Weekend Full of Family!!

2008 Klipsch Family Reunion

Alex playing Hoosier Golf

Gayle and I practicing our Dirty Dancing moves

Family

What a fabulous fall weekend spent with family. Saturday was the Klipsch family reunion. What can I say about these people? They are a hoot and a lot of fun! I am grateful that I have an opportunity to spend time with them. I am grateful that my children also have an opportunity to spend time with them. Olivia had a great time playing with Megan and Matthew. Alex got to meet and play with a few distant cousins as well.

Family is so important to me. Once my family lost its matriarch, my Grandma, we had to find a way to stay connected. I didn't appreciate all the moments spent with my family before we lost her. Now, I do. I only wish I could have appreciated it more then. I had a great time connecting with my cousins on Saturday. We all seem to have such a great sense of humor that when we get together, you cannot help but have a fun time!!

Sunday also was a family day. My Mom and Dad graciously hosted us kids to celebrate Stevie and Jimmy's birthdays. My Dad made homemade chicken and dumplings. It was fantastic. He even made me my bisquick dumplings. For those that may not have had the pleasure, let me indulge you. While growing up, my Mom used to make homemade chicken and dumplings. The dumplings were made from Bisquick not noodles. This type of "dumpling" is so light and fluffy! It soaks in the juice and all the goodness. I LOVE the Bisquick dumplings and to this day, whenever I make homemade chicken and dumplings, that's how I make it. Thanks Mom for such a wonderful memory and recipe! So we spent the afternoon talking and laughing. We even had an opportunity to make one more necklace for Liz's wedding. It was the perfect ending to a perfect family-filled weekend! Which we don't seem to have enough of.

Lordy, Lordy, Look who's 40!!

Happy 40th Birthday Jimmy!

Today is Jimmy's 40th Birthday. He doesn't look a day over 39! HA HA! He definitely makes 40 look good! Seriously though, Jimmy is a good husband and a wonderful Daddy and deserves to be celebrated on his special day! He definitely has not let age stop him from reaching his dream of becoming a police officer. I am so proud of him and couldn't be cheering any harder or louder than I am right now!

I love you Smooch. Hope you have a great birthday and an amazing 40th year!!

The Schwartz quads!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, a friend of mine from high school recently had quadruplets! Amazing miracles these 4 beautiful babies are! Yesterday, I went over in the afternoon to help with Cole, Molly, Meghan and Kurt. As you can imagine, "it takes a village". I was so excited and couldn't wait to see Jill and her babies. Yesterday, they were two months old. Jill is so amazing! She is so laid back and takes everything in stride. I told her I needed to take a page out of her book. She asked me if the title of her book was called "Insanity". She is such a crack up! Everything is down to a science with these 4 precious babies. Every feeding, every diaper, every thing is charted. You definitely need to keep track or how else could you stay on top of it? When I got there, another friend of Jill's was there. The feedings were wrapping up and I got to feed Kurt. So sweet. When I changed his diaper, I felt like I had never changed a diaper before. But of course, Mommy instinct kicked in and all went well. After they were all fed, they all slept. Jill's friend left and Jill had a dentist appointment. I helped by sweeping and mopping the kitchen floor. I kept checking on the babies...just to be sure they didn't need me. After I was finished with that, it was just so quiet...they are such good babies. So, I decided to sweep the hallway and living room. Then, Cole was fussing...nothing major but it was my excuse to hold him! It felt so good. He is so sweet. He settled down and then Meghan started moving and fussing. It was getting close to feeding time and she's the first one who eats. Jill came home and we started getting all 4 bottles ready. I fed Meghan and Jill fed Cole. As soon as they were done, Molly and Kurt were ready to eat. We started feeding at 3:30 and we were done with all 4 at 4:45. Jill said we made good time that usually, it takes 2 hours to feed them. After they all ate, I showed Jill how to lay them on the boppy pillows so they could get some tummy time. Cole is so strong...he kept lifting his head and looking around. Molly had an upset tummy so of course, I had to hold her. Then, it was time for me to go. I spent 5 hours there and the time went by so fast. Jill said her days just rush by. She also has two other boys, Jason 4 and Kyle 2. They were in school but I can only imagine what it must be like for her when everyone is home. Jill has an amazing support/help system and I am so thankful to be a part of it. She asked me if I was going to come back. Definitely! They are just so sweet and as they get bigger and start doing more, I am sure things will get even busier! Thanks Jill for allowing me to be a part of your miracle!

