INCLUSION IS PRETTY FUN!

Jonah gets to be in the Senior photo

Jonah and his special buddy

Jonah gets to help lead a cheer at the pep rally

 

Jonah joined the school football team back in 7th grade.  From the moment he stepped on that field, his peers and coaches have been welcoming and so willing to make adaptations for him in order for him to participate.  This has continued thru 8th and 9th grade, and now again in 10th grade.  We couldn't be more proud of our football team and staff and the school body in general for how great they treat both of our boys.

At Friday's night game, Ben sat near the student section.  The entire game we heard "Hi Ben" and "See you at the lunch table" as students (mostly girls-haha) walked in and out of the bleachers.  

Ben looked so happy and content, like he knew he belonged.  This makes our hearts so happy.  And it makes us very proud of Ben because socializing is not easy for Ben.  But he was rocking it Friday night at the football game!

Meanwhile Jonah was out on the field cheering the varsity team from the sidelines.  He remembered to stay with the team instead of just hanging out by the bench and dancing on his own.  He even clapped and danced when his teammates scored touchdowns.  At one point, he was doing air guitar with two seniors along the sidelines!

But most special on Friday night was Jonah being invited to join the seniors during their Senior Night activities even though Jonah is only a sophomore.  He got to run out on the field when his special buddy was recognized as a senior.  And he got to join in the senior group photo.  His special buddy also let Jonah keep his senior sign to bring home.  Jonah has propped it in his bedroom chair so it looks like his special buddy is sitting in the room.  Oh Jonah...

We think these guys like hanging out with Jonah!  They see him for the fun and cool kid he is.  

And we are also proud of Jonah because he has to exercise a LOT of self-control to act appropriately during practice and during the games. 

To us, it looks like inclusions is pretty fun for all!

 

START OF SOPHOMORE YEAR

The boys are off to great starts as sophomores!

Jonah celebrated his 16th birthday, and he continues to play on the JV football team.

Ben has started Esports at school and Special Olympic bowling.

This picture is very special.  Jonah's teammate got hurt during the game and had to sit on the sideline.  Jonah (#25) came over to comfort him and the teammate asked Jonah to sit next to him.  Pretty cool- the friendship, not the kid being hurt...

NINE DAYS OF CAMPING

 Yes, you read the title of this post correctly- we did a NINE day camping trip.  We stayed 3 nights each in 3 different state parks: Copperfalls, Pattison, and Willow River.  We also did day trips to Amnicon State Park and some Lake Superior City/County parks.  

The northwest Wisconsin state parks are known for their waterfalls, and boy was it worth the trip!  Great hiking and awesome scenery.   We had so much fun!

FUN IN THE SUN: SUMMER 2026

 

Hard to believe, but we are in the last weeks of summer.  School starts on 9-1-26.

It has been an amazing summer!

Great camping, great vacation with my family, great vacation with all our kids, great week of summer day camp for the boys, and great days at home with the boys.  

This year we did not have respite care for them so they were home with me everyday.  They are much more "teenager" because they like to hang out in their bedrooms and listen to music or play a video game.  They did not need my supervision or need me to do activities with them as much as other years.  

I'm proud to say we did accomplish doing school almost everyday we were home.  We worked on life skills, reading, writing, math, spelling, job skills, and social skills.  That's a lot, but it's been fun.  I love Boom Cards!!!!  

We also swam almost every day in our pool which is always great fun.

Football practice started, and Jonah is much more willing to participate this year.  He's not a mere freshman anymore- he's a big sophomore now!  Plus his goal is to join the Green Bay Packers so he is very motivated!

We have one more 9 day camping trip that starts soon.

That will be the finale to Summer 2026!

Grandpa watching the Brewers with Toddler "J"

Visit to a rock and roll themed diner in Sheboygan

Mom and Ben ice cream date: 

Ben met the challenge and ate the whole thing!

