Best Buds and Evy J

The boys are out for their Christmas get together with their Best Buddies. And I'll say it again, I LOVE THAT PROGRAM! They are partnered up with amazing high school girls. For Kyle, this is his 4th Best Buddy, and she's definitely a keeper! For Matt, this is his third year with the same girl...a completely awesome person who plans on getting a degree in special ed. For these girls, it's not like they signed up so it looks good on their transcripts; they're genuinely wonderful young women. So thankful!

Evan...what to say about Evan!? Well, our nights are better!!! Finally! It only took four years, but I can say with confidence that he is now a good sleeper. He still may not sleep as many hours as many his age, but when he falls asleep, HE STAYS ASLEEP! Yay! Sleep makes such a difference in my life; it feels so good.

Words, we're hearing new words all the time, and it's music to my ears. His latest--new this week--is "yeah." Before when we would ask him if he wanted something, he would respond with "peas," so polite of him. But his "yeah" is so darn cute. He says it almost as a question; it makes me laugh every time! Another recent, and quite appropriate this time of year, "Ho ho ho, Merry Kismas," and the word that every mother waits to hear started this past summer, "Mommy!" He says that...a lot now! He's getting really good at being able to repeat words when we ask him to. It's beautiful, simply beautiful.

Potty trained, completely during the day. We somewhat had it summer of 2009 when he was 3, but then the school year happened, and it slid down on the list of priorities. As soon as summer break of 2010 started, we went straight to underwear. And within a week or two, he joined the ranks of the potty trained. I was concerned about what would happen once school started, but it's been fine. Only one accident, and it was when they had a fire drill. Night time hasn't happened yet, but right now, it's not even a concern. I'm just so excited about how well he does during the day!

And you know what? I'm thoroughly enjoying life with Evan now. Hopefully, that doesn't sound "awful," because of course, I've always loved him more than life, loved being with him, had many wonderful mommy moment with him. It's just, I guess, taking care of him isn't as emotionally exhausting anymore. Having number 4 after the other 3 were considerably older was a bit of a shock to the system. He entered our family when our family dynamics were different. The biggest change, I was no longer a stay a home mom. That definitely contributed to me feeling drained for so long. He doesn't have playmates around the house. Before, not only did I have our 3, but I also took care of a couple of others.

And yeah, getting the positive diagnosis for fx took it's toll on me, even if I was "prepared." Maybe more than any of the other reasons I listed.

Qualifying for the Brickyard

First of all, I just put all the pictures from my phone onto the computer, and my brain was flooded with the images of the past year as they quickly downloaded. "Only" a year, but already, they're memories. At least one of those memories will make it to my blog...

The Brickyard!

We went to this race 2 days ago. It was the first race for the boys and for us. Yeah, John and I aren't what you would call NASCAR fans, but because of the boys' extreme interest in this sport, I guess we kind of are. I mean, I do have two favorite drivers...Jimmie Johnson and Juan Pablo Montoya. How did I pick them? Not sure about Jimmie (maybe just because he's good), but with Montoya, I just like the way his name sounded, lol. Really, though, that's why I picked him. So imagine my excitement and the bragging rights I had the day before the race when we found out that they were starting in the first and second position...one of them was going to win, right? Hmmm....

Let's back up, way back, like 9, 10 years ago. I'm not sure exactly when, but sometime around this time, Kyle, master of the remote control even at a young age, was flipping through channels.

And he made one of his greatest discoveries, NASCAR. Immediately, both of the boys were fascinated by these cars that were whizzing around the track. Really, before this time, I'm not sure if John or I could have named more than 2 drivers. Kyle quickly changed all that for us. So what would be the logical thing to do? Bring them to a race, of course...not. There is no way that they would have been able to handle the crowds, noise, duration, etc. So we started out slow and brought them to a practice.

I think the year was 2001, Kyle would have been almost 10, Matt, almost 8...I think. Oh how I wished I journaled back then, because I don't remember a lot of details. My biggest memory is that Chelsey was in a non-talkative mood and sat away from us, lol...yeah, she would have been almost 12. I also remember that it was a fairly quick visit.

