And for my birthday....

...my wonderful husband got me an amazing surprise. While we were out to dinner for my birthday, our friend/neighbor came over and hung portraits of the boys that James had taken, unbeknownst to me. They are absolutely beautiful. And I was totally surprised. And the boys were totally excited to be in on the surprise.

I don't have the photos on my computer yet but you can go to www.brettmaxwellphoto.com to see them. Scroll down about halfway to "birthday portraits" and you will see my three handsome men.

Thank you James, Sam, Jay and Luke!

Happy Birthday with Ruff Ruffman!

For Jay's birthday he wanted a "Fetch" party. "Fetch with Ruff Ruffman" is a show on PBS that Jay LOVES! Jay dressed as "Ruff" and we had a few activities that a contestant might participate in on the show.
Like a scavenger hunt....

a science experiment (blowing up a balloon without using your own breath)...

and creating the image of Ruff out of duck tape.

And here are a few of the creations.

The part that touched me the most were the gifts his friends gave him. A few of the kids got him some sensory toys because they know he uses things like that in school. They all know Jay has a kind of autism and really love him and accept him exactly as he is - which is really not hard to do because the boy is so fun! All in all it was a great party - very creative and everyone had a good time - including the birthday boy!

Another One Bites the Dust

Yesterday our sweet boy Jay came down with something. He spent all day in bed. And for those of you who don't know Jay - this is highly unusual. Jay is always moving and imagining and enthusiastic. But yesterday, and today, he just layed still and quiet all day with glassy eyes and flushed cheeks. I hope he starts to perk up tomorrow.

I usually kind of like it when one of the kids (or James) is home sick. I can just clear my schedule and take time to care for them, read to them, make them chicken soup and jello and usually catch up on laundry. That's how it was today. But I didn't like seeing my boy all wiped out on the couch.

Sadly, for Jay, today is his 12th birthday. He got quite a few calls from family wishing him a Happy Birthday. He took each call and mumbled a few answers to their questions and then said he thought he'd better go. He was all bummed out that he didn't get to bring treats to school 'on' his birthday. But I promised him the first day back he will. Thankfully he's having a party with friends for his birthday next weekend. Something for him to look forward to.

Happy Birthday Jaybird! We love you!