Making a way for Evan

It's no secret that things don't come easy for my Evan.  He has to work HARD to accomplish whatever he may be doing.  His fine motor skills have always been the hardest.  Imagine trying to write, eat with a spoon, button your pants, zip your jacket or stack blocks with two oven mitts on each hand.  That is what Evans occupational therapist says it's like for him.  Not easy. 

Obviously, pencil and paper learning isn't the best way for Evan so we, along with the school, had to come up with a different way for him to accomplish the same things.  He loves computers but he can't seem to make the connection between what he is doing with the mouse and what was happening on the monitor.  So the solution was a touch screen.  

I think I cried every time I watched him using it for the first few weeks we had it.  I just had never seen him so confident and independent.  I realized that this could be THE tool that helps Evan learn and allows him to express himself.  

Evan doesn't really fit into any mold and we are just learning as we go, how best to help him.  School is a tricky place for a kid like Evan but I think we are heading in the right direction and that's a good place to be.  I'm so proud of Evan and I think this will open up a whole new way for him.

Summer

Let the fun begin!!!

We Love Summer!!

A good excuse for some fun

Evan had a neurology appointment in Indianapolis last week.  The kind of appointment that you drive three hours for and it only lasts twenty minutes and the doctor says, "Keep doing what you're doing and we'll see you back in about six months.  Oh, and why don't we set up a MRI for you since it's been a while."  Blah.  It did give us a good excuse to surprise the kids and make this seemingly, miserable trip into a fun one.  We had some Marriott Rewards points burning a hole in our pockets so we decided to drive down the evening before Evans appointment and stay the night in a hotel and get in some swim time.  This happens to rank right up with Disney World where our kids are concerned.

Then we took it up another notch and took them to the children's museum for the day until time for the doctor.  It was fun, fun, fun and the boys are at such good ages for it.  No strollers or diaper bag! They loved the Bob the Builder exhibit, the playscape area, the carousal, and of course, the dinosaurs!  It was so nice to feel like we were going to Indy for fun and just happened to stop by the Neurologist on our way out of town. 

Three

Colin turned three last Friday.  He's big now, definitely not a baby.  We are so blessed to have this boy.  He brings so much laughter and joy to our family.  He loves his brothers and is very much a daddy's boy.  In fact, many times when I tell him that I love him, he says, "I wuv daddy".  I don't take it too personal.  He happens to be starting three on the wrong foot, with an attitude to big for his little body, but I'm sure he will come around.  How can I think otherwise when I'm staring at this face?!

We love our little three year old buddy!

For the love

I really do want to blog.  I want to post something at least once every couple of weeks.  I get on the computer and read everyone else's blogs.  I make mental notes of things I want to blog about.  Then I fail miserably to follow through.  But here I am and I'm resolving to do better. 

I'm going to try and cover some of what has happened since I last posted....3 months ago (for the love)!  This should be quick and painless but I just won't feel right about not at least mentioning some of this.  Deep breath, and: 

Evan had his 7th birthday. We celebrated our little hearts out, he deserved it. : : The 8th anniversary of Lauren's death came and went.  There were tears but there was also hope, I'm still learning this. : : Our newest little nephew, Silas, came and captured our hearts. : : We celebrated Easter. I made resurrection rolls with the boys. We colored eggs and had an egg hunt. We talked a lot about Jesus. : :  We went to the zoo. We went to the park. We picnicked. : : I worked at and shopped at the Children's Resale at the Wakarusa Missionary church. : : Jacob had his Kindergarten round up. He is so excited and so ready. : : Maple Syrup Festival, garage sale, library story time, more park, more picnics. : : Matt had his 32nd birthday. We celebrated our little hearts out, he deserved it. : : We planned a garden. : : We are in the middle of a landscape project. : : We are in the middle of a little kitchen makeover, which is making me want to do a whole house makeover. : : Matt and I managed to sneak away for the weekend sans kids. We should really do that more often. : : Parks, picnics, field trips.

I'm leaving one thing out. I did it on purpose, because it just can't be thrown into the mix with everything else.  Somewhere in the midst of all of these happenings (and many more), Evan and Jake gave their hearts to Jesus. I'm tearing up just writing about it now.  I'm so proud of them.  Evan made the decision first one night after our Bible story. I knew his heart was getting ready and that night he prayed and asked Jesus to live in his heart. After his prayer he looked down his shirt to talk to Jesus in his heart. Oh the faith of a child.  Jacob had a few more questions and waited a few weeks, but since his prayer I have noticed a real difference in his heart. As young as they are, I just don't think I expected much but I should have known better. Jesus is really working on, in and through my kids and I think it's awesome.

Coming soon: Evans new computer. Gardening. House face lift. Kitchen makeover. Colin's birthday (he'll be 3 on Friday!). Pictures. Pictures. Pictures. Stay tuned:)

*Friends are Friends Forever

We had so much fun this weekend with our dear friends, the Damaska's!  I think all the kids were plotting on how we could stay together longer.  Jacob suggested we stay for four weeks and when I said that we couldn't do that he thought two weeks was a fair compromise.  Unfortunately we couldn't do that either.  William made up a song about "the boys" staying longer.  Evan pulled out the pouty lip and used it in full force when it was time to go.  They just love to be together and since there are four hours between us, we don't get to see eachother as often as we'd like.  We are thankful for the time we do get though and it's always good and always crazy.  We love it! Thanks for the memories guys. We love you.

*Micheal W. Smith rocks!

Where has the time gone?

January sort of got away from me and now here we are in February!  Funny thing is, I still don't have much to say.  I hate when I leave my blog for this long.  It's always so hard to get back on track.

We have been keeping busy with all our usual stuff, plus I am starting to try to tackle a project everyday.  When I say project, I mean, clean out a drawer or wipe off a shelf in the bathroom I haven't wiped in 2 months.  So far I've cleaned out 4 cabinets, 2 drawers, and my pantry.  Not a bad start but I'm sure by the time I get through my list it will be time to start over again.

Colin has been a sick boy.  He started in with a cough and runny nose.  That quickly turned into croup and ended up having to go in to the doctors office to get a shot for that.  Now he is just a fevery-coughing-snotty mess.  Poor guy is just plain miserable!  Am I being unrealistic to hope that the rest of us escape this bug? 

Oh here is an interesting tid-bit.  When I took Colin to the doctor, I asked about why my boys tend to get croup when they catch a cold.  He said that some kids just have that tendency.  He said that there could be 100 kids with the same cold and three of them might get croup with it.  Unbelievable! Matt and I got ALL three of those kids!  We thought maybe we should start playing the lottery or something with all our luck:) 

I think I've rambled enough for today.  Happy Tuesday!

p.s.
I seemed to have lost the spell checker option for my posts.  Where did it go?  I can't spell so I hope you all can get through this without too much trouble:)