I don't think that we brought them the following year, and maybe not even the year after that. But the past few years, they have gone. After last year, I was kind of regretting that we didn't go to the actual race...they were ready!

So this year, it was a "must." We were all going to go (minus Evan), but I waited till the week before to ask my mom to watch Evan; she couldn't. We don't have babysitters for Evan. We thought of a few that could possibly watch him, but Chelsey, who isn't all that into racing, graciously offered to watch him. I felt really badly about this, but she insisted it was ok. sigh

We asked a boy in Kyle and Matt's class if he wanted to go with us. He's someone who Matt likes to joke around with, and I was fairly certain he was into NASCAR. It was also his first trip to a race.

Summed up, it was GREAT! They had a really good time. Our seats were in the shade (YES!), we had backs to our seats (YES! although my back still screamed), and we had a good view...across from the pits but with a good view of one of the turns. This isn't to say that there weren't times when I wanted to take I nap, or that I wasn't very annoyed by the 3 smokers in front of us, but THEY loved it!

Oh, my drivers? For whatever reason, when they introduced Juan Pablo Montoya, we were surrounded by BOOS! What!? Did they not appreciate how cool his name sounds? Jimmie had a mixed review from the crowd. Matt was loving this part, because he's all about razzing.

And then when Montoya crashed, pretty much all by himself with only 14 or so laps to go, after having the lead for a huge portion of the race, they cheered.

The nerve.

Now that it's over, Kyle's choice of conversation...The Poconos this weekend. We won't be making that day-long drive.

18......18!!!

So cute then...

....and so good-looking now!

Kyle is 18! Happy Birthday to my baby...okay, okay, my adult son! :)
You've come a long way...I love being your mom...I'm so proud to have you as my son!

NASCAR At The Brickyard

John and I took the boys to the Brickyard practice on Friday...this is the 3rd year they have gone. We haven't done the actually race yet due to concern that they weren't "ready" yet...I think they would have enjoyed it this year...NEXT YEAR, WE'RE THERE!

During the first practice session (we were there for two), Kyle announced the name and number of each driver when their car was just barely in sight.

My guy, Jimmie Johnson---WON the race yesterday! And it just so happens that my other favorite driver, Juan Pablo Montoya also did quite well!

John and I knew NOTHING about NASCAR until the boys introduced it to us. They are experts! It cracks me up with Kyle...he knows every driver, their number, and the make and main sponsor of each car. It's so interesting how much he can learn about something he has a passion for.

This was right before we left, and I had the nerve to request a few photographs...they weren't too into that...as you can see.

Oldie But Goody

This picture makes me smile every time I come across it. It's more than just the picture that causes the smile; it's also a poem that John had written to me that I think about when I see this...

First, notes about the picture. They're both left-handed...notice how Matt not only is eating with his right hand (while spoon remains in the bowl), he has his left hand conveniently tucked behind his back! Kyle at least has the spoon in his left hand, and, in his defense, he might just be pushing food that was escaping back into his mouth...this time. Yes, those were the days, the days of constant

"Use Your Spoon/Fork."

John has a great sense of humor, and occasionally likes to use his humor in a poetic way. One Mother's Day--around the time-period of this picture, or maybe a little before, John went out for an early morning golf match. No big deal; I know, it was Mother's Day, but he left before I even woke up and was home within a few hours.

When I woke up, I found the poem he had left for me. It was about 2 pages long--skipped lines :)--and for the most part, very sweet. But, it was the end that made me laugh and still does (I still have it somewhere...not sure where at the moment). I think it was because the poem was sweet--telling me what a great mother I was and such, not one of his humorous ones, that made the ending so funny. The last line went something like this,

"I love you my darling

and I'll be home soon

Don't forget to tell the boys

to eat with their spoon!"

Laughter keeps us sane...

What's Playing at the Movies

Chelsey has taken Kyle to the movies a couple of times recently---Night at the Museum, and Monsters and Aliens. A couple of weeks ago, this is what Chelsey found on her calender.

