August Already?

Sorry for the extended absence from the blogging world. Sometimes I get a little caught up in the girls being home (Katie's two weeks at school went very fast!!! She is now beginning her second week at home before heading back to school for two more weeks). I also have been tryinig to knock off some projects around the house. Bill and I drained the pool today - scrubbed it out and are in the process of re-filling it. What a lot of work! But it was definitely needed. Hopefully it will make it until school starts and then we will take it down and put it away.I have a feeling we are about at the end of the life of this pool anyway -- and a new purchase will need to be made when pools go on clearance here in the next few weeks.

Not a whole lot else going on. I've just been spending way too much time on facebook, reading (see the new additions to my reading list) going to movies and just having a good summer with the fam. More as it becomes available. Hope you are having a great summer, too.

So much for the lazy days of Summer

So far, Summer vacation has been a good one. We are keeping Mary very busy which has helped a lot - but there certainly haven't been very many "lazy days of Summer" for us yet. Next week should quiet down a little bit as Mary only has "obligations" on Tuesday and Thursday. I can hardly believe that the 4th of July is next week already. Katie only has two more weeks off and then she will be starting at her new school. Crazy!

This picture is of Mary at basketball camp last week - I never posted a picture of her. She enjoyed that camp so much!

The girls (especially Katie) are also enjoying the pool --this week it has been 90 or hotter each day, so it has gotten a lot use. I had to invest in some really good sunscreen for Katie because she is spending so much time outside. I'm sure she will miss the pool when she goes back to school. The weather here is supposed to be much cooler - and wet- next week, so I'm not sure how much swimming she will get in.

Well, here's to a great summer weekend....and maybe even a lazy day or two.

Swimmer's Ear

Well, I am learning a lot about what swimmer's ear truly is. Katie has it, in both ears. Yikes. I almost thought she had a "regular" ear infection because she was acting like she was in so much pain. We went to the pediatrician today - and she has true swimmer's ear -- which is not water trapped in your ear - what people often call swimmer's ear. It is an infection in the skin that lines the ear canal. Basically when the ear canal gets exposed to water it reacts as the rest of our skin does by "opening" and becoming puffy or shriveled. When in this "state" it is more able to pick up bacteria -- and some bacteria that we normally carry on our skin can actually cause swimmer's ear. I felt very educated by the time I left the office. We now have some drops for her ears that act similar to how neosporin would act on a cut if it were on our skin. She isn't too fond of the drops, but I am hoping that it will do the trick -- and quickly. I am actually amazed with all the swimming she does that we haven't had to deal with swimmer's ear before....but to the best of my knowledge - this is the first time for either of the girls.

On a brighter note, Mary is having a splendid time at her first VBS of the summer. She is a big fan of vaction Bible school, just as I was as a kid. She has at least one more in July --possibly two. It's a great way to keep her busy. As I've said before, she gets bored far too easily in the summer.

Well, that's about it for now. Hope everyone is enjoying their summers. The heat here the past few days has been almost unbearable for Michigan...but it could snow tomorrow (just kidding), so I'll enjoy it while it lasts.

Muggy Thursday

Yep, it's muggy. We're expecting a doozy of a storm tonight, so I guess that explains the humidity. Yick...but Katie loves it. She has spent the afternoon outside teetering back and forth between the pool and the sandbox. I am so thankful for a fenced in backyard, a huge bonus that is for sure. Mary is loving basketball camp. I wish it was for more than one week. I was able to get a sitter for Katie so that I can go watch her last day of camp. She is pretty excited about that. She wanted Bill to come see her, but he is so busy at work right now (which we are thankful for) so instead she gets me -- but that's okay.

Not too much else going on. Just trying to keep up with laundry and work on some projects around the house. I need to shampoo the carpets, but in this humidity I'm not sure that is a great choice.

Have a great weekend.

Pool Time....

