My Boys

As seen in DSP's June Newsletter:

My Smart Seed

Mom, I was born for math.

Oh yeah, who told you that?

No one. I knew it even when I was just a seed.

Uh....huh. Yes, you are really good at math.

I was such a smart seed, I knew what 1,000 plus 1,000 was!

So, what is 1,000 plus 1,000?

Moooooo-ooommmmm, it's 2,000!

You're right, you are a smart seed.

Was, Mom. I'm not a seed anymore.

True. Well, you're a smart something, not sure what, but definitely something.

So, what are YOU up to?

What? You don't hang out on top of a Jeep on a sunny day? Where else could you possibly relax and blind everyone with your winter-white skin?

And no, I did not mean to dress them alike. But, since they were wearing practically the same outfit, do you think it would have killed them to look and smile at the camera at the same time?

Apparently so.

Emma is counting down to the last day of school, and doing a lot of talking about how she's ready for second grade. We'll see how that evolves over the summer. By August we're usually having daily conversations about the next grade being so much harder, her not knowing anybody, and it won't be any FUN!!! Typical stuff, and the open house day always resolves each and every one of those fears. I wish we could do open house before the end of this school year!

Yesterday I told George's preschool teacher that he won't be attending his last day of school next week. I really didn't think I could get through the "graduation" to Kindergarten for the other kids without crying. (Considering I couldn't get through that conversation with her without crying, I think I made a good call on that one!) It's one thing to intellectually make the decision to keep him back a year, to sign the papers and meet the new teachers, and set goals for making it a valuable year. But it's something else entirely to watch the other kids move on without him.

Sorry, didn't mean to get maudlin there. The sun is shining, the kids are (almost) healthy, and Jason's bringing home pizza. Life is good. I'm going to go sit in the sun on top of a Jeep!

Goodnight Sweetheart

Happy Memorial Day

BBQ RULES

We are about to enter the summer and BBQ season. Therefore it is important to refresh your memory on the etiquette of this sublime outdoor cooking activity, as it's the only type of cooking a 'real' man will do, probably because there is an element of danger involved.

When a man volunteers to do the BBQ the following chain of events are put into motion:

Routine...
(1) The woman buys the food.
(2) The woman makes the salad, prepares the vegetables, and makes dessert.
(3) The woman prepares the meat for cooking, places it on a tray along with the necessary cooking utensils and sauces, and takes it to the man who is lounging beside the grill - beer in hand.

Here comes the important part:
(4) THE MAN PLACES THE MEAT ON THE GRILL.

More routine....
(5) The woman goes inside to organize the plates and cutlery.
(6) The woman comes out to tell the man that the meat is burning.
He thanks her and asks if she will bring another beer while he deals with the situation.

Important again:
(7) THE MAN TAKES THE MEAT OFF THE GRILL AND HANDS IT TO THE WOMAN.

More routine....
(8) The woman prepares the plates, salad, bread, utensils, napkins, sauces, and brings them to the table.
(9) After eating, the woman clears the table and does the dishes.

And most important of all:
(10) Everyone PRAISES the MAN and THANKS HIM for his cooking efforts.
(11) The man asks the woman how she enjoyed 'her night off.' And, upon seeing her annoyed reaction, concludes that there's just no pleasing some women....

Enjoy your BBQ's today, remember to thank the helpers, and, most especially, remember those who earned this holiday for you.

Happy Memorial Day.

Brief periods of calm

Peaceful, loving children depicted in above photo bear no resemblance to actual children in our household.

One looooooong weekend filled with strange weather, one craaaaaaaaaanky child filled with a head cold, one girl child filled with attituuuuuuuude, and one set of tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiired parents trying to fill the long weekend. Put them all together and you may hear some yelling, see some children being (oh-so-lovingly) put in their rooms for increasing amounts of time, and find a few bottles of wine and beer in the recycling bin. Not our shining moment of parenthood, this weekend.

Only a few weeks left of school. Goody.

