Proud of You!

For most of the population, correct speech formation comes naturally, but Owen has had to work long and hard for every consonant sound he's learned. He's had countless speech therapy sessions, starting before he was three years old, from a total of three different agencies. Two years ago, he had a pharyngeal flap surgery to help reduce his nasal air escape. It has not been easy, and he has not always been willing, but sometimes you have to reflect on where you've come from to appreciate where you are!

We are so proud of him for mastering the "K" and "G" sounds! It's been a long time coming. He was promised a new Leapster game when it happened. That was not a forgotten promise by any of us, and when the sounds started slipping out of his mouth, his request became very specific--a "Racecars" Leapster game. He got his game on Friday morning.

Before we bought the reward, he said lovingly in my ear, "Mom, I'm so proud of you and Dad for getting me a new Leapster game."

Yard Chicken

Instead of the expected dog or a cat for a pet, my children have one goldfish, Fred, whom they don't care about, and Henny Penny, the quirky chicken that roosts on the back porch.*

Henny Penny is a Rhode Island Red that was pecked to near death by the other chickens in the pen. Jason rescued her from their beaks and freed her to roam in the yard. After weeks of dazed, skittish pecking about the grass and keeping somewhat close to us humans, she laid her first egg. I don't remember where that first egg turned up, but she now has a preferred laying spot.When we hear Henny Penny's characteristic pre-egg bawk-bawking, we open the garage door so she can get in to lay her precious. Sometimes she even flaps against our sliding door to let us know it's time.

Following her loud post-egg clucking, the kids will check to see what she's produced. They love to discover that small, clean, warm egg. Jack shouts, "Hay-Penny AI!!" We pulled in the other day mid-act. We waited around, but she was too shy.

*We now have a kitten added to the mix, but it's only been two days. Pictures to come.

Freezer Paper Fan

My shopping trip the other day was a bunch of fun, except that I was worn out when I was only halfway done. WHAT?!!? I know!! What has become of me? I don't like seeing cash leave my purse, and I knew I had work to do at home. I got a few stores in, hit the Taco Bell drive-thru, and in spite of the napkin tucked into my seatbelt, dropped the last bite of burrito on my white maternity shirt. Lovely.

The new fabric store was definitely a good one, though. I had a few ideas in mind for the nursery and for a framed picture in the living room, and even had my inspiring pictures riding in the buggy, but got overwhelmed by all the excellent choices of fabric. I chose some bolts that just happened to be 60% off, and purchased some yardage for a new diaper bag. I'm still waffling on new curtains and crib bling for the baby room. The practical me tells me to use the white stuff I have, since the baby doesn't care. The creative me wants something totally different. *Sigh.* I know I can't justify spending a ton of money on my decorating pride. It's like eating the leftovers in the fridge instead of going out for supper. So dull, but so necessary.

Because I was weary of shopping, the hot pink fabric paint on my list got postponed until another day and another fresh Joann's coupon. That freezer paper stencil is still is my mind, however.

Instead, here's another one I finished:
It was my trickiest stencil so far, and I'm not completely happy with it, but Owen absolutely loves his fan shirt!

Mending

Little Boy Jack, in all of his inquisitive cuteness, had a mishap the other day. I didn't find the evidence until I was dropping him off at Grandma's house. In the middle of his nice play shirt, there it gaped--a neatly cut hole. Owen and Helen then informed me that Jack had been playing with Owen's school scissors. Who knew an almost 2 year old could use a dull child's scissors to such effectiveness?
I called on some dormant creativity to help me mend it. A rummage around the sewing room produced a leftover scrap of orange fleece and some perfectly matching embroidery thread.
Helen was concerned that I forgot the other eye.
Now Jack has a shirt to match his mischievous nature.

New Inspiration

I'm nearly ready to head out the door, but just had to share some inspiration. I stumbled across this idea last night, and can't wait to try it. My embroidery skills aren't that great, but they are fake-able. I'm planning to check out a (new for me) fabric shop, looking for ideas for Baby Girl's nursery. I hope I'll find something I can't leave behind.

My alarm clock didn't keep me from sleeping last night, but my late cup(s) of coffee did. I had some crazy dreams, one of which involved me pulling a very conspicuous hair out of homemade pizza dough at a make-your-own pizza supper that someone I refuse to name was hosting. I'm still cringing. Another, which I will choose to dwell on, left me with an absolutely fabulous idea for a new freezer paper stencil. Bright pink fabric paint is now on my list.

Time flies, especially if you're an alarm clock

If there's one thing I hate, it's an annoying alarm clock. The blaring start to the day can trigger some instant rage, and my arm goes a-whacking for the snooze. I'm an extremely light sleeper, and Jason is not, so when it's HIS alarm going off, well, sometimes I have to apologize for my rude shoves.

A long time ago, before the overhaul of the downstairs bedrooms, I bought new, grown up, non-battery-operated alarm clocks for guests to use. Not long after, our remaining travel alarm clock surrendered to its regular beatings, so one of the new clocks migrated up to Jason's side of the bed. Since I don't have very good uncorrected vision, I wanted a closer target to squint at in the middle of the night if I awoke for some odd reason, so the other got plunked on my nightstand.

But we soon noticed something funny about these two clocks--they gained time. Every day. We didn't pay much close attention at first, because who notices a minute or two here and there? When we would realize our clocks were wrong, it would be by a good half hour or more. It was easy to blame the kids, because we knew their penchant for clocks and other electronic devices, and we considered Timex to be a trustworthy brand.

Not so much. I got slightly more investigative with it and figured out mine was gaining about 1 1/2 minutes per day. What a nice, polite amount of time, hmm? Not over-indulgent, just a slight mincing of my getting ready time, a little nudge-nudge to hurry it up in there already. But 1 1/2 minutes a day turns into nearly 10 minutes a week, and if I reset my alarm clock as often as I dust my bedroom furniture, it could quickly become an hour or more--fast! I'm all for setting clocks a little speedy, but the changing time has been getting on my nerves.

I'm going shopping tomorrow after my 28-week check up and lovely glucose tolerance test, and as much as I hate plunking money down for a new set of alarm clocks, I just might. I am that fed up.