Love Thursday

We keep receiving love messages in our food, what is the universe trying to say to us?

Shutter Sisters: Love Thursday

Keep looking for love, you never know where you might find it!

Goats, hayrides, and pumpkins....good times

We prepared with a social story and activity schedule. We talked about choices and behavior. We sang songs and watched videos and got excited. And then it was time. Time for the preschool visit to the farm and pumpkin patch.

I have to say I dreaded this a bit. Last year we made the decision to take only Emma to the pumpkin patch because George's behavior there is usually not the best. He loves, loves, loves the tractor-pulled hayride. He hates, hates, hates getting off of the tractor-pulled hayride. But we were going, this year, with his special needs preschool on a cold, foggy school day. The perfect group to be with and probably not a day filled with crowds. So, George, Gramma, and I plowed through the fog to the farm.

We started by feeding the goats. That went fairly well for about 3.5 minutes.

Then the tractor went by and it was meltdown city. The crying continued until we loaded onto the (wet) hay and headed off to the field. Getting off the tractor started the crying back up, so we quickly grabbed our teeny pumpkins and loaded back on to the wagon to wait for all the other kids to finish. Luckily, we weren't the only ones more excited by the ride than the pumpkins. The wagon filled back up quickly!

So, better than previous years, but I think we'll stick to taking Emma separately so she can enjoy taking her time. However, it was good for George to experience this with such a great (and understanding) group, they stuck exactly to the schedule set up in their social story and it went like clockwork!

Later, there was a Pumpkin Hunt at his other preschool. Teeny, tiny pumpkins hidden throughout the playground were found within seconds!

Afterwords, all the parents and siblings stayed for their closing circle and singing time. This was the first time that George not only didn't need/want to sit in my lap instead of with his classmates, but he participated and sang along!!! HUGE progress for my little guy!

(The blue blob on his cheek is the remnant of a face painting project.)

A very full, very fun day. Now we're off to Gramma & Papa's for pizza, then George and I are going for our Wednesday night swim! Whew, I'm exhausted!!!

Ewww, sticky goo!!

What do you do when it's cold and wet outside and you're tired of playing Superheroes?
You make Gak, of course!

This was a great project for both kids. Emma helped put the ingredients together (white glue and liquid starch), and both stirred them together and mixed in some food coloring. Emma had fun showing George tricks. George (who seems to be completely over his tactile issues) rolled, stretched, and squished his blue goo.

It is such a relief to have my two kids finally finding a middle ground they both enjoy. All weekend they have played together, Emma has read stories to George, they both played with this goo for an hour, and then back to dress up and jumping in his room. For so long, Emma has been upset at having a sibling she couldn't play with. For so long, George has been unaware of a similarly sized creature sharing his home. Now, they have a relationship. Not always a peaceful one, but that's normal. And normal isn't something we see much around here, so we'll take it!

SOOC - Superheroes

I get really frustrated with my camera sometimes, it takes lousy action shots, especially indoors. No matter how I adjust the manual settings in my point & shoot, all I get is blur. But sometimes, the blur of the action is just right. Yesterday I captured some superheroes in action:

I'm sure they're glad that the photos are blurry, so they can keep their identities entirely secret!

Don't forget to visit other blogs sharing their SOOC (Straight Out of Camera) shots this weekend.

One more photo from last week

And it's not even Halloween yet!

I volunteer in my daughter's class Monday through Thursday, during their reading/creative writing time. For the most part, I've come to love it. Those kids are scary smart, and yet still cute and cuddly when they want to be. But they are kids. And kids are honest. Brutally so.

Twice now I've had a child comment on how I have blue under my eyes. That's not some new blue eye shadow fashion statement going on here in Orygun, just simple dark circles. The kids are fascinated. Apparently my under-eye concealer isn't working so well!

I actually get a fair amount of sleep, I go to bed pretty early (although I do have a tendency to read for, uh, a while). The cat regularly sleeps beside me, but when Jason's gone, I have an additional visitor to the bed. Our 45 pound Australian Shepard sprawls out on my other side. Both animals sleep on top of the down comforter. Right up against me, one on each side. Guess how much I can move. Guess how insanely hot it gets under those covers! Guess how much sleep I get.