Why it's always good to hand over the camera

Little Man had a school fund raising event this morning. He didn't have the best time and we ended up leaving early, but my mom managed to get a couple of pictures of us before we left. Thanks, Mom!!

I have to say, it was pretty cute watching 50 or more little preschoolers chasing the U of O mascot as he skipped across the baseball diamond. George was very intrigued, but not enough to get too close! By the time the mascot showed up, we were well past George's stress limit anyhow, and the tantrums were insane. I'm exhausted this afternoon. It's so hard to remember that one unsuccessful event doesn't mean he's regressing. It just was a combination of more sensory input than he could handle, him waking up with a cold, and an event waaaaaaaay out of his ordinary school-day routine. I think I'm ready for summer and new routines!!

See that pathetic hair cut my boy is sporting? We're partway through a multi-stage haircut. He's only willing to sit for so long while I cut it, and this time I had the added obstacle of him wanting to help. His version of helping consists of grabbing at the clippers while I'm trying to use them. Thus, a few bald-ish patches and uneven sides. Hopefully I'll be able to clean it up tomorrow. Otherwise, the next pictures you see will include a boy with a buzz cut!

Hippie farmer

My little tie-dyed girl helped her grandpa plant tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, carrots, and radishes. I helped George make mud puddles with the hose. All in all, a good day's work for everyone! Thanks Dad, for filling up our garden, we can't wait to start harvesting!

Men at Work

Think these two boys are related?

The planters are filled, flower beds cleaned up, and I have several pairs of formerly white socks to wash. We seem to have skipped spring and gone directly into 95 degree summer weather, so we're all moaning about the heat, but happy to be outside!

Mothers & Daughters

One of the best aspects of living where we do is the amount of time we are able to spend with family. Spending Mother's Day with my daughter, mother, and grandmother is about as good as it gets. Then again, the nap that I took later in the afternoon was pretty spectacular too!
And the FOOD!! Donuts and coffee for breakfast; steak, noodles, broccoli with cheese, fresh berries, and wine for dinner. YUM!! (All dinner foods chosen and prepared by Jason and Emma, LOVE THAT!!)
Oh yeah, these people are pretty darn great, too. The two kiddos that made me a mother and the guy that made those kiddos possible. Handmade cards and gifts (and a stack of magazines from Jason, thank you, hub!) and some extra hugs made this a perfect day!

Feeling the sun

I know you've already seen this photo, but this is the first page I've scrapped in weeks. It makes me happy!

Prepping for Mother's Day

Yesterday we spent most of the day out and about. A long drive up the freeway to IKEA, where the kids played in the Smaland for an hour. George did amazingly better than expected, had lots of fun playing. An hour seems to be his limit, though, by the end he was wandering around saying "Mommy, I want Mommy!" in the most pitiful voice ever. Still! An hour! In a place he's never been, with people he didn't know, in a fairly overwhelmingly stimulation-filled room. Altogether good in my book.

And Emma did fabulous on the drive (about an hour and a half each way). George loves drives, it's a treat for him. But Emma gets bored and restless. She did great yesterday and there were NO disputes to break up and NO whining!! WOW! I think I've already gotten my Mother's Day present!

But a long day filled with unusual events and places, combined with lots of sitting in car seats, led to skirmishes and tantrums in the evening. So today, we have no plans. It's 1:30 and Emma is still in her nightgown. We have art supplies strewn across the table, as you can see, with several cards and pictures being created. They both just discovered my hole punches, so I'm sure vacuuming is in my future. Luckily, George still thinks that's fun!

Later, we'll make a trip to the store for milk (and possibly some treats) and one to the library to restock our bookshelf and video choices. A nice, lazy day. Nothing better.

Bowling Blur

Horrible pictures taken without a flash so that I could do a continuous shot, but you get the idea. She has great form, don't you think? And the last picture? She's shushing her daddy who dared to speak before the score was announced.

