Sew....yep, uninterrupted sewing. Almost 3 whole hours of it! I know it sounds cheesy but it was nice to shut the door and just sew. I made a modified pattern and 2 tester diapers for Boo. They came out really cute so I'll take some pictures and post them tomorrow.
I finished them and came down just in time to watch the Super Bowl. Our Colts didn't come thru. :(
I'm not a sports nut though so I'm happy for the Saints. It was their first trip so it was a good thing. Still, it would have been seriously cool to win again. :D
Monday, February 8, 2010
Sunday, February 7, 2010
What a stress filled week we've had....
Let's see, I've been absolutely terrible about keeping regular updates so that won't be a "New Years Resolution" again but I will try to do better so here goes...
The "good" news...
Gracie is doing pretty good in school right now. She still needs to get some help from OT but the school is still declining. I talked to her health care coordinator and we're working on a few options we have.
Boo is doing OK but he has a low grade temp and a cruddy cough so we're hitting the doctor in the morning just to be safe. I refuse to have a hospital stay because I didn't get antibiotics quick enough.
We had a lovely snow storm over the weekend. The kids even got to leave school early on Friday. It was only about 2 hours early so they don't have to make it up.
Last week my MIL came to stay with us for a while. She's going to live with or near my SIL later but SIL is moving to another state so she's going to get settled first. MIL may even get to be there when SIL has her first baby if all goes smoothly. That will be nice for both of them. MIL has been here for the baby time with both of ours so it will be nice to have that for SIL.
The "not so good" news...
Lastly, my wonderful grandmother passed away sometime Thurs night very unexpectedly. I think right now it's not really sinking in. I will miss her dearly...she's the only on who really understood the "mommy" side of having a special needs child. (You know "been there, done that" kinda thing.) My sister and I were talking about it yesterday. You see we have a rather different view of death. We both have worked with geriatric patients for many years and it's a part of life for us. I've been home for several years now but I still see things very differently than many members of my family do. I will miss her very much as I still do my grandpa but I'm not sad for her. She would have turned 79 in about 2 weeks. All in all she was pretty healthy and still able to be completely on her own. She drove herself and didn't need any homecare aides. She raised 9 children and helped raise many of her grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. She was here to see and hold some of her great-great grandchildren. How many people get to do that? She was able to complete her GED last year which was a huge goal for her. She's spent the last 2 years doing what she wanted when she wanted. I'm sad that she didn't get to go on the cruise my parents were planning for all of them this spring. I'm glad she didn't suffer-because I'm sure she didn't. I really feel that God called her and it was not a bad thing. Before my grandpa (her husband) passed a few years ago I was with him in the hospital and we were talking. I told him I wasn't ready for him to go and that it wasn't fair. He simply told me it was his time and he was OK with it. I guess that was all I needed to hear because after that I spent as much time as I could with him and when he passed, I was OK with it. My mother was able to spend most of the day with her mom the day she passed. I thank God for that. While we didn't get to prepare and say goodbye like we did with grandpa I know grandma is right where she should be and that she's happy now. There's no doubt. I will miss her as will all of my family but I am not sad-I refuse to be. She lived a long and full life. That is what I will treasure. I make a point of not taking note of dates when people pass because I feel like that is not what they would want me to remember or dwell on. Instead I choose to remember as many positive things as I can. From my grandmother I learned many things.
I gained a love of sewing, gardening, cooking, and family time. I see the importance of being there for your children passed down to my mother and then to me. I see many little things I picked up from her. I've really begun to notice them these last few days. Life wasn't always easy for her and grandpa. I know there were a lot more challenges than I will ever be told. I wish I had gone to Christmas last year and had her fill in a bit more of my memory book but unfortunately that cannot be changed. I will write what I know from memory and ask mom about the rest. We'll make note of what we can and the rest will just be unwritten memories. I miss you grandma and grandpa.
The "good" news...
Gracie is doing pretty good in school right now. She still needs to get some help from OT but the school is still declining. I talked to her health care coordinator and we're working on a few options we have.
Boo is doing OK but he has a low grade temp and a cruddy cough so we're hitting the doctor in the morning just to be safe. I refuse to have a hospital stay because I didn't get antibiotics quick enough.
We had a lovely snow storm over the weekend. The kids even got to leave school early on Friday. It was only about 2 hours early so they don't have to make it up.
