strawberry shortcake/princess/hula girl/puddle jumper

This is what C dressed herself in the other day. A strawberry shortcake dress, lei, princess crown and her beloved froggie boots. Yes she went everywhere that day in this getup. (pick your battles). The clock puzzle we have had since last christmas but she found that day and was obsessed with it. No one including E and her friend Max could touch it.

bday princess

Avery is 6!!!! None of us are happy about it. Except her that is. She is over the moon to be a year older and wiser. I remember when I turned 6. To think the things we do today she will remember someday later when she has her own kid turning 6 is crazy. Makes me a little nervous. I hope she only remembers the good stuff. heheheh G&PP& Aunt Anne all came for her bday. So sweet. Her bday was on a Saturday this year so her party was on the actual day. We all had a blast. It started at a local pizza place with 25 of our closest friends. The Shumans, Masons, Woodcocks and Heather and her bunch all came. The kids played and ran wild while we all had yummy pizza. Afterwards we went to the place they take gymnastics for some bouncing fun (All About Kids). More of her friends joined us. Classmates from school, girls from her old school, neighborhood friends, bus friends, siblings and adults. She had Jackson, Stella, Emi, Caroline, Max, Sayree, Neena, Jocelyn, Ella, Ty, Luke, Ella R, Jill, Mckinnly, Makayla, Noelle, Ethan, Alyssa,Violet, Camille and Everett there. We decided to make the party a "no gifts, please" party and it went off wo a hitch (no awkward a few peeps bring a gift then others feel bad). So proud of my sweet little girl for understanding that we are very lucky for all that we have and that our friends are gift enough!! Her two bff's brought her a gift in private earlier so that was super sweet of them as well. Since she has been playing so much soccer at school J and I got her a soccer net, ball and shin guards. Since then it has been raining but I can't wait to see my soccer star in action. It was a great bday with family and good friends!!!

family night

Last night we had a awesome family night. We went to get pizza by the slice and then went to the U of L basketball game. It was so fun. We do a lot with friends and then as a family we are home a lot but for the 5 of us to go out like that is somewhat unusual. It was a blast and we will for sure be doing it more often. The kids LOVED the game. They were amazed by everything going on around them. Camille like the dancers better than the game. heheh Me too Camille. She wore her princess crown that she has wore a ton since her bday. Everyone had to comment on how cute the princess was and how cute they all were in their U of L gear. E even made it on the dance cam for a second or two. They are really neat little people. Glad they are stuck hanging with me, for now.

amazing av

The other day a friend of mine brought her niece over to play. She is exactly the same age as Av. They were in the backyard playing well together. First they played hide and seek and then they were kicking a ball around together. Av was slightly faster than the little girl so she was getting to it faster and kicking it more. I was VERY impressed. My little non-sport girl was playing soccer. I had no idea where she had gotten the skills from though. I should have asked. Last night she started kicking a ball around in the house and started telling me about the soccer she plays at school. "Oh in gym class?" I asked. "No" she said, "outside." Then she went on to tell me how she plays with 4 other little kids. 2 boys and 2 girls and they are not the girls she normally plays with (girls she didn't even want to invite to her bday party). I asked how often she played and she said, "all the time." So she has been choosing to playing soccer with kids that are not her fav friends over playing with the girls she talks about all the time?!?!?! Love it!!! Maybe she does have some of her dad's athletic ability in her!!!! Today after gymnastics (more about that later) she was hula hooping. Like for real!!! I asked where she learned that and she said "in PE with Mr. Zoaller." Yay!!!

In gymnastics after stretching they jumped on a spring board into a foam pit. So fun! Then they went to the balance beams and did all 6 of them. Even the HUGE one that is higher than my waist. Av did them all (she usually sticks to the smaller ones). So impressed. Then they bear crawled on the parallel bars and swung from the rings with their feet by their hands. They worked on cart-wheels and ended jumping on the trampoline into the foam pit. She did amazing. We all slept in to 830 so she had soooooo much energy. It was beautiful. She is loving it and it makes me so happy and proud.

