Weekly Update... It's been a busy one!!

It seems that last week just flew by! I can't believe it's Monday again and I am looking at a schedule that is equally as hectic if not more so than last week! Saturday Jake had a Lacrosse game in the morning then we had Ben's Birthday party in the afternoon... 15 1st graders for a round of Monster Mini Golf was a lot of fun and pretty crazy too.. there are pictures of it in Ben's album.

Sunday we had Special Olympics... I just have to take a minute and tell you just how proud I am of Jake. He is only 11 and even though David is 12, Jake has taken on the role of big brother with David and of course he is also big brother to Ben and Caroline.. all 3 really look up to Jake. Anyway.. Jake plays on the Special Olympics Soccer team as a unified (peer) player. Anyone who has ever watched Jake on a playing field.. any playing field.. knows what an aggressive athlete he is. To see him on the soccer field with the kids on the team though, you would never guess. He is kind and caring, he takes every opportunity to pass the ball to one of the athletes and encourages them to kick the goals. He gives high fives for jobs well done. He acts far beyond his 11 years.

Today is Ben's actual Birthday. He had a good day in school and when he got home this afternoon he opened gifts from us. Then we went to Aric and David's track meet. David is running on the Middle School Track team. Today was the first meet and the first opportunity I had to see him run. He ran the 400 meter.. which is a substantial run for him. One of the 8th grade girls ran with him to pace and encourage him. He finished the race and his team mates cheered him on. I got a couple of pictures and i will post one below. It was very emotional for me to watch him run. He finished last, but he finished... and he was so proud! All this from a boy who didn't walk independently until he was almost 3 and 3 years ago sustained such severe burns to his leg that he spent 2 months in bed and couldn't walk without a walker. He just amazes me with his determination.

After Track we came home for dinner, Birthday cake and ice-cream. The boys played baseball in the back yard while I cleaned up after dinner. It was a good day.


Anyway.. enjoy the pictures!
Vicki

Caroline's Birthday Celebrations!!

Hi Everyone,

We're finally enjoying some mild weather! It has been absolutely glorious the last few days.

Lastnight David complained that the tooth he just had a root canal in hurt. One look at his face told me that he had an abcess. I was able to get ahold of the dentist who called in an antibiotic. He seems better today but his face is still swollen a bit.
Then this morning Ben comes out of his room covered in hives! His face, his neck and his back are red and welted. It took me a few minutes to figure it out, but I think its from the sunscreen I put on him before he went to baseball practice yesterday. So I decided no Special Olympics this afternoon and we spent the afternoon out in the yard enjoying the warm weather.

Caroline has had a wonderful 3 day Birthday celebration! Her actual Birthday was Thursday. We celebrated here with gifts and birthday cake. On Friday we spent the day with her Birthfamily at the zoo. We had a fun day visiting and checking out all the cool animals. It was a lot of fun! The kids enjoyed being outside, we had a picnic lunch and just really enjoyed the day.

Yesterday was her party with her friends from school, we had it at Create A Bear. Each of the kids got to pick out their own bear, they wish on a star that is placed in the bear as it is stuffed, then they got to pick a fun outfit for the bear. The bear also gets a name and a birth certificate! The kids had so much fun! We had a total of 14 kids at the party. It was a perfect afternoon!

Below are some photo's from the last few days. I will upload all the photo's to my photo account listed at the bottom of the page later on tonight so chek them out when you get the chance!

Enjoy....

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

New Website!!

Hi Everyone,

Glad you found us! I have decided to move the site here because it is more user friendly.

I hope you enjoy the photo montage of the kids, I had fun making it!

Tomorrow is Caroline's 6th Birthday! She is really excited! Her party is Saturday so stay tuned over the weekend for new photos.

The kids are on spring break this week and the weather has been terrible. It has rained every day since last weekend. It is supposed to break tomorrow. I really hope so! Everyone needs some outside time!

We had Ben's appointment with the ENT on Monday. He says his throat is healed from the tonsillectomy but because he is still having problems at night, we will be repeating the sleep study in a week or so. If things don't look good after the sleep study he will probably be going on CPAP to help with his breathing when he is sleeping.

That's about it here at Camp Chaos.
More soon!
~Vicki

David is at camp this weekend. He goes to Camp Horizons for their "Weekends In The Country" about once a month. The weekend starts on Friday night and Pick-up is on Sunday afternoon. This makes for a nice break for all of us.. especially David who, really enjoys his time there.
Something I have noticed about David when we are getting ready for a weekend at camp, when he gets home from school on Friday his anxieties are high, he needs to know that everything is packed, that I have his meds. in order, he wants to know exactly how the entire weekend is going to shake down. From 3pm when he gets home until 4:30 when we leave for camp is high anxiety time here.
Then we get to camp. He is usually greeted in the parking lot by one of the camp counselors who know and love him, whith a big hug. Then we are off to check in for the weekend and you can just see the stress melt away. He starts to see his friends who come from all over for the weekends and his whole demeanor changes. He knows at camp that he is accepted for who he is. There is no trying to compete and keep up in a world that sometimes just doesn't understand him. At camp he is completely at ease and he always comes home happy and full of stories about the things he has done, the friends he has seen, and the places he has gone. I am forever grateful that he has camp and the friends he has made there as part of his world.
Another big acomplishment for David is that he has joined the Track team at the Middle School. The coaches are excited to have him on the team and I am thrilled that he wanted to join... think of the exercise!!! Wednesday was the first practice and he ran 2 miles with the team!! He wasn't the first guy to finish but the coach said he wasn't the last either!!
I couldn't be happier with the opportunities that David has and it shows with his behavior. He has been so easy going and is really showing signs of becoming a teenager.
"BIRTHDAYPALOOZA" continues here this week, Aric turns 14 tomorrow and Caroline turns 6 on Thursday! The kids are on springbreak this week, so we will be trying to find creative ways to stay busy.
We have Special Olympics tomorrow afternoon. David and Ben are on the soccer team and Jake is unified player (peer helper) on the team.
Jake's first Lacrosse game of the season is on Monday if it doesn't get rained out and Tuesday we are celebrating Caroline's birthday with her birthfamily. So it's already shaping up to be a busy week! I am trying to keep them busy and out of the house as much as possible so Dave can sleep during the day. He will be working nights for a few more weeks.
Thats about it here at Camp Chaos. I will update more during the week!
~Vicki