CrazedPhotoMom

2008-09-14T16:22:00.002-04:00

MY BLOG HAS MOVED!!

Joey has been helping me like crazy and the new WordPress blog is up and running! WOOHOO! :) While I'm still making adjustments and tweaks, all my new posts will be at my new blog. This will be my last post here at blogger! Here's the link to my new blog - please update your favorites!! :D

http://www.theledvinas.com/blog

2008-09-07T21:32:00.002-04:00

Lots of Changes Happening

You'll be seeing lots of changes here on my little blog. Joey's helping me get things switched over to a new blog site; one where I'll be able to post pics a little larger and customizing it a bit easier. :)

Please don't desert me while we change it up around here!! :)

2008-09-05T23:13:00.002-04:00

2008-09-03T13:33:00.004-04:00

Creamy Au Gratin Potatoes

A good friend of mine gave me this recipe and it's one of my favorites. I don't make it all that often because Joe's not a big fan of cheese. Here's the recipe - I've altered it a little bit from the recipe given to me by my friend (thanks Kari!) but mostly just quantity, not ingredients. :)

8 red potatoes, sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp salt plus salt & pepper to taste
2 1/2 tbsps butter
2 1/2 tbsps flour
2 1/2 cups milk (to make them super creamy, use 1 1/2 cups of cream and 1 cup milk)
2-2 1/2 cups shredded SHARP cheddar cheese
5 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Butter a large casserole dish.
3. Layer 1/2 potato slices in bottom of pan.
4. Sprinkle half of the garlic powder over the potatoes. Then top with half the onion and half of the crumbled bacon.
5. Add the rest of the potato slices. Then top with remaining garlic powder, onion and bacon.
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
7. In saucepan, melt butter over med heat. Mix in flour and 1/2 tsp salt, stirring constantly, for one minute.
8. Stir in milk. Cook until thickened.
9. Stir in cheese all at once. Stir until melted -- about 30 to 60 seconds.
10. Pour cheese over potatoes. Cover with non-stick foil. Bake 1 1/2 hours.

Tips: I use the cheapest, thinned bacon I could find, which happened to be the store brand already cooked bacon. All I had to do was microwave it. It crisps up better than thicker bacon. Make sure it's very crisp and make sure the bacon crumbles are cut up/crumbled up into super small pieces, otherwise the cheese sauce softens them and makes them kind of rubbery. You can add as little or as much bacon and onion that you want. I tend to like just a little of each - enough to give it flavor but not to overpower it.

I also put my casserole dish on a cookie sheet to prevent bake over!!

Enjoy!!

2008-08-31T21:44:00.002-04:00

Kindergarten

That time is here again - school time! And this year, Nathaniel is in kindergarten! He started last Thursday and Joey went into work late so that we could all take Nate in for his big day. For anyone new to my blog, Nathaniel had been in the preschool program at the same elementary school for more than 2 years so he's not new to the school, the people there or even his kindergarten classroom. Last Feb/Mar, Nate's team felt it would be good for Nathaniel to start visiting Mrs. Miller's kindergarten class across the hall from the preschool class. So Tues-Fri, he would spend a half an hour per day in his soon to be permanent kindergarten class. He loved it and constantly talked of Mrs. Miller.

Last week, we started preparing Nate for school starting and as always, he began with a "I don't go to school!" and within a couple of days, he had adjusted to the idea. The week prior we'd actually gone in to meet Mrs. Miller and to see the classroom and tour the school. He was a bit shy while we were standing with him, but the moment Mrs. Miller took over, we were toast. He fell right back into routine of listening and following directions.

Thursday morning came around and he was extremely excited. We had the chance to walk inside to the classroom with him and see how they go in each morning and hang up their bags and then sit on their carpets. And then we were sent out! :) Pictures you say? OF COURSE!! Take a peek of our kindergartener!! Oh and this is a typical kindergarten class - not a special needs class. YAY!!

Natey in the same spot we take a picture each year! We have 2 others like this one already! Isn't he handsome?

Daddy and Nate
Mommy and Nate
Nate with Maddie & Lexi - excuse their unbrushed hair!
Natey at school once we got out of the car and started heading in!

Mrs. Miller (whom you can't see here) is holding her sign.

Although the color is odd because of being in some bright sun, I LOVE this pic. We were standing outside on the extremely crowded pavement waiting to enter the building.

Here's Natey getting ready to walk inside with his teacher (in the pink dress).
Natey hanging up his backpack and lunchbox.Natey sitting on his carpet waiting for Mrs. Miller.

2008-08-31T16:43:00.002-04:00

A Couple More of Starsky

The woman from the selter in Puerto Rico sent a couple of more pics of Starsky along with a short note - here's what it said:

AAAHHHH, WHAT A 'BOY'. HE'S YOUR TYPICAL BOY PUP. HE'LL CHEW IT, EAT IT, PLAY WITH IT, FIND IT, ROMP WITH IT, RUN WITH IT, AND GIVE THE I'M INNOCENT LOOK EVERY TIME. WITH A FEW CUDDLES BEFORE HE'S OFF AGAIN. I LOVE HIM !!!!! HE'LL BE 60 LBS AT LEAST FROM THE LOOKS OF HIM THE LAST TIME I SAW HIM. SOLID AND STRONG AND CUTE TOO !!!

We went out yesterday and bought pretty much everything we're going to need to bring him home. And we've rearranged our living room to fit the big crate in it. :) I'll be bringing you those pics (as well as kindergarten pics) soon!

2008-08-29T09:30:00.004-04:00

Guess what?! WE'RE EXPECTING!!

A puppy that is! Yeah, we're never going the kid route again - get those thoughts right out of your head!! :) We've been toying with the idea of getting another dog for a while, now that the kids are a little older. While looking around online this past week, we found Starsky. His story is sad and you can't help but fall in love with his little face. So we put in an application with the rescue and Joe did a phone interview last night and she approved us right then and there to get the pup! Here's his story taken right from the rescue's website...

Starsky's rescue was a stroke of luck and a little bit of persistence on his mothers part. Bonnie pulled over on a dump road as she always does to feed dogs and rescue what she can when a while mother emerged from the bushes. Bonnie placed food down for the starving mom, but she had other ideas. She began to walk through tall brush and Bonnie followed....there he was, Starsky! It was clear to see that "Luna", Starsky's mom had much more important things on her mind than food....she and her baby needed help! Well, they both got it and thensome and as we now begin our efforts to change their lives. Luna is undergoing heartworm treatment right now, but her baby is ready to roll Starsky is only 3 months old and weighs 15 pounds.

And without further ado, some photos from the rescue. Oh yeah, Starsky is a lab. :)

Yeah, he's gonna be trouble - you can see it in his face!

But just look at that face - how can you NOT love that?!
What a poser! :)
Starsky's on the left - don't ya just love the mango tree?
Nothing like falling asleep with your lips on the bars!!
And his mama, Luna. Apparently, she's quite the smiler. She's NOT snarling here but smiling. She's currently being treated for heartworm. Once she's done with treatment, she'll be headed to the rescue here in NH.

So what we know so far is that Starsky will be heading to NH on September 13th. He has to be quarantined for around 48 hours. Then he has to see a vet in our state and then he's free to come home!! YAY!

It's going to be a different experience for us - having a large dog, that is. They said we should expect him to get up to around 75-80 pounds. Max is only 11 lbs. We're not used to a big dog...but we're so excited to get him. Part of the reason we decided to go with a bigger dog is Nate's fear of large dogs (really any animal). We're hoping that since Starsky will be a puppy (but already weighing twice what Max does by the time we get him), he'll grow into a big dog without Nate noticing too much. LOL We're hoping it'll help Nate get over his fear.

When we mentioned to Nate that we might get a puppy, his response? "No puppy!" But then we showed him pictures and told him how much it'll be to play with the puppy, he seemed to warm up to the idea. It works out perfectly that it'll be a month or so before we can get him. It will give us plenty of time to prepare Nate by talking about the puppy every day. I'm going to print out the pics above and put them on the refrigerator so he can see them daily. Honestly, I think both (the dog AND Nate) will adjust quickly. :)

Be prepared for TONS of pictures once he joins us!!

2008-08-26T20:20:00.004-04:00

Maine Vacation: Last Installment - Portland Head Lighthouse

The last place we stopped before heading home was Cape Elizabeth, Maine to take in Portland Head Lighthouse. Aside from Nubble Light (Cape Neddick), this is the prettiest lighthouse I've ever seen. What's cool about it, unlike Nubble, is that you can get right up close to it. It's awesome. The lighting (for pics with the kids anyway) was extremely harsh thus not making perfect photos and the wind was approximately 30mph constant while we were there. We will definitely be going back to this lighthouse for another visit, maybe even in the winter.

DISCLAIMER: I should've added this with the first post but almost all of the photos taken while we were on vacation were taken by the REAL photographer in the family - Joey. :)

A gorgeous shot on a gorgeous day.

A closeup.
An artsy-fartsy shot - my idea, Joe took the shot. I couldn't go crawling around on the ground with a broken foot.
Maddie looking at the lighthouse.
Lexi, Maddie, Nate
Nate, Maddie, Lexi
Maddie blowing the fuzzy dandelion - or at least trying to!
Lexi trying to blow her fuzzies!
The girls running in the open field next to the lighthouse.
Nate just taking a minute to himself.

2008-08-24T19:31:00.002-04:00

Maine Vacation: Portraits Part II

After we took portraits at the beach, we headed to Hampton Beach to take some sea wall photos, something we've done almost every year since Nate was born. One of these days, I'll dig up all the sea wall photos we have and make up storyboard comparisons for you to see.

The wind was pretty strong and the sun pretty bright but all in all I really like these shots. :)

Lexi Lou peeking through her hair.

Lexi Lou striking a pose - Vogue!
Lexi pushing the hair away from her face.
Maddie
Maddie looking peaceful.
The girls...Maddie left, Lexi right.
Natey - one of my favorite photos of the trip.
More Natey
The three heathens...
Oh yeah, and the fourth heathen snuck into a photo too.

2008-08-23T20:23:00.002-04:00

Maine Vacation: Portraits

One of my maine (yes a little pun) objectives of going to Maine was to get some family portraits at the beach. Like I mentioned before, Ariana's weekly family shots really inspired me to get more family pics. I think back from when I was a kid and I think we only had family shots done once or twice. Granted, it was a bit more difficult back then before the digital camera age...and it helps to have a photographer in the family. :)

Anyway, it was really sunny and bright the morning we went to take these, thus all the squinting by everyone. Still, I really loved the way they came out. You'd never tell that the kids (especially my Natey) were not enjoying the photography session. We tried to give them breaks to run around but we were fighting ol' Mother Nature as a storm was about to come rolling in.

Here are my favorites from this beach, York's Long Sands.

Obviously, you can tell me, Joe and Natey. Maddie is on the left and Lexi on the right.

The girls
Me and my boy!
Daddy and his girls.
Daddy and the kidlets!
Father and son
I love this one - looks like Nate is keeping track of his sisters!
I was really hoping for a better shot on this one (one where Nate was giving a good smile) but they bored VERY easily on this one and this was the ONLY shot with all 3 of them on the chair.
Lexi found this log half buried in the sand and the kids actually cooperated for this one a little bit.
This was one of the times we let them run around. I love it because Lexi's feet are actually off of the ground (can see if better if you click on the photo to make it bigger).

Coming up in the next installment of our Maine vacation, MORE portraits! This time from Hampton's sea wall! You can see last year's photos at the sea wall HERE.

2008-08-22T20:14:00.003-04:00

Maine Vacation: Act I: Scene II & III: Ice Cream & Wildlife Park

Here's the second installment of photos from our Maine vacation.

On Monday night after the trolley ride, we took the kids out for ice cream. All 3 kids had chocolate soft serve on a cone. Take a peek!

Natey LOVES his ice cream!

Maddie showing us her cone.
And another...
Not sure what that face is but it's funny!
We took the kids to the Maine Wildlife Park on Wednesday before we headed home. It was fun to see the wildlife that's native to Maine. We saw deer, moose, raccoons, bears, fisher cats and a few others. They had really neat places to take pics throughout the park and we took advantage of it.

Lexi on the left, Nate and Maddie

Lexi, Maddie, Natey Lexi, Maddie and a funny faced Nate
Thanks to Ariana's awesome weekly family shots, it's inspired me to get more family shots. Notice the boot. :)
And the kiddies again - Nate, Lexi, Maddie
And a preview of what's to come..........in the next installment!

2008-08-21T22:38:00.002-04:00

Maine Vacation: Act I: Scene I: The Trolley

We managed to survive a short vacation to Maine with only a minor sunburn for me and 3 tired kidlets. We took what seems like a bazillion photos so I'm going to split them up into separate posts. Keep a look out for the next week or so for all the installments!!

One of our favorite (and cheap) attractions of Maine is the trolley. Our friends (who very graciously offered up their camp for the second year in a row) place just so happens to be within a 2 minute walk of the start of the trolley stops. So we walked down and hopped on and just rode the loop. It takes about an hour and you get to see all of Ogunquit, Maine. Personally, it's one of my favorite things!

Here are some pics from our first trip on the trolley! :)

Natey loving it!

Joey sitting with the girls!
Maddie looking to see what Mommy's doing!
Checkin' out the sights!
Nate and Mom
Maddie looking happy and Lexi looking grumpy! Don't let the scowl fool you - she loved it!
Same shot in black and white...
Met up with Polly the Trolley along the way!
One of a few family shots taken on this vacation.
Maddiekins

2008-08-17T20:19:00.004-04:00

More Randomness and MIA

Is that even a word? Randomness? Eh, who cares...call it a Brandyism. :)

Anyway, we've had another busy week and I haven't had a chance to update. Here are some pics from the week!

Natey hanging out in his clubhouse! Doesn't he look cool?!

