Thorne Randall LOVE

Last Sunday we had a great chance to spend time with some great friends.  When I was a kid, this family moved in across the street that would change our lives forever.  The Thornes.  They were awesome!  Their mom was our piano teacher--and she and my mom figured out that they had taken a Latin class together at BYU.  (Which they both loved, showing how they were made for each other.)  We only lived across from each other for 3 years, but they were pivotal.  Well, Preston, the oldest son that is my age (who by the way is the first person I ever EMAILED back when that whole email thing got started in 1995ish) has moved to the Seattle area.  We finally found a time when we could all get together and it just so happened that his parents and my sister (the more successful of the piano students) were also in town.  It was a big happy gathering, made even happier when my mom happened to call Sandra to ask advice on how to get a stain out of my dad's pants, not even knowing Sandra was in Seattle and having dinner with us.  Random, right?

It was a fun evening.  They have toys that BEN LOVED and the my girls loved all the attention from the olders sisters and brother.  

Ben is very happy that they have a little girl just his age.  

This is the only picture I got, but it is Ben and their little Lena trying to move the cooler.  I think they actually made it a step or two!

    

ENJOYING SUMMER!

One of my goals for the month of August is to ENJOY SUMMER!  I made the goal because I was so excited to be at home again that my brain was being pulled in two different directions.  Direction 1:  Play outside in the amazing weather with my kids.  Direction 2:  Do all the home projects I have been putting off all summer.  The goal was to help me focus on Direction 1.  It didn't exactly work.  But if I look at the week, I actually was able to do both pretty well.
Monday:  Played at a spray park with some friends.
Tuesday:  The kids completed everything on their to do lists (including helping clean bathrooms and mommy daughter workout sessions.)
Wed/Thurs:  Painted the sun room.  I am not even posting a pic of this--it looks fabulous, but Paige came home from CA and couldn't even figure out what was different in there.  So it is a small-ish change.  It is a lot lighter color, a semi-gloss, and the trim is a beautiful white now, but apparently not that different.  (I learned a lesson on this job...don't start painting at night and in the early morning when you can't really see the color.  Once it got light enough outside, I was 2/3 of the way done with the room and I hated the color.  Had to go back to HD and get a different one.  It is still a little cooler color than I should have done, but it looks so much better!)
Also we picked up Auntie Ray Ray from the airport.
Thurs night:  Hosted a fun group of Nortons and Fehlbergs for dinner.
Friday:  Lunch at the Beach Cafe to celebrate Rachel's birthday.  Kids got lots of sandbox play time.
Then we went to the temple with Paige for her Endowment.
Saturday:  School supply shopping!  Then the Taste of Edmonds.  The Taste highlights were the Reptile Man show, where Libby rode the tortise and Ben helped hold the Yellow Boa Snake.  The girls also attempted karaoke only to learn that they can't quite read fast enough to keep up with the song.  I felt really bad for them up there, but they both stuck it out and belted out the chorus which they knew best.  I should have chosen songs they knew better and/or helped them prep better.  But they got to do gymnastics, eat shaved ice, kettle corn & elephant ears.  And they got their faces painted!  So that made up for any awkwardness.
It was a spectacular summer week!

One of the Rhino families gave us this singlet.  Ben LOVES it.  And he loved his Mohawk!

After the Beach Cafe.  Can you detect the fine coat of sand on the kids.  Paige, Casey and Janice Fehlberg.  Libby has a little crush on Casey.  She couldn't wait to see him again and calls him "Uncle Casey"

Enjoying an Auntie Ray Ray snuggle.

After the temple, Paige with her parents

Azteca sang Happy Birthday to Rachel.  It was a late late night!

At the Taste of Edmonds, the kids favorite part was visiting the gymnastics booths and doing the circuit 100 times.   

Libby flipping on the bar.

Love this shot of Sarah flipping.  

Face Painting magic!

Even Ben got a sunshine on his cheek.

Ben asking, "Why do you have to be so tall?"

Sarah's Best Quote

We drove by Husky Stadium yesterday on our way to Erin's house to watch the Blue Angels.
Sarah:  "Why do we have to watch BORING football (Derek starts to give a dirty look) BEFORE we get to EXCITING WRESTLING!"  (Derek has to smile and laugh)
What a girl!

Good Mommy Moments

Okay, I did a few things right this week if we are thinking about summer fun.  I set up the tent in the backyard and we slept out side 2 nights.  It was amazing weather for it.  They "wanted me to play my guitar."  By this they meant that they wanted me to start a song, then they would come up and start strumming and messing me up, eventually wrenching the guitar from my grasp and attempting to play songs themselves.  Hilarious.

