Catching Up!

I checked my blog for the first time in ages. Its been over a year since I have posted. Wow! I know no one is reading any longer but since this blog is for ME, I am going to give an update of the past year.

2nd grade was a challenging year for Aidan. After having some evaluations done I decided it was best to put him back in Occupational Therapy. The poor child struggles and I mean really struggles with hand writing. Enough was enough so I put him in OT twice a week beginning last March. What a difference 7 months makes! I just had his Parent/Teacher conference and was blown away by his journal! He wrote maybe a total of 10 entries last year. The words were so jumbled and poorly formed that you could barely read them. This year he has written in his journal 2 to 3 times a week, has written entire page(s), and the handwriting is legible and nicely spaced!  Sooooo much better. We still have a ways to go but he is progressing nicely! Back in September I also put him in therapeutic horse back riding lessons. This has been a GREAT experience. His confidence has gone through the roof and it is building all of his muscles. I was talking to a mom while Aidan was riding who just happened to be a physical therapist. She said that the riding would even help his handwriting. Score!The best way to describe therapeutic riding is that it is like OT on a horse. I love it! Probably the best improvement I have seen is that Aidan no longer has tantrums when its time to sit down and write. He will just sit and write without a peep!

Sadly on January 2, 2015 we had to put down our sweet sweet Annabelle. They found a mouth tumor last October and she just went down hill from there. She almost made it to 16. I did nothing but spoil her those last few months. We were fortunate to find a vet who came to our house to put her to sleep. I got to hold and comfort her through the entire process until she finally took her last breath. I still think about my best friend just about every day. There will NEVER be another dog like her I had her cremated and she will forever be with me. I thought it would a long time before we got another dog but I only lasted about a week, lol! At the end of January we brought home our new pup Philipa Grace ( we call her Pippa). She is a Cavachon- part King Charles Cavalier and part Bichon. She just turned 1 yesterday and man is she a mess! I mean don't get me wrong I love her but she is like the energizer bunny. She loves to play ALL DAY LONG! She is a bit higher maintenance than what I'm used to but she is super sweet. :)

This past summer we took a summer vacation to Paris and London. We spent 10 days in Paris- Clinton, Aidan, and me. Clinton didn't open his computer once! Hooray! It was so nice to have that family time. We then went to London where Clinton worked. Aidan and I did some site seeing and hung out with him while he worked. Aidan and both fell in love with Paris! He talks about going back all the time!

Aidan grew 2 inches over the summer and has gained 3 pounds since September. That is a big deal for him! I have taken out all artificial colorings and most of gluten out of his diet and I think it has made him start gaining weight.

This is his last year for AWANAS at church. Next year he will go into club 45 which is for our 4th and 5th graders. He is currently taking a break from Chess club but intends on joining again after Christmas. He is also doing cub scouts and his riding lessons. With that and OT twice a week I feel like we have a good balance this year. Not to many activities and not to little. He keeps asking to go back to swim lessons so we will probably start those soon.

No pictures for this post. I am having to use Aidan's computer since mine has been out for repair for the past month! Ill have to post pictures of our vacation to Paris and Pippa when I finally get it back. :)