Paige Avoids the ER on New Years Eve!

Daddy was outside getting the trash can, Mommy was outside putting up a new IU flag; we both heard a blood curdling scream from inside the house . . . Kayleigh hollars "MOM, PAIGE IS HURT BAD THIS TIME!!!!!!!!" We come running in to find that she has broken her finger in a bad way!

She was in the hallway and had her hand around the wall to the living room with the fingers in the hinged side of Chase's bedroom door. Chase didn't know it and shut his door from inside his room by pushing it hard - completely closing her ring finger in the door! It's entirely broke and was smashed thin at the D.I.P. joint (the joint closest to the end of the finger).

With the doc on the phone, I was able to manipulate it a bit and make sure it was straight. Fortunately - because I work in Occupational Therapy and had a clinical rotation in hand therapy - he was ok with me just splinting it. But - she would NOT stop screaming or let me touch it, let alone try to fix it. So - doc said to give her the leftover pain medicine from her surgery.

While the pain meds kicked in I ran to the store for coban wrap, came home, dug out splinting materials, and made her a finger splint. Chase went with me to Walgreens and found a stuffed puppy dog down the toy aisle that he wanted to get her. He feels so bad she got hurt! He cried as much as she did to start with!

She's all fixed up for now and laying on the couch watching TV snuggling with her new puppy. Splint stays on until we go to the pediatrician's office on Wednesday for him to check her out.

Happy New Year To Us (and all of you too!)

A New Pair of PJ Pants

Kayleigh asked for material, patterns, notions, etc. for Christmas. She's taken quite a liking to sewing and designing her own clothes. Up until recently, she's been doing it by hand. She now has a sewing machine (thank you Great-Grandma Eschbach!) and is loving it!

Tonight - it took her 3 hours to make a pair of PJ pants out of the material we got her for Christmas. Devin was ticked - he just finished sewing PJ pants in his Life Skills class - took him 3 weeks!

Anyhow, they turned out super cute! She did a great job! Next project - Paige wants a matching pair!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Wow what a morning! Chase got up at 3am to check and be certain Santa came!! I hear he woke up Kayleigh and then went back to sleep around 4am only to get up at 6:30. As always, when the kids got up they were allowed to get in their stockings (gives Mom & Dad more time to sleep!). Around 8am we could smell the coffee, hot chocolate, and cinnamon rolls that Devin had made for us - we knew we couldn't sleep anymore!

After coming upstairs the kids were all quite excited about the gifts. One at a time - they each opened their presents taking turns. Paige's favorite present was her Leapster and Dora game for it. Chase's favorite present was his bow & arrow set (a nerf style - but super cool!). Kayleigh says her favorite present was her earings (go figure!) and Devin says his favorite present is the kickboxing bag.

We'll spend the rest of the day playing with the kids and going outside. Chase got a trainer golf club -so he and Daddy plan to go out back and practice. Paige and I are going to play with the play-doh. Devin's reading his magazine (he got a subscription to Blender) and Kayleigh's planning on practicing with her Wilton cake decorating tips.

We miss all of our friends and family and can't wait to travel back to Ohio next weekend to visit everyone!

Merry Christmas from Michael, Michelle, Devin, Kayleigh, Chase, and Paige

Letter to My Mom

Christmas 1998

One of my favorite Christmas pictures of Mom, Dad, and all the grandkids!

(minus Paige and Abbi of course)

Front: Devin (5), Chase (4 mo), Mom, Jacob (3 mo), Kayleigh (4)

Back: Dad holding Samantha (21 mo)

Dearest Mom,

Here it is Christmas Eve again and I can't help but cry as I always do. I know you're with me, but I miss you so much. The kids are growing so fast and talk of you often. We tell Paige all the time how wonderful you were and she told her friends at school we made gobs of cookies like Grandma used to. She knows your pictures now and says your her Grandma in heaven. Chase gets sad now and then and wonders why you had to leave us so soon. It surprises me how much of you he remembers. But - you were always a special person and anyone whose life you touched remembers you fondly as well.

