Easter Saturday

The Gross family invited their friends from the 'hood over for an Easter Saturday brunch/put the new awning on the trailer party! Good food, a little egg hunt and some festive beverages were enjoyed by all!

Conal chaperones a field trip!

Conal took the day off to chaperone his first field trip with Hayden's 1st grade class. They went to the PHX Zoo. Hayden, Kira, Michael and Anthony were in his group. Looks a little more like he was chaperoning a double date...strange! ;) Regardless...he had a great time keeping these monkey's in line, and Hayden was soooo happy to have her Daddy along on her field trip! He's such a great Dad!

2011 Pat's Run

We've been wanting to participate in this event every year since it started, but there seems to be a conflict in our schedule every year. Until this year! What a fun event. The girls had as good of a time as we did. 4.2 miles around Tempe, with a finish at the 42 yard line in Sun Devil Stadium. What a great way to honor such a hero!

Taylor

Birthday Girl

Taylor turns FIVE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TAYLOR!

Taylor's day kicked off with our traditional birthday breakfast and a trip to Hale Theater with Hayden and I to see Cinderella!

Our family came over, after the show, to help us celebrate Taylor's 5 years!

5 Year Stats:

Height: 42 inches

Weight: 31 lbs

Eyes: Blue

Hair: Blonde
Soul: kind, joyful, respectful, caring

Favorites:

Food: Ribs, Hummous, Sour Worms

Artist: P!nk, Taylor Swift, Lady GaGa

Color: Pink

Activities: Dancing, Singing, Swimming, Watching TV

Movie: Lemonade Mouth, Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure

CRaZy hAIR DaY

Our own personal Cindy-Lou-Who!

Uncle Bubba comes to Sanborn!

Uncle Bubba offered to come and visit Hayden's 1st grade class and talk about fire and water safety, and get dressed up in his 'turn outs' (I think he calls them!). Hayden's school has a firepal..but he's never put on all his gear and let the kids check it out so closely. Bubba is an awesome uncle, to say the least!

Demolition Therapy

When the boys are away, the girls will....

Rip and Shred and Smash and Tear

We were sitting around a dining room table on one of our mimosa mornings, when Amy mentioned that she wanted to tear up her carpet. She didn't have plans or direction of what to do or when, but just wanted the carpet out of there. Well, making a statement such as that, around 4 other women who think they can do just about anything, especially after a couple of cocktails, shifts from idea to plan in a nanosecond! Thus, the wheels were in motion! The dudes had a hunting trip coming up. The Saturday that they're gone, we'll get a babysitter for all 11 kids, send them down to Becky's and start tearing up some carpet! A few days after the plans were made, Amy decided she wanted to tear out her pony wall too. I was thrilled! It's cheaper than any shrink I've ever been to!

Death

Hayden is obsessed with death. OBSESSED. Those of you who know how Hayden's obsessions completely consume her, can truly grasp the definition of 'obsessed' in this case.

She talks about it all day, all evening. Gets up in the middle of the night to talk about it. And I don't have the answers to the questions she has. I've tried to sugar-coat it. I've tried to be blatant. She doesn't understand any of which I'm telling her. Simple or otherwise. She cannot wrap her mind around it. I'm sure that's fueling the fire. Every time I turn around "And just one more question...."

It's making me crazy. C-R-A-Z-Y.

Not sure what we're doin'....

But something's going right! I'm not one for counting my eggs before they've hatched, as I always feel like the other shoe is about to drop. A bit pessimistic, I know. But lately, I find myself at peace. This is a bit of a shocker to me, considering I was weaned off my meds a couple months back!

Hayden is doing great! Great in school, great at home, great on her meds. Now, don't get me wrong, her life is still a challenge..always will be, but I feel like we're finally getting the hang of it. Her moods swings are not as erratic. Well, maybe they are and I'm just handling them better? I feel like I'm more understanding, accepting and patient with her OCD. I feel like I'm starting to understand (although I really don't!) her fears, which are turning into phobias. I'm trying to be kinder and gentler with her. I've been taking her into great consideration when accepting invites to big functions that overwhelm her and give her anxiety. I know I can ask her to go to Target or San Tan Village with me, but Costco or an indoor mall is not preferrable for her. When she just really wants to stay home and stim, I allow that, instead of fight it.

We've realized that tag-teaming her homework is key to getting it finished with as few tears as possible. If one of us starts and we notice her get frustrated, and the one helping does too, the other is listening for cues to take over with a different approach. I think running club has completely boosted her self-confidence, which, I think was as about as low as one could get, at 7 years old.

I'm literally getting smiles when she gets out of the car in the mornings, instead of scowls. Even a a hug or two on slight occasion.

Her teacher even sent me an email this this morning saying that she is having an AMAZING week. That she understood her math and got 100% on an assessment. She's never received 100% on anything. And that was a non-modified assessment, at that! Her progress report came home with her lowest assesment being at 80%. That's above average people!! She even said that she wishes she could "package Hayden and clone her". That she's "such a sweet girl" and has "watched her come out of her shell and really blossom in such a short time".

Over Winter break, I heard in passing on a tv interview, someone say that you should talk to your kids like someone you respect is always listening. I've been really trying hard to be cognisant (sp?) of that. I can't help but wonder if that is where some of her happiness and confidence stem from too? I think our approaches around the house have really made a great difference in her disposition. It wasn't a mean and negative place before...but you could definately feel aggravation on all accounts.

Karate

Hayden started her very first day of Karate today. And loved it! Today was a private trial session, we'll see if she likes her second class next Monday!

Snow Day!

There's no place like snow! We went up to the cabin January 28-30th. We drove the girls up to Sunrise on Saturday, to play in the snow for their first time!

Race #2..a video, and pics from the 1st race!

Running club pictures from the 1st race and a video from the 2nd race!

The 2nd race was at Sanborn. This time, Hayden's cheering section multiplied! Memaw and Papa came (it was Papa's birthday, too!), Auntie, Uncle Bub, Cooper, Cash and Paisley were all there for her along the way cheering loudly!

It was announced that Hayden got 2nd place, but it seems there was a mix up and she got 3rd. So, not exactly sure where she ended up, but definately in the top 3 again!

She's been at home, sick, since last Friday. She has another race this Thursday and is very nervous about missing it. Not sure if she's going to be disappointed this week, but all we can do is encourage her to try her best!

She has the Sanborn ribbon run in another week or two, and she's going to participate in the 100 meter run at the Chandler Hershey Track Meet on 3/5!

Happy New Year

We rang in the new year with some of our greatest, most treasured friends!