As the year comes to a close....

This year has certainly flown by! From the blizzards that started the year to the 60 degree Christmas we had yesterday, it was definitely quite an interesting year. And I am looking forward to the many memories that 2012 is sure to bring.

Chuck is managing the Taco Bell at the Travel Center he has been working at. He is doing very well and is one of the top ranking restaurant managers in the district for his company. He has been enjoying joining the men from our church Tuesdays for coffee and prayer (when he can) and he has started "guys" night at our house which has been great for Bryan.

Bryan is now in the 3rd grade and has become quite the writer. He has a wonderful imagination and enjoys story telling. I am very proud of him! He is getting straight A's in school and enjoys attending church activities. He is really growing up fast and is a very big help around the house and with his brother. His favorite show (right now) is WWE ... mostly because of the time he gets with his dad while watching it. He loves Star Wars, drawing and playing with legos.

Jesse is in his last year of preschool. I can hardly believe he will be in Kindergarten next August. He is doing really well with his speech, talks up a storm now and loves being with other kids. He loves Mickey Mouse, building with blocks, doing puzzles and play cars. He enjoys singing and making jokes. Loves to count and spell. He has made lots of big steps into being more independent and loves announcing that he is a big boy and not a baby.

I have been enjoying teaching the Mission Friends class at our church and spending time with the ladies in the book club I attend. Other than that the kids keep me pretty busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am very blessed with being able to be home with them. I know it will be difficult for me to have both kids in full day school next year but at the same time look forward to not having to fit errands into a 3 hour time slot.

Christmas time is here again....

The kids are still in school but its starting to wind down for Christmas break. We have all our decorations up and I have some gifts already wrapped. We went Christmas tree shopping the other day and unexpectantly ran into Santa.... and were able to get a picture with him. Jesse wasn't as open this year to sitting with him so Chuck joined the picture. Despite Jesse's reluctance over meeting Santa, he is really excited about Christmas and has started singing a few Christmas carols. Bryan on the other hand is at the point where he is to old for Santa but doesn't want to ruin it for his brother. He is really kind of enjoying being in on the "secret". We are all really excited that Chuck will be on vacation for the week of Christmas. The only thing we are missing is the snow! Its been a warm winter so far and we have only had a dusting of snow that was gone with in hours.



School is going better for both boys. Bryan's midterm grades came back a week ago and I am proud to say that he had straight A's. He was placed in a book club which was for the more advanced readers. He has more work because of it but he is enjoying it. He loves his class but has been having some problems with another little boy... one day will be his friend, and then the next he is making fun of him. Jesse took a while to readjust to school after summer and is now starting to do better. He is talking a lot more and playing with the other kids. And is completely potty trained now!! He will be starting Kindergarten next fall with a one on one assistant which will be good for him.

A lesson learned from a beautiful person

Thankful that I got a chance to meet Danny. What an amazing man who was cherished by many. Inspired me with his faith in Christ that remained child like and allowed me to see how big an impact a special needs person can be on a community no matter where they end up in this life. He knew what was truly important and was happy in life because of it. Celebrating knowing that he is with Jesus now.

Paper flowers and Autumn cookies

Looking forward to a nice quiet weekend with my family at home. Last weekend our church had the Harvest carnival. Jesse dressed up as a farmer and Bryan won the costume contest for his chicken.

Had a fantastic day with the kiddos. Because of parent teacher conferences last Monday and Tuesday there wasnt any school today. The boys watched the old 1940's Casper cartoons for a little bit then we had a nice hot breakfast together. Bryan and I finished watching a Discovery channel series called The Colony. He loves Science Fiction. Poor guy cried when it was over. He wanted more! :) So I introduced him to the show Jericho this evening.

The boys helped me make some Halloween cookies. Bryan lining them up on the baking sheets and Jesse counting them. Then we made some Coffee filter flowers. The boys loved watching the colors spread and the design change as I sprayed the filters with water.

Jesse tried a new ploy today to get out of his quiet time. He purposely ran into his door was quiet for a long time then said meekly "I'm okay... I'm alright." He thought I would open the door and rescue him from having to have 30 mins of down time. Didn't work ... and in a little bit I heard him singing to himself "Ho-wee Ho-wee Ho-wee Lord God

almi-ee."I love hearing him singing praise songs. Another new thing he started this week is randomly coming up to people and saying "HI! I am ME! Jesse!"

I am very excited to spend an actual weekend with my family. 2 days of having everyone home will be wonderful!

By far its my favorite fall activity....

I love taking the kids to the pumpkin patch, its definitely my favorite fall activity. Last year I was so sick that we missed out on going so I made sure that we went this year. Bryan is getting a little to old for some of the activities there but still had a great time. It was the first time Jesse didn't get overwhelmed by it. He LOVED seeing the animals and playing on the slides and other climbing structures they have. We didn't stay long because the clouds rolled in that it got so cold it felt like it wanted to snow. Was happy that Chuck had a 3 day "weekend" so that he could come too. I hate that he has to go back to work today. Whenever he has days off they seem to go by so fast.






