Yayayayayay!!!!!!!!

Not only was today a great day but I also got some great news!  I'll start with that :)

When Emily was first diagnosed with JRA the Arthritis Foundation was starting to talk about the Juvenile Arthritis Conference in Texas.  I knew at that point there was just no way.  She was still in too much pain to really go anywhere.  By the time last year's came around we'd already accrued enough medical bills to not be able to do much of anything so I knew it wouldn't happen.  This year I applied for the scholarship.  I felt that it was about time that we go, but between the continued medical bills and now with Kevin out of work I figured there was no other way.  Sooooo I got our acceptance email a little while ago!!!!  I'm so excited!!!!!  The conference is a great way for the kids to connect, to learn about their conditions.  There are also parent classes and sibling classes, along with crafts & activities for the kids.  I can't wait!

At camp today, the day started off rough.  Emily had a really rough morning.  She had a hard time getting up, and she actually accepted Motrin.  As the day progressed she got better.  By afternoon she was tired, but still going strong otherwise.  I had to help her change, but I figured she'd have a hard time with that with wet clothes.  As for my group...  My co-leader, Helen was nice enough to bring in numbers for the kids to pick since we've had issues getting them from point A to point B in a timely fashion.  My thinking was that with numbers they couldn't argue about their place in line, and we'd be better able to remember whose turn it was to hold the flag.  Well, Helen thought we could take them around in 2 lines.  It took us about 25 minutes to get moving, the kids complained about their numbers, and then my little special friend whom I'll call N *ate his number!!!*   I'm not sure if I've mentioned yet at any point here that before Emily was diagnosed with arthritis she was diagnosed with a form of autism called Pervasive Development Disorder.  She had some pretty huge issues, and a lot of our time was spent trying to figure it all out.  I swear, right now I'm feeling so blessed that we had that experience.  I really feel that it has prepared me for this week.  I have so much more patience with kids now than I had before.  I learned different ways to handle unusual behavior.  Well, anyway, after we finally got to where we were ready to move in her 2 line formation we were late for the first activity, and we didn't even make it there before we had a fight in the line.  We sent those 2 up for a time-out and the rest of us were on the way.  That was the last time of the day that I had to really raise my voice today.  We went back to my idea of the one line with everyone lined up by their numbers & all went well.  In fact, I had several times where my little N smiled so big, laughed, joked around and naturally fit in.  We got him active in a game similar to tag, we got him to take a role in our skit that we're working on for the awards on Friday, and he participated in our flag ceremony!  One of my other boys came up to me and thanked me for being their leader.  I was so proud of them all today.  I couldn't stop smiling.  Yeah, I'm exhausted.  But really this has been a great time.  I think I may even be crazy enough to do this again next year ;)  Keep me in your prayers for tomorrow please!  Please pray that my kids will all have fun, listen well, and work better as a team.  I really want them to just be happy!  Time to crash.  G'night!