Alex's First Swim Meet

Alex on the diving block taking his mark
Backstroke
Freestyle

Alex has joined a competitive swim team at the YMCA. His friend Ronnie from school also joined. Alex really enjoys it despite the HARD work out Coach Larry puts him through on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Sunday, Alex had his first swim meet. He did so well. I am so proud of him. He participated in a 100m, 50m freestyle, 50m backstroke, 50m butterfly and 50m breaststroke. His strong points are freestyle and butterfly. They got to use the diving blocks and it was Alex's first time. He loved it!! Jimmy helped the Coach so Olivia and I sat in the stands to cheer Alex and his team on. 2 hours later, we are sweating from the sweltering heat of the pool and it's finally over! This meet did not focus on places (i.e., first, second, etc.) so I was glad about that, especially for his first meet. Alex can focus on his times and work up from there. He did great and really wants to continue on. I definitely support him. Alex indicated that me swimming with him would really help motivate him...ugh...I don't want to get into a swimsuit but I will do whatever my boy needs me to do to help him out. Alex, we are so proud of you!! Way to go!!

Visitors from Little Rock

Olivia and Katie - the Princesses
Playing outside
Katie and Sarah

This weekend, Jim (father-in-law), Michelle (sis-in-law), Katie and Sarah (nieces) visited. We were so excited for them to come up from Little Rock because we haven't seen each other since April and May. Olivia was so excited all week and waited patiently for Katie to arrive Friday night. Alex was bummed because Nicky couldn't come due to a father-son camping trip that was already planned. I tried cleaning my house but didn't have a lot of energy to do everything I really wanted...but they still love me anyway right? We went to the Shaw Art Fair on Saturday and just all around relaxed. I made my mostaccioli for dinner and made Jim his favorite chess pie for dessert. We had some friends over to visit and the evening was very enjoyable. The girls played so well together and had a great time playing dress up. While the adults were visiting, Alex got to try his hand at babysitting Sarah. He did a pretty good job and made $6. On Sunday, they headed back but not before some playtime outside...it was a beautiful day. Olivia was sad to see Katie go and can't wait go visit her in Little Rock. Wish they weren't so far away!

Left Eye

I feel like such a bad mother!! The diagnosis for Alex's current eye problem is still steming from the left eye turning in. I had no idea!!! Let me explain. When Alex was about 5, I noticed that occassionally, his left eye would turn in...almost like a lazy eye. We saught the help of a pediatric eye specialist. They "fixed" him up with a special pair of glasses. The glasses would help strengthen the weak left eye. After wearing them for awhile, we were informed that all looked good and no real need to keep wearing the glasses. I thought all was well...we dodged the eye surgery. Fast forward to present day...if you look at Alex, you can't really see it...but the doctor showed me...his left eye is still turning in a little. Thus, the "blurry" vision Alex has been experiencing. I told Alex before his appointment today to be very honest with the doctor. Well, the doctor asked him if he was seeing double. Alex said "yes". The doctor asked how often...a little or a lot? Alex's response...A LOT!! What?!? This is news to me. Alex has not complained of this problem to me. A few weeks ago was the first mention of things being a little blurry at school. As the doctor and I talked, things were clicking into place...Alex has had a difficult time reading. We asked him numerous times if he could see the words because he would shift the book back and forth while reading. I asked the doctor if the left eye turning in could affect his reading. "ABSOLUTELY!" he said. So yeah, I totally feel like a bad Mom!! The doctor recommended we try vision therapy before going back to the specialist he saw 4 years ago. So I am going to contact this new doctor and hopefully get things started soon. I feel that if we can get a jump on this, maybe it will help him with the reading. Then, we can tackle whether or not Alex really has dyslexia. I have been on the fence about this for so long because it just didn't feel right to me...maybe the eyes have been the problem the whole time. I am so glad we found out about this now. I am going to go research vision therapy to see if there is anything we can do at home to help in addition to seeing the therapist. Wish us luck, if vision therapy doesn't help, the other option is surgery.

Picture Day!

Today is Picture Day for Alex. Say CHEESE!! So last night, we were practicing his smile and went to Target for a new shirt. I remember as a kid, we always got new outfits for picture day. I think it's funny that I am doing the same thing for my kids!!

After school today, Alex has an eye doctor appointment. He has been saying that things are blurry at school. I haven't heard him complain at home but I thought I would get it checked out especially since he had a lazy eye problem at 5 years old.

Alex is such a great kid. The other day, I was looking at him and it just amazed me how quickly he has grown up. He is getting so tall and so mature-looking. It just blows my mind to think that soon his voice will be changing and all the other fun stuff that goes along with puberty. He has been working so hard lately with his swimming. We went and bought the special spandex swimming suit and he requested a swimming cap. He was so excited! I remember taking swim class in high school. I HATED wearing a swimcap but it's something new and exciting for him. His first swim meet is this Sunday. I can't wait. He's got a great freestyle stroke!!!