Tuesday

Noah is pretty much back to normal. He took his last dose of antibiotic last night, and hasn't needed cough medicine or breathing treatments for a couple of days. His appetite is back to normal, and he's certainly being a pain just like normal! Unfortunately, the antibiotic has been hard on his stomach, so he's had a little trouble with diarrhea. Yesterday at school he had a little bit of diarrhea, and then he threw up when he was having snack. So they called me to come pick him up, and I kept him home with me today. I don't think he was ill, but I understand their concern so I didn't argue with them about it. The antibiotic gave him some diarrhea, and if you've ever been around Noah...you know he frequently gags when he's eating. Not sure why, maybe the texture of certain foods bothers him. Oh well, we'll see how he does tomorrow.

The good thing is that he was a perfect angel when I dropped him off at school yesterday. He went right in, sat down at a table to color a picture, and didn't cry at all when I left. When I came to pick him up, the secretary said that the teacher didn't think Noah was acting like himself. I sort of laughed to myself, thinking....what do you mean, he was actually behaving?? He has so many different personalities, I'm not sure you could ever tell if he wasn't acting like himself!

The girls are having a good time in their sports camps this week. Kindra has volleyball camp from 10-1130 in the high school gym, and Anna has flag football camp at the same time on the fields behind the high school. So, it's convenient for me to drop them off and pick them up since they are both at the high school. Kindra is really enjoying volleyball. She'd never played before until they learned about it in gym class this last year. She thought it might be something she'd like to play in junior high, and was excited at the opportunity to attend the camp. A couple of her friends are there too, so of course that helps! Of course Anna enjoys flag football camp. It's being taught by the coach and some of the players from the high school football team, which is cool.

Anna did an awesome job at her soccer game last night, she scored 3 of the 4 goals for her team. Last week the coach had her in the goal for the first half of the game. The third quarter she sat out, and then he was going to put her back in the goal for the 4th quarter. Well, I asked him to let her play offense since she'd been in the goal half the game. I felt kind of funny for speaking up about it, after all he's the coach, and the one quarter she sat out as goalie, the other team had scored several times. Well, she went out on offense and got 2 goals....apparently he remembered that she served the team better on offense, because this week he didn't put her in the goal at all!

Not much else going on here. Anna has swim class this evening, Kindra likes to go along and play in the generation center with some of her friends. They have games, a TV, foosball (I don't really know how to spell that), pool table, ping pong, and such in the generation center. Cool place for kids to hang out.

More later,

Rebecca

Feeling a little better

Noah had a better night last night, and didn't cough at all after about 1 this morning, so he got several hours of uninterrupted sleep. That's something we all underestimate the power of when we aren't feeling well....sleep. Once he woke up though, the coughing started again and was horrible. He coughed nonstop for nearly two hours, and coughed up a lot of mucus. He tried to eat twice, but just coughed it all back up so he gave up after that. I finally got him to take some cough medicine, and once it kicked in he seemed to feel a little better. Also gave him a breathing treatment this morning, so that might have helped too. I've asked Pavan to talk with Noah's pediatrician to see if we can get something to help more with the cough, though. He already had a poor appetite from not feeling well, I'd hate for him to refuse to eat because he's afraid of coughing it back up again.

Otherwise, it's a beautiful day here in Rhinelander. The high temperatures for the next week are only supposed to be in the 70s, and it got down in the 40s overnight. Right now it's sunny and 70, with a slight breeze. Beautiful!

Better get going. Just wanted to let you all know how Noah was feeling.

Rebecca

Thursday

I've been meaning to write all week, but just now found the time.

Noah had another great day at school on Tuesday, yea! But Tuesday evening he started running a fever, and he's been home from school the last two days. Since they don't have school on Fridays, he'll not go back until Monday. Hopefully we won't have to start all over getting him used to going to school. He was just getting to the point where he actually looked forward to going to school, so I was upset that he got sick when he did. Unfortunately, he's never been around other children and all those germs, so it makes sense that he would get sick now that he's being exposed to all of that.

