Baseball

Sam just wrapped up another baseball season.  He's been playing every spring since he was 4.  Not only is he a great ball player, but he's also a great teammate.  He's very encouraging to the other players and always respectful to the coaches. I'm so proud of him! Next year he'll be in high school - how did this happen??

Happy 7th Birthday Darya!

On June 9 Darya turned 7.  She is growing up so fast!  On her birthday, the boys had their annual piano recital.  If I can figure out if/how to post videos on here I will. 

Designer Nate

I cleaned out our linen closet this week and had some sheets to get rid of.  Nate took it upon himself to sew a shirt out of an old bedsheet.  He worked really hard and needed minimal help.  He opted for black thread to contrast the white fabric and came up with the Sea Food design.  I love my creative kid!

Boys Answer Questions about Me

A friend of mine posted her kids' answers to these questions on Facebook and I thought I'd ask my boys the same.  Sam (13), Ben (12), and Nate (10) gave their answers. They know me very well!:

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Sam: "Aaaaah" when I give you a massage
Ben: Stop being so handsome
Nate: I love you

2. What makes mom happy?
Sam: Massages
Ben: A massage from Sam
Nate: The house being clean

3. What makes mom sad?
Sam: An unclean house
Ben: When Nate and I, or Sam and I, or Nate and Sam fight
Nate: Us fighting

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
Sam: Corny jokes
Ben: By showing me pictures of her when she was 12
Nate: By tickling me

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Sam: Same as you are now
Ben: Tall and watched a lot of horror movies
Nate: Me

6. How old is your mom?
Sam: 37
Ben: 37
Nate: 37

7. How tall is your mom? (I'm 5'6-3/4")
Sam: 5'6-1/4"
Ben: 5'6"
Nate: 5'7"

8. What is her favorite thing to do?
Sam: Go on cruise ships
Ben: Go on a cruise
Nate: Go to the Bahamas

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Sam: eBay
Ben: Thrift store shopping and Facebook
Nate: Thrift

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Sam: eBay
Ben: I have absolutely no idea
Nate: Awesomeness

11. What is your mom really good at?
Sam: eBay
Ben: eBay
Nate: Everything

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Sam: Sports
Ben: Sports
Nate: Art

13. What does your mom do for a job?
Sam: eBay
Ben: Reselling antiques on eBay
Nate: Thrift and resell

14.What is your mom's favorite food?
Sam: Cheesecake
Ben: Carrots and hummus
Nate: Key lime pie

15.What makes you proud of your mom?
Sam: eBay
Ben: She's nice
Nate: Everything

16. What do you and your mom do together?
Sam: A bunch of random activities
Ben: Lots of stuff
Nate: Thrift sometimes

17. How are you and your mom the same?
Sam: We both like cheesecake
Ben: We both like nature more than the other family members
Nate: Our looks (when you were a kid)

18. How are you and your mom different?
Sam: I like sports, I don't like eBay
Ben: She's a girl and I'm a boy
Nate: I dislike fish and she does not

19. How do you know your mom loves you?
Sam: 'Cause she tells me
Ben: How do I not know?
Nate: In every way

20. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Sam: On a cruise ship or to thrift stores
Ben: Probably Puerto Rico, but basically just a cruise ship
Nate: On a cruise ship

Aquarium

A few weeks ago I took the kids to the aquarium in Tampa as a homeschool field trip with our co-op.  It had been a few years since we were there last, so it was fun to explore it again.  Here are some photos: 

Bahamas Cruise

In March, my sister Janene and I went on a four night cruise to the Bahamas.  It was wonderful!  Joel is such a great husband and dad that he had no problem in holding down the fort while I was relaxing in paradise for a few days.  

    Big winnings from penny slots ;)

Universal Studios

Last November we went to Universal Studios with the Down Syndrome Association of Central Florida.  We had such a fantastic time!  We were especially excited to visit the Harry Potter world.  Here are some pics from our fun day:

The Hummingbird

(I finally got the iPhone app for this blog, so hopefully I'll post more frequently.)

Yesterday, Ben saw what appeared to be a hummingbird with a broken jaw (hanging beak) come to our feeder several times throughout the day.  One of the times he heard a light thump and discovered that it had fallen from the feeder to the ground below.  Being the sweet nature loving caregiver that he is, he immediately tried to nurse it back to health.  He gave it some sugar water (dipped its beak in the bowl), and after about 15 minutes or so it finally flew away.

I'm so bad!

Ugh, I had high hopes of blogging on here, recording our family memories.  Who was I kidding when I never ever finished a baby book for any of my kids?  Let's see, since my last post, Sam turned 13 (I'm the mom of a teen ager!), Ben is 12, and Nate is 10.  In a couple of months Darya will be 7.  Good grief, time flies!

A few highlights from each month since last summer:

July: Joel turned 38
August: I turned 37, Joel sent me to California on a week long trip sans kids.  It was the first time in who-knows-how-many-years that my twin sister and I were together on our actual birthday.
September: Sam turned 13.  Joel took Ben on his special 12 year old father-son birthday trip. They went to California and spent time up in Big Bear.  You can see pics on Ben's blog: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=42229954066678569#overview/src=dashboard
October: I can't remember anything off the top of my head
November: We went to Universal Studios for Down Syndrome day. It was awesome and we enjoyed the Harry Potter world a lot.
December: Joel's parents came out and spent the Christmas season with us (they flew back to California on Christmas Eve).
January: Post Christmas blues?
February: Nate turned 10
March: Ben turned 12. I went on a Bahamas cruise with my sister, Janene. It was amazing!

Homeschooling is going fairly well.  Sam and Ben are pretty much exclusively using FLVS and Nate is pretty independent, too.  Darya is in kindergarten in the ESE classroom.  She seems to be doing well there.  I'm spending quite a bit more time with selling on eBay, and that money definitely helps.

I know I'm missing a whole lot. But this should satisfy my guilt for now.