Wish List

Henry's wish list keeps changing. When he visited with Santa he told him he wanted a frog that blew bubbles for the bathtub. I had no idea what he was talking about, but Henry assured me that Santa has "all the toys." Later I found out it was from a Curious George video. Luckily, Henry is the type of kid that would be happy with anything.

Giving Thanks

Thanksgiving is my absolute favorite holiday. I think it is because it's relatively stress-free compared with Christmas and I get to hang out with my most favorite people in the world. It also happens to coincide with the most exciting time of football season.

My mom's cake. It's so pretty I had to take a picture.

Erik, my brother, and his family.

Chad and my cousins Jay & Blake Berry.

(I took a picture of my mom and dad too, but it didn't turn out. That's why you should always take two!)

This year Chad and I hosted. There were 13 of us and everybody brought something, so it wasn't too difficult to pull together. I am so thankful for many things this year, but most of all I am thankful that we were able to spend it with my parents. Both of them have battled cancer and other health issues this year. Here are some other things that I am thankful for:

1. Chad's thoughtfulness- He kept my nephew last weekend so Karin could pack her house and Erik and I could go to the Little Rock game child-free.
2. Henry's hug-ability - He is a sweet little angel.
3. Grandma's wisdom - She is 90 and has her ups and downs, but she has helped me tremendously in dealing with my mother's cancer.
4. My co-workers who always have my back.
   
5. Some of the most dedicated, creative students I have had in years.
6. My extended family and friends.
   
7. Arsaga's coffee, iPhones, Bobby Petrino, dark chocolate, a fire in the chimney, and two terrier mutts.
   

I Got A Rock

Chad and I took Henry to the square to trick-or-treat. But Henry, getting his information from watching It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, informed us that you are not supposed to trick-or-treat on the square. You have to "go to houses." Once we got there and he realized that other kids were there and he was able to get a bucket full of candy without walking very far, he decided it was alright. After that we walked to a neighborhood party and hit a few houses on the way back. So Henry got his wish (and didn't get any rocks!) That's his favorite line from Charlie Brown.

Razorback & Pippi Longstocking

Henry graduated from Occupational Therapy on Oct.26

This I have mixed feeling about. I'm so proud of Henry for all he has accomplished, but he has been going to therapy since he was 18 months old and he has learned so much there. Now he only has speech therapy 3x per week and at school one hour per week.

If you think about it, say a little prayer for my mom and dad. Both of them are dealing with tough medical situations right now. Mom is battling pancreatic cancer and has lost almost 50 pounds and my dad has been in the hospital for organ failure. It has been a rough October for us. The only good thing this October was (surprisingly!) my allergies. Usually October is my worst month, but I have been taking my bee pollen religiously since September and I think it has helped. 

First Week

Henry's first week of kindergarten was last week. Before school started I think he was dreading it a little; he kept saying he didn't want summer to end. But a few days before school started we really began talking it up...telling him he's smart, his teachers will love him, and his cousins will be there. He started to get pretty excited about going. His teacher is so enthusiastic and fun. She has this wild fire-red hair that sticks up all over and really embodies her personality. I'll bet she's tons of fun. We were so surprised to find an award in his backpack on Friday--Star of the Week. We are so proud of him for showing his good traits to the teacher on the first week. (From what he tells us, he has been in a little trouble this week.) That didn't last long. Anyway, here are a few pics from his first week.

Henry is Star of the Week on his first week!

Mrs. Mee reading a book.

A Note From Henry

We took Henry to the Washington County Fair on Thursday night. He saw the Ferris Wheel from 540 on Tuesday night, so we had to. I don't think Chad or I had been since high school. Henry's favorite ride was the caterpillar roller coaster. Too bad I look like I'm flipping everyone off in this picture.

On top of the Ferris Wheel

And this is a note that Henry wrote to me right after...you guessed it...he was put in timeout for refusing to turn his music down. I feel like I'm already living with a teenager.

Uncle One Feather

I was fortunate enough to have a friend, Brooke, that was married in Santa Barbara on July 16. Five high school friends and I attended. The only bad part was that it took me 15 hours to get there, which was a crazy mess. It started out bad as soon as I arrived at XNA around 5am. Any time you hear the check-in clerk say, "That's funny...I wonder why the computer won't check your bag through to Santa Barbara?" you know you're in trouble. Turns out my flight from Denver to LAX was cancelled before I even got on the first plane. Long story short, I decided to go to Denver and get on standby to LAX. When I got there, I learned that there was a hail storm that damaged 20 aircraft in Denver the night before. You can probably guess how long the customer service line in Denver was. There were 72 people on standby and only 15 got on the plane. I was number 10! But that only got me to LAX. I then waited on standby to Santa Barbara and didn't make it. Turns out that my hero and friend Susannah just happened to be at LAX and was renting a car at the airport at that very moment! So I ended up hitching a ride with them in a convertible Camaro on the weekend of "Carmeggedon" and driving up the PCH, which was beautiful and amazing. So it all turned out better than okay.

