Up, Up.....and away we go!

Spring has rushed in and out already this March. On Saturday last week, we had high 70's and Kite flying by the end of week, we had snow. If you don't like the weather in Ky, just stick around and it will change......much to the chagrin of our sinuses and allergies!


We tried out the new Kite from sweet Max and it did a great job but I will say the wind was so strong that day that the kite was literally ripped off the string but not until the boys had a nice time flying it and watching it swoop and dive! :)

Short sleeves and shorts........then SNOW!

Update on Kindergarten.......Nick was accepted at an immersion school for spanish thru our public school system so we decided that we would send him as it is a hard school to get in (lottery system) and we would love for him to be bilingual again. He should do well in their environment as he needs structure and challenges to stay focused. He would not do well in a Montessori

system.

Speech and OT -- we are still waiting for an OT eval thru the school system but may also look into getting some stuff done thru the university as well. When Nick is bored these days, he has increasingly obvious and annoying sensory seeking behavior. He did not do these things in the early days and we really have seen them more in the last 6 months than ever. On the days he has school, we see little to none of this behavior. I do wish we had sent him to everyday school this year but every thing is so crazy the first year, we had no way of knowing what he REALLY needed. His speech teacher tried some sensory exercises on him in speech last week and said she saw a marked difference in his speech and focus. She is going to work on this the rest of the semester as well as give this info to the OT. I have always sensed that he needed structure all day but thought that the 3 days of structured activity would be enough in those early days....and they probably were but now they are not. When he is given free play time, he is at a loss....he wants to snack, yell, throw, spin, pick at mom, etc. I realize that I need to be more intentional about our day especially getting ready for the summer. I try to get him to do "school" or games but he gets extremely hyper with me and it can turn into conflict......thus, I believe, school will be great for him. I am going to "attempt" to write out a daily schedule for us so he knows what we will be doing and see if this helps the randomness of his behavior at times. He has come so far with his behavior and speech that I don't want to be anything less than proactive with making changes quickly to deter any further behavior regression. It really is a full time job just making sure that these sweet children with a "different" beginning have a fighting chance to be the "uniquely normal" that they are supposed to be......

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We have lots of fun activities coming up for the rest of Spring....Pat's folks are coming to Kentucky on their way back from Florida and we are meeting them at Mammoth Caves for a few days and then Nick and I are heading to Dallas to see my family for spring break. None of our (Pat's, Nick's, my sister's kids) spring breaks match up but Nick and I can travel the easiest so off we go on our first plane ride since Kaz.....should be an adventure! Pat's sister Tracey and little Colin will be joining us this year for Easter.....the bunnies better watch out for these little Kitzman boys! We are getting anxious for Kazapalooza 2009 in Nashville this year and that will be our first summer activity......we cannot wait to meet some more of our blog friends as well as the adoptafamilies that we already know now! Fun, Fun!

Hope everyone is starting to thaw out and getting ready to enjoy the beauty of spring......

Birthday weekend Day two and three.......delayed due to technical difficulties!

We had a bit of a break with computer difficulties but we seem to be back in business so on with the story. When we last left you, I was awaiting permission from my sweet friend Krescene to post our pictures from the reunion so I also had to sneak in a "that was then" picture. We had not seen each other since this night ....project graduation event, graduation eve 1985....yikes!

Krescene is in the middle and I have the lovely Hawaiian shirt on....with pale Pink shorts? have mercy!

24 years later......we both admit a few more pounds and a tad more wrinkles....but she still has the same exact laugh and bubbly personality and it felt like no time had past at all.


We arrived at the GWL (great wolf lodge) Saturday afternoon after a trip to Jungle Jim's international food store....grabbed 3 big bottles of Kazakhstan-like sour cherry juice...yum!
We were able to check into our room early and as I said before opted for a calming Nap time before the extravaganza.


This is slightly out of sequence but this is a picture of evening story time. Kids wear their pajamas and they have disney like animatronics that sing and tell stories. Cute but Nick wanted to go swimming some more....so we did! ;)


The orange slides to the right were the highest kid ones and Nick went down them many, many times. It was so hard to capture great pics because it was so wet and mommy was actually participating so who would snap the shot while hurling down the tube? He wanted to go down backwards, on his tummy, frontwards, spinning.....the lifeguards thought he was pretty funny.


This was the younger kids pool.....we only stepped foot in there two or three times...not fast enough for our boy! :)


Daddy holding onto the wild boy as it was hard to catch a picture as he rushed by.....

Our attempt at a self family portrait....hilarious.....Pat will need to sit next time...we could not get us all in.

I loved this big ol bear and the little Kaz bear is cute too. He has on his new swim attire from Gma and Ata Kitzman.....so handsome and swim vogue.

He called this water feature the rainstorm and wanted to go in it over and over again!

He love, loved the wave pool and would charge at them screaming. :)

He had fun hopping across the lillypads and did hold onto the rope some but this time wanted to leap!

The Roller coaster was closed for most of our visit but he was not tall enough and daddy said it was quite intense. We did the big multi people raft from the top down and it was fast and furious. He squealed the whole time, so awesome although I squealed the whole time too because it always looked like he was getting ready to fly out of the raft.....There was one additional big kid one that he could have gone on but after daddy tried it out we decided that we weren't sure if he had the whole....hold onto the handles tight thing down...so we opted for next time around when he is one year more mature......

Two exhausted boys in front of the big lodge fireplace on our way out the door. It was a fun family weekend. He got a bit overstimulated but we were able to keep meltdowns at bay with some evasive actions and he did great. He has been telling everyone....lifeguards, elevator passengers, passers by, etc. that he is 5. It is so fun that he is enjoying the birthday thing this year.

He wasn't completely asleep in this pic but it was so funny how he travels.....old hand now. He has his travel blanket that keeps him warm, his hat, and good memories. Life is Good!

We got home and he immediately wanted to open all his toys. This was a neat helicopter from his Kaz buddy Max. He was so into the instructions. We are just having a little trouble keeping the helicopter together. Apparently helicopters should fly into the wall frequently?

He got many great gifts! Thanks to all the friends and family who sent their HB wishes. We had a great time and can't wait to do King's Island this year! Happy Birthday our big 5 year old!