Fountain Fun

We got up early and headed to PT. My Brother came along with us since we had planned a fun activity afterwards as a surprise for Keree. PT went really well especially since the Replacement PT is still getting to know Keree and what her limitations are. I really wonder what her Regular PT's notes are on the sessions because Replacement PT is totally clueless. So after my Mom and Keree was done with PT, we all loaded into the car. Keree was giddy with excitement because she still had no clue what the surprise was. I guess because we hadn't been to the Shrine since last year, Keree didn't recognize the place as we were driving up. But once we pulled into the parking lot and she saw the fountains, she remembered. We couldn't get in our swimsuits fast enough. She was a little hesitant at first, so Momma had to take Keree's hand and drag her through the fountains until she was completely wet. After about the third time, she was thrilled to run through them on her own. She played quite awhile on her own before she finally asked Uncle to come play with her. Up until then, he was trying his best not to get wet. It was so funny watching them in the fountains because she would run through a particular fountain when it was full force and he would wait until it would go down and walk over it. Keree was constantly yelling at him, Uncle your not doing it right, your suppose to run through the fountains like this. We played in the fountains for almost 2 hours before we decided to walk through the 2 acre playground area to dry off. As you walk, you read the signs and it tells the story of Genesis. Then when you look down, the sidewalk actually has the pictures explaining it. It's really cool. So we walked all the way to the end, where they have the giant Hand Rock. It has bars, so you can try climbing to the top, which none of us has ever tried. Keree decided she wanted to try this spinning thing. It was about a good 3 feet off the ground but she was still sure she wanted to try it. So she stood on there and Uncle started to rotate her slowly. Then in a second, as we were all watching, she takes a nose dive to the ground. Actually it was her eye and cheek that hit the mulch first. Honestly, I'm surprised she didn't break something because she hit so hard. For the next 10 minutes, she was spitting mulch out of her mouth. She had mulch in between her teeth. And we knew it had to hurt because she actually cried. But as soon as she calmed down, she was ready to go again. She went down the different slides a few times, enjoyed bouncing on the teeter totters and playing in the houses. We finally were dry enough, so we loaded back into the car to head home. Since we were all tired by then, we stopped and got a sandwich from Subway. We had never been to this Subway before and I'll tell you when there's metal bars on the windows, you start to have second thoughts about going in. But my Brother and I braved it, there was only one women working the counter. She wasn't even paying attention when we walked in and we literally stood there, making noise, moving closer to where she was at the end and saying excuse me trying to get her attention. It became so comical because it had been over 10 minutes of us doing this and she was totally ignoring us. Finally she looks up and sees us, she is so startled she jumps. I have made a huge mental note to never go there again. Once we had our sandwiches we headed home. After we ate, Keree laid down for a nap, I went upstairs working on printing ribbon and my Mom & Brother packed for his trip. I have to say I'm totally hooked on printing my own ribbon, I love the possibilities it holds. I literally spent all afternoon and early evening working on it. We spent the rest of the evening working on helping him pack and get ready for his trip.

Lazy Tuesday

This morning, after Keree woke me up before the sun was even up. I realized at that point, I had a splitting headache which was on the verge of being a migraine. I gave her some fruit loops, juice and I took a handful of pills hoping I could head off the migraine. Well when 730a rolled around, Keree crawled into bed with me and my headache was still going strong. I took another handful of drugs and drifted off to sleep for a little while until I was awoken by a sweet kiss on my cheek telling me Grandma had made breakfast. So I drug myself out of bed to eat some breakfast hoping that would help. Keree and I started to head outside to do school work but as soon as I stepped outside into the sultry heat, we came back inside because my head couldn't take it. Once back inside, Keree was needed for measurements for her pageant outfit that she is wearing this weekend and I had to make some corrections to it before my Mom could start sewing it again. We ate lunch and then everyone laid down for a nap, I indeed up staying up and trying to work on Keree's hairbows. I just wasn't sure what I wanted them to look like and finally I got the idea to make my own printed ribbon. I heard that lots of people do it but I had never tired my hand at it personally plus most of the people who do it has fancy programs. So I set off to the upstairs computer and try to figure it out. After a few hours (in the miserable heat), I finally got the picture laid out but I didn't have any iron-on transfer paper. Well once Keree woke up, we went outside to play for a short time while my Brother still slept and my Mom worked on some other stuff. But the heat got to us again, so we headed inside. My Mom had to doing some running, so she picked up some transfer paper. After we ate dinner, I was excited to head upstairs and try it out. The first transfer I tried sort of blurred at one end because the paper shifted just a hair. But when I tried it again, it turned out perfect. I'm so excited that I finally conquered my fear of printing my own ribbon. And I'm so excited about the possibilities of it all. In the late evening, my Aunt called and wanted to come see my Brother. I was indifferent on her coming because of the last fiasco when she showed up so super late to pick up Out-of-Town Aunt. We sat outside and visited, while Keree played on the swing set. It was a nice visit and she brought us some cucumbers. We headed inside when the bugs started biting and we are all headed to bed soon. Keree has PT in the morning, I'm still fighting the same headache and after PT we plan on going to play at the Fountains.