Up on the tower at Potawatomi State Park

THE RETURN OF CRAZY BALL

 This video was made during our week at 

Indian Trails Campground with the whole gang.  

What a fun time!

OUR SUMMER START

Summer 2026 is off and running!  June is almost done.  I don't understand.

One thing I have noticed so far this summer is the boys are much more independent in terms of keeping themselves busy.  I don't need to constantly be coming up with activities with them.  

I also, for the most part, don't need to have them within eyesight all the time.  This is a great improvement from the past few summers!  

It's the reason we decided not to do respite care this summer because I feel like I don't have them underfoot 24/7.  They are teens now and like to hang out in their rooms.

I am trying to do school with them everyday for about an hour.  And there's the pool for swimming which they still enjoy.  We also have a ton of camping scheduled so that fills a lot of our summer days.  They will also attend a day camp for kiddos with special needs for one week in July.   

So here's our summer so far:

This is actually from our May camping.  

The first campsite concert of the season!

This is the book Jonah picked from the Book Nook at Point Beach State Park.  He knows a summer sizzler when he sees one- haha!

Hiking at Devil's Lake State Park

Pontooning at Garmisch Resort in northern Wisconsin

Library animal program.  

Jonah acts out his inner Indiana Jones! 

 

EARLY BIRTHDAY and ACTUAL BIRTHDAY FOR BEN

 

If you have ever been around Ben for more than five minutes, one of the things he will most likely tell you is it is his birthday.  Any day of the year is Ben's birthday according to him.

This year, he experienced a "Boy Who Cried Wolf" situation though.  His birthday was on Sunday, and when he told people at church, they didn't believe him because he always says it's his birthday.  Unfortunately, I'm not sure the moral of that story really impacted him.

Anyway, his teacher at school decided to celebrate his birthday early at school since Ben's birthday if mid-June, after school is out for the year.

He had a great celebration with water gun fights outside and a present of an Incredible Hulk Book.

Then for his real birthday, we co-celebrated with Father's Day and attended a quincenero for one of the boys' classmates.  So Ben had a GREAT day.  And he got an Incredible Hulk Tshirt, book, and pencils!

It's hard to believe Ben is sixteen years old.  Where has the time gone...

I love this one because Ben has a look of pure happiness on his face!

2026 Job Olympics

 

The boys partipated in the Job Olympics this spring.

Jonah won 1st in the laundry sorting event.

Ben won 3rd in the recycling sorting event.

They completed as a team in the sandwich making event.

What a great day for them!  

They were both so proud of their medals.

Click HERE for article about Job Olympics

Click HERE for info about Job Olympics

ANOTHER COLLEGE GRADUATE!

Our Lydia graduated from college this past Sunday.  

We are so proud of all her hardwork and determination.  We are excited to see where life takes her.  

For the next few months, she will be a ranger at one of the state parks- congrats on that also!

Lydia doesn't like photos of her on this blog, but this one is safe because you can hardly see her.  But it's proof she crossed the stage- haha!

CHOIR CONCERT WITHOUT NEEDING AN AIDE TO HELP!

The boys had their spring choir concert.  Because of scheduling difficulties, the school could not provide an aide for them.  Other years, they've had a school aide help them get on/off the stage and even stand with them up on the risers during the performance.

I volunteered to sit in the row behind them in case an emergency came up, but the plan was their fellow choir students would assist them on/off the stage.

It worked perfectly!  Ben needed no assistance at all.  Jonah needed a prompt when it was time to leave the stage.  And during one song, he started to struggle with staying standing.  Jonah gets very scared when he is "up high"- being on stage looking down at the crowd.  He started to get scared.  I was thinking I would have to go up on stage to help him when his classmate told him to just sit down on the riser.  Jonah followed this direction and finished the song sitting down.  

How great it is to watch the boys' peers come around and support our guys without giving it a second thought!  

