Miracles: Part 1

I have two stories to tell... it's been quite the week. And I tell them for two reasons: so I never forget and as way to thank a loving God who is so mindful of my little family. Elder Bednar referred to the Lord's "tender mercies," but the two stories I'm going to share I feel are tender mercies that are nothing short of miracles.

I can get a little long-winded, so I'll break it up into two parts.

Story 1
I've shared a little now and again about the struggles we go through as we learn to cope with and help Gavin with his struggles. It's difficult at times, but no matter how hard it gets both  Ben and I want what is best for Gavin.

Thanks to some intervention from his preschool teacher, Gavin had a fabulous Kindergarten teacher. She has loved that little boy all year long, and he has continued to make progress. BUT there has been some concern about first grade. There are no aides in first grade, and Gavin really struggles to remain focused and on task. At the moment he lacks the ability to work independently. (We've added ADHD on the list since the last time I talked about his diagnosis.)

So over the last month or two we've started to do some research. Trying to figure out what would be best for him next year. Our school district has a program that we have felt would be really good for him. In talks with the special education teacher, the district didn't want to put him in that classroom because he doesn't have an autism label (and it's an autistic classroom). At this point, I would like to note that though he isn't officially autistic, he does exhibit autistic symptoms. (Most people just assume he is autistic.) We exercised our right to call a meeting to discuss the matter.

So after feeling infuriated. Thanks to some talks with my MIL, I decided I had to be prepared. I had to show the district in educated, level-headed way the needs of my child and why we believed that this particular program met those needs even without the label. I'm not going to lie... I put a lot of time and research into it... a 2 1/2 page paper was a the result. I then had several people (mostly family... and big thanks to all!) read it and re-read it as I modified it using their feedback. I also had his private therapists write up letters for me. I literally did everything that was in my power to do. This time last week, I was sooooooooo stressed. (I don't think the pregnancy hormones helped.) Poor Ben was so supportive.

Sunday night, I couldn't hardly take it anymore. I knew I had done what I could, so I had to now turn it over to the Lord. I needed the comfort only the Lord can bring, so I asked Ben to give me a Priesthood blessing. (For my friends of other Christian faiths, we believe that God has restored the power and authority to act in His name... think the Apostles in the New Testament acting in the name of the Lord.) This is something very real and very important to me. After that blessing, I felt peace and comfort, and I knew without a doubt that the Lord knew me and my special little Gavin and whatever happened Monday it would be what was best for Gavin.

Monday morning came, and I was counting down the hours until 11. About an hour before the meeting the special education teacher called, and we spoke. She had talked with district again and was feeling like they were coming wanting what was best for Gavin. That phone call was another witness of everything that I had been told the night before. I anxious as I still was feeling, I also had hope and a feeling of it will all work out.

Through out the meeting, Ben and I felt listened to (which is a big deal to me... there have been plenty of times I have not felt that way when it comes to being heard on what I feel is right for my son). I felt like everyone was there to figure out what was best for meeting Gavin's needs. I could understand their hesitation in putting Gavin in this particular program, but instead of just playing boss, saying yeah right, but not giving us anything to work with, they came up with another plan that we feel is just as good and perhaps even a little better situation for Gavin. They have offered aide support through out the day for him, which later the special teacher commented to us was a miracle because that almost never happens, and the fact that they suggested it.... a-maz-ing.

So technically nothing was actually resolved. BUT some good things are happening and need to happen before we have another meeting in a week to decide the final course of action for Gavin next year. Ben and I both came away feeling like it had been a successful meeting. And once again, the Lord showed me that He knows me and my family. He has a perfect plan that even though I can't see all the pieces to... He can, and so often when I can turn things over to Him after doing all that I can that He will take my small offering and create something beyond what I even thought was possible. I know that the Priesthood blessing was honored and this mother's prayers were heard and answered. And that was just my first miracle of the week...

It's Gotten a Little Hairy Around Here

Meet Roy.
And yes, before you tell me I'm crazy, I know.
But when we learned about him and then met him, we just felt he was right for our family. So now we have a dog. Let me tell you a little about him, and why we fell in love with him.

On Thursday, a friend of mine was commenting on Facebook that they had met this guy and loved him, but their dog was a bully and it wasn't going to work. SO I started chatting with her about him and come to find out he belonged to another friend. That friend manages an apartment complex. There she had a tenant pass away and the family came and cleaned out the apartment. She assumed that the two mini schnauzers the tenant had owned went to... Nope. She came to learn later that the two dogs were locked in the bathroom of the apartment. By the time, she went to rescue them, they were near death and covered in their own filth. She said Roy wouldn't go into a bathroom for the next month. The female black mini schnauzer was taken in by a friend of hers, and they kept Roy around. BUT her husband isn't an animal/pet person and insisted she find another home for him. And after meeting him, we became that home!
He is a really good dog. He hardly barks, is super good with the kids (even when the boys are a little rough), doesn't shed, is small enough to fit in our house with the rest of us, and super sweet. We also got him because we thought it would be good for the boys, especially Gavin. All of the boys love him, and Gavin absolutely adores him... some times a little too much. We have heard him say things like, "I love you Roy!" and "We're best friends forever, right?"
SO even though, I'm crazy for getting a dog with our small house and right before I'm about to have a baby, I think it was the right choice.

He loved being outside yesterday with all of us... except when the boys got too close with the water in their water guns! If you notice he decided to hide behind the big pregnant lady for protection.

And here's the boys enjoying the water yesterday. It was upper 70s and gorgeous. The boys were so excited when dad agreed to turn the sprinkler on for them!
 

