These are days to remember...

37 weeks or Come on Baby!

2011-07-06T21:57:00.003-04:00

As of tomorrow, I will "officially" be full term and could safely deliver at any time. For those of you not used to counting pregnancy in weeks, 40 is the magic number. So, being at 37 weeks puts me three weeks from my due date. We saw the baby in ultrasound yesterday and he was properly positioned, so everything looks good. We are still getting little things ready in the nursery, but over all we are prepared for our new little "baby brother" to come home. I'm anxious to meet him, to see what he looks like, and to cuddle him - and to sleep (be it however short) without him pushing on my bladder and making it nearly impossible to turn over in bed! :) Come soon, little one!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T19:06:00.009-04:00

Hope you had a blessed Holy week and Joyous Easter Weekend. We enjoyed a nice weekend with friends and family working in the yard (planting flowers and gardening), hunting Easter eggs and grilling out with our Life Group, worshiping our risen Savior, playing at the park, relaxing on the porch and patio, and celebrating mom's 60th birthday. It was nice long weekend. Hope you were equally blessed this weekend. (thanks Emily for the egg hunting shots)

New Things

2011-01-31T09:31:00.003-05:00

We have a few newsworthy new things going on in our life right now.

For starters, Owen is currently enduring his first day at his new preschool. His new school is part of the public school system and serves children who need special education services. His class is specifically for hearing impaired or language delayed kids. Owen will make the fifth child in the class, so they get some pretty close attention from the teacher and aide. The teacher is also an audiologist and she has 29 years of experience with kids. All of this is to say it seems like a great place and we are excited about this new opportunity for him.

He was a bit sad when Kate and I dropped him off. It made me a little sad that he was sad and, being almost downtown, he's a little farther away than I'm used to. I hadn't anticipated being nervous about that. I hope he has a good day.

Owen will be attending his new school twice a week, which will still leave a little time for one day of Mother's Day Out. He has been in this program since last year and he loves it, so we wanted him to be able to keep going there for as long as possible.

The other major new thing is that we are expecting another baby at the end of July! We are getting pretty excited and Owen is already calling himself a big brother. I think this is probably because he thinks he's pretty big now and he is a brother to Kate. He is also a little confused about whose tummy holds the baby - or maybe he just likes to pretend that the baby is in HIS tummy. :)

Accommodating this new addition will require some adjustments to the way we have our house set up right now, so we are beginning to plan those adjustments and will soon be moving furniture, putting up drywall, and doing lots of painting, hanging curtains, etc.

I'm only at 14 weeks right now - into the second trimester, but still too early to find out the baby's gender. That will happen some time in March, so we will keep you posted!

Happy Holidays

2010-12-07T15:09:00.005-05:00

We had family pictures taken over Thanksgiving since we had various family groups together in one place. A couple of my favorites are below.

Kate and Owen
Our FamilyKate, Owen, and Cousin Baby Gabriella

The rest of the story

2010-11-17T15:40:00.003-05:00

This post was actually written on Monday, November 22, 2010...

I realize it has been a while since I posted and some of you may not follow facebook, or may follow facebook, but may have only gotten pieces of the story about what's going on with Owen. I'm going to lay it out here in case you were wondering. If you weren't, check back soon for an update or maybe even an unrelated post about something fun! It's bound to happen sooner or later...

So basically, Owen has been fighting ear infections bi-laterally (in both ears) since August. Our pediatrician put him on a strong, broad-spectrum antibiotic right off the bat which seemed to clear it up, but it came back. Our pediatrician's colleague then put him on zithromycin which, again, seemed to clear it up but it came back. We then went to Owen's ENT doctor who cultured the drainage (finding nothing) and empirically treated him with bactrim for two weeks. It seemed to clear up. A week later, we were back in his office and he cultured it again and put him on bactrim again, following up immediately after to make sure it had really cleared up. This time it hadn't and Owen was admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics and placement of a picc line so he could go home and we could administer the antibiotics intravenously at home. That was nearly three weeks ago. After a week of antibiotics, and his ears not getting any better, Owen's bloodwork revealed that his dosage was too low, so it was raised two days in a row. A follow-up visit with the ENT showed that his ears appeared to be getting better. However, after another week and a half of antibiotics, his ears were NOT getting better, and the ENT stopped the IV antibiotics and decided he needed to remove the tubes, as they themselves were likely covered with bacteria that was causing infections that wouldn't heal. This theory was supported by the fact that three or four cultures (I lost track) never revealed anything more serious than a common staph.

So, the ENT removed Owen's tubes - his third set, mind you, that were only placed to help clear up ever-present benign fluid (no ear infections before the tubes) and improve his hearing. The whole thing is a little frustrating and the first week or so of the Nurse Mommy and Nurse Daddy routine with the picc line was quite stressful in addition to sleep-depriving, but things are settling down and we are hopeful that removing the tubes will do the trick and Owen will be back to his old self again soon.

The ENT prescribed oral antibiotics again this weekend, and we are already seeing some improvement, as they had been draining still even after the surgery. Once Owen's ears are healed, we will need to get busy getting his hearing aids adjusted and completing the assessments and meetings required for Knox County to determine what Owen's needs will be after he turns three on November 30. All of that would normally be completed by now, but the illness and hospitalizations forced us to cancel a few appointments.

Meanwhile, we have Thanksgiving and a third birthday to celebrate, along with my entire family coming in from out of town. We are certainly ready for some fun around here!

Stuck in My Own Stuff

2010-11-04T12:54:00.003-04:00

As most of you know, since last Thursday we have been dealing with Owen and the administering of intravenous antibiotics through his "pic-line" every six hours. This has really dominated our lives for the past week. It seems things swing very quickly from "this is not a problem at all" when Owen is all giggles and joy and lets us do his medicine without any problems (or better yet sleeps through it), to periods where both Angela and I are near tears as one of us holds down a screaming frightened child who is clawing and kicking while the other tries to inject syringes full of drugs into our son. To say the least we have been stressed.

Yet, when I stop feeling sorry for myself long enough look at the world around me, I can't help but feel selfish. This week has seen the death and funeral of a man in our church leaving behind a wife and young daughter. I see people dealing with things far harder than anything I have to deal with such as mother loosing a child (http://www.kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/). There are still parents sitting at Childrens' Hospital hoping that one day their child will be able to go home. I received two e-mails this past week about children who needed prayer, one an infant who had been shot in the head and one a child born with no expectation of living through the week.

I have it pretty good and have the assurance that there is a God that has it all under control. I also know that that God uses times like these to teach and mold. I just hope Angela and I are not too self consumed to catch the lesson.

This weekend was...

2010-09-26T21:41:00.003-04:00

A great dinner enjoyed with family and cooked by my husband...
Sitting on the front porch watching the kids play in the yard and chatting with the neighbors...
Letting the kids stay up late...
Enduring tantrums from an overtired two-year-old...
Cheering for Kate's soccer team...
Napping...
Playing at the neighborhood playground...
Praying and worshiping with my church family...
Napping...
Taking my little girl shoe shopping...
Doing a little light grocery shopping...
Enduring tantrums from an overtired two-year-old...
Finishing a book...
James falling asleep in the recliner at 9:00...
Listening to the evening sounds outside through the screen door...

Excercise Saturday

2010-09-18T15:36:00.005-04:00

It is a busy, active Saturday in the Hemrick household. Kate started soccer this morning. She did good, although she was hungry the whole time, so we will need to eat more breakfast next week.
Angela and Owen got some exercise this afternoon.Then we have an outing in the park planned with our small group this afternoon.

Saturday...

2010-09-04T21:52:00.002-04:00

Some of my favorite things about today:

sleeping in...
opening the windows...
doing yard work with my sweetie...
a crystal clear blue sky and cool temperatures...
hanging out with my family downtown...
family nap time...
scrounging for dinner...
football...
playing in the backyard with the kids until after bedtime...

*sigh*

It was a very good day.

Psalm 65:8
The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.

Book Review: Winterdance

2010-08-30T15:28:00.003-04:00

I recently finished reading the book Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod. It was chosen by my book club as our August read and I still haven't gotten over it. Have you ever read a book and grieved when it ended simply because it meant you would not be able to read it any more? This book did that to me and I'm not really sure why.

I checked the book out from the library and it is not a new book (I believe it was written in 1995), so the cover was not exciting. Yes, I judge books by their covers - I'm shallow like that. But, that being said, I don't (always) let it keep me from reading the book. I will admit, I wasn't excited about reading this book and it sat on the table for about a week after I had checked it out before I made myself start reading it.

Once I did, it wasn't like other great stories that don't let you put them down because of the suspense. And the writing wasn't terribly eloquent. It was just that it was fascinating stuff! I couldn't believe why someone would subject themselves to the things the author had subjected himself to in training for and running the Iditarod. And yet, his stories somehow drew me into his crazy world of dogs and snow and sleeplessness and moose attacks. I found myself relating everyday occurrences to the book, as in "that's how it is on the Iditarod" as if I have any idea what it is like on the Iditarod.

I became addicted to the stories he told. I fell in love with the lead dog. I held my breath when he told of running on bad sea ice. And I cried when the author, after being diagnosed with heart disease and ordered by the doctor not to run dogs any longer, had to call someone to take his dogs away before he got home as he couldn't stand to see them go. It was a great read.

And now I must see Alaska.

Happy Birthday Katherine Mae!

2010-08-29T20:57:00.010-04:00

Kate turned 5 this week and it seemed like we celebrated the entire week! Her birthday fell on Tuesday, so I took cupcakes (which she and James made - props to Daddy) to her school so she could celebrate there. That day I had lunch with her at her school and then took her and a school friend to the movies to see Ramona and Beezus and then home to play. Tom and Laura came over that evening and we opened presents. Some of the highlights were a castle for her miniature Disney princesses, a strawberry shortcake remote control car, and a canopy for her bed.

After opening presents, we went out to eat to celebrate Kate's birthday as well as her Grandfather's birthday, which was the following day. Kate had requested macaroni and cheese for her birthday meal, and she and Owen both love the mac and cheese at Puleo's (where kids eat free!) so we headed there and then back home for some cake and ice cream.

And that was only Tuesday.

Wednesday, a package came from Aunt Carrie. Thursday a package came from Grandma and Grandpa. Friday was spent preparing and shopping for groceries and party essentials for the big day on Saturday.

Saturday, we had a few girls over for a girls only dress-up tea party (but Daddy, Grandfather, and Owen were invited at the last minute because Kate wanted her Daddy to be there).

I didn't think to get a picture of all the girls together all dressed up, but they were cute. Everyone came dressed up in princess attire (how else would a girl dress up?) and they really just played together for a while and then we ate. Then they played a little more, changed clothes and then went outside to play. It was a pretty low-key affair, but still fun for the girls.

I was glad when the party was over and we could stop celebrating! But, I was also a little sad to think that my little girl will never turn five again and won't really be a "little girl" any more.

My Little Redshirt

2010-08-23T09:04:00.003-04:00

Kate started pre-k on Friday and seemed to enjoy it. She didn't appear to be nervous going into her class and she was just fine when I left despite the fact that the one girl she knows in the class wasn't there yet. When I picked her up, she said she had fun, though she was a little confused as to why her friends from last year weren't there. Prior to this year, she had attended the same "school" (Mother's Day Out) for four years, so I guess she expected everyone to move on with her, even though we had talked about the fact that most of them would be going to kindergarten or other schools.

Kate's class is a transitional class for five-year-olds (which she will be tomorrow!) at a preschool very near our house. We decided to give her one more year before sending her to kindergarten. Lots of people have asked her if she was excited about kindergarten in the past few weeks, unaware that she wasn't going this year, but she hasn't asked any questions about it.

The New York Times published an article this weekend about people waiting to send kids to kindergarten. They called it "The Littlest Redshirts..." which I think is pretty clever - if you're not familiar with college athletics (I know my mom is asking herself what a redshirt is...), the term comes from the practice of postponing the participation of college athletes in competitive games so they are freshmen on the team when they are actually sophomores in school. If you're interested, you can read the article. It takes a pretty good look of the reasons parents choose to have their kids "sit out" one more year and the some of the affects this has on other kids.

I was a little concerned about how she would react when the five-year-olds at church with her moved up to the elementary class this summer, but Kate didn't care that she did not move up and seems very comfortable to have stayed where she was. She always seemed to get along better with the kids who were a little younger rather than older than her.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to this school year. It's going to be a busy one for us with Kate and Owen in two different schools with different schedules and Owen in speech two days a week!

Hablamos Espanol

2010-08-20T14:28:00.008-04:00

Over the past few weeks, several little instances have led me to the decision to teach my family (and/or learn with them) to speak Spanish.

A local Hispanic church congregation plans to start meeting in our church building in September and the minister of the church will have his office there as well. I am hoping that our congregation will form some relationships through this partnership. Our church has also taken several family mission trips to Mexico to serve a family and church with whom we have a relationship. To help build these relationships, two of our ministers were recently discussing the possibility of holding Spanish language classes for our congregation. In addition, a woman at our church, who teaches ESL in the local schools, has also recently begun a ministry to provide the Hispanic population in Knoxville with information and resources and just to help them where needed and I think it might be pretty awesome to help out with that.

All of these things had already gotten me thinking about brushing up on my Spanish. I took five years of Spanish in junior high and high school - actually four if you take into account that I actually skipped Spanish 4 - so I wouldn't be learning the language from scratch.

Then I recently stumbled on a blog that I really like, so I was going back and reading a few of the past posts. The blog is written by a mom who is homeschooling her children, including teaching them to speak French. That's when it hit me - I could teach my kids to speak Spanish! I don't really know why we all need to learn Spanish, but I have heard that young children learn second languages pretty easily. Plus there are numerous language, literacy, social, and cognitive development benefits.

Besides, it just seems like God has something up his sleeve...

So, I'm getting ready to do some digging to figure out how this will work for us. I hope it doesn't end up just being frustrating and time consuming. I'll definitely need to find some fun resources. Wish me luck!

I love my kids

2010-08-16T05:51:00.002-04:00

I have really enjoyed my kids this weekend. Do you ever have times like that where you just soak in the things you love about the people around you? I tried to do that with my kids this weekend. That's not to say it was a blissful weekend that I spent reveling in them 24-7. It was a pretty average weekend with some standard housework and home improvement projects - which were surprisingly not terribly difficult to tackle with small children running around as I would have thought. But the thing is that I was able to step back and admire them at several points throughout the weekend. And really, I've been trying to do this for the past week or so. I am finding that it changes my perspective overall and helps me to be more patient them when they are having not-so-admirable moments.

