July flew by!

 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!

Sleep Away Camp

 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.

 

Also for father's day Ashton was super sweet and creative.  He made this for daddy and taped it on his mirror downstairs.

Onto Middle School!

 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.

We also went camping with Ashton's sister Arianna. They had a good time and bonded over some Big Bro and Little Sis art!

A challenging month

 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!

 

Better late than never

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!

Eleven!!!

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!!!

 

Longer days means more play time!

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!