Life...

Just catching up on life and popped over to the neglected blog to see my background has disappeared. I've installed this new one for now but we'll see how the readability is; I may have to change it.

Lots going on with us - I was away all of July in Halifax for university doing my Master's degree. Kennedy was away at Deaf camp in Halifax for one week of that; she also spent a week having fun with my sister in Antigonish, NS. My granddaughter Taylor is doing well, although they have now moved to Nova Scotia and I fear I'm not going to see her as much :(

Kennedy Update:
Kennedy has finished grade six since I last wrote - had a marvellous year with a school team who truly seems to 'get it' (can you hear the hallelujah chorus playing in the background???) She also performed at the Imperial Theatre with the InterAction Children's Theatre in "Saint John History Mystery". She played Mrs. Chubbs, a woman who was very angry at her husband for his poorly-designed building (in her opinion). It was a hoot to see her scream and yell at this poor 'husband' in their act. In June, she received a school spirit 'celebrate' award because of her cheerful attitude and ability to make everyone smile. She also won a similar award from her classroom teacher. This summer, when she wasn't off at Deaf Camp or at her Aunt's house, she spent a lot of time at our summer place on beautiful Belleisle Bay, either at Nana & Papa's trailer or with me, at our trailer when I would come home for the weekends. She is looking forward to seventh grade, trying out for the cheer team again and going back to Theatre classes of course. Most of all, though, she is excited to see JUSTIN BIEBER - we got tickets for a show in New Hampshire on Sept. 1st. She is over the moon and counting down the days faithfully.

Mom Update:
I'm going to have surgery on Thursday, Aug. 19th so I will be even more defunct at updating the blog. Unfortunately, August has been mostly me preparing for it, making sure Kennedy is ready for school, the house is all cleaned, etc. as I am not allowed to do anything for six weeks post-op. That should be fun - NOT!

I'm going to post some pictures of things that have happened since MAY - my last blog update...enjoy! You can click on any of the pictures to enlarge them!


Got the tickets - going to see Justin Bieber - Sept. 1st!!!


Kennedy - Cheer Pics 2010


Kennedy - Cheer 2010


Cheer Collage 2010


May 2010 - Kennedy before her performance at the Imperial Theatre


Visiting with one of her BFFs - MacKenzie, at an appointment in Halifax


June 2010 - Receiving her Celebrate award from her teacher, Mr. Graham


August 2010 - Hanging out with some cousins from Ontario at a Family Reunion


August 2010 - Heading out to a friend's birthday party

Grade Six Speech

Hi everyone it's Kennedy!! :D This is the video of me doing my speech for Grade six and its about IACT and I hope you all enjoy this video!!! :)

Lots of Love,
Kennedy Weir
xoxoxoxoxo

Things are going well...

Just a shout out to you blog-readers to give you a quick update on life. The reason I haven't been keeping up (even worse than usual) is that I began a new full-time job in December as an itinerant teacher for students who are deaf or hard of hearing. It's busy, challenging, time-consuming and I absolutely love it. This is what I'd wanted to do all along so it's a thrill to finally be doing it!

Kennedy continues to thrive at middle school - she is joining everything! She made the cheerleading team, is on the "Celebrate" team at her school (they plan various events, etc around the school), she continues to do sign language club with her interpreter once a week, is in the school choir, which just began in January, is taking a four-week babysitting course through the Red Cross, and is back to theatre classes at Interaction Children's Theatre Company after the holiday break. She also just mentioned the other day she put her hand up when they asked who was interested in going skiing at the school (yikes!). She also got funding for a new "netbook" computer, which will be a great help to her at school for taking notes, working on projects, reports, etc. It travels to and from school so she can continue on work she started at school in the evenings, etc. It is very cute, bright blue and already adorned with a "Justin Bieber" desktop. That would also be another BIG interest in her life right now - as she says, she's got "the Bieber fever"...

So, you see my friends, even if I were NOT working my butt off at my new job, I'd still have little time for updating the blog (or anything else) because my daughter has a much fuller, exciting life than her father and I do and we are the designated chauffeurs for our busy gal.


We also find time in amongst Kennedy's busy social calendar to get up to Moncton to see our sweet granddaughter Taylor (we actually made it there earlier today!), who is growing up so fast it's scary!

Hope life is treating you all well!

