it's beginning to look a lot like christmas (except the snow)...

Ohh...and here is where I get overwhelmed.  It's been too long since I posted, and now I'm left with the decision to catch up or just start where we are now?  Boo.

This is such a great time of year.  I love Christmas. I love the music, the festivities, the decorations, and the warm, happy feeling in my heart.  Here's what we've been doing this month:

* Andrew & I decked the halls at his place...       

* We decked the halls at my place...

* We had a housewarming party with the fam! My awesome, awesome siblings and my awesome, awesome boyfriend have been helping me remodel the casita and it looks amazing. It's like living in a whole new place, and we are enjoying it so very much. Here is Ro overseeing the Lion House Wassail that we found online. It was DELICIOUS. I think it needs to be a staple at Christmas time from this time on.

We also got to take a sibling picture. This was the best we could do, but we had a riot trying.

* Andrew and I went to the Boise Philharmonic's performance of Handel's Messiah.  I wept, Andrew slept.  Well, just for a little bit.  It was so, so, so beautiful, and I was so happy that we were able to go.

* Santa sent us an elf! His name is Max, and he flies home to the North Pole every night to report on the good and evil doings of the children.

* I hurt my knee about two weeks ago. Went on a fairly short run - four miles and felt great. Two hours after I ran, I had this awful pain on the outside of my right knee. I walked with a limp for about two days. So...even though I didn't want to...I took it easy. I didn't run for another two weeks.  So then on Saturday I decided I'd try again, take it easy, run three miles. Right after two miles, it started bothering me and stubborn me - I just had to push it a couple laps more. And now I'm hurting again. :( So frustrating because I truly, truly enjoy running and everything that comes with it.  Also, I've never had an injury before. Is this a sign of getting OLDER??? I've been doing a Pilates video at home, but it's just not the same. :( All I want for Christmas is my bad knee to go away.

Plans for the rest of December include:
* A Christmas party for my work tomorrow night and then the kids are off to Ken's until Christmas Eve. Andrew and I are driving to Burley to watch the BSU bowl game and then maybe we'll head down to Salt Lake City? It's been years and years since I've been and I'd love to go again.

* Christmas Eve with the Hyer clan.

* Christmas with family, friends, and hopefully lots of good food and sleep.

Like I said, I love this time of year and all of the fond memories that are created.  New Year's resolutions are right around the corner and I'm already thinking of things I can do well for the first two weeks, and then fail miserably at the rest of the year. :)

and preschool is a go...

After a long, long process, Adelaide has finally qualified for preschool at Lakeridge Elementary School, where she will attend the Auditory/Oral classroom! She starts on November 28th and will go Monday through Thursday, 12:15 to 2:45. AND, they'll bus her to and from school! My little girl gets to ride the short bus! So excited for her.

Last weekend we participated in a community service project for the kids' school; we raked leaves for some elderly couples around Sherman.  There was about 75 parents, teachers, kids, etc. and we raked 13 homes.  It was a beautiful (and chilly!) morning, and Christian was such a trooper! He stuck with it and raked and bagged leaves the entire time, with no complaints.  Olivia made it about 1/2 an hour and then she wimped out and hung out in the van.  Andrew took Adelaide on some errands, so I didn't have to worry about her. It was just a good experience to be doing service with the kids; I hope that we're able to do more in the future.

I can't believe the holidays are upon us. I love this time of year.  I love the weather, I love the holidays (and the time off!), I love the opportunity to think about things that I'm grateful for, and I really do have SO much to be grateful for.

What (or WHO!) I am most grateful for...

Enough said.

eight weeks in review...

I am so miserable at this blogging thing.  I'm sitting here trying to remember what has even happened in the last two months, and I can't think of anything. Thank goodness for photos on my phone.


CHRISTIAN:


1. Is a FANTASTIC student. Don't tell him, but at parent-teacher conferences, his teacher let me know that he reads 160 words per minute - the fastest student of the three second grade classes. He is her top student, and such a good, kind boy. "Not a bad bone in his body", were her words.  This made my heart so full and happy. I've always known that he is a great kid, with the patience and tenderness of someone much older; but whenever I hear it validated (which is quite often), I'm so grateful that I get to raise this little boy.


2.  He's not so little. He turned EIGHT on September 26th. We had an awesome little family party with all of my family there, and my SIL Anna made an amazing ninja cake for him.  He was so excited about the whole event and we had a great time.

