Lesson 32

Well the best laid plans of doing two lessons a day didn't happen today. When we covered Lesson 32 today, Keree seemed to struggle with a few of the "w" words. So after we finished Lesson 32, we went back and reviewed Lesson 31 and then re-did Lesson 32. By the time we were done, she was finished with school for the day but luckily she had a firm grasp on "w" words. In the late morning, we headed outside for a short time. It seems that the two Hornworms either ingested some of the tomato poison or they fought each other, but both of them seemed dead. So we decided just in case they weren't dead, we still emptied the bug house far away from our house. When afternoon rolled around, Keree laid down for a short nap, it was basically a power nap but while she was asleep, I was able to get two tutu's done. When Keree got up, we walked by Dorothy and she was laying on the bottom of the bowl (just 1/2 hr before she was happily swimming around). Both my Mom and I looked at each other when Keree asked what was wrong with Dorothy. We told her we thought maybe she was just resting. Keree looked a little longer and goes "no, your wrong she's not breathing, she's dead." My heart broke for her, she kept asking us why did Dorothy have to die. We told her again that goldfish don't live very long but she didn't see satisfied with that answer. It seemed this evening rolled around all too fast. We headed to cheerleading practice. The rules state you are suppose to arrive 15 minutes early, well that time came and went, then 6pm came and went. We were about to leave when a few other girls and their Mom's showed up. All of us was standing in the parking lot talking trying to figure out what was going on, when another women approached us. It turns out that our Coach couldn't make it, so she was filling in. *Grumble, Grumble, Grumble* I have to say that this Coach who filled in was really on top of it, even though she was just winging it with the cheers to a point. They learned there first Half time dance tonight and I can't wait to see it set to music. They also learned 5 other cheers. We ended up taping them performing so Keree can practice at home. While they practiced J's Mom and I got to catch up a little bit. It was nice getting to talk to another Mom. As you know earlier in the summer, I was a little concerned having the two of them together on the same team but after stressing to Keree that this was not playtime with her friend, she took the practice very serious. Keree is very excited about practice and can't wait till the next one, which is on Friday. Tonight, Keree headed to bed early. Tomorrow is her 1st day back to Pre-school. Actually, this will be technically her Third 1st day of Pre-School and she's very excited to see some of her friends tomorrow. I on the other hand is feeling a little emotional, this is the last year before my daughter goes to Kindergarten. I guess also I'm little emotional because Sunday is our 4th Forever Family day and I can't believe how quickly the years have passed by. Well off to bed, so I can make sure I'm up in time for school.

County Fair Day 5

We got a slow start to our morning. After we got dressed, we had a little time before we had to leave. I was checking email, while Keree was watching Bob & Dorothy swim around. Keree kept telling me to watch them, so I had just finished watching them swim and turned back around and Keree goes "what's wrong with Bob, Mommy?" So both my Mom and I stop we are doing and look, Bob is floating belly up and not breathing. We hurried and transferred him out of the tank, we tried to do everything we could think of, practically giving him fishy cpr. Keere was so freaked out by the whole thing, she couldn't believe Bob died right in front of her. I couldn't believe that the fish died right in front of her. She came close to crying but had more questions than anything. She wanted to know where fish go after they die, what we were going to do with his body, why did he die and the questions went on. By the time we got to the Fair, she was doing better about losing Bob. When the fair started, Keree and my Mom went and watched the Dress your Dog contest. It was a little disappointing that there was only 3 dogs competing. When Keree got back to our booth, she just wanted to chill out. So we popped a movie in and built her a little tent out of our red table cloth (just her tennis shoes were sticking out). I think between it being nap time and what happened with Bob, she was just mentally exhausted. After she watched her movie, she never did fall asleep but she was feeling better and wanted to walk around. So my Mom took her outside and she got to play a game. Unlike previous days, she didn't want to play goldfish again, so she played the ducks. She ended up winning a stuffed monkey who looks like Curious George. Off and on during the day, her friend Ru would stop by. Keree meet Ru on the very 1st day of the fair and we ran into her Momma and her off and on over the past few days. Well towards the end of the day, Ru joined Keree and they watched Monster vs. Aliens...well the last 1/2 hr of it together. So while they watched the movie, Ru's Momma and I talked. Once the movie ended, they were headed home, while we still had an hour left of the show and at least an hour or more of break down. After they left, Keree and my Mom walked around a little bit around the booths. One of the vendors had a few ride tickets left and they gave 2 to Keree. Keree was excited because that meant she was going to get to ride the carousel again. The show closed and we were hoping to get everything packed quickly, so we could all go out together and watch Keree on the carousel but it didn't work that way. So while I finished packing, my Mom and Keree quickly hurried out there and she got to ride. My Mom said it was crazy because they were already packing up the horses while Keree was riding. The downside to this ride was Keree didn't enjoy it. The motion was just to much for her, so my Mom had to hold her tightly until the ride stopped. Once they headed back inside, we finished packing a few more things. It was 1130p, when we finally decided to call it a night. We only have the grids, racks, the monster and the denim to load up tomorrow. When we got home, we checked on Dorothy before we let Keree see her. We were scared that after what happened to Bob, that she was going to be dead also. Luckily, she was happily swimming around.

