Eye Eye Eye!

CO goes to the opthamologist a lot. Her first visit was when she was five days old. She was born with a polar interior cataract the size of a pin prick in her left eye. Even though the cataract doesn't affect her vision, we figured it was a matter of time before we found out she needed glasses because of her genetics and her frequent visits to the eye doctor. Sure enough, CO got glasses few weeks after her fourth birthday.

We went to see the eye doctor again this winter and discovered something we hadn't seen coming:  Her left eye was developing amblioplia, or lazy eye. This means her brain ignores the images sent from her left eye and is starting to rely solely on her right eye. Without intervention, her brain could cause vision failure in her left eye. To which we say; "Silly brain, CO wants to use both eyes!"

Now every morning for two hours CO wears a patch over her "good" eye. This reteaches her brain to rely on her left eye.  She goes back to the eye doctor in March and has been very accomodating considering it's tough to see things "all blurry." We are counting our blessings because her cataract (and the resulting frequent visits to the eye doctor)  helped us catch the pre-amblioplia before it got any worse. The other blessing is that her eye doctor says there's no reason she shouldn't eventually have 20/20 vision! Such a good girl. She has been so good about wearing her patch every morning. 

A Formal Apology to My Kitchen

I was rude to my kitchen a few posts ago. So I would like to take this opportunity to extend my deepest and most sincere apology to my kitchen.  Ahem. 

Kitchen?  I'm sorry. 

There, I said it.  I had no reason to be so rude.  I didn't know that underneath all that linoleum, formica, and general lameness was the potential for such awesomeness. 

Exhibit A:

 Exhibit B:

This is pretty much what our kitchen looks like! Under-cabinet lighting is not pictured. But it's there! The cabinets are natural hickory. You can see we chose to have the sink in the corner instead of under the window. I'm happy with that decision--the whole triangle of happiness is also happy. We still have some work to do: Countertops will be concrete. We'll have a new faucet after countertop is installed. The old light fixture above the micro/range is gone. We haven't made any back splash decisions yet. And the raised peninsula on the right side of the kitchen (designed by me, built by Josh from TBC) will be painted with chalkboard paint.  I'll have to post more pictures when it's done, done, but getting this far has been a major undertaking and I choose to pause and take it in!


P.S.  By way of announcement, except for a car built by a kid's grandpa, JO's pinewood derby car was undefeated last night.  It was a tie for first place with a run-off to decide first and second place.  Throughout the derby, Grandpa beat JO a total of three times, and JO beat grandpa's car twice.  I didn't upload a photo of his car.  But I did upload this impressive shot of Mr. Almost-Undefeated.  (Yes, he IS that handsome in real life.  But, sorry girls, he's only ten.) 

Creative use of cinnamon-flavored gummy Santas, my boy.  Well done!

Things I've Learned. . .

. . . About Bedtime. My kids are much grumpier than usual on Wednesdays.  (So am I.) 

I've been a mom for going on twelve years and if there's one thing I've figured out, it's that kids (and grown-ups) need a good night's sleep or they're grumpy. We try for an 8:30pm bedtime, which means lights are out and most are quietly sleeping by 9:15pm. Our boys go to scouts every Tuesday from 7:00pm - 8:30pm. Scouts pushes our Tuesday bedtime to 10 o'clock at the earliest.  I am trying to be a mom who enjoys scouts, honest!  RO and JO have some wonderful leaders who are working hard to make things go well.  RO almost has his Tenderfoot (I'll just pretend like I know what that means!) and I just found out that Blazer Scouts is the same thing as Eleven Year-Old Scouts.  I'm coming along.  Minding my own business. Liking scouts.  And then I remember the pinewood derby is next week.  All JO has to show for it is a rectangular block of pine wood.

Before I sign off, I wish you a very Happy New Year! Those of you hoping for a glimpse of my kitchen and bath will have to wait.  It's Wednesday. 

First Day of School for My Baby Girl

This big girl had a big day today!
 
She's been looking forward to going to school all summer.

For 2 1/2 hours a day, four days a week, my children are ALL in school.

And I didn't get all weepy until I got home and walked into our messy kitchen. I said I'd clean it today.

And I will.

After I hit "publish post."

The weather's been just lovely today.

The boys rode their bikes to school.

Our primary program is in 6 days.

Ben's far away living in a hotel five days a week for the next six weeks.

I bribed CO to stop sucking her thumb and it worked.

I'm stalling?

Hmmm.

The kitchen sink I ordered from amazon arrived ten minutes ago while I was looking at pictures.

I'm forcing myself to clean the kitchen before I open the new-sink-filled package.

The kitchen's not getting any cleaner.

Here goes.

Kitchens are so stupid and I hate them and they're dumb and they never stay clean for more than a couple of minutes at a time and they're good for nothing and I hate the dishes that are still on the table because they're dirty and kitchens are stupid times infinity. (My kids would have gotten a time out for a rant like that--good thing I'm the grown-up, even though I'm not acting like it!)

What? 

Nothing!

Fine. . .

Bye.

:)

Housework and Homeschooling

Because last week was sleepover week, I have designated this week as cleaning week. My sons make no secret about their dislike of assigned jobs that start with "Clean up the. . ." and end with ". . . kitchen."  or ". . . living room." or ". . . guinea pig cage."  But today I discovered something truly wonderful.  My boys can organize stuff.  I'm pretty sure they didn't learn it from me. This morning RO organized the spices, kitchen utensils, and cake decorating items that were living temporarily on the window sill while JO organized ALL the board games downstairs.  And they enjoyed themselves immensely.  I have so many nooks and crannies that need the attention of a happy organizer or two.  I am writing a very different job list for the rest of the week. The closets, the books, the office supplies, the garage toys. . . this is going to be such fun! 

In other news, I applied for a full-time teaching position as a homeschooling teacher for our school district.  I will be monitoring homeschoolers from my home computer. The job would start in September and the posting closes tomorrow.  I am hoping for an interview and keeping my fingers crossed!

Not Another Downtown Freeway Fix

During the summer months, my husband hangs out on freeways, off-ramps, and busy city streets. He oversees construction and repairs of state roads. It's gritty and ugly work sometimes. His jobsites are often filled with smells of exhaust and hot asphalt. That's all about to change. He still has the same job for now, but he will be in quite a different environment. Some engineers have all the luck! Ben went north an hour and a half today to see his late August/early September jobsite. Aside from the fact that he'll be on a bridge and way too far removed from solid ground for my liking, I'm a little envious!

The kids and I will be visiting Daddy and his breathtaking jobsite OFTEN during this bridge repair! Can you blame us?