On living forever and ever...

One of the strange things about living in the world is that it is only now and then one is quite sure one is going to live forever and ever and ever. One knows it sometimes when one gets up at the tender solemn dawn-time and goes out and stands alone and throws one's head far back and looks up and up and watches the pale sky slowly changing and flushing and marvelous unknown things happening until the East almost makes one cry out and one's heart stands still at the strange unchanging majesty of the rising of the sun—which has been happening every morning for thousands and thousands and thousands of years.

One knows it then for a moment or so. And one knows it sometimes when one stands by oneself in a wood at sunset and the mysterious deep gold stillness slanting through and under the branches seems to be saying slowly again and again something one cannot quite hear, however much one tries. Then sometimes the immense quiet of the dark blue at night with millions of stars waiting and watching makes one sure; and sometimes a sound of far-off music makes it true; and sometimes a look in some one's eyes.

~The Secret Garden, by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Neglected...

Do you feel neglected and forgotten? I've been over at Max's blog lately updating. If you haven't visited over there lately, you can get caught up on what has been going on with us.

Max was in the hospital last week. The same thing our guy had to have surgery for this past December happened again. The doctors were able to avoid surgery this time, but because it's now happened twice, they will have to find a longterm fix. He has an appointment with his surgeon next week to see what can be done. It will most likely mean more surgery.

Thankfully, Mr. Hotshot is doing good now, although not liking these super hot days we've been having already. His sister gets here this week, so things are about to get extra fun!

I'll try to get back over here soon. Balancing the beginning of summer, hospital stays and doctors appointments is taking a lot of time...and I am trying to at least keep his blog updated so all his fans are in the know. Come on over to www.maxwatson.org if you want to follow along.

Now to leave you with a flashback...

Baby boy Max

And a fast forward...

Old boy Max

Field Day...

When I was a kid, I didn't much care for Track and Field day. It was a day filled with coming in last in most every activity...and a pile of "participant" ribbons. I wondered what it was going to look like with Max and his classmates today.

We hoped some of the activities could be adapted for him to join in, and that he would have fun on the last event with his friends.

We certainly weren't disappointed. His teacher introduced us to his second grade teacher, and we met a few more parents.

But, the center of attention was cheering all of the kids on. Several of them wanted to help with letting Max join in, and they all cheered him on.

Thankfully the rain held off and we got a lot of great photos.



The kids wanted Max to race too, so Steve pushed him along. He raced with his partner at the Botanic Garden last week.



The second race was the wheelbarrow race. That didn't stop his friend from making sure Max got to do the race too. She was his first friend in school. She wrote him the first letter, and was his Skype partner on the news story. She decided to push him, like the other kids were "pushing" the wheelbarrow partners.



Once the other kids saw that Max could be pushed, they all wanted in on the action!



This is again his friend from the video, and his friend from the neighborhood, who sent him "get well" cards nearly every day while he was in the hospital in December. They wanted to push him through the hurdles.



And the sack race...one of the kids thought it would work to put the sack on Max's legs like the rest of them were doing.



Another video, even though I didn't have it in focus...you can hear the kids cheering him on "Come on, Max!! You can do it Max!!"


And part of the fun was chalk art, ON THE SCHOOL WALLS!



We heard, "Max, come here, we made you a picture!"







All in all...it was brilliant. My heart is so full for these kids. And the school. And his wonderful teacher. It truly has been his best year yet. He's grown so much this year. We've learned so much more about him.

Now, what on earth are we going to do for three months?!

TV Star...

You can add TV star to Max's resume now.

This evening, Max was featured in a story with his classmates, "All in Attendance".

I think they did a great job. I can't embed the video from the news website, but follow the link over to read the story, and watch it.
I did get some still shots of us watching the news together. How's that for geeked out?







It really has been such a great school year, and a great way to round it out by sharing the whole class's story for others to see how easy it is to include everyone.



Max and his class on 9news.com

Thanks to Bazi Kanani for the great storytelling. And everyone at Cotton Creek Elementary, especially Mrs. Clayton and her first grade class!

To Make A Wish...Again...

One thing I could say we've learned with Max, is life rarely goes according to plan. In fact, especially if we try to make plans, life never goes according to plan.

That seems to mostly be the case when we try to make travel plans. Last summer we had a pretty grand plan to go to the ocean for our boy. But, seizures had other plans. Max ended being admitted to the hospital more last year, than he ever had before. For those nasty stinking seizures. And those big nasty seizures made it so we could not safely take him away from his doctors for a long period of time.

So, plans scrapped.

Then, we found the right solution, and his seizures have been mighty quiet for...wow...almost 9 months. And we felt a little more comfortable trying for another trip. This time, we requested for him to get a Wish Trip, through Make A Wish of Colorado.

They approved his wish to go to San Francisco. The big plan...the biggest part of the wish was to visit the opera. Our boy LOVES opera, and we thought it would round the trip out to truly be something special. And with the help of Make A Wish, it would surely come together.

But, alas, it has not come together. Due to scheduling differences, and unavailability, he wouldn't be able to see the opera. Make A Wish worked very hard to try to get a solution figured out, but in the end, we made the decision that this trip just wasn't working out. (Through talking almost daily for WEEKS!)

That's something else we've learned from Max...it's sometimes very important to fight the resistance...and sometimes it's very important to stop fighting the resistance. For a lot of reasons, in the end, this trip was not meant to be. And while I was very disappointed for Max and all of us, we got right to work on a new wish.

