My Close To My Heart workshops keep chugging along. This past year my monthly workshops have been sold out! One month I had to bring in patio chairs in order give every one a place to sit.
Thursday, June 27th @ 7pm we'll be making these 8 cute 4x4 "quickie" cards. They'll be fast and easy to assemble and are the perfect go to cards for those events you need to grab a card from your stash and run.
Cost: $12 (including envelopes)
I have room for 1 more person this month. If you are interested in attending this workshop with a bunch of fun ladies, let me know ASAP. I hold the workshop in Kirkland.
Walking by the river...playing in the sand....wading in the water....hiking through the woods....frolicking through the garden....splashing in the pool...relaxing in the hot pool...eating yummy food...playing in the barn room...discovering new places...laughing...playing...having fun...
That was how I envisioned our 24 hour get-a-way to Leavenworth this week. Kenny was speaking at a conference at a resort called Sleeping Lady. I had recently read about it in a magazine right before he told me about his gig there. I instantly thought it would be a great chance for the kiddos and I to tag along and check what looked like a super cool place. Change things up a bit. Add a little summer adventure to the regular Tuesday/Wednesday schedule.
Of course, I knew that meant spending 2 hours each way in the car with 2 kids. It also meant sleeping in a hotel room with above mentioned kids. BUT, I just knew all the fun we would have would be so worth the bit of pain.
The weather report showed a 30% chance of rain and 75 degree temps on Tuesday. Let me note here that just days before we arrived it was in the 80's there. I said I'll take the chance 75 sounds great and a few drops of rain we can handle.
We arrived around 1pm Tuesday and went directly to a playground to let the monsters get some wiggles out. They did quite well on the ride there. There were some fluffy clouds in the sky, the air was warm, the day was going to be good.
We got Kenny off to his speaking engagement and the three of us headed to the river to start our first adventure of the day. The clouds started to roll in and the wind started to pick up, but we weren't going to be detoured. We walked for about an hour seeing the sights. It wasn't quite what I had imagined, but the kids were doing great and having fun.
After our river trip we headed back to the Sleeping Lady to check into our room. As we pulled up it started to rain. We dashed to get our keys and kinda dashed with our luggage, really far away, to our sweet little cabin. The plan had been to go swimming for a couple hours. See Kenny and then have dinner. I told the kids the rain would pass. Let's just hang for a bit and then we'll be able to go.
Thirty minutes passed and it was still raining...no not just raining....it was POURING!
Okay...plan B. Let's go get dinner now and I'm sure the rain will pass by the time we get back. We'll swim before bedtime or at least get a chance to explore around where we were staying.
We managed through dinner. Keep in mind Adalyn hadn't napped, which was a first for her. All said and done it wasn't too bad.
Back to the room to wait for Kenny. At this point I'm starting to lose it. We had gotten completely wet getting back to our room/cabin. All the food and water was still in the car (so so far away). Swimming in the pool wasn't looking good. We couldn't even venture out to find it because of the pouring rain.
Kenny arrived, a plan was made. In the morning we'll try the pool. We all hit the hay together...though it took a couple of hours to get every one asleep.
Morning came (6am) and it was still raining and even colder. Kenny took them "swimming". They hung out in the hot pool for a bit. We packed up, had breakfast and headed home.
No exploring, of what still looks like a super cool place, Sleeping Lady. No hikes or walks in the garden. No lounging around the pool.
Yes, memories were made. Just not the kind I had in mind.
There is a certain someone who had a pretty fun Wild Kratts birthday party yesterday. This certain someone turned 6 years old today! I think six is going to be his year.
If you haven't heard about Wild Kratts you probably don't have a 5ish year old boy/girl in your house. It is a cartoon on PBS about Martin and Chris Kratt, animal adventurers. Shane has been obsessed with it for about a year now and has been super excited about having a Wild Kratts birthday party.
I made all the kiddos "Creature Power Suits".
And of course you have to have "Creature Power Disc's".
These cool things stick to your Creature Power Vest
so that you can turn into that creature.
After everyone arrived, the kids put on their bat creature power disc and hunted for bugs.
Then we put on the most popular creature power of all...cheetah power!
They played Cheetah Power Tag.
Everyone had a "tail" and if yours was grabbed you had to freeze.
I did a lot of running!
The perfect game for energetic 6 boys.
Then they put on their butterfly power disc and
we wrapped them in "chrysalis" aka toilet paper...
so they could bust out of them and turn into butterfly's.
They thought this was pretty cool.
They also dawned on their bass creature powers for some fishing. Also a hit.
After all that running around, they were ready for some snacks.
We had Safari Sandwiches, Jungle Juice, Gorilla Grub,
Ants on a Log and some veggies for all the Herbivores in the room.
They all sat nicely while Shane opened his presents.
After gifts it was time for some cupcakes (gluten free of course).
This was the first year Shane was totally okay with everyone singing him
the birthday song.
Here they all are in their Creature Power Suits.
Rory, Daniel, Owen, Adalyn, Shane, Brady and Nathan
Shane decided to invite only kids from his preschool class.
He originally wanted to invite all 12 of them, but decided that
would be to many kids in the house for him.
He settled on 7, but the two girls he invited couldn't come.
The weather was perfect, the kids were great, the theme was a hit, the first drop off party we've hosted and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. A birthday party to go down in the records for sure.
