Hershey Park

sorry I havent posted much spring is so crazy busy around here and unfortunatly sickly too! With allergies and colds it truely seems (and possibly may be) as if at least one of us is always sick!I think i've slept about 9hrs in the last 2 days the baby is sick and we went to Hershey Park yesterday. When we got home at almost 11pm I jumped in the shower (it was above 80 down there) and took the baby to the emergency room. He gets these really bad coughing spells. We went to bed after 2am and then got up and got the kids off to school.....







It was hot but the kids had so much fun! Aunt Ruth, Uncle Matt, Anna, Devin, Grandma and Grandpa went with us too. Daddy didnt come which was a bummer but maybe next time. The kids loved having Anna and Devin to ride with, Micah felt a little left out cuz Devin likes to hang with Bailey, but for the most part it all went well. I cant believe how expensive hershey has gotten though! Ethan LOVED the Reeses xtreme ride its like a little roller coaster and as you ride you have a laser gun and you shoot at these lit up targets, we rode it twice and he would have rode it all day! Maddi wanted to go on the big roller coasters but she obviously isnt big enough!but she liked the scrambler. Bailey on the other had didnt want to go on the coasters but did ride one of the water coasters and got wet (he wasnt thrilled with that) and Micah liked anything that went fast! They were all pretty well behaved and I was proud of them. Me, Grandma and Grandpa were pretty much exhausted by the end of the day...the kids still wanted to ride more rides..........Ps Ethan did NOT like the characters!!!!You can see him strangling me in the picture with the Hershey bar!

Random pictures of the last few weeks

We had Micah's crossover for boyscouts. He went from wolves to bears, he was so excited! Maddi was excited cuz one of her best friends was there Ryan.

Ethan picked out his own pjs....typical boy.

The other picture is Bailey and Devin at the volleyball tournament. It was nice.

science project

Micah's science project. He had so much fun making it and maddi recommended the snowman. too cute!

Micah's homeschooled gym class

It was at our church's gym. There was even a few people there from our church who homeschool thier kids too. I met and talked to a few of the mom's who I had already talked to on the online homeschooling group. It was nice to put faces with the names. Homeschooling is challenging in some ways, but also rewarding. Micah seems (to me at least) to be improving in his reading and his confidence is improving. When he reads pages with more words on it he doesn't get so overwhelmed like before. I bought a reading comprehension book for 2nd grade at the christmas tree shop and he loves it, he was intimidated at first cuz of so many words, but now he does great. And he retains the stories and answers the questions at the end with little to no help. I'm very proud of him. I would like to go see if they have a 3rd grade book to work on over the summer. I really hope I can get him over this hump in reading so when he goes back to school next year he wont have such a hard time. When we finish the last allergy test and one more trip to the DR to see that all other reasons are cleared. I will take him to get the medication for the ADHD. I want him at home while he is trying it so I can make sure it is really helping him. Anyways

Ethan's art project

We are taking a ceramic art class for Micah's homeschooling Ethan painted the pig blue (his favorite color) and since he slept through todays class I finished his piggy bank for him. Its cute! Micah is painting a dinosaur, but his isnt done yet, we antiqued it today, we should be able to finish it next week, hopefully.

busy

Well.....I talked to the realestate agent today. She said that it can take up to a month to hear back from them! Ugh! these last 2wks have dragged...I cant imagine another 2 weeks especially if they end up saying NO!
Anyways sorry I havent posted much. Homeschooling has kept me SO busy! I only have a few minutes to post this then Micah needs to get a book read and then I need to get a shower and get the house cleaned up (again) Dishes, laundry and the beds are made and done but I still need to vaccum and sweep (its only been 20 hrs since I did them last but it looks like a week) Anyways I will try to get some cards posted by this weekend. later

My "Son" Shine

Ethan loves when I sing him this song. He also likes it when I change the word Sunshine to Superhero!
This will replace the winter scrapbook page on my wall that needed to be changed 2 months ago for spring. I figure this could run into summer and not look as out of place as the winter page has looked all spring. All Stampin Up! stamp sets, ink and papaer but the letters are cut with my cricut!

He's doing so good

Micah is working so hard doing his work! I really dont have time to post Today is crazy buisy but I just wanted to post this and the only project I've had time to do in a week!

My sisters 25th wedding anniversary

My sister Lori and brother in law Steve renewed their vows at the castle in town last Sat.Then we went to the banquet hall for lunch. It was nice. The boys weren't with me for the ceremony. Bailey and Micah were at the Wii bowling tournament at school (they both won 2nd place in their age catagories) I only got to stay for 1.5 hrs then had to be at the castle (uncle matt watched them) and Ethan was home sick with Scott. So it was just me and Maddi. She loved the castle! Me not so much some of the stairways (ladders) and rooms were very narrow and I'm not thrilled with any small spaces.
Anyways I am now as of Monday a homeschooling mom, well at least to Micah. This is our 3rd day. Micah has a little bit of work left to do but we all needed a break and Ethan needs a nap so here we are! Micah has done fairly well today was the first meltdown...which is good for him. Asperger's is hard. He looks and acts normal for the most part and then bang all of a sudden it rears its "ugly" head. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it is the Aspergers and not my son who is behaving so fiercly. It is still frustrating, because there is no reasoning with him to calm him down only time and space can do that, so patience is very important. And some days I dont have many, by the end of the day I just want to go to bed, not cuz I'm physically tired, but because I am just emotionally spent............I always feel guilty when I complain because I've seen how much worse Autism can be, I am so lucky he doesn't have it more severly, I can talk with him and he responds, I'm lucky to be able to hear my son say I love you and that he hugs me.......I know some mothers who live with out this. I am blessed to have such a unique little boy. I just have to remind myself of these facts sometimes when I dont know what else to do with him. By the way we still haven't heard back about the house, which is definatly taking its toll. As much as I dont want to admit it I'm coming to the conclusion that this means our offer is not going to be accepted....yet another roller coaster of emotions.

