Thanks AG!

The Princess doesn't like her hearing aids. There was a time, when she was really little, that she loved them. She was about 4 years old. She had purple aids with bright pink, glitter molds. She would show them to anyone who looked in her general direction and loved drawing any sort of attention she could get from them. Fast-forward 4 years. She is no longer a fan. The aids are now an "inconvenience" which often get forgotten in the box, left in a pocket or taken out for any number of excuses. The molds are now blue and gold swirl, to match the school uniform, but it's not enough to keep them palatable. She doesn't like to wear them. When I was swooning to the audiologist four years ago about the the Princesses love for her aids and how well she did wearing them, I was told it wouldn't last. I was told the phase of rejection would come. It comes with every hearing impaired kid. See the Princess can still hear without her aids. Her world does not go into stone cold silence once her hearing aids are out. She just can not hear as well without them. She is unable to distinguish words and phrases, but she can hear that someone is making noises with their voice. She is an incredible lip reader, but turn your head away, and she'll not be able to catch a word of what you're saying to her.

It's hard to make hearing aids cool to the Princess now. I guess the newness and the novelty they had when she was 4 has long since worn off. She's much more interested in "being like everyone else" than seeing the benefit in a tool that makes her life easier and better as a whole. So we were grateful to find out that American Girl had come up with hearing aids for their dolls, I knew this was something we had to do for the Princess and her doll, Rose. On a recent trip to NYC, we took Rose to the American Girl Doll Hospital and she was fitted with bilateral hearing aids... and, at least for now, the Princess is embracing them, once again.

2012 - The Holidays...

I haven't been great at blogging this holiday season. I have no 'real' excuse. I could give the canned answers... "I've been busy... caught up in the rush!" but the truth is, I really just haven't really felt much like blogging. And after the events of last Friday, I don't feel much like celebrating the holidays the holidays either. I wanted to take my kids, wrap them in bubble wrap, crawl into a hole and hide... and hold them and just be. But then I woke up. I woke up and realized something... Jesus is coming... in just a few days, Jesus, who takes away the sins of the world is coming... we must prepare for Him.

So, I think I think I need to wake up. Snap out of it. Come around and remember that THIS is what it is all about...

Today was the Pope's class party. His teacher said it was the BEST class party a parent (or rather parents) had ever thrown in her class... I'm glad. I think I needed to hear that. We did a book, craft, snack and live music thanks to Mike... It was a fun time. Happy Holidays.

Happy Birthday Pope!

First Sunday of Advent

What is "Christmas"?

I asked my 8-year-old, "What is Christmas?" her answer was profound, yet predictable. She's been enrolled in Catholic school since kindergarten... "Christmas is Jesus' birthday. " She replied. "God sent his only son, the infant Jesus, to save the world on December 25th. We remember and we celebrate! We give gifts to remember that Jesus was our gift from God!" The answer almost sounds canned, but my little girl believes, body and soul, and so do we.

I grew up much differnet. I grew up in the land of "secular Christmas". It was a holiday, when "Santa Claus" brought gifts to children who were good all year. When I was 8 years old, it didn't involve going to Church. We tried to sleep until the wee hours of the morning. We woke too early. Our parents allowed us to rifle though gifts that the elusive fat man brought us in the middle of the night. We ate a big breakfast. We spent the day playing, napping, eating... There was really no mention of Jesus, God, the real meaning behind the day.

I love the story of St. Nicholas. I think it ties nicely into Christmas traditions. I also think it's very sad that many children in the US grow up not knowing, or not really understanding, that Christmas, at it's roots, is a birthday party... it marks the birth of Jesus. As cleche as the bumper sticker "Keep Christ in Chistmas" is, I think it's a true reminder to all of us. Before we get cosumed by trees, lights, gifts and Santa, let's take a moment to remember what this season is really all about.

We're linked to Parents.com

Found out today that the blog has been linked to Parents.com for a snippet I gave on the toy that Pope modeled for Toys R Us. How very exciting!

We've been busy with school, dance and swimming. Soccer and cheer has concluded and it's not been too soon for me! I always feel like we're going, going, going...

We are looking forward to Thanksgiving on Thursday and we'll have a relatively small crowd this year as my parents and Mike's father will be joining the 4 of us. I still envy folks who have big family gatherings for Thanksgiving. I hear about the 30 or 40 relatives all getting together at one place! Must be marvelous!

How about you? What are your plans for Thanksgiving?

