We went camping on Friday and had some serious outdoor guy time.

Jason grilled us some yummy stakes, he has seriously perfected them! Salt Grass Steak House watch out!

We had a great time with some fun friends. I called it a night and took Drake home at bedtime. Chasing a toddler in the great outdoors all night isn’t my kind of fun. Jason stayed with the older boys and I slept like a baby in my own bed.

It was a big day for us, Davis is now a Wolf Scout. {{applause}} He’s just a little excited about it, can you tell? So excited, in fact, he jumped in the car and forgot to put on his uniform. 😉 (I totally look pregnant in that picture, hmmm, I’m not.)

Drake, on the other hand, barely lived through the night. He biffed it TWICE! Poor little guy. Meanwhile…

My sweet little Dylan is having some problems at school. For 7 days in a ROW he has gotten in trouble.

Nothing I seem to take away has motivated him to change his behavior. Dylan is a right-fighter and feels completely unjustified in his red marks. {{sigh}}

As for me, I’ve also received my punishment. Dylan’s teacher sent home hundreds of little images and words to cut out and glue onto construction paper. I’ve got carpal tunnel in my wrists and I consider myself in time out. 😉

Have you felt like there’s something going on with your child but you just can’t figure out what?

I found this post in my drafts, I typed it up a long time ago but I thought it was cute.

I told you Drake is 18 months going on 13 years! 😉

Yesterday during snack after school Davis and Dylan were talking about Christmas and how they want a PS3. I looked over at them and reminded them that that was a lot of money so don’t get their hopes up and be thinking about something else. (You gotta keep ’em guessing. ;))

Davis came up to me after homework and announced that Santa does not deliver the presents. I was surprised and asked him who does? He took both index fingers and pointed them at me, “You do.” He was quite frank and resolved about it.

I was happy that he finally figured it out (he’s almost 9) and then … panic struck! I shuffled him into my bedroom, locked the door, and went into the conversation, by that of course I mean threats on his life! Jason interrupted us and I explained what happened. Again, I saw the panic in his eyes, “Now Davis you can’t tell Dylan…” (more threats)

Then Jason said, “Well now that you’re in the secret, you get to help us play Santa.” Oh my goodness, I thought Davis was going to combust the excitement overwhelmed him and I swear he was 2 inches taller. That did it, all the threats in the world wouldn’t have prevented him from telling Dylan his new found secret – but being allowed to play Santa… Done.

When did your kids find out about Santa?

In an attempt to have some quality bonding time with my preteen, um I mean toddler, I enrolled us in Mommy & Me classes at ASI Gymnastics. I don’t know what I was thinking.

Drake is 18 months old going on 13 years old. He is moody, grumpy, he thinks he knows it all, and has a major beef with authority. It’s an hour spent constantly re-directing him as he attempts to make a mad dash to the small trampolines. Once caught he looks at me with his signature “go to hell” look and we start the process all over again. By the end we’re both exhausted and irritable.

There are a couple things my little guy enjoys, yes only a couple. He LOVES the water! Pool, lake, bathtub it’s all good! I’ve been putting him in the tub a lot just to get things done, like get dressed. 😉

Drake also LOVES shoes! If you come over and leave your shoes by the door they’ll be snatched up quickly. Doesn’t his little feet look so cute in Ella’s shoes! He was so mad when he had to give them up. He puts my shoes on several times a day.

We’re well into fall baseball for both the boys. It takes up 2 nights a week an all day Saturday. Here’s Dylan. I should clarify. Jason takes them 2 nights a week and on Saturdays. Drake is such a grumpy ball of fire at the ballfield, I stay with him at home. It’s too exhausting running after him or trying to keep him happy in the bleachers. Thanks honey!

Here’s Davis. I’m not counting on any invites to the All Star team, but I think it’s a good experience for the boys. They’re really looking forward to basketball in the winter and I think that sport suits them a little better.

Where are you carpooling your kids to?

Remember how I said that I can tell what I do alot by what my boys do? Well here’s another example. I came in to the living room and this is what I saw. All the boys where wearing my headbands. Yes, even Drake. In fact, he had one around his head and one around his neck like a necklace. Here, he did not want Dylan to grab him.