Owen cracks me up. He's a funny little guy and he's starting to get that certain things are always good for a laugh - like singing happy birthday to the potty or answering a question with a pondering "maybe...". He loves the sound of his own laugh, especially a deep growling chuckle and we both end up just laughing at the laughter. He dances like no one is watching - especially when there's a good beat. He is a sweet natured boy (despite his raging temper) and is always giving me kisses or patting my arm when he sits next to me.

Kate loves to expand her vocabulary. She often surprises me with the words she uses - correctly. She loves being read to. She puts together some wild outfits - the turquoise ankle socks she wore with her white shoes and Sunday dress yesterday were actually pretty tame in comparison. She is very loving and nurturing and is about the best big sister Owen could ask for, even if I do have to remind her that she's not his mommy now and then. She loves to make cards for us that say "I LUV U MOM DAD" often in the shape of an oval that was trying to be a heart.

I love these guys!

Whirlwind Wednesday

2010-08-12T08:49:00.004-04:00

So this is how my Wednesday went: Early Intervention visit in the morning, after lunch took Owen to the doctor for a 1:40 appointment to treat his double ear infection (during naptime, of course - why would a sick kid need a nap?), on the way home stopped by the library to pick up a book on hold that was about to expire and by Walgreens to drop off Owen's prescriptions, home to drop Owen off with Nana for a late nap while I went grocery shopping for the first time in weeks on Senior Wednesday, home to put groceries away while listening to the songs for worship team practice later, headed to church for dinner late and hitting every red light along the way, scarfed down some dinner, worship team practice (the highlight of the day), headed home to put the kids to bed late stopping at Walgreens on the way home to pick up Owen's prescriptions and cough medicine for Kate who seems to be coming down with something, applied medicines, put kids to bed. I thought I would sleep well last night, but I was actually awake for a few hours in the middle of the night, during which I paid bills and filled out the kids' school forms.

Today will be a down day! There will probably be some laundry and housework to do, but otherwise we're going to stay home and rest. Hopefully everyone will mend quickly - and I won't get sick!

The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. -Isaiah 40:29-31

Mission Indy

2010-08-03T14:11:00.002-04:00

James and I are home and nearly recovered from our week away. We are sponsors/teachers for the middle school class at our church and this past week we went with them and the youth ministers to Indianapolis for a mission trip. The program we attended is called Mission Indy. This was my second year attending Mission Indy and James' first. What an awesome program! Groups come to Indianapolis to help with various construction-type projects while being encouraged and motivated to find ways to serve God and others when they return home. I was really challenged throughout the week through the daily devotionals and speakers to find ways I can further God's Kingdom here in Knoxville. I really like the model of Englewood Christian Church where we stayed for the week - several groups worked on homes owned by the church that were only one or two blocks away. Other groups worked on converting an old school building next door to the church into a residential facility for people with special needs. Being in an urban neighborhood, the needs are sometimes a little more obvious than those in our neighborhood. In fact, as I write this, news is coming out about a fatal shooting in a neighborhood only a few miles from where we were. However, things aren't perfect in our area, the problems just look different here.

Anyway, my group worked on gutting an abandoned house (actually one unit of a duplex). This entailed removing the furniture as well as paraphernalia left by squatters, one of whom I hear came by to remove some things while this work was being done. Then we removed carpeting and flooring before being assigned to tearing down the walls - primarily plaster walls with wooden lathe boards underneath. This was very physical work involving lots of hammering and prying. One night, I woke up and realized I had been hammering in my sleep! James was with the other part of our group, who worked on re-hanging plywood and Tyvek on one side of a house to prepare it for siding. They then dug, framed, and placed gravel subbase for a walkway along the side of the house to prepare it for concrete placement. We all ended the day filthy and exhausted, hit the showers, and then stuffed ourselves on outstanding food prepared by the host church. Dinner was followed by worship and then group discussion and games. It was a great week of learning, serving, and fellowship. I can't wait to see what God has in store for our church and how He leads us to serve here in our community.

Last Episode of The Adventures of Nana and Grandfather

2010-07-31T13:37:00.004-04:00

Well this is the final chapter in this episode. Nice day so far. Children were up and about by 7:00. I attend the Faith Promise Men’s Breakfast (held monthly at our church Faith Promise.) Came home and worked on welcome home signs and things for Angela’s birthday tomorrow. About noon Katherine and I went to get the hounds and took them home. Now Owen is taking a nap and Nana and Katherine are playing. Outside is has been raining since about 10:00 and that is kept the temperature down; also there is a nice light breeze. James and Angela should be home about 4:00 (it is 1:30 as I write this.) More photos after the story below.

Well that is it; I hope you have enjoyed our adventures as much as I have enjoyed writing them. Now for the story of Good News, Bad News, Who Knows.

Good New, Bad News, Who Knows

Some of you may have heard the story of the old farmer of years ago whose horse ran away from him. The neighbors gathered around and said, “Oh, bad news!”
“Bad news, good news…who knows?” he replied.

A week later the horse returned with several other wild horses. Now the old farmer had more horses than he had had before. The neighbors gathered around and said, “Oh, good news!”
“Bad news, good news…who knows?” he replied.

The next day the farmer’s son was training one of the new horses when he fell off and broke his arm. The neighbors gathered around and said, “Oh, bad news!”
“Bad news, good news…who knows?” he replied.

The following week the local army came through to conscript young men into service. When they saw the old farmer’s son had a broken arm, they passed him by and left.

“Bad news, good news…who knows?” he replied.

Judging what is good or bad, what we see in others and ourselves, might best be left to God alone. We’re not very good at it.

Busy Day, but No Photos

2010-07-30T21:11:00.000-04:00

If you are looking at this for the first time in a week, I, Grandfather am guest blogging this week (yes I know it looks like James is doing this) so you need to go back to Sunday June 25th to catch up on our adventure.

It was a busy day for all of us. After breakfast I headed out to mow James and Angela’s yard. While I was doing that Nana, Katherine and Owen went to the Brendan Hill Library for Baby Book Worm (children under 3). After that Nana and I mowed our yard while Katherine and Owen watched the entertainment. After this Nana, Katherine and Owen picked tomatoes from garden. Then Katherine and I washed the lawn mower (and me), filled the bird bath and filled the bird feeders. Both Katherine and Owen took long naps this afternoon. After supper the four of us worked on some crafts. This is their last night with us, James and Angela will be back tomorrow afternoon. Sometime early tomorrow afternoon I will make my last guest entry along with the story “Good News, Bad News, Who Knows.” Until then good night.

WOW WOW What a Wonderful Day!!!!

2010-07-29T18:32:00.004-04:00

Rip roaring ready to go, firing on all cylinders at 6:45 this morning. What grand day. After playing on the screened in porch for a while we decided to go to the Children’s Museum of Oak Ridge http://childrensmuseumofoakridge.org/ . We spend about 3 hours there; it is such a hands-on museum for children. The doll house wins hands down. As you can see from the photos, it is a scale model of a doll house the children can wonder around in. The train area is also a big hit. Got back home about 12:30 had lunch. While Owen was taking a long long nap the “girls” decided to have a girls’ afternoon out. Not sure where all they went, but I know Brusters Ice Cream Shop was part of it. Grandfather and Owen were home. Now supper is over and we are winding down. To finish off the day we are getting ready to make Grandfather’s style popcorn. Then it will be baths for all and off to bed.

Good News, Bad News Who Knows (find out Saturday)

Sweet and Sour Day

2010-07-28T18:40:00.001-04:00

Everyone was awake before 6:30. I called this a sweet and sour day. There was times when they were as sweet as can be then there was times when ……….
Everyone had a great time at Storytime this morning. It was especially nice for Katherine because her friend Suzanne was there. Owen was wonderful listening to the stories. Afterward they had splash time. When they went outside it was lightly raining. They still had fun. From the library it was a trip to Sonic for lunch. They were both asleep before we got home. Both took got naps, but woke up sour. We all loaded up and went to Kroger; after all it is “geezer day.” Currently Nana is playing with Owen and Katherine is in her room.

Good New Bad New Who Knows (find out Saturday)

2010-07-27T18:11:00.009-04:00

Katherine and Owen we up before 7:30 and ready to go. After breakfast on the porch we had morning chores to do. Hanging out laundry and checking the garden. It rained yesterday so we did not have to water. Remember yesterday and the safari trip, well a lot of the bucket of feed was on the floor and other places in the van, so we took it to the three buck car wash. Stopped by Einstein Bagels for bagels, for a mid morning snack. After Owen’s nap we headed to the pool for a couple of hours. Just finished supper and winding down the day. Another fine day in Tennessee.

Good News Bad News Who Knows (answer at the end of the week)

The good news is there does not appear to be any damage to the van

2010-07-26T17:27:00.009-04:00

Owen slept in until 7:00 and Katherine until 7:30, yeah. Had breakfast and then started thinking about what today’s adventure would be. For today’s adventure we found Briarwood Ranch Safari Park http://www.briarwoodsafari.com/ near Morristown. The first big decision after we arrived was if we were going to drive through or ride their tractor pulled wagon. After tears gashing of teeth, it was finally decided to drive. Between the elk antlers, the big horn sheep, water buffalo, miscellaneous deer and the emu or almost forgot about the buffaloes there was plenty of opportunity to damage the van, but all appears well. We bought a bucket of feed and were on our way. It was so much fun. The animals would eat out of your hand or for some you tossed it on the ground. They thought nothing of sticking their nose into the van. One time I was holding the bucket away from the window so an elk would get it, only to have one reach in from the other window and dive in. After we drove through we had a picnic lunch and decided to drive through again. You can go through as many times as you want on one admission. Supper was great and right now they are joyously “singing” at the top of their lungs. I am going to try and attach some photos. It was tough to get photos of the animals and children since they and Nana were in the backseat.

Good New Bad New, Who Knows

The Adventures of Nana and Grandfather Hemrick

2010-07-25T20:20:00.000-04:00

Sunday evening 07/25/10
Hello Mr. and Mrs. American and all the ships at sea (if you know which newscaster used this as his opening, you are either old than I am or good a history. Grandfather Hemrick here, guest blogger this week. James and Angela are with the West Towne Christian Church (WTCC) Middle Schoolers on a mission trip to Indianapolis. They left early this morning, but brought Katherine and Owen over last night. Grandfather and Nana’s task is to fulfill our right and spoil our grandchildren. When James and Angela return they can “re-program” their children. In the mean time I will be make entries during the week on this unique experience for all four of us. The last time they stayed with us for a week was exactly one year ago this week. Wonder if I need to enter this as a permanent week????? We have had a wonderful day. Got up and went to services at WTCC (Laura and I attended our church, Faith Promise) last night before they came over. This afternoon was three hour nap time (see why I said wonderful.) Late this afternoon our church had the “Amazing Race” for preschool through fifth grade. It was a lot of fun. You had different stations with different task. Later there was a concert, but we opted out, it was rather loud, even for me. Right now Katherine (yes it is grandfather’s right to call her Katherine), Owen and Nana are reading a night time story.
So stay tuned for the “Adventures of Grandfather and Nana.”
Good News Bad New Who Knows (wait until the end of the week to find out that story)

Bundle of joy

2010-07-23T14:38:00.010-04:00

This is my brother's family. They have been visiting us for the past few days. Are they beautiful or what? (I hope he doesn't mind that I stole this photo from Facebook) His daughter, Gabriella, is three weeks old today. I feel so privileged a) to have been at the hospital when she was born, and b) that they came to visit us with such a newborn. These people are pros! They make having a newborn look like a piece of cake. :) My brother works for Microsoft and one of their perks is one month of paternity leave. I told him he better hold onto that job until they are finished having kids, because I can't think of a better job benefit. James has every other Friday off and I thought I was the luckiest wife to get to have her husband for a three day weekend every other week. This girl gets to share newborn parenting duties for a whole month! Yeah Microsoft! And how great for my brother to get to know and spend lots of time with his daughter in this most precious time of their lives.

Anyway, it's been fun getting to hang out with them and remember what newborns are like. It's also been cute to see James hold her when he comes home. I've noticed him search her out and ask to hold her. Maybe there's another baby in our future?

The waiting game

2010-07-20T13:10:00.006-04:00

This was one of signs I used most when we were signing a lot with Owen. Do you think that says something about his patience level? He has always had ZERO patience. Right from the beginning he would wake up screaming at the top of his lungs and continue to do so the entire time I changed his diaper until I finally fed him - a whole 60 seconds later - as if he were going to starve. I still find myself starting to sign this to him as I tell him to wait for something. Well now I'm the one waiting. One of Owen's hearing aids broke on our way to Florida for vacation. I believe that date was June 12. It is now July 20 and the audiologist was just finally able to send it off for repair today. Crazy, huh? That's one of the problems with having a state funded program act as a secondary insurance provider. The other is that our primary insurance provider has recently become confused about the whole situation, sending us several pieces of mail a week trying to straighten it out, but that's another story. It should now only be another week or so before Owen's hearing aid is repaired and we get it back. In the meantime the audiologist gave us a loaner to use until his is repaired. Then, the mom of the other little boy in Owen's group speech therapy session gave us one of the little boy's old hearing aids, since he now has two cochlear implants and no longer uses hearing aids. It was very generous of her. She gave the other to the audiologist to use in their loaner bank. So, at least Owen hasn't had to go without a hearing aid while this was all straightened out. Evidently, TEIS used to purchase three year warranties with their hearing aids (makes sense for a birth-to-three program - then they would never have to pay for any repairs). Well around the time they purchased Owen's hearing aids (which was also a time consuming process), they stopped getting such long-term warranties with them, so this was the first repair that anyone had to deal with that wasn't under warranty. TEIS has decided they will pay for the repair, and I'm very grateful for a program that pays for hearing aids, repairs, speech therapies, and audiology appointments that would not otherwise be covered by our insurance. One day most of this will be coming out of our pockets, so for now we'll just accept a six-week delay in repairs. I'm sure this was all much more information than you cared about, but it's just an example of the stuff that goes on around here.

Shots!

