today---randomness

Mostly a good day...other than the kids being "bored"...I mean, really, yesterday was the last day of school and you are already bored??? We have many more boring days to go then :-).

Tristan told me this today: "I am 7 years old and all grown up, so I get to do whatever I want". Well I called Adreyn over and asked her if she gets to do whatever she wants...she said "NO" and I gently *laughing* explained to Tristan that life doesn't work that way. Oh the way kids think :-)

Tristan spent quite a bit of time today playing with his new DS...he really did well...there is ALOT of reading involved along with some fine motor skills so I think it will help keep some of his skills up.

Instead of having the kids take naps today I decided that they all had to read quietly. (Adreyn's already been doing this...except for sundays) Tristan and Rehanyn actually did really well and seemed to enjoy themselves...and I enjoyed the quiet time. Hopefully this will continue to work over the summer.

We had beef and noodles tonight...or as Tristan and Adreyn say "b'noodles" or as Ree says "white b'noodles" I'm not sure why exactly she makes the color distinction :-)

I'm thinking we may be having chicken and dumplings tomorrow...sounds sooooo yummy!!!!

Ok, that's it...they're all in bed, Jason is inputting his work from today and I'm gonna go read a book. Ta-Ta for now!!!!!

Tristan's Birthday

We took the kids to RainForest Cafe for Tristan's birthday. They loved it! They were surprised when the gorillas and elephants started moving but then couldn't wait until they moved again. They also loved the rainfall wall and the HUGE fishtanks. Our table was right next to a fishtank and that kept Tristan enthralled throughout the meal :-)

We also got the kids balloon animals while we were there.
Tristan got a tree frog...

Adreyn got a giraffe

Rehanyn got a ladybug

Here's some pics of him opening presents

This was his big gift: a Nintendo DS and a Pokemon game

A Pokemon book and a Bakugan book

Today was also the last day of school so all the kids are a bit overtired.

I wasn't a good mommy today and didn't make a cake for Tristan...I did make the cookies though. He will get a cake for his birthday party next Thursday... :-)

Pokemon cookies!!!!

Today is Tristan's 7th Birthday!!

He is still completely into Pokemon...This is the second Pokemon themed birthday in a row :-)


I made some Pokemon Pokeball cookies for Tristan to take to class today.


Here's a picture of a pokeball:

Here's pics of his cookies...not too bad if I say so myself :-)

I'll post more birthday stuff today but right now...I'm gonna go to bed :-)

NICU Reunion...progress

Several of us from work (Me, Roxie, Tas, Jen R, and Melissa) have spent 2 days getting the treasure map made for the Reunion...it is about 10x12 feet but turned out really well, I think!

Here are the different areas of the map...

Wanissa's baby shower cake

My friend Wanissa is pregnant (for about 4 more days) with a little girl they've named
Ryleigh Ann.
We had a baby shower for her (at work) the other day and this is the cake I made.

Ryleigh is being born on Friday around 9:30 in the morning!!!
We can't wait to meet her!

stuff

Bought new dishes...chocolate and sage green (the bowl at the back top shelf show the color better than the ones at the front)

One of my friends from high school took pity on me and told me her way to make sausage gravy. It is so good!!! Much better than what I've been making...and it's easier too :-)

Yummy homemade strawberry jam--so good!!!!!!

Cake!

Here's pics of the latest cake I made for a friend's daughter's pirate birthday party!

NICU Reunion...I really need to have about 6 hands not just 2!!!!

So, the NICU Reunion is in a month...yes, really, a MONTH! Invitations have to go out on Thursday...are they ready to go out? Ummmm, not quite. They are printed and the envelopes are addressed, but I still need to stamp the envelopes (with a rubber stamp, not postage stamps), stuff the envelopes, seal the envelopes, and make sure they get to the mailroom at work (so they can be postage stamped there).

About 2/3 of the items we ordered for the Reunion have arrived...YAY!!! Of course, the stuff that has to be put together...yeah, still hasn't arrived but they did say that it would for sure ship by June 6th...hopefully they aren't lying.

