Color of the month

is Blue.  Tyler had his exam today for his next belt level.  He moved from green stripe to blue.  He doesn't have anything new to learn for this belt...but he is required to show that he knows everything that he's learned so far before he can advance to blue stripe.  That's 7 belts worth of information and 10 months worth of time.  They do a good job of reviewing as they move thru the levels so I'm not expecting Ty to have any problems with this.

Start of exam

Showing off kicks

Ms Candice with Ty in a bear hug

Ty escaping out of bear hug.

Receiving new belt

Showing off new belt.

Celebration

I told Ty after he'd gotten his stripe yesterday that he could make brownies to celebrate.  We didn't end up making them last night cause everyone decided to watch a movie.  Although I think they would have been better off making the brownies.  From what I hear, the movie wasn't very good.  I wouldn't know...I went to bed.  ;)

So after church tonight, Ty asked if he could make his brownies.  This is the first time he's tried to cook anything on his own.  I think they turned out pretty good.  What do ya think?

Level Up

Ty had one more stripe to go before he could move to the next belt when he went to class tonight and for once he was actually willing to ask if he could test.  He sometimes gets in moods where even though he knows the material, he refuses to ask if he can test for it.  Tonight was different.  And they were more than willing to honor his request by throwing the best of the class at him.  He ended up sparring 6 upper belts, one after the other, ending with the highest ranked belt.  He was pretty tired by the time he was done but he did an awesome job.  Was able to score some good points and got some pointers on how not to get scored on.  In the end, he earned his stripe which enables him to move up to the next belt level at the end of the month.  This new belt will officially mark the halfway point to black belt.  Way to go, Ty!

Monday Already

And for once, I'm okay with that. Today was Keari's follow up appt with her pediatrician which I was anxious for. We talked about how 60% of lyme cases never see a tick or have a rash. He was pleased with her range of motion in her knees...she has full range so should not have any after affects from the Lyme Arthritis. He emphasized us keeping an eye out for the pain returning, complaints from her regarding other joints or change in fatigue level. If that starts to occur...her meds might need changing. She running a low grade fever which he says is normal. Her knees are still slightly swollen and I'll be interested in what the orthopedic dr has to say when she sees him on Wednesday.

Tomorrow I'll be back in the office for the first time in a week. Of course, I still don't have my computer fixed so not quite sure what I'll be working on there. Guess I'll find out when I get there.

Tonight was a busy night...Ty had karate, Bekah and Tay had dance.

Mystery Ouchie

I woke up at 3am to Adam crying ouch, ouch, ouch. Not really what you want to hear that early in the morning. I debated whether to check on him or not...he gets disturbed really easily by the opening of his door...so if there was nothing wrong, then I'd end up waking up by checking on him...and if there was something wrong...well, I opted to check on him as I was afraid he'd gotten his leg caught in the side of his crib. I found him lying in the middle of his crib with his head buried in his mattress repeating ouch over and over. So my initial thinking of a caught leg was incorrect but I was right in that I did disturb him by walking into his room. When he heard me by his crib, he popped his little head up. My second though was a stinky diaper...that also turned out to be false. I took him to the living room to lay for a bit but he was so restless that I finally ended up putting him back in his crib with some music on and laying on the floor for bit with my hand in his crib so he'd know I was still there. Anyone ever do that? I knew it was time to leave when he started playing games with my hand and giggling...whatever had caused him to wake up was obviously no longer there so I headed back to bed to get a couple more hours of sleep before I had to get up for work. Needless to say I was very tired this morning but was thankful for having taken a shower last night as that gave me a few extra shuteye minutes this morning.

Andy and the kids had a good day today...spent most of it at the marina catching fish. Everyone loves fishing and the younger girls appear to be naturals at it. A good number of fish were brought home to eat for tonights dinner.

Tyler had karate class tonight and earned another stripe. I believe this is the last one he needed before he could petition to the next belt level so hopefully by next month he'll be an orange stripe belt. He really likes karate and I hope it continues for a long time to come.

