I am so proud! Austin has finished his summer reading program, and then finished the bonus game! He has only had the games in his possession for 10 day (9 if you subtract the day we were in Denver… previous post) and he read 32 hours worth! Austin has come so far in his short little life. In preschool he could not recite or recognize his alphabet, so we worked on that. In kindergarten he had problems telling you what sounds each one made, so we worked on that. In first grade he had problems with site words, so we worked on that. In second grade, it was reading, so we worked on that. Last year it was spelling, so we worked on that. This year it was bringing it all together. He has busted his ass in school, and I am so proud! I really feel the change happened almost 2 years ago. He was so angry over his past. However, when he was able to let it all go, he blossomed like a beautiful flower. If you met him now, you would never believe it, because I cannot imagine a better child. He is helpful, caring, courteous, loving, sweet, and kind. He has let go of his past and realized that his past does not define him. He has realized that just because one person does not love him the way he wants to be loved; that does not make him unlovable. When he acknowledged all that, he realized how special he is, and that he is worth working for. Just yesterday we were riding in the car and he was talking about remembering the day he came home and that he remembers that Christopher and I were making him chocolate chip cookies. I could not imagine he still had memories that far back, so I pressed him, and he remembers a lot more than I wish… nothing good either. He asked me again why I could not adopt him, and it broke my heart. Why can’t people let go of the past and just move on for the greater good? Children are not like diamond necklaces that you put on only for a special occasion when you want people to think you live a charmed life.

Sorry for going off on a tangent like that… It’s so hard standing back and watching a train wreck sometime, especially when an innocent child is involved.

Friday we drove to Denver to go to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. We loved it! We decided to go all out and purchase the deluxe tickets which included a tour of Body World, the museum, the planetarium and IMAX.

WOW! I think I was the only one who loved Body Worlds… the boys (big and little) thought it was kind of gross. Think of your high school anatomy textbooks, meets the Olympics and you have Body Worlds. It had people without skin playing soccer, or ice skating. It also showed the organs in display cases. We got to see healthy lungs vs. lungs of a smoker and of a coal miner. It was a great opening to the non smoking talk. It sure made me happy that Bobby is a non-smoker now. I want my children to grow up and be able to say that they do not know anyone who smokes and it’s a disgusting habit.

After body worlds we went to see the Egyptian exhibit. Chris loved the aerial view of the Egyptian city. Austin loved seeing the excavation process and how they studied the mummies.

Next we went to see the dinosaurs in the Prehistoric Journey exhibit, Austin’s favorite part. It was a HUGE exhibit covering 2 floors with probably 30 different dinosaur skeletons, mammoths, etc. He got to meet a real paleontologist and watch people cleaning and assembling real bones and fossils.

After more than an hour with the dinosaurs, we went to the planetarium to watch a movie on Black Holes. This was Bobby and Christopher’s favorite part. The screen was amazing; it was a dome that engulfed you so the movie was in front, on the sides, and behind you; Matthew was entranced. We then explored the Space Odyssey room… parking shuttles, making planets, craters, and playing with space tornadoes.

Finally we saw an IMAX movie called The Human Body; it was about such topics as how our bodies use and digest food, reproduction, puberty, heating and cooling, etc. Matthew pretty much nursed through the whole movie; he was tired and did not nap until the ride home. We spent nearly 6 hours at the museum and had a blast. It was a wonderful day.

Saturday we got our new sofa and recliners delivered, so we spent most of the day moving furniture, cleaning and organizing the basement, and I shampooed and vacuumed all the rugs. Not exactly a fun day, but productive and that is all that matters.