Mom, in case I forget to tell you...

I have been called to be Isaac's primary teacher and this week's lesson is on talents. The first question it asks is: How have you benefited from the talents of others?

As I pondered that question, I began thinking of my mom. She was usually happy and loved to have fun, but she worked hard too. I have often thought of how I want to be happy for my kids like she was for me. When I was little, I would watch her working and smiling and I'd ask, "Which have you liked better, being an adult or being a kid?" I think I expected her to say "adult" because that meant I would be as happy as her when I grew up. (I worried a lot as a kid.)

She always answered--no matter how I phrased the question--that she liked them both. There were good things and hard things about each. She was right.

I'll always remember one particular day when I was working at the Chocolate Factory. My boss, Ineke, was making caramel apples and I was stocking the cases. As she stirred, she looked out the window and said, "Well, here comes a smile-ly lady." I walked over and saw my mom coming down the sidewalk with a big, beautiful smile on her face. I said proudly, "That's my mom."

I have benefited from so many peoples talents, but today I'm thankful for my mom and her ability to smile through thick and thin. I wanted to write it down, in case I forget to say it...Thanks, Mom!

A Trip for Evan and Mom

For our mini-trip, Evan and I went to Glenwood Springs.  We went in July and the weather was great, but it took Evan a little while to get use to the smell of the Hot Springs Pool.

We spent a whole day at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park.  It was a blast!  I gotta say it:  I LOVE to play laser tag.

Evan rode the Giddy Up about 40 times. No joke. There usually wasn't a line so we would stop by often and he would get on and stay on for awhile.

The Alpine Coaster is a mix between an alpine slide and a roller coaster. You can control how fast you sail down the mountain.

The cave tour was cool. Evan had a running joke with our tour guide that all the formations in the cave looked like some form of chocolate.

After the tour ended, the guide asked us to wait and soon brought back a chocolate bar from his native country of Romania for Evan. It tasted like a Mounds bar and was called a Bounty bar.

Isaac Speaks

Picture taken in Utah at the Inn on the Hill

I had a great day with Isaac today.

I found an unfamiliar bag next to the pile of backpacks in the foyer. I picked it up to find a letter in it saying my child was to present to the class about themselves using this half piece of poster board and this questionnaire. It was due any day this week. It being Wednesday already, I couldn't believe I had missed this assignment coming home. Oh well, I thought, Isaac is not one to tell me about extra stuff he gets assigned.

After all the regular reading homework had been done, I sat down on the couch with Isaac to fill out the questionnaire. It was wonderful. I asked him the questions. He answered them. And I understood him! Many of the answers I never knew, like the fact that his favorite candy is orange Starburst. Like the fact that when he grows up he wants to be Robin (from Teen Titans) because Robin is awesome. His favorite sport is football. And his favorite animal is a mammoth (I would have guessed elephant, so I was close). His favorite ice cream is "chocolate cookie dough." It went on and on, front and back. What fun we had!

Many times throughout the past few years I have been brought to tears by frustration and sadness because I couldn't REALLY talk to Isaac. My sign language wasn't good enough, and therefore neither was his, to give him a range of conversation much beyond the labeling of things. And although he could label a great many things, it just wasn't enough. Then, when he started to talk, there were so many times that I didn't know what he was trying to say. My head would hurt with the effort of trying to understand, but still, it was not enough. I knew I was standing on a beach looking out over the ocean, unable to see the vastness that lay beneath the waves. It hurt.

These past few months, we have started being able to really speak to one another and today was a shining example of all that is left to be explored with him.

I spent a good part of the evening working on the poster board for his presentation. Isaac is still at the scribble phase in his fine motor, but that fact didn't bother me as I looked at his answers and filled the space with his favorite things. I had a great time using my scrapbooking supplies and stickers. At one point, Evan came in and commented that he had the same assignment but it wasn't due this week. He spoke of his plans for the poster board and the bag he needed to fill with things he wanted to share. Huh, I thought, the second and third grade teachers must have come up with the idea together.

Now, here's the kicker: If your brain is working at a quicker pace then mine was, you've probably figured it out already...At 11:00pm Mat came to bed and I woke up to move Josie into her own bed. As I lay down after a few hours of sleep and thought back over the evening, I realized that the letter inside the bag had no defining characteristics like a teacher's name or grade on it and that the bag I had found was Evan's all along! How's that for communication?

I couldn't stop laughing. After I woke Mat up with my "quiet" giggling, I decided I'd get up and write it all out in my blog.

A Trip for Kimball and Mom

I wanted some one-on-one time with my kids this summer so we planned some mini-trips. Kimball and I visited southern Colorado right after school got out in May.

Kimball wanted to visit Bent's Fort because he had learned about it in 6th grade Social Studies.  It was a pretty interesting place.

Then we went to the Great Sand Dunes. The river was nice and wide.  Much different from the time I visited as a kid. I had gone in late June  and the river was only a trickle by then. I loved standing in the water and letting the river carry away the sand under my feet.

Kimball loved playing on the dunes.

I thoroughly enjoyed spending time with Kimball. He is such an amazing person.