They may not ask us back...

I need to say something here, so please indulge me this for just a moment....

Dear Church Family,

I AM SOOOOO SORRY!



I swear to you that we really are a good family.



I would not send my 6 year old to church functions if I thought he was going to puke all over Noah's ark..maybe he was just a little sea sick? Maybe I should have given him a dramamine before he boarded..or those wristbands?



I do not encourage my 5 year old to tell "penis stories" in bible class-so, so sorry Valarie and other adults that had to cover their faces to hide the shock and horror!!! I will tell the teachers tonight not to let him speak!



I promise we are a good family...




...it's just that we are that family!



No, really.....we are.




I can take it-at least with a dose of something prescribed for me by my doctor!




Maybe our sole purpose here on Earth is to show you that God does in fact have a sense of humor?!?

Be there...or be a quadrilateral!

VBS starts tonight. 

And while it gives me nightmares and headaches getting things ready for it...

It is COMPLETELY awesome!!!

If you are in the area..you really should come!!

At a loss for words

We just found out today that my mother in law has Alzheimer's.

We have wondered for a while, but we got the word today.

She is 70...

...and stubborn 

...and strong willed 

...and feisty 

...and a control freak. (Not that I know anything about those things!)

... and she is slipping away. 

My FIL has had to take the responsibility of taking her medications away from her.

I am at a loss.

My heart is broken.

Long Stories-Even Longer...

What a crazy week we have had around here! Let me give you the run down.....

Last weekend, Scout and I went to Branson and then stopped by Harrison for a hike. I am a hiker by marriage. I am not nor will I ever be a rugged gal. He took me to a place that he had hiked and rappelled(sp?) a few times as a teenager and after we got married(without me). 

It was the LONGEST day of my life. 

We hiked Hemmed-In-Hollow. It boasts the highest waterfall between the Rocky Mountains and the Smokey Mountains. We hiked for 2 hours to get there. The waterfall was beautiful!! Do not get me wrong..very beautiful. We ate lunch and played in the water a bit and then headed out. 

I was told we could go back the way we came, 2 hours going almost straight up or we could go 4 hours the other way and it was going to be "less steep."

Ha ha ha ha ha...huh?

Well 4 1/2 hours later...we made it back to the top. We had taken the horse trail up.

 The small, narrow, muddy, steep, rocky horse trail-without a horse. Walked it, crossed the river like 6 times...in my white and pink Nikes.  

Picture to show just how beautiful and yet how far down we were..that is Scout at the bottom of the Falls.

--------

Then we had our day at the library where Skeeter  taught me not to let him wander around the Juvenile Non-Fiction section alone....see previous post. 

----------

I have been reading a great book on boys called Wild Things: the art of nurturing boys, by Stephen James and Davis Thomas. 

This is a must read if you have boys or know boys or have even heard of boys.

Here is an excerpt from Chapter 6: A Boy's Brain:

Six year old Mark was visiting his friend Luke's house. Boys being boys, it wasn't too long before they found Luke's big sister's stash of green nail polish. Both boys loved to play superheroes, and it made sense to them that this fingernail polish was perfect for turning themselves into the Incredible Hulk. Luke convinced Mark he could become the Hulk only if he painted himself green-which Mark proceeded to do, right down to the green weenie. Later, as Mark's mother wiped off his genitals  with fingernail polish remover, she asked, "What in the world were you thinking?"

I laughed and laughed at this chapter. It basically says...they aren't thinking, they are impulsive. 

Two nights later I am getting all the boys showered and ready for bed by myself,cause Scout is out of town. Everyone is clothed except Skeeter. He has been clean for 10-15 minutes. I lay him down to put his diaper on him and I fell over laughing because of what I saw.

In the few minutes I was dealing with the others, he found a marker......and..... he.... colored his boys parts! 

BLUE!

No way I just read that in a book and now I am dealing with it!?! 

Really we are a hopeless cause.

-------

Scrappy runs a fever Tuesday night out of no where...nothing hurts, just a fever. I give him some meds and put him to bed. Wednesday morning he wakes up and I do the Mommy thermometer thing and feel his head. I notice he is still warm, and tell him he has a fever again. 

He then informs me that he does not have a fever, "That is just his brain thinking."

Who knew thinking caused so much heat?

Later that day Skeeter comes up and tells me, pointing to his forehead, that "I have beavers in there." 

--------

This week we have rescued a turtle, a bird egg and 2 frogs..or toads. *note to self...find out the difference and teach that.*

 I like frogs, just not near me and not in my house. I am just weird like that! Scar loves animals. He has a very tender spot of them...ALL of them. And he feels compelled to bring them all to me for my praise and approval.

When we found the poor turtle, I said a small prayer for it...

Dear God,

Please protect this 

sweet little turtle 

from the love 

the boys are about 

to inflict upon it! 

Amen.

And there you have it... a "short" synopsis of....the last 6 days!!!

Is this really appropriate reading material??

Look what Skeeter picked up at the Library today...

