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OCTOBER, 2002
(Click on a picture to enlarge)
October 1, 2002
HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!
I can't believe he's actually SIX! Alex had a fabulous day. His teacher treated him royally all day, complete with a crown, and I dropped off doughnut holes for the class to enjoy after lunch (since I wasn't informed by my oh-so-responsible son until 7:30 this morning that the teacher had told him he could bring a special treat for his birthday). Mom and Dad came over after school to deliver his gift, and then we went and enjoyed their gift, which was a trip to Race Rock for games and dinner!!! Then back home (well after bedtime) to tear open gifts from Patch and Mommy and Daddy. Whew! And his party isn't even until Saturday!!
October 2, 2002
I got a special glimpse into Patrick's school day today when we celebrated his teacher's birthday at lunchtime. It's so neat to see them following their little routines. I was particularly impressed when, after lunch, they all went and got a book and sat on the floor "reading" while everyone else finished and cleaned up.
October 4, 2002
Alex's birthday party is tomorrow, so Patch helped me clean the house today. Say a little prayer for me - my house is going to be invaded by TWENTY children tomorrow!!!
October 5, 2002
Alex had his DINOSAUR PARTY today!!!!!!! We had a really great time, and Alex raked in the goods! We had 16 wonderful children and the party was a complete success!
We started out decorating our goodie bags and watching
dinosaur "pills" turn into sponge dinosaurs in water.
Then pizza . . .
Then outside for a dinosaur egg hunt and pinata. . .
And cake, of course. . .
And finally the gifts! He got all kinds of Lego's, dinosaur
stuff, a Spiderman web shooter, and a guitar!!!
October 7, 2002
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
I spent the day at the elementary school today helping with the Fitness Fun Walk. There are five programs at the school called "specials," which include art, computers, math, music and P.E. Once a day, each class attends a specials class, rotating to the next one every three days. The Fitness Fun Walk is a fund raiser where the students collect pledges for 1/4 mile laps walked during 30 minutes. The proceeds go directly to this particular school's specials programs. Alex walked/ran 7 laps today! They do the whole thing again tomorrow, too.
We had Dad over for dinner tonight to celebrate his birthday. We had a wonderful visit. Happy Birthday, Dad!
Alex is learning so much at school. He's soaking up math, and is actually reading a story to us before bed! Tonight at dinner, Mark asked him if he knew who the President of the United States is. He said, "Sure. It's George Bush Washington." I guess he still has some details to iron out!
October 8, 2002
Patch got to go visit his old buddy, the pediatrician, this
morning. He's been getting more and more cranky over the last couple of
weeks, and a few days ago started complaining of a headache. Of course,
his headache miraculously vanished this morning upon learning he had a doctor's
appointment! I was uncomfortable with a decision that his asthma doctor
made a few weeks ago to stop using his nose spray. Basically, he noticed
that Patch was on a lot of meds, and sort of arbitrarily told me to stop using
that one simply to lessen the number of meds he's on. Well, sure enough,
his nose is very swollen, and consequently, he's developed another sinus
infection. 
I should have
followed my gut and ignored him! The good news is hopefully he'll be
feeling better once the antibiotic kicks in.
Alex did his second day of the Fitness Fun Walk at school today - 6 more laps! So he ran 13 laps total. Awesome!
October 9, 2002
Alex hasn't had a golf lesson since school started, so we were really happy to see Connie again today. Alex had a great lesson. He had been complaining that his lessons were boring and that he "already knows how to play golf." So Connie switched gears and he had a blast. Whew! I was afraid he was going to want to quit!
October 10, 2002
Today was the last day of school before fall break. So
the boys and I have 10 days together with no school!
October 11, 2002
Andrew got to come over and spend the evening with us tonight while his parents went out. The boys were so excited that they've been asking since they woke up, about every 5 minutes all day long, when Andrew was going to be here! It's been a long time since he's been here, and they've really missed each other. We went through the motions of bedtime, knowing full well there wasn't a chance they would fall asleep! We put them all in the pull-out couch and they giggled until Andrew's parents got here!
October 12, 2002
Alex went to his old playgroup buddy, Sebastian's, birthday party today. It was a Star Wars theme, and they had Droid Pizzas, Darth Malts, pod races and, of course, light saber battles!
October 13, 2002
We're getting ready for Halloween! May I introduce Harry the Pumpkin Head, the latest addition to our family!
October 15, 2002
The boys and I spent today at the Science Center.
October 16, 2002
Alex had his 6-year check up today. He is now 42 pounds and 46 inches tall (if my memory is right), which puts him at 25% for weight and 75% for height. That's my little string bean! She gave him a nose spray that will hopefully help with some chronic congestion he's been dealing with for the last couple of months, but other than that, he's the picture of health. He didn't even cry when he got his flu shot!
