I don't want to brag, but...

Nick doesn't win many awards.

Despite being pretty smart, he hasn't made the honor roll in years. I've never met another kid who has such a positive attitude about school and learning, yet can't manage to turn in his homework. If grades were limited to the work done in the classroom, Nick would be a straight A student. I know this. I have hope that he can perform a miraculous transformation and he can pull off a 4.0 in the very near future, and as a mother I will always bet on my children, but the current state of his science grade doesn't bode well for a 4.0 this particular semester.

He works hard at his viola, but there seems to always be someone else better.  Whether they have more natural talent, or practice more or both, the glory of first chair has never been his.  Besides, the viola isn't really an instrument to play if you are looking for glory and acclaim.  That honor lies with the violins.  The first chair violin is the most coveted spot in the whole orchestra.  And the violins and the cellos tend to get most of the solos.  Violas are pretty much there for support.  They add depth to the music. Important, but if you seek the spotlight, it's not the instrument for you.

He's never been MVP despite the fact that he does his best at whatever sport he is asked to do.  He consistently gets A's in PE (they grade on effort and participation) but when he tried out for baseball the conversation went something like this "Well, you can run, but you can't hit, or throw, or catch..." (he didn't make the team)  Once, he was even on a soccer team where the coach handed out all sorts of awards for most improved, etc, and Nick was one of two kids on the whole team that didn't get any kind of award, except the participation trophy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of rewarding mediocrity, but in cases like the coach giving out special awards to all but a couple just annoyed me. If he had awarded one or two kids, I wouldn't have blinked, but it felt like he was purposely hurting my child so that we wouldn't sign up on his team again. (the parents of the other kid felt the same way)

I'm not saying that an award is any measure of a person's worth.  Awards aren't given for many of the things that Nick is so great at.  On Sundays he shows up early and stays late to do his priesthood duties, and I've never heard him complain.  I don't have to push or prod for him to get ready, he is always ready to go without a single word from me or his father.

He's never too busy to play with Christopher, or help his sister with her homework, even if they aren't being the nicest to him.  (which sadly seems to be more often than not)

And he might not notice when the garbage needs to be taken out, but will always stop whatever he's doing and take it out immediately.  Or if he catches me taking it out, 100% of the time, he will say "Here, mom let me do that for you."

So anyway, Nick doesn't win many awards.  Until this week. He won not one, but two.

He is the Student of the Month at his school. 

They surprised him in science yesterday.  His orchestra teacher put his name in the drawing, and I love what she said-  "THE most helpful and upbeat student I have ever met...."

I guess he has made a pretty big impression over there because he also won Student of the Month for the Performing Arts department as well.   

At first glance you'd think the school wide honor was the better one.  He got a candy bar and a coupon for a free cookie and a fancy certificate.  He will also have his picture on the school website.  (which is kinda funny since he won the award for his positive attitude, but in his school picture he looks pretty angry. )

I'm not sure the Performing Arts award came with any treats or even a certificate.  His picture is on a bulletin board in the hallway outside his orchestra class. 

My favorite line part, "Even though he is a freshman, he shows tremendous initiative.  He also brightens everyone's day with his continuously upbeat and enthusiastic personality!"

But I think it is the greater award because the teachers all got together and decided he was the student who deserved it this month.  With the school wide award, Nick's name was put into a drawing along with other deserving kids, and it was mere chance that his name was drawn.  (At least that's my understanding of the process)

It's touching that although she put him down for the school award, his orchestra teacher ensured he won the departmental award.  (I'm sure his drama teacher had something to do with it too)

Anyway,  Nick is pretty touched and a little blown away by it all. 

And I'm just so glad to see that every once in awhile, nice guys do finish first.

Our little rain man

As of today, next year I will have four kids in four different schools.  Nick will be in high school, Maddie will be in jr high, Zach will go to the neighborhood elementary school, and Christopher will be shipped off to a different elementary school.

There was the chance that he could go to the local elementary school since they have a spice program there (that's what they call the classes for autistic kids) but our school is a Spice 1, which is for kids who need more help, but Christopher will be in Spice 2. (higher functioning)

I went to a meeting with his teachers the other day.  It was really good.  It was great to hear how much they adore him, how smart he is, what a great kid he is, etc.  He does really well in class, finishes his work, respects his neighbors, etc.

