Week three of school....

And I'm still playing catch-up from summer. I have loads of laundry, and a million house cleaning projects. Sample paint "swatches" painted on three different walls, and three weeks left of my last class before student teaching. In addition, as nice as it is having some time without the kids, I send the last two off on the bus, turn around and it's 2:00.  How??? I haven't quite figured that one out.

Delaney is loving school, but her hearing fluctuations have continued- Bummer. She is still experiencing some ringing, and by the end of the day her hearing is just not as good as it was at the beginning. She has started wearing her implant (yay!), and agrees that it actually *does* help her hear (yes, she's a slow learner ;) 

Everyone is doing well in the hearing department (well, as "well" as Emily ever does). She definitely struggles the most.... It doesn't make sense as she has bilateral implants but she definitely has good hearing days and bad hearing days.  She's always been a bit of an enigma. 

My camera is still broken- I miss it. I've missed eight soccer games, the first day of school, and who knows what else. The rationale side of me knows I have enough soccer pictures to last a lifetime, but who knows when it will be "the" picture. Anyway....I WANT MY CAMERA BACK. Please :)

Back to school (75% of the kids)

Can you tell which child is not THRILLED???
The picture of Delaney is not from the first day of school (although she *did* wear her hair in braids. And, as a plus she is posing with one of my other favorite girls, my niece Addison). My camera died (see previous post) and her battery was not yet charged so she got out of the traditional first day of school pic. Maybe Trey should have gotten out of it as well (????) He really, REALLY, really wants to go to the neighborhood school. Sigh.

Summer is over.....

And my children are all back in school. We had a great summer- lots of soccer, some vacation, several roller coasters, and a couple of water parks. I have tons of pictures, but my computer will not let me load a chunk of them, and my "baby" broke (while on vacation), so I had to use my parents' cameras for pix. My Canon DSLR is not working- Big, big bummer. I have a ton of soccer games in my future (like this weekend) and I might miss the perfect shot ;)

Delaney is now an 8th grader (SCARY, last year before high school)
Emily is a 5th grader (Again, SCARY, last year before middle school)
Jake is a 2nd grader (He's just scary- kidding)
Trey is a 1st grader (Hard to believe my baby is in 1st grade).

I will update soon with lots of pictures, but for now here are a couple of the boys....being boys. BTW- the pictures help explain how the boys 'kind of' got wet on their outing with my mom ;)

All boy, all the time....

that's been our house this week (w/ the exception of me and Maxine, our labrador retriever). When asked if they missed the girls, the boys LOUDLY responded, "Nope...do they have to come home?". Now, that's brotherly love.

We are home from vacation #1- which was centered around (yes, you guessed it) a soccer tournament!

We all had a fantastic time. Both girls' teams did really well, and I spent so much time shrieking, I mean cheering, the girls on, I'm hoarse. Of course that might have been the huge rollercoasters I was forced, I mean asked nicely, to go on. I've become so much less daring as I've gotten older.

Anyway- I have a full recap in the making and tons of pictures. The girls traveled to Southern Cali. to visit Rob's parents after the tournament, hence it is just the boys.  That is my excuse for why I haven't posted pictures or a recap. The girls actually help out a ton.....

They have had a great time getting spoiled by their grandparents, and get to do it all over again in less than two weeks (w/ my parents).

Summer- it's a good thing ;)

The unveiling (although not *on* Trey).....

It is the Phonak Naida (something, something, UP). His is clear so you can see all the inner workings, and it feels more substantial than the Widex p38.  Maybe that is just me trying to justify the investment. He has adapted to it immediately, but he is also just 6.  It is very awesome looking, now I just hope it works even better! I will say, the BRIGHT red ear mold that accompanies it kind of kills the supercool, high-tech look of it, but again....6.

Trey gets his new hearing aid today.....

I am so excited! The kids have had the Widex P38s so long, and they have been a great hearing aid (really powerful, which is great when it comes to fluctuating hearing). Jake has one P38 and one c19, or maybe even a c9.  Anyway, after the "Milo incident" in which the hearing aid(s) became a doggie treat, we needed to replace one, so Trey is the lucky winner. Jake's hearing is better, and he does well with his aids, so I gave him our last spare P38.  The new hearing aid is so much smaller....and a lot less clunky looking then the Widex aid. Now, let's just hope it works better as well!

If it does work better, we'll be replacing Delaney's P38 (that she has had since she was 3....not bad for a hearing aid, right?).  I was told to expect them to last 5-7 years. She's had hers for 10. Which is great as they were not cheap when we purchased them.  $4,000 for the pair.