That is Down Syndrome awareness in practice, not just in theory.  The kids at school are learning and aware of the boys differences, but then also learning that inclusion can happen despite those differences.  That's beautiful to watch!  

It was proud evening to watch our boys and their fellow choir members!

And shout out to the school staff who have created this environment.  We greatly appreciate it.

JONAH'S CAMPER TOUR

 Unknown to us, Jonah took the Ipad into our camper to record a video tour of our camper.  If you watch the video of a real tour of a camper, you can see he closely copies the real one.  I think a camper company would be wise to hire our guy!  He's awfully cute :)

THIS JUST KEEPS GETTING SWEETER!

Baby J was over to play this week.  

These are some of my most treasured photos!

STATE SOLO AND ENSEMBLE

The boys are in the high school choir.  

This choir won a first place at STATE Solo and Ensemble this weekend!  

What a joy to watch the boys participate with their peers.  It is so encouraging to see their fellow choir members include the guys and help and guide them without even a second thought.  

We are so thankful for the choir director making an environment where this could happen.  

It was a fun and proud moment to see our boys on a college campus and then singing their way to first place with the choir!

World Down Syndrome Day 2026

Today, 3-21-26, we celebrated World Down Syndrome Day!  Actually the boys wore their Tshirts to school yesterday to help promote Down Syndrome awareness so it's been a 2 day celebration.

Helping the general public understand and feel comfortable around individuals with Down syndrome is a win-win.  It brings joys to our kiddos to feel included and accepted, and we believe others are blessed when they interact with individuals who have an extra zest for life!

Here are some great photos showing what our boys have been doing at school this week.

Jonah and Ben went shopping at our village supermarket for classroom snacks.  Here Jonah is comparing produce prices. 

Jonah learning how to use the microwave.  His preferred school snack is cheese tortillas. 

Ben got to participate in a object lesson in History about the dust bowl.  His aide said he did a great job interacting with his typical peers.  

Ben learning how to wash dishes after their cooking class.

The boys wearing their 3-21 Tshirts.

VERY GOOD FUNCLES AND LOOKING FORWARD TO SPRING!

Definition of Funcle: like a regular uncle only more fun.

Doesn't that sound like our dynamic duo?

Seriously, the boys are really good uncles to their nephew, especially Ben.  Ben knows how to talk and play with Baby J.  He is very appropriate with his volume level and is very gentle and careful with the baby.   

Jonah struggles in these areas, but his love for the baby is still strong!  This past week, Jonah really enjoyed Baby J because we were able to have the baby on my lap at the piano and Jonah playing his guitar.  Jonah's dream of Baby J being a member of our family band is coming true!

I love these photos.  Baby J is army-crawling now so he is getting into people's space.  The boys were watching their after school show, and the little guy came over to visit them.  I love how Ben interacts with him so sweetly.  A side of Ben we don't always see.

In regards to looking forward to the spring, we have some cool things happening.

1. Water park hotel night as our spring break!  The boys are so excited to spend the night away.  My hope is to relax in the lazy river...

2. Job Olympics: the boys will be participating for the first time both for themselves, and I believe the first time for our school district.  We are very excited for them to be able to have this opportunity.  Our school district is amazing!!!!

Click HERE for news story about Job Olympics

IT'S BEEN A WHILE!

No news is good news is the theory, and that's actually been our reality.  

I haven't posted for quite a bit because things have been running relatively smoothly with the boys.  School is going great, and they are healthy!  

Ben's dental surgery happened on 1-5, and it went very smoothly.  The mystery is somewhat solved as to why Ben all of a sudden got infection in his gums when he's always had great dental checkups.  The dentist thinks the 3 baby teeth that were refusing to come out were causing a great place for bacteria to build up.  Now that these 3 teeth have been pulled, she is very hopeful Ben's gums will get back to their usual healthy again.  That was a relief to hear.

Special Olympics basketball starts up this week.  A big commitment each week but well worth the opportunity for the boys to exercise and have fun with their friends.