County Fair Day 4

Well after much hunting this morning, Bob & Dorothy finally have a new home. I couldn't believe how hard it was to find a reasonable priced fish tank. We went to 3 stores and all they had were these expensive $40 kits. Since we don't know how long Bob & Dorothy were going to live, we didn't want to make that kind of investment (our kit was under $9). So we spent this afternoon moving them into their new home and giving them a little food. Keree was so excited to see them swim around and they seem to be so much happier not living in plastic bags. We then headed out for our 4th day at the County Fair. When the fair started, my Mom and Keree went to watch the Dress your Chicken contest. My Mom said that Keree loved the chickens and especially loved the Chicken dressed like a Bride. She said that the winner was a Chicken who sat in a salad bowl filled with lettuce and tomatoes. Hence, Chicken salad, I have to say it was adorable and they said the chicken was so good and just sat there. Keere was also excited because she got to pet a Chicken. Most of the people who were entered into the contest keep Chickens as their household pets and they are really tame. Once Keree got back, she told me all about the chicken and went on and on about the Chicken who was getting married. Later in the evening, Keree and I got to walk around the fair. Keree had ate earlier with my Mom but I was starving, so we were trying to find something reasonable to eat. We decided while we were out there to play a few games, first up was the duck pond, she won a Pink Princess crown and then our next stop was skee ball. We didn't win anything there, we were 1,000 points away from winning (one more ball and we would have had the prize). More than anything, it was fun. After much searching for a sandwich, it turned out the cheapest way to go was to get a Gyro. Keree and I then headed inside, we walked around looking at the other booths and eating our sandwich. My Mom had a customer at the booth, so we spent a good 45 minutes walking around looking. Finally, after I realized it was the same Customer, who wasn't buying anything and had her stroller, little girl and herself taking up the entire floor of our booth because she was sitting down. I was tired, so I butted my way back into our booth. My Mom spent over 1 1/2 hours with this lady and all she bought was a $3 bow. My Mom said she kept asking questions, trying to figure out how things were made. My Mom was trying to be nice but I thought it was funny that the lady high tailed it out of there when I came back. I told my Mom I pretty sure she was was trying to steal. She sat there with her stroller basket right next to her, she was waiting for the moment for my Mom to stop looking so she could just throw them underneath the basket. She knew with my Mom, Keree and I there, she wasn't going to be able to pull off the heist. Keree spent the rest of the evening watching a movie on the portable DVD player until it was time to head home for the night.

School Physical & County Fair Day 3

This afternoon, Keere had her school physical. She needed one for the homeschool coop and was also required to have a blood draw and a TB test ran. Keree was so funny and articulate with the Nurses and Doctors. She now weighs a whooping 23 lbs and is 33 1/2" tall. I knew she was going to have to have one shot and of course the blood draw. So, we had talked to Keree ahead of time what was going to happen. When they came back in, they said since she's starting school, she also needed 4 other shots. WTH! I go but she's not starting Kindergarten, she's not really starting school and I know that she was actually ahead of schedule by 1 shot. Finally, I just decided to admit defeat and let her get the shots. I had a feeling that Keree would freak a little with just the TB test, so why not get the other 4 taken care of, so she doesn't have to go through it next year...or at least as many. Well, the Nurse finally came in for the shots, the minute they insisted that Keree lay back on the table, she freaked. I watched her regress back to the days of all the hospital tests, needle pricks and fear of Doctors (between 1-2 yrs old). Of course, since I was the one holding her down (literally laying on top of her, so she wouldn't move), I became the bad guy just like back then. She wanted nothing to do with me and I'm lucky my Mom was there with me to comfort her. Then we went for the blood draw. I have to say I had a firm grasp on Keree, I know her strength and I know when it comes to things like this that she has super strength. I was holding her body, face and shoulder as tightly as I could. The one Nurse was suppose to be holding her arm still and then there was the Nurse taking the blood. Of course, the Nurse who was suppose to be holding her arm, let it slip, thus the vein moved and the whole thing was a bust. We have to go back on Monday to try again and have the TB test read. The Nurse who was suppose to be holding her arm, then tried to put a band-aid on her arm. Of course, Keree began to freak out again, screaming "Please no band-aid" and then followed by a terrified blood-curdling scream. I told the Nurse several times, she hates band-aids, can't you just wrap her arm. Thank goodness the Nurse who was taking the blood got it and so she wrapped Keree's arm. My daughter hates band-aids, she's not like normal kids who think of them as stickers or that loves to put them on every little boo-boo real or pretend that they have. Finally after 2 hours of torture, I mean Doctor's appointment, we were finished. Within 5 minutes of being in the car, Keree was fast asleep. We headed to our 3rd day at the County Fair. We got there a little early, so we grabbed some lunch and sat in the car and ate and Keree continued to sleep. We were able to get in at 5p to set-up/replenish, basically by then it was just nice to sit inside in the air conditioning. Keree and my Mom left then around 6pm for Keree's 1st cheerleading practice. The got there in plenty of time but there was no one there. There was no Coach, no other Girls, nothing. Turns out the Coach sent out an email that it was canceled. Which would have been fine if we were home and had gotten the email. I'm not happy about this because honestly when you are going to Cancel something less than 4 hrs before, you need to call people. So we ended up wasting time, gas and money. They ended up getting back shortly before 715p. They were having a tractor pull contest that was suppose to start at 730p, well when Keree and my Mom arrived. They were handing out the rewards already. Keree was disappointed but they did let her take a ride on one of the Tractors. They also walked around and looked at the livestock. Keree said her favorite animal was the sheep. We had promised Keree earlier in the week that she could get some Cotton Candy. We didn't know what day we were going to do it and since everything Keree went through today and then having Cheerleading be canceled. We decided tonight was a good night. Keree was beyond excited, she was jumping up and down with excitement. She only got to eat a handful and saved the rest of it for tomorrow. We headed home once the Exposition building where we are set-up was closed and Keree stayed awake till we got home. Keree had to check on Bob & Dorothy and tell them good-night before she headed to bed.

