Refreshed....maybe

I didn't realize I took such a long break. Well, a break from blogging, not so much a break from everything else.  Life continues to kick my bohonkus quite well these days. I think I will do short bullet-type points to update.

My Dad is healing beautifully, gaining strength and stamina each day, and is as ornery as ever. He has an enormous scar from his breast bone to below his belly button. I am trying to convince him to get a tattoo of a zipper pull at the top of it. How cool would that be?

There was very little fall-out after my last trip, even though I was gone 10 days. A little whining, a little clingy-ness, but no major blowups. I had been holding my breath waiting for it, but at this point I think it is just not going to happen.

Ahren is going through a growth spurt. Every time that happens he regresses in both gross and fine motor skills. he is 6 years old and still struggles to dress himself, button his pants and get his own shoes on. I have been trying to find OT available for him in our area but no luck. The closest one is 45 minutes away and has no openings that fit our current schedule.  I think we will go for a summer round of OT when I can have more flexibility in our schedule. Right now he has speech therapy at school and neuro-visual therapy on Saturdays. Ahren also passed his first kidney stone this week. That was NO FUN for anyone! The nephrologist had told us he would be at risk of stones. Whatever the 'thing' is he has, it affects his kidneys and he has frequent crystals in his urine. He drinks a lot of water and that helps, but it was still a risk. Now we are scheduled for an ultrasound to see if he has more hiding in there. This poor kid gets the short end of every stick and yet he is soooo happy!

Seth is in neuro-visual therapy now, too. It has been shown to help with PTSD in soldiers so I figured it was worth a try. He loves it and enjoys the one-on-one attention. He is still going to ABA therapy once a week too. (ABA is applied behavioral analysis).  He has been doing amazingly well since Christmas time, but recently has had difficulty keeping his hands to himself at home and school. He will pretend to 'play' with someone or tickle them and then WAH, they start crying. He pinches or 'accidentally' smacks them, or they mysteriously run into his fist real hard or his foot just happens to jump out and connect with someone's leg. He is always innocent! Ahren is his usual target, since Ahren doesn't fight back. Ahren just cries. The funny hting is, Ahren is 3 inches taller and outweighs him by almost 20 pounds. If Ahren wanted to, he could clean Seth's clock but good. Seth does NOT hit Levi. Levi puts up with a lot, but it only took once for him to hit back and Seth has never tried it again. Those natural consequences, gotta love them!

Levi is just Levi. Sweet, caring, inciteful and hilarious. Chris bought him a Nook color and I loaded it up with non-fiction books. He goes to bed with it, walks around in the mornings with it in his hands and only gives it up when I drop him off at school. He also has an Ipod touch that he loves. He is just like his father, obsessed with electronics!

Kaytee is working 20+ hours a week, recently got a promotion and soon will be receiving a raise. She is carrying 5 classes in her schedule and getting all A's and B's. She loves life on the A&M campus and her job.

Ashley is the first student ever at her special magnet school to be accepted into a dual-certification program her senior year. She earned her CNA (certified nursing assistant) this year, and next year will earn her pharmacy tech certification and EMT certification. She has goals and a plan for her future.

Spring has sprung and I am making a mad effort at reclaiming our burned up, dried out landscaping. We lost a lot of plants in the record-breaking heat and drought last year. It is going to take a lot of hard work. And money. Ugh!!!

Tata folks. I am off to an appointment and work. I get to see my favorite little guy this afternoon. Big blue eyes, blonde hair and an impish grin. I can't wait to get him in a big hug!!!