It'll Fit'll - Fashions for people with Down syndrome

Helen Turns Twelve!!

2012-02-08T09:08:00.003-06:00

Helen turns twelve!

Helen celebrated her twelfth birthday on Monday!! She was so excited about it, she couldn't focus at school last week. Kind of reminded me of my husband, who would celebrate his birthday for a week! She missed out on going shopping with her class for the ingredients to make soup. She loves to go shopping, she talks about it all week long. The teachers asked her to do things and she ignored them. When they told her she wouldn't be able to go shopping, it didn't phase her, she kept ignoring them. I received a phone call from her teacher after the rest of the class went shopping. Helen had given the teacher that stayed behind a hard time. She was naughty, getting into everything she wasn't supposed to. I had a long talk with Helen when she got home from school about her behavior. She knew she was naughty, but I could tell she was just very excited about her birthday coming up. I explained to her the things she enjoyed doing at school were going to get taken away from her because she wasn't listening. Her teachers were going to give her another chance on Friday. They were making soup that day, Helen loves to help. I received another phone call, Helen was not cooperating, she was sitting/laying on the floor and wouldn't get up. She would not help with the soup. They told her she would not be able to go swimming with her class if she didn't get off the floor. Helen LOVES to swim, in the summer, I can't get her out of the pool! I was surprised when she came home and her suit was dry. I read the note the teacher wrote to me, they had to take away swimming. She had a hard time focusing on school rules because of her birthday. This week, so far, has been a good one. I have had no phone calls from her teacher, and only good notes have come home. What a relief! Every year at the end of the school year, Helen starts to get bored. She is done, she is ready for the summer to begin. I was afraid she had reached that point already and had no idea what I would do about it. Now I don't have to worry....yet! She had a nice party with family, all her favorite people were here. It was a fun day.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Helen Dances At Basketball Game!

2012-01-27T08:59:00.004-06:00

Helen is behind the girl in the blue shirt on the right

Last week I wrote about Katie and Grace participating in a cheer/pom clinic. I asked the coordinator if Helen could participate in future clinics, she said yes. Part of the clinic was to perform the routine they learned, at half time at the basketball game. When we arrived at the High School, Lori, the coordinator had a t-shirt for Helen. They had a water bottle they made with Helen's name on it, and they made a megaphone with her picture on it, just like the other girls. When the girls went to the clinic they had a picture taken by a professional photographer for the megaphone. Since Helen didn't have her picture taken, one of the high school girls went on my facebook page and grabbed a picture of her from there. They put a lot of thought into making Helen feel like one of the girls! Then Lori told me Helen was invited to participate in the dance. She was able to sit with all the girls and watch the game. When it was time to perform, she joined the girls on the gym floor. Katie was a little upset because Helen didn't know the routine and she didn't want her to look silly. I reassured her Helen would be fine, and she was. She followed along and did her own little dance. My friends that were there told me how much that touched them to see her with the other girls. I got tears in my eyes from watching ALL three of my girls dancing. I can't wait until the next clinic when she will learn the dance and definitely be a part of the group!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Basketball Season

2012-01-16T09:28:00.001-06:00

It's basketball season and we are very busy. Robbie was in tournament last week, his team made it to the championship game. They lost 35-24. His team played hard, but the team they played against had a star player that couldn't be stopped. Tonight is their first game of another tournament they're going to be in, this one goes into next week. They play tonight, and then again next Monday. How well they do will determine if they advance or not. I have a feeling some of the same teams will be playing in this tournament that played in the last one. There was one team that had a player who was a poor sport. He would put himself in a position that our boys would foul him, that way he would be able to shoot two. They beat us in the last seconds of the game by him doing that....it was awful! Katie's team isn't doing too well this season. They lost two of their key players to another team. They played against them this past week-end and lost....big! Katie made the first basket of the game, and it went down hill from there. I think her making that basket gave her a lot of confidence, she ended up fouling out in the last quarter.

Ted went camping in a cave with the Boy Scouts. They told him to bring clothes he could throw away if necessary because they get so dirty crawling around in these caves. I went to Goodwill and bought him $4.00 jeans so I wouldn't be upset if he ruined them. When he unpacked them yesterday, they didn't look too bad. I may be able to save them, which would be a good thing, then Ted has a couple more pair of pants. He said he had a great time but didn't have the nerve to go down one hole. They called that hole, the birth canal. It's a very tight hole that they climb into then slide down into the next level. He said he was okay until one of the guys made a comment at the end of the hole and it freaked him out. His Scoutmaster talked with him and he was going to give it another try, but ran out of time. I told him he can try again in a couple of years, when they go again. I asked him about bats in the cave and he told me they were hibernating. He was cool, calm, and collected when he talked about that. I told him I would have freaked out, he laughed at me!

Katie and Grace went to a cheer/pom clinic yesterday at the Catholic High School. They are going to perform during half time at the basketball game tomorrow night. They are both so excited. I talked with the woman who runs this clinic twice a year. She went to school for special education. She told me next time, Helen can join too. I'm so excited, Helen loves this kind of stuff, but doesn't have anything available for her around here....now she does!! Last year when I was working with the girls on their variety show routine, Helen was right there watching. She knew all the moves! I could put her in any position, and she knew exactly what to do, it was awesome.

We had a very busy week-end, those are the kind I like, especially when it's full of the kid's activities!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

New Year Resolution

2012-01-06T08:46:00.002-06:00

Happy New Year!! Everyone makes resolutions for the new year ahead, and I am no different. Getting back to writing this blog is one of my resolutions for this new year. It's already Friday of the first week of the new year, and I almost didn't do it! Isn't that typical though, so many people make those resolutions every year, only to break them within the first week.

You're probably wondering why I stopped writing, is it because we are no longer working on the clothing line? NO. I felt like I was repeating myself. The kids and I don't really lead an exciting life, it's always the same thing. Sherry and I are still trying to work on the issue of the pants. We have not been working on it full-time, we do it when we can. Once we get past this issue, I know we will come out swinging. It's getting to that point that has been difficult. We have so many great ideas for this clothing line, I hope you haven't lost faith.

The kids have gotten bigger, I put the most recent picture of them on my profile. Helen is going through a phase of not smiling for pictures. There are moments when I catch her smiling, but for the most part, she will frown instead. When she sees the picture, she'll comment on her look. "Mom, look, no smiles." I ask her, "Why didn't you smile?", she answers, "I don't know." Hopefully this will end soon, she has such a pretty smile. Since my last post, Katie, Ted, and Grace celebrated birthdays. Ted is now a teenager, and has the attitude to go with it. He is an awesome kid and is very helpful to me, but there are times when that attitude sneaks out. I have to remind myself, this too shall pass! All the kids are helpful around the house, some more than others. I look at them sometimes and can't believe how big they've all gotten. The other day I came across pictures of them soon after Peter died. At the time it didn't occur to me how little they were, but they were REALLY little! We have all come so far!

For the new year I am hoping this company will manufacture the new improved jeans, along with a few other things. Health and happiness for all our supporters, and all who read this blog. Thanks for your continued support, I will do my best at keeping this blog current!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Summer 2011

2011-07-12T13:20:00.000-05:00

By the Zoo overlooking Lake Michigan

At the Zoo

By the river looking at Main St. bridge

In front of the giant flower pot downtown

The kids and I have been busy this summer, it's the first since Peter passed away. For some reason, I am motivated to do activities with them. It also helps that they are older now, and listen much better! We walked around our downtown one day, looking at the yearly art projects. This year planters were painted by local artists and sponsored by local businesses. Our favorite one was sponsored by the bakery we love to go to, it was titled "Flour Power". We hit the ice cream parlor and then the library after walking in the hot sun. The ice cream and air conditioning hit the spot! On another day, we hit the beach with friends, we all got fried, even with sunscreen on! On the Fourth of July week-end we sat through our cities three hour parade, I was the only one who got burnt. Sherry hosted a cook-out, and then we hit the fireworks. I love the way the fireworks reflect off of Lake Michigan. We were exhausted after the long week-end. Yesterday we went to our zoo, it only costs a dollar for residents on Mondays. It sits right on the lake, it's a small zoo, but worth visiting at least once a year. We still have a few things left to do, especially our trip to Six Flags. All the kids received a ticket for reading six hours, so we only have to pay for drinks, and food. When you look into things, there are a lot of things to do in our area for cheap, or better yet, FREE!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer....

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Greek Fest 2011

2011-06-24T19:41:00.003-05:00

Last week-end I spent most of my time working at Greek Fest. The weather was awesome so that helped bring out the crowds. I was working on the food line, my job was to dish out the rice that went with the meals, lamb and chicken. We also had pastistio, moussaka, spanakopita, triopita, dolmathes, Greek salad, and feta cheese with Greek olives. That was just inside the building. Outside were gyros, souvlaki, saganaki, loukamathes, and a few other things. They also have a carnival going on, so there was also carnival food. On Sunday, Father's Day, the kids and I went to the cemetery and planted flowers. We then went to my sister-in-law's restaurant for lunch, of course it was delicious! All of her family was there, we haven't seen two of her kids in such a long time. It was a very nice visit. On the way home from there, we stopped by the fest, the kids hadn't been there yet. They had such a good time riding the rides, especially Helen. She loved the Tilt-O-Whirl, she rode it twice. Although I think if I would have let her, she would have went on it all day! Robbie played some of the games, he doesn't like going on the rides. On our way out we bought Noah a hat, he was the only one without a Greek baseball cap. He wears it ALL the time, even to bed! We stopped by the honey puff(loukamathes) booth and picked up two large orders. Our last stop was by the dance floor to watch some Greek dancing, I could watch it all day. The girls pulled up a chair, the boys on the other hand were bugging me to go. I thought it was appropriate we spent part of the day at the fest, it was where Peter spent his last Father's Day. We had a good day.

The kids started Vacation Bible School on Monday, they love going there every summer. Ted is one of the counselors this year, his first year doing it. He is helping with the Kindergartners, he enjoys it very much. He can't believe these little kids want to spend so much time with him, they follow him everywhere. The other day he went to put all the name tags at the table and drop off his cap and folder. He turned around and saw his whole group of kids. I heard him say to them, "You know you can go with your parents now, right?" It was so cute to see him interact with them. That evening they were all in the backyard playing freeze tag, Ted hasn't joined them in such a long time, it was very nice to see and hear. Helen started summer school, she loves going to school. She is constantly correcting me when I just say school, she says, "No Mom, summer school." She's too funny!

Helen has been wearing the new jeans all day, there are a few tweaks we need to do, but nothing that can't be fixed. Helen LOVES them...we will keep you posted on our progress!!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Summer Break Is Here!

2011-06-10T10:48:00.000-05:00

I just got back from getting my car checked out. I have had issues with the transmission and was worried it was coming back. It's still under warranty so I thought now is the time to get it looked at. Luckily it's not the transmission, it's something to do with the front differential and the four wheel drive going to the back of the car. My car is old, it's a 1999, but we bought in December 1998. I know sooner than later I need a new one, I just can't afford it at this time. I'm hoping it will hang in there and be good to me!

Summer vacation has started, the kid's last day was yesterday and Helen's is today. I now have a seventh, two fifth, a fourth, second, and first grader under my roof, they grow so quickly! Noah graduated from Kindergarten on Wednesday. I took him out for lunch at the place of his choice, he chose IHOP for pancakes. I was hoping for Chili's or Red Robin, but that didn't happen. When we were done we stopped at a greenhouse to buy some veggies for our garden and pick up flowers. He was such a big help, he carried the flats of flowers for me, and I didn't even have to ask. He has gotten so big, and so mature from the beginning of the school year. It made me a bit sad. All of them are becoming more independent, it's hard for me to adjust. I need to let them do things, it's a hard habit to break.

Helen has had some issues at school, I'm glad the end of the year is here. It's not the teachers, it's the other kids in her inclusion class. She is at that age where they know there is something different about her, but don't quite get that she is still just like them. There are the few who will never get it. Some of that comes from the parents, they don't get it themselves and so they can't convey to their kids how wrong it is to tease. Now that I think about it, that's everywhere, it's not just with special needs kids. Bullies can be put into that same category. Ted has one in his class, the parents are no where to be found. In fact, the kids that cause the most problems at the school, are the ones whose parents I never see. In a perfect world....

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Out of Respect

2011-06-02T10:11:00.000-05:00

Last week we had a death in our family, our sister-in-law's dad passed away. It didn't feel right for me to write, he read our blog religiously. One day he was riding his bike and working around the house, and the next, laying in a hospital unconscious. He died less than two weeks later. He was always so good to us when we would visit Savannah, GA, his town. It is such a beautiful place to visit. My sister-in-law is doing okay, it's never easy losing someone we love.

On a different note, Noah turned six last week and he graduates from Kindergarten next week. The rest of the kids are done with school at the end of next week...YIKES! Now that they're older, I'm hoping they will help more around the house. I want to start getting some work done this summer so I can have a little extra income coming in, times are tough! They keep asking when I'm going to put the pool up, all I see are $$$$$! We don't have a huge pool, but every extra expense adds up. Besides, our weather has been so wacky, just like everywhere else in the U.S., it's crazy. It's been much cooler than usual here, it's only just recently started warming up. I want to make sure we have more warmer weather than cooler before I put it up. I have made some plans for us this summer. We are going to meet up with friends at the beach, we have a very nice one in our town. I have a friend who's in-laws have a lake house, we're going there, and a friend who's parents have a cabin in Northern WI that we've been invited to. Robbie's best friends parents have a cabin near the Wisconsin Dells, so we may go there for a little getaway. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it will all work out.

We are still waiting to hear from our pattern makers. As soon as the samples are sewn, we will start to send them out for you to try on and give us feedback.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

IEP

2011-05-20T09:31:00.002-05:00

Last week I had Helen's IEP meeting with her new team, it went well. The only change that was made was to the amount of time she spends in the mainstream classroom for reading. Since this subject is her strongest, we feel the additional time spent with her peers will be a benefit to her without affecting her schoolwork. I was told throughout the whole meeting how much they love Helen and love having her in the classroom. They all wish she would have been in their class earlier so they could have spent more years with her. She only has one more year at that school and then will move to a middle school. I'm going to start looking into that now so that I know what my choices are. Like everywhere else, there are some schools that are better than others. I am relieved it went so well, I have heard horror stories of other IEP's. So we are set for another year, unless any issues arise.

Ted went HOBO camping last week-end with his Boy Scout troop, they slept in boxes. Our weather here was cold and rainy, ALL week-end. Ted had so much fun, he didn't care about the weather. The only things he took were his sleeping bag, boxes, spoon, cup, and a stick. They used their sticks to roast hot dogs and make pancakes. They would put pancake batter on the stick, let it dry a bit and then dip the stick back into the batter until it formed a ball. Then they roasted it over the fire to make the pancake...how clever is that!?!! This week-end they are cleaning their part of the highway they adopted, having a cook-out and then swimming at a club pool. Robbie's Cub Scout den is going to join them for the highway clean-up and cook-out, they don't get to swim. Since Robbie is still in Cub Scouts, guess who gets to go with to help...ME! He still needs to have a parent with him at his outings. I just heard the weather for tomorrow and they are saying we should be clear of rain from 9am-2pm...perfect!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Field Trips

2011-05-12T08:54:00.000-05:00

The school year is almost over and the kids have field trips scheduled left and right. Ted and his class took an overnight field trip to a Bible camp here in Wisconsin. I was able to go during the day and help out. They had a lot of activities to keep them busy. They did horseback riding, fishing, canoeing, archery, poetry, animal tracking, fire building, orienteering, nature hike, paper making, and owl pellets. I have never seen owl pellets before, I didn't even know what they were. Do you? It's what an owl regurgitates...I know, YUCK! They are like big hair balls. The kids pull them apart and inside are the skeletal remains of the prey they have eaten. The kids are supposed to try and identify what's in there. The only way you can figure that out is if there is a skull in the pellet. Ted had three skulls in his! At night they made a big fire and roasted marshmallows and made smores. They told a few ghost stories and played elbow tag with their teacher, he stayed the entire time with them. All the time I spent this past year helping raise money for this trip was worth it, Ted had a blast.

While I was helping out at Ted's trip, I missed a field trip of Robbie and Noah's. I wish I could have gone, but there weren't very many parents that offered to help, so they needed me to be there. Robbie has another one coming up next week, but they leave as soon as they get to school. Helen's bus comes after I drop the other kids off, so I won't be able to go to that one either. I will be able to go with Grace on her final field trip, I'm looking forward to that one. Ted, Robbie, and Katie have done this field trip, but I have never been able to go. In fact, when Ted went, Peter and I were at the Mayo clinic getting his initial testing done. This is the time of year when the battle began for Peter. This is a difficult time of year for me, I'm glad to be so busy!

Last Saturday we had a fitting with the new pattern for the jeans. It went very well, the jeans fit Helen so much nicer than the previous pattern. We are going to have a pair made in every size and then send them out to have other kids try them on. We want to be absolutely sure these pants are going to fit nicely on everyone before we manufacture them. I'm so excited about the next step!! Keep checking with us so you can get the latest news!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Still Sick

2011-05-05T09:21:00.001-05:00

We missed marching in the Greek Independence parade on Sunday, the kids were sick. Ted had a fever, Katie was coughing, and Grace was still blowing her nose. I wasn't feeling that great myself, so we stayed home. On Monday, Ted stayed home from school recovering from the fever. I received a phone call from the kid's school, Noah went to the office first thing in the morning and had been laying on their couch. They called to see if I wanted to pick him up or send him back to class. After talking with him, I decided to go and pick him up. Once he got home, he was fine, he played on the computer. He could have stayed at school! About a few hours later, another phone call from the school, Katie wasn't feeling well. After talking to her, I decided to bring her home. I worked on getting the laundry done during the day, about an hour before school was over I received another call from the school, Robbie wasn't feeling well. I talked to him and we agreed he could lay on the couch until school was over. Once everyone was home, I had two with sore throats, one with a headache and stomachache, and one still blowing her nose. Ted and Helen were the only ones feeling fine.

On Tuesday, Katie was feeling better so she went to school along with Ted, Helen, and Grace. Robbie and Noah stayed home with sore throats and no fever. Because Robbie had strep a few weeks ago, I called the doctor and they ordered a strep test through the lab. They told me if Robbie was positive for strep, they would prescribe medication for any other child in the household with the same symptoms. I didn't have Noah tested because of that. The rapid test came back negative. I sent Robbie and Noah to school on Wednesday because they were bouncing off the walls. The only symptom was the sore throat, other than that, they felt fine. The twenty-four test came back inconclusive, meaning, something was happening with the sample and they wanted to wait another twenty-four hours.

Now it's Thursday and I just heard from the doctor's office. Robbie has strep, but it's a different strain, so the other kids have to get tested, they will not call in prescriptions for them. So now I have to take Noah, and also Katie, who has since come down with a sore throat, to the lab. Katie is the only one who stayed home from school today. She is complaining of a sore throat, headache and stomachache. I will run them over to the lab after school to get tested. I'm hoping the rapid test, about ten minutes, will come back positive. Otherwise, they have to wait a couple of days to start medicine. I wish now that I would have had Noah tested the other day. Nothing is ever easy!!

On Saturday we have a fitting for the jeans. If they fit Helen and look good, we will have a pair made from the jean material in every size. We will then take those jeans and go around to different groups and have fittings. We want to see if the jeans fit all different body types, not just Helen's. Keep checking back, I will keep you posted on how things are moving along.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Sick, Sick, and More Sick

2011-04-28T14:05:00.002-05:00

The kids are on Spring break...finally! Everyone was healthy for the holiday, the sickness kicked in the next day. Helen didn't want to eat lunch, which is not like her. She was in the living room with the other kids, playing video games. When she started crying, the girls came and told me something was wrong. When I got to the living room, Helen was sitting on the couch with her head buried in the cushion. She wouldn't talk to me and wouldn't lift her head up so I could take a look at her face. I rubbed her back until she stopped crying and then asked her if she wanted to come by me. She told me no, she wanted to stay and play video games. I went back to cleaning and doing laundry. About a half an hour later I heard Helen crying again, I found her on her bed. I grabbed her and brought her into my room where we laid down on my bed. She finally settled down and fell asleep for three hours. When she woke up, she had a fever. I gave her Tylenol and kept an eye on her. I noticed she wasn't drinking either, so I thought maybe she had caught Robbie's strep throat. I called the doctor's office, they called in an order to the lab for Helen to get a strep test done. The lab closed in twenty minutes and Helen needed socks on and I needed to change. We got there with five minutes to spare. There were two people at the check in desk, one was on her way out. She told me the other person would be with us in a minute. Then the phone rang, and the clerk decided to answer it and then proceeded to take care of the patient on the phone while Helen and I waited....five minutes. When I finally got to check in and told the clerk Helen was there for the lab, she started to tell me we wouldn't be able to get the test done. I didn't even let her finish, I said to her, "Oh no, we were here in time, she needs this test done!" She told me the lab technician had already logged out, I again repeated that we were there in time. She left and went and spoke with the lab, came back and started checking us in. When we got back to the lab, I could see the technician wasn't happy at all. She was young, and I could tell she wanted to leave. Helen sat in the chair and the tech tried to get her to open her mouth so she could swab her throat, but Helen would have no part of it. I tried talking her into cooperating, and when I touched her mouth, she threw up...everywhere! I was trying to clean it up when she got sick again, this time it was more than the first. The tech was gagging like crazy, I could tell she was mad. Come to find out, she had plans to go to the Brewer's game that evening. I told her what a way to start her evening, I was being sarcastic. Helen finally let her get the sample, I cleaned up as best I could, I apologized, and then we left. She had to stay until the rapid test was finished and then she had to run a 24 hour, and a 48 hour test on it. I'm guessing she didn't get out of there until about 5:45pm....karma is something!

Helen's tests were all negative, so she didn't have strep. I think it must have been a touch of the flu. She was okay the following day, but then was up during the night getting sick. Last night she had a restful sleep and is doing much better today. Grace is fighting a cold, she is blowing non-stop. Her poor little nose is all red. I'm feeling a bit of what everyone has had. My stomach hurts a little bit, my throat is dry and scratchy, and my nose is stuffy...lucky me! All my plans of getting things done while the kids were home went out the window. I haven't gotten anything done this week. I'm guessing the rest of the week is going to be spent getting myself better. On Sunday, the kids are supposed to walk in the Greek parade in Chicago. I'm hoping we are all better by then.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Where's Spring?

2011-04-20T10:33:00.001-05:00

Helen's teacher talked me into going to another concert at her school. It was with a retired music teacher that came in to help with a special project. When you walk into Helen's school, there is a long wall that has been empty. The school decided to have a mural painted on that wall. The art teacher's retired dad (who is an artist) volunteered his time and got the job done. The program was an unveiling of the artwork and also the premier of the new school song. It was like night and day, this program was so well organized. They must have gotten seats from another school, because there were plenty to go around. Helen was standing next to her classmates, they were all joking around before the concert started. She had a great time singing, and especially liked singing the new school song. After Helen's group was done singing, there was a brief intermission and then the unveiling of the wall. Helen got popcorn and the girls got Popsicles. Ted was home watching Robbie who was sick with strep throat, and Noah wanted to stay with them. I was with my girls, we had a nice time. The mural turned out very nice, the artist did a nice job. After the unveiling the next group was going sing, Helen yelled, "Let's go!" I guess she had enough! I felt bad for leaving since that was one of the things I complained about at Helen's other concert. I guess the difference was, we were standing in the hallway by the front doors, we were not in the gym with everyone else. I did send an email to the Principal and the Assistant Principal praising the evening. They both saw how much fun Helen had. I'm glad her teacher talked me into going, there was a feeling of community that night.