2010-07-19T18:47:00.002-04:00

Today I took Kate to get her shots for school. She's not starting Kindergarten yet, but I wasn't entirely clear about whether the preschool would require shots for five-year-olds or not and she won't turn five until after the school year begins. Anyway, I just thought we'd go ahead and get it over with. I told her we were going to get her check-up for school and when she asked if she would have to get shots - I lied. I told her I didn't know and that the doctor would tell us when we got there if she would. She seemed to be okay with this answer and I was relieved. So we went to the appointment and the nurse took us to the room and told us Kate would have to get three shots and then left to prepare the vaccinations. Kate was surprisingly brave! She teared up a little, but put on a very brave face while we waited. I had expected so much worse. You may be wondering why I'm making such a big deal about a few shots, but this is the same girl that took three nurses to talk her into and hold her down during a flu-mist administration - not the shot, the MIST! A little squirt in her nose! So, I fully expected the worst. She didn't cry until after the first shot was administered. Then she screamed. And that set Owen off. "Hurt Kate! That hurt Kate!" The tables had turned (Kate's been to more than her fair share of Owen's doctor appointments, although he is not usually in pain) and it was sweet to see Owen so distressed over his sister's well-being. I had to comfort them both at the same time. So they both screamed until it was over, and then they both got popsicles for their troubles. Then we went to the library to turn in their library summer reading sheets for free stuff and then to Kate's favorite place for lunch: Sonic! Afterward she got to go play with some of her best little friends for the afternoon. All in all, not a bad day.

Work creating work...

2010-07-18T14:15:00.003-04:00

This is the work James did yesterday.

There were no shutters on the front porch window. There were shutters on the other front windows, just not this one. He added these and they look great! But now we have this:

Guess I have some painting to do! We could also use a little table between the chairs. And some pillows. And some landscaping in front of the porch. At least we got rid of the green indoor/outdoor carpeting that covered the porch! Baby steps!

Labels

2010-07-15T15:00:00.003-04:00

We had nowhere to be yesterday. We just hung out at home and did whatever we wanted to. Kate and I spent a good while this morning labeling things. What do I mean? Well, pretty much, if Kate looks at it, it got a label. She chose most of the things that got labeled. Here are a few examples.

It was actually kind of fun. Owen's early interventionist used to teach pre-school at the school for the deaf and she is always suggesting things I can do at home - such as this - that she did for her kids. Not just in the classroom, but for her children at home. I'm no pre-school teacher, and usually I think "That's a great suggestion, if I only had a little more time on my hands...". But this was a pretty quick and easy thing to do. Probably every mom of a pre-schooler did this and you're all thinking I'm a deadbeat mom for just now doing it. Oh well. It kind of looks like clutter to me but that's ok. We'll get used to it. And it's really only in Kate's room and bathroom, plus a few random labels in some other rooms. She's already showing Owen, "See, this says table". Let's read!

The Naked Chef

2010-07-15T14:16:00.003-04:00

This summer to date

2010-07-14T06:12:00.007-04:00

I know it's been a really long time since I've posted anything of substance (besides the post from our vacation - Thank you, James). So I thought I'd post an update from the past couple of months.

In May, Kate graduated from Mothers Day Out. She had attended this program at our church since she was one year old (and I mean, she started just a few weeks after turning one!). It's hard to believe she spent four years there and is now getting ready to turn five!! This year she will be attending a 5-year-old pre-K class at a church in our neighborhood. She will go every day for half a day and she is so excited! She has even become friends with a girl who will be in her class. She has fun going to story time and having lunch with Suzanne on Wednesdays. She is growing up to be such a sweet little girl who is the best big sister Owen could have asked for! She even likes to come up with little "activities" to do with him and she's his best interpreter. She's a funny mixture of princess and tomboy and it's fun to watch her figure herself out. She loves to laugh and dance and hates to have her hair fixed even though she likes it long. I finally told her she has to get it cut before school starts because I won't have time to fight with her about her hair then! We'll see if I can follow through with that one...

We've been busy keeping up with Owen's various doctor appointments and therapies. May was particularly busy while we fought with the tubes in his ears to keep them clear - we were at the ENT doctor's office 4 out of 5 weeks that month! This Monday he had an audiology and an ENT appointment. That was a busy day! But, the audiologist was able to get a good hearing test - he cooperates really well in the booth playing the games they ask him to so they have gotten a very good idea of his hearing range and he's pretty much in the moderate loss range these days. He has speech therapy twice a week now - one individual session and one group session - and he enjoys his therapist. I think Kate even enjoys going. She complains a little when we have to go , but I think she enjoys it once were there. We have all definitely come a long way with our attitudes about speech. It wasn't fun in the beginning! But now that Owen enjoys it and we can see the benefits, it's much more bearable. :)

Owen is definitely in the terrible twos right now, and he can get pretty angry and upset about things, but he is also pretty cute at the same time. Cuteness seems to be a quality that 2-year-olds possess in excess - must be to make up for those tantrums! Some of Owen's favorite things right now are buses, the car wash, and parking garages. :) He talks about them all the time and loves when we get to go to one!

Otherwise this summer we spent some time with James's aunt and uncle and cousin visiting from Louisiana, took a trip to the zoo, went on vacation to Florida, watched the dragon boat races, went to Illinois to see my family (and got to meet my new niece! More about that in another post), and visited with James's cousin and her family from South Carolina. Oh, and we had our kitchen re-modeled, but that will be another post as well after we paint it - whenever that happens.

Still to come this summer are a visit from my brother and his wife and newborn baby girl, a mission trip to Indianapolis with the middle schoolers at our church (while Kate and Owen spend the week with Nana and Grandfather), a quick trip to Kings Island with the same group, and a reunion with old friends in Illinois over Labor Day weekend. Whew! I'm not making any promises, but maybe I'll do a better job of blogging now that I feel like I've caught you up on our life.

Florida 2010

2010-06-22T10:12:00.005-04:00

I have a few minutes between meetings while I am sitting here in Baltimore, so I thought I would upload a few pictures I have on my computer from our vacation last week.

We had a great time again this year staying at the Coley's condo (know as Grandma's condo by my kids, sorry Pat) in Palm Harbor Florida and visiting the local beaches and swimming at the pool. We went to Honeymoon Island State Park twice (I think my favorite beach in the area) and to the beach at Fred Howard County Park (not as clean, but much more natural with lots of sea life to see). The kids had a great time being in the water every day. Owen really took to the water this year and Kate was a regular fish. We also made a trip into Tampa twice. On Sunday we drove into town to attend a new start up church plant in a movie theater (a different experience) and to hang out on Davis Island and drive up Bayshore (one of our favorite streets in Tampa). On Wednesday, we ventured to the Florida aquarium and took a dolphin sighting boat ride in the bay. Both were great and we saw numerous dolphins in the bay. A few pictures from the week are below.(my favorite picture from the week)

Easter Camping

2010-04-04T14:07:00.004-04:00

Yes, we are alive and well. Life has just been too busy for either of us to make a blog post. Not that it has slowed down any, but I do find myself with a few spare moments while Angela folds laundry and the kids nap (I should probably be folding laundry right...).
We decided to celebrate the end of spring break, the beginning of spring, and Easter weekend with our first "family camping trip". The kids have been hiking with us, but neither of them have ever spent the night outdoors. Angela and I have not been camping either since the kids were born. So we took this opportunity to see if the kids (and us for that matter) were up to it. Even though it was a lot of work, we decided to just go for a single night and to go relatively close in case it turned into a disaster. We picked a spot in the Norris Dam area (Loyston Point) and packed up the kids, two dogs, and way too much stuff on Friday morning. I have to say that things went way better than I expected. We actually had a great time and everyone seemed to enjoy the outdoors. It was tough getting the kids to go to sleep, everyone got really dirty, and we experienced a wind storm coming off the lake Saturday morning while we were trying to pack up, but everyone made it back safely and I think we are even up to doing it again. Hope you enjoy the pictures below.

Kate's first dance performance

2009-12-13T13:11:00.003-05:00

We spent a good portion of the last two days preparing for and attending a dress rehearsal and performance (at the mall, the second Saturday before Christmas...) for Kate's dance class. Thankfully this dance studio is not terribly serious about performances - they are not mandatory and neither are any rehearsals. They allow the girls to get out of it what they put into it and the kids seem to be put first. I have really been pleased with the studio and the teachers. It has made this first experience with dance pretty painless as I never took dance and to say that the whole scene is very new to me would be an understatement. That said, I don't think Kate is really cut out for dance. She seemed pretty bored throughout most of the semester and would only half-heartedly participate. She did, however, reportedly enjoy the first 5-10 minutes of class which were spent in free play in the gym room complete with a trampoline. Her performance yesterday was her best effort yet. Don't get me wrong, Kate loves to dance. At home. With her own moves. She just didn't seem to enjoy the tedious task of learning choreography. At any rate, those of you who care can check out the performance right here.

Owen is two!!

2009-12-04T21:27:00.005-05:00

Owen celebrated his second birthday this week. I'm finding it hard to believe that he's really not a baby any more! It seems like it's taken Owen a lot longer to grow out of the baby stages than it took Kate. Maybe that's the boy/girl difference. Maybe it's just Owen. Anyway, he's such a big boy now (and he is a BIG boy - all 29 pounds of him!). He's doing great in all aspects. He loves going to Mothers Day Out and does really well there. He loves music/singing/dancing. He has several toys that play music and sometimes he will remove his hearing aids to hold the music right up to his ear. And he'll listen for a LONG time! It's so cute to hear him sing! His favorites right now are ABCs, Old Macdonald, and Do You Know the muffin Man (my personal favorite to hear him sing!). He also loves his big sister and his DADDY! Everyone loves Daddy and it's giving Mommy a bit of a complex... Oh well.

Anyway, back to the birthday. Owen's birthday fell on Monday, but Mondays are pretty busy here with MDO and Kate's dance class, plus I have an standing commitment at church that fell on that evening. So, we celebrated on Sunday instead with Nana and Grandfather. They came over and enjoyed some cake and ice cream (made with love by Mommy and Kate) and opening of presents. I've posted a few pictures so you can see how big he is!

Happy Birthday, little Owen!!

A few pictures from a fun day

2009-10-05T13:57:00.004-04:00

Yes, I have children, though you may have forgotten what they look like as I haven't posted pictures in a long while. Here are a few I took of the kids playing at Nana and Grandfather's house the other day. Kate asked if we could go visit them after school, so we just popped over to play for a little while (this is still very novel to me!). It was one of those beautiful early fall days when you can't get enough of the gorgeous weather and the kids had a blast playing outside. Owen especially loves the playset and climbs all over it by himself. Which reminds me, he no longer needs physical therapy! He had reached all of his goals and completed his last session last week. Wednesdays are now our FREE DAY!

Deceptively Delicious?

2009-09-29T07:10:00.006-04:00

There was a huge bin of bargain books at Kroger yesterday and I couldn't help but dig through it for a little while. Actually, what caught my eye was Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook called Deceptively Delicious priced at just a few dollars. If you haven't seen or heard of this, Mrs. Seinfeld (yes, Jerry's wife) has found ways to sneak vegetables into meals to get her kids to eat more healthfully. It's an interesting idea, has anyone tried this? She still puts plain vegetables on their plates as well, so they still have to eat vegetables knowingly to learn to make healthy food choices. The book is full of recipes for kid-friendly foods to which she has figured out what kind of vegetable purees can be added that don't detract from the flavor. For a few dollars, I was willing to check it out and possibly give it a try (though probably not until I get a food processor - I'm thinking Christmas present...).

Thinking about the author made me feel pretty inadequate. She (supposedly) stumbled on this idea while making food for her baby - something I never felt quite convicted enough to trouble with. The baby she talks about is her third - I am having a hard enough time getting a meal on the table with two kids - we won't go into whether it's a healthy meal or not. She purees vegetables and makes homemade meals AND has made them enough times that they have been taste-tested enough to put in a book. Oh yeah, and she wrote a book! With three kids! And a famous, probably very busy husband! Do you think she actually wrote it?

Well, the kids are awake now (they actually slept in while Daddy is out of town - thank you, God!!) and I need to go pour some cereal. I wonder what puree could be added to that... :)

A Couple Pictures from the Summer

2009-09-28T22:26:00.005-04:00

To follow up on Angela's last post, here are a couple pictures from the summer that I had on my phone. Enjoy.

Angela's Birthday

Kate helping to pack for the big move this summer.

Angela and James at King's Island on the Middle School End of Summer trip.

Owen and Kate at Nanna and Grandfather's house.

Catching up!

2009-09-24T12:28:00.003-04:00

Since the last post here, we have sold a house, bought a house, moved, unpacked, gone on a youth mission trip and a youth end of summer trip, celebrated two birthdays, started Mothers Day Out (BOTH kids this year), had a garage sale, got sick and recovered - mostly. Whew! Is it any wonder I haven't posted in two months? Please hang in there and I'll try to post some pictures (if I can find any - I haven't taken many with all that's been going on). I'll also post some pictures of our new house soon! I wanted to wait until there were at least no more boxes lying around, but I think we've now unpacked them all so stay tuned!

Louisiana Ramblings

2009-07-21T09:56:00.006-04:00

I just got back from a short trip to Louisiana to meet up with my parents who were bringing a trailer load of stuff back from my late grandparents house. As usual, being down there was like being in another world for me. It is so different being in that environment, rural deep south, when I spend so much time in suburbia and in an office/laboratory environment at work. It was good to get away for a short time, although I missed my wife and kids, and spend time with extended family.

Angela told me I should do a blog post on the things I saw while I was down there that were out of the ordinary (which in Louisiana can be quite a lot) and other observations from my trip. So here it goes.

As I was flying into New Orleans and as we were driving around the Baton Rouge area I noticed that there were still a lot of the "blue tarps" covering roofs, remnants of Katrina still prevalent.

The grocery store is always fun in Louisiana. You can get all kinds of goodies ranging from Zapps potato chips, to andouie sausage and boudin, to Community Coffee, to fresh pralines. But I saw something new this time. On the end of an aisle in Walmart (where you usually see something that is on special or something that is being pushed as new) they had a whole display of gallon jars of "pig lips". From what I could tell, I have to assume that this was pickled pig jowls. I also learned through a visit to a local "meat shop" that you can make something from about every part of a pig.

Coming from SEC country and with the rising storm for Volunteer football in the air right now, I had to take a picture of this. In case you can't tell it is a port-a-potty that was purple and gold (LSU colors) provided by "Tiger Toilets". My comment when I sent the picture to Angela was that LSU football must be going to ****.

I think I gained 10 pounds during my three day stay in Louisiana thanks to my Uncle's great cooking. I enjoyed such delicacies as deep fried chick-ka-bobs, smoked chicken, jambalaya, fresh eggs from the chickens out back, and stone ground grits from the mill in the garage.

You can buy fresh shrimp, some so big they defy the name shrimp, at numerous places along the side of the road in Baton Rouge and the surrounding area, but you can't pay by credit or debit card. Cash or food stamps only...

When you are out in the country, nobody is in a hurry to do anything...

