Christmas Card 2012

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DC Book Festival

What an amazing opportunity! Today we went to the DC Book Festival. It happened that 2 of the boys favorite authors were going to be there, and so they REALLY wanted to meet them. Well, I had no idea how totally packed this event is! It was borderline insanity.  But, it was all worth it in the end because although we didn't get to see everyone we wanted to see, we did get to see the 2  authors that they cared most about.

Here are the boys with Mary Pope Osborne. She is the author of the Magic Tree House book series.  Ty has read every book. You could even quiz him on which title is which in her #48 books in the series. Zachary likes her too, (or did when he was younger) and really enjoyed her version of The Odyssey she wrote for kids. It was really incredible to meet her and despite the ENORMOUS line, she took a little time to talk with the boys and sign their book.

This was her talking in the Children's Pavilion. You can maybe see her on the stage at the podium. But this gives a sense of the crowd. We got hints of her next 2 books! (Alexander the Great and Houdini)

This photo only hints at the magnitude of the LINES that were for the book signings.  (You can see her in the black tunic hugging Zach) Each author had a tent, and people waited for HOURS to have a book signed. For Ms Osborne, Will got in line at 1pm (bless him) and waited for almost 2 hours while I walked around with the kids and heard her speak at the far end of the festival.  Once the signing started at 3, we got to see her within 10 minutes. But people were waiting WAY back, into the trees, snaked into a massive line. This was a major highlight for the boys. (Thank You Daddy for braving the sun!) It was a serious celebrity sighting in their eyes!

Earlier in the day we waited to meet Tom Angleberger who has written a funny series as a spoof  of Star Wars involving boys. His first book was "Strange Case of the Origami Yoda" but Zach brought his more recent one (about Chewbacca) to sign.  Zach likes his books because he incorporates little sketches and drawings into the book.  Also because he is downright funny. 

 This guy was so nice! When he arrived, he greeted all the kids in the line by running past and giving everyone a high five and thanking them for coming. He kept calling everyone "Larry" and was just a complete goofball! I think Zach really wants to be a childrens author when he grows up if he can be goofy like this guy!

 Zach also brought his Origami Yoda he made along with his Darth Paper.Tom really complimented him!
Cori was a trooper, and hung in there despite the heat and no stroller. And lets just say our van took a real beating today. But I digress..... It was all worth it!

Here comes the .... WAIT NOT YET!

So we go to Target to get paper towels and come home with...... this. She picked this as her costume. She calls it her "marrying dress"!  Oi vey!

"But I thought you were homeschooling?"

I'm getting that question a lot these days. I haven't updated this blog in quite a while, so I thought just as an update, and also as a "mile marker" on this journey, Id write a quick blurb about our recent change.

As our friends and family know, I've been homeschooling our boys for the past 3 years.  There were many reasons for our decision. No point in rehashing here, but basically we felt at that time it was best for our family. Zach was in 2nd grade at the time and had had a terrible school experience.

The past 3 years have been amazing. So many great memories and fun times I will forever cherish with my children. Tyler joined us for kindergarten, and then last year for 1st grade. I've enjoyed watching him learn (he is such an eager learner!) and teaching him to read. I've also been so grateful to watch Zachary grow and mature into the successful young man he is becoming. He has made tremendous progress and his love and exploration of history and drawing has been wonderful to nurture and develop.

And now, after thinking and praying about our options for this year, Will and I have decided to enroll them in public school. After (mistakenly) allowing Zach's IEP to expire, we had him re-evaluated through our school system. We looked at many programs for him and decided on one (an Asperger Program that has main-streaming). The team decided to place him there. Its 7 students in his 5th grade. One teacher and 2 aides. We requested a transfer for Tyler to attend the same school. It was approved. We requested door- to -door bussing for both boys. We got it. Everything has fallen into place.  Even Cori got into the preschool class we wanted after being placed initially onto a long waitlist. We are grateful to the Lord for opening these doors to our family. It is all a series of answers to many prayers over an extensive period of time of searching and considering.

We are not sure how long we will even do this for.... we may be back to homeschooling again in the future. But for this year, we are hopeful it will be a great thing for all of us. For me, for the kids, and for Will.

