What's Worse?

Than helping one of your kids with a science fair project?

Helping two of them.

Don't get me wrong. I love helping the kids out...but man...science fair is a lot of work, especially when you HAVE TO do it.

eek.

Emma was studying lung capacity. She used bubble gum and asked people to see how many bubbles they could blow in a minute.

She hypothesized that people 15 to 20 would have the best lung capcity since that's when lungs fully develop and then begin to deteriorate.



She recieved an honorable mention.

Joe studied what position was the best for playing video games. And seriously...your project is to play videos games for days on end? Yeah. Dream come true.



Joe got a 99 out of a 100. The teacher took 1 point off because she thought his title was misleading.

He called it "The Game Boy" and he did his testing on a DS. Seriously. No points for creativity? Sheesh.

They both did a great job.

What was I thinking?

I spent the day with Emma and Joe and their friends at King's Dominion for the twins birthday.

Fun was had by all. And...other than my catching a cold, no additional medical attention was required.

Sadly, I decided not to take my "nice" camera with me, and the little camera and I are not on speaking terms.

But...here's what we got.




We got to ride the intimidator...it's a giga-coaster and it's the highest and fastest gravity driven roller coaster on the east coast.


Yeah.

There's a point after you go over the first drop and take the first curve where you are moving at over 90 MPH...it actually goes so fast some people said they momentarily blacked out.

I didn't black out, however, everything went dark and fuzzy for a few seconds...it was wild.


Everyone decided it was the best birthday party they had ever been to.

Gotta Get One of These

Williamsburg was great. The weather was beautiful. Seeing all the old buildings and everyone dressed up was cool.



The juxtaposition of old and new as also fun to see...like this coach driver checking his cell phone.



We just had to have everyone post in the stocks at Williamsburg. I have to say...I am thinking about having one of these built in our backyard.




I think most of our kids were a little young to enjoy Williamsburg, but it was still pretty cool.

We also visited Jamestown and Yorktown. Not only is it cool to see buildings that have stood since the birth of our nation, but it's SUPER cool to see canonballs still in the building since these early wars.


Running the battlefields.


Victory Monuement.


I think the kids really enjoyed Jamestown the most...and I am totally in love with Yorktown.

The funniest part was riding the trolley around Yorktown. I was looking out the window and saw a girl running across the beach. I thought, "humm...that looks like Sam. But that's not possible. "

Then, from the back of the trolley I hear, "Mom, look, it's the Brisco's."

What?

Really?

How crazy is that.

Party All The Time

One of the things the kids really enjoyed on vacation was a day trip to King's Dominion...we went on opening day and it was very crowded. They have twice as many as they expected.


But..the kids still really had a good time.

I spent most of the day with Katie and Becky in the kiddie land, while the bigger kids and Troy all ventured off to do the big roller coaster.

Becky is at the perfect age for this stuff. She is old enough to understand what waiting in line means, but young enough to be thrilled to ride on anything that moves.


Ohmyword. The kids driving. The thought sends chills down my spine. This ride was funny because all the kids wanted to drive. So Mikayla drove Becky who was too small to drive.


Emma wanted to be by herself.


Josh kept asking why everytime he went on a ride, why did a bigger kid get to drive and not him? So...he drove Troy.
And I sat in the back seat and let Joe drive...while hanging on for dear life. How come Katie doesn't look scared? (Do you love her HUGE goose egg? That's from just walking around and falling.)


I love after we go someplace like this because Josh always says, "That was the best day ever!"


And of course, no family vacation is complete unless someone needs medical attention. And this trip it was me.

Seriously, we made it the whole entire vacation, the entire day at King's Dominion, and on the last ride of the day I don't know what I touched, but I started to break out in hives up and down my left arm...pretty quickly they started to spread up my arm and across my body.

I was so itchy and getting puffier and puffier by the second. We high tailed it over to the first aid station, where the nice man behind the counter offered my lotion.

REALLY?

I said I could really use an antihistamine....and so they called a paramedic. He was pretty concerned about it, thankfully, so he gave me a shot of benadryl, which I am happy to say took effect immediately. ohhhhhh....the relief. (Of course I was in a haze for the rest of the night and much of the next day.)

So, they kept me for a while to make sure things started to calm down and we were able to make it home without further incident.

ah....vacation.

Little Bunny Foo Foo

I cannot believe how much candy is in the house right now. Seriously. Two easter egg hunts later and we have more than we need.

Katie keeps bringing me random pieces of candy asking if I will open them for her. I think she might be on a sugar high for the next month.

We attended our neighbor's annual easter egg hunt, but sadly, they are moving and this will be the last.

