My Family

My Grandparents, Aunt and Uncle, and cousin came to visit us yesterday. It was really fun to have family come and see us. My boys were so confused because they thought their grandparents were coming. Hint hint to their grandparents, my boys are awaiting a visit!! They were so excited to show everyone their rooms and to play the wii with them. I really enjoyed our visit with them. There truly is nothing like Grandparents. I hope to see them again soon.

Fun and Funky

I found a new line of jewelry that is really cute! You should check it out:
www.twisted-silver.com
Every week they feature one piece that is on sale. At checkout if you type brochure in coupon area you get 20% off!

Are we having fun yet?

If you know a Mower you know that you are automatically associated with bad luck. I personally feel like Matt and I got the worst of it, maybe that title is up for debate. Which is why I think I should go back to being Megan Gould and Matt by association should also change his name. We could try the name on for size for a year or so to see if our luck changes. We decided to go camping this weekend. Matt being from Utah refuses to pay to camp at a campsite or have any sort of neighbor. In his mind, if you camp next to someone you might as well go home and pitch a tent in your backyard where you have your normal neighbors. Finding this sort of campsite in Colorado often proves to be quite challenging. It has in the past lead us to areas where we get all set up tent and all, only to have forest rangers tell us to pack up and move in 30 minutes or less because they are sending the police our way. So, we start out bright and early to Woodland Park. It is gorgeous, not a cloud in the sky, very beautiful. We are told turn left on Painted Rocks road and there are tons of places to camp. We get there and.............. Painted Rocks road is closed for the season except to those who are fancy enough to have a cabin off of it. So, we are all loaded and boy are we loaded. Who knew you needed so much for 1 night of camping. But don't cha worry we have our trusty Tom Tom (GPS) on board with a camping book. We plug in some new longitude lattitude coordinates and off we go. I open up my US weekly enjoying the new gossip, did you hear there is drama on the set of 90210? I am quite enjoying my reading when Matt starts turning a deep shade red. Evidently Tom Tom had gotten us so lost, we were up in places where my nice car shouldn't be. It was a moment to say the least. I think we could have a reality tv show and provide more entertainment than the Hills. To cut this portion of the story short it took us 6 hours, thats right 6 long hours to find a place to camp! My poor kids were wondering if they were ever going to eat since the snacks and food were packed under all the stuff we had. Almost within minutes of getting out of the car Tyler fell and hurt his eye. Then it started to rain. Not a little sprinkling, a down pour. Matt was running around trying to gather wood before it all got wet. We didn't have anywhere to sit except in the car that we had just been in for the last 8 hours. And this is where I started to wonder, is it really worth it?????? The rain finally let up. We went for a ride to enjoy the country. As soon as we came back to start dinner, yep it started to once again pour rain. We ate dinner in the rain. We then were stuck in the tent from 7 pm on. We woke up to cook pancakes and bacon over the fire. We were ready to start the day new. Tyler burned his hands on the sticks we were cooking with. Then, it started to rain again. Picking up camp in the rain is less fun than putting up camp in the rain. It was a wild ride of a weekend.

A New IEP for Ty

There is nothing more intimidating then walking into a room of 9 people to talk about your son. In a very real sense it often feels like them against us although everyone is technically there "for Tyler." I would never wish this process on my worst enemy maybe a back case of something like chicken pox but never an unknown IEP meeting. This was our 1st true meeting since Tyler has started school. He was placed on a 30 day probation to re-evaluate his placement and his days were up. Of course they would ask for a 7:30 am meeting. Do you know how hard it is to find a babysitter at 7:30? And someone who could drive Tyler to school? I felt like that in its self was a fete. I got to the meeting where I walked into a room of 9 people sitting at a long banquet type table and was informed that I would sit at the head of the table. This is the first time I didn't have my trusty advocate on one side, or my dashingly handsome husband on the other side. Matt wanted to be there but with his new established Doctor title I guess there comes certain responsibilities like actually seeing the patients. Go figure! I was nervous. I was probably between 5 and 20 years younger than all the others and I wanted them to know although I am young, I am smart and I know what my Tyler needs. I was all set to argue his continued placement in Kindergarten and his continued speech therapy when I was sent the biggest curve ball of all. Tyler had of course been re-tested by the new school district in every way possible, and I mean every way. I met with nurses to about his vision to talking to social workers about our new family life and that is just a few of the people I had to talk to. They found that our Tyler tested into the gifted program. The very program that almost deterred us from attending this elementary because I believed my son to be on the opposite of that particular rainbow. My jaw physically dropped. I was taken back. I had no idea how to fight for him now because not only are they keeping all of his services and keeping us in normal ed but they are also bumping him up. And then came the best news, for me, of the meeting. Matt and I have randomly stalked the playground to see if Ty had friends to play with. Most times, he was playing by himself which worried us tremendously. Tyler's teacher told us he is part of 4 boys that are inseparable. She said, if Tyler is alone they go to search for him. They are friends with him. In fact, one of the little boys mom came up to me to talk about a play date. I know many might think, the best news in the meeting is about the friends, really? But every mom worries that their child won't have friends. When your child is probably happier playing alone you worry that no one will extend their friendship to him. I feel so vindicated for our hard work. I feel so proud of where we are. I feel like we have truly succeeded. Watch out Jenny McCarthy I just might write a book of my own!

Our New Family Pictures

Some Pictures to Catch Up

So, I keep getting grief about my lack o blogging. Well, lets just say it this way, Talan stopped taking naps, Trevin doesn't go to sleep till 10 and by the time I have time to sit down and blog I am asleep with my clothes on the floor, the couch, or one of the kid's beds. So, here are the lastest and greatest pictures of the Mower clan. The top picture is Ty's first day of school. He has to wear uniforms so that is why he is dressed the way he is. Matt just turned 29! He is getting old. And besides that Talan, Trevin and I are trying to make new friends.