Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

We had a fun weekend!  Brian and I had a date night on Friday and went to dinner with other parents in Izzy's class.  It was nice to chat about the sometimes ridiculousness of Kindergarten with other parents.  Especially nice as it was report card day.  Isabel did fantastic academic wise.  I was actually really surprised because she's not actually reading yet.  Behaviorally she has a few things to work on.  No surprise there.  Logan did very well.  He's having a great year and I really love his new teachers.  We have his ARD in 2 weeks, so we'll know more then.  Our main focus/dilemma is whether or not we should hold him back.  It's too early to tell right now (I think) but it's definitely on my mind.

Saturday I set my alarm for 4:15am to get ready for the 1/2 marathon I was running.  It was a very small race, but a nice time up for marathon day.  It's been a long time since I raced and this one boosted my confidence.  I picked off 26 runners and had 1 pass me.  That 1 still pisses me off.  I started off slow (like I always do) and picked up sped.  I didn't have any timing devices, so it was hard to gauge my speed.  I usually run with at least 1 device, but I'm almost over my phone data plan for the month and didn't charge my Garmin.  I also ran completely without music.  I think it helped my pace. My unofficial time was 2:18, which I was very happy with as it was a hilly course.

While I was running Isabel and crew were busy with a soccer game.  isabel scored 3 goals!  I came home and after a nice long bath passed out for 2 hours.  I was so tired.  Izzy was tired too.

Brian worked until about 3am Sunday morning and then again for about 3 hours after the kids got up Sunday morning.  After he finished up what he needed to do we hit up Chipotle (it's been way too long) and thence our way downtown to a performance of 'Don't be Afraod of the Dark' by Ballet Austin.

The show was great!  It was just 55 minutes and very entertaining for the kids.  Logan really loved it and clapped super loud after each song.  Isabel loved the dancing portion where she could see the ballerinas (a lot of the show involved black lights and props).  She kept saying 'I can see the people holding sticks'.  She was onto their tricks.  She also saw a promo poster for The Nutcracker and asked if she could see that.

After the show the kids fell asleep in the car so I had Brian pull into the grocery store so that I could get groceries.  I'm making dinners for families this week and really needs ingredients.  When the kids woke up we agreed to go to the pumpkin patch near our house to get carving pumpkins.  It was late and the kids were super grumpy so we told them it would be quick.  We pull up and there is a full on carnival going on.  Ugh.  So we get it ur pumpkins and tell the kids we're leaving.  Logan is fine but Isabel decided to whine and whine and whine about how she 'just wants to go on one ride.'  No dice sister.  So being the super mean parents that we are we haul her in the car and drive off.  As we're pulling away she whimpers 'goodbye fun carnival.'  So dramatic.

Rain! Inside!

Last Thursday it rained.  It rained really really hard.  Like 7 inches in 24 hours or something.  We are still in an epic drought in central Texas, so this is a LOT of rain for us.  It was so much rain that after giving the kids baths and getting them ready for bed Logan had to be reassured that no, it wasn't going to rain in our house.  I let him know that we are so lucky because we have a strong sturdy house with a new roof over our heads.  So Logan is about to hop in bed and I take Izzy downstairs for her medicine.  I hear 'plop plop plop' and think 'great, the A/C drain is backed up again.'  I turn around and there is water coming down the walls in the playroom!  It's coming out of the light switch, crown molding, etc.  The floor is soaked.  Izzy 'I have GOT to go tell Logan!'  Stop right there baby girl!  Do not move!  IF YOU TELL LOGAN ONE WORD OF THIS YOU WILL LOSE TV PRIVELADGES FOR 3 WEEKS!  Inside my head:  shit man, he just told us he was scared of water coming in the house.  WTF is wrong with you?!

About that time Brian walks in.  Welcome home!  Our house is totally effed!

As I put the kids to bed Brian investigated in the torrential rain.  He moves the treadmill in the study and the floor is so wet that it's squishy.  So he called the roofing company that put our brand new roof on less than a month ago and the guy says he will be out in the morning.

Long story short, the gutters in one area were put on incorrectly causing water to get under the shingles and water to get on the wall.  It was so wet that the brick was saturated.