As the kids open their gifts tomorrow we'll talk about the angels that you gave them and how your gift to them is being an angel walking beside them.

Until we meet again

With Love and Laughter

Michelle

We're Getting the Hang of this Bloggin' Thing!

We're really learning the ropes! Spent lots of time over the last day searching how to add links, quotes, bible verses, formats, and more to make our site a bit more interesting! The kids each gave a little on the right side - I typed what they said. As you can see, the next time they'll be more careful what they say!

Please be sure to stop in and visit the links on the right hand column. They are all things that have touched our lives and are very important to us. My Mom lost a battle with Melanoma on April 13, 2003, leaving us quite passionate about prevention and education. Shortly thereafter, Chase went through a terrifying ordeal with Kawasaki Disease and has an ongoing struggle with High Functioning Autism. Kayleigh watches her sugar very carefully and is very interested in research to fight Juvenile Diabetes.

Anyhow! Hope you all enjoy and continue to check in to keep up with Life in the Lyons Family!

Happy Birthday Mike!

Well - I'm not so sure he's up on the "happy" part - but it is his 36th birthday today! He's been sick all day and insisted on going to work - so tonight - he's absolutely wiped out! He did spend about 30 minutes upstairs when the kids were making cookies and he opened his birthday gifts/cards. The kids picked out a few henleys for the winter season. Paige and Chase made cards for him. Chase even had all the kids in his class sign the card! An added surprise was the math test he put together for Mike to take! Maybe on another night - he's just not up to it tonight . . .

We'll celebrate over the weekend by taking him to dinner and coming home with a DQ ice cream cake.

Cookies, Cookies, and more Cookies!

Over the weekend, the kids cut out and baked all the sugar cookies - 96 of them!!! Tonight, we all were home early enough to get them iced. Kayleigh, Chase, and Paige iced them - Devin was there to taste-test! Only a few more kinds of cookies to make - then we're done - whew! On the upside - we'll be able to pull cookies out of the freezer for the next few months!

Week of Programs!

Hello All!

I posted each night's programs and blog comments in a separate post - so that each child had their own "blog of fame". They all did great this week - with no hysterical fits, nervous nights, or freeze ups on stage! Devin had a track meet that he ran his best time this year at - but we didn't get pictures of that :0( We're so proud of each of our kids!!!

Here's a few extra pics that didn't make each blog.

Paige before her program on Wednesday - very excited!

Chase at Kayleigh's band concert - he had no idea how bored he'd be!

Paige enjoying her cookie for doing such a great job Wednesday!

Chase's faculty dressed up and sang to "12 Days of Christmas!"

And the Christmas Programs Wrap Up with Paige's on Wednesday

Paige's preschool and daycare had their first ever Christmas Program last night. All the kids from infants on up had a part in the evening. The infants had jingle bells on their ankles - the teachers held them and shook their little legs to "Jingle Bells" - it was soooo cute! The toddlers danced with the teachers, the two's tried to sing - but most were in tears scared to death! The threes had more courage and most of them sang "Frosty the Snowman".

Our Paige - and her four year old classmates got to sing 2 songs. Paige Olivia was quite the performer! Hands on her hips, singing loud, and having a good time! Leave it to our daughter to be the show off! Her little friend Cassie (the youngest in the class) was not quite so brave. Had to include her sweet little face in the pictures!

Kayleigh's Christmas Band Concert on Tuesday

On Tuesday night we went to Kayleigh's Christmas band concert. Mike was pleasantly surprised and actually enjoyed the concert. Afterwards - he was sure to tell Kayleigh heard every note that SHE and ONLY SHE played! Here's a few pics from her night!