Lesson 20 & Games

For some reason, everyone this morning wanted to sleep in except Keree and I. We got up, ate breakfast, and then I started making lunch. I was super excited to finally try cooking with Patty Pan Squash. I have always seen them at the Farmer Markets and Grocery stores but didn't know how to fix them. When my friend gave me some, I went looking on the internet first to find out what kind of squash they were. My Friend had no clue what they were. Once I knew what they were, I found my recipe, Patty Pan Squash Lasagna. After lunch was fixed and put in the fridge to be cooked later. Our next task was to work on Lesson 20 which introduced a new sound. It was hard to work outside because there was an awful strong breeze but we made due. Once we finished with Lesson 20, we worked in our math workbook and also a letter workbook (which is simple for Keree but we did it more for fun). After we finished, Keree played outside for a super short time but really wanted to head inside so we could start playing games. Our first game to play was Hasbro's Cootie Bugs. We had never played the game but we played it over and over for almost 2 hours. It's such a simple game for younger kids but also fun for 20, 30 & 50 yr olds. The only problem was Keree had alot of trouble pushing the pieces into the cootie bug face/body. I'm not sure if ours was defective or if it's really that tough because even us adults had issues with the pieces? The good side of all that is it really good occupational therapy for Keree. After we finished Cootie Bugs, I wanted to play Ravensburger's Stacrobats. Ok, I have to say we had never played this game before either but I'm pretty sure it is now our favorite. It's such a challenge, that it starts to bring out your competitive side to not let the tower fall. Now my Mom was sometimes frustrated because she couldn't get her Stacrobat to balance, she blamed it on her tri-focal glasses, we blamed her age, LOL. We finally stopped playing when lunch was ready. I can't believe how good the Patty Pan Squash lasagna tasted, it was amazing. I didn't follow the recipe exactly, so it turned out a little soupy but it was still really good. Then everyone laid down for a nap, except me. As soon as Keree woke up, the first thing out of her mouth was she wanted a drink and play Stacrobat's again. We played only one quick game. Since we bought this game at a thrift shop, I'm not sure if Ravensburger still makes it but if they do seriously go buy it because it's so much fun. We headed outside for a short time to water plants and we planned on playing outside. But the heat was unbearable. We ate leftovers for dinner. We then spent the evening watching movies together and just enjoying our time together.

Happy 4th

Of course like any morning Keree was up before 6am. She decided as long as I turned on the cartoons she was happy to stay in bed. Needless to say she was tired of cartoons by 7am and was ready to get going. So we got dressed, had some breakfast and started working on lunch. The rest of the family joined us around 11am. Which was good because I had just popped the squash casserole into the oven, so we were ready to eat by 11:30a. After lunch, we sat around looking at pictures before it was finally time for us to celebrate my Brother's birthday. So we lit the candles, sang Happy Birthday and then watched him blow them out. We enjoyed a nice piece of Cookies and Cream cake. We had a lazy afternoon/evening and spent a good majority of time watching movies. Keree wanted her picture taken by our Goose and then she got to play outside for awhile. We ended our evening watching fireworks on TV but also watching our Neighbors shoot them off too.