First Test of Middle School

Ahhh...if only everything could be spelling. (you can click the picture to enlarge it if you can't see it well)



This kid can spell like nobody's business.

Maybe it's genetic?

(Me, with very large hair, in grade 12, as part of the St. Vincent's High School winning spelling bee team...yikes)

Schoolyard Accident - Take Two

Well, it's spring so time for another installment of phone-call-from-school-because-Kennedy's-hurt-on-the-playground. Except, this time, it's much worse than last year's broken arm incident.

This past Wednesday morning about 11am, I had just picked my father up after his surgery at the hospital to take him home. We were on the way to his house when my cell rang - it was the school. Kennedy had an accident outside and her hearing aid got knocked off; they were still trying to locate it. I thought to myself, "Well they better find it, the darn thing costs thousands of dollars." They said she was fine but asked if I could come over. I asked Dad if he was up to it and he was, so we turned around and headed back to K's school.

When I got there, they reported they had found her aid, which had landed inside her coat. I was relieved for an instant, until I pulled up her hair that covered the area where her implant goes. The titanium screw that is affixed to her skull to hold her hearing aid implant on was driven back out of its normal place and dislodged halfway from her skull. It was a bloody mess. I had to sit down, not from the blood, but from the immediate sinking sensation that I knew she was going to have to have surgery to fix this. I'm just so glad she was in good spirits (thank goodness for high pain thresholds). She asked if she could put her BAHA back on and I signed/said, "No, we need to call the doctor first to see if it's okay." Then, the floodgates opened, "I DON'T WANT ANOTHER SURGERY MAMA!" she gasped in between sobs. My heart was breaking for her. I don't blame her a bit; after 19 surgeries, she deserves the right to be upset at the prospect of another.

We did eventually get her calmed down, got home, cleaned the area well and called the surgeon in Toronto who'd implanted her BAHA back in '06. He called back and said to keep it covered and the earliest we could get in was May 4th for the O.R. We also have to put her on an antibiotic for ten days because of the risk of infection and keep it covered, especially at school. We dug out her old softband (headband that the BAHA can snap onto, usually worn prior to BAHA implant surgery). Her BAHA started 'buzzing', however, so we had to send it away and wait for a loaner to arrive. So no hearing at all for the weekend until the loaner arrives on Monday.

Now, Graeme and I are planning on an unexpected trip to Toronto on May 3-6 now for surgery to have it fixed and the area on her head closed. For those of you who don't know the geography - Toronto is 18 hours away from us, so we need to fly, etc. It's very stressful figuring all of this out, with it being an unexpected trip to Toronto and worrying about infection between now and then, etc. I know I am biased but I would not think it was good judgment to have three other kids spinning her on a swing (doing a 'twisty') with about 200 kids running around. Someone's foot came up and hit her in the head (obviously pretty hard to dislodge a titanium screw/abutment from its place that's been there for 3 years). I know accidents can happen but I think sometimes Kennedy is overestimated in terms of safety and she shouldn't be; between last year's broken arm and now this much more serious injury, I think it's time to go in for a little chat about safety, etc with the school. Just one more thing to do.

Anyway, we are plugging along and Kennedy is doing very well, she is much less worried than we are...

Almost April

Time for another long-overdue update, I can't believe it's been so long since I've written. It seems like I get (or make) time to do this about once every 3-4 weeks, I'm not a very good blogger. Things are going well around here - Kennedy is getting toward the end of grade five now and getting psyched for middle school. The biggest issue right now is what school she's going to be attending. The one she is slated to attend is up on the chopping block to be closed but the government has not made a decision yet. Apparently we're supposed to know by next week. I don't really have a strong opinion either way. The one she will attend if the original closes is closer in proximity to our home, but will be HUGE in terms of student population; the other is in an area of the city that is really rough and known for drug busts, etc. The school, staff, etc, is good, it's just the periphery that is worrisome. We shall see and whatever happens, Kennedy will adjust and do well, just like she always does. I always worry more than is necessary, but I'm getting better.

March has been fairly uneventful - she's had lots of school work and projects to do so that's kept her busy. This Friday she has two big projects due: one on floods and a 'Wanted' poster for a character in a book. She has been working hard on those. I have been supply teaching a lot and also got a second interview for a teaching position at a private school so I've been preparing for that this week.

