Happy Easter

Today is Easter Sunday.  This week Nick made several drawings of Easter eggs, each with the date, and some with the pillars of character.  This one highlights Respect and Trustworthiness.

Fixing the House - Weeks 2 and 3

There is lots of work happening at our house, Nick goes everyday to see how the house is changing.

Yesterday, mom and Nick were in the car visiting the eye doctor.  When we were done, mom said to Nick, "where would you like to go now?" 

Nick wrote on his notepad and gave it to mom.  Mom said, "do you want to go see the progress on the house?"  Nick said, "yes."

There was insulation on the walls, and lights in the ceiling.

The new bathtub is in the bathroom.

No more back door, we have windows now.

This is how they look from the outside.

The old windows will go in the garbage.

And the workmen put the porch back in place! 
















Mom said, "the men are working fast, I can see you understand that we are fixing the house and will go back to live there soon, does that make you happy?" 

Nick said, "go home, yes."

Eye Exam

This week Nick went to the eye doctor to have his eyes checked.

Nick always looks scared when he sits in the chair and looks at all the equipment.

The doctor asked Nick to cover one eye and read the letters on the wall.  Then Nick covered the other eye.

Nick put his chin in the cup and let the doctor shine light into his eyes and take pictures of his eyes.















When we were all done the doctor said Nick's eyes are very healthy and Nick does not need glasses.

Mom said, "I'm so proud of you, what a great job you did today!"

Mom's Birthday Dinner

Mom's birthday was last week, on March 21.  Dad and Nick picked up mom at the train and we went to dinner at Duke Falcon's, mom's favorite restaurant in Long Beach. 

Nick has never been to that restaurant, and he did not like it very much. 

Mom said, "that's ok, on your birthday you can pick the restaurant!"

White Notebook of Social Stories

Before the flood, Nick had a white notebook of social stories. Some were made by mom and dad, and some were newsletter stories from his first year at middle school. The notebook got wet and dirty in October when the ocean water came in the house.

Mom's friend Amy took the pages home and cleaned them, this weekend we visited Amy and she gave the book back to Nick.

Nick sat at the table and looked at the book, he was happy to see his old stories again.

 This is a picture of Nick with his new friend, Elizabeth.

 These are some of the pages from the book.










When it was time for bed, Nick took the book with him to read. Mom said, "I was so sad when I saw the white notebook was all wet and dirty, I was going to put it in the garbage. How lucky we are that Amy cleaned the pages so we can have them back again!"

Fixing the House - Week 1

On March 10, mom told Nick "we are finally ready to fix the house.  Work men will come tomorrow to start the job."

 There was a big dumpster in the driveway.

The next day we went to the house and the walls and ceilings were gone.

The dumpster was full of our old walls and doors.

The house looked very different, we will have one room for the kitchen and living room.

 And our bathroom was gone too!

Mom gave Nick a bamboo plant as a present on the first day of work.  Mom said, "this will be the first plant we bring to our house when it is all done."

The Spring Flower Show

Last Saturday, mom and dad picked up Nick at AHRC.  Mom said, "I know you have a list of places you want to go today, but we have to make a scheduling switch.  I just found out the Spring Flower Show at Hicks is open today so we are going to go see the show."

We always see lots of beautiful displays, here are some of the pictures.

Mom and Nick. 

Peacocks on top of tall trees.

A giant tree of hydrangeas. 

Green orchids in the St. Patrick's Day display.

Bird bath surrounded by painted rocks and colorful flowers.

 Glass globes.

A collection of dog statues. 

Outside at the pansy table.












We did not buy any flowers at the show.  Mom said, "Our garden does not look very healthy after the storm, we will wait until we are back in our house before we buy more flowers."

Mom at work, far away

Today mom went on an airplane to work far away in Boston, mom will come home Wednesday after dinner.

At night, mom and Nick did Facetime on the computer.  Nick was happy to see mom and we had a nice conversation.

Then mom showed Nick the view from the hotel window.  Nick loves city skylines and trees with lights.

Then we said goodnight.  Mom said, "I will call you again on the computer tomorrow."

Nick at TAPA

Every Wednesday, Nick goes to TAPA, The Theresa Academy for Performing Arts.  Nick has a drumming and dancing class.

Mom follows TAPA on Facebook.  On Thursday night mom was looking at Facebook on the computer and there was a picture of Nick!

Mom said to Nick, "What a nice picture of you at TAPA!"  We looked at all the pictures posted on the page, Nick pointed to some of the kids and said their names.

Then mom clicked Like under Nick's picture.