Amanda's birthday party

First an update, yes all 5 ended up testing positive for strep throat. I'm so glad that we were able to get the kids the medication when we did so we're on our way to a mend. They all are feeling much better.

Yesterday we had Amanda's birthday party with her friends. I don't know why I get so stressed out with such things. I'm sure being pregnant and dealing with all the emotions didn't help.

We had an ice cream party so I made ice cream cone cupcakes. It was interesting that the moms who came hadn't ever seen anything like it. Our kids were pretty impressed too. I guess it's been a while since we've done it. For those of you who haven't seen this done, you just mix up a cake mix and pour it into the cones, about 1/2-1/4 of an inch from the top. I put them in a muffin tin (one in each hole) and then bake for about the same time as cupcakes. I then piped the frosting on using a big tip to make it look like ice cream.
The little cake I made for her to blow out all the candles.
For the treats to take home, I made cones out of construction paper, filled with treats and prizes and a thank you note, and then we used balloons to look like ice cream cones. Using an old ice cream bucket to hold them all was a spur of the moment idea.
Here's Amanda enjoying the cake and ice cream with her friends. We had them all make their own ice cream sundaes. It's so fun to watch the kids as you let them put anything and everything on top of their ice cream.
Amanda had a lot of fun. We went outside and blew bubbles with the bubbles I found in the shape of ice cream treats from the dollar store. I never thought we could go outside for a birthday party in February but I guess that's one good thing about living in Texas.

Last week, I had an appointment to have Amanda evaluated for ADHD. I have to admit I have had some people question if she had it so I needed to do it for school. The guy we saw said if she does have it, she has it very mildly. It may get worse in 1-3rd grades so we'll keep an eye on it. She's getting behind in her school work and I'm a little concerned about that. Every child is just so different. I've also questioned pulling her out and home schooling her so that she can have consistency in home and school but I'm not sure that I am able to do the best job for her either.

Tomorrow we head to Temple, about 45 minutes away, to see an ENT for Samantha. It's going to be a very long day I think. They'll test her hearing first and then we'll see what the doctor has to say. We just need to make sure that she has no hearing loss that might be adding to her not speaking. I really don't anticipate them finding any but we need to rule it out and see what the doctor says. The program she is in now is from birth to 3 so if we stay here, we'll have to find another option to continue to help her.

Decisions never end.