November

It's November and once again I realize how behind I am in writing on my blog; I have a new family picture I need to add.  I REALLY need to update the grandkids' birthday tickers.  But what I'm actually doing is sitting up at nights to make sure Alex wears his oxygen!  Stinker!!  I shouldn't complain, in fact I should congratulate all of us!  He's wearing it up to 85% of the day.  But for some reason at night is a fight.  He fell asleep on the couch the other day, so I laid on the other side bound and determined to keep the oxygen on him through the night.  Yeah...  Neither one of us got any sleep.  And Mike didn't either because I made him lock the cat in with him so he wouldn't bug Alex and me.  Instead he bugged Mike!

Alex caught a cold and has missed almost a whole week of school.  It's not a horrific cold, but with his low sats to begin with it just adds to the complications.  I was going to send him today since he played well yesterday afternoon, but when I woke him up his sugars were at 38...that's not good!! So he's home again, today. 

Since he's been home, he's got me hooked on Dr. Who.  It's a good, clean show!  And I must admit, I'd go with The Doctor if he showed up in my neighborhood in his TARDIS.  And I'm only a couple seasons into it!

Did I mention in my last post why Alex is on oxygen?  Or at least the guess?  For the past 6 months or so whenever we went to any doctor his oxygen levels were at 88 or below;  if levels are below 90 the doctors get worried.  Well, this became a problem that no one could seem to figure out.  After seeing the cardiologist, the pulmonologist and the pediatrician multiple times, getting x-rays and sleep studies, the decision was that for some reason he needs oxygen.  The guess is it's because he's gained so much weight lately that the lower lobes of his lungs aren't inflating enough. (Some of the meds he's on for behavior cause weight gain, plus he's at the age of maturity, which hits kiddos with DS hard in the weight gain department.)   Since wearing the oxygen, we have all seen an increase in his activity level.  He's participating much more in gym and wrestling classes.  He will go for walks with me.  He will ride his bike around the neighborhood again.  So, hopefully with more exercise we will see more movement and maybe some weight loss.  Then we will know if the weight gain is the reason.  The only problem is Alex is quite the sloth.  Even though he's moving more, he is SO slow there's no way he's burning calories!  So - that's it in a nutshell.

So that's about it.  Chillin with Al watching Dr. Who and trying to get some sleep while making sure he has oxygen on.  It's a glamorous life and I wouldn't trade it for nothin!!

Bowling and disco lights at 3 a.m.

(Let me start this post with a  clarification that I am writing this with a sarcastic tone.  I am being snarky, silly, imaginative;  however you want to say it I am really not angry with my angel boys!)

No, I wasn't bowling in the middle of the night!  The only thing I'm doing at 3 a.m. is either sleeping or wishing I was asleep.  But I have two grandsons who thought it would be a great time for a bowling game.

So picture this... beautiful evening.  Windows open, a slight breeze, crickets chirping their melodious tunes to the man in the moon.

Sleeping.  Or trying to.  I wasn't even in my own bed!  I've been fighting a sinus infection so I thought I would sleep upstairs and let my sweet honey have a break from my tossing and turning and snuffing and snorting.  But that didn't mean that I didn't keep myself awake with all that racket. 

And then it hit.  A searing white flash of light followed shortly afterwards with a huge BoOm!!  It shook the house!  It scared the animals!  And it quite frankly scared me!!

McKallister and Quincy were at it again!  They love to bowl!  Usually they are polite young men and bowl in the middle of the afternoon or early evening.  We've even enjoyed sitting out on the front porch and cheering them on for their obvious strikes or laughing at their pitiful blunders.  I guess they didn't like the pressure because they started this match at 3:00 a.m.   AND they had to go all out with the disco lights for fun, too! 

Whoever decided, "Mmmm.  Let's build an enclosed area, with wooden floors and throw / roll a large, solid object down a row into more pieces of wood / plastic to make a crashing sound and add flashing lights to it and call this fun!"  has a weird sense of humor.  Oh, yeah, and then someone else decided to add alcohol to some of the matches.  Good call!