As you can see--in case you weren't aware--Transformers starts on the 24th.

Father's Day Golf!

Kyle and John are going to a Father's Day golf tournament today!!!!!! Yes, that deserves all those explanation marks!

John called me a few days ago from work to tell me about this tournament. Chelsey has commitments at church today, so she's not available. She can golf, but I wouldn't say it's "her thing." John asked me to see if one of the boys would go. If anything, I thought Matt might say yes. He's gone with John and John's friend a few times; he doesn't play, but he likes to drive the cart. Kyle, though, was the one that said, "Sure, I'll go." We asked both of them several times during the past few days, thinking that Matt would change his answer to "yes," and Kyle would give us a big "nah." But it never happened!

I don't think Kyle has ever gone on 18 with John.

Rewind: Golf is John's thing. When the kids were little, we bought the little plastic golf sets for them. With help, they messed with them a little. We also tried miniature golf. Yes, family fun time...it's amazing how something that is supposed to be enjoyable can turn so stressful! ;) We don't do it often, but they now enjoy mini-golf. Now for actually swinging a club, their cooperation level is a bit low, their coordination is also lacking, and their patience...hmm. I know John would love to have them as golf partners; I think we'll get there!

So, I'm guessing Kyle won't be swinging the club today--maybe a couple of swings-- but he'll probably be doing some putting and some driving of the cart. John explained the situation to the ones running the event, so their scores aren't going to be an issue.

I'm just so happy that he wanted to go!!!!!!

Kyle has a way of making me laugh. This morning he exclaimed, "Well, today's the big day!" And I smiled, thinking that he realizes how wonderful it is that he's hanging out with his father, on Father's Day, at the golf course. I should have known better because he says that expression often...EVERY TIME there's a NASCAR race on! So, yeah, when I asked him why, he said, "The NASCAR race starts at 5!" :)

Got To Watch Those Homophones

Kyle and Matt's teacher once again invited her students to a sporting event at the high school; this time it was baseball (what a great teacher!). To get to the high school, we travel in the same direction that we would go if we were going shopping at the usual place. Evan was with us, and when we made a turn that wasn't in route with going to the store, he let out a few screams. The boys didn't say much, but of course, they noticed this. I thought I would help them understand why he was doing this--you know, give them a little insight. So I explained that Evan was feeling a little frustrated and nervous because we weren't heading towards the store anymore, and that's where he wants to go. I went on by comparing how he felt to the way they feel when they are somewhere they don't want to be. I don't remember what their response was to that, but basically, they understood.

But then, I may have pushed the whole "insight" thing a bit over the top. I slowly said to myself, yet out loud, "Because---he---has---the---same---genes---as you guys do."

The quick response to this was,

"No, we have shorts on!"

Randoms

I went to see Chelsey today! She, her roommate, and I went out to eat at Fazoli's, then we stopped at Lowe's (bought some Forsythia's--warm memories from childhood), and then it was off to Wally World (yuk). It was a last minute plan to go see her--I really need to plan these trips better so that I can spend more time with her and do more than go shopping. BUT, she's coming home soon for the summer--yeah!--so I don't need to worry about that planning until next year. Her roommate, who was carrying my camera, got a "great" picture of me lugging Chelsey's fridge across the parking lot--don't think I need to post that. That thing was heavy, and although Chelsey is stronger than me (really), I have longer arms which I think maybe made carrying it a little easier...at least that's the theory we came up with.

Last week, Kyle and Matt went over to Kyle's Best Buddie's house for a game night (Matt's buddy also went). The boys brought along their Star Wars Battleship and Trouble...they seemed to have a great time! Once again, love the Best Buddies program!

