A little piece of heaven

A rainbow painted on her cheek. A cupcake from winning at the cake walk during Fun Night. Eating it on the playground on a warm April evening while the sun sets behind her. Heaven on earth.

Thankful Thursday

I'm thankful Kent fixed our dishwasher. I don't know what was wrong with it but it just wasn't getting dishes as clean as it used to so I had to *gasp* wash dishes by hand for a couple days. Painful I tell ya.

I'm thankful that I got to spend some time with the girls Tuesday night. It doesn't get better than a long, lingering nearly four hour dinner with friends. Kent is so good about encouraging me to get out with friends- he knows I hardly get to speak to another adult all day so girl adult time is crucial!

I'm so thankful that my niece Brooklyn is Home Sweet Home. God is so good. Could she be any sweeter?

My tummy is thankful for these yummy things I made the other day. I'm guessing my wasteline is slightly less appreciative but sharing this with my Kylee was a fantastic start to the day.

I'm thankful Kent passed his test on Tuesday! He's working on getting his AIC and passed his second test (out of a series of four). Woohoo!!! He works so hard for this family and I appreciate him far more than I probably let on. Way to go honey-your studying totally paid off!

What are you thankful for this week?

Happiness Project

Week 3 of my Happiness Project is led me to focus on "enjoying it now". While I didn't start any crafty projects or redecorating, I did find myself trying to declutter the house a bit. My neighborhood is having a garage sale this weekend so that was my motivation to get rid of a few things. Maybe that will inspire me enough to get started on a few house projects I've been hoping to get to!

I'm reflecting on this idea of "enjoying it now" and I am so disappointed in myself to admit that there were several times in my kids' lives that I couldn't help but think, "Life will be so much easier when they are older!" (think: sleeping through the night, learning to walk, potty-training) and now that my kids are older, I wish all those things back. I would kill to hold Kylee's little fingers right now and help her toddle all around the house, all the while wearing holes in the knees of my jeans but now those same little fingers so independently wave good-bye to me at preschool drop off. I would give anything have Kael all cuddled up in blankets on my lap to rock to sleep at naptime but now he barely fits in my lap at all and rarely makes time to sit there.

I will continue to post randomly about my own little Happiness Project but for the time being I won't do weekly posts on a "theme". To wrap this up I thought I'd post some Happiness Commandments (some from the book that I liked, and some that are just my own).

1. A place for everything and everything in its place.





2. Something's gotta give





3. Slow down.





4. Cut people slack.





5. Fair is not always equal.





6. The days are long but the years are short.





7. Do good, feel good.





8. Everything works out in the end. If it hasn't worked out yet, it's not the end.





9. Pay attention.





10. Take care to appear happy and especially to be so.

Prayer

As I was tucking Kylee in tonight she said her usual "Now I lay me down to sleep" prayer, then added this at the end:

"Dear God,
Please let me be able to hold Brooklyn soon. I love her so much in my heart.
Amen."

"Mom, Kylee broke my tooth"

Last night we were up in Collins celebrating Kent's mom's birthday. We were having a great time- just hanging out, eating pizza, etc. Later we went downstairs where they have an air hockey table, basketball hoop and pool table. Kael and Kylee were just kind of running around like they always do. Kael decided he wanted to play Zombie Tag (a Wii Party game that he has brought to our real lives) so he started walking around like a zombie. Kylee got scared and picked up the closest thing to her (a pool ball) and chucked it at Kael's face.





At first I didn't even realize what had happened because Kael didn't seem like he was hurt at all. (It is highly characteristic of kids on the autism spectrum to have a high pain tolerance- people think, "Oh, Kael's so tough!" but actually one time he totally sliced open his finger on something and came to me with a fistful of blood and all he said was, "Mom my hand feels funny.") Finally he showed me his chipped tooth was incredibly nonchalant about it. Of course it couldn't have been one of his loose teeth that got chipped!





So, that's how my weekend started. How's your weekend going?

Thankful Thursday, a day late

Were you curious about the title of this post? I have a feeling some of you figured it out.

I had some big news to share that day, but waited for the official word that I was allowed to start posting about it. (You know it was difficult for me to wait this long!)

On Monday, April 18 Mandy called me just as I had finished eating lunch with Kael.

"Well, there's a chance you and the baby could share a birthday," she told me. "We're heading to the hospital soon." she continued. I could barely contain my excitement.

