Dinners with Friends / Play Dates / Snow Day / A in the Hospital
Sunday 2nd - We started the new year with old friends. One of Jack's best friends in high school (as well as a friend of Melinda's as well) came over for dinner with her husband and daughter that was slightly older than X. We had great food and fun with the Taylors..
Saturday 8th - We had so much fun with the Taylors that we did it again with Oliver's family the next Saturday. Grilled burgers, hot dogs and lots of chips filled us up as we got to finally spend some quality time with them while the kids had load of fun together.
Sunday 9th was a great snow day. While A was feeling bad, X and Jack got to do some serious snowman building (with a snow dinosaur to go along, of course).
Monday 10th began an 8-day stay in the hospital for A. Long story - short, he had bacteria in his leg and had to have surgery to remove it. Jack watched about a dozen Disney videos 6 or more times each as he stayed day and night with little A. Melinda stayed with X who was initially very nervous that A was not at home with him. Poor Melinda could not visit for long each day since X could not see A (since A was thought to be highly contagious for a while). Melinda and Jack traded roles for a few hours on Saturday 15th so X could have some quality time with Jack. They went to see "Tangled," the 3-D Disney movie and consume way too much popcorn.
There were a lots of dead cell phones as everyone from CPS to Covenant Kids to both parents and every family member wanted status updates (and there were LOTS of changes and scares the first five days!).
During that 8 days X got to have two play dates with Oliver and Melinda did everything she could to keep things "normal" for him without his brother or Jack.
Finally, Saturday 29th saw the end of a long month, but celebrated it with another play date with Oliver and his sister.
Getting Caught Up: December 2010 Happenings
Christmas Parties / Oliver / Christmas Visits / "The Nutcracker" ballet / Symphony / Build-A-Bear / more
Lots of doctors visits and holiday parties this month!
Wednesday 1st - First holiday party of the season for us. Melinda has been waiting to dress little kids up in Christmas clothes for years! Of course that means the first picture with Santa!
Thursday 2nd - First playdate over to the house. Oliver has become X's best friend at school and we have been trying to get him over for a visit. It was a very big deal for X to show off :his room and house. They had a blast - lots of running in circles and screaming wildly.
Saturday 4th - Jack's robotics tournament (he hosted and his kids participated in the second largest qualifying tournament in Texas). The kids enjoyed a drop off daycare for several hours, but also came up to dance and sing with Radio Disney, play with Hexbugs (mini robots) and meet all of Jack's students.
Monday 6th - A & X to their first symphony (O.K., it was just a junior high school holiday orchestra concert where Jack teaches). They did very well, but Anthony really started getting antsy the last 5 minutes. We also had cookies and lemonade after the concert.
Tuesday 7th - A & X (courtesy of the Rickels) got to build a stuffed animal at "Build-A-Bear." If you have not seen this done, basically, you select the shape and hand it off to the technician who pumps the level of stuffing into it that you want. Before sewing it up, you get to select what "heart" it has, sounds it makes, etc. After it is made, you select from a HUGE variety of clothes designed specifically for the stuffed animal, then type up and print out a special "birth certificate." It is a whole experience and very cute. X made the Abominable Snowman (from the old Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer clay animation from the 50's or 60's). A chose Rudoph himself. Both really got into it and played with them for quite awhile.
Right after we did the Build-A-Bear, X and A rode a little "train" around the outdoor shopping mall (Firewheel Station here in Richardson area).
Friday 10th - A & X went on a school field trip (Melinda chaperoning again) to Santa's Village, a very cute little set up here in Richardson. 2nd opportunity for Santa visit / pictures!
Saturday 11th - We all went to the Covenant Kids' Christmas party. Some nice food and a chance to meet "you know who... Santa! (and his wife, Mrs. Claus) and get a third photo with him.
Tuesday 14th - Another playdate with X's buddy, Oliver. More screaming fun!
Thursday 16th - ECI Christmas party - you guessed it, Santa and Mrs. Claus was there. This party had lots of little projects for the kids to do including making gingerbread cookies.
Friday 17th - school Christmas party in the class (but NO Santa for this one).
Saturday 18th - since we have not seen Santa since Thursday... Breakfast with Santa in Nacogdoches for A, X, Melinda and Nanny. Yummy breakfast and yes, more pictures with Santa.
