think they are doing pretty darn well considering everything.

Boiling Tuesday

Today was another blood boiling day but I will get to that later. Keree didn't want to get up this morning because she claimed it was too cold outside (it was in the low 70's). But when we went to pick out clothes, she choose a spaghetti strap dress...silly girl. When I dropped Keree off at school, I told the Main Teacher she wasn't going to be in class on Friday because we are meeting with a new Ortho Doc. The Main Teacher was like well we will miss her that day, she's such a joy in class. WTH! You just tell me on the 2nd day of class she's a Bully and Difficult and today she's a joy. She then handed me a sheet, it said that they are moving the classes start time to 815a because of all the congestion in the parking lot...I had to wait to get outside to laugh hysterically at the note. Seriously, you just realize on Day 4 of school that having 15 classes all starting at 830a is a bad idea. When I came to pick Keree up, the summary said that the strung beads to make necklaces (Keree didn't do it), learned a few new songs and watched a movie on the 1st day of school. Also the Main Teacher is having a baby girl. When I read the description, I was like seriously what did they learn today. Luckily Keree made a picture of her Uncle and her. She wrote her Uncle's name almost correctly (she switched a vowel), wrote I love you and wrote her name. So at least I know she's trying to sound out words by herself during class. We didn't stick around after class because Keree had PT.
We ran 2 minutes late because we had to stop and drop my Mom off at an appointment. Since Keree is being seen by the new Ortho on Friday, I had to cancel her PT that day, I then asked for all her appointments to be moved up 15 minutes since she's getting out of school 15 minutes early. I was going to schedule a few other appointment but I had to get approval from her Main PT. So when I headed back, Keree was already being stretched. So I started talking to her Main PT about scheduling more appointments. That is when she goes, well I really don't think I will have to see her anymore, I mean the main thing that she needs done is stretched and I can teach you how to do it. Plus I don't think she'll get any stronger, so there's really no point. Ok, this is the same PT who said that the special stretches she does manipulates her muscles and can only be learned going to school for years. So, your going to teach me, what, in an hour session how to do these. Plus she's not going to get any stronger, so your giving up on her. I have watched my child and yes, I have pushed my child and I have never told her she couldn't do something...that is why she is doing as well as she is doing and you want me to sit back and accept she's not going to get any stronger. NO!! I will not accept that answer. I know she will never be able to do everything a non-disabled child can do but I do know that we have a chance to give her a better quality of life. And I'm not going to accept the "well that's as good as she will ever do something" attitude. Plus we were told with the Polio her muscles will become stiff and rigid, if she is not regularly stretched by a professional. When I went to pick my Mom up, I told her what was said. I was livid about all this, my blood was boiling and I just wanted to hit someone or something. I hate this and it hurts so badly that it seems like everyone is giving up on my daughter, first the Hospital and now PT. I'm praying that this new Ortho Doc is the answer to my prayers at this point.

Muffin Tin Monday & Lesson 35 & 36

Keree got up this morning with no problem but wanted to crawl back under the covers. To get her going and get dressed, she got to pick out how her hair was going to be styled and what bow/clip she was going to get to wear. When we got to school, it was a minute before 830a. I hadn't even noticed that it was a minute before 830a because my clock said it was 834a. Well the Main Teacher was running around still trying to clean the room and she gave me a dirty look when we walked in. What amazes me, is that there was 4 other Moms and Kids that walked in with me. When I left, Keree told me she was going to sit down and draw a picture. When I came to pick Keree up, I was about 5 minutes early. I wanted to observe the class to see what Keree was doing. Keree was sitting on the rug like she was suppose to do with the rest of the kids and singing. Now I did watch 4 other kids get up and wander around the room during rug time and get into the toys. The summary said that they played a new game to learn their friends names, read another book about the first day of school and took a poll on if their Main Teacher was going to have a boy or girl. And that most of the friends said it was a boy but they will find out tomorrow what it's going to be. Keree was so excited to show me her drawing that she did. It is Keree, my Mom and I standing under a rainbow. She also wrote "Mickey Mause" over my Mom's head along with some hearts because she knows my Mom likes Mickey Mouse. I asked Keree if she sounded it out all on her own and she was so proud when she told me she did. When we got to the car, she told my Mom that her Main Teacher had a baby in her belly and that she said she was going to have a boy. I have to say my Mom and I had a few mixed feeling with them discussing this at school. More than anything because usually they don't handle situations correctly, I mean Keree being adopted and only having a Mom was handled very poorly her first year and somewhat into her second year there and it created alot of issues we had to work through with Keree. I can't tell you how many times Keree came home asking about her Dad because the Teacher's kept telling her that she had a Dad and Mom. When I finally confronted the Main Teacher that is when she said "Keree kept telling me that she had a Mom, Grandma and Uncle but I told her she was wrong, that she had a Dad too." I keep thinking with all this aggravation this school is causing me, and it's only the 3rd day of the new school year, why do I keep her there. I guess it's because we love all the other staff and that the Main Teacher is my only issue with the place.

