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Ninth Birthday Wishes for my Big Kid

Posted on August 17, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL,

Nine years ago seems like such a long time, but it really does feel like you were just born. Thanks to you coming into the world, my life became even better than I imagined.

Your sweet little face melted my heart. That day I understood what everyone said about being willing to fight to the end for your child. There is nothing in this world that I wouldn’t do to help you to be happy and make your dreams come true. This year, you have taught me so much about so many things. You will have to trust me that one day you will understand this more.

Now, let’s continue with our tradition of looking back at the last year. Your eighth year was filled with a lot of things and I want to highlight some of them here.

After your birthday, you were supposed to head to spend time with Bubbe and Grandpa while Daddy and I went to Disney World for our anniversary. Instead, our plans changed thanks to your first experience with a hurricane heading up to our parts. We also spent the end of the month enjoying time relaxing before you went back to school. (August 2011)

The start of third grade was your first full year in the new school. You were excited to see how this would be and I loved that you were so enthusiastic. We also took advantage of the warmer fall weather and went to Hoffman’s Playland one last time before it closed down for the season. (September 2011)

Halloween may not have been the biggest item in October. That was the month that you started to play band. With the help of your amazing band teacher, you selected percussions and before we knew it you loved practicing and showing us all that you had learned. (October 2011)

A lot of November was spent with family. Bubbe and Grandpa came to visit and we did fun items with them. Cousin A’s Aufruf also took up a weekend with extended family from Papa’s side. Then we had a quiet Thanksgiving with Nana and Papa. It was a great month with many memories. (November 2011)

Muppets and Smurfs were part of our world for much of the month with the movies, fun items, and Build-A-Bear. We also spent time getting ready for Chanukah. Thanks to a new drawing book, we figured out that you were a fan of creating character sketches like they do at Disney Hollywood Studios. (December 2011)

The new year and winter brought cold weather, but hardly any snow. Thanks to this, we spent a lot of time inside reading, playing games, doing homework, and getting used to the bunk beds that arrived for the start of 2012. (January 2012)

As the winter continued on, we had a trip to Disney World to look forward to. You were studying up and working on your Mickey drawings when there was some time over winter break. (February 2012)

Headaches were the key to us solving a problem. The spring meant you were ready for your first pair of glasses. It was fun watching you pick them out and realizing how much you looked like a young Harry Potter. Perhaps that is even more fitting given our summer theme. (March 2012)

Matzah, Seders, and Passover preparations filled the time as we got ready to go to Walt Disney World. You conquered multiple fears while in Orlando which included riding your first upside down roller coaster. (April 2012)

Once we were back from Disney World, you settled back into school. A highlight of your time was a day away with Nana and Papa. You went to Howe Caverns and went zip lining with Papa. I wish I had been there to see your face, but the photos are priceless. (May 2012)

As the school year was winding down, we were keeping busy with other enrichment activities. You love science and seeing how things work. The CMOST museum was a great place for you to explore a lot of different items. (June 2012)

The summer was filled with activities at the library, crafting, and Harry Potter. You started reading the book and your love for the young wizard grew even more. We also spent a the 4th of July mini-golfing with Nana and Papa. Then, you and Daddy went back with me there when JSL spent the day with Nana and Papa. It was fun watching you play in a location that I had gone to as a child. (July 2012)

Now it is your birthday month again and I am trying to figure out where the time has gone. You have grown up so much and are such an amazing kid. You amaze me with all that you have learned, created, and dreamed.

I hope that you know how very proud I am of you and how much I love you. You are such a sweet boy that adores helping others that you love. I have a really good feeling that the upcoming year is going to be a stupendous one in fourth grade and beyond. Less stress, more smiles, and lots of watching you spread your wings and become more of the person that you are meant to be.

Love,

Past B-day posts to NHL:

Categories:
arts and crafts birthday Disney fun looking back milestone nhl parenting photos school travel vacation

Summer Days 2012

Posted on August 11, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Dear NHL and JSL,

It is hard to believe that there is less than a month before the two of you go back to school. I have often wondered how I would feel that day. NHL, for some reason, it did not phase me as much when you went to kindergarten. Since JSL is the youngest, it has been tough to handle. My little boys are getting bigger.

I thought I would be excited, but the reality is that it scares me. I know the two of you will do fine in school. You are both smart kiddos. This really has nothing to do with school and more of time passing by. The two of you are growing up before my eyes and these days will forever change as you learn new things and figure out your paths in life.

While we were at Walt Disney World in April, they reminded us that you only have 18 summers of fun with me. Basically, you have to pack those moments with memories that will last a life time. While JSL is only five, NHL is going to be nine this week. That means that half of your family summers before turning 18 are over. It really does seem like just yesterday when both of you were born, and getting rocked to sleep.

