Dear Friends and Family,

Jeremy left on Tuesday and is currently in Belfast. We have been able to talk to him a few times via video chat which the kids have loved. He looks a little wiped out with the time change but is adjusting. He is busy with lots of cool experiences and is exploring London and Belfast (so far) when he has the chance. So I am being very thankful that I am not a single Mom all the time and glad I only have 2 1/2 more weeks to go!

It is 95 degrees outside right now. Last Monday they finished up our deck - in snow and hail with temperatures in the morning being around 40 degrees but by afternoon reaching 60. Spring in Utah. Our kids are loving the sudden unusual warmth. Allison and Robyn have broken out their swimsuits the last two days and have been busy running through the sprinklers and sucking down otter pops (I forgot the joy of finding otter pop wrappers all over the yard - every kid seems incapable of remembering to throw them away).

I have spent the week focusing on pulling weeds, planting our vegetable garden and making a mammoth run to the nursery for the last few plants. I need to shift my focus this week to our house as things have gotten sorely messy inside.

Robyn woke up Thursday with a crusty ear from a popped ear drum. So she is on antibiotics right now. She never had a fever but has definitely had an "edge" lately. This morning I put on some bicycle shorts on her under her dress so she would stop taking her diaper off at church like last week. Tears and wailing for 20 minutes as she tries to take the shorts off. Such a tough life. She is a little busy body and always is trying to find a friend to play with. We babysat three times this week where it was a girl her age and she was in heaven. She asks for Jeremy a couple of times a day and gets giddy when she sees him on the computer.

Allison has one week left of school. She had a pizza party Friday to celebrate their kind deeds they have done all year. She thought she was very cool to eat at school and is so excited for next year when she will bring a lunch to school. Two weeks ago Jeremy accidentally left the hamsters out and the next day they were gone. No sign of them since but we have a very happy cat upstairs. Maybe its cruel of us to think of bringing any more hamsters into this house! However Allison is already planning a trip to buy a new one with Jeremy when he gets back.

Taylor went fishing this week with his class and he caught a rainbow trout. They go every year where this group of anglers helps every kid. On Monday I met with this years teachers, next year's teacher and the district rep to figure out how it will work for next year. The teacher for next year is getting more confident on how to work Taylor into the classroom and understands that Taylor sitting and "observing" most activities does not work. I think it will work out but I don't think she will be coming up with great ideas on her own. Luckily they have good therapists who will be coming into the classroom. Taylor also got new daffos this week, they are huge! They come in 2 parts and should help prevent him from walking with his knees leaning past his toes.

Spencer is having May days at school where it seems like most days he needs to bring something to school (and is starting to do better at asking me a day or two ahead of time instead of the morning of!). He had a Hawiian laua this week (his contribution was Hawiian punch - which he was very proud of going in and buying at the store by himself), he has had a magic day, a joke day etc. We went to the library this week and Spencer checked out a bunch of magic tricks and has been watching how to videos online. So he is constantly asking me or Allison to be his dupe in the trick. A painfully long process sometimes as he tries to remember all the steps or his hands don't cooperate. Spencer also lost a tooth this week - the tooth fairy even remembered at midnight to slip a silver dollar under his pillow.

Yesterday we had to go shoe shopping. Taylor needed new shoes for his daffos (he is in the mens section now - a very painful price jump). All the kids needed sandals and Spencer needed tennis shoes where his toe didn't stick through the tip of the shoe. Kids did pretty good at the first store but Spencer was convinced he needed to go to the mall as that is where he got his first shoes with Jeremy. So I gritted my teeth in anticipation and we went. Spencer does really good most of the time now. But Mervyn somehow looked different than what he remembered and had planned for and he just lost it. Tears, anger, grabbed a pair of shoes but didn't want to try them on. 30 minutes later we were sitting at Taco Bell for lunch before going home and he apologized. Most of the time his anger outbursts are like hiccups, rare and infrequent and go away fast and not too bad. I forget easily how some things he just can't handle very well. At school there is a group of 3-4 kids who think its funny to try to make Spencer mad. He hasn't physically hurt anyone for a while but he will call them jerk etc and really struggle not to loose it. So his teacher suggested anytime he needs to go sit on the bench in the school and read a book if the kids are bugging him he can. So that is what he is doing.

For Mother's Day Jeremy gave me gift certificates for massage apprentices. Last night I went and indulged and it was great. Afterwards I laid on the grass eating a piece of cheesecake from Kneaders next door and reading a magazine. Pure slice of heaven in my week. I am trying to do better about not lifting Taylor as I am starting to feel it more. He can walk and get into things. It just takes more work.

Love to you all, Heather