Que Dicho Es

WOW, Kindergarten!

2011-10-27T15:51:00.001-07:00

River's school picture came home today, it pretty well represents the way that this school year is going for all of us! He is according to his teacher, a social butterfly who talks all the time, she actually wants a copy of this picture because she said it is so funny. She said she has a pretty crazy young Kindergarten class this year and can't wait for the group pic in the Spring. I really never know what my little comedian is going to say. He loves being with his friends but doesn't like to work!

Dawson is doing really well, they got a keyboard for him to use at his desk to take notes, his handwriting is so horrible! :) A cute story is, he told his teacher that the Thesaurus is a type of dinosaur and she was like what? And he replied, it has saurus on the end, it is a dinosaur. So now she is having to figure out a way to explain that to him. He is obsessed with reading his dinosaur encyclopedia that David got him and is way above grade level in science, his favorite subject.

First Day Success!

2011-08-23T16:54:00.001-07:00

, a photo by Que dicho es on Flickr.

I am so proud of both the boys, they have done great in the transition from summer to the back to school mode. They love school, friends, and teachers.

We had such a great time celebrating River's birthday with various family members, everyone made him feel so special. We are all blessed to have such supporting family members.

Summer Vacation

2011-08-09T17:10:00.001-07:00

, a photo by Que dicho es on Flickr.

I can't believe I haven't posted yet about our vacation to Corpus Christi, it was so great. My dad and Kate took everyone down there and the boys loved every minute of it, so did I! We went to the aquarium and the Lexington. We went on a ferry and hung out at the beach, it was so relaxing and fun to get away! It was River's first visit to the beach and the first time Dawson could remember going to the beach. Mostly it was just good to be together.

First Trip to the dentist

2011-07-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

Today was both Dawson and River's first trip to the dentist. I am really proud of both of them, it went way better than I expected. Dawson is terrified of new experiences like this and has screamed no every time I have mentioned going to the dentist, even this time. His gag reflex and the idea of all of those tools and gross tastes in the mouth just make it the perfect disaster. He hardly lets me put my finger in his mouth to wiggle a tooth. Going to the doctor for a checkup up until this year has been a major ordeal. With him getting his grownup teeth coming in I knew it was way overdue for him to go. So I made the appointment and they said we would just see how it went and then they would have to refer us to a specialist that would have to put him to sleep to get xrays and do work if he wouldn't cooperate. So I went with Dawson and a nurse took River to a separate room to do work on him. Dawson didn't complain at all, he actually looked like he was enjoying it and even let them take xrays, clean his teeth, and do three sealants on his molars that had grown in. He would sometimes grab the tools and say "what's that?" as it was heading to his mouth, but then would let the technician use it. I went to go check on River and I had missed the whole check up, the technician was shocked it was his first time at the dentist. He let her clean his teeth and take xrays, neither boy had any cavities. I feel a little bit better now about delaying the dentist trip so that it would be a positive experience since there weren't any cavities. They don't drink any soda and not really that much candy and David and I are crazy about teeth brushing for them. Dawson is getting so mature now, eating is better and his transitions. I am really optimistic about his progress and where he is headed :)

2011-07-11T08:54:00.000-07:00

We went to the new Cars2 movie and the boys loved it, I was surprised there weren't more people in the theater. Then last Tuesday, we went to the lego store to try out the free demo build. On the first Tuesday of every month they do an activity that is "free" for the kids, I say "free" because we ended up having to wait in line for an hour in front of a Mrs. Field's cookie kiosk and ended up buying icecream and cookies. Both of the boys built some cute lighthouses and had a good time.

End of year

2011-06-30T10:03:00.001-07:00

I can't believe the year is over and I never got the school pictures posted. It was a great year, Dawson and River have been in Summer School all of the month of June. We are looking forward to July and taking some fun trips and going to the local Lego Discovery Center a lot. I have a few fun organization projects to do this summer, I want to finish scanning all of the old pictures into my flickr account and do some other things. I am looking forward to planning River's 5th birthday, I can't believe my baby is going into Kindergarten in the fall!

Easter

2011-04-27T18:11:00.001-07:00

DSCN0707, a photo by Que dicho es on Flickr.

We went down to Austin to spend Easter with my family. We had a great time as always and I left wishing we lived there still. My parents put on the most amazing Egg Hunt ever!

I took this pic in the blue bonnets close to our house the other day, River was not cooperating!

Aunt Betty

2011-04-18T17:17:00.001-07:00

, a photo by Que dicho es on Flickr.

I have been visiting Aunt Betty every weekend for the last several weeks since Kristy took me out to the home to see her. She is doing pretty well but she can't carry on a conversation. She strings together phrases and it is pretty incredible to see how fast the decline was. She is on medicine now and so she is staying pretty stable now. I love her so much and she always says thank you for me visiting her and gives me a big hug and never wants me to leave. She plays with her stuffed animals and calls one of them her baby. She takes the stuffed animal to lunch with her and gives it food. She keeps the other residents in the home in line when they won't do what they are supposed to. The thing I miss the most though is not being able to hear her stories, she doesn't remember anything from the past. But for now I am happy that she remembers me and tells me she loves me.

Spring Break Update

2011-03-17T08:20:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since my last update. Things have been pretty crazy. Both boys had the stomach flu and River had croup. Right now everyone is healthy again and we are enjoying Spring Break. We went down to Austin for a few days and had a lot of fun with family. I hate living so far away, the drive isn't too bad when there isn't traffic but it is tiring. A few weekends ago I went to a beach house on Surfside with Kate's family and I really enjoyed myself. I just love being near water, it was very relaxing!!

Crazy River

2011-02-04T16:59:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

4 snow days in a row!

2011-02-04T16:58:00.001-08:00

Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

Monday night we got hit by a ton of freezing rain, it was so cold! We ended up getting about an inch of ice on the streets. So we stayed home on Tuesday, things weren't any better on Wed., there were rolling blackouts and we lost power from 8:00-3:00. Then Thursday was the same story, school was called off because we still had ice. We woke up Friday with the same ice on the roads and 6 inches of snow. I haven't driven my car at all and I have been going crazy stuck at home for 4 days! Everything is supposed to melt tomorrow thank goodness!

Baby Dawson

2011-01-27T17:35:00.001-08:00

1-30-2003
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

This is Dawson the day he came home from the hospital, sweet baby Dawson. Hard to believe that this "little" 9 lb 4 oz baby is now my huge 8 year old! I will post some stats after we go to the doctor next week for his check-up. He was beaming this morning when I sang to him, he wore a special birthday ribbon and I brought cupcakes to school for him to share. Happy Birthday Sweet Boy!

Christmas Fun

2011-01-02T13:55:00.000-08:00

We went to Austin for a few days to visit family and had so much fun. Dawson and River love all of their cousins in Austin and Dallas. We made gingerbread houses, saw Tron, went to the Austin Children's museum and just had fun together.

This morning I was putting lotion on Dawson, I said "here let me put lotion on you." Dawson ran away and said "I don't want any lotion." Then River ran away and said, "NOOOO, I don't want any sleeping potion!" He is crazy!

Ahhhh the graduation!

2010-12-21T07:26:00.001-08:00

Julia Graduation 049
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

I finally graduated with my Masters in Educational Administration from UNT on December 17th, I am hoping to blog more frequently again since I will not have so much on my plate. It felt so good to walk across the stage and see my family.

Dawson and River are so excited for Santa and Christmas and I love that they believe in Santa still. They think that Santa brings the snow on Christmas since it snowed last year. Well, the high today is 77! It will be a little bit colder on Christmas Day, but no snow in the forcast :(

Check out these same funny faces from the same ages!

2010-11-06T16:40:00.000-07:00

River always does this funny face, and it was so fun to discover the same funny face in my old photos!

River Stats

2010-11-06T14:34:00.000-07:00

I took River in for his 4 year old check-up, I know, a little late, just two months! Anyway, here are his stats: weight 55%, height: 43%, head circumference: 77%. My sweet little guy, although pretty normal in size just seems so little compared to Dawson.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T18:02:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

Darth Vader and Luke Skywalker

Happy Halloween

2010-10-31T17:57:00.000-07:00

Here we are at Touch a Truck and then at the pumpkin patch :)

Seeing shapes

2010-10-23T06:42:00.001-07:00

Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

On the way to school this week, River was into looking at the clouds. He liked the pink ones and then he pointed out Texas to me, then he said it was a pirate ship. He also saw mommy clouds in the sky and pants.

Dawson loves Halloween as much as I do and was excited to get a Halloween gift in the mail from grandparents and a shirt from Aunt Crys. Dawson said his favorite holiday is Halloween, he likes all of the skeltons and scary things. He has been telling me all year about the scary birthday cake he wants.

I got a flu shot this week and I feel awful, I am so glad it is the weekend. I haven't ever had a reaction to a flu shot. This one had the H1N1 and the flu, I am really sick. :( Hoping to rest a lot this weekend.

