My Son Looks Like Quasimodo!

This past Tuesday we put Thomas to bed at night as usual but instead of sleeping he decided to play around in bed. Anyways Shawn and I were watching t.v. and all of the sudden there was a loud crash, then there was silence but only for a moment. Then we heard screaming and both ran in his room to see what happened. All I could see was this huge bump on his face. The bump on his face was twice as big as in the pictures and I thought for sure he had broke his nose. We rushed him to the hospital and the whole ride there he kept grabbing the "lump" and moving it around. It was making me sick. Anyways thankfully he did not break his nose but that still did not change the fact that he now looks a little alien like or even a distant cousin to the hunchback Quasimodo without the hunch.Today is the first day that he started looking like himself.

Christmas Production

This past Sunday was the girls dance/drama Christmas production at the Abbey Art Centre. They had two shows to preform at, one in the early afternoon and one in the evening. Julia came down with the flu Friday afternoon and was still not feeling the greatest when we arrive at the first show. She ended up still performing all her dances and skits. I was very proud of her! During the first show I was soooo busy changing kids from one costume to the other that I didn't get a chance to take very many pictures. (Both my girls had ballet, drama, hip hop, tap, jazz and lyrical dances in the first show.) It was all such a blur. I ended up buying a DVD of the show just so I can see how my girls did and also for a keepsake. Julia also was apart of an acro dance number that made front page in our local news paper. I guess that is enough bragging for one day about my girls! Anyways here are a couple pictures I took just before the show started. Kailey is wearing her ballet costume and Julia and her friend Tiarra are wearing their acro costumes.

Busy Busy Busy!

Shawn is finally coming home today. He's been out of town for 3 weeks and life has been so busy without him. The girls have had a million rehearsals and practices for their dance production this Sunday at the Abby Art Center. They are both doing really well in dance this year. I'll post some pictures of them in their cute little outfits on Sunday. Also my dad and mom are coming for the first time to watch their production. The girls are so excited.
In other news Thomas has been doing really well. He's talking a little better and is using pictures to communicate which has helped alot. The only thing that drives me a little crazy is the constant playing of classical music in my house. I'm talking all day. The minute he gets up in the morning if I don't turn on his music then he will turn on the piano or put a baby einstein movie on. I think for Christmas we will get him a mp3 player so he can listen to the music and I don't need to worry about going crazy.

My Creepy Neighbor

Today my next door neighbor calls me and tells me that my cats have scratched his truck. I told him that since the snow fall my cats have been in doors except to go the bathroom. He then asks me what I'm going to do about the scratches. There were alot of things I wanted to say but I didn't. I just said nothing and then was about to hang up, until he said in quite an evil tone "You know I have rat poisoning on my property." Okay now I'm upset, hes blaming me for something that my cats didn't do (there are tons of cats, raccoon etc.. he can't prove it was my animals!) and now he's threatened to poison my cats! He is one sick man!!!! Believe it or not this is not the first time he has threatened to kill my cats with rat poisoning. Just this summer he blamed me for his rat infestation problem at his home because I leave cat food outside on my deck for my cats to eat. This is the funny part - the creep has 2 dogs that are penned up 24/7 outside and they eat their food outside also. He also never cleans up this dogs feces so I think that's probably why he had a rat problem. I have never seen a rat on my property in the 5 years I lived here!(only dead moles, mice and birds)
Here is a list of all the sick and twisted things my next door neighbor has done:-
1. When Shawn is working, he will come to our sliding back door for no apparent reason. Just to snoop on me and he always does it when it is dark out!
2. Has peaked in on my brother having a shower by coming up onto my deck. (My brother made eye contact with him and he still tried to peak into the window. )
3. Long story short, I was 6 months pregnant and he tried to make me shovel 3 truck loads of clay/dirt off of his property. Shawn and I were making a garden and he told me he had some TOP soil that we could have. It wasn't top soil, it was CLAY so I didn't want it but he still wanted me to get rid of it.
4. Mr. Creepy stepped on a nail in our yard and threatened to sue us. We were out for lunch and he came on to our property to snoop at our new deck and that's when he stepped on the nail. It was his own fault!!!
There have been countless other things that this man has done, majority of them are peeping tom acts. Anyways I needed to vent my frustration about this man and now I feel a little better. I can't wait till we move and hopefully we will have nice normal neighbors.

