Speech Therapy

I'm gonna be doing a little "catch up" for a couple of weeks on this here blog, so stick with me.

During this past school year, Suz had a speech therapist come once every 1-2 weeks. Here she is:

She was a great gal, a young whippersnapper just starting fresh on the job. I have no doubt she has been scared from having children FOR LIFE due to her many, many hours spent at our house.

Speaking of our house, the appointments were AT MY HOUSE, which meant I had to (*cough*) CLEAN MY HOUSE. Not just every month or ten, but every. single. week. (or two).

!!!

And since the appointment was at 9:00 AM, our sweet gal saw my hair dried and "styled" approximately 1.2 times in the nine months she came.

I. totally. rock.

Anyway! This is about Suz!

She did well with our speech therapist. They were fast friends, as the Suz loves anyone who showers her with attention. And over the school year, we saw some improvements in her speech. I've become a fan of (free!) speech therapy, as our gal was able to give us several ideas for how to work with our girl in the off hours.

And for those of you who are wondering, no, we are not doing speech therapy next year. Suz tested not in the normal range, but in a range that is good enough to no longer qualify her for therapy. (That's both good and bad. But I'll go with the good.)

At the end of the year, the speech therapist said to me, AND I QUOTE, "Your daughter no longer needs speech therapy. What she needs most is the ability to sit still and focus."

OH, REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

SHOCKER.

So, the Tazmanian Suz and I have notes on ways to help her focus. I believe "strapped into a seat" came up in that final conversation.

Meanwhile.

It's been a little over a month since we've had therapy appointments, and my house fully reflects that. Just last night I was tidying up and sweeping the floors, and Campers hollered down to me, "What's goin' on, Mom? Is the Speech Therapist comin' tomorrow?"

Mmm-hmmm. That boy needs some speech therapy to help him BE QUIET.

Or as the Suz says, "Bee care-ut!"

The Dam School Tour

Been waiting a month or so to use that title.

Snicker, snicker, snicker.

Best part of this "field trip day" with the homeschool group was the drive there. Pa went with us on this educational tour to the dam, which, coincidentally, was located on "Dam Road."

What made the drive so glorious was that the GPS lady told me at least five times to "turn on the Dam Road," and well, Pa and I are easily amused.

Kids never did get what we were hooting and hollering about from the front seat.

Snicker, snicker, snicker.

Everything was anti-climactic after that.

We showed up a good 15 minutes ahead of the rest of our group, so we had time to chat with our tour guide. Surprise, surprise, he had moved to the area the same time that we did, from the great state of Ohio (Cincy area). Small world.

What's more is that he was great with all the kids, and there were quite a few:

The dam we went to see is plopped right in the Columbia River. Impressive, eh?

And then there's this place (sorry, it's late when I'm writing this) where the salmon can swim up, or down, or whatever, but these things always confuse me. What I *do* know is that the background view was lovely!

We also got to go "underwater" to see the salmon swimming by, through the safe part of the dammed-up river. And in the category, "Most Boring Job Ever," we found out that there is a person staffed at all times to COUNT the number of fish that swim by.

I didn't look into that secret room where the Counter was sitting, but I safely assumed the person had GONE INTO COMA.

We then got to see the big power generators and transformers and hear all about electricity. And when we were done absorbing all the Dam Information we could, we headed off with our group to a cute little picnic area right next to the dam.

Lovely, lovely area. And the PB&J was not bad either.

Hiking And Biking

Pa and I have decided that this will be the summer where we regularly run the kids ragged out in the woods. Some might call this type of thing "hiking," but you know. I tell it like it is.

This is also the summer where Pa dropped his camera lens on the sidewalk and it bounced two feet, breaking it, and thus leaving us with one other, relatively useless long lens. We took that lens on this hiking trip, and Pa had to stand two states away in order to catch a shot of us.

Anyway.

We took a Saturday and headed out to Tryon Creek State Park, which is a big park filled with trees and trees and them some more--you guessed it--trees.

[insert picture here]

We also packed up our bikes for this "hike," as we had heard the state park had quite a few paved trails. What we didn't realize until we were well into the bike route was that the trails were hilly and scary and not what two newbie kids on bikes could handle. Let's just say I spent that half-hour ride reconnecting with My Lord and My Maker. And I was awfully glad when we finished the ride and all five of us were in one piece with no skin left behind on the trail.