Last week my MIL came to stay with us for a while. She's going to live with or near my SIL later but SIL is moving to another state so she's going to get settled first. MIL may even get to be there when SIL has her first baby if all goes smoothly. That will be nice for both of them. MIL has been here for the baby time with both of ours so it will be nice to have that for SIL.
The "not so good" news...
Lastly, my wonderful grandmother passed away sometime Thurs night very unexpectedly. I think right now it's not really sinking in. I will miss her dearly...she's the only on who really understood the "mommy" side of having a special needs child. (You know "been there, done that" kinda thing.) My sister and I were talking about it yesterday. You see we have a rather different view of death. We both have worked with geriatric patients for many years and it's a part of life for us. I've been home for several years now but I still see things very differently than many members of my family do. I will miss her very much as I still do my grandpa but I'm not sad for her. She would have turned 79 in about 2 weeks. All in all she was pretty healthy and still able to be completely on her own. She drove herself and didn't need any homecare aides. She raised 9 children and helped raise many of her grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. She was here to see and hold some of her great-great grandchildren. How many people get to do that? She was able to complete her GED last year which was a huge goal for her. She's spent the last 2 years doing what she wanted when she wanted. I'm sad that she didn't get to go on the cruise my parents were planning for all of them this spring. I'm glad she didn't suffer-because I'm sure she didn't. I really feel that God called her and it was not a bad thing. Before my grandpa (her husband) passed a few years ago I was with him in the hospital and we were talking. I told him I wasn't ready for him to go and that it wasn't fair. He simply told me it was his time and he was OK with it. I guess that was all I needed to hear because after that I spent as much time as I could with him and when he passed, I was OK with it. My mother was able to spend most of the day with her mom the day she passed. I thank God for that. While we didn't get to prepare and say goodbye like we did with grandpa I know grandma is right where she should be and that she's happy now. There's no doubt. I will miss her as will all of my family but I am not sad-I refuse to be. She lived a long and full life. That is what I will treasure. I make a point of not taking note of dates when people pass because I feel like that is not what they would want me to remember or dwell on. Instead I choose to remember as many positive things as I can. From my grandmother I learned many things.
I gained a love of sewing, gardening, cooking, and family time. I see the importance of being there for your children passed down to my mother and then to me. I see many little things I picked up from her. I've really begun to notice them these last few days. Life wasn't always easy for her and grandpa. I know there were a lot more challenges than I will ever be told. I wish I had gone to Christmas last year and had her fill in a bit more of my memory book but unfortunately that cannot be changed. I will write what I know from memory and ask mom about the rest. We'll make note of what we can and the rest will just be unwritten memories. I miss you grandma and grandpa.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
I really am going to sew...
Well, I decided to reopen the Etsy shop to try to bring in a bit of extra cash. Then, I found StalkShop and decided to open one there as well. It's new and still really small but it has huge potential so I'm going for it.
Now comes the change of plans....a family issue has reoccurred. My MIL has come to stay with us for a while. She will be moving in with my SIL but since SIL is in the process of a state to state move MIL will be with us for a while. SIL is expecting so she has to get moved, settled and ready for her son to arrive before MIL can move in with her. What a mess!
I don't mind a bit that she's staying here...she seems much more relaxed and I know DH feels better about her care. She pretty much does for herself but her communication is still difficult. Still she's already doing better. She wasn't overly thrilled about coming but realized it was for the best. I don't want her to feel like a burden...she's not. I feel better being able to see how she's doing since I tend to be the one dealing with her meds and such.
I think the biggest issue she has about being here is that she feel like she's in the way. I know it bothered her when we rearranged the house and gave her our bedroom. We just moved our stuff upstairs into the sewing room and I crammed it all in the closet for now. :)
I'm noticing a lot about her abilities and issues. She's not using her right arm at all and the hip is a bit achy. Still, her "non-cooperative" right side doesn't slow her down that much. :) We've tweaked her daily meds and she seems to be feeling better. I'm not sure how much of that is the med changes and how much is just getting out of the situation she was in. Either way she's doing better now.
It's nice for her to get to spend more time with DH, the kids & me. She hasn't been able to for quite a while now. Her being here also lets me be sure that she's not over or under medicated and that she's eating better.
Anyway, that's slowing down the sewing I was going to do. I figure I'm going to sew some to de-stress then I'll go back to cleaning and rearranging and de-cluttering this teeny tiny house. Life handed me a bag of lemons and I'm determined to make some sweet lemonade one way or another.