A Winter Wonderland

Here are some of the Christmas pictures of Thomas. I was at the Sears portrait studio for 2 hours to get pictures of Thomas. It was a memory that was well worth it!



The girls are loving the snowy days and here are a couple of pictures of them on our first day of snow fall. Julia also made a snowman and insisted that I take a picture of it.

Christmas Pictures

Here are some of the Christmas pictures I got done of the girls. Thomas's are going to be ready for pick-up on Monday. It took 3 times before Thomas would take a picture.

It's Official

This past weekend we went up to Kelowna and looked at a lot. It was the one for us, so we gave my parents the go ahead to start the permits and the process of building a home. We are really excited and a little nervous. This is a big move and I'm pretty sure it's a good move. There is a school out in Kelowna called Okanagan Montessori which specifically teach children with autism like Thomas.They start school from 3 years of age up to grade 7. Also our home will be 2 doors down from a park, walking distance from Shannon Lake and a beautiful golf course called "Shannon Lake " golf course. What's not to like, everything starts with my name! (except our street name will be Shelby drive) Anyways that is the exciting news in the King house.
As for the update on Thomas everything is going as good as it can be. I've booked most of his specialist apt. The process of getting proper help for him is a long one but I tell you I push until I get what I want. A family support worker contacted me yesterday and told me that Thomas is getting looked after a lot sooner than some children. I think the only reason for that, is I call the doctors and support workers and the specialists daily to push everything along. God has gave me a strong and feisty spirit for a reason. And I know part of that reason is to fight for my son rights for proper help.
That's all that's been going on in the past week and the next couple of weeks will be busy ones. The girls have their dance production coming up.(Lots of rehearsals etc...) They are so excited and they practice their dances almost everyday.

Good Days and Bad Days

I think Shawn and I have pretty much came to terms about everything regarding Thomas and things are looking up. The process of getting the help needed for him takes a long time and so I have started doing stuff on my own. Flash cards have been working really well with him so far. I have taken pictures around the house of all his the familiar items he needs to learn and today I'm going to go get some business type card, so when we go out I don't need to explain my son behavior to everyone. Instead I'll hand them a card and that should probably shut them up. Autism has really opened up my eyes to a lot of things. I have been doing alot of research and I can't believe the statistics on this disorder. 1 in every 69 boys is diagnosed with autism in North America! Every 20 minutes another child in the world is diagnosed with autism! These stats are just mind boggling.
Anyways in other news Shawn, myself and the kids are going up to Kelowna this weekend to look at a piece of property. I'm so excited and so is Shawn. Hopefully this lot is the one for us. It's fully fenced, two doors down from the park, 5 minutes from the floating bridge, 5 minute from westbank's shopping center, and all the schools are walking distances away. (It sounds perfect for what we're looking for) One more thing, there is a willow tree in the back yard beside a creek. I love willow trees, especially in the summer because I like to be in the shade most of the time. (I do love the sunny hot days though, just in doses.) This will be one of the only times in the next few years to move, so if the property is for us, then we're moving.
One last thing, thank-you to everyone who has prayed for my family and may God bless you all!!!

My Beautiful Boy

I haven't blog lately because I our family has been going through a lot of issues we have had to deal with. My son has been diagnosed with Autism which has been extremely hard to deal with. (It is so hard to even type this on my computer but it helps make it more real.) We found out the day before Halloween. The doctors think he is only mildly autistic and will be able to live a pretty normal life. (Lets pray they are right) My poor little guy has to see quite a few doctors (at least 8) and it's going to be a hard and long road to walk but I know God will be walking right along with me. If you are reading this, please take a moment and pray for Thomas.

The one good thing is we got a diagnosis early enough that he can get a lot of help before he starts school.

ATVing over the weekend

This past weekend was a very relaxing one. We went to Ella's 2nd b-day and then went for dinner to my in-laws house. They just bought a new house in mission and Thomas had to check out every room, cupboard etc... He such a busy boy. We just recently found out through our doctor that Thomas has hearing and eye sight problems. He is going to the specialist on Monday. He might need either surgery or glasses for his left eye and possible tubes put in his ears. We were wondering why his speech has went down hill since the beginning of summer and he was starting to do his own type of sign language because he can't hear us properly.(poor little guy)
Anyways on a much lighter note, Julia finally got to take her motorbike out to Kevin and Karin-Ann's farm on Sunday and she road her bike for just over 3 hours. She loves it. Shawn and Kev shared one of the ATVs and took all the other kids for rides.Karin-Ann and shared the other ATV. I had a blast! They have 40 acres of land so there was lots to do. They just recently sold their home and now are fixing up the farm house. That's all for now.