Noah had been coughing some for about 6 days. No other problems though, until Tuesday when he started running a fever. Last night was horrible though. He was coughing almost nonstop, even after we'd given him medication to help with the cough. He was also wheezing, which we've never heard him do before. We had to prop him up on pillows, give him medication, use Vicks Vapo-Rub, and he eventually got some sleep. I took him to the doctor this morning, and they did a chest x-ray. The x-ray didn't really show a pneumonia, but his doctor heard some wheezing when she listened to his chest....and with the cough followed by the fever several days later, she's convinced he has pneumonia (atypical pneumonia, or walking pneumonia). So he is on oral antibiotics, breathing treatments two times each day, and an inhaler when needed. I hope he starts feeling better soon.

I don't really have much more to tell for now. We've not been doing much because of Noah being sick. The weather is beautiful, in the 70s with a nice breeze. We are enjoying the lower energy bills now that we aren't having to use the AC or heat consistently. It will be next May before we can start any work on the house, so we will have to survive one more winter with all the problems, and high heating bills. I was pretty upset when I found that out, but with the extra money we're earning in interest we will be able to remodel the kitchen too. So, I guess it makes the wait easier to bear!

The girls won't be going to summer school next week, Anna will be going to a flag football camp during the day, and Kindra will be going to volleyball camp. Both camps are at the high school for a couple of hours, Monday through Thursday. Anna did a great job at swimming on Tuesday, she was actually swimming the full length of the pool (in the deep end) on her own. Tonight Anna has gymnastics, I am hoping I can watch a little more than I was able to last week. Kindra was supposed to have swim tonight, but her class ended up being canceled due to low enrollment. Oh well.

Oh, one more thing. I talked with Nativity Catholic Preschool, which is where Noah will be going in the fall. They had an opening on Thursday mornings, so I signed him up to go 3 mornings/week instead of 2 mornings/week. I thought the extra day might do him good. So he'll be going Tuesday, Thursday and Friday starting in September.

Remember to let me know if you'd like to order any Scrip....I will be going in tomorrow to place another order. I will pay for the order now, and then you can just pay me back when I get the Scrip to you.

More later,

Rebecca

Noah's Day

Hooray! Noah had a great day today at school. We spent all weekend talking about school....school is fun, school is great, etc. We also went over a list of rules with Noah about how he was to behave at school. No yelling or screaming, no hitting, no throwing, no crying, and use the potty. This morning I talked with him in the hallway before we went into the classroom. I asked him how are you going to behave in school today Noah?? He recited the list of rules back to me, which was actually pretty cute....but I was a basket case all morning worrying about how he was doing. When I got to the school this afternoon, I was afraid to peek in the window to see how he was doing, but curiosity won me over. I had such a big smile on my face when I peeked in the window and saw Noah in the group with all the other kids.

After a few minutes all the children started filing out the door, and Noah came running up to me with a certificate saying he'd had a great day. I was so proud of him! The teacher said he behaved perfectly all day, but he did have an accident when he just couldn't make it to the bathroom on time. Of course his teacher and I both agreed the good behavior overshadowed the accident at this point! I will keep praying and preparing Noah for each day, and hopefully soon the good days will outnumber the bad. The hopelessness I felt on Friday is turned to joy today, but I know all too well how quickly that could change again! Such is life with our little enigma called Noah! I am still looking forward to our appointment later this month though. Any help we can get in making sure each day is a good one will be useful!

I included a few pictures. Pavan is horrified by the first one, because he claims to hate cats. I've been doubting the truth of that statement for quite some time, and this picture proves my point! (Pavan says he fell asleep and the cat crawled under his arm, haha) The next two pictures were taken yesterday, which was Father's Day AND Pavan's birthday. He had another really busy day at work, but did come home long enough to eat some French toast Kindra made for him (around one!), and then was home in time to order a late dinner (Chicago style stuffed pizza, yum) and pose for these goofy pictures. I was attempting to get a picture of him in one of the new outfits his mother had sent for his birthday, but he kept insisting on making goofy faces like Noah. The last one is of our new visitor to the back porch feeding station. A couple of nights ago I heard something munching on seeds outside our bedroom on the porch. It was a raccoon, but I scared him off before I could get a picture. Last night I was able to get a picture without him running away. He's a curious little thing, he comes right up to the window and stares at me. Very pretty, I've never seen one that close before. I know how mean they can be too though, Molly got in a fight with one in Kansas City and got a big gash on her chest before we broke up the fight. The cats keep begging to go outside every time they see the raccoon, but I just lock them out of my room. If Molly can't beat a raccoon, our declawed kitties certainly can't!

