My life, my blog

It's December!

2011-12-30T18:41:00.017-05:00

Ah, Thursday, the first day of December. How did that happen?

It was another early release day, which means all I do is drive to/from school and I feel like no one is actually AT school. Anyway, Jason came home with this whole bucket of Christmas goodies from his friend Gianna. He was quite pleased.

Tyler came home with this math book that his friend Sammie had made for him. That boy does love learning. He was quite excited to do extra math. Ha, ha.

Being that it was the first day of December, the boys broke into their advent calendars. This is the first year I had purchased them, but Trader Joe's had them for $1 each, so I figured why not.

Afterwards my mom watched Ty so I could bring Jason to his PT that he normally goes to in the morning. Afterwards I picked up Ty so he could go to a "reading rumpus" at the library.

On Friday before school Tyler helped me get our Spirit of the Holidays gift wrapped up so I could drop it off to Jeanne.

Then it was off to take my mom to PT and run some errands. That day was yet again ANOTHER half day, so the boys killed some time playing pirate outside.

That evening we went to Bob's house and helped him decorate his tree.

Afterwards we went over to Maple Shade's holiday festival thing. They had a parade (small one, but a parade is a parade and the boys are fans), tree lighting, music, hot chocolate and candy cane shaped pretzels, ice carving, story reading, a petting zoo, amongst other stuff. Tyler was tired or something and had a bit of an attitude, but they had fun. Jason LOVED the animals and Tyler was totally captivated by the ice carving for some reason.

We finished off the evening by driving around and looking at Christmas lights. I must say, Maple Shade has Medford Lakes beat in that department!

On Saturday morning we went over to Home Depot for their Kids Workshop. I used to do these fairly frequently with Tyler, but then I guess we sort of forgot about them. This was Jason's first ever one and he was so excited to get his little apron. They made and then painted snowman napkin holders. They also got hot chocolate (which burned even my tongue) AND Santa was there. I was shocked when Jason agreed to sit near Santa. It may have had something to do with the candy canes he was handing out. When Santa asked what he wanted Jason answered "balls" and Santa even understood him. Too funny!

We grabbed some quick lunch in the car before heading over to Garden State Discovery Museum to take advantage of their promotion (when you buy a year pass you get an extra 4 months for free). My mom gave me her credit card and she purchased that as a Christmas gift for the boys. Very cool! We got there literally just in time for a small performance from the Voorhees Ballet of a few scenes from The Nutcracker. Then of course we had some play time in the museum.

That evening we went over to Jeanne's to meet up with her and her boys to walk over to Trading Post Way where the girl scouts where supposed to be having an event with food and such. We found barely anything happening so instead we packed in my car and went to McDonald's to eat sundaes while we killed some time. When it was late enough we went back to Jeanne's and walked over to Oaks Hall for the annual Christmas Eve tree lighting. The evening starts off with cookies and hot chocolate before the Lions Club President (or maybe it's the mayor? I should know this. Hmm) gathers kids to sing Christmas carols, followed by the reading of Twas the Night Before Christmas. Then everyone bundles up to go outside to count down to the tree lighting of the tree on the lake. Meanwhile sirens start up as Santa makes his way down Stokes Road in a firetruck. Jason was in utter fascination and was waving to him. So cute. Afterwards they go back inside and stand in line to see Santa. After Tyler's turn Jason was willing to climb up there on Santa's lap with Tyler!

november comes to an end

2011-12-30T16:22:00.003-05:00

Somehow I have not a SINGLE picture from November 27-30th. I'm not even sure how this is possible. Yikes! I'm guessing I wasn't feeling very well, which is the only thing that can explain my lack of pictures AND lack of facebook posts.

This was Tyler's "star of the week" week at school. He got to start it off on Monday with bringing in a picture so he could complete the board with all the information that he would present to his class.

That morning I brought Jason along to the first ever H&SA Coffee Club. That was fun and Jason enjoyed the munchkins. Somehow I signed myself up to be a co-chair for an event next year. Apparently I aquired my mom's inability to say no.

Also did some PT to/from driving for my mom.

Tyler had a make-up speed stacking club and then pretty much went right from there to karate. Late at night I finally remembered it had been report card day. Of course he did wonderfully! All outstandings for actual subjects, and a mix of O (outstanding) and G (good) for his "specials". All good remarks from his teacher as well. So proud of my big boy!

Tuesday night I attended my first ever SEAC meeting, which focused on potential upcoming changes in the special education classes in school. Very interesting. After the over 2 hours there, I ran out to do some late night shopping, hoping to get some Christmas things. Did manage to get some stuff.

On Wedneday we kept ourself busy with PT driving and the really stupid half-day schedule.

I did take this video of Jason "talking". I love how far he's come and my mom is always telling me how I need to document it.

That evening I had both of the boys parent-teacher conferences, this one being Jason's very first one. All went well with that!

November 20-26 (Thanksgiving week)

2011-12-30T15:06:00.021-05:00

On Sunday we all worked together on a Welcome Home sign for my mom, who was finally due to be discharged from a less-than-pleasant stay in rehab. I know the boys were looking forward to having her home too!

That afternoon Tyler had a scout pack meeting. The boys all worked on folding flags that will be going in small packages overseas to our troops. After other business they boys received some awards, including those for popcorn sales. Thanks to all of our generous friends, family, and strangers, Tyler sold the 3rd in his pack. He also earned some sort of missile launcher, a special patch, and a gift card to amazon. And he also earned the right to throw a pie in his den leaders face.

And of course he volunteered to bring home some flags to fold. Of course. Cause we've got all the time in the world. All for a good cause though.

Monday was story time at the library, Thanksgiving themed as you can see!

My mom finally came home! It was good to see her and they boys were quite happy! Still thought it was a good idea to get Tyler off to karate and give her a little quiet in the house.

That night I did a late night shopping trip to Shoprite, hoping to avoid the thanksgiving crowds. Fairly successful. Of course ended up back later in the week for the rest of our stuff and our free turkey.

After having tried for a long time, I finally had succeeded in getting Jason signed up for a Tumbling Tots class at the library. Boy am I glad I did. He absolutely loved it and I honestly teared up watching how much fun he had and how well he was doing. He has come a long way!

That afternoon, while the boys were at school, I had a dentist appointment to pick up my mouth guard. Hopefully no more teeth grinding! After school Ty had a make-up speed stacking club and karate. Busy little boy!

Jason expressed his Indian heritage before driving my mom to PT that morning.

After an early dismissal from school, the boys and I head over to the mall to try to get some things. Bob met us there for dinner, and during a potty break we discovered a "family" bathroom with a mini toilet. Jason was soooo incredibly excited.

After dinner we killed some time at a surprisingly uncrowded Chuck E Cheese, using only tokens that had been sitting in the cup holder of my car. No money spent. Nice! Jason got a little obsessive about trying to play skeeball. I thought that would NEVER end.

On thursday, as usual, the boys watched the Thanksgiving Day Parade, before we later went to Jim & Cara's for a delicious Thanksgiving Dinner. Yummy! Tyler also entertained with his speed stacking skills with his new stacking cups with he earned with his prize money from selling boyscout popcorn.

That night, after the boys were in bed, I went to Bob's and we got brave and hit the early Black Friday shopping at Walmart. Apparently brave means crazy. The store was INSANE! But because I wasn't looking to purchase any electronics deals, I managed to check out with my toy-related items all before midnight. Insane, but not too bad. Next year I think I'll just stick with my handy Amazon.com.

On Friday I had signed up Tyler for a Black Friday Boot Camp at his karate studio. he had been wanting to do it because they were doing dodgeball and a pizza party and such. I was more than willing to have Tyler be busy for the day!

Jason made his daddy a Happy Birthday video.

And then Jason and I continued to succesffuly avoid all Black Friday shopping with some outdoor time, including a trip to the playground.

I picked up Tyler from his day at karate, to find him grinning ear to ear. Not only had they had a blast with dodgeball and a pizza party, but he had succesfully broken his first board!!

Having been gone all day, we hadn't noticed that Buddy the Elf, our very own Elf on a Shelf, had arrived from the north pole. Tyler was sooooo excited to find him, and Jason was a little confused. The boys got right to work reading the accompanying book.

Feeling in the spirit, we got started on our Christmas crafting.

Saturday started off with an early day trip to the library, followed by the playground. It was a surpringly warm day.

Back at home they got a chance to watch the Elf on a Shelf movie, which quickly skyrocketed into Jason's alltime movie selections. LOL.

We kicked off our holiday requirements early with some gingerbread house decorating at Bob's house. The boys had a blast making and decorating minature houses. We made some dinner and then snacked on smores and that old popcorn that pops up over the flame (don't remember what it's called).

November 13-19

2011-12-30T14:26:00.009-05:00

On Sunday the boys were still with their dad, busy doing whatever it was they did (which included a cub scout den meeting) I was trying to enjoy kid-free time, and even though I wasn't' sleeping, did stay in bed pretty late. That was an accomplishment. That evening, after finally getting to visit my mom in her new rehab, I was more than ready to meet up with them at Red Lobster in Cherry Hill so I could retrieve my boys. I was happy to learn that Jason was still doing well with potty-training and supposedly everyone had a pretty good time.

On Monday I spent most of the morning close to home with a naked Jason who was peeing regularly to earn potty prizes. LOL.

Eventually we did get dressed so we could go visit my mom. Jason of course got to check out the potty there as well, numerous times.

That afternoon at school he got to do his make-up class pictures. They let me come in to help coerce him to cooperate. Success!

On Tuesday Jason had a fun library program.

That afternoon, while the boys were at school, I had a dentist appointment. No cavities! And I got fit for a mouth guard for my horrible grinding. Fun stuff. That afternoon after school Ty had a library program as well, "snack attack" before his karate class.

On Wednesday Jason put on his first pair of big boy underwear and was quite proud of himself. He managed to keep them dry all day without any issues, even including a trip to the grocery store daycare (scrunchies) by himself for the first time. He even stayed dry at school!!

That afternoon/evening we made our way back to visit my mom at rehab, this being the first time for Tyler due to school and activities. Afterwards, because I was so proud of Tyler with how helpful and understanding he had been with Jason's potty-training (and because I just wanted to be a cool mom for a minute) I surprised Tyler with the brand new Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, "Cabin Fever". As you can tell, he was elated.

That evening Jason finally got to hang out with pop-pop (who had been busy visiting my mom at rehab most of his free time). I'm sorry, but I just find it positively adorable to see Jason running around in his underwear. Too funny.

On Thursday at PT Jason got his new orthotics. He initially wasn't thrilled, but warmed up to them quickly. We started in a process of wearing them for short times to break them in, and in less than a week he'll be wearing them all day, taking them off to go to sleep.

That evening, not long after his speed stacking club, Tyler had a karate medal tournament. It was incredibly crowded, Jason wasn't happy, and I had to keep walking him down to Starbucks, in the freezing cold, to use the potty. Eventually I had to admit defeat and knew I couldn't survive the whole 2.5 hours at the studio. I went home, crying, and called my dad. He immediately left the rehab where he was visiting my mom and got in the car and went and watched the rest of Ty's medal tournament. I'm thankful that I have awesome family and Tyler is well-loved, but geez I wish i could clone myself so I could be everywhere. That killed me to miss that. Ty had a great time though and come home with some medals.

Friday morning was spent visiting my mom again, including a trip to Taco Bell to grab us and her some lunch. Jason got to visit those bathrooms a few times. Good stuff.

On Saturday we kept busy with a trip to the library

Later the playground.

I believe we finished our day with a trip to visit my mom again and deliver get well cards, but my mind escapes me. Sounds right though.

November 6-12

2011-12-30T12:51:00.028-05:00

On Sunday I remembered why I hated Daylight's Saving Time so much. Throws us off in whatever direction we move. Not a fan. Perhaps it was the early rising, but that day we made it back to church for the first time in an embarrassingly long time. And, for the first time in an even longer time (since for a while my mom would stay home with Jason) Jason survived a church service without them needing to page me. Way to go Jason!

That afternoon we went to the library for a program for Tyler. And to kill some time that afternoon. The library is always good for that!