Hurricane Sandy

By now you've all heard about it. Hurricane Sandy made landfall Monday in Atlantic City, NJ barely 50 miles from where we live. When you consider how huge the storm actually was, that's WAY too CLOSE! Remarkably, we survived unscaved. Thanks always to God, our protector. Our hearts go out to the many families, many of whom we know personally, who were affected by the storm. 

A satallite photo of Hurricane Sandy as it barreled towards the East Coast on Monday.

Damage in the neighborhood.

A before and after of the fun pier in Seaside Heights... the once popular rollercoaster was tossed into the ocean.

We want to thank our family and friends for your love and support in the wake of this natural disaster. Again, I assure you, we are fine... everyone is safe and alive and that's all that really matters.

Another super-busy weekend

Our weekends have been manic. Absolutely chokful of activites and this past weekend was no acception. It started off with another dance performance at another local Fall festival on Saturday morning. The Princess did an amazing job! The we ran over to the parish church for altar server class. It's something the Princess has wanted to do forever, but requires the first holy communion first. Many parishes do not take servers until 5th or 6th grade, but our parish priest invited the Princess as a 3rd grader... quite an honor! After class we all went back to the festival. We napped in the afternoon, so as to get ready for the Pope's big soccer game "under the lights!" He had a blast, and so did we! It was fun to see him so excited.

The Pope shoots on the goal!

Under the lights!



All my besties at soccer!

Sunday, we went to Mass, dropped the Princess off to cheer at her midgit football game and then I went a Coach(tm) Bag Bingo. I didn't win a bag, but I had a great afternoon with my girlfrinds. 

Sorry we haven't been blogging...

Things around here have been CRAZY busy! Non-stop action, but (mostly) fun stuff! The princess had her, first ever, performance with her dance troupe! There was trouble with the stage, but they danced in front of the fire station, for a large crowd, so it all worked out!

All Saints Day preview

White Cane Photos

The Pope upon introduction to his first white cane.

Walking the boards at the lake, summer 2012.

At a Christmas party 2011

Another Christmas party 2011... so handsome!

Early Spring 2012... a new and improved cane that folds!

Summer 2012 at the State Fair. He's very sensitive to bright light now.

Summer 2011... he hadn't had his cataract surgery yet. No glasses. But we still began working with the cane.

I like this one... confidently navigating the stairs of the train station.

Running down Station Avenue on a crisp fall day 2011.

Another Fall Game Day!

Ack! I hate to admit it, but I love the Pope's "Challenger League Soccer" more that the Princess's regular cheer schedule. Sorry Princess... I'm over it. You're boys (the football players, mind you) are so, well, average. It's little kids playing regular "Midgit Football". Great. And you, Princess... you're a star in my book! THAT will never change. But two dozen of you, screaming the same cheers... It gets old. Sorry, girl. I love you, I respect you... you are always a winner! But these days, Challenger Soccer is where it's at! I'm captivated! Moved to root on the "Big Green!" Moved to shout! Moved to tears! Moved to participate! 

Honestly, in comparison, life is going to be much easier for the Princess... She's going to excel in school... She'll get into a good University, whether she's a cheerleader or not... She'll get a good job... meet people, go far. For the Pope, things are not so clear. He's got his work cut out. There is discrimination against people with disabilities, at ALL levels... he'll have to work a lot harder and everything he does. So for now, I hope he just enjoys being a kid.

Our week in review...

Be gone, black cloud...

It all started last Tuesday. I had to be out of the house extra early for a meeting at the office. I normally see the Princess and the Pope before I leave, but last Tuesday, I did not. When I came home from work, the Pope was sitting at the kitchen table, eating a snack...everything seemed normal sans one thing, he didn't have his prosthetic eye in! $#^%! So began the search. We looked in his room, in his bed, under furniture... we called the teacher, called the bus company. His teacher was pretty sure he did not have it in when he arrived at school on Tuesday, so the window of when and where he lost it was limited to the house and the bus. We searched the bus... nothing. We looked for days... I looked everywhere, even checking the vacuum bag, in case the vacuum swallowed it, and the Pope's, um... excrements, in case he swallowed it. Equally as fun as it sounds! And of course, we prayed to St. Anthony, who is likely on a first-name basis with me by now. I can imagine him sitting in heaven, rolling his eye saying, "What it is this time, Faye?"  By Sunday, they eye was located, neatly place on a folded quilt in the Pope's closet. I have no idea how it got there, or how we missed it initially. I can only thank God and St. Anthony!