Holy week is upon us, and I have one home with a cold and another with pink eye. I'm hoping we are all healthy for the holiday. Last night while Helen was in the shower, she told me her eye hurt. I thought maybe she had gotten soap in her eye, it did look red. While drying her off, I noticed her eye had discharge, and she kept closing them tight. While putting her jammies on she kept grabbing at her eyes. I called the prompt care to see what time they closed, it was 7:40pm, they closed at 8:00pm. I decided to take the chance of getting there on time. I thought if she had all night to rub at her eyes, they would be worse in the morning. We got there with two minutes to spare, I don't think the staff was to pleased with us walking in at that time. The doctor prescribed eye drops for her, we were out of there in twenty minutes. We ran to the drug store to get her medicine and were home by 9:00pm. I put the eye drops in and she went to bed. When she woke up this morning, her eyes already looked better, so my decision to go out in the terrible weather was definitely worth it.

I'm not sure if you all know this, but all the people, except myself, that are working for It'll Fit'll, work a full-time job. They are working on the clothing line in their spare time, that's another reason why we are not moving as quickly as some of you may like. Thanks for being patient, the wait will be worth it. The pattern maker is in the process of making a new pattern and has brought on board a pattern maker who has experience in children's clothing. I think this will be a huge benefit to us. I will keep you posted.

To those of you who celebrate....Happy Easter....Christos Anesti!!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Music Concert

2011-04-07T11:17:00.004-05:00

On March 17th the kids and I went to Helen's first music concert, Helen was extremely excited. When we got there we didn't know where to go since this was our first experience of an evening event at her school. We stood there in front of staff, none of whom I recognized, for a few very awkward minutes. One of them finally said, "Helen, are you here to sing?" The tone in her voice led me to believe she was surprised to see her, which then made me think, maybe she wasn't supposed to be here. Helen answered with a "Yes", she was then sent to a small auditorium to sit and wait for her turn. The rest of us just stood there not knowing where to go. I looked into the gym and saw the other families so we went in there, no thanks to the staff. We looked around for six seats so we could take our places, but there were none to be found. Only half the gym was filled with chairs, so I went back out into the hallway and asked if they were going to put more chairs out. I was told all the chairs were out. I was in disbelief so I asked, "These are the only chairs you have?" I was told, "They are all we have in the whole building." I then said, "You mean you don't have enough seats for all the families who came to see their child sing?" The response, "That is correct." The kids and I went and stood against the wall waiting for Helen to perform, just our luck, her group is last. I then saw a staff member come in with more chairs so I told Ted to go and grab some chairs for us. We started to file in the new row of chairs when a woman came and sat right in the middle. There were not six empty chairs on either side of her. The Assistant Principal must have seen the frustration on my face and he went and asked the woman to move down. She bit his head off, I couldn't believe it. After he said a few words to her, he walked away to get chairs from his office for us. As soon as he left the woman moved down one chair, still not enough for all of us to sit. Noah ended up on my lap, and it was very stuffy in the gym. The fifth graders are the first to perform. The music teacher explains what song they are going to sing. I don't think she even introduced herself to us, and she sounded like she would rather be anyplace else but here. While they are singing there is so much noise going on behind us we can barely hear the singers. Because the gym is only filled up halfway with chairs, the other half is being used by younger siblings to run around. The sad thing about that, the parents are doing nothing to quiet them down. In fact, the music teacher, the one with the microphone, says nothing. The first group is done singing and I am shocked to see what happened next....people left! I have never in my entire life seen that happen. I have been told by people I have shared this story with, that it does happen, and it's sad. By the time Helen's group performed, there were plenty of seats for everyone, there were even empty seats. No wonder the school doesn't need anymore chairs, they don't expect people to stay for the entire performance! Helen's fourth grade class is finally performing and I'm not happy. She is standing between two boys, and I'm not sure they are even in her class. Now I'm not trying to knock boys, but they really don't have the same compassion as girls do. Helen has always been put by the girls in her class, usually the ones who look out for her. They have heard her sing, so they are not surprised the night of the concert. I will be the first to admit that Helen can't carry a tune in a basket, and she's often off beat, but she LOVES to sing, so I LOVE to hear her sing. The girl in front of her turns to look at Helen and then turns back around giggling. She looks back every now and then at Helen and then turns with either a giggle, or a look of annoyance. One of the boys standing next to her keeps trying to scoot away from her, as if she had cooties. I am so angry by the time the concert is over that I go and complain to the Assistant Principal. He agreed with me and is also a little stunned at what he witnessed. He asked me to write a letter or send an email so it's in writing. I sent a letter to him and to the Principal last week and then a follow up email on Tuesday. I heard from them both the same day. The Assistant thanked me for the formal letter I had sent the previous week. He told me he makes it a point to stop and talk to Helen. He shot hoops with her at recess last week and was very surprised at how well she shoots. The Principal responded with a long email thanking me for the letter. He and the Assistant both agreed with me and are in the process of making changes. I thanked him for listening to me since some people would have thought it was just a parent of a special needs child complaining again. I told him most people aren't fortunate enough to have a special person in their lives and therefore don't know how important it is for us to speak up. I am Helen's voice, thanks for listening. Until next time- Take Care, Sue PS....sorry for no paragraphs, the program wouldn't put them in!!

Variety Show 2011

2011-03-25T14:14:00.002-05:00

We have been so busy around here, I haven't had a chance to sit and write. When I'm not at one of the school's helping out, or acting as chauffeur, I'm throwing a load of laundry in the washer, folding it, or straightening up around the house. While I get "caught up" around here, I thought I'd share the videos of Robbie(he's the cowboy), Katie(middle pink), and Grace(middle purple) in their school's variety show. I hope you enjoy!

This Sunday, Helen has a fitting with the pattern maker. I'm hoping we brought the rise up far enough so we can move ahead with the jeans. I'm very excited!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Always Something

2011-03-11T10:03:00.001-06:00

I was without my computer for a couple of weeks thanks to a virus, why are people so evil!?!! I am keeping an eye on my bank account and checking my credit cards everyday....what a pain! I was using the kids computer while mine was out of commission. It was so s......l.....o......w! I'm having it looked at, just in case. It's a shame when you trust the security product you purchased and someone is able to break through it. My computer had to be reformatted, it was a mess. It is wonderful now, it's much quicker than before. I always wondered why everyone raved about their high speed Internet, now I know.

Helen has had a few issues at school. After spending time in her special education class, she leaves, on her own, and goes into her inclusion class. The special ed. class is in the front of the school and the inclusion class is in the back. It's a very long hallway she has to walk down. There is a boy in her class who leaves about five minutes before Helen in order to go to his inclusion class which is different from Helen's. The other day, I'm told, he hit Helen in the nose. One of the aides found her in the hallway crying. When she asked what was wrong, Helen told her the boy hit her in the nose. They got her calmed down and then asked her again what had happened. While telling the story she giggled a little, this put some doubt in their minds that it really happened. When going through Helen's backpack that day, I came across the note explaining what had happened. First of all, Helen very rarely cries, and if she does, something happened to her. Second of all, this is not the first time this boy has hit her. Did they really think Helen would come up with a story like that, it's really not in her to do that. She kept touching her nose and saying the boy's name to me, that was proof enough for me. I suggested they let Helen leave first from the classroom, that way, the boy can't wait for her in the hallway. I'm hoping this solves the problem, if not, I'll definitely have to go in and talk with the principal. Don't get me wrong, her teachers are wonderful, but when you hear about your child getting hit in the nose at school, it doesn't sit well, especially since it's Helen.

The other issue she had happened at the grocery store yesterday. During the winter months her class makes soup. The day before they cook, they shop. I was told she had a meltdown, she sat in the aisle and wouldn't get up. I don't know what lead up to that point, so I have no idea what triggered the behavior. Her favorite aide, Mr. Spencer, was able to talk with her and get her up and moving again. We are very lucky to have him as a part of the team. He is actually the one on one aide for another student. Thank goodness he is in the same classes as Helen. It always seems to be something...so definitely....one day at a time!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Lunch With Helen

2011-02-21T10:50:00.001-06:00

Excited to see me

Eating lunch

After recess

Last Wednesday Helen's school had "bring a friend to lunch" day, so I went. I reminded her in the morning, while waiting for the bus, that I would be there. I went to the kid's school to help with hot lunch, like I do every Wednesday, then headed to Helen's school right after. When I got there, I had to wait with the other parents in the hallway, lunches were running behind. While I was standing there, I saw Helen coming down the hallway, she was skipping. I didn't say anything and waited for her to see me. She's looking down while she's skipping, she stops, looks up, and sees me. "MOMMY!" she yells, and starts running. She gave me a big hug, almost knocking me over since she came at me full speed! She told me, "Come on", so I followed to her inclusion class where her coat is hanging on the wall. Her classmates are all getting their boots and coats on since they'll be going outside right after they're done eating. She walks up to them and says, "Guys, guys, look, it's Lolly!" They all just stare at me, they have no idea what she just said, they don't know her name for me is Lolly. I explained that to her, so she said, "Look, it's Mommy." They all said hi to me and then a few of the girls told me she was so excited about me coming, it was all she talked about that morning. I followed behind her class on the way to the lunchroom and watched my big girl get her hot lunch. We found a spot to sit at the table and were joined by one of her classmates and his aide from her special ed. class. He told me all she talked about was me coming for lunch, she was very excited. After lunch the kids lined up for recess, I was the only parent to go outside, what's up with that!?!! It was a nice day, a little gloomy, but not freezing cold! I watched her play with some of her friends, and was told by one of her classmates how she likes to push on the slide. I was a bit concerned when I saw how much supervision they have on the playground....not much. I talked to the aide and then to one of the teachers about it and found out they were lucky to have that amount. I voiced my concern for Helen's safety, especially since she's getting older. My plan is to go back when the weather gets warmer and watch what goes on. If I don't feel comfortable, I will talk with the Principal. When recess was over, it was time to line up and go inside. Helen didn't want to come off the equipment, which has always been an issue. I couldn't get to her, there was a big pile of snow and I only had on tennis shoes. Spencer, the aide, finally got her off the slide. She followed her classmates inside, took her coat and boots off, then said, "Come on Lolly, let's go." She wanted me to stay and join her for the rest of the day. I told her I had to get home to let Toby out. She was fine with that, said bye and disappeared into her classroom. Walking down the hallway I thought to myself, "That was the best hour and a half I've had in a long time!"

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Go Pack Go

2011-02-09T09:15:00.000-06:00

Last week we had the blizzard and this week we have frigid temperatures....BRRRRR!! Helen turned eleven on Sunday, she was very happy when the Packers won the Super Bowl on her birthday! One of her teachers must be a die hard Packer fan, he taught her to say, "GO PACKERS!!" Robbie kept trying to get her to say, "Go Pack Go", but she stuck to her guns. Robbie and I watched the game, I enjoyed the commercials, he enjoyed the game. It was so cute watching him get so excited, he was such a guy.

Katie finished her basketball season with only one loss! The team they lost to, they beat last week. In Katie's eyes, they didn't loose any games, they cancelled each other out. If only it worked that way!

I am looking forward to this week-end, it's the first in a very long time that we have nothing planned, well, except for church. It's going to be nice to sleep in and just hang out. Of course I'll be doing laundry and some housework, that's a given. The kids will be able to stay in their jammies, they love doing that. Last Sunday was Scout Sunday at church. Ted was an altar server and Robbie took up gifts, they enjoy participating. This was the first year I took all the kids, they usually stay home with Sherry. We sat in the main part of church with the other scout families. I wasn't sure if we would make it through the whole mass, Helen sometimes gets the giggles. She did giggle a few times, but it didn't get out of control. We tried one other time to sit in the main part instead of the cry room, it wasn't successful. Helen was making gas sounds, some were for real, some she made with her mouth. She was laughing so much that I had to take her into the cry room while the other kids stayed put. Robbie's big buddy from school went and sat with them to keep an eye on them. Robbie met his big buddy when he was in kindergarten. The school pairs up seventh graders with kindergartners so they have a buddy to hang out with at some of the school functions. Robbie was very lucky, his big buddy was awesome, and still is! Robbie started kindergarten right after Peter passed away, so his buddy sort of filled in for Peter. They have a special friendship. Noah has a girl as his big buddy this year, he seems to enjoy it. I wanted him to have a boy, since it was such a great experience for Robbie. I spoke with the teacher and found out they needed the boys in seventh grade to double team with some of the more misbehaved kindergartners. It's all good!!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Blizzard of 2011

2011-02-03T15:00:00.000-06:00

Looking North

Looking South

View from our backdoor, had to shovel a path for Toby

The past couple of days have been crazy around here...The Blizzard of 2011! We started hearing the possibility of snow over the week-end. We then started hearing how much snow we were going to get. Growing up in Illinois, I was used to the idea of being hit hard with snow, so I just rolled with the information. After Helen left for school Monday morning I ran to the grocery store to pick up bread, milk, and eggs. That afternoon I received a text from my neighbor asking if my cabinets were stocked with food, and if I had enough milk to last a couple of days. That was the first I had heard of a blizzard heading our way. I made sure we had what we needed and then got the house cleaned up knowing most of my time would be spent outside getting the snow taken care of. Monday afternoon and Tuesday we went about the day as usual. It is Catholic Schools week at the kid's school so there were events planned for everyday. Tuesday morning was a carnival that I helped at, and then in the afternoon the whole school went roller skating. It was there that I received the call from Helen's teacher, they would be getting out of school an hour early due to the weather changing. Once school was let out, I called the place where Ted has swimming lessons to see if they were still having them, yes, he still had class. He was the only one out of eight kids that showed up. He had a private lesson, with two teachers that night. The club is right on Lake Michigan, so when we left, we were almost blown away! The blizzard was at the beginning stages, windy, snowy, and cold. We snuggled in for the night, watched movies, and watched the storm. We could not see the houses across the street from us, it was very creepy. We woke up to white...everywhere! I got a text from my neighbor telling me to meet them outside, it was time to shovel everyone out. Thank God for great neighbors, we worked together as a team and got everyone shoveled out. I can't believe all the snow, it was a bit overwhelming at first. It took us about five hours to get all the work done. It would have been much quicker if my riding snow blower would have worked. We put chains on the tires, but come to find out, I need to put snow tires on the beast! It kept getting stuck, the tires would just spin, regardless of how much weight was on the machine. One of these days I'll get it working.

The kids had another day off from school because it took so long for the plows to clean up the streets. The school district also needed an extra day to get the parking lots and front walks at the schools cleared. The kids missed trivia day today at school, they were looking forward to that. Tomorrow is the eighth grade vs. faculty basketball game, they will be at school for that one. Then it's already the week-end. I'm having Helen's birthday party Saturday, her actual birthday is Sunday. She will be eleven...where does the time go? Since it's the Super Bowl, I decided to have the party the day before. She is already excited and keeps asking me who is going to come to her party. I told her we would have to wait and see since the weather has been so bad. I don't know who will make the drive, and who won't.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Basketball

2011-01-26T09:08:00.001-06:00

Robbie's basketball team has yet to win a game in the regular season, they did win one in a tournament over the holidays. Saturday is the last game, we're hoping for a win. This will be the last game with the team that has played together for the past three years. He has been playing through our city program, but next year he gets to play for his school. Luckily, seven of his classmates have been on the team with him. Another player attends our church and religious education program, so he'll be able to be a part of the team. On Saturday, Robbie will be saying good-bye to the other two players. According to Robbie, one of the boys is a really good player, the other one, not so much. He doesn't like to pass the ball, and when he runs to the basket, rarely makes it.

Katie, on the other hand, has won all the games except one. She has two more games left because they had such a good season. I agreed to let her miss the next two weeks of Greek school so she can make it to practice. Her Greek school is from 5:00pm - 7:00pm, and her practice is 5:15pm - 6:15pm, they are on opposite sides of town. It would have been a lot of running around on my part, which means using a lot of gas. I would have to drop the kids off at Greek school, then race to drop Katie off at practice, go home for about thirty minutes and then drop Helen off at religious ed., then go pick Katie up and drop her off at Greek school, go back to pick up Helen and then back to Greek school to pick them all up. There is no other way to do it, that's going by their schedules and what time they get out of the activities. YIKES! She has done a good job understanding the plays so far, but did have a few games where she felt overwhelmed. I don't want her to end the season feeling that way, so might as well let her miss a couple weeks of Greek school. We're hoping to end the season with only one loss, I think the girls can do it.

I'm off to work my usual Wednesday hot lunch at the school. One day I'll no longer be able to do this, so I'm enjoying it while I can.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Fighting A Cold

2011-01-17T09:22:00.000-06:00

Last week I was trying to fight off a cold, it won! By the end of the week, I was miserable. I can't get sick, there is too much to be done and no one to pick up the slack. Helen has been sniffing a lot the past couple of days, I hope she doesn't get it. Since her nasal passages are thin, it doesn't take much for her to catch colds. I tried my best to stay a good distance from her, but she's a hugger, and there was no getting away from that. I tried turning my head away from her, but she loves to get right in my face and talk to me. I guess she figures that's the only way she will get my undivided attention! Ted's home sick with a sore throat today, hopefully it won't get worse, he's prone to strep. I'm hoping to get caught up with things around here, it doesn't take much to fall behind.

Robbie placed fourth in the Pinewood Derby race with the Cub Scouts. He will be going to the district race, his first time. His car is a slice of pepperoni pizza, it looks so cool. Ted went to the district twice, and Robbie's best friend has gone the past couple of years, so it was a great night when he realized he was going. The district race is crazy...lots of people, mostly excited boys, their energy could power the city! It gets so loud, I would guess there to be around seventy-five Scouts racing. There are four heats to sit through, it makes for a very long day!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Resolutions

2011-01-10T09:42:00.003-06:00

It's only the second week of the new year, and I've already broken all my resolutions! One of my resolutions was to get back to writing once a week...obviously, that didn't work! We haven't had much happening lately, which is actually a good thing, boring, but good. We had wonderful holidays, I gained too much weight, but who doesn't? Of course, one of my other resolutions was to start walking again...that didn't happen either! I feel like I need to hibernate, I've got enough fat stored for the winter now I just need to sleep and wake up thinner! I haven't walked because it's been so cold. I put the blame on Toby...how can I take him out for a walk in this cold weather, he has such short hair, he'll freeze...see how easy it is!?!!

I took a jewelry making class last week, knotted pearl necklace to be exact. I LOVED it, I think I have found my calling. I'm going to take more classes so I can learn other techniques. Who knows, maybe someday you'll see them on here, that would be AWESOME! Any suggestions you might have on styles/color schemes, feel free to share, I'll do my best. Who knows, maybe one day it will be a mom and daughters product line, wouldn't that be great!

Helen has been so good at church lately, she is signing the prayers, and has even started signing with the readings. I thought I would give it a try and sit in the main part of church, we usually sit in the cry room. On Saturday, Helen and I went to Mass by ourselves, I wanted one on one with her. We walk into church and Helen heads to the front of church. I thought nothing of it, since that's where we sat on Christmas Eve. Instead of stopping at a pew, she opens the door that heads to the cry room. I'm about 10 feet behind her and I'm trying to shout, without shouting, so she won't go into the cry room. She either didn't hear me, or chose to ignore me, she went right into the cry room and made herself comfortable. I reminded her that we were going to sit in the main part of church, she insisted we stay put, so we did. She was paying attention because she started to sign, but then she got naughty. I'm thinking I should have brought everyone, she realized she had my undivided attention. I also should have known better, and maybe waited until Sunday morning to go to church. Helen was gassy all day, I mean really gassy! She was passing gas the whole time we were there. At times, it was quite loud, and we weren't the only ones there. At the end of Mass, I'm pretty sure I smelled air freshener!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Christmas Eve, Eve

2010-12-23T11:20:00.001-06:00

Christmas Eve is tomorrow, it feels like it was just yesterday we were celebrating Christmas 2009! This will be our fifth year celebrating without Peter, so far it's the hardest one. I am no longer just going through the motions of raising a family on my own. I am a part of life and I'm feeling once again. Everyone is different when it comes to mourning, but we are all the same when it comes to the difficulty of going through the process. I am enjoying life and all it has to offer once again. I am also open to the idea of finding someone special to share it all with. My kids have said on several occasions they wish to have a step dad. I wish it were that easy! Dating is also a process, and I for one need to proceed with caution...my heart is still fragile.

We are ready for the holiday to begin, the only thing we have left to do is clean the house so Santa doesn't trip on anything while putting presents under the tree. Thank you Santa, my kids have never been so eager to help clean the house before. It only took me saying, "You wouldn't want Santa to hurt himself while at our house, then he couldn't deliver gifts to other boys and girls. We would be all over the news as the family that stole Christmas!" We baked yesterday, actually, we made more things on top of the stove, than in it. My goodies are "kid" friendly...scotcharoos, rice krispie balls, fudge, and some cookies. I remember when I was younger I would make a ton of holiday cookies. That was before I had kids and instead, had my mom's influence as to what her favorites were!

Sherry, myself, and our families, would like to wish all of you a very joyous holiday season!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Where Does The Time Go?

2010-12-09T21:53:00.000-06:00

Where does the time go? Seriously, I can't believe it's been a few weeks since my last post, I apologize. When the kids were younger, parents with older kids would say, "Just wait until your kids get older, you're going to be all over the place!" I didn't believe them. I am all over the place, and then some! If I'm not all over the place, I'm at home, exhausted! We have been getting ready for the holidays. The house is decorated on the inside, not on the outside. I decided not to worry about the outside this year. I think my bubble is still popped from last year's incident with my Santa getting knifed. Plus I didn't get a chance to sew him up, so he's not ready to make an appearance. Shopping is all done, now it's time to bake!!

I got a call from Helen's teacher today, her Christmas program was cancelled due to the music teacher not getting it organized in time. I felt bad for Helen, she was really looking forward to it. She was talking with her teacher about it, that's why she called me. It's actually a good thing, we're in the middle of a snowstorm. I don't like driving in this weather. Tomorrow is the Christmas concert for the other kids, they are very excited. I'm looking forward to it, I really enjoy the kid's programs. When I told the other kids Helen's program was cancelled, they all said, "Oh, poor Helen, she was really excited about it!" Now she can't wait until Christmas Eve so she can wear her new dress. She wanted to wear it to school and got mad at me when I told her no.

This time of year is always difficult, one day at a time...

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Time Flies

2010-11-18T10:00:00.000-06:00

The days seem to be passing by so quickly, the holidays are upon us! Last week the kids and I went to Helen's school for her Thanksgiving Feast. She and her classmates were busy the day before our visit making pies. They made delicious pumpkin and apple!! It was wonderful to see how excited and happy Helen and her friends got when their families arrived. I gave my camera to Helen and told her to take pictures of her teachers and friends. They thought she was joking around, until they saw the flash! I told them how much she loves to take pictures, she even sets up the shot! She is now the "official" photographer for their classroom. They had the feast last week because this week they are making their famous salads. They will also be making soups this winter. I'm not sure how it all works, but I'm sure I'll get a crash course! Helen loves her new school, teachers, and friends, I'm glad it all worked out.

