First Day of Kingergarten...or not!

Poor Preston has been looking forward to starting K all summer, but had to miss today due to the Hand Foot and Mouth disease. He came down with it Friday and five days later he is still getting over it. He had a pretty bad case of it (mainly in his mouth) and didn't eat any food or been able to speak a word from Friday afternoon until Monday morning. He is starting to come around and hopes to have his "first" day of K on Thursday.

Caden was VERY excited for school, woke up on his own at 6:30 got dressed and ready to go. He does really enjoy school but I think he was most excited to look at his teacher's fish tank all day. He absolutely loves fish and it's funny he got put in the only 4th grade classroom with a fish tank. Both kids teachers are super sweet and I think they are going to have a great year. A new student just moved here from out of state with Type I diabetes and they get to sit next to each other in the same class. So I am hoping that is a friendship in the making since Caden has really started to think he is the only boy his age with diabetes. This little boy also has two younger siblings with diabetes! I can't even imagine.

Avery is doing well, started speech therapy last week. She is over a year behind in speech, and for the past 6 months has made minimal progress. She just doesn't pronounce words using the correct sounds 90% of the time. For example, "I have to go Pee Pee" is "De de Tee tee" or something like that. Cup is "da", book is "dut" or something really hard to understand, and Avery is "Adee". She absolutely shows favortism towards the letter "d" and "t". She has trouble with many beginning sounds and rarely ever finishes a word with the correct sound. But, hopefully with some work we can overcome this by the time she goes to preschool next fall.

Two more days until Caden's 9th bday which really means 2 more days of convincing him of something other than what he has asked for: a saltwater fish tank. I am hoping he loves his teachers tank so much he changes his mind (quickly) to a freshwater one!

A few more beach photos

These shots were taken by my brother-in-law. He takes amazing shots!

The Lost Photo

This was one of my favorite photos of the summer, and I accidentally erased it. Thanks to Rob, he recovered it for me! The photo is from Granny's camp, Avery and Preston swinging on her swing in the yard.

Back from the beach, back to work, back to school...

Can't believe summer is almost over. My first day back to work is a week from today, although I am theoretically taking a 12 week leave I will still be in and out teaching one course a week, etc. I am looking forward to it and the idea of getting the family back into some sort of routine. Avery will probably start speech therapy, Preston starts kindergarten and Cade is off to the 4th grade. YIKES!

Atlantic Beach was great fun and the kids had a blast at the beach, pool and playing on all Uncle Rob's video gaming systems. My kids don't have DS's or anything like that, so they LOVE to hang out with Uncle Rob! Avery was surprisingly scared of the ocean waves. She is really a good swimmer and not afraid of much of anything, but I think the sounds combined with the salty taste did her in. She did enjoy laying, digging and making a sanding mess in her hair.

The highlight of the trip was the day we spent at Shackleford Banks. So beautiful and quiet. I love beaches that are empty and this one was uncroweded and the waves very calm. Kids searched for shells, caught minnows in their nets, and looked for the wild ponies that live there. Definitely recommend visiting that island (have to arrive by boat) if you're ever near the Crystal Coast area of NC.

So, now unpacking and re-grouping for the next few weeks as we all adjust to new schedules. Kids start school the week of the 24th, fall soccer starts tomorrow, and Preston wants to sign up for gymnastics? Hmm....not sure about that one. Both boys started piano lessons (thanks Aunt Mere!) a few weeks ago and love it. Caden is also taking up the clarinet this fall at school and joining the school band. He has always been such a sports nut, I had no clue he was so into music! Of course, like anything else....we'll see how long this new found enthusiasm lasts!

Overall we had a VERY busy summer but it was great to see a lot of new places we hadn't before. But with 97 degrees forecasted for everyday this week, the arrival of Fall is just fine with me!

Roadtrips

This summer has been so hectic, it seems like it's just begun but it's back to school in less than a month already. We have been able to accomplish a lot of the fun stuff on our list but I am about ready for fall to arrive. Summer is EXHAUSTING and the endless 98 degree heat isn't helping.

The kids, Grandma and I decided to take a random road trip to Greenville, SC. I had been there once, and thought it was a really nice city. The kids LOVED it there, so much we stayed an extra night. The city is gorgeous and the park, waterfalls and fountains are really beautiful. We went to two waterparks, Otter Creek and Ship Wreck Cove. The kids also enjoyed the Balloon Pirate so much we had to hunt him down through the city the second night and wait in line an hour for a balloon.