Seriously?!? 

Everything You Need to Know About Date Rape???

Oh, and the book behind it was on illegal drugs!!

Needless to say, I did the old 'distract and switch' with a book  on sharks!!

No Kids...Day 3

Well, it's day 3 and I actually have something to do today!

I am going to eat lunch with my Granny.

She is a fruit...I mean that in the most loving way, but really, she is a fruit!!

She has way too much spunk for a gal her age-she's 85....ohh is that okay to shout out your Granny's age on your blog? 

I could get written out of the will for that one..oh wait, I already achieved that last year when she found out I got a tattoo for my birthday!! Nevermind. :O)

 About 3 years ago she fell off of a ladder while trying to paint the gutters and broke her hip and shoulder. It was very hard on her. She likes to go and do. Her going and doing have had to slow down-and she hates it. Can't blame her though.

Well, I am off...hope today is a great one for you..where ever you are!

No kids--Day 2

Welcome to day 2 of my no kids adventure.

I cleaned the school room today. I went thru stuff that I have been holding on to for the past 9 years and trashed a lot of stuff. I figure that I am not going back to the regular classroom anytime soon-so it is time it is gone!

Evidently the boys are having a grand time. I talked to all 4 of them on the phone at once(what are my parents thinking??) Soon after I put a stop to it and then found out that they have all gotten new shoes and socks, swam, made smores, rode on the tractor, the gator, the 4 wheelers, found a snake, fished and had taco's for dinner.

That sounds way more fun than cleaning out the schoolroom!

I am glad they are having a great time-some of my best childhood memories are from the farm when my grandparents lived there!!

No Kids...Day 1

Well, it is day 1 of no kids..and I am going crazy.

So far today I have: 

• gotten up at my regular time..no way Scout is going to let me sleep in!
• cleaned underneath the couches
  
• gone to the gym
  
• went to School Squared to pick up more handwriting paper
• watched a chick-flick while soaking my feet and eating popcorn on the couch
  
• been to Wal-mart to pick up  stuff for dinner.
  

Sounds like a blast huh??

Simmer down now....I hear you all begging  to come along. 

No, you can't come an have all this fun with me. 

Hey wait, you know really, if you want to come along, I will come and pick you up. 

No really, it's no problem. 

No problem at all!!

I have no idea what fun and excitement await me tomorrow! *sigh*

...really I may have to go get the boys and make them come home.

A Little Bling

Look what my sweet 3 year old got me.

Yea, he's a charmer all right!

Tourette's and his mean spirited buddies have taken their toll on me today. 

For the past 2-3 weeks, Skipper's tics have slowed down. They have been almost unnoticeable. This is the first time in 5 years that we have has a time like this. Part of the diagnostic criteria is that the patient can not have been "free" of tics for longer than 3 months. 3 months tic free?!? We would throw the biggest party if we could go 3 months with out tics. We have never gone that long. 

However, being tic free, seems to open ones eyes to the other co-morbid issues.

For what ever reason, not that there has to be one, the tics are coming back. With a punch. Lots of head, neck and shoulder stuff. It is just sad to watch it. He cannot focus well while reading or drawing, because his head is turning to the side and he has to tap his chin on his shoulder.

He is having a hard time focusing on the here and now. He tends to get wrapped up in the things on the calendar 2 weeks away and can not function today. He is such a black and white child that it is making things difficult-for all of us. He does not get sarcasm. It just hits him in the forehead and falls to the ground. We are finding we have to very literal with him.

I think the hardest thing is realizing that there are just some things he is just not going to "get". We have to teach it.  

I want things to be easy. I want things to be fair. I want things to be "normal".

I want to just go and do and not worry about him or how others will respond to him or how they won't respond to him. 

There is a new diagnosis that is floating around out there, that is being spoken of softly. I am tired of diagnoses. I am tired of testing and wondering and worrying. I am trying to remind my self that if this diagnosis gets added that really it changes nothing.  

On the flip side of that coin though, it changes everything.

I am a 'need the facts' kind of girl. If I have the facts, we can map out a plan and attack it head on.  

I am afraid of the facts this time.

I am afraid that is reflects on me..yea I know, what a stupid place for pride to show itself, but I am afraid what people will think of us. What will they think of a family where 3 out of the 4 kids have some fairly serious issues. What does that say about me. What does that say about my husband?

Special needs families tend to be secretive. We want people with to think that there is nothing wrong or that we are just gifted at doing it all. When in reality things feel crazy most days and you feel like there really isn't anyone who would understand. So when you ask, we will tell you things are great and fine. 

Unless you happen to run into me in the bathroom at church and you ask and it all just spills out. 

Part of the reason that I started the homeschool co-op is so that families like ours can have a place to belong. My prayer is that First Class can be THE place for special needs homeschoolers. Call it selfish on my part, but it is what it is.

I have nothing profound or deep to say tonight. Just some thoughts from a mom who wished she could wave her magic wand and make it better for everyone...everywhere.