3. He got baptized!  Mo baptized him, and his Grandpa Bob confirmed him (along with Aaron Geyer, Grandpa Edgardo, Mo, Grandpa Hyer, and Bishop Fleshman).  It was a special experience for him, and I was happy that he made the decision.

OLIVIA:


1. She's not a bad student either! She's right on track, or ahead in all of her subjects, and her teacher reports that she is a model student. She sits next to her best friend Natalie, and her teacher said that they never talked and so she's never had to worry about moving them.  


2.  She got moved.  :)  Apparently, she figured out it's fun to talk about fun things with your friend while your teacher is teaching.  But she doesn't seem too upset.  She generally likes school very much and particularly enjoys going to PE and the library.  Last Wednesday, they went on a field trip (who DOESN'T remember and love field trips!) to Linder Farms and got to do all of the little activities out there, and pick out a little pumpkin. She had a great time!


3.  Olivia wanted to be a witch for the second year in a row.  I think she makes a pretty good witch, and after we finally figured out how to make the wig not scratch her head, she's a good sport about wearing the thing.

ADELAIDE:


1.  Obsessed with horses!! I got this for her for her Halloween costume and she wears it all the time, or drags it around behind her.  She has a couple of stuffed horses as well, and the cutest thing ever is when she puts the stuffed horse between her legs and waddles/rides it.  Always good for a smile.

2.  Did I mention it seems like we've been sick for the last two months? And this little girl has had some form of the flu about three times in the last 6 weeks or so.  She doesn't even go to daycare! Where is she getting it from?  Anyway, she's been a trooper.  And I have been, too!! I don't want to gross you out, but the amount of bodily fluids I've cleaned up in the last two months has been...depressing?  Disgusting?  Frustrating?  All of the above?


3.  I have been very busy the last couple of weeks, and more so in the weeks to come, getting Adelaide ready for preschool. There are a lot of evaluations and meetings that need to be completed and attended, and I've visited the preschool several times, trying to decide which classroom to put her in. She'll attend the preschool taught by the Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and the Blind (IESDB), and there are two classes: Total Communication (TC, essentially a signed english class) and Auditory-Oral (AO, NO sign, completely oral class).  I've been very conflicted because I use quite a bit of sign with her and I feel like it has been INVALUABLE in our communication. I can't tell you how many times she didn't have her implant on, for whatever reason, and I was still able to "talk" to her and know what she wanted.  She also understands better when she has that visual back-up.  And what parent doesn't want their kid to be bilingual?  And finally, she is deaf.  She always will be, and ASL is the language of deaf people.  I feel like I want to give her that, so if she wants to make that culture a bigger part of her life later on, she won't be held back.


Now, for the flip side of that.  Ken and I chose to have her bilaterally implanted with cochlear implants.  We want English to be her primary language.  That is made SO evident anytime that ANYONE talks to her.  She is comfortable with, and responds well, to a handful of people's voices that she hears all of the time. And of course, anytime there is background noise, it is also difficult for her to understand.  So if there is background noise, or a voice that she isn't familiar with, or someone who doesn't understand she is deaf, I'm constantly repeating/signing what they are saying to her.  This is fine for me now, I'm happy to do it. But, knowing her, I know that she would get frustrated by needing a translator all of the time.  And I want her to be able to communicate with her family, friends, the general population, in the language they all speak.  So, putting her in the AO classroom would force her to start learning that English, without any reinforcement from sign language.  Tough choices.


DIANA:


1.  The days and weeks go so quickly, it's frightening. I'm just sure that I'll wake up tomorrow and I'll be in my sixties.  For now, I'm enjoying the changing weather; watching the leaves fall and smelling the crisp air.  


2.  I ran a 10K with my cousin, Josh, a couple of weeks ago. The race course was on the greenbelt in Boise and it was a beautiful morning. Josh made me run faster than I ever run and I finished the race in just over 55 minutes.  And then Josh's girlfriend held my iPhone while I puked in the nearest trashcan. Not one of my finer moments; I blame it on no breakfast and Josh, for making me run so dang fast.

And just for good measure, here's a few pictures of the garden. We put it to bed a couple of weeks ago. Here is Uncle Dan and Uncle Mark harvesting potatoes on a SUPER old contraption. It made me laugh because I know how Andrew harvests their potatoes. Enough said. If you need more of an explanation, ask me.

Playing in the dirt will be missed.

what happened?

Man, I was totally doing awesome there for a while. So what happened?

GREEN BEANS. 