Moving and meanness

2009-07-17T00:04:00.003-04:00

I can never get myself to go to bed at a reasonable hour when James is out of town. I don't know what's up with that, but since I'm up, I thought I'd post about what's going on around here. We have a closing date of August 7 for both houses, so we'll be moving in the next few weeks. I'm slowly coming to grips with this fact. I've been so caught up in the contract negotiations/repair negotiations/repair scheduling - you get the picture - that I think I've been in denial about the actual physical process of moving and what that will entail. As of right now, we have two boxes packed. Luckily, we're moving literally two miles away, so it shouldn't require great effort in packing, but we still have to get everything out of here. I see a garage sale in our future... My mom and sister-in-law will be coming next week to help, so we'll hopefully get a good bit done then. I'm going on a mission trip with the middle school youth from our church the last week of July, so that's going to put a crunch on the moving schedule. But, at least we have made all of the repairs to our house, so we can just focus on the moving part now.

Today I completed my jury duty commitment. I had to call in every day for the past two weeks to see if I would have to report the following day. I know, good timing on the part of Knox County. I was sweating it a few days while having to schedule repairmen to come to the house. Today was the last day of my commitment and I almost forgot to call in. I actually did have to report today and, of course, the appraisal of our house had been scheduled for this morning. James stayed home in the morning to get the kids and dogs out of the house during the appraisal and I found a sitter for the afternoon, but I ended up getting home before the appraiser was even finished. They chose the jury members alphabetically from the list and didn't make it to H. It wasn't an interesting case anyway.

James decided today to go to Louisiana to help his parents go through some of the things in his grandparents' house. I mean he decided today and left - today! It was very uncharacteristic of him, but I think he'll be glad he went. I'm sure going to miss him. Tomorrow is his day off, so he was going to spend time with Kate while I took Owen to speech and I was looking forward to not having to take her with me. Ok, I was looking forward to some interference! She's been pretty tough to handle lately. She has a bit of a bad attitude and can be pretty rude and disrespectful toward me (I haven't seen her do this to James). But, she and I tend to go through spells like this once in a while, so I just have to TRY to keep my cool while letting her know what's what! Yesterday, I took the kids to open play time and gym bugs, out for dinner to Chik-fil-A with ice cream afterward, and then to the play area at the mall. After all that, she had the nerve to tell me I am a "mean, mean woman" when we had to leave to go home. I don't even know where she learned that phrase! She has been having us play the parts of Cinderella and the wicked step-mother a lot lately... hmmm...

Well, I had better head to bed if I don't want to be a mean, mean woman tomorrow! Maybe one of these days I'll get some more pictures on here.

My sweet little boy

2009-07-11T04:20:00.004-04:00

Owen is finally starting to walk! He started about a week ago walking between me and his Nana as we sat on the floor. He likes to walk around holding someone's finger, but he can take several steps on his own. Yesterday, he walked from me in the living room to Kate who was in the kitchen, about fifteen feet away, with a right turn at the end!! And he can go from sitting to standing by pushing off of the floor (without climbing up furniture or someone's leg). He still doesn't choose walking as his primary means of getting from point A to point B, but he does like to show that he can do it, and it's all much closer to the real thing. I'm so excited! I am keeping in mind that he army-crawled for two or three months before he crawled on his hands and knees, so it could be a while before he wants to walk all the time, but we seem to be on our way.

There's more to this story, though. Since he's not walking, we got a referral for a physical therapy evaluation at the Children's Rehabilitation Center (part of our beloved Children's Hospital) and they decided he needs some braces for his feet/legs. His right foot has always turned out at the ankle and the left one does slightly, causing him to walk in he insides of his feet. It doesn't seem to be the reason for his not walking, but it's not helping and could cause trouble with his knees and hips if not corrected. So, our next adventure is to get him fitted for and then wearing DAFO (dynamic ankle foot orthosis) braces. These braces are made of plastic and foam (with a choice of colors and patterns) and are fitted to his feet and legs. He'll also have weekly physical therapy to help strengthen his legs and core and to improve his balance. I keep updates posted as to how this all goes.

Angela the Juggler's Assistant (or her impression of the statue of liberty)

2009-07-04T21:41:00.004-04:00

For the past two years we have gone to a July 3rd festival that is held at a local church. They have games for the kids to win little prizes, hand out little American flags, have inflatables for the kids to jump on, and hand out watermelon. The night culminates in a traditional fireworks display, like any good July 4th (or 3rd in this case) celebration should.

Anyway, they also have some entertainment with music groups on a main stage and a side stage where we have enjoyed the jugglers for the last couple years. I am not big on jugglers, but this one who is there every year is quite entertaining and Owen seemed mesmerized by him this year. So we all ended up sitting in the grass watching him for a while between waiting in line for Kate to jump on the inflatables and walking around the games. This year though was extra special as Angela got called up on stage to be the assistant during the flaming baton juggling extravaganza. It was definitely worth it to watch Kate's face as mommy helped the man with the flaming batons.

This Could Be Our Future

2009-06-29T22:46:00.003-04:00

We have been looking for a while to move to West Hills, a nearby neighborhood where we would be within walking distance from the elementary school and the park. This is a neighborhood of 50's era houses, many of them ranches (like the one we are trying to purchase), where everyone knows their neighbor (we actually know the neighbor of the house we are looking at) and kids play in the front yard while the parents sit on the front porch. It makes me nostalgic for a simpler life of the past just thinking about it.
Anyway, our current house went under contract tonight and we have a verbal agreement on a house in West Hills contingent on the sale of our current house. Now we just have to make it through home inspections on both houses, loans going through, appraisals coming out right and the rest of the stuff that goes with home sales.

Summer is here!

2009-06-12T15:24:00.000-04:00

Don't miss the previous post just below this one.

Somehow, between visitors in May, getting ready for vacation, and trying to buy a house/get ours on the market, I forgot that June was on its way and with it comes summer - meaning endless empty days needing to be filled with activities planned by ME! Not that this is a bad thing, it just requires some effort and thinking ahead. So, I spent the other day making a list of things we can do every day that are either free or pretty cheap. Yesterday morning I attempted to take the kids to one of these super fun planned activities (indoors, as it was threatening rain) only to be misled by incorrect information on the web. We were going to try open play time at Gym Bugs only to find it closed that day. We headed over to Smart Toys instead just to look around and play a little and found that we were there in time for their weekly storytime. We sat in on that for a while until Owen got bored. We all ended up having a good time despite our initial disappointment. The afternoon still seemed to drag by, but that's just the way it goes sometimes.

Backing up, yes, our house is on the market. It's a long story including a great house that we put an offer on hours after someone else. But, it got us set in motion and it is a great time to buy, if you can find what you want. Selling, however, is another matter. Our house has been on the market for three weeks now and we haven't had one showing. Our realtor was also in the hospital for a bit of that - it's been a crazy ride so far!

Our garden is coming along. I think we have a few plants that are usurping all the sun/water/nutrients and leaving the others a little weak, but it's interesting to watch things take off. We've been enjoying some tasty salads with our lettuce, which I expect to bolt soon due to the warm weather. Kate even tried the lettuce from the garden! She'll be the first to tell you she doesn't like "salad", but she said she liked it. You can see a small speck at the corner of her mouth as proof that she tried it. :)

More vacation photos

2009-06-12T14:37:00.007-04:00

I didn't take very many pictures over vacation. We usually had our hands pretty full either with Kate in the water or making sure Owen was entertained. One beach day we somehow left the camera in the car and it had been such a trek that we didn't want to go back for it (too bad, because Fort De Soto was a beautiful beach). We saw people with wagons carrying either the stuff or the kids - we had to carry stuff and a kid and it was pretty rough! We might invest in a beach wagon next time! Once we were on the beach we stayed for a while. Nonetheless, we had a fabulous time at the beach and the pool (which was about 100 feet from our door) and we'll have more fun biking, kayaking, visiting parks, etc. as the kids get older. Great job on the condo, Grandma!! We can't wait to go back!

The pictures from this post and the previous one were of our first beach day at Honeymoon Island. This is how crowded the beach was that day (Sunday of Memorial Day Weekend and one of the first sunny days in a week).

And that's at a paid access State Park! I can't imagine how crowded it must have been down in Clearwater! This beach was still very nice, despite the crowds! Our beach neighbors offered me use of their chair and umbrella while Owen took a nap. We had a nice conversation while he snoozed (and we got an umbrella and a chair for our next beach day!).

When she wasn't in the water riding the waves, Kate was busy playing in the sand. I don't remember what she was doing here...

James was very proud of this tower Kate engineered out of beach rocks with mortar of sand and grass...

The pool was a great place for Kate and Owen to play. It had a nice surrounding ledge and shelf and really wide steps so Owen could just cruise in or out of the water!

We didn't have to worry about that one jumping in! I just noticed that he always had one hand on the top ledge. Oh, and this was our last day, so this was AFTER he had built up his confidence. A very cautious kid, that one!

I forgot to mention that we pretty much had the pool to ourselves most of the time, save a few sunbathers. It was so nice! Maybe we can sneak in one more week at the end of the summer...

Greetings from Florida

2009-05-27T08:19:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to get a few pictures up from our time this week in Palm Harbor, Florida. We are having a great time hanging out at the beach, the pool and the condo. We have been to two beaches at local county parks (their county parks are nicer than a lot of our state parks) - Honeymoon Island and Fort Desoto and to the pool numerous times which is only steps from our front door. We also found a great playground at another nearby county park.

Say Ahhhh!

2009-05-20T15:51:00.001-04:00

Get this...

Brushing...

Rinsing...

Tapping!

How cute is that?

Instructions For a "Modern" Wife

2009-05-13T10:38:00.008-04:00

A friend sent me this so I thought I would share it. I figured most of the people who read this blog would appreciate it. Notice this is from a women's magazine in May 1955, wow how times have changed. I would like my wife and children prepared for my arrival though (clean, refreshed, with fresh make-up, ribbons and bows in their hair). Actually, the picture looks a lot like my family when I come home from work.
Note: If you click on the image it will bring it up bigger so you can read it.

No new doctors!

2009-05-08T13:44:00.002-04:00

I took Owen to see an Orthopedic doctor yesterday. His feet turn out when he stands so that he stands on the inside of his feet and his pediatrician wanted to get that checked out. She called it "severe out-toeing". Anyway, I was preparing myself for the worst. This is about the fifth specialist referral we've had. But, the doctor looked at Owen for about 15 seconds and said he just has "very flat, very flexible feet." No need for any special shoes or even a follow up appointment! He told me that we didn't gain a doctor and I told him, no offense, but we really didn't need another one. Seriously, the doctor was probably in the room for about 3 minutes. It was so refreshing to hear that nothing needed to be done! He also said that his flat feet should have nothing to do with the fact that he's not walking.

No more excuses, buddy! Let's get moving!

Hooray for McKay's!

2009-04-28T13:23:00.003-04:00

I think one of the best parts of living in Knoxville has GOT to be McKay Used Books and CDs. I can shop there for free! I actually don't remember the last time I spent money in there. I always have credit from selling books, movies, or CDs and am pretty good about keeping my purchases under the amount I have in credit. My mom even brings books from Illinois everytime she comes and trades them in there! Anyway, as with any used book store, you don't always find what you're loking for, but the hunt is always part of the fun for me. Plus, it makes it that much more special when you DO find what you're looking for. Today I went in looking for movies for Kate. We're going to Florida next month and I thought I'd start looking for some new movies now. I found three movies for her that I've been looking for for a while. I thought I might have to pay a little but I ended up coming under my credit amount by $2! I found the cheap version of the Tinkerbell movie (You know how they add extra features to movies and charge $10 more? I hate that! What 3-year-old cares about the extra features?), the Curious George movie, and the Leap Frog Storybook Factory to follow up Kate's beloved Letter Factory. They're in a bag in my closet waiting for their debut on our long car ride. I don't know why I'm so excited about this but sadly I think it made my day. Making my kid happy and doing it for a bargain - does it get any better?

Great weekend!

2009-04-27T14:19:00.008-04:00

Last week was really busy on top of recuperating from the illness we all had the week/weekend before. In addition, we planned a busy weekend. It wasn't that busy, but there was lots of playing outside in the fantastic weather with a big event planned each day. Saturday was the Rossini Festival downtown. We took the kids downtown around 5:00 and stayed until 8:00. We walked up and down Gay Street and checked out all the wares for sale, we shared pasta, pizza, tiramisu and ice cream, we played in Krutch Park, and walked around Market Square. Kate was so filthy when we got home that her bath water that night left a ring of brown in the tub - gross! Sunday, the kids woke up early (of course - what else do kids do when they've played too hard the day before?), we went to church, took quick naps and then headed off to a friend's birthday party where we all played outside for a few hours. James and I got the kids to bed early last night and ordered a pizza, which we ate outside on the deck to enjoy the perfect weather.

We all had a great weekend, but now we're going to take it easy for a few days then get the house tidied up for company. James's parents are coming Thursday night for the inspection of the home they have under contract in Knoxville. They'll be staying at La Quinta because Hotel Hemrick is booked. My parents are coming on Friday night and staying this weekend and next weekend with travels to Alabama in between. I can't wait until we head to Florida the last week of this month where we plan to do nothing but play on the beach and in the pool. Ok, we might sneak a day trip in there somewhere... but there will be plenty of relaxing! While we're gone, James's parents will be closing on their house in Knoxville and gearing up to move mid-June! Look out Knoxville!

Here are a few pictures from this weekend and a few of the garden taken last weekend. It's no Mustaleski Farms (my friend Rebekah's garden is a huge tract of ridiculously beautiful cultivated earth - no red clay or chert in sight and big enough for their entire neighborhood!), but it will get us started.

Owen's Pharmaceuticals

2009-04-23T13:52:00.006-04:00

Owen is taking a crazy number of medications right now. Some are permanent, some temporary, some new, some he has taken for a while. Owen had three doctor appointments in the last 8 days and the medications varied from appointment to appointment, so you should have heard me trying to stumble through the answer to "Is he taking any medications?" yesterday. It's not like they're all 1/2 tsp doses, either. We have asthma medications that are measured in number of puffs and number of times per day. We have drops to put in his ears. We have medications given by dropper (different dosages at different times of day). And we have granules to mix in with a little bit of food. And all of this information is only in my head. I should probably write it all down for James so he could have a clue of what Owen needs if I'm not around (whenever that might be) but I would probably need a day planner to do it. It's not helping that Owen just decided that he doesn't like to take medicine by a dropper any more. We've never had any trouble before...