Well, after the fabulous "mud-day" (see previous post) we broke down and put the pool up. It hasn't exactly been a warm May/June here in Michigan, so we were hesitant to put it up -- especially knowing that Katie is unable to stay out of the pool - even when the water is freezing. The pool has been up 4 days and Katie has a better tan than I will get all summer. The next stage is that her hair will turn this fabulous blonde color -- and the best part is, she doesn't even realize that she is so adorable with her "tanzilla" look as we like to call it.
Hopefully the pool will hold out for the whole summer. It's our third summer with it. The girls are both ready for a bigger pool - especially now that Katie can swim - but for now it does the trick.
I'm glad to be on summer vacation (well - truly, I am not on vacation as I continue to work on a limited schedule) - but I'm happy that the girls are on break. Mary starts basketball camp this afternoon -- and we have several VBS's scheduled for her to attend. We are trying to keep her busy this summer - as boredom is usually quick to set in with her. I always tell her - if you were an adult you wouldn't even know what it is to be bored!!!!

Happy Summer!

When it rains....

...it pours. How true, how true. It seems as this past week has been a whirlwind. I know the last week of school is always crazy, and sometimes a bit overwhelming, but this week....well, it's been a doozy...and I still have a few days left.

Bill is in Chicago today (well, Joliet actually) at the NHRA race - and I am home with Katie. Mary went to church with my parents and I am home - trying to recover, re-coup, figure out how to proceed through the next couple of days. I must say that I am so thankful for my parents and how they help Bill & I out in so many ways. They have Mary this morning (they actually kept her overnight last night). They watched both the girls last evening as Bill & I needed to attend visitation for his grandfather who passed in the night on Thursday. His funeral is tomorrow - so that will be most of our day tomorrow. The girls have school (Katie's last day) so that complicates things a bit, but this week hasn't been anything if not complicated.

This picture is of Bill & Mary right before they headed out on her 13 mile 3rd grade bike trip. They biked home after the trip so it turned out to be about a 15 mile ride - and they had a great time. I'm not sure about Mary's "angry" face - but it makes for a funny photo :)

Katie's school transitioning seems to be going well. She had a visit last week and we have another on Tuesday - as well as her new IEP - so more things to make a full week. I'll be ready for summer vacation by Wednesday. I guess we need to get our pool open. I'll just make that number 99 on the list. :)
Have a great week.

Summer Wind-down

I can't believe that we're less than 36 hours from the start of school..and yes, I'm ready. I am sad to see the Summer go...it doesn't feel like it's going anywhere. It was 90 today - and is supposed to be 90 the next four or five days.... funny, considering we've only had 2 90 degree days all summer before today :)

Anyway, Katie did something funny tonight while I was at work and her daddy was watching her, and I had to share. She has a "beloved Dora couch" that stays in her room - and many nights she actually sleeps on the Dora couch which she puts on top of her bed. Well, daddy was watching TV -- or doing something in the front room. He got up to go check on Katie, and this is what he found...


Yep, this is Katie with her Dora couch on the counter. Funny, I would have thought she would have turned it around to watch the TV....but regardless, this is pretty funny :)

Tomorrow is family day -- finalizing things for school - early bedtimes for the girls (which we have been doing for several nights, and it's actually working well). Maybe a little swimming - yes, the pool is still up. We usually take it down before school starts, but with the hot forecast, we weren't quite ready to take it down.

I am really looking forward to our family getting back into a regular routine. Regular sleeping habits, daily habits (school, sports practices, Girl Scouts, etc.)...and regular work for me... life seems to flow a lot smoother at this house when we are all on a good schedule! So farewell friend Summer..... Fall, here we come!

How Time Flies

I can't believe a week has flown by since my last post. Bill was on vacation all week - so we stayed pretty busy. We spent a lot of time out at the lake where Bill's Dad lives...with Katie learning to swim and jump off the diving board we had a great time.

We went here on Wednesday. It was loads of fun as it always is. We try to go once in the summer and then back on a Saturday in the Fall for Halloweekends. We left Katie with my mom this time..and that seemed to work out better for everyone, Katie included.

