First day of second and fifth grade!

I've been anticipating this day for a while. A new school is a big deal for our boys! Both boys seem to have been matched with really great teachers and I even got a friendly call from Elijah's new sp-ed case manager today. A meeting has already been scheduled to go over his care plan, which makes me feel relieved. Elijah and Sammy both reported having great first days! They both had a lot to say about differences they noted throughout the day. Their old school calls music-art-gym "specials" and their new school calls them "specialists." Their old school had lunch before recess and their new school has recess before lunch. It was fun listening to all of their observations.

We are within walking distance of school, so I walked them there and back home today. It's nice having that time walking with them! And no more 2 hours of driving DAILY to get them to school and back. This is a huge bonus for me! On our way out of school today we walked by lots of kids and I noticed that Elijah was getting quite a few "looks." He wears headphones when is anywhere in the vicinity of buses because the noise of the breaks drives him crazy. We don't think twice about his headphones and the kids at the old school were used to seeing him in them, but these kids didn't quite know what to think. Soon they'll both be loved, just like they were in Shakopee!

I barely knew what to do with myself today! I worked for five consecutive hours for the first time in months and I even squeezed in a non-frenzied trip to the grocery store. Success! Even though we all started going a bit mad toward the end of summer, I missed my two monkeys terribly today and was so super happy to see their smiling faces walk out of the building.

Here's to a great week, month and year filled with happiness, good behavior, good attitudes, good health and good friends!

State Fair 2017 and the entire rest of the SUMMER!

HELLO! Oh my gosh, it's been sooooo long since I've signed on. My deepest apologies (if anyone is still here!), but we've been busy enjoying summer. It has been one amazing summer filled with tons of fun things. Tomorrow we leave for our 7th vacation since May. We feel super blessed and we are grateful beyond words that we're able to squeeze so much in. 

This summer we: traveled to DC, visited my dad/stepmom in Charlotte, swam a lot in our pool and played a lot in our yard, went on a 2.5-week RV trip to S. Dakota/Montana, met my dad and stepmom at Wisconsin Dells for a fun little waterpark vacation, sent each boy up to northern MN to spend SOLO time with my parents, RVed down to Iowa for our yearly family reunion and thoroughly enjoyed another year at the MN state fair. The boys completed two rounds of swim lessons at an amazing local swim school and progressed hugely for the first time ever. We've been enjoying our house every chance we get and using our RV whenever we can. Elijah has enjoyed time with his horse Trixie every Friday this summer through the amazing autism/hard-of-hearing program at Haven Acres.

Our summer in a nutshell! Today we ventured to the state fair for our annual adventure. We experienced probably the most crowded day we've ever seen (yuck), but the boys didn't seem to notice. State Fair Day is Sammy's third favorite day of the entire year (so he informed us this morning), which explains the genuine smiles you see in the following photos. When I put him to bed tonight, he was sad. So so sad because his third-favorite day of the year is over. He is SO much like his mama.

Every year I have the boys don Oink Booth crowns and pose for a photo. These pics were taken five years apart. Sooo sweet!

Pronto pups!

I cannot believe we squeezed the boys into a stroller again this year, but there really is no other way. Elijah (understandably) walks at a snail's pace and I have no idea what we'll do in the years to come.

Sammy was so happy to meet Cowwy's "family." He loves his cows!

We take this photo every year, too. I love these sweet, smiley boys so much!

One of the things I love so much about Elijah is his sense of adventure. He is always willing to try new things, despite having a medical diagnosis of "severe anxiety." He hopped onto this fast kiddie ride by himself and even threw his arms up in the air!

Squished, but smiling!

This is my favorite photo from the entire day. Sammy does not like anything that is remotely fast, so he hugged Elijah tightly from behind for a splash of comfort.

On the menu for the next few days: time up north with my sisters (back in the RV, woo!), both boys starting a NEW school (yikes!) and time for me to get work done! This next week will bring enormous change for all of us, so please pray for smooth sailing. Thanks for peeking in! IF there's anyone peeking in. Now that fall is just around the corner, I'll be here more often. Promise.