So, back to Mac and Quincy.  Mac is the poorer bowler of the two.  I'm not sure if he's just letting Quincy win to be a nice big brother or he's just not good at the sport, but he pretty much sucks.  Whenever it's his turn you can hear the ball meander back and forth between the bumper pads and then ding a pin.  But Quincy on the other hand - WOW!  That boy has some moves!  His turn always consists of lightning zippy balls roaring down the lane and plowing through the pins!! 

Back to the other night.  I think Mac may have given up after a few rounds because the game didn't last all that long, but what they did play was with vim and vigor!  A few strikes, a few slashes of light across the sky and that was it! 

Next time, boys, if you're gonna wake me up let's at least have a little ABBA in the background to go with the lights!  OK?

I am so blessed.

Just feeling so overwhelmed with gratitude lately.  I have a job that I absolutely love and have enjoyed my whole life!  Whether it's working in Early Intervention or babysitting my grand kids I am doing what I love, and I learn something new everyday! 

Just the other day I had the opportunity to have 2 of my granddaughters come to one of the Early Intervention classes.  One of them is 2 1/2 years old and the other is only 1 1/2 years old.  This class is for children 2 1/2 - 3 years old with delays, but we love having non-delayed peers come in the class to 'teach' the other kids appropriate play and behaviors.  So the younger one of my granddaughters (C) gets to come just because she has a lot of language, and because it's a really small class!  So I watch them - as I'm manhandling another child across the room! - and am just in awe of the process of life and how C , no matter how smart she is, has such a hard time sitting down for any length of time.  A on the other hand, is sitting and participating like a champ.  Just those few months of learning added to A vs. C and her attention span is tenfold. 

I guess in my profession it makes me more aware of the little things kids seem to do automatically and we take them for granted.  Using our hands;  did you know there's a real learning process there?  We all start grasping things from the outside in, so from our pinkie to our thumb.  As our grasp gets improved we only need to use our three inner fingers - thumb, pointer and middle finger - to rake things into our palm.  As our eye-hand coordination improves, and we learn to get a better pinch, we only need the two fingers - thumb and pointer.  It just takes time!  Some people more time than others.  And some people, depending on their ability, may never be able to have a fully functioning pincer grasp.  But how many of us just watch a baby reaching for his binky and never even notice  how  that just occurred?  It's amazing!!!

And then there's the love of my life.  My honey bunny.  My sweetheart.  I love my George so much that sometimes it hurts.  That may seem odd, but it's true.  I miss him when we aren't together.  But I am so lucky to have him, and to love him and that he loves me back!  I know that's a rare thing to have in this world, and I am very gratefully to have someone who I love and respect soooo much!  Ewww!!  So mushy!!

And then there's my Al.  Oh, that boy!  He's been struggling with low oxygen saturations for about 6 months now and I'm worried they may put him on oxygen 24/7, but he has so much spunk and charisma that he can get away with just about anything!  He puts his oxygen on the other day because he had lost the chance to watch a movie after school because of bad behaviors, but his teacher said if he wore his oxygen he could watch a short one.  So, he so dutifully put the oxygen on, had me take a picture of him to send to his teacher and said, "MMMM.  This makes me feel better!"  Then when I went down 10 minutes later, he not only had the oxygen off, but he had broken the cannula and ripped apart the filter that goes on the back of the machine.  But, of course, the movie was still on!!  He's a smart kid.  As much as I vent about him - and I really am not complaining, it's just a lot of work being his mom! - I wouldn't trade my life with him for anything!  He teaches me so much love and understanding - that is, when I actually look at him and what he has to offer.  It's my fault I don't learn something from him, not his!!  I got a good laugh on his expense yesterday that I need to share.  We had a Stake combined YM/YW activity last night where they served us a dinner then we had a water balloon 'fight' (each team had a launcher and they launched balloons one at a time so we could make sure everyone was safe).  So Alex was conniving his way into getting some water balloons and then chasing some of us leaders with it and trying to get us wet.  I think he picked on us because we are slower than the young women, but it was still fun.  I tried to intervene and try to get him to throw it at someone from a distance so they had time to dodge it (it was chilly last night!) and I would yell, "Alex, look!  A dolphin!"  This is something we have done with him since he was young, and to this day, he will stop what he's doing and still look!!  No, he has never seen a dolphin, especially since we are usually in our house or yard when we say this, but he always trusts us and looks.   Others around us that heard got a good chuckle, but that boy just warms my heart!  AND yesterday after school his oxygen levels were above 90!  Yahoo!!!!  Keep taking deep breaths Al!!!