The kids made the most of it.

Double the Fun

We have had a crazy busy week.

We spent Spring Break in Williamsburg. We did Williamsburg, Yorktown, and Jamestown. We also went to the Virginia Living Museum in Newport News and spent a day at King's Dominion...so I have lots and lots of photos to post.

And, as if that wasn't enough we had Easter...AND Emma and Joe turned 11 today.

Holy cow.



Can you believe that my babies are 11?

**WARNING**

BIRTH STORY

They were asking me about their birth...and I was thinking back. It seems like a million years ago and yesterday all at the same time.

I had gone into labor with them at 29 weeks and spent five weeks in the hospital on medication to stop the contractions.

The doctors wanted me to make it to 34 weeks. They were giving the twins steroids to help their lungs develop and they hoped that it would be enough to help them along when they were born.

So...on April 4, 1999...I hit 34 weeks. It was a Sunday. Conference weekend. Easter Sunday. Just like today.

They took me off the medicine at about 5 am. Troy had been sleeping at the hospital on and off, and had spent the night. I think his mom was at the house with Mikayla, but he was just beat and wanted to go home and sleep in a bed...not the awful chair in my hospital room.

So...he went home to lay down. Well..at 5:45 am...just enough time for Troy to get home and fall asleep my water broke. lol!

So...I called Troy and woke him up and said...hey hun, my water broke. Since my labor with Mikayla had only been about 4 hours, we didn't want to take any chances...so he rushed right back to the hospital.

In the meantime...I am starting to feel like there are babies about to be born, but of course, when I told the nurse that I thought I needed to push she didn't believe me. Why is that?

So...about this time Troy gets back to the hospital...and the nurse decides to check me...and has a total cow when she realizes that I am already at a 10 and ready to deliver. It was only 6:15 am.

Well...all heck breaks loose...because they want me to deliver in an operating room and nothing is ready. So...they start to wheel me out of the room and they are getting Troy dressed in hospital gear as we literally run down the hallway. The doors are flying open, the nurse is freaking out...and I am holding onto the bed for dear life.

Of course, it didn't help at all that the hospital was in the middle of a lawsuit and my nurse had been named in the suit...as we left my room, the night nurse says to my current nurse...hey...did you know that these guys are both lawyers.

You should have seen her face.

Well...as we get to the operating room the doctor walks in and I am full on ready to give birth. No time for the epidural to work. Dang it.

And out pops Emma at about 6:30 am. This is when the doctor tells that Joe is breach and he is going to try and turn him. ack.

That didn't work...and he wants Joe out...so he asks me if i'm okay with Joe coming out feet first. um...okay. So he reaches in and pulls Joe out feet first. 3 minutes after Emma was born.

It was such a different experience from Mikayla...which was so serene and calm. This was anything but.

Emma weighed in at 5 lbs and Joe was just 4 lbs. But they were incredibly healthy and we all went home after just 2 days. It was a miracle.

I am so grateful that everything went well. They are such blessings. Happy and just really wonderful kids.

We are so lucky to have them and wish them a very HAPPY birthday.

xo

Lessons Learned

So...Joe had enough of the bullying and spoke up about it to his teacher.

I also called and spoke with the vice principal. It is one thing to verbally taunt another student, but when you put your hands on him...that crosses a line I cannot tolerate.

Background: Joe was sitting at his desk talking with another boy. The bully did not like what Joe said, so he grabbed a small wooden mallet off the teacher's desk and shoved it under Joe's face and threatened him. Seriously...are we in the 5th grade or a bad episode of Prison Break?

I know. It's not prison, but I was just so stinkin' upset by this whole thing.

The vice principal was wishy washing and even had the gall to ask me if Joe had provoked this. Really? What could he have possibly said that would rise to this level of retaliation?

I told the vice principal that I thought we had crossed from bullying to crime...because the last time I checked, this was an assault and battery. I think at that point she finally decided she better take this seriously.

So...they called out a bunch of boys from the classroom, and spoke with them individually. The bully admitted all that he had done, and even went so far as to say that he and his friends had been targeting Joe and his friend.

Holy cow. Targeting.

The bully was severely reprimanded, but nothing else. Because this was the first documented case of bullying on the boy's record, they felt they could not do more. Sheesh. I would have done more. But, that's me, angry mom.

Joe thinks the bully felt really badly, and I am happy to say that while the bully's father was unaware of his son's behavior he was appalled and angered by it. Thank goodness.

And...now for the last few days the bully has been nice to all.

Let's hope it lasts.