Amen and amen, and I doubt we'll be seeing those trails anytime in the next eleventy-seven years.

So. We moved on to the "trail" portion of running the parents ragged, and it was much safer and happier and after an hour or so, Campers and I had finally calmed down to our usual state of distress.

Once everyone was tired and hungry, we stopped by the creek, which looked an awful lot like a trickle, and ate our picnic lunch. It was fab. Even if Pa and I had to spend most of the time barking at the children to sit still and eat.

Memories.

Obviously, I must not have been too miserable, as I was at least able to fake a little of this:

The walk back to the van was the most pleasant of all--behold the power of sustenance--but mostly because Pa was making up stories to tell to the kids. Well, once he knows that *I'm* listening and laughing along, he starts adding in movie references and quotes and cliches and all kinds of adult humor that goes right over the kids' heads.

Pixar, we've got your number.

Anyhoo, Pa got to telling the Zig a story about the Abominable Snowman, and how he was born on Mount Hood and blah blah blahbeddy blah blah blah. Next thing I knew, the snowman was working out at the gym and had transformed himself into the abDOMinal snowman, and my word, I think the trees (all the trees, trees, trees) lost a few branches with all my hooting and hollering over that twist to the story.

So, we're halfway through June and many more miles left to hike.

Is it October yet?

Strawberry Fields Forever

Oh, strawberry season. One of my favorite times of year.

We decided to take advantage of a pleasant weekday evening and head "out to the farm" to pick berries as a family. Unfortunately, heading out of town meant going through town at rush hour to pick Pa up from work. Not one of my finer plans. After over an hour in the van, I shouted "What's WITH all these CARS?" and Zig snarked back to me, "It's called 'TRAFFIC,' Mom."

Okay. Got that cleared up.

We went to our favorite farm in the area, and the kids always love the wide-open fields. "Just like Grandpa's farm!" Ziggy told me. Yep, minus the strawberries and the blueberries and the raspberries and the complete produce market and the outhouses--but otherwise, "identical!"

Moving on.

Looks like Pa's camera was the first to spot a couple of berries in the patch:

Zig was my expert berry picker--showing me each perfect berry he picked and counting them all a hundred and eighty-seven times. In between doing that, he took some time to hurdle the rows:

We ended up with a flat of berries that we paid for:

And at least a pint of berries we stole:

If you're wondering what Campers was doing the whole time, his full-time job was to keep his sister happy.

Looks like he succeeded.

Ziggy's Birthday: Part 6

One decision we made early on in this parenting journey was to opt out of "gifts" being a part of the Friend Birthday Parties. Oh, you know me. I hate having to ask other moms to have to spend big bucks and time and effort to get stuff for my kids that they really don't need. Oh, I know that some people really like to give gifts, but oh well. They'll get over it.

(*smile*)

Plus, what young child likes to watch another little boy open up a bunch of loot while he gets squat?

NO CHILD THAT *I* KNOW.

With that plan, we waited until the kids went home and Ma and Pa had recuperated enough to speak in complete sentences. Then the Zig got to open presents from the Grandparents (XOXO) and from us.

I'm not sure when he went and grew up, but my boy somehow got old enough to assemble his own Lego set:

And to play with the ever-popular, pattern blocks:

And in the theme of the party, he was given a little stuffed "Eve" and "WALL-E:"

And from us, he got a toy eagle:

That eagle is all part of a made-up story that Pa tells the kids every now and then. Each member of our family is part of the story, and we all have fancy Dragonslayer names and a separate animal to represent our part in the story. So for this birthday, not only did Zig get his animal, but everyone else got their "character" as well. And now the boys love to act out the story and it's all so cute and once again, shocker, that Pa is a creative type if I ever did see a creative type.

Meanwhile, I wash a mean sink-full of dishes.

And thus ends the Fifth Birthday Celebration of the Zig, circa 2009.

Ziggy's Birthday: Part 5

When Ziggy first started planning his party, he wanted a Spiderman cake. Oh, but wow, we'd done the Spiderman thing before, at Campers' birthday party a couple years back. After nearly eight years of Boy Parties, the superhero thing has grown a bit weary.

So, we managed to persuade Zig to choose a character he likes equally well--if not more than--the superheroes--WALL-E.

As usual, Pa decorated the cake.

Impressive, as always.

By the time we got back from the park, three of our neighbor boys had joined the party as well--thus bringing the Boy Count to a total of NINE.

