Sunday, June 7, 2009

Lauren..Our little Navy girl...


Saturday was Lauren's first dance recital, and boy did she have fun! I wasn't sure how she would react to being on stage with all the lights in front of her, and the darkness behind, but she loved it, and keeps asking when she gets to do it again! Dance recitals are quite a big thing for this dance company--they had 3 different ones! Lauren's was mostly the little kids, with a few of the competitive teams to spice it up--and of course, they were awesome! Brendan thought
the acrobatics were quite amazing, and Nathan really loved the production of "Anastasia." Lauren did a tap routine with her tap/ballet class to "In the Navy," and it was really cute. The song that should be playing right about now was the song she danced to, although some of it was cut out... Anyhoo, I don't think it's biased of me to say I think her class was one of the best little classes, thanks to Miss Debi--we love her and are hooked! Lauren is very excited to keep dancing through the summer with Miss Debi and a couple of her little friends from class. I would post more pictures, but I honestly can't figure out how to get the pictures in the order that I want them, so for now, these should suffice...










Monday, June 1, 2009

Brendan's Special Day...


Saturday was Brendan's special day. Everything went without a hitch and it was a very nice day.The Madsens(cousins) came down from Ft.Collins, Grandpa Lowry gave a great talk, Alyssa sang and Cali played piano, Brother Cox from our ward spoke, and Brendan's friend Jaron also got to come and be there.

Friday, May 29, 2009

Tomorrow is Baptism Day!

Tomorrow is Brendan's Baptism Day! He is quite excited that Grandma and Grandpa Lowry are here and that his cousins, the Madsens, from Ft.Collins are coming, and that his friend Jaron will be there. It seems like just yesterday that I was bringing this 9 lb baby boy home from the hospital, and now he is 8 and ready to be baptized! We are very blessed to have such a great kid in our family, and we are so proud of him and all that he does to enrich the lives of those around him! We absolutely love him and can't wait to see everything that is in store for him!

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

My Micah...

I LOVE my Micah! Actually, she is Jonathan's Micah, and he loves her, too, but I absolutely love what she does for Jonathan, myself, and the rest of our family. Micah is Jonathan's ABA therapist, and what a wonderful asset and blessing she is for us! She comes three times a week to our home, more if she can handle it and has the time and sometimes if I beg, and works with Jonathan on life skills, plays with him, and gives me a break. She started with Jonathan a year and a half ago as an ABA therapist, but we have known her for several years because she used to work at Zach's place, a respite care place where Jonathan goes when he out of school during the day. Anyways, I consider Micah somewhat of a magician, because no matter what kind of a mood my kiddo is in when she gets her(usually always happy to see her, but once in awhile is kicking and screaming), he is always in a good mood when she leaves and stays that way for the rest of the day. Wouldn't you love her, too? That face is a calm and happy J!

Monday, May 25, 2009

Wowwww...spent many, many hours this morning trying to figure out all the background stuff for this blog. There is a good website that gives great directions that Valerie gave me, but when I went to save my template, all I got were error messages...5 times!!! That was a lot of work, and I was bummed, but I found another good website(don't have the address on this laptop), that was much easier to plug in. Anyways....
The weather outside is semi-warm, cloudy, and rainy, with some thunder and lightning in between. That doesn't seem to make for a great Memorial Day BBQ or day at the pool, unfortunately. Nathan has been working out in the backyard getting our trampoline area ready--yeah, should have been done last year, but whatever. He has built the cinder block wall and covered the slope of dirt with fabric, now it is ready for the rock that is sitting in our driveway. I will just be happy when the rock is covering that dirt, because it is LAUREN who loves to dig in it and get all muddy with her friends. Aside from that, Jonathan likes to eat dirt, and although he has really been healthier since he started with that about 7 years ago, I would prefer that he didn't.(: They all enjoy the tramp much better than the dirt anyways, it's just taken awhile to overhaul the yard, and speaking of which, I am slightly perturbed that our brand new grass from last summer is coming up green and lush in some areas and dead looking brown in others. We have fertilized, aerated, thatched--you name it, we've done it, so if anyone knows why this would happen, do tell! The plants will have to wait a couple weeks until I can physically plant them, or until Nathan has some time to do it for me, but I can't wait for some color in the garden!

Sunday, May 24, 2009

OK....so I really have been clueless about this blogging thing. I love reading everyone else's, but the thought of creating my own just seems like so much WORK.....and the time involved--well, I quit one of my jobs 2 weeks ago, so now maybe I will have some to do some things for me, like BLOGGING! So, as I have been recovering from surgery last week, in my recliner, in a semi-upright position, with my laptop always handy, I have been trying to figure this all out. Heck, I am pretty knowledgeable about computers and technical stuff, but I have spent hours trying to figure out all the stuff about personalizing backgrounds and banners and I am thoroughly exhausted! I think that is why I waited so long do this......plus, I feel like I missed so much already in the blogging world since my oldest kiddo is nearly 11....where in the heck am I supposed to start? It's like all the scrapbook stuff that is sitting in my closet that has been waiting 3 years for me to get to it--I absolutely love to do it, but I am so far behind, how will I ever catch up, and then add to that the era of digital scrapbooking-am I supposed to switch everything over or what? My mind swirls with all of these thoughts! Maybe now that I have a little more(a lot, really) time on my hands I will have time to become the organized, file-keeping, blog-writing, creative thinking, project finishing, and dinner making mom that I want to be!

So here we go...lalala...Jonathan is 10, almost 11, and is autistic. My full time job, besides being his mom, is being his CNA--yes people, I actually get paid for this, which is nice, since special needs kids cost a fortune! Anyways, he doesn't talk, but communicates through sign language, gestures, and his lightwriter, which is basically a typewriter-like portable device that talks for him as well. He can also write his needs. He is a great kid and everyone loves him, and everyone seems to know him wherever we go--Qdoba, the library, the community pool, King Soopers, etc. He loves to swim, play with his Thomas trains(we must have at least 500), and watch various Disney and Thomas Youtube videos. This is a picture of Jonathan is his ball pit--that takes 1500 balls, and it is pure heaven for him to get in and immerse himself while the music plays, the pit vibrates, and a light show soothes his senses. Life with an autistic child is definitely hard at times, but it opens our eyes to the world in amazing ways!

Brendan. 8. Star Wars. Legos. Bachugans. Can I say more? Yes, I can! He is an awesome brother to both of his siblings and is going to be an amazing dad someday. He helps Jonathan when needed and turns around to show Lauren how to walk a runway for her "show" with her friends. He is friendly and energetic and asks A LOT of questions like all 8 year olds do.

Then there is my little Lauren. She is a 5 year old drama diva. Really! We love her dearly for that, lol! Lauren is full of laughter and loves to give....anything...to all of her friends. Nearly everyday she asks if she can have all of her friends over at once--can you imagine what that will be like when she is 16??? Anyways, she is our dirt-digging-tomboy-princess who loves to dance and sing and play ALL day!

OK, so that's all for now. Probably not all that interesting for those of you that know me, but I feel like I have to start with an introduction...Maybe tomorrow will be more interesting...