Pray for another good day tomorrow! I'll let you know how it goes. Anna has a soccer game tonight at 630.

Rebecca

Our week

The pictures were taken last night. Kindra decided to play baby dolls with Amaya, which was very cute. Later in the night, Kindra and Noah fell asleep together on our bed. We eventually had to kick Kindra out of the bed though, it's a big bed, but even we have our limits!!

All in all, we've had a pretty stressful week with Noah in school. Like I said before, he was doing ok early in the week, for someone who'd never been to school. He had a hard time with us dropping him off on Monday and Tuesday, and it turned out that he cried for nearly an hour after we dropped him off on Tuesday. But he did finally come over and join the group for the rest of the day. Wednesday, he didn't cry when I dropped him off, just got a little angry and wanted to leave with me. But when I picked him up, the teacher said he'd had a "sassy mouth" one time and had been separated from the group until he could behave.

Then there was Thursday....

Thursday morning Noah did perfect when we dropped him off. He walked into the room, hung his backpack up on his hook, kissed us goodbye, and walked over with the rest of the kids. I was thrilled all morning at what a good job he'd done when we dropped him off. I got to the school early to pick him up, so I could observe how he was doing in class. I was peeking in the window, and couldn't see Noah. All of the other children were in a big circle, wearing some hats they had made out of paper, but I never could find Noah in the group. When they opened the door for parents to come in, Noah was sitting in a little chair on the other side of the room. When he saw me he smiled and ran over to me. I asked him why he was sitting over there all by himself, and he didn't say anything. The teacher came over and said Noah had a really really bad day. He was hitting other children, throwing things, and making verbal threats to everyone who irritated him. I told her, well, that sounds like Noah, I had wondered how long it would be before he showed that side of himself at school.

Then, I started to cry. I just couldn't help it, I had been holding my breath for 4 days, hoping he would do ok. Her words were like a kick in the stomach, and I just couldn't stop the tears.

So we sat down and talked for about 15 minutes about the whole situation. About how I've known for a long time that Noah was different than other children, about his behavior ever since he was born (or even before he was born, if you remember how sick I was when pregnant with him), about how I've tried talking with people about my concerns but everyone dismisses them and tells me...oh he's just a little boy, that's how they behave...oh you've got to be more stern with him, discipline him more....oh you've got to be more lenient with him, you're too hard on him....oh you were wrong to have another baby so soon after Noah was born.....

I've heard so many things from so many different people, all of which tries to dismiss the fact that his behavior is not normal. Even though Pavan and I knew something was going on with Noah, we kept holding out hope that he would outgrow this attitude. Talking with the teacher confirmed what we already knew, Noah needs help. More than we can give him on our own, Lord knows I am exhausted and just don't know what else to do on my own. I had called last month and made an appointment to meet with a pediatric/adolescent psychiatrist, during a period when Noah's behavior had been especially bad. Our appointment is the end of this month. I'm anxious to meet with her and decide where to go from here.

The last couple of days have been really hard for me. I keep worrying about Noah's future, how is he going to function at school, will he ever be able to make friends, will he end up being that kid who nobody likes and everybody ridicules because of his behavior, will he ever find happiness in life. The questions are just bombarding me nonstop, and until we meet with the doctor, I don't think I'll reach any answers.

