FEBRUARY 2017

SWIMMING

Since both Zachery and Zayne are in Level Swordfish 3 or higher they are able to compete in these small, 25 yard, swim meets (once a month, on Monday nights).  The boys had a blast swimming fast and winning medals!

VALENTINE'S DAY

Valentine's Day always creates a stress for me.  I think this has to do with a part of my personality, that I am not that excited to expose, but here goes ... my perfectionism and competitiveness and desire to be "liked" (yes, Valentine's Day brings this all out! Why? Because I have kids in public school and they have to bring 23-25 Valentine Day cards for all there friends!).  So I searched the web for cute ideas and for some reason we always wind up on Pinterest! The boys picked out Valentine Day Cards that have a picture of the child holding or hugging a lollipop ... yes, the pictures below were hole punched in strategic locations to insert a lollipop (and we added Happy Valentine's Day, Love, Zach or Zayne).  On top of the Valentine Day Cards, I also get to be in charge of the Valentine's Day Party in Zayne's room.  So we had TONS of sugar and I think we ended up playing a game or two of Bingo!  The local donut shop makes heart donuts on Valentine's Day, so I order a few dozen for Zayne's and Zach's class.  Anyways, I always feel like I need a break after these days, but with a little baby girl, there is no rest for the weary!! 😃

AROUND THE HOUSE

So I think we finally have settled back into our "schedule", as I say that I know it will change.  But at the moment Zachery has swimming twice a week for an hour, Lone Star Challenge practice on Thursday's right after school for an hour and half with AWANA's right after.  Zachery also has Peer Mentoring once a month.  Zayne is wrapping up basketball and will get back into swimming soon.  He has AWANA's on Thursday nights. 

I had my first encounter with a mom that did not like my son and invited me over to discuss the issues.  As you could imagine, I was extremely curious, shocked, and wanted to get to the bottom of it right away.  This particular friend was one of Zayne's good friends.  She had broken her arm and he had been carrying her lunch to the table everyday.  He always stuck up for her (according to the stories that he told me).  He knows her favorite color, animal, and movie character ... so I was frankly shocked and curious (as I mentioned above).  The first offense was Zayne's comment regarding the elections.  Apparently, they had been talking about it at school and Zayne stated that Hillary Clinton was a liar and therefore, a little debate started "No she isn't" "Yes, she is" etc.  Obviously, we were not voting for the same person.  The mom did not approve of us talking about the elections and/or approve that Zayne was discussing it at school.  There were some other things stated, but are irrelevant.  The next was a comment that Zayne said "Well, I am going to tell the coach not to let you on the team".  This little girl was so excited to join the swim team after getting her cast off and was sharing her excitement with Zayne.  I apologized and left thinking, I can't have the whole story Zayne would never say something so mean.  I had to talk with Zayne.  After school, I was able to have a talk with him.  Zayne explained that he said that because he didn't want her arm to get hurt again, so what he was really trying to say was that he was going to tell the coach that she had a broken arm and to be careful.  But like a fool I made him apologize.  I felt like I was leading him into the lions den.  He was such a brave little man, so tender! Needless to say that ruined my friendship with this family!

Charlie and I even had a meeting with the teacher to ensure that we weren't missing something about Zayne.  The teacher was able to calm our fears and said that Zayne is liked by everyone.  We explained to her the reason for our meeting and she was able to guess who we were having problems with and she "took care" of the seating arrangement.  Praise the Lord!  We hope and pray we never have to go through something like this again.      

JANUARY 2017

CUPID SHUFFLE

The boys were both able to perform this year during the Richardson High School Basketball Game, the Cupid Shuffle.  Zachery is in the front row with his friend Jaxon and you will have to look for Zayne in the second row.  We had some of our own moves this year, which is always fun to see! Since Zayne is playing basketball this year, he was glued to the game, which was fun to watch.  I truly believe he is a visual learner.  He hated that we had to leave early to get baby sister home for bed (she can be sort-of a spoiler alert)!

BASKETBALL

We wrapped up basketball season! Zayne improved so much! He is excited about next year (and so am I)!  So before one of our last games, they were warming up and Zayne caught a ball wrong and we think sprained his finger (it bruised and swelled up pretty good).  The pictures don't do it justice, but it was our first battle wound (and he was a little excited about it, well after the initial pain went away). 

AROUND THE HOUSE
I wonder if I am the only mom that seems to take January as a "down" month.  Maybe trying to re-organize the house, our schedules, and well life! Those New Year resolutions seem good at the time, but yet fade so quickly.  Anyways, we have some cute photographs of the boys and the video is of Zylie (but we catch Zach digging for gold at the end ... a habit we have been trying to desperately to stop).  We had friends over one night.  And I think that was the night that Zachery and his friend Jaxon, were trying to make a waffle maker out of foam board for a skit at school.  I believe that was also the night I gave a lecture on how to use an X-Acto knife.  No injuries to report, praise the Lord!! We might have also had a lecture on how to use spray paint.  After all that work, I think the waffle maker was left at home and they weren't even able to use it!

