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Category Archives: Videos

2nd Day of Sledding (and Snowmen!)

Tap, tap, tap… “Mommy, it’s light out, ya know?”

“Yeah, but I’m not done napping yet.  I’ll get up soon.”

Ten minutes later, I manage to crawl out of bed after my Sunday nap.  Man, I love those things!  (Well, who am I kidding?  I like any kind of nap!  I’m really good at them!  But I digress…)

When I find Em, she’s sitting on the couch with a new set of clothes on.

“Mom.  You know I accidentally slept with my clothes on last night?”

I’m wracking my brain and specifically remember her picking out a pair of summerish pajamas that she wore last night.  I’m sure of it.

“Em, you DO realize that this is still Sunday, riiiight?”

“Oh, no!  I thought it was Monday and I was going to school today!”

Fast forward about about 20 minutes and we were back out in the snow.

This kid has been looking forward to building a snowman since our first dusting of snow.  Around here, you never know when or if you’re going to get this kind of snow again so we had to take advantage of it.

Now remember, it feels like it’s been forever since I’ve made any sort of snowman.  I always have this idea in my head that it’s going to be really fun and really easy (because everyone’s snowmen always look really good).

However, those dreams are hardly ever my case.

(I apologize for the bad lighting in the pictures… we didn’t get outside until about 4:30pm and we were losing daylight fast!)

Example #1: Frosty the Termite Mound

Example #2: Lumpy the Snowman

Almost done... Snow Momma

Em's very own Baby Snowman

I started to make my own baby snowman and determined pretty quickly that my gloves were VERY dirty. Can you tell?

My Baby Snowman and if you look really close you'll see the hubs in the window.

Now that Daddy was up from his nap, we begged him to help us find a carrot from the fridge for Snow Momma’s nose and then finished our creation!

Nose in place and a kiss goodnight!

Momma Snowman and her maker

And when the Snowmomma was finished, we took a final opportunity to sled once more in the backyard before it melts this week.  The track was fast and fun!


…. as a follow-up, when we came inside we told Daddy how tough it was to make the snowman and how much work it really was.  He didn’t seem to be buying it.

Later, I found out he thought THIS was the snowman that we had been working SO hard on…

...really? This took an hour to make?

It wasn’t until he went outside to pick up pizza for supper that he became acquainted with Snow Momma!

Ah, family life.  Hehehe…

Soooo. What are your thoughts?  Do you like to make snowmen?  Do you roll them or have to sort of pat them together like we ended up having to do?  Are there special tricks to making snowmen?

 
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Posted by on Jan 22, 2012 in Emily, Family, pictures, Videos

 

First Day of Sledding

We had quite a bit of snow come down overnight and today was a great day for sledding.  The sun was out, the snow was deep and there was no wind to speak of.

I hopped on the sled and made a few starter tracks and the rest is history…

 
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Posted by on Jan 21, 2012 in Emily, Family, Videos

 

We’re Going to DisneyWorld!

The following is just a recount of our recent trip (put together by my husband shortly after our trip) to Walt Disney World to help us remember all the details as time goes on.  You may find some tips if you are planning a trip (especially at the end) but this is mostly for our memory! =)

(Copied from tomhypes.com and I added in a few tidbits and pictures!  — jenni)


Timing
We planned our trip for the first full week of December which was GREAT timing! The crowds were low and the weather was great… The temperature was in the 60s and the 70s with only one short rain.


Sunday - The Surprise!
The moment finally came after church and our family was the last in the building. I set up our video camera in my office and we invited Emily in. The video reflects it all as Emily freaked out at the news and spent all her energy yelling and running in circles around inside the church and then outside in the parking lot.

After a quick lunch at O’Charleys, we drove down to the airport. I dropped mom and Emily off with the luggage and went to park the car. After a quick shuttle ride, we were reunited and headed through security. Emily was just as excited about flying as she was about the destination and she grabbed the window seat. Mom was in the middle and dad on the aisle…. the same both ways.

Killing some time in the airport while waiting
for her first flight (that she remembers!)

After landing in Orlando, we met our driver of the Towne car service we hired. He helped us grab our bags, get loaded, and started the drive to the cabins of the Fort Wilderness Campground. We really enjoyed Demetrious, our driver, and he had great advice. He also drove us back to our cabin after we checked in which was a great blessing.

We made it!

Since it was late, we followed the recommendation of the front desk and headed for Trail’s End Restaurant for a great buffet. After a filling meal, it was back to the cabin to get some sleep before our adventures.

Special Note: Our key card for the cabin also served as our tickets to the parks and we set them up so that we could charge on them, which was very convenient. You just have to be somewhat aware of what you are charging so you don’t go overboard.  We did our shopping on the room card and our food on the debit card. (We did not do the meal plan, which we did not regret for our case… we didn’t need snacks throughout the days or desserts with our meals.)

The front desk is also where Emily got her “1st Visit” badge which was great as it starts good conversations in the parks and gets you some surprises as the week goes on.

 
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Posted by on Dec 15, 2011 in Emily, Family, pictures, Vacation, Videos

 

E, Me, My, Moe

One of the most frustrating (yet funniest) things we’ve tried to learn in a while…
This has taken us 3 days to get this far.

(Pardon the nap head!)

 
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Posted by on Oct 30, 2011 in Emily, Videos

 

A Visit to Leeds Farm

It’s been 3 years since we’ve visited here…

The last time we were here, Sparkles looked like this…

And today, she looks like this…

Now that we have a few years and more skills under our belts we were able to try some new things!  Like this…

and the giant jumpy pumpkin thingie, 
(note, not one kid’s foot is touching it!)
and the giant mountain with giant slides,

the mini zipline,

the hayride,

concrete  pig riding,

more giant slides,

and fun with Daddy in the straw barn!