Ah, bowling from the comfort of your living room. Less smoke, no nasty shoes, nice light controller instead of a heavy ball, and just a wee chance of tossing that controller through your TV. (Or big, picture window, but I promised Jason I wouldn't mention that "almost oops".)

Score one for MOM!

After days of conflicting behavior reports, a great weekend, and the Worst Day Ever at George's "regular" school, I decided to corner the preschool director (who often works directly with George and is a very honest person, tells it like it is, good or bad) and get to the bottom of this mess. Why is George having so many difficulties all of a sudden? How do I balance the reports I get from the different teachers? What can I do at home to help him succeed at school?

After an hour of discussion, this is what it all comes down to: George was doing GREAT. The teachers had a GREAT support system built into his day (picture schedule board, good/rotating choices, timers to help him know how long to stay at each activity or how long he needed to wait for a toy, etc.) And again, he was doing GREAT. Then, the teachers got complacent. And stopped using the support system tools.

See, with a "normal" kid, once they understand routines and behavior requirements, you generally don't need to keep reminding them. You don't have to tell them their activity choices or rotate their choices for them, they know where they can go and what to do there. With kids like George, it's like they built a really cool playhouse on top of a bridge. A playhouse where he felt very comfortable and knew how to maneuver safely. Then they demolished the bridge. Without the visual cues and structures in place, he would race through his daily routine (that he quickly became bored of) and then run spinning through the room, looking for something new; but not knowing how to appropriately get it, do it, share it.

Add to that his still emerging verbal language abilities, and you have a big, manic toddler throwing tantrums because he doesn't know what to do or how to express his confusion. His newfound love of attention for being silly didn't help things much either!

SO, as of yesterday afternoon, picture schedules are back in place. Timers have been pulled out from cupboards. New choices to stretch his imagination and verbal skills are available.

And you know what? When I picked him up yesterday, the teachers and children were all smiling, I was flashed several thumbs up, and my boy was happy. Told ya he was just trying to tell us something! Moving on.

My Handy Man

The soil in our yard is not the best. We live on a rocky hillside and many, many years ago, my grandfather planted bamboo to hide our house from the street. Did you know that if you plant the wrong kind of bamboo, it spreads? Everywhere? And it's nearly impossible to kill off? You have to use a pickax if you want to dig a garden in our yard and even then, nothing really grows. Emma tried to grow radishes last year and they failed miserably. Radishes. One of the easiest things to grow. Not here.

So this year, I asked Jason to build us some planter boxes. And so he did! I love having a husband that enjoys wood working! The basement looks a bit messy you say? Nah. It's just in the middle of being rearranged for the fifth or sixth time since we moved in. And there are a few projects that were set aside in order to make my boxes. It's all about me and my needs, you know. ;) So here they are! There's another, larger one that hasn't made its way outside yet. Now, we just need to fill them. Emma wants sweet peas and tomatoes. Jason wants radishes and cucumbers. George wants to dig. I think I'll have my hands full this summer!

After an exhausting day

I needed brownies. And I found a new recipe that I wanted to try. And it was soooooo good.

The first piece I ate, I overanalyzed. My brain kept trying to make it into either banana bread or chocolate chip cookies. But it isn't either one. So I had another piece. And lo, it was good.

The pieces I had for breakfast this morning were pretty darn good, too! ;)

One Step Forward...

I am so grateful to have found a school for George where they not only accept him as is, and work with him and his needs; but one with teachers and staff that challenge him and study him and constantly question their own techniques to see if they are doing all they can. The last six months have been AMAZING for George. All of his skills have improved, his energy is up, his brain is going a mile a minute, he's talking, he's pushing limits, he's becoming the class clown, he's tantruming far more..... oh yeah, some of that's not so good.

