What Happened To February & March?

I realize that I haven't written anything since January! Has life really been that busy? Honestly February is a blur. Reid turned 6 on the 5th of February. We also celebrated Valentines Day. Not that V-Day is unique to only us, but I had to mention it. This was the first year both of the boys made us cards on their own. It is so nice to know that, for now, both of our boys still love us! Both of the boys also had celebrations in their classrooms. Although, they no longer have Valentine Day parties in school. They now have "Friendship Day" parties. Oddly enough, the party is held on, or close to, Valentines Day and the kids exchange "Friendship" cards. Ok, if it looks like a valentine, reads like a valentine and is in February.....IT'S VALENTINE'S DAY/PARTY! James and I also got to go out to dinner thanks to Wendy. Thanks for watching the kids Wendy! We actually had time to ourselves! We almost forgot what that was like! So, who wants to watch the kids next.... any takers? Yeah, didn't think so. Hayden also started vision therapy in February. So far he has been doing very well with it. When he began the therapy, his eye dr. changed the Rx in his glasses drastically. I was very worried he wouldn't be able to see. The strength of his lenses was decreased and his bi-focal was cut by over half. Thankfully, when he received his new glasses he was amazed at how much better he could see. Amen! The vision therapy is now helping him to strengthen his eye muscles, and will help him with depth perception as well as hand-eye coordination. Now onto March....... Actually, March entered on a sad note. My Aunt Janet passed away March 3rd after a lengthy battle with lung cancer. I'm thankful she is free; however, she was one of those people I thought would be around forever. She was the matriarch of the Dressel family. She worried about, and cared for, everyone. All news seemed to travel through her. Her death leaves a huge hole in our family. Now what? Where do we go from here? One thing is certain, I will miss her always. On March 14th, Hayden had another appointment to Hershey Medical Center. He received a steroid injection into his right knee joint. He did fantastic! It hurt, but he did a great job holding still and keeping it all together. Hopefully the long acting steroid will decrease the fluid in his joint and therefore decrease the swelling in his knee. The shot should last between 6-12 months. However, there is a chance the fluid may never return. His next visit is scheduled for May 9th, so until then, we'll keep praying! Both Hayden and Reid begin their spring sports this weekend. Hayden will be playing soccer again. His games are 2-3 each Sunday. Reid has decided to trade soccer for football. So his games will be every Saturday from 1-2. Feel free to give me a call and I'll give you more info. They both have games every weekend through mid-May. Well, it is now 9:53pm. Ella is in her bed crying and Hayden is yelling "Mom, Mom, Mom" non-stop. At least one of them is quiet! God Bless ya'll till next time!

Reid's Musical Performance

Last evening Reid had his Kindergarten musical performance. Four of the eight Kindergarten classes came together to sing songs of peace. He did a great job. His lips were moving during the songs, and he yawned and chatted with friends at each break in the music. That would be typical Reid. It was fun to see Reid being the focus of our family's attention. For years we have watched Hayden's performances, it was nice and somewhat bitter-sweet seeing Reid upfront with all of his friends, teachers and classmates. Our baby boy is growing up. As an update for those who may be concerned, James' blood tests came back normal, and his heart monitor showed nothing abnormal. He has a follow-up appointment scheduled for 2/4. The dizzy spells have stopped and he has been feeling much better. Perhaps it was a virus?! Hopefully we will find out more later.

We're Back!