5 Weird Shannon Facts

Here we go...

1.) I clean my kitchen appliances with q-tips and tooth picks

2.) I can't eat onion ring without lots of salt and vinegar

3.) All of the DVDs, CDs and videos in my house are in alphabetical order.

4.) I can't sleep at night with both of my feet under the blankets. Always one foot out.

5.) Once I fall asleep at night I wake up in the morning in the same position. (I don't toss and turn, only when I have a really bad cold)

Those are the best weird facts I could think of.

Flu Bug Hit Our Home!!! (Yuk)

Well I was trying to get back to the blogging routine and then the flu hit my home. It started with Thomas and eneded with me. I think next year I will be going to the doctors to get a flu shot because this is the 3 year our family has been sick with a flu. Enough is enough! Julia was lucky, she was the only one who bypast it. (She starved herself for 2 days though because she was so scared of getting sick.)
Besides the flu not to much is new.

My Poor Baby Girl!

We celebrated Kailey's birthday on Saturday Sept 23rd at Adventure Zone. Not even 5 minutes into her birthday and she fell off the zip cord ride and broke her elbow. Not the wrist or the upper arm, but the ELBOW! Ouch!!! She hardly cried and wanted to continue with her party. At first we didn't realize she broke it because she could move her wrist and fingers, so we bandaged it up and she sat most of the time and watched her friends play. When it was time to have cake and present, I decided to take off the tenser bandage and look at her arm. All I can say is OMG I think it is broken. She had a lump by the elbow and I told Shawn it is time to go. I don't think she will ever forget her 5th birthday. Smiling putting ice on her wound

One tough little girl!

Thomas's 2nd Birthday

We celebrated Thomas's Birthday on Sunday September 10th. He turned 2 years old and I can't believe how fast the time goes.


Thomas loved his birthday cake and all of his balloons. He wouldn't eat his own piece of cake, instead he wanted to go around to all his family members and take a bite of thier cake. 

Can't Comment on the Blog Beta Accounts?!!!

Today I have tryed about 10 times to leave comments on Tweety bird and Lee's blog sites and my comments are being denied. I can't seem to figure out what I'm doing wrong. Also I can't comment on D. (with the twinkling stars) blog site because my computer will freeze up on her site. My computer is brand new so I can't see that being the problem. If anyone could help me that would be a major stress relief.

Schools In!!!

Thank-you Lord I'm back on a schedule! I love the summer time but I need a routine and so do my kids. Shawn has been away pretty much the entire summer except for his 2 weeks holiday. The kids are back in school and I can finally have a break in the middle of my day. Kailey started kindergarten and she loves it so far. She hasn't had a full day yet. We'll see how that goes (next Wednesday is her first full day). Julia is in a grade 2/3 split which is perfect for her. She loves being with the older kids.
Thomas is having his 2nd birthday this Sunday. We are having a baby Einstein theme. He is addicted to Einstein and I'm not kidding. If he's not watching one of his 20 DVD's, he looking through his books or playing with his Einstein toys.
On the 23rd of this month is Kailey's birthday party and we are having it at adventure zone. It's not the cleanest place but the kids have a lot of fun their. She will be turning 5 yrs old. Hopefully Shawn will get home on the 22nd so he will make it to her birthday.
The girls have started back in dance and piano again this year and they are loving it. They have really nice teachers which I'm glad about.The girls are taking a few classes together such as tap,jazz, lyrical and hiphop.

This Summer is going by way too fast

I'm sorry sorry I haven't been blogging lately. Lots has been going on. We finished the bathroom downstairs which was a big job. We did tile on the floor and around and above our shower. (I will blog some pictures of it at a later date.) Basically the basement is finished except for some baseboard and Julia's door trim. Renos are very time consuming.
Also this weekend a water line in our cud-a-sac burst and part of the road sank in. At the same time we discovered a water leak in our front hose pipe. It didn't wreck anything in the house but it made a mess of my garden. This all happened on my birthday too. At least Shawn and I celebrated my birthday earlier in the week. We went for dinner and a movie. He also took me shopping.(I got some shoes, jeans and a jacket.)

