Updates---Jack!

Jack's 5th grade school picture....


Alllll the pictures I took trying to get that picture...




Getting a picture of this child is a nightmare. He will not make a nice face. You have to distract him and sneak up on it.



Jack is in fifth grade this year, and tomorrow is his 11th birthday! I can't believe he is that old. He was only 2 when I started this blog! He is doing very well. We are still enrolled in Mother of Divine Grace, and still adapting their curriculum for him. I would say, very generally, that he is on about a 3rd-ish grade level. Maybe late 2nd grade in math. We have backed up a bit and kind of mostly starting math over with Math U See. It is too soon to tell if that will help. He still goes to speech and OT, though he is down to two hours a week now. He plays baseball with Miracle League...he takes piano lessons...he attends PSR classes at our church (with my husband). As he gets older, we see more issues with anxiety cropping up,,,I will maybe blog more about that in another post. He still loves trains, love Legos, loves Pokemon, jumping on the trampoline, playing the Wii, riding his scooter...this summer he learned how to skate and now he loves to go to the skating rink. He is my sweetie. Love this boy.

updates...Maria!

So...I am very conscious of the fact that I am now blogging about an adult child. But I want to share a little about the latest goings on of my sweet oldest. Maria graduated! She is in college! Big things, big things. Oh, I could write many long posts about all the adjustments this involved, but suffice to say we are very proud of her, and we miss her very much. I don't want to name the school she is attending, for creepy-stalker reasons,,,if you know me through other arenas you probably already know where she is. But she is at a good Catholic school. So, creepy stalkers, start searching Catholic schools for all the Maria's...she will graduate before you finish, haha!


She is majoring in theater with a minor in theology. She is involved in soccer and choir and swing dances and having a lot of good fun. Hopefully she is studying a bit too...mid-terms approacheth. Can't wait to have her home for a nice long Christmas break.

I know I keep saying this, but....

I really, really want to get back to blogging! I have so much fun looking back through the archives at all of our adventures. I am really going to try this week to start up again.

Let's start with back to school pictures and updates, how about that? I will post an "update" on all five kiddos, one for each day this week. And I'll start off today with my nephew, Kain,,,so many of you have prayed for him over the years and ask about him. He is 15 now. 15!!! Can you believe it? He was 6 when he first made an appearance here, back at the beginning of this blog! I won't share too much because he is a teenager and I want to respect his privacy, but...he is really doing much better. He is still living with my parents, and is happy there and in high school now and right now things are blessedly ok on that front. His high school has a vocational training type of program and they are thinking that would be a good thing for him in the second half of high school. He is also getting confirmed this spring!


Here is a very poor picture to share with him in it, lol. He went with us to Familyland in August. He is making a goofy face here, because he does that for All The Pictures. And most of my other kids look kind of dorky because I told them to say "FAMILYLAND" instead of "CHEESE" and discovered that "cheese" is the word of choice for a reason. But it's the only recent picture I have handy with Kain in it!

Next time, updates on Maria~

Answer Me This, and yes, I'm still alive

Hellooooo! I keep thinking I will use the summer "break" to get back into blogging, and lookie at that date in the corner of your screen, it is JULY already, and I have not blogged once! So, this seems like an easy and fun way to jump back in...I am joining Kendra at Catholic All Year for Answer Me This. I have no photos...I'm afraid it was all I could do to make myself jump back into posting...photos next time! Here are this week's questions!

1. How did you celebrate the 4th of July?
Oh,,,this is the question of the moment in our house. I am writing this the morning of the 4th. I have attended fireworks shows for every 4th that I can remember. Even with a husband that works weird shifts, and a house full of little wandering people, we attend the fireworks show, because it is what we *do*, and in years my husband can't make it my parents have been there to kid-wrangle. It is less than ideal though. If you go to one, you know what I mean. You have to arrive a couple of hours ahead of time and chase small, bored children in the humid, mosquito-y evening, trying to keep everyone contained and happy until it is FINALLY dark. Then you have to spend an hour trying to make the four mile journey home afterwards. And to make it even more fun, my Jack *hates* traffic and pretty much has a Rain Man style meltdown in the car each year on the way home. So. This year I tentatively suggested *not going*. And everyone jumped at it. My parents are staying home. It takes them two hours to get home after fireworks, and turns out they hate that. My husband is working the today, and he doesn't really want to go. My teenager, usually the queen of "but that's the way we ALWAYS do it", doesn't care about going. The littler kids just care about doing snakes and sparklers at home. And as much as I love the show....I feel kind of over it until my kids are at least old enough for me to set up a camping chair for myself and enjoy the pre-show concerts and not have to keep my 3yo away from the street. So, this year...we are home. It will be a simple day this year, just us, and a yummy dessert, and pizza for everyone not doing a Whole 30, and fireworks in the street.

2. Do you sunburn easily?
Oh yes. Very. My husband is half Jewish, and so he is actually rather olive-skinned...one of my kids has inherited this...Henry, the boy in my header photo. The rest of us are a pale, freckly bunch. Because of this we usually go to the lake or pool at 4pm.

3. Hot dogs. Yay or nay?
Um, Yay! Love hot dogs, especially on the grill. All beef, preferably. I know they are not healthy...but they are a "Jack-food", one of the few foods my autistic son will actually eat, so they are a staple for him. The rest of us eat them far less often...maybe once a month for a desperate quick lunch.

4. Have you ever personally set off fireworks?
Sure, every year. I thought pretty much everyone did, but I guess not. lol. My neighbors have been setting off fireworks all week, which is pretty annoying, frankly. But we do set them off on the 4th. Yes, they make me nervous. My husband loves it though.

5. Have you ever jumped off the high dive?
No. I kind of have an issue with heights.

6. Do you do anything weird in your sleep?
Hmmmm. I do talk in my sleep. My mom says I did it most nights as a kid. I don't think I do it a lot anymore. I did a lot of weird things in my sleep as a kid, actually. I used to sleepwalk, and I would wake up in random places in the house. My mom says once I came downstairs and started moving furniture around. :)

Ok, that was fun! Looking forward to seeing everyone's answers! Answer in the comments if you like, or on your blog.