As you can see, I'm just gushing with love and blessings and am one lucky lady!!

nine eleven

Never have 2 words meant so much to so many people.  Just thinking them brings back that day...

I was doing laundry.  I always turn the TV on to have sound on while folding. 

News. News. News..... wait.  What?

New York.  Airplane.  Fire. 





I actually watched the second plane hit the building.  I remember holding my mouth over my hand, even though the scream that I felt never left my body. 

I also watched as the twins dropped.  I think I fell to the ground with them.  I didn't know what I felt.  Pain.  Fear.  Confusion.    Nothing good, that's for sure. 

New York has always had a dear place in our hearts.  That's where Mike served his  LDS mission (New York /  New Jersey). He has a love for the people there that will never diminish.  I got to fall in love for myself when we got the opportunity to go there together about 8 years after he got home.  The sights.  The smells.  The languages - even English spoken there is a different language!  And we even went to the twin towers and stood on the observation deck.  That's where I stood and listened to probably close to 100 people talking to each other as I walked around, and I don't think I heard any English spoken.  So weird to be on American soil and not hear English.  At all!  And then we went downstairs to the shops.  Of course!  We were tourists!!  We found a tie and suspender set for sale that was absolutely beautiful!  But we didn't buy it.  At least not that day!  I actually had Mike's mission mom - who worked in one of the towers - buy them and send them to me for Mike for Christmas that year.  Best present I ever got him!  That's still one of my favorite ties!  He wears it every 9/11.

As bad as those memories are, and always will be, what I remember most is the emotions over the next few weeks.  At the time I had a paper route.  Don't laugh!  I've tried everything I could to stay home with my kids, and a paper route helped.  But at 4 am there isn't much on the radio but talk and news, especially after a big event like this.  And for all the negativity that could  have been dribbled, there was so much love.  Compassion.  Sincerity.  Patriotism.  Pride.

I remember driving and running through the neighborhood in the dark, but feeling full of light and wanting to bang on every one's door shouting, "Thanks for being my neighbor!"  "Thanks for helping me feel safe."  "I'm proud to be an American!!" 

Thirteen years later.  I haven't been back since 1992.  I want to!  OH.  I so bad want to.  I want to add my tears to those that have been shed in honor of the brave men and women who risked their lives to try to valiantly save complete strangers in a dark, unforgiving mess.  To feel the spirit that I'm sure is there.  How could it not be? 

But since I'm home, I will just raise my flag in honor.  I will think about those people, their families probably all day long.  And I will thank my Heavenly Father for allowing me to live in America at this time of history. 

May we NEVER forget......

I haven't forgotten you, my dear friend BLOG!

Wow.  In March I wrote that it had been far too long, and now it's September and this is the first I've sat down to write. 

I do have a confession to make.  Part of the reason my blog has been suffering is I hurt someone's feelings with a post I wrote, and that hurt me incredibly!  I didn't mean to hurt this person, but I can see how what I said may have caused tender feelings.  But on the flip side of that, I blog as a way to vent my feelings, so it's been hard to sit down and write down my feelings worrying that I will offend someone. 

So...  fresh start!!  I will still express my feelings and I hope that everyone who has an interest in reading them will just know that I don't mean them to offend or criticize.  I just need a safe place to share my feelings.