Buckets

That's what it was raining this morning. I knew I was going to be in trouble getting to work this morning as I was listening to the tv while getting dressed. They were talking about massive thunderstorms coming thru the area with large downpours and tons of lightening strikes. I hurried up and ran out the door hoping that maybe I would get lucky and at least most of the way to work before it hit. I should have known better as soon as I stepped outside...it was only 6pm and the heat and humidity were awful already so no such luck...I hit the deluge about 10 minutes into my drive...rain so hard that you could barely see. I drove out of it about 15 minutes later and then was good until I was about 10 minutes from work. I hit another huge down pour, it was coming down so hard and fast that even having the wipers on the highest setting couldn't keep all the water off the windshield. I thought about pulling off to the side of the road, as many other people had done, but was worried about somebody running into me there because visibility really was terrible. I opted to keep going, albeiting slowly, and by keeping the car lights in front of me visible I was able to get to work safely. The poor drains outside our garage looked liked a boiling pot...it was a bubbling mass of angry water. I was very thankful that we have a covered garage at work so I didn't actually have to get out in that mess...would have been soaked in 2 secs. I also said a few prayers as I was driving in it, one that I could arrive safely, and two, I thanked God that Alex didn't have to be driving anywhere right then. No way would I have wanted a 17 yr old, newish driver to out on the roads during that storm. The storm moved through our area in about an hour so thankfully the drive home was uneventful.

Tyler had another Karate class tonight. It was a good thing he went (this was an extra class for him to see which nights of the week he liked better) as only one other kid showed up. They were able to get lots of individual attention although I think both kids were getting a little punchy...this was their 4th day of 3 hr Karate camp in the morning.

Crazy Week

Whew, finally time to take a breath. This has definitely been a crazy week. After getting back from the beach last week, I spent Monday and Tuesday in full day training at work, then Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday driving back and forth to Virginia to watch Kenzie play in a softball tournament and Friday I did a full day of work and then watched Tyler test for his orange belt. The drive to the games in Virginia ordinarily wouldn't have been that bad except we were having to do it in rush hour traffic...both ways. Ugh! Andy did the drive on Friday and the 1 1/2hr trip took him 3 hrs. No fun. During the first game of the tournament, we ended up in a rain delay for a couple of hours. It started raining during the first inning and by the second inning it was pouring. People were scurrying everywhere to get the equipment bags and such off the ground and under cover. I would have loved to have gotten a picture of what our canopy looked like...all the bags, chairs, people that were underneath it but my bag was buried underneath the pile. The rain finally slacked off some so we made a break for the car. Kenzie and I jumped in only to have me jump back out again. The reason for me vacating the car so quickly was because I'd looked down to see a yellow jacket walking down my shorts onto my leg. Thankfully it didn't sting me. We went back to the hotel, grabbed a quick bite to eat and an hour or so later were back at the field to resume the game. Amazing enough, the fields weren't in bad shape...which was totally surprising given that there were rivers running down them during the downpour. The girls ended up losing that game and Kenzie got hurt on the last out of the game. The first baseman really whacked her as Kenzie ran by trying to get on first. She was hit so hard she ended up flying over first base without ever touching it. Thankfully she wasn't seriously hurt but she did end up with a hurt wrist which kept her out of their second game until one of her teammates popped her shoulder out while batting. Kenzie ended up going in to replace her. Nothing like a hurt player replacing a hurt player. LOL She did great...ended up getting on base and then did a great job on first base which is a tough spot to be playing with a hurt wrist, which happened to be her glove hand. They ended the day Thursday with 1 win and 1 loss.

Andy went to the game Friday, which they won. Yay! He left after that game so he could make it home in time to watch Tyler test for his next belt. You'd think leaving at 2:30 for an hour and a half drive would give you plenty of time to make it home for a 6:30 exam. Ha! It took him over 3 hrs to get home but thankfully he did make it home in time to see the exam. It was our first time watching a belt exam...it was very cool! Ty ended up getting his new belt. Way to go!!

I went back to Virginia on Saturday...the girls needed to win 4 games in a row to make it to Sunday to have a chance to play in the championship game. They ended up winning their first game but lost their second. The girls had a good season, won 41 games overall which is a huge improvement over last year. They now get the month of August off and then it will be back to practicing starting in Septemer.