Libby with the Destroyer in the background

When I got back from Girls Camp we spent an evening together as a family down on the Seattle waterfront. We wanted to see the destroyers and battleships in for SeaFair.  Then yesterday we watched the Blue Angels and went to a fun birthday party.  It was a great weekend.

Ben with the Destroyer

Every one of these that we walked by, Sarah would pretend to steer the ship and shake her booty.  And there is one of these about every 20 feet.  

The waterfront is beautiful!

Matchy matchy Ben and Daddy!

Feeding the seagulls.  Ben loved this.  

Libby and Sarah cowered and screamed, totally afraid of the seagulls.  

Selfie of my hand feeding a Seagull.  Pretty proud of this pic!

A Blue Angel flying right over our heads.  I did scream and jump once when one buzzed by us out of nowhere.  The SeaFair airshow is amazing!

Camping!

Me attempting to play...

Sarah crooning.  She loves to make up her own songs

Ben about to punch the strings.

Libby posing (look at the hydrangea in the background.  Seriously amazing!)

Settling down for some good sleep!

Bad Mommy Moments

On Tuesday this week I was trying to get a zillion things done before I headed off to Girls Camp.  I was calling Libby's doctor, cleaning a bathroom, trying to pack, etc.  About 1:00 we had picked up Libby from a birthday party.  When we got home the girls rushed out of the van and so did I.  About 1/2 hour later I realized I hadn't seen Ben anywhere.  I searched the house a little.  Then a few minutes more I searched again.  Still couldn't find him.  I started to get worried.  And then it hit me.  I had moved his carseat to the back of the van so the girls would stop fighting over the front seats.  And he couldn't unbuckle.  I rushed out to the van (luckily it was in the garage since it was a hot day) and there he was.  Still buckled into his seat.  Screaming and crying.  Poor guy!  I held his hot little body and my tears started to flow.  Ugh.  So much going on that I had forgotten my precious Benny in the car!  He forgave me quickly, he wanted to go swimming with his sisters.  He had little patience for my crying.  He said, "Mom, if you don't stop crying, I'm going to spank you."  (I held it together for a few minutes then spent the next couple of hours crying off and on.  I love my little man!)
Then while I was at girls camp, Paige called and said, "Who is your doctor?"  Not a great way to start a conversation with your babysitter.  Ben had fallen right onto the front steps on his nose.  Luckily Grammy was able to come over and help in the situation.  Again, he quickly rebounded.  What a trooper!

Grammy sent me this picture of his poor swollen nose.  

Go Mariners!

Derek works every home Mariners game these days.  So he gets a few tickets every month.  It has taken us this far into the season to make it to a game.  But we did it!  And it was a blast.  Most of the game was slow, but at the end it was a nail biter!  We got to sit in club seats.  Super nice.  And thankfully a nice bathroom right up from our seats, since Ben had to go 3 times.  

I love seeing Derek in uniform with the kids.  Not sure why I love it so much.

Trish and Paige selfie!

This is how Ben got through the game.

Grammy took the girls to the play area and to see the Dave statue

Sarah's comment about her outfit:  "At least they're both animals."

Libby's STATS and other health related news...

Libby's Stats:
Height:  45" (8%)
Weight: 41 lb 6 oz (8%)
And her eyes struggled in the vision check.  Time to go back for a new prescription I think.

Well, Libby's check-up was more anticipated than most.  Near the end of school her teacher mentioned to me that she was having a really hard time focusing.  This had been a problem in the past, but I had been under the impression that she was improving this year.  Turns out, not so much.  So I had all 3 of her teachers (reading, math, and her regular classroom teacher) fill out ADHD evaluation forms.  Derek and I filled them out too.  I was comforted by all the things I could mark that she wasn't struggling with, but there were some clear things that she was struggling with.  They all relate to the ability to pay attention.
I was interested in what the doctor would say.  She compared all the forms and they were all similar.  Libby has symptoms of ADD, attention deficit but not ADHD, attention deficit and hyperactivity.  This explains why her teachers didn't bring up her issues more.  She isn't the kid going crazy in the classroom, she is just the kid being quiet and daydreaming instead of focusing on her work.
So, I have been researching options.
There are side effects to medication.  Insomnia and reduced appetite.  We already struggle in both those categories.  She uses melatonin to get to sleep almost every night and she doesn't (as you can see from her weight) like to eat.  I am wondering, however, if she had a better attention span, if she would be able to focus more on eating and get the job done.
Other ways to fix the issue?  Work on proper diet and exercise (I would say she gets plenty of exercise most days...), give her more structure.
We have just over a month until school starts.  We are thinking we will try some medication and experiment now so if it helps or doesn't, we are through with the testing before school starts.
I would really like for this to help.  She is so smart, but has a hard time showing it when she can't make herself focus!