status quo

 I haven't blogged in a while because we just haven't had anything super exciting going on.  We  (being me, and the kids) are really ready to be done with the school year.  I know we are not unique in this thinking.  I know that I'll be excited to start a new school year; but right now I am in vacation planning, pool dreaming, hike wishing, warm weather liking mode.  The sun has been out a lot (even with predictions of rain), which just makes EVERYTHING better! 

We are looking forward to a few field trips.  We are planning on going to the horse stables near Belvoir next week, and there are jellies at the aquarium, so we'll have to go see them.  The "Newseum" is free for home-schoolers right now, as well, so I'd like to see it (for free).  We'll have to see about that one, though, since I think we are running out of time for participating in the free part of that deal.  We love museums, man.  And horses, apparently.

Not much to report on our autism front.  Things are status quo, which is always a blessing.  I think the sun helps him, too.  When it is cloudy, Tommy seems much more "stimmy" than on sunny days.  I'm sure there is some science behind that, but I don't know what it is.  He is into Bruce Lee movies, which cracks me up.  Isn't that such a boy thing to be into?  The sound effects are constant right now in my house.

Katie is having an MRI next week to make sure all is well structurally, and that there is nothing unusual going on with her optic nerves.  We didn't know until she was almost five years old that she had a terrible astigmatism, and her vision isn't improving, so we visited the good neurologist (after a visit to the good psychiatrist who refered us to the good neurologist) and he (and she) have determined that she has a nystagmis (vibration) in both eyes and it is affecting her vision tracking.  Whew! No wonder reading is hard, huh? She can't see!  And she's hyper - not a lot of patience for that right now... flipping and cartwheeling are much more interesting... plus running, and tapping, and bouncing....

Danielle is becoming an amazing dancer.  We keep noticing that she's good at, like, everything.  She is so happy about it, too!  The piano playing is coming along as well.  So, how much do real pianos cost? Anyone?  We'll be researching that, soon.  (Katie wants to play the piano, also.)  We just have a keyboard that she practices on, and teaches her sister - which is really sweet.  Danielle is a natural teacher.  It's really, very cool.

Mark and I are still in our Love Dare Bible study.  It's amazing.  It makes sense.  I find the dares becoming more challenging.  I guess that means we must work more for the more in depth meaningful stuff.  Tomorrow is our 15 year wedding anniversary!  My goodness, where has the time gone?  Love is an amazing thing.  I don't mean the "Happily ever after" love (although, that's cool, too), I mean love: the- lead -your -heart -and -make -a- daily -choice- to -love- your- spouse -and -pray- for -the -blessings -of -God- and -grace- of -Jesus- to- be -able- to- love type of love.... It  really is amazing.  It's crazy... but it's real.  Prayer makes all things possible.

Medieval Times birthday celebration!

He is a teenager. Unbelievable. We had a great time at this Medieval Times place.  Real jousting, knights with swords, horses (zyrtec, flonase, eye drops), a King and Princess, all together in the realms of a castle, portraying a love story.  The knights were way cool.  We cheered for the Yellow Knight, and booed the Green Knight.  The Yellow Knight even threw me a flower! The horses were amazing, too.  It was a great way to surprise the birthday boy, and usher in the teen years.  Mark and I even celebrated with a margarita!

Eeewwww!

No way, not ever! A giant hissing cockroach, the size of a small mouse, was apparently a cool thing to hold at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum. 

Of course, he wants one.

We had a great week off!  We are back to the daily grind for a few more months, and then we will hopefully get to rest a bit over the summer.  I don't even know about next Fall - I'm thinking we'll have to do a little less... to stay sane (at least sane enough to keep up with the craziness).

The weather has been really great.  I truly feel better when the sun is shining.  I've never believed weather affected me too much in the past, but now I know better.  I'll have to invest in a sun lamp for next winter.  The pollen is particularly bothersome right now, but I'm sure it won't last too much longer! I love the way everything looks... it's just a little hard on the eyes... very itchy.

So, back to home-school, too.  We have a trip to the Natural History Museum planned for Wednesday, and that should be fun.  Danielle is finishing up a unit on Benjamin Franklin, and said, " He is more interesting than I thought he would be."  Tom-Tom is reading Adam and His Kin, a book about Adam and the first 11 chapters of Genesis.  Katie is working on -ed ending words and the Tabernacle, money, time and fractions (easy 1/2, 1/3, 1/4 type fractions).  We read about Jonah today, and incidentally, the book of Jonah was not in my children's Bible.  I had to get it off the 'ol i-phone (love, love, love my i-phone!). 

The break from school was nice, and I already can't wait to be done for the summer!

Dance, yoga, therapies, etc. are all back in full swing, as well, and so is Mark's and my Love Dare Bible Study.  It was nice to go to church last night to participate in our small group.  The Love Dare is awesome.  It makes sense.  Although it is hard to always be polite, and nice to the person you married, it is plainly God's intention that we should do just that! I'm trying! I'm praying!

At the Present time...

The kids want to go to the pool, they want to go to the nature house, they want to hike, they want to hit golf balls, and look for golf balls that have been lost. I love it that they want to be outside, and on the go. I am loving that we are on our own, with no obligations for the week. I can't begin to describe the sense of freedom I have.

I know it seems crazy, to me, anyway. I used to love to have my days filled with activities and things to do. I did not want to be home all day. I liked going shopping and to play groups. Now, I really seem happier (to me, anyway) when we don't have anything planned, and we don't have a ton of events or practices we have to be at. Granted, we are not home- home. But we are together, away at a home-away-from-home. It is very nice. The great weather is nice, too!


I am still enjoying my Love Dare bible study. We don't meet with the group this week, so it gives us time to catch up on the dares. It is hard to do a dare every day when Mark and I can't be together every day. 24 hour shifts are not conducive to trying to do dares every day! So, hopefully, we can even get ahead with the week "off" so-to-speak. I really like this message. I like the idea of leading your heart to Christ, to each other, to your (my) marriage. It is definitely not easy... but it is worth it. The Love Dare is a commitment, just like a marriage. Love is a daily choice.

My prayers have been scattered this week. My friend's mom is really sick. The cancer is aggressive. I can feel the pain of this impending loss. I'm really missing my Seattle sister. My brother's birthday is today! My mom was ill when they went home on Sunday. My neighbor friends are trying to sell a house in SC. We are struggling with allergies. The list can go on and on. I'm thankful for my Faith. I'm reminded that Jesus loves me and everyone I love, and He died for us. Amazing! I'm thankful for the sun, the breeze on the mountains, my family, my husband. I'm thankful for this time, a gift. My present.

Waterfall

40+ inches of snow over the winter makes for a spectacular waterfall
in the spring!

Wintergreen!

Smile for the camera!!

Happy Easter

Praise God for His wonderful miracles and His amazing Love and Grace!

Relax

A week off! We are taking the week off. There will be no therapies, no doctors, no dance, no schedule. We are hanging out in the mountains with my parents until Monday, when they will go back to NoVA... and then we (the kids, my husband and I) will be by ourselves in the mountain air! The kids and I hiked this morning, and hit golf balls this afternoon. We came face to face with a herd of deer - like, literally we were 6 feet away from them! We also took a scenic drive over to the closest Wal-mart for supplies. So far, so good. I will post pictures when I figure out how to do so on this computer.

Have a wonderful Easter!

I'm looking forward to our first outside egg-hunt in two years. The last two years have been so cold, and it has snowed or iced on Easter Sunday. So, this year it is supposed to be in the 70s, and there is NO snow on the ground (except left over snow on the ski slopes - not where we will be egg hunting).