Lexi Lou with her nasty chin bruise! It looks even worse now. It's this bright reddish-purple mark. Ick! And just in time for family pics in a couple of days!
Joe and his buddy went for a 2 day photography trip so his wife, Candy (hey girl! :P), and I took the kids to a children's fair in a neighboring town. It was SO much fun. Here the kids are watching chickens hatch in the incubator.
And a bunny rabbit!
The girls LOVE animals and Nate hates them. They jumped at the chance to go in and pet the goats.
Their favorite part of the day - ICE CREAM!
This morning, we took the hooligans mini-golfing (or as Lexi called it Gulching - as in Elmyra Gulch from the Wizard of Oz). They had a good time but got bored after about 7 holes.
Here's the big moose! You can't help but miss it when you drive by. Too by the kidlets wouldn't look at the camera!!
And a butterfly that landed on a flower as we were heading by one of the holes.
And they had this horse you could put the kids up on. It isn't electric or anything, just something to set them up on. We got pics of each kid on it but this one stole the show. He was in the middle of a big "GIDDYUP!!"

I'll be MIA for a few days - watch next weekend for LOTS and LOTS of new photos!! :)

2008-08-13T19:09:00.002-04:00

Hardwood Is Unforgiving

Well, it seems I'm not the only one prone to injury in this family. Yesterday, Lexi was practicing her gymnastics routine from my end tables - picture one hand on each of the end tables that are spread just a little too far apart. She kicked her muscled legs back to where she was almost horizontal with the floor and her hands slipped off the tables and she fell...and she hard. But don't worry, her chin caught her fall.

I know, I know. I'm terrible...making fun and all. But if you could've heard me not 2 minutes before that telling her not to do that because she was going to fall and get hurt. So I was having a really hard time feeling sympathy for the poor child...until I saw that almost immediately it began to turn purple and swell up. Then I had just a teensy bit of sympathy for her and got her an ice pack (chuckle now because it was the same ice pack that sat on my stinky broken foot for 3 days hahaha). She sat on the couch with it on her chin for almost 15 minutes...that's a record for her sitting still, btw.

Anyway, got up this morning and this is what it looks like.

2008-08-12T19:19:00.002-04:00

Attitude Galore!

I wanted to take a few photos today in their new dresses (thanks Grandma!) but boy, the attitudes were abundant. These were the best of the bunch.

Maddie

Lexi
Natey

2008-08-08T20:50:00.005-04:00

A Little Electronics Lesson

For those of you who don't know, Joe was sent to Las Vegas yesterday for work. He'll be gone for a week. Blech. But you ladies know how it goes...when the hubby is away, something is going to happen.

Joe's been away a little more than 24 hours and we've already had something happen.

I was settling in about 6:30 having just put the girls to bed and thinking "only one more hour to the opening ceremony of the Olympics" when the power went out. I cannot repeat what went through my mind next...this IS a family friendly website, after all. I heard this horrific screeching sound and followed it and found this:

Since I had no clue how to shut it off, I hit the only button I could find on it. Low and behold, it shut up.

Then the weirdness started. The tv came back on, the rest of the electronics in our cabinet started powering on. But yet, the fans hadn't come back on...the kitchen was still without power. I thought to myself "no problem, I don't need Joey here to fix it for me. It MUST be a blown breaker! OH! I know how to fix that!!"

Then I realized that the basement is pretty dark without power...so I went off in search of a flashlight. I grabbed the one that's been plugged into the outlet since we moved into the house and flipped it on. Uh, the light went about 2mm and was worthless. No problem, we have this gigantic monster of a flashlight under the sink. I grabbed that and before I could turn it on, I heard crying from the girls bedroom. Irked already because I didn't want to miss a second of the opening ceremonies, I hustled my butt back to their room. Step, thump, step, thump, step, thump. You get the picture. The problem you ask? Their nitelite wasn't on. Um, ya think? I try to explain to 2 - 3 year olds that the power is out. Not an easy task.

So I finally calm them down and make my trek to the bottom of the basement stairs. I flick on this enormous, stupidly heavy flashlight and ta-da - LIGHT! And then 2.3 seconds later it fades to black. Oh the words that actually flew out of my mouth...I'll end up on that bus to hell for sure. And then I heard a voice call from the top of the stairs "aw shucks momma" (what we've instructed Nate to say instead of $hit). Sorry bud...aw shucks.

But wait - victory! At the bottom of the stairs, a flashlight - THIS flashlight...

Yep, that's a bear flashlight. And it was right there waiting for me. So I picked it up and headed into the abyss - aka, the closet area in the basement where we have tons of stuff (ie JUNK) stored and where the electrical panel is. I turn it on and began removing things so I can get to the panel. I got one thing halfway out and the bear roared and shut off.

CRAP!

So I stop what I'm doing, pick up the flashlight and hit the button again. I finish moving whatever it was I was moving and again...ROOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAR. And the light goes out. I hit the button again. Lather, rinse, repeat for about 10 minutes. I mumble some more profanities under my breath so my precious, innocent 5 year old won't correct me.

I finally make it to the panel and notice that not one breaker is out of place. So what the heck, I start one by one, flicking them off and then back on. I do this to EVERY SINGLE ONE. Still no power.

More profanities.

Thankfully I brought my cell phone downstairs with me. I call Joe in Las Vegas.

More profanities.

I give him a brief synapis of what has happened so far (leaving out the profanities, of course - his virgin ears cannot handle that).

What does he say to me? Um, are you sure the power is on?

McFly! Hello! Of course I'm sure the power is on - the TV is on upstairs and so is the DVR and the stereo receiver. It's getting electricity from somewhere. He couldn't see me, but I'm sure he felt the eye roll I gave him.

I start rattling off some more profanities and how much I want to see the opening ceremony. He cuts me off mid-sentence and says he really doesn't think the power is on. I ask the almighty why he thinks that.

It seems that box that was making that horrific screeching noise that I shut off and then turned back on is an APC BACKUP. It's a freaking battery backup. And when I turned it back on after I got it to quit screeching, it powered everything back on that was plugged into it...the tv, the DVR, the stereo receiver. Apparently, it's so I could properly shut everything down. Hmph.

Guess the power wasn't really back on.

I did suck it up and tell him he was right because....well, he was. Boy does that hurt to type out. The man does NOT need any encouragement thinking he's right all the time. Love ya Joey! ;) You know I'm kidding...kind of. :)

So, power was out for 30 minutes and back on in plenty of time for the opening ceremony, which has been awesome btw!

I'm going to get a beer and finish watching the opening ceremony. Peace out...but NOT the electricity.

2008-08-08T20:37:00.002-04:00

Ling-Ling Don't Forget Your Bling-Bling

Name that movie!

Lexi found all the bracelets that Grandma has brought them over the last year or so and put them ALL on. Take a look at her bling!!

She was playing dress up, if you couldn't tell. The shorter "necklaces" are actually headbands! Loved the big smile!
This was my favorite shot!
And a pic of all 3 of them. Oh and Maddie is wearing shorts under that shirt - I really don't dress my 3 year old like a hussy!
And then they wanted me to take a picture of them with their new pjs on! I liked how this one came out. For once they all had their eyes opened and looking at me!
And Maddie with her goofy smile again!
I liked this one because they were all holding hands! Let me hear ya say "awwwwww!"

2008-08-05T21:00:00.002-04:00

A Bunch of Random Photos

Today was the ideal summer day for me - 75 degrees with a nice steady breeze. After the girls got up from their nap, we headed outside. I took the camera along because I didn't feel like reading, which was what I normally do when we go out. I just snapped away, not really paying attention to settings or what was really going on. I came out with a few that I like a lot.

I think this was my favorite of the day. Maddie looking intently at something.

Natey playing peek-a-boo behind a chair.
Maddie was in the hot seat today with photos - normally it's Lexi.
Nate picked these pretty flowers for me.
hehehe I couldn't resist a shot like this.
Maddie doing her goofy expression!
One of the few that I managed to get of Lex.
The girls heading out to draw with the chalk.
Lexi digging into the new bin of sidewalk chalk.
And of course, me with my foot propped up on a chair.

2008-08-05T10:46:00.002-04:00

Teeth Tales

Nathaniel had his first ever dentist appointment yesterday. I called last week thinking that we'd have to wait at least a month or so but they had a cancellation and asked if we wanted to come on Monday. I spent the end of the week and the weekend talking to Nate about the dentist and what they were going to do. We practiced opening wide and I explained to him that the dentist would be putting his fingers into his mouth to clean his teeth. Still, I was anxious and nervous for him. I had no idea what to expect or how he would do with it all. It's only been in the last year or so that he's allowed us to brush his teeth - before then he would clamp his teeth and lips closed. But in the last year, he's done a complete turn around and even prompts us to brush his teeth! When we started brushing, we had to brush with just water - NO toothpaste. Then I would put just a touch on the brush...not even enough to tell. Over the course of a month or so, I kept upping the amount of toothpaste until it got to the point where I could put a normal amount on.

Anyway, my neighbor called me yesterday morning and asked if I wanted her to stay with the girls while I took Nate to the dentist. I was extremely grateful for the offer and took her up on it. I wanted to make sure that if possible, I could go back with Nate. And once we got there, we got right in and didn't have to sit around. The hygenist was very nice and took the time to go over every single tool in her kit, showed him how the chair worked, the cool sunglasses he would get to wear and the bright light they use to see his teeth better. You could see the worry in his eyes but he didn't cry at all.

When she was finally ready to start, he let her put the sunglasses on without a problem but when she went to lay him back, he wanted to stay sitting up. All she had to do was ask him to lean back and he did as she asked. She started by counting his teeth and you all know how he loves his numbers. He was quite excited to learn that he has 20 teeth. Then she asked him if he had any germy bugs on his teeth and he told her no. She asked if she could check anyway and he told her ok. He sat perfectly still while she cleaned his teeth all up! She rinsed and then used the cool vacuum to suck it all out - he thought that was the neatest thing. When she was all finished, she set him up in the chair and he was so ready to be done. He whipped the sunglasses off, tried taking the bib thing off and she's like "oh honey, wait...the dentist needs to come in and take a look". His eyes filled with tears and I reassured him. I told him he was doing a fantastic job and that if he could hold on just a little longer, I'd let him have some ice cream after we were done. (Yeah, I know...giving a kid ice cream after his dentist appointment is kind of ironic!) That stopped all remnants of tears. And the hygenist saw that he was borderline upset and made sure the dentist came right in. The dentist took a peek, mentioned the crowding on the top and I explained that he is a thumbsucker. He said "yep, that will do it." He also said if we could get him to stop, that would be great but not to stress over it.

Result - zero cavaties and a "you're doing a great job brushing his teeth!" And to keep up the good work. Nate was thrilled because he got to pick a prize out of the prize box - a yellow matchbox type of car. And was just as thrilled when he got a new toothbrush kit complete with dinosaur flossers!!

And on the same page with teeth are these AWESOME tooth fairy pillows. My friend, Melissa, handmade these for me with the kids initials. The area where their inital is located is a little pocket to put a lost tooth in...and then they put this pillow under their pillow!

2008-08-03T15:10:00.002-04:00

Hillsborough Ink

A play off Miami Ink

Joe and I were sitting in the living room today watching the Red Sox game when Lexi came roaring into the living room. I'm sure she was tattling about something Madison did to her but all I remember is Joe saying to me "What's under her chin?"

I had Lexi turn towards me and on the underside of her chin, she had a pen mark. Now for some unknown reason, I was NOT too concerned...until I realized a couple of things. 1 - The kids haven't had the pens/pencils/markers out for a couple of days. 2 - The girls really aren't allowed to play with pens/pencils anyway. I told Joe he'd better go and check it out.

Then I heard the "Uh, you'd better come back and look at this" rung out from the back bedroom. The story we're getting is that they "found" the pen under Nate's bed. And we know that Nate wasn't involved because he was out in the living room playing with his cars.

It took us just a few seconds to figure out how they got the marks so high on the closet door - the pretty pink Princess chairs. They stood on them to get the marks nice and high.

Joe and I held back the laughter as we asked who did it. Nate immediately offered up his sisters, which isn't unusual. And then the "Maddie did it!" and "Lexi did it!" in unison quickly followed. I'm inclined to believe it was Madison simply because this isn't the first time she's left her mark. Check out this post from March 2007 - Writing On The Walls

But I don't doubt for a minute that Alexis had a hand in it.

We made them stage the scene - and Maddie's guilt shined through because she cried and cried!

And a small portion of the masterpiece.

While we did find it extremely amusing, we did NOT let them in on our amusement. They've lost all coloring utensils and coloring books/paper for at least a week. We can find laughter in this because we have now lived in this house 3 years and these particular closet doors (in Nate's room), still have not been painted. :) Guess we'll be working on that soon.

2008-08-01T21:06:00.002-04:00

Guess where we spent the afternoon?

Yes, we went to the beach. The kids have been wanting to go since we had to forego it last Friday due to my broken foot incident. My foot has been feeling great and I'm even able to walk on it a little bit without the cast. So I talked with neighbor about going with her and if she'd be willing to help me, especially with the water part of it since, obviously, I cannot go running into the water if one of the kids needed me to. She agreed (she's such a sweetheart) and so we hit the beach.

As you can see above, I sat my behind in a chair while the kids played around us.

And here's my Natey...he went into the water for the first time today. The last 2 times we went, he only played in the sand.

He still spent most of his time playing in the sand.

Lexi showing off her new swimsuit.

Maddie with her new swimsuit.
Maddie playing in the sand.
Lexi taking a break.
Maddie resting after 2 solid hours in the lake.

2008-08-01T06:46:00.007-04:00

The Last Lecture

The first time I heard about The Last Lecture was 6 or 7 months ago. And if you haven't heard about Randy Pausch and his Last Lecture, please take a few minutes to read about him on his website Randy Pausch's The Last Lecture website - it's worth your time.

The man was amazing and had an incredible outlook on life. At 46, Randy Pausch was in the prime of his life - he'd found and married the woman of his dreams and they had 3 beautiful children. He was an expert in his field of computer science and was a professor at Carnegie Mellon University. And then he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer - a death sentence for most of those who are diagnosed with it.

Randy delivered his "Last Lecture" at Carnegie Mellon on September 18, 2007 and it was titled Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams. If you haven't seen it and have an hour to spare, go the website above and you can watch it. You won't be disappointed. I won't be talking in depth about it here on my blog because I really can't do it justice. It's one of those things you just have to see it and experience it.

