Happy Halloween

Forget the broom. . .this witch surfs with the iPhone.

Ryan put out his Halloween props for the first time since 2006.  I think it was a lot more work than he remembered since it takes 7 hours to set it all  up.  Then, he has to turn around and take it all down. . .usually in the same night.  I doubt he does it again for a long time.   But, the neighbor kids (and their parents) really seemed to enjoy it.  I didn’t know if Olivia would be scared or not, but she wasn’t at all. . .probably because she saw daddy setting it all up.

Woah. . .easy now broom.

 

Olivia LOVED trick or treating this year!  We barely got finished at one house and she was running to the next. 

Decisions, decisions.

Hope you all had a very Happy Halloween!

Annual Leaf Jumping Party

 

The whole crew

Olivia in the huge pile of leaves

Kaleb

Jump!

Alex

Family photo

The Kris Snyder Family

The Joel Glunt Family

Grandma and Grandpa

 

The kids getting ready to throw the leaves!

Katie

Aidan

Rebekah and Julia

The siblings. . .Ryan, Kim and Joel

The “Outlaws” 

Ryan’s flying leap

It’s all fun and games until you get leaves in your pants.

Friday, October 29, 2010 - Update

We’ve had a busy day today!  First, Olivia and I went trick or treating with Shelley and Izzy at the doctor’s office where Grandma Sailing works.  After eating lunch, we all headed to see Grandpa Sailing at work as well.  Later in the afternoon, Olivia and I headed to daddy’s work and trick or treated there as well.  We have a lot of candy. . .too much candy and it’s not even Halloween yet! 

Cutest little witch ever!

Trick or treating at Grandma’s work

Izzy and Olivia mapping out their next move. . .

Thursday, October 28, 2010 - Update

We had Olivia’s first ever parent/teacher conference tonight.  It went really well.  The changes we made have drastically improved Olivia’s outlook on school.  We knew it was going better, but it’s nice to hear it from them as well.  The changes that were made include:

1)Going to school an hour later.  It cuts her school day down to 2 hours instead of 3. 

2)Adding a second day of school.  She has been going twice a week for 2 hours instead of once a week for 3 hours.

3) Using a schedule book with pictures.  This way, she knows what is coming next.  Olivia likes to know the next two to three things that she’s going to be doing.  Ryan and I think it might have something to do with all the Dora that she watches. LOL. 

4) And most importantly. . . a lot of prayer.  We are so thrilled that she has been able to continue with school as it’s such a great experience for her.  School along with occupational therapy at Wesley and gymnastics have benefited her greatly.

And, a funny story before I go.  We were in the car on our way home tonight listening to a Veggie Tales Christmas CD.  Have you ever heard the song “Was He A Boy Like Me?”  I cannot listen to this song for some reason without crying.  I think I’ve listened to it about 20 times and each time I cry.  Tonight was no different.  After the song was over, I leaned over and told Ryan something about how I can’t believe I cried again.  Olivia saw me crying and said, “You don’t need to cry.  Be a big girl!  Silly baby.”  I hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time.  What a big girl she’s becoming!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010 - Update

This is how I’ve felt lately about blogging and about life in general.  I’m sure it’ll turn around soon. . . :)

Monday, October 25, 2010 - Update

Not too much going on. . .not much to blog about.   Olivia has been a bit under the weather and I’m not feeling too good either.  I did get her out to get her preschool picture taken today. . .10+ tries and I don’t think there’s a good one in the bunch.  Olivia did awesome and stood there like such a big girl, but she didn’t want to smile.  The one half-smile that we got has a big glare on her glasses, so we’ll see what we end up with.  Either way, it’s a memory. :) Not too long ago, she would have cried just from being in an unfamiliar situation.  I’m so proud of what a big girl she’s becoming!

We’ve been working a bit on potty training and we’ve had such little success that it’s actually becoming comical.  Olivia has it all down. . .she sits on the potty, tells me she’s done, claps for herself, flushes the toilet, washes her hands. . .except she’s missing the actual act of going potty.  You’d think we’d accidentally be successful at least once.  But, I do believe it’s completely up to her and one day she’ll decide she’s ready.  I’m honestly in no rush. . I don’t mind changing diapers.  She’s done everything else in her own time, I’m sure this will be the same.  And, one day we’ll have an exciting blog post about it! 

Olivia the Photographer

Can I take your picture?

Hey, quiet on the set!

Are we ready to shoot?

I love being on the other side of the camera.

Oooh, that was a good one.

I like this one!

Now the tedious task of photo editing. . .

Autumn

I caught her out on the couch like this. . .I don’t know if it means she’s feeling better or worse.  I’ve gotten three terbutalines down her and hoping for the best.  Olivia  hasn’t wanted her picture taken lately, but my cats have been more than willing. LOL.