Keree was so looking forward to today's lunch. While she was at school, I ran to the dollar store and got us a new small Muffin tin. I also found some awesome Alphabet Cheese Crackers. Since today was the re-start of Muffin Tin themes, this week's was ABC's. So, I took a piece of bread and smeared crunchy peanut butter on it and cut it into a letter C for our last name. I then made a Hot dog into a Letter K for Keree. Then there is our alphabet cheese crackers. The bottom row there is a Letter A cut out of cheese, some grapes which Keree said were Letter O's and then some pineapple, which Keree said were either Letter I's or L's. I am always amazed at how much Keree eats when I present her lunch in a Muffin tin. She finished everything except her cheese crackers. After lunch, we worked on Lesson's 35 & 36. Lesson 35 introduced the sh sound. I was surprised at how quickly she picked up Sh and didn't even have to sound out most sh words. Lesson 36 of course reviewed sh and all the other sounds we have learned so far. Keree wanted to do another lesson but I told her that was enough and that she needed to take a nap. Once Keree got up from her nap, we spent the rest of the evening playing with her toys and drawing in her notebooks. When she draws, she also tries sounding out words and writing them to corresponds with her pictures. We ended our evening with watching American Pickers before we headed to bed.

4 yrs ago......We Officially Became a Family

4 yrs ago today, we were on day 20 of living in a hotel in HCMC. I had custody of Keree for 13 days at that point. We spent the morning wandering through the amazing Muncipal Park and then 5 minutes before 4pm, we got a phone call to be down in the lobby at 415p for our G&R. Needless to say, we never got cleaned up so quickly and we even had time to spare. So right around 5pm, after all the paperwork was signed and notarized, Keree and I were officially a family. We were so exhausted but excited when we got back to the hotel room. It was pouring down rain, so we ordered in pizza that night from Al Fresco's.

This morning, after we got up, we told Keree why today was so important. We looked at a few pictures and then we got ready for the baseball game. The news and internet said the game started at 1230p but the game really wasn't until 130p, so that meant instead of the gate opening at 1030a, it instead opened at 1130a. Since we were early, that meant we stood in line from 930a until the gates opened at 1130a. We enjoyed our time by playing with a string we found on my shirt. We did magic tricks with it, we made it into a ring and hide it. When the gates finally opened, we headed over to the Plaza. Since it was Sunday that meant it was Ice Cream Sunday. Before we found a table, we ran into Norton, the mascot for Ice Cream Sunday. Keree was so excited to see the penguin. Once we were at our table, we enjoyed our Cardinal Popsicle. They also announced that it was Norton's birthday, so they were also giving away cupcakes and ice cream cups to celebrate. When it was time, everyone sang Happy Birthday to Norton and then they started passing out cupcakes. I had a lime cupcake and it didn't taste very good (and I love lime). Keree choose a lemon poppyseed cupcake and it was really good. After finishing her popsicle, cupcake and ice cream cup, she headed over to the kids craft area. She made a penguin hat and she drew a picture on it's bill. It was of Norton, his birthday cake and a candle. She also made a cardinal bird. Since it was getting close to the start of the game, we took our seats. I have to say these are some of the best seats we have had in a long time. The only downside to them are they were in the direct afternoon sun, it was super hot. Keree did well but did have some sound issues, there was a Giant's fan who was making a huge scene and so there was alot of bantering back and forth with our neighbors. It was all in good fun but it did get really loud and she didn't like that at all. Since we knew Fredbird is only there for a short time, we left our seats at the top of the 2nd to go see him. We were luck that the guy who was Fredbird's guard, offered to take a picture of us, so we were excited to have a family picture of all of us together. We returned to our seats and made it through most of the game (bottom of the 7th) before Keree started getting over heated. As we were leaving, Got Milk was tearing down their stands. They had a special exhibit going on before the game but since we were already inside the stadium we missed it. But they were nice enough to give us each a Got Milk football.

Since every year we celebrate with the same dinner we enjoyed in Vietnam that evening, we always have pizza. The last two years, we have let Keree decide where we were going. Her 1st choice was the Pizza Company but we were too far away to go there. So her next choice was Chuck e Cheese. My Mom and I weren't thrilled with the choice but she was super excited and that's all that mattered. After we ordered the cheapest meal package up there (it came with 35 tokens), we claimed our table. Keree and I went to play some games, while we waited for the pizza. I can't believe how good Keree is getting at ski-ball. We also had to play Spongebob just so she could tell my Mom that she played it (my Mom doesn't like Spongebob). When the few coins we had taken ran out, we went back to the table. Since the pizza still wasn't there, it was my Mom's turn to go play games with Keree. We continued taking turns playing games until the pizza finally came. Keree ate her entire slice, which is good considering she couldn't wait to get back to playing games. When she finished her pizza, she played the Alien game. Since she loves astronauts and aliens, of course it's one of her favorite games. When all was said and done, we cashed in our tickets at the Ticket Muncher and went to see what prize Keree could pick out. She choose a cute little mini metal lunch box with the Chuck-e characters all over it. When we got home, we spent the rest of the evening taking it easy and enjoying what today means to our family.

