1st Marching Band Experience

Here is Tyler's band Marching in our local Gilbert Days Parade. It was a perfect day for a parade and they did a great job!

 

 

Here is an up close look, in case you can't see him in the previous picture.

 

Honor Band

I have to write, brag and post here to let you know that my oldest tried out for district honor band and ended up making it.  He will be playing the tenor saxophone in the band.  He is so excited! In fact, during this past week of fall break he was actually bummed and disappointed that there was no school becasue he missed going to his band class.  Now that is dedication!

Way to go Tyler! Congratulations!!

Back to School

We are in our 3rd week of school and things are finally starting to feel like we are in a groove.  YeaHa!  For some reason it has been hard to settle into a routine. So with that, it seems like we are already behind becasue a lot of our time has been spent on redoing and undoing, specially with our new science book this year.  Having the boys getting used to the "higher level of learning" books (ie Jr high and not elementary) has been really difficult.  It is taking  more time then I had expected  but it is coming along.

Other then the massive science book, our other books of undertaking for the year are: Math, Latin, Grammar/Composition, spelling/vocab and Bible.  We are still working towards finishing our American history book from last year.  That is the only book that we did not finish.  With moving, and everything else, during the summer,  I decided that it was not worth it to make the boys work through the summer and finish it.

In addition to the academics, both boys are involved with music and sports. Tyler is taking concert band at the local school right by our house and  both boys are playing soccer.  Tyler plays in the rec program and Kyle is still playing competitively on a travel team.  Kyle stays very busy with his soccer as he is on the field at least 4 out of all 7 days during the week.  I would say that is quite a bit being that he is only 10yrs old. He loves it though.   

It should be a fun year.  I will do my best to keep posting updates here.

The Band Star

It is that time of  year again... the "end of the year" ceremonies and concerts. Although we are a home school family we still participate in couple of the programs that the local public school has to offer.  One of those programs is Band.  Tyler has been attending band classes all year long at the middle school.  He took a mini band class last year when he was in school and played in the percussion section. This year he decided to change instruments and learn how to play the Tenor Saxophone. Changing instruments meant he had to start back in the beginner band all over again.  He was fine with that and has loved every minute of it.  He worked hard all year and made tremendous improvements.  Just a few months ago he was given the honor of moving up to play with the intermediate band.

This past Monday we got to see (hear) the fruits of all his labor at their end of the year concert. As it turned out, we learned that there were only two students the entire year that got to move up to the intermediate band, and Tyler was one of the two.  The teacher had both students stand and recognized both of them for all their hard work all year long.  I, actually, had no clue that Tyler was one of only two students.  I also didn't realize what a big deal she was gong to make about it.  So, I have to say, I was one PROUD mama!  I also didn't realize that the intermediate band only has 9 students in it (out of probably 70-80 total band students).  So I guess you could say he was definitely in the top minority. 

Way to go Tyler! We are so proud of you!

These are the 9 intermediate band students doing their performance.

 Tyler playing with the intermediate band.

 The two students standing and being recognized for all their hard work.

 Tyler doing a "speaking" part and introducing the next song that they were going to play.

The entire beginner band. They all did a wonderful job. 

I can't end the post with out recognizing the Band teacher. She did an awesome job with all the students. 

Autism Awareness Day

Today is Autism Awareness Day and even though I don't really have anything profound to share with you about that, I did share a little about our son on my hubby's Facebook page the other day.  I thought that I would share it here too.  This is what I posted...

Even though we have been through the "ringer" with all that we have had to deal with over the past 10 years, I would not change our son for anything. I love our son so much for who he is and who God made him to be. He is an awesome child and person. God has used him greatly to teach us and others about many things in life, some things that most people never learn or come to appreciate in life. Most of all God has used him to bring our whole family closer to HIM. That is more wonderful than anything! God is Good! "Thank you, God, for what we see as trials, and carrying us through them." 

When it comes to Autism and all the information out there about it and how it has changed our lives, I tend to get a little overwhelmed when it comes to sharing and documenting in a place such as this blog.  There is so much...Where do I begin? I never know. So, for any of you out there that might want to know more or those that have specific questions, please ask here and I can use that as a guide for a future post here.  I would love to share with you becasue I truly believe that the LORD gives us trials and situations in our lives so that we can help others.  Not to say that we have it perfected or our son has been "cured" but rather, we have found things that work and have learned to rely and on each other as a family and have grown deeper in faith becasue of it all.

Happy Valentine's Day

We had a great family day today.  We have been attending church on Saturday evenings for the past few months and since we already attended church last night we were able to start the day with a little sleeping in time.  Aww...that was so nice.  We were able to turn off the alarm clocks and not have to worry about being up and ready by any certain time.  After we finally crawled out of bed, we exchanged our small valentine gifts with each other.  We, typically, don't go all out for the kids or each other (me and the hubby) on valentine's day.  It is so encouraging to see the kids get so excited over the smallest gifts.

