I See the Light...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Rowe's. With less than two weeks before the big day, the list of chores seems to be endless. A couple of things were checked off the list this past weekend; tree bought, holiday picture taken, and some decorations put out.  I am not sure why I dislike putting up decorations. Perhaps it is because they are up for such a limited time. About 2-3 weeks in our house. This year Harry was going to help by decorating the tree. He had just finished with all the lights and ornaments when CRASH. Down it came, with water spilling out everywhere on the wood floor. As I RE-decorated the tree on Monday there were two words I couldn't get out of my head...Bah and Humbug.

While Harry was at home decorating the tree with bells and stars, Bella had her turn at being a real star. Last week we were notified that she had been chosen as the winner of a contest for Disney on Ice. She would light the lantern during the show and give it to Flynn and Rapunzel during the show. So much excitement. Sunday was the show and her part went great! She performed her lantern duties in front of a crowd of about 3,000. Here are some pictures. Do to the stage set up, we could only get the back of her head.

The Disney on Ice show was really entertaining. The costumes were great and it was fun hearing music from Disney movie favorites. Becca came along and she kept pointing out that Disney on Ice is where professional ice skaters end up if they don't make the Olympics. Well, I don't think it would be such a bad job.

During an Alice in Wonderland scene, we had a fun "implant" moment. The "cards" were on stage with the Queen of Hearts and there was a kind of clicking sound as the cards went past each other. Bella looked at me and said, "Mom, what's that sound?" Before I could answer, she replied, "Oh, I know. It's the cards shuffling themselves." I was pretty impressed both because the clicking sound during the show was pretty obscure and hard to hear amongst the music playing and also because she really hasn't heard the sound of cards shuffling on a regular basis. We are not really card players, but I know she has played some with grandparents and other relatives. Ahh, another thankful moment for her cochlear implants...

Now with only a little over a week away, there is lots to be done before Christmas. Presents to wrap, cards to be sent, more gifts to buy, and food to cook. Right now though I am going to take a minute to relax, breathe deeply and remember that Christmas only comes once a year...Thank goodness!

The More Things Change...

This week the Rowe's were living like it was 1984. We went to see the new Muppet Movie the day after Thanksgiving. Introducing my kids to the Muppets was fun and entertaining. And proving that the Muppets truly are magic, even the 15 year old and 12 year old liked the movie. The movie was FANTASTIC. Jason Segel and Amy Adams were the perfect choice for the human stars of the movie. They were able to pull off the incredible corniness of the Muppets, while somehow making it hip and endearing to audiences old and new. The only thing missing from the Muppets experience? Those Muppet glasses that McDonald's used to sell to promote past Muppet movies. Something about safety and small children with cheap broken glass...

Over the past week there have also been some important lessons learned. Yesterday I was given a lesson in empathy. As I have mentioned here in the past, Bella has some residual effects of having had bacterial meningitis, one of which is short term memory deficits. Yesterday, I helped chaperone a field trip with Bella's class and the other 4-6th grade classes to see the classic musical, "Wizard of Oz." On the way there, I sat with a very nice girl who had brought a pack of famous landmark cards to keep her busy on the bus ride to the theater. She decided to quiz me on the landmarks. At first I was doing well, Eiffel Tower, White House, even the Alamo Mission. Then the problems started: Mt. Kilimanjaro, Diamond Head volcano, Ayers Rock in Australia. I was definitely over my head. Here comes the empathy portion of the story. She took the ones that I got wrong and kept quizzing me. Honestly, I didn't want to cry and show that the little 10 year old had broken me, but I would lie if my eyes weren't slightly moist towards the end. She would say things like, "How can you not remember? I just told you the answer." Words that I have said myself to Bella in the past. My feeling of being completely inept was overwhelming. I need to keep that feeling fresh as I quiz Bella on math facts, that we have seemingly gone over hundreds of times, and she gets the answer wrong. Sometimes things are not as easy as one might think...

Another lesson taught in the Rowe household this week (and hopefully learned) was that waiting for something can sometimes make it more special when you finally get it. Harry turns 13 today. As the mean parents we are, we made him wait until he actually turned 13 to get a Facebook account. Many of his friends have had facebook accounts long before their 13 birthdays even though when you sign up for an account, you have to check a box stating you are 13 years or older. I felt it was important to emphasize that "rules are rules". He begged and begged, but we never gave in. One time during his desperate appeals, I tossed him my car keys and said, "Let's go!" He was quite surprised and looked confused. I said, "Well, why don't you and I go for a drive to the local bar and get a drink?" He said, "What????" I said, "If we don't need to follow that rules of 13 for facebook, we might as well bypass the rules of driving when you are 16 or waiting until 21 to drink, right? I mean, what's the big deal?" I'd love to end this story by saying that Harry totally understood my point of view, but in truth he called me "the meanest Mom ever" and stomped to his room to slam the door. So today, he woke up at 5:30am to set up  his facebook account with great excitement. Lesson learned? Only time will tell...

Final lesson of the week? Erasable pens are a nightmare for left handers! In an effort to make doing final copy work more exciting, I went to the store to get some pens for Bella. So the plan was that after the words were checked, punctuation was in place and capital letters were corrected, she would use her pen to write a beautiful final copy for her writing. In an effort to be proactive about mistakes, I decided that an erasable pen would be the best. As she went to write, she called me from the other room, yelling, "Mom, everything I write keeps erasing." Unsure what she meant by this, I went over and saw the problem. At first, I didn't realize what was causing the words to erase, but as I watched her write, it became clear. Left handed folks rub their hand over what they write.

Onto the lessons of next week...