He still has issues.  He still doesn't like to be told no or that he is doing something wrong.  He tends to shut down, and they have to work with him to bring him back.  Apparently failure and the fear of failure is a bit paralyzing to him.  That's probably why potty training took so freaking long.  I think what finally worked was watching the other kids use the bathrooms day in and day out until he finally decided that it was something he could do.

Apparently he is an excellent speller.  He likes to memorize his sight words and he is at or pretty dang near the top of his class.  We're working on sounding out words too, and he does pretty well, but he really likes memorizing words.  In fact, all day long we are spelling things.  Sometimes it drives me a little batty, like when I am concentrating on something else, and he is asking me to spell the name of every person he knows (even though he has those all memorized).

The problem though is that while "Spelling Bee Champion" might be in his future, his comprehension of certain things isn't up there with his ability to read them.  He gets nouns and verbs and most adjectives (red, big, soft)  but it's all those other pesky little words that are proving to be difficult.  Take for instance two, to, and too.  I think he thinks they are all acceptable spellings for the number 2.  The End.  The concept of "too" as in "also" seems to be over his head.  (He frequently asks me to point out the "too" in a picture of a book we like to read together.  The line in the book reads "You can, too!")

And lately there are the numbers.  He's becoming very aware of numbers all around us, and he likes to tell me what time it is all the time.  "Six four five!  Mom!  Six four five!"  And then while we are driving, he reads aloud the numbers posted on the front of the houses as we drive by.  Last night he surprised us with this little parlor trick- "Christopher's house is one-three-seven-four.  Braden's house is one-three-eight-four."  I got curious so I started asking about his friends' houses- He got the numbers right every time. (I had to look them up)

I'm very curious to see what the next few years will bring.  It's fun watching these funny little quirks and talents emerge, and while I know that there will be struggles ahead, I feel positive that with the continued help of his teachers we can work through those.  It's amazing to me the progress he has made in these last 7 months already.

Spring Break! Woo-hoo!

-or-

It's a good thing there was no school last week since we all caught the plague.

Madison started Spring Break off right by throwing up in front of the whole 6th grade only minutes before school let out for a week.

She spent Saturday recovering, and by Sunday she felt well enough to go to church. 

We had crock pot chicken pot pie for dinner.  I don't think either of us will be eating that any time soon as she threw it up all over the kitchen floor and I was the one who had to clean it up.

Monday she spent recovering.

Tuesday she felt well enough to go a friend's house where she ate a bunch of cookie dough.  For dinner we had "Taco Tuesday", usually a big hit with the kids.  The chicken tacos are pretty tasty, and for only $10 I can feed my whole family. (Christopher usually opts for a pb&j or something from the freezer). 

"Taco Tuesday" will not be on the menu any time soon.  Madison threw up immediately after eating one, and just the smell of the tacos was more than she could stand.  A similar incident with Nick several years ago has prevented us from eating at Del Taco since. 

I was getting worried that there was something wrong with her, as she was getting sick only in the evenings, and each incident was about 48 hours apart.

Then Zach started puking.

The kids being sick was bad news for Nick as he had invited some friends over to watch Doctor Who and celebrate pi day (3/14). 

Good thing he cancelled because he was throwing up before his nerdy get-together would have ended.  Which was REALLY BAD NEWS because he was supposed to leave bright and early the next day for this super fun mountain man rendezvous campout that he had been looking forward to for weeks. As a scout troop they even made knives in anticipation of this event (and as you recall another mother sat up sewing him his capote).

He spent Thursday recovering, and John was able to take him and meet up with his troop bright and early Friday morning.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, Christopher threw up all over his bed and floor around midnight one night during the week.  I finally trudged to bed around 430 am, after he finally passed out. 4 hours of crying will do that to you.

And then it took some convincing by me to make John and Nick go camping on Friday morning when John caught me hugging the toilet at 3 in the morning.  I could see it in his face that he planned to stay home and take care of me.

He might have stayed if we didn't have such great kids.  He put Maddie in charge of taking care of me.  I was easy, I just needed sleep.  They took Christopher on bike rides, to the park, I gave them money for frozen yogurt, I let them go to the dollar store.  And I slept and slept and slept.