Sadly, Randy Pausch passed away on July 25, 2008.

On Joe's way home from school on Wednesday night, he stopped and bought me a copy of Randy Pausch's book, The Last Lecture. It was a quick read, finishing in less than 2 hours, and was one of the best I've ever read. Taken right from the flap of the book -

"A lot of professors give talks titled 'The Last Lecture'. Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can't help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?

When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn't have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave - 'Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams' - wasn't about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, seizing every moment (because 'time is all you have...and you may find one day that you have less than you think'). "

The book was amazing and I loved every single bit of it. Here are two short passages that really stood out to me -

"Take a time out. It's not a real vacation if you're reading email or calling in for your messages. When Jai and I went on our honeymoon, we wanted to be left alone. My boss, however, felt I needed to provide a way for people to contact me. So I came up with the perfect phone message.

'Hi, this is Randy. I waited until I was thirty-nine to get married, so my wife and I are going away for a month. I hope you don't have a problem with that, but my boss does. Apparently, I have to be reachable.'

I then gave the names of Jai's parents and the city where they live.

'If you call directory assistance, you can get their number. And then, if you can convince my new in-laws that your emergency merits interupting their only daughter's honeymoon, they have our number.'

We didn't get any calls.

Some of my time management tips are dead-on serious and some are a bit tongue-in-cheek. But I believe all of them are worth considering.

Time is all you have. And you may find one day that you have less than you think."

So very true.

And here's the second excerpt -

I got tenure a year earlier than people usually do. That seemed to impress other junior faculty members.

'Wow, you got tenure early,' they'd say to me. 'What was your secret?"

I said, 'It's pretty simple. Call me any Friday night in my office at ten o'clock and I'll tell you.' (Of course, this was before I had a family.)

A lot of people want a shortcut. I find the best shortcut is the long way, which is basically two words: work hard.

As I see it, if you work more hours than somebody else, during those hours you learn more about your craft. That can make you more efficient, more able, even happier. Hard work is like compounded interest in the bank. The rewards build faster.

The same is true in your life outside of your job. All my adult life I've felt drawn to ask long-married couples how they were able to stay together. All of them said the same thing: 'We worked hard at it.'"

I read the first passage to Joe last night on his way home from a dinner with colleagues. He chuckled because it's very rare that he takes vacation time and stays completely, 100% away from work.

Anyway, if you haven't seen Randy's lecture or read his book, I highly advise it. It's a thought provoking, heartfelt read that is now near the top of my favorite books list.

2008-07-31T12:23:00.004-04:00

Just Another Day In Crazy

Yesterday morning when we got up, Lexi had some battle scars that must have happened after we put the girls to bed the night before. There was no mistaken what they were either - scratches from her loving sister...right near her eye. I have no idea what we're going to do with this crazy child we have. I have no idea how she scratches because I keep Maddie's nails cut super short.

Here are a few pics of Lexi...she was particularly photogenic yesterday and not only that but cooperative, which we don't get often.

She's showing me her "owie", thus her finger is over it!

Here you can see it much better.
Even with the dirty face, I really love this pic.
Faces of Alexis
Max was even cooperative yesterday. He's looking so old - must be the kids! He's only 6.
A couple of the girls together.
I have no idea what they were laughing about but another one of my favorites.

2008-07-30T17:54:00.002-04:00

Update from the Ortho

I have pictures that I took today but alas, no time to download from the camera and upload. I'll do that tomorrow.

I just wanted to update on my appointment. A neighbor came and stayed with the kids while Joe and I went to the orthopaedic specialist. And the news is good! No surgery! WOOHOO! The doc said that the break was nice and clean and it was still lined up perfectly. She said typically it would take about 3 weeks for the "sticky" bone to be seen on an xray so I go back on the 18th of August for a second xray and then a follow up appointment. Since I have arthritis and it's affected (or is it effected - damn I can never figure those out) my bones, mine may or may not be healing typically. Only time will tell.

The visit was pleasant except one unfortunate incident. I was sitting on a hospital bed with my left foot up on it and my right foot on the floor. Joe was sitting to my left in a chair and the doc was sitting on her little rolly chair. Behind her was a computer with my xrays up on screen and she was talking away. She picked up my foot and started feeling around a little bit. She gestured to the xray and said "And I imagine that THIS," as she firmly presses her fingers onto the area where my foot is broken, "is where it hurts..." Holy Mary Mother of God that hurt! I almost came unglued and jumped probably a foot and said quite loudly "OW!!!!!!!" In turn, Joe jumped so high off his seat, I thought the poor man was going to hit the floor. I wanted to look at this broad and ask her WTF she was thinking! MY FOOT IS BROKEN! Holy moley that was unpleasant! Joe and I discussed it afterwards and decided she had a look of amusement on her face and we pondered whether she keeps track of these things.

Doctor writes in notebook: Patient 132B - pressed fingers firmly into broken bone area. Jump reaction: 8.5 out of 10. Let's see if I can get a 9 out of the next suffering soul.

Next time maybe my foot will have to kick her in the chin when she does that.

More good news - I don't have to sleep with this enormously heavy boot on. I hadn't been sleeping with it on anyway but at least now I have it ok'd. I can also walk short distances on my heel without the boot as long as I can tolerate it. Tried it this morning, uh, no. Won't be trying it again anytime soon. She also told me that in a couple of weeks I can attempt to put on a sneaker (NO sandals or open shoe - a sneaker only) and see if I can get around with that. If I can, I can go without the boot. Again, the last thing I want is one of my precious children stomping on my foot and rebreaking it. NOT my idea of a good time. So I'll probably try and tolerate the boot as close to 6 weeks as I can.

Sooo, that's the update! Pictures to come tomorrow!!

2008-07-26T21:30:00.003-04:00

Ever So Graceful

Anyone that knows me IRL, knows that I'm not what you'd consider graceful. I've never taken a dance class, ice skated, done gymnastics or anything else that requires balance and coordination. Walking without falling typically requires most of my brain cells, which is why you'll rarely see me chewing gum and walking simulaneously (hahaha, just joking....well, maybe not). This lack of grace started quite early on for me. I think I was around 3-4-5 years old when I tripped going into our living room (there was a 1" step up into the living room) and caught myself by putting my hand on our wood stove - that resulted in a burnt palm/fingers. And that was just the beginning...there was falling/rolling off of our deck, falling in the middle of winter on the bottom step and cracking my back across the stairs, broken fibula in high school that required surgical intervention to stabilize the break with a metal plate and 3 screws, at least one fall on our frost covered deck of the last house, the hilarious but humiliation fall while running up the stairs at MSU when I was wearing a leather trenchcoat (hands deep in my pockets with my discman turning out some Alanis) and fell in such a way that I was like a turtle on it's back - I couldn't get my hands out of my pockets because I was laying on them on the flight of stairs...oh the list could go on for a very long time. Sooooo, you may not be surprised by the photos you see below...

Please, if you cannot see the photos clearly, click on the picture and it'll open up the full size pic for you to see clearly.

Yes, that's right, my friends. I broke my stinking (hahaha) foot. Friday morning, the kids and I had plans to go with the neighbor and her kids to the beach for the day. After a week of rain, this 80+ degree morning was going to be a rockin' day. I'd spent the entire rainy week cleaning the house from top to botton and I could go to the beach and spend the entire day, GUILT FREE. So the kids were outside playing while I packed up my rig with our beach gear. I had one lone bag left in the house and we'd be off for a day of sun, sand and water. I was feeling pretty good, had a little bounce to my step (that should've tipped me off right away that something was going to happen). I bounded up the stairs a little bit quicker than I normally would have and on the 2nd to last step, I think the tip of my right shoe caught the edge of the stair and since I was travelling at warp speed (which would equal fast turtle to most of you normal folks), when I bought my left foot up and caught myself, my foot slipped off of my sandal and I felt/heard this loud POP! Followed closely behind that was the foot numbness and then the blinding pain. I walked from the doorway over to the couch and sat down. I took my sandal off and did the pain dance. Oh you know the one - where if you hurt your finger, you squeeze it tight as you rock back and forth as you hope that you cut the circulation off to your finger as to diminish the pain? Yeah, that one. I was trying to do that with my foot. Once my fogginess cleared, I took a peek at my foot expecting to see bruising, swelling, ugliness in general. Uh, nothing. Hmph. Must be ok then. I put my foot on the floor and saw stars...guess maybe it wasn't going to be alright. So now what? Ok, I need to call Joe. For some unknown reason (or maybe it was the extremely painful foot), I thought my cell phone was in the car in my cup holder. So I had Nate open the door of the Explorer (I'm yelling directions to the kids from a kitchen chair I'd managed to crawl over to by the door) and had Lexi get in and look for my phone. My heart sank when I heard her say "it's not there Momma". Crap. OH! I had a small brain fart...it was in my back pocket.

Just a little background info - Joe has been working at the main facility of the company for 2 weeks. It's end of quarter, there's TONS of stuff going on and he's been working his butt off (and still going to school 2 nights per week).

Sooo, I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Joey. The building that he was in his made of concrete and the cell service is non-existant in there. So I wasn't overly surprised that he didn't pick up. No problem, I have 2 more numbers I can try - one a direct line into the building and then also a cell phone # of the guy he was working with. Uh, got voicemail on both of those. While it wasn't my first choice, I decided to give Joe's cell number another try and leave him a message. I was completely shocked when he picked up. I was so relieved and then felt guilty that I was bothering him that I ended up crying and could barely get out words. When I finally got out a short version of what happened, he told me he'd be in the car in 10 minutes.

After I got off the phone with him, I sent a text message to my neighbor and told her I had a change of plans, that I'd hurt my foot and Joe was coming home to take me to the ER. Within just a minute or two, she was walking up the same stairs where I'd met my fate not 15 minutes before. She stayed with me until Joe got home - she watched the kids, kept me company...was a really good friend.

Joe would normally be 45 minutes away when he's at work but since he was at their main facility he was an hour and a half away so he made it home sometime around 11:30 (the fall happened at 9:30). Joe loaded the kids in the car as I slid my butt down the very stairs that did me in and then hopped on one foot to the car, which Joe had gotten within feet of the stairs.

We made the 35 minute trip to the ER, where everyone in the county had fallen, had a chainsaw accident, been run over by a car. After about 40 minutes of waiting as a family, I had Joe take the kids to the park while I waited. I finally got called back after about an hour and a half. Then it was same old, same old. Doc comes in to ask what happened. I laugh, give a quick version of what happened and then I have xrays. Doc pops his head in really quick and says "You have a broken foot. I'll be back in a bit to show you the xrays and let you know what we're going to do for it." Thankfully, once I actually got back into the consultation room, things went fairly quickly. And before I knew it, I was sporting an "ortho boot". It's stylish, a pretty shade of grey and comes with it's own freakishly long and stretchy sock.

So without further ado, some photos to help you visualize my humiliation... :)

Ah yes, the scene of the attack.

When I arrive in hell, this will be my mode of transportation.I guess I should explain a little bit more. When they gave me the ortho boot, they said that if the pain was tolerable, I could just walk out of there. I gave them that WTH look. Dude, my foot is BROKEN. But they said a lot of times, the ortho boot distributes your weight more evenly on the foot and many people don't need crutches. Uh, not me. I put weight on my foot and thought I was going down for a second time that day. So, I got the crutches. And to quote a dear friend, "Crutches are not made for fat people." And I just had to reiterate that. They are NOT made for fat people, especially ones with arthritis. Using the crutches to get from the hospital to the car and then into the house has left me with armpits and shoulders like jelly. I wonder if I could get a massage of my armpits? Hmmm, I'll have to ask my friend, Candy, she's a massage therapist.

Anyway, it became apparent quite quickly that the crutches were NOT going to work well for me. As we were pulling into the driveway, Joe says "what about a walker? Do you think that would help you get around?" I told him I wasn't sure but I'd be willing to try. As soon as we pulled into the driveway, the neighbor that sat with me earlier that day came over to see what the verdict was. After I told her, I mentioned the walker thing and she said that her MIL had a walker in their basement and I could use it.

So if it weren't bad enough that I broke my foot, I'm hobbling around like a 90 year old with a walker. But hey, it made it MUCH easier for me.

So, here's my walker. And the result of a fracture of the 5th metatarsal is the gorgeous grey ortho boot.

Me and Natey kicking back and relaxing.
So I have to keep it elevated for another day or so and put an ice pack on it every 2-3 hours for 30 minutes at a time. I have an appt on Tuesday with an orthopedic surgeon to make sure that nothing further is required (like surgery). The ER doc said it was a nice, clean break but he's not an orthopedist and wanted it looked at again.

I'm grateful that it really doesn't hurt much. After the inital couple of hours, as long as I wasn't putting any pressure on it, it was as if it weren't broken. But then I'd flex my toes and it would shoot pain towards my toes and up towards my ankle simultaneously. Then I'd remember, oh yeah, my foot's broken and there's a reason I'm wearing this extremely hot boot. I also figured out a way to walk today. As long as I keep all my weight on the heel of my foot and keep my foot at a 90 degree angle, it doesn't hurt much. I just have to go slow, which isn't all that far from typical. :)

So that was our excitement for yesterday. The doc said that I should be in the boot for about 6 weeks. And I'm hopeful that it'll be a MAX of 5 weeks. We'll see what the ortho says on Tuesday. :)

2008-07-24T19:11:00.002-04:00

I haven't taken many pictures of the kids this week as I've been cleaning like a mad woman and just haven't taken the time to pull out the camera. I spent 3 and half hours in the playroom weeding out toys, cleaning and sorting. I moved onto the office and scraproom and spent 2 days in there - a total of at least 6-7 hours. The entire upstairs got an overhaul too. Soooo, since I finished all the cleaning, I decided to bake. :)

I had a neighbor over last night for a girls night in of mini homemade pizzas (hoping to post that recipe next week), pigs in a blanket and Toll House Pie with Haagen Daas Vanilla Bean ice cream. YUM!

Here's the recipe that I found on Bakerella's Blog :

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped pecans

Serve with ice cream (optional)

Preheat oven 325 degrees F.

Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.
Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.

NOTE: If using frozen pie shell, use deep dish style and thaw completely. Bake on baking sheet and increase baking time slightly.

2008-07-21T17:52:00.003-04:00

My Favorite Meal of the Week:
Crock Pot BBQ Pulled Pork

While I don't normally post much about it, I love to cook and bake. I'm thinking about maybe posting some recipes here and there when I try something new that's a big hit.

When we went to the fair a couple of weeks ago, one of the new food vendors this year was BBQ'd pulled pork. It was the absolute best - it wasn't overly salty, had lots of flavor but wasn't too hot, etc. Since then, I've been determined to try this at home but when looking for recipes, I kept running into the "dump a bottle of your favorite bbq sauce into shredded pork". I've made it like that before and neither me or Joe really cared for it. It was too salty and way too overpowering taste wise - you couldn't even taste the pork. I finally came across a recipe that called for McCormick's Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork seasoning packet. I decided to give it a try!! Here's what you want to look for in your spices/seasonings aisle:

The recipe:

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

YOU WILL NEED:

3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast, well-trimmed or boneless pork loin roast
1 package McCormick® Slow Cookers BBQ Pulled Pork Seasoning
1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS:

1. PLACE pork in slow cooker.
2. MIX Seasoning, ketchup, brown sugar and vinegar until blended. Pour over pork. Cover.
3. COOK 8 hours on LOW or 4 hours on HIGH. Remove pork from slow cooker.
4. SHRED pork, using 2 forks. Return pork to slow cooker; mix and heat with sauce before serving.

Makes 10 servings.

IMPORTANT: For best results, do not remove cover during cooking.

This was the exact same seasoning that they used at the fair. And it tasted even better than the fair! I actually used a Boston Butt roast and while it worked well (just fell apart, super moist) it was a little too greasy for my taste. And since you remove the pork, shred it and return it to the drippings in the crockpot, next time I will buy a leaner cut of meat if possible.

Oh yeah, and it makes a TON! I used a roast that was a little less than 3 pounds (had a small bone and a huge hunk of fat) and we ended up with enough for dinner last night, a lunch for Joe for today and dinner for tonight for me and there was still some left over!!

2008-07-21T17:41:00.002-04:00

Today's Artwork

brought to you by Crayola

Here's Maddie's masterpiece - she called it "daddy". You can totally see the resemblance; the hair, the goatee, the winking eye and the lopsided grin. Not sure about the inflamed foot though. :)

And Mr. Nate's work - daddy's Husqvarna (thus the big H on it) lawn mower with attached bagger filled with grass. And he added his John Hancock.
And Miss Lexi Lou's beautifully colored tractor scene. I love that she colored the pigs blue.

Nate is finally holding his crayons/pencils with the correct tripod grip (mostly). His contol has MUCH improved over the last year. And in the last 2 months, we've really noticed the girls hand control improving as well. Both girls (especially Lexi) have perfected the tripod grasp on crayons and can do pretty well staying within the lines. Maddie, who's leaning more and more towards being a lefty, sometimes has trouble deciding which hand she should use. She has better control with her left (in my opinion anyway) but there are times she's insistent upon using her right. Who am I to tell her not to? So she switches back and forth! :)

2008-07-21T17:38:00.002-04:00

Up Your Nose!

Maddie and daddy were rough housing yesterday and she ended up with a slice right under her nose! It bled like crazy for a bit and she even had us put a bandaid on it. We've been putting Neosporin on it a couple of times a day because if it dries out, it tends to open back up. She's been a real trooper letting me put a warm cloth on it to wipe all the nasties away and put new medicine on. Here's an up your nose shot where you can see it pretty well!

2008-07-17T21:17:00.002-04:00

A Day at the Beach

Our neighbor has been going to our little town's lake/beach religiously for the last 2 weeks because her kids are taking swimming lessons. The kids and I tagged along today and I really wish I would've tagged along 2 weeks ago! The kids and I had a GREAT time! Anyone that knows me IRL knows that I'm extremely fair skinned...as in, will burn within an hour even WITH sunscreen on. So I was completely overjoyed to see an entire section of the beach shaded and empty!! WOOHOO! I guess people actually go to the beach wanting to sit in the sun - go figure. :)

We spent a good 3 hours there and really had a blast. I was actually surprised that Nate didn't play much in the water. When we first got there, he asked if he could go in and I walked out with him and tried to tell him not to go up past his upper thighs...and I think he didn't really understand because after we walked out of the water, he wouldn't go back in. VERY unusual for him since he loves playing in the water. The girls went in a lot but with one exception, never went up past their mid/upper thighs.

Other than the shade, the best part of the beach is that there's a lifeguard on duty. I am NOT a swimmer...honestly, it wouldn't hurt my feelings to never be in the water again (outside showering, of course). It's this fear of drowning thing...I have it. And really, the reason I hadn't tagged along 2 weeks ago is this insane fear that Nate wouldn't listen to me and get in trouble in the water and then not be able to help him. So the lifeguard on duty was a big draw for me. And I shouldn't have worried anyway since Nate listened perfectly...ok, well not perfectly. He had this little issue with throwing sticks into the water.

Anyway, I know y'all want to see the pics... here ya go! :)

As usual, Nate finds a way to incorporate numbers wherever we go! The arrow is pointing to the number 10 that Nate wrote in the sand. 10 indicates the number of sand castles he built. I really need to find the boy some big ol' plastic dump trucks to take with us for next time. All we have are the original metal Tonka trucks and those are WAY too heavy to lug to the beach.

Lexi playing with a bucket!
This was the ONLY time one of my kids got wet beyond mid-thigh...and it was because she lost her balance and fell. She immediately came running out to wipe her face and arms! Silly kid! They'll eventually get the hang of this beach going!
Doesn't he look like such a big boy these days? *sniff, sniff*
Lexi
All 3 heathens enjoying a snack!
Nate loved playing in the sand!

2008-07-15T21:42:00.000-04:00

Give A Little Love

It doesn't happen often...but it DOES happen. :)

2008-07-14T20:45:00.004-04:00

Fair Photos 2008

Here are some pics from the fair! We ended up not going to the fireworks on Saturday so these are all from Friday night.

Joey and the gang before the rides started up. Maddie is sitting next to Joe.

The girls waving before their first ride began!
Nate picked a truck for his first ride!
Maddie checking us out on the way by!
Lexi on the merry-go-round!
Maddie on the merry-go-round!
Natey on the merry-go-round.
Ah yes, the dizzy dragons! LOVE Nate's smile on this one!
The bumblebees!

2008-07-14T19:51:00.002-04:00

Natey riding the dragon roller coaster with Maddie!

Lexi on the left, Maddie right.
And the infamous slide that they loved! Here's Nate on the home stretch!
And Daddy and Lexi. If you click on the pic to see the larger version, you'll see Lexi's ponies are blowing backwards!
And Natey after having ice cream for dinner!
Lexi after having her ice cream dinner.
And Maddie after HER ice cream dinner!

2008-07-12T07:58:00.002-04:00

The Fair 2008

It's once again fair time here in our small town. Last year, it was take it or leave it when it came to the rides. This year, we hoped for better...and they delivered. They LOVED the rides! And we spent 2 solid hours going between the 8 kiddie rides that our small town fair offered. The favorite of all of them? A HUGE yellow slide that you ride down on a piece of burlap. A slide? There were helicopters, Dizzy Dragons (think of an enclosed Teacup ride shaped like a dragon), motorcycles, trucks....and their favorite? A big yellow slide.

We got to the fairgrounds a bit early and the kids were planning what they wanted to ride first. Take a peek...

I have pics to post but we're headed back to the fair again tonight to see some fireworks! :)

2008-07-09T12:23:00.007-04:00

Seems Like So Long Ago

I was going through some video clips earlier today and found these gems. It seems like oh so long ago. These were taken in April 2006...so Nate was just about to turn 3 and start at the elementary school. The girls were 17 months.

This is Maddie being silly.

Nate when we were teaching him his ABC's. It's amazing to think how far he's come since this video, 2 years ago.

Who knew pushing a plastic trash can around could be so funny? Maddie's doing the pushing and Miss Lexi is following.

And Miss Lexi doing a little dancing! Notice the dog almost being displaced off the back of the couch because she was bouncing so hard? :)

I had to edit this post because I found this video and couldn't resist posting it! This one was taken in September of 2006. Maddie's dancing cracks me up! She was the one in green.

2008-07-08T13:19:00.003-04:00

Back To Summer School '08

Every summer since Nathaniel turned 3, he's gone to the summer program at the elementary school. One of the concerns with autistic children is regression but thankfully, Nathaniel's never experienced it. Because it's a concern for typical autistic children (there's an oxymoron for you), Nathaniel is eligible for, and goes to, the summer program...even though, I really don't think we'd see any regression if he didn't attend. Nevertheless, I love that he gets to go. He's easily bored at home unless I keep his day packed with activities and it helps break up the summer for us. He had a couple of weeks off from school and yesterday marked the beginning of the program. He goes MTW from 9:30-11am and there's only 4 kids that are in his class. The program lasts 4 weeks. Then he'll get about 5 weeks off before he starts kindergarten.

Apparently the hour and a half he spent at school, coupled with having friends over yesterday afternoon and playing in the sweltering heat and humidity, proved too much for the little guy. At 7:30pm last night, he started to fall asleep in the chair so I asked him if he was ready for bed (he typically goes to bed between 8-9pm) and to my surprise he said yes. After I got him all tucked in, I did a couple of quick things around the house and when I went back in not 5 minutes later, this is what I saw....he was already passed out.

2008-07-06T20:10:00.002-04:00

More Outside Fun!

Joey had some computer work to do today so while he was busy with that, I took the kids outside to play in the pool for a bit. Nothing too exciting but here are a few shots...

Miss Maddie

Miss Lexi
And of course, my Natey...

And a PSA: The color of Nate's eyes has NOT been photoshopped. When I was showing Joey the pics, he asked if I enhanced the color of Nate's eyes. He was surprised when I told him no...that REALLY is Nate's eye color. The natural light outside really makes his eyes pop right out. :) Add those super long eyelashes in and he's irresistable!!

2008-07-06T19:52:00.004-04:00

Happy Belated 4th of July!

We took the kidlets to see the fireworks in a nearby town on the 4th. We'd been to this town's fireworks 2 years ago and it was pretty good considering it's free.

Last year, Maddie was none too thrilled about them - she kept her face buried in my shoulder the entire time and no amount of enticing could get her to look. This year, she told us "I'm not scared of fireworks...it's just noise. BANG! BANG!" While she wasn't crazy about them, she didn't bury her face this year. And the other two loved them, just like last year.

A few pics from that night...

I was trying to get a photo of all 3 of them with their books. Maddie was being super silly and they just wouldn't cooperate! And notice how tight the fit is in the backseat of the Versa!

Oooooohhhing and Aaaaaaaahing over some fireworks that were going off in a condo complex nearby.
Ttrying again to get a shot of all 3 of them!
Caught Lexi in mid-jump! Still watching the condo fireworks!
Hold me, Lexi, I'm scared!!
Look at the sibling love going on!
Daddy and the crew right before the big show started!
My favorite of the night!

2008-07-02T20:47:00.003-04:00

May She Rest In Peace

We had to say goodbye to a very close companion today...our beloved 2002 Mercury Mountaineer. Joe and I both loved that thing from the day we bought it more than 4 years ago. That car has taken us SO many places and has really been worked hard. It's made 2 trips to Michigan and back, 8 bazillion trips to the grocery store, brought two teeny tiny babies home almost 4 years ago, 20 bazillion trips to Joe's workplace...just to name a few.

But over the last few months, the poor sap was more than nickel and diming us. We've (read JOE) been researching all the different cars in our price range and finally decided to take a look at a Nissan. We rose at the buttcrack of dawn this morning (not that rising so early is unusual for us thanks to the children) and got everyone dressed and headed out the door. We arrived at the Nissan dealership at 8:30 and immediately had a salesman greet us. He was VERY nice and since we knew what we were looking for, he pointed us in the right direction. When Joe looked online last night, it said the dealership only had ONE lone car in the model we wanted. When we mentioned that to us, the salesman said that they had 2 more delivered yesterday. Why is that even important, you ask? Because the one that was listed online was black...and neither Joe or I are fans of black vehicles (no offense to all you black car owners - just not our taste). The 2 cars that were delivered yesterday were this BEAUTIFUL bright blue (and for any of you that know us IRL, you know that we once owned a Pontiac Sunfire in a brillant blue). We gave the salesguy a rundown on specifics as far as the price we wanted and whatnot and without wasting any time, he got to work.

Now, when we were walking in to get the ball rolling, we'd joked that we had to leave NO LATER than 2:30 because Joe had class tonight and we had to go home first because the LAST thing I wanted to do was sit through a 4 hour class with 3 kids past bedtime. :P The salesman made a joke like "well, I'd hope it wouldn't take that long!" and we told him of when we bought the Mountaineer it ended up taking 6 hours for the whole process (and at the time Nate was just a baby). He said that was ridiculous and that we'd have no problem getting out of there with plenty of time to spare. I guess his definition of "plenty of time" is WAY different than mine. We got there at exactly 8:30am. We pulled out of the dealership at 2pm, after a 30 minute fight with a seatbelt extender (for Nate's booster seat) which stated right ON IT that it was made for the front seats ONLY. (Apparently neither Joe or the salesman bothered to read it before trying it and when Joe told him it didn't fit, the salesman took it and jammed it into the buckle. He jammed it so badly that they had to replace the entire buckle, which btw requires the back seat to be partially removed...NOT cool when Lexi and Maddie were ALREADY sound asleep in their carseats). And it didn't matter anyway because all 3 carseats would NOT fit...so it was off to Target to get a couple of new ones!!

Anyway...we did finally get everything all situated and all is well. We are now proud new owners of a Nissan Versa. It feels SO odd being in a car after having SUVs for so long. I feel like we're in a roller skate!! BUT - the thing is AWESOME and get this, we're going to be saving more than $100 a month in gas!!! Can I get a big ol' WOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOO!?! The salesman told us that most people that have the Versa get roughly 40mpg!! That's a heck of a long way from the Mountaineer's 18mpg!! Soooooooo, without further ado....photos of our new Versa!!

