Oh goodness...

Where to even start?  I keep thinking I'll sit down and post and it just never seems to happen.  Lots and lots and lots going on at Casa de Lopresti over the last month...

1. Logan has moved to a new school with a smaller classroom setting.  He was really struggling with the transition to full day first grade this past fall.  His classroom size at our home elementary school was very large, and it was just proving to be too much for him to handle.  We and the school tried many accomodations to make it  more manageable for him, but he was starting to feel very overwhelmed.  He struggles with focus, and is very impulsive and easily angered.  These issues have been going on for years, and as the demands of school have increased its become difficult for him to navigate an entire day without running into challenges he isn't quite sure how to handle.

We had a ton of meetings with our elementary school and at the beginning of the year, we all decided the best setting for him would be a smaller class size.  The classroom environment he needed didn't exist at our home elementary school, so we worked with our school system and found a behaviorally focused smaller class setting for him about 20 minutes from home, at another elementary school in our county. 

We're into the fifth week now, and he's doing SO much better.  There are only 7 kids in his class, and the teachers (3 of them!) are in tune with what he needs to be successful at school.  He's still learning at the 1st grade level, but there is also a focus on behavioral strategies in this classroom.  The ultimate goal is to eventually transition him back to our home school in a year or two, once he has some good strategies under his belt.  This past five weeks, we've been getting him settled into his new routine. The bus picks him up and drops him off at our house, which is wonderful, and he has already made some new friends.  Its been a great transition and he's adapted wonderfully.  We're so grateful for wonderful teachers who take the time to care for kids with special learning needs, and find the good in every child.  His new lead teacher is incredible, and she updates us regularly so we're all on the same page and working with Logan in a consistent manner.  We're so proud of you Logan!

Last week, Logan got his first ever loose tooth.  In fact, it was so loose this past weekend he asked me to try and pull it, to no avail. His teacher emailed me today and said it fell out at school today, so tonight the Tooth Fairy will make her debut.  He's going to be over the moon. Another milestone!

2.  I had a little health scare, which I'm happy to say had a good ending.  A few weeks ago, I went in for my annual mammogram and got called back for a second exam once they found a suspcious small mass.  Last week, I had a biopsy performed, and although I have a hell of a bruise, the results came back completely benign.  Just turns out I had a fibrous mass, nothing to worry about.  Waiting for the results was the hard part (not to mention the giant thick needle but I'm trying to forget about that part).  So relieved that all is well!

3.  Dylan is plugging along with his extracurricular activities and is keeping busy with Webelos and Odyssey of the Mind.  His competition is in 3 weeks, and he and Andrew have been busy saving every toilet paper roll in the house and building circus animals out of orange juice cartons (don't ask!).  He also competed in the annual Pinewood Derby and had a lot of fun building his car.  Dylan brought home his best report card ever a couple of weeks ago (all A's and one B) and just makes us proud with his happy-go-lucky attitude. 

In 3 weeks, I'll also be signing the boys up for summer swim team season, which will be here before we know it!

4. We've booked our spring camping trip, which will make two trips if you also count his scouting weekend in April (which I think we'll all four attend).  To make it a little less 'painful' I invested in a queen size Aerobed because let's face it, I'm not getting any younger and sleeping on the ground just ain't happening!

5.  I have a new job!  I learned about a part time opportunity at my women's midwife practice, where I've gone for 15 years for my women's care.  I just love this group of midwives, and have always felt that someday it would be so awesome to work in the healthcare field, caring for people and doing something that makes a difference.  They offered me the position last week and I immediately accepted, and will start next week.  I'll work a very flexible 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 days a week and the hours fit nicely into my life.  I'll still have plenty of time to spend with the boys and at the same time, it will give me something I can enjoy and learn and do on my own.  I think it will be the perfect balance, and I'm so excited about this next chapter in my life.  The practice is called Loudoun Community Midwives, and the office is ten minutes from home.  I can't wait!  They are an amazing group of women who work there, and I can't wait to learn everything they are willing to teach me!

I think those are the highlights from the past few weeks.  We've been waiting for snow that never came this winter, and filling our time with lots of family movies nights, parties, and playdates.  Looking forward to warmer weather when we can get out and have some adventures!

gentlemen, start your engines...

Last night we got to experience our first Cub Scout Pinewood Derby.    I got to wondering while we were there, when did this tradition begin?   As it turns out, 1953.  You can read about the history here, pretty interesting. 

"I wanted to devise a wholesome, constructive activity that would foster a closer father-son relationship and promote craftsmanship and good sportsmanship through competition."  Don Murphy, 1953
Andrew started helping Dylan with his car about a month ago, and while they were at it, he decided Logan might want to build one and heck, Daddy needed one too.

Dylan's car, an up close look.  Pretty sharp.

Logan's car:

Daddy's car, complete with Steve McQueen:

Dylan's car competed in four heats last night at the Derby, placing 4th, 3rd, 2nd, and 3rd again.  He was thrilled!  Here he's in the blue lane:

And the fourth lane in this shot:

Here you can see his car swoosh by in the yellow lane:

He won the award for Most Creative car:

The Pack also held their annual Blue and Gold Banquet at the same time, a very fun night.  Dylan, his good buddy Jack, and Logan..

Well done, guys!

Homecoming Parade

Yesterday afternoon, Dylan got to march in our high school Homecoming parade with his Cub Scout den.   He was super excited, and had a giant bag of candy to throw out into the crowd along the route.  It poured almost all day and cleared up just in time.  The parade takes place each fall and we've always just been spectators, so it was fun to actually watch for Dylan and lots of other kids we know from the boys school.

I'm not exactly sure why his hat has mouse ears stapled to it, but it had something to do with the theme of the parade.

Logan, sore throat and all, waiting patiently for some candy to come his way.   And you know he doesn't feel good when his whole bucket is still full today.  At least he had fun collecting the candy.

Its a pretty big parade for a high school homecoming.  I watched and watched for Dylan..there were so many Scouts.  And then suddenly he was right in front of me.

And then he was gone.

There were a couple of make-shift floats but nothing like what I remember constructing in high school for our homecoming parade.  I remember (vaguely) spending hours and nights in someone's barn gluing tissue paper on a giant paper mache eagle.  And then during the actual parade, a large empty bottle of rum rolled out from under the eagle as we made the turn onto the football field.  I have absolutely no idea where that came from.