There are no pictures for this post, sorry. I have on 4 layers of concealer and I'm thinking even that may not be enough. Good thing I don't work in the classroom today, I might scare a few 7-year-olds!

Any make-up recommendations for someone with see-through skin and freckles?

Two weeks into October

So, I've discovered something. When Jason takes leave from work for two weeks I feel like there's nothing to share here. But of course, so much has been going on. Come see:

Okay, so all those pictures were taken yesterday. But the rest of the past two weeks have been much the same. Lots of family time, outside enjoying the crisp air; lots of projects and renovations, getting the house ready for winter; lots of time away from the computer, being together. So maybe I forgot to pick up my camera most of the time. But I was busy, making memories with my family instead of just watching.

Jason goes back to work tomorrow, I'm sure I'll have camera in hand more often so I can keep him up to date with our activities. The next couple of weeks will bring field trips, Halloween preparations, and more projects. I'll share them here and go back a bit to fill in the gaps. (The kids survived their first evening with a non-family member babysitter! And Jason and I went OUT!) I hope everyone is enjoying the change of seasons as much as we have been!

My Darling Princess

Isn't my sweet, little girl just adorable?

Oh, wait a sec', something in that reflection reminds me of someone else.

Ah, yes, of course. Isn't my sweet, little boy adorable? He sure does love those manly Barbie movies and Cinderella dresses!

What?

Channeling my inner June Cleaver

Well, I did it, I conquered my applesauce-making fears! And you know what? It was incredibly easy. I'm almost embarrassed to say how easy it was. But it sure does take a LOT of apples to make a little batch of applesauce! That bowl you see there is my smallest mixing bowl, and I used about seven small to mid-sized apples.

But it tasted excellent, just like Grandma's! So, Dave, I guess you're going to come visit now, right? You wanted Grandma's Lumpy Applesauce and this tasted just like hers (she confirmed it) and it certainly had lots of lumps! But no worms, I made sure to remove all traces of them.

Sunday was a simply gorgeous day here and the kids were outside all day. I, however, spent the day inside. With all the windows and doors open, enjoying the breeze and the smells, and cooking like I have rarely cooked before! First the applesauce, then two batches of banana bread, then I marinated and roasted a pork loin for dinner to go with our applesauce and some home-grown tomatoes, YUM!! (The tomatoes weren't from our garden, I fear, I think we placed ours in too sunny a spot, nothing survived.) Add in a vacuumed house, two loads of laundry, and two happy, tired kids and I think you can say that Sunday I reached my highest pinnacle of Mommyhood!

Then Monday came, and nothing got cleaned and we ate breaded meats from the frozen aisle. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted!

Mmmmm....donuts....

Little boy, happy to be going somewhere with Daddy, enters a store he's never seen.
Looking to the left, his eyes open wide.
"What do you see, buddy?"
"Donuts", he whispers, hands and forehead pressed against the glass display.
The lady behind the counter chuckles and bends down low, watching his face stare in wonder.
"Which one do you want? This one or this one?", she asks, pointing.
"This one or this one?", he echoes.
The chocolate covered one seems to be drawing his eyes, so into the box it goes along with many others.
Still wearing pajamas and slippers, they take breakfast home.
The chocolate covered donut is again pointed to and removed from the box.
And, in seconds, it is gone.

Happy SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera) Saturday, may yours be fueled by sugar and wonder.

Going Full Speed

I am a stay-at-home mom, right? Then why am I never at home???

Let's see:

Emma to school at 7:45
George to school at 9:00
work in Em's classroom 10:45 - 11:45
transport George from one school to the other 12:00 - 12:30
pick Emma up at 2:10
pick George up at 3:00
homework, various evening activities, etc.

There are a few minutes tucked into that schedule, but adding in drive times, grocery shopping, and breathing, there aren't too many left over for actually being at home.

I know, poor me.

But it's been driving me crazy that I haven't taken a picture in over a week, much less done anything creative at all. So, I grabbed my camera and captured today at approximately 4:20 this afternoon:


Not sure why she's yelling, math is "like, so easy this year". So far.


Little man comes home exhausted but happy. Lots of imaginative play going on around here these days, not quite so much movie quoting. I'm loving that.


And the days are getting cooler, so wool blankets are magically appearing on beds. I'm not the only one loving that, it seems!

