The Incredible Adventures of Dorian and Wynn: Mid Summer Day's Dream

I can't believe the summer is already half over! Our days have been very busy with Ben and Alex attending tutoring for reading and writing, Dorian and Wynn attend school 4 times per week for 2 1/2 hours per day, Viktoria is gone all day at school, and Luna keeps chasing birds in the backyard like a good hunting dog should.

Since the 4th grade will be focused on alot of narrative writing, I've been spending at least 1 hour per day reading or preparing presentations with Ben and Alex. On reading days, they either read for fun out loud to me, OR they read a facts-based book about growing up and take notes about what facts they learned. On video days we watch documentaries and take notes during the documentary and every night when Chris comes home from work the boys deliver a presentation about what they learned that day. We are learning about cells, the constitution, the real story behind Brave Hart (William Wallace), adrenaline, hormones, etc. The boys have been taking alot of pride in their presentations and it's been fun seeing them squirm about the biological/ development stuff we've been learning. I should video record when they get to the reproduction chapter!!!

Wynnie's voice never really did come back from losing it after having been intubated so long in the hospital. I thought his voice would have been back by now. Sometimes he sounds like a little cat, but he is still as cute and cuddly as ever. Dori is always asking to play with Wynnie and saying hi to him so when Dori gets too fussy I just ask him "Do you want to play with Wynnie?" and he smiles real big and lets me put him on the floor so that he can roll over to Wynnie. Dori enjoys driving around with his eyes closed in his motorized scooter while his PT is here. He'll close his eyes, smile and drive very slowly while cracking his eyes to see what his PT is going to say. Stinker. Dori can't seem to get enough food... he eats fairly constantly throughout the day and doesn't gain an ounce. What luck. He also enjoys hanging out in the pool with Viktoria and her friends... as long as he can splash around he can stay out there for hours. He is smart to hang out with the pretty girls instead his old mama inside. ha ha!!

I've had a number of people ask me if I'm still working for some reason. Yes I'm still working. Summer has been a little slow for me this year but I'm looking forward to a busy fall -- some opportunities with old clients and others with brand new clients so it should be fun. Chris is busy with work and spent some quality time golfing with the boys last night until it started raining on hole #3. His renewed quest to be healthy is very inspiring to me -- he has lost over 30 pounds by eating smart and when I'm tempted to stick my face into a pint of ice cream, he helps steer me in a more healthy direction now that he is watching what he eats too. Ben's baseball season is over for the time being and basketball is on break. Both Ben and Alex are attending agilities training and doing alot of the same drills I do at bootcamp. It's fun to see. Ben is still very focused on his "abs" and Alex compliments him on the definition he has earned on his tummy and his chest. Alex has taken a big interest in history this summer and has been watching lots of shows about historical stuff.

The beginning of summer was really hard. There was a couple of weeks where the extended i-cell family had their babies earn their angel wings. Although the weeks have passed, our prayers are with their families and it makes us squeeze our babies just a little bit tighter.

God has been good to us this summer. In the comfort of our home surrounded by the people we love the most, we continue to be thankful for our children and all the fun crazy adventures they bring to our lives. I can't imagine my mornings without a quiet sleepy Ben who takes a good hour to wind up and then goes nonstop for an entire day. I can't imagine an Alex who doesn't follow me around all day and tells me he misses me even though he is only gone for an hour at a time for tutoring or sports practice. "ALEX I HAVEN'T BEEN AWAY FROM YOU LONG ENOUGH TO MISS ME" doesn't seem to work on him. I can't imagine an afternoon without Dori -- a high maintenance diva show tune master who loves to flirt and sings his "I love my mami.... oh yes I do..." song every chance he wants to see me smile. I can't imagine a night without Wynnie who likes to cuddle on Chris's chest once all the other boys have gone to bed and just smiles for days while Chris's voice rumbles in his ears. Life is nuts but I would think it to be very boring if it weren't. Thank you God for never making our life boring -- not one single day.

You don’t choose your family. They are God’s gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu