We're in the midst of the Jackson "birthday season" so there's been lots of cake and excitement. Ian turned 5, which doesn't seem possible. I'll add pictures when our computer gets fixed.

Ian had requested a Vincent Van Gogh quilt for his '5 year quilt' (I make the kids one every 5 years). He had seen the fabric in a catalog and begged me to use that for his quilt. I finished piecing the top the day before his birthday so he got to see that much finished. For the '5 year quilt' I have each child lay on the backing and draw around them, embroider the tracing, and add the date so in years to come they can see how big they were on their 5th birthday. Ian saw where I had written the date "6-6-10" and exclaimed, "Mama, 6 take away 6 does not equal 10!" I tried explaining what the numbers stood for, but in the end decided that it would be easier to write out the month of June and the year as 2010.

Yesterday Wayne had another scan to check on the kidney cancer site. We'll get the results next week.

After being in the car and medical offices all day I decided to take a walk in our field. Jonathan joined me and we spent at least an hour discovering butterflies and other insects in the grass. It's so fun seeing nature through the eyes of a little boy. Jonathan sees beauty in the most common bits of nature. As he examined a slug, he exclaimed over the trail of slime that it left on the ground. "Isn't that amazing, Mama?!" "Yes, Jonathan, that is amazing." "Mama, we need to thank God for making the slug!" and he quickly bowed his head and offered a prayer thanking God for slugs. So often I get caught up in the challenges of raising 2 boys with Aspergers that I forget the gifts. How thankful I am to have a little boy that keeps reminding me to take pleasure in the little things in life and not to dwell on the big issues facing us.