Quick Updates

We seem to have entered the time of the year when things move faster than I can document.  Before anything else happens, I want to get a handful of events and pictures recorded.

First, it was foolish to wish that the snowstorm of a week and a half ago was the final one of the season.  Last Wednesday, April 18, Madison received about 7 inches of snow.

Seriously.

We didn't get quite that much at our house, but it was enough to feel like winter.  More people than I care to remember wished one another "Merry Christmas" on Thursday morning.

Just before the snow hit, however, I drove to the post office to pick up the five newest members of our family.  Meet "the chicks".

We have talked about getting chickens for years, but finally decided that this was the year to do it.  Our five girls are doing well so far (and have already grown since last week!).  We hope that they continue to be as fun and educational as they have already been.  At this point, they are primarily mom's responsibility, but at some point we hope to delegate portions of their care to the younger members of our family.

Thursday included routine dental check-ups for Kate and Ethan.  Nothing spectacular to report besides having zero cavities.

By Friday the weather had warmed up enough for the snow to melt, and Ethan and I to go for a hike across town.  We had an errand to run in Middleton so we decided to visit Pheasant Branch Conservancy to see the springs and take a hike up "the hill".

The spring was amazing to watch.

The weather and views were beautiful.

And I couldn't have asked for a better buddy for the adventure.

The weather has continued to warm up since the snow a week ago.  We managed to stay outside for long stretches of time over the weekend and into this week.  The soil even dried out enough and warmed up enough to allow me to plant peas, potatoes, onions, beets, and broccoli.  Now all they need is a little rain and we'll be off to the races with the garden!

Here are a few other noteworthy events ...

The girls attended the PTOs annual Sock Hop for the third year in a row.  They were thrilled to pull out some long socks, dress up a little, and run around/dance around for a few hours in the school gym.

Saturday morning Kate and I put in an hour's worth of work at the local community garden as part of the McFarland Community Service Day.  Our 4H club partners with the community garden so we opted to help out in this way.

Miss Kate, our cautious and reserved child, learned to play and sing Somewhere Over the Rainbow to share at last week's music sharing day at school.  She said she was so nervous that her hands were shaking at the start, but the idea had been all hers and she made it through with a smile on her face at the end of the day.

In addition, Kate read one of her poems on Tuesday night at the district's Open Mic Poetry Night at the library.  Apparently, her class in particular was very motivated to display and read their poems, with at least half of the girls in the class participating last night.  The evening provided a great opportunity for these kids to continue to stretch and grow.

On Thursday Anna and I will head across town to pick up her new glasses before traveling back to the therapy clinic.  Keep an eye out for her new look!

Inside and Outside

Our section of Wisconsin experienced a small taste of the massive winter storm that made its way through the plains and Great Lakes region this past weekend.  Although we didn't receive the record snowfalls of South Dakota (where Matt's parents got close to a foot of snow!) or Green Bay (where they received almost TWO feet of snow!), we had rain, ice, and/or snow Friday through Monday.

About a month ago, Ethan and I planted broccoli and lettuce seeds in the basement, where they have been languishing for the last week now.  The poor seedlings were able to get outside for some real sunshine a couple of days last week before it turned cold, but now they are confined to the basement for the foreseeable future.

With the crazy wet weather predicted over the weekend, I took advantage of the relative warmth and dry conditions on Wednesday and tilled up half of the garden.  My hope is that when the weather finally warms up, I won't have to wait an addition week or so for the soil to dry out enough to till before I can get out there to plant potatoes, onions, and broccoli.

Before the weather hit, the kids (and adults) in our house took full advantage of the opportunity to be outside.  I don't think any of them came indoors until dinnertime on either Wednesday or Thursday.  Here's a video of one of their modified driveway races from that afternoon.

On the worst of the weather days lately, the kids have still found plenty to do inside.  Everyone likes to take a picture or two of their favorite creations before taking apart and cleaning up a set of toys.  If this is all the motivation they need to willingly clean up, I'm okay with it :)

Here's a few of Anna's train set-ups she created on Friday and Saturday.

We picked up a Lokko Shape Set at our awesome local toy resale store recently and the kids (and adults) have loved playing with them.  Any kind of building set that offers an outlet for creative minds is usually a hit in our family.  We especially like the ones that provide endless opportunities for building, but don't require as much fine motor skills as are typical of a 10 year old.

Anna just usually likes to build for the sake of building.

Kate's creations often have a specific purpose in her imaginative story telling.

On Sunday, the weather cooperated enough to send the kids outdoors to play for awhile.  I LOVE the fact that Ethan can get himself completely ready to play outside in the snow now!

Anna's getting there, but she still needs a little help with the whole process.  However, she can (and is willing to) play outside in the snow independently finally!