Brooke & Porter

The wedding was at a rose farm. A rose farm is exactly what it sound like: rows and rows of roses. The weather was nice and cool the whole time we were there. Fifties at night and 60s during the day. Santa Barbara would be a great spot for a family vacation. The hotels are just across the street from the beach. The beach is all public and it's a huge park. You can rent bikes and ride all along the bike paths, play beach volleyball, or just lay around. Along the beach is where we met this fella...

Sarah, Missy, One Feather & Me

He calls himself One Feather and you absolutely MUST enlarge this picture and look at all the baubles, curios, knickknacks, and trinkets he has on his van: Princess Leia, the Enterprise, Smurfs, and every McDonald's toy ever made. He says he "Lives on Love" (and tips, of course) and only pulls his van out of storage three months out of the year. Apparently he travels Europe at least part of the other nine months.

I See London, I See France

Chad, Henry and I came to Houston to visit my mom while she continues undergoing chemo and radiation at M.D. Anderson. She is having very few side effects--a little tired, some hair thinning, and some trouble with food because the pancreas helps with digestion. But she's feeling well enough to go out and see the sights of Houston with me, so I think that's great! Chad and Henry left on Sunday, but I'm still here until Friday.

Yesterday my mom had an appointment for some genetic testing. There are several genetic mutations that people are born with that can cause cancer. Because my mom does not fit the profile for pancreatic cancer, and because there is a ton of cancer on her side, there is a small chance that it could be genetic. This could be both good and bad. The good part is that the genetic type of cancer responds better to treatment, but that would obviously suck for all of her blood relatives. Two of the genes they are testing for are BRCA1 & BRCA2, which are the genes that can cause hereditary breast and ovarian cancer. These two genes can also increase your risk of pancreatic cancer to about 6%. She will have a blood test tomorrow and we will know the results in four weeks. The other genetic mutation they are looking for is Lynch Syndrome, which affects four different genes. Those with Lynch Syndrome have an 80% chance of developing colon cancer and a 60% chance of developing uterine cancer in their lifetime. Wouldn't that be awful? Let's hope it's not.

While Chad and Henry were here we visited the Houston Children's Museum. They have a Kidtropolis there, complete with banks to get money, a police force where they could get in the police car, a news station where they could sit and read the news off teleprompters, and a veterinarian's office where they could pretend to weigh the animals and give them shots. In the picture below Henry is checking out at the grocery store.


The next day we visited the Houston Aquarium. There was a train through a shark tunnel and a real white tiger there. (Not sure what a white tiger has to do with anything, but oh well...) There were also some rides outside--a ferris wheel and a carousel to name a few. Here Henry is looking quite sweaty in the Texas heat riding a seahorse. It has been a steady 98 degrees every single day here.


On Saturday we all went to Galveston to Stewart Beach. I've always been really against taking Henry to the beach because he can't swim yet. But he loved it. My mom's apartment has a pool, and Henry was in it almost every day he was here. He got pretty comfortable in the water. With his floaties on, he jumped off the side of the pool and went all the way under, and "swims" fairly well. So by the time we got to the beach, Henry was very experienced in the water. Glad we went and finally got Henry's first trip to the beach over with. It wasn't as scary as I had imagined. Certainly not for Henry anyway. Just mama's nerves to get over.


After Henry and Chad left, my mom and I visited the Medical Science and Health Museum. Don't know why, but they had a Star Wars exhibit there. They had so many cool props and costumes from all six movies--Darth Vader, stormtroopers, Luke's mechanical hand, all the models of all the ships, a Jawa, etc... They also had TV's set up next to the props that showed the scenes they were used in and explained how they did it. Here is my best pic: the landspeeder.

Disclaimer: THESE ARE NOT MY PANTIES!

Finally, we have a bit of a mystery here in Houston. While Chad was here, we did a few loads of laundry. (My mom has her own washer and dryer in her apartment.) Chad dutifully folded all the laundry and placed it on our bed. I noticed a pair of panties that were not mine, so I took them to my mom's room and put them on her bed. They were not hers! We are all puzzled.

5

Henry turned five on May 8--Mother's Day. We had a party at Boingo Bounce and since it was on Mother's Day, I wasn't sure anyone would show up. Isn't that every mother's fear? That nobody will show up for your child's party. Anyway, it couldn't have worked out better. We were only allowed to have 14 kids, and exactly 14 showed up. (I invited more than 14 kids, knowing that some would not be able to come.) It was Henry's first party with some of his school friends, so that was a pretty big deal. I'm also very thankful that my mom was able to be there. Her chemo treatments are going pretty well and she is feeling good on most days. Strange what your mind does when you learn bad news, but one of the first things I thought about when she got the diagnosis was Henry's party. So glad you could be there, Mom!

Speckled Frogs

Henry's school had a Mother's Day program. Unfortunately, the video camera gave out so I only got this one on video. I had to record "Sometimes Mom Says..." later on at home.

Sometimes Mom Says...

Sometimes Mom says, "Don't do this."
Somtimes Mom says, "Don't do that."
But she loves me, this I know
Why? Because she tells me so.
Sometimes Mom says, "Let's do this."
Sometimes Mom says, "Kiss, kiss, kiss."