Good times.

FREEZER CORN.

 No pictures. But it was six hours of good fun and some of the most 

delicious corn  I've ever tasted. I think we should have those guys 

grow it for us every year.  

We'll knock down five rows, no problem.

MICHEAL BUBLE CONCERT!!

Andrew's parents took some of us to this concert and it was PHENOMENAL.

 Loved it.  Especially loved it when we drove all the way to the concert, 

and then Andrew realized he left his ticket at home. 

 But he made it eventually. As far as the pictures go...

Andrew never knows where to look at the camera.

WESTERN IDAHO FAIR!!!

My first time ever. My favorite part by far was seeing the animals.

Followed closely by the yummy fair food.

You'd think he sees enough John Deere equipment at work...

SCHOOL STARTED.

And no, I'm not one of those moms. 

The only tears I cried were tears of joy and happiness.

Just being honest.

This is how Lou felt about being left behind.

But why go to school when you can play with ink pads all day?

 IN ADDITION...
*I worked a long week (we're talking 35 hours, people!) when half the office was out of town
*My AC broke down for the 3rd time this summer!  Replace the damn thing already!!
*The usual loads of laundry, dishes (by hand, mind you), vacuuming, dusting, yard work, bathing kids, brushing teeth, trying to keep my sanity, etc, etc.


I guess I've just been a little busy.  Did I mention that I'm in WASHINGTON, DC!?  At an IRS Tax Forum...and believe me, I have never been surrounded by so many people who look like accountants. Oh wait...rriiigghhhttt...I also don't think I've seen anyone under 45 for two days straight.  But I'm learning a lot! And I'm so grateful for the opportunity to come! Have I mentioned that I have just about the best boss ever!? (And she doesn't read my blog, so I'm totally not sucking up.)  


This was my view from a bench at lunch time.  

And last night...so beautiful.

We're going to do an amazing tour tomorrow night; hopefully I will remember to take a lot of pictures.  I miss the kids.  But time flies here too...I'll be home before I know it.

(part of) the week in review...

I don't care what my kids tell you, they don't lack for fun once in a while.  Last Saturday we went to a party for one of my co-worker's son's birthday at Jumpin' Jungle.  As usual, the kids had an absolute blast. For some reason, I had energy ranging in the negative amounts that day. I honestly had a hard time getting up to take the pictures.  So enjoy...they came at great effort on my part. :)

She learned something from t-ball this summer...

I wish this picture had turned out of Adelaide.  

These are some pretty dang cute sisters.

And Christian finally makes an appearance on the blog!!!

 The girls jousting.  Or Adelaide flashing her diaper, whatever you decide.

This was right before Adelaide's pull-up disintegrated on one of the slides.

Oops. I guess they aren't as absorbent as diapers? 

There was no warning on the label. 

Thanks, Emily, for cleaning up that mess 

(I was next door at the Dollar Tree 

conveniently when that happened...)

Anyway, great time had by all. 

Thanks Katy and Will for inviting us, and Mr. Sebastian for turning 2!

 

And in other weekly news...speech therapy with Susie Jones at the 

Elks Hearing & Balance Center in Nampa! Adelaide has been attending twice weekly since she was about one? Eighteen months? I can't remember how long, but a LONG time. For months and months, I was so discouraged because I felt like there was no progress being made.  But the last three or four months have been incredible! Adelaide continues to impress us each and every visit.  Her vocabulary is expanding by leaps and bounds, and each word she says (or signs) is so precious to my ears (or eyes).  

So, so grateful for technology and for the tremendous people that have been placed in our lives to help us; I know there is no conceivable way that she would be where she is without some very significant help.   Here's a shout-out to Susie Jones, Karrie Pargman, Tammy Wilhoite, and Dr. Beck....

The Idaho School for the Deaf and Blind (it used to be ISDB, and then they switched it to IESDB - Idaho Educational Services for the Deaf and Blind, hello cumbersome acronym!!) has had the greatest play groups this summer!  We have a mentor from IESDB that has come every week since Adelaide was about 2 months old. Her name is Tammy Jenks (Wilhoite now) and aside from the six months I lived in Meridian, she has been our consultant and really has been so awesome to us. During summer months she doesn't come, but we see her at most of the summer activities.  The activities are also a great time for me, because I get to meet other parents who have children with hearing loss. We compare histories and stories, and try and glean information from each other's experiences.   On Tuesday, we had an activity at Jabbers, which is an indoor play place they opened somewhat recently in Nampa. What a neat place! The co-owner was the principal at ISDB in Gooding about twenty years ago, fluent in sign, and had offered the play date free of charge for Regions III and IV (essentially the entire Treasure Valley).  How kind! And how fun for the kids! They LOVED it!  (Whew!! Sorry about the long paragraph! Did you make it???)