Lesson 30, Fair Day 2 & 4 yrs Ago

Four years ago today, I arrived at the Ministry of Justice for what I thought was some routine paperwork in the adoption process. I stood before a glass window staring at a clerk behind it. I saw her thumb through papers and stamp some of them. She was so very serious and all I could do was smile nervously, not knowing what was happening. I watched as the two Facilitators ran to this window and that. Then finally the one Facilitator came over and goes after you leave here you get Custody of your Daughter from the Orphanage. I was blown away, I couldn't believe it was happening, that I was going to get Custody. We headed to the Orphanage around 1pm, we meet with the Orphanage Director, signed some paperwork and then we were told to go get our babies. When I walked in, the Nanny had just finished changing Keree. When they handed her to me, she smiled and giggled. We took one last picture of me holding Keree and a few of the Nannies that were in the room. We then walked down the stairs, where we pasted one of the other Nannies from her room, she kissed her head and waved bye-bye. We were then handed some paperwork and whisked into a taxi to head back to the hotel. It was all a little surreal that day.

We got a late start this morning, getting back into the swing of show season is rough. Keree enjoyed lunch in her pajamas. I fixed her an octopus hot dog, spinach/zucchini/tomato/black olive salad and she got a few whole grain cheesy potato chips. She cleared her plate completely. We headed down to the Fair and we got to get in at 5p to set-up. We moved a few things around, otherwise we were pretty much set-up. After everything was done, Keree and I walked around. I wanted to get individual pictures of her items that had won ribbons. We also wanted to walk around and see all the vegetables and fruits that were competing for Best in Show and other titles. We were surprised to see that a Giant Pumpkin was the winner for Best in Show. When we got back to the booth, we went through Lesson 30, which was a review of the last sound we learned. Then, Keree and Mom walked around for awhile. They also went back to the stage and watched the World Bird Sanctuary perform a show with all their owls, hawks and other endangered birds. Keree loved it and really loved the owls. After the Bird show was over, they watched the Suzuki String program. When they got back to the booth, Keree and I went for a walk. Keree begged me to get to play the Goldfish toss game. So being that today was a special day, I caved, plus I thought there was no way she was going to win. So I paid the $2 for 15 balls and before I even got back my change. Keree threw her 1st ball and it went right into a bowl. I couldn't believe it and neither could she, she had won a fish. We took our time, she would throw a few and then she would hand one to me. We were always close but it never went in one of the bowls. She was down to her last ball, so she threw it and of course it landed in a bowl. So Keree is now the proud owner of two Fantail Goldfish. She named them Dorothy (after Elmo's goldfish) and Bob. She was so excited, that we rushed back inside to show my Mom. She was helping a Customer, so we had to walk around for a bit wasting time. So since she couldn't tell my Mom and she bursting with excitement. She got to call my Brother, they were so funny talking to each other about the Fish and as soon as Keree told him, she was done talking to him. When Keree finally got to tell my Mom she hid them behind her back and goes "TaDa". It was so adorable and we still couldn't believe that she not only one 1 fish but 2. After the show was done, we headed outside it was 2 for 1 night on the rides. Keree really wanted to ride the Carousel and this way whoever rode with her didn't need tickets because of the whole 2 for 1 deal. Keree did so well on the ride, she wasn't scared at all. So we decided to try another ride, since she did so good. My Mom wanted to take her on the Ferris Wheel but Keree told her that she thought it was a little too high. So in my brilliance, I suggested the tilt-a-whirl. The reason I suggested it, is because you aren't really tossed around all that much and in all honestly the spinning isn't that bad. So my Mom and Keree got on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Keree was excited until it started up, the noise frightened her more than the actually ride. By the end of the ride, she had her head buried into my Mom's lap. After that, we called it quits with riding rides. Since it was late, we decided to head home. Keree was so concerned about her new pets. I can't even count how many times she asked about them as she headed home. When we got home, Keree told them goodnight and we all headed to bed.