Lovin' it...

Can I just say that, as challenging as these ages in my household are, I am lovin' it...

Megan's about to get her drivers permit. Yeah, driving school is expensive, yeah, she's a teen and that can be a pain in the @$$, but i do love interacting with her... She is so much like I was at her age; before life experiences toned me down... she's energetic, fun-loving and an awesome kid. Just wish she would close lids on things when she's done.

Matt turned 19 yesterday. Yep. My baby boy is 19! How did that happen? Don't ask me 'cause I don't know. I vividly remember bringing him home from the hospital, watching him learn to walk, chasing him at the park and trying to keep his voice down while his dad fished on the riverbank... He was such a fun, inquisitive kid. His life experiences have toned him down a bit, but he is trying to find himself and where he "belongs". I am honored to get to see this first hand.

Vivian is just a firecracker. I wholly believe she should have been an only child. She wants to play outside, but mostly only if I do too. If I am playing with Levi she is adamant that I play the exact thing with her afterward. But she is also such a sweet kid. And doing so amazingly well in school... she brought home an award she got for the R.E.A.C.H. program in school... for reach the kids have to practice basically random acts of kindness and show responsiblity during school, then they get an award and lunch with the Principle. She was so proud, as was I!

Levi... I hope this kid never outgrows the random "mom!?... I love you..." stage. I swear he utters or yells this 50 times a day! And, of course, I never get tired of hearing it! I had the meeting with the school therapists and counselor as well as the kids' teacher yesterday, and it went really well. The thing that was unanimously aggreed on by all was what a fun kid Levi is. His sense of humor and all around personality is so much fun. He will begin occupational therapy in school to work on his fine motor skills, but his cognitive abilities are right up there where they should be, he understands things well and has a great vocabulary. The therapist did explain that he is a "concrete kid" and learns/understand better hands-on, so he will benefit from written charts as rules and also written instruction for things like 3-step requests, like 'you need to go upstairs, brush your teeth, get your pajamas and get ready for bed...' So that's what we'll work on for him, and Vivian too... just one step closer to more independent kids! YAAAYY!!

Work has been picking up, more builders building and remodeling, so it's been a challenge to keep up and still keep my hours down, but I still love it. I'm blessed to be able to do a job I enjoy, and i'm glad to not loathe going to work every day. It'd be easier an dmore fun to still be "just a driver", but all in all, I can't complain.

SInce I took Friday off for Levi's IEP appointment and also Matt's birthday, I was able to get a few applications in... Hopefully soon I'll have a part time job so I can save the money from that (minus babysitting costs) to make the trip to Nevada to see dad. The kids are looking forward to seeing Grandma and Grandpa, and I'm actually looking forward to the drive down there!

Spring seems to have bloomed here in the NW. The kids are enjoying time outside and being active. I got a trail-a-bike to ride with the kids, hopefully soon they'll trust it and be ok riding it. It's gotta be hard from their perspective, they have no control, but are on a bike with the feel of needing control... It'll be a blast when they get used to it. Eventually i'll hook two of them to my bike so I can ride with both. We'll be a heckuva sight going down the road!! LOL!

© erikalandon2010