The other reason for my lack of interest in blogging is it seemed so overwhelming!!  It's like laundry;  you get behind and it just seems impossible to catch up!  I have so many pictures I want to share, and so many cute stories or happenings in my life that I've missed writing down.  And the thought of taking a few hours to catch up just doesn't seem possible.  So, I'm not going to catch up.  At least not completely.  I will let you know some goings on in my life, but some of the other stuff will just have to wait.  And maybe another time I will put a few 'fillers' in here and there!

George - still loving working at Memorial Estates and doing a fantastic job!  I'm so glad he finally enjoys what he's  doing.  He's also the second counselor in our Stake presidency, which keeps him hopping.  But he's hopping with some fine gentlemen and I'm so glad they are the leaders in our stake.

Colby's family - well, Kierra quit her job and is a stay at home mom and also babysitting the other 2 kiddos I was watching!!  M has started kindergarten and is taking gymnastics and piano lessons and A is going to come to a pre-school type class I work in, and loves having mommy around more often.   Colby still works for the same company, but is looking to change.

Cali's family - Josh is still building big water tank thingy's, Cali is loving life staying home with her 2 little ones, O  is back in pre-school and taking gymnastics, and CR is working up the courage to try to walk by himself.  Recently Cali and Josh were able to meet the first responders who helped out when she was so sick!  An awesome day!  Check out her link for details.

Taylor's family - Brandon loves working in finance and I think has decided not to become a lawyer, but to continue schooling in finance.  Taylor works a few hours a day but gets to spend the rest of her day with her little Ch who is a sweet, precocious, smart little human being! 

All my grandkids absolutely amaze me!!!  I remember feeling this way watching my kids grow up.  And now I'm so proud of how well they are raising their own kids!

Alex - started his senior year in high school, baby!!!!  Him and I got to go to Oregon with my parents, and my brother and his family this summer and had a great time!!  It was to celebrate my parent's 50th wedding anniversary, but we were the lucky ones to enjoy the trip with them!  Beautiful country, and great family fun!! 

Alex has also struggled a bit lately with his health.  He's gained a lot of weight these past few years;  partly because of his hip surgery, partly because of some of the meds he's on, and partly because the hormones have kicked in and with people with Down Syndrome, they unfortunately most of the time gain weight.  Well, because of this his lungs aren't working like they should.  His oxygen sats are normally at 88.  Anything below 90 is not good.  We're working on it, but he really hates wearing oxygen.  And it's really hard to get that kid to move fast enough to get his heart rate going to try to lose weight.  Long process, but we're in it together!!!

Me - obviously I'm not babysitting anymore!  I've picked up a few more hours at work but get to be home with Alex, which has been nice since he's had a bad cold which has made the oxygen sats even worse!!  I also got called to be the Young Women's President in our ward.  That means I'm over the girls ages 12 - 18 that live in our area for Sunday services as well as weekly activities.  I'm so excited to work with the women I have been called with and am hoping we can keep the activity level up so we can have a good sized group!

So, lots of changes.  Lots of new things.  But not much to report. 

That's ok.  At least I'm here.

I'm happy, and I'm here!!

It's been far too long!

Oh, how I love to blog.  And oh, how little time in the day there is to do it!  Somehow, other things take priority, like laundry, dirty diapers, kids, dogs, life.  But here I sit hoping to update a bit that's been going on in the world of us.

A while ago, my little N got some braces for her legs.  Her tone is so low that she can put her legs around the back of her neck without touching her legs to move them back there, which is really cool to see, but doesn't help her learn to walk at all.  So, thanks to Shriner's Hospital she got these braces for her feet and legs....

...AND these cute shoes!!  It's really hard to buy shoes for kids with braces so I guess they decided to give them with the braces so they are fit properly.  She doesn't fight us to put them on her and she is walking around more thanks to a walker that was donated to the Early Intervention program that sees her.  It's a bit tall for her, but at least she doesn't have to crawl everywhere or wait to be carried.  I can't wait for good weather so we can go outside.  I think she will really take off, then.  (She has been sick the past few days and I sure miss her!!)

 

 

I found this old picture of Alex from a 6th grade dance in some computer files I was looking through and guess who he is dancing with?  Yup!  That's Ashley that took him on his first date!  Even then she was 2 feet taller than him!

