Anyway, Daniel had a birthday party on Wednesday night between 4-6pm at Chuck E. Cheeses. We were pretty excited because that meant we were going to be able to eat at the most Daniel unfriendly restaurant in the world without fearing for Daniel's life. We went to Texas Roadhouse while Daniel was otherwise occupied. It also helped that we had two free child entree coupons that Josh and Matthew had gotten from school that we needed to use. We went and enjoyed our nut and dairy filled dinner and didn't feel too guilty because Daniel was having fun somewhere else. However, while we were there I did realize we need to teach our kids about how to have manners at a restaurant. Josh tried buttering his roll with his steak knife. I nervously watched him because it looked like with one fatal move he would have stabbed himself or cut off his fingers. Anyway, Sarah hadn't seen cloth napkins before and thought they were the table cloth. She insisted that her napkin needed to be spread out across the table the whole dinner and would get mad if you tried to move it. 
Good thing they had complimentary rolls because between Sarah, Matthew and Josh they seriously ate about 5 rolls apiece. Our server really earned his tip that night!!
For Veteran's Day Aaron had the day off. It kind of threw me for a loop because it was a random Thursday instead of the usual Friday or Monday. That made the day seem like it was Saturday only the kids had school. Daniel had preschool that afternoon and the older kids were in school so Aaron and I along with Sarah and Noah went out for some ice cream during the older kid free time. Sarah loved it as you can see by her filthy shirt and ice creamy face. We have to live it up while we can--well at least while Daniel is having fun somewhere else. 
The other day while I was running errands, I stopped by home to pick something up. I was only going to be a minute so I left the kids in the car while I ran inside the house. I didn't realize I had left the radio on the talk/news station while I ran inside. When I came back outside I found a very somber Daniel. I asked what was wrong and he told me (in his very serious Daniel face) a Transformer had died. I asked him where he'd heard that. He pointed to the radio and said he heard it there while I was inside the house. I put 2 and 2 together and figured out he thought it was the action figure Transformer that had died. However, it was only an electrical transformer that had died, but Daniel didn't know what that was. I tried not to laugh, but it was funny.As for parent teacher conferences things went as I had expected them to go. Josh is doing fabulous. He is a model student except he doesn't like to listen to directions before starting his assignments. That means that occasionally he will get frustrated when he can't figure out what to do because he didn't listen the first time. He is also a lefty, but doesn't always know to look for the lefty scissors so sometimes he has a hard time with that. Other than that he loves school and his teachers love him, so all is good.
Matthew on the other hand is.....well.....Matthew. His teacher is the same one as last year and let's just say she is not my favorite. She doesn't have as much patience with him as I would like, but she gets the job done more or less. However, as Matthew gets older the gap between him and his typical peers in their academics is getting larger and larger. In 4th grade they make the big change from learning to read to reading to learn and Matthew's reading understanding and comprehension has not always been his strong point. Now it is starting to slow him down and that is really hard to see the disparity between him and the other kids. Until he can get that comprehension down he will continue to fall more and more behind his typical peers. He is also struggling with the social aspect of school as well. Matthew has his idiosyncrasies he has to do like flapping his hands, asking silly questions, and his VERY rigid routines, which, unfortunately, makes him stand out. This consequently has led to some of his typical peers making fun of him at school. His teacher has talked to the kids twice, but she can't always be with Matthew to make sure it doesn't happen. Thankfully, Matthew is blissfully unaware of this for now, but who knows how long that will last. I know I need to look at Matthew for who he is and not what he can't do, but parent teachers isn't the best thing for that because it painfully shows me how different he really is. Even though we have known about Matthew's autism for about 8 years now it doesn't make things easier. I had a social worker tell me it is ok to mourn the loss of that typical child, but don't dwell too long on it. So for the last few days I have been having a pity party for myself, but I am pulling myself together and getting ready to put on my happy face--until the next parent teacher conferences.
When I was in school (way back when) we learned about the Kubler-Ross 5 stages of grief. We also learned that you can regress and go back to any step at any time and Aaron and I have our moments when we do this. Here's the 5 steps that we like to cycle through:
1. Denial and isolation
2. Anger
3. Bargaining
4. Depression
5. Acceptance
Most the time we are at acceptance, but on the hard days we seem to cycle through the other steps. I just want what is best for Matthew and for him to be happy, but it has been a hard road to hoe to say the least. It is hard not to ask, "Why me?", but that doesn't make it any easier. I take comfort in knowing that Heavenly Father is in charge and this is what he has planned for us. He must think we can do this even though I question our ability at times. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right?! Since I am not dead, I keep wondering when am I going to get those bulging muscles from being stronger?? :) 
Afterward we let all the boys go first for their cleanings and exams and let her watch them. After seeing her brothers get it done we didn't have any problem with her cooperating. If it was good enough for her brothers it was good enough for her. 
