Fighting a Cold

I want to wish all of you a very happy holiday season. I hope all of you are enjoying the Christmas concerts, baking cookies, holiday parties, and just being in good company whether it be family, friends, or both.

I'm going to make this short, I have been fighting off a head cold so I have a lot of catching up to do with housework and my elf duties. I was planning on doing most of my duties this week when the kids went to bed. Instead I have been going to bed with a hot cup of tea and have been asleep by 10:00pm. It has helped, I don't feel so drained as I did a few days ago. I think people take for granted the fact that they have someone to cover for them when they become sick. It's times like these when I really miss Peter, he was always such a big help to me.

Helen had her Christmas concert the other night, she did a good job according to her teacher. I couldn't see her for the first four songs, and even when I did finally see her it was just her arm or elbow, or the side of her head! The gym was packed with a ton of people, and that was just half of the school. The gym is small so they divide the concert into two nights. They didn't have the risers set up in the middle, they were off to one side. Of course it was the side where the chairs filled up quickly, and of course, I need a big chunk of chairs since there are so many of us! We ended up on the side without the risers, and Helen was in the top row but, she was on the side we were sitting on so we couldn't see her. In fact, I was getting mad because I couldn't find her and I thought her teachers kept her out because she had an accident in her pants. I was really starting to steam, and then her teacher caught my eye and I saw her staring at one place which drew my attention, it was Helen. I just want to make it clear, if I hadn't been fighting this cold, I wouldn't have been as irritated. I almost didn't go that night because I was feeling bad, but I knew how much it meant to Helen. She has been walking around the house for weeks now doing the hand movements. When I asked her about the concert, she told me, "Mommy, hats on head and Santa Clause!" They wore penguin hats, which Helen insisted on wearing the next day to school, and Santa came at the end of the concert. It was worth all the misery I was feeling to see my little girl so happy and have a wonderful time. Today we are going to another program just her class is putting on, so I should be able to see her with no problem!

Have a wonderful holiday.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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Christmas Growing Up

Christmas is sneaking up on me, how about you? I remember when I was a little girl, Christmas couldn't get here fast enough. On Christmas Eve we would go to my Aunt's house (my mom's sister), and it seemed that day lasted forever, that we would never get there. Once we got there, time flew! We always had a visit from Santa, we would sing him a song, there would be a little banter amongst the grown-ups, and then he would pass out our gifts, only one. When he was done we would take family pictures with him, it was such a special time. After Santa left we would compare gifts, play new games, eat, and just have fun. Before I knew it, we were headed back home to wait for Santa to come to our house. I had a special Christmas album I would listen to every year when I went to bed. It was the story of Twas The Night Before Christmas, and on the flip side it was a story about visiting Santa's toyshop. I still have that album, too bad my turntable got broke during one of our moves. Christmas morning was filled with excitement and anticipation, we couldn't start opening our gifts until everyone was awake. We would take our positions in our certain "spots", and proceed to open our gifts. Paper was everywhere, there were oohs and aahs, and an occasional, "alright, just what I wanted!" My mom would sit in her chair, enjoying every minute of it. All the shopping she had done, all the energy she put into Christmas (and believe me, there was a lot), was paying off by seeing our faces light up. She once told me, "I don't care if I ever get a Christmas gift, my gift is watching you kids open yours, I enjoy it so much." At the time I thought she was crazy, what do you mean no gifts! I now understand exactly what she felt, for I too, feel the same way. Sherry would always be the last one to finish opening her gifts, she always "studied" her gifts once she opened them. If they were clothes, she would go try them on right away. I would open, look at it quickly, then move on to the next! To this day it is an inside joke with us as to who has the last gift! Once all the gifts were opened we cleaned up all the paper, saved the bows, and starting eating our candy from the stockings. We would go through all of our gifts again and take a better look at them. I would always put mine neatly beneath the tree, front and center, so I could stare at them. We would lounge around the house for the rest of the day, while my mom cooked us Christmas dinner. There were a few years when we ate out at a very nice restaurant. I ordered the ribs everytime, my mom got lobster, my brother John and my Grandma ordered duck. I can't remember what Sherry and my brother Rick ordered. They had Santa at this restaurant, so when we were done eating we would pay him a visit to thank him for all the nice gifts. My Aunt and Uncle would pay us a visit in the evening to see our presents. My Aunt already knew most of what we got because she and my mom would start their shopping after Thanksgiving. They were always at the mall! My mom absolutely loved Christmas, she will be deeply missed by all of us this year. I know we are all thinking about her as we go about our Christmas business. I will be thinking about her tomorrow while I am out and about doing my elf duties. Thank goodness Sherry is coming over to stay with Grace and Noah so I am able to go. Now that I am an adult (I don't always feel like one, I'm just a kid at heart), time flies!! It seems like just yesterday we were months away from Christmas, and now we're just days!

