Twits, Ears and Sweet Sixteen!

I think 'twit' is a funny word.  I am not sure why.  Just one of those words that causes the giggles.  It's not a word I use or hear very often.  However, last week while Carly, Ella and I were playing Sequence Carly yelled at Ella and said, 'Stop being such a twit!'  Yah!  That's my Carly!  It's really hard not to laugh at those moments.  :)

Well, yet another Sankey child has to have tubes put in their ears.  Graysen has had struggles with his ears since birth.  He did not hear much, if anything, for the first 4-6 months of this life.  He was seeing an ENT at that time and it was determined that it was just fluid in his ears from being in-utero.  It eventually seemed to clear up and the ENT said to just watch him closely.  Fast forward to about 16 months old and I noticed that all he was saying was da-da.  To some, this would not seem to cause alarm.  He is the 5th child that has a lot of little doting mother hens that don't give him much of a chance to talk, but he had been saying more words around 14-15 months (Ella, crackers, etc).  Then it was just like he stopped talking.  He would follow simple commands that I gave him, but I could also walk into his bedroom and say his name and he would not even know I was there.  Anyway, I followed my mommy instincts and took him to the doctor, who referred us to the ENT again.  He failed the hearing test in both ears (flat lines in both--not a good thing).  So, tubes in and adenoids out on July 20th. I know little Gray has so much to say to me, so I cannot wait until the tubes are in so he can hear new words and start saying them back to us!

Brynna Nicole turned 16 on Monday!  These years are so hard for me!  Not because of angst of teenager-dom, but because my countdown timer is always on.  Counting until she will be 18 and want to move out of the house.  :( 

My mom came down and we took her out to lunch at Old Chicago and then we went shopping.  She tried on some really cute prom dresses (great clearance sales right now) and I bought her a few things (tank tops, shorts, jeans).  She was most proud of the $4 dollar pair of jeans she found at Kohl's (regularly $40).  I LOVE that my daughter is thrifty!  I took her to get her driver's license that afternoon and when we got home she asked to go somewhere.    It is so hard to watch your child drive away by herself for the first time. 

She is a great young lady and we love her with all of our hearts!  She made us parents for the first time, and has dealt with all of our parenting guffaws (there seem to be lots of them with the first child).  She has an old soul and a heart of gold.  We love you Bryn!  :)

School's Out for Summer!

Finally!  The kids got out of school for the summer last Thursday (June 10th)!  They had a few snow days to make up.  And so now we journey into our summer schedule.  Bryn has 2 jobs this summer.  She is babysitting for a family with 4 kids just down the street from us and she is working at a new bakery that is opening up downtown Cedar Falls.  (Bonus:  both are within walking distance so we don't have to have 'car wars' yet).  Ethan has been keeping himself busy by biking around the neighbor, going fishing and playing video games.  Ella and Carly start swimming lessons tomorrow.  Carly is worried and keeps saying,  "But I don't know how to swim!".  She obviously doesn't get the point of 'lessons' yet.  :)

We are getting our house painted this summer by an Amish gentleman.  Below is our new color.  It's almost the exact same color as the siding we put on our old house (1 block away). 

Brian extended our swingset area so the swingset could actually sit in the rock.  He had to dig up a bunch of the yard and put in some new wood border.  We still need to get a load of rock in to fill it up some more.

(Retirement note:  I do NOT miss getting up everyday and going to work.)

Mothers Day

We spent a quiet weekend at home.  My mom came down on Saturday.  It was cold out (frost warnings in May).  On Sunday the sun decided to come out for a bit so we decided to get out in the yard and try to figure out where my vegetable garden was going to be planted this year.   I had visions of nice rectangle framed, raised garden beds that I thought should be placed on top of the ridiculous putting green in our yard.  Well, after much debate it was decided that we would pull up some existing flower beds and plant on the south side of the house.  After much digging up, replanting, recycling stones that were randomly buried in our yard to be used as the 'frame' around the garden, and mulching, we are now ready for the beans, tomatoes, peas, carrots and peppers to go in.  It's still too cold and now REALLY wet as it rained all day today.  

  Here we are in our 'American Gothic' pose.  Notice the rake in my hand....I broke it!  Don't ask!   LOL

Here is one other pic of the princesses and the Queen Mother (as they named themselves).  Gotta love McDonalds Happy Meal toys!

The wheels on the bus do go round and round, even when the bus is over capacity!  I think this looks like a picture from a Richard Scarry book.  Can you find Goldbug?  ha-ha

Retirement note:  Monday was Menards day and a Girls Night Out with my friends, Tuesday was Home Depot, Sears and Target, along with drum lessons for Ella and yoga for me in the evening.  Today was a doctor appointment for Ella and a great hour massage for me.  I have gotten a few things off my checklist, but no routine has been established.  :)