And then, when I finally ventured down the stairs- I expected to find the house a disaster, but instead, I stumbled upon a scene that made this poor mother's heart melt.  They were cleaning.  And not just picking up, but scrubbing the table and sweeping.  (Before this I had my doubts to whether the kids could tell the difference between a clean and dirty table, as the sticky messes seem to bother only me) Madison had even purchased flowers from Sprouts with her own money. 

The next morning I was treated to breakfast in bed (applesauce and soda crackers) with little get well notes written on the napkins.

I think the kids took better care of me than I did of them. I can't decide if that means I have exceptional kids or my mothering/nursing skills need improvement.  I'm going to ignore the voice in the back of my head telling me otherwise and choose to believe option one.

So, if you are counting, by Friday morning, 5 out of 6 of us had been sick.  John escaped by being out of town.  Unfortunately he did spend about 2 days in town which is just enough time to catch what we had and take it to Washington DC with him this week.  He plans to puke after class.

So that was our big spring break.  For once I'm glad I didn't have anything big planned like Disneyland or out of town guests. And as soon as he brings up his science grade, I'll let Nick re-invite his friends over for another doctor who nerd fest. :)

♪♫ Like a good neighbor...

....State Farm is there ♪♫

Okay, so this isn't really a State Farm commercial, and really about good neighbors and friends, but I couldn't just leave that jingle just hanging there, half finished.

Last week I had the opportunity to be grateful for good friends and neighbors not once but twice.

Last Sunday I took John to the airport.   The plan was that after I arrived home I had about one hour to get finish getting myself and my kids ready for church.  Doable.  Nick was already gone practicing a song with the young men that they would be singing in church the next week.  I left the older two with instructions that they were to be bathed before I got home.  They were. 

Everything was going smooth for the most part (Christopher tries to convince me he needs to stay home every week) But then I walked in the door, pushing the button to shut the garage door behind me.  It wasn't long before I heard a loud crash. I ran out in the garage expecting to see some huge catastrophe, but at first glance I couldn't see anything wrong.

Then I noticed this-

That long black thing above the garage is the spring, and it's not supposed to be in two pieces.  And when it broke, it dropped my garage door on it's way down. (the crash) So I set the garage to manual and tried to lift with all my might. No such luck.  It didn't budge.

I was stuck.

There was no way I was going to be able to get my car out.

Madison was the good example and immediately called a friend and asked for a ride.  I wasn't sure if I had time to find rides for everyone and be ready when those said rides materialized, so I gave up before I started and texted Nick that I most likely would not be at church and he needed to find a ride home.

After some explaination of the situation, he texted back saying that he and his scout leader would be over in a few minutes.

Long story short, they were able to lift my garage so that I could back out and even make it to church on time.

We delivered a big plate of Thank-You Cookies ( sugar cookies) to this man's house the next night.  And the bonus was that they were in the middle of watching a movie in the back yard and invited us over.

That night when I got home I checked my e-mail before going to bed to find something that set me panicking.

In just two days Nick would be attending a Mountain Man rendezvous with his fellow scouters, and some mothers determined that they needed "capotes".  (Big fuzzy mountain-man like coats to keep them warm).  Other boys had done them in years past, they were always a big hit, and it was the consensus of the mothers that they didn't want to send their boys off without this particular wardrobe item. 

The email stated that the mothers (all of which I consider my friends) were all getting together the next day at noon with our purchased material and sewing machines so we could send the boys off in style.

That's great in theory, and John's response to the forwarded e-mail said "That sounds great! Nick would love it! They're supposed to be really warm."

My response back was "Did you read the part about me showing up at the church with my non-existent sewing machine and my non-existent sewing skills?"  (not to mention that fabric stores give me the hives, because they speak another language and look at me like I 'm an idiot and don't belong there.)

I ended up responding back to the email to the other mothers saying that I really really can't sew, don't own a sewing machine etc. (I pay people in caramels to sew on scout badges)

I spent some time on the internet trying to figure out if I could buy one, (not cheap, and not at all similar to the example pictures that came in the email)

After talking to Nick, he said it was okay if we just borrowed one.  He knows I have my limits and sewing anything is beyond them.  I am sure he was disappointed, but he didn't show it. 

