Decorating the Christmas tree

It's hard to believe that here we are on November 30th, we are decorating the Christmas tree...It's not even December!

Hubby took the three boys to the boy scout lot (we have to support the boy scouts, with middle and oldest being cub scouts!) in our town. They came home with a beautiful tree....hubby had already gotten out of the ornaments, so he was ready to lead the way....

When they got home, they took the 'traditional' picture with the Christmas tree (in front of the minivan on the street) with all four boys. Then, we got the tree in the house, got the tree in the tree stand and hubby put the lights on the tree and the whole family got involved putting ornaments on the tree.

We have a tradition of getting an ornament of something that they have done this year. So, obviously, youngest has the fewest ornaments (some years, the boys have gotten more than one). He was the most enthusiastic of all. He wanted to put all of the ornaments on the tree if he could. Middle boy helped youngest put the hooks on the ornaments that didn't have them and let youngest put some of his ornaments on the tree. Oldest got into it all and had a great time putting his Pixar ornaments on the tree (usually, he doesn't let us do this).

Our tree looks beautiful, although, there are a couple of spots that you can tell that youngest put the ornaments on the tree (they are close to the bottom), but that is okay. Middle boy tried to put most of his "Star Wars' ornaments up so youngest couldn't reach them.

Conference #2

Conference #2 (for middle boy) went really well. He is excelling in all areas (developing in writing, but we knew that). His teacher asked if someone in his family is good at Math and, of course, hubby is. Middle boy loves to do Math about money....again, go figure...

What was even funnier was that his teacher on the way out said to me, "You should be a teacher, you have such a kind spirit". Had to let the cat out of the bag on that one (actually, hubby did).

I typically get a daily update on youngest, but his teacher did say that he has changed a LOT since last Spring. So, that is good.

All in all, all of the teachers love my boys. That is an improvement from this time last year (even my friends have noticed a difference in me!). Makes me realize how bad things were last year.

This year, I am grateful for all of the wonderful teachers!

Whoo hoo!!!

Conference Season is Upon Us

It is that time of year when we have conferences with the boys' teachers. Tonight, we had a conference with oldest boys' teachers. This is always a nerve-racking experience because it is with his special education teacher and his 'regular' teacher.

We learned a lot about oldest. He is doing really well, he has adjusted really well. They are very pleased with him socially, academically and behaviorally. He still seems to have a small amount of 'learned helplessness'.

We also learned that his special education teacher has 'connected' with him. She allows him to add his 'Pixar' contributions and be okay with it. For example, she wants him to do calendar...if he is good, she'll let him mention that on November 18th "Wall-E" comes out (and how many days until that).

Time Waster?

I know this blog is supposed to be about my boys, but today, I am going to take a pause and post about me. I have found a new way to spend my time. No, it's not Facebook (although, that is my second biggest time waster in my world, that's how I communicate with all of my MOMS club moms these days). No, it is called being a member of the ad-hoc sub-committee of my citizens advisory board. I don't even get a title. I am a non-member of the sub-committee of the citizens advisory board of my local school district.

I got this job because I was talking to a neighbor of mine at the back to school breakfast for my development. I was telling her how happy I was that oldest boy was attending the 'local' school again (he was moved to another school last year) and how our district moves the special needs kids. I wasn't even complaining. We got to talking and turns out she is a member of the citizens advisory council (they report to the school board) and she has taken on the cause of not only the boundary changes (her main cause for getting on the council), but something about the special education program really hit her. She also got another cause of the alternative high school from another neighbor.

Evidently, at the last meeting, they got to talking about special education and another member got interested, also (so, two out of the 20 members). Of course, boundary issues were also a huge issue, but so did special education. Our district is known (in a good way) for its special education programs. However, there has been some issues with the growing needs of our district for special education.

So, I have been spending my time either connecting up with other people in different programs (which I have learned a lot that we all don't really know what goes on in other segments of special education or understand the others' programs) and explaining the different programs to these two council members.

I guess it is not really a time waster...I am working for the children of the structured inclusion program and the special needs kids at large. It has been an interesting experience (in a good way). I have found we have a lot more advocates than I thought we had (we are all good advocates in our own individual right, but there are a lot of 'typical' kids' parents who really support special education (yey!). This has also been good for me this week because I have been sick, so I sit on my computer and explain to others the various programs, answer emails, provide answers, etc. I guess it really isn't a 'time waster' as much as I think it probably is. I am serving as PR person for special education and contact person for others who have children in special education.

I still would like a title, though :).

Election Day

Today is the big election day in the country, but yesterday the two older boys voted at their school. Middle boy's chant is "I want Obama, not my Momma" (his Momma doesn't want to be president, either!). Even oldest boy voted (which I think surprised his para-pros, but he did). He said he voted for Obama.

Barack book

Tonight, my middle boy chose the book, Barack, for his night time story. It was an interesting biography about Senator Obama. In part of it, it said that Senator Obama stood, where Dr. Martin Luther King delivered his speech, "I have a dream that my four children will be judged not by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character". That is always my favorite quote mainly because I want my oldest not to be judged by his autism, but by who he is. Obviously, I want that also for my other two.

Sorry for the serious tone of the last couple of posts. This election is getting to me, I guess. I am in a constant state of prayer for this country and for God to give us all the wisdom as we vote in this election.

Barack Obama

I am trying not to make this a political blog...but today, a favorite great aunt and uncle gave my boys a book entitled, "Barack". Needless to say, that middle boy inhaled some air when he saw the book. He was so taken, he had to sit next to it on the car ride home. His eyes lit up and he has claimed it as his own.

Halloween

Halloween came without a hitch. Middle boy had a 'hibernation' day at school. They got to wear their pajamas to school and take a favorite teddy bear. They rotated classrooms and had different stations in each classroom to do activities related to their study of bears (polar bears, grizzly bears and brown bears). Middle boy loved it. Youngest was trained on the fine art of 'trick or treating" (knock on door, say 'trick or treat", get candy and say 'thank you"). The one thing we forgot to ingrain in head was that he needed to walk a little faster to keep up with oldest and middle boy.