We had servpro (a professional restoration company) immediately come out and start drying things with some industrial fans and dehumidifiers.  They pulled up the carpet and cut out the pads underneath, cut out the drywall and pulled out the insulation, took off the baseboards and crown molding too.  What a mess.

That wet spot on the brick is the damage.

Upstairs study.

Downstairs playroom.

It took about 4 days of the fans running 24/7 (it was LOUD) to dry the areas.  They also put on some antimicrobial solutions each day to inhibit and stop  any possible mold growth.  Luckily there was zero evidence of any mold.

So the contractor the roofing company hired to put the houseback together started working on Wednesday.  They had hoped to be finished by Friday, but that didn't happen.  They also thought that this was ok:

Does that look like it matches to you?!

Yeah, still not matching.

I mean, I know it stinks that the molding is discontinued and that you have to get it in Houston, but this is my house!  Please don't 1/2 ass it!  One of the dudes genuinely looks shocked that I would want the base boards to match up!  Even they admitted that the molding looked terrible.  So they will come back next week.

Meanwhile, I repainted the kitchen!  Since we had the fans/dehumidifiers going I thought it would be the perfect time to get it done.  The paint did dry really quickly!  Now to try and figure out curtains...  Any suggestions?

My parents came up over the weekend to inspect the damage (not really, they needed to get batteries for the RV in Bastrop) and meet Hudson.  We headed to Fredricksburg and had a fun Sunday afternoon.  German food, the Christmas Store, buying the kids/grandkids stuff...what could be more fun?!  We got some cute new additions for the Halloween village.

On the way back to Austin we stopped for dinner at Salt Lick.  Logan really didn't want to go so he puked all over the car/car seat.  I took him home and got him cleaned up while the rest of the crew ate.  Poor little guy.  At least it was just a 24 hour thing and he was fine by Monday afternoon.

Rain!

I asked him to show me his muscles and told him he had to go to bed so that they would grow even bigger.  :)

It finally rained!  And cooled down a little it.  The high today was 77!  Woohoo!  It's supposed to be back in the 90s the rest of the week, but I'm loving the cooler weather.  Isabel's soccer game was cancelled this morning.  Apparently some a-holes decided to take their truck and do donuts on the soccer fields totally tearing them up.  Nice job jerks.

Isabel actually cried when we told her the game was cancelled.   :(  we told her the game was on (based on the website update at 5:50am) but then we got the cancellation email shortly after.

So we went to Target to get her some rain boots.  I bought Logan rain boots at the 2nd hand store last week and thought Izzy had some.  Turns out hers were too small.  Target didn't have any so I checked Zulily and they has some mermaid ones.  Perfect!

Hudson had decided that he needs to start 'marking' areas of the house.  Awesome.  I've washed my sheets/comforter 4 times this week!  Good thing he's cute.

Hoping to get out and do something outdoors tomorrow.

Doctor x 4

We've been to 4 doctor's appointments in 4 days.  Geneticist, dentist, neurologist, dentist again.  I'll give a 1-3 sentence recap.

Geneticist- recommend further parental testing, but none needed for Logan.  Gave us interesting info about ARVD.

Dentist 1- Will replace 2 caps under sedation on Thursday.

Neurologist-  keep on keepin on.  Don't sweat the small stuff and sucker punch anyone who dares give you 'the look' when out in public.  Also, still on track to transition to mainstream kinder.

Dentist 2-  caps went on well.  No more apples (unless cut up) or hard candy.  Don't let him run today.

Drug cocktail kicking in.

Getting out of the car.

Still loopy.

Crying.

More crying.

More crying.

Lots more crying.

Crying on our way to get Izzy.

I haven't had one of these days since the pre-diagnosis days.  Phew!

So there you have it.  Logan was super loopy until around 2pm today.  Walking like a drunken sailor and overall just a pain in the ass.  Since he wasn't in any pain (unlike the last time he had dental work done) it was really hard to be sympathetic.  I tried to watch movies with him, but his attention span was about 3 minutes.  He's cranky and tired.

Hudson has decided that Brian is evil and won't go anywhere near him.  I had to take Logan early this morning so Brian was left taking izzy to school and putting Hudson in the crate.  He said he had to chase Hudson around the yard to get him inside.  And then he pooped on the floor.  Oops.