I've been doing some research online into childhood psychiatric di, so that I will be more informed and able to make better decisions once we meet with the doctor. The diagnosis I've come across that sounds just like Noah is called Oppositional Defiant Disorder. My mom sent me a link to a really good article about the disorder, which is short and concise. The link is

http://www.aacap.org/publications/factsfam/72.htm

Reading about it helps in some ways, it finally validates the frustration and exhaustion I've been experiencing dealing with Noah 24 hours a day for the last 3 1/2 years. But the readings are also very depressing, when you start looking into long term problems these children can face in life. I'm trying to focus on right now, and stop thinking so much about next year, or ten years from now.  Matthew 6:34 says "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own". Or as my grandfather says, Don't borrow trouble!

But to our friends and family, we could really use your support right now. We get enough criticism from total strangers, who are always quick to point out Noah's faults. Take Noah shopping and you'll understand what I mean! We know he's hard to be around, we know he's hard to deal with....but if you give him a chance, he's the most amazing little boy. He's so funny, and so smart. He can go for days and be a perfect angel, but when he snaps.....watch out!! I don't want this to define Noah, we are committed to doing anything necessary to work through this so Noah can fulfill his purpose for life. We don't need to hear all of the blame and excuses from anyone anymore. It hurts us when people blame us for his problems. We are good parents trying to deal with a really difficult situation, so bear with us!

Gotta go. Pavan is on call this weekend, and is hoping we can all go to lunch when he's done rounding. He is planning to take Anna to see the movie Nacho Libre this evening, so hopefully things will slow down at the hospital so they don't get interrupted. He was very busy yesterday.....it was one of those days when all the patients came in with strange medical problems that required immediate attention. Last night he said he was going to sleep downstairs because he had a bad feeling about how the night would go.....he should know by now not to say stuff like that!!! I told him to stay up here, and about 10 minutes later it started....his pager was going crazy, and the stuff they were calling him about was just weird!!! And it wasn't even a full moon!

Have a good weekend. Sorry for being such a depressing journal writer today, but we want to be up front with everyone about what we are facing right now. Any prayers for Noah would be much appreciated, and for us too, to make the best decisions for Noah, and to stay strong and focused as we wade through all the information we're sure to receive over the next few weeks.

Rebecca

School

Yeah! Noah did fine at school. When I picked him up they were all sitting in a circle reading a book and counting together with flash cards from 1 to 10. He was all smiles when I picked him up, but fell asleep in Pavan's truck on the way home. Pavan was done at work early today so he met us at the school. We were going to stop by McDonalds and go to the park, but we just got the food and came on home since Noah and Amaya fell asleep on the way to get Kindra. I'm so happy and relieved that Noah had a good time at school today, now I'm pretty sure it will be easier to get him to go again tomorrow. I won't hold my breath though, you just never know with Noah!

The girls had a good time at school too. Even Kindra had a decent time, and was excited about some of her classes. She was especially excited about Drama and Debate. Amaya and I just rattled around the house wondering what to do! She played and ate and read some books. I did some laundry, checked my email, talked on the phone with my mom and then we ran a couple of errands on our way back to pick up the others.

More later in the week.

Rebecca

The wait is over...

Noah is officially off to school, although for awhile I was wondering if I'd have to bring him back home with me. We all woke up early to make sure we'd have plenty of time to get everything ready before we left the house. Noah and Anna had to be at school at 8, so we got there around 745. Noah was so excited all the way to school, but once we got there, his mood changed drastically! He was very nervous and was begging to go back home. We took Anna to her room, and then I had Kindra stay in the hallway with Amaya while I took Noah into his room. He was very unhappy, but after 15 minutes of talking with him and holding him, we spotted a fire truck and went over to check it out. About the same time another little boy came over and was playing with a dump truck. He started talking with Noah and they were playing together. Finally Noah was ok so that I could leave. I hope he has a good time, or I'm not sure I'll ever get him back into that building!!

I'll try to get online later and let you know how his day went.

More later,

Rebecca

Here are the pictures I promised

Here are the pictures I promised to get online this weekend. The first one was pretty cute, Amaya took off her diaper and pants and ran to Noah's potty. She didn't do anything, but I guess it's a first step toward potty training. And it was cute.

