Fall 2014

The kids started at John Knox in September and things are going so well. Micah's teacher is fabulous and he has changed so much in the last couple of months. He is using rulers and is keeping space to organize things. Kendra has adjusted well. Her friend Isabelle came to join her in her class and she had a few others she knew. She is doing well with her academics. Ethan is doing well but it's been a challenge with him to listen. Not sure if he is trying to protest about the switch. Some days he is great but other days he just wants to do what he wants to do.

We took the month of September off for the kids to adjust to school. Kendra started with a Rhythmic Gymnastic Club at the end of September. Kendra wanted to do the ribbons that is what she wanted. She goes on Thursday's for an hour. We started Micah at a new swim club called Garden City Aquatic Club in St. Catharines in October. We have some carpooling options from Grimsby so that makes it much easier. I drive one day and the other mom drives another day and I'm on my own the 3rd day.

Micah had his 12th birthday in October. He wanted to have a Nerf Gun party so we bought all kinds of bullets and they had a blast in the backyard shooting at each other. So nice that the weather was great. They had one game in the daylight, then some pizza, another game, some sake/ice cream and another game in the dark. He did invite a mix of friends from Lakeview and John Knox but none of the kids from John Knox came. Not sure if it was because of the Thanksgiving weekend or the fact that they were playing with Nerf guns.

Micah is:

78 lbs, 4'10"
Grade 7 at John Knox Christian School in Miss Scholman's 7/8 class
new school friends are Luke, Cyril and Jayden
Plays with neighbours Maxim and Dema
goes to Miss Kort for tutoring on Wednesday after school
loves nerf guns
Loves video games, iPod games, Minecraft
Goes to Junior Youth at Lakemount Wednesday nights (Noah comes along too)
Swimming with Garden City Aquatic Club 3 times a week

Christmas to Summer 2014

So I thought I'd do a little bit of catch-up since I have written here in 6 months.

Christmas was a long time ago now but I'm trying to remember. Micah was in the school concert. This year we were all sick with the stomach flu. We had it just before Christmas and so we cancelled out on Christmas Eve with Jamie's parents, then Grace had it on Christmas day as they had had the kids a few days before. We still had a dinner at our house but everyone wasn't up to par. We went down to Dad's place after Christmas for a few days but we were on our own for the most part (Dad came to ski with us one day).

Kendra's 9th birthday she had some girls over on a Friday night for a PJ and Movie night. This was quite interesting as Kendra had gone with Isabelle to see Frozen in the theatre and she wanted the movie for her birthday party. Isabella had though the movie was coming out before her birthday and said that she would get it for her. Little did we know that it wasn't out by the time her birthday came and her parents had burned a copy of the movie illegally. They did watch it and had a great time but I regret not telling her that it was wrong to watch it since it was an illegal copy. We don't burn illegal copies of movies and so it caught us off guard. We don't always make the right choices to teach our kids and this is one of those times.

What Kendra is into these days:

Rainbow Loom (elastic bands) - She creates so many things. She makes things up all the time (doesn't use a pattern) and is selling them to friends. She is very creative. I thought this would be a fad but she has been working on the loom for about 8 months now and she still does it.
Loving to sing - she breaks out in song, usually Frozen, quite often and Ethan tries to mimic (which doesn't go over that well)
Loves to be with friends - she is always wanting to play with Avery, Brielyn, Sabrina, etc.
Is doing better with cleaning up - Her room used to be a mess but she is rearranging things all the time so it works better for her and it seems to help.
Loves her ipod - This one is on the negative side sometimes. She doesn't like to share it and she hides in her room with it sometimes. Otherwise, she loves to watch youtube videos about Minecraft, rainbow loom, or Mini-bop kids.

The spring was a bit of a challenge with school choices. The school board had decided that they were going to be amalgamating Central and Lakeview schools to make one French Immersion school and one English school. We had already had some challenging times over the year with the school in regards to Micah's learning disabilities and the full-day kindergarten program but this just was too much. So we did some more research into John Knox Christian School and the kids are going there this fall. Micah and Ethan seem to be okay with the idea but Kendra expressed concerns about missing her friends at Lakeview. I pray that the kids grow and flourish to their God given ability at the new school.

