Christmas Concert and the Great Glasses Caper

Did anyone else notice that it was December already?  Holy hell.

You can tell the holidays are coming by the school performances.  The first grade had their big performance tonight, and Ian was super excited because he "gets to stand on the top risers on the stage."  Also noteworthy: "If you are bad, you will get tapped on the shoulder and you will have to sit behind the curtain for the WHOLE show."

We heard a lovely rendition of Jingle Bells, as well as several fun songs with all sorts of hand gestures that nearly knocked children off of the said risers.  Love it.

Zeke loved it so much that he fell dead asleep on Bryan's lap...BUT whenever he heard clapping, he totally "sleep-clapped" with everyone else.  Hilarious.

Gavin found a little round-faced blonde girlfriend who followed him around in the aisles.

Chase played games on my phone, but stopped to clap with gusto after every song.

******************************************************

Info on the Great Glasses Caper:  Zeke loves his new glasses, and takes really good care of them.  Except that he left them in Mary Poppins' car yesterday.  I thought they were lost at school, but they are actually just misplaced.  No worries.

However, Mr. Chase is another story.  We finally got his glasses back from Walmart after replacing the frames and one of the lenses...and today in his backpack I find a pair of glasses...just frames.  No lenses.  The little stinker figured out how to pop the lenses out of the frames, and DID so at school...and then HID the lenses.  Seriously.  I can't make this stuff up, people.

On the plus side, Chase's OT skills are improving.

Running List

Maybe I'll just make all my blog entries into running lists.  Who has time to write out a complete thought anymore??

1- I still have to post about Thanksgiving.  Short story- a lovely time.  Scott and Rachel came up from Florida, my Aunt Deb and Uncle Tom came out of their cabin in Concord to join us, and my mom and dad were here (as they always should be).  We went in potluck style, and ended up with quite the spread, and zero guilt about making one person do everything.  That is the bonus of having so many awesome cooks in the family.

Rachel, of course, got a stomach bug on Thanksgiving morning.  Because we always make her sick every time she visits.

**Included in our Thanksgiving festivities was a Skype call to Zeke's birth parents.  We had to do the charade thing, which is a hundred times harder via the Internet than it is in person...but when we finally figured out how to use the chat option and translate it though Google, it worked out pretty well.  It was nice to see them, and I think Zeke was happy to see them, too.  It was a little tough because he had to be woken up from nap to come to the computer, so I don't think that he was his normal high energy level that we know, but it was good all the same.  He got to show them his school projects and his favorite toys, and of course, his brothers.  Fun stuff.

2- Bryan and I and Ian completed our first 5K together yesterday!  So, we ran maybe a 1/2 mile...and we were pushing Larry, Moe, and Curly in the strollers (which, btw, our double jogger is not doing so well.  Now we have to decide if we are committing to this running-thing or not...because I don't want to spend money on a double jogger that will sit in my garage for months...years...gah.)

We completed the "run" in 51 minutes (Bryan, Chase and Zeke) and just under 54 minutes (Laurie, Ian, and Gavin).  Ian complained for about 15 minutes of the whole run, and then only sporadically for the other 35 minutes.  BUT he was super stoked at the end when we ran across the finish line.

Best story about the run: Gavin rode the whole time, taking a nap for the last half of it. When we finished, I got him out of the stroller, and he immediately peed his pants.  Oops  :/  I totally hadn't taken him to the bathroom from the time that we left the house (6:15am) until after we stopped (9:15am).  #1 mom!

3- Speaking of running...I'm going to start coaching Girls on the Run at school in January.  Let's just say we'll all be learning together... :)

4- Christmas is up at the house!  Tree is up, lights are up, wreath on the door, nativity lovingly set up by Ian, and our Elf on the Shelf has been up to No Good for several days now.

10 more days until Christmas break!  Woo-hoooo!

5- We made an offer on a house in Waxhaw.  They accepted it, and now it's waiting for the bank approval and all sorts of other legal things because it is a short sale.  Now I'm in this limbo phase, where I don't want to do anything further to the house (like put up a 4th hook for Zeke's backpack and towel) but I'm not ready to pack anything, because it will be a while until we are ready to move...oh, and because of my latest addiction to Pinterest, I have about a billion ideas of things that I'd like to do.  So, you know, that's fun.

6- Bryan and I had a date night last night.  First time since we've been home.  We found some amazing new babysitters from church, and now when Gray and Garret come to sit, the kids are so happy to see them that they don't even notice that we leave.

We did dinner...and some shopping.  And we sat on some furniture that was on display because we were so tired, but we didn't want to come home because we were afraid the boys wouldn't be in bed yet- lol!  Wild.  It was nice to connect, though.  Also nice to be out at a restaurant that served drinks with ice in them.

