Yes We Still Have A Blog!

Sorry I have not posted in a while....

The Boy keeps us busy nearly round the clock.....he keeps growing and getting smarter too, so we really have to stay alert...thankfully he is asleep now!

Today is Sunday, June 2nd.  Tomorrow begins Nicholas' last 4 days of First Grade....yikes....and then summer vacation will begin...double yikes!

Thanks to Lisa's wonderful scheduling skills, the Boy should be a lot busier than summers past.  He will be going to an all day camp on Tues and Thurs in Denton to help him with social skills. He will also continue to have Speech lessons, Physical therapy and Occupational therapy.

He joined a Cheer Team for special needs kids at Achievers in Denton.  He went to practice every Wednesday. Late last year and early this year the team went to several competitions. They all received trophies and at the end of the season, he received a GIANT trophy.  Everyone involved with the team is wonderful to all the kids.  He can;t wait until it starts up again in the Fall.

 

He and I made this special birthday present for Lisa.  We collected sticks from a local park and then cut them into small pieces to spell out a special message.  I learned a valuable lesson. DON'T USE TOO MUCH GREEN PAINT!

The Boy came with me to pick up my Dallas Marathon packet prior to my 20th Marathon.  I made him stand in front of the 1999 Dallas White Rock Marathon sign because that was my very 1st Marathon!  Although number 20 is the same race, the name has been changed to Dallas Marathon...the "White Rock" was dropped in order to sound more official.....however the course still goes around White Rock Lake for about 9 miles!  As you can see in the other picture, one of the big sponsors was Volkswagen!

The Boy and I have gone to Guitar Center a few times....if they are not too crowded they don't mind if a small boy pounds away on a multi-thousand dollar drum kit!

More later!!

Life Got In The Way....

Forgive me blog followers.... it's been since May of 2012 since my last post!

So much has happened...Let me explain...No time to explain. Let me sum up....

We drove to Austin with Lisa's father to visit with Lisa's brother Andy, sister-in-law Sabrina and niece Sarah, who were visiting from Seattle but used to live in Austin for many years.  It was the longest car ride we had been on with the Boy  (I hope to drive to California with him one day!) and it was the first time any of us had met our niece and the Boy's cousin, Sarah.  They got along great!

Nicholas finished Kindergarten.

We finally sold our house after being on the market for 16 months, moved into our current home closer to Nicholas' school during the hottest month of the year (July).

Lisa survived another summer with the boy and with me taking each Wednesday off of work to give her a 'break'.

Nicholas started a new school and promptly started to pick up new words and bad habits too! His reading has improved.  He is still working on writing, math and just being able to stay in his seat for more than 4 minutes at a time!

Nicholas joined a group ( run by two ladies with PhD's in education) that works on social skills.  They meet each Sunday for two hours...which means Lisa and I can relax for two hours!  They also meet one or two Saturdays a month for two hours as well...we actually went to dinner a few times and were able to use bad language!  It was flippin awesome...

Nicholas also became a member of a special needs cheer team that has performed at one competition so far and is scheduled for three more this year, one of them at the billion dollar Cowboys Stadium which will allow Mommy and Daddy access to the field...woohoo.. We video taped the first one. It was a truly inspiring experience!

We had Lisa's Dad over for Thanksgiving, put up our Christmas lights after we ate...(We could not decorate in 2011 since our house was for sale)

I completed my 20th Marathon on December 9th. The newly named Dallas Marathon (formerly the Dallas White Rock Marathon) It was unseasonably warm that day, which affected my time a little, but at least I finished!  Number 21 will be February 24, 2013.

We celebrated Christmas with just the three of us since Lisa's Dad spent Christmas in Seattle with Andy, Sabrina and Sarah. It snowed here on Christmas day.  I had to work from home on December 26th due to icy road conditions...so, although I was home Lisa had to convince Nicholas that it was too cold to go outside and Daddy could not be disturbed because he was working....reason number 18,902,885 why I love Lisa!!

Nicholas lost both front teeth and actually DID get his two front teeth for Christmas. Since then he has pulled another one out and has loosened yet another one.  He knows he gets a toy from the 'tooth fairy' for each tooth he yanks out of his head!

In August of 2012 we finally decided we had waited long enough for our first family trip to Disneyland.  We booked a 5 day trip that began at 3:30am on January 4th and ended January 8th when we returned home to find out our car battery was dead at the airport parking lot....there will be a future blog entry dedicated to our Disney trip....

 Meeting cousin Sarah for the first time.  He gave her a stuffed Longhorn!

 They got along great and played with matching bubble mowers.

 They played house together too..

 Opening the door for a lady, way to go Boy!

Here is Nicholas and Sabrina (the kangaroo) and Aunt Sabrina

 They had so much in common, like playing in the dirt and looking for bugs!

Fun was had by all....

Growing up!

As I write this entry our little boy has about two and have days of school left before finishing Kindergarten!  Hard to believe. We have been so blessed the past two years to be at his current school.  His teachers have been amazing, as well as the rest of the staff and students.  EVERYONE loves on him so much each and everyday...which makes it so hard to switch schools...Depending on our living location, he is scheduled to attend one of two new schools next year when he begins 1st Grade. Since the program he needs to get additional help is not offered at his current school....we must change schools for the second time in three years.