Shortly after 5:00 the next morning, Brooklyn Marie arrived. A beautiful name for a beautiful little girl. I am the proudest aunt in the whole world.

Brooklyn Marie, I am so thankful that you are here.

I am so thankful that you were born to such loving, capable, adoring parents.

I am so thankful that my kids now have a cousin!

"Uncle Kent" has a pretty nice ring to it, too.

Brooklyn you are so very loved.

What do you get a 6 year old boy?

When people started asking Kael what he wanted for his birthday this year he gave some very fun, detailed responses.

"A pond in the backyard with fish."

"A GMC Denali, a boat and a black truck with star wheels."

This.

"A trampoline." (Maybe if our yard was more level.)

Since he didn't receive any of those things (I know, can you believe we're such mean parents and didn't get him all of the aforementioned items?!), here's a list of some things we/friends/family did get for him.

This Wii game- Kael loves playing Wii so much but tends to pick one game and stick to it. We are thrilled to add this one to our regular Wii lineup.

Nerf gun. Not just any Nerf gun. This one.

Pogo stick: We were a little unsure of this gift as I could forsee many bumps and bruises, but as Kent's cousin articulated, "A pogo stick is always a good gift for a boy of any age."

Um, how cool are these? Kael's uncles pull through for us every birthday and Christmas with some pretty sweet kicks.

Water guns. Kael got a couple of these and as fas as I'm concerned a 6 year old boy (and his father- good thinking on buying 2, Ben and Chantelle!) can NEVER have too many water guns.

Zipline and walkie talkies for the treehouse. The zipline is not hooked up to the treehouse yet but I have a feeling our backyard will soon be the envy of all the neighborhood boys. My girlfriend said, "I sure hope you have good insurance!"

An iPod Touch. I'd be lying if I said Kael wasn't rockin' at Angry Birds already.

Double lane Slip 'N Slide. Seriously cool.

Golf clubs. Kent and my dad took Kael golfing a couple times last summer and Kael talks about it often. This is a nice set that I hope Kael can enjoy for many years. He has been out practicing in the backyard quite a bit already and is getting pretty good!

In the interest of not letting this post get much longer, here's a rapid-fire of a few more things: Hot Wheels Custom Motors, Iron Man truck, Aqua Sand, Spira-Chalk Blaster and chalk, truck and trailer, books, Legos, Whiffle bat and ball, glow-in-the dark frisbee, candy, a good quality kite.

I am continually amazed by the generosity of all the people in our lives. Kael is a lucky little boy!

***On a final note, Kael opened up a card with some money in it and instantly his eyes got big. "Now do I have enough money to buy a Denali, a boat and a truck?"

Birthday

Did I mention I love birthdays? I was anticipating a fairly low-key birthday this year due to the fact we had already celebrated with my family (Latin King on Friday night- what a treat!) and Kent's family. I had also made Kent promise to not buy me a gift this year.

I couldn't have been more wrong- this one happened to be particularly a particularly special birthday and I'll tell you why...

Kent made this video for me. He is so talented! I have such a Good Life.

A good friend surprised me and stopped over with some puppy chow and a sweet card. It was the best puppy chow I'd ever had that I had to hide it from Kylee. People are so generous and thoughtful. Makes me want to pay it forward, ya know?

One of the moms of the kids I babysit brought me a pedicure gift card! Very unexpected and very appreciated.

One of my girls made me this adorable picture:

After seeing some of my FB pics of cakes/cupcakes I'd made for Kael, one of my cousins e-mailed me and said, "Happy Birthday! I hope you don't have to make your own cake!" Not to worry- Kent totally pulled through and brought me home a DQ ice cream cake complete with Snickers and a "Happy Birthday, Laura" on top. Mmmm.

Thanks to everyone for all the birthday cards, comments and wishes! I think 28's going to be a fantastic year. :)

The last couple weeks I've been doing a Happiness Project post on Tuesdays- I'm going to skip that this week in light of all of the birthday news/posts I've had. I'm still working on a list of gifts we got/thought about for Kael so hopefully I'll get that posted sometime in the near future, too.

BIRTHday

Someone's been reading my blog...

I am so so so happy about these Easter lillies my mom brought by today! (And I bet she knew they were among my favorites before she even read the blog. :)

Well, it's official. I'm 28. That number is getting a little too close to 30 for my liking. I went to lunch with Kael today and he was telling his friends it was my birthday and of course they wanted to know how old I was. I told them and almost all of them said things like, "Well my mom is 37 so she is almost TEN WHOLE YEARS OLDER THAN YOU!" I love kids so much.

