He's a Tenderfoot!

I just had to share how excited I was for our oldest to have reached Tenderfoot rank in Boy Scouts. Having autism makes it that much harder to get things done for his rank requirements, but he stuck with it and we are very grateful for leaders that were willing to be patient and help where needed at Scout Camp! Here's a few photos, he also earned several merit badges this summer that he was awarded that night. It is a reminder to me to never sell our kids short. With enough love and patience, miracles can happen.
*hugs to you all*

Trick or Treating at CA Adventure 2009

Last weekend we went trick or treating at Disney's CA Adventure, and so since it's been soooo long since I posted, I thought I'd start small and share a few pictures with you. Sorry the pictures are so blurry, I'm working on finding a new camera....
The photos are of my boys, 9 and 13 years old now, along with my Sister and her 2 kids, my folks, and our friend N.J. I hope you enjoy them.....

Special-needs students compete at Stanford Middle School

Today my oldest ran in a Track Meet at his school. The Press Telegram wrote about it! He is in 2 photos, he is next to JJ on the right in the cover photo and in the photo gallery he is shown a second time. It was a really neat day and I'll post more photos about it later, but I'm excited to share that he is in the online newspaper. I don't know it it'll be in print or not, but I'm still excited. *grin*

If you want to see the article, it's at http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_12522536
Sorry you have to cut and paste it, it seems to be encoded so I can't list it as a link or post the photo. *sigh*

Newest School Photo

I've been wanting to write and tell you about us, and yeesh, the days fly by. Today I found this in my son's backpack, so I wanted to share! He's 12 now, and just growing so fast. This is his newest school picture and for once I bought the picture cd so I can actually claim it as my own!

We're getting ready for the last days of school. It's funny, time refused to go by at the beginning of the year, and now it won't stay still for anything! It's hard to believe I will soon have a 3rd grader and a 8th grader. Wow, I remember 8th grade. I was on the drill team and was making choices that would affect my future. Fortunately, I think that overall I made good choices, if I do say so myself! *grin*

I think somehow my brain recognizes that more free time is coming, because I am finding the desire to be creative again. I want to sew, scrapbook, and craft stuff up! I can't wait for summer when we can do things based more on our itinerary rather than on how much time we have after homework.

I hope you are all doing well, and that you may be blessed with good health and loved ones nearby.

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is that special day that we honor womanhood and mothers. I just wanted to wish the women of the world a "Happy Mother's Day." There are so many women with and without children that do so much for others, I wish I could personally thank them.

I am grateful for my wonderful mother who taught me how much fun it is to be a mom, to my dear mother-in-law for raising my husband soooooo well, and for all of my youth leaders, teachers, and friends that have directed my path to today. I especially want to thank my Father in Heaven for blessing me with such wonderful children, even if they drive me crazy most of the time. *grin* I feel very blessed today to have my husband and children with me, and I am just loving this peaceful May day.

Friday night we went to the Seal Beach Pier and enjoyed all the repair work done on it. Then we had treats at Ruby's and sat outside while the chilly wind blew around us and people fished off the pier. We saw 3 different fishermen catch something, one caught a fish, one a crab, and one a ray. It was funny because Mike had to almost rescue them from the crab and the ray. The fishermen didn't know how to get 'em back in the ocean. Good thing Mike speaks Spanish! We spent Saturday at my folks place with Mike helping them replace the wood on their patio cover. It was about 10 hours worth of work, but when they were done lots had been accomplished. Today, Mother's day, we went to church after Mike made us apple cinnamon pancakes and it's just been a very restful day. Mike made a Mother's day cake for me (Lemon and Chocolate - YUMMY!) and we've been watching the Pirates of the Carribean 1, 2, and 3 all afternoon. Well, we're on #2 as I speak, but I wanted to take a quiet moment and blog.

I feel so very grateful to have had this day to remember how much fun it is to be a mom. I hope all you moms out there are having a nice day too!

PS: Can you believe how tall my boys are? At 12 and 8 they are just so....tall! Woo! photos taken in our backyard after church by my sweetheart. Thanks hon!