As I started making phone calls I received a new email from one of the mothers.  She said she had extra material I could have.  Her son changed his mind on the color choice, and if Nick was ok with gray he could have that material, and if I helped cut it out, she would sew it up that night.

I think I heard angels sing.

Whether or not gray (with black and white animal print for the hood and sleeves) would have been his first choice, Nick never let on. He was just excited and grateful to have his own.  (he made that knife and wanted to show it off too.)

My friend got a big plate of cookies too.

Twice this week, when things were looking hopeless, I received a message via email or text that help was on the way.  We would have survived with the car stuck in the garage for a day or two, and Nick would have made do without complaint if the best I could give him was a borrowed capote, but I am so grateful for good friends and neighbors who stop by in their suit and tie to heft a dirty garage door for me, or stay up after her kids go to bed so that Nick will have his own capote like all the other boys.

Excuse me, not just "good neighbors", The Best.

just thought I'd share

I had a crazy dream last night. Unlike most dreams that slip through my mind within moments of waking, this one has continued to occupy my thoughts all morning.

For some reason we were house hunting for a new home.  I think it was in another country, but there wasn't a language problem, so I can't be sure.  John and I had found a home we could afford, (which apparently wasn't much) but that was the extent of his involvement.  But after that he was mysteriously absent, (maybe he had to work) so it was up to me to decide if this was the right house for us.

Of course the house was a total dump.  It was small, and ugly, and dark, and awkward, with weird hallways and stairs and rooms that seemed to be added "post construction". 

It's good points seemed to be the price, the giant yard, and the fact that it was just down the street from the local elementary school.

Other bad points were the next door neighbors (Institution for the Mentally Insane) and the fact that when I asked about such things like the plumbing and  termites, the realtor dodged my questions with gift certificates for free jam. One for each member of our family.

And then I woke up.

I'd like to believe we would have crossed that one off the list.  The yard was pretty nice though.  Or maybe the dream was meant to serve as a warning that we shouldn't move any time soon.  They do keep trying to get us to move to Belgium.

finish what you've started.

Easier said than done.

Okay, I've got a problem.  I can't seem to finish a book these days. It's becoming ridiculous.

I start one, then get sidetracked, or realize that book club is in a week and I need to hurry up and find a copy, which leaves me only a couple of days to read, which sometimes it isn't a problem, except it seems that those two days are pretty crazy busy, and so I end up showing up to book club "not quite" finished yet.

For instance- I'm about halfway through with the Forgotten Garden.  I had already read it before, for a different book club, but that was a year or two ago, and I'd forgotten much of it, and am enjoying reading it a second time, but book club was a week ago and I haven't picked it up since.

The month before that was The Maze Runner. I have like 50 pages to read. But to be honest, I am not sure I will finish.  There are two other books that follow this one in the series, and it's a little more darker and disturbing than I usually go for.  So I'm not sure how much of myself and my time (and money- I'm no good with libraries, by the time I pay the late fees I might have well just bought the dang book off Amazon) I want to invest in a series.

Then there are the book club books that I started reading, never finished, and never made it to book club.  (Usually book clubs I was crashing and not on the official email list, therefore probably missed because I didn't know when or where to go, but since I didn't finish the book anyway, no harm done)
Books like the Scarlet Letter, The Picture of Dorian Gray, and The Devil in the White City.  I do have a plan to finish that last one since that is the book I am currently planning on having people read when it is my turn to host in a few months.  It's a pretty interesting read, and it is non-fiction even though it reads like a novel.  It's about Chicago in the early 1890's and a serial killer.

Then there are the books I picked up just for fun, but usually end up putting them back down (halfway through) because I "really should get started on the the book for book club".   I'm liking Freakonomics, but it's not a real page turner, so I pick it up here and there, start reading, can't remember what they are talking about, back track to figure it out, and then I get distracted, put it down, and start the cycle all over again in a couple days.  I must have ADD.

Also, I got excited about Midnight in Austenland, the new Shannon Hale novel. And I'm about one third the way through it, but had to put it down cause guess why? It was three days until our book club meeting and I hadn't yet started reading that book.