Thursday, October 21, 2010 - Update

Autumn spent the day at the vet’s office.  She hasn’t been well for almost a month.  Autumn has bronchial asthma. . .more severe than we first thought.  Usually a steroid shot is enough to clear symptoms for at least 4-6 weeks.  The shot seemed to lessen the severity of it, but she is still having bronchial spasms, which sound like a sneeze/cough.  She is now on terbutaline in hopes to reduce inflammation of her bronchial tube.  Her problems seem to be seasonal as she had problems last fall as well.  Next fall, if we see a similar recurrence, Autumn will need to be on an inhaler.   That should be interesting.  :)  I wonder if my fall candles bother her as well. . .I know they bother some people with asthma.  Autumn is truly an amazing cat and companion and I’d pretty much do anything to help her.  Tobey on the other hand. . .just kidding.  :)  Tobey is a very sweet kitty, but he’s a handful.  He is ALL kitten and ALL boy.  LOL.  We are really having to “train” him, whereas Autumn just never did any ornery things.   

Other than that. . .not too much to talk about.  I’m grateful that it’s not Olivia dealing with asthma. . .what a scary thing! 

   

Stand still, Tobey, I want to take your picture.

Wednesday, October 20, 2010 - Update

I took a little trip down memory lane today.  After Olivia’s therapy, we went to eat at Cracker Barrel.  It’s Olivia’s favorite place to eat and she had been asking for it all week.  It just happens to be in the town that I grew up in.  So, after lunch I took her to the old park that I used to play at.  It hadn’t really changed much and although I enjoyed reminiscing, I think it left Olivia a bit underwhelmed. LOL.  We then went to the bigger park down by the swimming pool and they have a brand new jungle gym with about 5 slides. The only bad part of the day was that Olivia, at some point, took her glasses off and we had to search for them through the many fallen leaves.  She usually never takes them off without giving them to me, so I don’t know what came over her.  I didn’t think we were ever going to find them.  But, we did and we had fun and we enjoyed the gorgeous weather. 

In other news, my cat Autumn is still struggling with illness so she has another vet appointment tomorrow.  Poor thing has been miserable for over a month.  Hopefully, I’ll get some definite answers.  And. . .I’m still learning more and more about my diabetes.  Honestly, I’m really struggling with it.  I felt awful this afternoon. . .really exhausted and just not well.  I took my blood sugar 4 hours after I had eaten and it was still high!  I think I feel the worst when my blood sugar remains elevated for long periods of time. . at least that’s what I’m finding.  I just can’t seem to get a grip on this whole diabetic diet.  I can’t eat anything it seems without my blood sugar getting too high. . .kinda depressing.  Oh well, there are much worse things than diabetes. . .I just wish I could get to feeling better.  This little girl below deserves it.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010 - Update

This little rascal gave me a run for my money today.  She always does things when she is ready. . .not exactly in the correct order.  For example, I always tell people that she learned to walk before she could stand.  Well, now we are experiencing a lot of the things that I thought we “skipped,” like the terrible twos, for instance.  Just recently she has been able to open doors, unscrew lids, use her step stool to reach just about anything and jump from high heights. . . all of which open up new possibilities.  She has also somehow decided that it is now okay to color on the walls with crayon.  Needless to say, she was in time out twice today.  For the past year, we have had no problem getting her to stay in her toddler bed.  She couldn’t open doors, so what was the point of getting up, right?  Well, tonight. . .she got up five times before she finally went to sleep.

1st time:  She needed her rubber ducky from her bath to sleep with.

2nd time: She needed her musical caboose to sleep with.  (Yes, she sleeps with her Thomas trains.  LOL.)

3rd time: She heard a scary noise.

4th time:  Her blanket was being scary.  I could barely keep a straight face with this one.

5th time:  She had to go potty (but, she’d already gone in her diaper.  We spent 4+ hours just sitting on the potty today.) 

Five times she was up and she is usually a dream to put to bed.  Days like this you just have to laugh it off, pray tomorrow is better and hope your husband will make it home from work before midnight.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling. . .

We got to gymnastics a little early tonight, so we had some time to practice. While doing so, Olivia learned how to do a forward roll all by herself. In my day, they were somersaults. LOL. But whatever they're called. . .I'm overjoyed that Olivia has learned to do them. She also, for the first time, hung from the bars for more than 1 second. All in all, a great night at gymnastics except she would not, under any circumstances, ride the pulley (kind of like a zip line.) Poor thing wouldn't calm down until we told her that she didn't have to ride it tonight. But, I'm still proud of how far she's come and gymnastics has done wonders for her gross motor skills. Way to go, Olivia!

The Big 2-5!

Guess who made it to 25 lbs?  Woohoo!  We’re getting there.  Maybe she’ll be 30 lbs by the time she goes to kindergarten.  LOL. 

Awww. . .

A few nights ago, Olivia gave me the camera and told me that she wanted to take a picture with daddy.  So, she snuggled up next to him and I snapped the picture.  I thought it turned out adorable. . .two of my favorite people. :)