Family Update

Hello family and friends. I'm starting off  this week with a family update blog post. If you've come here for a "crafty" post, sorry there won't be any of that today. But I do hope you come back soon. 

I have noticed that in my scrapbook documentation, blogging had been an integral part of my journaling. As you might have noticed, I don't scrapbook in order and are a few years behind, so having the stories already journaled here has helped me when I am ready to scrapbook the story. 

That being said, there has been some stories meant preserving in my family. Here they are in no specific order...

At the end of April, Maddie's school choir culminated their Spring season with a performance at the Pikes Peak Center. Maddie participated in it last year and she had such a great experience that she wanted to do it again this year. It was a commitment on her part (and us too) as she had to wake up early two times a week to attend the practice and a couple more practice sessions just before the performance. On the day of the show, she was out of the house from 7:45 am - 9:15 pm. That was because of school, then practice right after and then the show at 7 pm. But it all paid off cause she did wonderful. Here are some pictures....

This festival is composed of many school choirs within the county. Hence that's why the picture above showcases many, many kids.

This little guy has been keeping us on our toes (as always) and he has improved in his speech this month. If you haven't heard it from me, he is going through speech therapy because he wasn't saying anything, not even mama, after turning a year old. We have been working with a therapist that comes to our home every month and gives us tools to help him communicate. As of the end of May, we counted that he can say, sign and/or sound about 43 words. That was a tremendous jump since we only started the therapy in January. Our goal is to get him to about 50-75 words by two years old, and that is in about two months. We have our work cut out for us but I am optimistic because of his achievements thus far.

In other news, Marcus participated in a big history fair at school. As part of their social studies class, they spent a lot of time researching and putting together a presentation, of their own choice, about something in history, Marcus decided to do his presentation on Samurai and Ninjas. Specifically asking the question who won win the battle between a Samurai and Ninja. Here he is with his presentation board and his made up sword and Ninja stars. 

In the month of May, Mitch finally got glasses. He has been using some reading glasses for years but the computer time at work made the need for glasses even stronger.

Also in May, I attended the scrapbook expo in Denver. It's a fun event for shopping, learning and just getting together with other crafty minded people. If you are a crafter and want to know my thoughts on the expo plus see what I purchased, you can view that in my YouTube channel and the link is on the right side of this blog.

Another thing we celebrated in the month of May was our wedding anniversary. We didn't get to do anything on our official day (the 18th) because it was in the middle of the work week but we did get to go out the week after. Mitch heard about this yummy Mexican place in Downtown and we had lunch there. It was yummy. Happy 14th anniversary to us. 

On that same date, Mitch and I took a little detour to our local Habitat for Humanity ReStore shop and scored a great deal on this dining room set. We've had a mismatched set since being married and it only took us 14 years to upgrade. This set which has a leaf and six chairs only set us back $100. Yeah can't beat that! Oh and the wood is high quality and made in Canada. Score!

Maddie participated at her school's talent show. She sang alongside her bestie Keira. It was fun seeing her enjoy singing and having more courage to go up in front of people. We are definitely proud of her. 

One last story to tell....
So our dear Marcus has been on an IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in school for three years now. It was due to his ADHD and High Functioning Autism diagnosis. It has helped him with his social skills and has given him accommodations to allow for the specific way he learns things.
Anyways at the end of the school year we had our annual IEP evaluation meeting. The good news is that he has made such great strides this past year that he no longer qualifies for the IEP. Basically it is deemed that he can get the necessary education that he needs through the regular school program without the IEP in place. This was a good news to him because he didn't like to be taken out of his exploratory classes to go to social group meetings. This would also mean that he can take a language class next year (which would be Spanish)
If you ask me, I'm not sure what to feel about the change. We've worked so hard to make sure that there are things in place for him in school so he can be the best he can be. I believe that one of the main reasons that he's done so well these past three years is because of the IEP in place. That being said, I do acknowledge that this kid has done some major maturing as well and he has taken on the responsibility of learning (the way he knows how) and we've seen that in his grades. I also want him to learn to succeed on his own without any extra help as the "help" won't always be there in his life.
So I am cautiously optimistic that we are on the right track for him. 8th grade would be a transition year for him and I'm prayerful that he will continue on his success and not regress.

Speaking of success, this kid got a silver medal (again) this year for grades. He got it from making major improvements on his grade from past quarters and having a GPA over 3.5. We are definitely proud of our Marcus.

So that's it. Thank you for stopping by and catching up on our lives.

Till next time,
Grace