 

 

 Meet Dex.  He's the cute, little guy on the left.  He is actually my son's family dog, but they are moving soon and can't take him with them.  He has been hanging out with us during the day because while they are at work they put him outside, and it's been just too dang cold, so I've told them to just bring him when they bring the girls.  It's really sad that he's so much smaller than my cat - even though he's closer to the camera in this picture - but I thought it was cute they were trying to snuggle on the bed together.  I don't know if you remember, but when they first got Dex he surprised Moose while he was sleeping on the chair and Moose attacked him.  Dex was a beaten man after that, but they both seem to have forgotten that.  He's a good little dog.  Follows me everywhere!

 

 

And then there's my sweet Gracie Goo.  Here she is laying on her favorite couch, which she has completely taken over.  A few months ago she started freaking out;  standing in the backyard, even in the snow (she hates the cold and wet!!) and just looked around like she had no idea where she was or how she got there.  And she would get so scared of every day sounds that she would just hide in the back bedroom instead of on her couch.  I found out that Danes have a higher chance of getting Alzheimer's.  Yup!  My dog has Alzheimer's and my cat is a diabetic.  Between all of Alex's meds and insulin, giving the cat insulin and the dog Prozac, it's surprising I'm not standing out in the rain wondering where I am and how I got there!!

 

 

And now meet J & L....

 

...and Little J. 

 

  I signed Alex up with a group called "I Run 4" that matches up competitive runners with people with special needs that would never be able to run competitively.  Well, J, L and Little J are Alex's runners!!  They have been so sweet to keep in contact and tell Alex (via Facebook through me) all that they are doing to stay active.  J and I have talked quite a bit through e-mail, too.  It's so nice to have another adult to talk to!  They are awesome and I'm so glad Alex was matched with them.

 

So this may seem weird to some people, but the kids and I just HAD to make a thank you card for our garbage man!  He's been on this route since Alex was little, so at least 14 years, and every week if we are watching him, he makes a point of waving and honking at the kids.  They get so excited when they hear him come up the street so they can wave and yell at him.  So they all colored a picture around the THANK YOU and while he was dumping our cans M took the poster out and gave it to him.  It's good to know there are nice people still in the world.

 

 

N and A have gotten in the habit lately of climbing into our upstairs fireplace.  Don't panic!  It hasn't been used in years!  But, still, it's nothing but a dark, dirty hole.  And that wall has always been a problem for me because it takes away valuable space for seating.  So, my daughter, her husband and I came up with an idea;  let's make the hearth a seating area!  With their help, and some help from George and my dad we created this beautiful bench that the kids LOVE to sit on to read books and color.  The lights that shine on the bench were on some bookcases downstairs, but the lighting downstairs is so much brighter than upstairs so we've never used them down there.  We brought them upstairs, and voila!  No more dark hole, no more hard, cold hearth for the kids to bonk their heads on and hello comfort!!  I'm pretty proud of it if I do say so myself! (See the before and after below!)

 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
And last, but not least, I wanted to share another little project.  Did you know the month of March is Special Education month?  And on the 5th is "Spread the Word to End the Word" Day (retard / retarded), and on the 21st (3/21 for TRIsomy 21) is National Down Syndrome Day!  Because it's such an important month in the life of Al and since he's been so bored since wrestling is over with I thought he could help make some posters to put up in the hallway near his classroom to make others aware of these happenings.  When I asked his teacher if he could put them up in their hallway, she said, "No!"  After the initial shock wore off and I said ok, she said, "I want the posters put up all over the school, not just our hallway!"  I asked TJ  to help since she's our resident artist - even though there's no drawings on them - and she came up with these amazing posters in a short amount of time.

 

 

And this one is my favorite!  Especially the part that says "4.0 stubent".  Classic!!  (We will put a picture of Alex in the bottom left corner)

We will make some more over the next few days so they can be hung up at school soon.  I will take pictures of the others so we can show them off.