Wow! It has been quite awhile since my last posting. Thankfully our computer is back up and running, so here is our latest news. Christmas was great and very drama free. Hooray! As usual, we spent New Year's Eve at Wendy's. It has become an annual tradition to start the evening at Wendy's and then we walk up to the square in Red Lion to watch the cigar usher in the new year. Good food, family and fun it doesn't get any better than that! Now, since the first of the year, this Mama feels as if she has been on an emotional roller coaster. At Hayden's yearly eye exam we found out his left eye is turning out again. His vision hasn't changed, but the muscle in his eye is weakening. He has been referred to a vision therapist and will have his first appointment on Feb. 11. Hayden also received a firm diagnosis of juvenile rheumatoid arthritis from Dr. Bingham at Hershey Medical Center. He is currently on an anti-inflammatory to help decrease the swelling in his knee and is scheduled to return to Hershey in March. Reid is still plugging away in school. He has made much improvement and continues to love going to school. We will have a meeting with his teacher in May to discuss whether first grade should be considered. James has been having random dizzy spells. He has been to the doctor twice. They have run blood tests, an EKG and strapped him to a heart monitor for 24 hours. Thankfully all the tests have come back normal. If you ask me the boy needs to learn to eat better and stop eating processed crap from truck stops and convenience stores. He needs to come to terms with being 41 not 21! Not that I would have an opinion and not that James would listen if I had one! Ha! At least Ella and I are holding it together. Well the boys will be coming home in minutes. Love you all, take care!

Update

Our fish survived! Other than the loss of Mr. Jack Sparrow sucker-fish, all of our fish have survived! Now, the train under the Christmas tree is another issue. It has been derailed for over a week, and no one seem to care. Personally, I am very gratefull. I was begining to get tired of yelling, "Who left the bathroom water on!" Anyone who has heard the train running would understand. Today's life lesson: Before becoming totally amused by the little person working across the street, make sure it isn't just a man standing in a hole!

The Great Debate

This morning while getting ready for school, Reid and Hayden began to argue. Honestly this is nothing new;however, instead of the usual screaming, they were actually debating an issue! I asked what they were fighting about and Hayden yelled, "Reid said the Crocodile Hunter isn't dead!" Reid instantly turned around, with a straight and very serious face and said, "Him not dead! Him was saved by a whale and is helping monkeys in Alaska!" I love the inside of that boys head! Now you may be wondering why they are debating this now. Well, my boys, like most around the world, were deeply saddened by the death of the Crocodile Hunter. Now Bindy, his only daughter, has her own show. This show, Bindy the Jungle Girl, has clips of her father. Talk about confusing, he's gone but he's not. I can understand Reid's thought process, but who knew there were monkeys in Alaska! I am not going to be the one to burst a bubble like that!

Ok, how can you even begin to lable this!

I love my life, I love my life, I love my life...... There are moments when this mantra needs to be repeated constantly. For example, last evening Ella decided to feed the fish. Not only does she know she is not allowed near the tank, she has been told repeatedly to NEVER open the tank. Well, apparently last evening her need to help surpassed her need to listen. Her "helping" resulted in the entire can of food being dumped into the aquarium! A new, full can of food dumped into the tank! So far all but one of the fish have survived. Reid's beloved "sucker fish", named Jack Sparrow, was the only casualty. I suppose the soggy blanket of food, which instantly covered the bottom of the tank, proved to be too much for the little guy. Reid has been very upset and has therefore waged a mini war on Ella. (Nothing new there.) Anyone looking through our kitchen window would have enjoyed watching James and I gagging as we cleaned food and insanely stinky water out of the tank. Hopefully we will have no further deaths as our fish continue to go through "food detox" . Oh, but wait there is more! Not only did we have the fish tank to deal with, we also had Sheldon. Remarkably Sheldon has been very quiet. As many know, each fall Sheldon (our 7 year old Border Collie mix) becomes ill. Thankfully this year he managed to stay away from the nasty Locust leaves and therefore remained healthy. Great! Well it's been great until today! Sheldon, when left out this afternoon, stepped in his own "business" and then tracked it through the house! Thankfully it was only on the laminate and NOT on the carpet! By all means everyone, come visit. Who wouldn't want to visit a house full of sh*t and dying fish in rank water! How yummy! Again....I love my life, I love my life, I LOVE MY LIFE!

Letters to Santa

Now that Hayden is 8 he is beginning to question Santa's existence. Our house is covered with rough drafts that read like this:
Dear Santa,
I am having trouble figuring out if you are real or not. Love, Hayden.
Well today, after the boys left for school, I found a letter written and decorated by Hayden. He drew a large Santa head and a sleigh with reindeer at the bottom of the page. At the top he wrote the following:
Dear Santa,
All I want for Christmas is for Reid and Ella to have fun. Love, Hayden.
How awesome and wise is that! I love that boy!