I can see!!!

As usual, my picture taking comes in bursts and then completely dies down! One whole picture in the last two weeks, must take the camera out again soon:).

We have been getting back into the routine of school and not having visitors. Adam has been so sensitive lately. I can't even take a shower without him getting upset about it - and we don't know why! He will be playing outside and in the faint distance you can hear a lawnmower, and it makes him scream! Even the birds are getting under his skin! I hope this is a short lived phase because it is driving me crazy. I feel like it's already been slightly better this past week than it was, so maybe he is getting over it. He did have a cold for a while that just sort of hung around, so maybe it was bothering him more than I thought.

Nathan has been asserting his independence quite forcefully lately! He wants to buckle himself into his car seat! When he can actually do this quickly on his own, it will be nice, but for now, it just really slows me down:-S. "No I will do it" are words we are hearing all day long with him! He is becoming more and more grown up in the things he can do, and just in the way he talks to me. I asked him about his dream the other day, and he was able to describe it to me in pretty good detail! He comprehends so much now!

What else is new . . . oh yeah, I CAN SEE!! I got LASIK down yesterday and for the first time in 27+ years, I can see without any visual aids:D. It seems a bit out of the blue since I didn't really talk about it much before I had it done, but this is something that has been a long time coming for me. 10 years ago, I had a check done at the Gimbel Eye Center in Calgary, and at that time, I was not a good candidate for LASIK. I could have done PRK, but they said that it might affect my night vision because of the size of my pupils. I decided it wasn't worth the risk and went on with my life. Well, just over a month ago, I heard an ad on the radio and thought, maybe technology has changed and I AM a candidate now! So I went for a check a few weeks ago and sure enough, they said I was a great candidate! I knew I wanted to do it as soon as they told me I could (and that with the new technology, I wasn't even high risk). So yesterday afternoon I went in and had it done! It was an odd experience. You spend most of your time just waiting for your turn, but when it is your turn, you're in the OR for like 5-7 minutes and then you go home. First they made the cut (which was really the most painful part and it wasn't that bad) - that took about 20 seconds per eye. Then they moved me to the reshaping laser (I got the WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser in case anyone is interested) and that was 15 seconds per eye, and then I was done! I was pretty sore yesterday, I just laid in bed the whole rest of the day and tried not to open my eyes. I had my check this morning and they told me everything looks good, my vision is 20/15! I feel like my right eye is still a bit foggy, but I am hoping that will clear up in the next few days (everything was very foggy yesterday). Even if my right eye doesn't improve at all, my vision is still fantastic and I would do it again! It hasn't sunk in that I will not be wearing glasses or contacts again . . . pretty exciting:).

Brian is going to Calgary on Friday to check on the house and see what needs to be done before it goes up for sale. The insurance stuff is all still in the works, hopefully early next week we will get the go ahead from insurance that the contractor can start the work (I am hoping he can do most of it while Brian is there, that would make it easier for everyone). I am so anxious to get rid of the ball and chain that is this house. Just this week again, the contractor told me we had to get a plumber in because there was still a leak in the sink! So I had to try and get in touch with the property management company to get a plumber out, and they couldn't get a hold of the tenant to get in to do it right away, blah blah - such a stressful thing! It did get fixed thank goodness, but how I hate having to rely on other people to do what needs to be done in my house. Less than a week and it will be back in our possession!! I am just praying that it's in good shape otherwise and can go on the market as soon as the insurance work is done. Let's just say there will be a celebration when that house is sold!!

Hotel Kroeker = busy busy!

