Christmas....

So things are insane this time of year of course! Tis the season! ;)

My sister is coming in 8 days! Yah! Can't wait! She comes from Reno and is staying with us for 8 days.

School is chaotic of course...lots of paperwork and testing, etc., etc..... The boys are well at the moment...Sammy was sneezing this weekend and I Zicamed him all weekend so we'll see if it turns into anything. Hopefully not!

We went and got our Christmas tree on Saturday...good thing we did, because it poured all day yesterday. Brian got half the lights on last night, then had to go to bed since he gets up at 4:00 to go to work. God bless him! :)

Santa sent an email message to Sammy a couple of weeks ago... very cool website that allows you to personalize an actual video message of Santa including your kid's name, etc. Sammy loved it! :)

Gotta finish the shopping, damnit! :( I am always so bad about this, but it's hard when you're trying to shop with a little one attached! Gotta get a babysitter this weekend and just be done with it already! Gotta order a bit online...might wanna get that done tonight before shipping costs me a fortune! ;) Oye, the joy of the season! :)

Got the boys' pictures done @ Sears last Sat. What a nightmare! :( They were extremely unaccommodating and even outright rude! His photographer was great, she was the mom of one of Sam's friends from preschool last year. I will NEVER be going there EVER again and am passing on the experience to everyone I know so that they do not give their business to them either! The pics came out well, regardless.... Sorry I can't get them to rotate the right way... :(

Sesame place

Totally forgot to post about our trip towards the end of Oct. to Sesame Place in PA. About a 4 hour drive, but worth it! Sammy was able to go on a few rides with Brian, but seeing his joy at seeing and meeting the characters was priceless! :)

long time, no see...

......And I'm back! ;)


Life is just too crazy lately! The poor blog is always the first to suffer. :(
So, school for me is stressful as always...paperwork and mandates galore....the kids keep me coming in! :)
Luke just got his report card...did well, but as a teenager, we had to have the conversation that if you are getting a B instead of an A or A+ because there were assignments not handed in, then that's a BIG issue with your mom teacher! But he just did an amazing piece of writing for Eng. Comp. last night that blew me away! My boy rocks! :) This is the kid that was beat down in first grade for his writing skills by his horrific first grade teacher! He is stronger than her demeaning comments! :)

Sammy is doing well... he likes school even though he is still not eating very well. He is enjoying walking with his walker even in his AFOs. He uses it for gym and it's great that he's being active with the kids. He is even doing recess with some of the equipment. :) We have his conference tonight and then I have mine with my school kids. Long night for me! :(

Can't wait for the short week next week! Yay! :)

Included are some cutie pics... :) (My sister would kill me if she knew I was posting this funny pic of her with Sammy/Elmo!) ;) lol

oh yeah....

I guess I have a blog, don't I?? LOL

I am so bad about keeping this up since school started back up...

quick update on the not so exciting life of the Hibbard/Hubers.... Sammy and I caught our first cold of the season... Sammy didn't really get any bad symptoms but now he has a cough which is perfect timing because he has his dental work under anesthesia on Wed. ugh! I will be SO pissed if we have to reschedule! We have waited 2 months for this appt. We also have a boring recheck in Northampton tomorrow at 4:00 that I have to take a half day off of work for. Hour drive for pretty much a 5 minute appt. Hate those!
Luke will also be turning 13 on Wed.! Oye, my little boy is growing up WAY too fast! He is doing great in school! Has all A's, SO FAR! ;)

Sammy is doing ok in school...having some feeding issues, not eating so well for them, I have had some issues with having to give instructions several times for him, but I am trying to be patient. He came home on Friday with licorice of all things! Ugh!

So it goes....

