Just Because...

Since school started, every Friday is the same. Andrew takes the Princess to school, 40 minutes away, and I take the boys to school. This morning began like any other Friday except Andrew told me that he forgot to turn the lights off the Trooper the night before so I would have to drive everyone this morning. I sighed and agreed. I was slightly annoyed that my day would involve driving everyone to their respective locations but grateful that we had one working vehicle. I wanted to ask Andrew if we could jump the battery of the Trooper with the van but decided there must be some reason why he didn't suggest it himself. We dropped the boys off and drove to Lane's school. Lane transitions so well to her class. It's amazing.

We got back in the van. Andrew handed me a card that said, "Just Because." He declared it Just Because Day. The card was sweet and sappy. I won't share it on a public page because many things couples say and do should remain private and between them. Basically, he wanted to spoil me just because he thinks I take care of the rest of the family first before myself. WOW! My husband SHOCKED me! After knowing him for over 24 years, I didn't know he could surprise me any more. My day included a couple massage at the Gaylord, lunch, and a bit of shopping. Andrew had a bag waiting in the back of the van in case I wanted a swimsuit. I can't believe I didn't see it. I usually notice anything out of place. We've never had a massage before today. It was awkward for me. I am pretty open to anything but realized today that I'm extremely uncomfortable in a situation like that but it didn't take long for me to realize why people love spas and massages. If I'm ever given the opportunity for another massage, I'll jump at it!

The tropical shower was incredible as was the steam room. After the massage, I ordered a glass of wine but they brought an entire botle. Clearly, I couldn't have a bottle of wine go to waste. Thank you Andrew for my "Just Because" day. I haven't been this relaxed in over 8 years. I am one lucky girl!

Clifford's birthday

Gabriel easily loses interest in projects he brings home from school. It's late Wednesday and he still adores a Clifford hat that he made at school on Monday. He falls asleep with it on and since it's made out of paper, I am sure it won't last long.
He insisted that I take a photo with his hat on at school. I dont have much more to write about this project but I had to share.
He had a lot to tell me when I picked him up at the end of the day. Gabriel told me that he had an AWESOME day. It is rare to hear from Gabriel that he had an awesome day and I was filled with warm fuzzies. His teacher thinks that he had a great day because they talked about Clifford who is red and a dog, two of Gabriel's favorite things. I think his teacher's attitude and patience are what help make his days fantastic.

A Science Sunday

After 8 hours at Disney with our friend JT and his daughter, Addy, we needed to get a few things accomplished on Sunday. We cleaned and organized outside in the morning. Then we worked on homework that the boys didn't complete in class during the week. When I was at the school on Friday, I noticed that Gabriel's class had learned about igneous rocks. I am sure I learned about igneous rocks at some point but I couldn't remember a thing about them. I like to make sure Gabriel understands topics presented at him at school. I found a neat crayon rock experiment on Momma Owl's Lab: http://mommaowlslab.blogspot.com/2012/01/science-thursday-crayon-rocks.html Andrew shaved four different colors of rocks for us.

We made a sedimentary rock first. The kids took turns putting crayon shavings in the center of foil.

We learned that sedimentary rocks are formed by compression. The kids took turns compressing the bits of crayon but it didn't work when we opened it. Alex decided that if he stepped on it and counted to 500 that would help. He was correct. We had a sedimentary crayon rock once he was done.

Our second rock was a metamorphic rock. We learned that these rocks are formed by heat and pressure.

In order to mimic this, the kids put crayons on the foil and we made a foil boat to float in boiling water for 20-30 seconds. The crayon melted slightly and then we had to finish the job with pressure by folding the foil in half. Finally, we created an igneous rock, the one that spurred this entire science lesson. Gabriel knew immediately that it should be a black rock. We learned that is because the rock is cooled and solidified lava. A foil boat was created and placed in boiling water again. We left the boat in the water for 2 minutes. When the crayon was done melting, we stirred it with a popscicle stick.

Our final science lesson:

I'm excited to show Gabriel's teacher what we're capable of doing on the weekends.

I'm excited to go to school...

I'm excited to go to school said none of Mai boys, ever. Until this morning! It is Gabriel's 5th year of school (Alex's third) and this morning very clearly and with a gorgeous huge smile, he said, "I like school. I'm excited to go!" I wanted to hear it again and again. It was music to my ears after years of battling the I Hate School moments. Some mornings were a true battle where we had to dress him, stuggle to get his coat and shoes on,carry him to the car, and carry him into the school. Some days we had to put him in the car without shoes or a coat on because he flat out refused and threw an enormous fit. He dispised school. By the time we got him to school, I was exhausted. It takes a lot of work to get a child to school who DOES NOT want to go. I walk Gabriel to his room every morning to help with his transition. He needs that extra time to transition and it's perfect to do it when there aren't any other students in the room. Gabriel tends to wander and gets overwhelmed when there are many people around him. Our new school has no problem with me taking him into the room because it makes everyone's day better. I told his teacher what transpired this morning and she cried tears of joy! She truly knows her students and what a big accomplishment this was for Gabriel. For us it is these small moments that mean the world. Her husband was in the classroom and even he was happy for this new development.

