Jack went to a birthday party!

We got the invite a few weeks ago. It was from one of his school friends, a typical child, so I wasn't sure how he would do. His teacher said every little boy in class was invited. But we went. It was at a kids' gym, so there were things to hang on and roll down and jump over. (I will edit this to post pics after I get them uploaded.) But Jack. did. AWESOME. I was so proud. He hung and rolled and jumped just like everyone else. They did a circle activity where they held a scarf and ran around in a circle and stood on it and waved it up in the air and by golly he did it all. He was slower to do it, and watched everyone else for a second before he did, but he did it. I had to herd him when it was time to transition from one activity to another, so it was kind of nice that I got to see how he responded (I'm thinking IEP info here). They sat at a table and had cake. It was served with a spoon. He cried when he had trouble with the spoon. I said to one concerned looking parent next to me "I think he would do better with a fork". BAM, a fork appeared! And he did great with it. They served pizza (yes, after the cake). And his piece was too big for him to hold so again, fussing. I switched it with a smaller piece he could hold, and he smiled so big. And ate his pizza. He drank lemonade out of an open cup and he threw away his trash when he was done without any promting from me! He said thank you when given his goodie bag. And said bye to his friend.

He was the only child with any special need there.

It was an awesome party!

Once Again, I’m Behind on my Blog

So to catch us all up, we had the annual All District Orchestra Concert for our school district.  That’s when all the orchestra students have a big concert together, and since my big 3 all play violin it’s really cool to see/hear them all together.  As usual, it was awesome!  But sad too, since it was Andrew’s last one.  I didn’t cry though!

I made it through yet another Mother’s Day :).  I was given a delicious breakfast made by my super hubby, a card signed by all the kids, and while M and I did some shopping, hubby mopped the kitchen floor for me!  Who wouldn’t love that??

After we had lunch today and I was cleaning up in the kitchen, Jackson came in, handed me the remote, and said (WITH WORDS) and signed “Signing Time” and pointed at the living room where we watch TV.  Yes, he’s said that before, and signed it before, but this was completely unprompted, and with visual aids!!  How excited was I?!?!  So did we watch?  OH YEAH!!  We lucked into an amazing deal last month when Signing Time had a sale, so now we have a bunch of DVD’s to pick from.  Jack and Dasha love to watch, and the rest of us have picked up several signs that we use all the time.  M and I used them a few days ago when we were at Wal Mart and didn’t want to yell at each other across the store ;).

Next up, graduation.  Lord help me.  It’s seriously killing me that my baby will be done with all 12 grades and going to college.  Some days I can’t breathe.  Where did the time go??  When did he get so big, and smart, and handsome??  He shaves.  He drives.  When he answers the phone people think he’s his dad.  Very soon he’ll be gone, out of our house, living far away.  How I will miss him….

What happens when it hails

We have a tiny house.  We’re comfortable here, and we’ve done lots of updating.  Of course I have along ways to go, sorting and getting rid of unused things, and organizing in a better way, but we do love our little piece of the world.  And our cars!  Our little house was blessed with a lovely, large, oversize garage.  M and I were rear-ended about 6 weeks ago, did I mention that?  The other driver’s insurance fixed our beloved ride so even though it’s now 7 years old, it’s as good as new :).  And my someday fully restored classic Camaro also deserves plenty of love.  So when the weather got ugly and hail was threatened, we had to take drastic measures.

Unfortunately, the car didn’t quite fit all the way in, so we improvised with cardboard, fender protectors, and swim noodles!

Thankfully, the weather seems to have moved past the spring craziness (hopefully) and we don’t need to worry about hail anymore ‘til next year.