Don't You Love A Good Surprise!?!

I absolutely love unexpected surprises!! I also love to be "in" on the surprises!! Guess what... Mike flew to Denver today to surprise his mom for an early Mother's Day! It is a very quick trip, but one that will be memorable for both!!! Can't wait to see the pictures and to hear all about it!

Saturday morning: I've got pictures now!! Thanks Tim for helping Mike coordinate this little surprise.

"The" Time Is Coming...

Yesterday, it really hit me - We are getting ready to make some serious transitions in the coming months. Morgan is getting ready to leave elementary school and will be moving onward to the middle school. We love our elementary school and he has had such wonderful teachers and a great group of kids. So, going into the "great unknown" is a little unnerving. We know the biggest key will be helping Morgan find his niche. He is not much of a talker and I know that we are going to have to work at getting him to open up to us more during this upcoming stage of his life!! While we are preparing him and ourselves for middle school, the little ones are on the other side of the spectrum and are both getting ready to head to kindergarten. Yes, that day is just around the corner - Many days I thought the day would never come. I am excited for them both, but at the same time selfishly sad. Yes, it will be a 3 hour break each day, but you have no idea how long it has been since I have that length of time everyday without a child to care for... 7 years, I think. Yesterday, Rylee and Ryan had their kindergarten eye exams in preparation for kindergarten registration. Between their exam and all of the end of the year 5th grade activities, I have had to take a moment to let it all sink in. Eye exam results: Rylee is in good shape and the doctor has asked us to bring Ryan back in June for a follow-up when he is "fresh". So, we will return one morning in June when Ryan is a bit more attentive. He believes that he might need some correction... Just one problem, he has very little area in which he can attach glasses to between his ear and nose structure(ethnic related). Poor lil' fella!!! The child is going to have all these straps going every which way attempting to hold on glasses and his BAHA... Won't be a problem after surgery, but we might have to be creative prior to surgery if this is the case!! Yikes!!

The Joys of Reading

It is amazing that in a little over a year we have progressed from this to reading words! Rylee has truly taken off and is reading books, t-shirts, food boxes, signage around town, etc. You name it, she is reading it! I am amazed as I have worked a little with her, but not nearly as much as you would think with the way she has taken off. If she doesn't get the word the first time, she is able to immediately take the word and rework the sounds. She is also taking the context of the sentence to figure out the word if she is unsure. Those are not skills that I have taught her - great problem solver!! Just like teaching her to ride her bike, tie her shoes, and swing, I gave her the very basics and she has taken it upon herself to go for it!! I have no idea what they are going to do with her in kindergarten, but I pray that they will be prepared to challenge her within the classroom and recognize that I will need to continue to challenge her at home!!

As a result of Rylee's interest and ability to read, Ryan has also shown a great interest. I have pulled out some basic readers for him (3 letter words, sight words, etc) and so far he has been able to read them immediately with very little guidance. If he continues on in this manner, I hope the teachers will be prepared to challenge him come fall!

Well, no entry is complete without a little corresponding story... Mike realized this past weekend the extent of Rylee's reading abilities. He came home from a trip into town and shared with me his experience while driving with Rylee through town... While driving down one of the main by-passes, Rylee said in her KY twang "What is Hoooo-ters?" Mike told responded with "A restaurant." Rylee continued the conversation by asking "Have you ever eaten there?" Mike told her no. She then asked "Has Mommy ever eaten there?" Mike told her he doesn't think so. She then told Mike "I don't think Ryan has eaten there then either!" Now, every time we drive by, Rylee points out Ho*ters and reminds Ryan that it is a restaurant. Ryan corrects her and tells her it is the "Owl Restaurant". Aaah... The joys of my little readers! Oh, and "NO!" we will not be taking them there - So not ready for those conversations! ;o)

Decisions Decisions

We just have too much going on around here and we have had to make too many decisions lately... So, I am have decided that I am done making decisions and that is the last decision I am going to make. Okay, that lasted a grand total of 10 seconds. I have absolutely no desire to have a house built. Light fixtures - can, hanging, or ceiling mount? How many outlets on a wall? What kind of carpet? What color carpet? What sort of pile on the carpet? What paint color? Which of the 2400 shades of that color? Paper or plastic? Ooops - Earth Day is tomorrow - That really shouldn't be a question! Back to the point, one decision then leads to five other questions.

