Art Class and other random pictures

A.J and Olivia are taking art lessons on Saturdays.  We are so grateful to God for this opportunity for them to learn how to draw with some professional guidance!  Their art teacher works at Gospel for Asia with Rich and he just loves art and loves to teach!  So with this combination, we are blessed to know him and be the recipients of his passion.

This is Olivia's drawing of the face.  They aren't learning how to draw each other yet but are first understanding and practicing how to draw the features of the face.  I am amazed at how a little instruction can really improve your skills!

This is their teacher, Mr. Buscemi.  Every week, art lessons are hosted at one of the student's houses.  Last week it was at our home.  Mr. Buscemi brings all his supplies and sets up to teach for a few hours.  He teaches an older class that Olivia is in first and then as the younger students show up, he re-teaches the same lesson to them.  The whole thing takes about 3 hours! 

A.J. takes both classes just because we don't want to be running kids back and forth all morning on Saturdays.  He loves it and is getting better all the time.

There are 6 students in Olivia's class and 4 students in A.J.'s. 

Micah has learned how to get up from the living room into the dining room.  He seems to  like the tile floor.  This is him figuring out how to get back into the living room.  He has to go down a step.

Well, Hello there!

Amazing how resilient babies are!  He did it!

We bought this Johnny Jumper (that's what they used to call them) recently at a consignment store.  I was so excited to find it!  We don't have a big house and so it doesn't lend itself to lots of fun contraptions for Micah to play in.  Hanging this in the doorway was our way of being able to confine him and let him jump away.  

This was his first time in it.  He is still figuring out how to really jump.

I love this face!

Having fun with his big sissy!  Olivia really enjoys Micah.

She follows me around in the morning wanting to play with him.  

He really  likes her too.

Olivia has gotten contact lenses since these pictures were taken.  I'll have to post some pictures soon with her new look.  She has beautiful eyes and is almost 14 years old!  She is getting good at taking her contacts out and putting them in.  It's tricky, you know.  So far, she really likes them.  She gets to try them for a month.

As Rich would say, "Hasta la pasta"!

Kristin

Spontaneous Combustion of Laughter

For some reason, Micah got the giggle bug tonight.
The video speaks for itself . . . enjoy!

Double vision status

I figured I'd better update you all on how I'm doing these days.  It's been quite awhile since I wrote about my condition and everyone I run into wants to know if I'm still seeing double.  One reason why I'm not speaking up about my progress is because it's so hard to explain.  But I will do my best.

It's been 2 months today since I first began experiencing double vision.  I am encouraged because I've seen tremendous progress since then.  I'm still seeing two of everything so that has not changed but many other things have.  I focus on that instead of my impaired vision.

The two largest improvements that I've experienced in the past month have involved the use of the patch.  I was told in the beginning to switch the patch back and forth giving equal time to exercise both eyes. The example she gave was to patch one for about 4 hours and then switch and do 4 hours on the other.  Well, for weeks I was unable to use my bad eye (my left eye has the effected muscle) for no more than 10 min. at a time. And I only patched my good eye when sitting down because I could not navigate while moving with my bad eye.  I felt like I was on a ship and everything was off kilter.  

So, the first improvement is that I'm able to patch my good eye and use the effected one solely while working and moving around the house!  I realized this about a week after I started some homeopathic drops that my Naturopathy doctor recommended.  This was such an encouragement to me and I was so glad to be able to share with my friends that I was indeed experiencing some progress!  I began wearing my patch mostly on my good eye to build back up the muscle on my left.  

The second improvement has occurred within the past 48 hours.  I haven't had to use my patch at all except while riding in the car!  With the exception of playing Nerts with my girls last night.  This is not a game that lends itself to seeing double while trying to win!  How can I operate while seeing double?  Well, I don't know, I just am.  I'm able to focus on one image and sort of block out the other one.  If I really need to be careful (like while cooking, or walking down the hallway) I just close one eye for a minute to get my bearings.  So if you see me winking at you, I don't really mean to be flirting but am just trying to see. 

Many have asked about the prism glasses that I mentioned before also.  I think we have decided it would not be worth it to get them at this point in the game.  They were an optional aid to help me get by without the patch, but were not going to help me progress any faster. Because my eyes are correcting themselves, I would need to update the prism every so often as needed.  I also wonder if they wouldn't slow down my progress because the glasses would be doing the work that my eyes need to relearn to do.  The neuro-ophthalmologist told me that the estimated time for recovery is 4-6 months.  Why would I spend the money to have glasses for the next 2 months especially if they might only hinder my progress?  

So there it is.  Your prayers are being felt and I hope the next time I post an update on this, it will be titled "I'm all better!"

Until next time,

Kristin