While we were there, I also had her take another look at
Patch, since he seems worse these last couple of days. Obviously, he
should be improving on the antibiotic for his sinus infection. She said
the sinus infection looks better, but she thinks he might be coming down with
yet another virus. Or he's encountered something else that he's allergic
to. Time will tell. My poor baby - right now he's on TEN
medications. 
October 17, 2002
Grandma's home from Michigan!!!! Yay!
The weather has turned quite nice, at least by Florida standards. We even had the neighbors over for s'mores by the chiminea last night! These poor children are so warped - it got down to the low 70's, and all of the kids had on long sleeves!
Mom and I took the kids to downtown Orlando for the day. Lake Eola has all kinds of fun stuff, including swans, ducks and pigeons to feed and swan paddle boats. There is also a playground, but it was closed for painting. From there we went and had pizza for lunch, and then off to the library. Whew!
October 18, 2002
I finally convinced the kids to get the heck outside to play. The minute Alex walked outside, he said, "Hey! It's as cool out here as it is inside!" I've been trying to tell him that all day!
October 19, 2002
Patrick and I went to his classmate's birthday party today. The had a bouncy house and a horse!!!
October 20, 2002
Mark spent the entire day pressure washing our house to prep it for painting. You can guess how we'll be spending our weekends for the next few weeks!
October 22, 2002
Nothing fun or interesting going on lately, just the usual.
Patch had another follow-up appointment for his sinus
infection. It was an interesting appointment. He still has the sinus
infection (no big surprise there - see "whining" mentioned below. LOL), so
we're going one more round with the antibiotics. We are also trying a new
asthma medicine that will replace all THREE of his other asthma meds (Woo
hoo!). And we discussed how poorly he sleeps. He will usually wake
up once or twice a night, and when he's not feeling well, it can be six or seven
times. After hearing my description of what he does, the doctor thinks
that he's sleep walking!
So now he both walks and talks in his sleep! (And Mommy and Daddy walk in
their sleep all day long!)
Cute Story: Patch has been complaining at bedtime that he can't sleep (despite the fact that he's out like a light in two minutes flat). Tonight he whined once again, "I can't sleep." I said, "You'll be asleep in no time." He said, "It takes seven minutes!" I said, "That's not that long." He replied, "Then EIGHT minutes!"
October 23, 2002
Today got a little interesting. Patch threw a fit on the way to school today: "I don't EVER want to go to school again!" His head's really been bothering him, but he's managed to go to school for the past three weeks with a sinus infection, so I didn't hesitate to take him. Well, sure enough, they called me to come get him. That threw a wrench in my day, because I had to go to Alex's school to help in the art class, and today was the first day all year that I was actually there when his class had art! So Mom came to my rescue again to help with Patch.
I saw the cutest thing during the art class. Alex has
been talking about his "girlfriend" at school. We weren't sure if he meant
true girlfriend (ok, let's not get ahead of ourselves - the 6-year-old version),
or just a friend who's a girl. She was standing behind him in line today,
and he had his hands behind him and she was holding them. It was the
sweetest thing! And I guess she really is his girlfriend!
(This is our neighbor, not his girlfriend)
October 24, 2002
The elementary school had "Skate Night" tonight. It was the boys' first time skating, and it sure was entertaining! Mark had softball, so I somehow managed to keep two novice skaters and myself alive for two hours on my own. At the beginning Patch was doing much better than Alex, but after a new skate size, Alex really started to get it. As we got into the car, I said what a fun night it had been. Alex said, "I'm going to remember this night forever!" (And I certainly will feel tonight for quite a while! LOL)
October 26, 2002
The church had their Fall Festival this morning, and the preschool children put on a little parade. Patch's class dressed up as bees, since their theme was the Beattitudes. They were absolutely adorable!!
October 29, 2002
We got a wonderful surprise in our mailbox today - Halloween goodies from Uncle Jay and Aunt Stacie!
After dinner, we were in the backyard and we were once again visited by two hummingbirds, but this time I had my camera handy.
October 30, 2002
Patch's class dressed up one last time for another fall carnival. The one on Saturday was put on by the church and was huge. This was just a small one for the preschool students.
October 31, 2002
Happy Halloween!
Alex's teacher asked a couple of moms to come in and help the kids make some Halloween crafts. They are the best bunch of kids and I love getting to spend time in their class!
After school, of course, it was time to get ready for Trick or Treating!!! The neighbor kids all came over to decorated pumpkin cookies. Then we had an early dinner of bat-loaf, pumpkin potatoes and spider cucumbers. After dinner we met up with the neighbors and our little Anikan and Jar Jar Binks raked in the treats. What a night!
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