Josh is the same way about TV. He could be watching the test panel and still not notice anything going on around him.
It was pretty hard to get Matthew to stop talking long enough to let the dentist have a look in his mouth. He was telling him all about the freeways, going to the cabin and about the brush car wash.
Sarah couldn't wait for her turn. She kept trying to crawl up into the chair while Daniel was finishing his exam. When it was her turn she crawled up into the chair and got comfy.
She let them brush/polish her teeth.
She got a little nervous when the dentist came to take a look. However, she figured if it was good enough for her brothers it was good enough for her and let him take a really good look. 
I was so amazed about how cooperative she was I had to take the pictures to document it!! Well all the kids are good until their next check up in June--except for Josh who goes back in January to get his front teeth fixed. What an adventure!!
She couldn't get it in the glass only on the floor. Being as thirsty as she was she decided to drink it off the floor anyway. I guess I will be mopping sooner than later--Thanks Sarah! 
and then started an IV because he was extremely dehydrated. They also told us they might admit him to the hospital because he was so dehydrated. They gave him some anti nausea medication and gave him juice 
along with the IV fluids to get him re-hydrated.
They then just watched him for a little bit. His labs came back showing no appendicitis, thank goodness. They ended up sending him home and told us to make him drink, drink, drink--which we have been trying to do. He has perked up quite a bit after the IV fluids and him drinking so I am not too concerned about him anymore. Whew, glad it turned out with no hospital stay!!
This morning Daniel and Sarah were playing with him through his crib slats. He thought they were funny because he was just giggling. I love baby laughs and so I recorded his this morning:
her hands:
and feet:
and on the counter:
Good thing I finished my book today. I don't want to see what she would be capable of tomorrow without as much supervision!!
At each station throughout the store (bakery, butcher, customer service, etc.), they got to pick up a nice treat (chocolate milk, rice crispie treats, apples, etc.). Noah didn't care for it too much because he slept the whole time, but the rest of the kids liked it. 
Sarah insisted on holding her own bag even though it was too big for her to pick up. If we tried to help her in any way she would just scream. She drug her bag all through the store. She even tried to put a few things from the shelf in it, but we stopped her before she could put any in it.
To celebrate Halloween and have a fundraiser Josh and Daniel's elementary school had a carnival. They started out with a costume parade around the school and then we bought a punch card to do some activities with. We did pumpkin bowling, bean bag toss, ski ball, etc. They had lots of fun.
Daniel trying to hit the troll:
Josh getting ready for the next game:
Sarah being the lady like princess she is, when we were waiting in line she decided to try and climb on the bookshelves. Modesty....what's that?
As you can see Noah wasn't too enthused about all this activity either. He was yawning from the beginning and soon fell asleep.
Sarah was in the thick of things. Whatever the boys did she had to do it as well.
When it was over we went out and got into the car. Sarah's crown fell off so I just picked it up and held on to it. She screamed and screamed until I gave it back to her. She then put it on herself because she NEEDED her crown for her costume.
Wednesday night this week was the Pinewood Derby for pack meeting. Matthew was so excited to finally race his car. He didn't come in first and he didn't come in last, but let's just say there is a little room for improvement. I think Aaron and Matthew did great since this was their first Pinewood Derby as father and son. Aaron is already thinking about how to design the car for next time.
Here's Matthew racing his car for the first time:
Saturday we finally got around to carving our pumpkins. Everyone drew their faces on and I carved. Matthew and Daniel got some extra help from Josh and I think they all turned out well.
While we were carving, Sarah got a hold of the Sharpie Marker and drew on her face. I think it completes her princess ensemble don't you? It was hard to get off. Even with lots of scrubbing she still had a nice mark at church today.
I tried painting their faces this year....I don't know if I want to do that again. It's harder than it looks. When I finished Josh went and took a look at himself and declared to me that he looked stupid. Nice--thanks Josh! The kids got lots of candy. Of course they got upset when Aaron and I sampled a few. However, Aaron took this nice opportunity to teach them about taxation. He said when you get a job and start earning your own money then you have to start paying taxes and then ate a candy bar to show them what he meant. They didn't quite appreciate that, but maybe it will prepare them for the real world :).
To prove it was actually snowing since you can't see too much of the snow in the previous picture, I took a picture of a snowflake on Josh's hood to prove that is was in fact snowing. 