bubble burst

I've been MIA again recently but this time there was a reason. My bubble burst last week. It's changed a lot for me, I guess mainly it just opened my eyes to something I knew in my head was coming but I was really hoping it wasn't. Av's teacher called me last Thursday about her and school. I guess it actually started on Wednesday. She came home from school with her school work all messed up. She had gotten more than half the stuff wrong on 3 different work sheets. It was the worst I have ever seen it. Usually it's all pretty good other than her numbers and we knew that and had been working on them. As soon as I handed her the worksheet she was able to pretty much correct them on her own. It was very silly stuff that ever C knew. Huge red flags went up in my head. J was traveling so that sucked too. We went over it and then I told her over and over again that she had to try her hardest, slow down and concentrate on her work. I then put a note in her folder for her teacher to call me. The next day I was just waiting on her teacher. I went to my work out class but kept my phone with me so I could talk when she called. Of course she called during my class. The the worst part was she was not really calling me back about the worksheets, it was something worse. Her writing and expressing herself on paper is not the best. Basically the jist of it is that Av is falling behind her classmates in the fine motor stuff. They either can't make out what she has written or drawn or she just scribbles. By this time in the year that should be improving. Her teacher said she could tell Av knew the stuff but just can't get is out. Like in a dramatic sense of it she is somewhat trapped in her low muscle tone body. Now I know there are truly people trapped in their bodies and Av is not one of them but sometimes it just feels that way. It's so unfair. So a lot has transpired since last Thursday. I have thought it over and gone over and over and over it again with John and my good friend. I think there are a lot of different things at play here. One her teacher is not pushing her hard enough. The teacher at one point said to me that when other kids bring scribble up to her she makes them go back and re-do it but she does not know how often to do that with Av. ALL THE TIME! This last weekend was a long weekend (they had mon and tues off) and Av and I WORKED so much. Not only can she do it but she wants to. She is interested in it. We finished 2 work books and worked a ton in a wipe off workbook. She loves it and is doing so well. I also talked to her OT about it all and she was surprised. Av is doing great with her. I know that is one on one time, but still. Av can do it, she can write and she can draw (she was drawing apples and they blew my mind). She just needs to not be lazy and not take the easy way out and it's up to her teacher not to let her. Her teacher has moved Av's seat in the classroom so Av is closer to where the teacher spends most of her time. So hopefully that will help Ms. Roth be on Av a little more. She does need extra help, so we are doing that at home and they are starting the process to get an OT in the room at least once a week to help Av. Hopefully it will all be ok. We will see. She is happy though. Still loves school and socially things are great so that's a big plus. I was just so surprised it had gotten so bad so quickly but the positive is that the school jumped right on it and there is plenty we can do and get to help her. She is always going to have to work 10 times harder on things than the average kid. That part just sucks. I wish so much for her it was not like that, but what can you do? The most important thing though is she is happy. As long as she stays that way nothing else matters.

TD

E has a new name. I am going to figure out how to legally change it bc his new name fits him much better. He will soon be TD Hoekstra. It stands for toxic dump and that is totally what he is. He poops constantly. When he wakes up, durning breakfast, during nap (!?!?!?! who poops in their sleep????) and durning dinner. Never change just wet diapers bc if I just wait a bit I will get my money out of the diaper. UGH!!!!

Trick or treating

Was a blast!!! G&PP came to celebrate with us and the kids loved it. C really got it this year and I think she may remember it. The girls were so cute. We went with a few of their friends and everyone had a blast. The highlights were at first C didn't understand and thought she was being invited in when the doors were opened, C being scared of bigger peeps being dressed up, Av being the leader to the house but then letting the younger kids ahead of her to get their candy, the girls being silly and saying "happy birthday" and "merry christmas" instead of trick or treat and of course the grumpy dog the just had to sit in the wagon and look cute. He didn't understand what all the fuss was about and why he had to wear the silly fuzzy thing on his head and body again. He really thought he got the bum end of the deal. Still had to wear the totally silly costume but didn't reap any of the rewards from it. Some of the houses just had bowls of candy sitting out. We were stressing the importance of saying thank you and one of the silly girls said thank you to the bowl. So then that became the big joke and they all had to say "thank you bowl." At one house the lights were on and it was decorated so the girls were up ringing the door bell. No one came out but there was like a flower urn on the porch that didn't have flowers in it. At one point C was seen on tip toes looking in the urn for candy. She was leaving no leaf unturned. heheh When we got home the candy had to be looked at and gone through. I think I managed to keep them to only 3 pieces for the night, so not too bad. Slowly the candy will disappear never to be seen again.