Several weeks ago, Matt and Kyle were in the variety program at school. It was similar to what Kyle did last year--they sang with some of the members of the choir. Last year, the song (that was written at the school) was "Everyday Heroes." This year, it was "Count On Me." Matt made it ever so clear that he didn't want to do it, but like so many things, we basically said, "Tough, you're doing it anyway!" We do this, well, because in most circumstances, he ends up enjoying whatever it is that we're trying to get him to do. And this was no exception. They had 3 practices, and after the first, he was fine with it. He seemed very happy and pleased with himself after each of the 2 performances. I even think I saw his lips moving during the song! :)

And Evan, let's see...he's been jumping--a lot-- recently. His behavior in stores has also deteriorated recently. He used to thoroughly enjoy grocery shopping; the last few times, he has not been content--a little screaming, gets mad if I go a direction that he doesn't want to go, etc--maybe the "terrible twos" hitting a bit late. I'm looking forward to this summer where I will have so much one on one time with him.

Time for bed...need to get there soon because I'm predicting Evan will be up in about 4 hours...maybe crying, maybe jumping, maybe "reading"....or just maybe, he might sleep through tonight....

Thomas the Tank Engine on YouTube

Kyle has been on Thomas fan for, well, his entire life. One activity that he enjoys is telling stories as I typed them out for him. He'll take characters from a variety of shows (trains play big roles), and combine them into his own story. For several years, he has been asking for "Bill and Ben go into the Spooky Forrest." As far as I know, there is no such video.

Another thing he likes to do on the computer is search for train videos for purchase. He was doing this the other day, and somehow, he stumbled upon YouTube. And what did he find there? Homemade Thomas videos! Some of them are quite simple...people video tape their Thomas trains going around the track in their living room. Some of them, are a bit more advanced. I've been keeping a close eye making sure everything stays appropriate.

One of the first ones I saw him watching had the freight trains pushing Thomas off a cliff, and then Harold dropped a bomb on him! Kyle thought it was hilarious. One of the ones he was watching today (8 minutes long) was a romance...it was quite cute, and it reminded me so much of the type of story Kyle would write. I will definitely have to keep a close watch on this, but so far, it's exactly what he's been hoping for; he's even asked if we could "buy the dvd" for some of them. Thanks to the people taking the time to make these new episodes!

On the subject of shows, a show he's been watching lately is Popeye. Recently, I brought home some spinach in a bag (for our salads and sandwiches). As he was helping me put away groceries, he said, "Mm, spinach, I'll take some." Okay, this boy doesn't even eat salads. I gave him one leaf and expected him to chew it and make a weird face. No, he ate it and asked for more--he ended up having a whole bowl of it! The next day, he had a bowl of chips and spinach mixed together. Funny kid.

Crash

Kyle and Matt's bus was rear-ended this morning...again! This happened about a year ago, although at that time, it was only Kyle on because Matt was in middle school.

I had backed my van out of the garage so that it could warm up. When I got out, I heard sirens, and, me, being the paranoid person that I am, did think that it could possibly be their bus--really, I did.

A few minutes after I came inside, I got a call from the secretary at the school where I work. She told me about the situation and said that they would cover my class while I went to the hospital. It's the rule here: if the special ed. bus gets into an accident, the children must be checked out at the hospital.

I arrived at the hospital before they did, and was relieved to see that they brought the students (5, I think) on a bus. In the last accident, they had Kyle strapped into an ambulance when I arrived at the scene.

The boys strolled in, nervous, but okay. The people working with them did an outstanding job of keeping them calm. We went to a room, along with 2 other students and their two teachers. There, they took vitals. Well, first, they asked if the boys would put on the wrist bans...somebody gave them a little background about the boys...maybe the school's police liaison, he knows about them. As I was saying Matt would not want that on, he spoke up and made it quite clear that he was not going to wear that! So I got to hold his, and they put Kyle's on him. He was concerned about it interfering with his watch, but other than that he was good with it. :)

They took Kyle's vitals first...blood pressure: 120 over 60. Kyle is so much like John. I don't know how often the words Fragile X and "laid back" are used together, but that describes Kyle. It's interesting, because yes, he still gets quite anxious when confronted with uncomfortable situations, but since he has gotten older, he does everything he can to "deal with it." When John was in an accident about 5 years ago (the other driver passed away...accident wasn't John's fault), they asked me in the hospital if he was always that calm. I think they thought he might be in shock, but I assured them that that was just him! Then there's Matt. When they went to put the cuff on his arm, he pulled his hat over his face and was extremely frustrated. His blood pressure: 182 over 112!! I don't think I could make mine go that high if I tried. They then moved us to another room so he could relax. The doctor came in to do a quick check. He was very friendly and interacted really well with the boys. They check Matt's blood pressure again, and she said it was better, although she didn't say what the numbers were.