So why all the medicine? He has been taking asthma meds for a while now and there was actually talk of getting him off those after the winter, but then spring came (or bloomed) and now he has a 'sinus' infection (probably triggered by allergies), which has triggered a blocked ear tube and more asthma symptoms. I say 'sinus' because that's what the ENT called it, but the pulmonology NP told me children this small don't actually have sinuses yet. Whatever it is, hopefully we can get rid of the infection with this round of antibiotics and maybe the allergy symptoms will subside soon too. Owen's ENT doctor said it is a "miniscule percentage" of kids who block their SECOND set of tubes after an adenoidectomy. That's my boy! What he was trying to say was that the blocked tube was caused by the 'sinus' issue, not his ears by themselves. Let's hope springtime will not always be this complicated in the future!

Not that any of this is a huge deal, but on the positive side, the nurses at the pulmonology office rock! They gave us free samples for three different medications (and would have given us a fourth if they hadn't run out)! And they said to ALWAYS ask for samples because they know how expensive it is on private insurance. I came home with a bag full of free medicine! Add that to the samples the pediatrician gave us and we shouldn't have have to pay for any prescriptions for a couple months!

Simplicity

2009-04-22T12:45:00.002-04:00

I don't mean to take over Angela's blog, but I seem to have time lately to post, while Angela has not. Plus, it gives me an opportunity to reflect on things, whether it is Angela being gone, time with the kids, trying to be more environmental, or my latest thought this week - simplicity of living. It has been a crazy week for us starting last Wednesday when Kate threw up at church right after dinner and then threw up in her bed Wednesday night. She was better Thursday, but Owen got it and was throwing up Friday night and woke up Saturday morning to a bed full of diarrhea (very pleasant to come in to first thing in the morning). He seemed to be better Saturday, but Angela got it Saturday night and I had it by Sunday night into Monday. I think we are finally over the sickness, but it was a rough week, especially the weekend in the Hemrick house.
Now I am stressed over a week of work where everything is hitting at once (of which I already missed Monday and was supposed to be off Friday - I may be working at home), I am hoping Angela is over her sickness (she was still feeling kind of funny last night) and that the kids don't get it again, and I am having one of those weeks where events keep me thinking about the choices I have made and am making about life. Things like career, lifestyle, where we are serving, and what we should be doing with our resources (not necessarily in that order, as the order changes daily).
Anyway, I came across by chance a blog yesterday that Angela has linked on this blog ("Remodeling This Life" - http://www.remodelingthislife.com/). I wanted to repost a piece of it that I came across yesterday. This sounds like our life lately and maybe what we should be doing more of.
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Broken

My laptop? Broken.
Internet connection? Broken.
Dishwasher? Broken.
Vacuum cleaner? Broken.
Kids? 2 ear infections.

Some days I have grand plans to get all sorts of things done. Maybe this all is my reminder to just stop. Let the dishes pile up for a few hours, let the sand spend more than 3 minutes on the floor before it gets cleaned up. Let the emails go unread for a day or two. Sit down and snuggle the ones who need me. I am pretty sure this is a not so subtle nudge telling me to slow down. Prioritize. Appreciate. Today, I plan to do just that.

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Not knowing I was thinking about this last night Angela gave me a great present when I got home. She had brought to my attention earlier in the day that she had heard Ben and Jerry's was giving away free ice cream cones. When I got home she was not feeling up to it, but she sent Kate and I out for ice cream while she put Owen to bed. Needless to say, free ice cream, my little girl (who was on her best behavior), and beautiful TN spring night made for a perfect end to a hectic, stressful day. So, sit down and snuggle the ones you love...slow down and enjoy some simplicity.

Victory Garden

2009-04-18T20:53:00.004-04:00

We have joined the fad and decided to plant a small garden this year. We were actually thinking about doing this before it became popular (I promise) since we wanted to start eating more organic produce (which is really expensive in the store) and more locally grown produce (what is more local than your own back yard). We will still try to support the farmers market as well, but it is hard to drag two kids and our lazy selves downtown each week.
So we are going to start small (a four foot by eight foot raised bed) and see how it goes. Not only will we hopefully grow a few things to eat, but it should also be a fun learning experience for Kate. Above is our plan. The Marigolds, Nasturtium, and Sunflowers are "companion" plants that should help control bugs. We have started to grow what we can from seeds and will "direct sow" the other stuff in early to mid May. I built the raised bed yesterday and we filled it with dirt and planted lettuce seeds, some spinach seeds, some spinach plants we had been growing from seeds and some sunflowers Kate had been growing from seeds today. It was a fun family activity (Owen was sleeping, but we will let him get his hands dirty next time). Angela took some pictures, but they have not been downloaded yet. Hopefully we can get them posted soon as Kate was really cute with her shovel and rake.

Another Weekend Survived

2009-04-06T12:32:00.003-04:00

I am happy to report that Owen, Kate, and I survived our "weekend without mommy". We all missed her greatly and were glad she safely returned Sunday afternoon.
In her absence we enjoyed time at the "playria" (play area) at the mall, a morning of cooking pancakes from scratch, a two hour trip to the park, an afternoon playing in the back yard while daddy made burgers on the grill, a ride around Knoxville looking for the Tinkerbell movie, movie night with daddy and Kate (we had to settle for a Barbie princess movie), and an afternoon at church - while I played basketball (our friend Tiffany watched the kids), we waited for Angela to return, and we went to the monthly kids program and dinner Sunday afternoon. A couple pictures of the kids doing their favorite thing, swinging, are below. Welcome back mommy...

Quiet Friday Night

2009-04-03T21:55:00.006-04:00

Angela is off in Atlanta with the church middle school youth at the "Believe" Conference, so I have a weekend alone with the kids. I think Owen's expression below sums up our general feelings here...we miss mommy.Angela being gone makes for hectic, tiring days, but quiet nights after everyone goes to bed. So, I thought I would upload a couple of my favorite pictures from our trip to Belleville/St. Louis the week before last.We will see how we fare this weekend. I think this is the second time that I have had the kid's alone. I am sure we will be fine unless it rains all weekend and we are confined to the house. In that case Kate and I may drive each other crazy.

Assessments

2009-04-03T04:03:00.002-04:00

Owen had his annual assessment for TEIS this week. He's continually assessed throughout the year, but this was the official assessment for his annual review where we set goals and update paperwork. To do this, they basically ask me a lot of questions about what he's doing and based on those answers they determine his "developmental age" for specific areas. I'll spare most of the details here, but I will say that God is good! In the Communicative Development (speech and language) area, he is at 16-18 months for receptive and 14-16 months for expressive (our EI tells me "everything has to go in before it can come out" so receptive is usually ahead of expressive). He just turned 16 months so that seems to me that he's right on target. It's really unbelievable to think that he's developing in speech and language just as well as any other kid. I can't really express how thankful I am for newborn hearing screenings and early intervention. I can only imagine where we would be without them now and down the road.

All that is to remind myself that he is doing great. Lately, it's hard for me to overlook the fact that he's 16 months and not walking! Not that it's unheard of, but I'm ready for him to walk! It's strange to think that with everything we've had thrown at us over the past 16 months, his gross motor skills would be the area where he lags behind. A year ago I wouldn't have believed it if someone had told me that Owen would be saying 15 words at this point and that my biggest concern would be that he is not walking. He was a late crawler, too, and even then he did a funny army crawl for a long time before he was up on hands and knees. It's just the way he is and I know he'll walk eventually. Hopefully by the time summer rolls around! It will make playing outside so much easier! But, until then, I'll be satisfied knowing that his language development is right on track and he's doing fine.

Fun In Saint Louis

2009-03-24T20:42:00.003-04:00

We are in the Saint Louis area this week, I am at a meeting and Angela and the kids in Belleville, IL visiting Grandma and Grandpa. Since I did not have to be at my meeting until Tuesday, I got to hang out with Angela and the kids (and Aunt Becky) in Forest Park on Monday. We had a nice picnic in the park, played on a "science" playground outside the planetarium (I may have been more excited about this than the kids), visited the police horses, and went to the Science Center. I love Forest Park (similar to my love of Washington, DC) because everything is free in the park (the museums, the zoo, etc.). It was good to just hang out in some warm weather and enjoy each other's company. It reminded me of how quickly the kids are growing up and how valuabe such opportunities are in our busy lives.

Recovery

2009-03-09T14:41:00.002-04:00

Owen had his tubes replaced and adenoids removed on Friday morning. This time the procedure was done at the Surgery Center for Children's Hospital. This is an amazing place set up specifically for outpatient surgeries like this. They just line up the kids and take them back one at a time. We were in the door and out in three hours.

The recovery has really been pretty easy. He slept more than usual on Friday afternoon but since then has pretty much seemed like he feels pretty good. That is, besides the Omnicef diapers. If you've had a kid on Omnicef, you know what I mean - if you haven't, you probably don't want to know. I'll just use one word - toxic!

He does seem to be in a slightly better mood. We seem to have had fewer tantrums since Friday. I hope this keeps up. He still has the chronic congestion he's always had. I was hoping that would magically clear up after the surgery. But, maybe it's unrelated and we'll just have to keep trying to figure it out. It seems like allergies, but several people have told me it shouldn't be allergies with his age (at least that it shouldn't have been when he was younger). However, a runny nose is not much to worry about with this boy!

James mentioned in his post that Owen is saying a few words. I can't describe how happy it makes me to hear him talk! Now if we could just get him to say Mama... Oh, he's never going to live this down! ;)

I realized the other day that Kate is a really good kid and even has manners. AThat is, at least she does at home - I hope this carries over to other places when Mom and Dad aren't around. She's three and a half now, and I guess the worst of the twos and threes is over. I know we've got a LONG way to go, but I feel like we've got a pretty good start on things.

Yes, We Are Still Alive

2009-03-04T12:27:00.003-05:00

We have been incredibly busy with just life and therefore there have not been any blog posts of late. I had a few minutes at lunch, so I thought I would post a few random thoughts.
1. I have had the privilege of the kids all to myself the past two nights. Monday night Angela went grocery shopping while I put the kids down and then Tuesday night Angela had book club. Monday night Owen went down really easily and Kate was in a great mood so I got to hang out with her and just play in her room. We were a little late getting to bed, but it was time well spent "dressing up for a party" and playing ball (my girl is multi-faceted). Tuesday night I took the kids to Bruester's for ice cream. It was a good excuse since I was really craving ice cream despite it being so cold outside. I was amazed that we did not get a single drop on the van seats or floor.
2. I actually don't think anyone in our house is really sick at this moment. This is momentous as it seems someone has been sick since before Christmas. There is nasty stuff going around out there as I am sure you are aware. I am tired of seeing green snot.
3. Owen goes Friday to get the tubes in his ears replaced and his adenoids taken out (I am still not sure what these are). Hopefully this will improve his demeanor as he has been really fussy lately, compared to his easy going self that we grew accustomed to. This will hopefully end all the ear infections as well. Otherwise he is doing well. Angela was commenting this morning that he is down to one medicine (his Xopenex inhaler) which he takes twice a day. This is great compared to the 3 or 4 he was on at any point over the last couple months. Owen has also expanded his vocabulary lately. He likes to say "good job" when he does something he knows he is supposed to like putting his cup on the table instead of throwing it on the floor. He will say "stir, stir, stir" while he sits on the floor with his steel bowl and wooden spoon (yes he has real toys, but prefers these). He also likes to "knock" everything to open it and then ask for it to be "closed". I thought he was saying "momma", but I think he is saying mouth as he points to his while saying this. Angela is still working on this, as it has given her quite a complex. His other favorite pass time is to climb up and down the stairs (thanks Nanna and Grandfather).
4. My parents are looking (actually it is beyond looking) at moving to Knoxville. Since my mom got layed off from her job, it moved their intentions to move here after she retired up a good bit. Their house (the house I grew up in during Junior High and High School and they have lived in for over 20 years I think) is going on the market this week. I have mixed emotions about this. I am thrilled that they are coming here to be closer to us (really to be closer to the kids), but it is a big move for them and it will be strange not making trips (although they have been sporadic the last couple years) to Cary. I will miss the house there and seeing old friends. It will also be strange for both Angela and I to have family close by. Neither of us grew up with that and except for a year we spent in Missouri when Angela's parents and brother and sister were about an hour away for a couple months we have never experienced this. It will be a new experience, but a good one I am sure.

That is my rambling for today. Back to work.

Owen's status

2009-02-24T12:50:00.002-05:00

I took Owen to UT Medical Center today to have blood drawn for genetic testing. He actually did pretty well - it took fewer people to hold him down than it did the last time he had blood drawn and only one try (they weren't getting more than one try, so it was a good thing)! We should know in a few weeks if it tells the doctors anything about why he has hearing impairment/vision impairment/delayed gross motor skills (though whether he actually has delayed gross motor skills is debatable in my mind). However, I did find out that they are NOT running the test Owen's ENT doctor wanted, so we'll have to go through his office so they can run a separate test. I will see if they can do bloodwork for that when he has his next surgery. He has to go next week to have new tubes put in and have his adenoids removed. Owen has had one ear infection after another since he had his tubes put in, which means they are not working and the adenoids are harboring bacteria that keep causing infections. So, the doctor says that new tubes and removing the adenoids should solve the problem. I hope so! I'm sick of ear infections and I can't imagine that any of this is good for his hearing.

So, that's the latest with Owen. Kate is over her bout with a bilateral ear infection and I'm still fighting a sinus infection or something. James is hit or miss... I'm hoping that by spring, we'll all be well and ready to enjoy the better weather!

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana, The Final Chapter

2009-02-23T16:13:00.002-05:00

When I came home from school, at the door to greet me was my loving wife. Nana said that when she waved good-by to all of them this morning there was a cry (or two) in her eye.
We looked at each other and now know what it is really like to be Grandparents. As I walked into our home it hit my how quiet it was, no patter of Katherine running around chatting and singing, no plopping of Owen as he crawls (no I never got him to walk). All the pans are put away, all the toys back place. They are on the way to Knoxville.

I hope you have enjoyed our adventure as much as I have enjoyed writing them. I will end the Adventures of Grandfather and Nana with the following short poems.

GRANDPARENTS
Grandparents bestow upon their grandchildren

The strength and wisdom that time

And experience have given them.

Grandchildren bless their Grandparents

With a youthful vitality and innocence

That help them stay young at heart forever.

Together they create a chain of love

Linking the past with the future.

The chain may lengthen,

But it will never part...

~Author Unknown~

GRANDPARENTS
Grandparents are special people

with wisdom and pride.

They are always offering love and kindness

and are always there to guide.

They often make you feel

so confident and strong.

Their arms are always open

no matter what you did wrong.

They try to help out

in every way that they can.

They love all their grandchildren

the same whether you're a child, woman or man.

They are always there to listen

and to lend a helping hand.

They show you respect

and they try to understand.

They give their love, devotion and so much

more,that's easy to see.

Grandparents,

what perfect examples

of the kind of person that we should be.

