Valentine's Party

Hannah's class had their Valentine's Party this afternoon. It was a short party, but fun nonetheless. First, the kids scattered about the classroom distributing their Valentine's. In art time yesterday, they made these cute heart folders to carry their Valentine's home in. Following the passing out of Valentines, everyone enjoyed a bowl of "Friendship Fruit Salad". Everyone in the class had previously signed up to contribute to the fruit salad, and then prior to the party, they all took turns cutting up the fruit and making the salad. It was a really yummy salad with apples, pears, bananas, oranges, pineapple, grapes, and blueberries. It was a fun and different party food and the kids (most of them anyways) really enjoyed it!

Recheck on the Ears

When we saw Dr Berry a few weeks ago, he said Hannah's ear infection was so bad, her eardrum was bulging and gave us strict orders to not go into any elevation, do any swimming, or diving. We had a follow up appointment this afternoon to recheck her ears and they were clear and we were given the okay to travel into elevation, which Hannah was happy about because now that she is almost off track, one of the things she wants to do is visit Gramie, who lives in the High Desert. Hannah is cleared to go!

Working on Her Valentines

Valentine's Day isn't for another two weeks, but for Hannah and her class, they will celebrate this Thursday with a party. Hannah goes off track on Friday and won't be in school for Valentine's Day. This afternoon after homework, she worked on her Valentine's, Hannah Montana ones for the girls, and Chronicles of Narnia ones for the boys. She was very thoughtful in thinking the boys wouldn't want Hannah Montana Valentines.

Thanking A Soldier

Hannah's school is in the middle of a "Sweets for Soldiers" drive, whereas we are collecting specific things on a list to send to the soldiers overseas for Valentines Day. Hannah expressed a huge desire to participate, so Thursday after school, we went to the local dollar store and loaded up on things from the list.

This evening, we were at a local fast food place and Hannah spotted a man in an Army uniform. She asked Daddy permission to go and thank the soldier for serving our country. And she did! The soldier thanked her and said he very much enjoyed serving our country.

I was talking to Hannah about how she got the idea, etc. And she said that Miss Barrett had explained to the class what soldiers do and the reasons for collecting these things on the list. She also said you should always get permission from your parents before talking to a soldier (I think she meant any stranger in general). At any rate, I was very proud of Hannah for her boldness and courage to do what she did.

Puppies!

The neighbors across the street have puppies that keep getting out into the front yard. We've admired from afar, out the windows, but this afternoon when we were outside, they came to visit us in our yard. And of course the girls want one. Hannah has wanted a dog for a long time, really since the loss of Wendy, Gramma and Papa's dog, which was her best furry friend. If puppies didn't turn into such big dogs, and dogs weren't so much work, and I wasn't the one who'd end up taking care of it, I'd take one of these puppies, they are the cutest! Their mother is a German Shepard, but the puppies look like black Labradors. The six puppies all have the same cute face.

Disneyland with Friends

It's a holiday weekend and that means no school tomorrow for the kids, and no work for Amy, which also means staying late at Disneyland! The parks were busy because it was a holiday weekend, and there was a convention in one of the neighboring hotels. But despite the crowds, we had a great time and ended our day with seeing the Electrical Parade, something Amy hasn't seen in over a decade.

Inside the animation building at California Adventure, Hannah discovers which Disney character she is most like, turns out she is most like Dot this try, from A Bug's Life.Currently on display in the animation building is a tribute to Snow White and the 70th anniversary of it's release. This photo op was built in part of the celebration. Snow White has always been Hannah's favorite princess.
Disney's Electrical Parade only runs at certain times through the year, we were lucky enough to have it scheduled for this weekend. It's always a parade fun to watch.

Sleeping Beauty

Earlier this evening, I posted a picture of one of my Sleeping Beauties on her blog. Here is a picture of my other Sleeping Beauty.

Disneyland without Mom!

Hannah went to Disneyland today, without Me! She went with some family friends. They left midday and arrived home shortly before nine. They had a great day and lots of fun. Amy said Hannah was like a little tour guide, just like her Mom. :)

Ear Troubles

On December 28th, I had to take Hannah to Urgent Care because she was complaining her ear hurt. Hurt bad enough that she went downhill FAST and was crying it hurt so bad. The doctor confirmed our suspicions of an ear infection and sent us on our merry way with a prescription for a pretty strong antibiotic to be given for ten days.

After having taken the antibiotic for seven days, I returned back to the pharmacy because I was 'short' five more doses. After much discussion that I was indeed administering correctly, they gave me enough for a few more days. Hannah finished ten days of antibiotics on Monday.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Hannah began complaining her ear hurt. Huh?? She had just finished ten days of antibiotics. Rather than make the costly trip to Urgent Care, I doctored her up as best as I could (Dimetapp, ear drops, Motrin) and made and appointment to see our Pediatrician this afternoon. Only once in the night did she complain about her ear, and it was the one that had not been infected. She said it was plugged. She went back to sleep and got up and went to school this morning, having no further complaints about her ears.