Yes, we are in the midst of renovating, but as of now we are in the midst of pursuing surgery for Ryan. As of Sunday, we made the decision to pursue Medpor surgery for Ryan's outer ear reconstruction. I made the initial phone call yesterday and have yet to receive a return phone call. We do not know much at this point except we believe that this is the best option for Ryan. If Ryan is a candidate for the inner ear reconstruction, then we will pursue a combined surgery in which two or three renowned doctors (one of which 'invented' the Medpor surgery) will assemble in one location (northern California) and perform both surgeries (inner and outer ear) in one very long surgery on one ear. We would return several months later for the second ear. Still lots of unknowns especially with regard to insurance coverage (if any), but we are moving forward and will see where this journey takes us. We know without a doubt that God brought this little boy into our lives for a reason and that He will take care of the details. He will guide us along the paths necessary to get Ryan where He wants him to achieve the purpose He has for Ryan's life!! I believe this wholeheartedly! Am I still a little scared and unsure? You betcha!!

Opening Day 2010!!

It is that time of the year again... After weeks of 3-4 practices per week, the Indians took on the Yankees! We are so excited about baseball this year! Morgan has several wonderful coaches that are committed to the kids and are teaching them skills. Although the team lost today, they did well. Being his first game of the year, Morgan did quite well. He is one of those kids that gets his "mojo" later in the season. Today, he had 1 hit and 1 walk (only up to bat twice). He also stole three bases and made several put outs in the field. We are so thankful as he was a little discouraged after the season last year. It was a little sad to see him up to bat, however, as he has dropped his Ryan Howard stance when he is at bat. Go Indians!!!

Cocoa Club

The Cocoa Club is still going strong. However, we do have an issue with sleeping in during our days off from school. So, we will have to set aside a time in the summer that is non-negotiable to ensure that this remains a priority in our day. One problem we have encountered is finding material for Morgan to work from. Morgan has completed "Experiencing God: Youth Edition" and "Who Is Jesus?" . Today, we were on a quest to find another bible study workbook to begin on Monday. This is never an easy task as he is not quite ready for the material that is presented in the middle school books and is above the level of reading a simple scripture and then reading the small devotional that goes with it. We want to teach him to study the Bible to dive in and dig down deep. It was truly a God thing today as the shelves were full of things that we have seen and looked through before. There sitting on the shelf today was a book that I had never seen before. Not only that, but Morgan was interested in it and it appeared to be part of a series. I went to one of the clerks and asked about the series to see what other ones they had in the store and she couldn't even find the series in her computer. We bought the book, brought it home and looked the series up on the internet. There is a whole series of them - Wooo Hooo!! ... In the description, it says that the books are geared for 9-12 year olds - even better!! Can't wait to see if Morgan likes them... If you are in the market and have the same dilemma the series is called Discover 4 Yourself Inductive Bible Studies for Kids (cheaper here than A**z*n).

Backyard X-Games

This was the scene from our back window this past weekend. It started off with the Littles carting their Red Flyer scooter up into their playset. They were satisfied for a few moments and then we see Rylee walk toward her bicycle. My comment to Mike "She isn't going to do what I think she is going to do, is she?" Sure enough, Rylee tries to cart the bicycle up the rock wall. When that didn't work out, she heads straight for the slide. Once again, I am thinking "She isn't!?!" Sure enough up she goes. Several attempts were made and then Ryan decides that he is going to help solve this problem and decides to go part way down to help by pulling while Rylee pushes. Thankfully, they were unsuccessful. I must say, however, they were extremely persistent! Don't think the antics stopped there... We had to intervene when Rylee was sitting on top of the slide on the scooter all ready to go down. A new extreme sport we don't know about? Perhaps her rendition of the winter olympics? I don't know, but I can say it was hilarious watching them!