9 years already!!!!!

I can't believe our little dude is 9 years old already!!!!  Make it stop!!!!  Of course, being in quartine has been a little different for sure! 

9 years old!

Ashton received lots of love in the mail from so many people.  We even had a quick drive-by from Ms. Taylor, Paisley and Noelle.

Favorite gift of the day was an Unspeakable sweatshirt from Tia Lisa family and pop-pop.

Unspeakable sweatshirt

With a signed picture from Unspeakable

Lastly, earlier this week Ashton wanted to go swimming at one of our favorite local swimming holes.  It was 78 degrees outside, but he braved the chilly water!  BRRRRR!

Swimming at the Frederick Watershed! So cold!

Crazy Times

Homeschool Art with Ms. Giro

We have entered crazy and unprecedented times here in Frederick, MD and around the entire world!  Corona Virus has shut down everything around the country and the world, quarantining people at home.  And with new cases of Coronavirus increasing every day it doesn't appear as if it will cease anytime soon.  For my own sanity, I have instituted a modified homeschool schedule from 10-12.  Offering classes like music, art, technology along with math, reading, and writing.  Kids have been doing chores, having creative time, exercise time and after 3 p.m. each day assuming they have accomplished all their goals then they can have t.v. time.

Ashton 411

Ashton was selected as the MVP for his class last week and he shared the following information with his classmates

Favorite Color:  Lime Green
Favorite Number:  9
Favorite Youtuber:  Unspeakable
Favorite Animal:  Dogs (Beagle)
Favorite Subject:  Art and Math
Favorite Game:  Minecraft
Favorite Letter: A
Favorite Candy Bar: Twix
Favorite Snack:  Cheez it's 

Also, he loves to go outside and watch Peppa Pig.  When he grows up he wants to be a YouTuber.  He also wants to go to Colorado.

While he didn't share this with his MVP info currently his favorite band is Imagine Dragons

This boy has skills!

So impressed with Ashton this weekend!  Using his amazing Lego skills, he put together our new counter height bar stools.  After putting together two of them, he coached me as well!  So impressed!

Clever

Ashton cracks me up!  So today the school nurse approached me, she said, "Ashton said he had a fever of 108 degrees this morning and you gave him some Motrin and sent him to school." LOL.  The truth is he kept taking his temperature the night before, swearing that he had a fever.  At first, it was 97.1 and then it jumped to 98. something, then to 99. 1.  I told him it wasn't a fever until it was over 100 degrees.  So then he comes back later and tells me it's 108!

Also, he recently took something from his teacher's classroom that did not belong to him.  We made him write 75 times, I will not take the dice without permission.  He proudly showed us how he had completed his work, using multiple pages of printer paper and carefully numbered each line in pencil until he got to 75.  Of course, he didn't realize that the same errors he made on each page, was on each and every printer page. He copied the original page 4 times.   Got to give him credit for ingenuity.

Snowboarding!

Ashton has been wanting to go snowboarding for over a year!  Today he finally had a chance to try it.  I signed him up for a snowboard camp at Whitetail and he seemed to really like it.  He wants to go again!  He stayed on the entry levels hills today, but the instructor said once he can master one more skill whose name I can't remember he can go on the larger lifts. 

We started a new behavior plan for Ashton last week and honestly, not sure if it's effective yet.  We are trying to encourage him to be less argumentative and more yielding on basic tasks.  One thing he has been successful at is earning points for doing silly things, and then when I catch him doing silly things, I ask him to stop and he does.  So for example, in the scheme of things I never thought I would say, the other day I said to Ashton, "Take that lampshade off your head."  LOL.  He was compliant and said, "yes mom."  Hence he earned a point for compliance and not arguing!

He has been super creative with significantly less television and has played outside much more.  Even though he is exhausting, I do love that positive of the behavior mod plan.

On the brink of a new decade

Hard to believe in just a few short hours we will be ringing in 2020. December has a challenging month for Ashton, full of impulse control situations and oppositional behavior.   As a mama, it's hard to know if it's the over stimulus of the season, unspoken adoption loss/trauma, or just temperament.  We recently visited the behaviorist hoping to try to pinpoint what is the stimulus behind the behavior.

In December Ashton played his very first Violin concert.  As much as a I have tried to "sway" him away from the violin for my ear's sake, he seems to really enjoy it!  I do think having funny and male Mr. Carter as a teacher and his best friend Valentina playing also help.  It makes me laugh to think back to just a few years ago when he was in Montessori and he refused to perform in front of anyone!  I must say he does look pretty cute with his violin!!!!

Cuties before their concert

Even Ashton, Lily and daddy did a jingle bells rendition together on their respective instruments.  So sweet!

Jingle Bells Rendition

Christmas and Chanukah were fun!  Ashton enjoyed playing with some distant cousins during Chanukah and got some fun gifts for Christmas.  He had really wanted a pair of rollerblades in his own size, size he had been skating around in my old ones for months.  He also got a replacement pogo stick from Santa, as he broke his other one during the summer.  His brother Stian, purchased him these robotics kits designed for 14-18-year-olds.  Ashton amazed us with his ability to put them together.  Very impressive!  I tell you, I wonder if Ashton will be some sort of engineer when he grows up. Mr. Rick his birthfather also sent him a gift.  Some Minecraft and a Fornite nerf bazooka. I think he really liked that.

Happy boy!

We went to Enchant at National Park and he ice skated for the first time.  He was a natural.  All that rollerblading around the house paid off!  I took him yesterday again and it was like magic!  A total natural.

First time on ice skates at Enchant

Picking up the speed a few days later

As we move into the new year, I pray that Ashton will continue to grow in his faith.  He recently was grounded and in his creative ways, he took his bible and wrote Bible verses all over our subflooring.  It warmed my heart.  Sometimes I feel like we are doing everything wrong, but it is nice to see that maybe we are doing something right. My personal favorite is the scripture verse he wrote entering the bathroom giggling knowing God will be watching you in the bathroom!  "I am with you, I am will watch you wherever you go."

I also pray that he will become gain better control over his impulsive behaviors and his oppositional behaviors. I sometimes worry too much, but I know I need to submit him to God. I pray that 2020 is a fabulous year for him!