Wrapping up the summer!

Well we have had a long hot summer. Right now we are surviving temperatures over one hundred degrees and everyone is ready for a break. We took a short vacation to Fredricksburg, TX and stopped to see my sister on the way home. We ate way too much and enjoyed some shops!

I think both boys are ready to get back into the routine of school. Jacob will be in 10th grade and is participating in ROTC again. He tried on his uniform today and it is too small. I emailed his instructor about him taking this uniform back and getting a larger one! I guess he is growing. We also tackled his room today. All I can say is, "OH CRAP!". You don't even want to know what all we found under there, but he was left to clean it up. He also wants to referee again this Fall, and I am trying to get a hold of someone at the soccer association to be sure he can referee!

Elijah will be going into the 5th grade and attending a new school. We visited a few weeks ago and just walked around. I am hoping we can go up the week of inservice and let him meet his teachers. He is ready to go back to school, but anxious too. We have been working on a simple rule all week, "listen to adults." This meaning basically, do what you are asked to do by an adult. Of course, then you have to clarify that with no one should touch you where you don't want to be touched and no one should ask you to get into a car. I have found the simpler I keep things with Elijah the better. His tics have been a little high this week. He is licking his hands and wiping his face a great deal. Whenever tics are high, his behavior is a little worse, but STILL so much better than in the past.

He has a bad habit of making faces when I speak to him and am disciplining him. I look past that for now and realize he is listening and not screaming back at me. We can work on his face later. I am hoping I can explain this teachers in a way that they understand I am not making excuses. However, with Elijah you cannot work on too many things at once or it is just too hard. You don't accomplish anything. It is better to take it in little steps.

Of course, with school starting back, I go back to work! We are all hoping this heat breaks by then. I go back on the 16th and the boys go back on the 22nd. I'll let you know how the beginning of the year goes. I know there will be bumps along the way, but hopefully we can work through those!