The teachers and the superintendent asked if the boys were going to go to school or stay home. It was already a 2 hour delay, and the teacher assured me that they wouldn't be missing much. I asked the boys, and they thought that staying home was a mighty fine idea. Well, actually, they stayed at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Although this is bus accident number 2, I'm very thankful that both were so minor.

Happy New Year!

It's New Year's Eve, and here we are at home, which is where we always are for this occasion. Well, everyone is here except Chelsey; she's staying at a friend's house tonight.

John and Matt are playing golf on the PS2, and Evan is loving it. Kyle is watching TV--we're getting ready for Shrek 2 in a little bit. He of course has that on DVD, but it's a little more special when it's on TV (**quick edit--yes, we're watching Shrek--along with 3 or 4 other shows!). Right now, he's chatting about his trains and Scooby Doo characters. I love the way he combines characters from different shows to create his own episode of a unique show. And the voices are usually right on--his version of Daphne's voice is quite humorous.

I'm, obviously, on the computer, but I plan to head to the kitchen soon to clean up the mess we created. Chelsey and I created a quick dessert for her evening, and then I attempted to make tonight's dinner a little different for our "celebration," so we had a variety of items, which means a variety of a mess.

It's hard to believe there are only 4 more days left of vacation. Actually, that's how many days before I "have" to go back to school, but in reality, I have sooo much to do before then (grade an enormous amount of papers (procrastination) and prepare for next week). Next year, I'll definitely remember to not do something the final week before vacation that will leave me with a lot to grade.

We've been playing the Stars Wars Battleship game quite a bit--the boys like it. There are 4 different missions. The first 3 are similar to basic Battleship, except one doesn't sink ships; they're neutralized and destroyed! We've been playing the 1st mission which is identical to the Battleship we all know. I'm not sure we'll ever make it to the 4th level--advanced. There are extra buttons and blue pieces that go along with that level. The first time we played, it was John and Matt against Kyle and me. Since then, Kyle and Matt have been battling each other, and I serve as a neutral coach. My job is to help them enter the coordinates after they set up their fleets and ensure that they are entering the correct coordinates throughout the game--Matt seems to have trouble seeing some of them; they are hard to see (don't know why they have to make them transparent), but it makes me wonder if his prescription for his glasses needs to be changed a bit. I'm thinking of putting stickers with the coordinates on top of the plastic. I also will occasionally point out things like how there is no way a ship can be hiding in a spot that is surrounded by 4 white pegs! Overall, they do fairly well with it; they'll be ready to play independently very soon. It's a lengthy game for us--I watched the clock today--it took a little more than an hour, and they do quite well with it, but it's a long time for the coach!

Forget the kitchen; Shrek is on!

Hanging with Ky

When I got home today, Kyle came up to me with a question that he and John had rehearsed; it was asked in a very formal manner, but basically, he wanted to know if I would go to the basketball game with him. The thought of heading out in this freezing weather wasn't very appealing, but I do like going to games. It cracks me up that he now enjoys doing things like that. When he was younger, that was pure torture for him...and us.

After Chelsey graduated, I thought that my game days were pretty much over. It's not that I went to a lot--she didn't play high school sports--except soccer her sophomore year. She did, though, play in the pep band, was on the dance team her senior year, and sang the National Anthem a couple of times. In elem. and middle school, she played v-ball. She decided not to play in high school...ouch.

I'm very competitive---it hurts to lose. I played b-ball in Jr high through my sophomore year and v-ball all four years in high school. In v-ball...we were good. We lost the state championship our JR year, but won our SR year. The year that we lost, oh, the pain on the bus ride home. We listened to the song "Yesterday" by the Beatles on the long trip home as we shed our tears...how pathetic.