So I am back to work part time. I'm working for the same architect I did after Zach was born. And after Tyler. And now again. I'll try to keep posting to keep things updated. Hopefully many happy posts to come!

First Day of School

 My boys

Tyler - 2nd grade     Zachary- 5th grade

 My boys and one grumpy girl.  She was grumpy because she partly was jealous (she wanted to go to school too) and partly because she thought I was taking her somewhere and dropping her off (she didnt want to leave). Typical girl thing. She couldn't make up her mind. Not that I can relate. 

didnt even want her picture taken!

but the boys didnt mind! 

 The new backpacks....I figured since we were starting school (the first time ever for Tyler!) they could choose new packs. Will even drove WAY out of his way one night on the way home from work to get Tyler his cool "green ninja" backpack. We had looked everywhere and they were all sold out. But ONE TRUs in Va had it. Oh the things we wacky parents do for our kids......

And then we waited.... and waited....

 and then the bus came. I just love Zachs face here. It really does show how totally excited the boys were. Tyler told me later that when they pulled up to the school, he thought his heart was going to burst out of his chest it was beating so fast!

And then..... it drove away.  I admit I choked a little when I saw Tyler waving to me from the window. But, knowing they were happy, and going to a good place, made it all good. Then, Cori and I headed to Einstein Bagels to meet some friends. I knew I could not be in the very quiet house so soon. It was a good choice for me :-)

When they got home, it was all smiles. I pray that this school situation works out well!!

Beach Getaway

 The place we stayed.... a great condo!

Well even though we got off to a rocky start ( right after arriving to the beach it started to storm and the beach was cleared)  the rest of our stay was really great. We had 2 nice days at the beach, and lots of fun playing board games and enjoying the other fun things to do.

 Will gave both boys boogie boarding lessons and they were pros in no time! Tyler pretty much stayed in the water the entire 2nd day. That is until he took a hard wave and got quite a tumble. He was a little more "wave shy" after that!

 Cori was very brave in the waves and liked going in the water too.

 ...and playing in the sand. But it took her a bit to get over it feeling "dirty". 

 My hunk-o-husband! Baywatch, anyone?

 This is one of the few times Ty was NOT in the water.....

Ty and Cori built many cool castle creations. We had a few castle/moat/water villages going, but none lasted too long. Cori may have a future in demolition :-)

Will built a cool crocodile

Zach discovered he liked to read on the beach. And eat. 

Speaking of eating.... no trip to the beach is complete without a crab feast. So we went out for crabs one night.

 Will making progress....

 Cori wanted a turn to "wack some fwabs"

 Dad getting silly

 We also had fun at a great mini golf place. Really cool dino theme.

All in all a great vacation and we are super grateful we were able to have one this year!

County Fair

This is such a great tradition for us. We go to our county fair every year, and its been such fun. This year we had to go without Dad because of work, but we texted him photos throughout the day so he could be with us vicariously!

 Pinkalicious on a pink tractor!

 This years exotic animals..... wallabys! We also got to see the new piglets, and checked out all the chicken breeds. Petted some rabbits and checked out all the other sheep, cows, etc.

 This year I splurged on "Family Day" and got the kids wristbands. Oh boy, it was so worth it! They rode so many rides and made the most of it. We must have been in there 2 hours at least.

This ride was hysterial. It was a mini roller coaster, and Cori was determined to do it with the boys. I warned her that I thought it would be too scary for her, but she would have non of it! ALways wanting to keep up with the big bros. Well, by the first turn, I could see her face and it was NOT happy! She hung on for dear life and was barely containing her tears when the ride finally stopped. I felt terrible for her... but hey.... mommy knows best!

Also, every year the kids enter in the Arts & Crafts contest. Both boys did very well this year winning first place ribbons in a few categories and also 2nd or 3rd in a few. They were very happy!

  Tylers First place Portrait

Zachary won a ribbon for his pencil platypus

And, since all the kids did such a great job with their summer reading, We all got free ice creams from the Dairy Barn! Its like 3 HUGE scoops.

But no one had trouble finishing them!

Summer Days at the Park

 This was great to see, because Zach used to be so afraid of heights. But, he tackled this climbing thing so fearlessly!

 never too old for sand