Bespectacled Ballerina

After failing two vision screenings at school we took Grace to the optomatrist (we learned really quickly not to call him an 'eye doctor' as Grace has developed an intense dislike for doctors). It turns out that her vision is really pretty bad. She is very far sighted, which I thought meant that she couldn't see close up, but apparently has to do with the shape of her eye more than anything else. We were told that without correction most children develop a lazy eye, but that since her vision is so bad, she would have most likely developed two. Sooooooo we definitely got her glasses, which was a whole other ordeal. They brought out these glasses and said "these are the newest in child eye glass innovation, lightweight, and practically unbreakable." After taking one look at the huge coke bottle glasses that the girl was holding I responded "and could you show me your slightly breakable pairs?" Unfortunately,the lenses needed to correct far-sightedness are the kind that give kids that "bug-eyed" appearance, so we also asked to get the special (more expensive, thanks nana and grandpa) lenses that don't do that quite as much. Then we had the discussion about "transition lenses" (absolutely not!) I have to give my girly a fighting chance :) Anyways, all that said, she looks adorable in her PINK (for Grace) Nike (for dad) frames. It has been rough for her today, but they said that after her eyes learn to relax (usually a day or two) she will see much better and won't mind them as much. We were also told we should bring Noah in, so we will see what happens on Friday at that appointment.


On a lighter note, Grace and her friend Adeline started "fairytale ballerina ballet" classes at the local rec center. They were soooo excited! In the video we asked them to show us what they learned...this is what got :)

"Fall Festival Day" aka Halloween

I think it's great that so many churches are providing safe alternatives to trick or treating for the kids. It drives me crazy when they don't call it Halloween. It's not like we just happened to have our Fall festival on the same day as everyone else is celebrating Halloween. It reminds me of growing up in the Unitarian Universalist church and they would have a "spring celebration" on Easter morning....really? I think we should just all agree that these are fun holidays to celebrate and that we don't all hold to the same meanings behind them. Anyways....the kids had a lot of fun dressing up and especially bouncing in the bouncer. I am seriously considering renting a bouncer for Noah's bday present and just letting him jump in it by himself for a day. He LOVES them. The kids went as a Dragon and Cinderella, along with their friends who where Sleeping Beauty (Adeline) another princess (Lylah, noahs buddy), and a Knight (Dallas.) Everything was great...we had a slight snaffoo when the Knight tried to slay the Dragon but it all worked out in the end. After the Fall Festival we went back to our neighborhood for some old fashioned "trick-or-treat"ing. Hardly anyone was home handing out candy! It's crazy. Growing up I remember swarms of kids going house to house...I guess most parents just figure it is so much safer to do the trunk or treat/fall festival thing. It's too bad that is the way it has to be. It was nice not having to design a costume around a snow suit like we had to do growing up. In fact, Noah got hot as the Dragon and ended then night in his super hero pj's. He really had the hang of things by the end of the night. He would say "trick or treat....PUUUUULLLLLEEEEEEAAAASSSEEEE" and then hand you a piece of candy to open. I think that is the first 4 word sentence he has used.