Memories of family

A relationship with ones parents can be a challenging one. My parents and I don't have the same religious views nor the same political views. Avoiding two controversial topics can be an obstacle for all of us. We've had a rocky road where we've said things to each other that aren't kind. We've done things to each other that neither side is proud of but we've worked at our relationship. We've worked hard and it's been worth the time and effort. My mom isn't working right now and we talk every day. I'm lying, most days it's several times a day. There aren't many other people in the world who want to hear about every little detail of my children's lives and I am thrilled that I can share it with her. Many of my friends have lost their father, mother, or both parents already and I am beyond grateful that I am able to continue to work on my relationship with my parents before it's too late. At this point, I won't have regrets for lost time. I wish we lived closer but Andrew's job is in Florida and my parents are in WI. We have to stay where Andrew can earn a decent living and we like Florida. Maybe I can convince my parents to come to Florida.

Here they are at Lambeau watching the Pack. How cute are they?!My parents did a lot of things right when they raised me, my sister, and my brother. We were given a strong religious foundation that placed emphasis on the value of family. I had two cute siblings who were constant companions for me and we did many things together as a family. We worked and played together. We traveled to Texas to spend time with my great grandpa and gram. It was during this trip that I crossed the international line for the first time. We went to cabins and did tent camping in the summer. We fished and canoed. We swam. And we did it together. I have an appreciation for nature and animals that I might not have without those experiences. It was a traditional family in that my mom did most of the inside cooking and cleaning while my dad fixed things and provided financially for our family.

I had awesome birthday parties including a sleep over with my girl cousins and the girls in my class. I don't know if I want to do the same thing for my daughter when she is in elementary school. My parents were very daring to take on a house full of preadolescent girls.

We spent holidays and birthdays with my grandparents and extended family. I have so many wonderful memories with my cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Only one grandmother is still living and I dearly miss those who have passed away. I wish they could see my children and tell me what they think about them. I was taught to appreciate what I earned through hardwork. I was taught to take care of my things. I was taught manners. I was taught to love and best of all, to forgive. I didn't have the perfect childhood. I wasn't spoiled with items but I was given attention, love, and everything I needed. I always had a roof over my head, food on the table, and someone to wipe away my tears. I know I am not the perfect parent and I hope one day my children will realize that I'm doing the best I can every day. I am working to raise them with the same values I was raised with to make them responsible adults.

Bella the cat

When we moved from Iowa, we were positive that we wouldn't get another cat. Alphie, our fat orange tabby had to be rehomed to a farm because he wouldn't stop ruining the carpets by peeing on them. It was not a fun decision but one that we had to make when we moved. I hope he is living out his life chasing mice and other things on the farm. Our babysitter moved in with her boyfriend who is very allergic to cats. When they went on a weekend vacation she asked us to watch her little kitty while they were out of town. Of course, the hope was that Ms. Bella would adjust to our family and we would fall in love with her in return. Both happened but I'm not sure if our babysitter will be able to part with Bella. However, it has been quite an adjustment for all of us. Bella was used to a quiet apartment with two adults. What she has here is three noisy children and two large dogs who follow her every move on the first floor. She tends to stay on the second floor most of the day because her adventures leave her wide eyed on the first floor.The other evening, Gabriel took a bath while I put clothing on hangers in the closet. I heard, "Oh, that's it." So I asked, "what is going on Gabriel" as I looked in and saw a very wet somewhat recognizable Bella run from the bathroom into our bedroom. "Oh, I don't think cats like baths Mom." Well, that's one way to learn that cats don't care for baths. Bella is a cutie pie and tolerates, maybe even likes, the kids attention. Gabriel carries her around upside down and she doesn't protest at all. We will see if Bella becomes our kitty and evens out the testotrone in our home.

Here Comes Peter Cottontail

If I want to complete homework with the boys, I have to keep Lane busy with her own homework as well. Today I found a cute printable for her work on involving bunnies. This is the site where I found a cute and FREE activity for her: She adores poms lately. Afer we compared the bunny sizes and she glued the bunnies on a large piece of paper, she added pom tails to all of the bunnies. I worked with Alex immediately afterward and I am not exaggerating when I tell you that Lane and Gabriel played with the jar of poms for well over an hour. They were so creative and super cute. It was nice to hear them making up games with different sized and colored dollar store poms and a plastic horse stable. They didn't argue at all which is music to my ears!

