Get ready Broadway!

Ros & John were the leads in the Christmas pageant at their school. Ros has proclaimed that her new nickname is Mary, I don't think that'll happen. John found great satisfaction in playing a character that had the same name as his middle name. He pointed the connection out to me saying, "Do you get it Mom?". The whole class did really well, but of course MY kids were the best. No one had any speaking roles but Roslyn did get to carry the baby over to the manger and place him it. I'm sure they'd be nominated for a Tony if it weren't for the writer's strike!

Here's some pix from the photo shoot after the show.

The dental school that I will attend .......

...... is still undecided. Jim, Pete & I spent Monday & Tuesday in the Phoenix area. Petey was a trooper as he had to sit through a long meeting with the school district special ed social worker and got dragged through 9 houses with a realtor. We spent Tuesday morning at the zoo after stopping by Midwestern, then ate lunch at Alice Cooper's restaurant (Where Jock meets Rock). Pete was supposed to skate with Claude LeMieux's team, but the game was canceled. Yes, I know that Claude LeMieux is the arch enemy of the Red Wings, but he's got the best program for 96's in the Phoenix area so that's who Petey will most likely skate for if we move there. Stay tuned, I only have 2 weeks left to decide.

No decision yet ......

.... regarding which dental school I will attend. On the 16th of this month Jim, Pete & I will fly out to Phoenix to check things out. We'll be meeting with the special ed department of the school district that the kids would attend (it's one of the best in the Phoenix area), the director of the hockey program Pete would most likely skate for and we'll contact a realtor to show us some housing options. We can't drag our heals regarding this decision because I have to choose by Jan 2nd!! Ugh. I think my head is going to explode!!

Here's the latest update on my 3 boys.

Peter: Just brought home his report card and he made the High Honor Roll at his middle school with a GPA of 3.715, way to go Petey!

Mitchell: Will move home on the 21st from school, for good! Yeah!

John: Has just been diagnosed with both an "auditory memory disorder" and a "language processing disorder". This explains his problems learning to read and his apparent inability to distinguish between different phonetic sounds, because they sound the same to him. In these two areas he tested over a year behind his age. However, in some of the "higher executive" cognitive functions he tested at an 8-10 yr old level! Because of his extremely high intelligence, many of the symptoms of his disorders have been masked as he is able to "compensate" with other skills. So what does all this mean? In most cases, people with these disorders struggle learning to read and have difficultly taking notes in class or following verbal instructions. Once we can get him past the difficult task of actually learning to read, he should be able to do just fine in school as he'll be able to rely on his visual memory. Think of someone who may need to have someone else take notes for him, but can rock in any subject that he can study the book, handouts or pre-written notes. We just have a long road of therapy ahead of us to get him past these initial hurdles.

Oops, 4 boys .....

George: Is still furry & fun and snoozing on the couch.

Another one!!

I just got the call from Midwestern in Glendale. The Dean himself called to congratulate me! Now I'm nervous ..... decisions, decisions.

Open wide .........

UIC College of Dentistry feels I'm worthy, got the offer this morning! I haven't heard anything from Midwestern yet, but I really only need one offer. Now quit reading this blog and go brush & floss!

Is it Friday yet??

The wait is killing me!

12 hours ....... or so.

But who's counting??!!

Count down .....

Two days until dental schools can start making acceptance offers! Let's hope I'm worthy of an offer. Stay tuned ....