Stressed and pics of fishing

I am stressed....I wanted all the papers ready for monday to go up and take Micah out of school to be homeschooled...life never goes as planned. The school psychologist wouldnt sign the objectives paper (states what you plan to teach the child for the homeschooling year), she said she wasnt sure what the objectives needed to be. According to everyone I've talked to and everything I've read, they just need to be vauge so you have room to adjust depending on how the child is progressing. So I made them vauge. The school guidance counselor took them to Micah special education teacher (who can also sign for the objectives) and I hoped to have them sent home at the end of the day friday with Micah ( who cleaned out his desk as friday was to be his last day) They werent sent home because she says she's not sure either. I feel like they are stalling for some reason. Frustrating. So I have to get up and get to school first thing in the morning to go up there and get this done. I have no idea who to call for leagal advice to make sure I am doing this right. I know other special education teachers some not in our school district that might be willing to sign the objectives but I dont know if the teacher has to be in our district! I cant find a definate answer online and I dont know who to call. I find myself in the same boat as with the IEP and other problems I've had with the school this year, Alone "against" the school with very little knowledge of the laws and the school is still stalling just as they have with everything else this year. I dont know what to do.
As far as the house the listing agent said that this bank usually takes 3-6 days to get back on offers. so we are still waiting! I am trying so hard not to stress about it, but I want the house so much. We have looked for 7yrs and we have only once found a house in our price range that was big enough for all of us and we didn't grab it when we had the chance because it was in worse shape than this house and it needed a new roof and I think it needed a new septic too. I'm afraid if we miss out on this offer it will be another 7yrs until we find something.........that would be devistating. We need a house, mom and dad want to move in here because its one level and they arent getting any younger. So this is the year we have to move and if not here, then where? I'm afraid we will end up with a house that has less square ft than here and a mortgage payment of more than double the rent we pay here! I need to stop thinking about it, Im getting stressed again. Anyways here are some pictures of our fishing trip last Sunday.

Vacation page from Ethan's first year album

This was our trip to Dorney Park, which the kids absolutly loved! We also went to the crayola factory which was really fun too, they had all sorts of stuff for the kids to do and it wasnt to crowded either. It was a nice little get away right before school started.

Pages from Ethan's 1st year album

time flies.......for real it only seems like yesterday! I do miss having a baby around in alot of ways, but in some ways it is nice like not having to pack half the house when we leave to go somewhere and finding a place to change a dipar or 3am feedings...those types of things, but man do I miss those tiny little bundles to cuddle and love and those raspberry kisses! I just have to enjoy all the bigger kid things now...Until I get some grandchildren!
Of course I used Stampin Up!'s simply scrappin kits and a AC Moore sticker on the one page.

new research found link between vinyl flooring and autism

Vinyl Flooring Linked to Autism
U.S. and Swedish researchers have discovered a surprising link between vinyl flooring and autism in children. In the course of researching allergies and indoor air pollutants, scientists discovered infants and toddlers who "lived in bedrooms with vinyl or PVC flooring were twice as likely to develop autism five years later than those with wood or linoleum flooring." The scientists said the connection was "far from conclusive" and recommended further study. Vinyl floors are made with phthalates, a softener for plastics, which may be emitted into the air from normal wear-and-tear. The controversial chemical was banned by Congress for use in children's products in 2008. In all, researchers identified four environmental factors associated with autism: vinyl flooring, the mother's smoking, family economic problems and poor ventilation in the home. For more information about proper home ventilation and healthy indoor air quality, see the BobVila.com article, "Prescription for a Healthy Home."

I found this on bob vila's home blog site here is the link to his
http://www.bobvila.com/OnTheLevel/Vinyl-Flooring-Linked-to-Autism-3939.html
copy and paste to your browser.

even more pics of the house

We will remodel one of the bathrooms before we move in and the other one later. The little cubbies in the walls will be finished for storage and little nooks for the kids to play in! they are so excited

more pictures fo the houese

It has a Huge yard!!!........ I am so excited! I hope it all works out! Pray for us that we are making the right choice and that it all goes well either way.

Our new house?

Maybe!!! We will be placing an offer on the house on Monday! We have already been priority preapproved. So If the bank accepts and everything goes right we will have a house! Finally after 7yrs of looking! It is 5brm 2ba. 2100sqft, Over 2 acres. in ground pool full basement. It needs some plumbing work (thank heavens I married a plumber) and new carpets and a little patching on the walls and a lot of paint and cleaning to be able to move in. It has been vacant for a yr now so the yard needs mowing and there is some junk in the yard that needs cleaning up. Anyone wanna come help?:P We are going to remodel the kitchen later it is liveable. It is our diamond in the rough! God is awesome!!!

page of Ethan's first year album

This is the last page of Ethan's first year scrapbook. It is his first hair cut with our long time barber, Mr. Shaw. I used Stampin Up!'s scrapbooking kit (dont remember the name of it)I absolutly love our scrappin kits, they have everything you need and it all cordinates! (which I'm big on)

more of Maddi's album

Daddy's little girl and our little "Queenie"
Creative Memories paper that someone threw in the garbage at my scrapbooking b-day party. Also my Stampin Up! set I love this new set

Easter 09

Make a Smilebox greeting

Maddi scrap page

made with my pretty new stamp set! this is last May at our church, for the Mother Daughter Dinner.