Change of Plans

Well we had lots of plans today, including going to the Dragonboat festival and then to the Festival of the Hills. When we woke up, the clouds were dark and gray, there was strong winds, it was thundering and lightening and the weatherman said it was going to stay that way all day. So, my Mom and I discussed our options and decided instead of driving almost 2 hours and be rained out, that instead we would stay home and work on all our shop projects that needed to get done. Which since we hadn't told Keree our plans ahead of time, she wasn't disappointed. By mid-morning, the skies had cleared and it was a gorgeous day. We were so disappointed but at that point it was too late for our original plans. We did get a ton of work done but it still feels like we are so behind. In the afternoon, we went outside and enjoyed the cool day. Keree rode her tricycle up and down the sidewalk and also drew pictures with some sidewalk chalk. We headed in for the evening when the mosquitoes started biting. We ended our evening with watching a few movies before heading to bed.

Blood Boiling and Lesson 33 & 34

Keree didn't want to get up this morning but after she got to pick out her clothes and the clips for her hair, she was doing better. We arrived this morning a few minutes after 830a because we got stuck in traffic for 15 minutes. I really wish the city would do something about the intersection that causes the bottleneck every morning. When we arrived, even though the Main Teacher was right in front of us when we walked in, she glanced at Keree and I and turned her back but we warmly greeted her. Luckily, my Favorite Assistant Teacher was there and she excitedly welcomed Keree. I honestly was worried there would be issues with the Main Teacher since she's been Keree's teacher the last 3 yrs. We hung up Keree's backpack in her cubby and since the Favorite Assistant Teacher was starting a project at one of the tables, I directed Keree to sit down there. When I came to pick Keree up, the summary said that they drew pictures of themselves and described the pictures to the Favorite Assistant Teacher. They sung a new song to help them learn their friends names and also read the book "If you take a Mouse to School."


Now a little back story, at the end of last year, Keree's Main Teacher sends out a progress report. On the report it stated, not using Keree's name in the sentences that Keree was a bully to teachers and classmates, never listened and was a disruption to class. Now I had observed quite a few classes, went on every field trip there was and talked with other parents. I have only been told positive things, that Keree's is everyone's friend and so nice, that she listens so well. This summer at Bible School, they begged me to change Church's because she was such a joy, so well behaved and so friendly to all the children. The same was said at Baseball, Dance and any other activity she has ever been in. When I ran into several of the other Class Mom's over the summer, I mentioned what was written.....everyone of them gasped and did not believe that she had wrote that. I honestly asked them to tell me the truth and I honestly believe they did. So, my Mom and I concluded that she must have thought she had someone elses paperwork and wrote those awful things by mistake. So I decide to ask how Keree is doing so far. So when the Main Teacher was holding the door open, I flat out ask her "I just want to make sure there is no problems, that Keree isn't being a disruption or bullying other children" She looks at me strangely and goes "no there's nothing I can think of". Then I go "well I just want to make sure it doesn't get out of hand since you said how awful she was last year." I really wanted her to say, I'm not sure what you are talking about. Instead she suddenly goes...."well come to think about it, she is being a big bully and she's just so hard to handle." So I ask her, who is she bullying and what is she doing that makes her hard to handle. She has no answer other than "well she just is". Needless to say my blood starts boiling and honestly I was ready to yank her from school right then and there. Seriously, you say my daughter is a bully on Day 2 of school but you can't tell me when she was doing it, to who or how. I am perplexed by this whole thing, first you say there's nothing you can think of and then she's some rotten apple when I remind you of what you wrote last year. At this point, I'm waiting to see how it all plays out. I don't want her writing awful things that go in Keree's permanent record but heck that's already been done. So I guess I'm just waiting to see how all this plays out.

Once we got home, we worked on Lessons 33 & 34. It amazes me that only 30 lessons into the book how well Keree is reading and how quickly she is picking up on all of it. If it wasn't almost nap time, we probably could of covered another lesson. Keree did take a nap but it was only about 20 minutes long .We then got dressed for Cheerleading practice and we practiced some of the cheers before we had to leave. Well, as we were driving to practice, the phone rang. It was the Fill-In Coach, she was canceling practice because it had gotten super dark and the sky was filled with rain clouds. The downside was that all the storms indeed up passing us by and we only got maybe 5 sprinkles. We spent the rest of the evening working on store stuff, while Keree spent her time drawing in her notebook.