my teenager

I was shocked when I saw this picture of Joel wrestling at regions!  I knew he'd been working really hard to make weight all season and that he'd been lifting after practice several days every week.  But I was still surprised that he's gotten so big and muscular!

Because this is how I think of Joel wrestling:

Luke's compassionate decision

Luke:  "When you two die -- no offense -- or move away or I move away, I'm going to go to the pet store or the pound and adopt the ugliest dog there."

Jason:  "You know, you could just move to a different house.  We don't have to die first.  And why are you going to buy the ugliest dog?"

Luke:  "Because no one else would adopt it, so it would be there and never get picked.  I'm going to pick that one for my own."

Luke's Legos

Luke wanted pictures from every angle.

This is a canon.

He used spare pieces to copy the picture in his new Lego book.

He made this go cart pretty much all on his own.

new mailbox

For YEARS I've wanted a unique mailbox.  The Down syndrome group board gave me a gift card to Home Depot after the Buddy Walk, so I bought a new mailbox.  My friend Ann worked her artistic magic to give me a one-of-a-kind piece of art in my front yard.

I have a hard time driving up the driveway.  I just want to sit in the road and stare at my mailbox!

picture: 


mailbox: 

dreams

I pretty much never remember my dreams, but last night I remembered two of them.  First, I dreamed that Joel, Seth, and I were swimming in a lake.  Seth had just started swimming underwater, but he didn't know how to swim back up to the surface.  I had to pull him up when I thought he'd been under long enough.  I turned around to wipe water out of my eyes, and Seth swam away.  It was a lake, so we couldn't see him.  Thankfully, I woke up before the screaming and crying could start.  I went into Luke and Seth's room to make sure they were both breathing and to give Seth kisses.

I was afraid to close my eyes again even though it was only 2 a.m., but sometime after 3 a.m. I fell asleep again.  I dreamed that I was taking Seth to school, but apparently it was also my workplace since people from work were there.  When I was helping Seth get to his class, I realized that I hadn't gotten all the way dressed!  I was just getting Seth to come with me to go back home when my real-life Seth woke me up to take him to the bathroom.  I was SO very glad to see my Seth alive, to know that I was all the way dressed, and to have Seth be able to wake up to use the bathroom!  Crazy dreams!!

GUILTY!!!!

The jury found the herbert GUILTY!!!!!  Instead of my re-writing everything, you can read the details on the following links:
the first incident

http://michelles-day.blogspot.com/2012/04/friday-13th.html

the second incident

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=497953865341938114#editor/target=post;postID=8318338193923478633;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=2;src=postname

an update

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=497953865341938114#editor/target=post;postID=4069579933897707194;onPublishedMenu=allposts;onClosedMenu=allposts;postNum=0;src=postname

The short version is that some guy jumped over our fence in April, 2012.  He was high and had no clothes on from the waist down.  He was arrested for burglary because he was in our shed.  When he got out of jail, he jumped over our fence in July, 2012, stripped naked, and "took care of himself" in our backyard.  Because Joel saw him do that, the guy was arrested and charged with "indecent exposure in the 1st degree" (indecent exposure to a minor).  We just finished the trial yesterday, and today the jury came back with a guilty verdict!!!  The judge ordered the guy to be taken into custody WITHOUT bail!!!!  So we're still safe -- and I've been crying from relief since I got off the phone with the lawyer!

The next step is that the defense will file a motion to get a new trial.  If the judge grants them a new trial, we start over again -- but at least the guy stays in jail for all of that.  If the judge denies the new trial, the guy will be sentenced in November, staying in custody without bail until then.  He could be sentenced to up to THIRTY YEARS in jail.  I'm not sure what the rules are for bail or probation, so there's no way to know how long he'll actually stay in jail.  BUT I know he's in jail right now still and there's a possibility that he'll stay there until we're SEVENTY YEARS OLD!!  I'm so very relieved about this!

 

Almost a year has gone by without blogging?  What?!  Time to catch up:

"The Herbert" is still in jail.  We went to court to start the trial, but ended up with a mistrial because of some new evidence that needed to be processed by the defense.  So back to jail he went for another couple months until they find another court date.  That should be sometime this summer.

I quit working for Hallmark in order to work at one Walgreens.  I'm a cashier most of the time, and I'm enjoying it (most of the time).  I've still been doing the Hallmark in the Walgreens where I work, but only until Hallmark takes over and sends in their own employee to do the work.  That should be in just ONE MORE WEEK!!!  I'm looking forward to having two full days off work in a row every week!  Sometimes work isn't so great -- like yesterday.  The manager on duty went in the restroom and discovered a pretty disgusting #2 mess.  So guess who was assigned the two-hour job of cleaning the restroom.  YUCK!!!  I had to remind myself that I've dealt with this kind of cleaning SO many times before because of my kids.  But my kids didn't make that mess -- a stranger did.  EEEEEWWWWW!!!!  I chose not to think about that and just get the cleaning done as fast as possible.  By the time I was finished, the restroom almost looked brand new, but I was dripping sweat and needing a drink of more than just the water I had brought to work!  A 15-minute break outside to cool off and laugh with my super-fun coworker put me back to "normal," though.  I'm glad most days are just routine with lots of smiles and laughs.

Joel is starting HIGH SCHOOL in the fall!  And Makenzie is starting JR. HIGH!!  They're becoming so mature and independent, and I'm completely proud of them.  Luke is still making us both laugh and get gray hair, but he's the one I depend on a lot of the time to take care of Seth and even sometimes to take care of me.  Seth had a great year at school.  Moving him into the special ed. class was definitely the best decision for him.  He loves his teachers and friends at school and is learning so much more with them than with a regular class structure.

Jason will be working on finishing his master's degree from Liberty University this summer.  He's still running, teaching, and coaching, too.  The older the boys get, the more they get to work with their dad as their coach, which is a special experience for all of them.

No pictures on this post -- I used to take albums full of pictures all the time.  Now, I go months without taking a single picture.  Funny how life changes all the time.

2012 goals MET!!

Goal #1:  lose weight
1-1-2012
1-1-2013 (lost 30 pounds, 3 sizes!!)

Goal #2:  potty train Seth
2-3-2012 (notice the diaper sticking out above the pajamas)

11-2012 (Seth didn't want to take a picture in his undies, so you'll have to take my word for it that he's not wearing a diaper except to bed anymore :-)