1st Day of School

I do not feel summer could have already come and gone, but we have the first week under our belts already!

My car is still in the shop, so we have been walking to (and from) school each day, much to the chagrin of my children.  Studies have shown that it is good for them though, so they will survive.

My Alice on day one:

she ended up having to change shoes, and put on shorts that were longer than her shirt...but we were eventually able to leave for school in an appropriate fashion!

My Emily on day one:

This year, she was confused as to why the pillowcase was blank.  Her world was changed when I told her I would add it in later on my computer. = )

My William on day one:

this guy has been going back and forth on whether or not he is ready to start.  I know he will rock kindergarten, and he has the most adorable teacher, so he will be awesome.

And a bonus picture, that in my mind was supposed to be all 5:

but we were waiting on big sister (and her accomplice, grace) to finish getting ready. = )

We are ready for the best year to date!

later days

this is how my dear ones looked on their first day last year.

Alice answers her birthday survey: 9 years old

Two days before her third grade year, Alice turned nine! over the weekend we celebrated with some lovely people!

I took a picture of her on her very last night as an 8 year old:

I am 18 years old.
My favorite color is: pink pink pink
The coolest person on earth is: "me" [<-I've totally been demoted]
The thing I do best is: being me
If I could change my name, it would be: alisa
My favorite toy is: the dragon toy
When I grow up, I want to be: a mermaid fairy
I like to watch: youtube
My favorite song is: goblins form mars: cold blooded love
My favorite book is: the weenie book series
3 words to describe me are: cheerful, happy and jumpy
When I was little, I used to: destroy stuff
My favorite season is: winter
The food I like most is: cupcakes
One food I really don't like is: onions
My best friend is: Audrey & Willow
For my birthday I want to: become a mermaid fairy
My best memory is: mutti & daddy [okay, maybe not completely demoted]

and her very first day as a 9 year old:

Happiest of birthdays to my dear Alice, you are so incredibly loved!

later days

you can check out her answers last year here.

Lugnuts, round 2!

Since my mom did not get to join us for our first Lugnuts game, when the opportunity arose for us to attend with her church group, she hooked us all up with tickets!

We were able to enjoy some of the items we bought last time, and sport the lugnuts shirts* that I had collected in the spring. = )

We spent some time on the playground, but the sun was bright in the afternoon heat, and by the 4th inning, some of us were ready to go:

But, as it was a kids day, after the game, they allowed the kids to run the bases, so Alice and Emily wanted to stay for that.  It still felt like a long wait to them I'm sure.

It was a close game, and made sweeter by the win the Lugnuts pulled off!

On the field to run the bases after the game:

We made a beeline home after the game, but sure did have a good time!  (and cooled off when the clouds rolled in.)

go nuts!

later days

*so, when we were unloading in the parking lot, I thought alice's shorts were awfully short (couldn't even see them under her shirt.)  It turns out, she did not put on any pants. at all.  had we been in my car, this would not have been a big deal.  I have extra clothes to some degree for everyone, but since we are out and about in billy's car, I have fewer emergency items on hand.  I found one pair of pant-like things for her.  they were better than nothing, but barely.  (I did ask alice if I could include this in my blog, because I want to be able to look back and laugh in a few years.)

Alice's 9th Birthday Party

On Saturday, people came together to celebrate Alice's 9th birthday!!!!!

It was such a laid back event, we rented a bounce house and snow cone machine, had a store made cake, and Billy grilled up some hot dogs.

Alice was delighted to see all of her friends, and I enjoyed chatting with my friends and the other parents.  In fact, I was having such a good time, I didn't take a single picture!

Thankfully, my mom took all of these:

Alice loved her giant Minecraft pillow!

Grace thought the kitty was toooo cute!

This blue squishy guy was another favorite, she even brought him to the baseball game today!

And her pants made me so sad.  We bought them just for her party, and the knees wore off before the end of the day! = (

She loved seeing all of her friends, and has been on cloud nine all day.  Thank you to everyone who came out or sent well wishes!

later days

Other Summer Happenings

On voting day, I waited until Billy came home before I headed to the polls.  I wanted to make a quick trip, but as I headed out the door, 4 of my dear ones wanted to come with me.  Voting is important, so I brought them along.  It made my trip longer and more stressful, but they liked their stickers.  when we got back to the car, grace was sad that we didn't get on a "boat."  

Sorry Grace, voting not boating.

Spinach, a summer treat:

Juliet and friends were watching something on her tablet. = )

It's a shame they all have to share a single computer...

Emily bought a bag of gumballs, so we made our own dispenser. = )

Started on some crafts, and worked on them day after day, but the inspiration has passed and I haven't quite finished the final two. It'll come back around.

I made myself another purse, since my second Dr. Who one started to look roughed up. = (  I was sad to retire it, so I cut out my aldi quarter holder and installed it in my new bag.

We had a garage sale so that Emily could have a lemonade stand.  She really enjoyed it, and made for a good helper. I think it will be a while before I'm willing to do it again.  After the sale it felt so good to get the stuff out of my house though!

It might not look like much, but this was my mom's birthday present.

I took apart her worn chair cushion, wrapped it in some new foam and hand sewed the seam back together.  My hands were so sore the next day, but she said that it did the trick!

We conducted an experiment with a lemon and forks.  It was pretty cool that a lemon could power a clock!

The summer reading program wrapped up yesterday.  We had fun participating, and enjoyed going in to collect prizes and goodies.

I'm not the biggest fan of posting unresolved things in my blog (just in case I forget to type up the resolution) but I wanted to post our tire shop pictures which require a little bit of back story.