Back to Work

The first day back to work is never easy but I guess today could have been harder. I was in training from 11 - 4 today so really only had to work for a few hours this morning. I'm in training again tomorrow, then off for two days, then work from home on Friday. Guess I'm kind of easing myself back into the work world. LOL

I could have done without the traffic on the way home. I was already running late because the training let out later than I normally leave...then I ran into wire repairs on one of roads that was left over from the storm that came thru yesterday...then hit a big backup at the bridge. I'm not sure what caused it but it tied me up for almost 40 minutes. I just missed getting Tyler to karate class but I did go over to watch after Andy dropped him off so he could come home to make dinner. Tyler got his first invitation to test for his next belt this Friday...should be fun to watch.

Can tell already...

that it's not going to be a good day. I woke up with the same headache that I went to bed with last night. :( I also didn't sleep well, partly because we had a big thunderstorm come through in the middle of the night that woke me up. Walked outside at 6am to leave for work and could already feel the humidity...blech, I so hate that! I'm still having to take medicine that is making me feel sick...nothing like a constant reminder of a bad thing. :( Thankfully I will take my last dose tomorrow morning.

Tyler is participating in a karate camp all week. He seemed to enjoy his first day yesterday and loved his class last night. He could have tested for his first stripe but I think he's still a little shy and nervous about things. I think wants he gets the first one under his belt, he should be okay.

The kids are certainly enjoying the pool...Bekah is like a little fish and you literally have to drag her out at the end of the day to get her to go to bed. Keari is also enjoying it more now that the water has warmed up...she loves to show me her pruny fingers and toes when she gets out now. LOL

Ferris Wheel

One of the gifts that Tyler got for his b'day yesterday was a Kinex Ferris Wheel kit. He spent most of last night and this morning putting it together. He loves these kinds of things. The only problem with them is that he tends to obsess over them and wants to put them together all in one sitting. He does are really great job with following the directions and only needed minimal help with this one. He was especially excited when he put the batteries in, turned it on and it started spinning.

9 Yrs Ago

Hard to believe that 9 years ago, I walked into the hospital as a mom of 3 and within the span of 7 minutes later that afternoon I became a mom of 5. We like to tease Tyler that he kicked his brother out so that the could have all the room for himself...he turned breach and didn't want to come out once his brother was delivered, hence the reason for the 7 minute delay. He really hates that story!

They started out like this...


And are now this...


Happy 9th Birthday Taylor & Tyler!

Last Day of Summer

And what a beautiful day it was. Too bad I was in such a crabby mood. I think the late nights and running around has finally caught up to me. But it was nice to get out for a little while in the gorgeous weather and watch Tyler play football. I found a nice tree so Adam was in the shade and hung out with Taylor during the game. Andy and the rest of the crew came by for a little while before they had to head to Chestertown for Connor's soccer scrimmage.

Another First

another First Communion...this time for Tay and Ty. There were 10 kids in this group to receive their First Communion and they were the last of their second grade class to go through the ceremony. It was nice to have such a small group. And even though it is Memorial Day weekend, I didn't hear any complaints from the family members on the traffic being awful to get to us so that was good.

Kenzie has a softball tournament in Hagerstown this weekend, Saturday thru Monday, and because it is the twins special day, they got to accompany Kenzie and Andy for the outing. Should be a good time for them as it's not often that they are able to something without their older siblings around.

Of course, that leaves me with the two oldest and two youngest...will have to find something to do that will be fun for everyone...Terrapin Beach, maybe.

Sickies #7 & 8

Today it's on to Tyler and Connor. Andy is the only one left that hasn't gotten it. Think it'll bypass him?

Starfish

Tyler was being creative yesterday. He loves making these stars and I thought it was very creative of him to turn it into a starfish. =)

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday!!

Tay & Ty turn 8 today and they are totally excited about it. Because of schedule changes I actually get to be home today which is unusual. That means I got to see my birthday boys first thing in the morning instead of late in the evening which is how it normally works. One of the perks of being the birthday child is you get to choose that nights dinner...and even those these guys are twins, they have different tastes...so we ended up with macaroni & cheese that Ty chose and beefaroni that Tay chose. Hmm, maybe they aren't so very different in tastes. LOL It ended up being night...dinner, then birthday celebration of cake...no ice cream, we forgot to get any. Oops! Presents that consisted of a rip stick...must be nuts on that one...a mini skateboard and lots of books. They seemed to really like their gifts. Then Andy and I had to leave to go to bible study. When we got back, Keari was totally zonked on the sofa. That's always a bad sign because it was only 8:15 and when she takes a nap that late, she never sleeps through the night. I figured I'd give it a shot, though, and picked her up and put her to bed. Much to our surprise she actually slept the entire night.