I hope all of you are enjoying this holiday season, please take time to take it all in.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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Santa Is Down...

On Saturday we had a wicked storm pass through, it started with snow, then sleet, and finally, rain. The wind was so strong, it seemed as though it was coming from every direction. Remember I said I was going to get our inflatable Santa up a couple of weeks ago? He stands 12 feet tall!! He was rockin an a rollin out there!! Last year we had the same type of storm blow through so I deflated Santa so as not to harm him. The next day when I went to inflate him, he had a lot of ice on him and was having a hard time standing straight. I pulled on him trying to get him upright and tore him at the base. I ended up bringing him inside so he could thaw and then I sewed him up. I didn't want to make the same mistake this time around so I kept him inflated during the storm. The kids had been keeping an eye on him at first but soon became bored with him. I was in the kitchen cooking dinner when I asked Ted to take a look at him and see how he was doing. The response I got was, "Santa is down! I repeat, Santa is down!!" I haven't laughed that hard in such a long time, it felt good. After I composed myself, I bundled up and went to see what I could do for the big guy. He was almost completely lying down, it was the wind that was keeping him there. I decided to deflate him, I was afraid the wind would put a bigger rip in him, beyond repair. After thinking about it constantly, I decided to inflate him again and keep a close eye on him. I was afraid the snow would bury him and the ice would attach him to the ground. I am happy to report that he survived the storm! I did have to tighten the tethers the next day, but that was nothing compared to last year.

Grace had a nice party, I'm disappointed neither one of her Godparents made it to the party, but, what are you gonna do? I lowered my expectations of my friends awhile ago and wasn't all that surprised by the no-shows! The people that did show up had a good time and gave her(and also the rest of my kids) all the love she deserved. She reminds me every day that she's four now. "Mommy, can I play that game, you know I'm a big girl now, I'm four!" She wanted to play Ted's SpongeBob Monopoly game, she still was told no. She wanted to play with the game pieces, Ted would have been upset if I let her and she lost one. She is star of the week at school, she thought that meant she was the leader all week. She got a rude awakening this morning when she learned one of her friends was the leader today. I think she handled it like a big girl, you know she's four now!

I received Helen's updated IEP in the mail today, I guess that means they will be giving her teacher a full-time assistant. It's a pain in the @$$ what we parents have to go through in order for our kids to get the assistance they need. Her sinus infection is clearing up, slowly, but surely. I think she will need another round of antibiotics, she usually does. She is easing up on saying her favorite word these days...butt. We are ignoring her when she says it, something I tried to do in the first place but it didn't seem to work. For some reason it seems to be doing the trick.

Update on Ted, he did a fantastic job with getting his teeth pulled. He received one round of Tylenol for the pain, and then he was fine. I took their picture for our Christmas card the other night, he has a huge smile!!! I already see a difference. Can you imagine how he will be once he gets the braces on and his front teeth are pulled into place? I can't wait!!!!!:o)

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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It's Getting To Look A Lot Like Christmas...

I hope everyone had a nice holiday and didn't eat too much! I ate too much, to the point where it hurt! The food was so delicious I couldn't help myself, it was my sister-in-laws sweet potatoes that did me in. I ended up hosting, Sherry called me right after I had posted my last blog, she wasn't feeling well. Thanksgiving morning she came over with all of the food and we cooked here, well, I cooked and she helped when she could. She rested most of the day on my couch, she even slept a little, that shows she was sick if she could sleep through all of this activity! We had a small group this year, my brother John and his family were in Arizona and my Aunt stayed home because she wasn't feeling well. We sent food home with my Uncle so she didn't miss the holiday completely. Speaking of holidays...is everyone getting ready for Santa? We are, "It's getting to look a lot like Christmas"...I have been busy getting decorations up. I'm going to put the tree up today and I'm going to try and get the blow up Santa set up outside. My brother put it up for us last year, it was a difficult time for me a year ago. This year I'm going to give it a try, I took it down so I think I remember how he had it tethered down. The kids are getting so excited! Ted has made a couple of signs for Santa, one is for his cookies and the other tells him where to sit on the couch. I don't quite understand that sign but he was so pleased with himself, who am I to question.

