He's Walking! And Other Updates...

Mustang Man is making steady progress. This week, the big news is that he's walking again! Hooray! He has really been going stir crazy the last week or so. Today he went outside and helped Stormin' put a new muffler on his car. (I'm sure the whole neighborhood will be thankful come 5:45 a.m. Monday morning when Stormin' and Moose take off for seminary.)

In other news... Stormin' was thrilled that the band won first place at their first competition of the season last weekend. He is off at another competition today. I hardly get to see him anymore with all of his activities. I know things will slow down a bit in a couple of weeks when marching band season is over. But, then will be the big push to finish his Eagle scout project, the last thing he needs to do to earn his Eagle. The deadline is his 18th birthday, which is fast approaching.

Moose is looking forward to his own birthday, next month. He will be 16 and ready to hit the road without supervision. Look out world! He's been saving money to fix up his own car. This is also the standard age when our gentlemen get to begin dating. This semester, Moose also dove into foods classes at school. I remember when he was sketching out his high school plan in 8th grade, he avoided those classes. I think he was nervous that he would get some grief for taking them. But, then he grew. Not many students are brave enough to give Moose grief these days. He isn't thrilled with his first foods class because they are covering a lot of the basics, with a little bit of actual cooking. Next semester he gets to do a lot more creating in the kitchen.

Camo is the most excited about birthdays at this point. His big day is just two weeks away. He will be 14, which qualifies him for new adventures. This is the age where he can earn his learner's permit and begin driving. (I have nominated Mustang Man to do the teaching. The Zits comic strip illustrates my feelings beautifully.) It is also the age that he gets to start attending dances and stake youth activities.

Big J and school issues have been keeping me busy. I was extremely frustrated to learn he has not been getting the appropriate accommodations for his dyslexia because the school lost his diagnosis. (How is that his fault?) This translates into frustration for Big J and that doesn't help anyone. Getting a duplicate copy of the diagnosis to the school has also been an adventure with all the lovely privacy laws. Ugh. On a more positive note, I am pleased that Big J decided to go out for cross country this year. He is not the fastest, but I am proud of him for sticking with it. I was finally able to go to one of his meets this week. It was fun to hear him chatter on about the meet and who he thought would win each race. There was another boy on his team that used to be one of my cub scouts when I was Big J's den leader. Watching the two of them and cheering them on was such a joy!

Panda surprised me this week when he told me about going into a special class for reading. He is now part of the Expanded Learning Program. Panda is happy to go to a place that has books that will hold his attention. He giggled when I told him that Stormin' had the same ELP teacher and I was relieved when she taught Stormin' that it was okay to be quiet sometimes. Apparently, that rule is still posted in the teacher's room. What a hoot!

I have been swamped at work. It was my first full week, and I put in nearly 50 hours. The week was whizzing by me and I was nervous I wouldn't finish a project for my visiting teacher that I've been planning for the week before General Conference. On Wednesday, I put together a package for her that included the following:
Bottled water - to drink of living water
Popcorn - to let the Holy Spirit "pop" into her heart and mind
M&Ms - meditate and then move as directed by the Spirit
Cream Savers - to savor the sweet messages
Pen & notebook - to pen the thoughts she had while she listened to the speakers

When I arrived, she told me that they had made changes to the visiting teaching routes. I was worried for a second that she was going to tell me I didn't get to see her anymore. Luckily, that wasn't the case. I get another great sister to visit! Unfortunately, I didn't get a package made up for her in time for conference. I'll have to make another one in April.

Until next time...