Art in the Park

Noah's baseball game today was held at the Goodyear Community Park, the same day as the Agua Fria Art in the Park celebration.  Local artists were competing using chalk as their medium.  Along the sidewalks, kids were also able to get in on the fun and draw their own designs.  It was pretty amazing to see some of the artist's designs take shape, especially how detailed some of them were.

 

You can't see it super well, but the detail in the eyes were awesome!  It was almost as if her eyes were sparkling.

 

The detail in this drawing was also amazing!



Endo Update

This morning had her 3rd endocrinology check-up.  Her current doctor, Dr. Constantine Djedos, recently transferred to Los Angeles, so now she will see his replacement, Dr. Dorothee Newbern.  She too is younger, but seems nice and pretty thorough.

Because it has only been 3 months since her last appointment, there wasn't much change in her growth.  She weighed in at 40.2 lbs (5th percentile) and was 109.6 cm (4th percentile).  She has grown about 1.5 cm since August.  Nothing outstanding, but it is all still on her growth curve.  Dr. Newbern wants to check her diet, making sure she's eating enough (which I know she doesn't because she is super picky and has a tiny appetite).  We have to complete a 3-day food diary and then fax it back in to the nutritionist so they can analyze her caloric intake.  Depending on that too, Dr. Newbern might conduct a celiac test just to rule out celiac disease.  Lastly, at her next appointment in 6 months, Dr. Newbern wants to repeat her bone scan test to see is she is still a year or so behind her actual age. 

Overall, the appointment went well and everything still just points to Alora being a bit smaller. 

Trick-or-Treat 2013

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Hobo Noah



Jack as "The Walking Dead" Daryl Dixon



Alora as a 1920s flapper



Max as a gangster

Lake Pleasant Camping

 

Our little secluded home away from home campsite.  Dusty, but otherwise perfect!

This past week our kids had their school Fall Break.  I personally think it's kind of pointless and would rather start school a week later, but it is what it is.  We didn't really get to do anything real exciting until Thursday.  That was when we went camping with a bunch of friends.  Due to the government shutdown, most of the good camping areas were closed.  Plus, all of our schedules and availabilities kept changing, so we just decided to camp in Lake Pleasant. 

After a slight campsite mix-up with out RV camping friends, the rest of us finally found an area that was perfect for our crew of 5 families and 21 kids, two of which were under 5 months.  Although it was quite dusty and had no running water or toilets, it was secluded and next to the water.  The kids were in heaven. 

Once the tents were all set-up I helped the kids try and fish, but with only 5 poles and lots of inexperienced kids fishing, the poles didn't work long.  The next day, Jackson and Hone W. did catch a crayfish, but that was the only success.  No stripees for us.  The kids were all surprisingly good and we didn't have any incidents with any of them.  It was so nice for them to just to be able to play with friends and enjoy everything around them.  Our friends, the Wrays, had brought their boat with them and we were all able to ride on it.  Jackson tried to water ski and Alora tried to knee-board.  Neither were too successful, but it was cool that they tried.  The kids all loved playing in the water and collecting shells.  (On a side-note, Jeremy was a bum and didn't come camping.  He claims he doesn't like camping anymore and had too much work to do.  Oh well, his loss.  Maybe next time!)

Overall, I think this short little campout was fantastic.  It will definitely be something all the kids will remember and it was a great way to end Fall Break!

Noah and Will W. with a crayfish Jackson caught.

Jackson and Hone W. (Mud Buds)

Max in swim trunks early in the chilly morning.  Notice the other boys are all bundled up?

Jackson's first attempt at water-skiing.  He did manage to almost get all the way up.

Alora on the boat.  She did try to knee board, but wasn't quite big enough.

 

Nothing like an early morning swim with the sunrise.  Even though everyone was chilled, Jack apparently liked the freezing water!

Blue and Black, Let's Go Wolfpack!

Alora chose to do the High School cheer camp again this year.  This was her 3rd time (I think) that she has participated and there were no meltdowns during practice this time around.  Hallelujah!  This time she was also in the Silver group, so the next age level up.  She was still the smallest in her group, but still managed to perform great!  The cheerleaders taught the kids several cheers and then a dance routine which they then performed at the high school football game against Winslow tonight. 

 

Alora and her friend, Alli H., before the performance.

Alora and friends Jade and Paola at the game.

The shirts the cheerleaders give the kids are GIANT!  It's always interesting to see how parents modify them to make them fit.

I love the look of pure excitement on Alora's face!

Volunteer For The Day

I had the opportunity to be a parent volunteer in Max's preschool class today.  I ended up staying the entire four hours and it was fun to see Max interact in a classroom setting and finally put his friends' names with faces.  It also happened to be the day that Community Helper Policeman Konings came to visit the class.  Dispatcher Jagger also came and together they talked to the kids about their jobs and then showed them the police car, complete with lights and sirens. 

 

Max's class L to R: Sophia (who he talks about all the time!), Jonathan, Nora, Samantha (hiding behind Nora), Sequoyah, Jack, Ava, Grant, AJ, Max, Ben, & Justin (Kaisley and Natalie were absent)

Maxisms

While swinging at the park this morning. "Mom, I'm allergic to roofs.  Not the home roofs, only the park ones."

While driving home from the park today we saw a lady running up the hill.  Max asked, "Mom, why is her running?"  I said I didn't know.  He replied, "I think she lost her dog."