Special Olympics State Meet Day One

Today was the first day of the 2011 state Special Olympics Meet.  Christian had a softball throw and Callie had a tennis ball throw.  While we were waiting for their turn, we watched a wheelchair race.  It was a 25M wheelchair race.  There were 4 men racing.  The first and second ones across the finish line were in racing chairs and tooling along pretty quickly.  The third finished shortly after.

 I thought the race was over and then heard the cheerers, yes they have volunteers whose specific job is cheering the athletes, were cheering for Paul who had basically parked on the side.  He would move just a foot or so after lots of cheering and encouragement.  It was over 16 minutes before he completed his 25M, but no one seemed to lose their patience, no one stopped him because it was taking so long and no one seemed to be at all discouraged - especially Paul.  It seems clique to say it was inspiring, but I don't know what other word to use.

Christian did a great job and took silver in the softball throw.  Callie was more interested in her technique then the actual outcome of her throw, but she was thrilled to get a bronze.

Last practice - Next stop State Meet

Tonight was the last practice for Special Olympics track and field before the state meet this Thurs., Fri. and Sat.  The field was full tonight of young men playing summer football.  Callie started out all right, but as they started playing their game the whistles started and Callie began to lose it.  She wanted to practice her run, but got about half way and fell apart.  She lie on the ground and cried.  I encouraged her to get up and try again and after a couple more false starts she made it.

Friday she is to run her 100M race.  Many of her favorite people will be there cheering her on - although she is not fond of cheering either.  There are so many of us who have a vested interest in her succeeding, but at the end of the day - she is already a huge success as she's overcome so much and, eventually, I have no doubt that this is something she will also overcome.  It may not be this year, but we will continue to cheer her on until she does.

The Father Who Lives at My House.

The father who lives at my house is patient, kind and gentle.
These were not qualities I was raised to admire in men or in a father.
Thankfully God gave me a man who embodies the very essence of patience, kindness and gentleness.
He is also tons of fun to be with and why his adult sons often seek out his presence.
There is no greater compliment than when your grown up children want to spend time with their daddy.

Love you Mark - can't imagine experiencing this life without you.  

Toddler Tornado goes home

We had a really fun couple of days with Toddler Tornado.  He has autism and his mom and dad have done an excellent job helping him deal with this confusing world.  It wasn't difficult taking him out places because they've done the difficult job of teaching him to hold your hand when you are walking places.  As long as he held my hand he did a great job of behaving himself.  Every once in awhile he would drop my hand and slowly edge his way further and further away from me.  As he "escaped" he would begin to get over excited and start acting "silly".  It seems as though the hand holding just helped him keep his act together, so to speak.

Probably the biggest battle we had was getting him to eat.  His food choices have become increasingly more restrictive.  He really hadn't eaten anything all day on Thursday and we wanted to be sure he didn't wake up in the middle of the night hungry.  His mom and dad brought steak for him and after cooking it we offered it on a fork, but he wouldn't have anything to do with it.  Finally Mark offered it with the tongs he had cooked it with.  That he would take and he ate it all.  His parents told us he had several forks at home that he favored as well.  Who can know why he has issues with utensils, but he does.

These are the kind of behaviors parents of kids with autism deal with every day.  They can be overwhelming to deal with, or you just realize it's just the way it is and it becomes part of your "normal".  Our daughter Callie deals with many sensory issues as well.  Today it started raining.  She has such an intense fear of lightening and thunder that she climbed into bed and covered her head hiding from what the rain might bring.

I've gotten the impression that some people look at the adjustments we make for Callie and those that are made for Toddler Tornado and think we may be "spoiling" them or giving in to them.  They simply don't understand how deep these issues are - sensory or otherwise.

 I know I had fears as a kid, still have them, but never debilitating enough to hide in my bed.  She is my hero every day that she gets up and deals with a world which often presents itself to be a very scary place for her.  My grandson is my hero as well as he is living in a world that often perplexes him in ways I don't understand.  He begins extensive therapy next week and I'm so excited to see how he progresses as I know he will.  They are over comers - every day that they get up and live in a world which I find easy to navigate, but is often completely baffling to them.

Every time they allow me to take a peek into how they experience the world it's a privilege.  How blessed I am that they are a part of my life.

Toddler Tornado

Today our grandson Dominic, or as his mother refers to him, the Toddler Tornado arrived.  He was wide awake when they dropped him off at 5AM on their way to the airport.  He napped about an hour this afternoon, so hopefully he'll sleep like a log.

We went to the Minnesota Zoo and met Melissa and her 2 girlies there too.  Was a good time and a beautiful day to be there.  This year summer seemed so long in coming that I'm enjoying every nano second of nice weather.

We took Shannie who was a total trooper.  The goats absolutely loved her chair and pushed on the wheels, chewed on the arms - it was pretty funny.  She didn't seem to mind nor was she particularly amused by it, but we were.

When we got home Jacob asked me where Dominic was going to sleep.  I said he would take the bottom bunk, while Jacob slept in the top.  He did the fist pull in move and said - yes! it's like having another brother!  So, apparently the other 5 brothers weren't enough?

Last Day of School

Today was the last day of school for Ella and Jacob who were the last to finish their school year.  They are happy to be off and free of a schedule for awhile and so am I.  The change in schedule is not a good thing for Callie, but she will adjust to this more free style schedule eventually.

Shannon, Callie, Christian and Jacob will all have summer school.  All four have different schedules - yikes!  Hopefully I will be able to keep the schedules straight, although I'm not placing any bets on it.

Tomorrow Dominic will be coming for a couple nights while mom and dad head to CA.  Should be fun, exhausting I'm sure, but fun.

Gardening

I've never been much of a gardener, but this year decided to tackle our side yard and add some landscaping.  Mark, of course, provided much of the muscle, but I've worked physically harder the past few days then for quite some time.  It is turning out nicely, I think.

 Perhaps this is a sign of old age?  Seems like many people take up gardening in retirement or when they get older.  Not sure why that is because it is really hard work.  Hopefully rewarding, but hard work nonetheless.

I am sitting under my gazebo enjoying a glorious evening pre-mosquito weather and a very cool evening with a gentle breeze.  My favorite kinda weather.  I promised myself I would sit on this wonderful patio every day possible for at least a little bit.  This was a long winter - weather wise and these beautiful summer days are so very precious.