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 :-)

Michelle's last four months

Luke turned 9 on April 30.  I LOVED taking his pictures at Loussac Library!!  He poses so nicely and doesn't mind going to several different spots to get the best scenery.

School ended in May.  All four kids had excellent school years this year!  They all loved their teachers and got really good grades.

In June, we went to the annual family picnic with the Down syndrome group.  This year, we had horse rides and carriage rides.  The kids really enjoyed that!

I really don't remember why Luke and Seth decided to dress up in their Batman costumes, but they were SO cute!!!!

 The family 4th of July cookout was at our house this year.  Gavin was excited to climb up into our tree house:

 Makayla enjoyed having Makenzie push her in the swing:

 Another July event was Makenzie's haircut.  After four years, she was ready to donate her hair to Locks of Love again.  Before:

 After:

      An unpleasant event in July was the return of "the Herbert."  We named him that because when Luke was a little younger, he didn't know exactly how to pronounce "pervert" and so it came out "herbert."  So that's the title we've given to the guy who on April 13th was half naked in our shed.  At the end of July, he once again got high and then jumped over our fence.  Even worse than trespassing, though, was that he then removed ALL of his clothes and was in the middle of doing something to himself that people should NOT do in public (let alone in a stranger's back yard) when Jason decided to go close the blinds and saw him.  When Jason yelled at him, Joel and I ran out to the kitchen to see what was going on.  We were shocked and disgusted to see the guy STAND UP and slowly put his clothes back on, slowly jump back over the fence, and slowly walk away down the street.  The cops looked for him, but couldn't find him.  The next day, Jason saw the Herbert walking down Northern Lights Blvd, so he followed him.  The guy was supposedly staying with a friend in the house right behind us!!  So Jason called the police who came and arrested the guy again.  As far as we know, he's still in jail and will be charged with the felony of indecent exposure to a minor since Joel saw him like that.  A VERY unpleasant event!!  One month later, and I'm still rattled and nervous about going outside or even looking out the window.

   We ordered this shirt from a Down syndrome group in Texas:

 Seth turned seven last week!  Luke decorated a special balloon for him:

 We invited all the Hofacker/Nelson crew, of course, and also some friends that are like family from church.

 Seth gave his 7th birthday a good thumbs up:

     Now the kids are all back in school and starting off this school year very nicely.  I'm glad they have something more productive to do with their time than watch movies and play video games!  I'm also glad to be able to go to work and do my job completely and more slowly than I had to do over the summer.