Thursday 23rd - We all go to see "The Nutcracker" performed by the premiere north Texas ballet, Texas Ballet Theater. A lasted for about 15 minutes and then Melinda had to take him to the lobby. X was memorized for the first 45 minutes and even lasted the final 50 minutes after the intermission. During intermission they got to take pictures with the Nutcracker and two rats (all dancers from the ballet). Sorry, no Santa here! Mental note for next year, "take X, not A!"
Friday 24th - Christmas Eve service at church.
Saturday 25th - Early morning Christmas presents at our home with "proof" of Santa's visit (half eaten cookies and milk) with missing reindeer food (hay) and even Santa's dinosaur ate the broccoli that X insisted that we leave! We also had big ash-covered bootprints in the chimney where Santa landed. Big gifts were a bike and other ridding toys.
Later that morning, we went to Grandma and Papa's house for Christmas with them. It was good to see Alex and Erich (my biological sons who are 20 and 23). Alex's gifts were huge hits - a very cool remote-controlled train engine that is very fast and easy enough for a two-year-old to operate. It was used extensively bashing into furniture. Both Erich and especially Alex played well with the A and X. Alex mainly spent time with X and a plastic train set that Grandma had gotten X.
Sunday 26th was the "Burgess" Christmas with Nanny and the Rickels (Kiki (Christi), Corey, Chance and Courtney). Lots of gifts, great food and fun to go around.
Wednesday the 29th and Thursday the 30th we returned to The Farm to spend more time (since we only got about 4 hours on Christmas day). Lots of rides on the golf cart, visiting the ducks, checking out the cows, etc.
What a fun-filled month with lots of visitors and, as you can read, lots of Santas!
Lots of doctors visits and holiday parties this month!
Wednesday 1st - First holiday party of the season for us. Melinda has been waiting to dress little kids up in Christmas clothes for years! Of course that means the first picture with Santa!
Thursday 2nd - First playdate over to the house. Oliver has become X's best friend at school and we have been trying to get him over for a visit. It was a very big deal for X to show off :his room and house. They had a blast - lots of running in circles and screaming wildly.
Saturday 4th - Jack's robotics tournament (he hosted and his kids participated in the second largest qualifying tournament in Texas). The kids enjoyed a drop off daycare for several hours, but also came up to dance and sing with Radio Disney, play with Hexbugs (mini robots) and meet all of Jack's students.
Monday 6th - A & X to their first symphony (O.K., it was just a junior high school holiday orchestra concert where Jack teaches). They did very well, but Anthony really started getting antsy the last 5 minutes. We also had cookies and lemonade after the concert.
Tuesday 7th - A & X (courtesy of the Rickels) got to build a stuffed animal at "Build-A-Bear." If you have not seen this done, basically, you select the shape and hand it off to the technician who pumps the level of stuffing into it that you want. Before sewing it up, you get to select what "heart" it has, sounds it makes, etc. After it is made, you select from a HUGE variety of clothes designed specifically for the stuffed animal, then type up and print out a special "birth certificate." It is a whole experience and very cute. X made the Abominable Snowman (from the old Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer clay animation from the 50's or 60's). A chose Rudoph himself. Both really got into it and played with them for quite awhile.
Right after we did the Build-A-Bear, X and A rode a little "train" around the outdoor shopping mall (Firewheel Station here in Richardson area).
Friday 10th - A & X went on a school field trip (Melinda chaperoning again) to Santa's Village, a very cute little set up here in Richardson. 2nd opportunity for Santa visit / pictures!
Saturday 11th - We all went to the Covenant Kids' Christmas party. Some nice food and a chance to meet "you know who... Santa! (and his wife, Mrs. Claus) and get a third photo with him.
Tuesday 14th - Another playdate with X's buddy, Oliver. More screaming fun!
Thursday 16th - ECI Christmas party - you guessed it, Santa and Mrs. Claus was there. This party had lots of little projects for the kids to do including making gingerbread cookies.
Friday 17th - school Christmas party in the class (but NO Santa for this one).
Saturday 18th - since we have not seen Santa since Thursday... Breakfast with Santa in Nacogdoches for A, X, Melinda and Nanny. Yummy breakfast and yes, more pictures with Santa.
