Visit to Utah

Grandma's house is always the most fun.  So when Nate had fall break and we had no plans we went out to see Grandma and Papa.  Nate and Evy loved going to the zoo, visiting the cabin, playing the the leaves, making cookies with cousins, and going to the corn maze.  They also loved exploring Grandma's new house, especially with the special kids hideout.  We sure love our Grandma and Papa!

Pumpkin Patch

We went to the adorable farm we found last year to pick our pumpkins.  This time we got to bring daddy along.  I'm not sure who was more in love with getting pumpkins, the kids or the adults.  Brad kept telling the kids to go pick out more pumpkins.  Brad also wanted to get a huge pumpkin.  It weighted in at 60 lbs!  That's more than Nate! In total we came home with 23 pumpkins and gourds.  I think that will be enough.

Funny Little People

Brad - How old are you Evy?
Evy - Happy!
Brad - That's how you are feeling.  How old are you?
Evy - Happy!
Nate - She's 2.
Brad - How old are you Nate?
Nate - I'm 5.
Brad - (Super proud he answered the question.) Yes, that's right!  How old am I?
Nate - You are 3.

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Evy and Nate have decided that things are not goofy.  They're Donald.  As in Donald Duck.  It's not uncommon to hear them say, "Oh Donald!" One day I told Evy her straw was being goofy.  She told me, "It's not a goofy straw.  It's a Donald straw!"

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Evy was helping me clean up and spontaneously started singing, "Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down. . ."

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Evy - Butter!
Brad - You want butter on your corn on the cob?
Evy - No, on the side.
She must be a Packer.

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I was loading the kids into the car and Evy matter of factly tells me, "The car is haunted." How does she even know the word haunted?

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Aye aye Captain Silly! - Evy

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Evy stands on her chair at dinner and says, "Listen up guys.  I love Mom!"

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Brad - What's my favorite food?
Nate - Pancakes!
Brad - What's my favorite color?
Nate - Blue!
Brad - What's my favorite toy?
Nate - Helicopters!
Brad - Who's my favorite boy?
Nate - Me!
Brad - Who's my favorite girl?
Nate - Evy!
Brad - Who's my favorite mommy?
Nate - That's silly.  She's your sister!
Brad - No, she's my wife.
Nate - (Pointing to Evy) She's my wife.
Brad - No, she's your sister.  I'm married to your mommy.
Nate - Married?!?!?!?!?!?!

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Alisha - Do you guys want to go to Walmart and buy Nate's school supplies?
Evy - I do! And presents!
Alisha - Oh, what do you want to get me for my birthday?
Evy - A cake, candles, and fire!
Oh, dear!  Knowing her she just might deliver.

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Nate's therapist - Nate, what was one good thing this week?
Nate - We made messes.
Nate's therapist - Was it fun?
Nate - (With a little mischievous grin) Yes.

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Nate was having a hard time and was crying.  Evy went over to Nate and started to rub his back. "Now take a deep breath and count to three."

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Alisha - Nate would you like some toast for breakfast?
Nate - No! I want broccoli!

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I'd unloaded the groceries into the house when I got a phone call.  I'd run upstairs to my computer.  When I finished my call, I hear Evy say, "I love chocolate chips." I peek into Nate's room.  They had opened two packages of chocolate chips and dumped them on the floor. They were certainly enjoying their sneaky treat, but boy, did they try to hide it when they saw me!

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Evy thinks question marks are called mysteries.

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Evy was throwing a tantrum and I was trying to figure out why she is mad.  Evy defiantly shouted at me, "I don't have any problems!"

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My sister, Malinda, was singing the name game to the kids.  The kids think it's a riot. Laughing their heads off.  Nate keeps asking to do different people.  "Do Grandma! Do Mommy! Do Evy!" Then he points to my sister, Adrianne, and says, "Let's do this guy!"

Starting Kindergarten

Today was a day I've looked forward to for years. It was Nate's first day of kindergarten. Let me explain. Back 3 1/2 years ago when Nate was diagnosed with autism it was so overwhelming. I couldn't think too far ahead about whether Nate would ever be able to have a job, graduate high school, or live on his own. The psychologist who diagnosed Nate suggested trying to focus on just a few years ahead. Work on trying to get Nate ready for a typical kindergarten classroom. So that's what we've done. All the ABA, OT, speech, music therapy, specialized preschool, IEP meetings, research, etc. has contributed to this goal. 

When we were starting to plan Nate's transition from preschool to kinder the plan was to have Nate in a typical class and also in a special ed class. We loved the special ed teacher and the school was great. We were excited for Nate, but it wasn't a fully integrated class which would have so many benefits for Nate. 

Well, at the final transition meeting of the year the plan changed. The school had enough incoming kindergarteners with autism to hire a special ed teacher to be in the typical kinder classroom. This meant Nate could now be with his peers all the time. No pull out for special ed. And that's really exciting for us. 

I'm so proud of all the hard work Nate's had to do to be ready for kindergarten. So today is definitely a day to celebrate all we've achieved.

Summertime

After school got out, we had a family home evening and asked Nate and Evy what they wanted to do this summer.  We came up with quite a list.  From making forts to soda dough to going for ice cream to playing at the splash pad to making obstacle courses to going mini golfing to road trips.  It made for quite an exciting summer crossing things off our list. We got to have both of our grandmas and both my sisters come.  And we even finished off our summer with a solar eclipse!