More Camping Photos

Here is the 6 man bike that we went on. Julia hurt herself really bad. It's been one week since we went on that bike and she still has a huge bruise.
The guys and the older kids playing mini golf. Julia being such a competitive kid would not play on the same hole as everyone else because she didn't want anyone to beat her. We have only taken her mini golfing maybe 5 times in her life and she can't play that well. I tried to help her a little bit but helping Julia is like pulling teeth.My poor boy had to be leashed up at our camp site on day three because he kept running away to other peoples campsites. We had a close call with a guys truck, so I said that was it. He was upset for a couple of hours and then he found a sand pit at the back of our campsite. He was good to go once there was dirt and sand involved.

Camping Time

Our whole family went camping at Shuswap lake from July 31 to August 4th. The kids had a blast. Every night all my children needed a shower before bed. Kailey and Thomas were sometimes unrecognizable.All my kids love getting dirty only when camping not at home.
There was a big gated play area for the kids to play at in the day. They would go there right after breakfast and stay there until lunch time. In the after noon we would go do some kind of family adventure. We went to the beach only one day on our camping trip. There was really bad cedar itch (duck mite) in the water and it really grossed me out. Plus it is very itchy and I didn't want to chance Julia or Thomas getting it. They are our drama children when it comes to being sick. Kailey could care less. Anyways here are some pics.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Julia on our trip, so I had to post it.

Dad's 50th

We left for our holidays on July 29th up to Kelowna just for a couple of days before our camping trip. My mom had a Hawaiian Luau for my dad's 50th birthday party. Jeff Jaggard taught us how to do some hawaiian dancing which was a lot of fun and I'm sure we looked ridiculous. We also drank alot of pina coladas (yummmm!) Kailey couldn't stay awake past 7pm and was fast asleep on her uncle Stephen's bed.
Aloha!!

Jubee on her Dirt Bike

 

Julia's 7th Birthday Party

This was such a fun day for our baby girl. I can't believe she will be 7 in a couple of weeks. We celebrated her birthday on friday with 15 of her girlfriend from school and dance classes. They all loved the spa theme. (Who doesn't like getting pampered.) They all got a manicure and pedicure and also made a few crafts. After that they went on this water slide thing we bought the kids. They all had a blast and had a chance to cool down. It was 39 degrees out where we lived and you could feel it even in the shade. All the birthday activities were done in the shade outside except for the slide. After the slide it was cake and presents. Julia got a lot of cute gifts. Her favorites where from dad and mom though. We bought her a pair of heeleys and a dirt bike. She has rode it a few times and loves it. We got it in pink too with a matching helmet.(Pink being Julia's favorite color.)Here are some picture of the party. Enjoy!!!


 

News of the Week

This week the girls had day camp from 10-12pm Monday to Friday which they totally loved. It was right across the street at Julia's elementary school. (and it was FREE!) They learned a couple of dances, made a few crafts and did a lot of running around. Shawn has been out of town since July 4th, so the day camp has helped break up my days and let me get some shopping done.
On Wednesday I had the day off from babysitting so I took the girls into Langley to get some school clothes. We went to Laneza girl and the girls went to work. They know there own sizes and they have their own taste, so I just sit back and let them shop. They picked out some really cute stuff. Julia bought a couple of camouflage outfits, a hoody, faded jeans and a couple of t-shirts. Kailey was a little different. She some rocker t-shirts,faded jeans, a couple of skirts and of course a hat. (She is the hat queen.) The ladies that worked there got a kick out of my girls, they couldn't believe they already new how to shop, try on their clothes by themselves and everything else. (One day they will have to learn how to pay for their clothes by themselves) We bought some Kernels caramel popcorn for Thomas at the mall and he was content just sitting in his stroller. With the rainy weather it was a perfect day to go shopping.
Also while we were at the mall I managed to buy a birthday gift for Julia. My sister was with me, so she ate lunch with the kids while I went and bought Julia a pair of Heeleys. She has been asking for these shoes for almost a year and so now she will finally get a pair.
We are having her birthday party on July 21st at home and she has 17 little girlfriends coming. (Some are from school, dance and a couple have been her friends since they were little babies) Her birthday theme is "A Day at the Spa." The girls will be making two crafts. (One is a bath bomb and the other is bath salts) They will get to pick their own fragrance and color for their crafts. Also I will have a pedicure and a manicure station were the girls get their nails done and then get to keep their nail polish as part of their goodie bag. After dinner, cake and presents , they will all enjoy a swim in the pool. It will be a lot of fun and Julia is counting down the days.
Yesterday me and the kids went and rented some movies. Julia wanted Leroy and stitch and Kailey wanted to get a different movie (as always). She points to the movie she wants and says "Mom I love this movie, Chicken Niggle" and I started laughing (as did a lot of other people in the store) and then she tries to correct herself by saying " I mean Chicken Nipple." She is such a funny kid.