And for those of you who haven't recently purchased a new car, take a look at the KEY! Uh, there isn't one (ok, not really). Seriously, as soon as you get close to the car, it automatically unlocks the doors for you. When you get inside, you don't insert a key - there's what looks like a typical ignition but no key - just turn it and it starts up!! SUPER cool and high tech - just what Joey likes!
And JUST IN CASE you ever do need a key, they slip one in the back - locks right into the remote!

2008-07-01T12:00:00.003-04:00

I Like To Move It, Move It

When we visited my family in Michigan for Nate's birthday, it was the first time Joe and my kids had a chance to see my nephews (I'd seen Aidan once before but had never seen Gabe). Aidan, who just turned 3 in May, is a hoot! He is seriously the funniest little guy I've ever met! And to top it off, he can sing and dance! One of his favorite movies happens to be Madagascar and there's an option on the DVD to watch videos of a couple of popular songs from the movie. Aidan is particularly fond of I Like To Move It by Sacha Baron Cohen. The boy not only sings along but he mimics the entire video. Make sure to clear your mouth of any soda, coffee, tea, etc. before you watch. You won't be able to contain yourself!! :)

2008-06-28T21:23:00.002-04:00

Little Miss Chatterbox

Miss Madison has recently become a Little Miss Chatterbox. She's constantly talking and it's almost always amusing. The last couple of days, she's been talking about walking in the rain to go bowling and when I ask her about how she's going to pay for it, she talks about going to work to get money. When I told Joe about it, he told me that I should try to get it on video but I honestly didn't think she'd repeat it almost exactly the same as she did the first time!! Here's a short clip! BTW, I LOVE how animated she is when she talks! Oh and you'll hear Lexi chime in that she wants to go too!!

2008-06-28T20:13:00.002-04:00

Can You Guess?

Can you guess where we've spent the majority of our time the last couple of months?

If you guessed outside, you were right! Since the beginning of May, we've spent almost every nice day outside for at least an hour or two - sometimes the entire day! Nate has a pair of Nike sandals that he wears every single day - can you tell? His legs and ankles are super dark brown...even his toes are nice and bronzed!! But the centers of his feet are bright white! It cracks me up every single time I look at them! The girls are nice and brown as well but because they often wear no shoes, they don't have the drastic tan lines. (Don't worry moms, he wears sunscreen!)

2008-06-28T09:58:00.003-04:00

Summer School

Nate officially starts the summer program on July 7th but he loves doing school work so much that each day we've been doing worksheets. I've found tons of worksheets that I can print from the net and we have a couple of workbooks we've been using. He gets SO excited each day when it's the girls naptime because that's when we sit down together and do them. He gets quite impatient if I don't have something already prepared and he has to wait.

Here's a short video clip of him doing one of the worksheets last week. :)

2008-06-27T07:30:00.003-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GABE!

I finally asked my sister-in-law if it was ok if I could post pics of my nephews here and she said sure. Just in time too since yesterday was Gabriel's 2nd birthday. Happy Birthday Big Guy! Since we live halfway across the country and I couldn't get pictures on his big day, these are some that we took in May when we visited. He has the brightest blue eyes ever!!

2008-06-26T13:27:00.002-04:00

Fun With A New Lens

Joe has a couple of weddings to shoot this summer and one of them is on Saturday. He's been eyeing a new lens for a while and finally decided on buying a Sigma 10mm f/2.8 Fisheye lens. The thing is AWESOME! While I haven't had the chance to really play with it yet, here are a few shots that Joey took. I love the effect and I can't wait to see some of the photos he gets at the wedding on Saturday.

Maddie

I love that it makes her head look huge and her body tiny!!
Nate playing outside in his pjs before bed! If you click on the photo, you can really see how the edges are curved - the awesome effect of the lens.
Funny face Nate!

2008-06-24T09:03:00.003-04:00

A Change from Photos of Kids

As I mentioned in one of my earlier posts, since Nate has started school, the improvements that he's made are remarkable. I give a lot of credit to the teachers/therapists that he works with at school and I like to give them a gift at the end of the year that shows (at least I hope it does) how much I appreciate all their hard work throughout the year.

This year I decided to do Teacher Survival Kits. They're a bit cute-sy but I really liked the idea. I altered Chinese Takeout Boxes from Michaels and liked how they came out (it was my first attempt). Inside, I put things like a travel size pack of kleenex (with a tag that said "To dry the tears...yours and theirs"), a pack of Starburst (with a tag that said "For when you need a BURST of energy"), a glue stick (because you're the GLUE that holds the class together), etc. and then topped it off with a GC to Target. I also handmade each of them a thank you card.

Last year, I made bookmarks using some of Nate's artwork from that year and put his picture and the year on it. This year, I put his artwork on the front of a card and then had him write the message on the inside of the card (with me telling him how to spell the words). Then we included a couple of pictures.

Nate's thank you card (front)

I had this scrapbooking paper so I put some on the inside of the card so it was easier for him to keep straight lines. Worked great!!
And these are the survival kits.

2008-06-20T19:26:00.004-04:00

A Massachusetts State

Bird Sighting in NH

When I moved to New England 10 years ago, I had my first learning experience quite early on. The Massachusetts State Bird is not a feathery friend but a middle finger that usually flies quickly from your vision while in a moving car. :) And so, for your viewing pleasure...the Massachusetts State Bird...

Natey givin' his momma the bird!

And another without the bird present...
And a disclaimer I should've put on here earlier this week...you're going to get so sick of seeing photos of the kids. Now that summer is officially here, we'll be spending tons of time outside and while the kids play, I tend to pass the time by snapping shots. Most of them corny and technically not great, it's what gets me through the long days! :) Soooooooooooo here are some more!

And a lovely photo of the girls feet...can you tell which girl is which? LOL Just kidding! Maddie's on the left, Lexi the right.

Maddie "dead-heading" my petunias for me. Sometimes she got a bit overzealous and picked some that weren't quite dead. But that's ok...she thoroughly enjoyed herself.

Oh yes...the bubble machine, which I thought was long-time dead due to overfilling with bubbles by the children, was brought back to life by a new set of batteries. So guess what the children have been doing this week? You guessed it, overfilling the bubble machine with bubbles!! Here's Lexi with a bubble in front of her forehead and showing me her shovel.

And I've been trying to brush up on my french braiding skills. Since our unfortunate mirror incident a year or so ago, it's been a fight to let Lexi (who has the longer hair) put them in. I finally threatened her with not playing outside if she didn't let me do it. Yeah, I know...I'm horrible. As soon as Maddie caught wind of not going outside if you didn't have a braid in your hair, she volunteered for 2 braids (but only got one). Here's my second attempt at a double french braid (the day before I did it and wasn't photo worthy) on Lexi.
And another of my Natey...gosh, I love that face.
Maddie amongst the bubbles.
Keeping a close eye on that bubble machine, I tell ya...

2008-06-19T10:39:00.002-04:00

A Few More Summer Pics

Here are a few more photos from the last couple of weeks.

Maddie being silly.

Lexi catching bubbles on her wand.
Nate taking a break from the pool.
And my favorite...Maddie telling daddy not to spray her with the hose!

2008-06-17T16:18:00.002-04:00

As of tomorrow afternoon,

I Have A Kindergartener!

I'm sad (in a way) to say that tomorrow is Nate's last day of preschool. I'm sad because this program has been a part of our lives for more than 2 years; Nate started the day after he turned 3. It's amazing to think about how far he's come in that time. When he first started, he didn't speak more than a word or two, he rarely made eye contact, he wouldn't play with other children, etc. Now he talks up a storm, has recently begun asking tons of questions and loves playing with his friends from school.

I didn't take any photos last year and I so wish I would have. So I made sure that I got at least a couple of pics this year (of which I'll share in a minute). I just have to take the time to thank the entire preschool team for all the hard work they've put in, not only with Nathaniel, but with the rest of the children as well. This group of women are fantastic and saying thank you just doesn't seem to be enough. I could never, ever repay them for all that they've done for Nate and I'll forever be greatful. Thank you Sarah, Karen, Stacey and Elaine!! We're really going to miss the preschool next year!

And now onto the photos!

Here's Nate's EOY photo! I always take it by the front door so I have comparison pics from year to year.

The last day for the Tuesday/Thursday class!
Nate with his teacher! She was wonderful!
Nate with his SLP! Nate will continue to see her next year and I'm elated! She's fantastic!
Nate and the Para! She started in the preschool late into the year but they hit off right from the start! Another fantastic member of the team!

2008-06-13T21:08:00.002-04:00

Nothing major...just a few pics from this week. These were taken with my puny Canon so they're not the great quality that I normally have with the "big" Canon. :) Still, couldn't help but share...

Nate before school the day it was 102. He looked like he was ready for the beach.

Took these this morning before we went to the school for a quick meeting. Lexi Lou Who in this shot.
I really wish I would've used the 40D for these shots because the girls were loving having their pics taken and they were cute shots. Look for similar (yet better) shots at a later date. I can see an impromptu photo shoot happening. Maddie left, Lexi right.
Just being silly.
As a parent of twins, I constantly get the question "how do you tell them apart?" For us, we've never had much a problem claiming "they don't look anything alike". I saw this picture and went whoa...they really DO look alike! No wonder everyone asks how we tell them apart. :) I normally tell people that they have different jaw line structure and Lexi has fuller cheeks but in this picture those two things look exactly the same to me. Sooooo, for most people here are the easiest ways to tell them apart - 1: Ask them their name! They'll tell you who they are! 2: Maddie has bangs and her hair is a little shorter. 3: Lexi has purple earrings and Maddie has diamond earrings. 4: Maddie has a strawberry on her left side and Lexi has an au lait spot on her right upper thigh. That was the reason, as babies, we never had to keep different colored nail polish on them to tell the difference. If you're around them for any length of time, you can really tell that their personalities are very different. Their cries and screams also sound different.

2008-06-10T21:38:00.003-04:00

The Hot Days of Spring

Whew. I think Mother Nature is trying to kill me. Seriously. We're on day four of 95+ degrees...and we finally broke down and put in the air conditioners. Today topped out at 102 and the upstairs was a sweltering 97. UNBEARABLE!

The kids and I holed up in the basement since there's a/c down there already. Coming upstairs to use the bathroom and make meals was horrific! :) But alas, the air conditioners are now in upstairs and boy is it nice! By tomorrow morning, we should be at a cool, dry 75 degrees!!

On Saturday, we were at Walmart and picked up this inexpensive pool for the kids. When we were looking at them, all 3 kids said they did NOT want to go in the pool. By the time we were home, 2 of 3 had changed their mind. It didn't take long for the 3rd to reconsider. All 3 of them have had colds/running fevers for the last 5 days or so. Even with the fevers and not feeling well, they had a great time!! Enjoy the pics! Maddie's wearing the blue swim suit, Lexi the pink/white.

Nate in mid-jump!

Maddie in mid-fall - look at that pony whipping!!
Nate playing with the basketball.
Getting the pool with the slide was the best decision we made that day! Lexi sitting pretty!
SPLASH! WHEW, that's cold!!
Seriously? You want to take my picture? I'm too busy!
You can take MY picture!!

2008-06-10T21:26:00.002-04:00

The Hot Days of Spring Continued

Cheese!

Ok mom, I'm getting bored with the pics thing. Would you STOP?
Uh, did you NOT understand the meaning of STOP?
I've had enough. I will NOT look at your stinking camera another minute. I'll ALWAYS give you a smile Mommy! (Lexi)
...Except when I'm guzzling water!
Boy it sure is hot out here, huh?
Don't ya just love the curl of that pony?

2008-06-06T15:52:00.002-04:00

A Few More...

Nothing amazing just a few shots from yesterday. :)

Nate giving me a squinty smile!

I liked this one even though, technically, it's not a great shot. I love Maddie looking up at her big brother!
The girls! Lexi on the left!

Another of the girls! Lexi really loved this new dress and so she was happy to pose for photos. I bought it in a size 4 because the last time I bought a size 3 dress, it was way too short. This one is just a tad too bit - normally it wouldn't matter. But because of the cut with the one, we had a wardrobe malfunction!
This one really shows what Madison's personality is like. I know, it's blurry. It happens. :)

2008-06-03T17:38:00.003-04:00

I'm Gorgeous!

One day a year or so ago, I told one of the girls that she was beautiful. The response that it invoked surprised me - she whined and cried. I told her that if she wasn't beautiful she MUST be gorgeous...and that started it all. Now whenever I ask either one of my girls if they're beautiful, I get one of a couple responses...

"No momma, I'm gorgeous!"
"No momma, I'm pretty!"

Check it out for yourself...Maddie's the one to talk first. :)

2008-06-02T19:46:00.003-04:00

The Next American Idol!

So over Memorial Day weekend, our neighbors had a yard sale and I went over to check it out. The only thing that caught my attention was a kids electric guitar that included a microphone stand and microphone and an amplifer...and it was only $5!! WOOHOO! The kids have been into instruments and music for a while now so I couldn't pass it up - considering it was brand new in the box!! Here are a couple of videos of Nate rocking out! These are actually the second set of videos I took. The first set, I accidentally hit the quality switch on my camera and they were seriously poor quality. While these are better quality, they aren't nearly as funny. In the original video, Nate was strumming the guitar like a pro and even had the big encore finish!

Anyway...for your viewing pleasure...the first song you should recognize. The second song is a Nate original he calls the Dunkin Donuts song. :P

2008-06-01T20:49:00.004-04:00

Summer's Coming...

Yes, summer's coming...in about 20 days. But here in NH, we've had summer like weather on and off for quite a few weeks now. Today topped out somewhere in the 80's and it was gorgeous!

I've really been slacking on the photos as of late, so I'm going to try to redeem myself by posting some new pics a couple of times in the upcoming week. I also have some video to share of my 3 plus a video of my nephew (stay tuned for this one because it's hilarious!!).

Anyway, on to today's photos...