My kids have high aspirations...watch out Albertsons...

Something I love about Christian and Adelaide is that they are so willing to play with whoever they meet. They don't need me for anything...they're off like a rocket to play with whoever will tolerate them. Olivia is my shy child. She's glued to my side about 90% of the time.  Anyway, here is Adelaide, plunked down next to some total stranger, having an imaginary drink and some food. Actually, who are we kidding? It's Adelaide.  She's definitely having some imaginary candy.  I'll try and get a picture of her doing the sign for candy.  It's the index finger on your cheek, moving back and forth.  I'm surprised there isn't a dent in her cheek. 

It's by far the sign she uses most often. 

Chilling in a mini adirondack chair next to the BBQ...

Just a random side note....when did they start outfitting 

Barbie dolls with g-strings?

And in gardening news...yes, my corn row is still there. I had to borrow a long-sleeve flannel from Grandma Hyer on Tuesday night so I didn't break out in hives from the corn.  I'm not going to lie, I was hoping the remaining five rows would have been knocked out by this week, but no such luck...

Looking good...

And the apricots are on...

And in other random news...Andrew's birthday was this week! He gives me grief for being old all the time, and it's true, I am two months older than him....but we are now the same old age of 29!!  Yikes! Thirty is on the horizon and looking treacherous! I have some pictures from the week's festivities, but I think they'll have to wait for another post.  Until then (you few, few readers), have a wonderful weekend! I'm looking forward to a few runs, a little sleep, and the horse races!

where do i even start...

Is it the crazy hair?

Is it the shirt that is three sizes too big?

Is it the Christmas-colored clothing scheme?

It couldn't be the goggles around her belly???  Could it?

This is so Adelaide.  We were waiting for speech therapy and she's doing her crazy dancing around the waiting room thing, when all of a sudden she pulls her shirt way up and flashes the goggles.  Who knows how long they'd been there?? They're new - I just got the kids each a pair at Costco over the weekend, so they were all obviously smitten and carrying them around; but just where and when they made it around her stomach is a mystery. But she thought it was hilarious, and giggled about it all through speech. And it made me laugh out loud, and I can ALWAYS use a good laugh.  Silly girl.  

And in gardening news..

            The victims...                                        The culprits....

We originally planted ten corn rows this year. When I got to the garden on Monday afternoon, the first five rows were just...gone.  That's never happened, so I thought I should document this! So here's what happened (since you're dying to know).  The neighbors across the canal grow seed corn.  When ours was getting ready to pollinate, it was at the wrong time for their crop and if left alone, would ruin their entire crop. So they asked us to knock ours down, and in exchange, they would give us corn from the patch they grow for cases such as these.  How sweet is that? Corn with none of the work! Of course, it couldn't have been one of MY rows that got knocked down; that would have been too sweet of a deal. 


Good news: Uncle Mark plowed my carrot row for me (no carrots planted yet), so I was in and out of the garden in under half an hour.


Bad news: the radishes and turnips had worms??? Gross, and bummer...

The garden tonight (Uncle Mark riding tractor)...

sick kids are the worst...

I initially feel so loved when Adelaide comes to snuggle, quickly followed by suspicious.  When she climbed on my lap this morning at work and laid her head on my chest and started the whimpering, I braced myself for the worst.  Surely it couldn't be the flu again?! We just suffered through that misery two weeks ago!  Lucky for her (and me!), it was just a fever and goopy eyes. I made a bed for her on the floor of my office with one of her blankets and her very favorite stolen stuffed animal.  

Doesn't she look sad, or at the very least, dazed by the flash? 

I kid you not, ten minutes later I get up to refill my water bottle (okay, who are we kidding? I was getting up to get another 20 oz. Pepsi

 out of the fridge), and THIS is what I walk in on.

I'll let the pictures do the typing...

Why does she look so confused here? What did she think would happen when 

she stuck her saliva-soaked, grubby fingers into the Nesquik container?

Huh. Still dirty...

And this is my favorite. I like to think she was helping me out

by cleaning off most of the mess on her hands.

Always an adventure, this parenting gig...