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I've been trying to think of an appropriate gift for Ms. Welborn, who has been Corey's ECDD teacher for the last three years. For three years she's had to listen to Corey repeat questions, read signs, and redirect conversations toward his current obsessions. Next year it will be another teacher's turn, as he will be entering Kindergarten. I wanted to get Ms. Welborn something that would remind her of Corey every time she saw it, and something that had nothing to do with apples or pencils (ask a teacher what I mean by this!) Anyhow, I think I may have nailed her gift:

A street sign that she can hang in her classroom with her name on it! I love the idea, and I hope she likes it, too! Corey had no idea that I'd gotten this for her, and when we went to the sign shop to pick it up, he just about peed his pants. Signs everywhere! After he got over the excitement of the store, I gave him another big surprise, which by the way, he loves:

If this doesn't work, nothing will! He can't wait to take it to school to show all of his school-friends... uh, okay!

The Eyes Have It

Corey had an appointment with his Eye Specialist in Grand Rapids this morning so the three boys and I were up early and on our way. I left Corey to sit in the big chair alongside the eye doctor and sat myself fifteen feet away at the other end of the room. Finally, an eye exam where Corey actually cooperated! It was amazing to see him read off the pictures that were on the monitor across the room without pausing between each one to ask mommy some off-topic question like, "Remember when I fell in the lake? That was scary." Corey decided to ask the eye doctor those questions instead.

I stifled Riley and Shannon today so that they couldn't cheat and give Corey clues as to what was on the monitor. (A couple of times Riley tried to flap his 'wings' and say 'bwak-bwak' to clue Corey in to the fact that he was seeing a chicken, but I pulled out the super-mean-mommy-glare and all was good.) Riley watched wide-eyed and it was all he could do to keep from bursting. "This one?" asked the doctor. "A cake!" yelled Corey. "Good, this one?" "A tree!" "Good! This one?" "A hand!" Finally Riley couldn't take it any longer, grabbed my arm in frustration and said very seriously, "But, Mom, he's getting almost ALL of them wrong!"

He had a good point, Corey was getting most of them wrong. It was decided to do the eye-drops so that Dr. Peters could do a more thorough examination, so I explained to Corey what was going to happen. Before any appointment I'm always totally honest with him about shots, medicine, pain and having to 'lay down' (the worst thing that can happen to Corey in a medical setting.) I'd had him prepared for this visit with the typical reassurances, "No, you won't have to wear a patch at the doctors, yes, he will cover your eye, yes, you might have to see the light." I wasn't expecting the eye-drops, which Corey particularly hates. I also forgot that they try to get him to lay down so they can put them in. Oops. Mommy became a liar and after a lengthy attempt at cajoling him, I was forced to physically restrain Corey in a reclined position for the drops to be administered. "Mommy, you're rude!" Corey huffed after it was all over and the tears eased up. "I know." I hate being the bad guy, but I'm getting really good at it.

Anyhow, after letting me know that Corey was wearing his back-up pair of glasses and not the ones with the stronger prescription, (WHAT? How did that happen, and WHEN did they get switched? No wonder he hasn't been able to see anything!) the kind doctor sent us packing. Corey hadn't lost more vision, but new lenses were prescribed to adjust the balance of vision between his eyes. I was also reminded that the scar-tissue from his retinopathy was the main cause of Corey's 'book-next-to-his-nose' way of looking at things. So no worries, and this next pair of glasses will be florescent green or something so that I never confuse them again.

On the 1 1/4 hour drive home Corey decided to skip the nap that usually happens after he sees the eye doctor. "Mom! I'm going SIGN HUNTING!" "Good, Corey, now let me drive." "Stop sign!" "Traffic light sign!" "Reduction in lanes sign!" "Mom, what's that sign?" No answer. "Merge left sign!" "Trucks entering sign!" "M 89 East sign!" All the way home.

Quick Note...

I talked to Spencer today and he was not too thrilled to find that I hadn't put up a picture of the EXIT sign. Ken was nice enough to stop putting up the trim in our almost finished 4th bedroom and 'pose' to show where the sign was installed. See pictures below.

As I said, we're almost finished with the basement bedroom and the boys are fighting over who gets to sleep there in the future. They don't want to yet because the furnace next door scares them, but they're wise enough to know that the best bedroom is the one furthest from mom and dads room.

Did a little PTO work today (I'm the Secretary, how special,) and tomorrow I have to go into school to make a large meatball mural. Don't ask. Other than that, hoping for a relaxing weekend to come.

THE CAKE I PAID TOO MUCH FOR (AND THREE CUTE BOYS)

WET FLOOR SIGN

The best present ever! (At least this year, anyway!)

