We were challenged today at our teacher's inservice to put ourselves out there and WRITE.....

and I realized I had just kind of given up on my blog. Life got busy, dare I say boring?  And, I somehow lost my inspiration. With four kids how is that even possible? I think it's probably safer to say, time became a precious commodity, and carving out a few moments to write anything seemed daunting. That said, I am now committing to write. I have publicly committed myself before ( I believe in 2012), and clearly did not follow through. Now, because I ask this of my students, I am committing to write at least a couple of times a week. This blog was originally created to share my journey as a hearing mom to four deaf/HOH children. Somehow it morphed into that, plus a lot of pictures of the kids, and a little bit of the craziness that is just life in general.

I think for now I am not going to commit to a topic or theme. I'd like to just get back in the habit of posting, and see what happens.

I look at the picture at the top of the blog, and barely remember the kids looking like that. I love photographs because they capture a moment in time, and create a lasting memory. But, so do words. Life goes by too quickly, and maybe these small reflections written here will be a collection of memories for the future.

Wish me luck ;)

This is Jake, riding down the "sledding" hill in Sunriver with my 15 year old daughter's friend. I love the fact that this child has such high confidence (at times) that I think he would have actually traveled down the hill with a complete stranger. I am going to spend the next few posts catching you up on each of the kids. I don't have enough time, or enough privacy to really update on Jake at the moment, but let's just say, the earlier posts I re-read with my daughters for fun explain a lot about Jake in present day :) The good, the bad, and the ugly.

Hello Internet

Hello! I have missed being here... Well, actually my cranky, ever-changing 15 year old missed me being here. And then shared my past posts with my cranky, slightly more responsible 12 year old and they told me I "HAD" to post again, because my kids (meaning themselves) were just too funny to not talk about. I'd like to say I made that up, but not so much.

They seem to think that with such highly entertaining, totally funny- "ALL THE TIME" kids, like they seem to think they are, I am depriving the blogging world by not sharing.  I beg to differ but I will say, I had forgotten so many stories. I can't promise to blog every day, but I will promise to share when there is a semi-important reason. Even if it is only important to my kids.

Last vacation of the summer....

We were supposed to travel to California with my daughter's soccer team for the Mustang Stampede, but at the last minute the team decided to withdraw (missing an assortment of players due to all kinds of issues, injury, and one teammate qualifying for the Hershey National track meet).  So, I went into scramble mode to come up with a vacation.  We spent time at our friend's condo near Government Camp, which was nice as they are abandoning us for drier, warmer weather in Florida.  We then traveled to Sunriver, Oregon. It was sunny, with pools readily available, and white water rafting close by.  It was amazing. Explaining to our rafting guide that he needed to explain the safety rules to four kids who can't hear was also entertaining ;) That said, Glen, the guide was amazing with the kids.

Fixing the broken cochlear implant.....

Emily's right implant just quite working out of the blue. This is her favorite implant (which probably makes no sense, but yes, she has greatly preferred her original implant to her "newer" implant). That said, going with the newer implant only for a week has made her adjust to it and she finally admitted that it sounds just like her original one.  If there is a silver lining, that would be it.  That said, I need to figure out if her old implant is fixable.  I have done what troubleshooting I can, and this is beyond me.  It is not the head piece, or the battery, or the ear hook.  Bummer.

Any thoughts? (This is an AB Harmony processor)

Swim Lessons Today

Trey is still not completely safe in the pool yet, so we are starting another round of lessons.  My sister and I basically grew up in the water, of course in Texas pools are on every corner it (or at least it seems like it).  Here where we spend so much of the year wet, you have to work a bit harder to find a pool. That said, we belong to a club that has two pools, and yet, Trey is still not swimming.

It is harder when you have to take off your "ears" to swim.  The teaching process gets a little bit harder, so when we find a good visual teacher, we are thrilled. We are back with the swim teacher from last year, but she just told me she is leaving in three weeks- NO!! Let's hope she can work some magic in the next three weeks ;)

** Like that picture? Doesn't it look safe? I'm sure there is no way he could stand on that, fall back and crack his head open.....Yes, those thoughts went through my mind over and over. Such a boy thing.

Texas pics round 2

Trey's favorite activity

Six Flags: Jake, Delaney, Emily, and Trey

Emily and my niece Ainsley

A bad family picture ;) (missing Rob, he stayed home due to work)

See the love???

Trey

The girls: Addison, Delaney, my sister Laura, Ainsley, my mom, Me, and Em

Delaney and Ainsley