I spent a half hour with the director of his "regular" preschool today after dropping him off. They've been struggling with him, I've been struggling with him, we all know he needs something, but we don't yet know what. It's hard to have these conversations. Wonderful, but hard. Every time I think we've "solved" his issues, life cycles around to remind me that there is always something new around the corner. But I have to remember that, with George, it is a cycle. Whenever we get to these points in life where everyone that comes into contact with him is struggling, and he's pushing every attention-getting button we have, and it feels like this is all impossible... he's changing. There is some new development happening in his brain. We're getting ready for a breakthrough. This time next week (or maybe the week after, or a bit more), we will have gone beyond this point in the cycle and we'll be looking at a new kid that has one more achievement under his belt.

Just gotta get there.

Ahhhhhh, SUN!!!!

For a couple of days anyway. We'll take what we can get!

Busy day ahead. Emma has TAG testing, George has a birthday party to go to at Chuck E. Cheese (gag me), and the day is gorgeous so there are about 212 chores Jason and I would like to get done.

Gracie's tumor is just a fatty tumor, so she's fine, YAY! Miserable because she desperately wants to lick her paw off and we keep putting a giant sheet of plastic around her neck. But healthy, and that's all I care about!

Off to get dressed and enjoy the weather!

Spring Planning

Spring must be on its way, I'm getting the urge to throw out everything we own, paint walls, and rearrange the furniture.

None of that is really practical at the moment, so I took this quiz instead: The Paint Game
I averaged about 60%, how well do you know your paint colors?

April Fools!!

Really? Seriously?

On and off, all day and night, all weekend?

Great.

It wouldn't be so uncomfortable

...if her ears were just a bit smaller.

So completely pathetic, poor thing. Our Gracie had a tumor removed from her front right paw today and spent all day at the vet's office. Now home, she's exhausted, but scared of the collar. Every time she tries to put her head down and the plastic touches the ground, she jumps up.

I'm thinking it will be a long night.

We're having the tumor examined by the lab, so please think good thoughts. We took her in for this surgery thinking she had a seed or thorn that had burrowed under her skin, creating a large lump on her paw that was obviously causing her discomfort. The tumor was unexpected, but the vet didn't seem too worked up about it, saying it's not completely uncommon in older dogs. (Gracie turned 10 this week; Happy Birthday, Gracie, enjoy your pain pills!)

The Greatest Show On Earth

Emma's PE class has been doing "circus acts" for the last several weeks and last night there was an open house style circus at school. Any kid that wanted to could come be a part and all the parents sat across the gym and cheered wildly. I think David, the bestest PE teacher ever, expected about 20 kids to show up. Instead, there were at least 60! Totally chaotic, but so cute and fun. Here are some snapshots of Emma doing her acts (whenever I could focus on her within the crowd!)

Can you balance a peacock feather on your nose?

The "buddy walker" with her best friend. (Who isn't normally that pale and blurry, but I didn't get permission to post her picture yet!)

Cheater Frisbees: they have an indentation on the bottom that helps keep the stick centered. But very impressive, none the less!

Leap frogging down the tumbling mat. Horrible shot, I know, but it cracked me up, so you get to see it!

George's favorite toy EVER

Sure it's a bit on the noisy side, especially when he's busy reciting the entire script of a Blue's Clues video loud enough to hear himself over the vacuum. But hey! He's vacuuming! My living room! Really, really thoroughly! For 42 minutes now!

And yes, that's a Craftsman work bench beside him. Doesn't everyone have a workbench in their living room?

All About Me

A series of challenges at DSP is helping with the mini-book Book of Me that I'm working on. All the pages are designed at 5 x 5", and I'm just doing little snippets of my life so the kids (and I) will remember all these random pieces of me down the road.

This week's page (challenge - favorite clothes, dare - include torn paper):
Next week's challenge is to do a layout about our favorite breakfast. My usual breakfast is probably Cheerios, but do I dare admit to one of my guilty pleasures (McDonald's Sausage Egg McMuffin, hash browns, and coffee)? If I do, I think I'll need to get a picture for the page, right?

Change of subject, unsolicited video recommendation: August Rush. Jason and I watched it last night and loved it! A totally implausible fairy tale, but so sweet and the music was incredible. I could have watched it for hours, just to listen to the developing soundtrack. Really excellent.