Although he is not quite yet on grade level, he has made SO much progress since we brought him home in April of 2009.  He continues to amaze us on a daily basis with his actions, his words and just how dang cute he can be....  We have told him about the new school next year, but we are pretty sure it has not sunk in just yet.  When one of the teachers recently told him, "I sure am going to miss you next year," his reply was, "Where are you going?"

In other news...

One of his favorite songs right now is the 80's classic, "Rock Me Amadeus," but when he listens to it, instead of hearing, "rock me Amadeus," he hears, "days on the bounce."  If you go right now and listen to it again, while thinking, 'days on the bounce,' I promise you will hear it too...go ahead, I'll wait.........

...........................See?  I told ya!  

So now, when he wants to hear that song, he says, " I want days on the bounce please.." 

When Lisa was recently volunteering at his school during Field Day.....

(when the whole school plays and competes in sporting activities)...... 

One of the things they had for the younger kids was a Hippity Hop, which he had never seen before...

 

So when he first sees the kids playing on them he says, "Mommy look!  Days on the bounce for real!"

And finally...

Two days ago when we were at the pool, I starting singing one of his other favorite songs, "I Gotta Feeling" by those fine, fine 'musicians' the Black Eyed Peas.  He calls that one "the night song" because they say 'tonight's gonna be a good night," and 150 times....anyway....when I started singing the beginning part he said to me, "Hey Daddy, stop singing!"  When I asked him why he said, "I can't hear myself swim."  I apologized and stopped singing immediately...

Happy Memorial Day!!

Fort Worth Science Museum

After wanting to go for the past year and half or so, we finally made it over to the Fort Worth Science Museum….located oddly enough in Fort Worth…very close to the world famous Fort Worth Zoo. I have been very close to the museum the past couple of years since the Cowtown Marathon moved their starting and finish lines right in front of the museum….so I knew HOW to get there, it was just finding the time TO get there with the Boy.

We have now taken Nicholas to the museum twice, once with just Daddy and once with both Mommy and Daddy. There are so many different activities to choose from, such as many, many hands on exhibits and several rooms where kids and adults can create and build things. Nicholas is not quite ready to sit and make things, he likes to keep moving and visit his favorite areas several times during our visit. Right now they have a special temporary exhibit called, “Grossology.” You can make your own burps and farts, hear and see why snot is so important, walk inside a giant nose and much, more!

And now for the pictures….

Daddy likes surprising the boy from time to time. As Mommy is helping him
get his shoes on, he is asking me, "where are we going?"

As we crossed the street from the parking garage, we found ourselves in front of a T-Rex!

One of his favorite exhibits, Dino Dig, lets little archeologists search for dinosaur bones.
If you find one, you get to take it home!

We came back twice during our first visit. The second visit, it was closed due to rain...

If the archeology thing doesn't work out, he could become a dentist for giant alligators.

They had several insects on display. Here he is looking a small tarantula.

....and here is sitting inside a dinosaur foot print.
He has finally found someone with bigger feet than Daddy.

Time for lunch! I had an excellent Taco Salad and the boy had 1/3 of a giant slice of cheese pizza and two chocolate milks. We bought a cookie for dessert, but when
I asked him if he wanted to eat the cookie now or go back to the museum, he said,
"I don't want the cookie, I want us to go back now."

After we had lunch, he was able to become lunch for someone else! He has just walked across a giant tongue and is climbing into a mouth. As he began his ascent,
a museum worker was assigning different types of foods to children.
"You're a hot dog, you're an apple," etc. etc. Nicholas was deemed a carrot!

Waiting in line to enter the esophagus slide!

The slide spits the kids out into the stomach.

Once in the stomach, they must crawl to the other side and
enter the large intestine to continue their journey.

Naturally half way through the large intestine there is a window for a special photo opportunity.

They journey is now complete! He went from being a carrot to being poo!

One of the many descriptive signs in the Grossology section.

Have YOU ever walked around a giant nose?? Well the Boy has....

Nicholas was asking me how she got up there and what was she saying??
My answer to both was, "I don't know."

Finding out how much soda it takes to create a colossal burp.

We affectionately call this dude, Mr. Faucet-Head. He is an expert on snot.

He is continually spouting off about how snot is made,
why it is made and why it should be appreciated.

Mr. Faucet-Head was having some allergy trouble, as you can see by his drippy nose. Every time his snot would appear, all the kids would shout, "Ewwww!"

A museum in Fort Worth must have some Long Horns....

Place the beach ball over the air blower and as soon as it begins to hang in the air,
lose interest and move on to something else!

Here we are at the outdoor water exhibits. Kids are encouraged to play
with water, which of course he loved.

We stayed out here for a long time...

A water gun shooting gallery...

I was trying to get him to hit the cowbell in honor of being in Cowtown!

He LOVED this ambulance!! He was actually waiting his turn to get to drive....

Making sure the light is working!

Sitting in the back, on the way to the hospital...

Once arriving at the hospital, Dr. Nicholas discovers some babies that need blankets...

...he springs into action!

...and makes sure that the remaining babies are safe and snug....

Back out on the road to find some more people who need help...

"Hey guys, are you sick? Hop in if you need to go to the hospital....I'm driving!"

And now for a trip to the grocery store to pick up a few things...

Things like a bagel and a brussel sprout.

Hey, that's MY bagel....

Fruits and vegetables galore!

Waiting patiently to take his turn at the check out stand.

On our way back to the car.....we encountered some dinosaurs again...

Shaking hands with a T-Rex.

Someone did NOT want to go home and was trying the old, "hide behind the dinosaur leg" trick.

We shall return!