 

So Happy Special Education / STWTETW / National DS month / day!!

Alex's first official date - a school dance!

 A few weeks ago I got a call from a girl that Alex has gone to school with all through the years, starting in first grade;  she wanted to ask Alex to the Valentine's girl's choice dance and asked me if that would be ok.  OK?  Of course it's ok! 

 

I remember this girl (Ashley) at another Valentine's dance, this one in middle school.  It was the only after school dance Alex had seemed interested in going to and his teacher was going to be there so I let him go.  I went to watch when it was about 1/2 way done and Alex had just asked Ashley to dance.  Now remember, my boy isn't known for his height, and Ashley is.  But this kind, sweet girl danced her heart out with him.  When the song was done, Alex said, "Let's dance again,"  and how Ashley handled that impressed me beyond measure.  She told him that she would love to, but he needed to learn to ask others and dance with others.  Then she asked him who he wanted to ask next and after he pointed out another girl, she encouraged him to ask her to dance.  She wasn't mean, yet firm.  She wasn't discouraging, but very encouraging.  Great girl.  So would I mind him going on his first real date, which also happens to be his first real dance with her?  Heaven's no!!

 

 

 So, this goon is on his date right now!!  We tried to take a few pictures before Ashley showed up, but he was so excited he looked like he was going to explode standing there. 

 

 His whole family was there waiting in anticipation for his date.  Look closely in the background....

 

 ...Alex is looking out the window waiting ever so patiently for his date to arrive!! 

 

She looked absolutely beautiful!  Her parents came with her because they wanted to meet Alex.  We took lots of pictures, of course, and I told Ashley's mom how sweet this was for her to ask him.  She told me that she wanted to ask him to last year's girl's choice dance because she wanted to be his first date, but that she wasn't 16 yet and they wouldn't let her.  Well, she waited a year until she was 16 and she is still his first date!!

 

 Alex gave her the corsage....

 

 

 ...and made her mom put it on her!  What you can't see is Mike is in the other room tying the tie that Ashley bought (so it would match her jewelry and sash) and struggling to get it the right length, since Alex is so short!

 

 

Then we took pictures....

... and more pictures....

...and more pictures...

...and even more pictures!  All that before they left to take pictures with their group! 

 



We kept snapping pictures even as they left because it was such a big occasion for us all! 

 

After dinner I met them at the school so I could give him his shots (which felt really awkward, like I was meeting someone for a drug fix in the school parking lot or something).  I asked Ashley if he was being good and she said he was being so good and even held her chair out for her at dinner, and all the other girls in the group chewed their dates out because Alex was the only one who had!  That's my boy!  I'm sure he's dancing up a storm.  No one dances as well as Alex and with a good friend by his side, he's going to have all the fun in the world!

 

Thanks to Ashley, and all the other friends in Alex's life who have helped him become the great young man that he is!

 

*If you want to comment on this, please comment on the blog, not on Facebook - I want Alex to see the comments in one place so it looks like a lot!!

A match and another win for Alex!

I would love to give commentary to each of these pictures and videos, but the embarrassing part of this is I still don't understand wrestling!  All I know is if you pin the guy you win and if no one gets pinned the winner is determined by points and he's the guy the ref puts his hand in the air.  Lame, huh?  But, Alex had another match the other night and the opposing team didn't have anyone to wrestle Alex so a fellow Beetdigger  (an independent as the announcer called him) wrestled him and "lost" to him.  (I mentioned to one of the coaches that it would be OK for Alex to lose once in a while, and he said, "Tell that to the boys.  They don't want to be the one!"  Ha!  Never thought of it that way!

 

 

 

While watching this first video, listen to the coaches in the background telling him moves to do.  How cool is that that they have taught him well enough to yell out actual moves for him and he gets it?!! 

 

In this next video you can hear the wrestling managers (girls) giggling.  It's not to be mean, it's because this is so awesome that a big, bad wrestler (who is darn cute and I'm sure the love of many girl's dreams) will allow this little, bad wrestler (who is also darn cute and the love of many people) kick his butt!  One thing you can't hear or see in these videos is how Alex's opponent is telling Alex what to do to wrestle correctly.  Amazing!!