This year I had the idea to do something a little more fun for them.  About a month ago I was in Paradise Bakery and saw that they were advertising heart cookies that were iced to look like the "conversation heart" candies. I thought that was such a cute idea and decided that I would order one for each of the boys for valentines day this year.  I didn't order them that day because I wanted to get hubbies thoughts before I did.  After talking with him about it he thought it was a great idea but made the comment that it might mean a little more and actually taste a little better if they were home made.  My first reaction was "whatever", but after thinking about it I decided that I would give it a try.  I have to say that even though they didn't look as professionally done, they were quit tasty.

In addition to the home made cookies there was also candy and cards that we exchanged.  Of course you have to have the valentine's chocolate, at least for Tyler and I. Hubby and Kyle like the sweet and sour sugar candy (what are they thinkin'?). ha!

Here are the cookies that I made the boys.  They are Sugar Cookies with Butter Cream Cheese Icing. Mmmm...

You can tell by the look on their faces that they were a little surprised that I actually made the cookies.

One last gift that I received from the hubby was a night out next weekend to hear Gary Thomas speak.  Gary Thomas is the author of the book "Sacred Marriage".  Our church has started a new Marriage Ministry, called TwoIgnite, along side Ted Cunningham's church (Woodland Hills Family) in Branson, Missouri.  (Ted Cunningham has co-authored a couple books with Gary Smalley) Each month there is a focus/theme for the ministry and the church usually has something cool to go along with it.  This month is called Two Risk.  To go along with this month's theme of Two Risk the church is bringing in Gary Thomas as a guest speaker. This is something quit special to me as Gary's book was a huge blessing in a desperate time of need for me almost 5 years ago.  I am so excited to be going to a marriage building night together at the church with my hubby but it is even more thrilling to be going together to hear Gary Thomas.  I can't wait.  Oh yea...and I don't even have to plan the child care. How awesome is that!

Hiking

We went on a hike the other day with some other families from our home school group and discovered that it is something that we all enjoyed doing together.  It was just so awesome to be outside on such a beautiful day and having so much fun together.

We hiked the Wind Cave trail. It is a 3 mile round trip hike.  We didn't actually make it all the way to the cave because there were some families with younger children that were not able to make it all the way to the top.  We hiked about 3/4 of the way there and turned around and headed back.  The boys are looking forward to going back so that we can make it all the way to the cave next time.

Here is a picture that I took when we stopped for a quick rest. 

Bit the Bullet

Well, I didn't literally bite a bullet.  The figurative bullet that I am talking about is the new cell phone in the family that we purchased.  Yep, we "bit the bullet" and bought a cell phone for the boys to share.  Although I say it is the boys, it is actually "our" (mine and hubby's) phone. 

After moving into our rental house the boys have discovered a whole new world. See, we came from a house that was on an acre of land with not much around us.  There wasn't much to do right around our house and they would have to cross very dangerous high traffic streets or open fields with all kinds of wild stuff around to get anywhere. Now that we are living in a neighborhood with sidewalks and parks all around us the boys are out and about a whole lot more then they used to be. I think it is great for them to get out and explore a little and even meet some new friends here and there. However, I am not used to them being gone and I get a little freaked out at times when they are not around.  So, for my peace of mind (somewhat) I got them a cell phone to carry with them so that I can get a hold of them when I want to check on them.  We just got it yesterday so we will see how they do with it. 

Being With Family

When asked of Tyler, from the many people that he saw after Christmas, "What was your most favorite gift that you received for Christmas?" he would answer, "Being with family".    Wow! What a response.  The first time I heard him tell someone this I wasn't sure that I heard the entire conversation correctly.  Then, I think it was the next day, someone asked him the same question again.  His answer was the same.  Yep, I did hear him correctly the first time.  What an awesome response from a young kid.  I was and am so proud of him for seeing and realizing that all pleasures are not just found in material things but in things that money can not buy.  You rock, Tyler!

Summer Hockey Finally Over

This summer both boys played in the summer hockey league at our local rink. Kyle played on a squirt team (ages 9-10) and Tyler played on a squirt and peewee team (ages 11-12).

Both boys played on the same squirt team, the Red Wings. They didn't have a very good season (according to the win/loss record). Although they did have a lot of fun.

Tyler is the goalie in middle and Kyle is behind him over his shoulder on the left.

Tyler's peewee team, the Bruins, had a better record overall and ended up almost winning 1st place in the final tournament. They ended up losing in the last 3 min of their final game. It was a big bummer, but they played hard and still ended up in 2nd place.

Tyler is the goalie in the middle on his knee.

Hockey is the best sport and so much fun to watch. We will take a little break before returning back to it in a couple months. (...sigh)

Interesting Birthday Activity - Spa Day

Well, as it is with everyone, we DO get older with every passing year. Yesterday was my day to celebrate that wonderful moment. Raah!