This weekend we visited my great friend, Lauren and her family in Asheville. Kids swam, enjoyed the Western Carolina Nature Center and all was going along just perfectly. UNTIL...Caden's insulin pump died. Why does the pump always seem to malfunction when we're away? Especially in a small mountain town? Anyway, thought I would be ultra prepared so I brought along a syringe and long acting insulin just in case. I paged the endocrinologist on call and she instructed me to give him 7 units of this long acting insulin via injection. Well, at the same time, Mike is on the phone having trouble getting through to the thick headed Medtronic Help Person (which put us on hold for 1 hour) and I somehow grabbed the wrong insulin. So, I immediately realized my mistake and my head began to spin. I couldn't even talk I was so panicked. I thought within 15 min, Caden would pass out from too much insulin and I was certain I had just made a life threatening mistake. I had given him 7 units of FAST acting insulin, 6-7 times his normal amount and he hadn't eaten in hours.

I called 911 for the first time in my life and they arrived very quickly. I then re-paged the MD and she informs me it is not as life threatening as I assumed and he'll be fine. Apparently this type of mistake happens all the time. Go figure...for the last 7 years I have NEVER done anything remotely close to this. We gave him about 3 cups of straight cola and he was really enjoying the whole thing. He hever gets Coke and the EMS guy gave him a firetruck silly band. Preston stayed fast asleep on the other couch and didn't even realize there were half a dozen EMS personel in the living room. It was really quite a nerve wracking experience, however it could have been drastically more serious if I didn't realize my mistake right away and sent him off to bed. I don't even want to think about that. Anyway, I wonder if we'll be invited back to visit my friends next year?

So this week we are laying low, enjoying the pool, hitting a free movie and packing for our favorite place...the beach! This year, we are heading to Atlantic Beach and the kids are really looking forward to wake boarding, fishing and playing in the sand. Can't wait to see how Avery enjoys the beach! By the way, she now swims WITHOUT floaties on! Granted it's only about 10 feet but she is swimming farther each day. Pretty good for a 2 year old! Today she went down the large waterslide (have to be able to touch or swim to go down it) and she swam to the stairs all by herself without any floatation device! She is very daring (to a fault) and she is just so determined to do exactly what her big brothers are doing!

Our week in NY

Just got back from a week in upstate NY. First few days we spent at Granny's cabin and the weather was perfect. Sunny, breezy, high in the low 80's. We were outside 24/7 and the kids had the best time fishing, swimming and making smores. Caden was Mr. Fisherman and caught 16 fish in one day (mind you it was probably the same sunfish he was re-catching 16 times...) and Preston and Avery played in the sand and water all day long. The both "swam" out to the dock! Avery LOVES to swim but still chokes/swallows the water all the time. Plus, the water temp up there was a little chillier than here so she started shivering in no time at all.

We went to visit one of my very best friends, Lori, and her family. She has 6 year old triplets and a 2 year old! :) So it's always a very fun place to visit because they have more toys than any household I have ever seen. They live on almost 3 acres of land (unheard of where we live) so my kids love to run free in their yard and on their trails through the tall grass. We also spent some time at Poppy's grave, watered the flowers and visited for a while.

Of course, we had to hit some of our favorite eateries...Heid's and Rudy's. When the weather turned hot (by hot...it was nearly 100 degrees and tied the heat record) we went to the MOST science center and Thunder Island Water Park.

Surprisingly, Avery decided to master her potty training on the long car ride (13 hours...each way and not one accident) and throughout the entire vacation! Since she was accident free all week, I put her in the hotel pool to swim without a swim diaper (we didn't use one all week.) As luck would have it, she pooped. Yes, right in the hotel pool and Mommy was not happy. I knew she was up to something as she was floating very quietly in the pool, with that "look" of no good on her face. Sure enough...a big mess. Since then, she has been accident free (except at night.)

All in all it was great to spend time with Granny, visit friends and let Avery meet Uncle John for the first time! Now the fun part...unpacking! Why is unpacking so much worse that packing?! Shouldn't it just be packing in reverse? Sure doesn't seem that way.

Potty Training Dilemma

I started potty training Avery a few weeks ago. At first, she really seemed to get it, and did really well. Although she never really "told" me when she had to use the potty, it seemed as if she would hold it for a while until I asked her if she needed to go. She went a few days keeping her diaper clean, maybe only an accident here or there. Fast forward about 3 weeks. We have made no progress, and if anything have gone backwards. She rarely ever tells me she has to "go", and every time I ask her if she needs to go she says no. If I put her on the potty anyway, she does go every time.

Do I just give up for now and re-visit in a month or two? Or just keep asking her, putting her on the potty every hour or two and hope she catches on? She seems to understand what I am telling her, but it seems she doesn't realize (until its too late) when she has gone in her diaper. I tried the training pull-ups that turn cold when they are wet, but that hasn't made a difference. Anyway, just looking for advice. My boys trained in a day or so, without any major bumps along the way, so I have no idea what to do at this point.

By the way, she'll be 3 years old in September...