~By Stacy Smith~

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 9

2009-02-22T20:16:00.001-05:00

James and Ang arrived safely back about 9:00 this morning. They well spend the night tonight and head back to Knoxville in the morning. Needless to say the children were thrilled to see mommy and daddy. It has been wonderful being together. One of the things Nana and Katherine didn’t get to do was make a pie. They did that this afternoon. This afternoon James, Ang, Katherine and grandfather went to the park to fly a kite. Katherine had fun doing that and sliding and swinging. Katherine is asleep and they just put Owen to bed. Well tomorrow they will head home.

Almost home...

2009-02-22T19:31:00.004-05:00

So we've made it as far as North Carolina on our journey home. We were too tired after the red-eye flight from San Francisco to RDU to make the drive to Knoxville today.

To give an update on the rest of our trip, James and I had a lovely time exploring the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in Marin County on Wednesday on our way to Sonoma. That day we saw Lands End, Presidio, Golden Gate Bridge, Marin Headlands, Muir Woods, and the San Andreas Fault zone of Olema Valley. We stayed two nights in Sonoma and enjoyed visiting a few wineries in the Sonoma Valley with complimentary tastings from our inn. Sonoma is very charming and the valley is very beautiful and rural dotted with vineyards. We drove through Napa valley on our way to Berkeley and bummed around in Berkeley for a while on Saturday then decided to drive south down the coast before we had to be at the airport that night.

We had a great time and loved every part of the Bay Area that we got to see. We are so thankful to have gotten the opportunity to make this trip (thanks to ORNL!) and to the Hemricks for taking such good care of Kate and Owen while we were gone. We had a great time but really started missing the kids after a few days. It helped to know they were having a great time with their grandparents and getting to visit with GG and their cousins. Now if we can all make it through the re-programming process...

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 8

2009-02-21T20:16:00.003-05:00

Well, Owen slept until 4:00, but then went back to sleep until about 6:00. He got up at 6:30 and Katherine at 7:00. Last night I let Owen climb the step. Oh what a hit that has been (sorry Ang). Not sure what we are going to do today, but it will be fun. For breakfast Grandfather did not experiment. Owen had oatmeal (beige color) apple sauce. Katherine had yogurt and pop tarts. After breakfast Laura and Katherine went to the doctor (hold tight Ang it was for Laura.) She has had a reaction to something and is itching like mad. She has broken out in a rash, could it be stress from having grandchildren here…… While they were gone Owen and I vacuumed the house. Late morning we loaded up and headed to the mall. Katherine got to ride the carrousel with Nana. Owen and I cruised the mall. We had a great snack of hot soft pretzel (Yes, Ang we took the salt off). Katherine said she had never had one of these before. On the way home stopped at Mickey Ds and got a Happy Meal. This afternoon we played. Owen is getting good and quick at climbing the steps. We are still working on his walking, not there yet. They were playing with a balloon when Katherine held it over Owen’s head and his hair stood straight out. Of course she giggled when Nana did it to her. Late this afternoon Katherine and Grandfather went to church. Because Owen was so restless last week, Nana decided to keep him at home with her. At church Katherine learned that “Jesus will always forgive us, no matter what we do”, based on The Lost Son, Luke 15: 11-32. After church Katherine and I stopped by the statutes of “Join the Parade” on the Town Hall campus. This grouping depicts three boys and three girls playing instruments. This artwork commemorates the importance of Cary's Band in the history of the town. The first child with cymbals was donated by Fidelity Bank and honors mayor Koka Booth for this long time support of band activities. Other figures were made possible by proceeds from Cary Visual Art's first Art Ball. Everyone is wind up with excitement that Mommy and Daddy are coming home tomorrow, well not Nana and Grandfather. It has been a tiring week for us, but one of the most exciting. We have had so much fun with our grandchildren. Hope we will soon be able to do this more often.

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 7

2009-02-20T20:52:00.000-05:00

So why did Owen have green oatmeal at breakfast? Read on. Owen made up of the good nights sleep he got Wednesday night. He was restless all night last night. He slept off and on until about 6:00. Katherine got up about 7:30. Thank goodness I am off from school today. For breakfast Katherine had a pop tart, muffin, milk and puffs. For Owens’ first breakfast he had plain oatmeal, fruit and puffs. Grandfather fixed green oatmeal and toast for his breakfast. Owen couldn’t pass that up. Katherine and Nana declined grandfathers offer to share. Nana had a granola bar. About mid morning we drove to Graham (about 40 miles west of Cary) to visit my mother, sister and brother-in-law. Had a great time, both children slept up and back. Got home about 2:30. Didn’t do much the rest of the day. No popcorn tonight. Katherine is in bed and Laura is trying to get Owen to sleep, but he is fighting it. Well tomorrow will be our last full day with the grandchildren before James and Ang return early Sunday morning. What a great experience this has been for us.

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 6

2009-02-19T21:06:00.001-05:00

There was good news and bad news last night. The good news is that Owen slept until about 6:30. The bad news is that Nana and Grandfather woke up wide awake at 5:00. Katherine slept until after 7:00. They got outside for a while today. We have a small walking path in our yard that James and his cousin Tanya built and lined with large rocks where we moved in 22 years ago. Katherine loves to walk on it. While outside Nana, Owen and Katherine cut some flower for the table. She thought they were beauuuuuuutiful. Busy afternoon, Mrs. Dorothy stopped over for a visit. While she was here my niece Robin, with her two children Frankie and Shelly Jane came for a visit and supper. Frankie is six and Shelly Jane is two. They live in Pittsboro about 20 miles from here. It is always fun to have her and the family over. It was especially nice since the grandchildren were here. I had brought pizzas from ZPizza for supper with them. After supper Grandfather had an audience of 6 to watch him make popcorn. He had it popping all over the kitchen. James forget that microwave stuff you have, it is history since you daughter has experience Grandfather’s popcorn. I would like to make a note here that I make popcorn very much the same way my father, Katherine’s great grandfather made it years ago, even put the popped corn in an old paper grocery bag .After everyone had left and we cleaned up a bit we loaded up and went to the grocery store. Now Owen is trying to go to sleep and Katherine and I are watching the Duke game. Trying to make her a Dukie, not going to happen she is a Vol.

Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 5

2009-02-18T19:44:00.000-05:00

The fun, excitement and new adventures continue. We were asked by some friends this evening if we were getting enough sleep. We said old folks don’t need a lot of sleep. Well it was another day with Nana while Grandfather went to school to be with his 175 students. The children got up about 7:00. The day started with a gourmet breakfast of Nana’s homemade muffins from a box. This followed by a delightful lightly toast Cheese Americaica sandwich, a gourmet Granola bar (the best of Sams) and special selection of a choice banana. The aforementioned muffins were prepared by the dynamic duo of Nana and Kate. They stayed busy rest of the morning with a variety of cultural enriching experience for Owen and Katherine consisting of the old standby crafts, puzzles, blocks, game. Katherine started working on her addition flash cards. For lunch today the menu was leftover tomato soup. Owen had ravioli and peaches. After an afternoon nap Nana loaded the children up to met Grandfather at ESC (Employment Security Commission) where we changed drivers and grandfather brought the children home while Laura had a scheduled appointment at the ESC. The highlight of the entire day was dinner at Chick Fil A. Davis Drive Elementary was having a fund raiser there tonight. Owen and Katherine got to met several of my students and their families. Now home relaxing and the grandchildren will soon be headed to bed.

Rainy Wanderings in San Francisco

2009-02-18T11:57:00.002-05:00

On Monday and Tuesday I wandered around the city while James was in meetings. I was a little nervous about venturing out on my own, but once I got out there, I was fine. Monday I set out on foot to explore the nearby neighborhoods of Nob Hill and Russian Hill. I walked over Nob Hill, checking out Grace Cathedral and the Cable Car museum along the way. I then hoofed (more like huffed and puffed) over Russian Hill. This was probably my favorite part of the city with awesome views of the bay and streets that ended in stairways through lush gardens. Here I saw Lombard Street, the "crookedest street in the world", which is a block of incredibly tight switchbacks. I've never seen anything like it, not even in Europe, and people were actually driving it! I then milled around a little at Fisherman's Wharf and the Maritime Park, got a hot cocoa at Ghirardelli Square, and then headed back toward the hotel on the famous Cable Car. The Cable Car system is truly amazing (each line is one continuously moving cable that the car drivers "grip" onto in order to move). After a short break back at the hotel, I then headed to the SF Museum of Modern Art for a little cultre. This was a nice museum and a good way to kill some time out of the rain. James and I then ventured out for dinner and ended up at a small French restaurant where we sat at the bar and enjoyed a great conversation with the Italian bar tender and a local couple (a political science professor and an audiologist). It was a nice leisurely end to the day.

Tuesday was a little more rainy and I was glad for my decision to utilize public transportation (though this by no means kept me from getting WET!). I headed out in the morning to the deYoung Museum in Golden Gate Park. The museum was incredible - both the architecture and the collections. The 9-story observation tower offered great views of the city. I also got to see a little of Golden Gate Park and the Lower Haight and Inner Sunset neighborhoods while riding the Muni. I didn't get to spend nearly enough time at de Young, but had tickets to Alcatraz in the afternoon, and I had to get across town, so pulled myself away and headed back to the Piers. What a nasty, wet afternoon! I got sick of listening to the tourists complaining about the rain... But, Alcatraz was interesting and I enjoyed getting to spend some time talking with a woman who had lived on 'the rock' growing up (her father was assistant warden during the famed escape and she had written a book about it). We had the incredibly good fortune of finding out that Milk was showing this week at the historic Castro theater in the Castro district (where the story happened!), so we headed that way for dinner and a showing of the movie. Definitely a highlight of the trip!

Today we're heading out of the City to Sonoma. We're planning on hitting some natural areas along the coast on the way and I'm really looking forward to enjoying the scenery and taking in the Golden Gate! I don't think I have many good pictures as it's been very gray the past few days, but I'll go through them tonight and post a few. The sun is shining now and I hope it sticks around, though at least it's not supposed to rain any more.

What a great trip so far!

Farewell San Francisco

2009-02-18T01:30:00.002-05:00

I've had a great time in San Francisco the past few days. So much fun, I've been too tired to blog about it, and it will have to wait another day. It's been great exploring the city, but I'm sore and I'll be glad to sit in a car tomorrow! Who am I kidding - James will have me out hiking the first chance he gets... We're heading to Sonoma and there are a few parks on the coast along the way. Stay tuned!

The Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 4

2009-02-17T20:22:00.000-05:00

Another exciting day for Nana. Owen coughed a lot during the night, not sure why unless it was post-nasal drip. When Laura picked him up he was fine. Of course we had the case of the rolling poop. While his diaper was being changed during the night a large piece of solid poop was left on the bed. It was immediately found and properly disposed of. Owen and Katherine got up about 6:30 ready for another day of adventure and excitement with Nana and Grandfather. Made cookies, did crafts from craft book. They worked on a really hard puzzle. They only took short naps today. Owen and Katherine play so well together. He stands and walks up and down the side of couch and tickles Katherine who is lying on the couch. Then they fall down together laughing and roll on the floor. I keep trying to get him to walk over to me. No luck yet, but still working on it, have high hopes to accomplish this before Sunday. While Katherine was coloring Owen was trying to put the crayons back in the box. I put up my portable white board for Katherine and lowered it as low as it would go. For supper it was a mixture. Nana and Grandfather had homemade White Chili, Katherine, Tomato Soup and fruit, and Owen had Beef and Tomato Ravioli, apple sauce and peaches. As I write this part (5:00 pm) Owen is sitting with me looking at the screen editing my writing. He took a dim few of the rolling poop part. As the evening winds down I had a meeting so the children had more fun with Nana. The evening ended with baths, story time and prayers.

Adventure of Grandfather and Nana Day 3

2009-02-16T20:18:00.000-05:00

Reveille was sounded at 3:00 this morning. Owen was ready to get up. Actually he had a wet diaper. He was in no hurry to go back to sleep. I think it was about 5:00 when he finally went back to sleep. He got back up at 7:00 and Katherine shortly there after. Since I worked today Nana had the children all to herself, which she did not mind one bit. Nana got out her Shirley Temple dolls and her Barbie dolls. In Katherine’s word “They are beautiful.” So Nana and Katherine played dolls while Owen entertained himself. He found, with Nana’s help some of James’ old toys, a wooden boat and some of his old cars. Grandfather had a very pleasant surprise. Katherine and Owen had made him a card. For supper we had meat loaf (not high on Katherine’s list), mashed potatoes, green beans and meat balls and macaroni shells. After supper Katherine told Nana how to make popcorn. Then she instructed Grandfather in how to make it. It turned out deeeeeelious. Grandfather and Owen played with beads while Nana and Katherine play games like Candy Land. Owen has just gone to bed. Nana is working with Katherine on her first words flash cards. Soon she will be headed to bed. Hope we don’t have an early reveille. That’s it for day 3.

The Adventures of Grandfather and Nana Day 2

2009-02-15T19:12:00.000-05:00

I started the day by not picking up Owen. I am hoping that he will attach to Nana today since I will be at work Mon – Thur. It seems to have worked. I have held him off and on today, but he does not mind Nana holding him. What a day we have had. They played together so wonderfully this morning. In late morning we went to Target to pick up a few things. Then we thought we would go to the flea market (not you typical flea market) at the fairgrounds and get some popcorn from Uncle Fran (our good friend) who was working the Kiwanis popcorn booth. I don’t know what all was going on today but we could not find a parking place, so I promised Katherine I would make popcorn this evening. We stopped by North Cary Park (about 3 blocks from our home) for a while. Owen swung and watched the others. Later in afternoon Katherine and I went to watch the Super Skipper in a mock competition. This is a group of jumper ropers at our Y. Many of the jumpers are current student or former student I have had at school. Even I continue to be amazed at some of the moves they have. Katherine was equally impressed. If you have never seen serious jump rope competition you have missed something amazing. While we were there Owen and Nana stayed home and played. Again the kitchen was on the top of Owen’s list. Came home had supper. Then the main event of the evening Grandfather’s popcorn. First thing I learned is my granddaughter does not know what unpopped popcorn looks like. Then it was amazing magic to put those little corn kennels in a pot with a little peanut oil and suddenly white puffy popcorn appears. Add salt (yes Ang salt.) I think Katherine now wants popcorn every night. The children are soon heading to bed. With that ends day 2 of the great adventure.