We have some sort of stomach bug racing through our house, thank goodness it only lasts for a few hours. I can handle a lot of things, but throw up is not one of them. Peter used to clean up the kids and I would clean up the mess that was made. I now have to do all of it, and you would think since the kids are older, it wouldn't be so bad...it is. Night time, bunk beds, it doesn't work so well when your eight years old. Katie is home from school, resting on the couch. Hopefully she will feel better when she wakes up. The other kids got sick, slept, and woke up feeling fine, hers seems to be more than that. At least its not Thanksgiving week!!

The rest of this week and into next, I will be getting my house in order for company. I also need to pull out the winter clothes for the kids. We have had such a mild Fall, I haven't gotten around to doing it. Sooooo much to do!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Salads

2010-11-01T11:48:00.001-05:00

I had such a nice time helping Helen's class prepare salads. I am very impressed at how smoothly everything went. They went shopping on Thursday to buy all the ingredients. I was told that Helen kept everyone entertained in the van by singing with the radio. One of her favorite songs came on, "Tonight's gonna be a good night" by the Black Eyed Peas, and she sang very loudly! When I arrived at her school on Friday, everyone was already in hair nets and gloves. I put on an apron, put my hair net on, and grabbed some gloves. Helen and I were put in charge of pouring the salad dressings into individual cups. They had bought a pump for the jar and we were the first ones to use it. According to her teacher, this made the job much easier. I held the cup underneath the pump and Helen pushed down. When we first started she wasn't paying attention and would keep pushing down after I moved the cup, what a mess! Once we got into the groove of things, we moved rather quickly. We filled 146 cups...yay us!! When we were done filling the cups, Helen left to go swimming. It was her inclusion class' day to have free time in the pool. I was now flying solo and was put right to work filling the container's with the lettuce. Two big handfuls per container...WOW, that's a lot of salad! While Helen and I were doing our job of filling the cups, the other kids were busy chopping and slicing all of the toppings, of course with supervision. At every table, behind every bowl, sat one of Helen's classmates with a scooper in hand, waiting patiently to add their assigned topping to the mound of lettuce. The assembling began...grab a container, then an order slip, read what toppings were ordered and stop at the stations to get them put on the salad. Some of the kids put it right in the center, others were close, but most of the toppings landed on the sides. I learned to rotate the container so all sides were hit. Ask for the topping..."please", "thank-you", add the salad dressing, close the lid, put the order form on the top, and on to the next. We filled 97 orders that day, I was told that was a record. Each salad costs $5.00, one week they were able to buy a bouncy house with their sales! Helen came back from swimming when we were almost done filling the orders. I made her a salad and sat with her while she ate. She told me all about swimming and how much fun she had. Mr. Spencer, the aide that went with, told me she got in trouble for not getting out of the pool when it was time. In her defense, they didn't give her any warning. I think if they had told her she had 5 minutes, she might not have ignored them (notice I said "might"!). When it was time for Helen to go to her inclusion class, she didn't want to go. I went with them thinking it might help, she didn't want me to leave. I finally pulled myself away from her strong grip, and told her I'd see her at home. I went back to her other classroom, fixed my salad, said my good-bye's and headed home. After a quick stop at the grocery store, I found myself at home eating my salad. It was the best salad I've ever eaten! I think it was because of the people who made it for me...that's just my opinion.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

New Routine

2010-10-21T09:56:00.001-05:00

Monday Toby and I started a new routine, we have started walking a mile and a half. Once Helen leaves on the bus, we head out. Toby gets so excited I have a hard time putting his leash on. He starts running back and forth from me to the door. He is all full of energy when we first start out, but then starts to slow down when we hit our half mile mark. I guess I should come clean and admit that I'm the same...well, all but the running back and forth part!

A few weeks ago I was able to join three of the kids on their field trips. Katie and Robbie went to a local farm run by nuns, that was a great trip. We learned about how they collect honey from the bee hives, how they provide electricity to the farm (small turbine), and how they provide food to the animals and to themselves. Grace's field trip was to the pumpkin farm. We saw a puppet show, went on a hayride, went through the corn maze, and then picked our pumpkins. We were lucky to have had great weather for both trips! Tomorrow I'm going to Helen's school to help make the salads. I even got to order one for myself! I had no idea how many choices you had. They offer a lot of toppings, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, ham, eggs homemade croutons, bacon bits, just to mention a few. I'm looking forward to seeing how Helen does with me there. Will she be naughty, or behave!?!!

Tonight is Robbie's Cub Scout Halloween party, I'm hoping to hand over the Treasurer's file to the new person. I have been treasurer for the past four years, it's someone else's turn. For some reason this year, my plate is overflowing. I need to lessen the load wherever possible. Thank goodness I know my limits, and I have definitely reached them!

Our goal for launching the website is Spring, other than that, there's really nothing new to report.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Soup and Salad

2010-10-06T21:43:00.001-05:00

Helen must be feeling comfortable at school, she is starting to act up. The other day she was making noises, yelling the teacher's name, and throwing toys. I guess the up side to all of this is the fact that it didn't take her very long to get used to her new school! Her new teacher has a salad/soup program in her class. They go grocery shopping with the kids to buy all the ingredients, and then the next day they make the salads or soups for the staff at the school. Helen loved doing the shopping, but when it came time to prepare the food, she couldn't keep her fingers out of her mouth and nose. She was unable to participate because of that. I'm hoping she will behave this week and be able to help in the entire process. She loves to help, I was surprised to hear of her behavior. They have started with salads, and as the weather gets colder, they will include soups. I have signed up to help, I can't wait to see how it all works...wonder if I get to taste test!!

Ted had his first cross country meet yesterday, he ran a mile and a half in about 16 minutes. He did a great job, he improved from last year. He said he ran the whole time, last year he walked quite a bit. He came in 26th place, last year he was second to last. He has another meet on Tuesday, he's looking forward to it.

The hot lunch crew is going to try and dress up for Halloween. We are going out tomorrow looking for lunch lady costumes. We're thinking of getting house coats, hair nets, maybe wigs, support hose, and anything else that would make us look like the typical looking hot lunch ladies! It should be a fun time!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Field Trips

2010-09-28T14:03:00.002-05:00

I just got back from a school field trip with Robbie and Katie, we went to the landfill. What an easy trip for my first one with the bigger kids, we stayed on the bus for the entire time. We drove on the landfill and learned all about what was underneath us, it was very interesting. The kids were so happy to have me there, especially Katie. I haven't been able to go on any field trips with the older kids until now. I did go on preschool field trips but they said that didn't count. Now that all the kids are in school all day, I'm able to go, as long as it doesn't get in the way of working on the clothing line. Thursday we're going on a walking field trip to the newspaper to see how they recycle. Next Friday I have back to back trips. Robbie and Katie are going to the Eco Justice Center in the morning, and Grace's class is going to the pumpkin farm in the afternoon. I am going to be exhausted...but in a GOOD way!!

Yesterday I worked in the yard, the front one to be exact. I pulled all the flowers, turned over the dirt, pulled the weeds, trimmed the bushes, and washed all the windows. I could barely move last night, I thought for sure I'd be the same today. I'm feeling fine, I'm ready to do the same thing with the backyard! My neighbor told me he would help me with the weeds in the backyard, they are much worse than in the front. I didn't plant a garden this year, so now it's overgrown with weeds. I have the BEST neighbors!! We have nice weather here this week so I'm trying to get all the outside chores done before the cold weather comes....BRRRRR!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Writer's Block...I Wish

2010-09-20T22:08:00.000-05:00

Writer's block? I'd like to be able to blame my absence on that, but that's not the case. I thought I would enjoy all the kids being in school, instead, I have been very overwhelmed. September has been a difficult month for me since Peter died, emotionally and financially. Every year I tell myself when August rolls around, "Hang in there, everything will work out, it always does." It doesn't work! So, enough about me...the kids have gotten back into the routine of being back in school. Helen loves her new school and teachers. They have started a reward system with her that I thought was genius. She has to receive eight smiley faces in order to watch five minutes of ICarly. Today however, she wouldn't listen, even when ICarly was mentioned...maybe it's not so genius! I can't wait for her to grow out of this stage! Now ask me how long I've been saying that!!

Noah loves going to Kindergarten, he feels like a big kid. I was worried he wouldn't listen to the teacher. I talked with her last year and told her my concerns. She put his desk right next to hers, just to be safe. She told me I must have been pulling her leg last school year because Noah is a very good listener. I also heard that he and two other boys, his friends from preschool, are the best behaved boys. What a relief! Ted has taken to middle school like a pro, he really enjoys it. Robbie, Katie, and Grace like their new teachers too. Grace isn't too happy starting the year off with homework, but she'll get used to it.

We just celebrated Ted's twelfth birthday, I still can't believe it. Helen, on the other hand, is still twenty-nine!! She wanted today to be her birthday. I told her, "Noooo, your birthday's in February!" She told me, "Noooo, it's today!" She then started laughing!

Sherry is heading to the textile show in LA this week-end. She is looking for a different jean material, since we had some concerns voiced to us about the fabric of our jeans. I must say, I have washed Helen's pair many, many times, and they still look brand new! We are moving along slowly but surely, thanks for your patience. We will keep you posted of any news.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Impatiens

2010-08-25T20:24:00.002-05:00

Growing up my mom used to plant flowers every summer, she loved the way the dirt felt in her hands, she didn't wear gloves. I couldn't understand how she could have all that dirt under her fingernails, it drove me nuts. She absolutely loved flowers, any kind, it didn't matter. Later in life she planted mostly impatiens. I did love the way the yard looked with the addition of those beautiful flowers, so much so that I started doing the same thing when we moved into this house. The first spring we were here, she was staying with us. I asked her to coach me on how to plant, she was more than willing. We went to the nursery where she helped me pick out the flowers, she also "schooled" me on what to look for. I went with pink (light and dark) and white impatiens, she told me the white was to help break up the pink color. I thought having the light and dark was contrast enough, but she knew what she was doing so I listened to her. We bought a bunch of them, not knowing how many to buy since it was the first time planting. I brought one of my patio chairs to the front yard so she could sit down and "coach" away. She explained how deep to dig and how to place the plants so they would look nice. She even quizzed me a few times asking which color I was going to plant next! She even schooled me on how to plant bulbs and when the best time to do that was. I am so glad I listened that day, because when the time came to plant those bulbs...she was gone. I have only planted two more times since that first year. Last year I went with purple, light and dark, and of course white. This year I planted red and white. They never look as nice as they did that first year, they grew so big and tall. I think it was my mom's touch from heaven. She told me impatiens have to be planted every year, they do not come back like some other plants. Kind of funny she said that, because every year under my pine tree grows a small amount of pink impatiens. Each year they are in different locations under that tree, but they are there...a gift from my mom, maybe? I'd like to think so!

In case you are wondering why the website hasn't launched...we no longer have pants available to purchase. Sherry and I didn't want to start out with only half of the product line. We will launch as soon as we have another batch of pants. Thanks for your patience!!:o)

Until next time-

Take Care,
Sue

The Room

2010-08-13T13:54:00.009-05:00

He took his last breathe and was gone, it happened that quickly. I had to get out of that room, the room I had spent the last six days in watching him die. The room was filled with his family, my in-laws, the people I had come to know and love in the past two and half months. Trying to leave the room I was blocked by his father's legs as he knelt by his son's bedside, sobbing. Keeping my eyes on the floor, I raised my voice, "Move!" I couldn't get out of that room quick enough, Peter was not there anymore. I could no longer feel his presence; he was reunited with his mom who had died eight years earlier.

When I had walked into that room I was a married woman, I now burst through the door a widow. I walked down the hallway, not knowing where I was going, in disbelief he was gone. I walked into the meeting room where I had spent time visiting with family, saying, "NO,NO,NO..." I sat down wondering, what next. I walked back to the room where he lay looking so peaceful, I couldn't go in. I started towards the nurse's desk and fell against the wall, crying. One of Peter's nurses came, grabbed me by the shoulders and led me to a chair behind the nurse's station. Condolences already, I wasn't ready for this. We were supposed to grow old together; we were supposed to raise our children and enjoy our grandchildren together. I was not supposed to be talking to someone on the other end of the phone about donating my husband's corneas. Yes, he hadn't been dead ten minutes and I received "that" phone call.

My sister-in-law Maria came and found me, there was another phone call for me, "Oh God, who wants what now?" I was afraid to answer it, but I wasn't ready to go back into the room, so I did. Peter's friend Irene was on the other end, more condolences. We spoke for a bit, she shared a few stories about him with me, and then informed me she was heading to the Greek Monastery to light a candle for his soul. That conversation somehow made me feel better, we hung up and I started towards "the room".

Although I thought I was ready, I still couldn't go in. I sat down on one of the chairs that were lined up against the wall. My mind wondered...I don't remember chairs being outside his room, when did they show up? It must have been earlier when a lot of people came to say their good-bye's. My niece Amanda (Peter's side of the family) came and sat down by me. I wondered what was going through her mind; does she know what to say to me? Can she tell I'm screaming on the inside about how unfair life is right now? I look at her with tears in my eyes, I can see how sad she is when we make eye contact. I tell her, "He's no longer here, he's gone." She just nods and agrees, and that's all we say to each other. I don't know if she understood what I meant, I could no longer feel him with me. It's still very strange to me that I felt that so strongly. While sitting in the hallway my sister-in-law Lily came and told me my brother Rick and his wife Anne Marie were on their way up. They had been out of town and had no idea what had just happened.

I got up from my chair, not saying a word and headed towards the elevator. About half way down the long corridor, I ran to the elevators and waited, pacing back and forth. I leaned against the wall and just sank until my backside almost touched the ground. It felt like it took hours for them to walk out of the elevator. They must have seen it on my face because the first thing my brother said to me was, "Oh Susie...I'm sorry." He gave me a big hug, and then Anne Marie did the same. We started to walk towards the room as I filled them in on everything that had happened in the past couple of days.

I've started writing, it has helped with the healing process. I'm hoping to make it into a book someday. Last Sunday it was the four year mark, it was a very difficult day. The fog has lifted so I feel more of the pain, I guess that's a good thing, it is a process after all. Last night while watching TV, a woman who had lost her husband said, "I miss how much he loved me," DING, DING, DING...that sums it up! The kids are doing well, they have enjoyed looking at pictures and watching videos these past few weeks. We're getting ready for school...the countdown begins!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Congratulations!!

2010-08-04T10:48:00.003-05:00

It'll Fit'll would like to congratulate one of our most dedicated followers...Sarah. Good luck to you and your mom with the opening of your fabric store, JEllen's House of Fabric. Their store is located at 5259 Mayfield Rd., Lyndhurst, OH...their grand opening is Monday, August 9th. That day also happens to be Sarah's 21st birthday, what a special day it will be!! They will be celebrating all week, through August 14th. We wish you tremendous success in your new endeavor.

Happy 21st Birthday...hope it's a wonderful day!!:o)

Sherry, Sue, and Helen (the It'll Fit'll team)

Home

2010-07-24T15:57:00.003-05:00

Back from Orlando and still trying to catch up! It was a great experience being at the NDSC convention, I hope to go again. Even though Helen is ten, I had never gone to a convention before, even when it was in my backyard (Chicago). What a wonderful feeling of community, every child was beautiful. We all understood the grunts, the sitting on the floor and not moving, the not wanting to co-operate, the running away...we've all been there, done that! For once I didn't have to worry about Helen, it was a great feeling. She did a great job helping us at the table. It was nice meeting everyone, the input we received was a huge help. I loved seeing our special kids and the talents they hold within themselves. I hope one day Helen will be able to share her talent...photography. She still needs practice, but not much! She is very good at centering her subject, and loves to give orders. She took a picture of me when I wasn't smiling, she put the camera down and told me, "Mom, smile, like this" she took her hands and pushed her lips up into a smile, "Like that" she said. One of these days.

Please keep your input coming, any ideas you may have will also be a help.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Orlando 2010

2010-07-16T21:57:00.004-05:00

Guess what...I have exciting news...WE HAVE LAUNCHED THE CLOTHING LINE!!! We are at the National Down Syndrome Conference in Florida and we are selling clothes. It was a long time coming, thanks for being so patient with us. We have made it through very difficult personal struggles and we're ready to sell, sell, sell!! We have started the clothing line with jeans, pink chinos, khaki chinos, and t-shirts in pink, yellow, mocha, and blue. We also have bodysuits, and a prototype for a back zipped Jammie. Our website was also supposed launch today, but due to some "glitches", we were unable to do so. We are hoping to be up and running within the next ten days...so please keep checking!! If you are in Orlando, stop by, say hi, and check out the merchandise...we'd love to meet you!!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Summer 2010

2010-07-09T15:30:00.002-05:00

Helen went to get into the pool today, when we took the cover off we were greeted with green water...UGH!! I am now trying to "fix" the problem. In the meantime, Helen is wearing her swimsuit around the house. I keep telling her she won't be able to swim today because of all the chemicals I have put in to get rid of the icky water...she won't listen. I am keeping my eye on her because I'm afraid she will sneak outside and jump into the pool as the water gets clear. I don't know how this happened, I check the water everyday and add the things it needs in order to keep the water clear. I'm hoping all I have done works, I don't know how long I can keep her out of the pool, she's a little fish!

I hope everyone enjoyed their Fourth of July, we did. I had family over for a cook-out and then the kids and I went to watch fireworks. We go to the same place every year, right on the lakefront. There is nothing like watching fireworks explode over one of the great lakes. One year Peter and I were in Colorado for the Fourth of July, and I must say, watching fireworks light up against the mountains comes close! Helen loved watching all the colors, she would tell us the colors just in case we didn't see them.

It's been hot and humid around here lately, the kids have been spending time indoors. They are just like me, I don't do well in this kind of weather, it makes me feel a little sick. They go and play on the swings for about ten minutes, and then they're done. When in the pool, they last about a half hour, well, except Helen, she's in for a long time...my little fish!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Car Trouble...Again

2010-07-01T14:10:00.001-05:00

I can't believe how quickly this summer is going, it's already July! I knew there would come a day when I was going to be all over the place with the kids. I just never thought it would happen so quickly! I've been dropping off at friend's houses, sporting events, Bible camp, scout meetings and camping trips...I don't know if I'm coming or going!! To top it all off, my car broke down last week, and I was without it for a week. Helen and I were on our way to the grocery store, to do big shopping, we were down to the bare essentials. My friend had put on two used tires for me, my old ones were about to fall apart. When I put the car in gear he said it didn't sound too good. He was going to give my car a tune-up on the week-end so he said he would take a look at it then. When Helen came home from school we left for the store. While driving down the road, my car started to make loud clunking sounds. I called my friend and asked him if he thought we would make it to the store. He thought we would be fine so we kept going. I went to accelerate at a stop light when the car made a very loud "thump" and then it sounded like the wheels were spinning. I pulled over at the next side street, called my friend, and then realized I had no reverse. He came and drove my car to his house, then gave Helen and I a ride home. This exact same thing happened to me right after Peter died, it was the transmission...KA-CHING!!! I called the garage when I got home to check on the warranty, it was only for a year. I decided to have them tow the car to their garage and take a look. He offered to do the work and charge me a certain amount regardless of the repair that needed to be done. I went ahead and had them fix my car. I also had them do a few other things for me that needed to be done. It took a week for the repair. Thank goodness I was able to borrow my sister-in-law's car while they were out of town. Granted, I couldn't take all the kids with me at one time, but at least I had a vehicle to run to the store, or whatever else popped up. Remember, Helen and I were on our way to the store when the car broke down!!! Thanks again Anne Marie!!:o)

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Helen's Last Day

2010-06-18T21:30:00.000-05:00

Helen with her favorite teacher, Mrs. Coughlin (Mrs. Coffee as Helen calls her)
Helen with Mrs. Culshaw, Mrs. Coughlin's assistant

Helen and Mrs. Mitchell, her speech pathologist

Helen's last day of school was a week ago, it was her last day at Roosevelt Elementary. I think I was more sad about it than she was. She has had a great team of teachers for the last 4 years, we are both going to miss them. I went and bought flowers for her teachers and their assistants. The kids and I waited outside for Helen to come out, each one holding a bouquet. I was told by the teachers that was a beautiful sight. Helen was so excited to see all of us, she knew there would be flowers for everyone. She went and took the flowers from the kids, one by one, and handed them out. We all chatted for a bit, hugged and said our good-bye's, I had tears in my eyes. I'm sad, but excited for our new chapter with Helen's new school. She keeps talking about her new school, and she mentions all her friends who are going too. She even mentions Mrs. Coughlin, and then I have to explain to her that she will not be her teacher next year...I hope it sinks in.

Peter's birthday was that same day. We headed to the cemetery as soon as we left Helen's school. We planted flowers for him, everyone had a job. Helen's was to water. I didn't even have the flowers planted and she went and filled her jug with water. She sat down beside me holding onto her water and watched me clean up the weeds, turn the dirt, and plant the flowers. She was thrilled when it was finally time to water the freshly planted flowers. From there we went to our favorite restaurant and had lunch. It was a good day.

Helen starts summer school on Monday, she can't wait. My other kids, minus Ted, start Bible Camp for two weeks. We have been quite busy already this summer. The pool is up, and there is new sand in the sandbox...so far, so good!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Let The Summer Begin

2010-06-04T13:03:00.001-05:00

Last week Noah graduated preschool, Wednesday Grace graduated Kindergarten, and today Ted, Robbie, and Katie had their last day of school...the summer has officially started! Helen's last day is next Wednesday, Peter's birthday. We are going to pick her up and then head to the cemetery to plant flowers. She will be leaving the school and teachers that she has known for the past four years. It's going to be a sad day, I'm going to miss everyone. They have been such a wonderful group of teachers. Helen is really going to miss them, especially Mrs. Coughlin, or as Helen calls her...Mrs. Coffee. She is the one who taught her how to read, her favorite past time. Peter went to the school to observe the classroom before we decided to send Helen there. He really liked the atmosphere and especially liked Mrs. Coughlin. I'm glad we listened to his instincts and it all worked out, they have been a huge support system for me...everything happens for a reason!

Robbie had a black spot near the area where he had his birthmark removed over a year ago. I thought it could possibly be a tick since he had been camping recently. When I rubbed my hand over it I could feel a piece of it sticking out. In fact, that's how I found it in the first place. I was putting sunscreen on him for the school picnic and felt it. It looked like the tick had embedded itself into his skin. I made an appointment for him the next day at the doctor, if it were a tick, we needed a professional to remove it! It took two seconds for the doctor to tell me, "It's NOT a tick." I kept asking him, "Are you sure?" I guess I thought he didn't get a good enough look at it. According to the doctor, it's a stitch that either didn't get removed, or never dissolved. The body didn't recognize it, so it's trying to kick it out. It's slowly working it's way out, and it's not looking very pretty in the process. We're keeping an eye on it.