State Fair

2010-10-03T17:05:00.001-07:00

State Fair
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

Happiness as he knows it! Dawson and River had a great time with daddy at the state fair! I took my big test on Saturday, it was really hard and I spent 4 hours on it...not sure how I did....

This week

2010-09-25T07:03:00.000-07:00

Sunday night River was coughing a lot and was up a lot in the night, he did not want to go to school on Monday. He was coughing so much and just wanted to rest. I have the most wonderful neighbor and she watched him for me. The hardest part about being a working mom is when kids are sick, he didn't have a fever and I couldn't miss a training I needed to go to. I felt really bad but I knew he was in good hands. The coughing has continued all week and I set up an appointment on Friday to get a check-up from the emergency room this weekend.

Tuesday, I had a flat tire! Luckily I was in my garage pulling out and USAA came out in 10 minutes to change it, I love USAA!

Friday morning I took River to the doctor and I expected it to be a really quick appointment and for her to say he was just fine. She is really conservative and never prescribes medicine. She listened to his lungs and she could hear him wheezing and they sounded bad still and so she gave him another breathing treatment, sent us to go get a chest X-ray and prescribed us a nebulizer to use at home and some steroids. She thinks he may have walking pneumonia now and so the breathing treatments are every 4-6 hours now and he is starting to cough up some of the junk, sorry if that is TMI. Dawson likes to watch it and is really happy that he doesn't have to do it. In fact, Dawson hasn't been prescribed medicine since he was 3 and got his tubes put in.

My phone has been dying a slow death for several weeks now, I have had my blackberry for over 2 years and it would turn off completely or freeze up about 20 times a day and was hardly functional. When River had his emergency last weekend, it took David several calls to try to get in touch with me before it would work, so it was time for a new phone. I went to the AT&T store last night to pick out a new phone and I just asked how much the iphone 4 would be and if I was eligible for an upgrade. I was! So the exciting/good news this week is that I got the new iphone for only $199! :)

I have my principal certification test next Saturday and so I am trying to get in as much studying as I can. I am a little nervous about it actually because I haven't had a lot of time to study like I have wanted to, so cross your fingers for me next Saturday!

A little too much excitement this weekend?

2010-09-19T10:02:00.000-07:00

This is David's weekend with the boys, Friday night he watched Isaac, Aaron and Oscar. Dawson was talking about seeing them all week and was so excited! On Saturday I got a call from the boys and they told me that they were going to Hurricane Harbor with Daddy. Dawson was tall enough to ride all of the rides except for one. One of the slides went straight down, Dawson wanted to do it so that he could tell me that he did the tallest one. Dawson was very excited to tell me about it, which he did at 12:00 in the morning with River in the emergency room. David said that River woke up in the middle of the night screaming and was wheezing and couldn't get a deep breath in. It sounded like an asthma attack. David said it was really bad and he was very scared and so raced the boys to the emergency room, and I am glad that he did. So I met him at the emergency room and River got a breathing treatment and was excited to pretend like he was Darth Vader. River is fine now but we are going to keep a close eye on him and take him in to see his doctor in a couple of days. They said it also could have been from getting worn out from the water park and allergies too. When I asked David if Dawson was scared to go down the huge slide (he was just barely tall enough to ride) he said that he was when he got to the top and so David pushed him down the slide. I think I would have had a heart attack watching that, Dawson was VERY proud though!

prezi

2010-09-06T18:27:00.000-07:00

Labor Day, I am so happy for labor day! We went to Chucky Cheese and made sand crafts. I also worked with Prezi for the first time to create a presentation for my class. I am very proud of it so I am putting the link here.

http://prezi.com/gwm0rxfpisze/data-collection-for-action-research-chapters-7-9-of-action-research-by-richard-sagor/

And as a follow-up to the previous post, I am not sure why I am so bad at keeping in touch with people but I going to get better, that is my Labor Day Resolution.

My Cousin Leslie

2010-09-04T12:46:00.001-07:00

scan0037
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

I have not seen my cousin Leslie for about 6 years, since her sister Sara's wedding. Today, at the outlet mall in Allen, we both walked out of the dressing room right across from each other at exactly the same time. It was so emotional, I miss her so much. Most of my favorite childhood memories are from my time with her. We are two months apart in age. We talked about my Aunt Betty who is showing more progressed signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Aunt Betty called me a few days after July and I told her what a great 4th of July I had and she asked me "Julie, what is the 4th of July." I have been avoiding visiting her because I don't want to remember her like that. She is an amazing woman and it is horrible to watch her decline. Leslie and I talked about how we want to visit her together and hopefully jog some good memories for her. We both love her so much. I am really bad at calling and keeping in touch with people and the experience I had today with my cousin who now lives in Midland and was traveling to Canton was a wake up call to make time in my life for what is more important than work.

First Week of School

2010-08-28T16:55:00.000-07:00

Dawson loves being in second grade and he loves his teacher. Unfortunately he got sick on Friday and we have been taking it easy this weekend.

I think I have found my place with the school I am at. I couldn't be happier and I like the pace of middle school. I have a lot of support and I am learning a lot. So far so good!

River is not so excited about going back to the regular schedule because he really wants to be at school with Dawson and he wants to be 7. He is doing fine though. His big party was two weeks ago and I couldn't have asked for a more perfect day, it was so good to have so much family together and enjoy the day together. Thanks everyone for coming out!

Happy Birthday River

2010-08-10T07:01:00.000-07:00

My River is 4! He wanted to bring starwars cupcakes to school and so I made some and made the rings because they weren't in any stores. I just bought some rings and glued starwars pictures on top of them. River's big family party is on Saturday and he can't wait to hit the pinata, I will post more pictures from the party later.

Dawson lost his 4th tooth when he was at David's house last weekend, Dawson looks really cute, I love kids with missing teeth. David helped the 4th tooth along, he said, "I was not going to miss another tooth fairy moment!" So far he has lost all of the bottom 4 teeth.

River the Cat

2010-08-01T19:59:00.000-07:00

Tonight when it was time for the boys to get ready to take a bath, River told me that he did not need to, he could just lick himself clean and proceeded to lick his hands. He did get a bath, I told him he couldn't do that because he was not a cat. I am sure you can imagine how disappointed he was.

Yet another update

2010-07-30T13:50:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how big all the boys are getting. So Dawson has been obsessing with the movie "3D Cats and Dogs The Revenge of Kitty Galore" since he first saw the commercial. I barely survived it...Kelly fell asleep during it. The boys all loved it though. Then after lunch at CiCi's we were all ready for a nap I think.

I finished one of my classes and I got an A, I still have the other one for three more weeks. I will be announced at the next school board meeting. They always announce the new administrative positions, so that will be very exciting!!!!

Dawson lost his 3rd tooth

2010-07-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

Dawson is very proud of his third tooth that he lost last night. The tooth fairy visited him and brought him 3 dollars, 1 dime, 2 nickles, and 5 pennies. He has a lot of loose teeth right now, it has been a while since the last time he lost a tooth. He lost the first two bottom teeth last summer. I can't wait until he loses those top front ones, it will be cute! :) Dawson is very attached to the shirt he is wearing in this picture, not sure why. He would wear it everyday if he could, I limit him to once a week and sometimes hide it.

River has an amazing imagination, and doesn't like to take responsibility for things he isn't supposed to do. For example, if he has an accident in his bed, he blames it on the peepee monster that came in his bed while he was sleeping.

River sat in an ant pile at school a few weeks ago and got about 10 bites under his underware. It was pretty bad and took awhile to heal, he has really sensitive skin and I have steroid cream prescribed for him from his doctor for his dry spots. Dawson could not understand why River would sit in an ant pile and told him several times on his way to school to not sit in anymore ant piles.

We celebrated Anthony's bday up here last weekend and it was fun to get the kids together, they are all getting so big. I have made two trips this month to Austin to visit my family down there which has been fun, I hate being so far away but at least it is close enough that it is still doable for a quick trip.

July

2010-07-13T08:49:00.000-07:00

I can't believe the summer is half way over! I finished the first summer term and got A's in both of my classes. It was so much work but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I have two more classes this term and then just my Practicum in the fall. :)

Summer Update

2010-06-18T16:20:00.000-07:00

I thought I would give you a quick update on how summer is going. Dawson is in the Strategic Reading Program which is designed for Special Education students. I can see drastic improvement in his reading even after 2 weeks. He loves to read and is always sounding out words he sees when we are out and about. His comprehension is so good too.

River is going full time to his school and they are doing a lot of Chinese lessons. His teacher told me she was very impressed with his Chinese skills. He can sing a complete song in Chinese and is starting to learn the characters for the numbers.

We went down to Austin last weekend and I am so sad I forgot my camera. First we stopped in to visit Rebecca and my mom. The kids had an awesome time swimming and then they had a sleepover that did not include much sleeping. We then visited with my dad and Kate, and had so much fun. I love love love going to Phil's Ice House. They have the best chicken sandwich ever, I can taste it as I drive into the Austin city limits. I spent several hours building lego guys with the boys and just hanging out was so much fun. Liz was in Haiti and so we are sad we missed seeing her.