That's all.  It's time for me to get to bed too late now :)

Zeke- IEP

Quick update, because frankly I'm exhausted and possibly spent all my time this evening chatting with the lovely Tiffany Larsen and browsing Pinterest...

But I went to Zeke's eligibility and IEP meeting today and I wanted to jot some thoughts down.

1- The intake team in our county is AWESOME.  They are positive, they are personal, and they know their stuff.  I'm so lucky that we happened to plop ourselves down in Union County when we moved here.

2- Zeke is a charmer.  He has all of those ladies cooing after him and giggling, talking about him after he leaves, and even following his story in the paper and on our blogs (hey assessment team ladies!)

3- Zeke is "significantly delayed" in all areas...with the caveat that it is hard to get an accurate assessment due to his past and the transitions that he is making now.

I'm trying to write out my feelings on this here and I've rewritten it several times now...the thing is, hearing that he was "significantly delayed" didn't hurt my feelings this time, like it did at Chase's first IEP.  And it's not that I don't care...it's just that I feel like I've turned a corner with acceptance.  No, I don't like hearing that Z is behind...but I knew it was coming, and I also knew that he's in a place where he'll grow into the skills that he is missing.  I know I'll feel the same way when we get to Chase's IEP meeting this year.  We're still pushing, we're still working...we still have high expectations...but I guess it's just more of a clarity thing: this is where we are (and that's okay)...here is where we're going...and this is how we'll get there.

Fine.  Awesome.  Let's get a move on.

4- Zeke will get speech twice weekly for 30 minutes, and PT and OT 3x/month.  I'm good with all that.

5- At home, we'll just continue doing what we do...playing outside, running, jumping, riding bikes (ok, trying to convince certain 4 year olds that bikes are fun), reading books, playdough, coloring, naming objects in play...and looking into more options when things calm down a bit (HA!).  No really- I want to try them both in hippotherapy...someday.  I do.  Really.

6- He'll stay in the same class he's in now with Chase, which is totally perfect.  He loves it there.

The end.

Welcome to the Rest of Your Life...

Today the boys were sitting at the table doing stamps.  Ian dropped something on the floor and was picking it up, then Gavin got down and walked around him to get something...bumping Ian on the way.

Ian: "OOWWWWWW!  GUY!"

Guy: "I'N NOT TOUCHIN' YOU!"

...and the official brotherly arguing begins...

Ianisms- Ornaments

Decorating the tree:

Mom, this is the most beautimous ornament.  I am SO letting you put this one on.

Ian- reading

In the last week, Ian has started to get that reading spark.  He's been able to read for a while, but never really cared all that much about it outside of school.  Reading was just a task to do in the classroom, although he's always loved listening to stories.

But this week something finally clicked.  Maybe he turned the corner in his skills and was able to read books that are more interesting to him...maybe he just had that epiphany that I've been waiting for him to have...

He's finally getting that concept of becoming lost in a book, of looking forward to time when it's quiet and he can sit down and become engrossed in a story.

He's reading some Star Wars book, which, you know, isn't my first choice for reading, but if he loves it and doesn't want to turn out the light at night...so be it.

He's going to kill me for writing this later on...but tonight he was sitting on the toilet for a *long* stop, and I knocked on the door and told him that next time he should bring a book in there to read.  He was completely aghast at the idea, until I told him that he comes from a long line of men who routinely read in the bathroom.  He thought that was both hilarious and intriguing.  I'm betting that tomorrow I will see some Star Wars related reading material next to the potty.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat

I'm not gonna lie, the days have been kind of smooshing together here.  Early wake-ups, off to school/work, home from school/work, dinner, baths, bedtimes.

Sure, scattered within that pattern are sleepy smiles, gigantic poopy diapers and an angry butt rash, Gavin instigating trouble wherever and with whomever he is...there are bedtime stories and splashing in the tub, and endless Itsy Bitsy Spider songs sung over and over and over again in the car.

There are crafts from school, little cotton ball sheep glued onto toilet paper rolls...then there are the mounds of toilet paper that someone (ahem, Zeke or Guy) feels the need to unroll every time they are left alone in the bathroom.

It's life, and it's going by in fast forward right now.  I have all these ideas that I want to do with Chase and Zeke.  I have flashcards and reading programs, daily conversation journals and photo books.  I have really really good intentions, but not enough hours in the day to execute any of it.

I don't really know what the point of this is.  Just that we're happy, but busy (which I feel like I say all.the.time.)  Things are good...but hooo-eeeee am I ready for a few days off from work to be home and enjoy my family.