Declan turns 10!

What fun we had on MLK day celebrating Declan's birthday.  He invited frineds from school for a Tie-dying party. 

The night before the big event, I directed the kids and Cousin B in the art of making a tie-dye cake and mini cupcakes.  There was batter and color everywhere, but it was a lot of fun! 

They were eager to see the results and were very proud of themselves when it was presented to, and awed by the party goers on Monday.

The table was decorated in a variety of colors, and we hung the Happy Birthday sign from the living room fan while it spun slowly...in winter...in Maine.

Mostly they watched each other take turns playing a video game with Declan, but when it came time to partay they were all ready!  We had the tie-dye cake, and the requested orange and rootbeer flavored drinks.  Presents were opened and shirts were prepared for dying. 

We had two children at a time go to the sink.  Under Scott's careful supervision each child dyed their shirt in their side of the sink.  They left a few at a time and chose Christmas clearance gifts from our favorite family treasure box. 

School was cancelled on Tuesday and Wednesday due to snow, but on Thursday the shirts and thankyou cards were delivered to the children.  More than one child put them on right away!  School was cancelled on Friday too, so we were glad that we handed them out the day before.

In Declan's words, "It was good, great."

It Never Worked Before!

As I was shoveling today I heard my son screaming for help. So I run to the front of the house to find him with his tongue stuck to our metal mailbox post. I ran into the house to get warm water and said to my wife, "I need the camera now!"

I walked him back in the house and just as I shut the door behind him I broke out laughing. My wife asked him why he did it and he said, "It's never worked before!" He said the worst part was that I took a picture.

Elyse turns Eleven!

You may be wondering why an eleven year old girl has a cake with candle holders and a big number 4 on it. My mother had given us a baggie filled with this odd assortment that she collected as she prepared her house for sale this fall. We doubled the cake recipe since we didn't know how many girls would show up. When the girls saw the bag and the empty cake they knew that they wanted to decorate it for Elyse. It was such a fun, spontaneous thing that we might turn it into a tradition!

Elyse blowing out her

candles on the "good" cake.

Declan spent the day with Auntie Chanel and Bailey at Aquaboggan, and

Cassie went to Rosie's fairy birthday party.

Elyse was thrilled that it was just HER and her friends!

Celebrating with friends at
Grandma and Grandpa Brown's pool.

Cassie-isms

"Mom, my throat hurts. Will you make me some Roman Numerals?" (Raman Noodles)

So much has happened this summer that I don't know where to begin. Declan started a speech therapy group which is mostly boys. They had 2 hours a week and went on field trips each week to different places: the town's historical museum, swimming, park, and library. He missed the trip to the restaurant because of his tonsil removal. Which was another big event of the summer. Apparently removing the tonsils and adenoids can
*help a person with their sleep (he has trouble falling asleep, and trouble going back to sleep when he wakes up EVERY NIGHT),
*make eating more of a priority (he rarely eats because they are swollen)
*allows him to lead a normal life because he isn't battling strep throat anymore (the past 2 times he had it it was back to back for 20 days of medication).

Elyse had the opportunity to attend a grant-funded school program for the summer that mixed summer camp with learning. She hated it after 2 days complaining that it felt too much like school. So, she joined Declan and Cassie for their 2nd year at the Recreation Department's summer camp. They attend the smallest one so there were only 10 children. They also went on many field trips: movies, mimi-golf, kayaking, bowling, Ferry Beach, a water ski show, wild animal presentation, and a dog training show just to name a few. Summer camp allowed them to stay on a schedule while enjoying all that summer had to offer!

She was also given a scholarship to attend a fantastic overnight camp for the week. Unfortunately the last week of day-camp she caught lice from someone and even though we tried 3 times to get her back into the overnight camp she still wasn't allowed to attend.

Elyse's biggest highlight by far was turning double digits this summer! She tells everyong she meets.

Ever since Declan was born she has been on a mission to have her own room and now that we have moved, she has been happily decorating and settling into her new room. She even had 2 friends sleep over for her birthday which is something we absolutely could not have done in any of our past residences!

Then there's Cassie. Our little wonder-girl whose imagination brings all sorts of things to life. Her ability to take the ordinary and to imagine what it could be amaze us every day. So much life and love in this little girl!

The end of Cassie's school year brought us to the end of an emotional journey that we all just barely survived. Cass was constantly bullied by a little girl in her class along with 3 others who were looking for trouble. By the end of the school year she went to bed in tears, begged to stay home from school and was on anxiety medication twice a day. We were at a loss. The school said they had a no tolerance policy, but kept allowing this to happen.

So, Cassie spent her summer at weekly counseling. Deanna is an amazing woman with a kind voice and warm heart. Cassie loves to go see her and has worked really hard this summer to stop baby-talking when she feels that things are out of her control, whining, and inciting Declan to fury! She earned a Webkinz and reminds herself that it can be taken away unless she follows the rules. She is slowly learning to stand up for herself and we are seeing a new confidence in her! We hope that by next year she will be off the anxiety meds!

Completely by God's Divine Intervention we met a school counselor at Elyse's school who is also a counselor at Declan's school. We told her what had been happening to Cassie, and she made it her mission to get Cassie out of the local elementary school and back to Declan's school. Cass has made it through the first week of school with no tears! She is with old friends from Kindergarten who are the sweetest things and she has been blessed with a 2nd grade teacher who doesn't believe in yelling. We thank God for the school counselor who fought on our behalf for Cass!

 
 
 
 

Cassie Turned 7!

She is a lover of fun, an artist, an engineer, and has a deep sense of justice.

Cassie's birthday weekend in a nutshell...
Friday:
Brought cupcakes to school that she frosted with her sister.
Helped Grandma Jo decorated her guitar cake for her birthday party.
Saturday:
Went to urgent care and found out that she had strep throat, but that didn't stop her from partying. After we called all of her friends only two decided not to come. The party was low key and fun. Everyone was impressed with the guitar cake!
We took her to Build-a-Bear to use a coupon for a free bear and a $5 off certificate for an accessory. On the way home we stopped to buy Cupcake, her new hamster that we promised her she could have for her birthday ever since Ruth sold her birds due to health reasons.
Sunday:
Visited with Grandma and Grandpa Brown.
Went to Grandma and Grandpa Jo's to celebrate her birthday (March 8) and Christine's (March 20) with the Mike's family and Christine and John. Played games, danced with Lia, and just had a good time. She had her own little cake too!

She told everyone that she wanted to start a Webkins collection (she didn't have any, but her friends did) and ended the weekend with 7 Webkins! She also received money, art supplies, slippers, a lock box (to keep her candy safe from Declan), and Red Sox items (she has decided that she is a Red Sox fan!) All in all she had a great time and we enjoyed celebrating our youngest's life as she begins turning into a young lady.