Katie played her first softball game of the season the other night, it was called because of the rain. I started to feel a few drops as soon as the game began. Katie's team was up first, she was next up when the player before her made the third out. Katie wasn't very pleased, until someone pointed out to her that she would be the first one up when they batted again. I kept saying, "Please let Katie bat before the rain falls, please let Katie bat..." She got up to bat, hit the ball from her coaches pitch, and made it to base! By this time, the rain was falling harder, Helen went to the car, she was the smart one. When it started coming down even more, I went to get my umbrella, it really didn't look like they were going to call the game. As I was coming back from my car, I saw the teams lining up to give high fives, they had finally stopped the game. Once everyone was in their cars and heading out of the parking lot, the skies opened up and it came down in buckets. Thank goodness we were in the car!! Hopefully we won't experience that again this season!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Catching Up

2010-05-28T18:46:00.001-05:00

Everyone was sick last week, it started with Helen and ended with me. It didn't last long, about 12 hours of upset tummies. Mine lasted longer, about two days! I was exhausted and think I still haven't completely recovered. Helen's IEP went well, it was sad since it was the last meeting with those teachers. We all agree that this new program will benefit Helen, and we think she will do very well. They told me they will miss Helen, in fact, all the teachers and office staff will. I told them I would keep in touch via email and let them know how she is doing.

Noah turned 5 yesterday, I can't believe how big he has gotten. We had a party for him last week-end, he thought once you have a party then you turn a year older. I told him his actual birthday was on Thursday, he told me, "Then I'll be 6!" I took him to the toy store and then out for lunch after. I think lunch was more for me than him! I won't have many opportunities to have him alone once school is out. Next year he will be in Kindergarten all day, along with the other kids. I think I'm going to go through an adjustment period, but when that's over, I know I will enjoy having them all in school!! He had preschool graduation today, he told me, "Mom, you know I'm big now, I'm in bigger preschool now!" I said, "You mean Kindergarten?" He said, "Yeah, big kid school." How cute is that!?!!

This holiday week-end we are cleaning up the backyard and getting everything ready for planting. The kids keep asking me to put the pool up, so that's definitely on the to do list. I usually have my flowers planted by now, but the weather has been so crazy in the past that I thought I'd wait a few extra weeks before planting this year. In the past I really thought I would loose the flowers because it got so cold. We have had beautiful weather this week I'm starting to doubt my decision...oh well, they'll get planted soon enough. I hope all of you have a happy and safe Memorial Day week-end.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

A Perfect Fit

2010-05-14T22:15:00.001-05:00

I went to see the school that Helen will be attending and I met her new teacher. I think it's going to be a great fit!! I'm feeling much better about the whole thing, and think Helen will really enjoy the new teacher. Her classroom seems to run like a well oiled machine, there are about 3 aides in her classroom right now. Every other week the class prepares either soup or salad for the staff at the school. They do all the shopping, prep work, and cooking as a class. I asked if they ever have parents help and was glad to hear that they are always looking for parents to get involved. I volunteer at the kid's school every Wednesday, I help make hot lunch. I signed up at Helen's school to volunteer but never received a phone call from them. I'm happy that I will have the option next year to help at Helen's school too!! I meet Monday morning with her teacher's for her IEP...I really hate these meetings! I'm going to make sure that everything is in writing, especially since she is switching schools. I definitely don't want anything to fall through the cracks. Helen came home sick from school today, she had a tummy thing going on. She wasn't her usual self today, I'm hoping a good night's sleep will do her good. Grace is also not feeling well. We made it through the winter with hardly any illness, now it's bombarding us!!

Ted is off on a Boy Scout camping trip this week-end, and Robbie leaves tomorrow for camping with his best friend. Tomorrow night is going to be girls night with Noah!! I'm trying to think of something special we can do without spending a lot of money...any suggestions?

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

First Communion

2010-05-07T22:17:00.000-05:00

Katie on her First Communion day

Katie made her First Communion last Sunday, it turned out to be a beautiful day. All the kids looked so nice, and none of the girls had the same dress. My friend made her veil, it matched her dress perfectly. Three kids down, three to go!! I'm hoping Helen will be ready next year, this way each child will have their own day, and won't have to share it with anyone else. She knows her prayers, it's getting her to sit still during Mass, that's the issue. On Sunday, Katie will get dressed in this beautiful dress again in order to participate in the crowning of Mary. Each year the First Communicants are the ones who get to do the honors. They march around church in a single file line, present Mary with roses, and then one lucky kid gets to place the crown on her head. It is a very special morning!

I made an appointment for Monday to look at Helen's new school for next year. I have been waiting for her teachers to let me know when we were going. The original plan was for all of us to go together and check it out, but that never happened. With only a month left of school, I thought I better get over there and get to know the teacher and school. She sounds very nice, and is looking forward to meeting me. Hopefully all will go well, and it will be a perfect fit for Helen. I have her IEP meeting coming up in a week, I hate going to those meetings. I go in thinking she's doing awesome, and then BAM...I hear the stories of how she has been misbehaving, I hate that! I know she has been acting up lately, she always does at this time of year. I think she is done with school and needs a few weeks off. She will definitely look forward to summer school, she always does. She's just had enough of the regular school year. Not much longer I tell her, I'm hoping she hangs in there.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Making Communion Hosts

2010-04-27T09:35:00.000-05:00

Katie is stirring the wheat flour and water

The batter is then placed in the middle of the press to be cooked

The finished product...unleavened bread

Cutting the unleavened bread with a host cutter to make individual hosts

Katie and Fr. John trying to free a cut host from the unleavened bread

Yesterday I went to watch the second graders make Communion Hosts. The press they used was found in the church basement. It is the press the nuns used when making Communion hosts many years ago. This is the third time I have gone, and still enjoyed it very much. Katie and her class are making their First Communion on Sunday, they are all very excited.

Life has been happening in this household, it has been so busy around here lately. Ted has been busy with Boy Scouts, he went on his first camping trip as a Boy Scout last week-end. He had a blast and is looking forward to the next one. The troop goes camping once a month! Helen has been busy reading, she loves it. Her group language teacher takes pictures while doing an activity and then makes it into a book. Helen's favorite book is the one where they carved a pumpkin. My favorite is when they played in the snow outside and Helen kept eating the snow! Robbie started a volleyball clinic a few weeks ago, he was a bit unsure about it. He had never really played outside of gym class, but now really likes the sport. When he reaches fifth grade, he will be able to join the school team, I'm hoping that's the goal. Katie has been getting ready for her First Communion. We have everything ready to go, dress, shoes, and veil. I had a friend of mine make her veil to match the dress...it turned out beautiful. I will post pictures next week. Grace has been busy talking on the phone! I don't allow her to make phone calls yet, it's her friends that call her. I heard her give the low down of what we were all up to one day! Noah has been busy attending birthday parties, he's getting so big! Getting out of the car the other day when dropping him off at school, he told me, "Get back in the car Mom, I can go in alone!" This coming from the little boy who wouldn't let me leave the classroom until after they said the Pledge of Allegiance last year!! I guess he's ready for Kindergarten!! Just in case your wondering...no, I didn't get back in the car, I had something to drop off with his teacher. Myself, I have been overseeing all the activities and also a few of my own. I recently went to the big fundraiser for the kid's school, it was very nice. They had it at a local banquet hall, it was dinner, dancing, silent and live auctions, and a raffle. I wasn't lucky enough to win any of the raffle prizes, two of them were a year's tuition...DARN!! We have a lot of activities coming up, a lot of end of the school year stuff. I will do my best to keep you all up to speed.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Twenty-Nine

2010-04-09T22:09:00.001-05:00

I cannot believe Kate Gosselin is still on Dancing With The Stars...yep, that's right, I watch Dancing With The Stars!! I have watched since it first came on, and if I can't watch it, I DVR it, which sometimes is better because then I can fast forward through the commercials. I know I should be cheering her on since her claim to fame is being a mom, but come on, really!?!! She missed steps completely, it doesn't even look like she's dancing most of the time, and she looks stiff. I'm not saying I could do any better, I'm just saying there were other people who were voted off that shouldn't have went before she did. Hello...wake up...it's more about popularity than talent!! On The View, Sheri Shepard said she tweeted to all her peeps to vote for Kate. According to her, she has hundreds of thousands of followers...is that really fair? What I really want to know is...how does a person go about getting a show? She had a show because she had eight kids, that's only two more than me...I know, she had six of them at one time. Think about it though, widow with six kids, one of them being special needs...I think it could work. I need to provide for my kids, just like Kate. I would love to be able to travel more with them, and do more things locally with them. Everything costs money, something I don't have a lot of. We can really be entertaining at times, so anyone out there with connections....

The kids have been on Spring Break this week. I had so many plans of things I was going to get done around the house...it didn't happen. We had about two days worth of good weather, the kids were outside playing last Friday. Robbie decided to bring out the basketball hoop and play some ball. He threw the ball and instead of it going into the basket, it hit the window and broke it! What a way to start the holiday! I had my friend come and take a look, he suggested I replace the whole window. It is a good idea, the window is old, and very drafty. He is looking into prices for me, he and a friend would do the work for me. I don't know what I would do without him, thank goodness he has a wonderful wife who doesn't mind sharing him.

I took the girls for a haircut the other day, my hairdresser asked Helen how old she is now. Helen answered, straight faced, "29!" I said, "29! are you sure about that?" She shook her head yes. I keep asking her, and she still insists she is 29!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Happy Easter from It'll Fit'll

2010-04-04T08:15:00.001-05:00

From our families to yours, Happy Easter!!:o) If you don't celebrate, have a wonderful Sunday...

Variety Show Acts

2010-03-26T14:17:00.000-05:00

Here are the videos from the Variety Show last Friday. Katie is in the "Keep On" video, Robbie is in the "You Belong With Me" video, and Ted is in the "5th Grade Dance" video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Variety Show

2010-03-19T09:56:00.000-05:00

This has been one crazy week, but it's been a good one. Robbie and Katie are ready for their performances tonight in the school variety show. Robbie is performing with the girls in his class along with some of the fourth grade girls...yes, older women!! They are singing and dancing to Taylor Swift's song "You Belong With Me". If you have seen the video, Robbie is the boy next door. If you haven't, Taylor Swift is in love with her next door neighbor and is trying to tell him that his girlfriend is no good for him, but she is. In the end, the girlfriend dumps the boy for someone else, and Taylor Swift gets him. During the video, they hold up signs in order to communicate across the way. Robbie and the girls are holding up similar signs, it starts with the girls holding up, "Are you okay?" Robbie answers with, "Too much drama", and the girls answer with, "Sorry". Then they do their singing and dancing and end the show with a sign that reads, "I love you". Robbie then holds up a sign that reads, "I love my mom"! It is too cute! Katie is performing with the girls in her class, they are singing and dancing to the Brady Bunch's "Keep On, Keep On" song. They are wearing white shirts and blue pants that we have put white and blue tape on in order to resemble the costumes the Brady's wore. I think it's going to turn out cute also, I saw some of it yesterday when I went to pick her up from practice. I'm going to try and take pictures, I know for sure I'm going to record it. I will try and post something on here so you can see, but I'm not to computer smart, so I'm not promising.

St. Patrick's Day landed on our busiest day of the week, so I put the food in the crock pot to cook. It turned out okay, but prefer the way my mom cooked it. I hope everyone enjoyed their day of being Irish!! The kids have been busy learning their Greek poems, the girls know theirs by heart, thanks to Papou. Now they sound Greek, when I read them the way the teacher's wrote them...not so much! They have practice tomorrow morning while the parents decorate. I'm hoping to escape for just a bit to run to the store to buy Robbie pants for the occasion. The girls are dressing in costume that we borrowed when they were dancing. The boys don't have a costume so they have to wear white dress shirts with navy blue pants. They wear navy blue pants for their school uniform, so I knew they had some. What I didn't know was that Robbie has holes in almost every single pair of pants, and the ones that don't have them, are too big. When we are done at the Greek church we have to run home and eat lunch real quick because then family is coming over to celebrate Robbie's birthday. His actual birthday isn't until Wednesday. I usually celebrate birthdays after their actual birthday, but the following week-end I'm going to see REO in concert, and then it's the spaghetti dinner at the kid's school. So it was either tomorrow, or not one at all. I need to run to the store and get party supplies, and I need to do that before it's time to pick Noah up from school...so I better go!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Busy Days Ahead

2010-03-12T09:52:00.000-06:00

Lately I have been feeling a bit overwhelmed, there is too much paperwork in the world! Since Ted crossed over, there has been paperwork after paperwork emailed to me. The problem with that is, I open it on my computer, but the printer is connected to the kids computer, so I forget about it. He needed a permission slip for camping turned in on Tuesday whether you were going or not, and I completely forgot. I feel bad he can't go on the very first camping trip as a Boy Scout, but we have other commitments. The school variety show is on Friday, and his whole class is performing together. Saturday I'm having family over for Robbie's birthday and on Sunday the kids are performing in the Greek Independence Day program. There is no way he can miss that, he has been practicing very hard. I was told by the teachers on Wednesday that I need to work with all of them more. They even wrote out the poems phonetically so I could teach them...HA!! That doesn't always help, I still don't know what syllable to emphasize! Needless to say, we have a busy week ahead of us. We also have a Boy Scout meeting and a Cub Scout meeting, along with dress rehearsal for the variety show. Busy, busy, busy...

Helen has had awesome days at school, in fact, she now comes home and tells me how naughty Jack has been. The things she tells me he does, she used to do, that's the funny part. She explains how he got a sad face at recess because he pushed someone down and how the teacher told him not to touch his friends at school. Aaahhh...memories! I hope we have turned the corner, but I'm not holding my breath...she can really be a dickens at times.

I received an email the other day telling me now is the time to get Katie signed up for softball, and Grace was old enough to join the team. Grace right away said no, she doesn't want to play. I tried talking her into it, she's just not interested. Katie had to think about it, because she loves the practices just not the games! I don't know if you remember me talking about it last summer, but she was forever getting hit by the ball. She finally said one game, after she had been hit a couple times, "That ball just doesn't like me for some reason!" I guess it couldn't have been because she didn't keep her eye on it!! Hopefully this summer will be better for her.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Change

2010-03-05T09:46:00.000-06:00

When logging on today, I noticed we have posted over 200 blogs...WOOHOO!!! (no wonder I have run out of things to talk about!! just kidding) I just got back from my parent/teacher conference with Helen's teachers...ugh! We didn't talk about her behavior, she has been doing pretty good lately. In fact, she is the student of the month for her class. We discussed the changes that are coming...I hate change! I'm sure we're not the first state, nor will we be the last, to make changes to the special education system. Here in Wisconsin they want all students to be included 100%, whether they can handle the classroom or not. Luckily, there is one classroom still in the district that is mostly self contained. I say lucky because Helen is not ready for full inclusion. I know there are kids out there who can do it, Helen just happens to be one of those who can't. I am hoping eventually she will be able to handle it, until then, we need to put her in a place where she is not overwhelmed. This program where she will be going next school year sounds perfect, and a good place for her to learn the skills she needs in order to function in the classroom. Eventually, she will be included 100%, I just want her to be able to handle it. One of her teachers has already been there to check it out. She thinks it's a perfect placement for Helen. Her other teacher, Helen, and myself are going to go and check it out soon. It sounds like a good fit for Helen, it will be interesting to see how she likes it. One of the activities they do is to plan, shop, and prepare either soup or salad for the staff at the school. I know Helen would love to do this, she loves to help in the kitchen. It will also help with her social skills, she sometimes behaves inappropriately in public. I'm both sad and excited about this new program. I will hate to see Helen leave the school she is at, she has been there for five years now. I think her teacher is a security blanket for me, we have been a team for so long, it will be hard to change partners. But...change is always good, and I think it will be a very good change for Helen. Hopefully we will be able to get her into the new school during the summer session, that way she can familiarize herself before the new school year starts. I will keep you posted.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

"Fancy, Fancy"

2010-02-26T10:20:00.001-06:00

Fancy Nancy party at Helen's school

This past Tuesday Helen and I attended the Fancy Nancy party at her school, she had such a good time. For those of you who don't know who Fancy Nancy is, she is a literary character found in children's books. She enjoys dressing fancy, boas, tiaras, the whole shebang! Helen was so excited about going to the "Fancy, Fancy" party, that's all she talked about. When we arrived we sat in the gym and watched the local High School cheerleaders perform a few cheers. Then we were off to the art room so Helen could make a picture frame for the picture that was taken when we first arrived. She put glitter all over her face and made her friends laugh. From there we went into a room where there was a woman who talked about manners, and respect for others. I don't think Helen got anything out of that one, she was busy looking around and checking out her picture frame. Fancy Nancy herself was in the last room we visited, she read a story about fancy words. Helen enjoyed that room, I'd say she enjoyed it the most, but after there we went back into the gym for ice cream! She didn't look up until her ice cream was gone. The last thing they did was hold a raffle for Fancy Nancy books and a doll, Helen didn't win, but our neighbor did. It was very nice to spend an evening with Helen, just the two of us. I think she had a good time too, it's all she has been talking about!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Helen Turned Ten

2010-02-11T09:24:00.001-06:00

Helen thinking of her wish

Helen with her ICarly cake

My beautiful Helen on her birthday(the camera date is wrong)

Helen turned ten last Saturday...yes, she is now "double digits"!! Everyone came over to celebrate with us, she had a great time. She was so excited last week, counting down the days until the birthday. Her teachers let some things go last week because of the excitement, it was all she talked about. She has started to mature a bit, but she can still be a stinker at times.

The kids had a blast last week during Catholic schools week. I mentioned in my last blog that I was going to help at the carnival. I ran the golf game...I became light headed! I had to bend down and pick up the balls and then set them up for the kids. It was moving along so quickly, I was up, down, up, down...yikes!! Katie was hanging around so I asked her to help me. She stayed most of the time, because of that, she received a homework pass. She was able to turn in homework without doing it and get 100%. After the other kids heard what she was getting, they all were hanging around. I talked with the teacher and told her they would probably all say they helped, which they did, just not for very long. On Tuesday, the kids went to an all school skating party. Ted had an orthodontist appointment which is near the rink. Instead of taking him back to school, I dropped him off at the party. We beat the buses there, so I was talking with some of the other parents and they talked me into staying. Having roller skated as a kid, and absolutely loving it, I couldn't resist putting on a pair of skates. I was a bit wobbly, but in general, did pretty good. I held Katie's hand for awhile and skated with her, she was doing awesome by the end of the day. She was so proud of herself, and so was I. Robbie held onto me for a little while, but most of his friends were busy playing video games, and snacking. He stood next to me during the Hokey Pokey...needless to say, I didn't have the opportunity to do the dance because Robbie kept grabbing onto me so he wouldn't fall!! There was one point when I was out on the rink without any kids holding on. I was talking with another parent when out of the corner of my eye I saw arms waving frantically, and then felt the knock of someone's skates. I almost fell flat on my *beep*!!! I of course let out a small scream, and was able to regain my balance as the kid who ran into me kept going with their arms still waving around in the air. I looked behind me to see if it was clear, and caught the kid's gym teacher smiling from ear to ear. He had seen the whole thing and asked if I was okay. I told him yes, and that it was a close call, he agreed. I stayed off the floor for the remainder of time, which wasn't that long. I'm glad I stayed, the kids couldn't get over the fact that I could roller skate. For one night...I was a rock star!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Grief

2010-01-28T21:38:00.001-06:00

A 41 year old man went to bed last Tuesday night, never thinking he would never wake up again. During the night he suffered a massive heart attack due to hardening of the heart from smoking. His kids are in Ted's Greek school class, they cancelled class last week because of this. I am very surprised at how much this has effected me. I keep thinking back to when Peter passed away, and all that goes with it. That woman right now is living in hell, and there is nothing anyone can do about it. It will take time before she feels again, before she can think clearly, before she feels like a part of the world. My heart aches for her and her kids. I passed along the information for the support group we used to go to, hopefully that will help a little bit. We stopped going because they could not accommodate Helen, they lost her one night. She had gone into the playroom with Noah, and when I went to pick her up at the end of the night, she was gone. My kids found her wandering around the church...we never went back. Grief is a wicked thing to deal with, it can pop up it's evil head at anytime, no matter how long it's been. This has triggered my sadness about Peter. It didn't help matters that Katie had her First Reconciliation (confession) the other day. Any big accomplishment we have in this family, I feel Peter's absence even more. I am doing my best to ride the wave, but sometimes, it's very hard.

Next week is Catholic schools week, there are a lot of events scheduled. On Monday they have the annual carnival, I'm helping with Katie's class by running their game. It's usually the room mom, but I don't think she is much help, because the teacher asked me a couple weeks ago. On Tuesday the whole school, well, except the Kindergarten class, is going roller skating. There will also be the annual student/faculty volleyball and basketball games. Thursday is the trivia game where the kids break into groups by color. Ted's team is called, "The Red Riding Hoods" and Katie and Robbie's team is called, "The Brown Barbie Dolls"...kind of funny! Grace will be having a pajama party on the day the rest of the kids go to the roller rink. They will get in their Jammie's, have popcorn and juice, and settle down to watch DVDs. The kids really enjoy the week, especially since they don't wear uniforms all week! I have to go out and find brown shirts, I don't think either one of them has one!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

School

2010-01-21T21:06:00.002-06:00

I was just telling Sherry the other day how hard it has become to come up with an original blog. I feel like you have heard it all before, that is why I haven't been blogging on a regular basis. I think I need to start taking notes so when I sit down to write, I have ideas. I also need to be careful on what titles I give to my blogs. I am now receiving on a daily basis, spam from Japan on some product that has something to do with sex, yeah right!?!! I also just received a spam dealing with sleep aides because of my blog titled, "Insomnia"...UGH!!!

Most of the kids are doing well in school, Katie is doing much better now that she sees the reading specialist. Grace is having some difficulties starting to read, I work with her every night, hopefully that will do the trick. I have no complaints about Ted, he received six A's and four B's on his last report card. Robbie on the other hand...not good! I told him if he doesn't get those grades up he will not be involved in any sports this summer. He can do the work, he just does it in such a hurry that it's sloppy, with unnecessary mistakes. He doesn't want to take the time to find the answers in the book, even though they are right in front of him. Helen's teachers have been talking to me about changing her program, they even went to check it out at another school. The head of special education came into Helen's class one day and noticed what a challenge it was for her. She is the one who mentioned to the teachers about this other program. Well, she wanted Helen changed ASAP, and is still wondering why she hasn't been moved yet. I told her teachers I don't want her moved until next school year. Helen has a terrible time adjusting to change, and by the time she would maybe be used to the change, it would be time for school to let out for summer vacation. Months would be wasted on this transition, why not wait until a new year? When explaining things to Helen it takes a lot of times before she somewhat understands, and even more times until she fully understands. I would have months to prepare her, which, in my opinion, would be perfect. I can take her to the new school and we could walk around, or better yet, maybe they have a summer school program there for her. It would benefit her best if we just waited. Her teachers now have designed a special program for her, and they have no problem keeping her for the remainder of the year. I have a feeling I'm going to have to fight to keep her there. Her IEP is coming up, this should get very interesting. I will definitely keep you posted on the progress.

Katie is starting her basketball tournament this week-end, Robbie's starts in two weeks. I really enjoy watching them play, I hope Katie keeps it up. She has been talking about not joining the team next year, I think she was frustrated and a little scared. I saw at her last game that she had more confidence and was a little bit aggressive, but that's a good thing in basketball.