Jump

The kids (and Jason) (and the animals) have been outside since lunch. Non-stop bicycle riding, jump roping, gravel dig-upping, and more. They will sleep well tonight. I love Spring.

HUGE snake!!!

AAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so maybe not so huge. But our mighty hunter found it, flipped it, killed it, and played with it for over an hour, not wanting anyone else to get near it. This is why we have a cat. I'm hoping he'll be good at catching the huge, fast-moving spiders that like to run through our house in the summer time.

Happy Spring!

In between storms...

The clouds keep rolling through. 15 minutes ago they had left our hill but the valley was socked in. Now we have a new set overhead. (Alas, that's moss on the tree, not blossoms!)

But hey! Rain clouds = puddles for stomping in!

Hopefully, the flowers aren't being fooled and Spring really is on it's way. We like to be outside!

A Linky Meme

I've been tagged by Tink!

ALL are invited to join in The Links MeMe fun!
PLEASE just follow the rules!
Just copy paste THIS and everything below up until my Five links:

I thought it would be cool to have a meme where we post links. We can post up to five. Then we tell five more people to share their links. If we all share who tagged us, our links are sure to be seen!They can be business links, favorite sites, affiliate links, whatever you want…

There are Five Rules:
1. MUST be clean. No R rated sites.
2. Only FIVE links.
3. MUST tell 5 people.
4. A link back to the person who tagged you
5. Lara’s Place is the meme originator.

My Links:
1. Pandora Radio - This is what I am usually listening to if I'm on the computer for any length of time. It has exposed me to many artists and songs I wouldn't normally hear. You type in an artist or song that you like and it plays others that are similar in style. Very cool to explore.

2. Digital Scrapbook Place - Well duh, I know. I'm on there all the time. It's where I learned this art form and where I teach it. And where I've met so many great people.

3. The Pioneer Woman - One of the most popular blogs in America; I love to read her stories, learn her photography tips, and copy her recipes. Plus she updates every day, always something new to see!

4. Go Fug Yourself - Harmless fun making fun of celebrities and their warddrobe choices.

5. Shutter Sisters - a "collaborative photo blog that welcomes all women with a passion for photography from experts to amateurs alike." Gorgeous photography, thoughtful challenges, and great spirit.

These are just a handful of the sites I check almost every day!

I am tagging:
1. Life of Scraps - Sharon from DSP has been such an inspiration to me and many others. She's 215 days into a 365 day self portrait challenge. I did it for a month and I was out of ideas! I love watching her photography skills grow and the tips she posts are fabulous!
2. Karen's Dreaming Big - Karen doesn't blog often, but her layouts and photos are spectactular. I'd love to be linked to her personal inspiration!
3. Nowhere Near the Edge - Not sure if my brother, Dave, will join in on this. But if he does, I'm sure we'll be directed to some fabulous sites showing airport statistics, Porsche photos, quirky news, and Santa Barbara sports!
4. okay, I'm not much for passing these things along, but let me know if you play and I'll come visit!!!

Bed Head

This photo cracks me up and when I was challenged to do a layout based on my morning routine, I just had to use it!

ETA: Just found out this layout was Layout of the Day at the DSP blog site yesterday!

Spring Break is over and we found plenty of time for roller skating, movie going, and a visit to an indoor playground. Emma seemed satisfied by all the fun!

Drugs are, thankfully, taking care of my cold-turned-sinus infection and Jason is due home tonight from a two week trip. Looks like everything is falling into place!

She inspires me

Two birthday presents. One given to her, one bought with a ToysRUs gift card. Two sides of her personality. Two strong interests at opposite ends of the spectrum. Both fully take over her imagination as she explores.

And yes, she is wearing her stunning winter hat and coat with a Home Depot apron. It's perfect for collecting little bits of metal and "treasures". A girl can't be a fashion plate all the time, you know.

(By the way, the metal detector was her purchase, along with a couple of stuffed kittens, she couldn't wait to get it home!)

