Springtime was busy as I coached softball again for Sacred Heart. I was gone around 70 hours per week for a few months. Then summer came and I worked less than half time at Sacred Heart and spent almost everyday with Peter. Ben was working his labor job, of course, and he was the one gone 70 hours a week!
Peter turned 5 in May. He had a Spongebob party for the 2nd year in a row. It was the 3rd year in a row that it rained on his big day so an "inside" party was required. We are planning for rain again next year so that means we may just make it to the park! :) As a special treat, Ben and I took Peter to the CanadInn Waterpark too for his birthday because he really wanted to try it. It took him 3 hours to actually touch the water, but when he did, he fell in love with it! We are proud to say that WATER is one fear we overcame this year...
I traveled for work some in the summer -- taking students on retreats and to conferences. I also got to spend 8 days in Moorhead taking part in a national certificate program for Catholic Youth Ministers. I am now over half done with the program. It has been life changing. It's about as intense as getting a Master's Degree. Many people complete the program in 2 years but I will be doing it in 9 months. Call me an over-achiever if you'd like...I prefer to call myself INSANE. ;) The program has done nothing but affirm for me God's call in my life to be in ministry. But of course I still LOVE doing design in my free time. I will always have a passion for that.
Peter played t-ball this summer. We had our ups and downs with this, but overall it was a good experience. He is excited to play again next summer so I think that means it was a success!?
Peter also worked really hard in therapy this summer and started Kindergarten this fall at Sacred Heart! We are so proud of him and all that he has accomplished in these past years. It has been an unexpected/interesting/challenging/scary/intense journey for all 3 of us...sometimes we marvel at what some people told us: "He probably won't go to school on time", "You will never find the right services for Peter up north", etc. We stood our ground, advocated as best we could and gave Peter everything they said he would need...and now he is doing what some people doubted he would do! HE IS IN KINDERGARTEN! For some people, Kindergarten is the beginning of a long journey...for us, Kindergarten has been the end goal in some ways. Certainly not the end of Peter's learning or success...just the end of a chapter -- a chapter which some people doubted could be written.
(Peter and his therapists!)
This fall we added to our family...No, mommy isn't pregnant...we got a puppy! He was born 08.09.10. He is a pure-bred Basset Hound. We named him Walter. Puppy ownership has also had it's ups and downs...but we are finally getting the hang of things and we sure couldn't picture our lives without Walter!
There's not much else to report. Thanksgiving was spent in EGF this year as the weather didn't permit us to visit Ben's parents. We will be spending Christmas in EGF too so that Ben can work during his school break. We need to save up some more money as we are headed to Honduras for a week in January. Ben's older sister is getting married there.
I am fighting a bad head cold so the decorations aren't up in the house yet. The tree is in place -- it just needs to be completed tonight when the boys get home. Our hearts are warm - feeling blessed as ever.
May all of you experience Christ's love this holiday season! Come back again soon...well, not too soon. I probably won't post again until next month. :)
