Tuesday, January 18, 2011

January so far...

(The line up on Christmas morning.)
So far the new year is treating us just fine. Christmas was wonderful, the kids enjoyed it and we were able to have a bunch of the young soldiers from Tom’s clinic over for dinner. I managed to be slightly less busy this year than last year which gives me hope that maybe next year I’ll do even better and actually have time to enjoy the holiday season! We also decided, as we do every year, that the kids get way too many presents and we won’t buy as much next year. (Alyssa got a white kitten to replace the one we rescued and had for a few weeks.)
(Danica got this Arial doll that is all tall as Alyssa. I often find her wearing the girls clothes and we regularly get spooked by her when we walk into the girls room at night.)(This is Hayden's expression the moment he realized he got a Lego set!)

On New Year’s Eve we had our friends over for a party. We let the kids stay up and cheer at 8:30, we had them all in bed by nine. There were 13 kids sleeping in the bedrooms of our small house, quite remarkable. We enjoyed the evening playing games and then at midnight we grabbed Hayden out of his sleeping bag and took him outside to see the fireworks because we promised we would wake him at midnight. He lasted 1 minute and asked to go back to bed! Maybe next year we will let him actually stay up.
Hayden started third grade and is loving it so far. He still complains about homework like always but loves the class work especially learning cursive. His best friend, who lives next door to us, is in his third grade class so that is great. I asked if he’s made any other new friends and he said “well, I have an acquaintance named Pete, I think eventually he’ll be a friend.” He continues to plow through Percy Jackson and is on the 4th one now. I’m still trying to teach him to play the piano and hope that I’m not doing irreparable damage. I plan to get him a real teacher once we move. Here he is admiring the rain on the hike we did the other day.

Danica got new teachers at church, the parents of one of the really unruly kids in the class. On the first day the dad, a marine, was explaining what will happen if you’re bad in class. That night Danica dreamed that she was being bad at church (something that has never happened.) In her dream she was talking to her friend so she got put in the “green chair” and then kicked out of class. She woke up very upset and for the rest of the week she would, at random times, say things about not liking her class. Apparently her teacher really got his point across. I should have given him the heads up that with Danica all you have to do is imply that you might frown at her and she will do anything you say! (I have since then talked to the teachers and they talked to Danica and assured she won’t go in the green chair. She’s fine now!)
Alyssa has sadly lost a tooth. She hit it really hard a year or so ago and we worried she’d lose it then but it seemed fine. Since then she’s hit it a few times but been okay. Then last week Tom was brushing her teeth and realized it was VERY loose! After he spent the whole night unable to sleep because of nightmares about her tooth he took her to work with him and did some x-rays which revealed that she had no root and the tooth was on the verge of falling out. Within a few days it was wiggling so much it was hurting her and she should wouldn’t eat so Tom just pulled it out. The x-ray revealed that the other front tooth has a very short root as well and will fall out soon. So lucky for her she’s in the right family and will be fitted with some little prosthetic teeth once they arrive on island. Once we realized it was loose Tom took her out for one last photo shoot... here are the before and after shots. We’ve got her convinced her lost tooth is adorable so she loves to show it off! Plus, the tooth fairy brought her a lollipop so she thinks this is the best!

Tom had the prosthodontist that he works with do a soft tissue graft on his front tooth (#9 for those who care.) It’s been a bit sore but he’s been downing the percocet so he’s been happy. A few weeks ago I went on a tour of a shrine that is all decked out for the ongoing New Year’s celebration. I learned a lot of cool things about how the holiday is celebrated here. We passed this idol that is supposed to bring good fortune with having children. I was really tempted to leave an offering. Then we all got our own written oracle (fortune) and after reading it had to tie it to the tree.

We are getting excited for our visit from Dave and Adina and our trip up to the mainland. We’ve nearly worked out all the little details. It’s going to be an awesome trip. I’ve been working on convincing the girls they are really lucky to have a babysitter sleep over for a week... so far they like the idea! We enjoyed a long holiday weekend and realized this was the last time he’ll get two days off for Martin Luther King day.... there are some perks to being in the military!! On Monday we hiked up Mt. Nago. It was a little too cold and rainy but we made it. We went with a few other families and Hayden had a great time running up and down the mountain with his friends. It was all perfect until Tom slipped in the mud on the way back down and took a hard fall! Too bad I don't have pictures of that!
(You'll notice Tom can't smile due to his surgery.)

Tuesday, January 4, 2011

Happy Birthday Hayden!


Even though we’ve been busy with the holidays we can’t forget to say Happy Birthday to our favorite boy!! Hayden turned 8 years old on Dec. 23rd and is loving it! This past year has been a lot of fun for him. I’m not sure where to start with Hayden because there is so much to say about him! He’s such a fun, energetic, smart, funny and intense boy. He loves to read and is currently devouring the Percy Jackson series. He enjoys reading science books and watching Planet Earth, which has turned into a bad thing because he’s now “too smart” to go in the ocean where there are dangerous creatures lurking... we go to the beach a lot and he just digs in the sand or reads a book. Hopefully eventually we’ll get him back in the water!
He’s got great friends in the neighborhood and they love legos, computer games, climbing trees, making clubs, riding bikes and everything else boys do. He's playing basketball right now and looks forward to soccer season starting up. Hayden hates to do homework and will complain for hours before doing 5 minutes of work but he likes school and enjoys learning. He writes fantastic stories at school, with great detail and drama. To his excitement he just recently got to “s.a.g.”, his made up name for skipping a grade. After Christmas he went to third grade instead of second grade. So far he really likes it and hasn’t missed a beat. Hopefully it will continue to be a positive thing for him.
One of my favorite things about Hayden is his sense of humor. He’s always loved jokes and I took great pride in making a comment that was rewarded with “good one mom!” His current thing is to mimic a drum and say something like “ba da chee” in response to a witty comment. It’s awesome and I live for it. He still enjoys challenging me as the authority figure but more and more we will battle it out and in the end he’ll say “yeah, you’re right mom.” It's giving me hope that we will survive the teenage years. I wish I had the video camera rolling all the time. The other day he couldn’t find his ipod and I suggested he check the pocket of the pants he put in the dirty clothes. A minute later I was caught off guard by a huge thank you hug. Love it.
Hayden will tell you that he thinks his sisters are annoying but I know the truth. He plays with them all the time and they have so much fun together. Every morning before school he tries to coax one of them to get under the blanket and snuggle with him to stay warm on the couch. He loves long hugs before bed time but usually treats me to a head butt when I try to hug him at the school. He finally lost one of his top teeth... actually Tom yanked it out. Now we’re working on the other one. Here is the last picture of Hayden with his top baby teeth.
For his birthday party this year we did a movie party. Very easy. In true “Tom” style it couldn’t just be a regular movie, it had to be huge, like a real theater. It turned out really well. We did the party early in the month before his best friend left town. Then closer to his birthday we enjoyed going bowling together as a family. On his birthday he took a friend and we went to the zoo and the science museum there. Here they are feeding the elephant at the zoo...so dressed up! Later that night we went to a lights display at a botanical garden, it was awesome. All around he had a fabulous birthday!!! Hayden just seems to get better every year. I can't wait to see what this year brings!!!

2011


Happy New Year, the Year of the Rabbit!