My Mini-Moo

Caroline's class (affectionately called the "mini-moos") received adorable tie dye t shirts yesterday as a class gift. Here is Caroline modeling hers -- only two more weeks and then her first year of CJP will be finished! Where has the time gone??

I Did It!

I can stop wasting my life now!

Breakfast of Champions

Ben had his literacy End of Grade test today (math is tomorrow). Below is a picture of his "power breakfast" ;) He claims today's test was "easy" which always makes me nervous when he says that ;) Math is definitely the harder one for him. Another power breakfast coming up tomorrow!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a busy weekend, with the arrival of the cousins, a birthday dinner for Joel's dad, the opening of both pools (neighborhood and JCC), and a memorial day block party in the cul-de-sac. Getting back into our regular routine this morning was a bit of a challenge :) The kids got off to school bright and early although Ben seemed really tired. He has end of grade tests tomorrow and Thursday so hopefully he will get a good night's sleep tonight. He is back in his own room this week (sans roommate) so he can be well-rested for his exams. Mike, Joel and I are back at work and Abby is going to set off to do some errands/exploring.

Hula Hoop Shot

Summer Fun

The first of what I am sure will be many trips to the neighborhood pool with the cousins this summer :)

Curious Checkers

...Has a new home out back. Ben is enjoying him. Mom, a little less so.

It's Pool Season!

Ben's New Digs

After protesting vehemently to losing his room this summer to his aunt and uncle, Ben has decided that his new digs aren't too bad after all! Tough life Ben, you have a tough life...

Ready to be Shipped off to Camp

The duffle bag I ordered from L.L. Bean for Rebecca to take to summer camp is clearly big enough to fit a week's worth of gear ;) Ben's, which is back-ordered so hasn't shipped yet, is even larger. He'll probably be able to fit into his too :)

Prepping for Pool Season

Weekend Update

We had a good weekend including the aforementioned flag football playoffs, and following the championship game Ben's friend/teammate James and his parents came over for a barbecue. Besides that we had a pretty quiet weekend, although we did move beyond the planning and into the actual booking phase of our long-thought-about trip to Disney World at the end of October. We booked a four bedroom condo off-resort and bought tickets to Mickey's Not-So-Scary-Halloween Party for October 31st. The park tickets themselves we don't have to buy for a while, and I think Joel is going to research if there is any way to get a discount on those ;) Joel happened to stumble upon a Groupon for the Lighthouse Key Resort & Spa, where we had been planning to stay, so we got a major discount off the regular nightly rate. Score!

We are also eagerly keeping an eye on the goings-on over at Lessons From Charlie & Amelia, as they start packing up and getting ready to head our way!

Flag Football Champions!

Ben's team came back from a 12 point deficit with 7 minutes left in the game to win by 2. Ben threw the game winning touchdown to his buddy James with 3 seconds left in the game! I will hopefully have a video to post later :)

Muffins for Moms

Nothing like a little arts and crafts project to start off a Friday morning -- and still be at my desk by 9 ;) Having been through this project with Ben when he was in kindergarten I brought along stickers and stencils this time, trying to avoid the open ended temptation to slather a clay pot with eight pounds of paint on every surface... Even so we both got a fair amount of paint on ourselves :)

Miss Independent

Please add five minutes to the time it takes to get ready to go anywhere because we INSIST on doing our seat belt ourselves. Usually while wearing sunglasses.

Mother's Day Cuties

We went out to dinner tonight to celebrate Mother's Day and the kids were well-behaved and even posed for a few photo-ops :)

Clara Gets Brushed

Times like these I wish we'd gotten a non-shedding dog ;)

Almost Normal

Caroline got her Celiac panel test results today. The doctor's note said her results are "very close to normal". Her TTG antibody level is still elevated, at 19, but it is much lower than it was 6 months ago (63). Normal is 0-7 , so while I am disappointed that she hasn't gotten a "normal" yet, I guess I just need to be patient and hope that at her next visit 6 months from now we will finally get that "normal" result!

Anyway, three cheers for my "almost normal" girl ;)

Reading Progress

Becca has moved up to a level "E" in reading, which I think is the end of year target for Kindergarten. She has started doing much better sounding out words instead of just asking me what the word is.

