Head Colds,sharing, and Carnival

Jessica had a head cold this week and she ended up staying home two days from school, Shane was being a loving and sweet brother -- First she helped him practice for his upcoming play-- and then he read her some 5 minute bedtime stories-- Such a lovely sight I am SO GLAD I have this picture.  Jessica ended up missing the field trip to the Enchanted Forrest-- she had a slight fever and so I kept her home. Jessica was nice enough to share her cold with me -- so I took a nap! Part way thru the day Jessica ended up feeling much better-- and she convinced her Daddy to take her fishing-- so that I could get some rest- ?  It worked out fine they went fishing and I took a nap--   Then we borrowed our neighbors' teen aged daughter and went to the Carnival! 

This year at the Carnival we had a slide and a bounce house-- Shane spent a good portion of his time,energy and tickets at both... He even got complemented by the Teacher who is a Special Needs teacher, for doing such a GREAT job of waiting in line EACH time...  I am SO PROUD of my son! 

Shane even tried cotton candy for the very first time-- he was with Jerry so I missed the picture but Shane... like a true child that loves sweet things-- Liked the cotton candy! Jerry explained that it was just spun sugar and so Shane was happy enough to tell me

 "Mom, I ate the cotton candy and it just disolved on my tongue...-- cool huh?"

I just smiled and said yup--!

 Kudos go out to Jerry who did NOT let Shane eat the WHOLE bag of cotton candy-- he instead handed the last quater bit of it to the neighbors daughter who was helping us. :)

One of Jessica's favorite things is to get her face painted-- last night at the Carnival, she got a Monarch Butterfly on her face! It's still on her face this morning!  If you look in the back ground of this picture you can see Shane in a blue camo jacket... playing putt putt golf!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This is one of the fun things that we had at the carnival last night... putt putt golf-- Shane had a lot of fun-- thank you to the lady who was nice enough to fetch the golf ball when it got hit to hard.





It did rain at the Carnival and a lot of people got wet... but I had brought along our POP-up and so we stayed mostly dry... although the wind did make me cold a couple of times!
In years past Carnival has been a huge stressful event-- this year I volunteered only to do certain things, of course I ended up doing more-- but I didn't feel so used and abused -- as I had in previous years!
It was a great evening... and now today is grocery day and both the kids are home with me...
I asked Shane last night if he would help me remember the grocery list-- he kept saying, mom we have to have ice cream!  I am buying that child of mine some ice cream ! I bet he will do fine today!

I wanna be ~more than just me

Oh, how I wish I could be more than just me~
There were places to go and things to do today-- but instead my Princess, Jessica was home feeling poorly--
However getting this Princess of mine to take a rest...is pretty hard-- she was willing to camp out in my bed-- but I found her watching Moby Dick~! and now she's reading a book--
 I have got to teach her how to RELAX ...
Every time I see relax spelled in capital letters I think of Frankie Goes to Hollywood--  any of you remember them?
Ah, well the 80's have come and gone... I don't miss the shoulder pads or the stretch pants.--
 But I loved alot of the BIG hair doo's -- and some of the music still makes me happy!
So, anyway I really didn't have a thoughtful post in mind today-- just a bit of random musings.

Shane asked me if germs get germs? I don't know... and I didn't have a clue who to have him ask.
Shane also suggested that we need an invention to return the grocery cart to the store automatically.

Tomorrow is a field trip for Jessica to the Enchanted Forrest,and in the evening our school carnival-- there has already been a ton of drama around the carnival-- I am hoping that it doesn't escalate further!
Friday the kids are off from school and it's payday, Jerry is busy working all day.
On Monday, The kids have school and then we have Shane's IEP...
Today, I am "feeling" very calm and collected about this IEP, but (like a good advocate) I ought to sit down and write some notes and suggestions so that I don't loose my mind or forget my brain during the meeting! :)

Yes,  I know that you have seen this picture before-- but it is still a wish for us Oregonian's~ 

 More BLUE SKIES PLEASE!!!!!!

the grass is GREEN enough, and long and it needs to be mowed...again--   

BRING on the SUN!

So, anyway that's all I've got for today!
(Jessica went yesterday to Splash-- and although she was wonderfully responsible about her retainer and her glasses-- she left her brand new,pretty purple Old Navy swimsuit somewhere and now it's missing.... darn it!)

Rain, rain and more rain... did I mention the rain?