My good friend is renewing her vows with her husband at Mass on Saturday. They have been married for 25 years, she just turned 50 today! Happy Birthday Catherine, and Happy Anniversary Catherine and Doug!!:o)

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Insomnia?

2010-01-07T21:49:00.002-06:00

Can you have a little bit of insomnia? I don't know, but I do know I am having problems falling asleep. Is that even considered insomnia? Ever since Peter died, I have had times where I can't sleep. I think I always had the issue, but when Peter was here he would talk to me and rub my neck, which relaxed me. One more reason to miss that man! Now that it's the end of the week, I am running on empty. I am hoping tonight I fall asleep a lot easier because of that.

We have had a lot of snow today, we really haven't had that much so far, unlike everyone else around us. The lake has been the reason for that, and also the reason for the all the snow today. We are now getting lake effect snow, which will be blowing and drifting during the night. I think the kids will have school tomorrow, no, I'm hoping they have school. I need to run a few errands and it's much easier doing them on my own.

Nothing much to report on the kids. Robbie's team lost all their games during the basketball tournament, they were a little bummed, but learned from it. Katie starts selling Girl Scout cookies tomorrow, YUM! Grace is scheduled to speak with a speech therapist, just to see if she will outgrow the issues, or needs help with the pronunciation of the "R". Ted is doing awesome in school, and Noah is starting to become more independent every day. Helen had her thyroid medicine adjusted and is doing much better with her appetite. I need to make a mental note about that, so that the next time it happens I know to get her to the doctor.

Hopefully it won't be long until I'm asleep!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Happy New Year!!

2010-01-01T16:11:00.003-06:00

Happy 2010 everyone!! I hope all of you had a happy and safe New Year's Eve, we stayed home. We had a bunch of snack food, and made sundaes...YUM!! I'm hoping the first few minutes of the new year are not an indication of what lies ahead...Toby had an accident on the hallway carpet! It was probably all the excitement, from either it being midnight, or from the treats the kids ate!! It's the start of a new decade, I'm hoping this one will hold a whole lot of happiness, not just for me, but for my family as well. I am also hoping this is the year for It'll Fit'll!! I too have been waiting anxiously for product, Helen looked so cute in those jeans! I don't think she would be able to fit in them now, she has gained some weight. On Christmas Eve day I received a note from her doctor (thyroid), the light went on!! She has had such an appetite lately, well, it's because her medication needed adjusting. She is not getting enough synthroid, so her thyroid is out of whack. One of the signs of hypothyroidism is increased appetite, that is definitely Helen. I am hoping with the increase in her synthroid she will stop eating so much. She was getting into food she is not supposed to eat, all filled with gluten! I have to take her for blood work in a month. I am finding more and more new gluten free products at the grocery store I shop at, it's been wonderful. Betty Crocker has even come out with gluten free products! I made her brownies, they taste just like the regular kind. The problem before was finding a good recipe that didn't taste grainy, for some reason, that was hard to do. It's good to see how far they have come with gluten free food.

We are just hanging out today at home, I've got a turkey in the oven, and I've already made the Greek New Year's cake. That's the cake you put the coin in and whoever receives the slice with the coin in it, they have good luck all year long. The kid's can't wait! Robbie has a basketball game tomorrow, his team has been playing in a tournament this week, tomorrow is the last game. Then it's back to our regular schedule on Monday!

I hope everyone has a good week-end, and again Happy New Year!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Why Not Both?

2009-12-17T11:42:00.002-06:00

Why do you have to choose sides? Why can't you celebrate the birth of Christ and also believe in Santa? I was raised knowing the main idea of Christmas is Jesus' birth...not Santa, he was a bonus. I was talking to someone last night who doesn't have Santa visit their house, her five year old daughter does not believe. It broke my heart, I believe the magic of Christmas is believing in Santa along with the miraculous birth. I know when I found out the truth, Christmas was not the same, the magic had somehow lessened. There is the debate; if you never had it, how would you know what you're missing. There just seems to be something in the air at this time of year, Santa's are everywhere, why not let them believe. Is she going to be one of those kids that spills the beans to her friends at school, therefore, putting doubt in their heads? I hope they will explain the importance of keeping the information to herself. My kids last year questioned whether he was real or not, Santa, not Jesus, because of kids in their classes knowing the truth. Maybe it helps that they go to a Catholic school and everywhere you look you see the celebration of Jesus' birth. Advent wreaths and mangers in every room, along with a Christmas tree(with nun ornaments!) in the lobby and Santa's too. They are getting both events at their school, so if that's happening there, is it really so bad? I know one day they will loose some of the magic, like most of us have, I will not be the one to help it along. So if you ever come to my house, you will be greeted by our gigantic Santa in the yard. Once inside you will see the manger under our tree, along with the advent wreath, made in art class, hanging in the computer room above our mini manger. In my opinion, we have the best of both worlds!

This next week is going to be very busy around here, if I don't get a chance to write, everyone, please have a very Merry Christmas!! For those of you who celebrate Hanukkah, sorry to have wasted your time with this blog. I hope you have been having a wonderful Hanukkah season.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Nasty-Gram

2009-12-10T21:54:00.000-06:00

No, I didn't get buried in all the snow, in fact, the only thing we got was a rain/snow mix! I know I have said how busy things have gotten around here, so I know you all understand when I miss a week. It has been hard for me to come to the computer and write this blog. My husband used to tease me about having such thin skin, meaning...I'm too sensitive. Just about every week I sit down in front of my computer and pour my heart out to all of you. Some people are surprised at how open I am with you. I have to be in order for you to understand what it's like being a single parent of six kids all under the age of 12, and one of them having Down Syndrome. I know I'm not perfect, and I'm sure there are things I have done that many of you disagree with, but to send mean comments, is that really fair? If you're going to send a nasty-gram, at least have the courage to sign your name. I am deeply hurt when something like this happens, and it makes it difficult for me to share my experiences with you. I wish I had the thick skin my husband had, there are traits of his that wore off on me, that wasn't one of them. I ask that if you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all. I will be back next week, hopefully I can put this behind me and share once again.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Black Friday

2009-11-27T20:15:00.004-06:00

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving yesterday, we had a nice relaxing one. It was just Sherry and her family, and my brother Rick and his wife Anne Marie. My brother John was in Arizona with his family. Sherry was the chef for the day, I helped, it was at my house. After dinner, my Aunt, Uncle, cousin and his family came over for dessert. I was exhausted by the end of the evening. The kids and I got into our jammies and watched Home Alone, they fell asleep one by one. It was a good day!

Last Friday I took the kids to a swine flu shot clinic, I didn't realize how crowded it would be. We waited in line for almost an hour, going through two check points. Helen was starting to loose her patience, she wanted to keep walking once we started, and got so frustrated when we had to stop and wait again. She was starting to stamp her foot and say, "Go, Mom, Goooo!" At the second check point I asked them if there were anyway we could move ahead in line in order to get Helen the shot. I explained she was loosing her patience, and what would happen if she lost them completely. She would have a "meltdown" and would not cooperate when receiving her shot, in other words...it would get ugly. They moved us right on through and not only gave Helen her shot, but my other kids also. I knew someone who was a couple of people ahead of us, and they told me it was another 1/2 hour waiting from that check point. I made the right decision. I don't like using Helen for an excuse, but it would have turned into a nightmare very quickly!

On Monday I had Helen's conference at school, it went okay. The problem we are having is, Helen's program is really geared for higher functioning. If we moved her to the next level down, it would be the low functioning program. There is NO in between, which is not good. They used to have something for that group, but they did away with it because of the funding. Helen's teachers are going to meet with the supervisor of special education and see if they can't do something about it. Helen is not the only one with the problem and if they see a need, maybe they bring it back. I am ready for the fight, I'm just waiting on the teachers. I will keep you posted on the progress.

I put up our outdoor decorations today, it's not much, I don't do lights, I don't know how to put them up. I hate to say that our 12 foot Santa is on the injured list, the kids are very disappointed. I went to change one of the lights and found the cord had broken. It actually looks like it had been cut. In order to get to the cord you have to unzip the compartment on the bottom of his foot. I thought maybe my neighbor got frustrated during the night with the light and went out and cut it. I highly doubt it though, he would have to know about the zipper. I'm going to have a friend come over and take a look, maybe he can fix it. It's always something!!

Well, happy black Friday, I hope those of you brave enough to shop found and got what you were looking for!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Tough Week

2009-11-19T22:37:00.000-06:00

This is my first blog on my office computer, sweet!! My friend gave me her old computer so I could have a computer to myself for the business, it is working out fantastic! Katie and Robbie's basketball games were very exciting. Katie's score was 20-21, they won by just one point! Robbie's team lost by two points, but it was non-stop. I'm looking forward to Saturday's games. They both have practice on Wednesdays, so every other week they miss Greek school in order to go. Grace screamed on the way to Greek school, she didn't want to go because Katie wasn't going to be there. This started a couple weeks ago, the same week basketball practice started. I'm baffled by her behavior, this is the same girl who didn't want me to come into her classroom on the first day of Kindergarten, Miss Independent! She would not let me go when I dropped her off at school, I had to peel her off of me. If I didn't make her stay, this would happen every single Wednesday. When I picked them up, I went inside so I could see how she did. There she was, standing in the classroom with all her friends, singing Jingle Bells! She said, "Mommy, I didn't know I'd have a good time." I don't get it, she has been going to Greek school since September. So I asked her if she was going to cry next time she has to go, and she said, "Um, maybe, we'll see!"...Miss Independent, no doubt!

Helen has been having a rough week, I'm not looking forward to her conference on Monday. She has been so naughty, she has been poking her friends, even after I tell her not to touch her friends at school. She has been making noises, being very disruptive. She was kicked out of religion class last night because she wouldn't listen and calm down. She is now getting her privileges on the WII taken away from her, I don't know what else I can do about her behavior issues. If any of you have any suggestions, please share, at this point, I will try anything.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Back To My Regularly Scheduled Blog

2009-11-12T10:06:00.000-06:00

Aaahhh, back on track! Noah went to his first birthday party over the week-end, he had a great time. I was able to drop him off and leave right away...no staying until he transitioned. Last year when I dropped him off at school, I could never leave until after the class said the Pledge of Allegiance. I was the only parent sitting on the rug singing "Hi good morning friends, how are you today?..." After the song we would stand up and say the Pledge, then it was free time, which was my cue to leave. My goal this year was to be able to just drop him off and leave, I wanted to reach it by the end of the school year. Well, to my surprise, I have already reached that goal thanks to Noah. One day, out of the blue, while walking to his class, he told me, "Just leave, don't come to my class." Now he gets mad at me if I go with him. Yesterday when I was helping him with his coat he told me, "Now, go to the kitchen Mom, don't come to my class."(it was hot lunch day) Now that I can't go with him, I miss going! I am so glad he has found some independence and doesn't need me with him every second of the day. I now watch other parents go through what I did last year and think to myself, a year really makes a difference.

Helen had another issue at school yesterday, this time she left a mark on a first grader's face. I didn't get the whole story because her teacher didn't see it, she was told what happened. After Helen arrived at school, she went on the playground before the bell rang. It was there that she pushed a little girl off the equipment, I think it was the slide. The girl hit her face, I don't know on what, and cut her cheek. She was taken to the nurse, where they called home to let her parents know what happened. The dad was not too pleased, which, no parent would be! Helen can no longer play in the morning, she has to go from the bus directly to the second grade line. She doesn't get recess today or tomorrow, because she didn't listen to the principal yesterday. I didn't quite understand what happened with him, I think he told her to stay off the playground and she went anyway. My question is, WHO THE HECK IS KEEPING AN EYE ON HER! They know the kids can get her wound up, and egg her on. They know she doesn't know her limits and does it all in good fun. I tell her everyday, "Have a good day at school, don't touch any of the kids at school, play nice, and listen to your teachers." I take privileges away, or even her favorite snack if she gets a sad face on her daily chart, or if the teacher tells me she has been naughty. She now understands the difference between behaving and being naughty. She tells me every Saturday before we go to church, "Noah has to behave, right?" That tells me she understands. I don't know what else I can do, I'm afraid one of these days she will hurt someone a lot worse than a cut on the cheek. Pray, pray, pray...

Ted and I went to my niece's sweet sixteen party on Sunday, we had a great time. He made the age cut off, that's why he was the only one invited. That was a great idea to do that, otherwise, I would have had kids complaining it was taking too long, or it was boring. It was at my sister-in-law, Maria's, restaurant, so there wasn't any place to go and play. Maria decorated the place beautifully, it was gorgeous. The food, once again, was fantastic...I have no complaints, well, maybe one. I had to see some relatives I could do without (extended family). Some of the things they did to us when Peter was alive was deplorable, I have no respect for them, nor will I EVER! Family should not be treated that way. Maybe they don't have the same standards as I do when it comes to the way you treat family...respect, respect, respect!

Basketball starts Saturday, bright and early for Katie...8:00am...UGGGHHHH!!! Robbie's game is later in the day...YEAH!!! Everyone have a nice week-end, can you believe Thanksgiving is two weeks away? I can't! That means Christmas is not far behind, YIKES, I need to start shopping!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Going Once, Twice...$30.00

2009-11-06T22:11:00.000-06:00

I took Helen to the thyroid doctor today, it went very well. My other kids were home from school, yesterday and today were parent/teacher conferences at their school. I asked my father-in-law to watch them while I took Helen to her appointment. We were at Children's Hospital, and who knows what germs are floating around there, I didn't want to take any chances. While we were there, every time I came across hand sanitizer, I squirted my hands and then rubbed Helen's. In the past, I would have brought all the kids with me, it's scary! After her appointment we had to go to the lab so she could have blood drawn. It used to be that the doctor's office put the orders in the computer for the blood draw while we made our way down to the lab. Now, they make an appointment for you, it's usually within 10-15 minutes from the time you leave the doctor's office. We only had to wait 10 minutes, one time we waited an hour for Helen to get called for blood work! I bet it's because of the H1N1, they don't want people hanging around for long periods of time. They have already prohibited young children from visiting anyone in the hospital. If you are exhibiting any of the symptoms of H1N1, you have to wear a mask. Thank goodness we didn't come across anyone in a mask, that's frightening.

All the conferences went well, thank goodness! My only beef...they scheduled 10 minutes for each conference, they gave me no time for the commute from classroom to classroom. Grace's meeting was at 12:30, Katie at 12:40, Robbie at 12:50, and Ted at 1:00. I didn't get to Ted's conference until almost 1:30! I had to wait to get into one of my conferences which also threw the whole schedule off.

We had a good time last week-end, we started it off with the Fall Frolic at the kid's school. Helen did such a great job, I set her up at a table right in front of the kitchen, gave her popcorn and juice, she was good to go! I was helping out in the kitchen, this way I could keep an eye on her. Fall Frolic is our school's Halloween party, we have games, mad scientist lab, bake sale, pie auction, popcorn, drinks, and trick or treat at the end. The kids really enjoy it! I bid for a chocolate pie that Robbie really wanted. The starting bid they were asking for was $10.00, so I bid that. My friend Catherine called out $20.00! I knew from an earlier pie that she wouldn't go over $30.00, I waited. $20.00 going once, going twice...that was my cue..."$30.00" I yelled. I caused quite a roar in the room, which is what I had wanted to do, make it exciting. I was right with my strategy, Catherine would not go over $30.00, so we won. I love to hear Helen tell the story! She throws in 25 cents, $4.00, and some other figures, it's very cute. When we got home I wanted to taste the pie to see if it's the same one I make...it was. It costs about $7.00 to make that pie, even less for this one, they didn't put cool whip on it. Anything for the kids!(well...almost anything.)

Sunday night is my niece's (Peter's side) sweet sixteen party. Ted was the only one of my kids invited, I don't know why, but I know there is a reason. It is being held at my sister-in-law's restaurant, so really, not much to do. It will make it less stressful for me, I won't have kids complaining whats taking so long. It is going to be date night for Ted and I, we are also going to celebrate his report card. He got four A's and three B's, and received a higher grade in gym than the "jocks" in his class. He is doing a great job in school this year! Basketball has started, the first games are next week-end. Katie and Robbie are both playing, it has been crazy busy around here lately.

Sherry usually blogs about the business, but seeing how it's already November and we still don't have product, I thought I should update a little. We had every intention of launching the clothing line in October, it was perfect timing since it coincided with Down Syndrome Awareness Month. When Sherry first started this endeavor, she was no longer working in corporate America. Since then, in order for her to fund this, and, not to mention, pay her bills, she has had to go back to work. She isn't able to spend as much time as she used to on it, so it's taking a little longer than expected. We still have our pattern maker, and have just recently brought on board someone to help with the production. We also have our website under construction. So although you don't see anything, yet, things are moving along, just mostly behind the scenes for now. Please bear with us, we have great ideas, and have used a lot of the comments that you have shared with us, so please, keep them coming. Thanks for your patience.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Illness

2009-10-26T10:17:00.000-05:00

The past couple of weeks have been crazy around here. Ted competed in his last cross country meet and placed 7th out of 15. He beat his time by 2 minutes, and this was the longest race, so he did awesome. Robbie played his last football game for the season, the team finished in 4th, out of 5 teams. Ted ran in the rain, and Robbie played on a cold windy day. We had other things going on that week also, it felt like we were burning a candle at both ends. I was the first one to get sick, I thought maybe I had overdone it while working in the yard. I was very achy, and very tired. When I woke up the next morning I knew I was sick, my head was killing me. I tried to rest most of the day, but I had errands to do, and things to get done around the house. I shouldn't have pushed myself so hard, it only made things worse. When the kids got dropped off from school, I was on the couch with a fever, chills, body aches, and no energy. Thank goodness my father-in-law stopped by, he stayed and looked after the kids while I rested. Soon after, the kids started dropping like flies! Ted was the first, his complaint was a sore throat. I thought it was sore because of all the coughing he had been doing. He wound up going to the doctor and was diagnosed with strep throat. Helen got sick very soon after Ted, she had a fever and vomited once before bed. She also had a cough, I thought the cough medicine I had given her might have caused her to get sick, because she didn't get sick again. I got sick on Sunday evening, Ted and Helen Monday night. Tuesday morning I asked everyone how they felt, the kids that were well anyway. Ted and Helen still had fevers so they couldn't go to school. I sent, Grace, Katie and Robbie to school that morning, only to have the school secretary call me about an hour after school started, "Come and pick up Robbie, he doesn't feel well, he's warm, and he doesn't look good." Robbie had body aches, cough, and a fever. I had Ted laying on one couch, Robbie on another, and Helen on the other, with Noah laying across the big chair. I decided to take his temperature, sure enough...he was sick too. Katie and Grace made it the whole day at school, Katie started to complain that evening. Come Wednesday morning, I had one child in school, Grace. I called everyone in sick to school, Greek school, and religion class, we weren't going anywhere. Fevers were starting to break, I was starting to feel good myself, finally a light at the end of the tunnel. Thursday rolls around, Helen is back at school, she had been fever free for 24 hours, she was the only one. Robbie was starting to feel much better and was on his way to the 24 hour rule. I got a call from the school secretary, Grace wasn't feeling well and wanted to come home. She had a low grade fever, and had the sniffles. She didn't seem as sick as the others had been, she must have picked up another bug. Ted had been on his antibiotic and was fever free for 24 hours, he was going back to school on Friday. Robbie too had made it 24 hours without a fever, along with Katie and Noah. Everyone was able to go back to school on Friday, I even sent Grace because she said she felt fine. I helped hang art work at the school for our Fall Frolic party coming up on the 30th. I felt terrible, I had caught the cold that Grace had. I was sneezing, my eyes were watering, I was miserable. I picked up Noah from preschool and headed home to rest until the kids were done at school. I received a phone call from Grace's teacher, she isn't feeling very well, come and get her. Then Grace says in the background, "No, I don't want to go home." The teacher says, okay, and tells me she will call if things change. Well, of course she called, Grace was sick, so I went and picked her up. I got to rest for a very short time and then it was time to pick everyone up. I was being blown away by the wind when I picked up Helen, I have to get out of the car and meet her and her teacher. I was miserable waiting in the stuffy car for the other kids to come out of school. My eyes were so hot, they needed to close for awhile. As soon as we got home, I went and laid down and closed my eyes. That was the best thing I could have done. I had been so busy taking care of everyone else, I let myself fall to the wayside...not good! After a couple of hours, I felt a little better, so I checked on everyone and got started with dinner. I was able to get a full night's sleep on Friday, nobody got up during the night needing anything. Saturday I felt much better, I still had the eye issue, but it was doing much better. All the kids were doing better too, they all had coughs, but nothing else. Come Sunday, yesterday, Grace was not feeling well, she looked like I did with the cold. I told her she wasn't going to school today, she said, "Wait, do I have anything going on today?" She was busted...she should have never gone to school on Friday, she went because they were having movie day. The teacher brought in a movie and they had treats while watching it. She made it through getting the treats passed out, and that's when the teacher called. I know this because she brought all her treats home with her! About a half hour after school started my phone rings, it's the school secretary, Katie isn't feeling well. I question this one, she had no complaints this morning, and she was fine all week-end. I brought her home, she is in her pj's and is laying on the big chair, while Grace is on the couch. Both are fever free, let's hope it stays that way for tomorrow. Sometimes Katie cries wolf, I think today is one of those days. The thing about crying wolf these days with the H1N1, the school doesn't care, they'll send her home, they don't want anyone there who may pass it along. It's been rough, but thank goodness, they could have been a lot sicker than what they were. I heard there is a lot going around out there, I think we had it all under this roof! "Wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands!" That's about all I've been saying lately!!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Conflict

2009-10-09T09:02:00.000-05:00

We have had such gloomy weather these past couple of days. It rained yesterday, off and on, and this morning it's raining again. Helen is the only one who has school today, the kids were off yesterday too. When I woke up with Helen yesterday to get her ready for school, I was so tired. The weather didn't help matters, I wanted to crawl back in bed. After she left for school, I did just that, and regretted it the rest of the day. I was tired all day yesterday, and had no motivation. This morning, once again, I wanted to crawl back in bed after she left. I made myself stay up remembering how I felt yesterday. I have already gotten quite a few things done, hopefully this will be a much better day.

Ted ran in his first cross country meet the other day, I don't think he really knew what was in store for him. He finished, that's all that matters, I was very proud of him. He ran 1.24 miles, the farthest he has ever gone. Later that night I asked him how he felt, he told me, "Okay, my legs hurt though!" He definitely needs more training. Robbie has his last football game tomorrow, and then they start the play-offs. His team is ranked #4, that's out of 5 teams. For his sake and his team, I hope they go far in the play-offs, but for me and the kids, I hope not. It is starting to get cold, and the kids sit there the whole game and complain how cold they are. I tell them to bundle up, and they still complain. They don't appreciate attending sporting events...yet. We have many years attending these games, I think Robbie will always be involved with one sport or another. Ted has his track, and who knows what Noah will be interested in. Let's not forget Katie, who starts basketball next month. Like Noah, we still don't know where Grace's interests lie. Then there's Helen, I was told of a program that sounds like something she would enjoy, and she is getting to the point where she will be able to participate. Oh my goodness...my head is starting to spin! I have a feeling there may be some time conflicts, I already have one this week-end. Robbie has his football game, and Ted has an activity he needs to do with the Boy Scouts in order for him to cross over in February. The game is at 10:30, but Robbie needs to be there at 9:45 for warm up. Ted's Cub Scout activity starts at 10:00, I can't be two places at once. Luckily, I put my distress signal out, and it was answered. My brother John is going to take Ted, and I will take Robbie. John and Ted will be busy cleaning the section of highway the Boy Scouts have adopted, while the rest of us are at the football game. You're probably thinking, "Oh sure, she gives the harder job to her brother!", but not really, he will have Ted ONLY...enough said.