Natey doing what he loves most...writing his numbers. This time it's with sidewalk chalk.

Lexi Lou Who doing what she does best - looking "beautiful"!
Lexi loving her new big girl bike and helmet.
Natey on his big boy bike. When he got his bike, we also bought an age appropriate helmet to go along with it. After a couple of weeks, we noticed that he would want to ride the bike but as soon as we put the helmet on him, he'd ride for 2-3 minutes and then he was "all done". We finally figured out he hated the old helmet because it was too small for his noggin. So we bought the next larger size and low and behold, he rode his bike quite a bit today. Here he is with his new Spiderman helmet...it matches his Spiderman bike.
Making a turn with his bike!
Madison doing what she does best - looking "gorgeous". I'll be explaining the "beautiful" and "gorgeous" thing in another post this week. Maddie Girl, as Nate calls her...
Love this photo of the girls, unfortunately, it wasn't a perfect photo so I tried to disguise that by running a few actions on it. And now I love it even more!
All 3 of my punks - this shot is as good as it gets! Natey making a funny face, Lexi paying attention to daddy and Maddie actually doing what I asked.
Natey and Maddie

2008-05-16T19:19:00.004-04:00

My Girls

I snapped these pics a few days ago and when I looked at them, I realized how big the girls are getting! I don't want them to grow up!! WAAAHHHH!!

Lexi Lou with her chocolate muffin face!

Her fake smile!
My Maddiekins! Or as Natey calls her - Maddie girl!
She LOVES this dress!
I love this shot!! She was kicking her leg out to the side being silly!

2008-05-15T20:52:00.002-04:00

Our First Home Improvement Project of the Summer

We have a couple of home improvement projects in the works for this summer and finished our first one last week! We tore up the off-white (speckled) carpet we had installed when they built the house and installed hardwood. I don't know what I was thinking when I picked out a light colored carpet when we had 3 little kids - apparently, I wasn't. It was HORRIBLY stained despite cleaning it often. And when we pulled it up, you could see that the fibers of the carpet were already beginning to break down and probably wouldn't have lasted more than another year, maybe two. Anyway, I took quite a few pics so take a peek...

A before picture of the carpet.

You can see the color difference - on the right near the wall is what it originally looked like (where the couch was sitting). And on the left, the area that had heavy traffic.
When we had the tile done in the kitchen/dining room a couple of years ago, they also reworked the tile in the front entryway (since the builders of the house weren't competent). For the longest time, Nate had a rocking chair on that area of tile and it ended up cracking all the way acrossed it. So, we tore up that tile so we could put the hardwood over there as well. Ripping up that area was the most time consuming. The ceramic tiles themselves came up easy. But the cement backer board underneath took forever - a total of about 4-5 hours!!
Here are the girls checking out the floor part way through the installation!
And here's Joey hard at work. It was pretty warm the couple of days we did the work and he was sweating bullets. But he did a great job, as always!! His hands paid the price - he had blisters ALL over them!!
And here it is complete, minus the furniture!! Isn't it gorgeous?
And I'd been looking for new lamps for months and finally found some a couple of weeks ago! You can see one in this pic! And we bought matching pillows! Instead of buying a large area rug and hiding the new floor, we bought rugs to go just in front of the couch and chair. I like them a lot!
This one's a little dark but you can see the general idea of the room.
And this was the completion of the living room overhaul. We have zillions of photos and up until this, we didn't have ANY photos of the kids up. We put this setup together over the weekend and the photos came in today. I LOVE IT!
Another shot of it...that bottom right frame is not white. The 2 at the bottom are silver.

2008-05-15T09:13:00.002-04:00

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Michigan we go!

On April 30th at 7:30pm, we began the 11+ hour ride (including travel through 4 states and 2 countries) to Michigan to visit my family. The drive out was pretty quiet since the kids slept the majority of the time. The way back home was a bit louder but the kids were still excellent for the length of time we were in the car. I have a lot more photos that what you see here but I don't yet have permission from my brother and SIL to post pics of their kids. But take it from me, they're adorable!! :) Here are a small sampling of pics! I have some park pics that I really want to share but they're still on Joe's computer!

The kids all ready to start the trip! They're holding Flat Stanley (a project we did for family).

Lexi on the left (you can barely see her), Maddie & Nate
Nate's birthday cake! My SILs mother made it! Nate LOVED it!
Nate blowing out his candles BEFORE we sang Happy Birthday!
A picture of the birthday boy!
The girls loved playing with the balloons!
My brother playing with the twins!

2008-05-15T09:07:00.002-04:00

Nate, Lexi & Maddie

Me, my mom and my brother
My 3 heathens completely exhausted from playing so hard!
The 3 amigos! My cousin, Melissa, me and our friend, Angie.
4 generations - me holding Maddie, my grandma and my mom holding Lexi.

2008-04-25T09:38:00.002-04:00

She Who Never Gardens

She who never gardens, has been gardening...kind of. Last fall, I picked out quite a few flower bulbs and Joey planted. Then we waited. With the fierce winter, I wasn't sure if anything would come up. Imagine my surprise when all but 1 blub came up right on time!! Last spring, we were give some hostas as well as some tiger lilies from a person here in town. We also planted some hostas that we'd purchased and the shrubs were planted the first year we were in the house. We weren't sure if the hostas were going to make it because last summer they were pelted with hail and it really tore them up. But alas, all of those have come up as well. Here are a few photos of the flower garden. Nothing fancy but we plan on planting some more bulbs again this fall. We planted tulips, daffodils and hyacinth (I think that's what they are in front).

2008-04-15T15:53:00.002-04:00

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz

New Year's Eve 2006 - it was a wonderful night. We had friends over to play cards and hang out as we awaited the new year. When it was time for the kids to go to bed, our friends commented on how quickly and easily our kids went to bed. Not realizing what lie ahead, we laughed and said we were lucky. But not long after putting Nate into his big boy bed in his room (like we'd done for the 6 months prior to that), he started screaming and crying. We thought it was odd so we let him come out and crash on the couch. If I knew then what I know now, that would've never happened. That night started a year and a half of Nate sleeping with us. We'd let him fall asleep on the couch and around 10:30-11pm, he'd rouse long enough to come into our room and sleep with us.

Since that time, we've tried several times to get Nathaniel to sleep in his own bed. Each and every time resulted in hysterical screaming and crying. We'd last no more than an hour before we'd cave and let him come out to the couch, always telling each other that there would be a time where he wouldn't sleep with us.

When we visited the developmental pediatrician recently, the only problem we brought up with the ped was Nate's sleeping habits. We knew it was our fault but we wanted advice on how to fix it. He gave us a technical description of what it was and he told us how to fix it: put him in his room and no matter how much screaming and crying ensued, DO NOT give in and let him sleep on the couch/with us. He said that he would be in no physical danger so it wasn't going to kill him to scream/cry. He told us that the most important thing was to not let him sleep in the next day. If he screamed and cried until 2am, oh well...he needed to be up at 6am (his normal waking time). The ped said he'd definitely be tired but to not let him nap and put him to bed at his normal bedtime. He said that given Nate was a bit older than the typical kid who has these problems, it should only take him a few nights to adjust to the changes.

Nate has always been very easy going with other changes in his routine, so we were hoping for the best. Originally, we had planned the transition to his big boy bed during the week of his spring vacation (which starts on Monday the 21st. But alas, I got my dates mixed up and thought spring break was THIS week. So last week, we spent most of the week telling Nate that on Friday, he'd be sleeping in his big boy bed, just like the girls slept in their big girl beds. I spent 2 days last week cleaning everything out of his room (we'd been using it as storage since he wasn't using it) and getting everything set up. I put his truck sheets on his car bed and rounded up Woody and Jessie and put them on his bed.

When I first mentioned him sleeping in his big boy bed, he'd give an adament "NO!" By Wednesday/Thursday, he wasn't saying no but he wasn't really acknowledging it at all!

The moment of truth came Friday at 8pm. We told him it was time for bed in his big boy bed and we walked him to his room. In the times previous, he would've been crying before we ever made it down the hall, so we were surprised that he climbed right up in bed without so much as a sniffle. We gave him kisses and left his door open. Joe and I went to the living room and waited. Waited for him to come out crying, asking to sleep on the couch. Around 8:30, we heard him in the bathroom. No big deal...when we got up to check on him, he was standing in the hallway and said "couch, please". Joe told him that he was doing great in his big boy bed and ushered him back into his room. I thought that would be the start of the crying. Nope, not one tear was shed. We checked on him at 9pm and he was sleeping. We were shocked and thought it was a fluke.

At 9:45, Joe and I were downstairs cleaning up and we heard the pitter patter of little feet. I headed up the stairs and met him at the top step. He wasn't crying but his eyes were glassy with tears. I told him he was doing great in his big boy bed and I took him back to his room. I gave him a kiss and tucked him back in. When I walked to the kitchen, I coughed and shortly after that I heard wimpering and Nate saying something. So I went back to his room and I hear a very teary voice "you okay momma?" He's been asking that for a few weeks now whenever someone coughs. :) I told him I was fine and he went back to sleep.

Joe and I went to bed around midnight and at 10 minutes after, I heard Nate getting out of bed. I met him in the hallway and again told him he was doing great and ushered him back to his bed. He slept the rest of the night without coming into our room.

We still weren't convinced that it was going to be that easy and we prepared ourselves for the next night. But it was unwarranted. He hasn't gotten out of bed since that first night and there hasn't been any screaming or crying at all.

We're SO proud of him! And boy is it nice to have the bed back!! :)

Here are a couple of shots of our big boy!

2008-04-09T07:49:00.002-04:00

Ten Things Every Child With Autism Wishes You Knew

1. I am first and foremost a child. I have autism. I am not primarily "autistic" My autism is only one aspect of my total character. It does not define me as a person.

2. My sensory perceptions are disordered It his means that the ordinary sights, sounds, smells, tastes and touches of everyday that you may not even notice can be downright painful for me. I may appear withdrawn or belligerent to you but I am really just trying to defend myself. My brain can't filter all the input and I'm in overload!

3. Please remember to distinguish between won't (I choose not to) and can't (I am not able to) Receptive and expressive language and vocabulary can be major challenges for me. It isn't that I don't listen to instructions. It's that I can't understand you.

4. I am a concrete thinker This means I interpret language very literally. It's very confusing for me when you say, "Hold your horses, cowboy!" when what you really mean is "Please stop running." Don't tell me something is a "piece of cake" when there is no dessert in sight and what you really mean is "this will be easy for you to do." Idioms, puns, nuances, double entendres, inference, metaphors, allusions and sarcasm are lost on me.

5. Please be patient with my limited vocabulary It's hard for me to tell you what I need when I don't know the words to describe my feelings. I may be hungry, frustrated, frightened or confused but right now those words are beyond my ability to express. Be alert for body language, withdrawal, agitation or other signs that something is wrong.

6. Because language is so difficult for me, I am very visually oriented Please show me how to do something rather than just telling me. And please be prepared to show me many times. Lots of consistent repetition helps me learn.

7. Please focus and build on what I can do rather than what I can't do Like any other human, I can't learn in an environment where I'm constantly made to feel that I'm not good enough and that I need "fixing." Trying anything new when I am almost sure to be met with criticism, however "constructive," becomes something to be avoided. Look for my strengths and you will find them. There is more than one "right" way to do most things.

8. Please help me with social interactions It may look like I don't want to play with the other kids on the playground, but sometimes it's just that I simply do not know how to start a conversation or enter a play situation. If you can encourage other children to invite me to join them at kickball or shooting baskets, it may be that I'm delighted to be included.

9. Try to identify what triggers my meltdowns Meltdowns, blow-ups, tantrums or whatever you want to call them are even more horrid for me than they are for you. They occur because one or more of my senses has gone into overload. If you can figure out why my meltdowns occur, they can be prevented. Keep a log noting times, settings, people, activities. A pattern may emerge.

10. Love me unconditionally Banish thoughts like, "If he would just**" and "Why can't she*.." You did not fulfill every last expectation your parents had for you and you wouldn't like being constantly reminded of it. I did not choose to have autism. But remember that it is happening to me, not you. Without your support, my chances of successful, self-reliant adulthood are slim. With your support and guidance, the possibilities are broader than you might think. I promise you - I am worth it.

Finally, three words: Patience. Patience. Patience. Work to view my autism as a different ability rather than a disability. Look past what you may see as limitations and see the gifts autism has given me. It may be true that I'm not good at eye contact or conversation, but have you noticed that I don't lie, cheat at games, tattle on my classmates or pass judgment on other people? Also true that I probably won't be the next Michael Jordan. But with my attention to fine detail and capacity for extraordinary focus, I might be the next Einstein. Or Mozart. Or Van Gogh.

2008-04-08T09:36:00.004-04:00

Spring?

Could it be? Is it really here? Spring, that is! After a very long, cold, snowy winter, I'm hoping and praying that spring is finally here. Yesterday was one of the first nice days that we've had and the temp topped out at about 48 or so. Today is supposed to be a bit warmer and by tomorrow or Thursday, we're supposed to hit 60!

I took the opportunity to take the girls outside for a bit to play. You can see in a couple of the pics, that we still have some snow on the ground where it was piled high. As you can imagine, the yard is a big ol' soppy mess so I made the girls stay on the driveway but they didn't seem to care much. We've been house bound for so long, it was nice to get some fresh air!

Lexi cruisin' on her Dora bike!

Lexi with her shades on!
Maddie riding Nate's Spiderman Scooter!
Maddie
Maddie drawing with the chalk!

Maddie still drawing...
I have no idea what she was doing but love this one of Lexi!

Maddie doing some more chalk work!

2008-04-02T10:24:00.004-04:00

April is upon us once again thus so is Autism Awareness Month! For those of you unfamiliar with us, we have an almost 5 year old son on the autism spectrum. He was diagnosed around the age of 2 and has received therapy (until he was 3) and is now in school pretty much full-time. Nate has made ENORMOUS strides in the last year and half! He's talking up a storm these days and is answering questions appropriately and even asking some questions! He recently started going into the kindergarten classroom at school and loves it. The teachers/therapists wanted to see how he was going to adjust to a new classroom and a new teacher. The transition was remarkable. He had no issues with the change in schedule and talks about Mrs. Miller and her classroom every day!