Micah did really well this year with swimming. He qualified for the 50 and 100 m breast stroke for the short course meet in January in Windsor. Then he qualified for 6 events for the long course in London (50, 100 m breast 50 and 200 m back, 200 M Free, 200 IM). We decided to camp at the London KOA that weekend so we had Danielle and her crew out on the Friday night for a camp fire. Then Micah did some geocaching with jamie on Saturday morning before his meet. He tripped over something and he hurt his foot. I thought, "oh no not right before the meet" but by the time he got there it was much better and he did great. He beat all his times and some he beat by a lot (ie 200 free he beat by 11 seconds). He did disqualified in the 200 m back trying to do a dolphin kick finish (he crossed his hands) but he still beat his best time.

So over the summer the kids had swimming lessons right after school finished at the Grimsby Lions Pool. Ethan was in Sea Otter, Micah in Swim 10 and I put Kendra in Swim 8 because Swim 7 was full. Micah's class was early in the morning and was only offered twice over the summer so we didn't have much choice in weeks. So the first day I rode with Micah on the bikes to the pool. We took a route down Ontario Street, past the library then back through the downtown and through the park to the pool. It was the flatest route. So he rode his bike there for 15 minutes, had a 45 minute swim practice and then rode home most days. So the stories I hear were fabulous. I haven't pushed Micah to go any further with the lessons as he has to wait until he is 13 to do Bronze Medallion. There was him and another girl in Swim 10 and then the Bronze Medallion group on the other side of the pool. The two groups were separate other than when they had to do distance swims of 400m (which is easy for Micah since he has been training for 3 years with GHAC). Anyways, Micah ends up beating all the kids (the Bronze Medallion kids were aged 13 to 17) by a minute and he decided to do butterfly for the last stroke. Then the lifeguards have him teach all the kids how to do butterfly. What a confidence booster for Micah to see that he is really good at something when you compare to the average not the other swim kids. Kendra did well in her lessons but she was the youngest and smallest in her group. She didn't pass but she did great for being in a higher level than she was supposed to be. Ethan has had some fear of water so this was great for confidence in the water. This level was all assisted with Olivia (a girl from our church) the lifeguard. He passes his level and got a sticker.

Micah had tried out for CANUSA again this June. This year they are going to Flint. I had asked the coach if he needed any 9 year old girls and he said sure so Kendra is now going as well. She has found a friend at swimming so she is enjoying it even though she is the littlest one there. The big swim meet is on August 9th in Flint at Flint Southwestern Classical Academy.

We had a fun vacation the week of July 12-19 at Davin's cottage in Gravenhurst. The kids really enjoyed it the last time we were there and they wanted to go back. Mom offered pay and come with us. It was a bit cool but we had a great time. We went to the Farmer's Market in town and ended up seeing one of Micah's friends from school. We visited with Enno and Marina and the kids got kids on the tube. Then Friday we went to Mom's sister Pat's again. The kids love to look for frogs in the pond and find the eggs from the chickens.

This weekend (July 25th) was a big one for Ethan. On Friday, he bit into an apple and his little bit wiggly tooth became a lot wiggly. There was blood and he didn't like it at all being so wiggly. So I told him to "pull it out" and that is exactly what he did. So we got out the "My First tooth" pillow that we got from the dentist and put it in there. I had forgotten to switch the tooth (which happens often so the kids knw it's the Mommy fairy) so I quickly went after he got up in the morning and gave him a toonie. He was so excited.

So then on Saturday we went to the free swim at the Grimsby Lion's Pool (where they did swimming lessons in July). I had invited the neighbours that the boys play with all the time. It was so good. Maxim had shown Ethan all he could do. Maxim swam for short lengths, sat on the bottom of the pool. Ethan was trying to copy him as much as he could. He even asked for a life jacket to swim in the deep end with Micah and Kendra. Now to go back in history, Ethan has had some scares in the water (jumped in but his feet came out from underneath him) in the past so he has taken some time to want to try things in the pool. So about 45 minutes passes and he is trying to sit on the bottom of the pool like Maxim. Then it becomes more like a front float. So I tell him "all you have to kick". So he tried it and now he swims with his head in the water in the shallow end. He was so excited that he could do it and now he wants to show his swimming teacher.

