Last swim

Jonathon got invited to swim after school today. It was in the 90's so it was a perfect last swim of the season.
And besides we always enjoy hanging out with our good friends.

Lots going on

with our family lately.

Jonathon went in for his braces to be checked and currently he has SMO's.  But we are switching to SURE STEPS.  I am very excited for him to get into sure steps.  They look like they will be much more friendlier.  Right now I have a hard time finding shoes and snow boots for Jonathon.  I have to order EW and then the braces don't fit into rain boots or snow boots.  This winter I finally found him a pair of snow boots that actually work with the braces and we did not get any snow.....Figures....

Jonathon and I went out shopping and found some pants for Kenny to wear after surgery.  We looked for hours and then finally decided to buy in the kid department and luckily a 18/20 works!  Hooray.  Next time I won't wait til the last minute to purchase something I really need.  And we found a great deal on a suitcase....  Now I own one.  Hooray.

Jonathon is finally better and was able to go back to school on Tuesday this week.  He is happy, but a little hyper....he has been out for a long time.  And now he needs to get back into the daily routine.

So I opened up all the windows on Tuesday and hauled out the Bissell and was able to shampoo my living room carpet, hallway and my room.  It feels so good to let the warm breeze come through.  I will have to wait to finish the other rooms.

Wednesday after school Jonathon had his friend Rylee come over to play for a little while.  That was nice because they haven't seen each other in forever.

Wednesday night my neighbor/friend texted me to say that she had a fire at her house earlier in the evening and to call her on Thursday.

Today.....today after I dropped my boys off at school I hurried and went over to my friends house.  They have a wood pellet stove and it caught on fire Wednesday afternoon and pretty much just smoldered....therefore filling their home with smoke....Her 16 year old daughter was the first to arrive at home and when she opened up the door she said it was a white cloud of smoke and all she could think of was to get the dogs out.....she got one out and had to drag the other one out because he was unconscious... after all that she called her step dad...never called 911.  Didn't think it was a big deal because there was not any flames.  And then they all slept there along with their dogs.

So I stayed with my friend this morning and got her to go outside with her pets and then I went and picked her up lunch....then after the first adjuster arrived and was shocked they all slept there, he said the dogs needed to go out and stay out.....well....they are inside dogs so I packed them up and took them home with me and put them in my garage....then when her daughter and son got out of school I had them come home to me....I gave them clothes and let them shower so they felt better and did not smell like smoke.  They went out and walked their dogs and seemed ok.  After talking with their mom we decided that it would be best for the kids to stay here overnight and the dogs are staying over too.

Tomorrow they will find a hotel to stay at.  Their house has alot of smoke damage.....the family is lucky that they slept with windows open because they all could have died overnight.  I don't think they understood how bad it was.  They will be homeless for about 6 weeks....everything is ruined....I feel so bad for them, but am very thankful that I am able to help out.  Please keep them in your prayers.

I would hope that if something tragic like this happened to my family I would have friends to help me out.  So we are all getting comfortable and getting ready to call it a night.  It has been kind of nice having another girl in the house though.  She is pretty quiet....mainly kept to herself...but she did enjoy playing with Jonathon.

I have to run out tomorrow sometime with Jonathon and pick up a couple more pair of pants for Kenny since those fit.  Get some last minute stuff done around home because on Monday morning.....My sis is coming early to take care of Jonathon....

Kenny is going in for foot surgery.....He/we will be at the hospital until Tuesday.  His surgery is going to be 3 hours long and then if all goes well he can go home on Tuesday.  I will be staying with him.  I don't want my child to be alone....he may not need me, but I will be there in case he does need me.

My sis will be here for Jonathon and then Gilbert took Tuesday off to stay with Jonathon and help with Kenny when I get him home!  Keep Kenny in your prayers!!!!

St. Clair County Down Syndrome Picnic

someone like Jonathon very much

was on Sunday afternoon at Cheri's house.  This year there was swimming, a clown, balloons, painting, and a hayride with lots of food and great people.

This was our second year attending the picnic and we had a great time again this year.  It is nice to be able to sit and watch all the children play and a good time to just sit and chat with other parents.

Jonathon had a great time.  He got to swim in the big pool for a few minutes(before he got cold) and then he really enjoyed just running around and playing with some big balls and they had a huge slide.  He did quite well with the clown.  He got a cat balloon made and even let the clown paint his arm with a snake.  I am so proud of him because last year he would have never let anyone paint his arm.  He was one of the younger ones this year, but that didn't seem to bother him at all.

We met a new family who has a 3yr. old boy who is a typical child and a 4 month old who is blessed with an extra chromosome. I got the chance to talk with the mom for a few minutes and hope to see her again at our local monthly meetings.  Her boys were so cute.