That evening we all went to Jim and Cara's for an early birthday celebration for my brother Chris. Jason had fun harassing the animals while Ty and Aidan checked out Aidan's trampoline. My little guy showed off that he learned how to do a flip!

On Monday, the boys began a week-long vacation from school. What would prove to be a busy and loooong week. They started off with a little electronics time. Tyler allowed Jason to use his Leapster while Ty played his DS. Jason doesn't have a clue, but felt like a big kid for sure.

Later that morning Jason had a library program.

That evening after karate Uncle Jim came over for a visit.

On Tuesday Beth generously offered to let us come to Adventure Aquarium with her and to use her passes. On our way we stopped for a yummy lunch at chick-fil-a. When we got there Tyler, Jason, Mackenzie, and Olivia had a blast petting stingrays, seeing the huge alligator, watching penguins, etc. Afterwards we spent some time walking along the Camden Waterfront.

On Wednesday my mom, dad, myself and the boys made our way to Atlantic City to go to the aquarium. In the end the ended up buying season passes, so we'll be back. They love it their, and I can see why. I think the favorite, by far, is petting the sting rays. What a cute place!

After our aquarium trip we went to use our hotel's pool. Quite a fun treat for the boys in the midst of cooler weather. Even jason got in on the action, even though he would't really go IN the water. Tyler was a fish, of course!

Aftewards we filled up on a yummy dinner at the buffet.

On Thursday my Mom and Dad checked in at the hospital for my mom's hopefully last surgery in a looong time, a total knee replacement.

Meanwhile I checked on line to see that they were currently available and then drove to the main branch library to check out the museum passes for Ground for Sculpture. I had been wanting to go, but was unsure if boys would enjoy themselves,but for free on a gorgeous day, why not?!?! Anyway, the kids were impressed with the large main branch library. Could have spent a couple of hours there!

From there we drove right to Grounds for Sculpture. According to Wikepedia: Grounds For Sculpture is a 35-acre (140,000 m2) sculpture park and museum located in Hamilton Township, Mercer County, New Jersey, United States, on the former site of the New Jersey State Fairgrounds. Founded in 1992 by John Seward Johnson II, the venue was intended to be dedicated to promoting an understanding of and appreciation for contemporary sculpture by organizing exhibitions, publishing catalogues, and offering a variety of educational programs and special community events.

Anyway, Jason didnt' seem thrilled initially, but warmed up quickly, especially after seeing the wildlife roaming free. Tyler had a blast from the beginning, checking each sculpture to see if it allowed touching or simply needed to be viewed with the eye. If it was allowed to be touched, he made sure to touch it. He read plaques, he studied, he seemed quite mature. That was until he climbed a large hill to a sculpture and I hear him yell down hysterically "mom, you've gotta check this out. This is the best. You can see their butts." Mature, not so much, but typical boy, yes. Too funny.

We could have spent the entire day there, but after about 4 hours it started to drizzle, so we got in the car and made our way to the Jackson outlets for Jason's soon-to-arrive orthotics. All in all, a very nice day.

On Friday we had to return the museum passes to the main branch library anyway, so on the way home we stopped at the Rancocas Nature Center. Indoors they had education things and small animals to look at. Afterwards we took a map and head off to explore one of the trails. It was pretty windy though, so we didn't venture out any further than our original trail. The boys found some big leaves, and Tyler even got to catch one as it fell from a tree. Tyler also made us each collect our most favorite leave for a "contest". Can't tell you who won. I'm sure it was probably him.

Friday night after karate as I was getting the boys in the bath, Jason started peeing into the tub. Instincitvely I just picked him up, swung him around,and put him in front of the toilet. He hesitated a second and then started peeing again. Of course Tyler and I praises him highly, and Tyler told him he earned a treat (I guess he remembered that from when he potty-trained). Thankfully we still had Halloween candy around. I figured it was a fluke, but was happy nonetheless. I was shocked when not even 1/2 hour later he announed he had to go again. Sure enough, he did! By the end of the night he was drinking water heavily (so he'd pee more) and had mastered both peeing and pooping on the potty. Who knew?

On Saturday I woke up early to get the boys up and ready to get out the door for an overnight visit with their dad, who had driven up from NC. I took them to a restaurant near Al's hotel so we could transfer their stuff from my car to theirs. Always hard to say goodbye to them, but they seemed fine. Needing to get my mind off things, Bob and I kept busy with a day trip to Peddler's Village, which was very nice. Neither of us had been since we were kids and there were lots of cute shops. We ate dinner at Peddler's Pub, which was nice, and then had yummy dessert from a bakery.

November 2011 begins

2011-12-30T12:15:00.008-05:00

Jason had to miss school on Tuesday, the first day of November, because he had a follow-up GI appointment at CHOP in Philly. Luckily my dad was able to take some time off and drive me, cause Jason was beside himself once he heard the word "appointment". Poor little guy. It was pretty uneventful, which I guess is good. We're just on a wait and see basis at this point. Afterwards Jason got to hang out with pop-pop blowing some bubbles in the front yard.

That evening Tyler had karate, which is way more exciting now that he's a high-orange belt AND has a new uniform.

Look at little lazy bones "shopping" with me on Wednesday.

That morning Jason had stortytime at the library and that afternoon Tyler had karate.

Thursday Jason had PT again, which he's really enjoying. Due to some annoying (and of course time-consuming) insurance glitches, Jason got re-fitted for his orthotics with a different company. This time he picked out construction themed orthotics, so they'll have little dump trucks and such on them. I don't care what they look like, as long as he'll willingly wear them!

After picking up Ty a little early from Speed Stacking club, my friend Tanya of TLea Image Keepsakes Photography took some beautiful pictures of the boys at Medford Park. Check out her website here

That evening my parents watched the boys so I coud attend a HSA meeting.

On Friday I had some errands to run and then I had to serve lunch. Jason is quite content during lunch now, just sitting on his little towel and chowing down.

On Saturday we used borrowed passes from the library to visit the Discovery Museum. It was packed, but of course the boys had fun. There was a new dinosaur section, which made them quite happy.

Later that night the boys and myself worked on some Thanksgiving crafts. The one required that you attach a hershey kiss to it (to resemble the bottom of an acorn). We finished them and put them on the windowsill to dry. Apparently I didn't fully explain things appropriately because the next morning I walked out and see the hershey kisses missing. I asked Jason what happened to them and he announced "I eee em" (I eat them) to which I reply "oh Jason, they were a decoration. They had glue on them" and he replies "oooh". I'm not sure I'll ever forget that moment. Classic. Just had to be there.

October 30-31. Halloween!

2011-12-29T12:17:00.014-05:00

On Sunday, after Tyler had scouts, my parents went to pick up Chris and we had a pumpkin carving afternoon. Tyler surprised me by picking his own design from the book, and after I cut off the lid for him, he cleaned out and completely carved his own design. He did wonderfully and I couldn't have done it any better myself! Jason, after initially being hesitant to touch the thing (which is what I totally expected)he ended up getting wayyyy into it. It definitely verged on being a little OCD, the way he had to remove every seed, one at a time, and wipe his hand on the paper towel afterwards. But he had a blast. With only an approximate 15 minute break to eat a snack, I finally had to cut him off from the obsessive pumpkin cleaning after he had been working for 2.5 hours. Yes, you read that right. Meanwhile Tyler, after finishing his pumpkin, took over my pumpkin as well to create a second masterpiece. This one got a little messed up, but he had fun. After I cut Jason off of his seed cleaning expedition, he "decorated" another pumpkin with toothpicks. Quite a looker.

On Monday morning I got Tyler dressed into his Halloween costume for school. For the first time in my memory, the kids were to have their Halloween party and parade in the morning, and then get undressed into normal clothes and continue their day as normal. Sounds unlikely to me, but I don't make the rules. Anyway, it was quite cold and Tyler was none too pleased about wearing a sweatshirt over his costume. When it was time Jason, myself, my mom, Jeanne, and Beth and Olivia walked up the street to view the kids go by in the parade. I didn't realize my camera memory was full, so I was so disappointed to have only captured this phone picture. Boo.

That afternoon I got Jason dressed in his costume for school. Jason, being a monkey, had a banana sewn into his pocket. I had to laugh when a little girl came up to him and said "jason, may I please touch to your banana". LOL. Of course he said "no"..what else is knew. After the kids went in the parents stayed outside for a few minutes before the kids came out for their "parade" around the courtyard. Jason looked positively miserable. Poor guy.

I had volunteered to help out with baking and bringing in activities and helping with Jason's classroom's Halloween party. How adorable. I loved watching all the kids with their acitivites, games, and digging into their treats. So cute!

After school we quick got Ty's costume back on and visited my grandparents quickly so they could see them in their costumes. Then we came home to meet up with my mother-in-law. She ended up having to stay at work so instead the boys trick-or-treated to our neighbors.

Bob came over and we went to Beth and Erich's to join some friends for a quick pizza dinner and then got on our way for some trick-or-treating. Jason wasn't incredibly enthusiastic and only went to a few houses before asking to be pulled in the wagon. They both had fun though and got a ton of candy!

Upon getting home Tyler was really excited to hand out candy to other trick or treaters. And then of course there is the very important task of organizing and counting your loot!

October 23-29

2011-12-29T11:27:00.013-05:00

On Sunday Tyler had a cubscout pack meeting, which included a bike rodeo where they followed clues to various locations around town. At least location they either learned something or completed an activity, such as a poster on bike safety, learned how to change a tire, etc.

It was a busy week, and I wasn't feeling so hot. Lots to do of course. It was also red ribbon week, or something of that nature. Each day had a theme.

Monday, boys had to wear red. Jason did not aprove. Off to karate that night.

Tuesday, boys had to wear clothes backwards. Jason refused. Was not worth the fight. Tyler gets into all of the themes. They are sooo different. Karate that night as well.

Wednesday, boys had to wear crazy socks. Jason was reluctant and thought I was the crazy one.

Thursday Jason had PT at CHOP. He's starting to finally like it, especially her sit and spin and stomp rockets! From there it was right to school for crazy hat day. Jason rocked this one in his monster hat he loves to wear all the time.

On Thursday after school I dressed Jason up in his dressup clothes (pretend Halloween costume) and made our way to Shoprite for our 3rd (or 4th?) ever Halloween event. The kids get to trick-or-treat around the store for things like bags of chips, candy, drinks, etc. Then they get usually apples and caramel, chocolate milk, and a cupcake. There is also usually a balloon maker and maybe a magician. Tyler meanwhile was at speed stacking club, but since we were in such a long line at Shoprite my mom was able to pick up Ty after club and meet us in line before we went in! They had tons of fun!

That evening Tyler made the difficult choice (oh how to gets worked up over every decision...sigh) between the school's "Fall Festival" and his karate studio's Halloween party. Ultimately he decided on the Fall Festival, and I'm pretty sure he was glad he did. Both boys had a blast with lots of games and activities and of course food!

On Friday after school we stayed after briefly to decorate Jason's classroom for his school's halloween party that coming monday. From there we went home briefly before going to Jason's friend Gianna's house for a Halloween party. Her mom is impressive and went all out with a little bounce house, crafts, pumpkins to paint, a friend doing face painting, and yummy food. Tyler apparently seemed unphased that this was a preschool party, having tons of fun himself, especially taking an interest in bobbing for apples. Jason, on the other hand, was a little overhwelmed I suppose. He had fun, but wasn't as involved as the other kids.

On the morning of the 29th we got quite a surprise. Looked out the window to see snow! We did get a little bit of every precipitation that day...rain, snow, sleet, hail. Regardless the boys were fascinated, and of course had to quick put on their hats and gloves and run outside in their pj's to go see it!

After observing our rare October snow I got the boys dressed in their costumes (Jason in play clothes we had since his actual costume would be too hot for running around inside), packaged up my food I made for the party, and head off to the JWA Preschool Halloween party. Technically Tyler was too old for it according to some of the advertisements I saw, but I had no choice but to bring him too, and he had a blast. Lots of cute games, activities, and yummy food. JWA did a wonderful job!