Helen went to the doctor on Friday, she has a sinus infection. The doctor checked her white blood cells while we were there. They usually run on the low side so they wanted to see where they were when she is sick. They run higher, which is good. They are running one more test on them to see if there are enough fighting cells there. I haven't heard anything yet, if I don't here by tomorrow I'm going to call them. The other kids are doing better, the fever and cough made it around to almost everyone, Ted's the only lucky one. Well, maybe not so lucky, he is getting his two teeth pulled today after school. In two weeks he will have his braces, he is very excited about this. I can't wait for the braces to start pulling his front teeth to where they are supposed to be. I'm hoping he will smile again!

I'm getting ready for Grace's birthday party on Sunday, I can't believe she's going to be four! At this time I look back and think about the parties we had and how much Peter loved having them for the kids. He would give the kids kisses according to how old they were. Grace would receive three since that's how old she is, but on Sunday he would have raised it to four. He always made a big deal about them getting one more, and would sometimes give them extra and act surprised when they told him he gave them too many. I am carrying on the tradition, it doesn't seem the same to me, hopefully the kids don't feel the way I do.

Well, I'm off to put up the tree, I have put it off long enough! Sherry will be posting tomorrow, YEAH!!!! I bet you are all curious as to what she has been up to, besides being sick. No pressure here Sherry...

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving everyone, I hope all of you are surrounded by family and friends tomorrow, and have a wonderful day. Sherry will be the hostess to our brother Rick and his wife Anne Marie, our Aunt Joan and Uncle Ed, and last, but not least, my kids and I. She said, "It's going to be a small gathering, but then again, anytime Susie and her family are there, it's not so small after all!" HA! Sherry has been extremely busy working on It'll Fit'll business and hasn't had a chance to sit down and blog. She sends her apologies and will be blogging soon to let you know what she has been up to.

Three of my kids have a cough, Helen has a runny nose, and Grace came home today from school with a temp. of 104.2! How scary!! I gave her Tylenol and juice and set her up on the couch so I could keep an eye on her. After a half hour she was ready for some soup so I gave her a little bit, she took about 4 spoonfuls and was done. She just woke up from a nap, she broke her fever, YEAH!! I told her she had to stay on the couch and rest so she would feel better for Thanksgiving, hopefully she will.

I met with Helen's teachers on Monday, it was an okay meeting. She has become disruptive in the classroom. She is saying the word "butt" and laughing and being loud. The other kids can't concentrate because she is non-stop. I know exactly how she is, she does the same when we go to church. I have tried everything and I'm at a loss what to do about it. I have tried to ignore but that only makes it louder. I have tried to discipline, this only helps for a short period of time. We haven't gone to church the past couple of weeks because it stresses me out so bad, the looks I get from the other adults, it's terrible.

This week has been difficult for me, I have had no energy, and don't feel like doing anything. This was my mom's time of year, she just loved the holidays. Thanksgiving was her holiday to host and Christmas Eve was my Aunt's. I remember when I was a little girl waking up to the smell of turkey, ahhhh the aroma was awesome. When your so young you really don't appreciate all that your parent(s) do for you to make your holidays memorable. Now that I'm the adult I realize all the hard work she did for us. So on this Thanksgiving, my first without my mom, I am thankful to have had such a wonderful mother who left me with such wonderful memories of this magical time of year.

I wish all of you a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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Tank Too Heden...One More Heden

On Saturday we all went to Robbie's den meeting, he is a Tiger Cub with the Cub Scouts. His achievements are done with the family, they are divided by, family activity, den activity, and go see it. Saturday we met with the other Tiger Cub families at Mitchell Airport in Milwaukee to tour the fire department there. It was very interesting, they are unlike other fire departments because they mostly deal with fuel fires, which are very hot. The trucks hold all of the water because there are no underground pipes out on the runways. We saw many planes land and take off while we were there. We were very close to the runways because we were on the back side of the airport. One of the dad's is a Sergeant in the National Guard and set up the tour for us. We were also able to tour a fuel plane while we were there, it is one of those huge military planes that fuel the other planes in the air. That was very cool! We were unable to tour the dad's plane, his is a Mediplane. They had just gotten back from picking up soldiers who had fought in Afghanistan and dropped them off at different airports across the country, so his plane was dirty.

After we were done at the airport we headed to Sherry's to see The Bee Movie. The theatre in her town charges $3.00 per person, kids 3 and under are free. If I took all of the kids to a regular priced theatre, we would never go! They all enjoyed the movie, except Noah, he was too busy checking out the floor, the people behind us, the wall.... At least he didn't get out of hand with the noise level, there were only a couple of times when I had to shush him. Helen did a great job, I was really nervous about her making too much noise. The last movie we went to she was very disruptive. She was happy sitting there as long as she got to hold the popcorn box, all was fine.