The other pictures are from our trips to the park this week, some from Hodag Park (which is right on Boom Lake) and some from Pioneer Park, which has the Logging/Train Museum. Noah has been waiting all winter for the gates to open so we could get in and visit with the trains again. He calls them Butterscotch and Sugar Loaf. They are silly names Kindra gave the trains when we moved here, and they just stuck.

Then there are some pictures I took today when we toured the girl scout camp. The girls are really excited to go now, but of course now Noah keeps saying he's going to girl scout camp too. It's almost too much for Pavan to take, Noah is talking about starting dance class, going to girl scout camp, and how he wants to take gymnastics just like Anna. (I did sign him up for tap class this fall...and he might take gymnastics someday....but I'm pretty sure they wouldn't let him come to girl scout camp!).

And for those of you keeping track of our potty training progress...today was a big day for Noah. Not to be graphic or anything, but he always wakes up and poops immediately....in his diaper or pull up that he wore to bed. Well today, he woke up and went straight to the potty and pooped in it! I was still sleeping, so he came over and jabbed me in the ribs to tell me what he had done. I jumped out of bed and we were doing the potty dance (quietly of course, we didn't want to wake up Amaya....and for those of you who haven't seen the potty dance, you're missing out!). He didn't have any accidents all day, and even pooped in the potty again this evening. Yeah Noah!!  Potty training little boys sure is hard work, especially when that little boy is someone as hard headed as Noah!

More later,

Rebecca

The countdown....

The countdown is on in our house....Noah starts school on Monday and we are all anxious to see how he does. As I said before, Noah will be going to summer school from 8-12, Monday through Thursday until July 20th. We drove to the school yesterday so he could see where he will be going. He and Anna will both be going to Pelican Elementary for summer school. Kindra will have her classes at the middle school, which will be a great opportunity for her to get used to the middle school before she starts there in the fall. Of course she's annoyed that I signed her up for summer school, but she's been so bored hanging around the house this last week that I'm sure she'll have a good time since she'll be seeing some of her friends at summer school.

We haven't really done much this week. A few trips to the park, one trip to the bowling ally, the girls had swim class on Thursday, Pavan took Noah and Anna to see Cars last night. The weather has been beautiful, in the 60s and 70s, so I can't complain. We had our carpet cleaned on Monday, met with our attorney here at the house on Thursday, and had the house sprayed for ants (something we have to do every year.....the ants that invade our house are so big I worry they could carry us off while we're sleeping!!!) on Friday. Next week will be more busy, which will actually be nice. The children get restless when we just sit at home all day long, and then they start getting on one another's nerves. Sibling rivalry is not a pretty thing!

Next week will go like this....

Sunday Anna has soccer practice in the evening.

Monday summer school from 8-12. Anna soccer game in the evening.

Tuesday summer school from 8-12. Anna swim class in the evening. Pavan on call.

Wednesday summer school from 8-12.

Thursday summer school from 8-12. Kindra swimming late afternoon, Anna gymnastics, Kindra has a girls fun night at the church. They are discussing dressing modestly, and are having a fashion show of each girl's favorite outfit. Also having a crazy fashion show with lots of silly clothing and accessories.

Friday....nothing at all! We'll probably go bowling, or to the children's museum in Eagle River....never know what we'll find to do!

This afternoon we are going to tour the girl scout camp, which is located between Tomahawk and Merrill, near a small town called Irma. It should take us about 45 minutes to get there. They are having tours, games, snacks, and the waterfront will be open for swimming. Of course the high temperature is only 65 here today, so I think we'll pass on the swimming!! It will be nice for the girls to tour the camp before they go down for the week, I think they will both feel a lot more comfortable going to camp when they know what to expect.

One more thing, then I'd better get going. We are going to a craft fair and car show in about 30 minutes, it's near the courthouse here in Rhinelander. All of the craft vendors must have handmade items in order to take part in this particular craft fair.

