Epcot, Day 2

Mission: Space, The Sum of all Thrills, Test Track, Soarin', Spaceship Earth, Under the Sea with Nemo & Friends, Turtle Talk with Crush, The Energy Show, and dinner at the Biergarten restaurant, where Ben ate copious amounts of schnitzel. 

Rock 'n Roller Coaster

Joel thought it very necessary to purchase this picture. 

Hollywood Studios

Another marathon Disney day. Ben and I survived The Tower of Terror and the Rock 'n Roller Coaster - twice. We also went on Star Tours and Toy Story Mania twice apiece and went to the Indiana Jones stunt show and the Muppets 3D show. 

Magic Kingdom, Day 2

Space Mountain 3 times. Seven Dwarves Mine Train twice. Winnie the Pooh, Buzz Lightyear, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Haunted  Mansion, Mad Tea Party, Journey of the Little Mermaid, Barnstormer, Disney's Philharmagic, Princess Meet & Greet with Cinderella and Rapunzel. 

I think my feet are going to fall off. 

Epcot, Day 1

Too tired to think ;) a fun but exhausting 12th anniversary, spent at Epcot. Back to Magic Kingdom tomorrow. 

Magic Kingdom, Day 1

Pirates of the Carribean, It's a Small World, Splash Mountain (twice), Big Thunder Mountain Railroad (twice), Jungle Cruise, Magic Carpets of Alladin, Peter Pan's Flight, Tom Sawyer's Island. 

Animal Kingdom

Day 1 of our Disney vacation (and six more to go-- who planned this trip??) after 10 hours at Animal Kingdom with three kids, all I can think is that there needs to be a new word coined for how tired one feels after ten hours in a Disney theme park with 3 kids ;)

Parent Teacher Conference

We had a great conference with Ben's teacher this afternoon. She said he is doing great and she had no concerns whatsoever. She said he is very quiet in class, but participates well, and that maybe his only fault is that he doesn't put as much effort into his class work as he is capable of (would rather get the basic amount done and then go back to reading his book). 

She showed us his standardized tests and said he is "off the charts" on the reading one and high-average on the math. She said his reading comprehension is at an 11th or 12th grade level and she wants to steer him towards some classics such as Lord of the Flies and The Old Man and the Sea, as well as some nonfiction histories. 

Interestingly (perhaps not surprising) his test scores had a huge jump especially in math between the end of last year (off meds) and the beginning of this year (on meds). He can sit through a standardized test now without losing focus :) In math I think his percentile jumped from the high 60s to the high 80s and reading went from 90 to 99. 

Getting Ready for Disney & Other Updates

Friday we leave for a week at Disney World and there is sooooo much to do to get ready! Nevermind the packing; haven't even started that yet. Last minute shopping, getting an iPod fixed that a certain 7 year old dropped on the front sidewalk, buying groceries to bring with us, getting the oil changed on the car, as well as getting things wrapped up for work. I picked a really bad time to go on vacation-- the week before the election -- but when we planned the trip last year I wasn't thinking that far ahead. Consequently I am bringing my laptop with me but hoping not to have to use it too much! Tomorrow I have Ben's parent teacher conference, and Clara is getting picked up for a week+ at the dog sitter's. We're boarding her with a coworker of Abby's who dog-sits on the side, this time, since our usual go-to place is taking a vacation of their own and could only take her for part of the time that we are going to be away.

An already busy week has been complicated by the fact that we noticed that Ben has lost weight since he started back on the ADHD medication when school started. According to our bathroom scale, he weighed 75 pounds when he should have been close to 80. Even 80 pounds for a kid who is almost 5'1 is too skinny, so seeing 75 pounds freaked me out. Joel immediately went out and bought Boost supplement drinks and plenty of junk food, and we started packing his lunches and plying him with Boost at every opportunity. I took him to the doctor today, and on their scale he weighed 77 pounds exactly (though the last few days binging on Boost and zebra cakes may have helped). Nevertheless, he has dropped off his growth curve and is now down from the 70th percentile to the 55th percentile for weight. The doctor was quite concerned and discussed eating strategies at length with Ben and I. She will see him again in a month, and if he can get his weight up he can stay on the medication but if not, she will have to lower the dosage or switch to a different medicine, neither one of which she wants to do because he has been doing so well with his schoolwork with the medicine and dose he is on. It has been working exactly as hoped, and the only (unfortunate) side effect is the appetite suppression. Hopefully a week off the meds and having lots of junk food at Disney World will help too!