Thursday 23rd - We all go to see "The Nutcracker" performed by the premiere north Texas ballet, Texas Ballet Theater. A lasted for about 15 minutes and then Melinda had to take him to the lobby. X was memorized for the first 45 minutes and even lasted the final 50 minutes after the intermission. During intermission they got to take pictures with the Nutcracker and two rats (all dancers from the ballet). Sorry, no Santa here! Mental note for next year, "take X, not A!"
Friday 24th - Christmas Eve service at church.
Saturday 25th - Early morning Christmas presents at our home with "proof" of Santa's visit (half eaten cookies and milk) with missing reindeer food (hay) and even Santa's dinosaur ate the broccoli that X insisted that we leave! We also had big ash-covered bootprints in the chimney where Santa landed. Big gifts were a bike and other ridding toys.
Later that morning, we went to Grandma and Papa's house for Christmas with them. It was good to see Alex and Erich (my biological sons who are 20 and 23). Alex's gifts were huge hits - a very cool remote-controlled train engine that is very fast and easy enough for a two-year-old to operate. It was used extensively bashing into furniture. Both Erich and especially Alex played well with the A and X. Alex mainly spent time with X and a plastic train set that Grandma had gotten X.
Sunday 26th was the "Burgess" Christmas with Nanny and the Rickels (Kiki (Christi), Corey, Chance and Courtney). Lots of gifts, great food and fun to go around.
Wednesday the 29th and Thursday the 30th we returned to The Farm to spend more time (since we only got about 4 hours on Christmas day). Lots of rides on the golf cart, visiting the ducks, checking out the cows, etc.
What a fun-filled month with lots of visitors and, as you can read, lots of Santas!
Getting Caught Up: November 2010 Happenings
Mamaw's Birthday / Thanksgiving Break
Still soccer, therapies, doctors, dentists, etc.. but also:
Saturday 13th - Visited Mamaw, Jack's grandmother, for her birthday in Denton. She enjoyed meeting the kids and they did fairly well for what I sure was pretty boring to them.That also means that Papa and Grandma visited us. Everything went well.
Tuesday 23rd - Saturday 27th - Visit to Nacogdoches (Nanny) and to The Farm (Grandma and Papa). for Thanksgiving break. Lots of great food and a chance to ride around on the golf cart at the farm as well as checking out the ducks, swans, cows, dogs, etc.
While still a busy month, we did not schedule much extra before the break because we were pretty sure we were going to lose them at court. Its a long story, but the short of it is that their grandmother wanted them to live with her while they were in foster care and the court decided that it was better to stay with the "status quo" (which, in this case, meant to stay with us).
Still soccer, therapies, doctors, dentists, etc.. but also:
Saturday 13th - Visited Mamaw, Jack's grandmother, for her birthday in Denton. She enjoyed meeting the kids and they did fairly well for what I sure was pretty boring to them.That also means that Papa and Grandma visited us. Everything went well.
Tuesday 23rd - Saturday 27th - Visit to Nacogdoches (Nanny) and to The Farm (Grandma and Papa). for Thanksgiving break. Lots of great food and a chance to ride around on the golf cart at the farm as well as checking out the ducks, swans, cows, dogs, etc.
While still a busy month, we did not schedule much extra before the break because we were pretty sure we were going to lose them at court. Its a long story, but the short of it is that their grandmother wanted them to live with her while they were in foster care and the court decided that it was better to stay with the "status quo" (which, in this case, meant to stay with us).
Getting Caught Up: October 2010 Happenings
Soccer / Texas State Fair / Thomas the Train / A's Birthday / Pumpkin Patch / Halloween Costumes
Additionally, we are continuing every week with church, therapies, psychologists, doctors appointments, dentist appointments and everything else that goes with A and X!
Saturday 9th - we celebrated A's 2nd birthday. We had to make sure we also had stuff for X because he can get a bit jealous. It was a Thomas the Train themed party.
Monday 11th - school was on a holiday for the Texas State Fair and we took advantage of it! We went, rode a few rides, ate some fair food, saw several exhibitions (pig races, trained dogs, etc.) and, best of all, went to the petting zoo. They had a huge amount of fun and wore themselves out! The finally was a big multi-media fireworks extravaganza with big fire shooting up, water set to the music and lots of lasers and projections. The ending event alone was worth it, but we were glad we were there the whole day.