But while finding the eye on Sunday was a blessing, the hits kept coming. The drivers side door handle broke free from my car. Not a show stopper, but certainly a major inconvenience now that I have to open the back door and reach as far as I can to open the driver's side door from the inside! We called the dealership. The part should be in, painted and ready to install some time next week. Lucky me.

So yesterday morning, I woke late and needed to take an early conference call from home. I jumped in the shower to discover we had NO hot water! Apparently the valve on our whole house humidifier leaked on to the hot water heater, dripping all night long, and making the entire gas heating mechanism wet. Mike called the gas company. The service agent showed up while I was on the conference call, at the same time as our contractor who was coming out to fix our stockade fence which had been blown down in a recent storm. Oh, and if that wasn't enough activity (while I'm still trying to take my conference call) our landscaper arrived to cut the grass and discuss a fall "clean-up". So much for the conference call. 

When it rains, it pours. I have since come down with a nasty cold. My energy level is very low and I have a birthday party to throw for the Princess tomorrow. Sunday the Pope has soccer and I am scheduled to work the concession stand at the Princess's home football game. These are all activities I enjoy... when I'm well, at least.

We are down, but we are certainly not out. I just keep telling myself, "keep going... tomorrow will be better..." What else can you do? 

Sickness

Haven't posted all week because the sickness found the Pope... again. He came home from preschool last week with 104.5^ F fever, and it lasted for the next 4 days. He quit eating, was having trouble drinking and just overall feeling puny. He would just ask to go to bed and stay there.  He's now on the mend, but it was a worrisome time. He missed soccer yesterday as I simply wanted him to rest so he would be fresh to go back to school today.

I plan to have more to post later this week, and get back to the Friday Favorites post. I just haven't had the energy...

Blind Kids CAN!

Today was the first day of Challenger Soccer. I'm proud of how well the Pope did... It's his first attempt ever at organized sports. He put out a great effort for his team... The Big Green! Good luck kids! Have a wonderful season!

The Pope works hard. It's not an easy game.

Getting the hang of it!

Uniform #1... certainly #1 in our book!

Challenger Soccer has lots of volunteer buddies and coaches... Here's the Pope practicing with 2 of his buddies!

The teams are mixed... So this year, the Pope is the smallest kid on the "Big Green" team.

Can you feel the concentration?

Sometimes, the ball makes a good seat for a rest... even in the middle of the field!

He just loved it!

And just so you didn't think we forgot the Princess, her first game was today too! Go Garnets!

Friday Favorites

I love a good museum, and fortunately, where we live, the area is chok-full of them! Just before school started this week, we took a last minute, rainy day get-away to the NJ Discovery Museum. It's close, obviously kid-friendly and a lot of fun.

The Princess and our friend's daughter try to make a giant bubble.

The Pope give Flyers floor hockey a try!

The Pope and our friend's son check out the science room!

Playing pretend in the castle.

There are lots of really great museums and kid-friendly attractions in the Philadelphia area. For more information you can click here : Kid Friendly Philly... Remember to have fun!

First day of third and pre-k

Friday Favorites

It's been a busy week! The kids are starting school and getting ready for new activities. The Princess is dancing and Cheering for Garnet Youth Football, as she has done in the past. The Pope will continue his swim program. We have also decided to add Challenger Soccer this fall. It seemed simple enough. One day a week, kids with special needs get together to play soccer... for fun. It's in a list of Challenger sports which include baseball... something we will try this Spring. But this fall, it's all about Challenger Soccer. The biggest challenge with soccer was finding the required "equipment". The Pope is a tiny guy, so we needed to find size "extra-extra small"... Yes, in the world of soccer, this size exists, just not every sporting good store carries it. Fortuantely, after some negotiations, I was able to find shin guards, socks and shorts, appropriate for a budding athlete. We were also talked into the pee-wee, size 3, soccer ball. Apparently there are 3 different sizes depending on the level of play. Who knew? 

Soccer? I got this...

Has anyone seen the ball? (I had to help him find it... I figured the bright yellow would be enough contrast... hmmm... maybe I should have gone with hot pink?



He shoots, he scores!

So my Friday favorite is Challenger Sports. I'm really kind of new to the whole concept. I thought there was only Challenger Little League Baseball until we were informed about the Challenger soccer program at our local club. I suspect there might be more programs out there. If you do have a child with special needs and don't have a Challenger soccer program near you, check out Special Olympics. They have a wonderful soccer program as well! So get out there... play... and most of all, have FUN!