More of the winter thaw....

I don't know if you can add more than 4 pictures or not to a blog, but here are the ice skating in the tunnel pictures. It is amazing that they were able to hold their balance like they did. Sean can barely walk without falling over, but on the ice he held steady. Pickle was just happy as can be being in the backpack...

So some of you have asked what has been going on here....so here it is:

Patrick is borderline autistic with ADHD. We will be starting him on meds sometime in the next few months as well as therapy for the autism. We also will begin meetings with the school to get an IEP going. Finally with this diagnosis we are able to get the necessary help that he needs to succeed. The good news is that Patrick is beginning to sound out and spell words. Amazing given that last year we struggled the whole year just to get him to write his name. He had trouble just learning the letters necessary to spell Patrick. He now is able to spell words like cat, hat, pickle, mom, dad and write the word love.

Sean is flying through school. He is learning all his letters, beginning to read and write. He loves socializing with the other kids and learning. His favorite part of the day is being line leader for the bus in the morning and lunch. He has really taken to bologna sandwiches and fruit by the foot. Oh the corruption of youth in school. HAHA. The boys love playing Wii and their leapster.

Veronica is finally potty trained. She has so many words as of late that we are constantly amazed at what she is communicating to us.
She will tell us exactly what she is thinking and will even use her words instead of pushing her brothers around about 15% of the time. She is really into babydolls right now. Her other favorite activity is reading books and coloring. She can't get enough of either of these.

Pickle is healed from his surgery. We have another drs appt on the 22nd, I think, to see what the dr thinks he can do with the scar tissue from the surgery. Another surgery may be necessary, we of course are really hoping it doesnt happen. Nicholas thankfully isnt much of a climber, but he finally mastered the stairs yesterday. Up and down all day long...what a fun game. He has quite a few words like mama, daddy, fish, nigh nigh, up down, all done, book, baby, ball, etc. It is exciting to see him grow.

Other than the colds and flus that have come through we are all doing well. Tom has been busy with work, but has been able to take off a few days around the holidays. That has been nice. I have been busy with painting, organizing the house, and taking care of me. I am still trying to get in at least 45 mins of exercise in a day...the treadmill is my best friend.