Zoo Membership

For Christmas, my parents sent money for us to buy a zoo membership. And yes, it's true, our little town does have its own zoo... amazing I know. Personally I think it was the best Christmas idea. The zoo opened mid-April, but it was too stinkin' cold and windy to go until this last weekend. (It actually made it to 70 that day!) So we decided we needed to start summer of zoo visits. The boys were so excited; they had been asking for weeks about going.

Not all the animals are out yet (still too cold in Idaho for them), but we got to see enough. It takes a couple of hours to see the whole zoo which is perfect for our boys. We saw lions, a sloth bear (but missed the cubs), camels, leopards, flamingos, a hiding tiger, penguins (notice two are actually up by the glass checking out the boys), zebras and zebra baby, and more.


And if you notice... the big boys HAD to have their maps out the whole time, so they knew were they were and where we were going! Silly boys... By the end the maps were starting to rip because of use, so we had to promise them they could get new ones the next time we go.
 

And what's a trip to the zoo without a good long drink from the lion's mouth!
 

It was a great way to spend a great day! We can't wait to go back again soon. 

Easter Saturday Festivities Continued

Here is the rest of our Non- Christ centered activities that I promised way back when. I never mean to be so long posting... it just happens. Oh well.
Easter egg hunt in the backyard. The boys totally freaked out when we wouldn't let them in the backyard while we hid the eggs, so I went to wait with them while Ben finished. They loved finding them though.


It was so nice out that we decided to head to the park. They love this park. They refer to it as the Hippo Park because of a ... hippo, you guessed it, you can play on.


After nap time, we headed to Ben's family's house. Grandma had a fun surprise for the boys... an egg hunt with a twist. She found grabbers and had them use the grabbers to pick up the eggs. It was pretty funny because it was actually pretty challenging. At times, they would use their hands to put the egg in the grabber or better yet, if that didn't work, the egg went straight into the bucket.


After the hunt, it was egg dyeing time. We always color our eggs at Grandma's house... much easier to do with a few extra grown-up hands around to help. Take a close look at the picture of Ben and Gavin... it was just too funny that they were both so busy dyeing eggs the egg-act same way... like father like son.


We had a great day. And Sunday was spent at church and with family enjoying yummy food. I ran out of time to put the Resurrection Egg Hunt together, so that is next year's goal. But we did enjoy a church movie about the life of Christ before church, so we could talk about the real reason for Easter. So grateful for my Savior and His Resurrection, so I can keep all these people I love around in my life forever!

Easter Bunny Saturday

In Ben's family they did the "fun" Easter bunny, hunts, and such on Saturdays, so then Sunday could be the focused on the Savior. We decided we wanted to adopt the same tradition. So the Easter "Ben"ny... hehehe (Wait 'til Ben sees that) hid the baskets for the boys to find this morning. (Also one of his family's traditions.) Found them!


In Mom and Dad's basket there were also some movies and new sidewalk chalk!

Happy Easter Everyone!


We're going to do our on little egg hunt this afternoon, and then color eggs with Grandma Ann later at her house. I'll post a few pictures of that later. Then tomorrow I'm planning on combining a few ideas I've seen for Resurrection Eggs. The boys will do an egg hunt that has part of the story of the Christ's last week inside each egg and the last egg is empty for His Resurrection. It should be a fun and engaging way for these boys to learn about how important Easter really is. I'm looking forward to it, and I'm hoping it will become a new Easter tradition. Maybe I'll even post my version of Resurrection Eggs when all is said and done.

Until then I'm going to enjoy the nice weather and my family. Have a fab weekend!

In Need of Some Spring

I'm in need of spring for several reasons... one it's snowing as I type this, even though it is supposed to be up to 40 today. I'm so over the snow. I want to be able to go out (and send my kids out) into a beautiful sunshine-y warm (I'm only asking 40s or 50s) day. It's March... it's time.
Also as some are aware of we are trying to sell our home (1000 sq ft and one bathroom gets a little squishy at times) and have been for a year and half now. Recently as spring is approaching... because it has to be coming right?... I have been in cleaning mode... hoping the change of weather brings people out looking again. I've fixed broken things, touched up paint, spot cleaned the carpets... and so on. I would like to work on the curb appeal thing... but that Idaho weather hasn't cooperated.
So since my flowers are still a few weeks from evening sprouting up, I decided to make a wreath with some flowers and bring my own touch of spring to our home.
I went to a blog post I pinned http://www.tipjunkie.com/diy-decorating/make-wreaths/ that had a bunch of wreath ideas with links, got ideas and then did my own thing.

Bought a straw wreath and wrapped it in twine, but ran out, so it became two tone with off-white yarn I had. I then decided I was going to leave this as my base and just change out the decoration on top of it, so I water-proofed it. Again, it's still winter in Idaho, and I want it to last.

I think fabric flowers are so pretty (so are paper ones but wanted something more durable). I bought a few $.99 pre-cut fabrics from Walmart and along with fabric I already had I had a nice little spring-y collection. I cut various widths of fabrics and experimented and came up with several. (I ended up not using them all.) I wanted it to be easy, so I just used my handy dandy hot glue gun. It was fun, and I think they turned out pretty.

 

I wrapped and tied on scrap pieces of fabric where I wanted the flowers to go and then hot glued the flowers on to that, so it would make reuse easier. It wasn't too hard. And not too much time, except wrapping the string... that was slow going. What do you think? I'm happy with it and am glad for a little cheeriness on my front door.
 

Ben, Xander, and Landon were all trying to photo bomb as I took my outdoor pictures. What stinkers!