to each their own

today was SUCH a busy day. it was non-stop. each kid had something going on. well, except for Leena. Since she had nothing special today, I decided to make something special happen for her.

EBENEZER

did the first portion of testing for autism. Since he doesn't talk at all yet, I am having him examined in hopes of getting him some help like Richard has. I don't know what the outcome will be, but I would rather get help sooner than later if possible. today's adventure was being recorded while playing. he did things that he never does, like sit in a chair and eat a snack. I was shocked. but he did throw a classic meltdown at the end when he had to say goodbye to their electric dinosaur. 

RICHARD

had school today and got to go with Grammy. She doesn't usually take or pick up Richard because it is a bit of a hassle, as you have to get in and out of the car, but today she was up for the task and Richard got to ride in her car. her car has exciting children's books in the back seat, so that's always fun. 

LEENA

since I was at the book fair today, I decided to buy Leena a book. it was hard to find the perfect book for my girl. I wanted it to be a GOOD book, one that made sense. one that was funny. one that had a lesson to take away from the story. one with fun characters for voice acting. One with nice pictures. and it was a STRUGGLE. but at the very last minute I grabbed one and thought... "hmm... this might just work." and it DID. I took it home and showed Leena and she was delighted. we went to her room and read it almost immediately. Her eyes lit up and she listened to every word. As soon as I finished, she said, "Now I will read it to YOU." and she did. As if she had heard the story so many times that she knew it like the back of her hand. And I videotaped it. and it made me think of the precious video I have of Charles reading to Leena before he died. I was so glad that I had picked this book and that she and I had that moment together.

JAMES
every Friday James does 'Pokemon battles' for homeschool testing. Whichever Pokemon 'wins' gets to pick out the prize. *yes, it is always James who wins, because he is pretending to be all my Pokemon and I am the trainer... that is how I get James to do homeschool* Today James did his battles and "readicoon", a raccoon looking pokemon that likes to read, won. He selected 'silly string' for his prize.

ROGER

has his last day of school before spring break. I picked him up and grabbed him a burger from Mcdonalds, then went to his student-led parent conference. His grades are straight A's and he has raving reviews from his teacher regarding his intelligence and wit, especially his creative writing.  She finds it refreshing to read his work. He showed me the Arizona Book from A to Z that he helped create with his class. his pictures were awesome, of course! we hit up the book fair afterward and it took him FOREVER to pick out a book. He loves books. but he has a very specific genre: animal facts or comics. He ended up going with a ___ vs ___ animal book with comic book pictures. It was a win win win. On our way home he got a scoop of birthday cake ice cream in a cup, and he declared that everything was good with today, nothing really went bad at all.... or so he says.

GLADYS

reluctantly went to see her friend Grace in a play/musical. She had a good time when she was there, but getting her there was a battle. she is a homebody with severe anxiety and she hates using her 'day off' to do stuff out of her comfort zone. But I pushed her all the way there, especially when we got a free ticket AND a free ride there and back. She wasn't alone, though, she sat with her friend, Hazel. so that was a win. She spent the rest of the day angry that I treated everyone else better than her, but I did make the whole family chocolate chip cookies, and she ate three of them, so I think that is something to be happy about. right?

WALTER

had his last day of school before spring break. took him to get a burger from Mcdonald's and then headed back to his student-led parent conference. He is doing great in school, and I am very proud of him, especially when he can do well at so many different things at the same exact time. According to his portfolio, he is most proud of being Gaston in the school musical. I admit, I love that he uses his talents and shares them. He is going to miss his teacher because she is getting married and leaving the school. He showed me a paper he wrote called, "Turkey is Bad for You" and I am deeply interested in reading it because I literally just switched all our meat from beef to turkey... so... whoops! after all that, we went to the book fair. I bought him a journal he wanted and he used his money to buy a book he wanted. It took everything in me to let that happen, but whatever. Then we finished off our time together by getting ice cream. I paid for one scoop, and he paid for two more. Again, hard for me to swallow, but I let it happen. He was happier than a lark.

SALLY

my girl got to go on a young women's pre-camp campout. I have never heard of something like this, but I was more than happy to send her. I was happy to give her a break from me, but I am going to miss her like crazy. She is my right-hand gal, and it's instantly noticeable when she isn't around to help me. I take it as a sign that I need to do better at letting her be a KID, and this was the perfect opportunity. I love her so much.

EVELYNN

headed off to camp at the pre-camp girl's camp (she has a bigger girls' camp experience waiting for her this summer). she sacrificed wearing shorts (she HATES pants), borrowed my sweaters (all of hers were in the wash), and left me with her beloved Bucky. I am going to miss her caring for that pup- heaven help me! I hope she has a great time and enjoys her break from me. I love her.

I was supposed to go grocery shopping tonight but I am spent. I deliberately ate a stupid donut (which is not what I should be eating) and now I am going to try to sleep even though I have five hundred things that I didn't get done today. *sigh*