KoKonut Kapers

Kokonut Kapers Musical

Ethan, you were the best pirate! You did such a wonderful job acting in the play! All the directors said you played the roll the best and were such a delight to work with. You didn't complain at all with the late night/weekend practices. As a matter of fact, you were very eager to be on time and to start learning your part. We are so proud of you Ethan!

Swimming and looking oh so cute.....

We started our day by singing Happy Birthday to Kyle! Kyle we hope you had a wonderful birthday! Then it was off to swimming lessons............

Emery had her second swimming lesson yesterday. She waited so patiently for her instructor. Once her instructor came out then it was time to get serious. Once again, Emery had such a wonderful time and is doing extremely well. Good job Emery!

I have to laugh every time I think of her in that pool. There was not ONE time when I would look over at her and she wasn't smiling! She always had a huge smile on her face and was having the time of her life! To me, to see her having this much fun and being so happy .... this makes me content! Emery is happy, healthy and having a fabulous time!

Stay tuned for Ethan's BIG weekend!

Let the Swimming Begin

Good Job Emery......... You Swim So Well!

On Wednesday, Emery started swimming lessons. This girl swims like a fish! She did extremely well on her first day. The instructor said that Emery was advanced for her age. Emery was the only child in this group so rather than move her up and into a class with 4 boys the instructor said she would give Emery one on one lessons and work with her at the next level. We were so proud of Emery and very pleased with her new instructor.

The night before her lessons Emery could not sleep, she kept getting up asking if it was morning yet. She was so excited for swimming.

After swimming lessons and on the drive home Emery asked why we didn't sign her up during a time when Ethan could come and watch. "Ethan would like to see me dive and swim under water", she proudly told us.

Warning: Cute Children Photos Shown Below

Ok so I am a "copy cat". I copied this title from my husband's post. He should be flattered that I wanted to use his title. (Plus it fits the photos)

This was taken at Emery's preschool on the day of her Valentine party. Ethan took this photo. He's quite a photographer I might add. Emery's Preschool teachers are so kind to Ethan. They let him participate in the fun classroom parties. Ms. Joni and Ms. Chris gave Ethan a cookie to decorate and eat.
Emery and Ms. Joni.
Ethan had his Valentine party on Valentine's day. Here are a few photos from his classroom. Ethan sits with 3 girls at his spot in the room. They seem to really enjoy him. He makes them laugh. I can only imagine what goes on and the conversations those 4 have. One of the girls was in Preschool with Ethan. They also had Ms. Joni. That was 4 years ago.
The kids decorated their own Valentine boxes. Ethan chose to do a patriotic theme. He wanted a photo of himself on his box. I loved his idea of the candy hearts he put on the top.

Emery decorated her box at her Preschool. I love all the hearts she colored and the rickrack. These were the beautiful and very colorful Valentine cards I received from my two sweethearts.

Fancy Dinner ~ Funny Conversation

Happy Valentine's Day!

Each year it seems we (meaning the kids and I) spend Valentine's Day alone. LB seems to be the unfortunate one to have to work on Love Day. I try to come up with a little something special for the kids. Usually I prepare their favorite meal and we use our fancy china and have a candlelight dinner. Tonight, however, the kids asked for a heart shaped pizza.

We purchased our pizza from our favorite take out pizza shop. Once we were home, I thought it would be fun to have dinner in our p.j.'s. The kids thought this was really cool. I made my famous sparkling orange-pineapple punch. We then placed our fancy snack set china on the table as our dinnerware. We even had my dozen roses as our table center piece.

We had a wonderful dinner! We were only missing one thing..... ~ Daddy.

So to you Daddy, Happy Valentine's Day. We will have your favorite dinner tomorrow evening. We Love you lots!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
As always, I'd like to share one more story:

Our conversation that we had while eating our "fancy dinner".

Ethan was talking about money for college and how it must cost more than $80 to go to college. Emery was talking about .... well, who knows... her mouth goes a mile a minute, interrupting everyone.
So it was during our college conversation that Ethan asked me if LB and I met in college. I explained to him that his Dad went to college long before I did (being as I am in college now). Ethan then asked me how LB and I met. I explained to him how I got sick and needed a prescription and went into the Pharmacy and that was where I met his Dad. "Oh yeah, you went in, saw Dad and really liked him, you two went on a date, had a fancy dinner, and Dad asked you to marry him". My reply was, (smiling & chuckling to myself) "Well, you were correct with most of the story, but your Dad and I dated for awhile before we got married".

