God is Faithful, Whatever the Answer...

Last night I was working on some homework I need to finish for a teacher recertification class I took over the summer. The class was on Asperger's Syndrome/High-Functioning Autism, and couldn't have come at a better time, because Seth was really struggling with our move/change, etc. I have the last part of the class this Thursday in Cedar Rapids, so Seth, Josie and I are driving back to Iowa for it. Anyway, as I have mentioned in previous posts, Seth is doing AMAZINGLY well so far. There are times I have been brought to tears praising God for the work He has done and is doing in Seth-in some ways he is a completely different kid than he has been the past few years. He will always be the child that brings me to my knees most often, don't get me wrong, but what a change I can see! In the past, I have been too consumed with knowing all the answers...does he have Asperger's, what is the right way to handle every situation (as if I would ever be able to figure that out!), what about his future, and on and on...I feel like God has really been moving me toward not focusing so much on all that "stuff" and instead choosing to focus on Him, trusting that He will be right with me as we navigate through whatever is ahead. I don't need all the answers, I just need to trust that the Lord has Seth in His hands.
So, last night I was looking through all my info and doing my assignments for this class, and all these old anxious feelings started creeping in again...does he, doesn't he, does it really even matter?!! I have a folder of stuff just from this class, and right in the middle of one of the packets on Aspergers, there was a lone sheet of paper that must have come from a sunday school class or maybe Seth's preschool last year...it said, "Jesus Can Do Anything." I flipped it over and it said, "Isn't it exciting that Jesus can do anything! Isn't he amazing? He can heal people. Remember that Jesus can do anything!" Now, I am not saying that Seth had Asperger's and I think he is now cured-we were never 100 percent certain, though things were definitely looking that way. And many of his deficits are not much of an issue anymore-there are times I really do think God has changed what we thought Seth's diagnosis was. But, whatever may or may not be, it did speak to me and reminded me that God CAN do anything and He is bigger than my anxieties and fears regarding Seth. And you have to admit, the placement of that lone sheet of paper is pretty cool. Only information on Asperger's Syndrome and that one sheet of paper. And just like that, I was back to resting and finding peace in God's faithfulness to me, whatever the answer.

Happy Birthday, Mom!!

Today is my mom's 55th birthday! If she looked anywhere near 55 years old, I wouldn't dream of revealing her age. But she seriously makes 55 seem very young to me. Sorry to the other grandparents who have had a birthday with no pics posted-I just learned how to scan less than a month ago, so I'll catch you on your next one:) Mom, we miss you and love you so much! You are a wonderful mom and grandmother, and also a precious friend. Hope you have a great day!

Funny Stuff 8

I need to do a better job with these posts because they accumulate so quickly and I don't want them to get too long to read!

My personal two faves came from Josie this time. This first one needs a brief background...I have been feeling guilty about taking my kids to the Log Cabin on campus (Josie goes there for Moms Morning Out on Wednesdays and they all go on Monday night while I go to class with Nile-both of these are free, which is awesome). In addition, we now are part of a Community Group for people who go to church at The Journey (we LOVE the church we found) so my kids have babysitters for two hours on Sunday nights, as well. Anyway, I have been feeling really guilty lately...feeling like it is too much time, etc. This leads to Josie's comment to me on Friday-

"Mom, can you please come play dollhouse with me? You never get to see me anymore cuz I am always somewhere else, like the Log Cabin or child care." (Ouch!)

Last week, Nile had a grumpy night, for lack of a better description:) He was stressed and perhaps took it out on the kids-happens to the best of us, no? Anyway, he kind of snapped at Gabe, and Josie said, "Wow. Someone really needs to take a nap." I was trying so hard not to laugh as I talked with her about how it is disrespectful to talk to adults that way, etc. But I secretly agreed with her:) It wasn't said sarcastically or anything, just matter-of-factly, which made it even funnier.

"I hope you have a great time studying and I hope you come home safely, Daddy."
Me: Josie, do you have to go number 1 or number 2?
Josie: Um, I actually have to go number 3. What is number 3, mommy?
"I wasn't trying to stir up trouble, I was just telling him something."
"It is definitely raining really hard now."
"That burp (Seth's, not mine!) was sickening."
I was a bit frustrated with her after a morning spent disciplining her repeatedly for the same offense (consistency will pay off at some point, right?!)...I was trying so hard to keep my voice from showing my impatience, and she said, "Mom, why is your voice sounding that way? It doesn't sound normally."
I was praying for her before bed, and prayed that one day Josie would be a wonderful wife and mommy to her own children. She cuts in with, "Oh, man. I don't want to be a mommy when I grow up. I want to be a spy."

Gabe:
"I thought it was so neat how you got me to calm down, mom. I was really upset and you were so great about it. You're the nicest mom ever."
"Okay, I've got my camo on. Now I feel intense."
"Mom, at my old school we had 3 recesses every day. At my new school, we only get 1 recess every day. Man, I didn't expect that."
Last night, Seth had a fever and wasn't feeling well. Gabe said, "I'm really sorry you're not feeling good Seth." Then he came over and whispered in my ear, "I don't want to sleep with him tonight. What if he gets me sick?"
My mom and step-dad are putting their dog, Sadie, to sleep next week. Gabe wanted to color a picture for grandma, and he said he wanted to put a Bible verse on the bottom of the pic. I asked him if he had thought about which verse he wanted, and he said, "Probably one from when God tells Abraham to sacrifice Isaac, cuz it's kind of like grandma is sacrificing Sadie. Or maybe one that talks about sacrificing sheep to please God like they used to do before Jesus." Hilarious that he equates putting a dog to sleep as a sacrifice in the biblical sense-we had to talk a little about the difference there, but I sure appreciate his heart.
"Mom, I don't really feel good about this plan. Can't you just hold her back?" (Josie wanted to go with him to play outside without me)