We have to make a HUGE treasure map to pretty much cover one big wall on the 2nd floor of the hospital (we are talking about 12x10 or so). We also have to make a ship's wheel or compass rose for another wall (about 4x5 or so). Oh, yeah, our theme is Pirates and Princesses...the first area you enter is the pirate area and then you follow the treasure map to get to the enchanted forest on the way to the castle...It should turn out pretty cute!

I have to START and finish the Reunion scrapbook from last year's Reunion...I guess I procrastinated that just a bit huh???

The week of the Reunion I have to get the cakes done for the Reunion and we have at least 15 or so hours of decorating to get in too (if not more). I have decided that I'm gonna make a pirate ship cake and then several princess cakes...at least I think that's my plan for now...we'll see :-)

Oh, and they decided to change my food order again...(for the 3rd year in a row) and they want us to do peanut butter sandwiches....UMMMM, KIDS WITH ALLERGIES...yeah lets have some anaphylaxis with our party...luckily my manager is working on this for me...


yeah, I think the Reunion is gonna kill me this year :-)

school update

I guess I should update on how things went with our meeting with the principal after T's parent/teacher conference: We started by saying that we do NOT want Ree to get T's 1st grade teacher next year...I guess I figured that the principal would know that but she did look a little surprised...she wrote it down though so that should be taken care of. We talked a little bit about the type of teacher we felt that Ree would need in 1st grade since she is so young and hopefully we get a good one. (kinda hoping she won't get A's 1st grade teacher but that teacher would still be better than T's!). Then we spent quite a bit of time discussing what we feel Tristan needs in a teacher for next year and what our expectations are for 2nd grade. We want a teacher who will encourage Tristan...not just get frustrated by him. We want a teacher who understands what his physical limitations are and figure out how to make allowances for those limitations. We want a teacher who is strict and holds Tristan accountable for his actions while still realizing what a sweetheart he is :-) We want someone who we can trust to do her best to teach our son. I don't think any of those are unreasonable requests. So, a teacher had been recommended to us by some people so we requested her...and the principal agreed that she would be a good match for him but then also suggested another teacher that she thought might be a good fit. This other teacher has been working in the special needs department but now wants to come to mainstream classes. I can see why the principal thinks this teacher may be a good fit for Tristan...I guess I'm just not so sure. Tristan's special needs are related to mobility and muscle strength...not intellectual...so while the school has to classify him as "special needs" so he can get his physical, occupational, and speech therapies he's not like some of the "special needs" kids there at the school. I guess I don't feel that he needs a "special needs" trained teacher as much as he needs a teacher that keeps him on task and encouraged. So, anyway...the principal is gonna think about it and then decide which teacher she thinks would be best for Tristan. We have told her that we want to meet with the teacher before school begins so that we can all be on the same page and hopefully Tristan can have a good and productive school year next year and so we as parents don't have to be so frustrated again (as we have been each year that he has been in school.

Really, I just want Tristan to have a good year...Kinder was so frustrating with having to switch teachers for him in the middle of the year...then 1st started out on the wrong foot and has never gotten better...please, please, please let 2nd grade be better!!!!!!

soooo....

My jam didn't turn out quite right...Now, don't get me wrong...it tastes great!!! But, the chunks of strawberries all floated to the top and some of the sugar sank to the bottom...leaving the jam triple layered. Maybe I shouldn't have used that pectin from last year :-). Oh well, I had my first taste of the jam this morning and it tastes soooo good!!!!

The school year is winding down...apparently we missed the teacher conference for Rehanyn...I didn't know we had one scheduled but apparently we missed it, oh well...luckily her teacher was okay with that. Tristan is doing okay...I mean, as far as we can tell since his teacher doesn't communicate with us. Adreyn is of course doing great...I'm glad she likes school! Ree does well in school too...they just keep telling us that she needs to slow down...like we didn't know that!

Jason is getting busy again--Yay!!! They got back the account that they lost in Feb so that has helped out alot!!!!

Me, I'm just staying busy with work and stuff. The NICU Reunion is about 5 weeks away so we are getting pretty busy with that...just finished printing the invitations today and have to get them mailed within a week or so...

So that is that...not too much going on here...