Micah's 11th Birthday

This year I tried to convince Micah to have only a few friends over for his birthday party. He just couldn't narrow it down so we ended up having about 8 kids over. The kids had pizza for dinner and Micah was really into Minecraft so I attempted to make a "Steve" cake. I tried to make it with no food colouring or no GMOs (ie. I ground up sugar to avoid the cornstarch in icing sugar) so it was a bit different but the kids ate it. The weather was great again this year so the kids were all outside playing the games that Micah made up. After his party he took all the kids over to Boyz Noiz at the church and they ran off all of that sugar in the gym. The van was over full but they all had a good time.

Here is what Micah is into this year:

is 4' 9 1/2" tall and weights about 73 lbs
wears mostly size 10-12 clothes and is skinny and shorter for his age
over the summer completed Level 9 in the Red Cross Swimming lessons
he trained 3 days a week for an hour and a half to compete in the CANUSA (Hamilton vs Flint) games
is in Grade 6 in Miss Taylor's class at Lakeview Public School
has trouble focusing a school but is now getting some help with an EA as well as a private tutor
goes to tutoring with Miss Kort, a retired learning resource teacher, every Wednesday after school
is a Safety Patroller at school in the mornings (he takes the kindergarten kids to their playground from the Kiss and Ride where paretns drop them off)
competed in Track and Field this fall
is really into video games (ie Minecraft, Super Mario, Skylanders, etc.)
goes to the Junior Development competitive program with GHAC
goes to Junior Youth at Centennial Baptist church on Wednesday

Summer 2013

So I'm a bit behind but here it goes.

At the end of June, Jamie had to go to Vancouver for a work trip. He needed three days to do the work so he left on the Monday before school was out and then I joined him on Thursday night after the kids got to Gammie and Pompas and Grandma's for 6 days. So on Friday we toured through Downtown Vancouver for a while and then headed over to Grandpa John's place in Coquitlam for after 6 pm (he was working at the police station were he volunteers). We stayed with Grandpa John until we left on Wednesday after Canada Day. We meet with my brother Danny, his wife Lina and their little 19 month old girl that I had never seen before other than in pictures. We were going to go for a walk but it was really hot so we just went out to a restaurant to talk and have some early dinner. We meet with Danny again for Canada Day, for dinner and to watch the fireworks. We also went over to Vancouver Island on the Ferry to see my mom's cousin Donna and her husband Ken. We had a great time visiting with them at their trailer just looking out over the ocean. It was a busy trip not only visiting but also helping Grandpa with a major cleaning of his house and fixing up his stairs so they were more stable.

This summer was also a busy one with training. Micah was on the CANUSA swim team and I was training for a full marathon rowing race.

Micah was at practice 3 times a week for an hour and a half each. It was quite the jump in practice times from 1 hour twice a week but he did great. The practices started just after Canada Day and then went to August 10th (the day of the big meet). Micah was part of the Hamilton Team and the team from Flint Michigan came to Hamilton this year. As part of the games, participants are to host kids from the Flint team. This year, we were matched with Griffin, a very tall and fast 11 year old with red hair. His fit right in with the family and Micah and him got a long well. He didn't eat all that much as he just had his braces tightened but he didn't complain at all. Micah really enjoyed having him over and showing him Niagara Falls for the first time (we went on the Maid of the Mist). I think Micah is looking forward to going to Flint next year.

As for me, I started training in November 2012 to do the full marathon rowing race in Ottawa. Just before I went on the water, I was pulling the erg for an hour and half (approximately 20 km) 3 times a week and then doing weights one day. The on the water training started in April. This summer, I got out on Lake Ontario quite a bit for longer training sessions. I'm not sure on the exact distance (approximately 32 km or so), but the longest distance I travelled was from the Jordan Harbour to home and back twice (once in the racer and the second time in the recreational shell). I also entered myself in the Henley Masters race at the beginning of August. I got 4th in my heat so I didn't continue on but my heat was very fast. If they had gone by times then I would have been in the final. Too bad but I had fun.

