Good morning and back to school!

I woke up this morning feeling great. That is a rare thing, let me tell you! Usually the mornings are pretty rough for me with the fibro and stiff joints but I slept pretty well last night which makes a huge difference. After I dropped off the kids at school today, I got a cup of coffee and sat out on the back deck to enjoy the sunrise. It was so beautiful, I had to get a picture. Having just finished my photography class, I was really comfortable getting this shot. I spot metered off of the sky, used a low ISO, a medium aperture, and adjusted my shutter speed accordingly. After making some adjustments in ACR (yay, I figured out how to get rid of the purple fringe on the tree leaves!), I ran Paint the Moon's Sunny Days action to bring out the color and richness of this sunrise.

Good morning!!!



The kids started back to school on Tuesday. Dominic is such a funny little guy... he comes home everyday in a rotten mood talking about what a terrible day it was. How he's getting in trouble for talking too much and running in the halls, that sort of thing. But in his daily folder, he is getting smiley faces in the green color (green=good, yellow=warned, red=bad). So I don't know what to think. He really has a hard time with impulse control and volume but he is so smart that I know he's enjoying being engaged and challenged. The TAG curriculum starts Monday so I'm very curious to see how he responds to that.

Anna has had an up and down week. The mornings are going well but the afternoons are not. She has a part-time aide that leaves at noon and I think once she's gone, Anna starts struggling. For now, her special ed teacher is taking her out of inclusion in the afternoons and letting her hang out in the portable. We see the neuro Monday morning and the psychiatrist Tuesday afternoon. A few weeks ago, Anna was really getting physical and oppositional so the neuro doubled her dose of Abilify. Well that has really increased her anxiety, so we need to talk about finding a good balance. I have to tell you that she's getting so big that her little punches pack a wallop now!

Here are some photos from the first day of school. A rare hug between the two of them.


A nice smile in front of the school from Anna.


No smiles from Dominic! LOL.


I miss Jenny terribly. She is getting really involved in her new life in Corpus now... classes, studying, and friends. I think about her frequently throughout the day and wonder what she is doing. I hope she's happy and I hope she knows that I love her. I'll try to do better with writing more frequent (and shorter!) posts. I love having more time during the day!!!