That's What Boys Are Made Of...

Before falling asleep, Alex, age 6, asked what he was made out of. Of course, I had to recite the following Mother Goose rhyme: What are little boys made of? Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails That's what little boys are made of ! What are little girls made of? Sugar and spice and all things nice That's what little girls are made of!

His blue eyes got bigger and he asked, "so are Daddy and Gabriel made out of snails and dog tails too?" I responded, "That's what the poem states." He was so silly and said, "but Mom, then I would have tail sticking out of my butt." Ah, so true little man. So I explained that I liked the part about what girls are made out of and he said that it couldn't possibly true. I'll leave it at that because I'm not sure I want him to explain why I'm not suger, spice, and all things nice.

Drip Pans - who knew?

A big thank you goes to Pinterest yet again. Pinterest will either make me a more fun and involved parent or it will make me feel like a less adequate parent, I can't decide. Either way, I'm having a lot of fun finding things that I enjoy doing with the kids. I've had a drip pan idea pinned for a while. I even had "drip pan" written on my Walmart shopping list for quite a while. And why the drip pan? I wish I could say that it was there to change the oil in our vehicle but I'm not quite that inspired yet. Nor do I know if I ever will be but in any case, drip pans can be made into HUGE magnetic board. For under $12.00, I created an enormous area for our magnets that didn't include our fridge. I can't stand a bunch of magnets on a fridge because it looks junky and the magnets migrate under the fridge, driving me crazy. Lord knows how many toys we left behind and under our fridge in Iowa. I was thrilled to find something that could give the kids access to their magnets without taking over the fridge. They seem to like it too. Every day they put the entire magnet collection back on the drip pan.

Dog park

Our dogs, Eddie and Brody, frequented the dog park often when we lived in Daytona and then in Orlando. When we moved to Wisconsin in 2005, we had a fenced in yard for them to play in every day. Then came two young children and then three, and they didn't get the doggy play time or the long walk as often. Life was too busy and I wasn't a great doggy mom. They were loved, cared for, and played with every day though.
This last year we lived in a townhouse so they got walks several times a day. Those long forgotten walks were a part of our every day life and the dogs were happy for their return. I think it has even extended their lives. They are now 10 and 11 years old. How did that happen?
We now live less than a block from a dog park and a children's park. The dog park has a HUGE fenced in area and the kids and dogs run carelessly through the area. All five are happy when we go to the parks.
I know that the dogs have limited time left on this earth and the thought makes me heart heavy. I am glad we can give them these happy moments and the kids these memories during the dogs senior years.

Disney last minute

We purchased annual tickets to Disney and Sea World this year. As Florida residents we receive a discount for these tickets. We have taken advantage of this perk and we have gone to the parks many times.
We couldn't decide what to do with the kids on Saturday. We stopped at a garage sale and found cute clothing for Lane. Andrew didn't want to go shopping and I didn't want to go to the beach.
So why not Disney we thought. I still can't believe that if we choose to go to Disney, we can drive thirty minutes and choose which of the parks we want to frequent. We chose Magic Kingdom this past weekend.
It was a nice, somewhat magical, day. We did things we havent done before. They met Princess Aurora and two fairies, including Tinkerbell. WHen Aurora told Lane that she could be her little sister with her curly, blonde hair, Lane giggle with delight. We climbed a treehouse, went on a jungle ride, and watched pirates. We ended our day by watching a character filled parade. Life is good.

A child with a Neurological Disorder

Lately I've been battling with how difficult it can be to "spot" children with autism. They look like everyone else. They don't have features that distinquish them from other children. Here lies a big problem with people who are unfamiliar with autism and its characterstics, because they assume you have a neurotypical child until they act non-typical. Then I get the "oh, your child is a brat" look. People tend to think that if the ASD child was parented differently that the child would act differently or if the parent didn't use autism as an "excuse" for behavior that the child would be different.

This simply isn't true. Autism is a neurological disorder. My son has delays in communication and social interaction. His behavior is repetitive and his interests are narrow. We don't know what the future will hold for him. It is a big unknown but we think he has a lot of potential. Otherwise I wouldn't have fought to keep him in the least restrictive environment at school. I wouldn't have learned about advocacy or the rights of my child. I wouldn't have a stack of autism books and magazines on my nightstand.