We left the Preschool Halloween party and went directly to the Shawnee Safe Trick-or-Treating. We've gone their every year we've been back in NJ and it's always a hit. I'm not sure if it was the weather or what, but this year it was beyond crowded and pretty overwhelming. Not as many games for the kids to play, so we didn't stay too long. They had fun though.

That night Jason snuck his way into my parents room for some piano time with pop-pop.

October 16-22

2011-12-28T23:17:00.013-05:00

On Sunday Bob and I brought the boys to Conte's to go pumpkin picking. Always a hit!

After pumpkin picking we ate some hotdogs and apple cider donuts while we relaxed at the picnic table. We discovered a whole family of fuzzy caterpillars that were climbing up and around the tree. Will PETA have to get involved if I admit that the boys made the caterpillars compete in a race?

On our way out we noticed the horses/ponies out by the fence. The boys took turns feeding them hay and had a blast.

We then went on over to Indian Acres for some more fun. The boys spent the majority of their time playing in the large corn box (like a sand box, but with corn kernels instead of sand...very cute). They also kept busy with the corn maze, feeding the goats and llamas, and playing on the playground.

That night the boys show off some matching pj's in a photo to their mom-mom, who they had been missing as she was still spending almost every waking moment at the hospital with my grandfather.

On Monday Jason demonstrated being a goof in the cart out while shopping. He insisted he was sleeping. You would think he's actually sleep after the ridiculous hours he had been waking (4am two days in a row)!

Meanwhile at school Tyler was very excited to get to take the bus over to Neeta for an assembly. Two bus trips in the last two days of school...unheard of!

We finally got our sleep apnea results for Jason. Good news (great actually) is that there is no evidence of sleep apnea. Bad news is that there is seemingly no explanation for his crappy sleep.

Jason and I spent another morning visiting my grandfather in the hospital. Jason does like the view.

After school we head to the library for "snack attack" for Tyler.

That afternoon Ty and Jason spent some time playing school before he had to take off for karate.

Wednesday I had a GI follow-up and got my meds switched again due to my lack of progress. Not thrilling at all for me as I feel like I'm constantly making a step in the WRONG direction!

On Thursday Jason had his first real PT session. He got fitted for custom orthotics as well, to correct his balance and the way he turns his ankles in. Sad to see it come to that but hopeful that it will help.

After school Jason's teacher informed me that he could count to 14. I had never heard him count past 3 as he did this obsessive thing where he only counted in 3's. Upon some experimentation I discovered that he will count past 3 if you give him actual objects to touch. So, the teacher was right. So proud of my little man!

We spent some time after school doing some door-to-door popcorn sales.

Then it was off to karate AGAIN!

On Friday while Tyler was at school Jason and I got some outdoor time.

He practiced his bike riding skills. He was sort of on a hill, so this makes him seem a little more skilled than he actually is. LOL.

Then he showed off those counting skills. Way to go Jason!

And I discovered that I can trick him into eating healthy foods if I pretend that I'm counting them and encourage him NOT to steal my food while I'm counting. Works like a charm.

On Saturday Jeanne and I brought the kids to Great Adventure to take advantage of a last visit to Fright Fest and so Jeanne could activate their season passes. The boys had a great time learning about and observing the birds. We also saw a dolphin show, went on quite a few rides, and saw a magic show before heading out for a quick stop at the outlets on our way home.

October 9-15

2011-12-28T18:24:00.009-05:00

I'm so dreadfully far behind on my blog. Oh my, oh my.

On Sunday Tyler had a wolf scout meeting.

On Monday the kids had an early dismissal day, which means that Jason has even shorter and more bizarre hours than normal, reandering my day pretty much useless. I believe he got to school from 10:38 to 12:23. How ridiculous. That evening, karate for Tyler.

While Ty was at school, Jason and I checked out a kids Wii game from the library. Still not quite there yet.

We stopped briefly at the library before Jason and I went to visit my grandfather in the hospital. Jason was happy to also get lunch in the cafeteria!

That afternoon Tyler had a playdate at his friend Luke's house. While I was rushing to make dinner before he got home, poor Jason gave me a scare when he surprisingly touched the stove and burnt his finger. It didn't look bad at all but he was freaking out. I called the pediatrician and there was no answer, but I took a chance that they were still open and brought him up there. I lucked out and they were still open and saw him immediately. Of course he was fine, and I'm sure he won't touch the stove again. To be perfectly honest, I'm still shocked he did touch it to begin with.

We got home just in time for Tyler's arrival from his playdate. Of course dinner wasn't ready because I obviously had to turn off the stove when we rushed off to the pediatrician. Lord knows what I fed them that night for karate, but I'm sure it wasn't my best meal.

Wednesday morning Jason and I had an early morning visit back to the hospital to visit my grandfather again. Then we went on over to Neeta school to help out with documenting the school's attempt at getting into the Guiness Book of World Records for most amount of people jumping in place at a time (I think that's what it was. Clearly I wasn't observing as much of the actual activity. I was a time keeper.).

That afternoon Tyler was signed up for a "Lizard Guy" program at the library. They ended up letting Jason participate as well. They both got to learn about various animals and even pet some as well!

We left from there and met my parents at the hospital so Tyler could visit his G-G.pop for the first time. We also managed to get dinner in the cafeteria with my parents, before heading home for bed!

Jason was supposed to have his first real PT session, but due to insurance glitches, it has to be rescheduled. Tyler had his speed stacking club after school. Right afterwards we had to go to karate for Tyler to get fitted for his new uniform. Even though he had already had 2 sessions down this week, Master Turley told him he could come for a third, which he totally wanted to do in his new uniform. LOL.

Jason had a sotrytime at the library. It happened to be fire prevention week, so an Evesham Township firefighter came to talk to them, show them the firetruck (which Jason was scared of), and read them a story. Later they did a fire prevention themed craft before taking pictures with the firefighter.

Meanwhle Tyler was at his 2nd grade fieldtrip. They went to Whitesbog, which is a cranberry bog. He had a blast and learned way more than I'd ever want to know about cranberries. Thank you Pam for sending me the photo!

Saturday, the 15th, was my mom and dad's anniversary. Having spent the night in Atlantic city the night before, we didn't actually see them that day before we head off to Tyler's karate belt graduation. Jason was not too thrilled to be there, but very good, hiding behind his blanket most of the time. Tyler did very well, earning his high orange belt.

sleep study

2011-11-25T21:12:00.011-05:00

On October 2nd the boys and I went to Smithville for their annual Arts in the Park event, just like we did the past couple years. The weather was iffy, but held out enough for us to do almost everything before the rain kicked us out. They got to see a performance ("Ernie and Niel"), made quite a few recycled crafts, played croquet, watched some traditional Chinese dances, and did some painting. Ended the day with a yummy treat of fried oreos!

That night was a night I had been dreading, Jason's sleep study. For those that don't know (or remember) Jason's neurologist had referred us for a sleep study months and months ago, as soon as he was diagnosed with Chiari Malformation. Apparently sleep apnea is correlated with Chiari, so it was just protocol to do the sleep study. Well I didn't tell Jason where we were going cause if he had heard any word such as "doctor", "sleep", "study", "test", "appointment" or "hospital" he would have freaked out. We left plenty of time to get there, since I had never been there before and it was quite a trek. Luckily we left that window cause we hit crazy traffic. I had assumed we could kill some time at King of Prussia mall and get some dinner when we got there, but instead we grabbed a quick dinner at WaWa and that was it. At that point I had told Jason that we'd be sleeping overnight somewhere and didn't really give him much more information. He wasn't happy with that, but he was happy with the toys in the waiting room. The staff was really great with him, getting him checked in and back in his room with relatively little issue. He was quite happy to get to have his new Backyardigan's movie (courtesy of Jeanne's kids on his birthday...thank you) right in bed. I have to say, it was entirely heartbreaking to see the staff hook him up with all the sensors and such. His sleep technician was awesome, but no one enjoys that much stuff being attached to him (22 sensors, oxygen monitor, cannula, heartbeat monitor, and microphone. And lots of adhesive and gauze). He wasn't happy about it at all, but he was a trooper. He cried quietly the whole time, but didn't fight any of the stuff. And, he did fall asleep fairly easily, which shocked me. Unfortunately the rest of the night went horribly. He never slept for more than 45 minutes at a time, and each time he woke up he was combative and confused. It was just sad. And since they only had him in a hospital bed with rails, and he normally sleeps in a crib, he almost fell out of bed a few times. Needless to say, I NEVER slept!

We got home and he was definitely miserable. When it was time to go to school I almost kept him home, but he seemed agreeable to going, and they said he had one of this best days yet Go figure.

As you can see, he was quite tired out from his sleep study. He fell asleep on his own on the couch around 5pm. I thought for sure that he'd be up all night after that. He ended up waking up briefly, but basically fell asleep back in his crib and slept all night. He must have been exhausted.

Jason had storytime at Evesham Library and made a cool leaf wreath craft he was very proud of.

That afternoon Tyler had a new classmate over for a playdate. He was quite excited about that.

They played until it was time to take off for karate.

On Wednesday Jason and I enjoyed a nice morning at storytime at the Pinelands Library followed by a quick trip to the playground. We're there long before he announced his was tired and wanted to go home...odd child.

On Thursday Jason had his vaccine in the morning, which he was none too pleased about. Shortly thereafter it was our long-awaited physical therapy evaluation at CHOP Voorhees. It was interesting to watch, and apparently slightly perplexing for the evaluating therapist. She said that he was actually somewhat advanced in some areas (for one, ball skills) and then quite delayed in other areas. She felt that many of his delays could reflect more of his sensory processing problems and not a true delay stemming from a physical problem. However she also agreed that he would benefit from orthotics, so he qualified for weekly hour-long phsyical therapy for 8 weeks (and then will re-evaluate), an orthotist will come out to see him, and she said she'd speak to an occupational therapist to see if he would be better served in OT.

Meanwhile my grandfather collapsed at home, and after initially refusing treatment, did go to a previously scheduled cardiac appointment where they then sent him to and admitted him to the hospital.

That evening I had a H&S meeting. Due to the fact that my mom busy at the hospital with my grandfather, I got to bring the boys with me. Thank goodness for the girl scouts babysitting services, but Jason of course ended up in my lap instead.

On Friday we were stuck after school drop off chatting for a while, so it was a quick bike ride back home to get Jason dressed to get back to school so we could join Tyler and his class for the school kick-off for the new bullying program.

After that we literally rushed home on our bikes, jumped in the car, and showed up a couple minutes late for the JWA tot storytime at Vaughan Hall. It was a really cute storytime with a little craft and even a snack they decorated themselves.

After that our whirlwind morning continued, as we went directly from storytime to school so I could serve school lunch for the first time this year. Jason came with me, and it went waaaayyyy better than the last time I had been forced to bring him with me. He sat on his beach towel and just ate and was pleasant. And then it was a quick rush back home to grab the backpack and get right back to school for Jason's preschool.

While Jason was at preschool I went to Trader Joe's quickly and to then to the hospital to visit my grandfather. It was sad to see him so out-of-it and in pain.

That night, after karate, it was finally time to relax.

On Saturday the boys and I packed up and drove to Great Adventure. We stopped quickly at the outlets and then grabbed McDonald's while we were waiting for our friends to arrive. We went into the park and activated our 2012 season passes (we got a good deal on them...thanks to a christmas present from my parents...and would get a free season pass if they were activated in 2011). We then went to see the animal section and saw a "fright fest" themed animal show with snakes, hedgehog, and other "creepy" animals. Eventually Beth, Erich, Devon, Mackenzie and Olivia joined us. The kids had fun on some rides and such.

Cub Scout camping, fall

2011-11-18T14:16:00.005-05:00

Friday evening, although I was feeling horrible, I set off for Tyler's scout camping trip at Pinetree. It was raining lightly, and fairly cold, and not ideal at all for camping. I did manage to get everything set up though.