So there we are, my life at 4:20 pm. Of course, it's taken me until 5:45 pm to have the time to post the pictures; but, I've also made dinner, supervised hand washing, served dinner, unloaded the dishwasher (well, half of it), and typed out all this exciting drama! Off to the next activity!

And the screams were heard for miles

The schedule: The stickers that cover the band-aids:
The reward:
One thing I love about George (maybe it's common among autistic kids?) is that once a band-aid is slapped on, the pain is over. He went from screaming bloody murder, arched back, red face, and betrayal shining in the eyes trained on my face....to nothing. All done. Life's good. Can we go now?

It's a good thing, I know, but what about meeeee????? My ears are still ringing and I feel the need to apologize to him over and over.

He just looks at me like I'm crazy and reaches for a fry. It's all good.

When it gets too hot in town...

...you head for the windy, foggy Oregon coast!

And a GREAT time was had by all. It was understandably empty on the beach on Saturday, so the kids could run and climb and dig and shriek. I hunkered down next to a sand dune, let Daddy take them into the freezing Pacific Ocean, and we all had fun. One more activity to add to the list of things we know George can handle. (Previously, it was impossible to keep him away and out of the water. This time, the one time he tried to go without a parent, he came back immediately when called.) YES!

Growing

One year ago, my little girl was still willing to pose for my camera.

Begrudgingly, but willingly.

Isn't she pretty? She's aged a year since this picture was taken, and it startles me a bit to see the changes. They are little ones, but they are adding up into a "big kid". Yikes. The cheeks are a little thinner, all the limbs have stretched, the hair is longer, there are more freckles across her face... every little change makes her a bit more like me but takes her further away.

We had a long conversation last night about responsibilities and independence. She wants that freedom so very badly. I've tried to allow enough time in our various schedules, morning & evening, so that she can self-manage her time. But she's a bit of a dreamer, that girl. (cough, ADD, cough!) She told me last night that when she goes into her room to get dressed (into the bathroom to brush teeth, into the kitchen to put things in her backpack, into the living room to put toys away....) she starts thinking of other things and her brain gets too busy to remember what she's supposed to be doing. laugh! Yeah, I had gathered that for myself, as I would enter those rooms to check on her and, instead, catch her gazing off into space (or singing, or playing, or reading....).

So we talked about how I want to give her more opportunities, but right now I just can't trust her to take care of her responsibilities. Her response? Maybe I should stand right by her when she's getting dressed (brushing teeth, putting things away....) so that I can keep her moving.

Um, I'm not sure how that's independence, and it sure sounds a lot like what I end up doing anyway, but, okay?

I don't know how I'm going to reel this dreamer of mine in, enough for her to get through her days, without chasing away those dreams of hers; but I'm sure we'll figure it out.... side by side.

Love Thursday

Shutter Sisters: Finding Love 9/11/08

May you find love all around you today, even in your cereal bowl.

Special Exposure Wednesday

See this little gnome in my yard? Isn't he cute? Shall I mention the fact that it was about 87 degrees when this picture was taken? Apparently, daddy's wool hat and dress tie go really well with too-small mittens when you're attempting to roast yourself.

I'm not positive, but I think the inspiration for this outfit came from one of the kids' favorite videos, Tiny Planets with Bing & Bong. There's one episode that takes place on the Planet of Nature and they help dress some little creatures that are freezing in the snow. I love, love, love these videos because each episode teaches a simple science lesson in a very cute and easy to grasp way. Both Emma and George enjoy watching and have learned from them.

Thank you to everyone who voted in the Special Exposure Model Search contest. George came in second to the adorable girl you see below. Congrats to Gabi!

Why do I worry?

Off he goes to his first day of a new special needs preschool. Is he scared? Nervous? Not wanting to leave Mommy?

Nope!

Last month, I had a really rough day after George's teacher questioned and criticized my decision to remove him from her classroom in order to attend this other school. She left me reeling in anxiety and guilt. Well, it's gone!

George often "feeds" me questions he wants me to ask him. This was our conversation on the way home today:

George: "Did you have a good day at school?"

Mom: "George, did you have a good day at school?"

G: "YES!"

G: "Did you have a good time?"

M: "George, did you have a good time?"

