Piano Recital, Want Some Butter?, Special Needs Conference

The other day Sarah and Daniel started asking for lunch about 9:30 am. I told them to wait, but Sarah had another idea in mind. She waited until I wasn't paying attention and got to work. She got the bread, butter, butter knife and toaster out. I don't know why she got the toaster out because she didn't use it. She had just seen her brothers get it out so she wanted to do the same. She was quite proud of herself for making her own lunch. She had some butter with a very small side of bread. Surprise, surprise I am now really low on butter. I guess I will need to get some more soon and attempt to hide from Sarah a bit better in the fridge. Ever since Noah has figured out how to sit up I find him like this every morning just waiting to be picked up out of his crib. How can that NOT make you smile every morning?

Daniel had some friends over the other day. I let them play on the Wii. We used to have 4 Wii remotes, but one has been hopelessly lost so we are down to 3 Wii remotes. The three Wii remotes were just enough for Daniel and his friends, however Sarah was left without one. She got upset until she dug around the in the drawer and pulled out a Mario Kart Wii steering wheel remote HOLDER. She thought that was another remote and she played along with the boys (or so she thought). This picture is an action shot of Daniel. He seems to think kicking and jumping helps him play better. He is funny to watch. However, I have to make sure Noah is no where on the floor near Daniel when he plays, though. Yesterday was a Special Needs Workshop up at Hill Air Force Base. They offered a bunch of classes for parents having children with special needs. G&G T were kind enough to come up and watch Noah, Sarah and Daniel for the day so Aaron and I could attend. So much information was thrown and Aaron and me. We feel so overwhelmed because we have to start planning for Matthew's future now. We even have to start writing high school graduation goals in his IEP when he turns 14 which is only in 4 more years!! We also have to start gathering the paperwork so Aaron and I can become Matthew's legal guardian after he turns 18. If he turns 18 and we don't have the guardianship in place he is considered an adult and able to make his own decisions which is scary!! We are hoping that at some point he will be able to live independently, but for now we are taking all precautions just in case that dream of living independently isn't able to happen. Also about high school graduation...wow. We have a lot to consider. He can graduate at 18 if he can finish all the required classes, but that also means all services would be cut off for him. Scary. They do allow special needs kids to stay in school until they are 22 years old. It is not in regular high school setting, but in a special program. This program teaches kids how to use public transit to get to jobs, money managing skills to manage their own finances, and teaching job skills to be able to function as independently as they can. It is so hard to try and prepare for the future since we don't even know what Matthew will be capable of. By the end of the conference I was so overwhelmed I just wanted to sit down and cry. I am just glad that Aaron and I have each other for support and that I am not a single parent. That would be so hard!! Our greatest goals are for

1. Matthew to be happy

2. Matthew to have a job

3. Matthew to live as independently as he can

Not much different than a "typical" child, but things will be so much more involved with Matthew. Raising a kid with special needs is very overwhelming. Not only do we have to work with him every day, we also have to prepare for our future and his future as well. Not knowing at what level he will be functioning at when he turns 18, 25 or even 40+ is difficult. We are preparing as much as we can, but we just don't know what the future will hold. **Sigh** I guess the best things are yet to be, right?!

Anyway, G&G T had an eventful time at our house. Aaron and I had been at the conference for a little over an hour when we both got a text from our realtor saying someone wanted to come view our house in an hour. I had to immediately step out of the meeting and call G&G T to let them know. Luckily the house was relatively clean when I left that morning. They just had to straighten a few beds, do a quick toy pick up and go for a 30 minute walk while the people were viewing our house. Have I mentioned how much of a pain it is to have our house on the market?!

The Special Needs Workshop ended in the afternoon and we got home about the same time Josh and Matthew did. We did a quick homework session and had a quick dinner. G&G T were nice enough to stay with us because Josh and Matthew had a piano recital that night. We all got dressed up and headed over to the recital. Sarah was upset because she was stuck riding with Mom, Dad and Noah while the rest of her brothers got to ride with G&G T. she screamed all the way over to the recital because she was so mad. Between getting in the cars and getting to the recital we lost Josh and Matthew's sheet music. Luckily Matthew had his piece memorized and the piano teacher had an extra copy for Josh to use. We eventually found their sheet music this morning on the lawn all soaking wet since it had rained all night long. Nice! What a great place for it don't you think?!

Here we are waiting for the recital to start: The boys each took their turns. The recital was Disney themed so everyone played a Disney song. Josh played You'll Be in My Heart from Tarzan and Matthew played Kiss the Girl from the Little Mermaid. Matthew went first and had no problems except in his excitement he forgot to bow right when he ended. He remembered about the time he ran to sit back down in the audience so he ran all the way back up to finish his bow. He was so excited!!

Josh went next and was a little nervous, but he did great. His favorite part was bowing at the end. What a silly kid!

Here are the boys standing in front of the Grand Piano the played their songs on. Don't you hate that goofy smile phase all kids go through?!

Afterward each of the piano students got a peanut butter egg. The piano teacher was kind enough to bring Daniel some Peeps since she knew he was allergic to peanuts. That was awesome. Daniel was too new of a piano student to participate in this recital, but he will be able to participate in the next one in October. He already has his music picked out for that one. He loved his Peeps and ate all 5 of them with in 5 seconds or less. He was sporting some nice blue lips afterward. It was a nice recital and we were glad G&G T could come to enjoy it with us. G&G T had a full long day with all the kids yesterday. However, the kids had lots of fun, but I am sure G&G T were worn out by the end of it.

Sarah loves playing with Daniel. They were playing this "fun" game until Sarah actually hurt Daniel by playing too rough. It was hard for me to stifle my giggles and show Daniel some sympathy after this happened. Sarah couldn't figure out why Daniel was even crying.

Here's another "fun" game Daniel was playing with Noah. And I wonder why my kids get sick so much. Gross. At least Daniel wiped off Noah's face when he was done.