We also had our HVAC system serviced this week.  While we were gone our drain pipe overflowed and we had water downstairs.  I fixed that and then the upstairs unit went out last week.  Brian fixed that, but we knew both units needed freon so I called Mr. Cool and he filled them up.  We desperately need new units, but that will have to wait a year or two.  Talk about hemorrhaging money this week!

I'm glad tomorrow is Friday and that there is a cool front coming through that promises RAIN!!!!!!  I don't even care if soccer is cancelled on Saturday.  I just want rain!

On a cute note....school pictures were today and Isabel looked pretty cute.

Minus the side braid.  This was outfit 'testing' last night.

Back To School

Alrighty. Just going to jump back in to blogging.  We all survived back to school!  After a great Montana vacation (hoping to do a separate post on that fun with pictures later) we hit the ground running. 

Brian was in Spokane for work for a week while I flew back to Austin with the kids.  We started school August 25th.  Both kids have been doing really well.  They are both wiped out after school.  Logan goes from 7:35am until 2pm and rides the bus the very short trip home.  He's home by 2:15pm at the latest.  Isabel is in school from 7:35am until 2:35pm.  As soon as Logan gets off the bus I immediately put him in the car to pick Izzy up.  He hates this and just wants to go inside and relax.  We pick up Izzy and head home.

Logan is doing ABA therapy in home on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3pm until 6:30pm.  We originally had it scheduled until 7pm, but it was just too late.  As it is 6:30pm is still pretty late.  I like to have the kids in bed by 7pm.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are challenging.  Logan is tired.  Izzy is tired.  I try to participate in therapy as much as possible, but having Izzy home can make that challenging.

Logan's teachers are both new this year.  He has a male lead teacher which I think is going to be a great fit for him.  He does much better and is more compliant with his male ABA therapist and I think that is happening at school.  His teacher emailed me last week telling me how great Logan was doing and what a joy he was to have in class.  Mr. Brandon has 5 kids of his own and his wife is also a teacher, so while this is his first year as a PPCD teacher, he has lots of experience.  I mentioned today that I we were going to sign Logan up for martial arts after school today and he said he teaches jiu jitsu in Oak hill.  He teachers kids a little older than Logan, but something to keep in the back of my head for sure.  He's just an all around nice guy and I'm happy Logan is in his class.  The assistant teacher is from the CDC (Logan and Izzy's old preschool) and is also great.  The CDC and AISD partner to create the inclusion program.  It's great because Logan gets all of the CDC 'specials' teachers for things like Spanish, music, PE, etc.  They just walk over to the elementary school.

Isabel has been doing really well transitioning to Kinder.  It was a very big change for her as she was just going to preschool twice a week.  She seems to really like it and is making new friends.  She has about 4 friends from her old preschool in her class, so that helps.  She also has two girls in her class that are on her soccer team.  Her teacher seems very nice and has been helpful with the nut allergy.

I just typed out the entire situation that occurred at Back to School night and explained Izzy's 504 plan.  And then I deleted it.  It doesn't need to be on the internet.  It was an uncomfortable and infuriating situation.  I will leave it at that.

Isabel has her first dance class of the year today.  She's really looking forward to that.  We also have her first soccer game tomorrow morning!  After practice she said 'phew!  I need to practice more.  It's really hard remembering how to play!'  Haha.

I'm hoping to get Logan into martial arts.  Unfortunately with ABA, soccer and dance we have a very limited time frame for him.  It looks like Monday evening or Saturday morning.  Having an activity every single day of the weekday might be tough, but I don't really want our entire Saturday morning taken up either.  Hmmmm.  I do really want to get him in some sort of fun activity.  ABA sort of sucks for him and soccer last year was such a disaster.

Hoping for a nice productive weekend!  The time flies by during the week while the kids are in school and I never get done nearly as much as I want to.  I have a ton of home projects lined up.  I was hoping to get all of the closets cleaned out this week for bulk collection next week, but I've only managed half of one.  :-/

Logan's 4th Birthday

Scenes from Logan's 4th birthday party.  Thanks to Uncle Matt and Aunt Jenn for flying in for it!  Thanks to everyone for making Logan feel special on his 4th birthday!