First Day of Summer School

Kannin started back to school this morning. He will be going "Summer Session" Mondays through Thursdays from now until July 23rd. The bus comes at 7:13 to pick him up and brings him home at 11:35. He was so excited about starting "Pre-School" again after a 2 week break. He has been a member of the S.T.A.R. Program since this past October. It is a special Pre-K for Autistic children. There is a max of 10 students. He has learned so much from S.T.A.R. and they are all great there! It makes it easier to send your little boy to school early in life when the teachers are wonderful!

Kannin waiting for the bus...7:13 am!!!

YES I SAID SEVEN THIRTEEN A.M.!!!

Here comes the bus...

Little Kannin barely peeking out the window as the bus takes off.

BOLD REMINDER!!!

The boys and I headed home yesterday from SD back to Billings. We had a pretty good trip...even though it was 7 hours!! We stoped in Bowman, ND where we usually like to stop. They have a really nice Truck Stop / Convenience Store. Clean bathrooms are hard to find when you are on a cross country road trip but we know they have really clean ones...so that is where we stopped. I decided to eat lunch there and not in the car, since I did not have Tysen's help feeding the boys as he stayed back in SD for the summer.

They have ready made food so Ryder picked a corndog and Kannin had Chicken Nuggets. I set them both up at a booth and gave them each their OWN ketchup cup. For some reason...Ryder felt the need to dip his corndog in Kannin's ketchup. Ok, let me me tell you...NO ONE TOUCHES Kannin's food. Even if Kannin doesn't want his food...it is HIS and NO ONE is allowed to touch it! It really is one of his characteristics with his Autism. He proceeded to "LOOSE IT!" I quickly got him a new ketchup cup and tried to avoid the issue and he DID calm down. Thank Goodness!!!

I asked Ryder why he did that, because he does know that we DON'T TOUCH Kannin's food! He said that HIS cup had Ketchup on the rim from dipping his corndog in it and Kannin's had not been used yet so it looked clean!..."Are you kidding me?!?" We nearly started World War III over ketchup on the rim! My frustrations began to build. While still sitting in the booth I leaned over and said to Ryder, in the calmest voice I could muster up in hopes to avoid further stares while my teeth were tightly clinched...

"Ryder...We have 4 hours left to drive. It is very important to do what mommy says. DO NOT cause any screaming in the car. DO NOT take anything from your brother. DO NOT kick my seat anymore. DO NOT ask me how long til we are home! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE GOOD AND HELP ME OUT!!! God is watching you! UNDERSTAND???"

Now...We use God and Grandma's name alot in deterring our children from bad things. We do remind them that they are being watched at all times and when they do something bad we tell them that "Grandma would not like that! Shoud I tell her what you did?" or..."Would you do that in front of Grandma?" It works everytime! Grandma really has alot of pull! We occationally throw God's or Jesus' name in there instead of Grandma's and it sometimes is just the leveredge that they need to make them think of what they do, before they do it. Maybe not the best means of parenting...but we do what we gotta to get by! I have wondered how many times God or Jesus watches and listens to me while I say those things to my children.

I took a deep breath and said..."Let's Go!"

As I was cleaning up the table from our quick lunch...I looked out the window by our booth and saw...

"JESUS CHRIST IS LORD"

"Not A Swear Word"

I guess he does watch me. He does hear me. And here was my sign as a reminder of HOW to use his name. (I took the picture as we were pulling out of the parking lot.)

Time With Grandpa

When grandpa got home from work today...

the boys attacked him! They love Grandpa's rough play!

Kannin, Grandpa Roger & Ryder

Ryder helped grandpa mow the yard.

He even got to drive the mower himself! What a big boy!!

All leathered up...What a couple of "Wild Hogs!"
Oh...except for the cute Sponge Bob shoes Ryder is sporting!




"Get your motor running! Head out on the highway!"
"BORN TO BE WILD!!!"

South Dakota Trip

We celebrated a Be-Lated Birthday for Kannin with an Ice Cream Cake!

Mmmmmmmmmm!!!

(Ryder, Grandma Dorothy, Grandpa Roger, Tysen, Grandma Kris and Birthday Boy Kannin front and center)

Kannin LOVES his Ice Cream Cake!

The cake MUST have been good because EVERYONE was quiet!

Ryder shows grandma Dorothy his Army Men.

More South Dakota

On Sunday June 7th...my dad took Tysen back to Mobridge to spend the summer with his dad. The boys will sure miss him this summer. They will not see him until Mid-August.

I told the boys to give Tysen a hug goodbye and they attacked him.

This was a close to a hug as we got...

Kannin (4) Tysen (12.5) Ryder (5)


I taught Ryder how to play Allowance the Game. It is alot like Monopoly but you earn and spend $ as you would when you get allowance.



Ryder waiting for his turn...

...and now he is counting his money! He is just like his dad!!! LOL!!!

Tysen's Ride

We came home to see my parents this past weekend in S.D. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and as soon as we got here...there was a surprise for Tysen. A friend of our family's...who am I kidding!?!? EVERYONE in Timber Lake is either friends or family. Anyway...Jake Kraft took Tysen up for a helicopter ride. He was so excited. I have been up in a heli about 8 years ago and have told Tysen about it often. It has always been something he wanted to do! What a great way to start his summer vacation!

Jake & Tysen getting ready to take off.

Tysen is so excited...you can see the smile on his face!

And they are off!

They went for a 10-15 minute ride and even went over my parent's house where Tysen's little brothers were watching!

Thanks Jake for starting out Tysen's summer on an awesome note!

Tysen Graduates from 6th Grade

Tysen will be entering Middle School this fall! WOW!! How did that happen to me? He had his 6th Grade Graduation from Bitterroot Elementary on Thursday June 4, 2009. It was an awesome ceremony complete with 2 slideshow, all the kids did photo collages of pictures from their lives, they all received diplomas and refreshments were served afterwards. It really was a great night. We now live in a different school district so our little guys will attend a different Elementary School. So...this was a bit of a goodbye for me too. Bitterroot Elementary was an awesome school with amazing teachers. We will miss going there!

Bitterroot Elementary Principal welcoming everyone to the 2009 6th grade graduation.

Tysen with his classmates getting ready to enter the gym.

Tysen and classmates lined the walls of the gym with their own photo collages. It was really neat to see all of the boards. Tysen waits to go up for his diploma.



Congrats Tysen...You are officially a 7th grader!!!