4th of July Parade & Air Show

We got up this morning and was quite excited that my Brother was going to get to join us on our annual Family Outing. We got packed, piled into the car and was on our way. Since we got a little late start, we didn't get out usual spot to sit but we lucked into a spot close by. What we found out later why no one wanted to sit there is because the cops and parade officials kept blocking your view. It was so frustrating but we tried not to let it ruin our fun (even though it did screw up a few pictures when they walked into them). Keree was so excited this year, I'm not sure what she would say was her favorite thing but I know she did get spooked by one of the giant wooden clown costumes. Actually I think any of the giant balloons, the Little Mermaid float and the Super Heros that handed out candy were her favorites. After the parade was finished, we walked the few blocks to the park grounds. We decided to not cross over and sit in the actually Arch fairgrounds and deal with Homeland Security, plus this way we got to sit in the shade and enjoy the Air Show. This is the first time in 5 years that they have performed the Air Show. Heck, growing up, I remember that was the only reason some people use to go. It was also the Fair's 30th year, which is hard to believe when you consider the Parade is in it's 133rd year. While we were waiting to decide where to sit on the shady ground area, Uncle took Keree over to the Firetruck spray. They set these up every year since it's always so freakin' hot and humid. They had so much fun running through the spray together. Finally we sat out our blanket, grabbed the cooler out of the stroller and enjoyed a little picnic snack. The Air Show was 2 hours long. Keree was amazed at the Parachute guys, some carrying the American flag while others were sky writers. About an hour into the show, Keree laid down and took a nap. The only reason she was woken up is because of the noise made by the only privately-owned Harrier Jet. Once Keree woke up, we decided to finally cross over to the Arch grounds. Keree couldn't wait to see the giant blown-up Energizer Bunny. She was so excited when she saw him and also the Gigantic Shopping Basket. We were going to head to the kids area, but Keree wasn't wanting to walk because her legs were hurting her. So we decided to head back to our shady area and wait for Uncle, he left for a short time to walk to the Stadium. When he got back, we started the trek back to our car, we decided to walk through the fair grounds and was amazed at how much the fair has changed over the years. We stopped for a few pictures before we headed home. We were so exhausted by the time we got home, that we spent the rest of the evening resting.

Lesson 19, Science, Math & Birthday

hKeree was up again before 5am, I tried everything possible to convince her to go back to sleep but it was hopeless. I just don't get why she gets up super early, I've pushed back her bedtime to between 9-930p, she only takes maybe an hour nap most days, so she should be exhausted, right? And I can't complain because she has always been an early riser and honestly her sleep has improved so much since the beginning. I'm really beginning to think she is a child who doesn't need the 10+ hours a day the Experts suggest.
So back to our day, so as soon as I decided to get out of bed and get going, we called my Baby Brother and wished him a Happy 25th Birthday. I can't believe it was 25 years ago today that I spent the night at my Grandma's house on Maple and a little while after 6am, I heard the phone ring and they told my Grandma my Brother had finally been born (my Mom was in labor for 4 days). I couldn't wait to visit him at the hospital, I had dreamed my entire life about having a brother or sister. And I'm pretty sure a few weeks later, I wanted to get rid of him. But now days, I can't imagine my life without him. So, Happy Birthday to the best Little Brother in the World! Once we were dressed and ready to go, we decided to go and check on our Science Experiment....well something went horrible wrong because of instead of the shark growing, he instead dissipated. We were really disappointed that the experiment didn't go right. So next time we are out the store, I'll buy some real gummy bears and some of the other supplies we need to complete some of the other experiments. After we dumped out the blue water, we started Lesson 19. We actually whizzed through it even though they introduced a new sound. Keree is having a little trouble sounding out "the", she sounds it out correctly but I think because of my twang of a Southern Accent (which my daughter has picked up), the way we say The doesn't sound like The sounded out. I have a feeling that we may run into a few other problems down the road with our pronunciation of words. After we were finished, we worked in a Pre-K math book, she actually finished half the book before Keree decided it was time to play. I couldn't argue at that point since we had been doing school work for almost 2 hours at that point. So Keree played on her swing set, went down the slide and caught a toad. She placed him on some flowers and we watched him hop around. We also watched him secrete when a grasshopper jumped on top of him. Keree thought he was sweating but I explained to her that it was sort of like poison that he uses to protect himself. She thought that was pretty cool but was wondering if it would burn us. So we talked about frogs and toads that are poisonous to us and that the frogs and toads in our area are not poisonous to humans. After the Frog hopped away, Keree went back to playing on her swingset until it was time to head inside for lunch. We ended up fixing grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup and then Keree laid down for her nap. While Keree was sleeping, I got a call from my Grandma (my Dad's Mom). I was surprised she had finally returned my call but I know that my Great-Aunt had called her. Our call was a little strange, it started off as just pleasantries and then she finally asked about my Dad, his funeral, who was there, etc, etc. I told her that there was no private services and that they just put that in the paper so people would know that there was no type of services. She then asked me if I had seen my Dad before he passed away. I have nothing to hide and no reason to lie to her, so I told her about our few visits we had. Because of the issues within that side of the family, I didn't talk to either one of them about the other. We talked for about a half-hour before we got off, she told me that we needed to plan a time to get together and go out because she really wants to see Keree. That made me feel better because I was pretty convinced that she would be cutting all contact with us. I know my Great-Aunt had alot to do with her calling us and I'm thankful for that. After Keree woke up from her nap, we cleaned a little and then set the table with Uncle's birthday cake. Keree had so much fun putting the decorations on it and also counting out 25 candles. I think she did such a great job picking out the theme...of course it was baseball. Then later on this evening, I ended up catching a baby field mouse that was in our yard. My thought was it was too close to my house, so I relocated it to the woods behind our house. But before we let it go, Keree had fun watching it crawl around, she had never seen a mouse before, so she was fascinated by all of it's movements. We ended up giving it a cracker, so Keree could watch how it ate. My Brother called and he ended up not getting off work till super late, so he won't make it in tonight. Which I'm sad we won't see him on his Birthday but at least we'll have the weekend to celebrate with him.