Recently a friend asked what book I read last. I had to think about it. I've only read advocacy and autism books over the last year. My entire world is surrounded with how to better his life and that of our family. My son has hypotonia, PDD-NOS, severe SPD, PICA, and a bicuspid aortic valve on top of all those other lettered labels. He also has several diagnoses involving his eyes. The kid has several hurdles to overcome. We have taken him to hippotherapy, aquatic therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, numerous evaluations and assessments. He attends social skills training daily along with weekly occupational and speech therapy. He is on a gluten free and mostly casein free diet. He can't eat lunch at school because the cafeteria is too noisy and busy. It is impossible for him to concentrate on eating while he is overwhelmed by the stimuli. I can't imagine going through a stressful day at school without eating every day and still keeping myself together. He doesn't write well due to his hypontonia. He was also bullied last year and lost a great deal of confidence. I can not disipline or parent him like a NT child. Well, I could but it wouldn't work. To someone outside the ASD world, this might sound foreign. Delaying discipline is confusing. Typical punishment doesn't work for him. Sometimes I am able to withhold an item but even that doesn't have an effect because it's too long term for him. It doesn't have the same effect that it would for a NT child. Positive reinforcement works well but that is not always an easy way to parent because autism is draining. It drains our finances, our energy, and maybe even our sanity. The punishment for something has to fit the "crime." If he purposefully writes on a desk at school, he needs to clean it off. If he hits a sibling, he can no longer play with that sibling. If he breaks something, he has to fix it or find a way to earn money for a new one.

It's a different world for the child with autism as well as for the parent. My hope is that with more parents speaking out, more people will understand the 1:88 children out there who are diagnosed with ASD.

Getting to Know Alex

Alex completed his first family project o his first grade year. He brought home a large piece of red paper and two pieces of papers with shapes on it. Each shapes asked for a different favorite thing. Our instructions: complete this family project by September 7.
We had fun with this project. We cut. We glued. We added scrapbook shapes and wrote answers. We added a photo, stickers, and lots of glitter. He loved the end result and so did I.
Now we have glitter all over the house and on ourselves. I don't mind some glitter but I wonder what Andrew thinks when he finds it on his suits while he is at work. It doesn't help that Lane has a new found interest in glitter now. We have created several works of glittery art already this week.

I'm Stuck On You

If you have a mason jar and some glue sticks, you can make a cute gift for your child's teacher. I failed to make a first day of school gift this year for the teachers so the boys and I created a first week of school gift instead. Why not? Either way, it's a gift to warm their souls. We put glue sticks in the mason jar and then printed jar labels. The boys signed their name and we added "I'm stuck on you" to the outside label. We hot glued the labels to the jar and we had sweet little gifts for the teachers and it includes something useful for the classroom. Here is site with free printable mason jar labels: http://limeshot.com/2012/free-printable-mason-jar-labels

March of the Ducks

Lane and I hosted a play date the Peabody in order to see the March of the Ducks. Another mom suggested it and when we found out that we could go for free, we thought it was a fun idea. Lane and I arrived early so we had an enjoyable morning walking around the gorgeous Peabody Hotel in Orlando. We indulged in chocolate milk and a Vienese coffee while we waited for our friends to join us. Here is the legend of the Peabody Ducks from the Peabody Orlando web site: The Legend of the Ducks How did the tradition of the North American Mallard ducks in the lobby fountain of The Peabody Memphis begin? Back in the 1930s, Frank Schutt, general manager of The Peabody Memphis, and his life-long friend, Chip Barwick, returned from a weekend hunting trip to Arkansas. The men had had a little too much Tennessee sippin’ whiskey, and thought it would be funny to place some of their live duck decoys (it was legal then for hunters to use live decoys), into the black travertine fountain of the Peabody hotel. Three small English call ducks were selected, and the reaction was nothing short of enthusiastic. Thus began a Peabody tradition that was to become internationally famous. The original ducks have long since gone, but after 75 years, their progeny live on in the graceful, marble fountain in “The South’s Grand Hotel,” The Peabody Memphis, and also at The Peabody Little Rock and The Peabody Orlando. The Peabody Duck March takes place twice daily at 11am and 5pm. Prior to 11 am, Lane and I made our way to the fountain in anticipation of seeing the ducks. What we didn't know is that Lane would be picked to be an honorary duck master! We followed the Duck Master to the elevator to see the $100,000 newly renovated duck habitat on the roof top. There are five English ducks, one boy and four girls. Romanda, the Duck Master, taught us a lot about the ducks including information about the breeder. Lane and I listened intently while we gazed at the marble structure. We followed the ducks and Romanda to the elevator.

The only people allowed to touch the ducks are the head duck master and the breeder. We were in charge of keeping the ducks on the elevator while Romanda made a phone call to make sure everyone was ready for the ducks. The ducks are adorable and each have a distinctive personality. We rode down the elevator to the red carpeted hallway. The ducks are hungry so when the elevator doors open, they waddle quickly to the fountain. If Romanda hadn't warned us, we might have missed the action. It was a fun experience and I am glad we tried something new.

Lane was given a certifact naming her an honarary duck master and a large rubber duck. She was THRILLED when it was presented to her.

Here I am with my honorary duck master!