Chase's "From Then 'Till Now" Christmas Program

Monday night was Chase's Christmas program titled "From Then 'Till Now". The school has been open 10 years and done 10 programs, so the kids did 2 songs from each year as well as 2 for this year - yep - you did the math right - we sat through 20 Christmas songs sang by 4th and 5th graders! Mike and I were nervous that Chase would freeze up and not move in front of the huge crowd - but he did great! We were so proud of him! The picture is small because we were clear in the back - but this is Chase's class on stage - he's the blonde on the far right of the picture.

Also is a picture of him at his school the night of the program. Below are pictures of Mike and Paige enjoying the program. Paige danced the whole way through it!

Girls Day Out at Aladdin!

Paige and I got a day out with Theresa and Carissa (our new neighbors). Carissa and Paige been waiting on this day for about two weeks now. Theresa even got the girls matching shirts to wear! Carissa wore hers to bed the night before and Paige had hers on by 5am the morning of the show!!

We spent the morning at breakfast. The girls had a lot of fun and the people in the restaurant seemed to enjoy them too! Both of them had pancakes, eggs, and sausage. In the end - Paige ate Carissa's pancakes while Carissa ate Paige's eggs! We didn't mind though!

After breakfast we went to Bishop McGuinness High School where their drama department put on the musical Aladdin. The girls had soooo much fun! Paige's favorite characters were Aladdin and the Genie, I think Carissa's favorite was Princess Jasmine. After the show the girls had an opportunity to have pictures with Aladdin and Jasmine - but Paige chickened out. On the way home the girls were wiped out and nearly fell asleep!

Thank you Carissa and Theresa for inviting us!!

Below is a picture of Carissa with Aladdin and Jasmine.

Challenging Days Ahead

Mike and I have decided it's time to formally put an IEP (Individual Education Program) in place for Chase. Now that he's in the 4th grade, we are seeing clear differences between him and other kids his age. Although he is more of a high functioning autism, and academically does well, the social and behavioral piece of it is beginning to interfere with his education. He has periods of "freezing-up", crying, and habitual actions like "finger peeling" and "flapping" while he's in school.

Our first meeting with the Curriculum team is next Wednesday morning. We'll discuss our options and go from there. We're also considering a private school where he can get more one-on-one and smaller class sizes to make it easier on him. Please keep Chase in your prayers, as we pray for guidance in the challenges we're dealing with!

Chase is an amazing child so full of life and love - he deserves the best education we can give him!

Cookies and Christmas-Time

Grandma Casto used to make dozens upon dozens of Christmas cookies - starting in early December and baking every weekend until the Big Day. She'd freeze them - and we'd pull them out of the freezer slowly starting Christmas Eve and they'd last well into January. After Grandma passed away - Kayleigh decided she wanted to do it and we have every year since then. This year - Kayleigh and Paige started with the Snickerdoodles - trying really hard to bake them and keep up with what Daddy was sneaking in to eat behind their backs!! Grandma used to have the same problem with Grandpa too!


Meanwhile - While sneaking snicker-doodles, Daddy was burning the kids their very own Christmas CDs with all their favorites. Little did he know that Paige and Chase would play the Hippo song (I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas) over and over and over! Also on the CD are old favorites like Rudolph, Frosty, and Must Be Santa. Daddy acted like it was a tough job, but we all know that anything to allow him to play with music and burn his own CDs makes him a Happy Camper!!

Chase is really loving Andy being in our family! He is learning to be more affectionate. This is a huge leap for Chase and a tough challenge he's had with the autism. We're very glad we added Andy to the family! Chase loves to take him outside and throw tennis balls to him - he's not a big fan of the balls coming back to him all slobbery though. We always end up with about 10 tennis balls in the grass when it's all over!

Once again - no pictures of Devin. We've threatened him with taking a picture in the middle of the night when he's drooling in his sleep though! So - maybe we'll get some soon. He's loving track season and doing well in school. Being a freshmen this year, he's staying busy with sports, homework, and "hanging with his peeps"!!

We are continually blessed with wonderful kids who are living life to the fullest.

Happy Holidays!!