After dinner, I was putting away the dishes and thinking about when I met LB. It was 14 years ago. It is a funny but long story that brought us together (maybe I'll post that later). Thinking about how we met and our blind date, brought back all those wonderful memories. It made me appreciate LB all the more. It made me want to call him at work and tell him how much I really Love Him. I missed him tonight (we missed him tonight) and wish he could have shared this precious time and conversation with us. I need to go and make a call to Cub....... :)

"Mom, guess who is joining us for breakfast?"

Happy Monday!

Emery is full of energy this morning! It is 9:00AM and we have already built a fort out of chairs and blankets, colored bookmarks, and played with stuffed animals. Oh and yes, we had breakfast hours ago. Emery just informed me that we will be having a guest for breakfast. Any guesses?

If you guessed Paint, the multi-colored horse, you are correct. And why was Paint
hanging on the edge of the table (looks like she was doing chin-ups)?

Because this is what was under the table helping Paint to hold her head high!

In the fort with Paint

Bookmarks!

Next on the agenda? To get dressed!

I'll also leave you with a short story of what went on in our house last night.

5:30PM and I am trying to get dinner ready. We were waiting for LB to come home and join us.

I asked Ethan to please go and take his Sunday night shower.

6:15PM "Emery, will you please go and knock on the bathroom door and tell Ethan he needs to be done with his shower?" "OK Mom, I'll tell him", she replied. Thinking in my head, we don't own the water company, son!

6:16PM Emery sits back down at the table and finishes her coloring project.

6:25PM "Emery, did Ethan say he'd be right down? Was he finished with his shower?" I asked.

Emery replies, "humm, I don't know but he yelled "Emery! Get atta here!" (her exact words)

Time To Learn More Gooder English.....

For most of you that know me, you know that I have gone back to college. It has been more than 16 years since I have been in college. Let me tell you, life is sure different now than when I was in school. Most of the students are "typical" students, under the age of 20 and fresh out of high school. I am one of the "non-traditional" students. That means "old". When my fellow classmates were showing off their tattoos and piercings, I could only offer to show the recent school photos of my children. Although I got "oh cute" and "she looks just like you", I could tell they were not very interested.

I finished my first English class in December. I did very well (an A I might add) . I worked very hard for my grade. I was proud of my accomplishment. I put forth more effort in this class than I did my entire high school years. Yes, I will admit, in high school I was more interested in the next party that was brewing. Heading up the weekend "pit parties" was second nature to me. I am sure my parents knew all of this but just in case they didn't... now they do.

It wasn't and isn't easy going back to school after all these years. My previous worries of balancing family, friends, and time no longer concern me. I am working at my own pace and will strive for the best grade I can earn. I will start back in 4 days. I am eager, confident, and ready. Ready to learn!

My last goal is to convince LB that I need new school clothes and supplies. He isn't buying this one... guess I won't ask about Spring Break.

Hubby has a blog

yes, he does indeed...... this man, my husband, has created a blog. I have to laugh at the "occupation" status, the site didn't offer anything remotely close to Pharmacy so LB thought "Chemicals" was/is close enough. Back to his blog... He is such an excellent writer. His stories will be interesting and have lots of "his humor" included. :)

I love it.... love it, love it. (and him)

Check him out at: www.lbsimba.blogspot.com

Our House,In the Middle of the Street.(cul-de-sac)

Toasty on the inside but look what
goes on outside.......

Snow Much Fun!



Even though it is only 30 degrees outside, that doesn't stop
these two snow children from a good day of outdoor play!

Wish you were here to make snowmen, forts and snowballs with us!

Have a great day and stay warm! Love, Ethan and Emery

time to make hot chocolate......... :)

"The 12 Days of Christmas" - Ethan's version...

A couple of days ago I received a nice note from Ethan. Knowing that I would see this "To Mom" note first thing in the morning, he placed his neatly folded, beautifully handwritten, note in the spot where I eat breakfast. Carefully tearing the tape around this beautiful note (seriously thinking it would be another little love note or joke) I found myself reading a song - a song written by my lovely son, Ethan.

