She's in!!!

Sydney's wait is over. She got the call that they had a spot for her at FWAFA. She is such a happy girl. I'm very excited as well. Hopefully it will be everything we are hoping for.

Exciting, exciting

FWAFA called. I have to go over and fill out paperwork today! Hopefully more good news to come.

Dutcher Family Reunion 2010

I feel incredibly blessed to have just attended another successful family reunion with my mom's side of the family and ever member was in attendance. We are getting so big but we still all manage to get together. I love seeing everyone and had the most fun this year. What a wonderful family I was born into. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for kicking it all off:)
I just think my husband is the most beautiful man on the planet. He doesn't love the paparazzi action, but I can't help myself.
Katie rode the knee board for the first time. Obviously she LOVED it!!!
Jack didn't stop swimming except for food and sleep. I think he was officially worn out at this point.
My mom is so dang cute with her short hair cut and her super cool lifejacket. She's just getting back from a ride on the jet skis. I hope I am so spunky at her age.

Galveston

We decided to drive down to Galveston for the weekend with our friends. It was a lot of fun and wonderful that it's so close to home.

Jack's Done

Jack had his 5th grade program tonight. I had no idea how awesome this program was going to be. The entire 5th grade sang songs from 8 or 9 different Broadway musicals. Some of them had the words altered to fit the occasion. Others were sung just as written. There were slide shows to go with each performance. The slides included pictures of the 5th grade teachers dancing and singing and also the 5th graders participating in all sorts of activities. It was so fun. The best part was the end of the program. They do something called a bridge ceremony. This is where they line up all the teachers from Kinder thru 5th grade. The children are called one by one and they make their way down the line. They hug each teacher along the way. It was absolutely beautiful. This shows the culmination of each of the efforts of teachers through all the years, not just the final year. It symbolized 6 years worth of love and work and patience. I can't say enough good things about the school Jack and Katie attend. My mother-in-law says it best all the time when she says "This school just has it right". I feel sooooooo lucky to have found such a great place for them to establish a solid foundation in learning. Not only do they learn, but they love to learn.

Oh, and did I mention I cried like a stinkin' baby. This night was heartbreaking. I am not ready for him to leave elementary school level. Middle school feels like the beginning of the end. Jack already seems so independent and doesn't really need his mama like he did when he was a little guy. Middle school can only get worse. He's not going to need me anymore and there's not much I can do about it. Where did my little fat baby boy go?

Katie Graduates

RIP Molly Dog May 19,2010

We'll miss you

Quick Update

I finished my first semester of graduate school! Huge accomplishment in my book. I was very happy with my semester, too. I had 3 A's and on B. I loved all my therapy clients this semester and was very sad the last day knowing I wouldn't see them again as clients, but that is how it goes. I had a sort of week off. I still had to run up to the school everyday to do GA work, but it wasn't too bad. I actually had time to clean my own house and play with the family we had visiting for Amy's graduation. We loved having the Bell's come for a visit. We even got to have Kalani and Bitsy stay at the house with us! He's such a little cutie. It was great to get some quality time in with them before they leave us for the islands again.
This Monday I started at a hospital in Fort Worth for my first internship. I really do love it! I get to see adults, which is completely different than working with kiddos. Most adult clients have some sort of cognitive deficit due to stroke. This is a brand new area for me (other than a class I had last semester) and I feel very much out of my comfort zone, but I love that I am able to do something new and exciting. I also get to see and evaluate people for swallowing difficulties. This is not something I ever thought I would be interested in but after learning all about it, I have become very fascinated with this topic. I loved the class last semester. I think it's the anatomy that I'm really in love with. Maybe I'm a dork. I have to say working in a hospital, I actually feel so much closer to being the real thing than I have up to this point. Maybe it's being out of the school setting, I don't know. I am actually starting to see myself as a Speech Language Pathologist. Weird. I hope the rest of the summer goes as well as things have so far.
I also started my first of three summer classes on Tuesday. I go 2 days a week for the next 8 weeks. After the 8 weeks of classes I will begin 5 days a week at the hospital until August 6. It's going to be a long summer, but a necessary means to an end.
The kids are getting ready for school to be out. May is always a busy, busy month so it's hard for me to be so preooccupied during this time of year. The kids are so wonderful though. Katie has a graduation next week. I can't believe she's graduating from Kinder. My baby is growing up so fast. Jack went up to the middle school and picked an instrument for band next year. He's going to play French Horn. We'll see how that goes.

Botanic Garden with Jesse

Going places with Jesse is always an adventure. I have been to the Fort Worth Botanic Gardens several times and I just walk through the grounds taking in the beautiful flowers and wondering over the amazing colors all around me. Jesse went with us for the fist time this weekend and I saw a whole different side of the gardens. Beginning with...


of course, he had to catch the snake. He can't just admire from a distance but actually has to hold it and pass it around to all the children.



Next he was swinging from a vine in a tree.

Katie of course had to have a turn too.


There is a large pond and there were millions of turtles sunning themselves. Jesse couldn't stand it when he saw a snapping turtle. He had to catch it just because he can. It was not a happy snapping turtle. He didn't want to come out and play. But he came out, by his tail, and he was ticked.


This thing was a monster.




Sydney invited Justin to come along for the day. He definitely scored points with us for wanting to hang out with Sydney and her parents for the day. Good kid.






Katie brought Emma along for the day also. They had a blast running through the gardens looking at flowers and creatures.



Jesse made all of us take turns posing with the beautiful roses which were in full bloom.








I married my favorite person in all the world!




What a fabulous day!!!