There are some days that just go almost perfectly. Our day started as all Fridays do with daily mass. After mass, the homeschool group congregated in the parish hall for snacks and fellowship. We outlasted the older crowd and were booted out so the hall could be cleaned up for an event tomorrow.
Our group headed to the local post (base for you non Army folks) bowling alley for our monthly activity. We all had a ball. The younger kids used the bumpers in their lanes while Ben, two of the older kids and I used a bumperless lane. I won both games handily with some well placed strikes. I loved it!! You could say I'm a bit competitive. ;-)
We headed to lunch then home for some down time before heading out to Brother's therapy clinic for a party. During December, Brother and another young boy sold Christmas cards with the intent that they would use it for charity, but for various reasons they ended up not being able to do that. So, the idea was to have a Valentine's Day party. There were about 8-10 autistic children at this party--all kids around the same age and around the same level as Brother.
While he was at the party, Ben and Honey went to get a snack at our favorite place--Starbucks while Sister, Pumpkin and I went to Hobby Lobby to purchase some craft items for Little Flowers (I'm teaching Monday). When we arrived back at the clinic, the party was swinging!! They were dancing to YMCA, they did the hand jive, and then the chicken dance. I was so proud of my boy. He tried very hard to keep up and really did dance along with them. It brought tears to my eyes seeing him participate. I wanted to weep with joy. It really is a triumph to see him participate in a group. I could see his reluctance, but he forged ahead. He was also off beat, but hey, who cares.
Since we were all hyped up on sugar, we delayed dinner and went to an awesome used book sale held by the local library. It was so much fun. We spent almost 2 hours going through the stacks of books. For 50 cents, I picked up Pocketful of Pinecones
by Karen Andreola. It was just sitting there staring at me so I snatched it right up. I purchased a ton of National Geographic magazines at 25 cents a piece plus the kids picked up a couple of books each. Ben had fun searching through the books and found 3 books that would have cost around $60 for $3.
So, now we are home after having eaten dinner. The kids are in bed and I am doing all the laundry I couldn't get to yesterday or today. We're headed to my parents' house this weekend. My brother from California is coming home to visit along with my other brother from Houston. Our family will be together again for my dad's birthday. So, everyone, have a great weekend. We plan on it.