Before we went home we went down the road with the rest of the party goers to feed some Alpacas.  But the Alpacas were pretty shy and didn't want to come close to the fence so Jonathon decided to eat their carrots instead and throw some out to them.

All in all a great day ~ we all enjoyed ourselves very much and can't wait to go again next year.

playing ball with daddy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                                      

snake!

 

 

 

Alpaca

 

PreSchooler in the House.......

Jonathon had his first day of preschool on Monday!  I cannot believe my 3rd child ~ my angel ~ my baby is already in preschool.  Where the heck did the time go?????

He definitely did great!  He definitely does not need mommy to stand in the background and keep watch! (but for now mommy is staying and lurking in the background anyway).  On Mondays he will attend class from 8:30a.m. til 9:45a.m.  I am not too sure if it's the same routine from week to week or things will be different.

Monday Jonathon walked into class, took off his coat and then Mrs. Rhodes(teacher) introduced him to his new friends(classmates).  There are 5 other boys in the class ranging from 2 3/4(really close to 3) up to 4yr. olds almost turning 5.  The two older boys are great, you can really see that they are ready for kindergarten next year.  And the other 3 boys were quiet.

Solitary play (playing alone with materials and ideas) was going on when we arrived.  So Jonathon went and got a toy truck and joined in the fun of driving around the class room with the other boys.

Parallel Play (playing side by side, sometimes mirroring each other, sometimes doing very different activities with the same materials).  The two older boys were playing with a container filled with trucks and cars etc. and they were putting them in a garage and playing.  Jonathon walked over to the container and picked out a truck...~ then he stood there watching the 2 older boys ~ Mrs. Rhodes asked the one older boy to invite Jonathon over to play ~ Jonathon walked a little closer, but chose not to join. ~ I explained to Mrs. Rhodes that one particular boy is loud ~ when voices get loud at home it's Jonathon's 2 older brothers getting yelled at by their father ~ Jonathon does not like loud noises ~ I think when he realizes that this one particular classmate is louder than the rest it will be o.k.

Then Jonathon went over to the shelf and seen some markers ~ he got the markers off of the shelf so Mrs. Rhodes asked him if he wanted to draw a picture ~ he said yes ~ he sat at the table and drew a great picture.  Then it was clean up time and ready for snack time.

All the boys went over to the shelf to get their snack out.  Mrs. Rhodes helped Jonathon with his. He had a juice box and some fruit snacks.(I cut the fruit snacks up for now).  He sat right there with all the other boys and ate his snack and drank his juice box all gone and I just stood in the background amazed.......My baby has grown up overnight it seems like.  He really did a good job on his first day listening to the teacher and having a great time at school.

Jonathon has always had a playmate on occasion and that is Miss America(Rylee) his bestest friend!  And they have always done great together and I hope they always remain close.  But this is the first time Jonathon has been with a group of children to play ~ I really did not know how he was going to react ~ I should have known better ~ Jonathon is alot like Kenny!  Loves to meet new people and always willing to make friends!!!!

Looking forward to Wednesday to see how it goes.....He will be leaving the classroom to go to speech with the 2 3/4 yr. old and mommy is NOT going!

So when I feel that I am o.k. to walk away from the classroom I will. Til then I will remain in the shadows!

WAY TO GO PEANUT BUTTER!!!!! MOMMY IS SO SO PROUD OF YOU!!!!  I LOVE YOU!

Aug 16th 1991 ~ Aug 16th 2009

Eighteen years......Wow.... For some odd reason I cannot believe it's been that long already. Doesn't feel like it... I still remember the day we got married like it was yesterday. I love my husband very much even though most days I would like to hit him upside the head with a baseball bat! (Polish Polish Polish)

This is how we spent our day celebrating our anniversary and I wouldn't have wanted it any other way!

We took the boys to the 2009 Annual Down Syndrome Support Group Picnic.

We met alot of wonderful people through out the day. Cathy with her 7yr. old daughter Molly.(Molly was so pretty). Taylanda and her husband(sorry I forgot his name) and their 8yr. old son Shane. He was so funny, really outgoing and great to watch in the pool. Cheri(who threw the party) and her 11 yr. old son Jacob. Jacob was very quiet, but also was great to watch in the pool. Shane and Jacob and Molly really love the water. I got to see my friend Jamie with her 2 1/2 yr. old son Bryson. We met Jamie and Bryson last summer and I love when we get the chance to see them and say hello. And a little girl who is 9. Her name is Gracie and her mom adopted her from Equador.(How awesome is that) I think pretty awesome! I didn't get her moms name though. Hopefully next time.

We were able to sit and talk about our upcoming Buddy Walk in October~which I am very excited about. This will be our first walk. We were able to hear stories about school; the dentist;when parents were first told of their child having DS. All in all it was a perfect day for a picnic, perfect day to meet some new friends and a perfect way to spend our Anniversary! Life is good.