I have begun the transition at my new school and with my grad school classes I am more busy than I was before. I am looking forward to this weekend to getting caught up on things.

And here is a shout out to my dad for Father's Day weekend, you are the best! :) Thanks for always being so supportive.

New Job

2010-06-04T18:45:00.001-07:00

I have been offered a position at a middle school as Assistant Principal and I am so excited. This school is going to be a really good fit for me and I am know I am going to love working there. I will really miss the school I am currently at but I am so excited for this new adventure and phase of my career.

Dawson has completed 1st grade, I can't believe how much he has grown. His reading skills have improved dramatically and they will continue to improve this summer as he participates in a SPED program that is focused on reading. This is the first year it has been offered to children just out of 1st grade and I am so glad Dawson can be a part of it.

River's birthday will be here in a couple of months, can't believe he is turning 4! When I ask him how old he will be turning it is always 7 or 5. He also told me this morning that he wants to be a doctor when he grows up. Dawson says he wants to be a police officer.

Super Star

2010-05-16T19:48:00.000-07:00

Dawson finally achieved super star status for the first time since his class started doing the star card. Every day they put good check marks and sometimes bad check marks. He finally didn't have any bad checks, he gets them for humming, not listening or talking loudly. I told him that we would go to the lego store if he didn't get any bad checks, only took a couple of months. I imagine it is hard for any first grader but especially Dawson and I want to encourage appropriate behavior. River also benefited!

Dawson also achieved swimming without floaties this weekend! He is growing up so much, I am very proud of him! River continues to run around like a full force three year old boy!

I made it through!

2010-05-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

Today was my second panel interview in the Area Superintendent's office to try to get into the Assistant Principal pool of candidates. Now that I am in, I can interview at schools that have openings. I will keep you updated but getting to this step was huge as they are very selective. I feel very blessed and I am thankful for all the prayers, support and kind thoughts I have received along the way! :)

Quick Update

2010-05-02T07:16:00.000-07:00

We continue to run around day to day, like everyone else I know. Dawson and River are doing really well in school. We have gone out to the pool where we live several times and they love it! Dawson gets really tan, River doesn't burn or tan, he just doesn't get any color at all. Dawson recently wrote a book for school. On the front inside cover, it said "Dedicated to my mom because she makes me waffles"

I ran a 5K with my coworkers yesterday and I ran it in 31.30 which is the best time I have had in awhile.

Finally, the most exciting news is that I have registered for my last classes and I will be graduating in December :). I can't believe it is finally happening. I have a really important interview on May 14th, it will determine whether I can be an assistant principal in my district.

Happy Easter Chocolate Bunnies

2010-04-04T17:22:00.000-07:00

2010-03-17T06:49:00.000-07:00

The administrative team from school went to one of the Assistant Principal's farm, it was so fun. Anita and Nathan are the owners and you can see them in most of the pictures. Dawson and River drove tractors and 4wheelers (with help).

Both of them caught fish as well.

They have a beautiful, HUGE horse that they rode around.

And they loved feeding carrots to the donkey, Bonito.

Dawson's look of pure happiness from successfully feeding the donkey a carrot.

Spring Break is here!

2010-03-15T16:55:00.000-07:00

We came went to Austin this weekend to kick off our Spring Break, we had an awesome time as always. Got some cute pics of the kids and like always, the adults were way more tired than the kids.

This month has been really busy for me at work. Good news is that I made it through the first panel of interviews to be an assistant principal for the school district I work for and the next panel will be in April. It is really nice to have the break this week!

Birthday for Dawson

2010-01-30T13:18:00.000-08:00

We celebrated Dawson's birthday last Saturday at Chucky Cheese, Dawson was so excited about getting the crown and a medal. Dawson invited his friend Chad from school and they played games the whole time together. We missed the cousins who couldn't come! Dawson's birthday was on Wednesday this week and he did the Texas pledge during the announcements on the TV. I watched him and he was so excited. I can't believe that he is 7!

Dawson's Stats!

2010-01-21T17:32:00.000-08:00

So, Dawson had his 7 year old check-up today. Ready? He is 4 feet 3 inches tall, this puts him in the 95% for height. He weighs 79 pounds which puts him in the 97% for weight (the 50% is about 45 pounds which Dawson reached at age 4). I have a REALLY big boy, I am just happy that he is height/weight proportionate. He used to be in the 100% of things and so maybe he is slowing down a little bit in his growth but not too much, he is still so much taller than all of his fellow 1st graders. I love him so much, he is so cute and very excited for his birthday celebration this Saturday. I'll come back later with a post about that.

32

2010-01-11T17:47:00.000-08:00

Another year has gone by and I can't believe it. This was my best birthday in a long time because Dawson and River were so cute and excited. Dawson made me this card at school. On Friday night when I was putting him to bed he said, "Tomorrow is your birthday Mommy and I am going to sneak in your room and yell Happy Birthday" Well they both screamed Happy Birthday at the top of their lungs and Dawson asked me if I was surprised. Then we ate the yummy b-day cake you see above from my principal at school.

White Christmas

2009-12-25T19:38:00.001-08:00

This Christmas was very special...it was wonderful from start to finish. I love it that the boys think that Santa brought the snow. We have been watching a lot of Christmas movies lately and they just wanted to try every single thing they have ever seen happen in the snow from angels to snow fights, to sledding, to building a snowman. We went out into the snow as soon as we opened presents.

River is feeling better and he is pretty good about taking his medicine, he is slowly getting off of his Popsicle diet. He recovered enough for us to do a quick trip to Austin to visit family and exchange gifts. It was so great to be with everyone even though it wasn't for very long. This Christmas could easily be titled "Lego Christmas" I have spent the past two days putting together all of these intricate Lego creations. :)

Strep Throat

2009-12-20T07:05:00.001-08:00

We are on quarantine here...Friday night River started crying and so I went in to check on him and he was burning with fever. So I spent most of the night up with him, holding him and giving him baths. I took him to the doctor on Saturday morning and he tested positive for strep. He is feeling better already but we are just staying home still. I looked online and it said the incubation period for strep is 2-4 days. I really, really hope no one in our family gets it. I think we'll be in the clear by Monday if no one starts showing signs.

I packed us on Friday night to go to Austin, we were supposed to go down there this weekend. So we are sad about that, Dawson asked why we couldn't go anymore and I told him it was because River was sick. He said we could just leave River here and go without him! I told Dawson to stay away from River and so he ran screaming from him for most of the day. River only had his feelings hurt a couple of times, poor guy. River and Dawson usually spend all their time rolling around on the floor wrestling. The other day I found River on Dawson's back, pen in hand, drawing on Dawson's face and neck!

Dawson and River have had perfect attendance at school for the first semester. I was actually just talking about that with someone at work. I remember always getting sick on the first day of vacation.

School Pictures 2009-2010

2009-12-12T05:50:00.001-08:00

River's day care takes these awesome pictures every year! I can't believe how grown up he looks. I love Dawson's picture because he had just lost his two bottom teeth and you can see his sticking his tongue through them. :)

River's Christmas Program

2009-12-10T16:43:00.000-08:00

River's Christmas program was so cute! He did so well this year, he sang louder than everyone and really got into it. Follow this link to see the videos:
http://vimeo.com/album/154191/video/8066782

Thanks David for shooting it!

River is a mess!

2009-12-01T18:20:00.001-08:00

River is a mess!
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

This is what River's shirt looked like when I finally saw him this evening! He is a mess, this is how he gets many days. This shirt is actually a hand me down from Dawson, I think I need to do laundry commercials! River even had coloring on his back today which he said Christian colored on him. :)

Christmas Picture preview

2009-11-28T18:49:00.001-08:00

DSCN1626
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

We drove down to Austin for Thanksgiving and we have had a really fun time. This morning I asked my dad to take a picture of us and this one is my favorite. :)

Another day, another bounce house!

2009-11-15T06:55:00.001-08:00

image
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

Yesterday was Dawson's school carnival. They had fun playing games and bouncing in the bounce house. River got sick last night and threw up in his bed so we aren't going anywhere today.

He has started the why phase which is really fun and exciting because that is something Dawson never did and it encourages me that he is doing it. I will never get tired of answering the why question! :) He did something kind of strange yesterday, he asked me to sing the River had a little lamb song. I substituted Mary for River and every time I sang River's name he would roll his eyes into the back of his head and hold his breathe then smile really big, I know he enjoyed it but he was acting a little strange. He is also in this phase where he colors all over himself. He will come home with dots on his face and arms. I asked him why he colored on himself and he said he did it “for school.”

Halloween Preview

2009-10-25T17:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Kelly and her talent with duct tape, the boys get to be exactly what they want to be for Halloween, Lego Batman and Lego Robin. I'll take more pictures on the actual night.

Fall Fun

2009-10-18T13:53:00.000-07:00

These pictures are from last weekend, we went to a fall party and the boys had a great time. Dawson wanted a red sword with spikes and River wanted a green alien painted on his face. They loved the pony but Dawson will probably be too tall next year. I asked the girl leading the pony if there was a weight limit and she said no but there was a height limit. Dawson was really good at cooking the marshmallows perfectly!