So, in an effort to make the day a memorable one I decided to make my trip to the spa for a pedicure a semi-family affair. I decided to take my boys to experience their first spa pedicure. When I asked them about joining me, to my surprise, they were actually excited to give it a try. Their only request is that I didn't make them get their toe nails painted. ha!

Kyle sat back and relaxed and really enjoyed it and Tyler was asking questions the whole time about what they were doing, why they were doing it and the products they were using. I think the lady that worked with Tyler couldn't get done fast enough. lol

Another Hockey Win

Tyler played in his PeeWee playoff game this evening. They were 3rd place going into the game. They played against the #2 team and won. Now they get to play in the championship game on Saturday for 1st place. Yeah! Good job Tyler and team.

Hallelujah!!!

The boys are in the home stretch of finishing up their summer hockey season. Tonight was the last season game before heading into the play offs. After a full season of being the bottom ranked team and not winning ANY games, well, they finally got a win. WOOHOO!! Way to finish with a bang! The score was 4-1. Kyle had one of the goals and Tyler stopped over 30 shots!!

Happy Birthday Tyler

Tyler is now 11 years old. Here is a picture of Tyler and Kyle at the driving range on his b-day

Promotion Day and Awards

Today was 5th grade promotion day at school. Tyler will be heading into middle school next year. I can't believe it!

In addition to having the promotion ceremony they also received their quarterly awards. Tyler made honor roll again and, even better, was selected by his teacher for the citizenship award for his class. I am such a proud mom! Growing up my mother would always make such a big deal about citizenship awards and tell me that citizenship awards were always better then any grade you could make. Being a mom myself, I now understand what she was talking about. Being a good citizen can take you much farther in life then any grades can!

Way to go Tyler! I am very proud of you!

Another shut out and a new game of 3 v 3 soccer

Tyler recorded his 8th shut out as a hockey goalie this past week. Yeah Tyler! I am so proud of you!

Also...

This past week, we have gotten to learn and experience a new kind of soccer play (well new to us, not sure how long it has formally been around). Kyle was asked to join what is called a 3v3 soccer team and has already competed in one tournament. One of his friends that he plays club soccer with decided to form and start a team that can compete together. There was a 3v3 tournament this past weekend and Kyle's team ended up taking 2nd place. Not bad for the first time playing. It was so much fun to watch. It is quick, very fast and usually lots of goals. Kyle had 8 goals in 4 games. Way to go Kyle!

End of Season Video in Review for the Ice Dogs

Part 1

Part 2

The coach's wife put a lot of time in and made a video of the Ice Dogs season. She did a great job and I wanted to share it here. It is a long video. I had to split it into two different segments.

I know that the picture size is small and sometimes hard to see clearly. It is so much better on a big screen. Enjoy!

Wrapping up and Starting New

It is official, the Ice Dog days are over. This past Saturday Tyler had his end of season team party for his hockey team. It was fun to all be together (parents and players). Of course it was an ice skating party with pizza, drinks and tons of other munchies. Most of the team will probably not be together next season as some players are moving to a different rink (the new one in town) and some will, most likely, be split up when teams form next season. This has been the best team and season EVER for Tyler (and us as parents). The WHOLE team got along and everyone developed close friendships with one another. Tyler developed some of the best friendships that he has ever had with his teammates. Even though we are all sad it is over we realize how much we have been blessed by it and thank God for a great season and the wonderful new relationships we all have because of it.

Looking ahead, we are already on the road to starting a new season. We got a call this afternoon from the new hockey coach for this new season and found out that the first practice is already here, this Friday! Wow! We are one of the families that made the move to the new ice rink in town. I am not sure what to expect with it all. When you are so used to one thing sometimes change can be hard. We decided to make the move to the new rink for mainly one reason...LOCATION! The rink we were at last season was a 1 hour round trip for us from our house. This new rink is only 20min at the most. Yep, it is only about 10 min from our house. SO NICE! Another change for this season is that Kyle will also be playing. Tyler and Kyle will be on the same team. This will be the last time that they will be able to play together for a couple of years. I am excited to see what this new season will bring!

**I am working on uploading the Ice Dog team's video recap. It is a video that was put together by the coaches wife for all the players. So stay tuned.

2nd Place

Tyler had his championship game yesterday. They ended up with a loss. The score was 3-5. Big Bummer! They played a very tough team that held 1st place the whole season (they play a 6 month season). Overall it was a good game. They played their hearts out! He did a great job all season long and learned a lot. Way to go Tyler!

Tyler receiving his 2nd place award with his coach.

The Ice Dogs!

They all look so sad :(

My NetMinder

Here is a rare picture of Tyler in his gear without his helmet. It was taken this past Friday evening after their 8-0 win.