Something to Crow About

Crazy hat day.

2017-02-15T15:50:00.001-08:00

Tomorrow is crazy hat day. Darren I just made this together. It's amazing what an old hat, crayons, glue, and a piece of paper can do!! This was all his idea. He did the coloring in through the eyes of the nostrils. Really, my only role was running the hot glue gun. I love his creativity!

2nd tooth

2017-02-11T14:50:00.003-08:00

Darren lost his second tooth, right next to the first one he lost, today during school. It happened during lunch while he was eating some cantaloupe. He said it didn't hurt, but it did bleed a little bit and that scared him. He went to the nurse and she gave him a necklace. The chain was red ribbon and on it held a plastic to the container. She put his little too thin side. How sweet. Darren left the container under his pillow and in the morning he got a toothbrush and some quarters from the tooth fairy.

First Valentines: school style

2017-02-11T14:50:00.001-08:00

This afternoon we finished all of Darren's valentines for school. We ended up doing 10 more for the students in the other class. I bought more stickers, and Delia had a great time helping her brother decorate the containers.

100th day of school

2017-02-01T03:50:00.000-08:00

Today marks the one hundredth day of school for students in Colebrook. Tarren celebrated with his class. Each student was asked to bring in 100 items. Together, Darren and I created a monster. It was fun to draw together. Darren is a great artist. He did the coloring and directed me to add different doodads on the creature, like fangs crazy arms, and more. We decorated the creatures body with 100 jiggly eyes.

First tooth

2017-01-30T16:41:00.001-08:00

Darren lost his first tooth today. It's been wiggly since the end of December. He came home from school and the tooth was gone, and he couldn't remember at all what happened to it. Did you swallow it? No. Did you lose it? No. Do you remember when it fell out? No. Before bed we wrote a letter to the tooth fairy explaining the situation and he is going to leave it under his pillow for her. He said he didn't know if it fell out during the night or sometime during the school. He said he didn't feel it fall out or see it fall out. He wondered if it was on the floor somewhere. So funny!

Making the most of a snow day

2017-01-24T11:39:00.001-08:00

I couldn't believe it. I was out of the shower--blowing drying my hair and helping Darren brush his teeth. Delia stayed home with me, sick, yesterday so I planned to keep her home one more day to rest up some more. Daddy was going to stay with her. All of a sudden, Daddy called up to me to say my phone was ringing. It was school. Odd. Daddy said, "you probably have a snow day. The drive way is an ice rink." Hah! Fat chance. Snow day? That's like a nonsense idea up here. Snow days never happen.

I looked at my phone and there was a missed call from Colebrook Elementary, Darren's school too. Could it be so? Indeed it was! Both my school and Darren's were cancelled.

Darren was excited. He thought he made it happen because he had been begging to stay home with Delia. Oh the wonderous elements of a snow day. Even though I have a lot of work to do to prepare for the new semester tomorrow, I want the kids to love and wish for snow days like all children do, so a fun day we had.

We put puzzles together.
We built farms (set in Canada according to Darren) with Lincoln Logs.
We filled our farms with animals (this was primarily Delia's task).
We played memory games.
We ate snacks.
We played outside and slid off from a tall icy mound of snow created by Daddy's plowing.
We chased Copper who either stole our mittens or ran off across the road and up the hill on a scent trail.
We rested in bed and read books.
We filled the bird feeders.
We made home made playdoh.
We created Darren's valentine's for his class.
We fed, drank, burped and read to babies (those are Delia's words).

While Delia napped, Darren and I finished up his Valentine's. I decided I wanted to try to do something homemade, and I didn't want food to be involved. After making the play-doh this morning, I decided to double the batch and use that for a Valentine. Darren loved the idea. We added red food coloring and glitter to the doh. It looks awesome. I was trying to be witty with the saying for the card part. I thought something like you are a-doh-able would be cute, but he didn't feel it. Instead, he said why don't we just say let's play dough together!! Brilliant. Simple and cute. And his classmates will understand it. I made up a card on the computer. He wanted me to find a road runner picture, which I couldn't find, but used a cute clip art monster instead. Darren wrote his name and cut all the cards (printed on card stock) out and helped. He approved the look before I printed. I think we've got a good thing here. I ordered some small plastic containers. We can tie the cards with ribbon to them. Perfect!

Snowshoeing in the Colebrook Town Forest

2017-01-21T13:31:00.000-08:00

Today was the 2nd Saturday in a row that we went out snowshoeing with a group. Jon and Amber Dodge are leading these trips. We've been heading out from the Wood Dump at 4:30 so, after an hour+, we're getting back to our vehicles by wearing head lamps. Darren is having a total blast. Last week he was right up front, racing to pass people if he ever had to lag behind (like to get a drink of water from me). Delia is in it for the ride. Literally. Last week Daddy carried her the whole time and she chattered in his ear. Today she started out on snowshoes but before we were even in the woods, she was in the back pack. It wasn't long after that she was asleep. I laugh when I hear her talk about how much she loves snowshoeing because really she gets carried or naps.

Paint & sip...children's version

2017-01-15T13:52:00.000-08:00

I've been hearing about these paint & sip events for a while now. Auntie Pam has gone to a couple. She made GG a beautiful painting of a deer that's hanging up at camp. There's a studio in Littleton called AnnaBelle's. Today they had an event for kids. I told Darren about it and he wanted to try it out. Daddy and I have discussed trying to do something 1:1 with each kid every month. We haven't really gotten into the swing of this yet, but it's a goal. Today was a great opportunity for me to spend time alone with Darren.

We left early enough to make a stop in Lancaster at McDonald's. Darren was disappointed that it wasn't one with slides and an inside playground, but he was glad to get a toy. Since he never really eats the food in a happy meal, other than the go-gurt, I told him about the fishwich--essentially a fish sandwich. That's what he ordered, and they were kind enough to throw in a toy. He loved it.

Down in Littleton we learned quickly that Darren would be the only boy painting. He wanted to paint all on his own so we decided to sit across from each other so we could visit and interact but not see each other's painting until the very end. This was such a fun element to the afternoon. Darren really got into the suspense of it all. While other moms all around us were telling their kids what to do and "fixing" their paintings, Darren and I had a great time just being silly and creating and embracing the experience.

AnnaBelle's had snacks and drinks for us so Darren munched on cookies and had a lollipop. The painting instructor kept giving me a thumbs up letting me know he was doing well and she was very complimentary of Darren's work.

Before we started, he challenged her a bit and questioned why he had to paint the same thing as her. In the end, he did paint what everyone else did, but he definitely made it his own!

Bye bye bunnies

2017-01-14T12:03:00.000-08:00

This morning I reached out to everyone I new by phone, email and messenger to find homes for our bunnies. Luck was on my side. The parents to one of Darren's former classmates from Canaan was looking for rabbits. The boys dad grew up raising rabbits and he just finished building a compound of cages for them.

We were quite a sight in the barn trying to catch those three lose black bunnies. I had them cornered several times just to have them race by me. Boy can they run. The babies are large enough now that they are hopping around and can be picked up. Darren, finally, went to check them out. To date, it's only been Delia and I. Nothing fazes her. Granted, their nest that the mother created does have a strong negative order to it, and Darren is super sensitive to smell. I just thought he would be curious about them. Most nights Delia goes into the barn with me to bring the bunnies vegetable scraps from school. While I'm feeding them and filling their water, she's squatted near the nest, poking the parts of the nest aside to check on their growth. As I work, she chatters and reports back to me on any changes she notices.

Anyway, today was a bitter sweet day. Delia was quite emotional that we were giving away our bunnies. I tried to reassure her that we'd get more when we had better cages for them. She and Darren kept picking up the babies, squealing when they were tickled, dropped them, and then repeated the process.

Ice Fishing on Diamond Pond

2017-01-07T13:28:00.000-08:00

We spent the morning, through lunch, on Diamond Pond at Todd and Melissa's camp. Daddy has had his ice shanty up there for the last two winters and we haven't fished yet. We didn't get it out on the pond today because it was too slushy, but we did make a few holes and put some tip ups out. The kids had a fun time sliding. They were able to slide from right outside the porch down a slope to where the dock normally is and then out onto the ice. Inside we were able to stay warm, snack and watch for flags. Unfortunately, we didn't get any.

Speech

2017-01-04T14:02:00.000-08:00

Today I attended a 504 meeting for Darren. He is going to start receiving speech services. My thought, as well as the professionals who will be supporting him, is that this will be short lived. There are a few sounds he's struggling to make, but areas that he had problems with even a year ago are improving.

New Year's in the woods

2017-01-01T03:28:00.000-08:00

Though we're not at 100%, Delia and I accompanied Daddy, Darren and Copper to Errol to see if Copper could find a bunny. We went out past Todd and Melissa's land and picked up some snowmobile trails. Delia and I hung back and were slower than the guys. She was inconsistently into the adventure, and I took her mood for what it was worth: tired, still a bit sick, youngster. She was a trooper though. She carried on until we met up with them and got super excited when, from a distance, we could hear Copper howling. That got her going again. I carried her in the pack all the way back. She sat up there bragging to Darren that she could get a ride and he couldn't; though in reality, he didn't care and wanted to be on the ground with the dog. I'm looking forward to more hours in the woods as a family with the dog on a strong bunny trail.

My Einstein

2016-12-28T04:16:00.000-08:00

A little carbon dioxide reaction produced not only lots of bubbles but huge smiles!

Darren got a book of science experiments for Christmas. Delia has been sick since yesterday--very sick. While I remade her bed (can't remember if it was urine or vomit this particular time) and put her back to sleep, he went through the book with sticky notes marking off all his favorite experiments, then he used star stickers to identify the ones he most wanted to try first.

After I got her to sleep, I came downstairs and he showed me the organization he did in the book. We both agreed that the fizzy fun would be easy to do first. We had all the ingredients. Darren remembered it being like experiments we saw on the harbor in Burlington over the summer, when the bubbles were so big Delia took her clothes off and ran threw them. What a memory he has, and for vivid details.

We used different size containers but the best one was an old water bottle. The addition of food coloring made the result 10 times cooler.

We also did an experiment focused on air pressure where we heated up water, poured it in a water bottle, and then placed a balloon on top. We surrounded the bottle with cold water and ice cubes and as the water cooled, the air pressure changed, the balloon did fantastic things. Darren recognized that the reaction sped up when he placed his cold hands (from handling the ice cubes) directly onto the sides of the bottle. Eventually, the balloon got sucked down into the bottle and then inflated a bit. So cool.

It was neat to see Darren make predictions and try things out. That's what science is all about, I told him. You have a question, a wondering, so you try something. If it works, great, if not, try again.

He really wanted to make recycled paper but I didn't have everything to do it. Instead, we made chalk/oil paper by grating chalk, mixing in oil, and then dropping it into water. Darren used a tooth pick to mix the colors together and into neat shapes. Then he gently put a piece of drawing paper onto the water. Very pretty outcome!

Christmas Crafts

2016-12-27T13:42:00.000-08:00

This morning, while still in our pjs, we got out some of the hands on Christmas gifts. Auntie Jenn and Uncle Nick gifted Darren a geologist kit. He kept calling himself a paleontologist so we had to study the different types of scientist who dig for things. In this kit, he was digging for gems. It took him a bit to create a strategy, but once he did, he was focused and didn't stop until he had every single gem out. There were 8 of them.

Delia got a craft that centered on gluing. I love that she does her own thing with activities like this. Even though there's an image to guide her, an example to follow, she made the products her own. She created a scare crow and a fish.

Sick girl

2016-12-27T03:31:00.000-08:00

She started strong this morning, but before lunch, this was where Delia ended up. Poor girl is so sick. She made a mess in the big recliner and while I was cleaning it, she laid on the living room floor and fell fast asleep. She stayed here for a while and Darren and I moved and played around her. She's not normally that deep of a sleeper. I think we're in for quite a week.

Operation

2016-12-26T04:29:00.000-08:00

Darren asked for the game Operation for Christmas. I thought he was too young for it, but he insisted that he's played it with the kids at Country Day School.

I actually purchased this one when he was with me. We were on our way back from visiting folks in Springfield. As soon as we were home, he asked to play it and I pretended that I put it back on the shelf. Oh boy was he mad at me.

I reminded him of this story when he opened the gift on Christmas. We laughed together.

This morning, with coffee and juice (for the kids) on hand, we played. It was quickly obvious that Darren's version of playing doesn't necessarily align with the rules. He didn't care how much he zapped or made the nose light red; he just got the item out. I think we're going to go through a lot of batteries.

Daddy and I, however, played for real. It was intense. He bragged that he does this careful work for a living so i had to rub it in BIG TIME when I beat him.

I shared that this would be a fun thing to start up again--couples game night. I'd even love to play a bunch of games and have some drinks at home for the New Year's. Let's see if he took the hint.

Crafts

2016-12-26T03:31:00.000-08:00

We started this morning with some of the crafts the kids were gifted from Auntie Jenn and Uncle Nick. Darren got this really neat kit that required he use small tools to chisel out gems. Darren kept calling himself a paleontologist. I taught him the difference between scientists who dig for bones versus rocks, etc. He is so into science. I love it. He is still saying he wants to be a veterinarian though. While he dug and chiseled and sawed and hammered, Delia did a gluing project. She made a scarecrow first and then this cute fish. She especially enjoyed coloring him. She is a very calm and patient colorer, way better than Darren was at her age. She tends to use the same color for everything, but she's careful and

XMas 2016

2016-12-25T02:55:00.000-08:00

We had Christmas at home. Daddy was on call so we couldn't be too far from the house. Luckily, he didn't have an outage at all today. The kids slept pretty late for them. Delia woke up first and didn't even remember it was Christmas. I had to tell her. When she understood what I was saying, she ran into Darren's room to wake him up. The first thing he did was run downstairs, open the door, and go outside to see if the reindeer ate their food. He was super excited and couldn't believe they nibbled the carrots. He told Grammy and Grandpa about it when they came too.

The kids opened their stockings and focused on those gifts until after 10 when Grammy, Grandpa, Auntie Jenn and Uncle Nick came. I love how easy to please our kids are. They really were pleased with their few stocking gifts. We played a game, and colored a lot. They love coloring. While we were coloring, Darren told me he enjoys it because it helps him to be calm. He told me he disliked coloring at Canaan because nothing was ever calm there. Oh, Darren my love. That solidified for me that Daddy and I made the right choice switching schools.

As a whole family, we enjoyed a variety of different snacks and appetizers. My contribution was chili and meatballs. We had dips and fruit and all kinds of munchies.

Delia loved her footed pjs. She put those on and wore them with a hat from Grammy and Grandpa most of the day. Her head must have been on fire, but she didn't seem to mind.

It was a simple loving day with family. Perfect.

Xmas Eve Time

2016-12-24T05:59:00.000-08:00

The girls had fun going through Grandmaman's old truck. The tried on vintage hats (that belonged to grandmaman's mother) and played with different purses and hand bags. Darren noticed the fun and asked if he could have a hat too so she found him one that had belonged to Pepe Tony. The hat is like 100 years old.

We were there in the morning for a brunch. We attended 4:30 Mass and Daddy got paged to go to work right as we were getting communion. Poor Delia still doens't understand that she isn't old enough for communion yet. What a scene we made with her begging for communion, Darren whining to play with one of her toys, and us trying to get our jackets to leave all at the same time.

With Steven gone, I brought the kids out for Chinese food. I don't know that we've ever eaten out there together. We ordered a big variety for leftovers and to bring some home for Daddy. One item was a Poo Poo Platter. Darren was fascinated by the little burner in the middle. He kept pretending to cook his chicken on a stick (which for some reason he was VERY into tonight) over the flame like the meat eater.

Back at home we changed into our pjs, put out magic reindeer food (including a carrott) and cookies for Santa. I then let the kids eat some cookies at the table in the living room while we watched polar express. It was a nice night, and to make it better, Daddy got home before the movie ended.

Once the kids were in bed, Daddy and I did our Santa duties and then shared a glass of champagne together.

Sugar Cookies for Santa

2016-12-23T08:25:00.000-08:00

Last night, before Auntie arrived, we made peanut butter cookies (with kisses on top) and sugar cookies that kids cut into shapes. This morning, we had her help decorating them. I saw a tip online of how to decorate: water down the icing and use paint brushes to paint on the color. We went to the store on Thursday and got all kinds of treats to adorn, and we were off. It was a huge success. The kids' cookies were gorgeous. Delia was very patient and focused. She used a lot of blue at first, but then her creative juices started flowing.

Vacation and Xmas Fun with Auntie

2016-12-23T05:09:00.000-08:00

We kept Auntie on her toes. She's starting to see how quickly energy and interest changes. This morning we made cookies (another post for that), then we played outside on the pond, shoveling an ice rink, playing hockey, building a snowman, and trying to keep Darren from crying when I played too rough. He can throw snow balls but I can't? Later we got into some dress up.

Oh, and how can I forget the spa day? Delia gave Auntie a arm and leg massage last night and this morning Darren gave her a pedicure. Auntie painted Delia's nails too.

Holidays With Auntie

2016-12-22T05:08:00.000-08:00

Tooth Emergency (or so I thought)

2016-12-22T04:34:00.000-08:00

This morning, sitting at the snack bar, Darren told me his tooth hurt. He said it was so bad he couldn't put the top and bottom teeth together. I looked inside and could see something like a tooth poking up through the back of one of his teeth on the bottom. Not knowing if it was a shard of tooth or something else, I made an appointment with the dentist.

I was embarrassed to learn that he is just going to lose a tooth. I couldn't believe it. I didn't think he was old enough yet. Exciting news. And Darren was awesome in the big dentist chair. He walked right in sharing all his theories for what likely was going on. I think he gave Dr. Bartlett a chuckle.

Caroling

2016-12-21T08:20:00.000-08:00

I think we will still be singing carols in June! I don't mind. What a joyful sound! Today Delia got to go caroling with some other kids from her school. She went around town and stopped at different places of business as well as the retirement communities. She had such fun and couldn't stop talking about it. Her favorite carols are Rudolph and Jingle Bells.

Imagination rules

2016-12-18T08:31:00.000-08:00

This super hero has been hanging around the house all day. No power? No problem. Imaginations rule!

Together, Delia and Darren also played Santa's sleigh: Delia would harness up Darren and sing "on Dasher, on Dancer..."