Knowing I had been pretty sick, my dad had offered to bring Tyler camping, but I had said no because I felt like I should be there. But ultimately I set up the tent, listened to Jason cry and whine about the rain and darkness and everything he thought was thunder...and called my dad to come take over. So my poor dad got to do the campfire (complete with scout songs I'm sure) and bedtime in a wet leaking tent.

The next morning Jason and I went and relieved my dad as soon as Jason woke up. Tyler got to raise the flag during the flag ceremony. They boys had a great time with various activities: hiking, rope tying, rainwater regatta, lunch, trail mix making, and dodgeball, amongst other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting.

That evening we had a nice get-together at Jim & Cara's.

a new phase begins

2011-11-18T13:33:00.011-05:00

Monday had finally come (although I'm not sure I was ready for it)...Jason's first day of school. He had been placed in the afternoon preschool, so we spent the morning gearing up for school and putting together the cupcakes he'd be bringing into his class to celebrate his birthday.

All too soon he was off for his first day of preschool! He was very iffy, and there were some tears. But he did make it in the classroom.

I thought I would be an emotional mess, sitting at home worrying about him at school, but I guess it was lucky that I ended up having to go to the doctor's that day, due to the fact that my stomach pain from my Crohn's was still no better. They did some blood work and actually did allergy testing as well. Apparently I'm not allergic to any foods (which is frustrating...I'd love to know if certain foods bother me) but am still allergic to pollen and cats, and highly allergic to mold and dust. Also learned that I'm allergic to roaches. Good to know. LOL.

Meanwhile at school it happened to be class picture day. Tyler's of course went fine. Jason was none too pleased about the transition to the library for pictures and then was totally freaked by the bright lights. They got him to sit, crying, for the class picture, but they couldn't get him to sit for his individual picture. It's a shame, cause I totally would have bought an individual crying picture...what a great memory! LOL. I didn't want to post class pictures, so here is Tyler's individual pictures as well as the cropped version of Jason in his class picture. Note the tears. Poor guy.

Jason survived his first day of school! He apparently had a good day, with the exception of pictures, until the end of the day when they pack up. I guess they usually pack up and then have music class, but he was thrown off cause he thought he was already leaving, so he wouldn't cooperate. So, there were tears at the end of the day. He came out with this little birthday crown, and even though he didn't seem thrilled, he was so proud to "tell" his brother about his day at big boy school!

That evening Tyler was off to karate, while Jason moped around at home. Apparently preschool is tiring!

Tuesday morning Jason had his 3-year-old "well baby" (or is "child" now?) appointment.

Once Jason was off to his second day of preschool, I went in to help out with the H&S book fair. I wasn't even thinking that Jason's class would visit the book fair, so i got to see both of my boys while I was there when their classes came down to "browse". Jason was sooooo excited to see me, but of course wasn't happy when he had to leave me. Luckily they let me walk him back down to his classroom and then he was fine.

After school, when i was talking to his teacher she said "you're gonna have your hands full". Not typically what you'd want your son's preschool teacher to say on his 2nd day of school! Apparently there was an incident when he wanted another child's snack, so he shoved his snack across the table and proceeded to growl at everyone. Oh boy.

That night, karate again for Tyler.

Wednesday, day 3 of preschool, found me again volunteering in school for the book fair. I got to see both of my boys when they came down to shop, which was nice, and plenty of their friends as well.

That afternoon we had Connor over after school for a while, and were eventually joined by Mackenzie who was staying for a sleep over. Having not been feeling well myself, I was a little apprehensive about doing this, but they were very well behaved. Lots of Wii, crafting, food, and a movie. Good times.

After only 3 days of school for Jason, the boys had off on Thursday for Rosh Hashanah (hence why Tyler was allowed to have a sleep-over the night before). After dropping of Mackenzie at her house, I had planned on going out to buy supplies to finish Tyler's rainwater regatta boat for his scouting trip over the weekend. Jeanne and I realized that collectively we had enough supplies to do it, so I went to her house for the boys to work on their boats.

Afterwards we went to Conte's farm to go apple picking, only to discover that they were already out of apples! So reluctanly we went to Johnson's, knowing that we'd have to spend way more than we had planned. The boys had fun though on their hay ride and apple picking.

That night Jim and Cara came over and we all got to do foot bath detoxes. Interesting stuff.

By Friday was in a little bit more of a routine and set off for his last day of preschool for the week. I got to spend his preschool 2.5 hours packing for our scout camping trip that night. I managed to survive a full week of preschool without having any down time to myself to worry about things. Good and bad!

Jason turns three!

2011-11-16T20:58:00.010-05:00

Sunday was Jason's actual birthday. He woke up to dinosaur pancakes, made by my dad. Quite a hit!

The morning was busy with playing with all the new birthday presents. Later my parents left for their overnight trip to AC. That afternoon we had a conflict between scouts and a party, and ultimately decided the party won. Plus, it was Jason's actual birthday and I figured he'd much rather spend the afternoon at Indian Acres for Michael's birthday party! Once Jason snapped out of his little funk, he had a blast with all the kids...corn maze, playground, inflatable slide, wagon ride with pumpkin picking, and of course food afterwards!

When we got home he got to open his presents from myself and Tyler.

Cake time again, with leftovers from the party the day before. Doesn't really matter, as long as their is a candle and something to eat!

And, finally, Jason got to open a few more presents, from Bob. "Go Eagles" pajama, Eagles pillow pet, and an Imaginext dinosaur (which he LOVES, as long as you promise him that the thing is turned OFF...not a fan of the "roar").

Jason's birthday party

2011-11-16T14:38:00.014-05:00

Saturday was Jason's big 3-year-old birthday party. I had been really on the fence about a party, because frankly, lots of times Jason doesn't really like being around other people, especially kids. So to do a big birthday party seemed like it was more for ME than it would be for HIM. So very last minute I ended up reserving the pavilion at Fort Medford Playground at Bob Meyer Park and only invited family and a couple close friends (mostly friends of Tyler's who Jason has become comfortable with). The park is perfect because he's much more comfortable when he's not contained, and plus he loves that playground! He had picked a Dora theme, which I sort of modified to a Dora/Diego theme since everything Dora is basically pink. Not that I'm against pink, but I drew the line at having him wear the Dora shirt that said "Birthday Girl" and opted for the Diego one that said "Birthday Boy". LOL.

Weather was iffy, and we had a backup plan of having it at Jim and Cara's new place, but luckily it cooperated enough to allow us to hold it at the park.

We enjoyed pizza, pretzel bites, soda, chips, fruit and veggie trays, etc while the kids played and played. And some of them did a little craft too.

A game of Pin the Tail on Swiper (like pin the tail on the donkey). A hit with the kids!

Cake time! Don't you just love the Dora and Diego cake he picked? Of course now all I see whenever I look at it, is two gigantic breasts...thanks Jim for putting that thought in my head...I would have been perfectly content with the idea that they were the volcanoes they were meant to be!

Pinata time!

Jason got a chance to open presents before saying goodbye and packing up.

A successful birthday party!

That evening I had to sneak in an just watch my baby boy sleep, for the last time as a 2-year-old.

last week before big changes

2011-11-16T14:06:00.009-05:00

Jason had his final occupation therapy session through early intervention (as soon as he turns three they leave early intervention and get their services, if needed, through the school system). Jason loves Miss Megan, but since she lives local I know we'll see her around!

That evening, after karate, I left the boys with my parents while I attended "back to school night" at the boys school. I got to see both of their classrooms and learn more about their day. There wasn't much to see when it came to Jason's class, since he hasn't even started yet, but I got to see some of Tyler's work.

Jason had his very last speech session through early intervention. It was very bittersweet for me because he's been getting weekly speech with Miss Cathy since he was 16 months old. She will be missed!

That afternoon, after school pick-up, Tyler had his 7-year-old "well child" doctor's appointment. All is well with him!

Afterwards I bribed Jason to get a haircut and both boys benefited by getting donuts as a prize (yes, I'll admit it, that sometimes a bribe is just worth it)!

First homework of second grade for Tyler!

Jason had his first of two practice runs at preschool on Wednesday. They arranged for me to bring him in for 1/2 hour, just to try to get him acclimated before starting the next week. He did fairly well and seemed to enjoy himself. Finding it hard to believe that he'll be a preschooler soon!

Tyler finally got to have his friend Vivie over for a playdate. He's been asking to do this for a loooong time.

Jason said something I'll never forget: "I'm not a cheese-it. I have a head!" (after I told him he was eating so many cheese-it's that he was turning into one). Love a 2-year-old's logic. I should clarify, it sounded more like "I nah a tee-eh. I ave a ead". But I knew what he meant.

Thursday was uneventful. Grocery shopping, school, karate, blah, blah, blah.

Friday morning Jason helped me get goody bags ready for his big birthday party the next day!

He also got to go back into preschool for another 1/2 hour. Meanwhile Tyler was enjoying his "summer reading party" at school that he earned from reading a certain amount (I believe it had to be at least 10 hours, which he did easily).

back in the swing of things (but yet so far behind)

2011-11-16T12:58:00.013-05:00

Once again, I have fallen waaaay behind on blogging, but am determined to get caught up. So, here I am, starting on September 9th, 2011. Enjoy (or not...lol).

Thursday was Tyler's first full day of school. That evening he had karate, meanwhile I attended the first Home & School meeting of the year (like a PTA, for those that don't know).

Jason had make-up OT on Friday. We opted against going to the Riversharks game we had tickets for that evening. Instead Tyler was invited to a sleepover at Mackenzie's house and I got to drive quite a distance to get Tyler his new Wolf Scout accessories he needs for his cub scout uniform. Not a fun use of time, but oh well. Bob came over that night and we got to watch a movie and stuff, so at least I got a little diversion from a typical evening.

On Saturday, after Beth and Erich dropped off Tyler, we went to the library for a "Zumbotics" program that Ty had been signed up for. Unfortunately after waiting for 20 minutes the instructor had yet to show, so we left and met Jeanne and her boys over at Murphy's for our first popcorn sale event of this season.

Saturday marked the 10th anniversary of September 11, 2001. Our town had received a piece of steel from the world trade center and had come together to create a beautiful garden to honor all veterans, as well as those lost on 9/11. The cub scouts were asked to come and hand out brochures at the dedication ceremony. Tyler had the honor of handing a brochure to his grandfather, a World War II veteran. It was a beautiful ceremony and I think that Tyler and the other boys really were quite respectful and contemplative when it came to "remembering" an event that happened before they were ever born.

On Monday, after OT Jason practiced his bike scooter skills (still can't ride)

Later that evening Tyler had karate.

Jason had speech on Tuesday morning, with only one session left to go EVER. I was able to get a picture of Jason and Miss Cathy so that he'd have something to look back on.

After months of telling Tyler that he was capable of riding his bigger bike, he finally decided he could do it. Of course he could! Now he can hopefully keep up with his friends a little bit!

That afternoon Chris came to visit and have dinner with us.

After a trip to the library Beth and I met up with the kids at Freedom Park for a little playdate.

On Thursday we got an early start on door-to-door sales of popcorn. Who could say no to that cute little wolf scout?

After a very brisk morning, when it warmed up a bit little man enjoyed some outdoor time.

That evening Jeanne and I brought our boys to PJ's for a popcorn sale. It wasn't incredibly productive, but every little bit helps. Plus the boys got to see quite a few of their teachers and other school staff. It seems PJ's is the place to go on a Friday night.

Saturday morning we had signed up to sell popcorn for the scouts at the farmers market. It got off to a very slow start, which was discouraging, but Tyler ended up doing fairly well. Meanwhile Jason decided he was napping on the sidelines (he was just faking though, but heck, I'm not gonna complain).

That night Jeanne picked me up to go to a party at Meredith's house. It was a one of those parties that people host to get you to buy products. This one happened to be some sort of clothing and accessories as well as "adult" products. It was an entertaining evening, to say the least.

Tyler had his first wolf scout meeting at 1:00. His den is getting even larger, which is awesome.