We had a fantastic weekend celebrating Kael's birthday (yes, again!) and mine. I will post more pictures and stories on that another time. In the meantime, thanks for all the birthday wishes and messages. I also hope to be sharing some very exciting BIRTHday news very soon!

I bet you didn't know....

If you made it though my mini-novel of a birthday post yesterday, congratulations! Here's your reward- a little light reading.

• ...that yesteday I called Kent at work and was absentmindedly singing "Savior, he can move the mountains. My God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save..." while the phone was ringing. I didn't expect anyone to pick up on the first ring but sure enough his receptionist did. I can only imagine how difficult it must have been for her to stifle a laugh.

• ...I am trying this new blog layout partly because I am hoping it will help me figure out how to stop having blogger publish my thoughts as one giant paragraph and partly because it was Kael's birthday and he is in LOVE with the color orange.

• ...I lose my cell phone several times a day. Kent was not impressed when he found it out in the backyard against the fence line the other day. What can I say? It must have flown out of my pocket when I was giving under doggies on the tree swing.

• ...my favorite flowers are daffodils, lilacs and Easter lillies. Are Easter lillies different than regular lillies? I don't even know, but I was so happy when I spotted some in the store the other day.

• ...Kael eats cake like he eats pizza. Top first (frosting or cheese), licks it completely clean, then goes for the bottom (cake, crust). It is insanely messy but I don't mind. It's kind of his trademark thing.

• ...I don't iron Kent's shirts. It's not that I wouldn't, it's just that every time I do them, he re-irons them because I don't do it quite right. Especially the collar.

• ...our kitchen table actually gathered dust over Spring Break this year. I don't think we sat down to a family dinner in almost 8 days, which is completely unlike us. We usually eat dinner at home together at least 5 times a week.

• ...I prefer not to eat ice cream when it's cold out. Once summer hits, bring it on. Strawberry cheesecake or chocolate fudge brownie, thank you very much.

• ...the other day I took Kylee shoe shopping with me and I'm pretty sure she has better taste then me. I needed some plain black peep-toe shoes and Kylee wandered all over the store in search of the perfect ones. She found them and refers to them as my peek-a-boo shoes.

• ...I love to eat cold macaroni and cheese.

• ...I froze some leftover chicken stock in ice cube trays and used them yesterday to make chicken and noodle soup. Thanks to whoever taught me that little trick- brilliant!

• ...speaking of freezing, I froze the kids cereal, spoons and all, the night before April Fool's this year and they thought it was hilarious

• ...my pregnant sister's blood pressure has been high and I am sure she is getting anxious for the baby to get here. Keep her in your thoughts today. I am excited to be an aunt but don't want the baby to arrive any sooner than necessary. :)

Happy Friday everyone!

Happy Birthday Kael!

I'm going to interrupt my regularly scheduled Thankful Thursday to fill you in on Kael's birthday, so grab a cup of coffee and settle in, it's going to be a lengthy post today. I've got lots to say about this special little boy's big day. :)

Well, it happened. I knew it would. I blinked and my little man grew up. Kael turned 6 yesterday! And judging from some of the Facebook messages I received, most of you can't believe it either.

I had several thoughts of what I wanted to post. Some of my favorite pictures of Kael in the last 6 years? A play-by-play of his celebrations? Gift ideas and links? A sentimental rambling of what I love most about him? Maybe all of the above? :)

Kael woke up (early, all kids do on their birthdays, right?) to his room filled with balloons. I guess this is sort of a tradition for his birthday, but I'm not entirely sure how or when it started. The night before his birthday, Kent asked, "So are we going to do the balloon thing again?" and I was glad he thought of it. We grabbed a bunch of balloons and started filling until Kael's bedroom floor was totally covered with balloons. I had also hung a Happy Birthday sign in the kitchen and when Kael came out of his room to eat I asked what he wanted for his birthday breakfast. Crispix. As in, cold cereal and a glass of OJ. He's so easy to please. :)

I snuck in and took a picture of him with all his balloons.

Kent was going in late to work, and it also happened to be a late start day for the kids. So, we had time before school to open some presents. I'll try to remember to post a list of some of his gifts another time.