First get the 12 days of Christmas tune in your head ... got it? ok .. here we go.....

"On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me.......
one Play station 3

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me......
two Play Station 3

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me.....
three Play Station 3"

(continue to 12 and you'll have the complete Ethan version of "The 12 Days of Christmas"....

Need I say more?? Do you think he wants a Play Station 3?? I loved the note and yes, I will save it forever but... I do have a view and opinion about those video games and such.

This is my view. My opinion ONLY. I am not telling anyone that they shouldn't have video games in their home, I am only expressing my opinion of video games.

A common topic that is discussed in an Autism parent support group is that of video games. It does amaze me that some parents seem to have no control of how much time their child spends playing video games. We have a rules in our home. If all chores, homework, and behavior goals have been met for the week, 45 minutes of computer or TV video game is allowed FOR THE WEEK. Now, let me elaborate on this a little more. We DO NOT own any type of Play Station, X Box, game boy, or for that matter any video game system that is over $20. We have games that plug into our TV and games that are on our computer that are age appropriate for the kids. We could never have a game/video system of that nature in our house. Ethan would be so obsessed and focused on video games that we would loose total control over him. I've heard some parents say "well, we use it for reward purposes like you" - the same parents that bring up the subject of over use/abuse of the video system by their child.

Powerful Message

2Peter 1:5-8
5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

While attending adult Bible class, I was touched by this verse. I wanted to share what I consider a powerful message.

Halloween Diorama

the kids made this diorama with the assistance of Sara (my beautiful and wonderful niece). Ethan made the tombstones and did most of the coloring. Note the red people in the graveyard - Emery drew them. When asked what they were, Emery's response was "it's a family and they are holding hands" (in the graveyard??). Notice the black cat and cheetah in the graveyard? This diorama will be incorporated into our Halloween decorations. I love it! Thank you Sara for helping my kids with such a fun and educational art project.

Good Hair Day

before.....
after.....

One of the reasons the kids love to go to Janette's house is for Jax (the black/white dog begging for treats at the beauty chair) :)
Jax Rocks (as Ethan would say)! Jax loves Smarties so the kids get to feed her a roll each time they visit. Who knew getting your hair cut could be so much fun.....
Today was extra special at the DesCamps house..... HAPPY 10TH BIRTHDAY JAX!

Go Vikings!

Sunday
Vikings are on, kids are excited, Loren is ready to cheer, Liberty is ready for popcorn!
When it is game day we pop some popcorn and get ready to settle in to watch the Vikings. The kids enjoy the game (so they say) but I think they enjoy the treats.

Guest Writer ....

Ethan had asked if he could write something for my blog and how could I turn down something so precious as this? I gave him some paper and told him he needed to make a draft and then we could type it out and put it on "our" blog. The hard work, time, and effort he put into writing this just touched my heart. I had to take a photo and post it this way. Enjoy! This made my day!
** I don't remember the last time I made mac n'cheese :)** - it must have been delicious!
But yes, I DO Love the Family!

Dad and Mom on their Anniversary

Happy Anniversary from all of us!
We Love You!

Happy 50th Anniversary Dad and Mom

Happy Anniversary.................

today is also a special day... my Mother-N-Law, Theowne is having a birthday! Happy Birthday to you!

Raised on a Farm...........

Tonight while eating dinner (chicken & noodles) Ethan was stuffing noodles in his mouth like he was forking hay into a loft. When I asked Ethan if he would please eat his noodles more politely, he responded with "what about Dad?". Dad had just put his own "hay bale" of noodles into his mouth. After giving Loren "the look", I responded with "I didn't know I was raising animals on a farm". At that moment, Emery looked up at me with a cheesy mouthful of noodles and said "moo". I knew right then I might as well throw in the towel because the entire family was giggling. I didn't think it was funny at the time and was very irritated because Loren was giggling right along with the kids. Help... it is 3 against 1 in this barn.

Tomorrow's dinner menu: grass

Rosie and the Loon

The Loon sitting on her nest
Rosie likes to ride on the pontoon

Photos just for today....

Swimming in the lake with Alex and Sydney -

July 2006