Puppet Shows!

 McKay learns by osmosis, he soaks everything in from the environment he is part of.  As he has been able to go to a fantastic preschool, where his teacher (Mrs. Hardwick) recreates the classroom at least every month, sometimes every other week.  She has a tepee during Thanksgiving, Christmas trees and fireplace scene at Christmas, post office for Valentine's Day, restaurant, pet shop, flower shop, etc.... Well, one week she taught about puppet shows and McKay came home and ran with it. 

He also managed to inspire Ethan and Naomi as well.  The kids were busy making up different plays all afternoon.  Whenever, I am feeling a little overwhelmed and down I click on one of the videos and they easily put a huge smile on my face.  McKay had never played puppet shows, or plays until he was introduced to the idea at preschool, so Thank You Mrs. Hardwick. 

9 months post surfing accident

9 months and still counting.......

Me and my 3 darlings.  It is not the best photo of me, but it is real.

I recently had a check up appointment with my Neurotologist, Dr. Kunda.  She is such a fabulous doctor, kind, compassionate, attentive, thorough, and oh so intelligent.  I have enjoyed meeting her every couple months.  She monitors my progress and gives me helpful tips for how to best care and maintain my health with regards to secondary problems I have had to deal with due to my facial paralysis.


From my last visit she said I was at a grade 3 moving towards a grade 2, which is great because it is showing that I am continually progressing.  The last time I saw her about 4 months ago I was at a grade 4 progressing towards a grade 3.  I have continued to have slow gradual improvement for the past 9 months.  She said that I would have the most improvement within the first year of the injury.


So, at a grade 3-2 I can somewhat smile, with a smirk.  If I try to make a big normal smile my face becomes very asymmetrical and it looks very strange.  Since I can close my left eye again, which is a huge blessing, my eye squints a lot more and I don't have as much control over it.  So, I have to continuously think to try and open it up when I try to smile.


I am so thankful I can close my eye again.  That was the biggest thing to deal with on a day-to-day basis, putting my eye drops in my eye to keep it hydrated every couple of hours, and taping it shut every night.  I did that for about  7 months.


I still prefer to chew my food on the right side of my mouth because my muscle control on the left side is still pretty weak.  I can blow up floaty toys now, using my finger to help with lip closure, but still not balloons.  I tried to blow bubbles with my kids the other day and thought it would be no problem, but I was surprised that Naomi was blowing way more bubbles than me.


When I stop and think about how I look I am surprised at my ability to continue to interact with people around me.   Sometimes, when I stop and look in the mirror.  I think wow is that how I really look when I talk, smile, and laugh with people.  For the most part, I don't allow the injury to keep me from doing what I do each day.  There is a quote from Elder Hallstrom that I just love.  He said, "never let an earthly experience dismantle you spiritually".  I know through this challenge in my life I have developed a more personal relationship with my savior Jesus Christ.  He has given me peace, comfort, guidance, and much more strength beyond my own. He has made me a better mother and wife.  This challenge has taught me so much about myself.  My outer layer may appear different, but I am still the same person on the inside, maybe a little more humble and compassionate.    And that is a very good thing. For that, and so many other reasons, I am grateful for this challenge in my life.  
Here's to gradual improvement both inside and out......

2nd grade- I will miss

2 nd grade-what a great year.  Ethan is in Mrs. Walsh’s first second split class.  We love Mrs. Walsh.  I work in Ethan’s classroom two times a month and I just love his teacher and all of his classmates.  They are a respectful and enjoyable group of children.  I really like working in his class because I get to know all of his classmates, and when he tells me stories about things at school I know exactly who he is talking about.  I also feel that I get to be part of his 2^nd grade life. I feel very fortunate that Ethan has had such a wonderful 2^nd grade experience!

Here are some of the things that I have enjoyed this year!

All the second graders participate in a living history museum.  They each pick a famous person from the past, dress up like that person, and then give an “auto” biography of their life highlighting their important accomplishments.  The parents are invited to come to their classroom. A parent or other classmate can tap them on the shoulder and then they give their little speech.  I just loved it.  They were all very cute and took their roles pretty seriously.  Ethan was John Adams and he did a great job!

Another thing that I love about Ethan’s school is they are trying to teach kindness.  Mrs. Walsh will hand out kindness tickets when she sees the children going out of their way to help other students.  Once a child receives 5 kindness tickets they earn $1 to give to a charity of their choice.  Ethan just earned 5 tickets and he was ecstatic!  He donated to the international disaster fund.  He said that he and his friends would talk about what charity they would donate to once they earned their 5 tickets.  I just love how the school is fostering those types of values to the children.  I liked it so much that I am implementing it at my house as well.  I love that their reward for kindness, keeps on giving!