Stormy Easter

Happy Easter! I obviously was not thinking about a photo opportunity with Easter basket in cute pastel colors when I dressed Henry for bed last night in red & black skulls & crossbones. Oh, well. Henry enjoyed his basket and proceeded to hide eggs all over the house today and make mama and papa hunt them. He also generously offered us his Easter candy; he really is a sweet little guy because he loves candy and rarely gets it at our house.



I know that April showers bring May flowers, but my goodness! We have received 10-12 inches of rain over the past few days, along with lightning, thunder, hail, and strong winds. I feel like Noah might pull up in his ark any minute to rescue us. It looks like we installed a swimming pool in our back yard. It has been fairly difficult to get any sleep over here this weekend. Henry has developed a complete terror of thunderstorms and Zetta, our dog, has always hated storms. She has found a new place to hide--Chad's laundry basket.



Big things have happened for Henry over the past few weeks. He has gone to the bathroom 5 or 6 times at school now! Here he is picking out a cupcake at Bliss.

The Hunt

Egg Hunt @ the Garretts

London, Henry, Karl & Kaden

Garrett has a bucket full of sticks, in addition to eggs.

Henry & Blair

Erik's Birthday Celebration & Egg Hunt

Happy Birthday!

Lots of eggs and very little competition!
That's the way Karl and Henry like it.

You will be shocked to learn that these two were in timeout
for climbing into a neighbor's truck bed.
Their little faces were so serious that it just had to be photographed.

Timeout Pros
(Looking very remorseful.)

Bells

My handbell group is ringing in church on Palm Sunday. The two hymns we are playing are Holy Holy Holy and Hosanna. If you click on the links and then click on the yellow bells you can hear the exact versions that we are playing. I wish I could be one of those people that doesn't get nervous about stuff like this, but I was completely terrified both times we have played in church. I have no problem at all speaking in public. In fact, I used to do the children's message at church all the time in front of hundreds of people, but playing music is something else indeed. I think my nerves come from the fact that most of the people in my group come from a music background. They include music majors, the two church organists, the assistant music director, members of the church choir, the director of the children's choir and one UofA student that just went to Vienna to see her favorite opera singer perform. Did I also mention that there are two junior high kids in my group that read music better that I do? I'm gonna have to study some over the next week.

Special Treat

Several weeks ago Henry had to move his bus off the "happy road" at school. From what I can figure out through Henry, he and Ava were chasing each other at school and when the teacher asked them to quit, they continued. He tells us this is the first time, and he only had to move to the yellow road and not the red one. So thus started a little stretch of time where Henry was making bad choices at home and also at therapy. He hasn't been the most cooperative little guy lately.

He is also quite stubborn, and combined with his bladder of steel, this makes for some difficult moments when we are out. Let me start by saying that Henry is completely potty trained. The problem is that he does not like foreign or unknown toilets. He is just fine at home, but he has yet to use the restroom at school. He just holds it, which is uncomfortable for him and uncomfortable for everyone around him to watch. (Autistic kids are notoriously hard to potty train. I read somewhere that they are more difficult to train than MR kids.) But today he went to the toilet at speech by himself! (He has been going to the same place for three years, so this was a long time coming!) This is the first time that he has ever gone to the toilet there without a parent. We were so excited that we took him to Orange Leaf on Dickson to celebrate. Yea Henry!



Now if we could just get him to go @ school. ;-)

Mom

One week ago today this beautiful lady was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Now the fight is on. I love you, Mom.

Record Snow

Snow day #8. We had a board game marathon today. What else can one do when one is stuck in the house all day? (Certainly not grade papers or clean out closets.) Walmart home office closed for the first time in history. Now that's some serious snow! The snowfall that occurred last night and continued today was a record for Arkansas: a record depth of 24 inches in Siloam Springs and a record 24 hour total of 18 inches here in Fayetteville.

Swing: not exactly a great winter day activity.

Take Pleasure

Take pleasure in the snow days--that's what I'm going to do. I loved sleeping in, sledding with my two guys until our fingers almost froze, baking banana muffins, playing board games... And I just got word that there will be another snow day tomorrow. Woo hoo! Here's to a long weekend!

How to Know if You're Boring

Being a teacher I feel like I have a pretty good grasp on this, but maybe not. I found that I am guilty of some of these. Especially the one about dreams.

video.aol.com/video/how-to-know-if-youre-boring/36028817320825088

In order to determine what my students already knew about the American Civil War, I gave a pretest on Monday. These are the questions and the answers I got:

Who fought in the war?
John F. Kennedy
Pilgrims
George Washington

What were they fighting about?
Independence from British

When was the Civil War?
2005-2009
1400s

Where did the fighting take place?
Asia
Europe

Tomorrow is the post-test. I'm looking forward to some less entertaining answers.

The Bounty

Happy little boys with toys:

My mom had just mentioned
that kids are not supposed to ride on the back...
I guess Henry understands this rule now.

Trampoline! Wow!