Later that afternoon we head to Camp Ockinickon for his first pack meeting of the year.

the school year begins

2011-09-13T22:47:00.006-04:00

Tuesday afternoon was Jason's preschool "breeze-thru". Even though he won't be starting until he turns three, he was still invited to go. He screamed and cried in the car because he didn't want to go in. He eventually reluctantly went in, although I had to carry him and he had to carry "eye" (blanket). He basically refused to talk to people but found a cube-like chair he wanted to sit in. He eventually found a play kitchen that interested him, and a large therapy ball up high in a storage area. So by the time he left he was in better spirits. We found his name on the bulletin board outside of school, although he was disturbed that his frog name tag was "too I" (too high).

We spent the afternoon organizing school supplies. Always fun to sharpen a million pencils and label them. Although the boys DID think it was fun.

That night, since it was STILL raining, we head off to Chick-fil-A for kids night. Figured we'd fit in one last time before routines of school and hopefully some better eating!

Wednesday had FINALLY come, Tyler's first day of school (although only a half-day). Tyler was excited to get on his way. Of course it had to rain so we had to drive, but I walked him in to see him off on his way for the beginning of second grade!

For the record, after crying about "breeze-thru", Jason did quite a bit whining about WANTING to go to school when Ty left for his first day!

He came home and had had a great day! And we were happy to be right back in routines with karate that night. Hopefully it'll be a good year!

summer vacation comes to an end

2011-09-13T22:11:00.007-04:00

The first day of September started off with a trip to the GI for Jason. For the first time ever I had to drive into Philly myself (yes, it's true). I had done the drive to CHOP with my dad enough times though so I felt fairly confident I could get there. Jason packed his little backpack of toys and we were off. Not until after he clearly told me that he was NOT interested in going after over-hearing that he had an "appointment". He walked around whining "ock er urt" (doctors hurt). Poor baby has clearly been to too many specialists.

We survived the drive there without issue. Jason was not pleased about being there, and everyone knew that. Luckily once the doctor came in he was fairly cooperative. The doctor did an exam (including a rectal exam...again, my poor baby). He then ordered bloodwork and a ton of stool samples. They want to see if there are any signs of anything that would indicate any inflammatory diseases or bacteria/infection. Depending on the results of these we will need to do an endoscopy or possibly just allergy testing to see if he's allergic to something he's eating. The fun never ends. We did the blood tests right there cause I wanted to get it over with. Jason was not pleased, to say the least.

I survived the drive home from Philly as well, after just getting lost briefly. I love my GPS. As you can see, Jason was worn out from all the crying at the doctor's. Poor thing.

The next day Jason's new phrase, not surprisingly, was "I mad". It's actually too funny as he puts his hand on his hip, stomps, or gets a big attitude. Hard not to laugh.

That afternoon Beth invited Tyler over to host a lemonade and cookie sale with Mackenzie. Jason and I were their first customers and then we were off to have my blood drawn (Jason screamed the whole time in fear that it was his turn next). Then Jason was so upset that we went back to buy another cookie. LOL. Tyler and Mackenzie each made over $3.00. Awesome summer job for a 7-year-old!

The next day Tyler had his friend Luke over for a playdate. We started off with a trip to Bob Meyer.

On Sunday night my parents were still away for Labor Day weekend (my most uneventful Labor Day weekend EVER) so we joined my grandparents at Golden Corral for dinner.

With yet MORE rain Tyler and I had plenty of time to finally finish that darn 501 piece puzzle. Tons of fun. Yep.

August comes to an end...and Sesame Place

2011-09-07T15:11:00.013-04:00

On Tuesday, after Jason's OT and ST sessions, Tyler got to open some birthday presents that were dropped off from my aunt and cousin. Very exciting.

I've been slowly making progress up in the garage, sorting through my/boys contents of our home that got shipped here after Al and I separated. Came across a few boxes of toys that I let the boys unpack. It's like Christmas in August!

That evening we went to Chick-fil-A for family kids night (yes, I go there way too often), even home in time for Ty's karate!

On Wednesday we finally got a chance to cash in on our free military passes to Sesame Place. We picked up Melinda and Scarlett (who have season passes) around 9:45 and were parked and in the park pretty early. The older kids got to go on a few water rides, while Jason just splashed around. They at their packed lunches and more water play before we made our way to more (non-water) rides. I even, surprisingly, got BOTH boys up in the huge climbing nets (Jason never ceases to amaze me).Eventually we got some ice cream before a couple more rides and then to see the new parade. Both boys absolutely loved the parade! A great day with gorgeous weather!

Bob called me on the way home from Sesame Place and met up with us at the house to deliver Tyler's birthday present. He gave him a DVD/VCR player to replace the one that we had been using on loan (and no longer have). Quite awesome cause it lets him be able to have "movie night" in his room again with his brother. Currently he doesn't have cable in there so his TV has been unusable.

Bob and I grabbed a bite to eat after the boys were in bed (for the record, we aren't a couple anymore, but are still friends). When I came in at night this little guy (a praying mantis) was on our front door.

Tyler's monumental birthday week

2011-09-04T23:06:00.024-04:00

On Monday we attempted to recover from our crazy weekend that had just passed. While Tyler played with Alex at his house, I got Jason outside for some play time as well.

That afternoon, barely 24 hours since I left the Riversharks stadium from camping, I made the decision to go back. I had 4 kids tickets to go for free, and it was kids eat free night. I had promised Alex to take him back before the summer ended and i wasn't sure when else I'd get the chance. Plus, the weather was gorgeous. So if i were already going to bring the 2 boys and Alex, what was one more? So after picking up Tyler from karate myself and 4 kids (Tyler, Jason, Alex, and Mackenzie) made our way to Camden for the game. It was a gorgeous night and relatively drama-free considering I was on my own with the kids. They ate their free meals, got to watch some of the game, played in the kids area, and bought ice cream to eat while watching the rest of the game. A pretty smooth evening, minus the brief time I was lost on the way home. Thank god for my GPS!

On Tuesday we enjoyed a fairly normal day, except for one small detail. Tyler was on a little playdate at the lake while Jason and I went outside to play on his scooter. We were making our way down the street when suddenly I became very dizzy. This isn't uncommon for me, but the sensation was so intense that it really took me by surprise. Almost immediately Jason got off his scooter and requested to go home, asking me to carry it back home. We then heard my mom yelling outside for us to make sure we were okay. Apparently Virginia had been rocked by an unexpected and intense earthquake, with a magnitude of 5.8. This apparently is quite uncommon along the east coast, with the effects felt all along the coast. My mom was inside when it happened and she said the walls were shaking and the chandelier was rocking. She was petrified. It took me quite a while to realize that the earthquake she felt inside was the same sensation of intense dizziness I had felt outside. Bizarre. I'm guessing Jason felt it too and that's what had freaked him out resulting in his desire to come back home. Meanwhile, at the lake, Tyler felt nothing.

Later that afternoon my mom had to follow me to Maple Shade to drop off my car for Bob to finish the paint job on the damage that had been done earlier in the year. When I was coming back to the car I noticed this baby bird on the sidewalk, presumably shaken out of the tree by the earthquake. Her nest was maybe only 10 feet off the ground, but unfortunately I didn't have access to his shed to get his ladder to help the baby bird back in the nest. I did take a picture and asked him to try to help the bird when he got home.

That evening, for fear that Jason would associate the feeling of the earthquake with the scooter, I made a point of trying to get him back on it. Apparently he was fine with it.

I anxiously awaited news on the bird. Apparently Bob wasn't as concerned as I was, cause when I finally called him I was informed that he hadn't gotten to it yet and he wasn't really sure that I was serious about him helping the little guy out. At this point it was dark and he couldn't even tell me for sure that the bird was still there. Sensing my obvious disappointment (to put it mildly) he realized that he had screwed up. It wasn't long before I received a picture text of the bird in a box of shredded newspaper in his house. Apparently it was too dark for him to get to the nest, so he did the only thing he knew. I did some research and he fed the thing and kept it warm. The next morning he had to shoo the mom away to put the bird (whom he affectionately named "tumbles" back in it's nest. I'm happy to report that mom had apparently accepted the re-entry of the bird and was found to be sitting on the nest later that evening!

That evening Chris came to visit and took Tyler to the little footbridge to go fishing. After a short while Jason and I took a walk to go check on them (and deliver bug spray). When we arrived Tyler was beyond excited to report that he had easily caught 4 fish. I decided to stick around a bit to try to get a picture of him with a fish, and of course brought them bad luck. He eventually got another though!

Wednesday was the big day, Tyler's 7th birthday. I'll admit, normally my dad is the designated pancake maker in the house, even making Ty mickey mouse pancakes. I do it sometimes, but it's not my specialty. However I figured I'd make pancakes for Ty's breakfast, even attempting Mickey shaped ones with chocolate chips. It's not very encouraging when your son asks you what you're doing, you explain, and he responds "I hope they're not disgusting". LOL.

Shortly after breakfast it was time for Tyler to open his presents from me (and a couple from Jason). He seemed to love almost everything, but he was ELATED when he opened his "real camera" (from me and Al). That was a big hit!

For Tyler's birthday we decided to go to Atlantic City (myself, my mom, and the boys). Tyler was thrilled to get the opportunity to use his camera, quickly figuring out that he could attach the case to his belt. So snazzy. LOL. Once geared up, we head into the casino. My mom treated us to the "DinoShore" exhibit at Showboat. In all honesty, it was very overpriced, but Tyler really enjoyed himself. He took pictures of everything, read plaques, and studied details. Jason, on the other hand, was petrified, especially of the moving/growling dinosaur. They did both enjoy digging for fossils before my mom eventually had to take Jason out of the exhibit while Tyler and I enjoyed the rest of it. Afterwards we spent some time on the pier riding a few rides. Tyler was thrilled that he was big enough for some clam shell ride (finally). He swore he loved it, but I thought he looked like he was gonna puke the whole time. I FINALLY got him on the huge ferris wheel. Very cool view from up there. On our way back into the casino Tyler's daddy called to wish him a happy birthday, which made him very happy. Great timing! We enjoyed dinner at the buffet (my mom had 2 free meals) and the server even brought us a candle to stick in a dessert to sing happy birthday!

That evening we were watching the news and it was becoming apparent that this Hurricane Irene really was supposedly coming our way. On a whim I went on Amazon and found a cheap generator with pretty good reviews and decided to order it. Utilizing my "Amazon Prime" account I was able to pay just $3.99 to have it shipped to us by Friday. The next morning, when we went to show my dad the generator online, it was already backordered...along with every other generator.

On Thursday, after Jason's OT, we were stuck inside with yet more rain. Not good timing with the upcoming hurricane and all it's expected rain. Not including this days storm we already were in the midst of the wettest month EVER on record. Not good! In the afternoon we ran some errands and got some supplies for the hurricane and for Tyler's 3rd and final birthday party! My family hadn't all been able to get together to celebrate earlier, so we had decided to do it tonight in conjunction with a "house warming" party for Jim and Cara's new place. Just a small family gathering, but Tyler had fun playing with his cousins and we all ate yummy food. He got to open his presents from my parents as well as my grandparents and Jim and Cara.

When we got home Tyler got his gift from his Uncle Chris...his own tackle box for when they go fishing. He was very excited!

Friday seemed like a relatively "normal" day, but most of the coast was bracing for Hurricane Irene's arrival. Luckily I was mostly done shopping. Tyler was invited to his friend Luke's house for a playdate, so my brother Chris and myself brought Jason to the library (to stock up on books and movies for our rainy weather) and then to produce junction for fruit (always a good "non-perishable" food). While we were gone the generator arrived! Even got Jason outside for a little playtime on his "oo-a" (scooter). Good things we already had our things as so many other people scrambled for bottled water, non-perishable food, flashlights, etc. Most places had already run out by then. I was amazed to see how long the line was for gas and how crowded the grocery store parking lot was as I drove past on the way to take Tyler to/from karate!

Saturday was spent inside all day. The rain started quite early, even though the hurrican hadn't even made landfall anywhere near us. Eventually it did make landfall in North Carolina, but the effects were already being felt here.

Saturday night I was happy to get the boys to bed at a decent hour, in their rooms in their own beds WITH power. My parents and myself (along with probably all of the east coast) continued to monitor Irene on the non-stop news coverage. At this point the eye of the storm was back out to sea but we were already seeing very strong wind and tons of rain. We found out we were under a tornado watch and began preparing for a long night.