So boys, please amuse me when I ask for a hug here or there, or pester you to take and let me capture a moment with my camera. I am not trying to bother you, I am making sure I document these times so we can look back and recall them years from now when you have your own children. Now, let’s make sure we get serious about the next few weeks and other summers ahead of us. We need to make lists of places to see, people to meet, and things to learn about.

Love,

Categories:
Dear Kid Saturday Disney DisneySMMoms jsl looking back me moments milestone nhl photos school summer

Graduating from Speech Therapy

Posted on June 28, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Early intervention is so important in helping children who require assistance with speech, fine motor, gross motor, or other areas of development. When teaching, I saw how therapists and special education teachers assisted me when working with students that had 504 plans and IEPs. Years later, it would become even more personal as both of my children required different types of therapy.

Last week was a bitter sweet time for us. On Wednesday, JSL graduated from speech.

His journey began just before he turned three years old. I noted that he was frustrated that people, including TechyDad and myself, could not understand what he was saying. There was no exact pattern to his speech. He was dropping sounds at the start of words, in the middle, and even at the end. Hearing was checked and by the time he was three I called our school district because we had been dismissed by Early Intervention. No matter what they said, I knew something was not right and JSL needed assistance from a speech pathologist.

To make a long story short, Carolyn entered our world in September 2009 when JSL started preschool three days a week. She was highly recommended by our school and district. JSL immediately fell in love with his new teacher. She was a familiar face that he trusted. She would start days with him and helped not only with his speech, but to get him acclimated to being away from me.

Carolyn fought for JSL, she knew that he needed more days once she started and quickly filled out paperwork to get him three days of intense therapy each week. At the end of that academic year, we knew that it was time to request summer therapy. Without blinking, our county agreed to continue JSL’s three day a week regimen over most of the summer months.

Thanks to working hard and extremely well together, JSL not only caught up on his speech, but surged ahead. We were lucky enough to slowly decrease his sessions and complete the school year with Carolyn. JSL is going to miss Carolyn and so am I. She knew my kiddo and how to make him work harder than he ever has. She helped JSL to have self confidence, to use his voice, and to sing, dance, and be heard. I will forever be thankful to this amazing woman for being there and making JSL ready to take on kindergarten. I know way back when he started nobody ever thought that he would be declassified before school, but clearly with a determined child and fantastic therapist it can happy.

Thank you to Carolyn and every other professional that works with children day in and day out to get them caught up. Your patience and persistence is something that is ever so special.

Categories:
Educational jsl looking back milestone photos PSA school

11 Year Wedding Anniversary

Posted on June 24, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Most of the events from eleven years ago today are hard for me to remember. I have a feeling a lot of brides will probably admit that to you because they are so caught up in the moment and making sure everything goes just the way that it was planned.

The day that I married TechyDad is mostly a blur. So many hours of preparations all came down to one magical day when I became JL’s wife. Our family and friends were all there to help us to begin this part of our lives together.

Thank goodness for photos. I can look back and smile and know that it was the day that I married my best friend and the father of our beautiful boys. It was also the time that we would take our first adventure to Walt Disney World, where I would convert TechyDad into a member of the Disney Driven Life.

Last year, our tenth anniversary trip had to be canceled thanks to Hurricane Irene. Of course, that was only after the plumbing debacle that caused us to move out of our house on the night of our actual anniversary for several days (fumes were that bad). Luckily, we were able to head back to Disney World in May where we celebrated our next anniversary a little early.

Thanks to the Disney PhotoPass photographers for suggesting that we do a few couple only shot. These are items that we will always cherish.

JL, I love you with all of my heart and am so lucky that we have had these eleven years together. I look forward to many more adventures, magical moments, and memories together.

For more wedding photos and memories:

Categories:
family jl looking back me moments milestone photos TechyDad

2000 Post Blogging Milestone

Posted on June 22, 2012 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

Several weeks ago, TechyDad noticed on my WordPress admin page that I was closing in on post number 2000. He actually noted that it would fall on a Friday, so I knew it would show up for an Aloha Friday topic. In February 2007, I started The Angel Forever as a Live Journal blog which eventually moved to a self hosted domain with the same name in October 2007.

Over the 2000 posts, I have written about being pregnant with my youngest, giving birth, my oldest starting school, my oldest switching schools, and soon my youngest heading to kindergarten. We have celebrated countless birthdays, events at school, and lots of Jewish holidays. The Angel Forever has documented our travels to Walt Disney World for the first time as a family in May 2009 and multiple times since then. I write about health topics (febrile seizures, getting your first mammogram), education topics, arts and crafts, and knitting. Since we adore books and I am a certified reading teacher, I started Tuesday Tales to focus weekly on books that we adore, reviews, meeting authors, literacy topics, and beyond.

As my children get older, and life changes the topics within The Angel Forever will morph and grow with me. So my question to you this week:

How has your focus changed during your blogging tenure? Do you tend to go more with the flow, or do you have a certain niche that you write about?

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.