School's Out for the Summer!

AMAZED at how much he's matured/thinned out over the school year! WOW!

He's also taller than me now! I KNEW it was going to happen, but already?! :O

This one finally put on a few pounds (!!) AND grew taller! FINALLY! 

He's kept the shaggy hair 'do and while he tells me I can get it cut, he keeps pushing back

the date that I can take him for said hair cut. ;) We'll see..... 

So..... I am now the mom of an 8th grader AND a 5th grader. Well, technically, I'm not sure what grade Ashton will be in because it depends on what grade the majority of his class will be in the fall, which I do believe will be 8th grade. But WOW! So much physical growth for both boys (especially in height) and Holden has finally put some meat on his bones (not that you can tell from the pictures above LOL!)   

Both boys had wonderful school years.

Well, as most know Ashton's year started out rocky (as expected) but we moved him to another school in November and things have been on a major upswing ever since. This spring alone he's come a LONG WAYS towards making up for lost ground over his 6th grade year and the start of his 7th grade year. He's got FRIENDS!! He LOVES school!! He's got AWESOME grades!! (We haven't gotten his final report card, but I expect they will be all As, maybe mostly As with a B thrown in). We couldn't be more thrilled with the progress he's made since November. I'm so glad that he's in an environment that accepts him for who he is and what he's capable of. What's funny is, he's actually more "typical" acting now than he used to be. Odd how that works out. He's more socially appropriate with his peers, he's a whole lot more verbal and he can attend to his classroom work tasks and demands. He's an amazing kid!

Holden's grades were a bit up and down, but he did well overall. Some of that was med changes (in an effort to help him gain weight, we lowered dosages, tried different meds, increased dosages) but some of it was the work is just plain harder in 4th grade! He knows now that he really needs to apply himself to make the grades he'd like to maintain, so I hope he'll put forth a better effort next year. He DID manage to maintain his perfect attendance record for the second year in a row, WOW! He also managed to rack up over 75 AR points! That's HUGE for him! He's never been much of a reader, but he really got on the ball with AR this year and it paid off. He also was his SCA (student council association) representative for his class and helped out with lots of activities at school. Holden completed his first season of being on an advance soccer team and of course, another season on the wrestling team. He ran his first 8K (52:16) and ran his 2nd 5K (30:37). He's becoming quite the runner! He loves it! He also ran a 6:18 1mile at school, WOW!

So - the summer has started off to a great start! I won passes to have breakfast at a local radio station (97.3 the Eagle) and get to listen to an inpromptu performance of Tyler Farr, a new and rising country artist! I say, definitely be listening out for that guy - he's great! I took Ashton as my "date". He got to play hooky from the last day of school (his class wasn't doing anything anyways) and he had a great time! Later that day we (the boys and I) went bowling with some friends of Holden's and their family. That was a blast and the kids all got along really, really well! Can't wait to go again! Today was the CHKD 8K race....  Ashton rode with Team Hoyt of VA Beach again. He had a blast! Neither of us was thrilled with the early morning (5:00am for me and I got him up at 5:45am) but he had a great time! He especially enjoyed the medal, the tshirt he received and of course, what teenage boy doesn't like pizza?!?! LOL! He also loved throwing the cups of water they got at water stops on the ground. I made sure to remind him "WE DON'T DO THAT AT HOME!!!!" ;) Thanks again to Marc Leber and his mom, Andrea for pushing Ashton! :)

A few pics - and then it's off to bed for the boys! :)

Ashton, with Tyler Farr at 97.3 the Eagle's radio station

 Big Group today for Team Hoyt of VA Beach - CHKD 8K race!

Marc, Ashton and Andrea

Marc pushing Ashton towards the finish - time of 37:53! Way to GO!

Happy Guys with their medals! Ashton looks thrilled and Marc looks pretty happy there too!

Both boys will be receiving services/therapy this summer. Ashton will be receiving 20hours ESY of 1:1 academic instruction with his teacher. Holden will be getting at least 12hours of IM (interactive metronome) therapy with a friend/former school therapist for Ashton! I'm very anxious to see how it plays out in helping some of his ADHD impulses/inattentiveness, etc. :)


Have a great Father's Day to all the Dads out there in Cyberland!