Once our tornado watch turned into a tornado warning (meaning one in the area had actually been spotted) I brought both sleeping boys into the hallway (the only interior "room" of our house without windows, aside from the bathroom). This is where they spent the rest of the evening. I joined them there often as the winds picked up, which were really quite scary at the time. It was odd though how the winds would die down and the hurricane would seem no more significant than any other regular summer storm, but just as quickly the winds would really pick up. Amazingly we kept power until maybe around midnight, at which point I attempted to sleep in the hallway with them. That didn't go well and Jason kept waking and yelling at me to leave, so I waited out most of the rest of the storm, listening, until things seemed fairly calm and I fell asleep around 4am.

Apparently sometime overnight (once I was able to get information from friends) Hurricane Irene had made landfall in Little Egg Inlet, NJ, I believe as a Catagory 1 storm. This was reportedly the first time a hurricane had made landfall in NJ since 1903. Many areas had flooding and downed trees, but luckily the storm had weakened enough and was just far enough away from us to not cause any significant damage in our immediate area. We were VERY lucky.

The next day the rain and wind continued, but not nearly as bad as overnight. We still had no cell serivce, or obviously power. Eventually the rain slowed down and power returned around 2pm (thankfully). I tried to take the boys outside to see the damage (not to mention that cabin fever had set in...badly), but the wind was too strong and it was blowing sand in our eyes. Later on around dinner time we took off on a bike ride. It was still pretty windy, but tolerable. There was less damage than expected. Lots of branches down and standing water, but nothing horrendous in our area. I was surprised to see how flooded Beach 1 was however. The water was equal with the road/bridge, and i had heard that it had overflowed but since receded to that current level. The life guard stands were far into the water, giving you an idea of how much higher the water was. Looking at the docks it doesn't seem so significant but I had forgotten that the new docks float! I imagine they would have been 2-3 feet under water if they were stationary as they used to be!

In case you're curious, "tumbles" the bird seemed to have survived the hurricane.

So, not many kids can say that they survived an earthquake, tornadoes, and a hurricane all during their birthday week, huh?

Riversharks camping!

2011-09-04T21:33:00.011-04:00

Tyler's boyscouts overnight campout at the Riversharks had AGAIN been rescheduled for Saturday night, so we had to leave immediately after Tyler's birthday party at pump-it-up. It actually was a pretty decent night for a game and the kids got to play a little in the kids club, eat dinner, participate in a scout parade, and watch post-game fireworks.

After the crowd cleared out we went back to our van for all of our gear before being allowed back in the stadium for our campout. We got to set up our tents on the field (without stakes) and then the kids got to watch a movie on the bigscreen. In actuality they couldn't really hear the movie and instead ran around, played baseball, and ate snacks before "lights out" around midnight. Tyler actually fell asleep pretty quickly. I got a little sleep between the train running ALL night long and the older kids sneaking out of their tents. It could have been worse though as we actually had really decent weather.

That next morning, after a quick breakfast and packing up our gear, the kids got to have a baseball clinic with three of the players. Tyler had fun at the different stations. Afterwards he got his baseball glove signed by all three!

By the time we left the overnight trip, not even halfway home, it started pouring rain. We had gotten lucky that we had fit in the whole overnighter! Came home to finally open all of Tyler's birthday presents that he had received the day prior at his party.

On Sunday afternoon, as if we weren't tired enough, we had Connor's birthday party to attend. It was supposed to be at a miniature golf place, but there were terrible storms so it had to be relocated to the bowling alley. All the kids had a nice time though.

Tyler's 7th birthday party, pump-it-up style!

2011-09-04T21:13:00.009-04:00

Due to various reasons (time constraints, often poor weather with Tyler's birthdays, and space) I decided to allow Tyler to have his birthday party at pump-it-up this year. His party was Saturday and all the kids arrived to get signed in, watch a video on safety, and to sign Tyler's glow in the dark shirt. After the video they all sang him happy birthday and he got his inflatable crown and glow stick thingy. Cool stuff for a 7-year-old!

Finally the kids got to head into the two play arenas for all the fun. Slides, bounce house, play equipment, basketball, air hockey, etc. Great crazy fun, but no injuries so an excellent outcome!

Lastly we went into the party room for snacks (chips, pretzel tray, fruit tray, and drinks) and of course cake. Tyler loved his Phillies baseball cake!:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pDnsp4s5d9o/TmQjvq1EsYI/AAAAAAAALCc/Ys07GHTVTMc/s320/P1080009.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5648679134487163266" />

All in all it was a successful party. It was a little pricier than I'd wish, but totally a breeze in comparison to his parties in the past. Pump-it-up runs a nice party!

third week of August

2011-09-02T21:17:00.009-04:00

On Monday we had ANOTHER yucky, rain, nasty day. It was spent mostly filled with Wii, puzzles, and other indoor activities.

However that evening my mom brought Tyler on an overnight getaway to Atlantic city. They enjoyed a military parade (before rain stopped them), dinner, and some card games in the room (from what I can remember). Jason and I enjoyed some quality time here.

On Wednesday we finally got a chance to go to the $1 summer movie series at the mall. The movie we saw was Muppets Take Manhattan (a classic)! Both boys really liked it, but I think Jason was ready to leave mid-way through.

I had 2 free passes to go to Great Adventure that I hated to see go to waste, and I also had a pass for $16.99, so Jeanne and I decided to bring all the kids. The weather forecast was very iffy, and quite a few people thought it was a little crazy that we attempted to go, but it wasn't looking any better for Friday and, like I said, they were gonna expire. So, we took our chances. We ended up having pretty decent weather and it was even a little cooler at times due to cloud cover. The boys got to go on many rides, and even a new one for Tyler that I never knew was there (rolling thunder). He LOVED it. We got to see a baby lion...so cute! Zachary really wanted to go on a big roller coaster, so after they had been shut down due to lightening we got lucky with a short line for Nitro when it reopened. Jeanne doesn't do roller coasters, so I got to do Nitro with him...meanwhile she got stuck doing the swings with Jason (they make me want to puke, so it was a decent trade). And then Zachary agreed to join Jason on some kiddie rides while Tyler and Connor rode Skull Mountain obsessively. Anyway, a nice long day!

By Friday Jason wasn't doing very well. Running a very high fever (for him anyway)...103.6, from my recollection. No "symptoms" of being sick, but very lethargic, even falling asleep in my lap (totally unlike him). Not good timing with Tyler's party coming up the next day, but thankfully he woke fever-free and seemed totally fine. Guess he was just fighting off something.

Luckily the Rivershark overnight scout camping event was AGAIN cancelled due to heavy/strong storms.

second week of august

2011-09-01T21:36:00.013-04:00

On Monday Tyler started Vacation Bible School at our church (which we haven't been great about attending recently). It's a great program, and awesome for Tyler because it ran from 9-2! It gave him some structured activity again and gave me a break! He LOVED it!

Due to the lakes being closed, and very hot weather, we were desperate for some way to cool off. This pool on clearance at Walmart for $9 seemed like a great idea. The kids thought it was great fun, especially when you can add your own water slide element. The $9 clearance item is now in the trash as it was way too hard to set up but obviously can't be left up all the time. It was worth it for a few days of fun I suppose!

On Tuesday, after speech, we ran some errands. Meanwhile my mom and dad were taking my grandfather to the hospital for the second try at his surgery. After picking Tyler up at vacation bible school, we met my cousin and her 3 kids at the Discovery Museum. We were supposed to go to the lake, but due to the torrential downpour, the museum was a good alternative. The kids had a wonderful time and probably spent close to 3 hours playing (and playing nicely together too...always a bonus)! From there we went to Trader Joe's together and then to Chick-fil-a for dinner. A wonderful afternoon and evening for second cousins! And after numerous texts throughout the day we finally got confirmation that my grandfather's surgery went well. Great news!

On Thursday my mom had to watch Jason and pick up Tyler at vacation bible school while I went to the GI doctor. I've got 2 weeks to get some of the inflammation under control before they switch my medicines.

That night we were back to church for the closing ceremony (for lack of better word) of vacation bible school. Tyler enjoyed the ending to the skit/play, some songs, etc.

On Friday we had a pass to bring a friend free to Great Adventure, so my mom and I allowed Tyler to bring his friend Alex. They had a blast on rides, although I'm not sure Alex was quite up to some of them. Jason insisted on going on the log flume with the boys, but remains petrified of it. He however loved the foam ball area and became quite upset when it was time to leave. He proceeded to cry and my mom carried him (on her scooter) while he made a low grunting/growling noise. We weren't sure if maybe he were overtired and just self-soothing himself to sleep, however when I asked him what he was doing he quite confidently answered that he wasn't crying/whining he was doing "iss" (insert the noise he was making) because he didn't want to leave the ball area. Little stinker.

We had been planning all year on going to the Catskills in August with Beth and Erich (amongst others) to camp again, but due to my health and some other factors, we had to cancel the trip. Of course Tyler had his heart set on camping, so Bob and I decided to have a campout in his backyard for them. We ended up with gorgeous weather on friday, so we set up the tents. We cooked hotdogs on the grill and roasted marshmallows and he even brought out the TV so the boys could watch a movie outside (How to Train Your Dragon). They had a blast. It took a long time but Jason eventually fell asleep sometime after midnight (I almost gave up and resorted to setting up the pac-n-play inside). He was up a few times in the middle of the night and there were only minimal tears. The boys were sad we weren't staying the whole weekend, but one night was certainly plenty (Tyler emotionally was done...lack of sleep and poor diet are not a good combination for him behaviorally). Anyway, I'm glad I can say that I took them camping, even if it was just in a backyard!

On Saturday night my mom watched Jason while Tyler and I had a little date night. We went to see his friend/classmate Adele perform with Pinelands Players in Cinderella. She was an adorable little townsperson and mouse. Tyler was surprised and pleased to see that his camp art counselor was in fact Cinderella. It was a really cute show and I'm glad we were able to go.

Sunday afternoon, in the midst of a total downpour, we made our way to Lakehurst for a baby shower. My friend Michele (who had babysat Tyler as a newborn when I went back to work part-time) was hosting a babyshower for her daughter Samantha. It was great to see everyone and we had a nice time. The boys even enjoyed themselves! Oh, and I got to show Tyler the house we had lived in when he was born.

Hello August!

2011-08-15T14:10:00.018-04:00

Monday, first day of August. Can it be? Celebrated with a trip to the lake and karate...what else is new?

On Tuesday, after Jason finished speech, my mom and I packed up the boys (and what seemed like enough gear for a week) and head to Atlantic City for an overnight trip. I hadn't been feeling well for a couple weeks due to my Crohn's (which had acted up, landing me back on Cipro and Flagyl antibiotics...consequently leaving me with no appetite). Anyway, I thought now that the severe heat had passed I could tolerate a day at the beach. The boys loved our hotel room at Bally's, especially the view. We got to see a blimp go right by!

We got changed into our bathing suits and head right to the beach. Luckily the boardwalk was a little closer to the ocean here, so my mom was able to park her scooter and join us in the sand. The boys had a blast playing in the water, mostly searchign for and watching coquina (small clams like this) dig into the sand.

After heading back to the room for baths and a clothing change we walked a distance on the boardwalk to The French Quarter at Showboat for a buffet dinner. What is always a treat turned out to not be so much fun for me. I still could barely eat and felt sick the entire time. The boys ate their fare share too...until Jason's belly started hurting. Poor guy.

After dinner we rode some rides. Tyler was having a blast but poor Jason's belly continued to hurt (I think I blame dairy) and he was quite tired. I was feeling pretty weak and nauseous too, so we decided to call in quits and head back to the hotel. We stopped at the dollar store for some snacks when Jason had blowout diahrea...good times. However we got back to the room, cleaned him up, and both boys went to bed fairly well (Jason in his pack and play). I was still feeling pretty sick and went to bed pretty early myself.