It has been really rainy here in my neck of the woods---
and although I enjoy the rain for the green grass and lush greenery -- ahem...
I have had ENOUGH rain.... God, are you listening? Please STOP the rain!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Jessica might get to go on a sleep-over for a few nights this weekend-:)
- Jerry is working all weekend, and Shane and I will have to find, something to do. I bet we could find a matinee movie to go see--

I also have a new sewing machine -- her name is Lily-- My Aunt Pasty who is a stellar sewer, and quilter decided to let me foster Lily. I have been reading and re-reading the manual and I think I successfully threaded the machine--. (If you want to know a bit more about Aunt Patsy-- click below this post on the words thank you Aunt Patsy and you can read a previous post about this SWEET lady!)
My only dilemma is -- how to not spend every waking moment with Lily? :)
She is a Husqvarna 540 and she does SO many things~ I can't wait to spend some quality time with her!

This morning Shane was really hungry and a bit distracted-- I think he is going through a growth spurt and because of that he forgets to talk-- he ends up like a caveman pointing and grunting-- I hope I can stock the cupboards with enough food tomorrow.(This behavior makes me nervous for when he is a teen!)
Grocery day and both the kids are out of school-- I am not going to complain that my Friday may suck.... I am going to THINK positively that Jessica and Shane will be helpful and willing to help me expedite the process of grocery shopping!

And now I need to go do some dishes and laundry... Oh, Joy?

Good Weekend

It was such a weird weekend -- we had snow,rain,sun -- on each day this weekend !
The kids were off on Friday and it was grocery day---So, I tried something new-- I borrowed my husbands' truck and I used it to drive around-- the truck has a heater and air conditioning-- it is much taller and it has more power. It was nice to drive something that was big and pretty--
The kids enjoyed being in the truck also -- there is more space in the truck and they sit up higher so their view is different. (I thought that for a time on Saturday I was going to get sicker-- with a head cold, but I didn't! -- so we missed a birthday party--:( -- )
I posted an ad on Craiglist to see if I could get Shane a desk -- Jessica already has one and the kids fight over it -- so I was hoping to get one for Shane-- I got one for FREE ! --- yahooooo --- it wasn't very pretty-- so I purchased some stripper and during a dry part of the day I stripped the desk of the ugly paint,marker and glitter that it had on it.
On the way home from getting the desk the kids were fascinated to look out the window--- the amount of fluffy clouds that were all around. Shane and Jessica started calling out ~

• look mom, it's a running poodle
• Mom, can you see that sleeping polar bear?
• no, that's a turtle sleeping
• and then Shane said, " Mom, look I see a God Train! "

if I could of stopped the truck and taken a picture I would of... what a moment!

It was a good weekend, I didn't get all the groceries purchased -- however things seemed to go well. Jerry is going to stain the desk to protect from splinters and such-- I think that we will be the final owners of this desk-- it will need to be recycled after we are done with it!

We had an awesome guest at our church-- he was a man that speaks Russian and his native language -- he lives near Mongolia the details escape me-- but it was simply stunning to hear -- via interpreter his message. I plan on getting the DVD of the service to view again and share.

My nephew,Miles- turned one this weekend, and looking at his blog-- it seems like a good time was had by all!

Tomorrow, Shane has a regular dentist check-up I will be praying for an uneventful visit.

Rain,naked boys and Rainbows!

All this week it has been really rainy--

It is nice to sit and type and listen to the rain fall on the skylight in the kitchen.

Because after the rain-- the sunshine and rainbows will come out for a quick view.

This morning Shane was up early in my room complaining about his tummy being upset-- I gave him some tums and let him curl up next to me-- then when the alarm went off I had to do some fast talking to convince Shane that he did in fact have to go to school.
When we got to school Shane was fascinated by a worm that was as long as his shoe... we watched it for a while--- and then I picked it up and put it in the grass. Shane didn't want to calm his body to go into the class, but after a short time he did manage to get focused enough to go into the classroom.
It was later than usual when I got the call to pick up Shane, he had gotten though the day~
but it had been a struggle to stay still--- it was like he knew what his body was doing -- but he couldn't stop it from being busy. I was at the door of the classroom trying to get Shane's homework and finish the conversation with his teacher and the staff. The next thing we know, Shane has tripped or fallen into the grass! He got his butt, and part of his shirt wet and muddy...
He was of course upset, but he wasn't crying or screaming so I tried to keep him moving to the car.-- I was so focused on getting him to the car that I didn't notice his pants were down my his feet... and he had begun to hop to the car... Both his teacher and the staff saw him they turned their heads and were laughing-- All the while Shane was complaining he just wanted to be naked,..mommy naked... ---
He got in the car and quickly stripped naked! I had a warm fleece jacket on that I wrapped Shane up in, just to get him home.

As I think back now it was kind of funny--

I guess I had a rainbow of my own--

Shane got over his cranky attitude and I

-- got flashed by my naked son...

Why is it Raining ? Meet the Robinsons' !

While out driving today, the kids and I got stuck in the car while the rain came down.--
The rain came down with such force, the kids were afraid it was going to come thru the roof.