Now, please, let the snow melt and spring finally arrive!  In the meantime, I'll continue to appreciate how I re-framed the last several days ... an opportunity to do some of the "spring cleaning" that hasn't been done here in years :)

The eyes, the teeth, and the brain

With nothing too remarkable going on with the family in general, I want to take this opportunity to provide a few updates regarding aspects of Anna's medical condition.

First, the eyes.  Anna's tear duct procedure occurred about six weeks ago; she had a follow-up appointment with the ophthalmologist last Thursday.  According to his observations, the surface of her right eye is about 100x better than it was prior to the procedure.  The surface of her left eye is about 50x better.  Good news!  (He doesn't have an explanation for why one is better than the other.)

From our observations, we have noticed that *sometimes* Anna's left eye appears in alignment, like her brain and muscles are trying really hard to do what they were intended to do (and did successfully for more than 6 years).  The ophthalmologist is encouraged by this observation and we are still hopeful that one of these days, everything will just click and Anna's eyes will once again work together.  Most likely, though, she will always have some double vision, especially if she is tired or fatigued.

Even though the surface of Anna's eyes has healed, she still wasn't identifying the letters on the chart very successfully at the appointment.  Since we have the relationship and comfort level we do with our ophthalmologist (after ALL of the times we have seen him in the last year), I asked the million dollar question.  "So, how do you know if Anna's inability to see clearly is due to the surface of the eye, the cataracts, or near-sightedness?"

I got a more thorough answer than I will share here, but the bottom line is that Anna is now nearsighted, just like her momma became when she was about 10 years old.  Anna will soon be the owner of a pair of glasses that have a prescription more typical of a pre-teen girl.  I'm SO glad I asked the million dollar question :)

On to the teeth.  Anna had a dentist appointment about a month ago.  The good news is that she still has no cavities (miraculously) and the hygienist was able to successfully seal her first set of permanent molars.  The surprising news was that Anna's baby molars are merely shells covering the adult teeth.  Actually, a few of those molars have become so thin that they have broken up and fallen out in pieces.

At the appointment, we learned that although the front baby teeth can literally fall out on their own without much active wiggling, these molars require a bit of work in order for them to come out.  Can you imagine an orally sensitive child with poor muscle tone and coordination voluntarily wiggling those teeth?  Me, either.  Now we have another dentist appointment set up during which Anna will be having anywhere from 6 to 8 teeth pulled.

Both the hygienist and the dentist were shocked when they saw just how many shells were left in Anna's mouth.  Both asked, "Doesn't that hurt or bother you?!?"  Of course Anna said no, but maybe, just maybe, once these baby teeth are out of her mouth, her chewing skills will improve even more and she will become a more efficient eater.  We can always hope.

Finally the brain ... Anna is in major testing mode right now.  Not only are all of the students at her school currently participating in the WI State Forward Exam, but she also had her neuropsychological testing on Monday.  Since her class was beginning the state test on Monday, Anna took the first round of her tests on Friday at school.  Then she was actively having her cognitive processes tested for between 5 1/2 and 6 hours on Monday (with breaks, of course).  Now she will join her peers for the next few days of continued state testing.  This kid's brain is going to be tired by the end of the week.

We have an appointment in May to discuss the results of the neuro-pysch testing.  We aren't expecting too many surprises, but I'm sure I will still need to prep myself mentally.  It can still be difficult to receive the information telling us all of the ways Anna's brain is not typical.

And finally, please, please, please come soon spring!  We're tired of the April snow and continued cold temperatures!

Happy Easter!

After a couple of relatively relaxing days at home on Thursday and Friday, we packed up again and headed north on Saturday morning to celebrate Easter with my parents.  This time our traveling went smoothly, even though the Augusta area received several inches on snow on Friday night and then plenty more on Tuesday.

The news of the weekend was that it was too cold for the maple sap to be running (at the beginning of April!).  We found plenty of "sapsicles", though.

 
In spite of the cold, we were able to participate in a day of cooking down the sap to make syrup.  (translation ... Grandpa did the cooking while the rest of us had ice cream with fresh maple syrup ...). Some of the family, though, helped split some more firewood for the sugar shack.

Our traditional syrup season trip still included gator rides, walking in the woods, and playing plenty of games.

Matt and Anna even built an epic block castle one afternoon.

Sunday morning we worshiped with my parents in Eau Claire and came back to a delicious brunch.  Matt and I decided that we won't need to eat for most of the week after all of the pampering we received over the weekend :)

The kids didn't have school on Monday so we puttered around in the morning that day playing a little bit longer before leaving for home.

 
Kate and I even managed one more trek through the woods that morning.

Now we are down to one last quarter of the school year, for better or for worse!