In addition to b'day stuff, Bekah had a hearing test today. This was to rule out any fluid in the ear problems that could be attributing to her speech issues...she tends to drop the ending sounds of words during normal talk. Turns out, her hearing is completely normal, in fact she has has pretty sensitive hearing so her speech issue are just development delays which will get worked on during her speech classes. Didn't hurt to rule out any other possible problems.

A Day at the Park

While Andy was off with the older kids in DC touring the White House and the museums, the younger kids and I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous 70 degree day by going to the park.

We started out by walking the trail for a bit.



Then we spent some time playing at the park.






Who would believe that it's January 6th by looking at these pictures?
I just realized that I didn't take any pictures of Kearsyn. She was with us but I had her in a pouch so she was strapped to me which makes it hard for picture taking. =)

Evaluation Report

I forgot to update about the meeting we had last week to go over Bekah's evaluation. The report said what we already knew...that her developmental levels other than speech were where they should be or above level. She was 26 months when she was evaluated and all her scores came in 28 months - 33 months. This was for cognitive, social/emotional, adaptive/self help, gross motor and fine motor skills. Her speech evaluation showed her at a 20 month level (instead of 26) which just barely qualifies her for their program. They're going to come to house twice a month to work with her and also to show us things we can do with her during the times they aren't here. I'm still totally impressed with how quickly she can pick up sign language and she now has quite few that she uses regularly like more, please, thank you, mess, shoes, coat, milk and drink.

We went to my parents yesterday to celebrate my dad's and Kathy's birthday. It was a nice visit although the boys/guys spent most of time in front of the tv watching the Ravens game. LOL Afterwards, mom took Connor to go see Eragon. Alex had seen it with his youth group on Saturday and really enjoyed it. Kenzie was so upset that Connor got to go to the movies with mom. Never mind that Saturday afternoon, she'd gone to birthday sleepover party that also included going to Build a Bear workshop, getting smoothies and pizza and then going out to Fisherman's Restaurant for dinner.

I tried doing some work today but it didn't go very well as Kearsyn was a complete grump today. I'm not sure what was up with her but she sure wasn't happy. It was also a very late night last so that didn't help things any. It was beautiful outside today so we took outside for a little while. Andy swung with her on the swing while I jumped on on the trampoline. I'm going to be so sore tomorrow...as Andy so kindly said, I'm no spring chicken anymore. LOL Oh and speaking of the trampoline, the younger kids have been banned from it after Tyler tried to hang himself on the top of the enclosure net. He got two huge scrapes on the underside of his chin around his neck where he flew up and got his neck on the top of the netting that is supposed to keep him in the trampoline. Guess that only works if you aren't trying to jump higher than the netting which is what Kenzie and Tyler were trying to do.

Tonight we went to the Christmas party for Alex's youth group which was at the youth group leaders house. What a gorgeous house it was too. He made half the house from trees that he'd cut down from his own property. How cool is that? The walls, flooring and ceiling were left the natural wood that had been made into planks (no bark on it) and he had a loft area with a cool spiral staircase. I know Andy and Alex are hoping to get invited over when the weather gets warmer (that sounds funny since it was 68 degrees today) to shoot paintballs since the guy owns 15 acres of wooded land. How fun! The kids did a huge Yankee Trader game and it was such a hoot watching them pick a present and them steal presents from each other. The biggest kid there ended up with a girls bag with lotion in it. It was hilarious! The gift Alex unwrapped was a great hot chocolate set but someone eventually stole that from him. He ended up having to go back to the pile and unwrapped a big box of bubblegum which he was just as happy with and no one tried to steal. The hot gifts of the night were a lava lamp and the hot chocolate set. The kids got really into it. Bekah made a new friend and it was fun watching them "playing" cards and putting out poker chips. They sure start young. LOL