(Notice Davis has his tounge out! 😉 I guess there is a little of me in him after all. So proud.)

Another thing I’ve been doing a lot lately is getting Sonic drinks. My friends are famous for them! I just keep forgetting to buy sodas at the grocery store and have had to resort to going to Sonic. The thought of dragging all 3 of the boys into the store just for a case of Diet Coke is exhausting.

When I wasn’t looking Drake grabbed my drink. The route 44 is almost as big as he is! The funny thing about it is that it was pretty much empty. So all he could taste was the watered down Coke and a LOT of lime. 😉

I cut Drake’s hair finally. It was an impromptu cut. We were in my bathroom and I grabbed the electric clippers and cut it as fast as I could. It’s not perfect but it will do. Here he is posing for the camera. He’s such a cheese when he sees the flash.

The boys were so excited to meet their teachers! Davis made a Texas flag (using orange paper because we didn’t have red) and Dylan made a card for his teacher. At the beginning of every year I make an “All About Me Card” for each of the boys to help their teacher get to know them a little faster.

This is Dylan and his new teacher. Dylan’s now in 1st grade and will be at school all day. He is so excited! Last year at 1/2 day Kindergarten he called it “the baby school”. Mainly because his pre-school was 5 hours and Kindergarten was 3. Dylan is so pumped to be able to eat in the cafeteria, go to P.E., and art class. I was very impressed by his teacher. She had a little gift for each child on their assigned desks as well as all the paperwork we needed. She has 3 boys as well.

This is Davis’ teacher. As always there’s a ton of anxiety wondering if he will get a teacher that has not only has worked with autistic children before but will also be structured and loving to him. My principal from last year assured me that he talked to our new principal (our school was just built and is not yet completed) and they have hand picked a teacher for Davis.

After meeting her I wasn’t so sure. Yes she has a lot of energy and is very professional, but the desks weren’t yet assigned and labelled and she looked really young. Davis really needed to know where he was sitting – luckily he didn’t start crying (he would have last year). Jason asked her if she had any kids and she said she had one and that was enough. She mentioned he was a handful. I left thinking – if she can’t handle her own kid how in the world is she going to be able to handle mine along with 20 others?

Anyway, I got a call from her yesterday and all is well. Apparently the Fire Marshall hasn’t approved the school yet and so the teachers weren’t allowed to hang anything up on the walls and weren’t allowed into their classrooms before that day. That made me feel a lot better. She also didn’t know that Davis had high functioning autism before we met her. She said that she read my “All About Me Card” and later was talking to her principal and mentioned the flowers and the card. She realized then why Davis was in her class. Davis’ teacher told me that her little boy is 3 and was just recently diagnosed with high functioning autism as well. The principal said that she assigned Davis to her not only because she felt it was a good match but also so she would learn and be able to assist her own child.

Davis’ teacher said that she was so impressed by Davis and by our family. She said that she’s really looking forward to working with me and learning everything she can so she can help her son. I really enjoyed our conversation and felt a lot better about her. Davis has been so lucky to have had amazing teachers sent as angles into his life. I felt the spirit strong during our conversation and realized that once again Davis’ was blessed and sent an angel. She may be younger than his other teachers but I feel she will bring a different skill set that he will need during this year.

It also made me realize that I do need to step up a bit and step out of my comfort zone and help others by sharing what I have learned. I have a hard time doing that because I feel like people learn more and are more passionate when they figure it out by themselves. However, I feel directed to put myself out there a little more and help those who are looking for help.

Here are my 3 boys in their school clothes. 😉 I love happy pictures because they are so far from reality. Diana just so you know, right now as I’m typing Davis is screaming because Dylan hit him, Drake just opened up the dishwasher, stopped it in the middle of cleaning, and is taking out the silverware. I forgot the sunblock yesterday and so each one of my boys have a little sunburn and my mommy guilt is eating at me.

Also, I woke up this morning to Drake screaming (this is a daily occurrence) but this time when I went into his room, his leg was stuck in the crib bars and his thigh had red marks and his knee is a little swollen. I had to pull harder than I would have liked to get him out. He cried uncontrollably for the next hour and still will not let me console him.

This is my life of drama with boys.