Two Thursdays ago, we dropped of my car.  The mechanic called us Friday morning to let us know that it was a broken coil causing the misfire.  He was going to replace the spark plug and coil, but wanted to know if we would like him to take care of the other 7 while he was in there.  We decided to go for it.  He called late in the day Friday with bad news.

The coil was part of the problem, but the engine was still misfiring.  He has to go deeper into the engine to diagnose the problem (which we still don't know, since he had to borrow the tool before he could start the job.)  = O

Anyhow, since I would be driving billy's car until mine is repaired, and Billy was going to be in Chicago for the beginning of the week, I asked him to put some air in his tires.  While we were inspecting them, we found that one of the tires was in poor disrepair, like metal peeking out of the tread. I have no idea when we last put tires on his car (other than our Missouri mishap) so it became priority number 1, after we dropped him off at work Monday morning.

And that's how we found ourselves in a very nice waiting lounge at a tire shop first thing on a Monday morning.

When the car was finished, the kids didn't want to leave!  I had to cut them off at the end of the pinkalicous episode, so that we could go do other things. = )

At least it was something minor on Billy's car, at least for now.  I miss my car, and I'm dreading the price tag of this repair, since it's been in the shop almost two weeks now.  Hopefully I remember to update with the rest of this story. = )

This month slipped through my fingers...it was over halfway before I mailed off my monthly pictures to my grandma!  But this month's selection sure was colorful!

Now that it is season end, we were able to find a riding mower so that I can take over the task of mowing the lawn!

My sister came during her lunch break with her truck, but we had to go grab some boards to use in lieu of a ramp.  Emily and Alice were just a bit inconvenienced, but we made it work. = )

Alice and William both had some summer academics that they needed to tend to.  I decided that Alice needed some subtraction practice, and her goal was 95% on a 25 question test.  One day, she missed 3, and took a nap in between attempts.  It did the trick, her next one she scored 100%!

Look at that concentration:

William is going to rock kindergarten!

While their siblings attended school work, Emily and the twins were either coloring, creating stories or reading. = )

later days

Regular Appointments

Our life has more doctor visits than most, but far fewer than we used to.  So, documenting non-hpp appointments usually falls by the wayside, but not this month! = )

All 5 of them had a cleaning at the dentist, back-to-back.  It was at 8:30, which was not ideal for a summer appointment, but it was nice to knock it all out at once. = )

And, I took Alice and Emily into the optometrist to update Alice's prescription and check on Emily's eyes.

Alice's prescription changed a bit, so she got a new pair that we picked up last week.

Emily's eyes look good for now.  She won't need corrective lenses for a while. = )

They dilated their eyes, so the big girls got to do a few errands with me in their cool shades. lol

all things considered, we had a pretty healthy summer.

later days

Ophthalmologist, Nephrologist, and the beach

This is the latest post in the series of William, Grace and Juliet's journey with hypophosphatasia.

In July, Sarah called to let me know that she was willing to take a few days off if I wanted to go to the beach.  Since we had a hospital day planned, and hour in the same direction, we decided to just piggy back it for the same day.

Avia decided that she wanted to come too, so last Thursday, William and the twins were slated to see the ophthalmologist, the twins had a visit with the nephrologist, with an ultrasound and William had to go in for a weight check for the endocrinologist. 

We loaded up in a timely manner and hit the road just an hour before their appointment.  

That's when the trouble began. My check engine light came on before we even hit the interstate.  We devised a plan to go trade out cars with Billy, but saw him leave for work just before we could catch him (he wasn't answering his silenced phone...)

So, to be the most efficient, we dropped Sarah off at our house, so that she could trade my mom's car with Billy's and then follow behind us, in case we broke down en route.  With so many appointments, calling the day off was a last resort.

The car performed well enough to get us there a mere 10 minutes late, which was not too bad all things considered.

It was chilly, but since we jumped out of the car and ran to the appointment, the twins were stuck sharing my jacket until they warmed up.

My mom took the big girls to a nearby auto shop to get a reading on my engine.  Sarah joined us not too long after the first appointment (just in time for the ultrasounds!)

We had time for a leisurely lunch out on the rooftop patio. This was the first temperate day we'd been at this facility, to it was everyone's first time to play with the equipment!

Our biggest appointment of the day was with the ophthalmologist.  She said that William and Juliet each had one eye that was not working as much as it needed to, so gave the order to 'patch' them for 2 hours a day.

This means that for 2 hours every day, they have to cover their good eye with an eye patch.  William was terribly resistant to it.  Juliet has been enjoying it I think, as she will wear hers without complaint for even longer.  We return in 3 months to see if this is doing the trick.  The next level is an eyedrop that causes the good eye to lose focus. = /

After a long day at the hospital*, equipped with the knowledge that my car just had a burned out coil causing it to misfire, we made a slower drive home, in two vehicles.  It was sad to miss the beach, but taking the car another hour from home seemed ill advised.

Sarah met us at the auto shop with Billy's car, but since it only seats 7, she had to wait for Billy to get off work and pick her up.

***************

My mom and I took the kids to a local park in Lansing.  It has a splash pad, and best of all a little beach.  On a Thursday evening, it was uncrowded and the kids were able to enjoy their toes in the sand and paddle around in the water.

Maybe next time we will actually make it to Lake Michigan for our beach day.  I'm calling it a win, since no one asked why we didn't go to the beach.

It was not how I expected my day to go, but I was very thankful for my mom and sister who picked up all the pieces that were dropping out of my day.  It could have been so much worse.

later days

*all of their results are in, and everything is looking great!

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