And several months ago I started Clockwork Angel, and some day I plan to pick that back up, I even looked at the sequel at the store, but didn't buy because the list of books I am working on is bordering on ridiculous.  At this point I need to focus on what I already have.

And then who can forget Hunger Games?  No, I haven't finished that one yet either.  But this time it was on purpose.  I think it was the book that started it all.  I didn't finish a book, and the world didn't end.  Anyway, I said it was on purpose.  I was on an airplane, and I was almost done with the book, a chapter or two to go, but I knew there was a cliffhanger, and I knew I was at least two weeks away from getting home to where book two sat in my bookshelf, and I knew book three wouldn't be out for another couple of months. And I had just hit a good spot.  Katniss and Peeta both win! Yay! The End For Me! And I tucked my airline ticket stub in it to save my spot, and put it away.  But now the movie is coming out, and I'm feeling the pressure to finally finish it.

So this month is Goose Girl.  The good news is I've already read it, so I just have to decide whether or not to dive in again.  It has been a couple of years, and the details are fuzzy, and I find that I get a lot more out of book club meetings in which I have recently read the whole book, instead of spending most of my time trying to decipher what everyone else is talking about.  But I am afraid that I will just be adding to the pile of good intentions on my nightstand.

(and of course we aren't even going to talk about the books that I have purchased with intentions of reading but haven't gotten around to yet. At least I can take comfort in knowing that many of the books have been read by someone else in this house, but still...)

phone pics -continued

Nick just finished his very first ever school play- "I Never Saw Another Butterfly". He had lines and everything. He did an awesome job and said he had a lot of fun.  I'm trying really hard, but I can't not mention his T-rex impression. (he was supposed to be a bird) It was funny. For whatever reason, he said they didn't practice that part of the play very much, so on opening night during the "play within a play" scene, he had me wondering what on Earth he was doing. It took a couple of minutes to figure it out. I guess his teacher even yelled at him. Needless to say, John said he was very bird-like the next night.  We had to tag-team both nights, as we had several events going on each night. (soccer games, pack meetings, etc)

While his bird impression needed a little work, he did a good job as a Jewish kid during WWII.  Personally I think the T-rex added a little comic relief to an otherwise downer play.  (in the end most of the kids including Nick get shipped off to Auschwitz.)

Oh! and I have to mention that on the closing night of the play Nick stayed out until one in the morning.  They had to break down the set, then they had a cast party at some one's house.  I finally felt like the mother of a teenager having to wait up for my kid to come home, or in this case, a text to come and get him.  Since there had never been a reason before we had to discuss curfews and how one in the morning is a not an acceptable curfew for a 15 year old. But we'd let it slide cause a) it was a special occasion, and b) we hadn't had reason to set up curfews before.  Of course, when I told his dad he was out so late, his response was "Good for him!"  (Secretly we are pleased he was off having fun, but as the responsible parents we still need to set limits Ü. )

Speaking of soccer games, Zach has been having a lot of fun on his team.  Christopher took these pictures because there are days when playing with my phone is the only thing that will keep Christopher happy and seated. Zach's team is one of the orange blobs.  I couldn't say for sure whether or not Zach is even on the field or not.  

And here is one of the two of us when he got antsy and climbed onto my lap.

And finally ten minutes before the game ended, he fell asleep in his chair watching his new obsession on youtube- videos of school buses. 

Here's a couple pictures that made me laugh-

Can you guess which kid is responsible for each?

Did you guess that Christopher is the goofy kid who carefully lined up the rocks in the street in the front of our house, and that only my girl would draw a heart around a sci-fi reference (and spell it wrong as well)?

Although I would rather the kids pick these up when they are done, I love that my kids love Calvin and Hobbes. 

Zach is really into them lately.  His current favorite genre of books seem to be comic books these days, but reading is reading. And how awesome are Calvin and Hobbes? They're timeless. I remember buying some for my little brother for his birthday when he was 14 or 15.

And finally, someone posted this on facebook and I had to copy the picture. 

I figure it might come in handy in four years when Maddie starts dating. She already has her share of admirers. One boy even left a small heart shaped box of chocolates on her desk on Valentines day.  Of course I told her she wasn't allowed to date until she learned to eat like a lady.

