It's been too long

Where has time gone?  I can't believe that the last time I posted was the end of February.  Here it is the end of June...I'm a bad blogger.

Lots has happened in the last few months.  School is out for summer (after making up endless snow days), Jed turned four, we started renovating our basement, we went on vacation (kid-free), we had Julia's first IEP meeting, I enrolled in another graduate program, and OeyeO is this weekend!

So here are some pics to get you up to date.

Over Spring Break we went to the zoo with the cousins.  It wasn't quite warm yet, but we had a ton of fun.  So thankful for a great zoo in our hometown (and it being free doesn't hurt either!).

Easter was good.  We were able to dye eggs, the Easter Bunny arrived, and we had an egg hunt after church with the cousins.  As you can see from the pics below, the chocolate was the kids' favorite part.  We also had a really cool cake that my niece made.  She is really talented.  My mom had found these Easter eggs that were shaped like Little People Toys.  There was even a pirate one with a patch, so we put it on the cake like a topper!

Jed turned four!  How is my baby already four?  He loves fishing, pretending to hunt, building with legos, playing cowboy, and jumping off things.  He is super active, and super loving.  He always wants me to sing a song before he goes to bed.  Sometimes it is "You are my Sunshine."  Other times he requests "Twinkle, Twinkle" but "not with a star mom, sing it with a moon."  So I have to improvise.  He loves big hugs and kisses.  He had a party at a bouncy house arena (it was perfect - I didn't have to clean!).  He of course got new play guns for his birthday.  Once he put on the crown at his party, he declared, "I am the King."  He still says that!

Summer has officially arrived.  It is super hot, so we are always finding ways to cool off.  Jed and Julia are enrolled in swimming lessons, and they love the water.  Before school ended, we had Julia's first IEP meeting.  She was evaluated by the school district for her transition out of First Steps.  She qualified for Special Ed due to her vision and will be attending preschool two mornings a week.  She also will be working with a vision teacher for 30 minutes a week.  I was pleased with the meeting and how everything went.  I was worried I was going to have to pull a momma bear moment, but it went smoothly!

I also decided to enroll in a graduate program and further my education.  I already have a Master's Degree in Special Ed, but wanted to do something new.  After everything we have been through with Julia, I decided to go back to school and earn my certification in Teaching Students with Blindness and Low Vision.  I started this summer.  The courses are mainly online  through a university in my state.  It is hard juggling the kids and school work, but I know it will be worth it.  I am excited to start learning Braille in the fall and being able to better serve the students in my school with blindness and low vision.

Julia had an eye appointment and it was uneventful!  Yeah!  Finally a "normal" appointment.  No surgeries, no prescription changes, just good news!

James and I were able to go on a kid free vacation to an all inclusive resort in Cancun.  We went with my parents and sisters and their husbands.  It was wonderful.  Did I mention it was kid free?  And all inclusive?  Which means would eat and drink as much as we wanted?  Wonderful.  The only negative part was the nasty seasickness I got when we tried to go deep sea fishing.  I strongly recommend short trips without your kids to recharge and rejuvenate.  I missed them terribly, but it was wonderful to relax.

The kids have been having fun at the pool and in the sprinkler.

I'm sure there is more going on, but I'll stop the information (and picture) overload for now.  Right now we are getting ready for OeyeO with my imoms.  I am so excited to meet them in person!  I know our kids will be great friends (and probably cause all sorts of mischief).