We go to a school with an amazing PTA and parent involvement, because of this extra financial support, given by the families of the school, Ethan is fortunate enough to have a music teacher.  So every year all the 1^st,2^nd, and 3^rd graders participate in “the spring sing”.  It is kind of a big deal, and Ethan was so happy singing on the stage with all of his classmates.

One of the parents from Mrs. Walsh’s class came in to teach some basic poetry to the children.  I was so impressed with Ethan’s poems that I took a picture of it, so I can keep it always.

"I am like a shark, I swim in the ocean, I feel wild like an ape.  The moon said good night to me and I said good night back. And I said what is it like up there I want to see it.  He said hop on so I did.  I saw all the stars and I saw the planets.  I smiled at my mom.  She smiled back and she said I love you." Ethan

I of course also loved his Mother’s Day picture and letter to me!  Thank goodness for good teachers, who do this, because my husband does a lot for me on Mother’s day, but he wouldn’t sit down and make the kids write me a letter.  It is so precious and really priceless, something I will hold dear forever.  Only one year of his life will he be 7 years old.  Such a precious innocent year of life, that will never be again.  I am getting so sentimental as I write.  

This is why I like blogging.  I can have a very hectic, draining, tiresome day with the children, and then at night when they are asleep I can write and think about all the wonderful and precious parts of childhood and it helps me feel peace.  It draws me back to what matters most. I love you E-man.

Introducing Princess Naomi

This girl loves being a princess!  2 1/2 is such an endearing age.  Little girls just exude sweetness.  I asked Naomi what Mother's day means to her, and she said "give hugs, give kisses to mommy"  It was so sweet.  I love how Naomi sings while she plays.  She'll come up with a tune and sing, and sing about what she is doing.  She loves to cuddle, especially with mommy.  She loves to run and jump.  She loves to be silly and make her brothers laugh.  Tonight for family prayer she asked if she could say it.  In her prayer she asked "please help mommy's face feel better, but not her nose, please bless that it doesn't get better."  Then she said,  "please bless Ethan's face feel better, please bless McKay's face feel better, please bless daddy's face feel better."  the boys, including Mike, thought this was pretty funny and couldn't stop laughing.  Once they started to giggle she went on and on, and she was so pleased with herself, making everyone laugh.

Date Night with McKay

This last year we just started doing date nights with the kids.  I really enjoy the date night because as a mother I can just let go of things and focus on one child and have a good time with them.  So often times I find myself very busy barking orders here and there, "where's your shirt?  Get your shoes.  We are going to be late...etc." Date nights let me walk away from all that and I just enjoy the age and stage of each child.  It helps me remember how much I love being their mother.  

A couple of weeks ago it was McKay's turn for a date night with mom.  McKay wanted to go rollerskating for his date night.  He is still learning to skate, so he held my hand and we skated around the rink for about an hour.  He was intent on getting better and he really was enjoying the skating!  I was enjoying holding his hand and skating with him.  We were there on a Friday night, and it was middle schooler's mecca.  Watching all those middle schoolers interact I wanted to hold on to McKay's hand forever.  I am sure middle school will come all too quickly.

The other thing he wanted to do for date night was go to Chili's and get the chocolate molten cake with ice-cream.  He has been talking about it since Naomi's birthday back in August.  We got that cake and he was in absolute heaven.  One happy McKay!!!

Bambi in the Backyard

 Can you believe this adorable baby deer (fawn) on the steps in our backyard.  I know it is called a fawn but it is so tiny and sweet that we just had to keep calling it a baby deer.  We were so worried that the fawn was dying because she would let us get right next to her and she wouldn't even flinch.  We thought the fawn might have eaten the leaves on our tomato plants, which can be poisonous to dogs and other animals.  We were so worried about the fawn.  We called animal control and the only thing they offered to do was to come over and euthanize the fawn.  We wanted to help the deer not kill it.  So, we got a hold of a native animal service, and they were more informed and told us not to worry.  We found out that it is very common for the doe to leave the fawn, get food, and then return hours later.  The fawn returned later that night and we were so relieved.

The next day Mike was doing yard work and stumbled upon the fawn again.  This time she was hidden in a much better spot.  She was tucked under the bird bath in the back of our yard.  We learned that the fawn was less than 5 days old, because after 5 days old when they are approached they will get up and walk away.  Also, we learned that when the fawn is first born it doesn't have any scent, so the mother can leave it behind to get food, and the fawn won't have a scent for predators to track.

Sooo Cute!

Naomi was a little concerned the first night we saw the deer she was YELLING for Ethan and McKay to get in the house.  She also couldn't go to bed that night because she was scared of the deer.  She was doing really well the next day, letting me get her close to the deer.

The kids loved checking her out and getting so close.  Ethan had a little friend over and he told his mom that it was so cool we had a pet deer.  I didn't want to leave the fawn because I thought that would probably be the last time we saw her, especially so close and personal.          

I wish she was our pet deer.