So this summer our vacation involved travelling up to Ottawa for the race. My mom decided to take Micah and Kendra along with her student Cindy and tour around Ontario for a couple of days before the race and meet us there. They went up to Espanola to see her cousin Jim and then down to Sudbury where they went to Science North and then across to Ottawa. Jamie, Ethan and I left on Friday and were able to unload the boat at the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club (which was great as there wasn't much room to manoeuvre with that big thing on the van). We stayed at the Best Western in Gatineau right by the Ottawa River (the same river I was going to row on). Saturday we stopped in at the club to register and say a quick hi and then we were able to go on a walk with Jamie's best man and his family. Sunday was the big race so I had a rough night of sleep but enough to get by. We were out the door at 6 am as the race was supposed to start at 7 am (but it was more like 7:20 by the time we got going). There were only 6 racers in the full marathon race (3 singles, one double and two quads). The race started at the boat house travelled down the river around Gull Island and back up the river. Mom came down from the hotel to watch me row by in this part of the race. Part way up the Ottawa River we turned up the Gatineau River. The river was calm but there were quite a few areas to watch out for and that was a bit difficult being a single racer having to look all the time. I was in last place just behind the quad so thankfully the coach boat was helping me watch out for hazards for most of the trip. On the way out of the river I almost ran into Guiseppe (a single) coming up from the half marathon. It was a close one. After going through the Gatineau River I travelled up the Ottawa River again and did a stop at the boat house before continuing on. Our times were to be stopped for the break for a maximum of 15 minutes. I decided to stay in the boat, eat and drink and then do some stretching. After about 10 minutes I left before the last quad. The second half of the marathon took us around Kettle Island twice before going back to the boat house. This part of the race was tough as the water was getting waver with the wind as well as the boaters that were out and didn't seem to care that these little boats were nearby. The last 5 km were really hard and I knew that I was dehydrated but I just wanted to finish. I was the second last boat to come in as I beat the one quad. Apparently, I still came in last by only seconds I would guess (the time 3:50 only showed the minutes not seconds). I was not impressed but what do you do, I finished and that was all that mattered. I was doing fine for a couple of hours after the race and I was able to eat some food and drink. THey did the ceremony right afterwards and I got the "iron butt" award for being on my butt the longest. The kids, Jamie, my mom and Cindy all came to see me into the boat house and the ceremony. We had arranged to get the boat on Monday morning (what a blessing as we couldn't be travelling around with it on the van). We got back to the hotel and the fatique started to hit me. Jamie, mom and the kids went out to a museum and I stayed at the hotel to rest. I laid down a read about about 3 hours and then I finally felt a bit better so I took a walk over the bridge into Ottawa. On Monday, we went to pick up the boat and then took the 6 hour trip home again.

Other than going to Vancouver and all the training the kids enjoyed going Vacation bible schools, swimming lessons and of course to Gammie and Pompas lots. Micah and Kendra did a one night camp with church at the beginning of June as well. We tried to go camping once but the weather just wasn't great so we ended up going to Gammie Camp instead.

Kendra is 8

How does time fly by so fast. Kendra is 8 years old already. We had a family party on February 10th with Grandma and Gammie and Pompa. Kendra really wanted to have a reptile party so we booked it right after we got back from Mexico and the party was on the 22nd. The kids had a blast watching the snakes, tortoise, alligator and lizards.

Kendra at 8:
49 lbs, 49 1/2 " high
is very skinny for her age but quite tall
is in Grade 2 in a 2/3 split at Lakeview Public School (Mrs. Bridges)
very bright but is starting to have some focus issues
Math and art are her best subjects
is in "Lincoln Leapers" skipping classes on Wednesday nights for an hour
still loves her Forever Faith Kids (FFK) group at Centennial Baptist Church
loves to write and draw but cleaning up is not her best trait
loves to make crafts
watches pet shops, barbie on youtube
plays Ninja Fishing, Fruit Ninja on her iPod
loves music and singing
is wanting to design her own clothes (she is making a mermaid tale right now)
green is her favourite colour but still has lots of pink
wears pants most of the time (although they have to be tight to fit) and sometimes she will wear dresses
makes plays from Youtube videos writing out all the lines
loves animals of all kinds (reptiles, bugs, etc)
is in a mommy and me small group at church once a month
allowance just started starting at $2 per week (25 cents per year)
with allowance comes responsibility of her personal items (or she has to pay to replace them)
she has to put her clean clothes away and clean her room
she has a clean up after herself and do the clean up after Monday night dinner
she was vacuuming the upstairs level and recently she switched to feeding and cleaning up after the cats every night
best friends are Brielyn and Jadyn, Sabrina
other friends include Lexi, Isabelle, Teira, Aliah from church

Mexico 2013

We were thinking of going to FLorida this year but after researching a bit late in the game it was hard to find places and in comparison to what we found in Florida we could pay another $500 per person to have guaranteed warm weather in Mexico. Our travel agent found a great deal that went to Puerto Adventuras, Mexico from the Hamilton airport (way easier). We had a 1 hour and 20 minute drive to get to our resort but it was a great place for the kids. The Kids Club was great, they had many different animals in the town marina and there was a lagoon with an artificial reef on the side of the resort (no waves). My mom came with us so we got adjoining rooms which worked out perfectly.