Seth:
"Now, if you'll excuse me mom, I need to get back to my work. Did I say that nicely or did that hurt your feelings?" (I was asking him questions about his day at school and he wanted to finish what he was doing)
"How does God decide who gets to survive and who has to die? Why did He not let Uncle Floyd survive?"
"Mom, Gabe put his loud voice on me." (ie-Gabe raised his voice to me)
Seth and I were playing soccer and I had a good kick. He said, "Wow. Pretty impressive, for a lady."
Me: Did you have any specials today, like art, music or PE?
Seth: I had the one with Mrs. Nut.
Me: That's her real name? I don't remember that name...
Seth: Oh, well, I just call her that because she reminds me of a squirrel with her teeth like that. But don't worry-I never tell her that I call her that to myself. (Makes me a little paranoid about what he calls me to himself)

Queeny Park

Yet another fun park less than 10 minutes from us that we just found today! We pulled in and the boys started going nuts..."This is the most awesome park ever! I thought it was gonna be a park for babies, but this is amazing!" etc. We were walking down the stairs to get to the playground, and Seth shouts, "This looks like ancient China!" Once again, no clue where he comes up with these things:) It was a boys' dream, with tunnels to climb in and through, and a rock climbing wall surrounded the whole thing. Josie loved it, too. I always get comments about what a daredevil she is-comes with having older brothers, I guess.

Goofy Pix

The top picture is so Gabe, and I loved
the beads of sweat in the one below-also
so Gabe! This boy sweats a lot!

Nothing like cheap entertainment...I bought these little popcorn containers at Target for 90 cents apiece and told the kids it was just like being in the movie theater. Not that we ever saw many movies in the theater (maybe 1 or 2 a year), but now it will be something that occurs...never:) Once a week, we have pizza/movie night, which they really look forward to. They seemed happy with their little "tubs" of popcorn.

Millineum Park Fun

One of the moms here told us about a great park not too far from us, so we went and checked it out. It was awesome-the playground had lots of unique things to do/climb, and it also had a splash pad that the kids loved. Josie only lasted 20 minutes and then got cold, but the boys played for 45 minutes and were still having fun when we said it was time to leave. If you look in the background of some of the water pictures, you can see the cool playground. I just love free entertainment!

Josie and Cooper

I couldn't get a great shot to show this, but Cooper was literally against her little lips like he was kissing her while she slept. I love to go in each night and see what I'll find.

Loved Cooper's position in this one.

Quick story- We couldn't find Cooper one night
before bed. We looked everywhere! I knew he had

to be in the house, because we hadn't gone anywhere

that day. Josie was distraught and cried forever before

bed...Curious George just wouldn't suffice. I thought

it was funny when I went in later to find George cast aside.

At 11:45, Nile and I were laying in bed talking and I was telling

him that I couldn't believe Cooper could just get lost in a home

this tiny. He bolts out of bed and runs into Josie's room and

comes back triumphantly holding Cooper. He had been shoved

in the stove of Josie's play kitchen all along, and Nile had just

remembered her saying something about hiding him when she and

Nile were playing earlier in the day.

Cardinals Game and Girls Trip to the Zoo

Last week, some guys from Parkview came down to hit a Cardinals' game. Nile's dad, Jim, came with them. Gabe got to get out of school a few hours early to go with them to the game, so he was stoked. Looks like a pretty fun time-I'm jealous:)

Girls Day at the Zoo

I thought it was funny that we had just arrived at

the zoo to see all these amazing animals, and Josie

wanted to spend some time looking at the ducks:)

So excited when they finally swam over to her!
That statue is not what she is excited about, though

it looks that way in the pic.

I was letting her sit on this sculpture until a little

boy came over and told her she couldn't sit on it.
I was thinking, what a stinker! She can sit where
she wants, UNTIL I saw the very clearly marked sign

that said, "No climbing allowed on sculpture." Oops.

Ended our day with a train ride, which I loved

because Josie wanted to sit on my lap the whole

time! She loved getting to choose which animals

we saw and in what order:) Usually, she lets

the boys do what they want and goes along with it.

Some Catching Up To Do...

Do you ever find that life is boring for a while, with nothing notable to post about, and then things get crazy busy all at once?! The past two weeks have been filled with fun stuff...two birthday boys with two celebrations; a girls-only trip to the zoo (pics later), a Cardinals game for Gabe, Dad, and Papa Jim; fun times at our favorite park; and lots of other silliness, too. Here are a few birthday pics from this weekend...the boys still want to have a party for their friends-yikes! Around here, you sort of have to invite no one or everyone, so it could be crazy:)Much as it killed me, I let the boys decorate their own cakes this year and tried not to care. Seth chose camouflage-colored frosting, and then put soldiers and a tanker on his cake. Gabe did kind of the same with a few modifications. At least they really loved it!

Gabe chose to do this trampoline thing for his special activity. These pictures are just awful, but I wanted to show how high up he went. So high that Seth changed his mind and did not partake of the fun, poor guy.

The boys LOVED their red guitar (thanks, Heefners in Texas!!)

and their Star Wars III movie (thanks, Jerod, Leah, and Cayla!!).

Vintage Seth-you just have to learn to roll with it, because

he does the air guitar pose in a lot of pictures.

Letting Josie help with candles again.

Incidentally, he wore that hat home from kindergarten,

which is a huge deal for him. Last year, he wouldn't wear

the one they gave him at all because he was too embarrassed.