Turkey Day 2007

On Wednesday all four kids and I left for MI while Jim left for Japan. We stayed at my sister Susan's place in Ann Arbor. My b.i.l. Cary is Peter's Godfather and he spent lots of time with both Pete & Mitch in his music studio. Pete became quite adept at creating "sound" stories on the synthesizer and played some song bites on it too. Mitchell was a natural on the drums & piano. Mitch will start drum lessons after the 1st of the year and we're very excited about that because drumming really calms and centers him. And he really is amazingly good! Ros & John had a great time in Susan's art studio painting pictures the way real artists do. Not to mention all the kids had a great time playing with their cousin Ella. After dinner on Thursday, Mitchell stayed in MI to spend a special weekend with his God-papa Brian while I loaded Peter, Ros & John into the van and we headed up to Whitby ON, northeast of Toronto, for a Silver Sticks tourney. Jim flew in from Japan on Friday evening to join us and he was able to catch the last game on Saturday morning. Petey's team was eliminated by 7/100ths of a point. Bummer, but Pete played some of his best hockey ever. In fact the coach has now moved him up a line and he is the #2 center. Way to go Petey! That afternoon the 5 of us headed back to the States and stayed in Lansing at my sister Rhonda's place. Brian returned Mitchell to us on Sunday and then the 6 of us headed back to Chi-town. Over 1000 miles on the van later, I need a vacation. Of course I'd settle for a few days on the couch like George. That's pretty much all he's been doing since returning from the kennel. Poor, neglected, deprived doggie!


Mitchell in Uncle Cary's studio.


The kids at A. Susan & U. Cary's house.


The rest of us in the new dining room.

November Ketchup/Red Wings Game/Leaf Piles

First, there's the plethora of birthdays this month. Some I'm posting late, others early.

Nov 4th - My big 'sis & Godmomma Debby.



Nov 8th - My niece and Roslyn's Godmomma Melissa.



Nov 11th - My brother-in-law Cary.



Nov 14th - My brother-in-law Tim.



Nov 16th - My "oldest" and 1st niece Bethie.



Nov 19th - By favorite big bro' Rob.



Nov 19th - Beth's wife, uh I mean husband, Jon.


Second, there's the annual Red Wing's game/Costume Euchre party.


Me, Jim, Rob & Jan


Melissa, the Knight Kitty.


Nate, the Knight Kitty's husband dressed as a, uh, who knows!


Helen, the Pet Detective.


Jonathan, the Heisman Trophy.


Just plain scary!

Third, we're being attacked by aliens. Or maybe not, but George seems to think that these strange things falling out of the trees need to be individually investigated, but only at night during his bedtime potty-stop. My two legged kids seem to have a different opinion, at least the 3 that are currently at home.

Happy belated B-day Rhonda & other overdue things ....

Since I last posted:

1. Helen didn't send me any current pictures so I wasn't able to update her b-day post.
2. John & I had strep throat.
3. Jim had some other throat infection that required antibiotics.
4. I had a double ear infection and I'm still finishing my antibiotics.
5. I interviewed at UIC. I think it went well & I liked the school. Of the two schools that I've interviewed with, both have pros & cons and if I should be lucky enough to get offers from both and need to choose between the two, it'll be a very hard decision to make.
6. My sister Rhonda had a b-day on Halloween. Happy belated b-day Ru!
7. All the other Halloween festivities occurred. Pete was a biker skeleton zombie (I think), J.D. was a blind ref, Mitchell was the grim reaper, Ros was a scary skeleton & Sir John was a "good knight". George started out the night as a "bone dog" but the costume was too small, so I made him a new one at the last minute so he could be comfortable. See the pix below.
8. We had Ros & John's birthday party at Pump it Up. There were 11 kids total including Mitchell. Everyone had a great time. See the pix below.
9. The Nike/Bauer International Hockey Tourney was held in Chicagoland. Pete's team, the Chicago Mission, made it to the playoffs but lost to the St. Louis Jr. Blues who are coached by Al McGinnis. The Mission did not give them an easy win. They played well but it was one of those games that no matter how often they crashed the net, they just couldn't get the puck past the goalie. But they had Al McGinnis pacing on the bench. He's used to winning easily, last year his team was ranked #1 in the U.S. and #2 in North America. I'm very proud of Petey and the entire Mission team!

I'm sure I probably missed something, but I'm lucky that I got this much updated!


Mitchell, Peter, J.D., Ros, John & George.


Sir John, Ros & George.


Sir John prior to his "candy quest".


Georgie's 2nd costume.


The b-day girl.


The b-day boy.


The party gang.


Cake excitement.


Birthday wishes.


Ros & Gen.


John, Hailie & Hannah.


'Da big bro.