Nick's first job

Ok, so technically he was employed by Gilbert Public Schools to help with various productions that wanted to rent out the High School Auditorium, but he only worked a couple of times, so it almost doesn't count.

This is his first real job.

His first real clock-in, get paid minimum wage, wear a uniform, "would you like fries with that?" job.

He actually loved it.  Not the fryer or the grill, but part where he got to make ice-cream and interact with customers.

Cause seriously, that's two things this kid loves- people and ice-cream.

Most of our family excursions for a treat involved visiting Nick at work.  It was either that or visiting a certain girl at Bahama Bucks.  Cause sometimes shaved ice sounds better than ice-cream.

Band Field trip

With all these choir and orchestra and drama field trips and activities, I felt it was time to start better supporting another performing arts program- Band.

Lucky for me, I'm the mom of a cute trumpet player, so that works out pretty good!

And what better way to support him, and the junior high band program in general than by going on a field trip to a band festival?

So that's what we did.  It was fun.

I have a feeling I will get the opportunity to do this again throughout the years,

Scouting Rocks!

We love scouting.  We have three boys, so we should love scouting.  I think it's good for them.  Get out of their comfort zones, very literally in most cases, and do fun things, and sometimes hard things.

But if we're being honest here, I'm sure as a mom, I don't actually know or want to know half the stuff that goes on at camps, but I'm grateful for those opportunities for these boys.

Nick survived with all his fingers and toes intact, (probably a minor miracle) and now it's Zach's turn. I think Zach loves it.

He's a lot more reserved than Nick,  but the fact that he wants to keep going on these adventures says a lot.

He did come home and was proud to show me all the obsidian he mined during one particular outing. He thought that was cool.
 

Memory lane

I found this old post in my drafts folder.  I must have written it a few years ago and never published it for some reason.  Better late than never :)

Indulge me for a moment.

Looking for those old camping pictures brought back so many memories. Especially this one.

This is one of my favorites. (actually I love all those pictures. My pictures seem to turn out so much better up in the mountains.) But this one has a special place in my heart.

At one time I thought this little boy was autistic. So did his teachers, therapists, etc. I'd get the whole "Autism is a rainbow spectrum disorder." (meaning there are a million different things, issues, traits, etc that could place him on the spectrum and he would be labeled autistic.)

I don't think people think that any more. I'm not sure what was going on in that little brain of his, because he couldn't share it with me. When other kids his age were speaking in sentences, I would wake up in the morning and cry because I dreamt he said "mama".

Besides living in a silent little world, I think it was a world of fear, anxiety, and stress. It's written all over the sweet little face in these pictures. (and more) My heart still aches when I think of it.

And then one day, while vacationing in Utah, we planned a day trip to a lake with my dad. And in that canoe out there on that lake, surrounded by mountains and trees it all just melted away.

Fear was replaced with joy. Anxiety with peace.

For a short time anyway.

Of course, over time, things got better, and my little boy came back from wherever he'd been hiding inside his head, but still, seeing these pictures choke me up a little.

pre-Mission pics

It's just a picture.

Sure it's important, someone is going to be looking at that picture when they decide where your kid will be spending two whole years of their lives, but it's just a picture.  No pressure.

Except add that little bit of stress to having very little time, a kid who hates getting their picture taken and has a great smile until he sees a camera and then it gets all awkward and weird,

and then tries to make the situation more entertaining for himself,

a pretty inexperienced mom who seems to have forgotten much of what she learned in her photography class,

a daughter who is taking a photography class in high school and wants some practice,

and a mom who decided to take her brand new camera lens to try out and practice with and leave her tried and true lens at home.  Which means thanks to Murphy's law, some really good pictures were horribly out of focus,

and the ones that are actually in focus are barely usable.

And then there's the wardrobe issues...

Thankfully though, the aforementioned daughter has learned a couple skills with photoshop, so I gave her free reign when it came to picking pictures for his mission announcements. Her choices were limited to something with a usable background so the type could show up legibly.

First

Christopher always has to be first, Always.

Except when he absolutely can't be first, he gosh darn it had better be second, or there will be heck to pay.

And under no circumstances can he be last, nor can there be any insinuation that his place has anything to do with size or age.   (Last and littlest are equally bad)

Take family pictures for instance-  He's been throwing a fit lately because he wants to be in the back. I think he's come to realize that we try to always stick him in the front because he's the littlest, and therefore he is not having any of that.

He has been throwing fits if we want to take his picture and we won't let him wrap his arms around people, thereby awkwardly squeezing him in the back.

And just the other day, he announced I needed to have another baby.  And I have my suspicions that it has nothing to do with wanting an actual baby or little brother or sister, but more to do with the fact that a new sibling will bump him from the position of "last" and "littlest".

And although I try and teach fairness, and taking turns, it's been especially difficult, and so way more often than I like, I've said to the other children when they've grown weary of his "Me First" demands,  "I know he always goes first, and I know it isn't fair, but can you just please let him go first again?"  It's just not worth fighting over right now.

I was worried that I was enabling a monster, and maybe I still am, but I witnessed something the other day that made this mom's heart swell with pride.

His bus comes to pick him up in front of our house every school morning (It's a special needs bus).  And for whatever reason, there's another little boy who catches the bus at our house as well.  He's little.  Like kindergarten age.  With a backpack nearly as big as he is.

One morning I was watching from the front door, and I saw something that made me cringe for a moment.  This little boy saw the bus coming, then ran and stood in front of Christopher so he could be the first on the bus.  I've seen this a thousand times with my own kids, only it's always Christopher running to the front of the line. I held my breath in anticipation worrying Christopher wouldn't do anything too mean like push him down, or yell at him, or start some commotion as the bus was approaching, but to my complete shock, he just let him.  No fuss. No argument.  He just calmly waited his turn to climb into the bus.

Every day that week, I perched myself at the door to see if it was a one time fluke, and every day I saw the same thing.  Christopher would see the bus coming down the street, and he would run to the spot on the sidewalk where the bus would stop, and this little boy would come running and stand right in front of Christopher.  And every day Christopher just let him.

Maybe he's not so little after all.

Singin' Part 2

I don't know what it was, it's not like I loved the original version of the movie, it was alright, but I really, really loved watching this particular production.  It could be that my two oldest put their hearts and souls and blood and sweat and tears into this production.  (Maddie was the Assistant Stage Manager and helped build all of the sets) Or that I've gotten to know most of the other kids as well.  They are my kids' friends.  (And I even count at least a couple of them as my friends.)

But man, I loved watching this show.  It was so much fun and I was so proud of all of them.

Maddie (left) painting some of the scenery an hour before the show opened!

found over the orchestra pit

The house lights needed replacing.  Although not technically a techie, Nick can be seen (in costume!) helping Mr Stahl change the lights.

Maddie painting on the left, their rain machine on the right. 

Cleaning up the "rain" (rice) after the show.  Maddie is standing in the middle. 

I bought the VIP tickets on opening night so I could go on stage and hug my kids. (while they served me hors d'oeuvres)

Love this boy of mine.

Two proud mommas.  Being photobombed by Jill aka Kathy Selden.