In March, Kennedy also went to the endocrinologist, who found she was happy with her growth in terms of height (that had been a concern). She still is around the 5th percentile for height but has remained on her own curve and her growth velocity per year is fine. Other issues we are watching for now involve puberty; we had a blood test done to look at some things so hopefully all will be moving along in that area when her body is ready.

Last night we had a family date to go see Monsters vs. Aliens, which was very cute. Kennedy actually let me dry her hair with a diffuser to really bring out its natural curl. Since it happens so infrequently, I captured the look with my camera. Here are a few shots - I love her curly hair! She is wearing her favourite shirt in these photos - it's her grade five graduation shirt from her school. They have a tradition of having everyone sign their name and putting it on the back of a t-shirt in the year of graduation, with the school crest on front. Cute keepsake!

Front view: my little girl is growing up.



Back view: I love these curls!


Side view: Little button nose :)



Typical pose: I wish Kennedy would open her mouth and smile more for pictures but she has it in her head now to keep her mouth closed. It's still adorable, but I miss her open-mouth smiles. At least she lets me take pictures, I remember my boys did NOT like getting their pictures taken at this age!

First Banana/Video Night

Kennedy has felt like working on her actress skills tonight and wanted me to shoot another video of her eating bananas that were not pureed for the VERY FIRST TIME! We are so proud of how well she is eating. After eating with a tube for nine years, she has come so far in the one year she has been eating. Here you go for your viewing pleasure:

May Days - An Update

Things are still pretty much in hectic mode around here - we are having a lot of days off for teachers' professional development days so we've had some nice at-home time together. Kennedy is super excited about her upcoming summer plans, which include a two-week Disney-themed theater camp with a full stage production at the end, and a week away (without mom for the first time) at deaf camp.

Last night along with her choir, she performed in the Music Festival and did a great job. This weekend she has a birthday party and a bowling banquet to attend. This kid has more of a social life than I do.

I am having a bit of a "girl night" tonight - one of my pals and I from university are having dinner out then going to see a movie (it's Patrick Dempsey, it can't be anything but good!)

I am also getting ready to begin spring courses on Monday and am thinking about the extra reading I have to do to prepare for my trip to Germany & Poland at the end of June (it's a Holocaust learning tour for teachers - it's going to be very intense).

So, that's pretty much what's going on with us right now, we are still waiting to hear back from the School District about this French program they are implementing in the fall, there is supposed to be a meeting coming up very soon. Wish us luck!

Bloody Wednesday

Today Kennedy's BAHA site was really "angry" when I cleaned it this morning. We do the same routine every day but for some reason it just gets really icky and sore sometimes. Tonight it began bleeding a LOT (most I've ever seen) - her hair was matted and everything. It was a sin! She had to miss Girl Guides (which she loves) and go the whole evening without her BAHA on, and she LOVES her hearing aid, but I had to let it dry out some and try and get it healed. Hopefully tomorrow is a better day as she has a big pizza party with the Sea Dogs (our local Major Junior League hockey team).

On a good note, I am finished classes until the first of May...just need to study for those exams next week!

The Big Ten and Other News

A little unrelated picture - my favourite of New Year's Eve - Kennedy sitting on my brother Scott's knee. She does love to act silly with Uncle Scott! By the way, she had NO problem staying up until 1am on New Year's Eve...I think she could've outlasted us all if we'd tested her.

Now...on to more important issues: birthdays. Kennedy is quite excited about her upcoming celebration, and it's a big one - DOUBLE DIGITS! On January 27th, this little amazing dynamo will be TEN. It is hard to believe... She is quite involved with the planning of her party this year: we have reviewed the guest list, decided on the venue, talked about what to get for the guests, the invitations, and discussed the always-important-but-more-so-this-year, cake. We are going to see if any of the local bakeries make a Hannah Montana cake...let's hope so because Mom isn't quite that creative in the cake decorating department :).

In other news, eating is still going great - pancakes have pulled ahead of French Toast as her favourite breakfast food as of late. We are trying something new tomorrow - first she must eat at least 1/2 cup pureed fruit before pancakes, otherwise this kid is going to turn INTO a pancake! Toast is the new afterschool snack du jour - and now we have expanded our horizons to include jelly, peanut butter, or cheese whiz for a topping.

Stay tuned for the latest in Kennedy's Eating Adventures...