Hippopotamus?

Just a few funny things my two young children have said today-

I was asking Kailey if she wanted to be in drama class again in September and she said "I don't think so mom, I think I would like to take Hippopotamus instead." At first I couldn't figure out what she was talking about so I looked on the dance/drama schedule and seen Hip Hop class.

Lately Thomas has been handing me his diaper and telling me " poo poo mom", and then in a quiet voice he whispers "stinty" (he is just too cute and goofy) so I figured I would introduce him to the toilet. There is no way I'm teaching him to stand peeing so I sat him down on a potty seat (that sits on the toilet). I told him to go pee and he just had this blank look on his face. I figured he wasn't understanding me and then all the sudden he looks down at himself and starts yelling "Go!, Go!, Go PEEEEE!" I started laughing so hard but Thomas was all business. He sat there for about 10 minutes and then we gave up. I got his bath started and put him in. Then he started grabbing himself and stood up and of course he is now peeing in his bath. Maybe next time when I put him on the potty I will dip his feet in some warm water.

Peytan's Baby Shower

I'm inviting any of you blogger girls and your families to Peytan's (Karen new baby girl) baby shower on Sunday July 9th. I'm having it at my home from 1-4pm. It was suppose to be a surprise shower but my mother-in-law spoiled it. That's why I'm bogging this invite on such a late notice. Please let me know if you can come, so I know how many people to expect.

Canada Day Weekend

Since Thursday (the last day of school) things have slowed down quite a bit. The kids are sleeping in (till 8:30am) which has been really nice and the weather has been beautiful. On Canada day we didn't do too much. The girls went with the neighbours to the Canada day parade and Shawn and I (with Thomas) went to Home Depot for our last big order for our home. We ordered the baseboard, trim, doors and a cedar fence for our pool. Last week our carpet was installed, our new kitchen table with chairs came and Thomas's bedroom set. Our little boy is now in a "Big Boy Bed." (I love the way Thomas says it best, "Big Booooooooy") Every night I've been peeking in his room to see if he is actually sleeping in his bed and not on the floor. So far so good, he is loving it. Thomas has been sleeping in and still taking a 2 1/2 to 3 hour afternoon nap in the day.
On Sunday we went to Maple Bay at Cultas Lake for our church service. We ended up missing almost the entire service but we stayed and had a pic-nic and went swimming. The kids loved it and it was nice hanging out with Sarah and her family. (We didn't see the McCue's there though). On our way home from Cultas, we took the kids to Dairy Queen but we ended up just doing the drive thru thing because all the kids were asleep.

Lets Dance!

The girls have had two busy days of dancing at the Abby Art Centre with their dance school "Creative Edge." They had alot of fun performing, especially the second night because they were in alot of different skits and dances. Kailey played a mouse for ballet, a keebler elf for her drama skit and for preschool they did a dance to the song "Honky tonk cowboys."(priceless)
Julia was a star for ballet (their dance was the cinderella story), dopey and a pink heart for her drama skits, danced to the song Tutti Frutti for tap, Copa cobana for jazz and Gratitude for lryical.

This was my favorite outfit of the evening, her Tutti Frutti outfit. This is Julia's tap, jazz and lryical dance teacher Ms. Maureen. She is such an awesome dance teacher and the kids love her to pieces. The production was a lot of fun and I love helping out behind the scences getting the girls on stage. All in all though, I am glad that dance is finished for the summer. Enjoy the pictures!!