There was a Kids Disco every night 8 pm other than pinata night and the Lion King Show (the kids were Lions in the show with the adults). Ethan wasn't as keen at staying in the Kids Club but he did go a few times. Kendra loved all the crafts they did.

We mostly just played in the pool, walked to the marina, played at the beach for the vacation but Kendra and I and Jamie and Micah went on tours the one day while mom stayed with Ethan.

Since Kendra just loves animals so Kendra and I went to Akumal to swim with Sea Turtles. It was a windy day so I was afraid we wouldn't be able to go (Red Flag) but the guide still took us (he got in trouble later though). Kendra hung onto the red buoy with the guide and she counted 7 sea turtles that we saw. We brought Kendra's equipment with us just in case they didn't have any that fit her but otherwise everything was provided. We also went to a cenote (underwater cavern with water). Thankfully, there were lots of lights inside or I don't think Kendra would have wanted to go. She did do a swim through looking at all the stalactites and stalagmites. The highlight for her was seeing the bats fly around. We left at 8 and got back at 2 pm. She did great.

Micah and Jamie went on a Jeep Safari tour through the jungle. There were zip lines and waterfall repelling but Micah didn't want to do either. Micah had done some ziplining with Grandpa Cobban in the fall but this one was long and dropped into water. They still had fun but they missed out on some of the activities. We had great weather (one day it rained for an hour or so) and the trip was fabulous. Everyone was able to relax and enjoy themselves.

Ethan's 4th Birthday

Ethan turned 4 this year on January 14th, 2013. He was so excited for his birthday as he knows now what birthday's are about. We weren't planning on having a birthday party for him as he isn't in school yet but he kept talking about having friends over so we just did have one family over. No agenda other than cake and pizza. He was happy with that. We did a family celebration as well.

Ethan at 4 years old is:
44.8 lbs, 111.8 cm (44.7 inches) tall - 100% for his height
is in Size 5 and 6 clothes
size 11 shoes (more like an 10 with wide feet)
loves trains
knows how to work the computer (youtube mostly) and other technology items
goes to Beamsville Co-op Nursery School 5 mornings a week with Ms. Marlena ("Miss Lena")
knows most of his colours (just black and brown are hard)
has just learned to write his name
can recognize some written letters and numbers (no cards games as Ethan tells others what you have)
is being seen by Speech Services for his language delay (new session just started)
has the West Niagara Consulting Service come to the preschool to help with his language
his speech has exploded in the last few months with being at preschool
went in an inner tube over the summer all by himself
went skiing for the first time at Holiday Valley at Christmas
goes to Gammie and Pompas all the time overnight
goes pee on the potty all by himself and is totally night trained
has just finished training for #2 (end of February 2013)
can get his clothes on by himself (if put down in the right orientation)
loves his "peanut butter" or pinata colada from Mexico and his "iPie" or iPad
loves macaroni and cheese (homemade), grilled cheese, will eat salad and lots of different veggies
loves his pillow (goes in the car and everything) and blanket (Thomas the Train duvet is heavy to lug around)
"Bear" can be substited instead of pillow sometimes
he will chew his nails sometimes
has a wart on his finger, lots of freckles
has sensitive skin like his mother, gets dry easily in winter

