Monday, May 5, 2014

Gemma at the eye dr

Here is what Gemma did or attempted to do while we were at the eye doctor today.

Eye appointment

Last week, Amelia had her yearly check up. As part of the check up, they recommended Amelia get a full eye exam because it appeared that she wasn't able to see very well. The quick exam indicated her vision might be somewhere in the 20/100 range.

I was present during Amelia's exam, (as much as one can be present while keeping Gemma from climbing walls and dismantling furniture.) and I had doubts about the accuracy of the exam. From my perspective, it was clear to me that Amelia didn't know WHERE to look in the viewfinder versus not being able to see the letters. The poor nurse tried over and over to get Amelia to read a line of letters to her and Amelia just couldn't figure it out.

Anyhow, this led to is being referred for the full work up, which was this morning.

After an exam, the eye doctor declared her eyes were perfect and he didn't see any sign that there were any problems.

I'm relieved that I didn't miss a change in her vision or even a gradual change the happens over time. I've spent the weekend evaluating her every move, trying to detect a weakness in vision without luck.

Amelia was pretty disappointed as she had her heart set on a pair of sparkly pink glasses....

Saturday, May 3, 2014

Run, soccer, airshow

It's been a typically busy day around here.

William's running club had their big finish today with their final 1.2 mile run*. It is officially a Big Deal and he has worked very hard this year. Last year, he had some trouble with this longish run, so this year he and I have done many training runs in our subdivision to help prepare him. Pacing ones self and motivating oneself to continue running when you'd rather be laying on the ground are hard for a 7 year old. So we trained together and ended up really enjoying our short run times together. We chat, we encourage each other and tell jokes. It's. WONDERFUL. It is amazing to have William be old enough to willingly participate in one of my own favorite hobbies. I think I'll continue to invite him to run with me, although I will be very surprised if he takes me up on the offer when there isn't the Big Race to motivate him.

After the run, we changed clothes and garage sale-ed our way to Amelia's soccer game. It is a huge weekend for garage sales here.

Amelia's soccer game was next. She is really becoming more confident with the rules/expectations of the game. She works hard and she had some excellent plays today on the field. I'm so proud of how hard she works!

We stopped for lunch out before the next event - an airshow. This is the first airshow for the kids- we haven't been to an airshow since William was a baby? Or before? Anyway, it has been a long time. This topic may be better handled by John. Especially if you want the rosy pictures of happy times. It was warm and extremely crowded with some interesting people (ie: the guy who started telling William about how "that plane was the reason we killed Hitler and beat the J--s". I couldn't quite get away quick enough from that one). Gemma and William weren't interested in staying with us and both were prone to wander away if you took your eyes off them for even a moment. Although the planes were loud, we couldn't hear any of the announcers so the kids didn't understand what was going on. Neither did I, to be honest. The Blue Angels were there and did angelly things. The wait for a portapotty bathroom was at least 30 minutes, a bottle of hot water cost $3 plus tax, and we sat in traffic for close to 2 hours to get out of the world's most disorganized parking lot.

Over pizza, we chatted about our favorite parts of the airshow.

William: I likes sitting in the digger and National Guard truck (they also had a vehicle display).

Amelia: I liked when you got me some sprite. Also, when you played a game with me.

Gemma: plane. Loud (adorably pronounced y-oud). Broom!

Mama: I liked when I ran into some friends in the parking lot! It was
fun to see them.

John: I liked when the stunt guy did this maneuver......( you'll have to ask him for the details).

Sorry, dear. It was fun to spend a day together....maybe we need to wait a few more years for this event to be enjoyable?


*throughout the year, students in the running club complete running 26 miles, read 26 books, and do 26 good deeds. The last 1.2 miles they run together and it is a fun time.




Sent from my iPhone

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Conversations, v.2383

Amelia (to William): hold very still while I am measuring you. Pretend you are a lion watching his prey.

(Where did that come from?)



--------------------
Gemma: bowl! (She offers me her dripping cereal bowl half full of uneaten cereal)

Mama: thank you

Gemma: ahh done!

Mama: are you all done? What a mess you have there! Who made that mess on your high chair?

Gemma (with glee): DADDY! (Dissolves into giggles)


Sent from my iPhone

Wednesday, April 30, 2014

A day at the park

These girls are so fun together right now. Most of the time they truly enjoy each other's company. I know this won't always be the case.

Monkies

Amelia now can do the monkey bars as you can see in the video. As you can also see, Gemma is a little monkey and finds troublesome things to do every time my eye wanders for even a moment.

While the kids are away...

The toys will play. Or at least, the trains will play Pokemon cards.