Monday, March 30, 2009

the gift of sight

about a month ago i got a letter in the mail from the health department telling me that caleb had failed his vision test and that i needed to take him to have his eyes checked by a professional. first, i was surprised. he hadn't EVER complained about not seeing something. he does very well in school and again had NEVER complained about not being able to see......
so, i arranged for an appointment at eye care one and took him to have his eyes tested. as soon as he found out that he was having his eyes checked i was overwhelmed by his sudden loss of vision and his many questions/statements about glasses and how cool they were. the more he spoke the more i convinced myself that he didn't need glasses but wanted them because he thought they were SO cool. before the appointment began i pulled the doc aside and told him to be on the look-out for any embellished reactions caleb might have for him. he assured me that he would be able to see beyond whatever caleb could throw at him in terms of how accurate his vision was. phew, i thought. until it came time for caleb to read the chart. he read the big "E" and then i watched as my son struggeled, i mean really struggeled, to read the second line. after the appointment the doctor pulled me aside and said, "you can't fake that...".
as caleb put on his new glasses there was a moment of sheer joy as he said, "AWESOME, that's what it looks like over there". for the rest of the day he kept making comments about how crisp everything looked. he loves his new glasses and i am thrilled that he has them and very embarressed that i never realized it earlier. it made me think about how much, as parents, we miss no matter how close we think we are. it was a reminder to be always praying for each of my kids and resting in the fact that they are in their Creators hands.

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

what a surprise!

last week wednesday i celebrated by 33rd birthday. dave and the kids planned out the entire afternoon and evening and we had such a blast!
the kids thought that since i LOVE coffee that it would be great to take me to get a cup of joe - they were so excited. i knew they had something up their sleeves. that and the fact that dave couldn't sit still for a minute. after i got my cup of coffee the kid working behind the counter handed me a birthday card. it was from dave and the kids and it had a sticker inside with the numbers on it. dave then proceeded to hand me my present..... it was a bike seat.......

we went outside the coffee shop and there chained to the tree was my new GREEN bike! the numbers inside the card were for the lock (very clever). the kids chased after me as we rode around downtown grand haven. we had a riot and laughed so hard!!! then.....

we went to K2 (upstairs to kirby) for dinner. the five of us sat around our table and began to order when all of a sudden friends started arriving one, two, three at a time. i wish i had more pics of the evening but, i was too surprised to remember to take pictures! needless to say it was such a fun evening and i LOVE my new bike!!! after we got home (about 11pm - on a school night) we had the kids put on their helmets and we took a quick bike ride up and down our street - it was awesome!