Christmas

Christmas season started with the Grimsby Santa Claus parade. It wasn't too cold so we survived well. We went to the Evening in Bethlehem at Calvary Gospel Church in Beamsville again. So nice for the kids to have a real presentation of the account of Jesus birth. After the presentation the kids went to mom's house for the annual decorate the Christmas tree cookies. It was quite a challenge as Ethan didn't want to stay overnight so Mom drove him back home at 10 pm and then he asked to go back in the morning when he got up (go figure). Ethan's school did a Christmas presentation on December 13th. Ethan didn't really want to participate much although he did do his part in holding and handing out the candy canes. The kids sang in the choir on December 16th. Again, Ethan did not want to be in the Christmas play. There was no formal Christmas Play at school this year with all the strikes going on with the teachers. They did have a carol sing though on December 20th. The month leading up to Christmas was very busy and we ended up with pinworms (not fun - it seems it came from the cats). So Jamie's mom was so gracious to have the Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas Day Dinner at her house. What a welcome break!!! Avie and Wayne came down on Christmas Eve for the fully turkey dinner and we were able to spend some time with them opening presents before we headed out to church service. So nice to be with Avie and Wayne without them rushing from Wayne's parents house. I think the highlight of the presents was Avie's headlight lamps. At the church service, the kids almost took over the "show" again this year reading some of the account of Mary and Joseph's journey to Bethlehem and Jesus birth. They also sang a song from their Kids Church choir (they had that on December 16th). Kendra did the song with the solo in it while Micah did back-up. Ethan was wanting to be included but he was not sitting still or being quiet at all. Hopefully, next year we can sit an enjoy the whole service together. Christmas Day we had a family time at home in the morning. We gave the kids their presents from us then. We got Micah a set of used skis, Kendra got an MP4 player (Jamie upgraded it to an iPod as the one he bought was going to break fast), Ethan got a Cars2 GeoTrax set. Normally, we had gone to Grandma White's home for Christmas Day brunch but we missed being with her this year. We got cleaned up at the house and then headed to Jamie's parents for the afternoon. We had some leftover turkey and other finger foods with my Mom and her students. The kids opened presents from Grandma then.

Micah turns 10

So I'm late getting to update the blog but thought I'd get to it before I forget. Micah turned 10 this past October 9th (2012). We had a family party at home on Thanksgiving. We also celebrated with my mom's student Cindy. She had the same birthday as Micah and turned 18. Micah also had a friends birthday party at Adventure Village on October 5th. He had 10 friends over and we had suggested he raise some money for Sarah Tapley (our pastors daughter who has been fighting cancer for 3 years). THe kids played mini-golf, did laser tag and went mining for gems (Micah special requested this one). The kids had a great time and we were able to raise $100 for her family. Unfortunately, Sarah passed from this world into Heaven a short while later (end of November). So glad we could bless her family. This is what Micah is doing at 10 years old: 73 lbs, 4' ___" tall he is in Grade 5 at Lakeview School his teacher is Mrs. McCarthy he loves math and struggles more with English he gets distracted very easily his friends are Jeffery, Noah, Logan, Jared and Carter he loves Legos (Jamie built a table under his bed to build his structures) he loves Nerf Guns (he got one after Christmas and love it) loves computer games and looking for videos on YouTube he ran with the cross country team at school in the fall he trains with the Goldenhorse Aquatic Club 2 hours a week he completed 92-25 m lengths for the hour Swim-a-thon (2012) he loves going skiing - does Greens and Blues he was Mario again for Halloween he sang in the Easter and Christmas Choir at church

Summer/fall update

Okay trying to catch up with the blog. It's more for me to remember what was going on and when.

Rowing started in April. I had just started in a single last August but this year I really got a lot more balance in the racing shell at the Jordan Harbour Niagara Rowing School. The club grew a lot over the summer with more members. I was out usually 3-4 times a week for at least an hour on the water. Despite some challenges with getting a boat all set up, I participated in a 10 km and a 21 km (half marathon) race at the Ottawa New Edinburgh Club in Ottawa. Greg rowed with Laura in the double and the three of us had a blast in Ottawa. I was able to see Gwen and Kaleb too. The 10 km race was on Saturday morning and I completed that race in 54.02. We had a lovely pot luck dinner on the Saturday and I really enjoying chatting with some of the other rowers there. On Sunday it was 6 deg. A bit cold but after the sun was out more and I warmed up everything was great. I finished the 21 km race in 1:55:57. I only stopped once for water and an energy bar. My bum was a bit numb by the end of the race but prayer worked because that was what I thought I would have trouble with. We are praying for lots of snow over the winter so that the Jordan Harbour water levels will rise for next Spring. Kendra and Micah did well in school this year. Micah's year was crazy with the two teachers coming in and out of the class. The one teacher was on maternity leave. She didn't come back until January and then had to leave again after 3 weeks for surgery. Not fun! We also had to fight to get Micah an FM system this year. They split Micah up from the other boy who needs the system. So Micah had no support for his CAPD. We did get a trial one in March but this year he now has his own no matter what class the other boy is in.

