Just because I love his eyes!

Just a cute pic because I have a cute kid!

Soccer Practice!

Robert's playing soccer this year and loving it! He might not have a big future in soccer, but he does supply some great comic relief! Here's some pics from his first practice.

William loves to "run in his runnin' shoes" while Robert practices soccer.

Opening day and Roman fighting

Finally, pictures from opening day...

I don't have good pictures of the kids in their costumes, but at least you can get the idea. The dads in our group built this Greek temple and some of the moms painted it. Zeus and Hera attended the event along with some of the other gods and goddesses (including Nike, the goddess of victory....a.k.a me). The kids each got a chance to tell everyone about their demi-god character that they created and it was fun finally meeting everyone in our group. This is going to be such a great year! We will be studying ancient Greece and Rome and also the founding of America. The amazing moms that planned the year have done such an incredible job of making the three go together beautifully.

Monday we were able to see a Roman fighting demonstration and then the kids got a chance to practice some of their moves. They LOVED it!

  

School is still going very well. Mornings are a little bit of drudgery as we get through math, piano, and such, but the afternoons we do Epic Adventure stuff and it is well worth it!

Not the news we wanted

Today we got the results from Robert's MRI. That poor kid just can't seem to get a break. The syrinx is still there and from my untrained eye it looks bigger. (We will be getting his previous MRI's so the new Dr. can compare.) The chord is retethered or tightened or thickened or whatever the correct terminology is. He will eventually need surgery to fix it again. We could have it done now, but think we will wait until his symptoms start to get worse.  He also has a mild case of chiari malformation. (ch pronounces as a k) I don't feel like explaining, so if you are interested, Google away. Right now he is asymptomatic so nothing will be done about it. We will keep an eye on it and someday he may need surgery for that as well.

It has been a long emotional day.

Oh, and other news... David's car died right before our trip to FL. $1800 to fix. Hopefully it will be done by Friday...this one car shuffle is no fun. Thank goodness for an emergency fund though!

Florida

We met up with our friends the Durfey's in Florida to hang out at the beach and watch some football. 

The beach was better than the football.

Our first hotel in Mexico Beach. The water was so warm and the sand was so soft here! Much different than the beach we are used to. We only stayed here one night then it was on to Tallahassee. 

 The view from our balcony.

There is a little debate on whether we saw an alligator or not, but the sign was enough to keep me out of this water!

Guess Who?

Who was the unruly kid doing a headstand in the middle of singing time during primary???

Pirate Party

Today was Robert's b-day party. He has been planning this party since shortly after his last birthday when we were at a store and saw a load of pirate party supplies for 80% off. Robert had a blast and thanks to Anna and Alahna's hard work and creativity it was very little work on my part. They decorated, made clues with a  treasure map and led the kids on a treasure hunt...dressed as pirates, no less! Robert and the other pirates also walked the plank, listed to a story about how Jeremy Jacob (played by David) became a pirate, and played "give the pirate a treasure map" (Robert's version of pin the tail on the donkey).

Blind leading the blind

Anna and Alahna have been working on their costumes for our big opening day with our home school group.

They came up with the designs and are doing all the sewing. I am just guiding them along. Since I'm not much of a seamstress myself, things have been a little interesting at times. We're all having fun though and learning a lot. Thank goodness for a wonderful visiting teacher who IS a good seamstress! Bet you can't wait to see the finished products! I know I can't!

Check it out!

We picked up Robert's new AFOs on Thursday and today we bought some shoes so he could start wearing them. I keep telling him that every one's going to be jealous becasue they are SO COOL looking....but he's not falling for it.

He will start wearing them gradually, but eventually will wear them all day long.  His foot/leg problems aren't severe right now, but if we don't take care of them they could get much worse. So our hope is that with the stretching exercises and braces we can take care of it while he is young, and hopefully he won't have to wear them very long.

He had an MRI of his head and spine last week to check again on the syrinx and other stuff. We go back in for the results in a couple of weeks and hopefully all will be good. We are praying that he will not have to have surgery again, but we're told that it is a possibility.

Back to School

Last year the days leading up to the first day of school were full of anxiety and stress for the girls. This year it was only excitement and anticipation. What a wonderful switch. Everyone is asking "How is homeschooling going?"

Well, so far so good. Everyone seems to be loving it...including me!

He is really five!

This is just about as cute as they come. He has grown a lot in 5 years...and he's heavier too.

This morning his first request was, "pick me up mommy."

Robert hasn't asked to be "picked up" in a very long time, so I asked why?

"I want to see if I'm heavier."

So, thinking back to that very first time I held him in my arms, I picked him up, gave him a good squeeze and confirmed, "You are definitely heavier."

He leaped for joy and cried, "Yessss, I really am 5!"

Happy Birthday, Little Man.