Halloween Preview

Two Princesses and a vampiress :) Ben claims he is dressing up as "the under armour God". ("So like, your regular clothes?" I confirmed). 

Random Pictures

Becca in her class T shirt after a field trip to the children's theater this week, and Caroline getting some wiggles out on aunt Abby's trampoline!

Mid-Week Update

It has been a busy week so far. Ben has had a ton of homework including a big social studies report, a social studies open book test, a science test, and the usual vocabulary and Greek/Latin stems. Fortunately for me his great attitude that he started the school year with is still going strong. He has done about three hours of homework a day this week without complaint.

Clara went back to the vet this morning where we decided her leg has been given enough chance to heal on its own and it is clearly not doing that. So we scheduled surgery for her (meniscus repair) for the Tuesday after we get back from Disney. 

Caroline has been doing great with potty training, having had only one accident in the past week. She is off school tomorrow and Friday for the final round of Jewish holidays of the fall. 

Throw in a malfunctioning air conditioner and a busy and short-staffed week at work, and that about sums up the week so far--ugh! Waiting for the weekend. 

Here are Ben and Becca's school pics:

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a busy weekend which included a surprise (for the kids, anyway) visit from Uncle Mike, dinner at Basil Thai, the usual  weekend activities of dance class and Hebrew school, and a family photo shoot at the J. We paid $25 for a 10 minute sitting, with no obligation to purchase anything, so really a win-win. Hopefully we will get some decent pics out of it. Our last attempt at a portrait sitting yielded some good ones of Ben and Rebecca, but by the time we got to family portraits Ben was in a foul mood and my hair was doing something weird so, a lot of money and not that successful. I hate it when they sit you down in a conference room and show you huge pictures on a giant screen and pressure you to buy stuff ;) Anyway, that's why we went this route. The proofs will be online in a few days and no pressure to order any. It's the same photographer that does the preschool and camp pictures, and we have liked some of the photos of the kids they have done in the past.

Busy week ahead-- Ben has a TON of homework due Thursday including a huge social studies report on Marco Polo. Caroline is off Thursday and Friday for the final round of fall Jewish holidays. And 2 weeks from today we'll be in Disney World!

Caroline's 'do, too

New 'do

I'm having a flashback to 1997...

Surprise!

Uncle Mike is here!

Potty Training Update

Since beginning potty training a week ago, Caroline has been improving steadily! She pooped on the potty for the first time on Saturday, and since then has had no poop accidents and averaged 2 pee pee accidents a day up until Wednesday when she only had one, and then yesterday she had no accidents at all! WOO HOO!!!! It did help that she was home with me for Sukkot yesterday and we stayed inside and close to a bathroom at all times. However, still quite an accomplishment! Home again for Sukkot today, and hoping for another accident free day! Wish us luck!

Fall Portrait Proofs

Cute!

Belated Happy Birthday Video

So I meant to post this a couple weeks ago but YouTube was having technical difficulties it seemed, and would not let me embed a video then. So here it is now that they seem to have gotten things working again. This is from Becca's 7th birthday party!

 

Caroline's big news

Potty Training Boot Camp

A beautiful and fall-like weekend here in Charlotte! Joel, Ben and Becca attended Yom Kippor services yesterday while Caroline and I hunkered down for some potty training boot camp ;) By the end of the weekend Caroline was successfully pooping on the potty (which she did THREE TIMES today) but still having some pee pee accidents. We definitely seem to be making progress though! We also attended a break-the-fast party at a friends house and Ben got a hair cut. Overall it was a very low-key weekend. 

Watch Out World!

Here she comes in big girl underwear!

It Must be Fall

First day of October treat-- pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! Gluten free of course! The kids will be so happy when they get home from school :)

Picture Day Preview