School's out for summer. Yesterday was the last day of the school year for both Michelle and Grace, and both will be at new schools next year. Michelle has been transferred to Washington Elementary School, where she will teach 2nd grade. The best thing about the transfer is that Washington is less than a four minute drive from our house, whereas Riverside Elementary where she's been is almost a twenty minute drive from our house.
Grace will go to Kindergarten at Nodland Elementary next year, after being at Leeds Elementary the past two years. Her preschool experience was outstanding, thanks largely to the teachers she had. She will have the same teacher's aide next year, which will be really nice for her.
The summer will be a good one for the girls, starting with our Make-a-Wish trip to Disney World in a week. The Make-a-Wish people came over Thursday night and brought us our "trip packet" with basically everything we need for the trip. It will be a great time, and we'll be sure to write plenty about it when we get back.
Also, Claire had her first crawl this morning. We predict she'll be all over the house by the end of the weekend.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
May 18, 2010
Birthday week. Grace will turn 5 on Thursday. She'll bring treats to school that day, and on Saturday she's having a birthday party with the girls in her preschool class. She's got a few close friends in that class who are all coming, so it'll be a great day for her. We're so thankful for Grace's good health over the past year, and we hope and pray it continues in the coming year. She's a pretty special 5 year old, but maybe we're a little biased.
Grace was featured in a news story on one of the tv stations here in town last night. It was a story on the little league baseball league she's playing in. The league is for kids with physical and mental disabilities, and this is her first year playing. Below is the link to the video, I'm not sure if it'll work on this blog or not. If it doesn't work you can go to ktiv.com and search under sports. It was pretty cool for Grace to be interviewed, and she did well.
http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12496156
Grace was featured in a news story on one of the tv stations here in town last night. It was a story on the little league baseball league she's playing in. The league is for kids with physical and mental disabilities, and this is her first year playing. Below is the link to the video, I'm not sure if it'll work on this blog or not. If it doesn't work you can go to ktiv.com and search under sports. It was pretty cool for Grace to be interviewed, and she did well.
http://www.ktiv.com/Global/story.asp?S=12496156
Saturday, May 1, 2010
May 1, 2010
Today is the first of May, and Grace is keenly aware that this is her birthday month. Hard for us to believe that she'll be five in a few weeks.
Tomorrow is Grace's first night of Challenger baseball. They have a really good little league program here in Sioux City for kids with disabilities, so tomorrow Grace makes her first foray into competitive sports. I'm guessing she will not be a gamer. She'll be more concerned about how she looks and what her team name is. In fact she wasn't happy the other day when she found out her team name was American Postal, and not the Ballerinas as she'd been hoping for. We're excited for it, though, because it'll be a new and different experience for her.
Grace will have a pretty busy summer. We're also looking at having her take a ballet class. She really wants to, and we've had some contact with some of the studios here in the city about working with someone in a wheelchair. So far we've gotten a good response. Grace told me the other day that she wants to make sure she takes an "arm ballet" class so she can participate, so she's obviously been thinking about how she can participate. She's come to grips with her limitations and is remarkably positive about them.
Tomorrow is Grace's first night of Challenger baseball. They have a really good little league program here in Sioux City for kids with disabilities, so tomorrow Grace makes her first foray into competitive sports. I'm guessing she will not be a gamer. She'll be more concerned about how she looks and what her team name is. In fact she wasn't happy the other day when she found out her team name was American Postal, and not the Ballerinas as she'd been hoping for. We're excited for it, though, because it'll be a new and different experience for her.
Grace will have a pretty busy summer. We're also looking at having her take a ballet class. She really wants to, and we've had some contact with some of the studios here in the city about working with someone in a wheelchair. So far we've gotten a good response. Grace told me the other day that she wants to make sure she takes an "arm ballet" class so she can participate, so she's obviously been thinking about how she can participate. She's come to grips with her limitations and is remarkably positive about them.
Thursday, April 22, 2010
April 22, 2010
We are now three months from RAGBRAI and Race 4 Grace 2010. More details to come as we get them in place.
Not too much else is new in Grace's world these days. She has made her dad proud by taking a liking to baseball. She's actually good at making contact with the ball, and she has a good grasp of running (or driving in her case) the bases. She will cheat to suit her purposes, but who doesn't do that? Our front yard is perfect for baseball, and lately we've been doing that just about every night. We also got a little basketball hoop for the driveway, but at this point she hasn't played with that as much. Maybe Claire will be the one who takes to hoops. Given Grace's penchant for dolls, dress-up, princesses, and all other things girl, I'm just happy she's willing to play any kind of sport.