I can't believe Halloween is right around the corner, and with it, the headache of costumes! The kids are older now and getting quite picky about what they want to be. Gone are the days when I bought the costumes at 90% off after Halloween and held on to them for the following year. They didn't care if their costumes were last year's news! Besides sewing them myself (I don't sew), anyone know where I can get them for cheap? Leave me a comment, thanks!:0)

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Coupons

2009-10-02T10:20:00.000-05:00

I finally remembered to bring my coupons to the grocery store with me, I saved $14.20! It helped that I stuck to the list. I also used my coupons when shopping at ShopKo, which is similar to K-Mart. I had to buy other things that I didn't have a coupon for, but to my surprise, it was all on sale. I saved $8.25 with my coupons. They don't calculate total savings at that store, but I can only imagine how much I saved. Most things were 60% off, and also buy one, get one 1/2 off. My biggest savings came from Kohl's, I couldn't believe it when the cashier told me how much my savings were. I had to get Ted uniform pants since he sprouted over the summer and I didn't even realize it. While getting his pants, I noticed they also had uniform shirts on sale too, so I bought him a few of those in the bigger size. Since I was there, I decided to check the sale rack for Helen. I found capri stretch pants on sale for $4.20, the length will hit the top of her shoe...perfect! I also needed a few unmentionables...total savings...$80.41! I am quite proud of myself!:0)

This afternoon I am picking Helen up early and we are taking Toby to the kid's school for the pet blessing, in honor of St. Francis of Assisi. I am also taking Robbie's Eeyore, and Grace's Baby Bear. I am a bit nervous about how Toby will act, being a scaredy cat and all. All the kids in the school will be there, along with other pets and their owners. Last year I was bombarded with kids wanting to see Toby, although last year he was just a puppy. I'm hoping for the best, wish me luck.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue..................sorry so short!:0(

Overcrowding

2009-09-25T14:24:00.001-05:00

Back in August I wrote about the possibility of Katie and Grace getting a device to help stop them from sucking their thumbs. It is now a reality for Katie and she needs much more than that. I took her and Robbie to the orthodontist for an evaluation the other day and I didn't receive good news. They both have overcrowding going on inside their mouths, Katie more than Robbie. He can wait until after he is twelve, that's when the last of the molars will be in. Katie on the other hand, needs them NOW. She needs an expander on her upper and lower, and then braces. When Katie was in Kindergarten, she had to have her front tooth pulled because she broke it when she fell on a stair at school, it STILL hasn't come in (Katie's in second grade). Come to find out, there has been no room for them, so they are staying put. With the expander, it will make room for her teeth to come in, and the braces will keep them straight. Her bottom teeth are just as bad, she has one tooth that popped through the gum outside of the line (it hurt when it came in). I need to come up with half of the money for the down payment and the office will put me on a payment plan for the rest. I'm lucky Robbie didn't need them right away, I don't know what I would have done.

Not only did they see the Orthodontist, they also had a visit with the Ophthalmologist. Katie needs an adjustment with her prescription, and Robbie needs glasses. Since losing our COBRA coverage last month, I have had to find other doctors for the kids. I have been lucky so far, they seem to be on top of things. The true test will be when I take Helen to see these new doctors. I asked each one if they have other patients with Down Syndrome and was told yes each time. If they don't have patience with Helen, then I will know they weren't telling me the truth. I had to make appointments with the pediatrician so the kids could get their flu shots. I'm torn about this new vaccine for the swine flu. I'm worried about Helen this flu season, it hits her hard. I am running low on my huge bottle of hand sanitizer. When I go to purchase another one, I'm going to buy for the kid's classrooms too. I have been told by every health professional I have talked to, the key is good hand washing. Come to think of it...I better buy a huge bottle of hand lotion too!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Back In The Swing of Things

2009-09-17T10:02:00.004-05:00

So far so good at Helen's school, everything seems to be falling into place. She spends her mornings included with her new teachers, and the afternoons in the special ed. classroom with her teacher from last year. She is helping her with math, Helen's worst subject. There have been a few issues with her behavior, but nothing where I have received a phone call. I just hope the whole year is like this. The other kids have adjusted nicely to being back at school. Ted had his first practice for cross country and loved it. Every time a letter was sent home about different sports, and sport clinics, I would ask Ted if he wanted to do it. The answer was always the same, NO. When the letter came home about cross country, I read it, and then proceeded to put it in the recycle pile. Ted walked in as I was doing this and said, "Oh yeah, I want to join that Mom, okay?" I was shocked, I never see him run, so I asked, "Do you know what cross country is?" I then went on to explain all about it. He told me, "Yes, I know, I like to run, I can run fast, are you going to sign me up!?!" How could I argue, this kid is not very active, this would be the perfect opportunity to get him moving! I'm glad he likes it, he is starting to find his niche. Robbie on the other hand is still trying to figure it out. He begged me to sign him up for football, so I did. He didn't realize just how physical the sport is, he doesn't like to get pushed around. He wants to play wide receiver, but instead plays defensive tackle. He thinks if he plays offense he won't get tackled. I told him it doesn't matter what position you play, you're going to get tackled, that's what the game is about. He told me he doesn't want to play next year, but he still wants to be a professional football player someday. I told him nothing is going to change with the sport whether it's now or later. He told me he knows that, but at least later he'll be bigger! Katie is going to start playing basketball, hopefully she will like it better than softball. When playing softball this past summer, she said the ball didn't like her because she kept getting hit by it!

Ted turned 11 on Monday, where does the time go? He is getting so tall, I couldn't believe it when he was standing next to me one day. He had a good day, I was a bit sad. I was telling him about the day he was born, it brought back many memories. Peter was so excited and was such a big help with Ted, not only in the hospital, but once we brought him home. Peter had put Ted's crib together in the living room, and when we tried to move it into the bedroom, it couldn't fit through the door. We had to leave it in the living room for awhile because Peter didn't have the patience to take it apart and put it back together. He slept on the floor right beside Ted's crib every night until we moved him into his bedroom, which was across the hall from us. Life can be so unfair!

We had our parish festival this past week-end, it was fun. My plan was to go on Friday night for the brat fest, five different flavors of brats. Work the meat raffle on Saturday night, and then take Sunday to relax and get a few things done around the house. It didn't work that way...Friday night they had nothing up for the kids. They saw the bouncy house and wanted to come back the next day to jump in it. That wouldn't work, Saturday was a busy day, and I had already committed to the meat raffle. I found myself back at the festival on Sunday, I really didn't want to go. The kids had a blast, that's all that counts! There wasn't that good of a turn out. Helen was able to stay in the bouncy house most of the time we were there, which is exactly where she wanted to be! The rest of the kids met up with a friend or two and only came to me for tickets, or money. It was actually quite nice to be able to sit and talk with other adults while the kids went about their business. I did spend more money than I had wanted, but it went to a good place.

I need to get back to taking the pool down. I was hoping the kids would be able to swim one more time, but the weather isn't going to let that happen. I wish someone would have warned me about the smell, my goodness! It's all emptied, I just need to wipe it down, that should get rid of that terrible smell.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

First Days of School

2009-09-10T09:53:00.001-05:00

Robbie, Katie , Ted
Noah

Grace

Helen

It is official...all the kids are back to school. It has been very overwhelming for me. I remember feeling this same way last year. I tried to psych myself up this year, but it didn't work. There has been an abundance of paper work that has come home that I have to keep track of which piece goes back with which kid. There have been fees for this, and fees for that. My hand has been in my wallet non-stop, I'm already broke for the month. There have been issues at the schools already. One of Ted's good friends didn't come back this year because of a bully problem. He was bullied all last year, and from what I have been told, nothing was done about it. The bully is still there! This kid picked on Ted in second grade, I didn't hear about it until the end of the year. At the beginning of third and also fourth grade, I spoke with Ted's teachers and informed them of the problem. I asked that Ted not be paired up with this kid if at all possible, and told Ted to keep his distance. Ted has been happy these past two years with very minimal teasing. I am afraid now that the friend is gone, which, by the way, I had no idea how bad it was or I would have tried to help, Ted will be on the receiving end of the bully. I have spoken with the teacher on several occasions (it helps to be a hot lunch mom!) and also the principal. I have told them I will pull my kids out of that school if Ted gets bullied and nothing is done about it. I will not wait until the end of the year, I will not tolerate it. I have discussed this with the kids and have told them to look out for each other. The problem with that is, Ted has a different recess now that he is in fifth grade. Recess time is when it mostly happens. I have been told by the principal they are going to initiate a new bully program this year. He pulls me aside whenever he sees me and asks how things are going. In mass yesterday with the school kids Father mentioned he doesn't want to have any bully problems this year. It is good to see they finally realize there is an issue. It took losing a lot of good families to finally wake up and smell the coffee. Our enrollment is way down, the worst it's been in years. We are the cheapest Catholic school in town, our classrooms should be filled, and their should be a waiting list to get in. Sadly, that's not the case. I am praying since Ted has really grown over the summer and is bigger than the bully, he will be left alone. Problem is...he'll find someone else to pick on. I am so far, the loudest advocate for this issue, everyone else has quietly walked away. It helps to have Helen, I have learned to be loud when it comes to my children's needs.

That's another story...Helen...the district decided over the summer they want the special needs kids to be included 100% of the day. It sounds good and looks good on paper, but what about the child that can't handle that, then what? Helen happens to be one of those kids, there is no way she can sit in a regular classroom all day. It will be too quiet for her, she will have to make noise, and she did. On Friday a note was sent home telling me she had a good day except for making noises in class, can I work with her over the week-end with "no sounds". Okay, fine, I'll do that, but that doesn't mean come Monday she'll be cured of "no sounds"! I have been on the phone with her teacher from last year, and her teacher this year. They know I don't agree with this arrangement. Well, they must have gotten together and talked about it because they are pulling Helen out of the regular classroom for certain subjects and putting her in a special ed. class. That is what she needs. I'm not saying they need to do this for all special needs kids, this may work out fantastically for someone else, it's not the best thing for Helen. Remember last year they were talking about changing her program because she needed more one on one time. Why on earth would they think she wouldn't need it this year? Because I have been so vocal, changes have taken place, and the year is looking better. Helen no longer rides the bus home, I pick her up in order to talk with her teacher everyday. I have been somewhat in a fog these last three years, just going through the motions. I am now ready to be loud once more when it comes to my kids, and believe me, I can be LOUD!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Short But Sweet

2009-09-04T18:09:00.003-05:00

I must apologize, this week went by so quickly. I have been feeling overwhelmed , there have been a few issues with the kids starting school. I am going to take this week off from blogging so i can give it 100%, I hope you understand. I will be back next week, and I will fill you in on what's been going on.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Life

2009-08-27T10:41:00.000-05:00

I am saddened by the death of Sen. Edward(Ted) Kennedy. I wouldn't be in the shoes I'm in today if it weren't for most of his legislation. He did so much for people with disabilities, and also low-income families. I wish he would have been around longer to help with this health insurance mess. Our COBRA expired this month, we were only eligible for three years after Peter died. I looked into commercial insurance for my family, there is no way I can afford it. We can't go without, especially with all of Helen's health issues. It would make life a lot easier if health care was more affordable. In the three years I paid for COBRA, it cost me roughly $25,000.00, that's a lot of money! The kids and I could have taken a nice vacation to Greece to see where their dad was born for 1/3 of that money. If only...

Helen is looking forward to starting school, she was so mad yesterday when Ted, Robbie, and Katie started. When we came home from dropping them off, Helen went into her backpack and started playing with her school supplies. It wouldn't have been so bad, but Toby decided to chew on her pencils, that really got her mad. Today we had a meeting with Grace's kindergarten teacher, Helen was mad again. She wanted to sit on the carpet and have books read to her. Then she went next door to Noah's preschool room to play. I can't wait for her to start on Monday, and neither can she. Noah on the other hand, he could care less if school ever starts again.

I recently joined Facebook and I'm addicted. I am always checking it to see who said what. I love that I have found many old friends, I feel reconnected, and that's a good feeling. I no longer feel so isolated, and have even more chances to get out and do something. There is talk of us all getting together for a little reunion. I hope it comes together, I'd love to see so many of them again, and just have fun.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Circus Time

2009-08-21T19:08:00.001-05:00

The circus crew
Helen, Katie, and Grace on the camel

Elephant ride

About three weeks ago the kids and I went out for the afternoon, when we came home it felt like the air conditioner wasn't on. It was one of the rare days around here that we needed it. I knew I had turned it on before we left so we could come home to a nice cool house. I knew we would be sweaty since my car air conditioner decided not to work this summer. I checked the thermostat, yep, it was on. I went downstairs and looked at the unit and at the fuse box, I really had no idea what I was looking for, but at least I gave it a look. I then went outside to check the fan, I could hear a hum coming from it, but nothing else. I decided to turn it off, the noise I heard couldn't be good, and who knew how long it had been like that since we were gone all afternoon. My central air is the last thing I need to have break, the car is bad enough with the kids complaining how hot they are. I called the repair service and left a message. I almost walked across the street to my neighbor who is the owner of the repair service, but wasn't gutsy enough. If it had been really hot, I would have, but we weren't suffering, so I didn't impose. The next day he called and said someone would be over around lunch time. The guy showed up and checked everything I did, I was proud of myself, although I still didn't know what we were looking for! Everything in the house checked out so we went to look at the fan. Sure enough, he heard the exact same noise I did, and thought he knew what the problem was. He took the cover off of the electrical panel...lo and behold, guess what he found...an earwig. It had crawled into the wires and was electrocuted, which in turn, shorted out my connection. When the bug was removed, my air conditioner fan turned back on and all was well...except my wallet! That was the most expensive bug I have ever come across, I should have had it framed!

The circus was in town last week-end, Sherry and I took the kids. My wonderful neighbors gave me free tickets, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to go. During the fifteen minute intermission, the kids took an elephant ride. I wanted Helen and Noah to go, but they didn't want to. We still had tickets left with time running out of our intermission. All the kids wanted to ride again, or take the tickets for something else. There were eight kids, the rides started at two tickets, there just weren't enough. Since I already lost an arm and a leg with the price of all the tickets, I couldn't afford to loose another arm and a leg! Sherry took the boys, except Noah, and went back to our seats while I figured out what to do with the rest of the tickets. I really wanted Helen and Noah to do something, time was running out. We walked by the camel ride, no line, I decided to have Katie and Grace ride just so we could use up the tickets. When they got up to the top, Helen decided she wanted to ride. I was so frazzled, the guy told me we had enough tickets since it only took two to ride the camel. The girls got on, I took a few pictures, they took a short ride, and we were on our way to see the rest of the circus, which had already started. It was a good time, fun was had by all.

We are starting to get ready for school, it starts Wednesday for Ted, Robbie, and Katie. I'm happy to get back into a routine, but sad that our carefree days of staying up late and sleeping in are over. Helen and Grace start the following week, and Noah starts the week after that. I will have five of them in school all day...WOOHOO!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Thank You

2009-08-13T14:35:00.001-05:00

Thank you, thank you, thank you to all of my family and friends who came and stood in the thunderstorm for Peter's memorial. It started to downpour after the service so I didn't get a chance to thank all of you personally. It meant a lot to me to see all of my family, in-laws included, and MY friends there. I am very disappointed in Peter's friends, not one of them showed up. I personally called every single one that I had a phone number to, and they all said they would be there. I guess they were afraid they would melt! I think I'm even more disappointed that I haven't received any emails or phone calls apologizing for the "no show". I'm trying very hard to lay a foundation for their relationships with my kids. They are the missing links to Peter's past. My kids have their Aunts and Papou to share stories of Peter when they were kids. They have me to share my stories from age 25 until his death. What's missing are his High School years and soon after. Those are the years when you break away from siblings and do things with your friends. I know they have a ton of stories about Peter, I heard some, but can't remember enough to share them with my kids. I was hoping when my kids got older they would have a friendship already there with Peter's friends, so they could talk about Peter for hours if they wanted to. I guess I'm hoping for a perfect little world, and that's not going to happen. It makes me sad. I know if the tables were turned, Peter would have been standing out in the rain for his friend. I wish his friends felt the same...oh well, on we go.

We have been watching my furry niece Fiona, she really likes the pool. She wasn't here for 10 minutes and she was already taking a dip! My father-in-law was here one day when she got into the pool, he didn't like it. He asked me, "Are you going to let out the water so you can change it?" Oh my goodness...ka-ching! I told him, "No, that's what the chlorine is for!" Can you imagine if I changed the water every time!?!! Toby has enjoyed having his cousin here to play. They have pushed us over, stepped on us, and run into us while playing, but they keep going. I have enjoyed having someone to cuddle with at night, the only problem...body heat. I have been so hot during the night, I have thrown covers off of me, I never do that. We'll miss her when she goes home.

Rick and Anne Marie...Fiona is always welcome here, she has received a lot of love from the kids. She will probably need a bath, with the pool water and all of Toby's slobber on her!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Devices!?!!

2009-08-06T22:05:00.002-05:00

I took the kids for their dental check ups the other day, yep, all six. One out of six had a cavity, those are pretty good odds! I was also told Katie and Grace both need devices put in their mouths to stop them from sucking their thumbs. Devices, what the heck!?!! How come when I was a kid we didn't need devices, you either stopped, or you didn't. Our COBRA expires on Monday, yes, it has already been three years since Peter passed away, Saturday to be exact. Having to deal with the cost of these devices has become a headache. After speaking with Ted's orthodontist, I have decided to hold off on these so called devices for now. I am going to take Katie in to see the orthodontist for an evaluation (Grace is too young), along with Robbie, it's free, why not! This way I can budget for braces down the road. I think Robbie will need them, his teeth are a bit crooked. I was told by the dentist Katie and Grace will definitely need them. My question is, why pay $1000.00 per child now for devices, when they are going to need braces anyway? I have noticed, with age, Katie does not suck her thumb as often as she used to. We have all told them both to stop when we see them doing it, but at night when they are sleeping is another story. I am now trying another trick, spraying their thumbs with perfume, the jury is still out on that one.

Yesterday was my birthday, we spent it at the cemetery and then for lunch at my sister-in-law's restaurant, The Liberty. They have such great food, I can honestly say I have never had a bad meal there. If you are ever in Libertyville, IL, their place is located on Milwaukee Ave., also known as Rt. 21. They put a candle in a piece of cheesecake and sang me Happy Birthday, the kids loved it. We went to the cemetery to clean up the flowers so they look nice for Saturday. I am having a memorial service for Peter. I don't think we have been there since I planted them in June, it has been a busy summer. To my pleasant surprise, my sister-in-law, Maria, had already been there and spruced them up for me. I decided to water them so I went to the faucet to turn on the hose. Noah followed me, and while he was waiting for the water to turn on, he was stung by a wasp. There was a nest inside some artificial flowers very near to the water, and he got too close. He has never been stung so I didn't know what to expect. We weren't planning on going to the restaurant, but with this happening, I felt we should go hang out there just in case he had a reaction. This way we were close to a hospital instead of on the highway. I am happy to say nothing happened, and he forgot all about it once we were inside and ordering all kinds of yummy food.

The days are getting harder as the week goes on, so many memories. Keep us in your prayers.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Three Weeks Left

2009-07-30T22:07:00.000-05:00

A couple of weeks ago Toby had surgery (snip,snip), I had to take him and get his incision looked at yesterday. I found out from the vet that we have a scaredy cat for a dog, this explains why he barks at everyone when they come into the house. Toby was hiding under my chair when the vet came into the room. He took Toby's leash and gently pulled him out from under there, sat on the floor and let Toby sniff his hand before he touched him under his chin. According to the vet, if he would have stayed standing and moved his hand over Toby's head in order to pet him on top of it, we might have had a different outcome. Toby would have felt threatened and would have either started barking at him, or tried biting. I'm sad Toby feels this way, but it's good to know, now we can help.

Katie had her birthday party over the week-end, it's always so nice to have family around. She wanted money so she could save up for a Nintendo DS, she has wanted one for a long time. She was about $30.00 short, I was debating on whether to kick in the rest. Noah and I went to the store Tuesday morning, while I was there I decided to check out the price so I knew the exact amount she needed to buy it. To my surprise, it was on sale, "They are NEVER on sale," said the clerk this time last year. I bought it, I didn't tell Katie until we were at another store picking out a game for it. She was so excited, I couldn't drive fast enough home. I should have opened it and charged it while she was at Greek Bible camp, because she had to wait about 3 hours. That was the longest 3 hours!

Noah had a cardiologist appointment, the doctor still heard a heart murmur at his last check-up. He has had it since he was a baby, all of my kids have had a murmur at some point. We agreed to have it checked out if it was still there this visit. It is nothing to be concerned about, it is an innocent murmur. If it is still there next year, I am to bring him back to the cardiologist. I'm glad I went, I feel much better, my mind started to wander about that murmur.

Helen's last day of summer school was today, she's not going to be a happy camper come Monday and there is no bus coming to get her. I keep telling her she is done with summer school and all she says to me is, "Why?" I told her now she will have more time to swim in the pool. Next week will be the first week we can all sleep in since school let out the beginning of June. It was either Bible camp or summer school getting us up early, I guess now this is our "official" summer break. I think the kids have about 3 weeks left before school starts again, yeah! I definitely enjoy the routine, I think I get more sleep when they are in school...I'm exhausted!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Bean Boozled

2009-07-23T19:35:00.002-05:00

GO FISH, Greek Orthodox Fun In Summer Heat, that's what we do every Friday. We meet up with other families, last week we met at a park, it was so chilly we decided to drive to the Jelly Belly factory, which was nearby. We went on the tour, taste tested jelly beans, and bought some belly flops. Everyone had a good time. Once in the car, the kids couldn't wait to open their free samples. The car started smelling so good, I decided to open the package of jelly beans I bought. I got them because they were only 50 cents, the package read, "Bean Boozled", I had no idea of the flavors. I'm driving along, the kids are pumped up from our little field trip. I pop a jelly bean in my mouth, in my mind I'm trying to figure out why this bag is named the way it is. I'm eating a jelly bean that tastes like...mint. I try another one to see what flavor it is, maybe shed some light on the name...YUCK!! What the heck did I just eat, let me try another one, I'm still trying to figure out how they came up with this name. This one is just as bad if not worse than the other one I just ate. I tell the kids, "I bet these are those Harry Potter jelly beans, and they named it differently for some reason." I must be a glutton for punishment because, yes, I try another one. In my defense...it was a black one , and there could not possibly be any other kind of flavor for a black jelly bean other than licorice, my favorite. OMG, OMG, OMG...it was sooooo nasty, for the life of me, I could not figure out what I just ate, and yes, I did swallow it! The kids were laughing so hard, I'm lucky I didn't crash the car. When we got home we went on the computer and looked on Jelly Belly's website. Guess what we found out...Bean Boozled is a game they have come up with. The bag contains jelly beans that are the real deal, and jelly beans that are not. You are supposed to pass them out and see if you have real or fake, hence the name, Bean Boozled. The ones I ate in the car were all fake! I ate, toothpaste, vomit, boogers, and...wait for it, wait for it...skunk spray!!! When I saw skunk spray, a light bulb went off in my head, yes, that is EXACTLY what it tasted like, and I swallowed it! I must have drank a gallon of ice tea that night, I think I can still taste it. I am very relieved this incident has not scarred me from eating black jelly beans, we have a ton of them in our bag of belly flops.