Not quite awake yet. :)

We got to school early because he had brought cookies for his birthday treats and needed help carrying everything in. He was so excited and was telling everyone within earshot that it was his birthday. I was informed later that his name was broadcast over the loudspeaker for having a birthday, and he got to wear a birthday crown all day and he got a birthday pencil from the principal. I can just imagine the huge smile on his face and how important he must have felt.

I went home to begin work on this. I spotted this idea when Kael was 3 and it took me that many years to work up the courage to make it. By nature, I am not crafty. And I'm even less patient. I generally don't care for taking the time to read instructions/directions. Detail- oriented? Not this girl. I once thought it would be fun to make this for Kylee and if my sister had not been here helping me make it, I would have probably thrown the cake out the window. The first time it started tipping over I was ready to scrap it. She helped me salvage the cake, not to mention my dignity and Kylee still talks about how much she loved that cake. So worth it.

Back to my rock star's cake. I got to work- the biggest challenge was finding something to put it on! It was a very long cake so I ended up using the box from Kael's pogo stick he had unwrapped that morning and putting foil around it. I was pleasantly surprised at how simple the cake was. Imagine how well things turn out when you take your time and follow the detailed, step-by-step instructions. :) So, here are some pictures of the process, and my baking team.

Chocolate frosting. Yum.

It turned out so much better than I anticipated!

I took a break from decorating and went for lunch/recess with Kael at school. It was fun watching him shoot baskets with his buddies. When the big kids (3rd, 4th, 5th graders) came out for recess they all came up to him and said, "You must be Kael! We heard your name on the loudspeaker- Happy Birthday!" He beamed, "Yeah, that's me!" I am the luckiest mom in the world- so thankful that I am able to be there to witness these kinds of things as I'm sure he would have never told me about it later. Kylee and I stopped to get some balloons on our way to pick Kael up from school. Kylee stood outside the van holding them and yelled, "Happy Birthday Kael!" as soon as she spotted him. In a few short years I am sure this will be mortifying, but Kael just smiled his big smile. When we got home Kael saw the cake and said, "Nice work, Mom! It looks good!" Anyone with kids knows that those kind words don't flow freely and easily, especially a 6 year old boy.

I asked the kids to stand still for a nice birthday picture. Here's what I got.

Now to the party. This is Kael's first "outside the home, friends only" type birthday party. We/he carefully and thoughtfully chose here for the venue. Kael had kind of wanted to go back to the "waterpark hotel" with friends but I wasn't up for watching a bunch of 5/6 year old boys in the swimming pool. I told him we could think about that for next year and he seemed happy with The Playground. I sent out invitations a couple weeks before. This was tricky for me beause it's hard to tell who Kael's friends are at school. They change daily. And sometimes when I ask him who he plays with at recess he literally lists the whole entire class. Several times he has said things like, "Well, so-and-so is my best lady friend". Help! Do kindergarteners do co-ed birthday parties? I'm new at this and am not afraid to admit my incompetence in this area. We brainstormed, scaled the list down, talked with teachers about who Kael really plays with (I realize this is starting to sound over the top, but keep Kael's diagnosis in mind here- I could write another entire post about the difficulties of social situations, especially those that include minimal "rules" and maximum sugar like birthday parties tend to). I really wanted to keep Kael at the center of all of this and not do what the typical kindergarten mom might do but more importantly do what Kael would enjoy the most. We invited 7 kids (so, potentially 9 kids there counting Kael and Kylee) and the RSVP date on the invitation was the 9th. By that afternoon, I had heard from NO ONE. My heart sank. We had taken a shot in the dark by throwing the party on a school night, and a church night for some of the kids. Was everyone really that busy? Or worse, did the kids not want to come? My mind raced. I started texting some of the moms. We got several yes responses. Then, out of the blue, Kael's teacher called and told me about another boy (who is in a different class) that Kael really gets along with and that maybe I should think about inviting him. So not only could everyone make it to the party, more kids were hearing about the party and wanting to come! And, that boy has a birthday today and has invited Kael to his party on Saturday! I couldn't have been happier for Kael. So, we load up the cake, presents, balloons, party bags, cameras, kids (two of the kids were riding with us to the party) in the van and were ready to head out. Kent turned the key and......nothing. It was 5:27; The Playground is a good fifteen minute drive from our house and we were supposed to be there at 5:45. My instinct was to FREAK OUT. Kent said, "Give me two minutes to jump it." "We barely have two spare minutes!" I replied, but we gave it a shot. Still nothing. The van was truly dead. I faked a calm smile and said, "Ok guys, let's all hop in the car." I called my dad and said,"YouhavetocomepickKentandallthestuffupbecauseourvanisdeadandI'malmostlatefortheparty" Rush hour traffic was not in our favor. But, I knew if I seemed hurried/stressed then the kids would get that way too. Last minute changing of plans usually does not bode well for us, but Kael was unbelievably understanding. He said, "I've never seen the van not work before! That was kinda wacky!" I went with it. The whole way to the party the kids talked about anything and everything "wacky" that had happened to them that day. They thought it was hilarious that it happened on a Wednesday and kept talking about how it was such a "Wacky Wednesday". We arrived at the party almost right on time. Whew. The kids got wristbands, checked out the party room and off they went to play. We had decided against renting out the entire place to ourselves, which was fairly spendy. I'm on The Playground's e-mail list so we had also used a coupon. As luck would have it, there was no one else there to play besides our party. So, we had the whole entire place to ourselves, complete with a party room, lemonade, plates, napkins, etc. all for $99! I love a good deal. All I had to bring was the cake. We also brought some party bags for the kids filled with mini Oreos, water guns, bouncy balls, little plastic bugs and army guys. Kael felt pretty important sitting in his big chair opening presents from all of his friends. He even offered to let the kids sitting close to him help blow out his candles and help open presents. Kael has SUCH a big heart. I'm definitely not a party planner, nor am I interested in throwing the perfect party. I wasn't worried about the cutest party bags or the most matchy-matchy plates, cups and napkins beacuse I know that stuff doesn't matter to Kael. But I do know that years from now, Kael will look back and think, "Wow, that was a great party" and that's what matters to me.

