Three is just around the corner

Well...3 is just around the corner. As in the Ben and Daniel will turn 3 on Sunday. WOW. That's all I can say.

They are getting so grown up. Preschool starts this week. Unfortunately Ben won't be able to go on the first day since he has a casting appointment. So Daniel will go all by himself on Wednesday and then they'll both go on Friday.

They tried on their new backpacks and indoor sneakers this afternoon. Neither would take their new sneakers off and Daniel wore his backpack right up til bedtime. Pretty cute stuff.

To celebrate their 3rd birthday, we had pictures done on Sunday and my parent's place. Click here to see a sneak peek. I think they turned out great and can't wait to see the rest. And my favourite...well...the one of Ben on the swing. It makes my heart sing to see him this happy.

Lots of awesome stuff

Well. There's lots of awesome stuff going on around here. And since I can't seem to find the time for a real post, I figured I'd just update you on some of this awesome stuff!

1. I *think* that I may have found a preschool for BOTH Ben and Daniel...that may even take Ben WITHOUT an aide. I've been looking around for a preschool for the boys...nothing fancy...I just think it's time for them to have more time with other kids and more time away from Mommy. I've been calling around and getting pretty much nowhere. Plus, I was expecting to not only pay for preschool but to have to pay for an aide for Ben too. Well. Today I finally remembered the boys' old kindermusik teacher...who I thought also did preschool a few mornings each week. I called her and it turns out she does. 9am til 11am...Wednesday and Friday. And since she already knows us (and Ben), she figures she can handle Ben without an aide (which I know she can). Cool. We're going to check it out next week so I can see how it all works and she can see Ben again and make sure she's OK with it.

2. Ben's going back to Conductive Ed in November! I'm quite thrilled about this. And the main reason why I'm so thrilled is that he's going to have a classmate! A little girl with spastic diplegia CP who is just a year older than Ben is going to be in his class. This is EXACTLY what Ben needs. He LOVES little girls (and already has a few *girlfriends") and I'm sure she'll be a fantastic motivator.

3. Big boys beds are on their way! I finally managed to get around to shopping for the boys' beds. And found something perfect for them. They should arrive sometime in September. They are SO READY for big boy beds...it's all very exciting! And the best part? I just found some really cute bedding today in the Sears Wish Book for only $129 each (for the whole bed-in-a-bag).

4. The weather here in Atlantic Canada has been simply amazing ALL SUMMER LONG. We got back last weekend from a fabulous week of camping on Prince Edward Island. We rented a trailer at a great campground right on the beach. It was simply amazing. The boys had a great time and had so many great experiences...like campfires!

Fun at the campfire with glowsticks!

5. We're back doing another session of therapeutic riding and it's even better than the last session. The instructor is really fantastic. Not only is she great with Ben, but she lets Daniel go for a quick ride at the end of the session too. She has small children and gets that it must be hard on Daniel for Ben to always be the one doing the cool stuff. Daniel is just tickled pink that he gets to ride Cowboy too. And the volunteers this time are great too. There's one volunteer that keeps Ben laughing almost the entire time he's riding. He loves her. I am so grateful that we have this awesome and affordable program and it's not even a 5-minute drive from our house.

Daniel riding!

OK. I just re-read this post. I can't believe how optomistic I sound...almost annoyingly so. That's so not like me. There is one small thing that isn't so great going on...Ben gets his casts on on Wednesday. And it's supposed to be like 110 freakin' degrees here on Wednesday. I'm really hoping that the results of the casting will be *awesome*, but I can't say that I'm looking forward to 3 weeks of casts. I'm just praying that it doesn't affect his sleep.

I'll keep you posted on the casting. It should be interesting!