This week six years ago I had just started my maternity leave. I had two weeks before my due date and I was looking forward to a little time off to finish up some projects before baby Shane arrived. I remembering spending one of those first days off at the mall walking around, enjoying the time alone and pampering myself to some new make-up. The lady at the make-up counter told me she was worried my water would break as she was helping me.
The following day I went in for my routine 37 week check up. After I had completed my non-stress test and an ultrasound, the Doctor came in and said that Shane wasn't growing and they were concerned. They wanted me to be induced that day. They said he needed to come out to prevent anything "wrong" from happening. I freaked out. What?! Today?! Right Now??! What are you talking about?! There had been no concerns up to this point. I was completely taken by surprise.
I remember a nurse walking me across the street to the hospital, University of Califonia, San Diego. I had called Kenny at work and was bawling on the phone to him. He was a good 45 minutes away. You could say we were not prepared to have a baby that day.
Turns out the little guy wouldn't arrive for 40 more hours. Literally, days later. It took awhile to get checked into a room. I remember sitting in basically a closet of a waiting room and hearing Mom's screaming around me. I was a bit on edge. My Doula had gone out of town, so she sent her back up Doula. I eventually was induced, but baby Shane was not ready to arrive. It was a LONG 40 hours waiting for something to happen. After 39 hours and 45 minutes I told the Doctor I was done. I couldn't do this any more. He looked at me and said he promised he would be out in 15 minutes. I didn't believe him at all. I wasn't sure I had 15 more minutes in me. That Doctor didn't lie. Exactly 15 minutes later, Shane had finally arrived.
A huge rush of people came into our room, taking him to the corner. I had no idea if he was okay or not. I kept asking, is he okay, over and over again. Someone finally placed him on my chest all wrapped up in a blanket. He weighed in just under 6 pounds, so he didn't have to go to the NICU and was perfectly healthy.
That was the start of quite a journey. I can't believe that little 5 pound 14 ounce baby boy will be 6 years old on Monday.
Shane had his last day of preschool today. The past two weeks he has been in "summer school". Which consisted of a slightly different day/time schedule and a whole lot of playing and having fun. He met a new friend there as well. We've heard non-stop about her since last Friday morning when they met during "Donuts for Dads" at school.
His excitement for preschool has gone off the charts during the past two weeks. It may have taken 3 years, but he finally really fell in love with school and finally didn't have an ounce of anxiety towards going. He had taken a small stuffed animal with him to school this whole year. A month ago I said no more and he had a few tears, but prevailed in the end.
I then started giving him a "buddy" to take to school. A little person I would draw on his hand. It was a great transition for him from having the stuff animal as a support to taking nothing with him.
Yesterday on the way home he said to me "Mommy, I haven't had a buddy this whole week at summer school". Yep, he sure hadn't. He hadn't asked for one, so I didn't volunteer to give him one. Having him note this success is just as big as the success itself.
I got teary eyed picking him up from preschool today. I can't believe how far he has come in the last 3 years. I can't believe I won't ever drop him off there again. We've all struggled, but we've also all come out stronger and wiser. I look forward for when Adalyn gets to join the awesome teachers at Arrowhead Inglemoor Preschool.
Shane is ready for Kindergarten...it took him a little longer then some kiddos, but I know he will soar through the upcoming school year with flying colors.
Here is what the little guy looked like on his first day of school, all those years ago.
After he got dressed this morning (see outfit above), Shane told me this:
Shane: I want to look pretty this morning for Alethea (he new best friend at school). This shirt makes me think that I look pretty.
Me: Do you mean you want to look nice for Alethea?
Shane: Yay, I want to look nice. Alethea always wears dresses and she always looks nice. I tell her in the morning that she looks nice and I want her to think that I look nice and tell me that I look nice this morning.
Me: That is really kind of you to tell Alethea that. She might not tell you that though.
Shane: I know. But we are getting married and I want us both to look nice together.
Shane had his end of the baseball season pizza party Saturday afternoon. The food for the event included: pizza, cake, cookies, red licorice and watermelon. Mr. Shane can't have pizza, cake or cookies (at least the gluten variety) and watermelon is hit or miss with him. The seeds freak him out, and yes, I know they are "seed-less", and yes, I've told him that, but those little white seeds can send him over the edge. That left on the menu red licorice. That has red dye in it and we attempt to avoid that with Shane as much as possible. Kenny felt that letting him indulge in some licorice was the best bet given the situation.
This really has been the first time we've been presented an event like this. Usually I'm prepared and bring something for him.
What happens when you aren't prepared...you spend all day Sunday paying for it.
Shane and his Sensory Processing Disorder were in full blast on Sunday. Every...little...thing sent him into a tizzy. Shane let's go outside, where are your shoes at = MELTDOWN. Shane it's time to eat = MELTDOWN. Wanna ride your bike on a walk = MELTDOWN. He spent numerous times in time out for hitting.
You could see that his little neurons weren't firing right. The "roads" in his body were bumpy and his brain was NOT functioning.
Kenny looked up the ingredients in red licorice. Red dye AND gluten!!!! What?? Who would have guessed. We knew we would take a hit with the red dye, but gluten, too.
We've come a long way with Shane in the best 3 months between his gluten free diet and the best parenting program EVER, called The Incredible Years (I hope to blog more about that soon). Yesterday was proof of how far we've come. We haven't seen Shane in that aggressive, agitated, over the top state for months now.
Yesterday wasn't fun by any means, but having proof that what we are doing is working sure feels good.
