Birthday Weekend

Parent-teacher conferences mean a 4 day weekend for the elementary school kids.  On Thursday we had conferences in the morning and then we went to lunch (see previous post) and then did some browsing at Target.  (I was trying to figure out what to get Finn for his birthday! And having the other kids point out what they liked is also helpful for the upcoming Christmas season.)  On Friday we headed to Anderson Farm in Eerie, Colorado for their fall festival.  One of my friends is an admitted Pumpkin Patch addict and has raved about this patch and I really wanted to check it out.

It's funny how a drive can seem so much longer when you don't know exactly where you are going.  It sure seemed like a long drive to get there, but in reality it took about an hour and twenty minutes (which isn't bad for the north side of Denver).  I was hoping to get there right as it opened to avoid crowds, but ended up there about an hour later.  And it became very apparent that we weren't the only ones who had decided to go to the pumpkin patch for the day.  We waited a good twenty minutes in line just to get into the farm!  It was a beautiful fall day and based on the crowds I'm guessing most schools were out for fall break.  Just our luck.  The lines for the rides were long and slow moving (and by rides I mean the barrel train, pedal cars, and mine car).  The mine car went the fastest and so we started there.  After watching the barrel train line I decided that I did not have the patience to wait through that, and so we moved on to the pedal cars.  The boys were excited for that and so we waited it out.  After that we had been at the pumpkin patch for over an hour already and were ready for lunch.  We found ourselves a picnic table and enjoyed the Lunchables that we had picked up on our way to the farm.

The line to get in.

Trying to get the kids to look at me for a picture while we were waiting for the mine car to go.

Kai on the pedal cars.  I didn't get a picture of Finn because he was off on the smaller track with a smaller car, but he was really flying!

Bree was wanting to pose for a picture.

I couldn't get all 3 of them to agree on a bench.  Bree was willing to sit for a picture wherever I asked, but the boys weren't quite as cooperative.

From there we headed over to the children's playground area and let the kids run around for a while.  Then we decided to tackle the corn maze.  This might have been my favorite part of the whole farm.  If my kids were only a bit older we could have spent hours working our way through the maze and finding all of the checkpoints.  However, Finn started getting tired and hot and I was already carrying Bree.  I was too nervous to leave them in the maze by themselves due to the very real possibility that they would become lost, so we headed out after only 45 minutes or so.

A look at the main barn at the farm

Playing in the wood train

Corn maze

After that it was time to head out to the pumpkin field and pick our pumpkins.  All of the kids got a pumpkin and enjoyed the ride to the pumpkin patch.  When we got off our ride we had to wait another 20 minutes just to pay for the pumpkins.  I seriously felt like leaving the pumpkins and moving on, but my kids were set on buying the pumpkins.  The family behind us in line did leave, though, and said the experience of picking them was good enough for them.

Picking his pumpkin

I love how she is looking at Kai.

Our pumpkins waiting to be paid for.

After paying for the pumpkins we headed to our car.  Four hours at the pumpkin patch and we were all sufficiently worn out.  It was a fun day, but not one that I think we are going to repeat.

The next day was Finn's 6th birthday.  We had a fun day planned for him that centered around a trip to the North Pole.  The boys had earned the trip by learning to ride their bikes and this was the first Saturday that we didn't have soccer since then.  Our day started early with a trip to Amy's Doughnuts.  I have no idea how I have lived here for almost 8 years and I had just heard of this place.  They had some awesome doughnuts.  I'd guess there were over 50 flavors of doughnuts in the case and they had powdered, glazed, and plain doughnuts with out any filling that you could pick your own filling and it would be done right in front of you.  When we got to Amy's the line was nearly out the door.  The man said that is pretty typical of a Saturday morning.  As we were waiting in line a sweet elderly gentleman approached me and said, "Didn't Amy's tell you that beautiful children can't eat here without junior police officer badges?" and handed all of my kids a sticker.  It was super sweet and made me smile.  Finn had been feeling off the whole morning and wasn't wanting to eat his birthday doughnuts.  He wasn't wanting anything in his tummy actually and so I was nervous about what the rest of the day would hold.

Waiting in line on a carpet donut.

The donut line

The sun was bright and he wasn't feeling good so I gave up on getting a picture of him with all of his birthday donuts.