DECEMBER 2016

ZACHERY'S 10TH BIRTHDAY

I love that we get to start the month of December off with a special birthday, Zachery's! This year we are celebrating his 10th birthday.  I know, I can't believe it has been a decade either!! He celebrated it with a fun Lego Party with several of his closest friends.  A Lego Party you say, what is that?? Well basically we let the kids run around and go crazy for awhile and then we have a Lego building contest.  They drew ideas out of a bag and with filled bags of random Lego pieces, they were off building that "idea" (like a car, robot, airplane, etc.).  It was so fun to see the creativeness and determination on their faces.  Most of all it was fun to have all his friends together!

BASKETBALL

Did we tell you that Zayne wanted to play basketball this year?? I am not sure if I have ever told you, but my Papa was a forward for the Iowa Hawkeye's (6'6" 200 pounds and the Team Captain).  Anyways, I was hoping that one of the boys would enjoy basketball.  Papa had a big heart, well at least from what I remember! I loved him dearly and miss him very much! (Check out the news clippings of him below ... the first was from Jan. 11, 1951)

At this age, I think it is a free for all when it comes to basketball.  Zayne looked like a natural out there ... not sure what to do at first, but had a good sense of the people around him.  Always looking for someone to pass it to, if he got in trouble.  Don't get me wrong there are times where he would freeze not sure what to do, fear of getting in trouble or yelled at.  He has a big heart and is very tender!! 

CHRISTMAS COOKIES WITH THE DOWN SYNDROME GUILD OF DALLAS

We went to our first annual Cookies with Santa event with the Down Syndrome (DS) Guild of Dallas.  It was such a great excuse to try and make new friends with families with DS children! I love that Zach and Zayne are both so sensitive (even more so now), with others that are different from  them.  They seem to engage with them and they don't seem to treat them differently.  They love looking for DS children and people while we are out and about too.  As you can see we enjoyed decorating a rather large cookie with icing and sprinkles, drank hot chocolate, and visited for about an hour!

SWIMMING

Did I tell you that we started swimming with a new swim school, Jim Montgomery Swim School (JMSS)? I am sure I did, but wasn't sure ... Well Zayne graduated from Swordfish 3 (basically meaning that he got that breaststroke kick down!!) Yay!! Very exciting!! Its fun because they (JMSS) make a big deal about graduating from one level to the next with ribbons and metals ... so Zayne got some fun pictures - Look at that smile!!

CHRISTMAS 2016

With great anticipation Christmas arrived! We had our same routine as always, stockings are allowed to be opened but presents don't happen until after breakfast! Zayne asked for an electric scooter and Zachery asked for a Rip-Stick.  You can imagine that even though they asked for separate things, each wanted what the other had ... Seriously?! What is a mom to do??  I wish I could remember what movie we saw, but after a quick scan of movies that came out in December 2016, I bet we saw SING!

AROUND THE HOUSE

Below are some fun pictures of good times in December! Zayne riding his bike at dad's; Zayne after he built one of his Lego sets; Zachery after a haircut (doesn't he look thrilled about getting his picture taken?); and the last two are from Basketball Camp! I secretly love this camp because when I pick the boys up they are red in the face (especially Zach) and they are beat the rest of the evening!

NOVEMBER 2016

NOVEMBER 2016

SENIOR WALK

It was a fun night! The boys were able to run through the Richardson High School (RHS) tunnel with the football players, give their sister Allison flowers as she was recognized as a Senior Athletic Trainer.  We were so excited to be able to have the whole family there! I can't remember if RHS won their football game that night ... but I know we had to leave early anyways (bed time ....ha!).

WEDDING

We had a blast celebrating my mom's sisters wedding to Mr. John Bourgeois! Aunt Laurie has lived in Austin, Texas for several years and I am sad to report that we have not seen her as often as we should, but we were so happy to be able to see her this weekend! We were able to visit with them the night before and ate some of John's delicious BBQ (seriously, this meat was tender and cooked perfectly!!).  Their home is beautiful, right on the river and the boys were able to meet a cousin of mine and an aunt and uncle they had never met too.  Cousin Stephanie and her parents Uncle Frank and Aunt Ellen.  We were also able to catch up with my parents.  It was a reunion of sorts! 

What a beautiful wedding, in a quaint little church that has been apart of John's family for years (if I remember correctly!) We stayed at Jellystone Park just outside of Austin, Texas.  The boys had a blast, literally running from one thing to the next, it is hard to keep up! We jumped on a gigantic balloon (they were able to get some serious AIR on that thing!), went swimming (not long, the water was FREEZING), went on a nature hike (short, but fun!), played basketball, played at the playground, and ... well I know I am forgetting something!  They keep you young and active for sure!

 ZAYNE'S BAPTISM

 Zayne has been asking to be baptized for several months! So we took the class, he had his meeting with the church's children's pastor and he was baptized on November 20, 2016.  It was such a special day!! He truly has a warrior heart, a heart for God and it will be fun to watch him grow up! It still brings tears to my eyes that he asked me to baptize him.  What a blessing that was to be able to do that with him.  Zayne, you have a heart for Jesus and I hope and pray that fire never dies!

 

 Around the House

Zayne and his momma

Who are those silly people!

Zachery is getting Zylie to sit up and look up!! Way to go Zylie and Zachery!! Wahoo!! They are having a sweet moment!!