His wish coordinator has been amazing in trying to get the trip worked out, and dove right in to the new wish.

The new wish...you're wondering what it is, aren't you? I've known for over a week now, but have kept my mouth shut, because,I wanted to wait until it was for sure happening!

So, without further rambling from me...Max's new wish is.......



It's called the Duet: The "Go Anywhere" Wheelchair Bicycle Tandem.

We are SUPER excited about getting this bike. It will mean so many things for us. We'll be able to go biking as a family. Max will get a front seat view of the world whizzing by. He'll get to feel the wind through his toes. And if we get it here in time (estimated 4 week delivery), maybe just maybe, we'll make it up to Frisco for the Family ride day for Children's Hospital's Courage Classic. Of course, we'll see how much he likes being on it before we set out for a 35 mile ride, but, it's something to aim for.

And, as far as California goes. We're still hoping to go. We're planning on going. And we already have the time and resources to get there for a visit. We'll just take it at Max's pace, and hopefully he'll get to put his little piggies in the ocean this summer. And who knows, maybe we'll have his super cool new bike to ride along a pier.

A Mother's Day...

I think not every year is going to be filled with fanfare and hooplah around holidays. This has definitely been one of those years. I guess it started with Christmas in the hospital. Birthdays weren't big celebrations, and our anniversary and Valentine's day were just another day on the calendar. Not that we didn't show love and acknowledge the day, it just hasn't been over the top, like it has been some years.

Last night, when I went to bed, I expected Mother's Day would fall in line with the other celebratory days of late. Hubby's away, so no sleeping in. Max was up with the sun, as is his routine these days. 6:00am he starts crowing like a rooster. I persuaded him to at least be minimally loud until 8:00am.

I got up and got him eating, and had a lot of sweet messages from friends and relatives wishing me a Happy Mother's Day. But, their words were more than just quick copies they put on everyone else's facebook walls. They were sincere, and heartfelt, thoughtful, and encouraging. It honestly took me by a bit of surprise, that people think so highly of me as a mom to Max. It's not easy for me to take compliments. I usually shrug them off, but today I stopped and appreciated every one of them. That was a really special part of my day.

Max, of course, made the day complete. He's the reason I get to celebrate. Earlier this week, his teacher and he worked the whole hour on my Mother's day gift. I stayed out of the room, and let them work it out, with his computer. He was telling her colors, and they were working on designs. We decided that I would only look at the card and gift today.

So, this morning once we were up and around, I brought the card and bookmark he made to him, and asked him about it. He was pretty proud of it, and I must say, this is one of the sweetest Mother's Day gifts I've ever gotten...the first one he ever made with his two hands.

He held onto it, before he let me look at it.


And here he is explaining it to me...


At lunch time, my friend Krista, came over to sit with the big guy while I got out for a bit. I had some errands to run, and made a short stop at the mall to get myself some new make-up. I ran to the grocery store, mall, picked up Max's medicine, got some tulle for the garden (more on that in a minute), got lunch, all in about 2 hours. I'm fast on my own! ;)

While I was out, I got to talk to my mom, and talked to her a couple more times once I was home. I got to talk to Steve over Skype, and talked to my dad, since it's his birthday today. And, got a special email from Abbey too.

Then, I got a surprise with my sister and niece stopping by on their way to celebrate her Mother's Day fun. She brought me chocolate covered frozen bananas, and these...that Addie picked out...


Pink peonies...so sweet. I love these flowers. They remind me of my Grandmama, she had a huge bush of them at her house. And I think they look perfect in her pink vase.

Once they were on their way, I put Max on the floor to play for a bit. It's been so stinking warm this weekend, and he's not a fan. Our house has been so stuffy, as the wind really isn't moving, so having the doors and windows open just makes it warmer. So, I put him on the floor with the fans at his level blowing right on him. And I went out to tackle a project in the garden. (And, no worries, I can see him from the back-yard the whole time, and come in and out a hundred times to check on him.)


This weekend, I finally found out what has been eating our seedlings. At first I thought maybe it was caterpillars, as they go after the tomato plants, but it's too early for that. Then I thought it was Jumpy the Squirrel, but the bites were really little. Then, I saw the stinkers...the finches! They're picking away at all the leaves. So, I read to put netting over them to let them get big enough, then the leaves will be too tough for them to eat.

When I went looking for the netting, it was kind of pricey. So I went to buy tulle material instead. I immediately saw a difference. I just hope it doesn't blow away, or they don't peck through it.


I made myself dinner on the grill, and we watch the Amazing Race finale. Then, time for bed. But first, a Mother's Day picture together.



All in all, a pretty fab day. I felt love from all over. And felt truly blessed to be Max's mom.

Sunday night...

For as long as I've had responsibilities, I can remember staying up as late as I can on Sunday night. Squeezing every little second out of what remains of the weekend.

I'm up late again on this Sunday night, listening to the hum of the dishwasher, and the swish of the washing machine, previewing the new Alison Krauss & Union Station album, and trying to not faint from the stink of the dog nestled up to my lap.

It's a quiet time...about the only time of the week I feel like I really can think. I guess this little slice of time is my favorite of the week.

Fully last week, and fully the week ahead.

I'm off to enjoy the rest of it...happy week ahead.