Not too much else is new in Grace's world these days. She has made her dad proud by taking a liking to baseball. She's actually good at making contact with the ball, and she has a good grasp of running (or driving in her case) the bases. She will cheat to suit her purposes, but who doesn't do that? Our front yard is perfect for baseball, and lately we've been doing that just about every night. We also got a little basketball hoop for the driveway, but at this point she hasn't played with that as much. Maybe Claire will be the one who takes to hoops. Given Grace's penchant for dolls, dress-up, princesses, and all other things girl, I'm just happy she's willing to play any kind of sport.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
April 11, 2011
Good weekend at the Nelson house. Grace had a playdate on Saturday at her friend Madalyn's house. They are best friends at preschool, and Madalyn wanted to have Grace over for her birthday. We didn't bring in Grace's wheelchair or Dani because the house wasn't made for it (split-level), but both Madalyn's parents were around to help haul Grace around the house as need be. Grace has made some really good friends at preschool this year, which given her social nature, isn't too surprising.
Today Grace and I played baseball outside. We just got her a new bomb bat with some big whiffle balls. She's actually really good at making contact with the ball when I pitch to her. We've just started working on some of the other basic concepts, such as tagging the baserunner and running the bases in correct order. Grace has the order down, she just does't always feel the need to run over the bases in her wheelchair.
We're now less than two months away from Grace's Make-a-Wish trip to Disney World, and we're getting excited about that. It'll be the first time we fly with Grace's equipment, so that part of it could be an adventure. Plus it'll be Claire's first time flying. Man I feel sorry for the other people on that flight!
Today Grace and I played baseball outside. We just got her a new bomb bat with some big whiffle balls. She's actually really good at making contact with the ball when I pitch to her. We've just started working on some of the other basic concepts, such as tagging the baserunner and running the bases in correct order. Grace has the order down, she just does't always feel the need to run over the bases in her wheelchair.
We're now less than two months away from Grace's Make-a-Wish trip to Disney World, and we're getting excited about that. It'll be the first time we fly with Grace's equipment, so that part of it could be an adventure. Plus it'll be Claire's first time flying. Man I feel sorry for the other people on that flight!
Saturday, March 27, 2010
March 27, 2010
Right now in the Nelson house we are playing "Princess", which is make-believe play that can take many forms. 90% of the free time in our house is spent playing Princess. Today's version has Michelle as the evil stepmother who has given Princess Grace numerous chores to do around the house. Right now the Princess is dusting the furniture with a rag. Come to think of it, maybe Michelle has a plan behind today's activities. I am the nice stepfather who provides support to Princess Grace. Claire is Dopey Dwarf, either because she's currently wearing purple or because she can't talk.
Grace had Kindergarten roundup this past week, and that went really well. She got to meet all the teachers and the principal at the school, which is called Nodland Elementary. It's a K-2 building that will be perfect for Grace. She was really excited about it and couldn't wait to tell all her preschool classmates about it. Also got 20 right out of 2o on a little reading assessment they had all the kids do. I don't mind saying that she dominated it.
Grace had Kindergarten roundup this past week, and that went really well. She got to meet all the teachers and the principal at the school, which is called Nodland Elementary. It's a K-2 building that will be perfect for Grace. She was really excited about it and couldn't wait to tell all her preschool classmates about it. Also got 20 right out of 2o on a little reading assessment they had all the kids do. I don't mind saying that she dominated it.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
March 21, 2010
The end of a long weekend of watching basketball. Grace told me today that she only liked watching basketball when it's "real", meaning Briar Cliff games. Not that she actually watches those, but at least those games have a concessions stand and real life cheerleaders.
Grace and Michelle spent much of the weekend out of town for a baby shower for Michelle's younger sister. Grace had fun and was excited that she met a new friend. Grace is unbelievable at making new friends. I personally watched her make two "friends" within the span of a few hours last weekend. First in church she befriended the girl in the pew in front of us, mostly because Grace's princess dollies caught the girl's eye. After a few minutes of quiet play Grace whispered to the girl, "Do you want to be my friend?" And they were friends for the rest of the service. Then that night Grace went with me to watch the Briar Cliff women in the NAIA national tournament, and there the exact same thing occurred. By the second half some girl was sitting by us, the two were playing, and Grace had invited her over to our house to play sometime. We'll never see the girl again, but for that night it was all good. Shyness is definitely not a trait possessed by Grace.
Grace and Michelle spent much of the weekend out of town for a baby shower for Michelle's younger sister. Grace had fun and was excited that she met a new friend. Grace is unbelievable at making new friends. I personally watched her make two "friends" within the span of a few hours last weekend. First in church she befriended the girl in the pew in front of us, mostly because Grace's princess dollies caught the girl's eye. After a few minutes of quiet play Grace whispered to the girl, "Do you want to be my friend?" And they were friends for the rest of the service. Then that night Grace went with me to watch the Briar Cliff women in the NAIA national tournament, and there the exact same thing occurred. By the second half some girl was sitting by us, the two were playing, and Grace had invited her over to our house to play sometime. We'll never see the girl again, but for that night it was all good. Shyness is definitely not a trait possessed by Grace.
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