After getting our doughnuts we headed up the mountain to the North Pole.  We love this place and the time we have together.  Our family tip is to get there at opening and head straight to the back of the park, which we did.  Everyone stops at the rides in the front and so we are able to get through the rides at the back of the park quickly and repeat them as much as we'd like before it gets busy.  The weather was beautiful and the kids were having a blast.  (Oh, and did I mention that Finn threw up in the parking lot when we got there and then headed to the restroom before eventually feeling lots better?  Ugghhh....)  Bree surprised me as we discovered that she is a thrill rider just like her brother Finn.  They both wanted to ride every single ride, no matter what.  Their favorite was the dive bombers.  Unfortunately, my body doesn't handle thrill rides like it used to.  I remember my parents not doing the rides with us as kids and wishing they were like the other "cool" parents who were in the lines.  And now, I'm one of the parents who is barely holding onto her sanity and lunch while trying to support my kids.  I had to ride the dive bombers three times in a row (twice with Bree and then once with Finn--Reid rode one time with Finn) and it nearly took me out for the whole day.  After some lunch and some down time I ventured onto a couple more crazy rides.  I thought for sure that Bree had met her match with the tilt-a-whirl, but I was wrong.  Finally I did two rides in a row on the paratrooper and I was done.  Just done.  Good thing the kids had ridden nearly everything in the park at least once by that point and were ready to go home.

I took a picture of this sign because it is probably the last time that all of our kids can ride these rides together.  Bree is 32 inches tall and Kai is 47 inches.

Bree is riding with Reid

Waiting for a ride

I love this picture.  They were talking about something and just enjoying each other.

Reid gave me bunny ears so they would look for a picture.  This is what we got.

The north pole is cold!

At home we had dinner and then opened Finn's birthday presents.  He LOVED everything we got for him this year.  I was pretty proud of us for really getting it right.  We all had a great weekend celebrating Finn and we are so glad he is a part of our family.

He got an Air Flicker scooter which was too big to wrap so it went in a lawn bag.

A RC car from his brother and sister

What was left of the birthday donuts by the time I remembered I didn't have a picture of them.

Sunday morning he finally felt well enough to try his donuts.

A lazy Sunday together

Early October

This month is flying by!  Our days are pretty much scheduled out for us with extra curricular activities, mid-day kindergarten drop-off, house cleaning, grocery shopping, homework, piano practice, daily treatments and medications, and some general play/sibling bonding-time.  The weather has been fantastic this fall and we have really enjoyed being outside as much as we can.  We have also been doing some needed fall clothing shopping, which Bree enjoys.  I am happy to have a shopping companion who doesn't complain or ask if we are almost done or can go home.  Bree always wants to know where we are going next, and "home" is her least favorite answer!

I needed to find winter coats for her and Finn, pants for me, and dress pants for Kai.  Instead I found Sofia tennis shoes and matching sun glasses!  She was thrilled! 

October 5th was another long day at Children's Hospital.  We had an ENT appointment early in the morning followed immediately by Finn's annual CF clinic visit.  That meant that in addition to seeing all of our normal people, he also had to have his annual labs drawn.  It was a 4 hour morning that wore us both out.  Finn loves to play a game I came up with that involves hopping from tile to tile on the floor.  He jumps in the direction that I tell him over the number of tiles that I tell him.  And we added different types of animal hops just to keep it interesting.  He was having a great time entertaining himself while we waited.  Overall the report came back pretty good.  His lungs are looking great other than a very small spot of inflammation and bronchiectasis (permanent lung damage).  Those spots are really small, though.  I looked at the CT with our pulmonologist and she couldn't even see it which means you have to be a radiologist to even notice it.  That's good news.  The only area of concern is his ongoing sinus issues.  The ENT feels that we have run out of home treatment options.  After discussion with the ENT and CF doctors we have decided to continue doing what we can at home and wait as long as possible before another sinus surgery.  He did have polyps that we were able to see during an office scope back in September, but an 11-day round of steroids has hopefully helped with that a bit.  And so we just continue to do sinus rinses and treat with antibiotics as needed until he seems so miserable that we feel it's time for surgery.  It's a wait and see kind of thing right now.  Other than that, his bloodwork has come back looking great.  His doctor did note that his liver levels are just slightly elevated.  That is not uncommon in kids with CF and so we will repeat those labs in January and see what they are doing at that time and then decide where to go from there. 

This is the view from Kai's piano teacher's house.  We have a great time playing outside while waiting for Kai.

Love our fall weather!

So glad that he likes to ride a bike these days!

Finn's morning meds.  The syringes are Allegra, Augmentin (antibiotic), and Ibuprofen.  The big one is water to flush his g-tube when we are all done.  And then the pills are his Prilosec and Creon (enzymes).