School finally starts a week from tomorrow. I think that 13 weeks is far too long of a break...especially for kids like Katie. They lose so much in that time. I'm actually already in my "advocate"mode. There is a new teacher in her classroom this year. If you follow my blog or know me personally, you know that we had far too many problems last year with Katie's school situation. I'm hopeful that this year will be much better. We were promised that the kids would have the opportunity to either have a home-visit by the teacher prior to the start of school, or at least would have the chance to meet the teacher at school prior to the first day -- but it's not looking promising. Katie still cries everytime we drive down the road towards her school - so I'm trying to remain positive - but next week could be a little trying - so keep us in your prayers.

Well, I'm off to soccer practice for Mary and then work.... more later.

Schools Out...for the Summer

Well, it's officially over. I'm relieved. I'm anxious. I'm sad. I'm disappointed. I feel like I did when I graduated from college. So many emotions. How am I going to make it through the summer?

Yesterday was the Spring Fling. This is a picture of Katie climbing out of one of the inflatables. It was an awesome day. The top picture is of Mary on the climbing wall at Spring Fling. The girls both had a great time -- and Bill and I were both able to be there.

My brain is racing...and the girls are all over the place...so I'll have to write more when I have time. If anyone has any good ideas for cheap entertainment of a 5 year old with autism and a 7 year old who is extremely social :)...let me know.

Post-Weekend Update - Gas is 4.10/gallon

Well, another week has passed. They are flying by at an astounding rate. Only 6 1/2 days of school after today. As I have previously said, I am ready for school to be over. Katie cried and cried again as we walked into school today. She is done, too. Mary seems to be enjoying the end-of-school festivities as most 7 year olds do. For that I am thankful.

If you see my new header picture above, it was taken this morning. That is Katie in Mary's soccer jersey from last year. Katie would not leave for school without wearing it. She pulled it out of the laundry basket (no, I am not caught up on laundry, and as usual have many baskets to put away!) and threw it at me..which in Katie speak is "Mom, I'm wearing this and I need you to help me put it on!"

Our weekend was fairly uneventful. Mary's soccer game (she only has one left,) Church, we finished planting the garden, put up the kiddie pool that my mom bought for the girls. We have a 1000 gallon pool that isn't up yet. My mom saw this pool (see pic) in a Land's end catalog and apparently thought it was a lot bigger than it was. Too funny, but the girls liked it anyway. We will try to get the big pool out this weekend. It is supposed to be hot here all week (86 on thursday, so yes, summer is coming), so I think it is finally time for the pool!

And as a final note, yes, gas is 4.10 here. Thought it would go down a bit after the holiday, but apparently not.

Weekend Update..Memorial Day Special Edition --Gas is 4.10 a gallon!

Well once again it is the weekend, and I finally have found time to do a good detailed blog update. I must admit that it has been a difficult week -- in many aspects.

Katie's school situation continues to be complicated. They have begun interviewing for a new teacher for next year - and have allowed parents to be involved in the interviews (which is an amazing opportunity) - but I still have concerns about how that will pan out for Katie next year. We did have a funny Katie story on Friday -due to circumstances "beyond their control" there wasn't an aide available to take Katie to kindergarten on Friday am. The Kdg. teacher decided to come get Katie and let her be in class without an aide. She did amazingly well -- but when "circle" time was over and the teacher started to get into the nitty gritty of the lesson, Katie looked at the teacher (Deb) and said "Bye, Bye." Deb asked her, "Katie, do you want to go back to your classroom?" She looked at Deb and said "Bye, Bye." The fun was over, she didn't feel like working and she was ready to go back to the AI Classroom. I got a good kick out of that story :) It just reconfirms to us that Katie is really catching on -- she likes the "fun" activities and knew it was time to really dig in and work on cognitive skills - so she was done!

The girls have two and a half weeks of school left. I'm frantically trying to put together summer activities that don't involve extensive driving...yes gas is 4.10 here... UGH!!! Word on the street is that we are beginning a rapid incline to 5.00 a gallon. I wonder if it would be cheaper if we lived closer to the refineries? All I do know is that this whole gas thing is upsetting to me.

Happy Memorial Day to everyone. The weather is supposed to be warm here tomorrow - so I'll try to get some pics of the girls. Katie is already sporting a mid-summer tan -- and yes, it's only May. Mommy on the other hand is still pasty white!!! :)