I had a conference with River's teacher on Friday. We talked about the goals they are working on with him right now. They are pretty basic but really important. His teachers noticed as David and I have that River only looks at you when he is talking to you if you tell him "Look at me River." There are some other speech goals they are working on with him too. He has an incredible vocabulary but some of the basic speech isn't there, he can't answer, "How are you?" or "How old are you" His answer is always River. His pencil grasp is something else they are working on.

Dawson has an ARD tomorrow and I will give you an update of that. The main purpose of it is to talk about a Behavior Intervention Plan. He gets up and walks around the classroom and bumps into kids a lot. He does some other things but it is really important to get a plan in place to help keep him focused and out of trouble.

David has the boys this weekend, they are about to come back home, I am a little nervous about the visit because he had swine flu last weekend but I have been assured that all symptoms are gone from the house.

This has been a cleaning, relaxing, and Twilight weekend for me. I finally watched Twilight on Friday night from Netflix. I have been boycotting that whole bandwagon for a long time (sorry Colleen...I now understand everything you were saying before completely!) Less than 24 hours later I can now say that I read the first book, all 500 pages and I am hooked. When you work at a high school and that is what all of the 14 year old girls are reading, you think twice about picking it up. I am now hooked though. When I was in high school, I went through a vampire phase when all of the Anne Rice novels started coming out, but I think I am going to like this series much better.

Pumpkins!

2009-10-04T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here I am at 3, it is fun for me to see the resemblance. I just asked River who this was and he said "Uh, uh, River?" I told him it was baby mommy, and he asked, "baby mommy has a diaper?"

The boys were really excited to choose their pumpkins from the pumpkin patch this year! I can't believe we are here again in October. I am really looking forward to all of the holidays this year. Kelly, the amazing person she is, is making Halloween costumes for Dawson and River. It turns out they want to be the same thing as Isaac and Aaron. Lego Batman and Lego Robin, these are not characters you will find in the store. She is making them out of Cardboard boxes and duct tape! I was just going to buy them some other costume because those costumes don't exist anywhere. Thanks Kelly, I so appreciate it and the boys are going to love them, you are so creative! (Interesting side note, Dawson now weighs 78 pounds, River weighs 35 pounds!)

Here is Dawson's 3rd spelling test, 100% this time! I have implemented the Herman Method here at home and it is really helping him a lot to be able to read and decode words. I am very optimistic but I know I wish the progress was faster. Last year at this time he could only trace and relied on a teacher to hold his hand while he wrote and so this is awesome.

We also took a trip to the Lego store this weekend as a prize for Dawson allowing his teachers to give him a hearing test. There are two Lego stores in the Dallas area and they are like heaven to boys like Dawson. It was pretty cool, his first visit.

Dawson is being referred to a center for testing to see if he also has Central Auditory Processing Disorder in conjunction with the autism. His SPED teacher said that in her 10 years, she has never referred a student to get evaluated for this. It was first brought to her attention by the behavioral specialist who was observing Dawson for the Behavior Intervention Plan for his IEP. When he was 3, ECI told us that he had it but school systems always want their own evaluators to do the testing and they like to wait until kids are much older to test. This will likely be added to his paperwork soon, I am positive that it is another problem that he has.

Touch a Truck

2009-09-27T09:57:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a really fun day, so fun I am still trying to recover from it! First we watched Isaac in his soccer game! Go Titans! They did a great job! Next, we took the kids to McDonalds and then we went to "Touch a Truck" for just $3 dollars the boys explored all kinds of trucks. They had so much fun, it was all to support the Princess Alexa foundation. I texted Crys later on that day and she said they were able to raise over $1500 dollars, unbelievable!

Life has been beond busy for us, the boys are doing well in school. Dawson is picking up reading, writing is still a major struggle. I'll try to do better updating!

Second tooth!

2009-08-30T05:59:00.001-07:00

I took this picture last night of Dawson right after he lost his second tooth. It was hanging on by one thread and it started twisting a little. I asked him if I could wiggle it once before we read a story and he agreed. It popped right out! Anyway, the tooth fairy made another stop to our house last night. Dawson is very proud and the second time was much less traumatic than the first. Having the missing teeth have given Dawson a slight speech impediment, makes me think of the song, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth." It's really cute!

First Day!

2009-08-24T19:34:00.000-07:00

The boys were very excited to go to school. Here they are waiting for the bus, yes they are both riding the bus. Both of their teachers gave good reports for the boys. I can't believe how big they are getting! Dawson in first grade and River in his first year of Pre-K. Dawson is about to lose another tooth on the bottom. It was almost laying flat on his gum but he doesn't want to pull it out. I am tempted to go in while he is sleeping and helping it fall out. I am afraid it will fall out while he is eating lunch.

My first day went well too, I miss having my own students. I do really like my new position too though. One bad thing is that the district froze the thermostats and so we are unable to manually change the temperature, and it was really hot and muggy in the school. It is a measure to save the district money but our principal is trying to get someone out to fix it, it was pretty miserable in some of the classes.

Updates

2009-08-19T19:33:00.000-07:00

River got his hair cut at Cool Cuts for Kids, it is the first time he has had his hair cut professionally. I have always cut it in the past but I think he is going to start caring about that soon. It looks realllllly cute! We are going to meet his new teacher on Friday. We had a really great time on Saturday during River's birthday party. He always loves playing with cousins.

Rebecca came into town on Monday with her kids, they are leaving tomorrow. Dawson is going to be really sad. He and Julian are inseparable. We are going to meet Dawson's teacher on Friday. He is going to have Ms. Scarborough, Ms. Adriana, and Ms. Salzman again. They are all moving up to 1st grade :). I think that all of the familiar faces will make the transition back to school a little easier. I think another one of Dawson's teeth is about to fall out soon, he told me it was itching and I can see him wiggling it with his tongue.

I attended the first advisory committee for the UNT Assistant Principal conference. I am so excited to be a part of it and I know it will be really great experience. The coolest part was when we were talking about possible presenters and I told them about my dad and what he does and now he will be presenting at the conference!

This week has been extremely busy for me, things aren't going to slow down for awhile but that is just fine. I am already getting a lot of good experience in my new position. The best news came on Monday, we voted two years ago about whether we would like to get incentive money for raising test scores at our school. I will getting a little over $1,300 on my next paycheck. Can you believe some schools voted against it? The reason why some schools voted against it was because not everyone would get the same amount, Math/Science/English teachers all receive 1,800 but counselors and aides don't get anything. This will help pay my tuition, it couldn't have come at a better time! :)

Happy Birthday River

2009-08-10T17:28:00.001-07:00

P8110054
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

Here is River ready to go home less than 24 hours after he was born. He was so beautiful that the nurses would come by just to look at him. There weren't very many blonde babies born at this hospital.

We started celebrating last night and we'll be celebrating until Saturday. He ate birthday cupcakes today with his friends at school. He is excited to be three!

Dawson lost his first tooth!

2009-07-27T18:16:00.001-07:00

Dawson lost his first tooth!
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

It was really exciting when Dawson lost his tooth. We were at Central Market in Austin visiting my dad. I was buying some water when Dawson just handed me his tooth. He was a little worried about it and soon asked how many more teeth he had. Aunt Rebecca counted his teeth and told him he still had 19! When I was putting him to bed I showed him the tooth again and he asked me if it was his shark tooth and I asked him if he was a shark, he said no and I told him it was a little boy tooth. All of his teeth look like they are going to fall out at any moment. The tooth fairy brought Dawson 4 dollars and 97 cents! We went this morning to the store and bought some playdough and putty.

We had a fun weekend hitting the usual favorites in Austin, it was too hot though! Kate and Liz watched the boys while I went to a movie with my dad, Star Trek. I though it was really good, thanks guys!

cute boys

2009-07-23T17:22:00.000-07:00

Thanks Colleen for taking this video and sending it to me. The boys screamed over and over again as they watched it for about half an hour. They love it as much as I do, which reminds me that I really need to take more videos of them! http://vimeo.com/5731201

We are headed to Austin this weekend to visit my dad and Kate and so that will be fun and I am sure I will have some great pictures to post.

I got an email this morning from one of my professors at UNT asking me to be on the student committee for the UNT Assistant Principal Conference this November. I am really honored and excited that I was chosen to do this especially since my most challenging professor (the law class one) was the one who invited me!

Jumptown

2009-07-16T18:36:00.001-07:00

Jumptown
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

The boys had a really great time at Jumptown. Every 2nd Tuesday night is set aside for special needs children and their siblings. I was amazed at how fast River was, he had to be to catch up with Dawson. Dawson was very encouraging of River and they played together the whole time. They love each other so much.

Dawson loves his summer camp program at the REC center; he actually loves it more than any camp/program he has been to so far. Everyday, he is so excited to be there and he gets a lot of good social time. It is a special needs camp and they have volunteers that work with the kids, making the ratio about 1:1. There is a mother that I met there with two downs-syndrome boys; she really has her hands full.