Now comes the change of plans....a family issue has reoccurred. My MIL has come to stay with us for a while. She will be moving in with my SIL but since SIL is in the process of a state to state move MIL will be with us for a while. SIL is expecting so she has to get moved, settled and ready for her son to arrive before MIL can move in with her. What a mess!
I don't mind a bit that she's staying here...she seems much more relaxed and I know DH feels better about her care. She pretty much does for herself but her communication is still difficult. Still she's already doing better. She wasn't overly thrilled about coming but realized it was for the best. I don't want her to feel like a burden...she's not. I feel better being able to see how she's doing since I tend to be the one dealing with her meds and such.
I think the biggest issue she has about being here is that she feel like she's in the way. I know it bothered her when we rearranged the house and gave her our bedroom. We just moved our stuff upstairs into the sewing room and I crammed it all in the closet for now. :)
I'm noticing a lot about her abilities and issues. She's not using her right arm at all and the hip is a bit achy. Still, her "non-cooperative" right side doesn't slow her down that much. :) We've tweaked her daily meds and she seems to be feeling better. I'm not sure how much of that is the med changes and how much is just getting out of the situation she was in. Either way she's doing better now.
It's nice for her to get to spend more time with DH, the kids & me. She hasn't been able to for quite a while now. Her being here also lets me be sure that she's not over or under medicated and that she's eating better.
Anyway, that's slowing down the sewing I was going to do. I figure I'm going to sew some to de-stress then I'll go back to cleaning and rearranging and de-cluttering this teeny tiny house. Life handed me a bag of lemons and I'm determined to make some sweet lemonade one way or another.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sunday, Day 7 Downtown Disney and return home
Today we ate our final breakfast in the Gingerbread House and packed up our things. We decided to do some shopping at Downtown Disney since our flight home didn’t leave until 8:15pm.
We went to the kitchen shop first so I could get a few things. I’d really been looking for this Mickey Mouse apron and they were my last shot at getting it. I ended up with the display apron, some kitchen towels and a really cute set of measuring cups.
We split up and I took the kids to Pin Traders to get Boo his first lanyard and some pins. I’d gotten him 2 pins when we come before. We weren’t sure exactly what we wanted this time so we wandered and looked for quite a while. We ended up with 2 pins each, a lanyard for Nikolas & me, and 2 of the surprise specialty pins for the 10 years of pin trading.
After the pins we went to the Christmas shop and I bought a wonderful Disney frame for the excellent picture of the kids with Santa.
After a bit more wandering we loaded up and headed to the airport to turn in the van and wait for our plane. We got there about 3 hours early so there was a lot of time to kill. We grabbed some Burger King and went to our gate to wait. Mikayla and I went to the bookstore so she could get a book to read and way too soon it was time to board the plane.
We had such a magical time! I was definitely NOT ready to head back. As a matter of fact, Mikayla and I are already planning our next trip. We’ve decided to make it in either November or early December (probably 2011) so we can do some of the Christmas stuff.
We went to the kitchen shop first so I could get a few things. I’d really been looking for this Mickey Mouse apron and they were my last shot at getting it. I ended up with the display apron, some kitchen towels and a really cute set of measuring cups.
We split up and I took the kids to Pin Traders to get Boo his first lanyard and some pins. I’d gotten him 2 pins when we come before. We weren’t sure exactly what we wanted this time so we wandered and looked for quite a while. We ended up with 2 pins each, a lanyard for Nikolas & me, and 2 of the surprise specialty pins for the 10 years of pin trading.
After the pins we went to the Christmas shop and I bought a wonderful Disney frame for the excellent picture of the kids with Santa.
After a bit more wandering we loaded up and headed to the airport to turn in the van and wait for our plane. We got there about 3 hours early so there was a lot of time to kill. We grabbed some Burger King and went to our gate to wait. Mikayla and I went to the bookstore so she could get a book to read and way too soon it was time to board the plane.
We had such a magical time! I was definitely NOT ready to head back. As a matter of fact, Mikayla and I are already planning our next trip. We’ve decided to make it in either November or early December (probably 2011) so we can do some of the Christmas stuff.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
A new year and a new endeavor...
It's a new year and I need a new "something". I've decided to start sewing again and I've opened a new shop. :) Suzanne's Special Kids at StalkShop.com http://suzannesspecialkids.stalkshop.com
I plan to start stocking it later this week. I'll be doing cloth diapers, wipes and g-tube pads in toddler thru adult sizes. Infant diapers will be custom orders in the Etsy shop for now. 2 shops and a lot of resumes out should hopefully bring in some income for us. Keep your fingers crossed and prayers coming.
