Good News!

I just looked at my last post and realized it was a bit of a downer, so here's some more positive news:

OUR CAR IS FIXED!! It's been fixed for a while but I haven't written about it. The first week we had it I was craving weird things for dinner and was glad I could make a quick run to the store. One night I had to go for meatballs for meatball sandwiches (I have NEVER made or had one before but for some reason they sounded really good)! Another night I was craving White Bean and Kale soup. Don't ask me why. I think part of it was that I just wanted to fully enjoy the luxury of running to the store whenever I wanted to! Vince and I enjoyed the soup, the kids not so much. I had never had or heard of it before but when I was browsing recipes on the computer I had to have that for dinner! Which leads me to the next good news:

VINCE FIXED OUR COMPUTER!! It's not perfect but soooo much better. He fixed it almost two weeks ago and I haven't blogged much. I think this is because I have been on the internet BROWSING just for fun. Because I wanted to. It's been nice to get on the computer and look up things I have questions about or want to research and not always being in a rush to get off before the computer kicked me off.

OUR SCHOOL HAS A NEW SPEECH PERSON!! And not just ANY speech person. MS. COREY!! I know most of you don't have any idea who Ms. Corey is but she is the speech therapist that helped Ivy a few years ago. She is also the speech therapist that has been working with Nathan for the last two years. I had virtually NO confidence in the skills and/or work ethic of our school's last speech therapist and have spent months praying and pondering about what to do about it. I had decided that I would just have to try to work with him, follow up to make sure he was working with Nathan, and then file complaints with the district if there was any problem. We felt VERY blessed when we found out that Nathan will get to pick up where he left off with the teacher that he already knows and loves!! AND she gets to be at our school FULL TIME! Usually our school only gets the speech therapist two days a week so this is very exciting news! It's one of those times when you know that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers.

Eva got hired by the our town's Choral Society to play a couple of solo parts for 6 performances in their fall season. She will be paid $50. She's pretty excited and we're very proud. It helps that the Director is a good friend of mine, but she never would have been hired if she hadn't been practicing and developing her talent. She's getting scary good at the violin.

Ethan has agreed to ACCOMPANY ON THE PIANO at least two songs for his fourth grade program. This will be the first time he's done anything like this but I'm certain he has the skills. The big news is that he's agreed to do it!! Of course he'll be making a little money, $10 per song to be exact, but it's a good experience for him and I don't mind paying him. He always used to HATE playing the piano and was always very angry that I made him do it but I think hate would be a strong word now--he seems to be more peaceful about it. Still, I think I will have to pay for every performance, big or small, outside of recitals for quite a while.

After learning the truth about cornions Ivy seems a little more open minded about trying new things. I wish we'd thought of cornions years ago! As a second grader Ivy is ultra responsible about homework and studying. I am so relieved. She always did it in first grade but I always had to push, remind, OK--nag her to do it. This week she just sat down right after school and got it done. She's like Eva and Ethan now--nagging ME to sign her stuff and help, etc. They don't really have to nag, but when they all come at once it's a little challenging!

Vince gave the kids Father's Blessings on Sunday and that was very special. One thing I should share with everyone is that Nathan was blessed that his tongue would be loosed this year and that he would be able to communicate with his teachers and they would be able to understand him. This was a welcome part of the blessing and I was very excited! But...

Poor Nathan. Good news and bad news for him. He's getting better, not quite as sick--that's the good news. The bad news is the nebulizer. Thursday he didn't look quite right so I took him back to the doctor and he has to use a nebulizer 4 times a day for a week instead of the inhaler and he HATES it! He also has to take an antibiotic and a steroid every day. The antibiotic isn't bad but the steroid tastes awful and he throws fits about it. He was excited to go to school yesterday which was great--he ran in and didn't want me to come with him!! He's such a big boy! But he came out of school in a terrible mood, said it was too hard, that he didn't like it, he doesn't like his teacher (but he will say she's nice) and didn't want to go back. Sigh. I'm hoping it's because he's not feeling 100% but I am concerned. I really wish he had been placed in full day with the teacher I know would be perfect for him. We'll have to give it a few weeks and see what happens. I've been kind of wishing I had put him in the Title 1 preschool--oh well. All three of my kids have loved school so far so maybe it's my turn to have one that I'll have to motivate a bit. It might just take a few months for him to get in a routine and build some confidence. We all talk with Nathan about how great school is--he just sticks his thumb in his mouth, covers his head with a blanket, and kind of growls. Or else he walks out of the room in a surly mood. He'd rather not talk about anything to do with school.

More good news--I'm almost DONE WITH THE LAUNDRY! For the last 3 weeks I have been unable to finish laundry and there has been little baskets of it in my room or in the living room, or in the laundry room, or in bedrooms, and I have been too distracted with getting ready for school and starting school and all kinds of stuff to just do it but in two hours it will be FINISHED!!

I'm excited to start a school routine and hope that will really begin this week!!