Thanks Leeds Family for sharing your farm and fun with us again this year!
 
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Posted by on Sep 17, 2011 in Emily, Family, pictures, Videos

 

4 Weeks Under Our Belts

So we have completed 4 weeks of school so far.  Only 13+ years to go!

Em’s first few days of school went very well and she was exhausted by the end of the week.  She’s used to taking naps after lunch and adjusting to her new schedule took a bit of effort.  (Her mommy wasn’t smart enough to start working ahead of time to get her used to no naps.)

Emily’s favorite parts of school so far are recess (of course) and gym.  After a couple of gym classes she randomly declared her love for her gym teacher while we were running errands.

It went a little something like this…

E: Mommy, I just love Mrs. H.

Me: Really?  What do you love about her?

E:  She just really knows how to wexercise!

She loves her teacher and she comes home almost every day with a new song that she’s learned.  We also have a list that we add to every day with the names of new friends that she’s met that day.

Even though we’re only 4 weeks in, Em’s been initiated into the world of public school fundraising.  With grandma’s help, she sold 18 “mumkins” for the PTO fundraiser.  (Grandpa G – we’re going to have to borrow your truck to pick up and deliver all these flowers!)

Enough chit chat, here’s Em having an after school recap with her daddy!

Week 2 and part of week 3 were a little bumpier.  She still really liked school, her teacher, etc. but as with preschool, I think she thought kindergarten was just a 1 week gig and then she could be done.  She kept telling me that kindergarten was just too long for her and that she really missed me when she was at school.  There were tears and everything.  We ended up having a talk.  Who am I kidding?  We had several talks… but things have worked themselves out and this week, she determined that she loved school again.  And – someday, I will study up on emotional roller coasters a.k.a. 5-year old girls.

 
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Posted by on Sep 17, 2011 in Emily, Kindergarten, Videos

 

Happy President’s Day!

A special little patriotic treat from our Kazakh kiddo…

Happy President’s Day, y’all!

 
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Posted by on Feb 20, 2011 in Emily, Videos

 

Snow Days… Snow Play!

We’ve had a little bit (okay… a lot!) of snow lately and we were out of school 4 out of 5 days last week.

Over the weekend we actually had some decent weather and were able to get out and play in it.  Here’s another video montage of the past week!

Be Blessed!

 
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Posted by on Feb 10, 2011 in Emily, pictures, Videos

 

It’s almost time!

Here’s a little somethin’ we’ve been working on this weekend!

 
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Posted by on Jan 30, 2011 in Emily, Videos

 

THIS is cool.

We’ve gained some new followers in the past month or so and I feel it might be helpful to give a little background to explain what’s so cool about this post.

The New and Improved Hypes Family
(minus big brother, Ryan)

Our daughter, Emily (or “Sparkles” as she likes to refer to herself occasionally), was born 10 weeks premature in Uralsk, Kazakhstan.   I didn’t get to formally introduce myself to her as “Mom” until she was 8 months old and we traveled to Kazakhstan to adopt her.  

We lived in Kaz for 4 weeks while we bonded with her and went through the official adoption process.  In February of 2007, Emily came home with us to Ohio.

In the years since, Emily has grown to be your ordinary 4-year old girl that happens to have a mild case of Spastic Diplegic Cerebral Palsy.  As a result, she has high/tight muscle tone in her calves and ankles and also in her hips and waist. She goes to physical therapy twice a week to help with this and we do stretching exercises on a regular basis now.  Last year, Em received botox injections in both calves to help weaken the muscles so her other muscles become more developed.  Along with those, she also wore AFOs on both legs during the day and a DAFO on her left leg at night.  (These are leg braces made of molded plastic that basically fit like a boot.) 

Above is a sample of the braces she wore during the day.
Like any kid, Em loved to play outside on the swings and slides at an early age.  (Still does!)  Now, with that being said, there are a couple of differences between Em playing on a swingset and most other kids playing on a swingset.  Em is a tiptoe walker when she’s not wearing her braces.  Standing on your tiptoes all the time make it very easy to trip and/or get knocked down.  With her tight trunk muscles, it was difficult for her to sit at anything close to a 90° angle… which also made it very difficult for her to sit safely in a normal swing.  :-(    
We kept her in baby swings for as long as we could possibly cram those long legs of hers down through the leg holes.  We also hovered around her when she climbed the ladders to the slides because it didn’t take much for her to get distracted and lose her balance and fall backwards.
Finally, when she was about 3 1/2, the day came when we felt she was gaining a little more independence and would be ready to start trying to tackle a small playset on her own… 
Can you feel the excitement?
It’s been a little over a year since that video and she’s doing great!  We don’t have to hover any more unless she’s going up a really tall slide or attempting to traverse some sort of obstacle course that some of the doohickeys have on them.  Em is no longer getting botox injections this year, she doesn’t have to wear AFO braces during the day but still wears DAFO braces on both legs at night.  She loves running and playing and sliding AND SWINGING.
And now, something related but, slightly off topic:
Why is that swinging part so important?  That part is so important because of the next video I want to share with you.  Do you remember the freedom you felt as a kid flying through the air on a swing?  Do you remember how fast and how high you could go?  Do you remember your hair blowing back and forth in the breeze and your stomach leaping a bit when you’d reach the really high part?  Yeah?  Ok, now, imagine you’re confined to a wheelchair with cerebral palsy or for any other number of reasons.  What are the changes that you’re ever going to get to sit in a swing and experience that thrill? 
Look what I ran across today.  Wouldn’t it be awesome if every town in America had one of these? 
 
 
 
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