Heartache

When you live a full life...you experience things, both good and bad...and these experiences lead you to the person you are.

I have had these experiences in my life.

And...for all the heartache I have ever felt, none hurt as much as the heartache I feel when my children hurt.

Joe is going through a rough time at school. He is being bullied and honestly I want to march right down to that school and sit on the kid that's giving him a hard time.

All my kids have experienced issues at school. They get along with some kids and others they don't care for. Whatever. It's all part of growing up.

But, when one kid goes out of his way to make your kid's life miserable. When he picks on him for things totally out of his control. When it's made worse by the fact that your kid got caught in the crossfire defending someone who the other kids have ostracized. My heart just bleeds.

Joe is such a good kid. No one ever had a bigger heart. He is kind and thoughtful and strong. By golly, I know he's strong now. In befriending someone all the other kids are mean to, he has made himself a target. But he doesn't want to change classes. He doesn't even really want me to step in. He just wants to deal with it, the best way he can.

And...so I just get to ache for him. And cry for him. And hopefully let him know I think he's wonderful.

Again?

Joe comes to me yesterday and says, "Mom, I need more pants."

So...I'm thinking he has outgrown them...but when he came home today...I had him bring me his pants so I can see what size I need to get.

But, guess what?

He had not outgrown his pants...he doesn't know where they are.

I know.

Seriously.

The pants thief has struck again.

How on earth do you lose your pants?

I mean...the boy leaves home with pants on.

He comes home from school with pants on.

In fact, he always seems to have pants on.

So...where do his pants go?

Do you know?

Please, i'm desperate.

So Sad

Today Katie and I were running some errands. While we were in the old town, the train pulled up.

Katie just started to get crazy. "My daddy! My daddy!"

I tried to tell her that her daddy was not on the train...but she just would not listen.

And when the train pulled away she just had a little meltdown..."My daddy! My daddy!"

Oy. Break your heart.

I think she misses her daddy.

Growing Growing

My little photography business has been growing and as much as I have loved my little photo blog, it was time for that to grow up too.

So, while I will keep my photo blog to post sneak peeks of my photo shoots, I now have my own website:

www.denisebeattyphotography.com

Let me know if you need the friends and family discount. : )

Holy Smokes.

We had some excitement at our house yesterday.

While I was attending Melanie's baby shower...our dishwasher caught on fire.

Thank goodness Troy was home...he had the presence of mind to run downstairs and turn off the power to the house, thus containing the fire to the dishwasher itself.

The dishwasher is a lost cause and our house still smells like burnt plastic. But that's it.

It's so scary to think about how much worse it could have been.

One minute you have a house and the next minute you don't.

What if Troy had not been home?

But...it got me thinking...do I know how to turn off the power? or the water for that matter? We have talked about what to do in a fire and how to get everyone out of the house, but what if there is something I could do to save our house...to prevent things from getting worse. Do I know how?

I don't...but today I am going to learn.

Will you take some time and learn too?

What Did You Think Would Happen?

The kids went to the dentist, and I have to say that I am just so pleased that my kids like the dentist.

I have a real phobia, but the kids all look forward to it and do so well.

Josh actually had to have a cavity filled and was a little nervous. He has a major gag reflex and we have to worry about him throwing up on the dentist. It hasn't happened yet...but, I am sure it's just a matter of time. (BTW, Josh also went to the orthodontist to be fitted for a permanent retainer. They had to do molds...and man...that was close. He almost had to use the bucket they gave him.)

They had to give him a little laughing gas to keep him calm during the procedure. They said he would be a little loopy...but really, who could tell the difference?

Anyway...now that I have done all this bragging about how much my kids like the dentist...you just have to know it doesn't end well.

This was Katie's 2nd visit to the dentist and I have to say it went far worse than the first visit, which I hardly thought was possible!

She would not even sit in the chair! She got all crazy, foaming at the mouth, screaming bloody murder when they even tried to brush her teeth. We gave up on that and just asked the dentist to look at her teeth in lieu of an actual cleaning.

So...the dentist gets her laying down and tries to count her teeth and check them for any obvious problems. Simple enough, right?

And wouldn't you know...in the middle of all the screaming and teeth checking Katie clamped down on the dentist's finger and would not let go.

Ack.

It was awful.

I think we might skip our next visit.

: )

When Did That Happen?

My baby is growing up.



I don't know when we stopped being in the "baby" phase of our lives...but when your baby starts preschool, I think you are on your way.

Miss Katie is going to preschool!

2 hours a week.

LOL!

I know it isn't much...but, somehow it's a lot too.


The backpack is almost as big as she is!