Jessica popped up and said, "Well, maybe God is mad and that is why he is throwing the rain at us?"

Shane said, "God, just isn't having a good day!, I bet he's grumpy, he needs a nap!

Grocery day is always a challenge for me, because Shane doesn't do well in stores, he likes to be constantly moving, and he doesn't understand/or follow boundaries. I try to keep positive when we are out, but after a while I just want to duct tape him to the cart and get thru the store...!!!!!


However, today while I was at Winco,--- I got a complement! --- Shane had been in the grocery cart, since he hadn't been following directions~~ and he squished my bread--(I know that doesn't sound like a big thing, but I was angry and frustrated...I had asked him to be careful of the groceries, already... and he STILL squished the bread!)


So, I took him out of the cart and explained why I was mad, and what he did, then I asked for an apology, he did and we just ...kept moving...un-loading the groceries on the convayerbelt.(I know I spelled this word wrong, but spell check, isn't even helping!!!!AGH!) The clerk heard my comments to Shane, and said..."Thank You, for talking with your son instead of yelling at him, and helping him to see what he did wrong !"


I mentioned that he has special needs, so I tend to give him more directions ~
then I might if --- he wasn't~ Shane has a short attention span, often I find my self repeating a lot of requests. While at one of the stores, Shane explained that his ears were full of things... and that is why he wasn't listening! So, I guess I need to check his ears for things more often????


On another...more happy note... my favorite movie is soon to be out on DVD...

Meet the Robinson's

Synopsis:Meet the Robinsons
Lewis is an orphan who dreams of finding a family. His journey takes an unexpected turn when a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson whisks him away to a world where anything is possible…THE FUTURE. There, he meets an incredible assortment of characters and a family beyond his wildest imagination, The Robinsons, who help lead him on an amazing and hilarious adventure with heartfelt results. Based upon the book ‘A Day with Wilbur Robinson’ by William Joyce.

I can't wait.... I think that my husband might even buy it for me as a late birthday gift...
I'll have to RE-MIND him that it's in stores October 23rd! YAY!!!!!

Parenting in the rain, and tears...

When my kids were little, I often found myself crying or holding back the tears-- a lot of that was from all of the hormones that Mommies have, but I do think it was that I felt so proud and encouraged that they were here, with me, What a treasure!

Now that they are older the tears don't come as often !!!!
But when they do, get me a box of Kleenex and give me an hour or so!

It has been raining this week and I do enjoy the rain, but there are times when I get the kids chanting, Rain, Rain go away... come again another day, and often the kids will take the time to pray and ask that the rain will just stop and come another day!

Last night I was talking with my big brother on the phone, and the topic was the new baby expected in February. We were talking about the choices that his wife was making about the babies room, colors and styles and such.
I laughed when my brother just mentioned that he wanted a leather couch... I still laugh... -- I love you my big, brother... !!! I love my sister-in-law also...!
My brother and sister-in-law thrive on cleanliness and order. I know that having kids is a messy, messy job, and although I know I am not a great cleaner,for me... having kids is more about getting thru the day, then it is about keeping every one clean...

Is there a connection between, rain,tears, and keeping kids clean--? I think there is ...
I think that no matter how much you plan, having a child is never how you thought, and if it does turn out like you thought, just wait a while and you WILL be surprised again..and again. This statement could be applied to the weather, the rain, and tears~

Since my kids are both different than ..."regular kids", I view my parenting in a different light, sometimes the greatest view of my kids is when they are sleeping, or when they aren't aware I'm watching, sometimes my moments of Joy are when I have to explain, yet again that my son is faced each day with extra challenges, or I have to talk with my daughter about, treating others with love,care, and kindness is a have to and not just a should, no matter what the crime.

Life &Parenting is such a challenge, but Letting go and Letting God, really helps me,; All the parenting classes in the world don't change that you as a parent must change also -- I think that is the toughest thing of all !
Kids are a blessing, and God has a plan for each of us, Let us not forget that we are only here to guide them and show them a good path.

It is a struggle to value each moment, good and bad, but the challenge is to know that ANY moment has value. Just as ANY child has value, because they are precious in HIS sight, not to mention ... the parents' sight!

Ah, well,. I guess this blog is morphing into a soap box,
I hope that by reading it,
it helps you
make the values you hold,
part of the changes you make !

If only the Mom's, and Dad's of the world
could use all the tears they shed as power,
Power to be the best Mom they can !

The Red, White and the Blue !

While Shane and I were waiting for the rain to stop,
I took this picture of him,and then I found this tree
that had such red leaves,
What a new view of the Red, the White and the Blue!

Speaking of things of Blue,
my brother and sister-in-law
will are having a baby boy in February!

and now I must go looking for just,
the right thing to sew...
Stay tuned!