After having fantastic and successful parent-teacher conferences on the 14th we all went out to lunch.  Bree and Finn had been playing dress up and didn't want to change.  We got a lot of smiles and second looks whenever we walked by!  As for conferences, both boys seem to be doing well in their classes.  Kai tested at a 7th grade level.  I don't even know what to say about that except that I'm proud of him.  His biggest struggles continue to be socially and with transitions.  He is the only kid in his class that is pulled out for GE every day and he struggles with integrating back into the classroom after being out.  It's something he is working on with his fantastic teacher.  Finn on the other hand did not test well at the beginning of the year.  However, he is now way ahead of the excepted curve based on his initial test.  This either is a reflection of him just needing exposure to the idea (his teacher's thoughts), or a reflection of his personality at the beginning of the year and his complete lack of interest in reading (my thoughts).  Either way, he is beyond where they expected him to be at this point and he is an engaged and eager learner.  Awesome reports!

Best of Friends

September 22, 2015

I often find myself feeling guilty that we don't have that many playdates.  We live in an older neighborhood with very few young kids.  The younger families in our ward are in more suburbany-type neighborhoods a mile or two away.  Since we aren't in the middle of things, we just generally don't get invited to play.  And I'm not great at inviting others over to play.  Finn is my kid that struggles the most with wanting "more" friends.  He loves to just play!  Over the last two months he seems to have really found that companion in Bree.  They adore each other!  Yes, they certainly have their moments where they don't get along (she is 2 after all!) but for the most part they can play together for hours on end.  Some of their most recent games have been the "robot" game (putting a box over their heads and pretending to be a robot), the "ant" game (yes, crawling around like ants, getting in my bed and messing everything up), and the "night-down" game where they put blankies on the couch and put each other to bed.  Finn generally takes such good care of Bree and Bree is working on sharing and not being quite so territorial (it's a work in progress).  I love that they have this morning time together.  It has really strengthened their bond.  I'm not sure Finn needs any other friends, because he sure has found a lifelong friend in his sister.  

Our school routine

The last month has gotten into a bit of routine.  I hesitate to say that because as soon I do, something will change, but I'm going to risk it.  Since Finn is home in the mornings, Bree has really been enjoying her time with him.  She absolutely adores him and the can play so well together.  On Monday mornings Finn has music class and Bree, for the most part, is a well-behaved, half-involved class participant.  On Tuesday and Wednesday mornings I try to keep us at home to clean and play (but I will admit that we have had doctor appointments, errands, and other things that have taken us out of the house).Thursday morning I have tried to take Bree to Toddler Time at the library.  And then Friday morning is zumba at church for me.  In the afternoons, we have a busy schedule for Kai.  He has scouts on Tuedays, piano lessons on Wednesdays, and Thursdays are soccer.  I will admit that I am counting down to the end of the soccer season so we can have a day back to ourselves.  Just three more weeks of soccer!

When Finn goes to school in the afternoons, I have one-on-one time with Bree.  She is taking naps about every-other day, sometimes less frequently.  It kind of depends on what happens the night before.  She has started having 12 hour nights and that makes naps harder.

This is how she came to dinner one night!

Feeding the ducks at the library

"Picnic" lunches.  This is the only way I can get Finn to eat sometimes.

The day after school started, Finn didn't have school because kindergarteners split in half and go one day and then the other half goes the next day just as an "orientation" of types to Kindergarten.  I took this picture because I realized it would be the last day Finn would ride his bike down to the bus stop with us.  Now we are walking by ourselves with me dragging his bike with us so he can ride it back.

We have one umbrella and the kids fight over it the minute we have a tiny sprinkle come down.  Isn't she a doll??!

This sweetheart fell asleep at the dinner table on a Sunday evening after insisting on "doing her homework".

I woke her up and she went right back to her "homework".

This is what Finn's little music class looks like.  He is doing really well and has learned a lot.  (In this picture he is beating on a tub with a spoon.)

Listening to his teacher to play rhythm bingo (she plays a rhythm and they have to figure out which one it is using half notes, quarter notes, and whole notes.  This week they added eighth notes.)

One of those appointment days.  Finn was tired and laying on the couch in the hospital lounge.

Another gastric emptying study.  It came back normal again.

While doing dishes and texting my SIL, Finn got himself into this position in our house.  Um...no!  Bree was trying to follow him!

Lunch one day was skipped in order to do leaf rubbings.

She loves apples (so does Finn) and she insisted on eating it like a big girl!  Finn tried this later and couldn't do it.

Helping me bake banana chocolate chip muffins

Bree drew a person all by herself.  She loves to draw and color.  She's actually good!

She also puts herself in time out several times a week.  If she gets upset she will say one of two things.  It is either, "I want to go night-night" or "I need time-out".  Ok, then.

Finn has soccer, too, but he only goes on Saturdays.

Kai is learning to tie shoes--finally!

She decided to water the plants and grass one day.

Jog-a-thon day was last week and Finn was nervous and wanted us to stay so Bree played in the sand pit at the track while we waited for Finn's class to come out.  And then she did the jog-a-thon with us.  She made it three laps around the track almost walking the whole way (I did carry her a bit here and there.)