St. Patty's Day

Busy, busy day! Actually, busy, busy last two days.



Yesterday Sara and her girls came down. That was nice! Melissa (age 10) had sent me a questionnaire last week on my likes (favorite flavors, colors, animals, flowers, etc) and she made me a beautiful doll cake! I'll have to post a picture. She made it half peppermint, half strawberry, with frosting tulips. The doll's skirt is made out of that fancy fondant (is that a word - not sure what I am looking for here - that really smooth frosting that comes up in sheets) - all in red, my favorite color! We watched "Fireproof" and then went out to Jordan Creek.



Actually, on "Fireproof" what really bothered me was this: Melissa wanted to watch it with the caption on in case either of the toddlers started making noise. This was my 3rd time to see the movie, but reading the words made me realize just how much I had missed hearing when I viewed it the first two times. I really ought to go have my ears checked out. I just know it's going to mean either a hearing aid or surgery and neither option excites me too much. But I should get it done before socialized medicine becomes a reality.



So, we went to the mall and walked around. I have had my eye on a purse for summer for awhile now. But it's a $70 purse and I just can't spend that. I told myself it had to be marked down at least 25% before I would even consider it. Well, I checked and it was. But still - that's a chunk of money, even with the discount. I had decided that for practicality's sake, I needed to go with the dark denim one, even though the pink and melon one was so much more cheerful! But I know where my purses end up - on the kitchen floor, on the van floor, stuffed in the bottom of the stroller - pink wouldn't be pretty for very long. I was debating and debating and then I saw, stuffed under a display shelf, one of the denim bags. It was missing it's paper stuffing, but it was the size I wanted. Inside was a handwritten note that said it was marked down an additional 25% because, for some reason, the little change purse that came with each purse was missing out of it. Well, I didn't hesitate! I figured this was a sign from God and I bought my purse!



Today I took Ben and David to Speech. Their teacher said she really thinks she only needs to see David one more time and he'll be released from his IEP. This is Ben's last year of Speech, too.



I got home and I had a phone call from Advanced Therapy Solutions. This is the organization that was recommended to us last week by the psych. as a possible resource for some social skill training for Ben. We have a meeting next Wed. with somebody there. It sounds promising and I have my hopes up. Ben definitely needs social skill training and I suppose not being in school is a drawback for him in that area. Of course, I think the benefits of homeschooling him still outweigh any possible social benefits, though! But, I intend for him to be able to be gainfully employed as an adult and, unless he's doing paperwork in a closed office somewhere, he has got to develop some better social interaction skills! This place is up on Ingersoll in Des Moines - a good 35 - 40 min drive. I don't like that part. I feel like I live in my van and I have been so frustrated lately at the amount of schoolwork and housework that I am not getting done. This will only add to that burden. But - you do what you have to.



I took the boys to the St. Patrick's parade in downtown Des Moines today. I would be fine with missing this thing, but they look forward to it. We have gone every March 17th since we moved here. So we all wore green, loaded up the stroller, brought our lunch, and staked a spot on Locust St. The weather was absolutely gorgeous today, which brought out tons and tons of parade-goers. I was kind of irritated, though. All these people, kids and adults, crowded past those of us on the edge of the sidewalk and viewed the parade, standing in the street, clear out to the yellow line! That's just plain rude, not to mention dangerous. The parade entrants didn't throw much candy, which was fine by both me and the boys' dentist. Will caught a string of beads, which he immediately put around his neck. A little later I saw him go up to David, slip it off his head, and put it over David's. He told me that he had observed the look on David's face after Ben had caught a string of beads and he didn't want him to feel bad, so he gave him his beads. Later, Will caught another string and he gave them to Sam, who was entranced and kept taking them off and then putting them back on. Will never did get his own string. I am raising a really great kid, though.



I ran a couple of errands and now I am home, trying to get the laundry caught up and the house cleaned. Oh yes, I also had to make several calls regarding the kids' insurance - what a pain. We're going to grill out on this last fine evening. Hopefully, Paul will be home early enough to take care of that. Ever since I almost blew up our last house with the grill, I'm reluctant to turn that thing on myself. Then, we have an appointment to get our taxes done in Indianola at 8 pm.



And tomorrow - tomorrow is my birthday! Not a milestone year and in the middle of a busy week, but it should be a nice day, regardless. It's not every day you turn 38!