Arthur has had a very busy month of October. Between rehearsals for the musical, choir, science UIL, piano lessons, Wonders and Worries sessions, Young Men’s at church and just normal life, it seems like he is always gone.

Earlier in the month, Arthur had his first choir concert of the school year. Kevin, Lily and Derek were able to attend, but I had had chemo and radiation that day, and so I was down for the count. My friend, Lupita, came and sat with me while they were gone, and Kevin sent me videos of all the songs. I was definitely sad to miss it in person though.

This month, Arthur also had his very first UIL (University Interscholastic League) competition. He has been going early to school every Wednesday morning to practice Science with his coach, and although he didn’t win first like he did last year, he did get fourth place. Pretty awesome, especially because he has been so busy and really hasn’t given as much to it as last year.

Another pretty fantastic thing that Arthur got to be involved in this past month, was a special author’s visit with New York Times bestselling author, Kazu Kibuishi. He is best known for his Amulet series. There was a special drawing for the students who have read all the Amulet books, and Arthur was one of the students who were chosen. They got to have lunch with the author, and Arthur got a special pin the author signed, and even got a signed copy of the newest book in the series. So cool!

Another fun thing recently was that there was a choir rollerskating night, and he was so happy to get to go and have some fun (since he would normally be at rehearsal). He had a blast.

One really special thing for Arthur, was that he finished up his sessions with his Wonders and Worries therapist, Edith Castillo. They had six wonderful sessions that not only taught him about my diagnoses and treatment, but also taught him some wonderful coping strategies. One day, he made a target with his main worries, and then they threw wet toilet paper at it. Another time he came home with a special toolkit with fidgets and other things to help him deal with stress – including s super sour candy to suck on when he needed a “dose of reality.” It was truly and amazing program.

We sure do love this sweet boy of ours, even if we can barely keep up with him these days 😉.

(This is his school picture, which he was not very happy with 😂. Funny kid. I did remind him that there is a reason why I take his portraits every year and never buy his school pictures – good times.)