For the Canada Day long weekend we headed up to Gravenhurst with mom to have a relaxing week on Turtle Lake. We rented the cottage from Enno and Marina's son Davin. The cottage was a bit small for all 6 of us but we managed. We had intended for Micah and Kendra to sleep in a tent just outside but they didn't want to go in it. A couple of nights it was quite hot but thank goodness that Davin left a huge fan for us. We had a blast playing board games, fishing from the dock (Kendra caught one with her hands), looking for wildlife (mostly toads, muscrats, beavers), kayaking (Micah did great in his own kayak), paddle boating, playing with the neighbours kids (Matthew and Jordana - they were the same age as Micah and Kendra), going to the Farmers Market, going to the Wildlife Preserve, going to Enno and Marina's for dinner and boat rides (all three of the kids went on the tube - yes Ethan too) and we visited Mom's sister Pat in Fenlin Falls (kids loved looking for frogs in the pond). The rest of the summer was full of library program (read books and they get to win prizes), two vacation bible schools, going to Gammie and Pompa's. We went to Hoppy Ralph's with Hazel and Levi. We went to the Peach Festival with Dad and Laura. We took Ethan to the CNE while Micah and Kendra were at Gammie's. We went to Bissell's to visit Kendra's friend Sabrina. We had two beach days at Nelles Park. Both the kids participated in the Grimsby Marlins Swim Team (Micah had to participate as an "exhibition" swimmmer as he swam with a club all year long). Kendra played soccer. Kendra had a sleepover with Breilyn and Jaydn. Lots of fun stuff.

Before school started again, Jamie and I were able to take a weekend away in Barrie for our 14th anniversary. We spent one night in a hotel and then headed out to Tree Top Trekking to learn how to zip-line and do obsticle courses. We did that for the morning, got some lunch and then headed to Collingwood to the Scenic Caves. They were just amazingly beautiful! They also had a suspension bridge in another section over top of a forest. Ethan had a speech therapy session in January - March and then again from July to September. He had Dana the first time and then her contract ended and Melissa came in. It was a bit frustrating having different people (I think he would have progressed much better if it was the same person). He was only speaking one word mostly at the beginning but he did get up to 2-3 words by the end of the first session. The second session he didn't seem to progress much at all but once he got into preschool the progress was amazing.

Kendra is in a Grade 2/3 split this year with Mrs. Bridges. Micah has Mrs. McCarthy again but for Grade 5. He is struggling to keep up with handing things in and the higher volume of work but we are trying to keep on top of him. Mrs. McCarthy expects a lot so it has been a challenge but it'll be great for Micah in the long run.

Ethan started this September at the Beamsville Co-operative Nursery School for 5 days a week. He had been struggling with his speech so much that we decided to send him the 5 days. It took him a while to warm up but he is doing so well now. Ms. Marlena also told us of a resource consultant that we could use to help Ethan with his speech. The resource consultant takes all his medical issues and speech therapy into account to help Ethan to develop faster. So by the end of October we got the West Niagara Resource Consultants on board after we got all the paper work set up. Patti is his case worker and she comes to the school to meet with Ethan on a one-on-one basis. She did an assessment and got a program together for Ms. Marlena to teach in the school. God is so good to set up such a great teacher and the resource consultant!!

We also had to say goodbye to Hazel and Levi this September. Ethan had enjoyed having them around to play with the 3 days a week, especially while Micah and Kendra were at school all day. Levi went to junior kindergarten for the mornings. So Hazel and Ethan played together and then we got Levi for lunch. Levi broke his femor bone in the spring so it was a challenge to keep his spirits up. He was such an active kid and for him to have to sit/lie down so much was hard. Levi went to full day school in September so his last day was at the end of August. Hazel came over for all of September before her mom had the baby. It was a busy time as Ethan was at preschool, Hazel, the social one, had no one to play with for 2 hours. I managed and everyone got adjusted although it was a lot to take in for the little ones.