Thanks and have a wonderful day!
I plan to start stocking it later this week. I'll be doing cloth diapers, wipes and g-tube pads in toddler thru adult sizes. Infant diapers will be custom orders in the Etsy shop for now. 2 shops and a lot of resumes out should hopefully bring in some income for us. Keep your fingers crossed and prayers coming.
Thanks and have a wonderful day!
Monday, February 1, 2010
Saturday, Day 6 Magic Kingdom
This was our last day in the parks and I planned it as a special day for Nikolas. We took him on every ride and show he could get on and enjoy.
After another wonderful breakfast at the Gingerbread House we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. Mom & Dad went too so Mom could ride the Pirates of the Carribean and then to the Hall of Presidents. While they were doing that we took more pictures with Daisy and Pluto and in front of the Castle from the Crystal Palace. Then we headed to the Pirates for Nikolas. Captain Jack was doing a live show while we were getting ready for the ride. Mikayla got a bit of it on video while I got Nikolas in the mei tai. This way Nikolas was able to sit on my lap and really enjoy the ride.
Next we rode the Magic Carpets which was a lot of fun. When we got off we started looking for mom & dad but didn’t see them. We did see Jasmine & Aladin so we got some pictures and headed off to find my parents. We took them back to the villa and the kids took a short nap.
We went back late the afternoon, just me, Mikayla and Nikolas. It was a wonderful afternoon! We decided to take the ferry over this time. This visit will be all about the rides! We took Nikolas on everything we even thought he might enjoy-some things more than once!
We rode Pooh, Snow White twice, the Tea Cups, the Haunted Mansion, the Hall of Presidents (so I could feed him plus it is educational), Mickey’s Philhamagic, and Pirates again. We watched the fireworks and ran out of time to ride Pooh again. We took our time and strolled out of the park, stopping for several pictures in front of the castle and in the front of the park at the new Christmas scene. We finally left at 10:30.
After another wonderful breakfast at the Gingerbread House we headed out to the Magic Kingdom. Mom & Dad went too so Mom could ride the Pirates of the Carribean and then to the Hall of Presidents. While they were doing that we took more pictures with Daisy and Pluto and in front of the Castle from the Crystal Palace. Then we headed to the Pirates for Nikolas. Captain Jack was doing a live show while we were getting ready for the ride. Mikayla got a bit of it on video while I got Nikolas in the mei tai. This way Nikolas was able to sit on my lap and really enjoy the ride.
Next we rode the Magic Carpets which was a lot of fun. When we got off we started looking for mom & dad but didn’t see them. We did see Jasmine & Aladin so we got some pictures and headed off to find my parents. We took them back to the villa and the kids took a short nap.
We went back late the afternoon, just me, Mikayla and Nikolas. It was a wonderful afternoon! We decided to take the ferry over this time. This visit will be all about the rides! We took Nikolas on everything we even thought he might enjoy-some things more than once!
We rode Pooh, Snow White twice, the Tea Cups, the Haunted Mansion, the Hall of Presidents (so I could feed him plus it is educational), Mickey’s Philhamagic, and Pirates again. We watched the fireworks and ran out of time to ride Pooh again. We took our time and strolled out of the park, stopping for several pictures in front of the castle and in the front of the park at the new Christmas scene. We finally left at 10:30.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Friday, Day 5 Sea World
Originally I planned to do another day at the Magic Kingdom today but since tonight was the Pirates and Princesses party at the Village I wanted to do a shorter park so we weren’t too tired to enjoy both.
Our visit to Sea World today was really so the kids could feed the different animals and to sight see. While we like the shows we just aren’t that into them and I’d rather take the kids to watch the animals in a more realistic environment. I know it’s not nature but they can enjoy them more this way. Besides since Nikolas is visually impaired and Mikayla has aspergers the crowds and confinement are not a great idea for us.
The Mikayla and my mom fed the stingrays while I tried to figure out how to get Nikolas close enough to see them. Well, it just didn’t happen so I took some video and we moved on to the dolphins. We didn’t get any video of the kids feeding and petting one (camera issues) but the Sea World camera got a few really nice shots so we have memories I couldn’t see since I was holding Nikolas.
It was a really good experience for both kids. After that we went to feed the Sea Lions. Mikayla tried her hand at feeding them but trying to keep the birds away and get the fish to the sea lions was crazy! They have a sign posted “do not feed the birds” yeah right. Good luck, those little buggers don’t give you much choice. I think they got more than half of her fish.