I realize we were eating ribs on this day, but she is always the messiest eater in the house. On the other hand, there is that philosophy of keeping your daughters as unattractive as possible for as long as possible.  She can clean up when she's in her mid twenties, after college, when she's ready to settle down and get married. Until then, I will just have to keep plenty of napkins on hand.

phone pics

Just for fun I thought I'd share some recent pictures off my phone.  Maybe some of these things deserve their own blog post, maybe not.

If I get to wordy, I'll make this a two-part series. (Lucky you)

Christopher lost a tooth this weekend. It was his second one. (Okay, third, but we don't want to talk about the one that got pulled several months ago. They gave it to me in a box so he could stick it under his pillow, but it was so bad it went straight into the trash. I don't know what tooth fairies use teeth for, but they wouldn't want this one).

Anyway, this was the first tooth to actually make it under his pillow.  He lost his first tooth a couple weeks ago, I had been waiting for it to come out because he'd been growing a row of shark teeth behind his baby teeth, and when it finally came loose, he wouldn't let me near it. It hurt, it bothered him, he cried, but kept his mouth clamped tightly shut.  I think he was a little traumatized by my offers to pull it. Then the next morning he woke up and it was just gone.

But this tooth was a completely different story.  Zach lost a tooth last week and put it under the pillow for the tooth fairy.  It must have had an effect on Christopher because when his tooth was bothering him on Saturday, HE LET ME PULL IT OUT.  Which actually makes him my first kid to voluntarily let me yank something.  In two weeks time, he did a total 180 from "You monster! how dare you suggest I let you touch my mouth! Don't you know it hurts?!?!" to "Yes. Please yank it.  I would feel so much better."

On a whim we used part of our tax return this year to buy a pool table.  We found a pretty good deal on Craig's List.  Seems people would rather sell their perfectly good tables for a bargain rather than move them.

And then we bought a ping pong top to go with it.

The kids have been playing with it non-stop.  I just need to redecorate the room now.  New paint, some kind of curtains/window treatments, some fun decor... Unfortunately the giant collection of trains still occupy the room, and will until Christopher stops playing with them, but the room is slowly turning from a toy room to a game room.  John and I have big ideas for the room.  He wants a TV to watch sports.  I want a jukebox.  An old fashioned kind with the lights and the bubbles. I found one for only $3800. (reg. about $6000)  But, we don't have that much money just sitting around. Darn you responsibilities and bills. And kids who like to eat.

I went with Madison and the rest of the 6th grade to the Renaissance Festival. It rained up until it was time to go.  Madison still had fun.  But she has one of those sunshine-y attitudes and manages to have fun despite the weather.  And she still managed to don a set of fairy wings as well.

Here she is making a rubbing.  She thought that was pretty cool. She wants me to frame it.

Okay, I got too wordy. (I doubt that surprises anyone)  So, stay tuned for the exciting conclusion of my recent phone pics.

progress

Once upon a time (only weeks ago),  Christopher couldn't answer the most basic of questions.  Okay, so he could answer yes or no questions, and other than that conversations were pretty one sided. He'd basically repeat back to you what you just asked.

"Did you have fun at school?"
"Fun at school."
"What did you do today?"
"Do today."
"Did you color?"
"Color."
etc.

You get the drift.

For the past few years I have been working on two simple questions, questions that come in handy should he ever get lost or wander off in Target or something like that.

"What's your name?"

and

"How old are you?"

Two year olds answer these questions all the time.

For us it would go something like this-

Me-"What's your name?"
C-"What's your name?"
Me- "Your name is Christopher."
C-"Your name is Christopher"
Me- "What's your name?"
C- "What's your name?"

Asking him his age would give the same results.  And I'd also show him how to hold up all five fingers to illustrate that he was five.

Esercise in Futility.

I am proud to say that he can (Finally!) answer these two simple questions.

Yesterday in the car the conversation went something like this.

"What's your name?"
"My name is Christopher."
"Good job!  What's my name?"
"Name is Mom."
"That's right! How old are you?"
"I'm five fingers."
"Good job!   You're so smart!"

and then a few seconds later...

"Mom is one hundred fingers."

Awesome.