(Deep breaths.)

The cake was a real hit with all of them, too:

Then came the best part, the eating following by laughing followed by eating, laughing, eating, falling off the bench, laughing, throwing food, laughing, and running around.

Boys. Gotta love 'em.

Especially the one who just turned five.

Ziggy's Birthday: Part 4

This is perhaps my favorite picture from the set "Six boys play games at Ziggy's party."

I'd like to say that this shot was staged, or that it was a temporary expression.

But I'd be lying.

(*snicker snicker snicker*)

Someone didn't like being stuck in a stroller while everyone else was having fun.

Oh, if that doesn't tell a bunch about her personality, I don't know what does.

Honestly, I had no choice but to keep her confined. Otherwise she would have been "ruining" everyone else's fun and running into the street to boot.

What you can't see in that picture is what she was saying as well.

It wasn't pretty.

But it made me laugh.

Oh, Suz. She'll get her tea parties and princess games someday.

Until then, she will get to practice up on her pouting.

A + + +.

(Cake pics coming next.)

Ziggy's Birthday: Part 3

Before I get all carried away talking about the games and such at Ziggy's party, let me just say this: You know that "Pa" character who hangs out in the background around here on this here blawg? Well. He is One Awesomesauce Pa who rocks at leading little kid birthday parties.

Betcha didn't see that one comin'.

All six of the boys at Zig's party had a great time, and Pa had them moving and laughing and gaming until the cows came home.

Don't know if I've told you this yet or not, but the theme for Zig's 5th birthday party was "WALL-E." That's based on a hit movie, for those of you in the audience who maybe aren't up on your animated films circa 2008.

The first game we played was a WALL-E relay, where the kids lined up and wore robot suits (paper bags) as they walk-raced around the trees.

Then it was off to play WALL-E-BALOO, which is like "Hullabaloo," which is like "run around and step on whatever piece of paper we say until you're worn out enough to be managed by two tired adults."

And then, because the temps were in the upper 80s that day, we pulled out the water balloons. First, a water-balloon-on-a-spoon relay. We used white balloons to represent the movie character "Eve."

But a water balloon on a spoon was not exciting enough, so it naturally evolved into this:

Mmm-hmmm. A water balloon toss and then a free-for-all and then it was time to wrap up the games. But what could possibly be more fun than getting wet?

Oh. Eating cake.

More pics to come.

Ziggy's Birthday: Part 2

For the first time in five years, it wasn't scheduled to rain on Ziggy birthday. So I finally made the "birthday party plan of my dreams" by hosting the party at a park.

Yes!

No house to clean!

I've always got the kids' best interest in mind, of course. I knew they'd love going to the park. Yes. That's it.

So we stuffed the stroller full of junk and hoofed it down to the park.

First on the itinerary was lunch. Hot dogs, chips, and Capri-Sun. Look at me, the nutrition nazi. But it was Ziggy's pick, and easy to haul to the park.

Outside of his siblings, Zig invited four other boys to his party.

Yes. That's a table full of boys, right there.

Honestly, it was a great group of kids. All friends of the Zig's, and calm, well-mannered children at that.

The boys on each end are friends from church, and the other two (non-orange-shirt-wearing) are boys (brothers) in our homeschool field trip group.

It was a beautiful day for fun in the sun.

More pics to come.

Ziggy's Birthday: Part 1

I always begged my mom for Cookie Crisp as a kid.

Do you think I ever got any?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO.

(No hard feelings, Mom. Really.)

(*sobbing*)

Well, I could buy some now, but why would I? Their sugar bombs! They'll rot my teeth! They'll send me into spazzy space!

But I digress.

Last year, Campers lobbied and nagged me enough to get to eat some Cereal Of His Choice on his birthday. So, you know, what I did for one kid I have to do for all the others.

All the children love the firstborn, for paving the way. Breaking in the parents. Training 'em up right.

I told the boys they could have ONE BOWL of Fruit Loops each day until the box was gone. Yessiirreee, I've never seen those Corelle bowls filled that full before!

So anyway.

My "baby" just turned five. He's been acting "five" for a few months now.

Here he is, waiting for his Ma to get everything ready for his party.

What a squash.

A squash who happens to be getting taller and taller and his legs are starting to go all the way to the floor.

(Campers hates that phrase. So we say it all the more.)

Lots more pics to come.