Swimming on a Hot Day

The Treasure Valley is currently in a Heat Advisory until the 2nd. Temps are estimated to be as high as 103 degrees, sometimes higher. It is currently 104 outside. I tossed three kids into the pool and they are having a blast. Added photos to the family album on Shutterfly. Head over and take a look at them splashing and having fun.

I am currently fixing supper, and hopefully it will cool off enough that I can head out and mow. Couldn't mow last weekend as it rained all weekend, but this weekend it is almost too hot. Will have lots of water on hand.

Really missing Xavier, wish he was here with us. Went grocery shopping this morning and I went to start buying foods I know he loves. Then I remember he isn't here for another month or so. Really miss that kid, he always could make me smile. Dokota and Kauchana are doing good. Kauchana is really enjoying her job, she is even looking into the charter schools to see if they have more in food then the public high school has. If they do, she is wanting to change schools. I am really glad to see her finally find her drive.

Well, time to go check the food.

Another School Year Down

Yes, Yes, I am very far behind on everything. Trust me, I realize this.

I managed to lose all passwords and access to my server for the most part. But I had a wonderful hour and half, almost two hour conversation with tech support from my host and I am back in business. I am working on getting everything back up and fully updated, but it will be a process.

I have also added the ability to update the site via my phone, so I should be able to post more often with the littlest things LOL. At least I will try to.

So what is all going on?

Lets see. The school year has ended. Grades have been posted! This year's grades are current. I need to go and do a back fill, will get to that... eventually. Derric is now officially a Middle Schooler! That boy has moved out of the Elementary Field and will attend Hacker Middle in the fall. Where has the time gone? Dokota is officially a Senior. So next school year will be filled with getting him graduated and off to college. I swear, time is just flying by! Xavier is on his last year of Jr. High! Wow, he starts the fall as an 8th Grader?! And Miss. Kauchana will be in the 10th grade this fall. Wow. Everyone is moving on.

For here at the home, Kevin is off on Deployment. 35 Days down, no clue on how many to go.

Xavier is preparing to head down to Arizona with his one-on-one time with the Grandparents. Dokota and Kauchana are looking to get Y.E.S. employment here on the base this summer, along with whatever else they have going on. Kauchana is looking to spend her spare time babysitting and taking swimming lessons. Dokota has Boy's State in June. Derric has his Extended School Year starting June 3rd, where he will have school until mid July. Busy summer.

Well, guess that is enough to somewhat get you updated on what is going on. I will work on keeping this site updated more now that I have all passwords and such. That is what I get for keeping my information on a small sheet of paper in the back of a book. But now I am good lol.

Spring Update

Well, I think we are in Spring Time, but I am not too sure here.

The weather here is never one to set a trend, it is a guess each day how it will be. And forget weather apps and websites. They never help.

The kids had their Spring Break, but it rained and was almost too windy most of it, for them to go out and enjoy it. Which didn't bother the kids too much. Right before Spring Break, the 3rd Quarter ended. Grades were sent out. I know, I had meant to get them posted, but honestly, when the kids are on break, my mind tends to head that direction too. It was rough getting up on my Physical Therapy days....

But, Kauchana and Xavier's grades have been posted. I didn't get a report card for Dokota ...... hmmm? And I miss placed Derric's. Ooops. Links to their grades are up top, just click their grade level. I will see about logging onto the online site for their grades and getting them posted.

Not much has been going on. Kevin has been working, the kids going to school, if I am able to move after PT, I try to get chores done. It is pretty much the same. I do want to see about take the kids up to see a movie this weekend, but not sure if Derric will be able to handle the movie everyone wants to see.

Speaking of which, did you know this month is Autism Awareness Month? I only found out about it due to a few favorites on FaceBook constantly posting about it. It is interesting to see the sudden jump in care, just because of this Awareness Month. Some online support groups talked about "writing letters" to their kids. I thought that was kinda a neat idea, but then I realized, I actually suck at writing letters. Really I do. I mean come-on, I can hardly write a blog post without months going in between... How would I be able to write a letter? Plus, I see him, daily. What would I write about? What would I write to a future him about today?

Instead, Dokota wrote a beautiful peace. I got his permission, so I am going to post it. It really touches the heart. So I am going to end this post with Dokota's writing.

My Brother Is Disabled

By: Dokota
My brother has Autism. To be specific, he has high functioning autism, which means he is really hyper all the time. He doesn't realize that everyone else sees the world different than him. I have best heard it described like this: how we view the world is like a movie projector, with the pictures on the film in order. How People with autism see it is the same, but the pictures aren't in any order. My brother is eight, and has the mentality of a kindergartner. He loves to have fun, play, question the world around, laugh at his older brother, eat dessert all day, have friends, enjoy school, love his family, and just live life. He is in his own world, one that makes sense to him. We realize this, and all hope that he will invite us in, it is all we can hope for. Why would we want to change him? Putting him in classes only would only be trying to force him into our world so he is 'normal' and can interact 'normally' with others. He does that just fine, he sees the truth of the matter more often than I ever could, and people call me a genius. I have lived with him for all his life so far. It hurts to see kids avoid him because he wants to run around and pretend play Stormtroopers or Transformers. It hurts to have his peers come to me and say he is weird, that all he does is talk about Star Wrs or Transformers, that he is annoying. I have stopped caring, for I learned from my brother. As an adult, I learned from my (at the time) six year old brother. He didn't care. If they didn't want to play, he would expand his world, and he would put himself in the middle of a titanic struggle between clones and giant robots, with him being th center of it all. He doesn't care what his peers think, never has. He has taught me far more about life and how I view it than any other person could. He has a disability. The world states that a disability is a limit or difficulty of some form. Yes he has trouble understanding the way the rest of us do, but that doesn't limit him from being the best teacher I have ever had. It is because of my goofy, spontaneous, insane, lovable, cute, Autistic brother that the world makes sense. It is because of him that I can proudly hold my head high and say with vast pride and love that "Yes my brother has a disability, a mental handicap. Yet he doesn't care, for he views everyone equal, and this has never had to be explained. He doesn't discriminate, hold grudges, or care. What's your excuse?" Thank you dear brother of mine. You will reach the sky Little One.

And Dokota says he isn't a writer....