Wednesday, after a fairly restful night in the hotel, I woke up feeling dizzy, weak, and nauseous. My pain wasn't horrendous but felt so out of it that i readily agreed to go to the hospital. After calling my doctor my mom did most of the packing and we checked out of the hotel. I got to visit the new Virtua Hospital in Voorhees, which from what I remember, was very nice. The pretty much immediately ran blood work and hooked me up to IV fluids. I had to give a stool and urine sample (fun stuff) and basically napped for a couple hours. My blood sample came back showing typical irregularities that would be common with Crohn's disease, and due to the fact that I wasn't having significant pain, they discharged me with instructions to follow up with GI. Honestly I felt 75% better just having sat in the peace and quiet of the hospital (as sad as that sounds) but I think the fluids were what really helped. Apparently I was quite dehydrated.

Meanwhile my mom had brought the boys home. I realized, about an hour before the appointment time, that Jason was due at the pediatrician's for an appointment due to his tummy issues. So my mom opted to bring him. She left with a script for a GI appointment as well as the PT evaluation the neurologist had recommended.

Thursday Jason's OT helped me out by entertaining both boys during Jason's session. I was still pretty out of it. After some recovery time, my parents helped me take the boys to Bob Meyer park for some pizza and playtime before Tyler had to go to karate.

Friday Jason had a make-up speech session. That night, when the rest of Medford Lakes was at beach 1 for "Mardi Gras" I enjoyed a relaxing evening at beach 3 with the boys. Jason got to hang out with his duck friend while Tyler repeatedly jumped off the dock.

On Saturday we decided to take advantage of the beautiful weather (at the moment) and Bob and I took the boys miniature golfing in Maple Shade. It was Jason's first time and I believe the first time for Tyler since the night before Jason was born. Tyler really enjoyed it and took it fairly seriously. Jason, as expected, was more interested in placing the balls through tunnels and chutes and such. It's safe to say that golf is not his sport. And the sun wore him out quickly, but he had fun.

After our miniature golfing experience Jason and I needed to cool off, so we all head back to Bob's to relax a bit. The boys had fun playing with matchbox cars and wrestling men that Bob had had stored away in his attic from when his son was little. They played a bit in the baby pool (proving to be too small for Ty), played a little soccer, and to my disgust, searched for locust (or perhaps cicada) moltings/carcasses. I don't know...they found it interesting.

Saturday night was the big night that everyone in Medford Lakes waits for. The annual canoe carnival...80th canoe carnival, to be exact. We normally watch the carnival from parties at people's houses who live on the lake. This year Jim had settlement and moved off canoe carnival lake just a week before canoe carnival, so we were left without a carnival viewing home. So my mom bought us tickets for the lake and she and Chris went earlier in the day to set up our chairs. The weather was very iffy, but my parents, myself, the boys, and bob went to the beach, expecting to be fighting major crowds. Either the weather or some other factor kept the crowds very low this year (that's not to say there weren't crowds though). We had a bit of rain, but the canoe carnival went on. Unfortunately there was apparently enough wind to give them a lot of trouble. We watched a few floats crash into the docks and have to be towed back out into the lake to complete their trek around the lake (making them therefore inelligible to win the competition). However the boys had a blast, weather was cool, and it was a nice night.

Just to give you an idea, these are photos of some of the floats that were featured this year. These are not my photos, but stolen from the Medford Lakes facebook page....

On Sunday, after playing outside a little while with Alex, Alex's dad invited Tyler to join their family for a little fishing expedition at the local footbridge. I did check in on him a couple times. No luck with fish but we saw a HUGE snapper turtle (I believe that was the kind). I can assure you that I will NEVER put even my foot in the water there after having seen that sucker!

final week of camp

2011-08-07T23:42:00.018-04:00

On Monday I had decided to go gluten free after some recent setbacks with my Crohn's disease. I had started new meds over the weekend but I knew something in my diet needed to change, and had read numerous places that a gluten-free diet can sometimes help. I spent some more time in Shoprite monday perusing the aisles for gluten-free crap (after having done so at Trader Joe's the night before). Very intimidating.

After camp my friend Melinda and I had tickets to bring the kids to the Riversharks game. Weather forecast was very iffy, but ultimately we decided to take our chances. We invited Tyler's friend Alex since we had an extra ticket, as he had never been to a baseball game. We drove to Melinda's house, picked her and Scarlett up, and head over to the stadium. By the time we got there it was raining lightly, but the kids got to play in the play area for awhile. It started raining more so we got in life for our free meals (Kids Eat Free night). We watched the rain get heavier and heavier and they decided on a rain delay. We let the kids splash around in puddles and go on the carousel before calling it quits and heading home. Poor Alex never saw a bit of baseball on his first baseball game! Luckily they eventually cancelled the game and we'll be able to use our ticket stubs for a future game.

On Tuesday my parents brought my grandparents to the hospital for my grandfather's surgery. The surgeon ultimately decided that the procedure was too risky and he was released. They will later do the operation via two separate procedures.

Wednesday brought us to the lake for a little playtime.

That afternoon Tyler had hopefully his last every counseling appointment. He "graduated". LOL.

On Thursday Tyler came home from his last day of camp with an award. The counselors make up a little award for each camper. Tyler's award was "cutest". LOL.

That afternoon Connor came over for a playdate for a while before the boys and myself met the family over at Jim's new house for some pizza and unpacking. There I decided the gluten-free diet was sucking the life out of me, caved and ate pizza, and immediately felt better. Later learned that apparently you can have withdrawal from gluten and experience symptoms similar to an alcoholic stopping drinking. Awesome. Gluten is my alcohol.

Friday Tyler had his camp closing ceremony. He got his perfect attendance award and he won the first grade boys art award, along with his friend Connor. He got to paint the first color on his shield this year. The boys did a lovely dance routine to "Staying Alive". Pretty comical.

My mom, who is "friends" with Resorts Casino on facebook, managed to win us free tickets to the Great American Circus for Friday, so we decided to head down to Atlantic City after camp. My brother Chris joined us and we ate a late lunch early dinner at Johnny Rocket's on the boardwalk before hitting the beach. It was our first ocean trip of the year. Jason spent much of it being fearful of the water, meanwhile Tyler was busy jumping waves. Eventually Jason spent some time running back and forth up the beach from the waves, all in fun. He did let some water touch him and then finally sat at the edge with Tyler for a minute. Baby steps.

We made our way to the big top to get our seats for the circus. Apparently there was no need to rush because it was empty. Literally. We got our choice from the front row "VIP" seating and waited for a long time for the circus to start. Sadly, just before the show, we counted only 28 people in the whole tent, including the 5 of us! It was a great show though and the boys loved it. I could have benefited from some anxiety meds before the show because some of the stuff had me on the edge of my seat...tightrope walking, bow and arrow shooting, etc.

On Saturday we were supposed to attend a Riversharks Clinic, but it was still really hot and we would have had to skip a friend's party, so ultimately we decided to go to the party instead. It was a roller skating party for Gianna, so I wasn't sure how Jason would react. We walked in and he immediately started crying that the lights hurt his eyes. I wasn't feeling positive but put on my best happy-attitude face and reminded him that we couldn't keep crying if we wanted to stay for cake. Imagine my surprise when he ended up requesting to get roller skates and spend a good portion of the party "roller skating". I use that term loosely because he just held my hands and walked really slow, but he did it and was so proud of himself. Tyler shockingly was even slower because he insisted on doing it completely by himself. They both had a blast at Gianna's "princess pirate" party!

Three hours late I managed to make it to my friend Tracy's baby shower. I missed most of everything but was very thankful to see Tracy and Alex before they head back to Chicago to await the arrival of their baby boy.

I got home just in time to drop Tyler off at his friend Gavin's house for a sleepover party. He had a blast. And come home very cranky!

On Sunday afternoon my cousin Kristen invited us to her new gorgeous (and huge!!) home to celebrate her daughter Annika's 8th birthday. The boys had a blast playing with their second cousins and it was nice seeing everyone. We even got a picture of all of my grandparents great-grandchildren.

Third Week of Medford Lakes Camp

2011-08-07T22:46:00.009-04:00

On Monday the heat wave conditioned and I sent Tyler off to camp for his group's fishing day. It was a hot one but the kids had a blast and caught tons of fish. Tyler thankfully caught one towards the end, so he was pretty happy.

That afternoon after camp the kids tried to keep cool with a waterballoon fight. Not very successful since it really was sooo hot. Tyler doesn't seem to mind so much (me and Jason are a whole other story).

By Tuesday the heat wave continued and it was downright unbearable to be outside. Luckily had speech inside and a library program to attend in the afternoon so we tried to keep busy in air.

Wednesday afternoon we packed up the bike trailer and made the long drive to Beach 1 (I'm so spoiled by living so close to Beach 3) to meet up with some friends. Jason enjoyed lounging in the very warm water and Tyler was busy jumping off the dock with friends until the lifeguard kicked off the kids that didn't have swim bands. They lifeguard then asked Ty if he wanted to test for his swimband. It involved swimming from one dock to the other and then treading water for 2 minutes. It was a very slow swim, but he made it, and seemed to have no problem with treading water. It didn't hurt that he had a few young female cheerleaders! He was so proud of himself for finally earning his swim band, which allows him to jump off the dock without a parent right with him. Big times!

Thursday was just plain disgusting hot. Too hot to do anything. I ended up meeting Beth at CFA for dinner so the kids could run around inside in the air conditioning. Afterwards we delivered dinner to my dad, Jim, and Cara who were doing demolition work at their new house. Congrats jim and cara on the new place! Later i took Ty to karate where it was still crazy hot. I had posted on facebook that, according to weather.com, at 7:31pm it was still 92 degrees and "feels like 103". That's sick.

On Friday morning I reluctantly sent Tyler off to an even hotter day at camp and later Jason and I attended another camp swim race of Tyler's. This time they did the back stroke.

Friday afternoon the boys had their appointments for their fillings at the dentist. Jason was quite happy reading his book about doing to the dentist during the drive there. He seems to do much better when you can prepare him as to what to expect. I also let him watch Tyler get started with his fillings, which of course Ty did fine with thanks to laughing gas. For jason's turn they warned me that they might only be able to do one filling that day, depending on how he did. If he was totally uncooperative we would have to likely go to a surgical center. Thankfully he was totally cooperative. He did have some trouble with choking and gagging, but it was strictly due to his oral motor issues I believe (nothing behavioral). We made the decision try to get all 3 fillings done and I did have to hold his hands down towards the end, but they said he actually did quite well for a child of his age. My poor baby.

Right from the dentist we had some good distraction of meeting the whole family at Golden Corral for dinner. My grandfather was due to go into surgery the following Tuesday so we wanted to all get together. My boys do love a buffet!

On Saturday it was so insanely hot that I could barely fathom leaving the house. However it was getting quite hot inside (the air conditioning just doesn't keep up) and the kids needed to burn some steam so my mom and I took the boys to use our Kids Bowl Free passes. I had just been explaining to my friend Katie how difficult Jason can be sometimes in certain situations (usually unpredictable). She said she always thought he seemed so happy, because she lives in AZ and I'm always posting happy pictures of him. So, just for Katie, here's a picture of Jason being miserable. The lights and sounds totally overwhelmed him. After 9 (yes, 9) frames of me and Tyler bowling he finally calmed down and stopped crying and decided to join us. And then of course he liked it. Go figure. Tyler of course had a blast.

When we got in the van to go home the dashboard showed and outdoor temperature reading of 105!!

Second week of Medford Lakes camp

2011-08-07T14:44:00.017-04:00

Monday morning I was thankful to send Tyler off to camp. Jason and I enjoyed some play dough time. He is finally starting to actually handle play dough with his hands, as opposed to only touching it with tools. Baby steps.

Later Jason and I took off for Children's Hospital satellite facility in Voorhees for his ENT appointment that his neurologist requested. The ENT sent him for an immediate hearing test since it had been a year since his last one and this time he passed with flying colors. Last year they had been unable to determine if he could hear all tones but simply could say that he had normal hearing in "at least one ear". Now, due to the fact that he could cognitively participate with more testing, they were able to say his hearing was normal for both ears and that he can in fact hear tones. So that was a relief to finally put that behind us and remove that as a possible reason for his speech delays. Once he ruled out any hearing issues the ENT felt confident that there were no other concerns and we were sent on our way.