Sammy started Kindergarten yesterday! It was a half day for him. The rest of the K's in the district have half days for the first month, which I would have liked for him since this is a brand new school, but they don't have the testing that the regular ed. classes do, so today they started full days. He takes the bus in the morning , and yesterday took it home, too, as I had a full day at school. But from now on, I pick him up after school. They have been great to agree to wait a few extra minutes with him until i can get there from my school which is all the way across town! Of course any other half days he has he would take the bus home, and every other Monday when I have staff meetings after school, but I hate that he is on the bus for like 50 minutes, and would rather get more time with my little man at the end of our long day! :)

He also had his second tooth fall out today...I just happened to look at it after I gave him an afternoon bottle (he WILL NOT take the bottle for others) and it was hanging over the other tooth space! So I wiggled it until it came out..pretty easily! So now he is very cute with his big space in the front! :) I have included a pic and some pics of him in my sister's pool last Sunday... he LOVES his water! :) And of course I had to include a pic of my "baby" starting 8th grade today! That's right-- 8th frickin' grade! I am old! :( And he is giant! ;) Note the horrified look on his face that I am actually taking his pic before he heads out! :) LOL

We had a great time in Maine, last weekend from Thursday to Sunday. Other than it being a little too touristy now than when we used to go when Luke was little, and not having anywhere to park our handicapped van @ the hotel (don't get me started), it was nice to get away from town. Sammy (and even Luke) had a good time at the zoo. The ocean is freezing there, but Sam loved to splash in the waves anyway! Not me! ;)

We had gorgeous weather all the days we were there except for Sunday when we were coming back anyway. Took us 5 hours to get back with all of the traffic and pouring rain. :( At least Luke got to read half his book in the van! :)

My little man's a BIG BOY!

Sammy's first tooth came out this morning! ok, I pulled it out... it has been loose for like a month and finally just got crazy loose last night. So when he woke up this morning, we tried to yank it and it came out! Sammy thinks it's cool, and he just looks so darn cute when every once in a while he makes voices and his mouth opens wide enough to see the tooth space! ;) My little man is now a BIG BOY! :)

Sammy round of Botox #2

So we traveled to Northampton today to get Sammy's second round of Botox. They upped the dosage in each muscle so we'll see what happens. We had noticed a very small improvement in his tightness after the last round, but he had such a small dose that we weren't expecting miracles anyway....
He was good for the insane amount of waiting we had to do... we were brought in to get his numbing creme on and then waited for 40 minutes to get the shots..in the meantime the entire amount of creme rubbed off his leg onto this ridiculous paper thing they gave us to put on his legs over the creme. Usually they saran wrap it because it is supposed to be occluded, but the nurse said she couldn't find the saran wrap. So basically he got the shots with no numbing. He fussed some while they did the shots, and then when they were done, he looked at me and burst into hysterical tears. Poor guy! He got over it as soon as we got up to go...he is so good about pain and procedures, thank God! He was so funny on the way home, laughing and bicycling his legs and "talking" to his Elmo video. Luke went with me as my backup since Brian FINALLY is back to work and couldn't leave since he just started back this week and is traveling an hour each way. Thank God for the work, though! It'll be nice to have 2 paychecks again! :) We joked that with me being the only one bringing home the bacon, it was getting pretty lean around here! ;) Pun intended! :)
So good stuff.... no more appts. for right now until Sept. 28 for a follow-up with the Botox guy and then the 29th he is finally getting his teeth worked on. It is an ordeal since he needs general anesthesia for it and the outpatient center in town. My ins. refuses to pay for it and we have been desperately trying to get the Mass Health (state Medicaid) for his disability pushed through to cover it. I finally went to a local advocacy group and they are going to get it approved within a few weeks they said. Praise God! I am so thankful they exist...what would we do?? Another "window has been opened".... :)
Going to Maine in about 2 weeks..very excited for that! Just going for 3 nights but I can't wait to hear that ocean! mmmmm.... We didn't go to the Cape with the sisters this year, so this is especially sweet! :)
Guess that's it for now... Luke is doing well... trying to get in as much fishing as possible...no pics to share yet... loving having some time with my older boy after Sammy goes to bed. :)

Sammy riding with my sister on her horse, Amber! Oh, how he loves to trot! :) Check out the video clips below! :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tATPbVRzakQ&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=axgi2pd782E&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7KkLM6WpqQ&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jI4E3JjH0o0&feature=youtube_gdata

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lwz7C-DLgYg&feature=youtube_gdata

pics

set of twins again, second year in a row! better her than me! :) We also have another mom and baby, who is SO hyper that I can't get a pic of him! :) Random pics of the boys, and Sammy's old man sock and sandal but his foot is FLAT! :) Slightly bent thigh, but still great! :) He was in his walker for over an hour the other day..he loves it but it's exhausting for him even with the sling seat on it because he is constantly struggling to hold up his head.