Also, we received Ashton's report card yesterday and he made the honor roll for the 1st quarter. He got A's and B's with only one C! Needless to say, we are super proud of him.
It's funny, during Covid Ashton, said he was going to grow out his hair and I wasn't sure about it, but once it got to "skater" length it looked super cute and I loved it. So needless to say I was super sad when he decided to cut it last week!
Thankfully last weekend we were able to squeeze in a visit to Gaver Tree Farm for their fall festival. We took his friend Chase. I'll be sad when these days are gone.
Olav and I went away for a weekend during October and Ashton stayed with our friends and their son Matthew. They reported that he had a fantastic weekend and absolutely had no issues. So proud of our boy! He is maturing!
Ashton did extremely well in school this quarter, I believe earning all A's and B's. He might have scored a C in one class, but we won't know for sure until we see his report card. Needless to say, we are super proud of him!
A funny quote Ashton said the other day, which cracked me up was, "When I have a wife, she has to love waffles (his dog) and be able to cook because I can't cook." So stinking cute.
Ashton has had a super September. He seems to be doing very well in middle school. So far his grades are decent. We haven't had a single phone call home. He seems happy and well-adjusted. He has much more compliant at home and much less argumentative. So proud of him! I hope all these changes stick around for the long term!!! Fingers and toes crossed!
It is with great sadness that Ashton's first dog love Austin the beagle left the earth on Friday August 26th around 7:20 pm. Ashton was an awesome helper at the vet, helping and supporting me as we got the business side of the process taken care of. I was so proud of how brave he was in the midst of such sadness.
Last week Ashton began his new adventure at New Market Middle School. He has been super excited about the change! I am excited for him. I hope he makes lots of new friends and enjoys having many different teachers and being able to move more often from class to class.
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I've also noticed in his backpack some of his first week of school get-to-know-you/self-concept/identity papers that have come home. This one cracked me up. He does have a lot of brothers and sisters so that is so awesome that he takes ownership of that, but he said he has 13 siblings-10 sisters and 3 brothers. As of today, he has 11 siblings-6 brothers and 5 sisters!
I also must say how impressed I am with Ashton's building skills. Once again without any help from Olav or me, he put together his IKEA bookshelf and put together the new module dresser I bought him. He really is amazing! I really do wonder how he will put these skills to good use in the future.
Hard to believe it's already August and I posted nothing for July. Ashton has had a great summer camp experience at Camp Monocacy at Walkersville Recreation Center. We are so grateful that he had such a wonderful experience. Two weeks of July was dedicated to ABA therapy at Kennedy Kreiger Institute. Ashton was a good sport as the the therapist trained us how to create more structure and support for Ashton at home. While we are still working out the kinks, things definitely have improved overall.
Hard to believe that in a week and half Ashton will be going into middle school!
So proud of Ashton he attended sleep-away camp for 6 days even though his buddy Nathan ended up having to cancel due to a broken foot. He appeared to have a good time and we got lots of positive feedback from his counselors and fellow campers. When we picked him up the counselors couldn't stop raving about how creative Ashton was and how he came alive when they did artistic and crafty activities. Also one of the benefits of summer camp is that other people who love Jesus are pouring into Ashton. I found this written in his bible.
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The end of 5th grade was filled with lots of fun activities for Ashton. He had his final Violin concert at Linganore High School. I wanted to get a picture of him all dressed up with his violin, but he wasn't in the mood. At least I was able to sneak a shot of the entire beginning band and orchestra! They sounded amazing!
His elementary school had a 5th grade promotion ceremony. Unfortunately, that day Ashton was not in the best mood.
However, the last day of school shows true joy! It's one of my favorite pics of Ashton and waffles. I think everyone is grateful that school is out for the summer. I am so proud of Ashton for expanding his tent pegs and trying new activities. He's spent the night at Camp Journey, rode a roller coaster yesterday at Camp Adventure park for the first time (apparently he loved it so much he rode it 20 times), going to try overnight camp at Camp Manidokan for 6 nights, going to youth group, and making many new friends along the way.
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We also went camping with Ashton's sister Arianna. They had a good time and bonded over some Big Bro and Little Sis art!
May has been a tough month in the Gjerde household. Ashton is very unhappy at school, really disliking his teacher and struggling with his peers. It's hard to discern what is acting out behaviors and what are developmental brain issues. I wish I could fix it for him. I know he gets so frustrated with his ADHD brain. He's also had some run-ins with law enforcement again.