A party room with his name on it!

Fit for a king.

Happy, sweaty and ready to dig in.

We look like normal parents, right?

Guess again. Kent has commented before that he can't wait for us to be those "embarassing parents". News flash: We already are. And I love it. I wasn't going to miss out on the dancing!

Bubble time!

Kylee was so tired that she actually just laid on the ground like this for awhile. Kael later reported that "his head was wet from all that running around". Sooo sweaty.

Here's a picture of some of his gifts and cards. Kael you are so loved! Happy Birthday!

Happiness Project: Enjoy it now!

First I'd like to report on how my week of slowing down went. It was going well in the beginning. I really tried to stop rushing around, or at very least stop looking like I was in such a hurry. I took the time to stop and chat with people (at church, school, out and about doing errands) instead of just giving them a hurried wave on my way out the door and it felt great. Happy? You betcha! So that was the beginning of the week. Later in the week, I had the brilliant idea to bake a pie and try to time it perfectly so that it would be coming out of the oven right as we were finishing dinner. Sounds delish, right? Who doesn't want fresh, homemade blueberry pie right out of the oven? Well I got consumed with this idea of perfect timing and in the meantime, I spilled salt alllll over the counter (that's fun to clean up). I also dropped a liquid measuring glass (somehow it didn't break). The pie turned out fine and Kent appreciated my timing efforts as his ice cream slowly melted over the warm pie. Then, later in the evening I was reaching for something in the bathroom and knocked Kent's cologne bottle right off the shelf. CRASH. Slow down, Laura. Evidently, I am still a work in progress.

When we were reorganizing our kitchen I came across some chocolate Tammy had brought home from Spain. I thought to myself, "What am I saving this for? Why not enjoy it right now?" After a chilly morning outside on the treehouse, I decided it was the perfect opportunity to use it to make hot chocolate- and serve it in the mugs from Spain!

Similarly, lately we've been doing lots of spring projects around the house. We've been in this house over 5 years now and I guess I kind of had it in my head we wouldn't be here much longer, so I kind of put off things. Why spend time painting and decorating if we're just going to move soon? Well, I thought to myself, "Enjoy it now." I would be happier if the house was they way that I wanted it so what was I waiting for? Plus, with the addition of the treehouse, I figure Kent and the kids would be crushed if we picked up and moved. So, since we're here for at least another couple years, it's finally time to dig in and get this house looking the way I want it to!

In "The Happiness Project" book, the author discusses how we often, maybe even unconciously, think things like, "I'll be happy when.....fill in the blank (get a raise, have a child, remodel the house, etc.) Well, no more waiting to be happy for this girl. I've got a heck of a lot to be happy about and I'm off to enjoy it right now.