Back to the game--it was great! We led the entire game--that is until the final buzzer. With 2 seconds left, the score tied, the other team brought in the ball from under our basket, a kid threw the ball from around the foul line all the way down to the other end of the court, and it was one of those golden moments. It's just too bad it wasn't for us. I think I saw the mother of the kid who made the shot...some woman had her hand over her mouth, another woman was hugging her...I was happy for her.

Kyle looked tired and was yawning during the 4Th quarter. It was, after all, after 8:30! He was fairly quiet during the game, just kind of taking it in. At one point, when the score was low, he was relating the score numbers to different levels on his Star Wars PlayStation game. There's a girls game tomorrow night, but I'm not sure if he'll be up to going 2 nights in a row.

Oh no, not the Play-Doh!

Last week, my mom told me that Evan was gagging when the therapist took out the Play-Doh. I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence or not, because it's been several months since I've given him any (and wasn't interested at the time).

Tonight, his other therapist was here, and all was merry until she opened the Play-Doh container. He immediately started to gag. She tried to get him to touch it, but quickly put it away when she learned that he wasn't going to stop gagging.

Funny kid. He reminded me of a boy who had Cerebral Palsy who I worked with last year in the Lifeskills class. He reacted that way to Play-Doh and shaving cream.

He ALSO reminded me of Kyle, although I don't think Play-Doh was ever an issue for him. For Kyle, the first gag item was broccoli. I was very insistent that the boys ate a variety of foods, which they do, but broccoli is one thing that I quickly gave up on with Kyle. When he was around 3, I put his lunch in front of him (which included broccoli), and within seconds, he vomited all over his plate. When he was in elementary school, they had to careful on the days that they were serving it. That one has gotten better, although he still doesn't eat it, but one food item that has stuck is pickles. Kind of ironic, because Matt loves pickles. He'll eat them on anything. Ex.: He mixes them into cottage cheese.

When Kyle is at the grocery store with me, we inevitably have to pass by the aisle with the pickles, and they start at the end of the aisle. Gagging, eyes watering, face turning red is what one will usually see. We try to make it by there quickly, but once he starts, he's never quite the same during that trip--on edge. He doesn't go to the store too often with me, but it helps if we don't go down that aisle and pass it on the opposite end.

When we get fast food, I often don't bother ordering his burgers without the pickle, I guess partly because I think it's better if he learns to "deal with it," (on gentle terms). So, when I take his burger out of bag, he knows to turn around while I take the pickle off.

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When Evan's therapist left this evening, he did his usually floppy arm wave good-bye. BUT, he also said, "bye." That was a first. When he was much younger, at least a year ago, he would sometimes say something like "buh."

Before his therapist arrived tonight, he was looking at the title of his snowman book and said, "Waszat?" while pointing to the letter 'm.' He them made the 'm' sound!

B-ball and New Words

The boys are growing up! Tonight, they went to a Pacers game with their Best Buddies! I've never even been to a Pacer game.

One of the buddies called earlier in the week and said that the B. B. program had been given 4 tickets to the game, and I'm not sure how it was decided who would get the tickets, but somehow, they ended up with Kyle and Matt and their buddies.

I was a little apprehensive at first; the thought of them in a car with a teenager driver, all the way to Indy (45 minutes), yikes. One of the buddies just called and said that they were leaving now...the Pacers won.

I gave the boys each a disposable camera. They have almost no experience with cameras, so the outcomes should be interesting. Matt was very excited about the camera; he started taking pictures right away--like when the girls pulled in.

It's just so incredible. Ten years ago (or even less), I never would have imagined that they would be doing something like this. Two kids who did not do well in crowded places with us...now EXCITED about going to a NBA game with peers. Wow.

