48 Hours at All Children's

One day late August, Kyle was acting really lethargic and kept just falling down and falling asleep where he fell. He didn't really have a fever but I was worried so I brought him to All Children's just to be sure he was okay.

My brother Caleb came to be with me to help out. My mom took Hannah to my grandmother's new apartment to hang out for the evening.

They did all the usual tests - chest x-ray, echocardiogram, blood cultures, etc. and found that his white blood cell count was high (which means he was fighting some kind of infection) and he was dehydrated.

They started him on general antibiotics (since they didn't know what kind of infection he was fighting) and IV fluids and kept him 48 hours to be sure he was okay before discharging him.

Caleb stayed with him part of the time, and Chris and I spent part of the time with him. By the time he was discharged he was his usually bubbly self and it seemed like he had bonded with his Uncle Caleb. When Caleb started to leave our place, Kyle tried to follow him.

The Big Three-Oh

August 20th was Chris' 30th birthday. One of his high school friends, Debra Macking, was also born August 20th, also at Bayfront Hospital, only about 30 minutes later than him.

Debra contacted us to see if we'd like to do a joint 30th birthday party and try to get all their old high school friends to come as well as new friends. It was going to be at Fort Desoto but rain threatened and so we moved it to Debra's house.

Friends that Chris hadn't seen since high school arrived and talked of the "old days". Almost everyone had a funny story to share and a fun time was had by all. I especially liked searching through the photo albums and middle school yearbooks for pictures of Chris before I met him.

VPK

Hannah started Pre-K at Educare of Palm Harbor on August 15th and couldn't have been more proud of herself.

As ridiculous as it might sound coming from a girl who was homeschooled from kindergarten thru high school graduation, I'm pretty much just sending her to Pre-K for the social aspect. She's been learning her basics for education already at home with my mom. She already knows her alphabet, can recognize and write her letters and identify their sounds. She can also write her own name and family member names and more. But I felt that she needed to be able to get out of the house and spend time with other children her age. Especially since so much revolves around Kyle - his therapies and doctor's appointments, etc. - I wanted her to have something of her own.

Our condo complex is not very child-friendly. No playing with balls on premesis, no bikes on premesis, no chalk marks on the precious property grounds, etc., so Hannah ends up couped up in the house almost constantly. Now that she's in Pre-K, she gets to play with other kids her age and have friends and run around on a playground and learn some Spanish and sign language in addition to basics of education.

I do think that the governmental leaders did not think this thing through thoroughly (shocked!) because the voluntary Pre-K program, funded by the government only covers 3 hours a day and does not include classroom supply fees or registration fees. It almost seems to be a conspiracy to get kids who would normally stay home until kindergarten into a daycare. The majority of parents who sign up for the VPK (Voluntary Pre-K) program end up enrolling them for "wrap-around" care at an additional fee. I don't blame them. I would too if I could afford it. It's a pain in the neck to pack her up, bring her to school, and drop her off just to do the same thing in reverse three hours later - especially when it means packing up Kyle and Audrey too.

Health Fair

Before Hannah could start Pre-K, she needed to have a school physical but she's not currently on insurance. I called the pediatrician's office to find out how much a simple school physical would cost without insurance and found out that it would be $100! I figured that the Health Department might have a cheaper way so I called them just in time to find out about the School Health Fair.

Not only was the Health Fair free, but it was on a Saturday afternoon and included fun activities for the kids and free haircuts! Hannah passed her school physical but they said she may need eye glasses. Hannah won a bike helmet in a raffle and got her face painted, and Hannah and Kyle both had haircuts and got to go on a real fire truck!

Visiting Family

We spent the weekend after the visit with Great-Grammy Cain in Winter Haven with my Aunt Marilyn & Uncle Frank and cousins. Audrey got in the pool for the first time and loved it! She also had some bonding time with her second cousin (my cousin's daughter), Kayleigh. Hannah, as usual, had a blast with her foster second cousins and swam like a fish and Kyle had a blast with everyone - especially "Pretty Desi". (That's what he calls Destiny every single time.)

Sing-A-Long With Great-Grammy

My mom and I brought the kids up to see their Great-Grammy Cain (and the family rocking horse, "Calgon") August 1st. My grandmother lives with my Aunt Candy and Uncle Lee in Wesley Chapel so we don't get to see her very often. The kids loved playing with my Aunt's dog, a rather large labrador named Riley, rocking on the huge rocking horse named Calgon and singing "Horace, the Horse" while my grandmother played it on the piano. My dad's side of the family has always been very big into the old-fashioned sing-along and have spent many hours gathered around my grandmother playing the piano, singing songs most people have never even heard.

For those who have not had the pleasure of hearing "Horace, the Horse" belted out by a large family over enthusiastic piano accompaniment, here's how it goes...

Horace, the horse on the merry-go-round,

Goes up and down, 'round and 'round,

He's so sad since the day he found,

He's the very last horse on the merry-go-round.

The music began and away they go,

High and low, to and fro,

Poor old Horace would always say

"I'm the very last horse again today."

Horace tried and tried and tried,

But he just never could win.

Horace cried and cried and cried

Cause all the other horses were ahead of him

Then came the day on the merry-go-round

When Horace turned, looked around

Then said "Gosh oh gee --

I'm the very first horse on the merry-go-round,

All the others are following me!"

New 'Do

I wanted something different and went a little drastic... I tried a dye in a box and it barely showed up so I went to my favorite salon, Sharp Hair Design, to get it done right. Unfortunately, they had to use a color remover to remove the box dye before coloring but I think they did an excellent job.