A Birthday Success!

I think it's safe to say Corey had a very happy 5th birthday. The signs were a big hit, and the wet floor sign I picked up was his favorite. (Mom said to grab it from her, so she's the hero of the day!) He loved it so much he took it to bed with him. He also loved a little circular pillow I'd purchased two years ago and forgot about that says DO NOT ENTER. (He took that to school with him and his teacher said he took it everywhere he went!)

The cake was lame, I definitely could have done better. I made a big show out of opening the box it came in and Corey looked at it, looked at me and said, "Why does it say 'SPEED LIMIT 5?'" Oh well!

Thinking a lot about Carley today, it's her birthday, too. It's so unfair that for every wonderful thing about Corey there's that nagging question of how Carley would be doing. I keep reliving the first week of Corey's life in my brain, and it's just not as fun to tell his "On the day you were born, 5 years ago, I was doing this right now," story that the kids love to hear. On the brighter side, how many kids get reminded of their first helicopter ride on the day they were born? (By the way, thanks Mom, that was a great tradition I stole from you!)

But it was still a great day! Dad summed it up perfectly with a sweet message on the family blog for Corey, it said: "Five years old and you know more about computers than Grandpa will ever learn. You are definitely a miracle child. You are always overcoming obstacles that you were born with in the grandest fashion. Grandma and Grandpa are so proud of you! Have fun with your new signs. We love you so much!!!!"

Street Lights, Exit Signs, All for Corey...

Today was the day everything fell into place for Corey's birthday! Ken managed to get the Exit sign up and working (love the glow of the LED's,) and I've got mom's gift (street light) ready to plug in before the boys get up in the morning. 12'' cut-out number 5's are spread throughout the kitchen and I pick up his birthday cake sometime before noon tomorrow.

Yes, the one-time Betty Crocker wanna-be has turned in her icing tips. For two years now I've tried to do elaborate cakes, from the barbie-doll cakes for the neighbor girls, to the rounded ice-cream filled eyeballs; I've tried decorating every kind of cake I care to. The sad thing about this lack of effort is that I could actually do Corey's 5-year cake with my eyes closed and I'm paying Meijers to do it instead.

Since signs are so big for Corey, I requested a simple 1/4 rectangular sheet cake to say, "SPEED LIMIT 5." Sadly, the lady at the bakery just could not picture what I was trying to describe so I actually had to draw it out for her. I worry that I might just be making a last-minute cake after all although I really don't see how she could screw it up. Could she? Cross your fingers...

Sunday, Sunday...

Just another Sunday. Ken took Riley to church this morning while I got myself and the other boys ready. When they got home we went on another stressful outing to Home Depot. Nothing like three boys in a race-car shopping cart and a narrow aisle full of people looking for a good deal on Behr paint! Only one kid was bleeding by the time we left (Shannon) so I guess I should view it as a successful trip.

NASCAR officially started today, so we're back to napping away the afternoon as we pretend to watch the race. Ken has an uncanny knack of waking up whenever there is a wreck or when there's 30 laps to go. Doesn't hear the phone or the kids, but he knows when the race needs attention. As we enjoyed our little slumber the kids had the run of the house and did only minor damage. Boogity, boogity, boogity... (and if you don't understand that, you don't watch NASCAR.)

Finally it was my turn to head to church for 7:00 pm service. Always my preferred service because it's too late to drag any kids along and because I get to enjoy a 'classic country' show on the local radio station on the ride home. I had to laugh, tonight they played "War is Hell on the Homefront Too," a song I remember singing along with as a child. When I was 7. I had no idea what that song was referring to. (Just so you know, it's about a teenager who is seduced by a lonely woman whose hubby is away at war.) My favorite blunder from that musical era is the song "Jose Quervo." I always thought Jose was a person who the singer liked to eat limes and salt with. It made sense to me!

Ken tried to hook Corey's birthday present up tonight, I'm hoping he figures it out by tomorrow night. We got him a functional soon-to-be hardwired two-way LED EXIT sign and he will hopefully just love it. Maybe it will break his addiction to signs? I'm hoping if he sees it everyday, when he points them out in public I can say "just like at home," and be done with it. I also saw a stand-up wet-floor sign at Home Depot today and almost got it. Ken said he thought the exit sign was enough, and we should get Corey an actual 'toy' for his birthday. Anybody who knows Corey knows the wet-floor sign is better than a toy. I'll have to go pick that up tomorrow regardless, because I really can't think of anything else to get the kid!

High winds and snow coming tonight. Should be a fun morning!