Getting ready to change over the kids clothing to their winter clothes. We had our first frost advisory last night and tonight there is a freeze warning. Chuck and I talked about it and we decided to wait out the winter in this house and then start really working on moving. Don't want to have to move when its so cold outside.

Lots more fun activities coming up. Our church is doing a Harvest carnival this weekend and then we have a friend's birthday to celebrate.

Halloween is just around the corner!

Halloween isn't my favorite holiday at all but the kids love it. I would be content to just skip it and move on to Thanksgiving, except I love seeing the kids dressed up. This year both boys have 2 costumes. One for Halloween and the other for a church Fall Carnival which has a farm theme. Bryan is going to be a clown and a chicken and Jesse is going as a pirate and a farmer. I am really excited about the Carnival. :)

First quarter just ended at school and Bryan is doing very well. All A's and B's. He is struggling with sentence structure. Not that he doesn't know how to do it ... just being lazy. Jesse is having some trouble focusing and is very distracted at school but has had some break throughs. He is finally potty trained (YAY!!!!), can walk down stairs with one foot on each step (instead of both feet on every step), he has also taken an interest in outer space! :)

Chuck is finishing up his big yearly inspection by the Taco Bell corp. to make sure his store is up to company standards. Its been crazy with him working so many hours to make sure everything is the way it should be. He has been told that his manager will be training him soon for a General Manager position on the retail side of a store. Which he has been wanting for a while.

We have a few major changes coming up. We are going to try to sell our house so that we can be ready to transfer when that time comes. Until then we are going to rent. We hope that it helps us save some before a possible move. Bryan knows about it and is keeping positive. He said he doesn't mind moving as long as we take our furniture (he was to young last move to really remember) and our cat which I assured him we would. I am kind of excited about the move and have no emotional connection to the house after all we have been through with the bank. I am fighting the urge to start packing. Excited about whatever adventures are coming.

Our week (so far)

Jesse has had some issues readjusting to the school routine and has digressed some over the summer. He isn't staying focused or participating and is having laughing fits that are hard to gain control over. Was feeling pretty stressed about it all but yesterday he finally got a good report from school. Another thing he has been doing is randomly repeating a number sequence. Its always the same numbers in the same order. Asked his teacher if she has noticed and she has not. We have heard it come out in the middle of a sentence or sometimes out of no where. When he does it he blinks his eyes rapidly. Not sure if this is a form of stiming.

Bryan was home sick from school yesterday after he over indulged on the snacks during "guys night". Hopefully that wont happen every Tuesday. He is back at school today though.

Yesterday I cleaned house and was even able to do some touch ups on the paint in the bathroom. Next week we will be taking apart the bunk bed in Bryan's room. Top part will go in Jesse's room and the bottom will stay in Bryan's. The captain's bed Jesse has will be moved in to the playroom as a guest bed/couch. Just got a little tired of kids getting injured by the ceiling fan as they played on the top bunk... that and Bryan not being able to make his bed because "its to hard." LOL

Complete sentences, please

Bryan and Jesse are off to a fantastic start to the school year.

Bryan, who is now in 3rd grade loves the extra homework (weird I know, but he is my little scholar). Every night he has math, vocabulary and spelling homework and has 3 monthly book reports due. He was working on his first book report last night. Their reports aren't the type I remember that needed to be done in paragraph form telling about the book. It is more of a worksheet where they fill in the blanks. However, the answers need to be written in a complete sentence. Trying to get Bryan to do this is like pulling teeth, but give him a hundred math problems and he is done in a matter of minutes.... (4 minutes to be exact, we timed him once).

Jesse is happy to have friends in his class this year and was excited to see his teachers and therapists again. Jesse has recently started talking in complete sentences... I would say in the last few weeks. I love hearing him really talk after having waited this long to hear his thoughts. He comes home and tells me about his school day now too... however he does it in question form. So instead of saying "Today we played on the playground" he would say, "Did you play outside at school?"
He has also started making up his own stories. When ever he tells me one we write it down and have him draw pictures to go with it, then read it back to him. He LOVES this. So far he has told us a story about a bird who sleeps in a bed in a tree and falls down to be eaten by our cat, another about a bird who flies to the moon to get a lollipop and one about a bug who sits all day long. LOL :) I love all his stories!

Mowing the yard and other things get snipped....

Today is Chuck's 3rd day of vacation. He spent it outside making sure our yard looks nice even as it was pouring rain. Last night we celebrated our anniversary by going out kid free!!! We walked around a near by town's festival, ate at a restaurant, and saw the new Smurf movie.

