Blessed Beyond Belief

More riding pics

Here is some video I took at the lesson this week. They actually had him using the reins a little bit, but I didn't catch that part.

June 26 2006

One year ago today we moved all our sheesh to idaho. Wow, it's been a year.

We are remodeling Will's room this week. Well, actually not REmodeling - we never did it, just threw his stuff in. Now that we know what he needs for his therapy and such, we are getting it done. He's excited. I'll post pictures when it's done.

testing

to use or not to use typepad...... that IS the question.

A drive around town.

A couple of nights ago we decided to get an ice cream and take a drive around town. We drove towards to edge of Kuna and checked out some areas that we either don't see much or have never seen. First stop was the Kuna Pioneer Cemetary. Here's the sign. Those plaques list everyone that is buried there. Rocks line all the grave sites and cactus grow ontop of them all. That's it.

Beyond the cemetary are the train tracks and then a very steep hill that looks down at Indian Creek. To the right of the floaters there is a long rope attached to a tree limb. We could see kids swinging off of it into the creek. Some have rafts, others just use an inner tube. Looks like a ton of fun and so refreshing, but I think I'm still chicken. I'll just watch and take pictures.

We drove for a little bit and soon we were on a very bumpy dirt road. This is the view of town from the end of the dirt road.

Once we were back on the paved road we went down a big hill. Soon as we started to come down the hill we saw a whole pasture full of sheep. It was so cool! I got out of the car to take some pics and a few stood there looking at me. So cute.

Beyond the pasture down Kuna Mora Road there was a row of houses. To the left was mountains and hills and on the right of the road were custom homes. They all had the most amazing view of Kuna. The houses sit on top and they all had property that went down the hill. Some even had beautiful decks that looked out over the town. It was so peaceful and pretty there. Sooooo - who wants to come by my house so that we can go buy THIS HOUSE ? I want it.

Ok, back down the hill and headed towards home, but then we drive by the pig farm. Oh. my. goodness. I don't think I've seen a pig that large since seeing ONE at the Ventura county fair. But here were a whole pig pen full of them. And they were covered in mud, and they were huge, and they were stinky, and they had some of the hugest boy parts we have ever seen. Kind of gross, but I had to get a picture. I'll spare you the photo of the parts that Tim said I should take. We watched them until we couldn't take it anymore and drove away. Well we must have been uphill from them because once we turned the corner we were hit with the worst stench imaginable. It came through the windows so we had to roll them down, then the stench was even worse. I had to hold my nose and breath out of my mouth. Will was in the very back yelling about the wind. I thought I was going to gag. Fun stuff. I'll take the little whiff of cow we get every once in awhile if I never have to smell that again.

Well, I can't leave you with that gross image, so here is a cutie one. Yesterday at riding lessons.

Heard from the backseat.....

So, we were driving home today from riding lessons. Half way home Will asks, 'where are we going?', as I pull into the parking lot of Big Lots. I said, 'I want to look in Big lots real quick and I have to go to the bathroom REALLY REALLY bad!' A moment later I hear -

"Help Mom find the bathroom. Press any key on the keyboard."

I about died laughing. Think he's playing too many elmo games on the computer?

I love John Lennon and I hate what's happening in Darfur

Amnesty International ~ Make Some Noise

A very cool range of artists. Check it out. Buy the album.

Change is here to stay

Right mom? She has said this to me more than once. Sometimes because I was so desperately wanting change and sometimes because I was mourning the change. Which ever it is, change is something you can count on. Life is not stagnant and just because you are comfortable or pleased with your current position does not mean God does not have other plans for you.

Last week I found out that two key people in our lives will no longer be with us. The first was not expected at all. Dustin is Will's occupational therapist. He's seen him once a week since last October. I was so relieved to finally be taking him to someone who was going to address all the sensory issues he has. Dustin has been so great for him. So I was quite sad to find out that he will be moving and we need to move on to someone else. Will really loves him too. Always so happy to go to OT and really formed a bond with Dustin. Tim made a good point in that this is the first man (in a therapy sense) that Will has connected with. All of his other people have been women. I hope he is able to understand why it is we aren't seeing him anymore. But, things like this are part of life and Will isn't immune to it just because it's more difficult for him. I really feel at a loss though because I think - how are we going to replace this ? I can't imagine it being any better than what it is now. No one can replace this therapist. I know - it's irrational and immature to think that. But sadly, I have become dependant on the people who support William. Sad because somewhere inside says - 'it's weak and lazy to depend on other people when it comes to your kids'. Like I should be able to do it all myself. I shouldn't NEED outside help and influences to raise my kids. But I do. Will has a team of people around him and I depend on all of them to a certain degree. I depend on them for support for me and for Will, for keeping us on track, for reality checks, for most of what it means to raise a child with a special need. Last year I had to say goodbye to his entire team when we moved. We started fresh a year ago and are just now to a point that I feel like everyone really knows him. I don't want to lose any of them. It's the nature of the position though. There is high turnover in this field.

The other loss is the resignation of our churches youth pastor. We met Matt the first time we went to the Pursuit before we moved here. He has been a great source of support, friendship, and mentoring for Russell. When we first moved here, Matt came to the house several times to hang out with Russell and get to know him. He takes a genuine interest in the kids and they all love him. Since Russell is going into high school, he was going to have to move on from the middle school group anyhow, but we knew Matt would still be around. Matt has decided to move onto other callings, and while he'll still be here, there is a new youth pastor taking over the middle school, high school, and college groups.

I am sure that whatever and who ever replaces these losses will be fine. I'm still sad for the boys. Probably more sad than they are. It's hard not to feel the heavy sadness and loss, but then God whispers on my heart that I don't need to feel this way. He is always there and will always be sure to take care of us according to His plan for our lives. And really, that's all that matters!

If I explode with an overabundance of gas

or die of a cherry overdose, this is why:

When we stopped at a corner fruit stand I just HAD to know how much for the flat of red delicious cherrys. The man said - 'for you - 20 dollars'. SOLD!! According to them there were twenty lbs in the box. That would make them a buck a lb! Much better than the 3.99 /lb at the store. The only problem is - I'm the only one here who could eat them constantly. Tim will eat them, though he's not crazy about them like me. But I suggest that he does eat some or else he may be sorry.... ;)

Hippotherapy

This was so cool! Will is signed up to take theraputic horse back riding lessons. I wasn't sure what to expect from it. Would it be like a pony ride in a circle? Disorganized? Chaotic? Scary for Will? It was none of those things. There were four people helping him. One on either side holding on to his leg, one leading the horse, and then the instructor. She had him holding his arms out, above his head, throwing a bean bag into a net (all these while the horse is walking), turn backwards, lay down, talk to the horse, and then they went over to a sensory station to work on some things. So impressive and Will LOVED it! It basically was an OT session on horsback. Very cool and it seems very effective in helping many issues. Read about it here in Wikipedia. We will do this once a week through the summer. On the way home Will said, "that was so fun!" :)

Happy Wednesday!

*I may have to change blog hosts. My photos are just not showing up here in their true colors that I work so hard to achieve. Any of you photographers/bloggers out there know of a better blog host?*