Among the hard times, we have glimmers of our sweet boy. There are times he still wants to cuddle with us and tells us he loves us. For example, at school, he had to write a letter to a person in his life to express his gratitude and he wrote a letter to Daddy and me, thanking us for adopting him. Today I heard the scripture verse from Jeremiah 29:11 that I personalized for Ashton. For I know the plans I have for Ashton declares the Lord, plans to prosper him and not harm him, to give him a hope and a future. I need to remember to claim that for our son!
Waffles continues to be a bright spot in Ashton's life and continues to be his muse!
Hard to believe May is upon us. April as usual was fast and furious! We had a low key, but enjoyable Easter with some of our neighbors kids, and family friends. The kids had a good time looking for eggs, although now that the kids are older I think we are going to have up our game--maybe add some moo-la next year!
Waffles continues to be an amazing addition to our crazy familly! Even though she can be a bit of a bully from time to time, she does tolerate an awful lot of funny business!
Last Sunday Ashton turned 11 years old! He celebrated the day with his buddy Chase playing at the park, going to California Tortilla and eating his favorite oreo blizzard ice cream cake! He got lots of nice gifts from friends and family, including a "real cell phone".
Life with Ashton is never dull! I feel like there are constantly little fires everywhere!!! I put out one fire, and before I have put out that fire, he has started another fire. I think he is beginning to realize that his brain is created differently. I can see that he has begun to question why God has created him this way. All I know is that he is fearfully and wonderfully made and that God makes beautiful and perfectly imperfect people! I hope the truth of God's design and unfailing love seeps deep into his body, mind and spirit, because some day's it feels like he only get feed the negative.
This week was my spring break and I wanted to do something with Ashton to "fill his tank". I feel like we take so much from his love tank due to his behavior, I wanted to do something special with him. Originally we were going to try to go the Baltimore Aquarium, but we settled on doing a high ropes aerial course instead. We had a great time, but man I was sore!!!
Daylight savings is upon us, which means longer and warmer days. Ashton has been enjoying being outside and playing with his neighborhood friends. He is happiest when he is outdoors with friends! I had been praying about his middle school placement and I thought for sure he was going to get into Frederick County's newest outdoor/agricultural school, but that door was not open to us, so currently he is slated to go to his home school at New Market MS, which he is super excited about. This mama is going to be on her knees!
Ashton is constantly amazing me with his secret talents. I know he has enjoyed making you tube videos for a while, but recently he shared some of his videos with Waffles as his muse. So stinking cute! I've attached the links for two of my favorites.
https://youtube.com/shorts/ZIa_izpGehw?feature=share
One of the things I have really want for Ashton this year is larger circle of friends to play with and new experiences, so he can expand his proverbial tent pegs. I was really hoping with going to a new school he would make some new connections, and even though he has some acquaintances, the one kid whom he really connected with moved away. So I must say, I was super proud of him when he decided to go to an overnight winter camp even though none of his current friends group was going. He went to a 2 night camp called Camp Elder, sponsored by the PA Church of the Brethren. Overall, he seemed happy with the experience. He enjoyed sledding, playing gaga ball, and loved telling me about the history about the old chapel on the hill. Not sure if he would want to go again, but I am so proud of him for trying it!
Christmas break was bit of a bummer for Ashton. He was so looking forward to seeing his buddy Aaron Michael and he got to see him for one day, before Lily tested positive for Covid which totally wrecked our plans, but we made the best of it. For Christmas he got the one and only gift he had been wanting and Oculus Quest Virtual Reality gaming system, so he was a happy boy. Thankfully, our neighbors kids had recently had Covid go through their homes, so they were agreeable to let Ashton play with them thank goodness! Poor Ashton was climbing the walls for sure! Not sure if he had Covid or not, thankfully on Christmas day he was 2 weeks past the official vaccination period! So he was definitely the most protected.
On New Years Eve, after the CDC changed their guidelines for Covid exposure, we met the Best family and Taylor's gaggle of kids along with some other friends at the local Wegmans. It took Ashton a while to warm up to his siblings, but after about 30-40 minutes they finally enjoyed one another's company. Plus we got to meet Ashton's newest sibling Eli. After Wegman's, we headed to Katie's house to enjoy the company of some other friends!
