End of March Accomplishments

Over the last couple of days every one in the family has done something great...that's okay...I'll bask in the light of my family members.  I enjoy seeing them succeed.

We'll start with Matt.

Yesterday we went to the doctor and he had his kindergarten shots.  He was so brave.  He didn't make a peep.  I asked him if it even hurt and he nodded that it had.  What a guy.  I noticed as we walked out of the office that he was stiff legged and when we got in the van he asked for help. 

Here are my guys with stickers, suckers, smiles and a new book from the doctor.

It was so rare to go to the doctor and not have it be all about Ben.  Our pediatrician did spend several minutes asking me how he was and getting an update on things.  He said, "Ever time I see Ben I just wish there was something I could do to help him."

He is a very kind man.  I told him though that we were happy...meaning that even though it's tough to see him struggle and not know what to do for him that we just love him to pieces and he is who he is because of his struggle in this life.  He is a dear, precious boy and has a fantastic sense of humor.  He makes me laugh every day and I every day I realize how blessed I am to be his mother.

Anyway...enough of the mushy stuff...

My new favorite place is 'twizleberry'. 

I asked Matt if he wanted to go as a reward for doing so well with his shots.  I let him believe it was ice cream instead of frozen yogurt.  He was very happy with it...as was Ben...and Mom :)  I just couldn't say no when after we finished our first cup Ben signed "more".  We all had seconds.

When we got home Matt grabbed Josh's crutches and used them all over the house...that is until his soccer practice.  Then he hopped in the van and went and ran around on the soccer field for an hour.  When he came home he picked up his crutches again and hobbled around the rest of the evening.  

As he headed downstairs to bed with the crutches I asked him how he decided which leg hurt the most...or in other words which foot to keep up off the floor.  He told me that the leg he kept up had "a bubble in the blood where the shot was".  Mmmmmmm....interesting.

Bless his little heart.  So, being so brave and successfully getting his shots was Matt's accomplishment.

Next comes Abby and Josh together.  We had another "Reading Counts" assembly today.  Abby earned her 250 point award and Josh got his "Hot Dog" (1000 points) award.  Abby's class also sang a couple of songs at the beginning of the program.

The kids got to wear pajamas to school today because of all the points they earned collectively this month.  

(Only the second "Hot Dog" in the school this year)

Congratulations Josh and Abby!

Ben's accomplishments seem kind of small, but his small achievements are big to me.

Today his speech therapist came and encouraged me to not anticipate his wants all the time.  To make him request things with signs (or words) when he wants something instead of just giving it to him when I know what he wants.  I told her that I know I'm bad at that.  So often I don't know what he wants and it's very frustrating for us both.  Therefore, when I do know what he wants I'm so excited to give it to him and make him happy.  I can see how this will be extremely beneficial for his communication though and so I'm really going to try hard to work on it.

After she left he was playing with some toys and wanted me to arrange them a certain way.  I showed him the sign for help and prompted him to do it.  After a few more times of showing him the sign and helping him do it he started doing it on his own.  It almost became a game the way he did it over and over and grinned and laughed.  It was awesome!  It's always fun to see what he comes up with for his version of a sign.  He actually has pretty good fine motor skills compared to his other abilities but he still modifies a lot of signs so that they are easier for him to do.  

One more small accomplishment for Ben this evening...

Matt had left out a plastic water bottle and Ben got a hold of it.  He was playing with it while I read The Candy Shop War to the kids.  Next thing I knew, he had opened the garage door and I heard plastic bouncing off of concrete.  He had "recycled" the bottle!  (We keep our recycle box out in the garage.  He must have seen us do that a lot.)  He closed the door, came into the living room clapping and then proceeded to do a little dance for us all.  It was awfully cute!

Last but not least, Andy had a great accomplishment tonight.  

Our kitchen sink faucet has had issues lately and we've known we needed to get a new one.  Well, it became an emergency yesterday morning when the handle went all the way around like an owl's head.  That wouldn't have been so bad except that it started spurting water everywhere too.  I called Andy at work (I rarely bother him while he's teaching but this was a problem).  He instructed me to turn off the valves under the sink...duh...I felt silly that I hadn't thought of that.  So, I was without water in the kitchen the whole day.

Andy was sweet and took Abby and Ben with him to go shopping for a new one last night while I organized the pantry (I've been on an organizing kick lately.  I've done my bedroom closet, our bathroom closet and now the pantry.  I love walking into an area that I've recently organized and just staring at it).  

Anyway, he came home with one that looked a little space ship like.  Let's just say it was not quite what we had expected.  I told him it was okay though and to go ahead and install it.  He started working on it and then realized he didn't have all the right tools.  

So I was without water again today.  When we got home from the assembly Andy packed up the the UFO and we went back to Lowe's.  We found one we liked and he headed back home to install it while I went to the temple.  When I came out of the temple two hours later Andy came driving up with all the kids in the.  I knew something was wrong.  My first thought is always if Ben is okay.  When I saw him in his seat I knew it had to do with the faucet.  Andy told me that when he pulled it out of the box that the extension that made it taller was a different color (black instead of brushed nickle) than the rest of it.  What?  He packed up all the kids and drove back to Lowe's.  When he returned it the lady had him go get another box off the shelf.  They opened it up and it was the same way.  All the ones on the shelf were that way.  Weird!

Luckily, up on the top shelf there was the exact same faucet just shorter, without the extension.  Andy snagged it.  They were on their way home when he met me at the temple.  

What a blessing it was that the installation process went relatively glitch free. 

Thanks hon!  That's an accomplishment.

I love our new faucet...I think it looks even better without the extension!

 

 

 

I also love this guy who often does my dishes for me :)

 

Sorry.  I know I was kind of wordy with this post...a little too journal like.  Sometimes there are just details I want to get down before I forget.  You're a trooper if you made it to the end:)

Happy General Conference Weekend!

I absolutely love this time of year!