A Smattering of Random Tid Bits

Well, let's see here...

Soccer finished up a week ago.  I love watching my kids play and I know they have a lot of fun, but boy is it good to have Saturdays and evenings during the week back...free of games and practices.

 

Matt's team had really nice, official pictures taken the week before but he was really sick that day so we couldn't go.  I'm glad I was able to talk them all into posing again for a quick shot.

(I ran 23 miles to get to this last game of Matt's :)  That's what was on my training schedule so I timed it and routed it so that I would end up at the field in time for the game.  Never again will I run at 4 A.M. alone...even through streets that I felt were safe in the daytime and that I was very familiar with.

(missed you Trina!)

So Abby's single goal that she made a few weeks ago remained the only goal for the team the whole season.

Bless these girls' hearts though!  They played hard and were super fun to watch.

Wednesday, 2 of the Up to 3 ladies came for their last visit.  It's so fun to watch him play with the toys they bring.  He liked this frog puppet so I just stuck it in the back of his shirt to be silly but he wouldn't have it any other way after that.  If it fell out he had us put it back in and he resumed playing with the other toys.  It was pretty cute!

 

I know you can't tell by his face, but Ben really does love these ladies.  They've been great!  I love them too and we will miss having them in our home each month.

Abby had her 1st grade program yesterday.  She sure liked learning the songs and singing them around the house.  I love to watch Abby sing.  She puts her whole self into it!  I was amazed when she got up and recited a memorized paragraph so confidently.  I had no idea she was working on that.

 

Most of the time Abby's gaze was focused on the interpreter that was signing off to the side.

Way to go Abs!

I don't have any pictures of this but I think it is noteworthy.  About half way through the year Josh's teacher sent a note home saying she would like him to be a part of the Gifted and Talented class that met each week.  What fun!  Josh was eager to participate.  The last several weeks they've been working on Podcasts.  They wrote their own script and came up with their own props and everything.  The teacher of the class works with several different schools' gifted and talented programs and so she had a night last week where they all came together and showed off what they had done.  It was fun to sit with Josh and watch his podcast that he had done with his group. He had a big grin on the whole night.

Well done Josh!

I found this cute scene in Ben's bedroom after I put dinner together last night.

Ben had had a few minute long shake 'n stare seizure in the morning ( I don't know the technical terms for all the seizure types so sometimes I make up my own names).  Those always wear him out the most.  He had not slept well the night before and on top of it all he didn't have a nap due to Abby's program at the school.  Andy had gone in to play with his trains with him...I heard some crying after a quite a while and then it was quiet and this was the end result.

I think they slept for about 30 minutes before Andy tried to move his arm out from under Ben and he woke up.  I went and got him and sat down on the couch with him and he fell asleep again within minutes.  That really surprised me.  I enjoyed the snuggle and tried to catch a little shut eye myself...might as well...but couldn't really fall asleep.  After about 2 hours in that position I was able to wriggle my way out from under him and get some things done around the house while he continued to sleep.

Finally, at 9 p.m. I woke him up to give him his dinner and meds.  I knew that around 3 a.m. I would pay for that long nap that close to bed time. After dinner he went right to bed without a complaint...he saw the other kiddos going to bed and even suggested with his signs that it was time for him to go too.  Well, I thought he would be awake in his crib until midnight but not a peep was heard from him until early in the morning when he gave me my cue to come sleep on his floor.  Okay, he won't be able to go back to sleep for quite a while I thought.  Oh what joy when he only talked/signed to me for a few minutes before he lay back down and fell asleep (have you ever tried to read sign language in the dark?)

Sorry for the novel...I promise this is the last thing...it was too cute to pass up.

As I entered the living room from the kitchen to get Ben ready for bed, this is what greeted me.  How adorable is that?  I don't think I have ever seen Matt holding Ben on his lap like this (usually Ben won't stand for it and worms his way out of Matt's arms)

They sat there quietly playing with a new train app that we found for Ben yesterday.  (Ben has a bit of an obsession with trains)

Well, needless to say, it was a few more minutes before I had the heart to tear Ben away from his big brother.

Love it!