G: "YES!"

(About 10 minutes later, when we were almost home):

G: "Did you have fun?"

M: "George, did you have fun???"

G: "YES!"

I think it's safe to say, he likes his new school! And, when we got home and I opened up his backpack, I found this:

His wonderful new school has given George a way to communicate. By "reading" these images to me, he can tell me what he did each day. For those of you that don't have kids with low communication skills, let me tell you, this is HUGE! I was just telling my mom this morning, after dropping George off, that I so wished he was able to tell me about his day. And now, he can.

I foresee a lot of changes this year. Big ones. Exciting ones. Changes that have this mommy's heart near to bursting with anticipation. Take a deep breath with me, it's going to be a wild ride!

Simply Wonderful

Jason and I made a quick run up to Seattle over the weekend, to attend the wedding of one of my best friends from college. I was surprised and delighted to see a few friends from my undergrad years there. How amazing to see people that I haven't seen in thirteen years! (How scary that it's been 13 years!)

I was thinking about it on the drive home. I've never cared about high school reunions, always figured it would be the same people, gathering in their same groups, talking on the same levels....relegating me to the "drama geek" squad, hanging out in a corner somewhere, laughing uproariously about some very random subject. Fun, yes, but not my life now.

It was very interesting to realize that it doesn't necessarily work out that way. We spoke about our travels, our kids, our (vastly different) life paths, and we laughed. And got to know each other as adults. There were still glimmers of the intense, enthusiastic-about-everything, silly kids we were; but those glimmers were tempered by the experiences we have had and the new goals and families we have now. These were young friends I had said good-bye to and never expected to see again. They are now slightly older, but still wonderful friends I would love to keep in touch with. What a treasure, to re-meet and get to know these amazing people!

And check out the wedding location! Simply gorgeous, simply wonderful!

Fall is here, I need recipes!!

This is a view up into the tree in our yard. Trust me when I say there are approximately 3741 more of these apples on the ground. (We've created a new family sport: the kids gather up the apples and throw them over the fence into the field behind our house, for the deer to eat. We compete for distance and accuracy!)

I know I should do something with all these apples, other than throw them, of course. Years ago, my grandfather grafted many different types of apples onto this tree, so it now produces apples with a mix of colors, flavors, and textures. Perhaps I'm intimidated by the memories I have of my grandmother making her "famous" Chunky Applesauce with these apples. It was, quite simply, the best applesauce in the world. Living up to that standard would be hard, I fear, even using descendants of the exact same apples she used.

Mom assures me that making applesauce is easy. Peal, core, and chop the apples (removing any worms, of course, I remember Grandma doing that step; worms make a big impression when you're little), and boil them in a pot of water with a lot of sugar. But looking for slightly more specific recipes on-line grabbed me 1 million in 0.13 seconds. Some use a mix of brown and white sugar, some add cinnamon and/or, some use NO sugar at all!

So, if you have any suggestions or other recipes for mixed-variety, slightly wormy apples, let me know! For now, I'm going to go referee an apple tossing contest out back!

Special Exposure Wednesday

I don't think I've ever shared George's activity schedule here. We put it into place last spring and, let me tell you, it has saved us. George (and Emma) look at it every morning and throughout the day. It's especially valuable on days that aren't routine; for instance, the entire summer!

I'm printing out new magnets today to prepare for George's new school that starts next week and ones that show us taking Emma to & from school (last year Jason took Emma most days). We have a whole refrigerator door full of these business card sized magnets that I created with Clip Art and printable magnet sheets.

They've also helped George be able to tell me what he wants to do. He often drags his stool over to the side of the refrigerator and points to the magnet that shows a desired activity. He's very excited today to see that swimming has shown back up on the schedule, it hasn't been there for the last few weeks!

Today was also an exciting day for Miss Emma, our new SECOND grader!! Though there were some nervous tears last night, this morning she ran through her chores and was grinning ear to ear as we drove off to school.

Don't you love her outfit? I wish I had as much fashion sense as my girlie girl!

She came home looking very tired, but happy. In answer to the question, "What did you do today?", she said, "Nothing." But when asked, "What was your favorite part of the day?", she answered, "Every minute!" So I guess that day full of nothing was a good one!

Don't forget to go vote! We're in second place right now!