Our first rainy day in San Francisco

2009-02-15T18:45:00.006-05:00

We arrived in San Francisco last night and after a harrowing cab ride to our hotel (there were several cars and buses I'm still not sure how we avoided), we set out to get some dinner. After doing a little aimless walking, we settled on a very humble Thai place and had some great food. We then walked around Chinatown for a while and had fun exploring some of the shops there. Our hotel is directly across the street from the Chinatown gate. We did a pretty good job staying up late to try to switch our internal clocks to Pacific time and made it until 10:00 local time before crashing.

I do miss the kids, but getting to sleep in this morning was great! We had a lazy morning, reading the paper and enjoying some hotel coffee before heading out for some breakfast at the adjacent cafe. We decided to brave the rain and do some walking. We headed through Chinatown to the North Beach neighborhood. This neighborhood was home to the beat poets and has streets like Jack Kerouac Alley and Via Ferlinghetti and is now a pretty seedy area home to many cabarets and strip clubs. We spent some time in the City Lights Bookstore, owned by Ferlinghetti and one of the most political bookstores I've ever been in (with political viewpoints expressed on handmade signs in the windows). We then headed to the Embarcadero and the Piers for a little bit of tourist indulgence. We strolled around Pier 39 and saw the infamous sea lions before hopping on the trolley to dry out a little (drool a lot) at the Ferry Building. Olive oil, wine, salami, cheese, chocolate, gelato, fresh seafod - these are all wares in the quaint shops located in the Ferry Building. We purchased a few wares to enjoy for dinner and then headed back to the hotel. We are now drying out with some coffee and internet time.

I'm pretty much on my own for the next two days while James attends his conference. The weather is calling for rain those days, so I may hit a few museums and maybe do a little shopping. I think I'll also try to see Alcatraz before we head to Sonoma on Wednesday.

Here are a few pics from today. Nothing great, due to the rain and neglecting the settings (oops)...

Sunday is starting off nicely

2009-02-15T09:18:00.001-05:00

So far the hit has been baked muffin beads. Nana, Katherine and Owen have sat in the kitchen floor making muffin beads. They are an old bead necklaces place in a muffin pan and Katherine said they should be baked at 300 for 6 minutes. Don’t think we will do that. No doubt the favorite room is Nana’s kitchen. We have learned that he only wants Grandfather to hold him. At church on Saturday evening Katherine was fine, but Owen did want anything to do with anyone but Grandfather. For supper we had mac and cheese, apple sauce and hot dogs. Baths were not a happy story, but the evening ended will with them going to sleep with little trouble. Everyone slept well last night especially Grandfather and Nana, this is exhausting fun. Breakfast is just over. Owen eat a bowl of oatmeal, banana, and part of a muffin. Katherine loves you cereal straws. Right now I am on the computer, Nana is reading the paper, Katherine is watching the TV and Owen is playing quietly on the floor. Not sure what the plans for the day are, my go to the park. I think we are going to Target.

The Adventures of Grandfather and Nana

2009-02-14T10:28:00.000-05:00

Hello it is Grandfather Hemrick, guest blogger this week. James, Angela, Katherine and Owen arrived last night and this morning I took James and Angela to the RDU the airport here. James has a conference the first part of the week in San Francesco then they are going to relax a couple of day. Grandfather and Nana’s task is to fulfill our right and spoil our grandchildren. When James and Angela return they can “re-program” their children. In the mean time I will be make entries during the week on this unique experience for us. We have never had two young children in our home at the same time for a week, even with their parents. So stay tuned as the “Adventures of Grandfather and Nana” plays out. Right now Katherine (yes it is grandfather’s right to call her Katherine) is working on a puzzle and Owen and Nana are playing together.

25 Random Things About Kate

2009-02-08T07:54:00.003-05:00

If you've been on Facebook lately, then you've most likely read at least one list of 25 random things about someone. I've actually enjoyed reading these lists and other people must enjoy them too, since they're everywhere! So, I thought I'd do a series of posts here and make a list for each of the kids. I think I'll post James' list and my list also in case you're not on Facebook (in which case, you should try it out!). Some of you might not care and you're welcome to skip this series, but I thought at least a few of you might enjoy reading them. I'll post them one at a time starting with Kate. Enjoy!

25 Random Things About Kate

1. The girl has some hair! But it wasn’t always like that. She was born with hair, but not lots and it took a long time to grow. And it’s shiny, thick dark hair that you would not expect to see on a three-year-old. One day it will be gorgeous, but right now it tends to look like a mop that she will neither let me put up nor cut (as she wants it to be long like Ariel’s…) - daddy wants it to be long also, but does not have to deal with it on a daily basis.

2. She loves to sing. She sings while she’s doing puzzles and things that require concentration. Her favorite music right now, of course, is the Disney princess sing-along CD.

3. She doesn’t like to be in social situations. Especially birthday parties. She does ok, but it takes her a while to warm up (if she ever does).

4. She bites her fingernails. I’ve never known a three-year-old to bite their fingernails, but she does.

5. Her favorite color was orange for the longest time. Now it’s purple, or blue, depending on her mood.

6. She loves to swing.

7. She HATES bounce houses. She was so nervous after a birthday party at Pump-it-Up last year that she threw up as soon as she got home.

8. She has two imaginary friends named Beya and Bechet. They often get buckled in the seatbelts of the car and have to be hushed at bedtime for keeping Kate awake (this is usually Beya, the troublemaker). I think Bechet is a boy.

9. She runs to her room to wave to us as we leave the house and she gets upset if we don’t wave back.

10. She has a memory like nothing I’ve ever seen.

11. She always knows what she’s talking about. We’ve learned not to doubt anything she says.

12. She will argue about things that are blatantly wrong, like what letter something starts with.

13. She can direct you to most places in Knoxville that we visit on a regular basis.

14. She is very afraid of people dressed up in mascot costumes or other costumes where the person is completely covered up.

15. She is the best big sister we could have hoped for Owen. She loves to play with him, sing to him when he’s going to sleep, keep him out of trouble, bring me his hearing aids/glasses after he pulls them off, and sign to him (sometimes she even makes up her own signs).

16. She thinks her best friends are the older girls she adores but never even hangs out with.

17. She has very good grammar and diction for a three-year-old, though not perfect. She replaces ‘v’ with ‘b’ and ‘th’ with ‘f’. She is getting better about ‘l’ but sometimes it sounds like ‘w’. This is confusing her as she tries to sound out the beginning letters of words.

18. Besides when she was sick, she hasn’t taken an afternoon nap for a few weeks now.

19. When she was a baby, she was very textbook and did everything like clockwork. I could tell you within two minutes when she would go down for a nap or wake up. If you weren’t home at those times for her to nap – well, let’s just say after a few times of trying to do something else at naptime, I always made it a point to be home.

20. I thought she was going to be the world’s biggest tomboy until this year. Now, she has fun with the boys in her MDO class, but enjoys opportunities to play with the girls in the other classes (especially the four-year-olds). She probably will never be a girly girl, but she enjoys being a girl.

21. When she was born, she looked exactly, scarily, like James. My mom called her “Mini Me”.

22. She almost never gets sick and when she does it’s not for long (except that as I write this she’s been sick for four days…).

23. She lets he grandfather call her Katherine, though she’s told me she prefers Kate. We also call her KitKat, Kato, Kato Potato, and Katie Mae. James calls here Silicate (silly Kate).

24. Her middle name is Mae after my great aunt Mae Coley Wren, one of the sweetest and sharpest southern ladies you’d ever meet.

25. She is Daddy’s girl, but prefers Mommy to read bedtime stories and say good night prayers.

Owen's first haircut

2009-02-06T13:18:00.004-05:00

I finally decided Owen's hair was too shaggy and needed a trim. It was hanging over his collar and ears and I called it "old man hair". He looks 100 times better and I did a decent job. I've cut hair, but I had only either cut James's hair with clippers or trimmed girls' hair with scissors. I had never cut a boy's hair with scissors close to the head. I don't think I did too bad a job and I only butchered one side behind the ears. Oh well. You get what you pay for! It definitely improved his look. He's so cute! I know I'm partial, but I think he's so handsome and I must confess I didn't want to cover up his cute face with glasses, but now I think the glasses make him even more handsome! Take a look.

Ooops!

Bleck...

2009-02-06T12:17:00.006-05:00

Okay, neither Angela and I have posted for a long time. We have been fighting the various sicknesses going around since Christmas, but I think we are finally about all well or at least on the mend. I was sick a lot of Christmas through New Years. Owen has had two ear infections (he is averaging one a month since he got his tubes...what is up with that). Kate has been sick a couple times, but somehow only remains sick for 24 hours (maybe it is those Coley/Wagoner horse genes I hear about). Now Angela is finally getting over a sinus infection (she actually went to the doctor this week, so I know it was serious). This week we had the joy of Angela with a sinus infection, Owen with an ear infection, and Kate with a 100 degree fever. I hope everyone is better this weekend or I am quarantining the house and moving to a hotel.
In brighter news we have been having a rash of snow in Knoxville (multiple snow storms and accumulation of over an inch over the last month qualifies for a rash of snow in East TN). I have posted a couple cell phone pictures Angela took and a picture from my office window. Lots of school was missed, but no work.

Owen's lunch menu (or, My investments in Gerber)

2009-01-09T14:01:00.003-05:00

1/2 cup Lil' Crunchies*
1 can Pasta Pick Ups*
1 pear
1 3/4 oz. snack cheese
3 Arrowroot Cookies*
1 cup milk
1/2 cup diluted juice
*Gerber Graduates items

He might have eaten more, but I was tired of feeding him. I might need to get a job help pay for groceries. I wonder what Gerber's employee discount is...

To friends

2009-01-09T13:56:00.001-05:00

“A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart and can sing it back to you when you have forgotten the words.” ~Unknown

Praying for Stanton Oster

2009-01-07T12:22:00.001-05:00

A family in our church is going through something I can't imagine today. Their son is having brain surgery. They are posting updates on caring bridge. We are praying for their family right now.

Owen's first word!!

2009-01-06T12:08:00.002-05:00

On Sunday, Kate was acting silly and singing the Hot Dog song from Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. Owen started giggling at her so she started saying "hot dog" to him and he repeated it! His version is more like "dat-dah", but it's close. Now one might argue that his first word was either dada or down. But da-da-da is his usual sound of choice whether or not it's coincidentally said to James or not and he says "ahhh" when we play the Up, Up, Down game from speech, so I don't know whether to count that. But, I'm going to go ahead and say this is his first actual word. Hot Dog!

I choose a joyful 2009

2009-01-05T13:34:00.006-05:00

I feel like today is my official start to 2009 since the last four days felt like one long holiday with James home. I had grand plans with actual resolutions/goals, but we seem to have gotten off on the wrong foot. Both kids are in a major Daddy phase and both cried when he left (Owen would hardly even come to me, what's up with that?!?) and then I realized that I washed my phone last night with the laundry. Seriously. My watch, too, but it seems to be working fine. I don't usually have either one in my pockets, but James wasn't home and I wanted to hear my phone if he called while I was putting the kids to bed and I had to take off my watch to give Owen a bath. I always empty my pockets before putting things in the hamper, but this time I was waiting to do my last load of laundry until I finished wearing my pants yesterday and hastily threw them in the washer without emptying my pockets. Ugh!

Oh well, tomorrow will be better.

Though the cherry trees don't blossom
and the strawberries don't ripen,
though the apples are worm-eaten
and the wheat fields stunted,
Though the sheep pens are sheepless
and the cattle barns empty,
I'm singing joyful praise to God.
I'm turning cartwheels of joy to my Savior God.
Counting on God's Rule to prevail,
I take heart and gain strength.
I run like a deer.
I feel like I'm king of the mountain!
Habakkuk 3:17-19

Choose joy!

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T22:12:00.016-05:00

Just a quick post (Angela finally gave me official rights to publish to her blog) to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and to post some pictures.

Christmas Happenings

2008-12-21T08:40:00.016-05:00

I felt a little badly about my last post, so thought I ought to cheer things up a bit with a few pictures. Despite how I made things sound, we have had some fun this season. My favorite thing we do every year is cut down a Christmas tree. We've done this since Kate was one year old and it's fun. Every time we've gone it has been really cold, so we have to bundle up and we get hot cocoa and cider when we're finished. The other things I love about cutting down our own tree are that we can get a tree that's native to this area and we're helping the local economy - not to mention that it's cheap! (Where else can you get a 7-foot tree for $25?)

Kate couldn't stand it until we decorated the tree. It's her favorite thing to do. Half of our ornaments end up on the bottom two feet of the tree and we have to re-hang them after she goes to bed. This year she even got to help with the lights and she felt like such a big girl. The tree was flat on top for some reason, so I had to make a bow to put on top, but overall it's a very nice tree and I love the imperfect look of the Virginia Pine.

Kate and I have also enjoyed making a few batches of cookies and some treats for her friends at school. We made some white chocolate and peppermint covered marshmallows to enjoy with hot cocoa for school treats and some snickerdoodles. Both had to be rolled in something and Kate loved that job.

We attended the Christmas program for Kate's Mothers Day Out last week. The three-year-old class sang the Thankfulness Song and Away in a Manger. Kate did a great job singing with all the motions and didn't even pick her nose once! (I know some were disappointed after her stellar performance at church a few weeks ago...). They're so fun to watch on stage! However, today was the childrens' Christmas program at church and Kate chose not to participate because she doesn't like to wear costumes and her class dressed up like angels. Oh well!

Now we are awaiting the arrival of Nana and Grandfather to spend Christmas with us. After Christmas, we'll head to Illinois to be with the Coley clan and then home again to spend New Years Eve in Knoxville for the first time in years. We really are looking forward to the holidays, even if we aren't in the best of moods around here. We remember the reason for Christmas and are truly blessed to have been given a savior.

Merry Christmas!!

Bah humbug!

2008-12-17T22:13:00.004-05:00

Things have been crazy around here for the past week or so. First of all, Owen is going through some weird phase or something. He won't nap, which is probably underlying everything else, but he's also just moody. Last week, he had a few bruises on his forehead from throwing himself onto the floor and plowing into furniture. He's also rejecting me and only going to James sometimes (what's up with THAT?!?). He has always had a temper, but last week he took both hearing aids out and threw them at me in one swift motion. That's when I took him to the doctor, because something's just not right! His tubes are clogged, but nothing that I would think would cause him to act like he is. Maybe he has molars coming in and they're making him crazy... On top of this, Kate is regressing and is vying for my attention ALL the time. She's even doing things for negative attention, such as hurting Owen. Nothing that would cause injury to him, but enough to make him cry. For no reason. Plus, it will not stop raining!! I hate dragging the kids out in the rain, so we're all feeling cooped up. Everyone in the house seems to be fighting off a cold and can't get enough sleep, no matter what. I just can't seem to get into the cheery Christmas spirit this year and secretly wish it would all just be over soon. Ok, enough complaining. Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day!