Ok, here's my thought for the day. This is something I first started noticing around the holidays, and it's getting worse every year. I'm sure you all have noticed how retailers have started displaying Christmas items earlier and earlier every year. It's to the point now that as soon as they take down the Halloween decorations and costumes, they start putting up all the Christmas items. Well, now they are doing it with other items too....my main complaint being children's clothing. Some of you may know that a few months ago I was having a terrible time trying to find long sleeve shirts and long pants for Noah and Amaya. It was March, it was cold, and all the stores were selling summer clothes. Now, that might be appropriate in other parts of the country, but not here!! We still have snow on the ground until May, and if your children outgrow their winter clothes after February, watch out!! I had to search online to find clothing for them to wear until it warmed up, and as you can see, we actually need warm clothing up here year round.

So, yesterday I went into JC Penney to exchange a pair of shorts I had purchased for Amaya a couple of weeks ago. They were too big around the waist, and when I put them on her, they literally fell right off. Anyway, we went into Penneys and guess what.....all of their children's summer clothing is on clearance!!! You know what that means.....they are getting ready to put out their fall and winter clothing.....and it's only June!!! It just started getting warm here within the last few weeks. Now I'm not sure what to do....should I load up on bigger summer clothing in case the children grow?? Or just wait and see what I can find later?? It's very frustrating, and I just thought I'd let you all know how crazy I think it is.

Have a good weekend. I am going to take some pictures at the camp today, and will try to get online later tonight or tomorrow to put the pictures in the journal. I also have a few other pictures of Noah and Amaya that I will save for then....

Rebecca

 

Camping out

The girls are officially done with school, well at least for a week. They both did excellent on their report cards and are excited for next school year. They will both be at new schools next year, as Kindra will be moving to the middle school and Anna will be moving to Nativity Catholic. Next Monday (June 12th) the girls, and Noah, will be starting summer school. It's a lot of fun, nothing like regular school, and is 4 hours a day, 4 days a week until June 20th. The girls will be missing 2 weeks of summer school. One week Kindra will be going to volleyball camp, and Anna will be going to flag football camp. And the last week of summer school is the same week they will be gone to girl scout camp.

Friday was only a half day of school for the girls. Kindra's school had it's awards ceremony that morning. I had stopped to pick up some food for Noah and Amaya on our way to the school, thinking it would keep the quiet for awhile. Unfortunately, the ceremony got started a little bit late and they were full by the time it started! Thank goodness Kindra's award was one of the first ones, or I don't know if we would have made it! Once she'd been recognized and sat back down, we waved goodbye and ran for it! She understands how hard it can be to take Noah and Amaya to functions like that, and she probably was relieved that we left with them instead of waiting until they really starting protesting!!

Yesterday we decided to camp out. I had purchased a new tent that sleeps 8 on Friday, and some sleeping bags for Noah and Anna. Kindra already had a new sleeping bag from a lock in she attended in April. So yesterday we spent all day outside. We set up the tent down by the fire pit, in the open area of gravel where we sometimes set up horse shoes. Except for one trip to WalMart to pick up some supplies we needed, we spent all day outside. We had a fire, listened to a radio, played in the water, took the canoe and kayak out on the lake, and just sat around watching the kids play. It was nice. The unfortunate thing is that the temperature dropped to 45 degrees last night, brrr. We were so cold in the tent, even with long pants and shirts, and lots of blanket. Around 3 this morning, Amaya woke up, I woke up, and Kindra woke up. We decided to head inside to use the restroom, put on an extra layer of clothes, have a quick snack (all that shivering really worked up an appetite!), and grab some extra blankets. It was tempting to crawl into my bed, but I went back to the tent and made it through the rest of the night. For once I was happy to see the sun coming up at 4, because that meant some warmth! By the time we rolled out of bed (literally...those air mattresses are quite springy) it was actually comfortable in the tent. Lessons learned....don't camp out unless it's going to be 60 at night. Pay the extra money for the sleeping bags rated to -25.  Even better....keep saving up for that travel trailer!!!

Better go. Kindra and I are going to see a movie this afternoon. Amaya is napping, Pavan and Noah are watching Monsters Inc. in the closet (hey, Pavan wanted a home theater room with no windows....be careful what you wish for!!).

