What a Great Evening!

Last night was swimming. My husband stopped at the health food store after work to pick up a pizza crust and my daughters calcium supplements. After he pulled in and shared his "HI" and kisses with everyone he raced in to change from his work attire. Then we all loaded in the car to head to swimming. It is such a great feeling to be with my husband at these things, knowing we are experiencing lifes treasured moments together.

After watching the boys for a while, we headed over to the basketball courts. My husband and I played basketball with our third son and little girl. It was so much fun. They had such a blast. My daughter is very active and sports oriented. I can not wait to coach something for her. She just loves everything. My son was having a good time too. I believe at 7 he can start taking part in a special olympic sports program and I am very eager to be involved with that as well. It was so adorable seeing them try to dripple these big balls. It was nice and my husband and I got to shoot couple hoops as well. I love seeing the kids take part in what ever they choose, not limiting things to boy vs. girl.

I have often used my daughters big doll house and dolls to practice social stories with my son and it works great. I have always taught the boys how to play with dolls. To be honest homeschooling has one great effect not often talked about. Kids emulate what they see. If they see little ones being mothered all day it is something they pick up and just do brilliantly. My boys are wonderful with little kids. Even my daughter helps tuck my sons in at night. Anyway back to the swimming evening.

I talked to my oldest sons coach before class and she was very understanding and noticed she worked much better with him. Both boys would look up at us as they would do something new. We would see a big smile and giggle. My second son is moving a bit faster, which we expected. They had him jump of the diving board last night. He would walk to the end bounce a little and sit down. He seemed very nervous. Bounce sit down, bounce, sit down. Finally he plopped in. It was kind of a half plop. As though only a portion of his body was willing to leave the diving board. This caused him to catch and scrape his arm on the diving board. Both my husband and I cringed. Took my breath away for a moment. He really handled it well. For the last couple of minutes he sat on the edge of the pool. He didn't shed a tear, but it looked like it hurt when he showed me it. The scrape covered most of his inner arm. I was eager to get him home and get that cleaned out. The boys were both very proud and excited about the swimming and everyone had a good time. My husband was giving our second son a pep talk on the way out and I was doing the same for our oldest. The 6 of us headed toward the car and home sweet home.

As part of our nightly routine I read to the kids for about an hour. I read some kind of classic or children's novel for the older boys. Something ongoing, they can become immersed in. The smaller kids are into the shorter stories and kids books. This is a wonderful time and I have always done this with my children from birth on. Before we began reading I asked my son if he was ok about the diving board. He said, he was scared and wasn't sure he wanted to try it again. I told him I understood and made him promise me he would talk to his teacher first thing on Wednesday and tell her honestly how he was feeling and what he was thinking. I think honest communication is so vital. I know it is sometimes not what we like to hear or easy to say, but sometimes we just have to. In this case I wanted to make sure his coach was understanding how he was feeling so he doesn't become so scared he gets hurts worse. I think the sign of a good parent, coach or teacher is to ask questions on questions. Unfortunately, you cant always rely on that. So, I believe it is really important to teach your kids it is of the utmost importance to express their feelings. All I can say is that they are turning into wonderful young men. He seemed ok, with a hug and a kiss. I also promised him we would work on it outside of class. As I kissed their cheeks and tucked them into bed, I told all the kids how proud I was of them.

It is Spring!

Thank goodness for some warm weather and a chance to get out and have fun. The boys love their weekly swim lessons. They get so excited and it is great exercise for them. I need to talk to the teachers tonight about my oldest. It is really important that when auditory processing takes a while teachers are given an alternative means to help in the processing of directions and such. So many people just tell kids with these issues they are not listening. A hand on the shoulder, giving the processing time instead of vocal bombardment, can make a world of difference. My younger two want to go in the pool during the lessons too. After my surgery heals I think we will all be in the pool.

My daughter is talking up a storm. We even went this weekend and got her some little girl lip gloss. She picked her own out. WARNING, watch the ingredients. I found soy in a bunch. It is hard, she has both the gut allergies and food allergies. It is very special having someone who loves such a variety of different things. I guess people call girls who like a bit everything tom boys. But I have to say, I call it well rounded. She is so much like me growing up, in that she loves to play dress up but give her a bat and ball and she has a great throwing arm. She loves to ride her bike, play baseball, and loves the written word like my oldest boy.

Things are going well. My second son is a great reader and enjoying it. Every time I see him sit down with a book I think about the hours and frustration he went through to get to this point. I am so proud of him. I love teaching the kids and seeing this just makes my heart illuminate and flutter. I love summer and it is a great time to get out and study nature and science experiments. Being out and making observations is great for my third son. He is looking more and more at books. Even being a bit of a prankster. He has a delightful personality and I believe the writing work we are doing is helping his speech and definitely his pronunciation. He has a new OT therapist and having all therapies and allergy shots on one day has worked out great.

We are now in the process of looking for a church to attend. I have found a couple to look into locally. Both United Methodist with contemporary services. Lots to do and not a minute to waste. These kids just grow up to fast.

My husband has been working on a political blog. He is wonderful writer and feels very passionately about things. We have a ton of projects to get done this summer and most importantly to do them as a family. The nice thing about our family is we are side by side for our struggles and all enjoy in each others accomplishments.

My thought for today. Sometimes I think in an effort to remain independent parents put up a wall to their children, claiming such separate lives that it leads to a serious lack of invovlment and distance. Then there is the flip side. A parent who lives through their child, pushing the child to do what they would have done. I take each day for what it is worth a gift and remember to live WITH my husband and children ( not through them or completely independent of them). It is so much fun watching the kids do what they enjoy, swimming, baseball, etc. It isn't just that though, it is letting them know you are there for their struggles as well. It is my hand in my husbands and the sense that as a team we will be there for our family. It is like taking in a deep breath of fresh air. Knowing you may not always smell roses but that the wind changes and life holds to much not to embrace every moment. Every smile is a new fragrance blowing the breeze and every huge accomplishment is a double rainbow. May everyone enjoy many rainbows this spring!