Socially, the teachers/therapists tell us that Nate does really well at saying hello/goodbye to his friends at school and even tries to initiate play with them. Unfortunately due to his delayed speech, it hinders the other kids' ability to understand what he wants or what he's saying. We're hoping that as his speech continues to grow, so will his social skills. Nate's pre-school teacher told me yesterday that they're working with him right now on getting him to ask other kids questions - "What are you drawing?" , "What book are you reading?" , etc. He's a very smart kid so I'm sure he'll learn quickly!

If you find some free time today, check out http://www.cnn.com/ (or channel 202 on DirecTV) today. They're dedicating a good portion of their reporting today on Autism. Also tonight at 9pm on CNN, Larry King Live is going to talk with Jenny McCarthy, an actress who has a child with autism.

Within the last year, they have changed the statistics of how many children are afflicted with autism from 1 in 166 to 1 in 150. Here's OUR 1 in 150....

2008-04-01T09:51:00.004-04:00

STRIKE!!

On Sunday, we took the kids to bowling at Leda Lanes. Leda Lanes is a candlepin bowling alley as opposed to your traditional 10 pin large ball bowling alley. Until I moved to the northeast, I'd never even knew such a thing existed. It's played with smaller balls (2.7 lbs) and instead of getting 2 balls for each frame, you get 3. And the pins are quite a bit smaller and shaped differently. For more info on candlepin bowling, visit http://www.ledalanes.com/ .

Anyway, the kids had a great time bowling! It was their first time and we weren't sure if they'd enjoy it but they loved it! I took some pics with my el cheapo camera but they were a bit dark. Here they are...

Joe helping Nate!

Lexi at her favorite area of the alley - the ball return!
The popular stance for the girls - hands on the hips!
Nate patiently waiting for his turn!
The "special shoes"! The kids loved them!
The guys!
Maddie waiting for her turn!
Lexi right after her roll!
Maddie watching her ball S-L-O-W-L-Y roll down the alley!
Lexi waiting for her turn!

2008-04-01T09:42:00.002-04:00

Here's a short video clip of Maddie bowling! I'm not sure what was up with the hands on the hips, but it was quite comical!

2008-03-24T18:05:00.007-04:00

Some More Easter Pics

Just thought I'd share a few Easter pics!

Nate, Maddie & Lexi with some of their eggs!!

The Easter Bunny brought everyone sunglasses!

And a family portrait!

Grandma Sandy & Grandpa Butch with the kidlets!

And another...

2008-03-24T17:46:00.007-04:00

Photos from dinner at the Olive Garden! :)

2008-03-19T19:14:00.001-04:00

Just a few photos...the first two are shots of some flowers that Joey gave me. The 3rd one is Maddie sporting a new skirt and the 4th is Lexi.

2008-03-16T15:06:00.002-04:00

Easter Already?

I can't believe Easter is almost upon us once again. We decided to do a quick photo shoot this morning while the Easter clothes were still intact. After going to dinner next weekend, who knows what shape the pretty dress up clothes will be in! Ketchup never does much to pretty pink frilly dresses!! :)

For the first time ever, we actually had cooperation from the children. Maddie was our most willing subject, listening to daddy's instructions and doing exactly as she was asked. Here are my favorites...

Miss Madison...

Madison doing the "smile" thing!
Maddie and her Easter basket full of eggs!
My favorite of Lexi Lou Who...
Lexi Lou
Lexi with her basket full of eggs!
The girls...you can tell Maddie was doing her funny smile!

2008-03-16T15:01:00.004-04:00

Another shot of Maddie (left) and Lexi.

Nate saying "ta-da"! Typical funny boy!
My favorite shot of the day of Nate. It's his "come hither" look!!
My favorite photo of Nate. It's been a long time since I've liked a photo this much!
Nate being silly!
They were pretty well done with photos by the time we got around to the group shots.

2008-03-13T21:18:00.002-04:00

Beauty School Dropout

Beauty School Dropout...I'm not really but I do love Grease!! Anyway for those of you who haven't heard the story, a couple of months ago after I'd taken a french braid out of Lexi's hair, Joe thought she'd find amusement in her "crimpy" hair. We took her into the bedroom and stood her in front of the full length mirror. In simple terms, she freaked. She screamed and cried about her "fluffy" hair until I finally sprayed it down with water and brushed it straight. She has now become obsessed with NOT having "fluffy" hair. She absolutely won't let me braid it anymore. And when we remove ponies, she immediately asks for "spray and brush it please". So I don't know what I was thinking when I bought a cheap package of rollers at Walmart last weekend. I'd talked about using them a couple of times and she did NOT seem receptive to the idea. But today when I mentioned it, Maddie seemed excited about it...and not to be outdone by her sister, Lexi jumped on board as well. So I grabbed the package and put them in! Lexi even volunteered to go first. Got them all in both girls' hair, used the blowdryer to speed up the process a bit....and then Lexi got upset when I told her it was time to take them out. She thought they were meant to stay in!! After some convincing, she said it was ok to remove them. Pictures you ask? Why of course I took photos!! Check 'em out!

Miss Madison - still doing that funny face when I ask her to smile!!
Lexi Lou
Another of Lexi...
Lexi Lou Who

Maddie
And the after shots...Maddie first.
Of course we HAVE to have a photo with Buzz.
Lexi Lou Who with her Farrah Fawcett do!!

I was actually quite surprised that she didn't freak out when she saw her reflection in the glass (she uses the glass on the entertainment center as a mirror). But she did ask for barrettes so I put in a couple of clips for her and she was all set! :)

2008-03-10T18:26:00.010-04:00

A Little of This and A Little of That...

After surviving 10 days with a wicked nasty stomach bug, we're all feeling great. We haven't taken tons of photos lately but I do have a few to share and also an update on the visit with Nate's developmental ped.

Nate saw the doctor a week ago today. Except for a minor glitch with his medical records not being faxed over, the appointment went great. We really had no concerns or problems concerning Nate, it was just a follow-up visit. It had been more than a year and a half since we'd last saw the doctor so we figured it was about time. The doctor was really impressed by how far Nate has progressed. So much so, that he said it's possible that at some point in the future, Nate may lose the autism diagnosis. While he said that, I'm not convinced that it will actually happen. Nate HAS made huge strides over the last year or so but he still has some minor social issues and some major speech issues that convince me otherwise. Although, who am I to question this specialist that works at one of the best children's hospitals in Boston? I'm the mother, that's who. :P Seriously, I can't see him changing the autism diagnosis but you never know.

The doctor said it was very refreshing to see a child doing so well. He said that he rarely sees a child unless there's a problem or concerns. He asked to keep the copy of Nate's IEP and I'm sure he'll make some notes regarding it in his written report (that I'm anxiously awaiting).

So the appointment went well. On our way home, we hit TRU and picked up a couple of things for the kids. Although Woody and Jesse (see pics below) weren't inteded for Nathaniel, he thought otherwise and now pitches a fit if Maddie or Lexi gets near his precious pals. The girls ended up with a toy doctors kit that they're now forever fighting over. Sooooo...onto the photos.

Nate with his new pals!

Just like in the movie, Woody came with "Andy" written on the bottom of his boot. When Nate saw that, he asked for his name on the other boot. And then demanded we do the same with Jesse's boot. :)
Nate set up Woody and Jesse like that and then fell asleep.

Maddie upset about something or other...

Grandma Sandy bought the girls tea sets for Valentine's Day. The girls LOVE them.

Lexi with her tea set...

Maddie and Nate

I asked Maddie to smile and showed her how...this is the face I got. Do I look like that when I smile? LOL

Maddie wanted me to take a picture of her and her Buzz.

2008-02-18T10:30:00.004-05:00

Haircuts For All!

I had my hair cut a couple of weeks ago but everyone else had theirs cut this weekend. The girls were in desperate need of a cut since the last time they had their hair cut was almost a year ago. I've trimmed Maddie's bangs a couple of times and did a horrible job so from now on we go see Ali at the salon here in town! The girls did fantastic! They sat real still, followed Ali's directions and stayed out of stuff when it wasn't their turn.
Here are some before pics...

Lexi

The back of Lexi's hair
Lexi again
The back of Lexi again...
Maddie
The back of Maddie's...

Lexi had more hair cut off then Maddie! Check out the post below to see the after shots! :)

2008-02-18T10:09:00.003-05:00

The After Pics

Here's Nate...

The whole gang - Lexi on the left, Maddie the right.

Lexi
A look at the back of Lexi's hair
Maddie
A look at the back of Maddie's hair

2008-01-30T11:53:00.000-05:00

A Natey Update

I don't have any great recent photos of Nate, so I thought I'd go back and get some of my favorites from when he was a year or less.

This is one of my absolute favorite shots of Nate. He was 7 months old.

This series of shots are also favorites. He was about 8 months old here. And he had discovered his shadow.

I just thought this one was funny because his shirt says "Busy Bee" and at school, each day they have a busy bee that helps in the classroom. :)
About the chubbiest Nate's ever been. He was about 5 months old.

Now on to the actual update. Before Christmas (at least I think it was), we met with the teachers and therapists along with a behavioral specialists who focuses in autism. As I mentioned a while back in one of my posts, Nate's been doing so well that his IEP was no longer accurate, thus why we met. We discussed his progress a little and focused on some new goal areas. Due to the specialist only seeing Nate once (at the most twice) before our meeting, I honestly felt that he really didn't provide any useful information. But I hope in the future, he can give us some insight on ways to further help Nate. Anyway, the meeting was a quick one and shortly after that, we scheduled a new IEP meeting.

And that meeting was yesterday. I have to say it was the very first time that I've left an IEP meeting and NOT felt like I'd been kicked in the stomach. I've said it before and I'll say it again...I KNOW Nathaniel is delayed significantly in speech and in some social areas. And I KNOW that he's made amazing progress in a year and a half that he's been in school. And I KNOW he'll continue to do well. BUT...when you see it all written out in black and white, it really makes you feel like you've been kicked in the gut. But yesterday, I left feeling fabulous and I'm sure that it's because he's doing so well.

Here are a few of the goals that was on his IEP previously:

Increasing his tactile sensory tolerance
-this is basically doing stuff like finger painting, Playdoh; previously he would do it but only for a minute or two and he always had to have something to wipe his hands on immediately after he was done. His teacher said that not only will he do it for an extended period of time now, but he's choosing to do it all on his own.
Cutting a 5" line first within 1" of the given line and then stepping it down to within 1/2" of the given line
-Nate originally would cut once and then rip the rest instead of continuing with the scissors. Now he can do it with minimal assistance.
Maintaining a tripod grasp on writing utensils during coloring/writing for 1 minute (and up to 3 minutes) before needing physical assistance to correct hand placement
-This one is still a work in progress. I made a post about it not too long ago with pics to show it. He's doing SO much better but still doesn't quite have the tripod grasp perfected. He holds it with the thumb and 3 fingers instead of the thumb and 2 fingers. But he RARELY uses a palmar grasp anymore.
Put on and take off outdoor clothing (boots, hat, mittens, coat) with minimal assistance
-He has this pretty well mastered as well!
Given multisensory prep (sand tray, chalk) he will imitate the upper case letters of his first name
-Completely mastered! He can write his first and last name. :)
Participate in non-preferred activities
-I was elated to hear his teacher say he doesn't have any non-preferred activities within the classroom anymore! :)
With adult prompting and preferential seating, Nate will maintain a direct gaze to picture books being read during story time starting at 3 minutes working up to 6 minutes
-We're still working on this one. They give him a lot of special attention to try to keep him engaged. They ask him questions, give him his own copy of the book and direct him back to the book by saying his name or asking only him a question, when his attention drifts.
Yes/No questions - given 10 question answering up to 8 of them correctly
-I think he's mastered this one as well. If not, he's very close.
Increasing his MLU (mean length of utterance) to 2-5 words
-This one will always be a work in progress I think. He definitely has upped his MLU a bit but it's still not where it should be.
Increasing his receptive language skills of the following grammatical structures by pointing to pictures or objects - pronouns (I, you, he, she), prepositions (on, in) and verbs (have do, ing)
-Again, this is still a work in progress and has proven to be a difficult concept for him.

So y'all following me so far? I know it's a lot to read but bear with me. :)

In the discussion before Christmas, we brainstormed what some new appropriate goals should be. And yesterday, we got the rough draft and made a few changes and here's what we came up with:

Increase Nate's MLU to 4-6 words
-In the last 5 months or so, we've seen his MLU jump up significantly; even up to 7 word sentences or 2 sentences together. But he's really been focusing on other areas lately, so we've seen his MLU drop back down to 4 and 5 words. The SLP (who we LOVE and think is fantastic) said she's not concerned because he's really concentrating on other concepts. It WILL become a worry if it continues to decline and not pick back up at some point.
Increasing receptive and expressive language skills in the following areas: pronouns, prepositions, quantitative concepts (more, most, all) and negatives (not)
-This goal is one that was carried over from the last IEP. As I said, this has been a difficult concept for him to grasp. He seems to do ok with pronouns associated to himself (my, mine - although he rarely uses "I") but when it comes to you/your, he/she he struggles and overgeneralizes. Prepositions, he gets a little bit of on/in, over but not consistently. He has no concept at all of more, most and all. And he's not real fond of negatives.
Increasing his expressive language with "wh" questions (who, what, where, when, why)
-This is an emerging skill and one that we feel he is really concentrating on right now, which has drawn his MLU down. Most people don't even think about asking questions...it's natural, everybody does it, etc. Not the case. Up until the last month or two, Nathaniel has NEVER asked questions. He'd never asked what something was, or who someone was, etc. Nothing. But he's taken cues from the twins and is realizing that asking questions actually has a purpose. And he seems to be catching on quickly. I'm often plagued with "whatcha doin' mama?" while I'm cooking dinner or cleaning the kitchen or surfing the internet. We've also heard "where's daddy?" and "sissy, where are you?" as well as "what's that noise?" I really want to work on getting him to start asking "who is that?" and "what is that?"
Shoe tying
-Nate's OT (who is also fantastic and wonderful) says she sees no reason why he can't learn to tie shoes by the end of the year!
Writing his name with the appropriate casing on a line at the top of the page with 1" letter size and then working to a 1/2" letter size with minimal cues
-Nate has no problem writing his first and last name currently. BUT - he has mixed casings, some upper case and some lower case. And his letters are on the large size, even though they've been consistently been getting smaller over the last 5 months. The casing I think it's just laziness. He knows that writing a lower case I is easier than an upper case one, so he uses the lower case.
Complete a 2 step motor obstacle in correct sequence
-This goal actually ties in with a classroom goal of following stepped directions. We want to get him to follow multi step directions such as color the circle, cut it out and paste it onto another piece of paper.
In a group setting, Nate will follow 2 step directions
-This ties in with the motor obstacle
Asking and answering "wh" questions in a group setting
-Again, this is getting him to not only ask those "wh" questions but also to answer them correctly
In a group setting, given preferential seating and verbal and visual cues, he'll attend to storytime
-This is also a carry over from the last IEP. It's basically what I mentioned above. He'll get his own copy of the book, they'll ask him questions specifically to keep him involved and they'll say his name and/or point to the book when he gets distracted.