Stuff Portrait Friday

I am doing a lot of looking around the vast Internetland, finding photography challenges and techniques to play with. Like the photo of my favorite mug from a while back (and yes, I've done other challenges for that group, just not posting them all), this one captures a little piece of my life that I love. Not sure why this one is a favorite, other than it catches my eye every time I go into the basement. The overhead, 50-year-old light bulb gives it a nice glow and the conglomeration of stuff is just right, somehow. A mix of past and present and yet another example of the similarities between my husband and (late) favorite grandpa. Jason keeps that basement workshop and my memories of Grandpa alive. But it is cold down there, brrrrr!!!

Inspired by Random & Odd's Stuff Portrait Friday: Numbers theme
and Shutter Sisters: A Story of life

Well, of course!

Because it's Spring Break this week.
Because Jason is busy with National Guard this week.
Because Emma has a thousand grandiose ideas as to what vacation entails.

George and I are sick. Just head colds, not the horrible flu that's going around, but still. It's bad enough to cause him and I to be awake for goodly portions of the night (me struggling to breathe, him coughing up a lung or two), and then be completely unable to focus or speak pleasantly to those around us during the day. And the Kleenex, oh the Kleenex. Good thing trash day is tomorrow, ours is FULL! Ah, the fun.

Luckily, mine didn't hit until Easter, so we were able to dye eggs the day before without too much trouble. Emma was an expert this year and got to make the deciding votes as to when each egg should be removed from the dye. Blues were beautiful, as were the greens. Purple and red were both pink. Yellow was pretty. And orange... didn't really work at all. We did one orange egg, left it in the dye the entire time other eggs were being rotated through and still, barely flesh tone. Hmmm, I'm sure there's a future science experiment in there some where.

This was George's first time participating in the process. For the most part, he did really well. He was very gentle with the eggs, good at taking turns with Emma, and stayed at the table almost the whole time. But waiting is hard. Tears were shed and the sign language movement for "waiting" was used repeatedly. Poor kid with a mean mommy who takes pictures of her sad boy crying.

And today? It's pouring rain so the kids are playing inside while I continue to fill up the trash and Lysol everything I touch. We've continued to have adventures on the dining table Island of Sodor (no, I haven't taken it down, we just temporarily remove portions at meal times). I hooked our old video camera up to the TV so they could watch themselves act and dance (thank you Albertson's pharmacy security camera for that idea!). And they've been playing music and running around in the basement.

Is that a dress George is wearing in that picture? Why yes, yes it is. Isn't it great that he has an older sister to emulate?

Goofy Boy

As we head into Spring Break next week, George has to deal with the challenge of an uneven schedule. His morning preschool (the special needs school) takes an extra week at all breaks because they meet for an extra month in the summer. So, he's home in the mornings this week and then has to transition into school mode for the afternoons. His afternoon teachers have been struggling with his behavior, as have I at home. He's very obviously stressed by the change in routine.

I'm trying to fill his mornings without too many videos and keep him active. Today, I decided to capitalize on his resurgence in love for all things Thomas. (As was expected, after a birthday last summer that was filled with Thomas trains, he promptly wanted nothing to do with them for several months. We boxed them up and put them out of sight, waiting for him to let us know when he wanted them again.) He's been watching the videos again this week, so today I found the (big) box of trains and tracks and let the Island of Sodor take over our dining room table.

He's been playing with them for two solid hours now. Peaceful music plays in the background as he keeps up a running commentary on the trains' adventures. I've gotten some chores done and the TV has remained off. We leave for school soon, let's hope that a morning filled with imaginary play helps him make a better transition today. If not, oh well, he can come home and play some more this afternoon!

And just for the sake of cuteness, yet another new page:
Journaling:You thought you were so cute in this adult sized “Thing 2” shirt, (and you were), that I couldn’t get you to stop admiring yourself in the hall mirror and the flip screen of the camera. Which would be fine. If you would just stop moving once in a while! No matter. The pictures may be blurry, but your silly cuteness shines through! - March ‘08