Katie turned 7 on Tuesday, she played her last softball game that night. She was the last girl to bat for the season, thank goodness she made it to base.(there was a 7 run rule, Katie hit run #7 in) We went to the toy store after so she could pick out her present, and then out for ice cream. I had made cupcakes for the team, so we already had our cake. She told me she had the best day ever.

Helen came with me yesterday to run a couple of errands and then do grocery shopping, we had a nice time. She was such a big help, she didn't act like she usually does when we go out. She carried our purchases to the counter, put them down and said, "Hi" to the check out person. She wasn't all over the place trying to get at everything. When we went to the store, she helped put things in the cart, and even push. After awhile she did start acting up a bit, but she had lasted a long time. I really enjoyed that one on one time with her, and I think she felt the same. She really enjoyed the ride home, radio blasting(her request), and the wind blowing in her hair. She had the biggest smile on her face, it doesn't get any better than that.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Questions About Jeans for Moms of Girls

2009-07-14T07:26:00.004-05:00

We are very excited about our first production batch of jeans and launching the It'll Fit'll web site. It's all right around the corner....the web site will go live no later than October and the jeans production will be as soon as all of the details come together (for instance, the 4 inch zippers are challenging to locate!) Production will likely be next month.

Speaking of jeans details - that's the point of this post. Can the mothers of girls give me some perspective on a couple of questions about jeans details, please?

1 - We're thinking of using pink thread as the contrast thread on the girls jeans. You know that gold/orange contrast thread on jeans? Well, I thought using pink on the girls jeans would be cute and fun. Now I wonder if that's too specific and limiting and un-jeans-like. Moms, please let me know what you'd prefer.

2 - The back pockets - should they be decorated or not? Is plain, no stitching except around the pocket border (to attach it to the pant leg) too plain? Is a couple of horizontal lines of contrast stitching classic, perfect? If fancy stitching is preferred, what kind of design/stitching (examples of brand names would be great) do you like? In the future, would you like a line of jeans with a variety of pocket choices - some very ornately embroidered pocket fabric through very simple?

Those are two questions that I can't stop thinking about right now and any thoughts and comments that you can share would be a HUGE help to us. Please, please feel free to share any additional insights that you have about jeans or any other clothing item that you'd like to have available.

We're nearing the point that all that our dream is becoming reality, and we want to give you exactly what you want. So, please let us know what that is.

Best,
Sherry.

Memories

2009-07-12T12:17:00.002-05:00

Once you have lost someone dear to you, every time you hear of another passing, it brings back the memories. The recent losses in Hollywood have brought back many memories and feelings to me, even the kids. Michael Jackson especially, they have seen the many pictures of his kids, and the news coverage. Grace told me, "I really miss Michael Jackson." I said, "You didn't even know who he was", she said, "I know, but I still miss him for his kids." After Katie had seen his daughter at the memorial service, she told me she missed daddy a lot. The way I see them now is the way they were after Peter passed away. I tried to monitor what they saw on TV and on the computer, but it was everywhere. I have noticed the amount of coverage has slowed down quite a bit. I have also seen my kids perk up, and not mention their dad as often. Don't get me wrong, we talk about Peter, but in a happy way, not a sad way. I tell them funny stories about their dad, or if one of them does something that reminds me of him, I tell them, "You are just like your dad", it makes them smile. Kids bounce back so much quicker than adults.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Happy Fourth of July

2009-07-03T12:21:00.003-05:00

Helen with her art project from school. She was very proud when we hung it up.

Happy Fourth of July, from the It'll Fit'll family, to yours!!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

Stinky Monday

2009-06-25T22:50:00.004-05:00

I hope all you dad's and grandpa's had a good day on Sunday. I cut the grass in the morning and then we went to the cemetery after lunch. I wasn't planning on making the trip, but when I told Robbie and Ted we weren't going to go, they asked if we could. I don't mind going to the cemetery, it gives me peace. I always feel like I am making the kids go, I want them to want to go. I knew in my heart that Peter wouldn't have cared either way, he probably would have wanted us to stay home, we would have saved gas. When we got home, we set up the pool that I bought three summers ago. I always had a bad feeling in my gut whenever the kids asked when we were going to put it up. I thought Helen might pick Noah up and throw him in the pool, it was the time that she was always picking him up. Now that they are older, and she doesn't pick him up anymore, I feel more at ease. It was a very good investment, they have been in that pool so much this week. Helen has turned into a fish! On Monday, they went in for the first time, I couldn't get her out! I did get her out at dinnertime, but then she went right back in. It was 8:00pm by the time she finally came out. She absolutely loves that pool. My furry niece, Fiona, liked it too. We were dog sitting this week-end, and I completely forgot how much she enjoys pools. While it was filling up, she jumped in and started biting at the water going in a circle. She has her own pool at home and does the same thing. The kids got such a kick out of it, they wanted Toby to go in too. I told them it wasn't such a good idea, his fingernails could puncture the pool. Toby hasn't been too interested in it anyway, probably because anytime he goes near it, they splash him.

The week didn't start out so good, Helen started summer school on Monday. It was such a hectic week-end, that I completely forgot the bus driver never called to tell me what time they were going to pick up Helen. I called the bus company Monday morning and was told they didn't have Helen scheduled for a bus until June 29th, a full week after school started. I couldn't understand how that happened when the bus company called me the previous week to make sure all of her information was correct. I was told to call the transportation department, it was them that put in the order. Of course when I called, I got a recording, so I left a not so pleasant message. I was so mad. I just told them they should have told me Helen didn't have bus service the first week of school, so I could plan accordingly. Along with the letter telling me what school she was placed at, and that she would receive bus service, they should have included the fact that she wouldn't start the bus until the second week of school. It still irritates me. I did speak with someone in the special education department and complained to them about the situation. I said, "We are supposed to be working as a team, making sure all of Helen's needs are met. To leave out such important information about Helen's transportation to her mother, is unacceptable. Who dropped the ball?" She informed me that they were so back logged, I was lucky it was just the first week of school. To that I said, "If you are so back logged, why did I receive a letter stating Helen would receive bus service from the start of school until the end? That is not a good enough excuse." I then went on to tell her how disappointed I was with the school system, and I really hoped this mistake would never happen again. After that, I politely said good-bye. It was a very frustrating morning. The other kids started Bible Camp that morning too. Noah wanted nothing to do with it, even with a couple of his friends there. He ended up coming with me, there went my hour and twenty minutes to myself. Guess what else happened, my air conditioning went out on my car. I took it to the mechanic, it will cost an arm and a leg to get it fixed. We are going to try and make it without, it hasn't been easy, it has been hot and humid around here lately. It's always something, isn't it!?!!

I know Sherry is the one to write about the business side of things, but I'm so excited, I couldn't help but mention this. Helen was fitted on Saturday with our first pair of jeans...Hallelujah!! I can't begin to describe the feeling I had when she put them on and they fit. To see her put them on and not have two feet of pant leg to pull up, is indescribable. She was also fitted with the bodysuit, it looked so nice on her. So all you patient people out there...soon!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

A Long Summer Ahead

2009-06-18T21:34:00.003-05:00

This is going to be a very long summer...On Monday I stained the swing set, it took me all day. It was also Helen's last day of school. I took a break when it was time to watch for her bus. Right after she came home, my friend stopped by to tell me she will be teaching at the kid's school next year. Her youngest is in school with Noah, and our boys are in Cub Scouts together. While we were visiting in the front, Helen was a busy beaver in the back. I had placed the stain and paintbrush off to the side, thinking I would be back after Helen came home. The other kids knew not to touch it, a few of them had already gotten yelled at when they grabbed it during the day. When I was done visiting with my friend, I headed to the backyard to continue staining. I was met by Helen who was covered from head to toe with brown stain. She thought she would help by staining the fence, not just the privacy fence, but our chain link fence(dog run) too! Thank goodness it is in the corner of the yard so it's not so noticeable. I was so mad, especially when I went to finish the swing set and couldn't because I ran out of stain. I had to put that project on hold for a few days, until I could get more stain. I am proud to say, I finished the job today, and it looks awesome! Helen was pretty easy to clean up, and I was surprised to see that the stain came out of her clothes.

Katie and Grace did a great job at Greek Fest this past week-end, I got teary-eyed while watching them. There was a very big crowd watching them, I was afraid Katie would get overwhelmed, but she didn't. I think the roar of the crowd made her smile even more, and Grace was all smiles throughout the dance. The kids and I had a great time there on Sunday, even though they had run out of Dolmades(stuffed grape leaves) by the time we went to get some. They did have Loukoumades(honey puffs), thank goodness, the kids love them.

Toby ate Katie's glasses...again! I was so mad, I had to take some time to myself in my bedroom, and lock the door. I can't begin to tell you how many times I have told Katie to put her glasses up high so Toby couldn't get them. She placed them on the corner of her dresser, right next to Helen's bed. Toby hopped up on the bed, grabbed the glasses, and had a feast. We went and ordered her a new pair today, I told her it was coming out of her bank account. If this past week is any indication of how this summer is going to be, maybe I should stock up on beer!! Just Kidding!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Naughty Helen

2009-06-11T22:37:00.000-05:00

Oh my goodness, I am soooo not used to having the kids around all day long. As you can see, I had a hard time getting on the computer today. Every time I sat down to get started writing, someone needed something, or, they were nonstop asking when I would be done. I couldn't concentrate, so I gave up and decided to wait until they were in bed. Aaahhh, quiet time!

I met with Helen's teachers last week for a follow up to her IEP from back in February. I don't know if you remember, but they were talking about changing her program which would mean changing schools. They decided not to move her, the program she would have been going into would have done more harm than good. Her teacher told me she is not going to give up on Helen, she is invested. It is my understanding that the program they were talking about putting her in, was the one where they focus on self help skills, that's it. I guess there are behavior issues in that type of class, and her teacher was afraid Helen would pick up on it, and do her more harm than good. Like her teacher said, Helen has the potential, she just needs to start cooperating a little more. The past two days Helen has been acting up at school, so she has gotten sad faces on her chart. I wouldn't know this from seeing her chart because somehow it gets lost before it reaches home. I called her teacher today because of the way she was acting when she got off the bus. She wouldn't come in, she stood out on the sidewalk with her thumb in her mouth (a sign that she knows she did something wrong). It was then that I learned of the naughty behavior Helen has been displaying at school. Do you remember what happens when Helen doesn't get all smiley faces on her chart? Helen does, that's why she "loses" her chart before she gets home. She knows she will not get her favorite snack of pretzels and marshmallows if she has one sad face. She was extremely naughty today, which is why she had her thumb in her mouth and wouldn't come in until she could no longer see me waiting at the door. When she finally got to the door, I asked her how school went, she told me, "No Mommy!" I feel bad she was so naughty, but glad to see she understands her behavior was unacceptable. I am hoping with a good night's sleep she will be better behaved tomorrow at school. I think that had something to do with it. The other kids are done with school so they get to stay up. When I told her it was time for bed because she had school in the morning, she fought in every way possible. I should have been more firm with her, it's hard at night, my energy level is very low. I was able to get her to bed at a decent time tonight, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed for tomorrow.

Katie and Grace are dancing at Greek Fest this week-end, I'm working the beer tent on Saturday night. Maybe I'll meet someone...or, maybe not.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Stickers

2009-06-03T09:26:00.003-05:00

I don't say this very often, but, I don't know what to do with myself this morning. It's Wednesday, I'm supposed to be helping with hot lunch at the school, at least that's what my internal clock is telling me. The last hot lunch for the school year was last week and I already miss it. I thought I would fill the void and write my blog, next week it may be a different story.

Yesterday we went to Children's for Katie's follow up appointment with the surgeon. We had to wait a long time for the doctor. I had to have the nurse call the cardiac clinic because Helen had an appointment scheduled, and we were late. When I spoke with the scheduling department they assured me there was enough time for us to get to Helen's appointment on time, I should have known better. Once the doctor came in to see Katie, she felt her tummy, asked how many lollipops, and we were out of there. All that waiting for less than a minute of her time! Our next stop was Helen's appointment, she was there to get hooked up to a Holter monitor. For those of you who have been fortunate enough to have no idea what that is, it monitors her heart rate for 24 hours. It's like having an EKG for a day. When the 24 hours are up, I take off the monitor, put it in a Federal Express envelope, and they will come and pick it up at my house. I don't have to make another trip just to drop it off, how awesome is that!?!! After dinner the kids went outside to play for awhile. I checked Helen's stickers(that's what she calls them) when she came inside. They were in the right pattern, but in the wrong spot. It looked like they had slid down from her chest to her tummy, but that is not possible. If any of you have ever had an EKG, then you know how strong the stickers are, they don't move. I think Helen did some rearranging! I put them all back where they belonged and got her ready for bed. She kept insisting on taking off her stickers. The last thing I heard her say last night...stickers! When she woke up this morning I checked them again, all but one had fallen off during the night. They were all crumpled, I had to replace them with new ones. She was not a happy camper, in fact, the last thing I heard her say on the way to the school bus...stickers!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Short Blog

2009-05-28T14:05:00.001-05:00

I bet some of you are a bit confused, my last two blogs went missing. We were the unfortunate recipients of a very crude troll. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's someone who infiltrates and leaves very mean and hurtful comments. That is the only attention I'm going to give it, since that's all it was looking for anyway. Now, back to business...

I hope everyone enjoyed the long holiday week-end, and had a nice Memorial Day. We didn't do anything special, just hung out at home. Noah turned four yesterday, he picked out a light saber and a Clone Trooper helmet. I think the helmet is bigger than him! I am having his party this week-end, so I have been trying to get the house in order. I thought things would start to slow down since it's the end of the school year, but it seems to have sped up. I have had no time at all to clean my house.

Katie started softball, her first game is next week. I am lucky that she plays at a field where there is a playground directly across from it. While Katie is playing softball, the other kids can stay busy by playing at the playground.

Grace graduates from preschool tomorrow, she is looking forward to being a Kindergartner. That's one more thing on my list of things to do, make something for her teachers. I don't ever remember giving my teachers an end of the year gift. I appreciate all the teachers have done for my kids, but I really can't afford more gifts. I hope they enjoy homemade banana bread, because that's what I'm making. Since I'm talking about it, I might as well get baking.

Sorry for the short blog, I didn't want to spend a lot of time on it, in case it needs to disappear.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

We're Stars

2009-05-06T21:39:00.002-05:00

Grace, Noah, and I were on the Milwaukee news last night! Our city had a special election yesterday for a new mayor, we went and voted. Noah ran in ahead of Grace and I, as soon as we walked in I saw a TV camera pointing right at him. While we walked, it followed us. When we got to the table and I gave the people my name, I mentioned the camera. I was told, "That's what happens when you walk in with such cute kids." I just laughed, thinking it was the local station. I received my ballot and headed to the nearest booth to vote, as the camera followed our every move. When I went to put my ballot into the machine, I got a little nervous and missed the slot, not once, but twice. You know what I was thinking? Is that camera reading who I voted for!?!! (Yes, I am sooo much like my mom!) We got our stickers and headed out the door. I was getting the kids in the car when this very nicely dressed woman got my attention. As she walked closer I recognized her as one of the morning anchors for the early morning news. Ding, ding, ding...OMG!!! The camera that had followed our every move was for ABC in Milwaukee. She approached me and said, "I saw this young woman with two kids and so I had to talk to you." She then started asking me questions about the election, I was glad when it was over. I told her to feel free not use me, I had no make-up on, Grace and Noah were running around a car, and I thought I sounded stupid. It was a lot harder than I thought! I then told her that I watched her every morning while getting ready to take the kids to school. It was a very pleasant conversation, that part I enjoyed. At 6:00pm, we were on the news! She did a very nice job at putting the segment together, I don't think I sounded stupid, she used the best part. She had interviewed other people, and even took a walk in our downtown, talking about how the unemployment rate has hit us hard. We were on at the end, she talked about how I'm a single mom with six kids, trying to make a fresh start. So I'm using my vote to voice my opinion, as she is saying that, they show me putting my ballot in the machine (remember, it took three tries!). I had a few people tell me today they saw me on TV. One of the lunch mom's said jokingly, "So I hear your yesterday's news!" HA

I am writing this on Wednesday night because very early tomorrow morning I am taking Katie for her surgery. Please keep us in your prayers.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

UPDATE: Katie's surgery went well, it took three stitches to close the hole, six knots in every stitch. She is doing awesome...thank you for your prayers.

Free Counter

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

2009-04-30T08:44:00.004-05:00

We never made it to see Katie's artwork on Sunday, we were going to go when I finished in the kitchen. I was in the middle of cleaning out the refrigerator when Ted told me Noah was trying to clean up water downstairs with paper. I sent Katie and Grace down there to clean it up because I thought it came from them playing with the Barbie cruise ship. I didn't hear anything from them in awhile so I checked in with them. They came upstairs holding a very wet towel. I asked them how much water they used. They told me they didn't play with any water...uh-oh. I went downstairs to see what was going on, I found two puddles of water(I thought Toby was to blame at first!). When I opened the door to the laundry room...HELLO...water everywhere. My heart sank, I have never had water in the basement. I started to move the boxes of my mom's things out of harm's way, and even had to unpack some of it in order to save it. I couldn't figure out what happened, my sump pump is fairly new. I tried checking it, but what do I know about things like that, nothing. I called my brother John and got his voicemail. Thinking he was out of state I called Jerry, Robbie's friend's dad. He has been such a life saver, he was the one who fixed my car when the fuel pump went out on me, not to mention other things. Jerry came right over and took a look at it, he said it was still working...whew! While he was here, John showed up carrying an extra motor, so I had two life savers that day. They both thought the sump pump got overwhelmed by so much rain in so little time. I am finding out that I wasn't the only one that happened to. John left the motor here, just in case. When all was said and done, the art show was over by the time I was done mopping up water. Katie didn't seem to mind, in fact, she had forgotten all about it.

Robbie is very excited about making his First Communion on Sunday. We had rehearsal last night, we are the first ones to walk in. Robbie is happy about it, me, not so much. I like to blend in, being first is not blending in. We do have front row seats, so I can't complain about that! Ted will be one of three altar servers, he feels special. Robbie also gets to take up the gifts with five other kids, he is first doing that too. They practiced their song that they sing, of course I got teary-eyed. They look so precious when singing about Jesus. They have their hands together, as if they were praying, and when they sing, "We want to see Jesus", they look up to the sky. I'm getting teary-eyed right now just thinking about it. It should be a very nice day.

I'm off to clean the house today, I wanted to work in the yard, but once again it's raining. Let's hope the water stays outside this time!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Body Of Christ...Amen

2009-04-23T09:08:00.000-05:00

This week is back to normal and everyone is feeling good. On Tuesday I went to the school and made communion hosts with Robbie's class. Wheat flour and water, that's all it takes. About 30 years ago, while doing construction on the school and church, someone found a communion press in the basement. The stamping on it dates back to the 1880's, it is very cool. Father placed it on top of the stove, when it was hot enough, he placed a small amount in the center, then he squeezed. It oozed out, sometimes too much, the kids loved it. When it was done, he put it between damp cloths and went on to the next one. When he was done making all of them, he then cut out a large circle with a knife, this would be his. They had little round cutters with tall handles to cut out the rest, these are for us. The cutters were also from the 1880's. The hosts we made will be the ones we receive at the First Communion Mass. We were able to take a taste of the left over, it tasted much better than what we usually receive. I guess homemade does taste best, even with communion hosts!

The side mirror on Helen's bus was hit by a parent's van the other day. They couldn't move until the police went and took a report, and the bus company could fix the mirror. As soon as Helen gets dropped off, we leave to pick the others up from school. I waited an extra 10 minutes until I called the bus company, they told me what was going on. I left to pick up the kids, they were waiting for me against the fence. I figured I might as well swing by Helen's school and see if I could take her off the bus. I thought she would be very bored, and therefore, fidgety. I expected to see the mirror dangling on the side of the bus. It wasn't, it looked like it hadn't even moved, but it was cracked. I told her bus driver I was there to take Helen off her hands, I was sure she would be bored. Helen was the only one on the bus that was listening, so she was sorry to see her go. As we were pulling away, I saw someone from the bus company fixing the mirror. If we hadn't picked her up, she probably would have been at least an hour late getting home.

We have somewhat of a busy week-end, Katie and Grace have Greek dance class on Friday. Robbie has a den meeting on Saturday, and on Sunday we are going to the Catholic High School for the art show. Katie will have a picture on display, she is very excited. Ted had his self portrait displayed there a few years ago, he was very proud.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Spring Break '09

2009-04-16T15:18:00.004-05:00

Oh my goodness...I can't believe it's Thursday afternoon already! The kids are off from school for Spring Break, that's why I haven't written this blog yet. I finally had to kick one of them off, every time I saw the computer available I was in the middle of something. When I was done with what I was doing I would come to the computer only to find it occupied once again. The week didn't start off so great, we have been fighting an intestinal bug. While at church on Easter morning, Noah was the first to share with everyone what he had eaten that morning (the cry room was packed!). The kids will be the first to tell you that it didn't smell so pretty in there, in fact, an older couple left the room and went to the other side. I got him cleaned up just in time for Communion, and then we left. He wasn't sick for the rest of the day. Ted on the other hand wasn't feeling the greatest. As soon as we got home from my brother's house, he got sick. Robbie got sick during the night, but both were fine the next day. I was the next in line to catch whatever was going around. My bug decided it wanted to be different, and came out in another way. I spent most of the day on Monday and Tuesday trying to recover. We have gone two nights without anyone getting sick, let's hope we're done(I'm knocking on wood!).

Tuesday Katie had an appointment with a surgeon about her hernia. She will be having surgery at Children's in Milwaukee on May 7th. Children get hernias when the muscle around the intestine doesn't close all the way while they are developing in the uterus. It is only when the intestine pokes through that the hernia is discovered. They will be stitching up the hole instead of using mesh. Because she is still growing, the mesh would only tear, and therefore, she would need another surgery. Robbie also had an appointment, the dermatologist wanted to check the incision. They put more steri-strips on to give it more support. He has to stay out of gym for two more weeks, and also no rough housing. The biopsy results came back...NEGATIVE!(Yeah!)

Helen has been blasting Christmas music this week. If it weren't for the nice weather we have been having, I would have thought they were on Christmas break.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

PS- To all of you who are Orthodox...Happy Easter.