Two of my summer school classes are over and I received A’s in both of them! :) I just have my computer class now, it’s much more doable now without the other two courses.

Dawson continues to grow out of/wearout his shoes, the last pair lastest exactly 4 weeks! If anyone sees some good quality, inexpensive shoes...let me know!

The boy cousins at Isabel's b-day

2009-07-11T09:37:00.001-07:00

Isabel's b-day
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

Here are most of the boy cousins at the party!

Isabel's b-day

2009-07-11T09:34:00.001-07:00

Isabel's b-day
Originally uploaded by Que dicho es

Today was Isabel's birthday! The boys had a great time. She is Dawson and River's second cousin. She turned 2!

4th of July Fun!

2009-07-06T07:05:00.000-07:00

The 4th was a lot of fun! I took the boys to a parade in the morning and they loved it! I think the only thing they were interested in was the candy that was being thrown out. Then I dropped them off at David's and he took them to a picnic. (meanwhile, I worked on my grad school stuff) The night was really special because all the family up here hung out at the fireworks show together. The kids love playing with their cousins. I promise to post pictures soon, I can't get the ones I took of the parade off my camera and it wasn't working that night so as soon as Derek or Kelly send them out I'll post some. Derek took a lot of great shots! Dawson was doing some of his dance moves...so cute! He looks more and more like the Larson clan. They are all really beautiful people, good genes! River was scared of the fireworks and buried his head in my chest the whole time. Maybe next year he'll like them...

This is my last week of classes. My finals are Wednesday and Thursday. I have a big project to present on Tuesday that I have been working on non-stop. After Thursday, it will officially feel like summer I think!

Dawson's summer school ended last week and so this morning I took him to a rec center special needs camp. It lasts for two weeks...then I'll probably put him in gymnastics camp. He continues with speech therapy. We had to discontinue occupational therapy because the new insurance only is so bad. Luckily, we have learned enough of what to work on with him that we can do most of it ourselves. He has some good friends that he made in Kindergarten last year that I am going to call up for play dates next week and visit some of the cousins that live close by.

Princess Alexa Closets

2009-06-26T06:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a really special day. The closets at Children's Medical opened and the kids there were so excited. Cry's foundation is an amazing gift to seriously ill children. Yesterday was her angel day. I can't believe that a year has gone by since she passed, the opening of the closets was the most fitting tribute. Dawson lost a favorite friend and cousin but he still remembers her.

ARD update: River had his ARD yesterday morning to officially be entered in to the PPCD program. I am hopeful and there are some good plans in place.

My job update: I am going to be the academic coordinator at my school next year and I will officially be a part of the administrative team. One more step closer to where I want to be and great on the job training. I will be responsible for the 504/at-risk kids and so I won't be teaching.

Things I am worried about and things I am not...

2009-06-16T10:22:00.001-07:00

Things I am not worried about...

The psychologist said that it will be really easy to tell once school starts what problems River actually has and he could be dismissed really quickly if they don't have any major concerns after observing him through several classroom visits. River is very smart and they said that sometimes really smart can sometimes look autistic. He knows all of his letters and what sounds they make, he knows all his numbers up to 20. He knows a lot of stuff! He does love to play with people and interact with others, but so did Dawson.

Things I am worried about...

The evaluator couldn't say without a doubt that River didn't need some kind of services. She did notice several things throughout the observation that were off. I have noticed, and his ECI speech therapist noticed that in the last month River's speech has become a little more garbled where it used to be really clear. His has started babbling again sometimes and he hasn't done that since he was a baby. His eye contact has gotten worse and he wouldn't look people in the eye during the observation. He has a hard time answering questions about what happened in the past and doesn't initiate conversation. Right now 3 (River's 3rd b-day is August 10th), is when all of the behaviors start to really come out if a child is autistic. I used to have in my mind what autism meant, a child flapping their arms in the corner not communicating with others. That is why for so long I thought that couldn't be what was wrong with Dawson, he was so loving, he played with others. What I have learned from dealing with for the past few years is that there is a large spectrum over which children can be. I am very worried just because of how old he is and some recent behavior. With the genetics of it all, I can't help but be worried.

I do know that I am doing everything I can to get him the help he needs, should there be any major problems. I hate the wait and see game but that is where I am right now.

River Update

2009-06-15T10:54:00.000-07:00

I wanted to give everyone an update on River. He has been seen by ECI for speech for about a year now and because he turns three soon we have to look at transitioning him into a new program. The preschool assessment team consisted of a Speech-Language Pathologist, an Educational Diagnostician, and a School Psychologist (to look for autism). The determination was that River should be admitted into the PPCD program (preschool program for children with disabilities) starting this August. His speech is great and the speech pathologist didn't really want to admit him. The psychologist however wanted to be cautious because River's eye contact is not really great and some of his social communication is lacking. I am upset about it because I know this age is so critical, and I just don't want him to have anything wrong with him. I have been fearful from the time he was born. I heard all the same jargon, early intervention...I just wish I didn't have to hear it. His official eligibility is "Non-Categorical Early Childhood (suspicion of Autism Spectrum Disorder) and Speech Impairment."

Running...

2009-06-13T06:36:00.000-07:00

This is where we spent our afternoon yesterday. Dawson barely made the cut-off to go down the big slide at the rec center. He loved it! I will spare you all the details but I feel like I have been running a million miles a minute. Grad school is keeping me VERY busy! I do really enjoy my classes but they all have a lot of assignments and it is all going at an accelerated rate. Dawson loves summer school, he is doing the PAL program through PISD for three more weeks, then I'll have him in something else. He is also still doing speech therapy. In just a few minutes I am heading out to take him to his soccer class. I signed him up for non-competitive soccer this summer, they just teach the kids the basics. He'll think he is on a team, I hope he likes it. River is doing half-days at his normal day care. He had been complaining about ear owies and so I took him to the doctor yesterday and she pulled this huge dried chunk of ear wax and I don't know what else out of his ear, no infection though so that is good!

Memorial Day Weekend

2009-05-24T16:53:00.000-07:00

I went to pick up the boys at Kelly's house and I was finally able to see the picture that David's mom painted for me! I love it and hung it up immediately upon returning home.

We went to my two favorite places to eat, the Oasis and Phil's Ice House! It was good to see everyone and to get back to the town I love. I wish I could transfer Plano schools down there. Also, Kate treated all of the girls to pedicures/manicures and my dad watched all of the boys. It's back to grading/cleaning, only nine more days until summer!

Kelly Cousin Fun

2009-05-23T05:19:00.000-07:00

Kelly invited Dawson and River to spend the night at their house last night. I know, I think she is crazy with 3 boys of her own all under Dawson's age. But Kelly is amazing and I don't know how she manages all that she does. Dawson looooooves Isaac and so he always wants to go over there. This is the first time River has ever slept over though. Kelly called me at 9:00 to tell me that they were all in bed, ever baby Oscar. She said the only time River got sad was right at bed time and River asked Kelly "Mommy, Mommy?" Dawson said, "River, that's not mommy, that's Aunt Kelly!" River's response was oh, but I think he was okay because Dawson was there. I am pretty sure that Dawson thinks that River is crazy. I am picking them up pretty soon so that we can head down to Austin for a couple of days.

Last night was also Crys's birthday and so Kelly took this picture of the boys.

just because

2009-05-12T15:31:00.000-07:00

I just thought this was cute and had to show him off!

Happy Mother's Day!

2009-05-10T14:47:00.000-07:00

Today has been a really great day for me! My role as a mother centers around everything I do and every decision I make. It is the most important aspect of my life. I have the sweetest little boys in the world. They both made me presents at school, Dawson painted me a flower pot and River made me a construction paper flower. Then, I got a really cool surprise in the mail from my cousin, this edible arrangement! Last night, Dawson and I went to see the play Robin Hood that my students were performing up at the school. He loved it and it was so fun being up there with him and watching his face during the sword fights. Then there's River who makes me melt everytime I look at his beautiful blonde curls...he is soooooooooooo cute (and funny)!!!!!!

Last year at this time was really hard for me, I actually went apartment searching and signed the lease to the apartment where I live now last Mother's Day. :( I can't believe a year has gone by. Every day seems to get easier and I have settled into routines and life with my two little boys. I am optomistic about what the future holds for me.

Fun Easter Weekend!!!!

2009-04-11T11:22:00.000-07:00

At the egg hunt this morning they had a small petting zoo. The boys love animals so much.

River loved the egg hunt ... he mostly looked around for candy that had fallen out of eggs.

Dawson was very patient. He was really happy that he filled up his whole basket.

I tried getting the annual wild flower picture but it was hard to get them to look at me and smile at the same time. I thought that this was a cute picture.

River crawled up to Dawson on the trolley that we rode around on Friday (no school/work), Dawson put him in a loving headlock. The trolley was free and was built in 1909. I told River it was Toby from Thomas the train and he was in heaven!