Pillow Party

The other night, as I was making supper, I noticed Kylee was carrying pillow after pillow downstairs. Finally she ran to me and said, "Mom tonight we're having a pillow party!" I looked in our family room and saw a bunch of pillows scattered around on the floor. She even had it all planned out, "Mom, this is where you will lay. Everyone can bring their favorite jammies and favorite bedtime story!" She was so proud of her idea and we were all happy to join in the fun. I think this could easily become a fun tradition for us. We didn't actually let the kids sleep down there since it was a school night, but Kael is already begging to sleep "in the pillow party" on Saturday night.

Starfruit

Kylee wanted to get some starfruit at the store the other day. Of course she did, right?

Here she is ready to give it a try.

And here's what she thought of it.

Thankful Thursday

Today, I'm thankful that silly putty does, in fact, come out of eyelashes. I learned that sometimes, a "Hey Mom, look what I did!" while I'm driving does actually deserve at least a quick glance in the rearview to see what's going on back there. If your child has used their hot orange silly putty as a pirate eye patch, go ahead and pull over to take care of it.

I'm also thankful that I ran into a family friend while out running errands last night. Her kind words about me, my family and my blog made an otherwise routine Target trip remarkably pleasant.

I'm thankful that my husband brought me home this:

from Flying Mango last night. I ate every last bite. Right before bed, too. It was every bit as delicious as it looks. He rocks.

Happy Thursday everyone!

IEP meeting

People really seem to respond to these posts about Kael, so I thought I would take some time to write about the Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting we had Monday morning. I realize IEPs are required by law, but I can't help but feel incredibly blessed to be raising Kael in a school district with the resources to serve him so well. I also can't say enough about the educators we have been working with- I have never felt like Kael is "just a number". The IEP proves that the people who work with Kael at school really have taken the time to get to know him- not just in reference to strengths/weaknesses, but also in terms of personality. How lucky I am to know Kael is so well cared for when he's away from home. Well, I'll dig right in. For his kindergarten year, Kael had two goals. The first one is considered a speech/language goal and the main copmonent is his ability to retell a story (this displays reading comprehension). He started the year retelling a story using 8 words. Kindergarten expectations are that a child retell a story with at least 50 total words spoken. He worked with a speech/language patholigist twice a week for about twenty minutes throughout the school year. Kael's most recent story retell was over 100 words! He has maintained an above 80 word average for the last three months. Didn't I tell you he was a hard-worker?! His speech teacher actually said she wished she would have taped it to use as an example for the other kids. I am so so so proud of him. The next goal is a social one. This one is a little harder for me to paraphrase so I'll just write it exactly as it appears on the IEP: Kael is able to look at peers in social situations, share items, ask for items to be shared, ask for information, and physically approach peers to engage in activities. Kael has difficulty with non-routine tasks, listening to peers speak without interrupting, giving peers their personal space, and staying on task without being prompted. Kael was observed and a rating scale (1-5 for each behavior) was filled out daily by his classroom teacher for the following three behaviors: staying on task, listening/attention-related behaviors, and following directions. At the beginning of the year Kael's median score was 4, while typical peer's median scores were 12. So, Kael's goal was to be at a 12 for three consecutive weeks. Kael got to go to his special edcuation teacher's room twenty minutes every day to work on social skills, and I am happy to report he met this goal too! Way to go Kael! I was worried that since he is meeting his goals so well that they might not allow him to be on an IEP (in other words, no services for Kael) next year. I am really excited about what we came up with. So, here's the plan for his first-grade year. He will drop his speech goal completely. I am fine with this because I know the comprehension is there, and since we will still have an IEP in place, if this becomes an issue again we can easily write it back into his plan. We will continue a social goal and again, his general education teacher will observe and give him a rating on several behaviors: ignores distractions, asks for help, takes home and brings belongings to class, refrains from blurting/raises hand and waits turn, and expresses frustration/feelings. These may seem like small things but they are BIG things for Kael. I know he will work hard to master these skills next year and will gain so much independence! He will still be allowed time in his special education room, but we are cutting that time to just 10 minutes a day instead of 20. We receive updated reports at each conference (which will be November, then again next February) and will have another official IEP meeting next spring. Looking back, I can't believe we ever hesitated with sending Kael to school this year. He has continued to meet and exceed each challenge we present to him. We are so proud of you buddy!