Saturday 23rd - the long-anticipated Thomas the Train weekend. Melinda, A and X met Elaine (Melinda's mother), J.J. (Melinda's maid of honor and best friend) and her son in Rusk, TX where they got to ride Thomas the Train (yes, a full-size, working, real train created especially for the events). Unfortunately, this coincided with the last robotics practice before Jack's robotics team's first big contest, so he did not get to go. After a 45 minute ride to and from another town (with Sir Topham Hat taking tickets and lots of sing-along music aboard), everyone returned back to Rusk for photo opportunities!
Monday 25th - X had a school trip to the pumpkin patch and A got to tag along (especially since Melinda was a chaperone). It was a big deal and everyone had a great time!
Saturday 30th - Jack hosted and his students competed in the WOC VEX Robotics Tournament. It started off a bit slow at 8:00 AM due to some last second technical problems, but ended a few minutes early at 5:00 PM
Sunday 31st - kids wore their costumes to church. X was the Nickelodeon educational character, Diego and A was a very cute (but ferocious) tiger. Plenty of un-needed candy!
What a month!
Getting Caught Up: September 2010 Happenings
Looking over our September calendar (and after the September 9th post) this is what we did:
Saturday 11th - Breakfast Party at Chick-fil-A
All Sundays - Church
Thursday 23rd - PTA Dinner with the kids
Friday 24th - VEGGIE TALES - LIVE! (concert) - it was a full production event with thousands of kids (and parents) dancing and singing along. While some of the songs we did not know, most of them were common-enough songs.
Saturday 25th - LOWES Build and Grow - X and Jack build a little, wooden school bus together and get a patch for the LOWES building apron
Saturday 25th - Shop for soccer clothes, pads,. ball, etc. for soccer!
Monday 27th - First soccer practice
While I don't have it written down in the calendar, I am sure we also did a drive-in movie or two during September. There is one in Ennis, TX (about 40 minutes away) that lets us get out with the kids while watching something appealing to us. We drop down the seats, put lots of blankets and pillows down in the back and plug in a portable DVD player with their movies. They love it as well as us.
Saturday 11th - Breakfast Party at Chick-fil-A
All Sundays - Church
Thursday 23rd - PTA Dinner with the kids
Friday 24th - VEGGIE TALES - LIVE! (concert) - it was a full production event with thousands of kids (and parents) dancing and singing along. While some of the songs we did not know, most of them were common-enough songs.
Saturday 25th - LOWES Build and Grow - X and Jack build a little, wooden school bus together and get a patch for the LOWES building apron
Saturday 25th - Shop for soccer clothes, pads,. ball, etc. for soccer!
Monday 27th - First soccer practice
While I don't have it written down in the calendar, I am sure we also did a drive-in movie or two during September. There is one in Ennis, TX (about 40 minutes away) that lets us get out with the kids while watching something appealing to us. We drop down the seats, put lots of blankets and pillows down in the back and plug in a portable DVD player with their movies. They love it as well as us.
Schedule for a Typical Week with Team Nelson
Yeah, it has been awhile. A typical week looks like this (X is our 4-year-old and A is our 2-year-old)::
Monday
9:00 X Speech Therapy
2:30 X Psychologist
3:00 A Psychologist
Tuesday
10:00 X & A Visit with Biological Parents and Grandmother for 1 hour
4:30 X Occupational Therapy
Wednesday
9:00 X Speech Therapy
Thursday
3:15 A ECI
4:30 X Occupational Therapy
Friday
Make-up days for any of the services when doctors or dentist appointments get in the way.
We also do lots of fun things on many of the evenings, especially Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays.
Monday
9:00 X Speech Therapy
2:30 X Psychologist
3:00 A Psychologist
Tuesday
10:00 X & A Visit with Biological Parents and Grandmother for 1 hour
4:30 X Occupational Therapy
Wednesday
9:00 X Speech Therapy
Thursday
3:15 A ECI
4:30 X Occupational Therapy
Friday
Make-up days for any of the services when doctors or dentist appointments get in the way.
We also do lots of fun things on many of the evenings, especially Friday nights, Saturdays and Sundays.
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