Got Jasper home today from the vet. He had to have his de-claw redone because he had a claw growing back in... had never heard of it happening before but the vet did it free of charge. While he was there he also got neutered. He will never be a daddy but hopefully we wont have to deal with him spraying the house again. He was so mad at me he refused to even look at me! When they brought him out he stood up in his carrier, and turned his back to me ... he didn't even acknowledge me until I had feed him and gave him clean water and litter. He is now sleeping off the drugs.

Been a nice quiet day with the boys. They are playing wii together (well Bryan is playing and Jesse is holding a remote and saying he is).

Celebrating 10 years!

Today Chuck and I are celebrating our 10th anniversary. Time has flown by. We have been through so much together. We have so many blessings in our life. Thank you sweetheart for being my best friend. I look forward to seeing where God leads us.

A day of firsts!

Today was a day of firsts. Chuck has enjoyed his first day of vacation by going golfing and will be off for another 10 days! Bryan attended his first day of 3rd grade. He says he has had a fantastic day and really likes his class. Jesse wont be going back to school until Monday. Which is better for him since then he will attend a full week and get back into the routine. After Bryan left for school, I took Jesse to the park. While we were there Jesse actually went up to a little girl and said "HI, wanna play" this is major... he has never initiated playing with another kid like that before. Later he made his first phone call and actually had a short conversation! :) Made this mom proud that both my boys had a great day.

Summer

Summer has come and is almost over already! It has flown by. Got to visit with my sister who flew in from CA. It was a short visit but it was great seeing her. Then came VBS which I had an impressive 18 kids in the 2nd grade class I was teaching. Bryan was in my class.... I don't think it bothered him that much that I was his teacher..... hope he had a good time. Jesse really LOVED VBS. It was his first time in an actual VBS class instead of the nursery. I have also been helping every Tuesday night with our church's Basketball Ministry and Backyard Bible club. I have had about 16 kids in the older kid class each Tuesday night.

Still ahead a visit from my father and stepmom.... and then the kids head back to school. Really love seeing family and having them come visit. Its hard being so far from almost everyone.

Jesse and Bryan have both grown and matured. Bryan will be starting 3rd grade and is a fantastic reader.... still my little drama king though. :) Jesse is coming out of his shell more and more. He is really talking well and trying to communicate better. He loves music and cars. Still dealing with some quirks having to do with the autism but he is not having as many "bad" days. He is almost potty trained.

One more thing I am really looking forward to.... a visit from my friend, Mindi and her son at the end of August!!! :)

Summer is coming

So excited for summer to get here. Can't wait to have the boys home so we can do lots of fun things. This summer is filling up pretty quick already with Vbs, Basketball, family reunion, visitors, trips.....

Hoping that this summer goes well for Jesse... and that Bryan gets the much needed time with us. They have both grown so much this year!

Thoughts

Re-evaluating where I am at, looking back to see where I have been and trying to make positive changes. Trying to get things together in my head. Lots to think about.

What a fantastic day!!!

Spent the day with my boys and my nephew. They were so well behaved!!! Got a lot done around the house and then watched movies with them. Jesse was very verbal today as well and even said the entire pledge of allegence!!! Made me so proud of him!

Tomorrow is church and then a family day on Monday since there is no school.

Quiet House

Just sitting and enjoying a quiet house. The boys are at school. Gives me time to actually hear myself think. Bryan has become such a chatter box. When he is home he is constantly chatting away... he doesn't even care if any one is listening. Yesterday I heard him talking to himself while in the bathroom!

Bryan is so funny. A few days ago he decided that he was a robot. I opened up his folder to look at his school work and on the tops of all the papers he wrote his name as "Bryanoid". He has such a wonderful imagination. Wish i could get him to sit long enough to start writing stories. Can't wait until he is old enough to be in the local drama group.

2010 has flown by and its now 2011!

So.... Updates!
Lots to write since I didn't really write much in 2010.

Chuck is now the manager of the Taco Bell at the travel center he was employed by. He works a lot, but he is really good at what he does. He is getting ready to go to a conference next month in FL. Wish I could go.

Bryan is now in second grade and is doing fantastic. Every year he amazes me. He is outgoing and creative and is always a ball of energy. He's current loves are Stars Wars and of course still into pirates. He loves to read and I reading at a 5th grade level. He loves the Lord and is always looking for someone to talk to about God. He wants to be a cryptozoologist, soldier, missionary, inventor and a dad when he grows up. I know that no matter what he ends up doing he is going to do great at it!

Jesse is in preschool and is progressing in leaps and bounds. He is talking so much more! He is starting to spell and is doing well in school. I love to hear him talk about how he views the world and he has such a funny sense of humor. He loves Mickey Mouse, Curious George, Boz, and playing with cars. He really loves music. Can't believe he will be 4 in exactly a month!

I have been staying busy working with Jesse and Bryan with their school stuff as well as coordinating a local Mom's group. I am hoping to eventually go back to school but still have yet to decide a career for myself. Diffenately one that will give me lots of time at home.