Trouble

One of the things Sawyer and Xander work on at occupational therapy is learning new games. There are lots of benefits - following directions, turn-taking, social aspects of give and take and conversation. Xander LOVES certain games. He becomes obsessed. We often barter with a favorite game to get him to try a new game at home. Right now, his favorite is Trouble (we have the Minions version). It used to be Zingo. He's also loved a Monster game. We bargain with him to play Connect Four, Scrabble, and others. It also helps if we let him watch a movie, too. Madagascar 3 is a current favorite. But he'll play his favorite games without the movie. Just don't win too many times, or he's not going to like it!

The Artist

Xander LOVES art of all kinds. One of our more recent discoveries is his love of painting. Sometimes he needs a picture prompt, something to give him an idea, but he always takes off with it and make it his own. We go through a lot of arts and crafts supplies in our house, so Michael's is our friend. We're on the email list, which offers some pretty good savings on regular priced items and even sale items, depending on what you're looking for. Every little bit helps, because, like I've said before, this kid LOVES art. And if he doesn't have a screen, it's a pretty safe bet that he's doing something with art.

Happy, Happy Birthday!

Eleven. How did that happen? And what happened to my little bitty boys. It goes by in an instant ...

Xander's "WordWorld" cake that we made ...



Someone's ready to light the candles ...



Sawyer doesn't do cake ... so he get's an assortment of Sour Patch Kids, color coded, of course ...



Birthday boys and their balloons, cake / candy, and presents ...



Happy boys to blow out the candles ...



Opening presents after dinner (their favorite, Raising Cane's tailgate pack of chicken fingers, french fries, toast with some home-made add ons for everyone else - green beans, corn, and macaroni and cheese)!



Connor's expression cracks me up ... one would think it's because Xander got socks for his birthday, but no, it's because Xander has cool tall socks, which so far have only belonged to Connor!

Mosaic Man

Sawyer doesn't love art quite as much as Xander. Fine motor deficits have always made his pencil grip a little light, but certain art projects make him happy. He loves to color solid colors of crayons on white paper. He also LOVES these mosaic projects from Melissa and Doug. We've gone through all of them at some point. The good news is he has three windows in his bedroom. The bad news is we're out of new designs to buy for him!

First Basketball Game

Xander is trying Special Olympics basketball for the first time this winter season. And his first game was being held tonight. At the indoor pool the boys have always loved near Grammy and Pappy's house. So what did we do? We went swimming first, since it was an 8:15p start time for his game. I was afraid not being able to swim would upset him and ruin his first game experience.

So we stopped at Chick-fil-a for dinner, also part of our indoor pool routine, then headed over to swim for a few hours before game time.



And then we waited and waited (games were running behind schedule) for our 8:15p game that actually tipped off at 8:45p. Xander enjoys shooting baskets, but so far, the game itself has been less than impressive to him. He doesn't understand all the rules, or why he's expected to pass to other people to shoot! It's a work in progress. He was excited to bring the ball up the court. He was unexcited during his times on the bench (see him laying on the floor). Of course, he was also just tired. It was a long day and late game for a fifth grader. He's by far the youngest player on the team, so the late start time affects him more. He does have to get up at 7a for elementary school the next day, after all.