Tea for Two

Thanks to a discovery by Caroline's teacher of gluten free mini blueberry muffins at Harris Teeter, Caroline got to eat mini muffins just like all her friends this morning at Tea for Two. She LOVED them! After we did a little art project and it was time for me to leave, her teacher was trying to cheer her up by reminding her of the fun things they were going to do for the rest of the day. Caroline tearfully asked, "Can I have another muffin?"

GI Appointment

Caroline had her semi-annual GI visit today, marking just over one year since we got her diagnosis and started her on the gluten free diet. She is 35.2 pounds (up from 30 pounds at her last GI visit in November) and 37 inches. She is at about the 95th percentile for weight and about the 87th percentile for height. The doctor was happy with her growth and says it indicates that her intestinal lining is healing nicely. Her lab work will be the real indicator though of how she is doing -- really hoping for a "normal" range result this time. We will get the results within the next couple of days. 

Caroline was happy and talkative for the doctor, informing him that she peed in her pull-up and just generally talking his ear off. When we headed over to the lab, she asked "Are we going swimming?" (Apparently quite confused about where we were and what we were doing). When she saw the nurse in the lab -- who remembered her from last time-- she got very, very quiet but did not cry or fuss at all. She sat on my lap and was so brave and held so still! I was so proud of her. She let out the tiniest squeak when the needle went in and that was it. I had brought a cookie for when she was done and she ate her cookie and had perked up and was singing by the time we got back out to the car.

Feels Like Summer

This morning the girls and I took a walk around the lake. We saw birds, ducks, geese, fish, turtles, frogs, and what I am pretty sure was a small copperhead snake (it was swimming in the water so no fear of the girls or the dog getting too close). It was 85 degrees today and the long range forecast looks like we're solidly in the 80s from here on out! Caroline, even in early May, looks like my part Native-American child :)

Three Against One

Before you get too impressed, Ben's three opponents were ages 8, 6 and 5 :)

Off With His Hair!

Ben finally decided (after about a year of resisting anything other than a trim) that he was ready for a hair cut. I was very relieved to hear this, having fought daily battles to keep his hair looking somewhat kempt (that being about the best I could do). I rushed him out to get his hair cut before he could change his mind :) Ben seems happy with his shorter 'do and I must say I think it looks good too!

HawkFest 2014

Last night was HawkFest at Ben & Rebecca 's school. In previous years it had been held on a Saturday and we'd been in the habit of skipping it due to flag football and other commitments. But since they switched it to Friday night this year I felt like I might be able to swing it even though Joel couldn't come because he was working / on call. The kids actually had a good time and I didn't lose any of them! Score one for Mom!

Science Homework

Ben's current science unit is on health and nutrition and one of his assignments is to try a new fruit or vegetable , take a picture of himself trying it , and then write a paragraph about the chosen fruit/vegetable and what he thought of how it tasted. So here is Ben trying a star fruit , which he subsequently pronounced tasted like a "big giant ostrich turd". I think we will have to come up with a more professional description before he turns in his homework on Monday ;)

All Clear

It's been a long 12 weeks! But Clara went to the vet yesterday for a follow-up x-ray and got the "all-clear" to return to all regular activities. Which apparently means sunbathing :)

Raleigh Field Trip

On Tuesday the fourth grade took a field trip to Raleigh to visit the state capitol. The highlight of the trip was apparently the hour-and-a-half long bus breakdown by the side of the highway on the way there! One of the charter buses broke down so the entire caravan had to pull over and wait for another bus to be sent. Fortunately Ben was armed with his iPad and Kindle Fire, and was perfectly content. His only complaint was that since they were late arriving in Raleigh they didn't have time to visit the science museum, where he wanted to spend the $20 I gave him at the gift shop there. Instead he spent it on candy and came home extremely sugared-up. He did not get home till almost 7pm (and I had to drop him off at school at 6:15 am) so it was a LONG day.

Here is a picture his teacher emailed of the class. Ben is second from the right, not sure why he seems to be slouching ;)

Cookie Model

Kindergarten Program

There's not much chance of actually spotting Rebecca in these videos, but her class is wearing yellow :) Each of the kindergarten classes wore a different color t shirt for the colors of the rainbow. With 7 classes, it worked out nicely that way ;) After the show I signed Rebecca out, took her to the book fair and then to Panera to get something to eat before heading home and back to work! Great job Rebecca! She has been practicing for weeks and I think was a little nervous about it :)