We saw our Pediatrician this afternoon and not only does she now have an infection in BOTH ears, but the left eardrum is actually bulging and has grape-like clusters on it from the infection. Our Pediatrician had no idea how she could be sitting there on the table not crying in pain. We left with a prescription for a very strong antibiotic and the advice that the bulging ear drum could 'pop' which would result in a little bit of puss and possible blood. If that's the case, we see him the next work day. Otherwise we follow up in 3 weeks after the antibiotic for a recheck, unless of course I think she needs to be seen sooner.

Hannah hasn't complained once about her ears since. She was quiet and more concerned on our way home about the possibility of shots at the physical Dr Berry said she should have when she turns 8 in April. LOL.

Prayers would be appreciated for these antibiotics to work and that Hannah would continue to not have any pain or suffering.

A Much Needed Haircut!

Yesterday must have been the day for haircuts as Hannah, Rachel, and myself all got our hair cut last night. I also found out my Sister-in-Law got a new "do" yesterday too! It's really cute, you should check it out.

Anyways, we went to the home of a friend, a Mommy of one of Hannah's classmates actually. She has cut our hair before and not only do I love that she does a great job, Hannah enjoys getting to see her friend, despite having spent most of the day with him at school.

Here is the BEFORE PictureHannah's been wanting to go 'short' for a while. And each time I just don't get it short enough. Not this time, it falls just above her shoulders and she loves it!

And here is the AFTER PictureShe was so excited to wear a head band in her hair to school today and have her hair look so nice. One of the boys in her class even told her she looked "beautiful" and she told me she replied with a "thank you and you look handsome". LOL.

Christmas with Gramie

We didn't see Gramie over Christmas, so today she came to spend the day, bringing the girls Christmas presents. Hannah was so excited and couldn't wait until her arrival time of 10:00, thankfully, Gramie is usually early and arrived just before 9:30.

Hannah got a pair of sweats, a pair of jeans and two spring time shirts (that match Rachel's), a pair of footed jammies, which she was excited about, a Precious Moments Karate girl figurine, and two gifts to share with Rachel. Following the gift opening, Gramie had planned ahead and brought all the fixings for a tea party with the girls and we were kicked out to find something to do, which wasn't hard...we went to two movies and a nice late lunch.

Bowling on the Wii

Believe it or not, Hannah is a really good bowler. It's amazing how well she does and the little jumps and kicks she throws in to get a strike. She's a crack up to watch.

Accompanying Gramma to Build-A-Bear

Gramma got a Build-A-Bear gift card for Christmas, it was something she wanted. So, being the Build-A-Bear professionals that they are, Hannah and Rachel offered to go with Gramma and lend a helping hand.

Gramma picked out a an adorable bear, however, Hannah kept trying to talk her into something more colorful or wild. LOL. The two girls helped stuff the bear, then proceeded to fluff the bear, and then ultimately helping Gramma dress the bear.

Memories of 2007

In the last couple of days, I've together an album of pictures highlighting some milestones and happenings in our family from the last year. There were a lot of milestones for Hannah...from advancing in karate belt colors to starting the 2nd grade. Take a look at our Memories of 2007.

New Year, New Opportunity

Come out, come out, whoever you are, and sign Hannah's guestbook. She'd would love to know who's following her day to day happenings!

It's simple, leave your name, and maybe how you came to find Hannah's Happenings. It's always nice to know who's reading about ya! :)

New Year's Day Happenings

Despite having been out into the wee hours of the morning, I was pleasantly surprised when Hannah slept in until almost 10 this morning. Our girls have just never been ones to sleep in. It doesn't matter how late we've stayed into the night at Disneyland, it usually never fails that Hannah would be up her normal 6:30 time, but today was one for the Hannah record books!

This morning we just hung out at home, watching the Rose Parade, relaxing, taking it easy. Hannah did get the opportunity to video chat with Emily this morning and it was fun watching the two of them show each other what they'd gotten for Christmas.

Mid afternoon, we headed out to meet Uncle Bart at Disneyland. This coming weekend, the Christmas season officially comes to an end at The Merriest Place on Earth, and we wanted to experience it just one more time this season. We had planned on staying for fireworks but in the early evening we figured they more than likely wouldn't be doing the fireworks due to the windy conditions. But we rode some rides, saw the light show on the castle one more time, and showed Uncle Bart the light show on Small World. We enjoyed the afternoon and evening and managed to make it home relatively early, just shortly after 9. Definitely, a nice way to start off the New Year.

New Year's Eve with Friends

Our plans for New Years Eve were to spend it with friends. Due to nieces and nephews staying the night, the kid count was brought up to 8! Hannah had so much fun and really, we hardly saw her all night, except when she checked in to make sure it wasn't time to leave yet. LOL.

The perfect way to end the year, with pizza for dinner! Busting out a new game, Operation. Happy New Year!! Somehow we're minus two kids!Quickly fading. But who can resist ice cream sundaes at 11:50pm!