Friday morning, we went to the King tut exhibit. My dad and Kate bought us tickets to it and we had fun exploring the DMOA. We couldn't take any pictures inside of the exhibit, it was pretty amazing. I bought the boys some "mummy putty" in the gift shop, Dawson has been playing with it ever since.

Wednesday night, River was up most of the night crying, we took him to the doctor on Thursday and he has an ear infection. The doctor calls him Shrek because of all the ear wax buildup. Also, Thursday was my last School Law class, my final is in a week and a half. My other class ends May 11th. :) As far as the school year goes, only 8 more weeks...I can't believe it.

Potty!!!

2009-03-31T19:29:00.000-07:00

The big thing going on here is that River is potty training at full force! He sleeps all night (10 hours) without having an accident! I am so happy!!!!! He is really proud of himself too. I thought I would post his 3 school pictures, I sent out at least one of them to everyone in the family. I have been changing diapers for 6 years now, I am ready to be done!

Dawson's official class picture

2009-03-15T19:06:00.000-07:00

There are actually quite a few tall kids in Dawson's class, I cropped out the names for security. I certainly was not surprised to see him on the top row! We are enjoying our spring break so far. Everyone at my school, teachers and students needed it!!!!! Dawson's favorite friends are Alex, Chad and Kendall (girl). Dawson is enjoying playing with his cousins, especially Julian. Poor baby Zack, http://meandmyzacks.blogspot.com/ here's to hoping for more progress and that he can feel back to normal soon.

River has a lot of David's little kid personality traits, he is really shy, always wants his hands to be clean, wants his shirt/pants/shoes to on correctly and smoothly, and he's #1 student at his school!! He's really funny too!

I can't believe it is March already

2009-03-01T11:40:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Dawson's B-day celebration part 2 in Austin. We went to Phil's Ice House/Amy's Ice cream. It has to be one of my favorite places to eat in Austin!!! :)

Dawson has new shoes again, the last pair lasted about 6 weeks. I got him some cool converse shoes that were on sale...we'll see how long they last! He has such long feet, sometimes I feel like Dawson is growing before my eyes, he is so huge! He likes classify things as boring now when he doesn't want to do something. Dawson is talking a lot about God, Jesus and Alexa lately. He is also really interested in bodies, blood and bones. He is really excited for Easter and doing a hunt for eggs.

River is obsessed with Thomas, he has a book that Kelly gave Dawson a few years ago for Christmas that he carries around everywhere, along with the trains. He also is still into Batman and sword fighting. He is really cute!

One of my midterms is this week, I am glad because it means I am half-way done with the semester. I am so tired and really ready for a break!

Ocupado!

2009-02-11T18:52:00.000-08:00

To say that things have been really crazy lately would be a major understatement!! Grad school consumes ALL of my "free time", so much reading! At least I find the courses interesting, I just wish I had a little more time right now.

River had strep last week and Dawson had the flu! I don't know how I made it through both of those highly contagious illnesses without catching either of them.

The boys had a really fun time at Aaron's birthday, River was talking about it for days. David took them over to it as it was a weeknight.

I am still meaning to get a picture of River in his Batman mask, and I will as soon as I find my camera. He has the biggest grin ever when he puts it on. The other day he told the checkout lady at the supermarket, "I Batman!", she played along and said "Bye, Batman" as I was carting the boys away. River was really excited that she called him Batman.

Dawson is 6!

2009-01-27T14:50:00.000-08:00

It's official! Dawson is 6 today. I uploaded pictures to my flicker account from his birthday. We had a great time celebrating it at Dave and Busters with all of his Dallas family. We will be traveling to Austin this weekend to celebrate with everyone down there. I can not believe how old he is!

Excited to be 6!

2009-01-20T18:28:00.001-08:00

Yes, Dawson is sleeping with the birthday card he got in the mail today. He was so excited to open his first birthday card, it's from his great-grandmother Chambers. He took it up to the bath with him, I put it on the counter, and then he told me that he wanted to sleep with it. I had to take a picture, he sure is easy to please!

David bought him a pet snake. Ewww, it eats baby mice, double ewww! He loves it, he said it's name is Hairit, but it might be getting a new name. Hairit lives at David's house :)

River is now kissing his own owies, it's really cute!

Dawson is learning all about bodies and recently told me that he has dinosaur bones in his body! :) Cute, sweet boys! :)

Why I love Plano Schools...

2009-01-05T17:42:00.000-08:00

Dawson and another class member have been having some problems. The other boy is autistic, and throws things and does inappropriate things. Dawson can't just ignore him, if the boy throws something on the floor, Dawson has to run over there, pick it up, and tell him not to do it. This boy writes on Dawson and runs around the class. Dawson's special ed teacher has been discussing this problem with me for awhile and has been discussing possible scenarios. While the other children can ignore this disruptive behavior, Dawson can not.

This is why I love Plano schools, today the principal called me and asked if it would be alright for Dawson to switch classrooms and that she would only approve it if I said it was OK. She said the other boy would have a harder time transitioning to a new class. She also reassured me that Dawson would have his aide that he loves, Ms. Adriana. Ms. Adriana loves Dawson too, she bought him a star wars ship and blocks for River for Christmas. Mrs. Salzman will come in as well to work with Dawson. Then the principal told me that his new teacher, Mrs. Neid was making a book for him. She took pictures of herself, bathroom, lockers, books, tables, and a lot of the things he was going to need to know. Then she printed out the pages, wrote a story describing it all, laminated it, and bound it into a book. Then the principal told me that she would deliver it to the school where I teach. Dawson is excited for his new class, I made it sound like a really exciting thing. He does pretty well with new situations and the book helped a lot.

Cute things my kids do: Dawson recently heard me tell someone that we live in a town home. So now when we drive into the complex, he says this "This is Dawson Town, and this is my home. Look at all of the houses in Dawson Town!"

I love that River tells me when he gets hurt, then holds out his knee (or whatever was hurt) and waits for me to kiss it. Then it's better, it's cute!

Ever wonder where Dawson got his awesome hair?

2009-01-03T11:22:00.001-08:00

I took this picture right after I gave him a hair cut on January 1st. I can't believe he is almost 6!
This is my dad when he was 12 years old! Here is Dawson and River with their Canby cousins. River loves Cereal!

Feliz Año Nuevo

2009-01-01T17:49:00.000-08:00

I am hoping for a really good 2009!!!! I am really grateful that Dawson and River are healthy and progressing well. In September at Dawson's first teacher conference, Mrs. Scarbrough gave me a list of things he needs to know by the time he leaves Kindergarten. I am confident he will know all of his TEKS by the school year's end. It is truly amazing how much he has progressed in just the past few months. His next conference will be in February. River's ECI coordinator went to visit him at his school and she told me that River is looking really engaged and follows one step directions and routines at school really well. She gave me some good hints on how to help him learn to follow two-step directions. She said that because he loves numbers so much I need to say things like. Give me two crayons and three blocks. He really is doing really well. I still freak out a little when I see him walk on his tip-toes (usually only when he is barefoot) or looking at his fingers in the car. I just want him to keep progressing and learning as he should. I feel good that the ECI person is looking after him. She seems to know what she is doing more so than the one Dawson had in Austin. The one in Austin was a recent graduate of UT. Shelly, up here in Plano has been working here in Plano for about 15 years. She is great and is the same person who came out when River was about 6 months old to help him with crawling.

I also start back to school in a few weeks and my mom got a really flexible job close by. That is a huge blessing to me because she will be able to pick up the kids easily and care for them for a couple of hours on Monday and Tuesday nights. I also was awarded a $1,000 scholarship for this semester which will pay for 2/3 of the tuition. I have been asked to be Spanish department chair for next year. I work with really great people and am developing close friendships with them, which is something that I really need right now. While many things are not perfect in my life right now, I still have a lot to be thankful for.

Now on to getting the kids back on their sleeping schedule. They really liked the El Paso time zone! They have been going to bed late and waking around 9:00! Monday is going to be painful, Dawson has to be at school between 7:30 and 7:40. Hopefully I can get everyone, myself included back on schedule. I have really liked sleeping in too!

Christmas Break

2008-12-28T16:20:00.000-08:00

I have been staying really busy, visiting with a lot of family and friends and so that has been really nice. One of the of highlights was the trip to Houston for Kate's family Christmas party. Breakfast with my dad, Kate, Liz and Rebecca the next morning was really nice. Also, I spent a lot of time with Derek and Kelly and baby Oscar! He is perfect I loved holding him! The boys came home this afternoon and we opened our presents together right away! They were spoiled at Grandma Cardon and Tompa's house! They had a fun Christmas trip, I am so happy to have them back home!

I spent about 8 hours the day after Christmas taking advantage of all of the sales and using my giftcards! :) One of my goals for the day was to find some shoes for Dawson that would last longer than 6 weeks! I found some on sale for $30, regularly they run over $50. I will let you know how they hold up! Part of the problem is that I can never find his size, in Velcro, for a reasonable price. Hopefully this new pair will last for a long time.