We have had an eventful last few weeks! Well, the first week was pretty uneventful I guess. Adam was home on Spring Break for the week and one of those days we went to Playdate SEA (indoor play place steps from Brian's work) and Brian met us for lunch. He also had a dentist appointment that morning that was surprisingly successful! He was upset, but I feel like he was much more in control of himself than he has been in the past. Encouraging! Oh, I guess I can't call that week completely uneventful because we found out on Wednesday (unfortunately this was NOT an April Fools joke) that our tenant was gone for a week and came home to some water damage in the kitchen of our Calgary house, as well as the basement ceiling. Relatively minor, but we decided to claim insurance for it just because we are selling and want to make sure there are no traces of water damage for buyers to see. Probably best to get it done right! So the ball is rolling on the claim, the adjuster has been to see the damage and now we are just waiting for them to confirm coverage (hopefully only a technicality but nothing would surprise me at this point) and then we see what our next steps are. What rotten luck, a month before he moves out:-S. Oh well, I am just crossing my fingers that this doesn't delay the house going on the market TOO much. There is a chance they will have to replace the whole main floor if they can't match the hardwood, I'm wondering how much luck they will have trying to find a match (we have no information about where the wood came from, and the builder didn't put it in - it was the people who built the house).

Moving on - Friday (Good Friday) we picked up Brian's parents from the airport. They hung around with us all weekend, mostly at home but we did head out a few times. We tried to go to Redmond Town Center on Saturday for their Easter Eggstravaganza, but it was very crowded and wasn't a great experience. Adam did learn a bit about waiting in a long line for a bouncy house, only to have a 1 minute turn and then be devastated that he couldn't go back in. Lynsey had a lot of fun petting the bunnies, so it was a worthwhile activity. Frances and I did some shopping on Saturday which was fun, and we went to church together Sunday morning before the big Easter egg hunt that we did for the kids at home:). We went out for a buffet lunch after that as well, it was pretty good. All in all a good Easter weekend! Monday we dropped them back at the airport and we had a day to get things ready for our next guests, Mary and Dave. We met up with them and their friends Bob and Eunice for supper on Tuesday, and then took all the kids to Pump it Up so they could jump on the bouncy houses. Finally Adam got to go down the slide as often as he wanted! Much more his speed (and any other kid really). Wednesday morning we took the ferry over to Whidbey Island and went over to Double Bluff beach - the kids had a blast! Adam was home from school because he had been coughing a lot, but he came with us to the beach and had a great time as well. Wednesday night the kids had a movie night and Brian and Dave went to a Mariners game. Thursday we went to Idylwood Beach in Redmond (on Lake Sammamish) and the kids had a great time once again! We all really enjoyed the visit, it was a nice blend of doing things and also just hanging out at home and visiting. Lynsey was pretty sad to say goodbye to them Friday morning:(. It definitely makes me think hard about how far away we want to be from family for the long haul, it's a tough choice for sure. We love it here, but it's so valuable to be close to family, too. Something to think about!

Now, some of you might think that we would just take it easy today since we had so much going on in the last week, but no - we went out AGAIN this morning! The Museum of Flight was having a special early admission for families of children with Autism - and it was free! So we headed over there this morning and the kids had a great time! The first hour and a half was great, but then right before Brian and Lynsey paid to go into a flight simulator, Adam decided he was done. It might have only been a 5 minute ride they took, but it felt like an eternity trying to keep Adam's emotions at bay! We got out of there in a hurry and decided to still call the outing a success, even with a bumpy ending:). I have to comment on how nice it was to be out somewhere surrounded by other families in a similar boat to us. Adam kept hovering around these cockpits that you could get into and pretend to drive the plane, but he never actually wanted to get in. I didn't feel like other people were looking at him the same way they would have if it was just a regular day and "regular" families were there with their kids. A few times, parents would say to their kids, "Oh it looks like this little boy wants a turn" and I would tell them that no, he wasn't going to get in, he just liked to watch other kids, and I felt like they just understood. One parent said to me, "Oh, I get it, believe me!" - and I did believe her. Hard to explain, but it actually almost brought me to tears. It's not like I haven't known for a long time that we aren't like most other families, but I felt more comfortable on this outing than I have on any other public outing in a long time. There are other places around Seattle that do this kind of thing from time and time and I will be keeping a closer eye on these events from now on!

I feel like I need to mention that I did not take the pictures of the kids jumping on the beach! I forgot my camera when we went to Whidbey Island and I'm terrible at taking pictures on my phone, so Dave emailed me some. Photo creds go to him!