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Evan has been on a role with vocabulary recently. Although he has been saying words since around 11 months, nothing ever "stuck," and it was completely unpredictable when we would get to hear a word. But now, he's saying things and then repeating them kind of "on command!" Examples that I can think of right now: affe (giraffe), owl (how random is that one), pig, Gigi (our dog), ball, ish (fish), leaf, keys, bus, dog, wazsat (what's that), bee, and (eep) sleep. The "sleep" is funny. He saves it for Grandma's and Grandpa's house. When I drop him off, he immediately says to my dad, "eep," and then laughs. They make a big game out of it. Along with those words, he's also making much more effort with sounds in general. Whenever he sees a swimming pool or any other large body of water on tv, he says with enthusiasm something that sounds like "bath," kind of like "wath," but really, he's saying "splash!" His signing of "all done" and "more" have been very consistent, also.

He also seems more content recently. Chelsey was home today, and she decided to make a cake (a very, um, sad looking cake---you know it, Chel). He didn't cry when she had the beaters on! That's highly unusual. Also, when I went shopping today, I asked him if he wanted to go with me (he always does), but today, he just watched me leave, and DIDN'T COMPLAIN!

What a day! My boys seem like they are making huge gains all in one day!

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****UPDATE****

Kyle and Matt are home, and they had a good time! The buddies did, though, comment that they seemed to be getting a bit tired near the end. They really like their nine o'clock bedtime!

The buddies also told me that some woman was rude to Kyle! Both Kyle and Matt took a lot of pictures---they used up all 27 on their roles. I guess after Kyle was finished taking pictures, he was playing with the rewind thing. The girls both said that they didn't even notice that he was doing it. A woman who was sitting two rows in front of them came back and rudely told him to stop (according to the girls). The buddy tried to explain that "he didn't mean anything by it" (interpreted--he didn't mean to be rude, unlike the woman).

Ugh. Some people.

I Was Wrong!

In the previous post, I predetermined that trick-or-treating with Evan would not be successful....I was wrong.

First of all, I think part of the success of the evening was due to the fact that I didn't have high expectations; I wasn't even sure that I was going to put a costume on him.

It all began in the late afternoon. For whatever reason, it hadn't even crossed my mind that we still "needed" to carve our pumpkins; I think Matt mentioned it. So, we brought them in and cut into them. Kyle willingly participated---it's never been a favorite activity of his; Matt has ALWAYS been into it. The picture pretty much explains their pumpkin gutting techniques.

True to form, Kyle chose for his pumpkin to have a happy face.

We turned on our porch light, lit the pumpkins, and waited with lots of candy. Unfortunately, our street doesn't attract a big crowd; okay, it doesn't attract any type of crowd. Our only visitors of the evening were relatives. When spiderman showed up, Evan immediately touched his costume; I think he liked the fabric. I then started thinking, 'Oh man, why didn't I get him all dressed up? Why didn't we go downtown? He would have loved seeing all the costumes!' Within seconds, he was crying big tears because of the hooded mask--that made me feel a little less guilty!

After that, I decided to go ahead and put the clown outfit leftover from when Matt was little. It something I had made---odd choice of material, but Matt was my 'little porkchop,' because he was porkier than the other two! Evan accepted the outfit with ease. I then decided that I might as well give it a try! With pumpkin basket in hand, we walked up to my parents house. Because it wasn't 7 in the morning, Evan balked a bit. But, we made it in the door and got a cookie---he liked that. After a few minutes there, we headed out the door. There was one house (not including ours) that had a porch light on. Should I? Hey, why not! We headed over to the house, and 5 feet from the door, he started pulling away. Luckily, the people could see us, and the man brought the candy basket out to us. Evan, to my surprise, acted like an old pro! Due to the fact that we have little to no business on this street, the man encouraged Evan to keep on taking more---which he happily did! Yay!

I was then a bit disappointed that more lights weren't on, but probably, it was for the best. I went home feeling so happy!

After we walked through the door, Evan plopped down in the entrance, and proceeded to take out each piece of candy. He then put each piece back in the bucket. This went on for a while. I tried to get him to take a bite of the chocolate, but he didn't want anything to do with it. He did, though, eat a few of the Smarties.

