DFW Autism Speaks Walk

(By the way, I am "cheating" - I am writing this on New Year's Eve, so I fear my details may be a bit sketchy. I am WAY behind on blogging - figure I ought to catch up before 2012 arrives!)

October Updates (better late than never...)

You know how you can tell that time flies when you're having fun? When you are writing an October 2011 blog post in February of 2012!

The two main October highlights were, without question, the trip Jeremy and I made to the final ALCS championship game and Halloween. Here we go...

Romans 5:3-5

The calendar page has turned from September to October, signaling the start of Fall and its accompanying bedlam. I’ve entered the second six weeks of the school year, Luke is about three weeks into his new school, and Jeremy’s entering the final quarter of his year. We’re going to blink and it’s going to be time for Christmas – and rather than that being exciting, it just feels like that’s one more thing to do. I’d bet you find yourself in the same situation these days. Days fly by, but when Friday evening arrives, you know that logically only five days have passed, yet your body tells you five months have. We’re tired. We’re a little overwhelmed. We’re feeling like life’s treadmill is operating at the speed of sound, and there’s so much noise, it’s tough to process everything.

Happy Birthday, Luke!

The reality of the stressful return to work means it is taking me a lot of time to get things done... including Luke's birthday blog post. Two weeks ago, Luke turned 3! It's so hard to believe. We truly had no idea when we were here:

...what amazing things God had in store for all of us with the next three years of Luke's life. We were so excited to celebrate him! 

Here's the big 3 candle featuring two of Luke's current favorites: Bob and Where-we (or Larry, but c'mon, Luke's pronunciation is way cuter) from Veggie Tales.

Before my guests arrived at Honey and Grand's, Luke fueled up with some lunch. (His favorites for his birthday: hot dogs, chips, and apples.)

We had a great day celebrating with family, each of whom Luke graced by saying their names! (This is a huge development for us, as you might know.) Luke, Mommy, and Daddy celebrated with all of Luke's grandparents (Grandpa, Grandma, Granny, Honey, and Grand), Uncles Chris (Cwis), Johnny, and Bobby, Aunts Lori (Wore-we) and Jackie, Granny, and cousins Alyssa (A-wiss-uh) and J.D., who, as you can see here, was digging some time in his jumper.

After pizza and salad, we hit the pool, and MAN did Luke have a great time swimming and judging his Uncles' Bobby's and Johnny's cannonballs into the pool. If they did not make a big speech, Luke was VERY disapproving!

 He opened his presents (as always, family, you are so generous!),

Was serenaded (to his bewilderment),

 ...and even enjoyed some frosting.

A special thank you to my parents for hosting us - it was a perfect day with loved ones to celebrate our precious, sweet boy! Happy Birthday, Luke! We all love you so very much! 

Transformation

I'm back at work, and a lot of talk has been going on in our staff development sessions about transforming the way we teach. I'll not go into the details, because Lord knows I am up to my eyeballs in back-to-work minutiae, but the word "transformation" has me thinking about Luke and how wonderfully he has been doing over the past month.

Cruise News Part II

Here is the "wrapping up the cruise" blog post. It will be very succinct - I am nearing my return to work (*sniffle*), so it's all about checking things off "the list."

Cruise News Part I

Here's Luke outside the dance club, which was surrounded by TVs. Our boy loves an LCD screen, so it's no wonder he'd flock to this spot. :)

Earlier in July, we went on a family* cruise, and believe me, we had a GREAT TIME. A really great time. I mean, the kind of time that, as time runs out on my summer vacation, I cherish and miss already!

Why family*? Well, we were down some members who couldn't attend for various reasons, and they were missed. But Honey/Mom/Janis, Grand/Dad/John, the Griffiths, the Robertses, and Megan headed for Miami, and we had a great time!