Great days

This has been a great week for Steven. School has gone really well--on the first day back I asked what he did at recess (he had decided to read a book so he wouldn't worry about falling), and he admitted that he played soccer instead. How you do that with one leg, I don't know, but there you have it.

He woke up excited for school every morning and one day I asked him why he was so excited. He said, "Just for school! You never know what kinds of fun things are going to happen!" Turns out, his school days were pretty exciting this week. On Friday, he competed in the school geography bee and won! I have got to get some video for you--it was classic Steven. He was bowing every time the audience clapped--while sitting in his chair. His class was so excited for him--they all ran up after to give him a high five. For sure it was one of those glory moments. He will now take a test to see if he qualifies for the state competition.



On Friday afternoon, in a last minute grasp at sunshine, we invited all the boys in his class to the park for a nerf gun/capture the flag game. His birthday is coming up this week and this is how he wanted to celebrate. The boys had a great time--some told me it was the best party they had ever attended. The preparation was very low stress, but the actual party was pretty intense. It was over quickly, though, and for the amount of excitement it generated, it was well worth it.



Yesterday Steven finally got to go to the wishing room and declare his wish. What a magical experience! His amazing wish granters had put together a pirate party, and the kids got to go on a treasure hunt around the building as we learned a little about the history of Make-a-Wish. It was really touching to see all the kids that have been helped by this amazing organization.



We all got to throw a coin into the wishing pond (which didn't have water, but did have snow) and we got to write wishes down for Steven. After that, he used his key to open the wishing room. It was a room full of lights with a fountain--it was awesome and well worth the wait. We all got to read our wishes for him there. I asked him whose wish he liked the best and he said it was Alisa's. She said something like, "I wish you a life full of adventure and a passport full of stamps." Andrew orginally wished him a happy birthday, but before we read them, I encouraged him to change it to "many happy birthdays." Addie was one of the last to read hers and when it was her turn, she started to cry. I really think it was because she felt like her wish of "HAWII" wasn't quite in line with all of our grandiose, long-life sort of wishes, but Rob thinks she was just embarassed to be the center of attention. At any rate, I read hers for her, and changed it to "A trip to Hawaii someday." So you see, I wanted every wish to count for a long life for him, so I even tweaked my other kids' wishes! My only regret is that I didn't wish for something like "I wish that you will attend your Aunt Alisa's 90th birthday party." I mean, as long as we are wishing...



After we read our wishes, Steven submitted his wish to the wishing wizard. So many people have asked what his wish is, and I haven't been able to say for sure. Even now, I'm not sure what will happen. I will tell you that his first wish was for a Disney Cruise. Because of the economy, Make-a-Wish doesn't normally let the kids pick a Disney cruise. However, our wish granters encouraged Steven to write a letter to the board, and they may let him go. I've mentioned before that I would rather not ask for an exception, but he wrote the letter himself and I suppose what happens will happen. His second wish is for a trip to Hawaii. He has had a hard time deciding because he would really like to go to Hawaii, but he also really wants a reason to get a passport. We do realize that he may not even get his passport stamped on the cruise option, but he would still really like to see another country.

So that is a very long post--woah! A new week awaits--on Tuesday, he will turn 10 years old--it is his magic birthday! And really, it does seem like magic. He has had a wonderful year so far. Last night as he was going to bed (this was after the wish party), he gave me an extra long hug and told me he was so happy. He said, "I really will be happy with any trip I get to do for Make-a-Wish. Everything sounds like so much fun." He may have been talking about he wish trip, but truly, to him everything does sounds like fun right now. And there is something so hopeful and exciting about being around him--you just can't help but think that life is great and that it holds all kinds of hope.