More later,

Rebecca

Days at the lakes

All of our company has gone back to Kansas City. It was sad when Chris and Kierra left yesterday morning. It's so nice having everyone up here, and I wish they could all stay. Having family nearby is something you truly take for granted until you are suddenly separated by hundreds of miles. On the other hand, it makes the time you spend together that much more special.

The pictures above are from Sunday and Monday. As I wrote previously, Sunday we went to a kayak/canoe demonstration at Hodag Park, which is located on Boom Lake here in Rhinelander. Mel's Trading Post was putting on this demonstration so that people could try out the various kayaks and canoes before purchasing them. One of the kayaks we purchased, and the canoe, were delivered to our house yesterday. The other kayak is supposed to come in today. Before the guy even got the boats off his truck, Anna already had her lifejacket on and was waiting to get on the water. By the time I walked down to the lake, she was out in the middle! Needless to say, she was excited! So, I'm happy they delivered hers first!! We also took Noah and Amaya for a ride in the canoe yesterday. It's going to be a lot of fun once we figure it out. Of course Amaya kept walking around and making the canoe rock....and then after we came back to shore we realized we'd been paddling it backwards....oops! Glad nobody was out there to watch us!

Monday we rented a pontoon boat and spent the day on Lake Minocqua in Minocqua, WI...which is located about 30 miles north of us. We had so much fun! The pontoon was so big, we had plenty of room for all 8 of us to move around. There are several islands and sandbars in the lake, so we stopped at them several times to play in the water or go fishing. By the end of the day we were all exhausted, Kindra Chris and I were a little bit burned (even though we'd applied sunscreen several times throughout the day, the sun is just so darn strong up here), and we were ready for a good meal! So we stopped at Perkins in Minocqua and then headed home. We had such a great time! We might have to make that a Memorial Day tradition.

Now that all our company has gone, we are getting ready for the transition from school to summer. The girls have a half day of school tomorrow, and then they are done. Kindra has an awards ceremony in the morning, she will be receiving a Presidential Academic Excellence award, so we are planning to be there to watch and take pictures. Pavan is going into clinic late tomorrow so he can be there too. It's early enough that hopefully Noah and Amaya will be in good moods!!

Last night Noah and I had a date. Pavan had called home in the afternoon and suggested that I take Noah to the movies. He was sleeping for the 515 movie, so we went to a 730 one. We saw Over the Hedge, and we had such a wonderful time. It's nice to spend time with one kid at a time, and I think Noah really needs that one on one attention. He behaved perfectly the entire time. We had popcorn, ICEEs, and Skittles. And afterward we made a trip to WalMart to buy him a new carseat. A new carseat law went into effect in Wisconsin today, which I've know about for several months. Basically, my understanding was that it required all children under 4 ft 9, or 80 pounds to be in a booster seat. So we bought extra booster seats to make sure Anna would have one in my car and in Pavan's truck. Well yesterday there was an article in the newspaper about the new law, describing it in more detail. It turns out that anyone under the age of 4 has to be in an actual car seat. So I took Noah to pick out one for himself. He picked out a really nice one that has a cupholder, and can be converted to a booster seat once he turns 4. Turns out, WalMart isn't very crowded at 900 on a Wednesday night (making a mental note...) so we picked up some groceries while we were there too. By the time we got home, everyone was asleep and Pavan was reading a book about boating (to avoid any more embarrassing mistakes...). It was such a nice evening with my son. When Cars comes out next week, I think Pavan and Noah should go together. We were talking last night and decided we really need to make the time to spend one on one time with each of the kids as often as possible. Especially Anna....she gets left out so much because she is so well behaved. Kindra is rather moody and defiant (welcome to the preteen years), so she requires a lot of attention. And obviously Noah and Amaya require a lot of attention. Poor Anna is truly suffering from that middle child syndrome!

Well I'd better get going. Pavan is picking Kindra and Haley up from school, and I am supposed to go kayaking with Anna this afternoon (assuming the second kayak arrives soon!). It's a beautiful day here in the Northwoods, around 75 degrees, light breeze, and ony 44% humidity (can you tell I have the Weather Channel on right now??). These days make me forget about the long cold snowy winters.....almost.

More later in the week,

Rebecca