Lesson 18 & Science Experiment

Keree woke up super early, before 5am early. So I dragged myself out of bed, fixed her some cereal with milk, turned on PBS and somehow convinced her to stay quietly in bed, I think it involved telling her if she got out of bed the tv wouldn't work anymore. Hey, I needed some sleep and this sinus infection is kicking my butt. Once we got up and going, we decided to have school outside today. I was eager to try out our new science experiment book. We gathered our supplies, school books and headed outside. Keree couldn't wait, so we read the experiment first before we started all the steps. It was called Grow a Gummy Bear, we didn't have any gummy bears, so we used a gummy shark. The first thing Keree had to decide was what she thought would happen to the Shark, she at first guessed, nothing would happen but then decided it was going to get bigger. Then she measured the shark, so we could compare his size tomorrow. I then read the steps to Keree and she did them. First she placed the shark in the bowl, added the water and then we watched to see what initially would happen. Keree remarked that the sharks was losing his skin. Which she was totally right, whatever the thin layer is on the outside of a gummy was coming loose and it looked like he was shedding. After we were finished, Keree went and swung for awhile before she was ready to start her reading lesson. We covered Lesson 18 this time and she whized through it. She had no problem with the reading section, which is now two lines of words. She was insistent that I do not help her at all while she read. I'm also seeing results in real life situation, where she will sound out certain words. After we were finished with our lesson, Keree went back to playing on her swingset. We also were watching the bumble bees and butterflies flying around our yard. I decided to move Keree's basketball hoop around to the other side of her swingset and somehow even with shoes on, a bumble bee ended up stinging me on the bottom of my toe. In that second I was in total and utter pain. I told Keree to hurry up, as I grabbed our books and headed inside. I'm thankful my Mom was here because there was no way I could have found the stinger on my own because of where the sting was. After we got the stinger out and I got ice on my foot, I showed Keree the bumble bee stinger. We talked about stingers and how after a bee stings something it dies. We also talked about how sometimes someone can be highly allergic to a sting. Which my Mom and I then ended up talking and wondering if Keree was allergic to bees because of her reaction to mosquito bites (if she gets a bite on her back, literally her whole back swells up). Guess that's another question for her next Doctor's appointment because I would hate to have her be stung and have her have a deadly allergic reaction. For lunch, Keree helped me make twice baked potatoes and we also had left over bratwursts. Keree ate all her brat and just a little of her potato, I on the other hand was feeling sick to my stomach. I can only guess it was from the bee sting because I was feeling fine before then. After eating, Keree then headed to bed for her afternoon nap of course after an hour she came out and exclaimed she was done. Hmm, I don't think so, so I headed back in there and laid down with her. Within 15 minutes, she was fast asleep and I couldn't keep my eyes open, so I feel asleep too. When we woke up around 5pm (never thought we would sleep that long), Keree woke up nice and refreshed. I, on the other hand woke up still sick to my stomach and feeling awful. I took some benadryl and tum, in hopes of feeling better. I cooked some alfredo noodles for dinner and I spent the rest of tonight taking it easy because of my upset stomach. Keree spent her evening playing like she was in a pageant, she would walk out on her pretend stage and we would have to put her Birthday crown on her, then she would take a bow, it was hilarious.