Free Counter

Happy Easter

2009-04-09T09:08:00.000-05:00

Robbie is doing fine, he had one incident on Monday with his leg. While getting into his desk he bumped his leg which caused some swelling. I had him elevate it for awhile, it was as if I had asked him to eat nails. He did not want to stay still for a minute. His incision is looking good, it looks to me like it is healing nicely. We have a follow up appointment during Spring break. Katie also has an appointment during the break, her appointment is with a surgeon. I was told at her check up back in August that she had a hernia. The pediatrician said it was something that could wait for awhile but would definitely need to be taken care of. If left alone it could affect her later in life, especially if she wanted children. Our COBRA insurance runs out in August, now is the time to get everything taken care of. I have priced insurance for us...OUCH!! I really don't see how I can afford private insurance, it is a difficult decision. I am looking into insurance just for Helen at this point.

Helen's report card wasn't as bad as I was expecting. She is doing much better since the IEP, I'm wondering if they are still going to place her in a different program for the next school year. The teachers commented on how she is like a different girl. She is trying harder and is even cooperating, how about that!?!! Last night at her religion class they went into the church to watch the eighth graders do Shadows Of The Cross. They reenact the stations of the cross by body language (I don't know how else to describe it). I asked her teacher how she did, expecting to hear they had to leave. When they first entered the church Helen started making noises in order to hear the echo. I guess no one noticed, I think they just didn't say anything. I have been in church with Helen when she makes those noises, I had to take her into the cry room it was so loud.

I can't believe Easter is this week-end, it snuck up on me. I realized last week-end that I needed to do my shopping this week. Wednesday is out because I volunteer at the school until 1:00pm. Friday was out because the kids have no school. Tuesday and Thursday Grace and Noah don't have school, so that only left Monday. Thank goodness I had nothing planned for that morning so I was able to get it all done. The kids are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Easter Bunny and can't wait to color eggs. You all know what we'll be doing Saturday night!! I wish those of you that celebrate a very Happy Easter.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Update

2009-04-04T08:42:00.001-05:00

Robbie's surgery went well, it was a very long day. The doctor was running behind schedule so Robbie didn't go into surgery until 3:00pm. We got home around 6:00pm, he had a hard time waking up, and was even getting sick. He had a good nights sleep and is doing much better today. He is a trooper, he has not had any pain medicine, and in fact, hasn't complained at all. We will get the biopsy results in a couple of weeks, please keep us in your prayers.

Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Time Management

2009-04-02T08:18:00.001-05:00

I thought I was doing a good job at managing my time this week. Now that it's Thursday and I have a ton of things to get done, I didn't do so good. Unfortunately that means I don't have it in me to sit here and write a blog. My mind is on so many other things, first and foremost, Robbie's surgery tomorrow. He has a suspicious growth inside his birthmark, so the surgeon is going to remove the whole thing. Since my mother-in-law died from melanoma the doctors thought it best to remove the entire birthmark instead of just the growth. I need to clean the house a bit, do laundry, meet with the accountant(time's ticking!), and get Katie signed up on her friend's softball team. I only have today to do all of this because tonight we have a Cub Scout pack meeting, it's the annual Eggstranaut. That is where they bundle up their eggs with whatever they like and then drop them from the fire escape outside of the school. They are successful if their egg doesn't break. Ted has wrapped his with packing wrap, and Robbie's is nestled in shredded paper inside of a left over container. Wish us luck!

Please keep Robbie in your prayers tomorrow.
Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

OPA!!!

2009-03-26T09:38:00.003-05:00

Ted, Robbie, and Katie at the Greek school program

Katie(bottom right) and her friends at the Variety show

Yesterday was Greek Independence Day, did you fly your flags proudly? That's what I asked the hot lunch mom's yesterday, they just laughed. The Greek school program was very nice, we had a very big turn out. On Saturday during the kid's rehearsal, the parents decorated and set up the tables for the show. We set up two extra tables (16 settings) just in case we needed them, and we did. Ted practiced all of Saturday and Sunday morning, he was very nervous. When we got to the church I told him to say his poem for his teacher just to make sure he was pronouncing all the words correctly. Good thing he did that, when it was his turn, he had terrible stage fright. He started his poem in the middle, his teacher had to help him along. Because he had said it to her beforehand, she knew he could say it and didn't mess up because he didn't know the poem. The food was fantastic, it was seafood because of Lent and fasting. We had Greek salad without the Feta cheese (no dairy), shrimp with orzo pasta in a tomato based sauce, octopus, onion rings for the kids, bread, fresh fruit, and an assortment of desserts. During our meal the Greek dance troupe performed two dances. Katie and Grace have decided they want to join the troupe, tonight is their first rehearsal. They will be performing at the Greek Fest this year, both are very excited.

Katie did an excellent job in the variety show, they received a lot of applause. People have been coming up to me and telling me how cute Katie was. They comment on how far she has come since dealing with the Selective Mutism. Watching her on that stage, it was hard to believe she had such a tough time, she was a natural.

We celebrated Helen and Robbie's birthday on Sunday afternoon, it was a nice party. Not as many people as I had expected, but that's okay. It gave us the opportunity to talk as a group, all in one room. Usually when more people are there, some people are in the living room, some in the kitchen, and some in the computer room. I have to make the rounds in order to talk with everyone. Robbie loved his gifts, he told me, "I hope this isn't a dream, I love my presents!"

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Busy, Busy, Busy

2009-03-19T09:24:00.001-05:00

Katie has been working hard for the Variety Show tomorrow night. She and her friends are singing and dancing to "The Hard Knock Life" from Annie. I was worried she would get cold feet. After hearing the excitement in her voice when telling her Greek school teacher about it, I no longer feel that way. I sat through some of the dress rehearsal yesterday, it's going to be a cute show. Ted is going to a birthday party, so he won't be with us. He is getting his braces off tomorrow, I'm worried his teeth are going to be stained. He didn't do a very good job with brushing, even with me nagging him. He can't wait, he hasn't told anyone at school, he wants to surprise them.

Ted, Robbie, and Katie have been working on poems and songs for their Greek school program. Ted said he is doing fine, but Robbie is having a hard time with his poem. My father-in-law has been coming by to help him and he is still having problems. His teacher changed her mind, I guess all of the kids in his class have had the same problems. They are now going to sing a song together, and from what I heard from Robbie, he knows it. He said to me, "Now I won't be sick on Sunday, cause I'm looking forward to the program now." That little stinker, he was going to fake sick so he wouldn't have to do his poem. I grew a bit wiser in an instant, I will no longer take their word on feeling sick. The thermometer will come out every time!

This next week is going to be busy for us, we having something to do everyday. Today Katie has a Daisy meeting after school, and Robbie has a den meeting this evening. Tomorrow Ted's braces come off, Katie has the Variety show, and Ted is going to the party. Saturday is rehearsal for the Greek school program, and then church. Sunday is the Greek school program and then Helen and Robbie's birthday party right after. Monday I have a Cub Scout committee meeting, and on Tuesday a mandatory school meeting, it is also Robbie's birthday. Wednesday I have a doctor's appointment and Helen has religion class. The other kids don't have Greek school because it is Greek Independence Day. Thursday is a free day, as of now! Friday Robbie has a pre-op doctors appointment and we have a First Communion meeting after school. Saturday morning Ted gets to feel what it's like to attend the Catholic High School. They offer classes and the kids sign up for which ones they would like. In between all of these activities I will need to do laundry, go grocery shopping, and keep the house clean. I'm tired just thinking about it! Who knows, maybe I'll loose a few pounds...that'll work!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Pinewood Derby Cars

2009-03-13T08:55:00.001-05:00

Robbie and Ted's Derby cars

Ted's pick-up truck

Robbie's pencil Derby car

Robbie came in 8th place, and Ted came in 12th out of 22 cars, they had a great time!

Free Counter

Smiley Faces

2009-03-12T08:50:00.000-05:00

At Helen's school they use a smiley face system when rewarding her with good behavior. They have a chart with all her subjects on it, when she has made it through one of them with no issues, she receives her smiley face. If she receives all smiley faces at the end of the day, she gets to pick from the candy bucket, something that makes Helen very happy! As she is running from the school bus she is yelling to me, "Mommy, I pick from candy bucket!" When she gets into the house, after stopping by the mailbox to see if we have mail, I ask her if she received all smiley faces at school. She is always excited when she has because she knows that means she will get her favorite snack...pretzels and marshmallows. It has taken awhile, but I think she finally understands this system. Yesterday she came flying off the bus yelling about the candy bucket so I asked if she received all smiley faces. First she said yes, but then she got a look on her face and changed her answer to no. I said, "Did you get a sad face?" "Yes, in art I push Alisha to ground." I didn't even have to ask what she did, she shared the information right away. I told her it's mean to push, and she could have hurt Alisha. I then asked her why she did it, "I don't know", she said. While I was waiting for my other kids in the school parking lot I kept thinking about how far Helen has come with sharing information about school. I wanted to check and see if this incident happened the way Helen said it did, so I called her teacher. I was disappointed to hear that it did happen, but thrilled at the same time to hear it did. This meant that Helen had communicated an actual event from school, her teacher was so proud. I hope Helen keeps moving forward, it's so frustrating knowing she has the potential but doesn't use it. I also hope she will stop being physical with her friends at school, something else we are working on.

Tonight is the big Pinewood Derby race for the boys, they are so excited. At hot lunch yesterday I stopped by Robbie's table, at his request, and the boys were talking about it. My father-in-law stopped by the other night for a visit, while he was here Robbie asked me to ask him to come and stay with the girls while we go to the race. Robbie didn't want the girls to come, I'm thinking it's because I would be distracted from him. He worked very hard on his pencil shaped derby car (I'll have to post a picture of it). If the girls went, they would be interested for the first few races, but then I'd be watching them to make sure they didn't get into mischief. So, Papou is coming tonight to stay with the girls. Noah will be coming with us, this is right up his alley, he loves cars! This should be an interesting night, sometimes the dad's get into it more than the boys. This race tonight will decide who moves forward to the district race at the end of the month. Ted made it there a few years ago, wish us luck.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Our Week's Activities

2009-03-05T09:16:00.004-06:00

Helen had a great time at the circus, that is all she has been talking about. She told me she saw tigers, clowns, and elephantses! I am thankful for field trips, I don't have the money to take the kids to most of the places they go.

We picked up the Girl Scout cookies Katie sold from the cookie mom on Saturday. I am proud to say, we delivered all but 2 orders by Sunday evening (she had 16 orders, 71 boxes). Some of her orders were from family in Illinois, so we spent Sunday afternoon on a car ride. It was nice to get out of the house for the day and see family and friends. Their favorite delivery was to my friend Carmen, she has a guinea pig. I bet you can imagine what I have been hearing lately..."Mom, can we have a guinea pig?" When I tell them, "No way!", they then ask, "When are we going back to Carmen's, can we go today?" Carmen lives in a one bedroom apartment, she has no kids, so my kids get all of her attention. To say my kids love it is an understatement. You would have to meet my friend Carmen to fully understand. She has so much energy, she makes every single one of them feel very special. She is very generous with them, she gave them the last of her juice boxes and M&M granola bars! She doesn't show favoritism to any one of them, even though Noah is her Godson. She has been there for me since Peter died, when most of my other friends disappeared. We're lucky to have her.

Robbie has had quite the social calendar lately, he does more than I do! He has been to a Monster Truck Jam, a Bucks game, a hotel with a water park, and many sleep overs. He is going to another indoor water park this week-end, and because we already committed to that, he will be missing a Marquette basketball game. Out of all my kids, Robbie's friend's and their parents include him (and sometimes all of us) in a lot of their activities. I think it's wonderful, he is doing things that I would love to do with all of the kids, but just don't have the money. He is very fortunate to have a great group of friends. I am fortunate too, the parents have helped me in so many ways. I am grateful.

Ted was an alter server for the first time on Saturday, he carried the cross. I think he did a good job, it helped that he served with a very nice girl from school who helped him when he needed it. The family room(cry room) is directly across from where the servers sit. I asked Ted how his family looks from there. He told me, "Fine, except when Robbie opened his mouth very wide at me and Grace was waving her arms!" I was sitting right next to them, and never saw it happen. Helen was sitting on my lap, and she was quite a handful that day, so that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it!

That's about all that's been going on around here, not much else to talk about. I enjoy the quiet weeks, and now having said that...I just jinxed myself!!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

PS- jmckaye- I am sorry to say that I have been unable to locate any information for you regarding those bike shorts. I looked through Helen's keepsake box and didn't find the sheet I thought I had. I'm sorry, I hope you were able to find the information without me.

Free Counter

Helen...Drums and Basketball

2009-02-26T09:18:00.000-06:00

Helen is at the circus today, it's all she has been talking about for the past two days. She has really started to share her day with me, I may hear about it constantly, but at least she is trying to have a conversation. She shared with me yesterday that she had music and played the drums, she loved it. On Tuesday she had gym and played basketball with her friends, and she named all of them. I can see that she is starting to take an interest in sharing with us the day she had. Helen has always showed progress here at home before showing it at school, I hope she starts sharing soon, it would make her teachers so happy. In the evening I lay out the kid's clothes for school the next day, last night, Helen didn't like what I had chosen. It was a blue light weight sweater, I thought it would be perfect for the circus, not too heavy, yet warm enough. She came in my room holding a shirt and pointing at it, "Mommy, this one, look, basketball!" She had picked a long sleeve shirt with a basketball pictured on it, I guess she's liking basketball these days! I wish I had a good spot to put a basketball hoop, not only for her but Robbie as well.

Ted and Robbie have been working on their Pinewood Derby cars for Cub Scouts. Ted made a silver pick up truck, like the one his dad used to have. Robbie made a pencil. I haven't seen Robbie's yet, it's still at his friend's house where he made it. I was told by the dad that Robbie originally wanted to make a monster truck, his new obsession since going to a monster jam program with a friend. There is a website they went to that has patterns for these cars. As soon as Robbie saw the pattern for the pencil, he had to do it. He told the dad, "This is going to be awesome, everyone is going to laugh, this is great!" I can't wait to see the finished product, the race is in a few weeks.

We are starting to get ready for Robbie to make his first communion, we have meetings to attend. It's always an exciting time for the kids, they finally get to participate by taking the bread and wine. I think Helen will be another year or so, she is just now starting to pray at bedtime. Her religion class teacher has taught her how to sign two prayers. I love watching her sign the Hail Mary, and that's the one she prefers. At the beginning of the week, the kids were talking about what they were going to give up for lent. As of yesterday, no one had given anything up, they didn't like my suggestions! Video games, computer time, candy, ice cream, chocolate, TV shows...

I hope everyone that celebrates, has a nice Lenten season.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Shoes and Pancakes

2009-02-19T11:00:00.002-06:00

Today would have been my mom's 75th birthday...Happy Birthday Mom. I know she is on the mind's of many people today, especially my siblings. It will be two years in June that she passed away. I still have her birthday written on my calendar, and when I got a new cell phone last year, I listed her in my contact list. Isn't it funny that those two little things make it seem as though she is not completely gone to me. It is hard to let go 100%. I'm sure she will be with each of us today, her perfect four.

This morning I received a call from Helen's teacher, she had forgotten her tennis shoes and needed them for gym. It was that phone call that reinforced what I was already feeling...Helen needs to be at a school close to home. If she goes to a school far from home, it won't be as easy to swing by and drop things off for her. It will happen, I would be stupid to think it wouldn't. I handed her the shoes and told her to put them in her backpack this morning. She told me she wanted to wear them instead of her boots. We had rain, then a rain/snow mix, and then snow last night, it was very slippery outside, she needed to wear her boots. She gave me her angry grunt while putting them on. I was distracted by Katie coughing and needing medicine. While I was at it, I gave Ted his medicine for strep throat. I forgot all about Helen's shoes, otherwise I would have checked her backpack to make sure she packed them. So, it happens, we forget stuff, the schools call me, and I drop it off. I wouldn't be as able if Helen were farther away. While the teacher had me on the phone she told me, "Great job with the pancakes!" I thought she was talking to someone else, I said, "What pancakes?" "The ones you made this morning for breakfast," she said. "Helen told me all about how you made pancakes and they were very good." "HA," I said "I didn't make pancakes this morning." She turned to Helen and said, "Your mom didn't make pancakes this morning!" I could hear Helen in the background laugh. When I dropped off her shoes, the assistant came to the office to get them. I explained how I had handed them to her to put in her backpack. When I went to get them from the closet, you could tell that she had thrown them in there, she was probably frustrated with me! Then I told her, "Pancakes in the morning, I barely have enough time to get them all ready and out the door!" We had a good chuckle.

Helen was named after my mom, how appropriate I started this day with a good laugh because of her!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

PS-jmckayc, I haven't heard from my friend about those bike shorts. I searched all over the web for them, and googled every name I could think of for them. My next step is to look in Helen's keepsake box for the information I had on them, I may have saved it, I don't remember. I'm sorry it has taken so long, I will let you know if I'm successful.

Free Counter

sigh...IEP

2009-02-12T09:19:00.002-06:00

Why do IEP's get harder as the years go by? It is do difficult to sit there and listen to how far behind your child is compared to others their age. I had Helen's meeting a few weeks ago, during my time of strep throat. I don't know if recovering from it, and having an allergic reaction to the medication made me more emotional, but I'd like to think so. I was so sad after I met with her teachers, I have never felt that way before. Helen seems to be at a stand still, she really hasn't advanced very much this school year. Her teacher suggested we look into a different program for her, one that would work better for her. I agree, it was just hard to hear. I really like the school she is at, it is just 2 minutes from home, and the staff have been wonderful to her. A new program would mean a move to a new school, change is always difficult. It is all just rumors for now, but the best program for her is located at a school about 20-30 minutes from home. Our school district just announced a plan to lessen bus routes in order to save money. I don't know if they would provide bus service for her if there is a compatible program for her closer to home. I don't want her on a bus for a long time, I can't put into words why, it's just a gut feeling. Her teacher is going to take me to the different schools that have the program we are looking for and help me with the decision, something she doesn't have to do. She told me she has a lot invested in Helen and she wants to make sure she is placed in the right spot, she is not going to fall through the cracks. The last time I had to make a decision like this, Peter was still here, and he helped a lot. He went to the schools to see the classrooms and meet with the teachers, I was taking care of Robbie, Katie, Grace, and baby Noah, so I didn't go. He was the one that made the decision that Helen would go to the school she is at. I have been so pleased with that decision, it's too bad he was never able to see that he made the right choice. I will miss the school she is at, I'm sure she will too, but we have to do what is best for her. She needs a program that is going to make her blossom and show just how intelligent she is. Please keep us in your prayers.

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Reaction

2009-02-05T08:43:00.002-06:00

I have had a rough couple of weeks, yesterday I had an allergic reaction to the medication I was on for strep throat. I actually started having the reaction days ago, but didn't realize what was going on until yesterday when I became very ill. My legs and ankles were swollen and I was getting bad headaches. My mom's legs and ankles used to swell up when she was on them all day, so I just thought I inherited that trait from her. I figured the headaches were stress related so I took Advil and went on with my days. Yesterday when I woke up I felt as though I had gained 50 pounds, I was swollen everywhere. I had another headache so I took some more Advil then headed off to the kid's school. I felt okay, just bloated, so I didn't see any harm in staying and helping with hot lunch. I really look forward to Wednesdays, I have made some wonderful friends. After lunch was served to all the students, my head started pounding. I ate something thinking it could have been from not eating all morning. I helped with the clean up and then grabbed some more to eat and finally sat down. That's when it hit me hard, I felt so sick, I couldn't eat. I used what strength I had in me to get Grace, Noah and myself home. I didn't even take my coat off, I went straight to bed, my head felt like it was going to burst open. I got physically sick at one point and realized there was no way I was going to be able to pick the kids up from school. I called a friend who usually helps me with rides but she wasn't home, I left a message. I called my father-in-law, thank goodness he was around and could help me. He went and picked the kids up and brought them home. He stayed and helped until I was feeling better. I did start feeling better in the evening, it was just my head that still had a bit of a throb to it. I am happy to say I'm feeling much better this morning. I can't believe the effects medication can have on your body, I was very sick. My kids have been wonderful during all of this, Ted has taken charge. He was helping my father-in-law make sandwiches for dinner last night, and I heard him telling the other kids to be quiet because I was resting. Katie has been helping by trying to keep the house clean, not an easy job!

I have a lot to do around here, I also need to get to the grocery store. I was going to shop on Monday but then Grace didn't feel good and stayed home from school. There just isn't enough time in a day!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter

Strep Throat

2009-01-29T08:36:00.000-06:00

This is going to be a quick post today, I am taking Helen to the dentist and need to leave in twenty minutes. I am recovering from strep throat, it started last Friday and got progressively worse over the week-end. I ended up at the emergency room on Sunday night with the help of Sherry and my oldest brother Rick. I couldn't take it anymore, I kept getting fevers and breaking them, I was hot and then extremely cold, my whole body ached, and my throat kept getting worse and worse with each swallow. I knew if I waited the next day to go to the doctor I would have to do it by myself, that wasn't going to happen. I didn't think I had the strength to walk to the car to go to the hospital, let alone drive myself to the doctor. There I was, in all my glory at the ER...pajamas, stinky, hair tangled and matted down in the back, and sweaty from the start of yet another fever break. I didn't care, that's how sick I was. When I looked up from the chair I was sitting in at registration, there was a parent from the kid's school. I thought, gosh, maybe I should have at least brushed my hair, or put clothes on. That thought was then replaced with, you know what...I don't care, I'm sick! I'm feeling better from the strep throat, but now I'm fighting off a cold, when it rains, it pours. The good thing is, I don't have mono, which they tested for in the hospital. My goal is to get my house back in order by Monday, you wouldn't believe the mess! I'm still taking it easy, otherwise the goal would have been by the end of the day. Well, I'm off. I hope everyone is staying well, it's not fun being sick!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

PS- a special thanks to Rick and Sherry for all their help, love you guys!

Free Counter

Inauguration 2009

2009-01-22T09:14:00.000-06:00

Inauguration day, what a day! I was so moved by the amount of people that showed up in Washington D.C., it brought a tear to my eye. I was glad to see I wasn't the only one who shed some tears that day (on the TV coverage I saw many tears), I thought something was wrong with me. I have watched inaugurations in the past and have never felt so emotional about them. I know this inauguration was different, it was historical, I just never thought I would have reacted in that way. That night as I was getting ready for bed and was listening to the highlights of the day, I realized why I had been so emotional...Peter. He loved politics! He would have loved the race to the White House, and even though he was a Republican, he would have appreciated the outcome. If he had been alive, our family would have been in Washington D.C. watching the inauguration in person. Not only did he love politics, he loved history. Having his children take part in it would have made him so proud. I am hoping and praying President Obama will always put the American people first, and get us back on track.

Robbie made his First Reconciliation (first confession) yesterday, it was a nice ceremony. He will be making his First Communion in May, he is very excited. When he goes to communion now he is supposed to cross his arms across his chest, this lets the priest know he cannot receive communion. He is so tired of doing it, half the time his arms are across his stomach. I think it makes them feel like part of the church when they are able to receive the host like everyone else.

Next week is Catholic school's week so the kids have a busy week. I am helping out at the school on Monday, they are having a carnival, and also my regular Wednesday. We are going to be grilling out hamburgers, I hope we have nice weather. We have warmed up a bit, it has been in the twenties with a chance of hitting the thirties today and tomorrow. Early Saturday morning a cold front will be moving through, hopefully it will be gone by hot lunch day. If not, we will have some pretty cold lunch moms flipping burgers outside. The things we do for our kids!

Until next time-
Take Care,
Sue

Free Counter