8.5

My sweet Edward is eight and a half today.

I have been a mom for eight and a half years.

I have been seriously blessed with two of the best boys, ever.

They are my light.
Today, we went to cross country practice and ran 3 miles in the foothills.  Then we went to frost gelato and had some delicious gelato.  As soon as Stephen got home from work, we went to the mall and played the virtual reality games as a family.  Then we headed over to the trampoline with a harness.  The boys love to jump super high.  After a good jump, we got some mall food and headed home.  A great way to spend a half birthday.

Edward wants to be a pet shop owner when he grows up.

He wants to get married and have some kids.

He wants to go to college. 

He wants to serve a mission.

We recently started running with Cougar Track running club.  Edward loves it.

Finding sports that fit into my kids lives is hard.

Cougar Track fit perfectly.

Running is such a great way to release excess energy and still work with a team.

Edward loves all amphibians.

We got a tortoise over the summer. Her name is Sally.

Edward loves taking care of her each morning.

Edward loves to find lizards and frogs hanging out in our back yard.

Edward has an old soul.  

He sees things differently.

He is mature in a different way.

Edward still loves math.

He finished two books in the Percy Jackson series.

Edward still plays the piano and the cello.

I love this boy.

I love the way he sees the world. 

I love him.

I still have to sort of bribe him to allow me to take his picture.

I don't care.  I love how great he looks.  I love his freckles.  I love his cute face.  I love his hair.  I love his deep blue eyes.  I never want to forget him.  Each age is different and I don't want to forget what he looked like.  

I love him with my whole heart.  

 

Jump for Joy! It's the first day of school!

Today is the first day of school!!  

Edward is going in to third grade and Nolen is going in to first grade. 

They are both so excited to start a new year of school.

Edward's teacher, Ms. Tricia, left the school, so he has a new teacher, Ms. Sarah.  She seems extremely well prepared and ready for the challenges of teaching first through third grade.

Nolen has a new teacher, Mr. Seth.  We took both boys to meet their new teachers yesterday and it really seemed to go well until we got in the car and Nolen completely melted down.  He was in a full on autism melt down for 2 hours.  He finally calmed down once he took a bath.  It was so tough.  I didn't know how to help him.  He had so much anxiety about his new teacher, Mr. Seth.  I wonder if it was because his teacher is male, or if it was simply because summer was officially over.  I don't know.  I tried everything to get Nolen to calm down.  Nothing was working.  His brain had shifted into panic attack mode and he just couldn't handle life. That's autism in a nutshell.  It's hard some days.  I am so thankful to have a great support system and an amazingly patient husband.