Living, Loving, Learning

Griffin started his next round of soccer games last weekend. His team is called the Goalseekers , although, as he is the only one on the team actually playing the game, I think they should be called the Goalseeker plus a few other kids with the same t-shirt on. This is how most of the game looked. Our team had a hard time rounding up 5 kids out of 10 to play each quarter. They spent most of the time crying on the sidelines, rolling around in the grass disappointing their parents (much like the Republican House yesterday.... hehehe , ok that joke tells you just how obsessed with politics we've gotten up in here - we are total dorks!) Our little guy though, was a STAR. He played all but the last minute of the game and most of the time controlled the ball. He was constantly surrounded by the other team, who was a little more with it. Amazingly his team ended up winning because Griffin was able to get the ball near the net and twice a player from the other team accidentall...

Ok...so sometimes I do a little product endorsement and here is another one for you. All I can say is YUM. The thought of a drop of this in my coffee is the extra push I need to get up some mornings after being up 2-3 times during the night with Lucy! :)

Lucy absolutley adores her brother. The other Mamas at pre-school always laugh at how she smiles when he kisses her goodbye in the morning. It is this smile, in fact. One that starts at the top of that pony and moves all the way down to her little toe. She started her first "real" food this week - Squash. It was love at first bite. This was taken right after lunch....hence the orange all over her dress.

Griffin started speech therapy yesterday. I am really excited for him. Last spring, the school system here offered free screenings for all pre -school/kindergarten aged kids. Bruce and I had some concerns about Griff's speech which was backed up by some concern by the Moms and that prompted me to take him in. I think I blogged about it then - he scored really high on the behavioral and cognitive tests but there was some concern about his speech. In the end, the speech therapists asked us to work on it over the summer and hopefully he would grow out of it. A few weeks ago, they called back to retest him. Not only had he not gotten better but he has begun a new bad habit - a frontal lisp. After meeting with the school several times, I have secured him twice weekly speech therapy appointments. Just a month ago when we were hanging out with Bruce's sister Kelly and husband Eric we were talking about this type of thing. Having older children, they gave us some great advice. It was t...

We had such a fun weekend - much needed after the crappy week we had. Mom and Dikke came in on Saturday morning and we had a great day playing with the kids, running a few errands and eating some great meals together. Of course after the kids went to bed it was all about Euchre, red wine and political discussions - a great night for all of us. Sunday we headed out to our favorite local hangout, the Pennyrile State Park. We took a couple of hikes and were lucky enough to see a cool turtle and lizard plus enjoy the geology of Kentucky. Afterward we enjoyed a nice lunch at the restaurant in the park and a game of putt-putt in the woods. You actually have to consider the leaves fallen on the greens when making a shot. It was a great two days. As we drove home in separate directions Griffin said " **sigh*** I miss Gran and MorMor!" Me too buddy, me too.

Yummy! I can't keep those toes out of her mouth these days...even if she has shoes on. That is what her hair looks like when the ponytail comes out...rockin' the mohawk.

We are alive, the tree has been removed and we are officially in "recovery" mode! The tree fell on Sunday morning and by Sunday evening, not only was our house and yard in shambles, but Lucy also got really sick. She caught her brother's cold (I blame pre-school!) and had terrible congestion. Every time we put her down she would get stuffed up and would wake up 10 minutes later - it was torture for her and us. We were trying all the the old tricks (steam baths, vapor rub, nose suctioning), even resorting to a steady stream of baby Tylenol which we rarely will give to the kids. None of us really slept on Sunday night and she was in so much discomfort all day Monday, that she never really napped. While that was going on, we were scrambling, trying to get the insurance people out here along with the tree guys and the contractors to start accessing the damage. Another draw back of living in a small town - all the professionals were doing their friends and families ...

It was a wee bit windy here today. The lower eastern portion of Ike caused huge wind gusts for about five hours - we sustained some pretty major damage. What a loud thump it made when it came down! We had to clear out all those open cabinets in the kitchen because we could literally hear the wall cracking. The tree seems pretty stable but if it rolls off the house it could take out the deck, back wall of the kitchen and the side wall of the playroom - we hope it stays put! We have already contacted our insurance agent and expect to start working on the clean up tomorrow, but what a bummer y'all! This tree is directly across the street.

This has been a tough week for the wee Lucy Loo. As Griffin explained to Bruce last night, "She is growing her first tooth...see, she has teeth seeds in her mouth. The water in her mouth is making them grow and it hurts, that's why she is grumpy." We are continuously thankful and amazed that this precious one has been with us for SIX whole months now.

Now that Griffin is a big pre-school boy, we are letting him take some grooming responsibilities on. I wasn't completely sure he was ready but 2 Saturdays ago, I was nursing Lucy and he says to me, "I think I will go get ready." I wasn't exactly sure what he meant, but figured it couldn't be bad. Griffin was able to brush his teeth, was his face and hands, pick out an outfit for the day and get totally dressed by himself - his pj's even ended up in the hamper! I know much older kids who do not have the focus to complete such a lenghty process on their own. I was so proud of my little guy for taking that initiative. Of course, if I ask him to do those tasks sometimes he does it and sometimes he just can't, but at least he has shown he is ready to work on it. In the picture, he is holding a Johnson and Johnson buddies bar . A friend gifted us with a bar to try and I love it. It is a soap bar with a spongy coating. If you are trying to teach a toddler to was...

Tickle, tickle - she adores her big brother!

Baby's first ponytail. When Griffin walked in the room and saw her with it he replied "Hi Chicken!" in his funny Griffin way. I am still giggling. Lucy is finally starting to get a full belly after a session of rice cereal...we may start to branch out to the veggies soon!!

OK so I have been trying to respect my friends and family of the republican persuasion by not talking about the election as much as I would like to...like every freakin' minute. I love this country, this planet and my children so much that I cannot help but be obsessed by what is going down right now. Sarah "pitbull" Palin has totally put me over the edge! PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to read this article , an AP report, that deals with some of the "truthiness" of Palin's speech last night. And for a real treat, check out what Heather at Dooce.com said today...I could never have said it better myself!!

Thanks Uncle Leo and Auntie Sara for our favorite buddies!! Griffin was kind enough to think on his own that Lucy should have monkey Auntie since he has monkey Uncle already!! We have been busy here at the Gast house...doing what, I am not quite sure. Bruce was on call all weekend and was called in twice a day all 3 days so that made it tough on all of us. We have a few projects in the works. Bruce and Griffin are building a sandbox. It has been slow going because it is so darn hot and buggy down here, there have not been many good working outside days. Our other project is Griff's bedroom. We are removing the football helmet border and painting a stripe just like we did in Lucy's room. I think it will look cool and tie the rooms together a bit - even though the colors are so different. Every spare minute I have, I have been sewing. I am working on a cute project for Lucy's room, some Christmas presents, items to sell at a craft fair and of course quilt blocks. So, that is...