And that, my friends, is it in a nutshell. Those goals will be what we work on for the next year. Honestly, I'd LOVE to see him master those things in a few months but if he doesn't, that's ok too. He'll get there eventually.

I cannot stress enough how hard this little guy works. He's at school from 8:30am until 3pm 3 days per week and then from 8:30am until 12:30pm the other 2 days. He puts in long hours and handles it really well most days. I'm so proud of him!

Some other things we chatted about during the meeting yesterday. In the very near future, they're going to choose his kindergarten teacher for next year. Once they choose the teacher, they're going to put him into the class to see how he adjusts to the new teacher, new surroundings, older kids, etc. He hasn't had a hard time adjusting to new things lately but he's become quiet comfortable with his school schedule and this will help prepare him for his change to kindergarten next year. And speaking of kindergarten, he'll be attending an all day REGULAR kindergarten class next year. The teachers/therapists think he will do great. There are areas that he'll need some extra help in but overall, he should do fine. One of the biggest things is he's continuing to initiate conversations and play with the other kids. Because his speech is limited, it's difficult but at least he's trying despite his lack of speech.

That about wraps up my Natey update. I will conclude by saying that we have an appointment with the developmental pediatrician in March. We haven't seen him since Nate's diagnosis was changed from developmental delay to PDD-NOS so I'm anxious to hear what he has to say about Nate's progress and Nate's future. The last time he saw Nate, he only said 2-3 words, didn't make eye contact at all, etc. and he's improved SO much since then. I'll be sure to update once we've had that appointment.

2008-01-24T15:33:00.000-05:00

Several Misc Photos

I've been pretty busy lately so here are some miscellaneous photos that I've taken over the last couple of weeks. :)

When I went in to get the girls up yesterday so we could go and get Nate from school, neither of them budged. So I grabbed the camera and took these. The first one is Maddie...and that's Bear-Bear leaning against her cheek. She doesn't go far without him.

Lexi
Maddie as she was waking up.
Lexi, who does NOT take well to having to get up when she's not ready.
These were taken a while ago...Lexi in one of her new outfits from Christmas. And one of her new purses.

Nate with the deer in the headlights look. :)
Maddie in one of her new outfits from Christmas.
Maddie
Nate's one cool dude!! He found the glasses downstairs in the dress up stuff! Love this one!!

2008-01-17T15:11:00.000-05:00

I Have an Artiste

I mentioned in my last post that Nathaniel has been branching out in his artwork. Well, it seems I now have a little artiste on my hands. He's been drawing all different things! Cars, wagons, birthday balloons, french fries, pizza, chickens (chicken nuggets - can you tell he likes McDonald's?), the slide & swingset...and many others. So while he went through at least another 15 sheets of paper today (front AND back), I snapped some pics. Here they are....

I took this before he started his drawing! I took it mostly because of his shirt. I found it at Target and it says "Monkey See...Monkey Do....Monkey get in trouble too!"

Here he is getting ready to start!
Pondering what to do next.
Had to sneak this one in here...look at those lashes! Lucky kid!!
A minor achievement! It's very close to a tripod grasp, which is something we've been working towards since last school year. I don't even need to remind him anymore to hold the pencil/crayon the right way. :) Thanks to his wonderful OT and teachers/therapists, he's now doing great. They make him use a pencil gripper that forces him to hold it correctly. We have one here at home that we use whenever he uses a pencil.

2008-01-08T16:36:00.000-05:00

A Whole Lotta Nothing

We've finally recovered from the holidays! And today we enjoyed nice 60 degree temperatures, which is unheard of in New England in January!! But nonetheless, it was great to open up the house and let it air out. I snapped a couple of pics of the girls while Nate was at school today and I thought I'd share.

Lexi

Maddie
Nate's drawing skills have been improving by leaps and bounds! For the longest time, he always drew with the same color and always drew the same things. But then shortly before Christmas, he started drawing other things and he began using multiple colors per drawing. I thought I'd share a few pieces of his!

This one we painted today actually. As of yesterday, he can draw cars. :) I drew the tree and the car to the left of it. He drew the other car with the attached wagon and the tree in the upper left.

This pic Nate drew before Christmas. It's my absolute favorite. It's the characters from Monsters Inc. I've labelled the characters so years from now I won't forget who's who! And this was also done before Christmas. At school, they've been working with Nate on making his letters a little smaller and more uniform. If you use these boxes, he does great! He was using his magnadoodle last night and we were surprised to see the uniformity following through to things without the boxes.

2008-01-03T21:23:00.000-05:00

My Goal for 2008

In 2007, my scrapbooking obsession kind of fizzled and I did a total of 1 single page all year. Yeah, depressing, I know. I have Nathaniel's first year book complete (only took me until he was 2) but have only done a few pages for the girls' first year books. My goal for 2008 is to complete both first year books! A lofty goal but one I hope to meet. I've already done more in 2008 than I have in all of 2007! :)

I thought I'd share the pages that I've completed so far this year! :) Oh and a sidenote, the girls' books will be primarily the same....so I'm basically making duplicate pages for every layout.

The girls were about 7 months here.

Lexi at 6 months
Maddie at 6 months
Lexi's first hairbow
Maddie's first hairbow

2007-12-31T15:15:00.000-05:00

Photos from School

I've had these photos since before Christmas but haven't had time to get them up here. Nate's teacher was super nice to share these photos with me!

Nate playing with a friend inside the classroom.

Nate with two other friends playing outside. I really love this one!
Nate's teacher sent a printed copy of this one home for me before Christmas break. It's one of my favorites to date! Such GREAT blackmail material for when he's older!!
Playing outside
How can you not love that face?
Showing a drawing that he did - DONUTS! :)
Nate's cubby outside the classroom

2007-12-27T20:52:00.000-05:00

The Eagle Has Landed...

I hope everyone had a great holiday! Our was fantastic! The kids were awesome and loved all their gifts and then we had great food to top it all off! I won't bore you with details since I have 3 separate posts worth of pictures - hey now, I narrowed it down from 500 - 25 pics is just a glimpse!! :)

The kids first look at what Santa left!

Nate showing daddy a Cars shirt from Grandma Gloria - Maddie running up from behind to show daddy her Sully doll (from Monsters Inc).
Lexi with a super duper fancy pair of dress up shoes from Grandma Gloria!
Maddie with her Sully!
I LMBO when I saw this pic! I'm not sure what the face is but it's funny! Apparently he really likes his Lego garbage truck.
Lexi with her Mike Wazowski doll and Maddie with Sully.
Let the paper fly!
Nate with his Lego airplane kit.
The girls chatting about something.
One of the biggest hits of the day - the kid tough digital camera. He had a little trouble getting his eyes lined up with the eye holes!! He finally learned how to just use the screen on the back of the camera!

2007-12-27T20:43:00.000-05:00

The kids with Grandma & Grandpa's gifts!

They love these things, much to my dismay!
Lexi telling daddy all about her most recently opened gift
Opening gifts yet again
They all started lining up the gifts as they opened them!
Maddie with a big smile!
Ah yes, the dreaded clothes. Mommy loves them, Nate not so much. First he gathered them up....
...And then he took them over to a big box and dumped them with the rest of the clothes.
Lexi with some of her pretties!
The girls with their shopping carts - notice Maddie's cart has a baby and Buzz Lightyear!

2007-12-27T20:37:00.000-05:00

Max with one of his Christmas presents (the rope NOT the peach bear!!)

Lexi being silly
Nate trying on an earring since the girls wouldn't
After the twins were asleep, Nate and daddy worked on his lego garbage truck
He LOVES his garbage truck!!

2007-12-24T22:10:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve 2007

As is our tradition, the kids donned their new Christmas pjs after their baths and sat for a photo. This year seems to have been the turning point and they were able to sit still for a decent pic! Here are a few...

Lexi, Nate, Maddie (with her new buddy that she refuses to put down, Buzz Lightyear)

Nate being silly
Love this one! Nate giving Maddie a kiss.
Our tree all aglow before the Big Guy showed!
My new favorite of Nate this Christmas season.

2007-12-24T21:21:00.000-05:00

Merry Christmas!

I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas! I hope everyone has a great day and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone's Christmas photos!!

2007-12-20T13:54:00.000-05:00

Snow Storm #5 of December

Well, for the last several years, not only haven't we had snow for Christmas but the snowfall throughout the winter has been minimal. 2007-08 winter is sure to make up for it. Last night according to the news, the entire winter of 06-07 had a total snowfall of 17" (this is for the Boston area). So far in JUST in the month of December we've had 19". You add in the 9-10 inches we've gotten since last night...you can see we're well past that already and it's not even technically winter yet. :) The kids wanted to go out and make snowballs, which just means they want to play in the snow. So after the 20 minutes it took to get everyone geared up in snow pants, snow boots, coats, hats, gloves...we finally made it outside. Here are a few more pics for you southerners who don't get this "luxury".

Maddie standing next to the pile of snow near the side door. Yes, you're seeing it correctly. It's well over her head.

Maddie
Nate in his new winter coat! He loves the snow even more now that we found his snow pants and he's not getting soaked and cold when he's playing.
Here you can see just how big the snowfakes are out there today. They're HUGE but not real heavy. So it's making LOTS of the fluffy white stuff!! Here Nate's just sitting around! Those huge mounds of snow behind him are the edges of the driveway. Those mounds are about 3-3.5 ft high already because of snowblowing the driveway! (There Joey, happy?! J/K!)
Nate and his snowball!
Nate flinging snow at me!
The girls plowing through the snow!

2007-12-18T15:13:00.000-05:00

Walking In A
Winter Wonderland

Whew - what a snow filled few weeks we've had! We've now had 3 decent sized snow storms blow through our little town, each dropped at least 6-8 inches each time. This last storm dropped about 10-12 inches of snow and then some ice as well. BRRRR!! While I was baking (see post below), Joe took the kids outside to play for a bit. But boy was it cold!!

Lexi, Nate & Maddie ready to head out! Finally got the girls some snow pants!

Waiting for daddy to shovel a pathway for them to walk. Lexi, in the middle, waving to me!
Maddie
Lexi sticking her tongue out at me!
Pondering this whole snow business
Uh oh! Nate fell but was having a blast
Helping out with a shovel!
Maddie showing Lexi her snowball
Nate sitting around

2007-12-18T14:19:00.000-05:00

Pure Christmas Joy

Two weeks ago, I told Joe that I didn't think I was going to do any Christmas baking. After he laughed at me and called me a liar, I realized he was probably onto something. Less than a week later, I was making out my Christmas Goodie List. I tried several new recipes this year and I'm pleased to say that I approved of all of them! I even have a new favorite. So for your viewing pleasure...

Baking Supplies: Upwards of $100
Baking Magazines for new Recipes: $10
Pure Christmas Joy: PRICELESS

Clockwise from the left: Peanut Butter Blossoms, Andes Peppermint Crunch Icebox Cookies, Gingerbread, Chocolate Chip, Plain Chocolate Fudge, Chocolate Fudge with Walnuts, Oreo Balls, Chocolate Billionaires, Peanut Butter Bon Bons. In the center on the left, Paula Deen's Creme de Menthe Frosted Brownies and Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies w/ Candy Cane Kisses.
This right here is heaven on earth, my new favorites.
Many people ask me - How can you possibly bake with 3 little ones running around? Quite simply - by ignoring housework and letting my kids watch movies all day and dragging toys up from downstairs. Here's what my typically "clean" house looks like after a couple of days of baking.

The kitchen/dining room
A closer look
And the living room where Nate watches tv and the girls are stringing yet more toys all over the floor.

2007-12-16T21:47:00.000-05:00

A Visit From Santa & The Mrs.

On Saturday evening, the kids had special visitors! Santa and Mrs. Claus stopped by our house to check up on them to see if they were being good. When asked if they were good, Maddie said "maybe", Lexi said nothing and Nate said "yes!". It was a surprisingly great visit this year. When the awesome couple walked through the door, Lexi and Maddie were unsure. They didn't want to go near them, just wanted to watch from afar. Nate, on the other hand, wasn't shy at all! We got some great pics this year so I thought I'd share!

Here's a shot of the 3 kids before Santa came. Grandma & Grandpa brought up these great outfits last weekend and I thought they were perfect for the special occasion. Maddie's on the left, then Nate and then Lexi on the right.

Nate looking VERY handsome in his new duds!
Lexi
Santa & the Mrs. with Max
Nate didn't look very happy but don't let it fool you - he was!!
Maddie giving Santa a sideways glance
Lexi finally warmed up to the Claus'
So much so that she opened her gift while on Mrs. Claus' lap
With new toys in hand, there was no way we could get all 3 kids to look at the camera!

2007-12-16T21:38:00.000-05:00

Lexi enjoying her candy cane from Santa

Santa & Mrs Claus listening intently to girls
A quick snapshot on Friday - Lexi
A snapshot of Maddie
A shot of me and Nate before the Claus' arrival