We decided that we were going to wander the park next and saw the manatees and some really nice garden areas.
That was really all they wanted to do so we decided to gather up any pictures the park took and head out.
Since it was still early afternoon I decided to take Mikayla back to the Titanic Museum. We went there in 2005 at it’s old location and she really liked it so I thought we’d see how it was in the new location. Mikayla and I went in by ourselves while mom and dad took Nikolas for a walk. Most of the tour was very similar to last time but they are able to display things better and you can really get in and see the artifacts. They did change some of the things at the end of the tour because they show things from the more current dives and the gift shop doesn’t have the books and maps we bought but it was still very interesting. This is something she wanted to do but then changed her mind because she thought it was too expensive. Momma decided she deserved it and made sure the money was there.
We were back at the village before 5:30 so there was a few minutes to rest before we went to dinner and got ready for the party.
The Pirates and Princesses Party was so much fun! Mikayla met up with Nidra so they went wandering to see what the Princesses tables had while I took Nikolas to get his face painted. I decided he would only sit still for a moustache and it came out so cute! “Captain Nikolas” was here! (He really likes Captain Jack from the Pirates of the Carribean series.)
All three girls got made up like princesses and Deyki wore a pirate costume. They all looked so good. Next, Shamu and Dolly came out dressed in pirate and princess clothes. I got few minutes of really nice video of them interacting with all the kids. Mayor Clayton and Mrs. Merry were also dressed for the party and came in the cutest cars! The girls went to check out the cars and I got a good picture of them too. There were dances and the kids were presented as “Pirate…” or “Princess…”. Nikolas loved this part because they got all the kids on stage and they were the center of attention.
All too soon it was over and we headed back to our villa.
Our visit to Sea World today was really so the kids could feed the different animals and to sight see. While we like the shows we just aren’t that into them and I’d rather take the kids to watch the animals in a more realistic environment. I know it’s not nature but they can enjoy them more this way. Besides since Nikolas is visually impaired and Mikayla has aspergers the crowds and confinement are not a great idea for us.
The Mikayla and my mom fed the stingrays while I tried to figure out how to get Nikolas close enough to see them. Well, it just didn’t happen so I took some video and we moved on to the dolphins. We didn’t get any video of the kids feeding and petting one (camera issues) but the Sea World camera got a few really nice shots so we have memories I couldn’t see since I was holding Nikolas.
It was a really good experience for both kids. After that we went to feed the Sea Lions. Mikayla tried her hand at feeding them but trying to keep the birds away and get the fish to the sea lions was crazy! They have a sign posted “do not feed the birds” yeah right. Good luck, those little buggers don’t give you much choice. I think they got more than half of her fish.
We decided that we were going to wander the park next and saw the manatees and some really nice garden areas.
That was really all they wanted to do so we decided to gather up any pictures the park took and head out.
Since it was still early afternoon I decided to take Mikayla back to the Titanic Museum. We went there in 2005 at it’s old location and she really liked it so I thought we’d see how it was in the new location. Mikayla and I went in by ourselves while mom and dad took Nikolas for a walk. Most of the tour was very similar to last time but they are able to display things better and you can really get in and see the artifacts. They did change some of the things at the end of the tour because they show things from the more current dives and the gift shop doesn’t have the books and maps we bought but it was still very interesting. This is something she wanted to do but then changed her mind because she thought it was too expensive. Momma decided she deserved it and made sure the money was there.
We were back at the village before 5:30 so there was a few minutes to rest before we went to dinner and got ready for the party.
The Pirates and Princesses Party was so much fun! Mikayla met up with Nidra so they went wandering to see what the Princesses tables had while I took Nikolas to get his face painted. I decided he would only sit still for a moustache and it came out so cute! “Captain Nikolas” was here! (He really likes Captain Jack from the Pirates of the Carribean series.)
All three girls got made up like princesses and Deyki wore a pirate costume. They all looked so good. Next, Shamu and Dolly came out dressed in pirate and princess clothes. I got few minutes of really nice video of them interacting with all the kids. Mayor Clayton and Mrs. Merry were also dressed for the party and came in the cutest cars! The girls went to check out the cars and I got a good picture of them too. There were dances and the kids were presented as “Pirate…” or “Princess…”. Nikolas loved this part because they got all the kids on stage and they were the center of attention.
All too soon it was over and we headed back to our villa.
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