Learning the Hard Way

As if I didn't have enough going on, Bello our not so little kitty decided to crawl up into the engine of my van a few days ago. As I drove off to pick up Alex from school, I heard a rather loud, distinct meow. My window was down and at first I thought that the sound was coming from the hillside. I heard it again and thought once more that maybe someone had left some baby kittens on the hillside. At the stop sign, I heard the meow even louder and that is when it dawned on me that the cat was in the van. I immediately pulled over and asked Dennis where the kitty was and then I heard Bello cry an awful meow from the hood of the van. I freaked out of course and quickly popped the hood to find Bello stuck in the wheel well. As I pulled to get him out he only meowed louder so I took off running for home dragging Dennis behind me, back up the hill, to tell my in-laws and get the other car to pick up Alex who I was now at least five minutes late picking up. Out of breath, and thinking the worst, I sped off to get Alex. By the time I got back, Anna and Dad had gotten Bello out-- thank God.

The next day all he did was hiss and try to bite us if we got near his tailbone indicating that he was very sore. I wanted to watch and see if he got up to go to the bathroom or move around and sure enough he was doing so after three or four hours. Now two days later he is back to his normal self. Talk about one scary moment-- I do not think he will do that again!

On Saturday we had lighting and two ceiling fans put in our eating area where our two big tables are. No more lamps in the kitchen!

Sveta, Annalyn, Anna, and Anastasia have been on this music kick. All they do is listen to MP3 players, sing, and dance. I don't know whether to smile because they are so cute or be annoyed that I am ignored when I call them because they can't hear me.

Julia still loves to crochet. Here is her latest doily.

Since moving in, I have only used paper plates once. I thought it would be much harder to give them up-- but actually it hasn't been too bad.

I love how big our kitchen island is. It is perfect to serve up meals buffet style.

Here Julia is with the little boys keeping them occupied as we get ready to sit down for dinner. Thank goodness for big sisters keeping little brothers from constantly getting into mischief.

When I went to enroll the kids into school, I inquired about a spot for Alex in kindergarten one more time. Turns out that there is a moderate, kindergarten/first grade combo Special Day Class at the school that after looking into-- appeared to be an absolute perfect fit for Alex. Then I met the teacher and knew that this is where Alex was supposed to be. His teacher is also an adoptive mother to five older children, all with Down Syndrome whom I know without a doubt already relates to our family. The class is under ten students with all of them learning the regular kindergarten curriculum, just at a slower pace, with the opportunity for Alex to have the same teacher for two years in a row. Plus, he has first graders to look up to and peers he can relate to because they are closer to his level. And little did I know that his teacher with her five children live only two blocks away from us. Not a coincidence but totally God orchestrated. I already met with Alex's new IEP team whom are all great and an assessment has already begun to determine what Alex's ability is at this time.

What is really nice to see is how excited Alex is to go to school and the fact that he home by noon instead of almost three o'clock is just icing on the cake!

P.S. Caleb tried out for basketball and made the team!