Chelsey then taught him a fun game called, "Shake, shake, shake!" How to play? One takes a package of candy, such as Skittles or Dots, and shakes package while saying "shake, shake, shake!" He was quite amused.

Soon after, he went into the living room, and I took off his costume. John then taught him another Halloween game called "Toss the candy in the basket." Rules of game: Evan removes a piece of candy from basket, brings it to daddy, and daddy tries to throw it in the basket. Although a made basket is acceptable, it is much more entertaining when daddy misses and says, "Missed!"

(clothes wet from lemonade)

Happy Halloween!

This year, it doesn't look like any of the kids will be dressing up, so I've put on photos from years past. First, a little of our history of Halloween. In one word--"torture." When the boys were younger, I wanted so badly to have an enjoyable time trick-or-treating with my kids. No. Until the year of the Pirates, they would end up in tears or would just plain "lose it" by the end. I don't know, maybe one of the years of the Ghosts (we did that one 2 years in a row) may have gone alright. It just wasn't there thing. And it took me a few years to accept that. Actually, after they got too old to go out, they expressed a little interest in dressing up; well, at least Kyle did. Matt, no. He does, though, thoroughly enjoy having people come to our house, but unfortunately, with our "trick-or-treating on the square" (area around the courthouse), we usually don't have too many people come to the house.

Last year, Kyle went to a Halloween party with Best Buddies----and LOVED it! He was "salt." I know I have that picture somewhere around here, but I'm not sure where at the moment.

I may put a leftover clown costume on Evan tonight just to get a picture, but it would be very pointless to take him out. A.---He doesn't know what candy is. B.---I kind of want to be here for the trick-or-treaters. C.----The most important reason.....he wouldn't like it one bit. Why torture him so that he can get of bagful of stuff that he wouldn't be eating? Maybe next year.

I kind of wish that I made something for the boys just to wear around here, but time got away. Next year.

These are pictures of pictures...the scanner isn't hooked up at the moment...hasn't been since we moved here!

Best Buddies

Kyle and Matt went out to eat with their Best Buddies. I was going to drop them off to meet their buddies, buy Kyle insisted that his buddy pick him up (which she had already offered to do). So, I drove Matt and his buddy (the other buddy brought her to our house when she picked Kyle up). Matt, who made it quite clear that he didn't want to go, was a chatter-box all the way there. They both seemed to have a really good time. I'm very thankful for the program!

Are You Ready For Some Football?...

...Kyle has been saying that the past few days. Throughout the year, his teacher invites her students to attend different events at the school (so nice of her to do that); this time it was the homecoming football game. It is so amazing how excited Kyle gets about these events. When he was younger, I NEVER would have imagined; he was so not into other people.
Matt was also invited to go. A little different with him. Instead of excitement the past few days, he's been going around saying things like, "There's no way your making me go." Our response, "You're going, so knock it off." Matt-"No way, no how." Up until we actually pulled up, opened the van door, he was still announcing that he was not going to go. But, we told him he was, so he followed Kyle out of the van.
When I picked them up after the game, I could see from the smile on his face that he had a good time. The teacher told me that he talked a lot to one of the other students. As we we're leaving the parking lot, he was telling me the score, and that we won, and that you could still see the score on the scoreboard. Immediately after, he said, "Next time, Kyle can go by himself; I'm staying home." He just can't admit that he had a good time!

Happy Birthday x 3!

Happy Birthday Kyle! (19th)

Happy Birthday Matt! (20th)

Happy Birthday Chelsey! (21st)

For several years now, Matt has not been a big fan of having a birthday, so I'm not sure how "happy" his is! He always wants to "skip it."

Chelsey is home! Yay!

Her e-mail account was stolen a couple of days ago and the bozo sent out one of those completely bogus e-mails about being in some foreign country, helping the less fortunate, bag was stolen, blah, blah, blah. What an idiot. I know, I should feel sorry for how pathetic that person's life is.

Time to start the celebrations! (Actually, it's time to go to the store and buy something for Kyle and Chelsey. The ironic thing is that the one child that doesn't want a birthday is the only one who we already have a present for).