 

 

 

Notice at the end of this video I say, "I love this position!"  I call that Alex's signature move.  He seems to do it quite often.  If you can't tell what he's doing, he is on top of his opponent but holding his ankles.  I don't think it's very productive as an actual wrestling move, but it does tend to confuse the opponent which then lends to a certain win!

 

 

Two things to mention for this video below;  Yes, that is a coach on the left side of the screen telling Alex to pull his opponents hair!  All in jest I assure you!  And you can hear them telling him he needs to be on top...he has the kid pinned but he's just lounging next to him.  Again, not an actual wrestling move, but it sure adds to the entertainment value.

 

 

I have to add some comments here;  this cute, young man that gives Alex a medal is a brother to one of the wrestler's on Jordan's team.  I guess one day he told his parents he wanted to give Alex one of his wrestling medals because "he (Alex) would wear it all the time, and I won't"  Isn't that sweet!!  And, yes!  He does wear it all the time!  He's very proud!

 

You can see in the videos he doesn't have as much energy as he used to.  Who knows why... could be his weight gain, could be his diabetes wearing him down (he did test low just 20 minutes after this match),  or it could be his hip has slowed him way down.  Who knows?  All I know is his record is 1 loss and many wins!!

 

 

And now a little addition about his upcoming dance date....

 

...this video is a bit dark, but Alex likes to turn off the lights in the living room, turn on the lights in the kitchen, crank the tunes real loud and practice dancing with his shadow.  Look out, Ashley!  You're gonna go out with the mamba king!!!

 



Alex's first school dance

I got a phone call the other day from a girl that has gone to the same schools as Alex since first grade.  She wanted to know if it would be OK if she asked him to their high school's Valentine Dance.  Of course I said, "YES!"

 

A few days later we found this on our porch....

 

 (the bananas had letters on them to spell out the name of the girl who asked him)

It's been fun to watch his little brain process all of this.  For instance, we went to take his "answer" to her house and he couldn't figure out why I wasn't making him dress up since he was just in a t-shirt and pajama bottoms! I don't know if he thought the dance was tonight or what, but it has been fun to see how he's handling it. 

 

Here is how he answered her....

Inside the pinata was candy and some crumpled up pieces of paper, on one of which he had written YES and signed his name.  So she had to open the piñata and then go through all the papers to find the one that he had written on.

 

The dance is in a few weeks.  I will take lots of pics and do a post afterward with all the details!! 

 

My baby is going on his first date!  

LET IT DOE!!

I have shared before how talented my children are, and even though this isn't one of them, this reminds me so much of TJ that I just had to share! 

 

 First of all, she's the one who showed this video to me.  She is ALWAYS showing me music videos that she thinks I will like or youtube videos to make me laugh.  Well, this one is awesome!!!  And by the way, if you haven't seen Frozen, it's a must see!

 

AND second of all, this reminds me of TJ when she was little.  She was (still is!) always singing and trying to get the other kids to harmonize with her.  But this little girl's voice is so blasted cute I can't stop watching this.   

 

So, sit back, get ready to grin and let it doe....

 

 

 

 

AWWWW! My boys!

Alex got a b-day / Christmas gift from Daddy Ernie and fam and obviously he knows what his boy likes!  I took this video last night of Mike and Al having a duel.  It lasted about an hour!  They had a great time.  Thanks B family for all you do for Al!

 

 

 

And I finally got a picture of Quincy that I like - I wanted his footprints put next to something for a size comparison, and a baseball was perfect!  Thanks to TJ for tweaking it for me to make it just right!

And last, but not least, a bit more recent pic of CR.  He was officially made a member of our family when he was adopted the week before Christmas and the weekend before Christmas he was sealed to Cali and Josh for time and all eternity!!!  He's a sweet man and gives us the best smiles!

I love all my boys - the young and old - and am a grateful woman to be surrounded by such amazing men!