Sunday we just hung out at home, I had a lot of catching up to do with the laundry. It is so nice hanging out and not doing much of anything, it was a lazy day. When I was downstairs, Helen and Noah were with me. We were heading back upstairs, Noah had this big firetruck, I think it was bigger than him. He couldn't get it up the stairs, it was too heavy. Helen was following him and was waiting patiently for him to figure out what his next move was. He asked her for help so she lifted the truck on to the next stair. Noah said, "Tank too Heden" (pause) "One more, Heden." Helen lifted the truck again and Noah said, "Tank too Heden" (pause) "One more, Heden." Again Helen lifted the truck up the stair. This went on for 10 stairs until they finally reached the top. Noah had a smile on his face, grabbed the firetruck and ran away. Helen turned to me with a big smile on her face, she was very proud of herself for helping him, and I was too. I told her what a great job she did, we high fived and went on our way. What a great feeling to see your kids helping each other, instead of fighting!!

Ted is getting braces! I knew he needed them, he has two extra front teeth that have caused the other two front teeth to grow in crooked. He will be having the extra teeth pulled in a couple of weeks and then the braces go on two weeks after that. He will have them by Christmas. He is really looking forward to getting them, he hasn't really smiled like he used to since the teeth came in crooked. I already see a difference in him, I can't wait until he feels confident again. It's amazing how that can effect a child's self esteem. I will let you know how everything goes, I'm not looking forward to the visit to the oral surgeon!

I'm off to relax a bit, hopefully sleep will happen quickly, but that's another story!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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The Tooth Fairy, Again!

I can't believe it's Wednesday again, where does the time go? Last night at the church my mom was buried from, they had a memorial service for all of the people who passed away this past year. It was very nice, the choir was beautiful, they brought tears to my eyes. They said the name of the person who died and the family went up to the altar and lit a candle for them. My kids were all there and did a very good job, I only had to say, "quiet", a few times. The older woman sitting in front of us told me during the sign of peace, my kids were so well behaved. I told her not usually, it was late and they were tired. It is an hour drive from my house to the church, the girls and Noah had fallen asleep on the way. I think they were still a little sleepy, in fact, Helen was sleeping on Sherry's lap! At the end of the service we were invited to go and light a candle for anyone else we wanted to, so the kids and I lit candles for Peter. They served munchies and juice after, my kids liked this part. Robbie made a plate for the drive home, he even covered it with a napkin! On the drive home, the girls and Noah all went to sleep right away, Ted and Robbie were awake for awhile. Ted was doing his homework, and Robbie was bugging him. It wasn't long after Ted finished his work that he and Robbie were asleep also. When we got home I was getting them in their pj's, Helen told me, "Mommy, I had fun!", I chuckled, she slept the whole time!

Katie had a visit from the tooth fairy last night, she received a dollar for her first tooth. She was so excited this morning, me too, I didn't forget this time!!!! She carried her dollar around all morning and was trying to figure out what she was going to buy with it. I promised her ice cream yesterday because of the ordeal she went through. On Monday when she was leaving school she tripped on her backpack while climbing the stairs, she fell on her mouth. The school didn't realize she had hit her mouth because Katie wouldn't let them take a good look, and, she doesn't talk. They told me she had bit her tongue a little bit and the bleeding had stopped. She wouldn't let me take a look either so I waited until we got home. I didn't see anything either, her tongue looked fine so I gave her a Popsicle and chalked it up to a lesson learned. I was changing Noah's diaper when Katie came into the room excited, "Mommy, look, my tooth is loose!" I was excited for her, until I took a better look. Her gums were bruised, her teeth were loose and bleeding, and the underside of her lip was bruised, bleeding, and swollen. It looked awful and painful! I called the dentist right away and explained what happened, they squeezed us in for the next day. Meanwhile, the excitement has now been replaced with pain, Katie is crying and telling me her mouth really hurts. I gave her some Tylenol and told her to lay on the couch, she fell asleep. She slept through dinner, I don't think she would have eaten anyway. When she did wake up I gave her a couple more Popsicles, that seemed to help. I kept her home from school because she was still in a little pain. The dentist took a look and said it looked a lot worse than it was. She had broken her front top tooth, but there wasn't any other permanent damage. We could either wait and let the tooth fall out by itself, or bond it to the tooth next to it in order to strengthen it a bit. I was trying to make up my mind, I wanted the choice that had the least amount of pain associated with it. I was leaning towards letting it fall out on it's own when Katie said, "Mommy, it really hurts me." Well, that did it, she decided for me, the tooth was going to get pulled. She did some screaming and crying, but she did a good job! She was a changed girl after that tooth came out, she was no longer in pain and she was laughing, so I know I made the right choice. She is one tooth less but one dollar richer!

Until next time-

Take Care,

Sue

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