Despite the difficult months that have gone before us this year, Life does indeed go on, especially if you have kids who need you. ;o}

Erik has been receiving hippotherapy (horse therapy) for some time now, but recently I got Nikolai signed up, too. He was wary, as he was worried it was a "little kid" thing, but when I told him there was an elderly lady who rode to help her recover from a stroke, he decided it was safe, so he agreed. Nikolai desperately needs therapy on his legs, but because he has refused it for so many years (and BELIEVE ME, I've tried!!!!) his legs are in really bad shape. He doesn't seem to mind, though, and says that he likes using his wheelchair. (Hmmm...) Anyway, here are pictures from Erik and Nikolai's morning at hippotherapy:



Now that he is chewing a lot better, he can enjoy things like - an "Aunt Watley's" cookie!! This just may be the first cookie he's ever eaten. In a way it's nice, though, one thing you CAN'T call him is a junk food junkie!!

Okay, so maybe school did start a month ago today, but I've been in a bit of a funk lately, and haven't been in the mood to blog. The funk is lifting a little bit and I'm trying to get back into the swing of things, so here I go! I only have time this morning for one blog post, but I have a couple more to put on, so stay tuned.

Here is Erik on his first day of school. He is in Kindergarten this year, and is in a "Supported Kindergarten" class, which includes First, Second and I think, Third graders as well. Erik is still only 25 pounds soaking wet, though, so I'm sure he is dwarfed by all of the big kids in his class!! The school he goes to is not particularly welcoming, and they frown on parents in the classrooms, so I haven't even seen his room yet (I know, slap my wrist), but I've spoken with his teacher several times and she is great. I get notes home each day on how his day was (something I longed for last year but didn't get), and soon I will go in for a teacher visit. I am comfortable with him going there, though I don't like it - the school is in the middle of Titusville, which is terribly inconvenient for me, and poor Erik's bus rides are an hour in the mornings and 45 min. to an hour in the afternoons! Good thing he likes riding...!



As per tradition on the first day of school, the kids stand with their backpacks by whatever car we happen to have that year. This year, we had a rental car! LOL

This is kind of cool: it's a map showing many of the places that I've been in my life. I got tired of looking through the list of cities so I finally quit, but this is pretty neat!






..and yes, I HAVE been to Reykjavik, Iceland. ;op