I am currently scanning all of my old pictures and posting them on my flickr account. There is a link at the top right of the screen. If there is a picture on there that you don't like or think is unflattering I can mark it as private and no one will be able to see it. I am also saving the pictures on disks and my computer, but if my house burned down or they both got lost or stolen then I will still have the photos online and have access to them. I just thought I would let the people that follow this blog know about it so that they can access them as well. It will be a fairly long process organizing it all but well worth it in the end. It will also be an easier way to look back at photos and pass them on to Dawson and River. Hope everyone has a Happy New Year!

Busy Weekend

2008-12-14T15:40:00.000-08:00

Saturday, I took River over to Derek and Kelly's house. They watched him so that I could take Dawson to a Christmas Musical at one of my co-worker's churches. Dawson was in awe, it was amazing and is going to be a new tradition for me. I can't describe it, the singing was amazing. They had all of these lights that they turned on and off with the music, there was even real snow that came out of the ceiling at one point. Dawson really loved it, and it was nice to be there just with him.

Dawson also went to his first friend from school's party. He says Kendall is his best friend, she is the one in tiger face paint behind him. She is really sweet with him and was always making sure he was close by her during the party. Dawson also got his face painted for the first time ever, he didn't want to at first. Then he saw that everyone else was getting it done and he decided it would be ok. Of course he loved the pony, and we both thought about Alexa. We miss her.

When I dropped off Dawson at therapy on Saturday morning, River and I went to Target. There were some men on horses there doing security. They were putting kids on the horses with them. So here is River's first time on a real horse! He was so excited.

A star is born!

2008-12-11T17:32:00.000-08:00

Today was River's Christmas Presentation at his school. His class sang "I'm a little tea pot, Froggy, and Deck the Halls" All of the students sang "We wish you a Merry Christmas" for the finale. River can now count to 10 in Chinese and also says hello and goodbye in Chinese!

Cute stories

2008-12-02T16:57:00.000-08:00

River loves to watch football! Anytime he sees it on TV, he screams football and sits down to watch it.

River knows who Santa is and screams Santa every time he sees a picture of him, I can't wait to take him to see the real Santa! Today, River came to me with this Christmas moose toy we have and was saying "Bells, bells" I really didn't know what he was talking about, I thought maybe he was refering to some lights that are around the moose's neck. When I pressed the button to make it play, sure enough it sang "Jingle Bells", River sat down with it and sang most of the words.

Dawson thinks that owies turn into moles. Whenever he sees a hurt, after we take off the band aid, he says, "look it doesn't hurt anymore, it's a mole now." Sometimes when he sees moles, he says, "It's just a mole, it doesn't hurt." Dawson has a lot of moles!

Side note: I am pretty sure River is left handed, it will be interesting to see if it sticks. I was always fascinated by people who wrote left-handed.

Cousin Fun

2008-11-29T16:07:00.000-08:00

Dawson has had a really fun weekend starting with Thanksgiving. Rebecca came up to visit Aunt Betty and some other family members, she is spending the night at my house and Dawson couldn't be happier. It has been so much fun. I took Victoria to get manicures and pedicures with me and I brushed and styled her hair. At least I get to scrunch up River's hair, but it's not the same as doing a girl's hair. We tried to take some pictures of all of the cousins together but it is really hard and River was not cooperating.

Feliz Dia de Gracias

2008-11-27T17:42:00.000-08:00

We went to Austin on Wednesday morning. On Wednesday afternoon we went to Zilker Park with my dad and the boys got to ride the train. I love Austin! Thanksgiving was really yummy, Dawson ate bread and a chocolate "turkey" cupcake. River slept through most of the meal. The boys had a lot of fun playing with their cousins and feeding the deer. Dawson and Julian are both in Kindergarten and play so well together.

Early Childhood Intervention 2.0

2008-11-24T17:03:00.000-08:00

Well, some of you may remember how ECI came out to work with River when he was about 6 months old. They worked with him and he progressed to the point where he no longer required services. He has been in a follow along program for about the past year and I fill out a questionnaire about his progress. There were some concerns from the last questionnaire and so this morning ECI came out to do an evaluation. River is delayed in his speech and will be re-enrolled in the regular program. This is pretty disappointing to me, but it is just the way things are and I've got to be accepting of it and do what I can to get him to where he should be. His main problem areas are: answering Who/Where/What questions and following 2-step directions.

Good news from the evaluation: River is in Shelly's words, "completely off the charts" as far as cognitive ability. She was amazed by all that he knows. He has great fine and gross motor skills. He is also normal socially.

So now ECI will travel out to visit him about twice a month to monitor his progress and give his school and me suggestions on ways to work with him. Then, when he turns 3 next August, they will help us make the transition to public school if necessary. Depending on his needs, that might be 3 hours a week of speech therapy or all day five days a week. He is in a critical time for development and we will have to watch him very closely for the next little while.

Yes, I am one of those people

2008-11-23T18:03:00.000-08:00

I realize that Thanksgiving is not here yet, but I couldn't help it. As soon as David brought the boys back tonight, I pulled out all of the Christmas stuff. I won't have the boys with me this year and so I want to maximize all of the holiday time we have together. It only took about an hour and a half to put everything up. I don't really have that much stuff, but I also had to put everything up quickly because River was opening everything up as fast as he could screaming "I did it" and "Ta Da!". It was fun to watch their faces and I liked showing Dawson the things that he had made previously. I already have several outings with the boys planned to celebrate Christmas, mostly going to different productions and things around town.

In my mind as we put things together, I couldn't help but think of Alexa...we miss her.

Quick stories

2008-11-17T18:22:00.000-08:00

It is funny the things that children inherit from their parents. River rubs his feet together as he is going to sleep. I share this tidbit especially for Shar and Joni who had to listen to me rub my feet together every night!

Dawson had a substitute therapist on Saturday, she said that she was really impressed with Dawson and that it was apparent that he had been going to therapy for most of his life. She praised us for catching him at an early age. It has been a long journey, with therapy appointments 2-3-and 4 times a week at different times during the past 4 years. I am hopeful and waiting for the day when his therapists say he no longer requires it. I am grateful for all of the people that love my boys!

Halloween

2008-11-10T16:45:00.000-08:00

Dawson was Anakin Skywalker and River was a soldier (when he wore his costume). River did not want to wear his costume, but he learned "trick-or-treat" pretty quickly and it has been a favorite phrase ever since. The funniest thing I have learned from all of this is River's strange taste in candy. He'll eat anything really, except for redhots. His favorites are really sour things like lemon heads and rootbeer flavored dum-dums! Both boys love anything chocolate of course.

Trip to Austin!

2008-10-27T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here are the boys at Amy's icecream pretending to be cows.

River performed for everyone all day.

I love this picture of Dawson, his eyes are so pretty!

We spent several hours in the back yard playing with the sprinkler attachments. There were 10 deer in their backyard! The boys were excited to feed them apples!

My dad, Kate and Liz took awesome pictures, thanks!!!!! We had such a good time.

Pumpkin! Pumpkin!

2008-10-12T09:32:00.000-07:00

We went to the pumpkin patch to pick out pumpkins, the boys are so excited for Halloween! I am too, I can't wait to go trick-or-treating with them! Dawson's new phrases are "whatever" and "really!" River is more and more independent every day. He wants to do everything by himself.

That's right, I am minivan-free! I bought a 2007 Hyundai Elantra from Carmax. It was time to trade in the minivan. It had some major issues that were going to be very costly to fix. It had over 130,000 miles on it and I was starting to get nervous driving it on the highway, I felt like it was going to fall apart at any moment. Besides all of that, the minivan was NOT fuel efficient at all!

My new car is awesome! I love it! It has a sunroof and lots of storage space. I got this off of Wiki about my car:

"The Hyundai Elantra is listed as EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) Picks Ten Most Fuel Efficient Vehicles. The Elantra ranked #2 in 2006 and 2007 in the category of most fuel efficient sedans, and also was ranked as the most efficient non-hybrid mid-sized sedan.[2]
Hyundai Elantra awarded 2008 Consumer Reports "top pick". Hyundai Elantra was among the top 10 vehicles for 2008 unveiled in the magazine's issue. The magazine's annual ratings, based on road tests and predicted safety and reliability are considered highly influential among consumers.[3]
Hyundai Elantra earned Consumer Reports' 'excellent' rating in predicted reliability. Hyundai Elantra is Consumer Reports top-ranked 2008 vehicle amongst 19 other compacts and subcompacts. Beating out such high-quality competitors as the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla and Toyota Prius."

ARD update

2008-09-30T19:18:00.001-07:00

I just took this picture of the boys in their bath tonight, they have so much fun together.

ARD update, for anyone not familiar, an ARD is a yearly meeting that is conducted every year to determine services and eligibility for Special Education services. Dawson had his yearly ARD on Monday. It went really well. I was so happy to hear the comments from his teachers and therapists there. His Kindergarten teacher said that Dawson is indistinguishable from his peers at times and that according to the testing that she has done so far, he is in the range of what Kindergarten children should be able to do (on the lower end). He does experience meltdowns at times but she said it is usually because he wants to keep working on something and is not ready to move on. His fine motor skills are a concern, but they have a program that they have started with him called "handwriting without tears". Everyone at the meeting could see Dawson's potential in the next few years as being at grade level, but possibly needing to use a computer instead of a paper and pen. Keep your eyes open for those pencil grips things that you can place on pencils, I think that is one thing that might help mold his fingers. It was just really exciting to me to hear how well he is doing and that he is in range of where he should be.

Dawson is a perfectionist, I wonder where he got that from?! :) Part of the problem he has with writing and cutting and glueing is that he doesn't want to make a mistake and he wants everything to line up perfectly. He notices that what he does looks different from what others do and he wants a lot of support and hand over hand to do things. I know that as his confidence grows in those areas, his ability will grow as well. I just am crossing my fingers that the progress continues. Today I got another comment from his afterschool care teachers. They told me how much they love working with him and how he is so polite. They told me he always asks for milk to drink in the afternoon (he loves those little cartons) Then when he gets it he says, "Oh, thank you so much for my milk!" I love my Dawson!

Another week, another update!

2008-09-28T18:47:00.000-07:00

I hate to post without pictures, but I will anyway! I got Dawson's Kindergarten pictures back! He is so old looking, I can't believe it. He looks like a 1st or 2nd grader. I was talking with his OT after his appointment yesterday and she told me that she also has a little boy Dawson's age, and that she loves to work with boys that are his son's age. She told me however, that when she first saw Dawson, she couldn't believe how big he was and she had to go back and check his paper work to see his birthday because she couldn't believe he is only 5. Roxanne, his Occupational therapist is working on his fine motor skills and his goal with her is to write his name on a small line at the top of the paper. He usually takes up the whole paper to write it. He is getting better with scissors, she said she had to correct him a lot, but he never got frustrated. I told her he is used to adults trying to help him, we have been taking him to therapy for so long now. Dawson's teacher at school told me that she is really impressed by how polite Dawson is, he is always courteous. He has had to learn his social behavior over the years, but once he gets it, he gets it. He sticks up for other kids at school if someone is being picked on. He loves school and his teachers and I am so happy about that. Dawson loves River and will do anything for River, especially when River is screaming at the top of his lungs. Example from this morning, there were two donut holes left in the box, Dawson grabbed both of them, River said "Donut Donut", I asked Dawson if he could share one donut with River and he gave him both of them and wasn't upset about it at all. He is just so good and sweet. We are working on River's sharing skills!

River loves his school too, I can't tell you the peace of mind I have knowing that both of my boys are happy all day. River runs in every morning and won't even say goodbye to me some mornings, sometimes I get a half wave from behind his back as he is rummaging through the toys for his favorite cars. He is really vocal at his circle times, and knows most letters. The teacher I drop him off with in the morning says he is the happiest little boy there. He is the slowest to catch on to potty training though, we are still working on it. River is aware of things though and informs me of what is going on, he is really interested in all of Dawson's cool "boy pants". At home he runs around copying everything Dawson does and wants to be just like him. He is all boy and is really into making messes, throwing things and yelling "hiya!".

My baby pictures

2008-09-21T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here they are, tell me if you see it too!

River's 1 year old picture

My 1 year old picture

Quick update

2008-09-11T05:58:00.001-07:00

Last weekend was so fun, we went to the DMOA, there is an amazing exhibit there which I highly recommend to anyone that lives in the area. Then we went to Big Shucks in Dallas. It is one of my favorite places for seafood, and it is perfect for kids because it has a huge outdoor patio and a lobster tank inside, which Dawson loves. The boys had a lot of fun seeing Grandma and Grandpa.

Kate mentioned looking at baby pictures of me recently and the resemblance she saw in River and myself. While obviously I have seen my baby pictures before, I haven't pulled them out for a while. I was totally blown away. Every feature including hairstyle is exactly like me (I did have red hair and brown eyes, which is the only difference really). I showed them to David and he was like Oh my Gosh, that's River. We even tricked Dawson, when we showed him one of the pictures, he said it was River. David is scanning them into the computer, and then I will post them.

Dawson has been doing good at school, he loves it. He has thrown up his peanut butter sandwich two days in a row though, his gag reflex is so bad. He won't eat anything else and so I don't really know what to do. Sometimes he goes through these throw up phases, hopefully this one will pass soon.

River decided to stuff a chocolate chip in his ear yesterday. It was so gross. His whole ear was brown. I had to wait till his bath and then use a cut-tip to get it out, Dawson was completely disgusted by the whole thing.

Picture Day!

2008-09-03T18:36:00.000-07:00

Air River

Playing with Daddy a few weeks ago.

Today was picture Day at school for Dawson, I can't wait to see how the pictures turned out! Grandma Cardon bought Dawson one of those photo frames a few years ago with a space for every year in school, I can't wait to finally use it. It is highway robbery what they charge for the pictures, but I made sure to order enough wallet pictures for everyone that I think will want one. Dawson was excited about taking his picture at school today. He has been coming home with worksheets and things that he has been doing in school almost everyday and I can't believe how much he is able to do.

River's teacher told me that it is her goal to have the whole class potty trained by December, cross your fingers. Something really cute River has been doing lately is singing along to movies.

In the opening scene of the Movie Happy feet, there is this penguin that sings "I need your love..." River waits anxiously for that part and then belts it out. He also loves shouting "Stop!" anytime he sees a red light or stop sign, I love watching him grow up.

My students this year are so much better than last year. There is such a difference in this group of kids and you can just feel it in the whole school. We are looking forward to a visit from my dad and Kate this weekend!

River's first time on the potty!

2008-08-27T16:34:00.000-07:00

River was excited to open his b-day present from the Kelly grandparents

River goes to Plano Day School during the day, they run in the same way as Montessori schools. His first day of his new class was Tuesday. Tuesday he sat on the potty 3 times, Wednesday he actually went to the restroom on the potty! If he is potty trained by 2 1/2 I will be ecstatic!!!!! The peer pressure to potty train is definatley helping. He loves his class, he has a little girlfriend in there named Katie. The teachers call them Bonnie and Clyde.

I am attaching this picture Dawson drew, it is a little easier to see. He said it is a picture of me :)

First Day of School!

2008-08-25T19:56:00.000-07:00

Classic backpack in front of the house first day of school picture

Dawson and Mrs. Salzman

after school when I picked him up

The first day of school was a huge success. Dawson was so excited and I was too. He ran out of the van and hugged his special ed. teacher Mrs. Salzman (she is going to meet him everyday at my car and walk him to class). He loved school, he had so much fun. He drew a picture of himself and brought it home. That is actually a pretty big deal, I can't really post it because he chose a yellow crayon on manila paper. You can actually see a stick figure body, he has never done that before!!!! Crys bought this train sandwich cutter for him so that he could have cool peanut butter and honey sandwiches. He got to school at 7:30 and stayed after school in the PASAR program until 5:00. It was a long day for him and he was ready to go to bed at 8:00!

Friday with a Bang!

2008-08-22T17:07:00.000-07:00

Wow, my first week back was much more eventful than I had imagined it would be. River ended up getting sick again! I was planning on leaving today (Friday afternoon) after work to drive to Austin. Thursday about half an hour after I got off the phone with my dad, River started digging his finger in his ear saying "ear owies", and I was like oh know not again. I have set up about 4 or 5 trips to travel to Austin since June 1 and every single one of them has been cancelled due to sickness. We are not usually this sick but River started daycare in May and he picks up every cold that walks in there. Then, his colds don't just stay "colds" but turn into these ear infections/sinus/viral sicknesses. My dad has been very understanding, hopefully we will make it down there soon. Well River's fever spiked around midnight and I had to take of his pants and put him on my bed under the fan to try to bring down his body temperature. I asked him if he had ear owies and he said "ear owies, mouth owies". It made for a very long night. This morning I went straight to the doctor and he said there is some fluid in the ears although it isn't infected yet, River's throat was extremely red. It almost looked like broken blood vessels in the back of his throat and the nurse was even taken back a little when she saw it to do the culture. He is on antibiotics and is feeling much better. And it is really really nice for River to be able to tell me what hurts on him. Our new friend Megan took care of him for which I am extremely grateful. I really needed to work in my classroom to get it ready for the first day of school. I am not totally done with everything but I don't have too much more to do.

Kindergarten Update:

Dawson's teacher is Mrs. Scarbrough, and she is the team leader for Kindergarten. I was able to bring Dawson to his school and meet his teacher individually before all the masses got there. She is really nice and Dawson really liked the classroom and her. He is almost as tall as her! I am so excited that he is in her class. He can't wait for Monday. His school is rated Exemplary, while I know that the ratings don't always mean too much, as a teacher they are important to me. I know that the best teachers usually want to teach at the highly rated schools and I am optimistic about the growth we will see from Dawson as he begins "real school". I'll post pictures on Monday.