That evening after karate, smoothie time!

Tuesday morning Jason had his Early Intervention meeting (I think they do them every 6 months). No changes in anything, so I suppose that's good.

That afternoon Jason had his neurology follow-up appointment, so back to CHOP Voorhees we went. The neurologist agreed with the Developmental Pediatricians recommendation to do genetic testing and also ordered some metabolic testing. He said the metabolic testing was a more immediate concern so they sent us right next door to have that done immediately. It involved a urine sample and bloodwork. Due to the fact that Jason isn't even close to potty-trained they had to have me apply some sort of adhesive urine collector bag, which was oh so fun. Afterwards they did the bloodwork (also not fun) and sent us on our way. Since Jason still wouldn't pee we had to leave with him wearing the urine bag. He was traumatized. Poor little guy.

As soon as we returned from that appointment we left for Atlantic City. My mom had free tickets to use at the buffet in Atlantic City so my parents and myself brought the boys down for a meal, a stroll on the boardwalk, and a few rides. They were in the midst of a beach replenishment project, so that was apparently quite exciting to watch the big construction trucks on the beach.

For the record, 6 hours or so after the bag had been applied Jason still had not peed so I had to take it off for him to go to bed. The tears started again. So sad.

On Wednesday we again tried to get a urine sample. Many tears later he finally peed and the bag came lose and it was a total failure.

After camp my mom and the boys and myself went to Brown's Mills to pick up Christopher, go blueberry picking, and bring him home for a visit.

That evening me and the boys met up at the Red Lion Inn with my friend Jen, her brother and his girlfriend, and my friend Veronica and her husband and two kids. The restaurant was having a benefit for an animal shelter where 10% of the check would be donated to the cause. So we enjoyed a yummy meal and I got to try fried pickles and fried tomatoes for the first time. The fried tomatoes were delicious!! Afterwards we went back to my friend Jen's house to meet her chickens and new baby chicks. The kids also enjoyed rolling down the hill in her backyard and being lazy on the hammock. A nice night.

On Thursday we had our third attempt at the stupid urine bag (by this point Jason is now afraid of all diaper changes as well as stickers because they have adhesive...good times). After his OT session I noticed that we finally had success and had a little urine in the bag so I drove yet again to CHOP Voorhees to drop off the sample. Thankfully they seemed to believe that we had obtained enough of a sample and hopefully we won't have to do that again for a LONG time!

On Friday I attended Tyler's first ever camp swim races. Luckily they matched the boys pretty well with their skill level so Tyler did just fine against his small group. And he managed, for the first time with me ever seeing it, to swim from one dock to the other!

On Friday after camp my mom and I brought the boys to Hurricane Harbor. Unfortunately Jason wasn't really into it, but luckily my mom was able to keep an eye on him while I brought Tyler around to do some slides and such. I am afraid it was a very boring trip for my mom and Jason. Tyler and I will have to have a date day and go back because he loved it now that he's confident in the water. He even went on a big tube slide with me and had a blast. It totally reminded me, although it's not the highest quality camera, the reason why the waterproof camera i bought last year was totally justified.

On Saturday morning the boys and myself participated in a park clean-up with Junior Woman's. We didn't find as much trash at Brook's field as we expected, so we made our way over to the parking lot and beach area at Beach 1. Jason is a good little trash collector. He takes his work seriously.

Afternoon trip to the lake where Jason got to feed a duck right out of his hand. Shocked that the mommy duck allows the baby to just wander over and socialize with humans!

After 3 hours of mid-day lake time I thought for sure the boys would be good and tired and get to bed early. Instead we got a knock at the door from our neighbor inviting Tyler to the younger sister's impromptu birthday party at the lake. I already had plans to go out after the boys were in bed, but I let Tyler go anyway and my mom said he didn't get home until pretty late.

The next day Tyler was running a fever and said he didn't feel well. He pretty much lounged all day long. By the end of the day I finally realized that the "sore throat" he had been complaining about was localized to just his back tooth area. It appears he is finally getting a 6 year old molar. So it seems he was just run down from being tired and dealing with "teething". LOL.

Summer Camp Begins

2011-08-05T14:30:00.020-04:00

On Tuesday, after a long 4th of July weekend, Tyler started Medford Lakes summer camp. He was so excited to go, and thanks to his new-found swimming confidence, wasn't even nervous about the swimming lesson portion. I'll be honest, after Jason's speech session, I went and spied on Tyler a bit during his first swimming session. He wasn't the best swimmer by any means, but he got right in the water without hesitation...so proud and thankful that he's come so far with his water safety.

After he got home we had to have a hermit crab burial. I was convinced the thing was dead the day before, but we left it overnight just to be sure. Sadly he won't be missed too tremendously. We were often uncertain, for days at a time, if he was alive cause he so rarely moved. Odd little guy.

Evening karate to round out our new summer routine.

I am still amazed that Jason is still sleeping with his lights on at night. At least he's sleeping!

On Wednesday I tried to make a new routine of getting back to the gym (after an embarrassingly long break) while Tyler was off at camp. That afternoon I was busy trying to help Jim & Cara with an errand up in Marlton, and ended up late for the first time ever for Tyler's counseling appointment. Consequently ended up arriving late for my dinner date with Jen and Tracy at Izzie's. The boys were fairly well behaved, but restaurants that are more kid-friendly would be my pick for next time for sure! After dinner we had planned a small party for my mom's birthday over at Jim & Cara's. My mom arrived straight from the airport from Chicago to attend her party. The boys were so happy to see her!

On Thursday morning, after sending Tyler off to camp, my mom and I went with Jason to his school meeting to determine his eligibility for the preschool program. The meeting went well and he absolutely qualified for the program and will start preschool as soon as he turns 3. He ended up with speech, OT, and PT services as well as a 1:2 assistant. Not bad.

That afternoon, after Tyler got done camp and Jason had OT, we decided to pick up Chris to go blueberry picking and eat some dinner. The forecast looked decent (10% chance of rain as I recall) so we drove the 40 minutes to his place. As we drove we noticed the sky darkening and we no sooner pulled in his driveway when we heard a loud rumble of thunder and it started to rain. We decided to go run and get dinner first and wait out the storm but it was raining so severely that we couldn't even get out of the car. Meanwhile Jason screamed the entire time and eventually we just had to go through the drive-thru and get food and go back to Chris's, driving through large puddles from the flash flooding that was created. Good times. After we ate we decided to give blueberry picking a try. It was VERY wet (note the huge puddles/lakes in the pictures) but we got maybe 45 minutes of picking in before it started to thunder and lightening again so we called it quits and head home.

Friday had some yucky weather but somehow they still managed to fit in a day at camp. We were scheduled to have "scout night" at the riversharks that night, which included sleeping out on the field. We were originally told it would be held rain or shine, but due to the "dangerous" storms predicted they decided to reschedule for August, thankfully. At least I hadn't fully packed yet when they made the call to reschedule.

That evening we braved the horrible storms to go to "Cow Appreciation Day" at Chick-fil-A where you get a free meal if you dress like a cow. Obviously a must-do. Happy to report that myself, my parents, and the boys all ate entire meals for free (and then bought milkshakes). It was very amusing to see the young teen/college kids coming in in groups, as well as the poor dads who looked mortified to be dressed like a cow. All in good fun.

On Saturday Tyler decided he was going to learn to do Sudoku puzzles. I find it fascinating that the can do these!

After Tyler's karate, we picked up Bob and went over the the Merchantville Car Show. I'm not a big car person, and it was pretty darned hot, but we had a nice time. The boys seemed to enjoy the cars, Jason announcing "I ike is un" (I like this one) at almost every car...including a verizon truck! Tyler was more interested in the paint details on cars. They also had a bounce house and a little petting zoo...and the highlight for me was the fried oreos. Yum!

After the car show we went back to Bob's house to try to cool off and relax. The boys had fun with the splash pad and baby pool, followed by some BBQing and ice cream! Afterwards Tyler wanted to try horseshoes, but eventually decided that washers was more suited to him!

4th of July weekend!

2011-07-21T12:19:00.018-04:00

Friday, after dropping Tyler off for his last day of boyscout camp, Jason and I drove to Jackson to go to the safari for the first time of the season. Jason loved the animals of course.

After the safari we went to Hurricane Harbor for the first time of the season. Jason was very leery to do anything, spending a lot of time looking a the water with a look of discontent. Poor baby. He eventually did get in and splash around a little, but next time I'll save myself the drive and just walk to the lake! Thank goodness for season passes. The day didnt' cost us anything, except gas.

Friday evening we dealt with a really stupid parking situation to attend closing ceremonies for boyscout camp. Thank goodness I at least had Subway dinner to entertain me.

That evening I decided to join Jeanne and Scott and their boys for a late-night swim. Glad i did because for one, we got to see mommy and baby duck up close. And, most importantly, Tyler learned to jump into the deep end. Those of you who know me well know what a struggle I've had with Tyler and swimming. It's been very, very slow progress. But he had asked to jump off the dock where he couldn't reach with his pool noodle, and did so for a while. Decided to take advantage of Jeanne and Scott being there to keep an eye on Jason while I went over and essentially bribed Tyler to try to jump in without the noodle. Well, finally, success. He spent the next hour or so jumping off the dock, swimming a short distance to the ladder, and doing it all over again. So, that lead me to the third benefit of a late night swim...tired boys who went to bed easily!

On Saturday Tyler (and Jason) had a party at Pump it Up to attend for his friend Adele. It was a superhero-themed party and all the guests got little capes. So cute. Tyler had a blast playing with all his friends and Jason did his slide routine. He finally deviated for a minute and come over to bounce on a little toy, fell backwards and hit his head. Needed some ice, but was okay. So now if you ask him about Pump it Up he only recalls that he hit his head. We seem to have a theme going on of head injuries at all places. Sigh. But the boys did have a great time and I have to say the cake was quite yummy!

As you can see, little superhero Jason was worn out. Fell asleep on the way from Pump it Up to Bob's house.

After Jason's little car nap we left for Bob's friends house, who conveniently lives adjacent to the local school where the 4th of July fireworks were to be set off. They had a nice BBQ and the Tyler kept busy with swimming in the pool (now that Tyler is a little fish!). They of course stuffed their faces, caught fireflies, and had just a good time. When it came time for the fireworks Jason had a total meltdown, apparently now petrified of fireworks. What was an impressively long fireworks display for spectators (24 minutes) was horrendously long for me, locked up inside with a screaming shaking child. Thank goodness we were at someone's house and not just on the field with our lawnchairs! It was nice though to be able to dodge the crazy crowds who had made their way to the school to see the fireworks. Front row seats without having to fight for them!

On Saturday it was a hot day and we spent some time at The Discovery Museum, followed by a trip to Friendly's.

On Monday, 4th of July itself, we went to a cook-out at Bob's friend Jeff's house. While Jason kept busy with blowing bubbles Tyler got a chance to go out on the boat with Jeff, Bob, and Jeff's nieces.

After our BBQ we went back to Bob's house for a little slip-n-slide play and roasting marshmallows...until Jason freaked out when neighbors set off some fireworks.

fifth (and final) week of June

2011-07-17T19:51:00.008-04:00

On Monday we got up bright and early to get ready for boyscout camp. I was a volunteer helper for the day, with Jason in tow. I arrived and made sure Tyler and his friends Zachary and Connor got to their groups before Jason and I set off for the "tot lot" where he'd be hanging out and I'd be helping. I won't get into the details, but it was pretty poorly planned and made for a long, long day. Very frustrating. I'm glad Tyler had a good time, but I was very happy when the time had come for us to go home!

Tyler enjoyed another day at boyscout camp. This photo courtesy of Pam who was there helping out.

Meanwhile Jason and I enjoyed some lake time together, while he munched on the blueberries they had picked last week.

Thursday night we relaxed with a little evening swim.

With that, June comes to an end...