Happiness Project: Slow down

*Why does blogger randomly decide to publish things without appropriate spacing? I apologize for not being technologically savvy enough to fix this... I'm one of those people who is always in a hurry. I talk fast, I walk fast, I think fast. One benefit of this is that I am NEVER late. Ever. Even with all my kiddos and crazy taxi-mom schedule , I have never been late to pick one of them up. One day, as I was paying for my groceries, after furiously loading them in my cart and all but running out of the store, the checker called out to me, "Drive safely, ma'am!" I'm ashamed to admit this is not the first time that's happened to me. I had been in such a rush doing everything that this guy was actually concerned that someone might get hurt. Another thing: the automatic doors at grocery stores are always too slow for me. If I wasn't pushing a cart full of groceries, I'd prefer to just use the manual-open doors then wait an agonizing half second for those doors to open for me. Why am I in such a hurry??? 1. I am my father's daughter. He does everything fast. My dad can be anywhere in ten minutes (or so he says). One day he was going to drive from his house, stop at Menards, then drive to my house. "I'll be there in 10 minutes, Laur" he said. I questioned, "Dad, just to get from your house to mine is 10 minutes, on a good day! How are you possibly going to stop at Menards and get here in 10 minutes?"We even have a catch phrase: "Terry-time". Here's how you use it appropriately in a sentence: Kent calls. "I'm on my way home; I'll be there in 15 minutes." Me: "Will you really be here in 15 minutes or did you just Terry-time me?" 2. I like doing things fast. Just today, in the time that Kylee was at preschool, I got groceries, drove home to unload them, went tanning, went running, showered, did my make-up, wrote a couple e-mails and still made it to pick her up on time. She's only at preschool for 2 hours folks! And it's at least a 10 minute drive. I LOVE accomplishing so much in so little time. Was it worth it? Was all the rushing around necessary? Did I have to cram all those errands into that amount of time? No. I have plenty of time when Kent gets home to go running. I could have gone shopping after I picked Kylee up from school- she loves to do errands with me. I constantly am dropping things or breaking things, bumping into things or hurting myself (today I cut my finger while chopping some veggies) so this week I've tried hard to tell myself, "Laura- slow down". It's something my mom told me frequently when I was growing up and it's something that I've said more than a few times to Kylee. Sure enough, my hurried tendencies have been passed on to her and chances are she'll hurt herself sometime! Last week I worked on organizing and while there is plenty left to do, I can confirm that yes, I do feel happier when things in the house have a specific (and labeled!) place. So, moving forward with a little Happiness Project of my own, this week I'm going to work hard to sloooow down.

Baby shower

We had Mandy's baby shower this weekend and it was so fun! For everything that Mandy has done for me and my kids, I was so happy to be able to be a part of throwing a shower for her. What a perfect, sunny weekend to get friends and family together to celebrate Mandy! Here are some pictures from the day.

Baby shower flowers are so pretty thanks to Tammy!

Thumbprint cookies in baby colors.

Thanks to Mandy's super talented sister-in-law we had this adorable diaper cake as a centerpiece!

Kylee and I are party ready. On our way to the shower we stopped to pick up the balloons. Since it happened to be prom this weekend, there were lots of girls waiting to pick up flowers. Kylee was already in her dress and sandals (with perfectly pedicured toes showing) and all the high school girls started talking to Kylee about how cute she looked. Kylee showed them her toes and they all showed her their sparkly manicured nails. My little girl is growing up way too fast.

How cute are baby-sized cupcakes? Thanks to Christina at Creme Cupcake for providing these!

Tam, Mandy, Mom and me.

I think Kylee had at least 5 cupcakes. So did I. :)

A better view of the flowers and balloons.

Can I give the baby a hug?

Treehouse pictures

I promised more pictures and here they are!

Yeah, moms are allowed in the treehouse. :)

This is the secret door I was talking about.

The view from below:

Here's what it looks like once you've climbed up.

Almost seamless!

Here you can see the pulley system. For the time being I just use an empty ice cream bucket to send snacks and drinks over to the treehouse from our deck. We have used it several times already! The other day I sent a bunch of fruit snacks over and all of my kiddos had after-school snack up there. In this picture Kent and Kael are enjoying a pizza picnic on the treehouse. You can also see that the ladder has been replaced with one that looks like it belongs with a treehouse.

Happy boys.

We're hoping for a weekend full of sunshine so we can be out enjoying the treehouse together!