Vermont

Updated: I cannot believe I forgot to mention church on Sunday. Scroll down. Sorry all my St. James family!!

We had Monday off this week, and the kids had Tuesday off. So, we decided it would be a great weekend to head back to Vermont to visit our family of friends. We had a wonderful visit. We were able to stay with our friends and we were able to get together with all of our Kamp Kaos family.

Our hosts with the mosts:

Our dining quarters: 

(Nothing says "quiet dinner" like six kids ages 4-12)

Our chores:

 

 

 

Sunday morning we started our day with church. Our church in Vermont has been St. James Church  since I was pregnant with Aisling. They accepted our mish-mosh family with loving and open arms. They were with us every step of the way through Aisling's ear tube surgeries; Connor's struggles and finally diagnosis of ADHD; Wyatt from soup to nuts; and they were there when Siobhan was born early and we worried about her lungs. This church was all we could have wanted from a church and more. We went from a family of 3 to a family of 6 during our ten year tenure at this church and each time our family grew, more love was provided. Our children have a strong understanding of what it means to be a christian thanks to this church. 

Saying good bye this past Sunday was very hard. (Although we've technically been gone for a month; we had an official good bye service with blessings). I know that we will be back again, but of course it will not be the same. Knowing that we are headed on our way surrounded by the love and devotion of St. James makes it so much easier. 

We have always marveled at how easily St. James accepted Wyatt into their family as well. No one loved Wyatt nearly as much as his church community. He was a lucky, luck soul to have been part of that community. We really wanted to bring him with us this past Sunday but it didn't work out. We will try again. Wyatt rarely seemed as content as he did at a church service. 

Thank you St. James; for everything. 

After church we had a visit with our Kamp Kaos family. 

We also snuck in a visit with our favorite teenager: 

 

 Who seems to be doing very well these days!

  Of course we were also able to enjoy the foliage! What a beautiful weekend.

  

And, because that's what family does, we made all the kids pose for a group photo. 

In about 17 pictures, I think they are looking at the camera together twice. 

 This one's a keeper. 

I love this group of people so very much.

 Requisite silly faces...

 And it slowly falls apart.... 

Vaughan leaves, and they are done. But, we got a few good shots!

 Also, some silly girls for you!

My kiddos posed for some pictures with their fo-bro. 

 On Monday we had a lovely visit with Kaye, who used to watch all the kids after school. She's like another grandmother to them and we all love her very much. We were lucky to be able to see her! In addition the kids stopped by school to see their old teachers and some friends. That was brief but nice. Finally we swung by the dance studio,. We were able to meet Gavin, Ms. Lauren's BEAUTIFUL little boy! What a love! Connor was able to take a few dance classes and we had a lovey time socializing. Unfortunately, I didn't think to get any pictures of the old dance crew. I wish I had.

We had a lovely visit and it was so nice to reconnect with our family of friends again.

Until next time Vermont.

Wyatt swinging and cracking up!

We took the kids to Boston a few weeks ago. (Pictures to follow I hope)
My favorite moment of the whole trip, though, was this one. Wyatt using the indoor swing at the Boston Museum of Science. (Turn your volume on)

Cats, guniea pigs, and other musings

The cat presented us with a great science lesson tonight. "Hey kids, come watch the cat dissect a chipmunk". Were the kids grossed out? Oh heavens no. They thought it was cool. I tried to tell them that we too were having chipmunk for dinner, but they didn't believe me.

Siobhan had her four month appointment today. She weighed in at a hefty 13 pounds 9 ounces. She was 24 inches long. When Connor was four months he weighed 17 pounds 3 ounces, and he was 26 1/2 inches long. He was also pretty much eating entire steak dinners. When Aisling was 4 months she weighed 14 pounds 12 ounces, and was 25 and 3/4 inches long. Siobhan is the runt of our little litter! Siobhan also had her shots today, poor baby, and is sleeping upstairs.

Connor had his first grade open house tonight. Al went with him and Aisling. What was Connor most excited to show them? You guessed it, Zack's new cage.

Here's a quick trip to the Heather soapbox. There's a new movie out called "Tropic Thunder". I don't know a heck of a lot about it, but I do know that within the movie there are scenes that perpetuate stereotypes of persons with intellectual disabilities. Disability awareness groups all over the country have launched protests and what not. I just wanted to share with you a video that was made in response to this movie. It's a great video, and worth sharing with everyone you know. It speaks to the very heart of why I do what I do on a daily basis.

http://www.blueberryshoes.com./psa/index.html


How can you not love that face?!

Wyatt's moment, shoes, and hair dressing....

So, Wyatt just got hearing aides. I never expected the reaction we got! He's been smiling constantly since having them put in! Now, when the baby was born he was extremely upset and grumpy for a long time. Then, school let out and messed with his schedule, so he was grumpy about that. But now he finally has something to smile about! He was watching Aisling dance earlier today and was smiling at her as though he knew she was dancing to music. Cool stuff, but it makes me wonder what he thought we were all doing before he could hear the music! Did he think we were randomly just shimmying around the house!? And, is he smiling because he's so happy tp hear, or because he's realized what idiots we are? He also has had some smiles for the baby, which he's never done before. He was smiling away at her, and leaned in for a hug! (Of course, when she started crying he pushed her away!)

Let's talk about shoes for a minute. What's the deal with kids and shoes? Connor has destroyed multiple shoes in the past week! He had a pair of crocs from wal-mart: those got trashed riding his bike (caught in a chain). He had a pair of flip flops: those were run over by the neighbor's riding mower. (They had, of course, been setting up an obstacle course for the neighbor, but neglected to tell him this....) And, he has a pair of sneakers that by the end of camping could have walked home by themselves. His toes were sticking out of them, and they smelled like, well, like really gross sneakers. The kicker is that he CRIED while throwing them away! Needless to say, tomorrow we are off to buy some shoes.... I wonder what he'll wear shopping....

Today Aisling was having a blast with her new sister. I am not sure Siobhan enjoyed it quite as much, but, hey, beauty comes with a price, no?