Pics from our trip

2008-12-08T16:08:00.005-05:00

I know I promised these a week ago. I'm SO behind!!! Enjoy this slideshow and I hope to post again soon.

Thankfullness

2008-11-30T20:03:00.005-05:00

Owen turned one year old today. It's been a crazy year with new worlds opened up to us and lots to learn. It's still hard to believe that it's been a whole year since Owen was born through such a crazy delivery (I was sent home and then he was born an hour after we went back in!) and he was taken to the NICU at Childrens hospital for breathing difficulties. It was tough, but we got through it and are still getting through. Owen is such a joy and has stolen many hearts. Our family has been blessed many times over since he came into our lives and I can't wait to see the ways in which we will continue to be blessed. With Owen's birthday so close to Thanksgiving, I have been very conscious recently of how thankful I am for all of the specialists and other people who look after Owen. We have some wonderful people taking care of us and I am very grateful for that. I started to make a list, but it was REALLY long, so I won't go into the details here. Anyway, we had a great time getting to celebrate with family. We don't get to do that nearly enough and getting to share this big day with them was very special. We all took lots of pictures, but I don't have time to go through them all now so I'll post a few soon. Sorry!

Happy birthday, sweet boy!

A Few More Pictures

2008-11-02T21:53:00.005-05:00

I forgot to post a couple pictures from our pumpkin patch trip (see post below).
Kate finally got to try a real climbing wall. She has always wanted to do one of these when we have seen them at various places, but has always been too small or it has been too expensive. It was only $3 to do this one and there was no line (and mom was off changing Owen) so we gave it a try. She got up about 12-15 feet before she got scared. Not bad for a 3-year old.

Kate also enjoyed sitting on a tractor and pretending to drive it. I thought Nana would be proud. Finally, what good corn maze would be complete without a box full of corn to roll around in. I have to admit I have never been to one of these places, but I was not expecting to see this.

Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

2008-11-02T21:40:00.003-05:00

Last Sunday we took a trip to the local pumpkin patch. There is a really popular one north of town with both a huge corn maze and a haunted corn maze (that supposedly simulates being buried alive). We did not partake of the mazes, but did do a "hay ride" to the pumpkin patch to pick out a couple pumpkins. It was great to just be together as a family and to enjoy the great TN fall weather. October has to be my favorite month in TN and the leaves this year are exceptional. We also ran into some friends at the pumpkin patch, another great part of living in Knoxville. Below are some pictures of our pumpkin experience.

Random pictures of Kate

2008-10-23T16:30:00.006-04:00

There has been so much going on with Owen that I haven't posted much of anything about Kate lately. Here are some random photos of her and the things she's doing lately. She has a pretty keen sense of fashion, as I'm sure you'll notice.

Ready for MDO with her (giant) princess backpack she picked out for 'school'

Playing "hopscosh" in the garage

Playing with Owen - such a wonderful big sister!

So grown up! She had gotten herself all ready for 'school' and was ready early!

Riding her trike in the garage with safety gear "in case she falls"
which she actually does - on purpose. I think she likes the sound
the helmet makes when it hits the floor (lightly).

This is the family portrait Kate drew on our trip to Oklahoma

Just one of her fabulous outfits

Kate's favorite thing to do is swing - which she can do all by herself!

Fashionista!
Kate is a big fan of the socks-and-sandals look, and knee highs

Dancing at Greekfest

Very excited to be riding the bus to Greekfest - she loves riding the bus!

Owen's glasses

2008-10-21T21:01:00.004-04:00

Owen got his glasses today. Trying to get him to wear them is pretty frustrating. It can't help that he's teething and not sleeping well, so he's pretty cranky anyway. He has gotten better each time we've tried, so maybe it won't take too long to get him used to wearing them. We need to find a strap to hold them on his head and that might help. Right now, he just pulls them off pretty easily. The optician was very pleased with how the lenses turned out. His prescription can yield lenses that are very thick in the middle, but his look pretty good. They are so tiny!

Daddy's Girl

2008-10-16T12:29:00.005-04:00

The Sunday before last I got to take Kate birthday shopping with me. I had received some money from my parents, which Angela matched, and I wanted to buy a new bag for work. I have always had my eye on a messenger bag and really liked the reviews on the ones made by "Timbuk2". The zipper broke on my current bag so I thought this would be a good time to change. Anyway, I knew the local outdoor store carried these so Kate and I headed out while Angela and Owen took a Sunday afternoon nap. I had no idea what fun I was in for with Kate in the outdoor store. She is definitely daddy's girl and wanted to try on all the back packs, coats, fleece jackets, and shoes she could find. She also enjoyed climbing in the tents that were on display and talking about how we needed a boat (I agree, I really do want a kayak, but my birthday money didn't quite cover that). Below is a picture of Kate with an internal frame pack that actually fits her. This may be in her future in a year or two and I can finally get back on the trail. I can hope...

What a week!

2008-10-10T16:02:00.003-04:00

I am so glad this week is over. With James out of town most of the week and several appointments both scheduled and emergency (everything is fine, but Owen gave me a little scare on Wednesday), I'm worn out! Lucky for me, though, my loving husband had today off and has been helping out to give me a little break. This could also just be that Kate REALLY missed her Daddy and won't have anything to do with me today. That's Ok, as we really needed a break from each other. She had MDO today, but she requested that he take her and pick her up from school and that I stay home with Owen! Now, they're at the park together. James went with me to have Owen's hearing aids adjusted and we were supposed to begin speech therapy after that, but with UT having fall break this week, they cancelled therapy (but didn't let me know). Oh well. Our plate was full enough anyway. This gave us time to come home and just enjoy a leisurely lunch and play with Owen.

All of Owen's appointments went well. Since last Thursday, he had appointments with the neurologist, ophthamologist (x2), ENT (otolaryngologist - bet you didn't know that one!), and audiologist - and the speech pathologist who canceled. I am thankful that we live here in town and don't have far to drive to visit all these specialists. The only news (since we already talked about the glasses and the pending ERG test) is that he has an ear infection. Strange that he would get this AFTER the tubes were placed, but hopefully it should clear up by next week, or we'll have to go back to the ENT. He is also not able to wear his hearing aid in the infected ear, as there is fluid draining, so we want that to clear up!

Next week should be back to normal, but with company. Both of our parents are coming next week (mine early in the week and James's toward the end) and we're excited to get in some good visiting with Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, and Grandfather! This means I'll have some help on the day I have to take Owen for his ERG. Things should hopefully slow down soon! But not before tomorrow. I am coaching Upward basketball with a friend and we have a game tomorrow and then we are helping host a dinner for The Restoration House tomorrow evening with our small group. Then we're resting for the remainder of the weekend (besides doing a little housecleaning before the guests arrive... but nothing major)!

Glasses on the way

2008-10-07T19:58:00.002-04:00

I took Owen today to get his glasses ordered. He didn't mind when the first pair was put on his face, but it was pretty much over after that. Luckily, there were only three pairs to choose from (and one of those was a definite NO). And those were evidently special ordered for him after I called to make the appointment. This whole experience has felt like a wild goose chase. I feel like they said, "Your baby needs glasses. Good luck with that!" I would have loved to get Owen's glasses as the great "Teens and Tots" optical shop located conveniently within the Pediatric Ophthalmologist's office which had lots of frames to choose from, but for some reason it's 'cash and carry' and we'd have to pay much more out of pocket if we bought them outside of the provider network. So, we had to find a place on our provider list. Not only that, but they had to accept an outside prescription (luckily the doctor is widely known in Knoxville). Oh and by the way, HE'S ONLY TEN MONTHS OLD!! Not many places fit glasses for such little ones - and even if they say they do, most really don't. So, I'll definitely be keeping my eyes open for a more kid-friendly optical shop on our provider list.

Anyway, we ordered a cute little pair of Disney brand wire frames in a dark copper "mocha" color. They look pretty much like this:

One of the boys

2008-10-06T21:38:00.004-04:00

Kate's Mother's Day Out class this year consists of 11 boys and her. Yep, she's the only girl. I was warned about this last year and was offered the opportunity to switch days if I wanted her to be with more girls. If you know Kate, you know that she would have no problem in this setting and can keep up with the boys any day. It was pretty amusing to see her teachers get used to this over the first few weeks of class. They would love to report to me how she just gets right in the mix and plays with the boys. It also seems that Kate picks one of the boys to be her friend for the day and she leads him around by the hand. Everyone is interested to see who Kate's boy will be that day and the boys seem to feel special when they are picked. Anyway, I wondered if I would notice any change in her behavior attributed to all the male company she keeps. Well, I finally got my answer the other day. She had to go potty and James went to help her. I was down the hall in Owen's room when I heard James ask Kate, "What are you doing?". She said, "I'm going potty." And he said something like, "I don't think it will work that way" to which she replied, "But this is how the boys go potty". She was standing in front of the toilet with her pants around her ankles. I think she was trying to figure out how she was going to get it in there, because she just stood there for a few seconds until James finally convinced her she needed to sit down. That could have been a disaster.

Just more fun

2008-10-05T03:42:00.009-04:00

Owen had a few more doctors appointments this past week - one with a pediatric neurologist (PN) and then a followup with a pediatric ophthalmologist (PO). He has developed Nystagmus, which is to say that his eyes shake a little. A CT scan and MRI had both shown that everything looked normal with his brain, a very good thing, but his pediatrician wanted a PN to take a look just to be sure. The PN said he didn't see any evidence that the Nystagmus was caused by anything in his brain and he deferred to the PO to determine the cause. The PO said it could either be a muscle control issue or it could be due to the fact that he is very farsighted and his eyes shake because they're trying very hard to focus. Either way, Owen needs glasses. The PO had said back in March that glasses could be necessary if he hadn't outgrown the farsightedness by now, but I had all but forgotten that with all of the other things we've been trying to figure out in the meantime. All I could do was laugh about this news. Glasses? Really? He still won't leave his hearing aids alone, but at least I can cover them up with that silly hat! I can't imagine how hard it will be to keep glasses on his face! And how will that work, exactly, with the hearing aids? It seems like a lot of stuff will be sitting on his little ears. At least wearing glasses won't affect any sort of development (except possibly motor skills, but those can catch up). I worry that he doesn't wear his hearing aids enough and his speech will not develop properly. But, we start weekly speech therapy next week to help with that. We also have THE BEST early interventionist who comes to our house weekly to work with him (me) and keep tabs on his development - which seems to be right on track. Her area of expertise is hearing loss, but she's already making plans to bring someone knowledgeable about vision impairment with her to answer any questions we have. TEIS rocks! I'm so thankful for this State program and the fact that they try really hard not to let little ones slip through the cracks. Even through its flaws and restructuring (did I mention it's a State funded program?) everyone has done a great job taking care of us and I would feel really lost without their help.

So, we have a glasses prescription to fill. As soon as we have the glasses, I'll try to post some photos so you can see how cute Owen looks with them on. I had a glimpse the other day when I was talking to the optician about how to fit an infant in glasses and he was TOO CUTE! Have I also mentioned how thankful I am for his very good disposition? That should be of some help in getting him used to the glasses. The doctor also said that they see so much better with the glasses that it tends to keep them from pulling them off. I'm a little skeptical about that one, but we'll see (no pun intended)! Oh, and Owen also has to have an ERG (electroretinagram) done to see how his retinas are working. This is similar to the hearing test they performed on him in that it measures brain activity to sensory stimulus, in this case light, in patients who can't tell us what they see or hear. He'll also have to be sedated for the test. The PO said this test would somehow rule out any connection between the hearing loss and vision loss/Nystagmus.

Welcome to Holland! Or are we in Spain by now??

Bye Bye, Baby Weight!!

2008-09-24T13:37:00.003-04:00

As of this morning, I am officially rid of all the weight I gained when I was pregnant with Owen. All 60 pounds! How did I do it, you might be asking? I'll tell you. Diet and exercise. I'll share a few of my secrets with you.

First, my exercise regimen. This consists of several games of tag in the backyard, followed by a few repetitions of "swing me" and/or "superman" using a 30-pound weight (Kate). Throw in a few games of "Ring-Around-the-Rosy" and "Hokey Pokey". Add to that cumulatively about an hour a day of pushing the same 30-pounds on the swing and "helping" on the slide (swinging her up in the air at the bottom). Generally, being playmate to an energetic three-year-old. On top of this, lugging 23-pounds (Owen - and he's constantly moving) around all day long and/or chasing that 23-pounds around the house and removing it from unwanted areas. It's no Michael Phelps workout, but I'd say I burn a few calories.

Oh yeah, and my diet? Well, I don't really have to watch too much, because I don't have too much time to eat. Between fixing food for Kate/the family and a separate meal for Owen, feeding Owen, plus making and feeding bottles in between, and the exercise regimen described above, there's not a lot of snack time (and sometimes no mealtime!). And if I'm not on the ball in the mornings, I might not eat breakfast.

I may be exaggerating a bit, but you get the point. Anyway, only 6 pounds to go before I'm back to my weight before kids altogether. I think I'll be there by the end of the year. Wish me luck (and energy)!

Simplify

2008-09-16T12:49:00.003-04:00

Stuff. We have it. We want it. It's going on. We fill our lives with it. I don't know what exactly inspired me - I think it was a combination of events, conversations, and things that I noticed and/or read lately - but I'm trying to reduce the 'stuff' in my life. There's too much that gets in the way of the things that matter. And I'm not only talking about material things. Sometimes we let responsibilities, commitments, etc. take up our time also. Some of these are unavoidable, but some can be avoided. Some things matter and some really don't.

I'm going to try to simplify things that are cluttering my space and my brain. I'm starting with this blog. I thought I'd try a simple layout to remind me (because I'm sure I'll start letting 'stuff' creep back in). The next thing I'm going to do is try to simplify our groceries. Our pantry, cupboards, freezer, and fridge seem to get overstocked with things we don't need. Why should we have 5 kinds of cereal, 4 kinds of ice cream, 4 kinds of rice, 4 kinds of crackers, etc. (We don't have all these right now, I'm just saying). I'm going to try to do a better job of meal planning to have stocks of the things we need with limited snack options. I'll have to see how it works out, but I'm thinking it will reduce the grocery spending enough to allow me to buy more organics and whole foods.

I think overall our family does a pretty good job living simply, but I know there are areas where we could use some improvement. I don't remember how I navigated to it, but a site I'm enjoying lately is simple mom. She has a lot of good ideas that are practical. I know this is a common theme these days. Is anyone else on this bandwagon with some good ideas? I'll keep you posted as to my success in simplifying.