Part 2 - Haiku to the Nice Lady (11-06-2005)

Peering through the glass

Hoping to get just one peek
She stands looking out
Wondering why he looks in.

Today was a perfect lazy day. We did not go to church as A-man has the sniffles and we did not want to share with the kids in his class some of which are medically fragile. So I slept late and dh made french toast and scrambled eggs a rare treat! Dh spent the morning watching Dumbo and part of Cinderella with the kids. These came yesterday from Netflix. I cleaned the kitchen and read blogs. Then we went looking at used SUV's...still not sure what type to get or whether to wait until spring. Then we went downtown to walk, to window shop, get a coffee and of course let A-man get a glimpse of the Nice Lady . No we are not stalking her. We sat on the bench in front of her shop and I saw a copper art thingy for the yard that had another thingy that spinned. Great description huh? I really want it for our back deck but I will wait.


We love to people watch and that is what we did. I have always been fascinated with differences in people, not in a bad way, just in a way that God made everyone so wonderful and unique. A man went by and I thought of a an online friends precious son. This handsome young man had half of an arm and it had a bit of a hook on the end...kindof like one finger. Well he was using it to hold a bag he was carrying. This will sound odd but it looked so cool and convenient. Like it was just made for that. Another man came walking by that dh and I have talked with that is on the Autism spectrum. He is just so interesting and sees the world so differently. He likes to talk about the weather and sports mainly. He seems to like seeing us downtown as he knows we will say hi. Anyway people watching was a highlight of our day and the weather was gorgeous and unseasonably warm...probably close to 80.


When we got home I made pigs in blankets and broccoli/cauliflowers with cheese sauce. Afterwards dh and the kids worked on a dinosaur present that A-man got from his party. It was a block of sand that you chipped away until you got to the dinosaur.


Tomorrow the A-man will stay home as he is still under the weather. Z-girl will go to preschool...not sure if she will like going knowing her buba will be home with me and she will not.

10 years ago this weekend...

we were blessed with the sweetest baby boy that came to live with us. It has been an adventure ever since. I have another blog and in honor of A~man's coming home weekend I am going to repost a blog entry from years ago....one of my favorites. It is titled-


THE GRUMPY LADY (11-05-2005 ) PART I


My son is obsessed with the grumpy lady....let me explain who she is.


DH and I ten or so years ago lived riding bikes. Sometimes we would actually ride our bikes to work. Well it was a Sunday afternoon some 10 years ago when we first encountered The Grumpy Lady We were downtown (downtown=antique shops, art galleries, coffee shops, boutiques) with a group of friends and decided to get an iced drink at the coffee shop. Well we put our bikes next to this brick wall pillar as at the time there were no bike thingies to put them in. Out of this art gallery comes this crabby woman YELLING at us that we HAD to move we were going to smear her windows and block her store Now we were NOT teenagers we were adults had she talked to us in a civil manner I would not be sitting here talking about the bitty.


Well fast forward to summer of 2005...DH works downtown and most days before he gets out of work the kids and I take our afternoon walk up and down the street. As A-man says "we are getting our excercise" Well initially he was drawn to Grumpy Lady's store as there were huge copper sculptures of lions, elephants (which he is also obsessed with)..Well he put his hands up to the window touching it and I said "oh no don't do that the grumpy lady will come out!" So there and then against my better judgement I told him the story of the Grumpy Lady So now obviously SHE has been his newest obsession....


Well a couple weeks ago we all decided to go to Hannah Flannagans for dinner which btw is located downtown. There was a 15 minute wait so we stood outside as it was a nice evening. Well....guess who I see walking down the street towards us?? Grumpy Lady Now I started to go into panic mode...My son is known to say ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that comes to his mind. I managed to get dh's attention and we distracted ds by having his back turned and we pointed to a pretty girl.(it's the only thing I could think of and he LIKES pretty girls ) Phew we thought we avoided an incredibly uncomfortable situation....WRONG! She walks back up the sidewalk back to her store...I guess she forgot something? It's too late he sees her....he attracts her attention...he starts into his "what's your name?" she tells him. Well he says it.............ARE YOU THE GRUMPY LADY?? I feel myself sinking into the sidewalk...I turn...I HAVE to and start talking to Z-girl acting like I didn't hear what A-man said...I let dh deal with it...it's still an embarassing blur in my mind.

So after she leaves we explain to him that it wasn't a very nice thing to say. In all reality of course it was OUR fault and it came back to bite us on the butt. So now and evermore she is referred to as The Nice Lady with the Art Gallery


Topsy can you figure out who/where this happened??? HAHAHHA

Show and Tell time!

I really want to start doing this once a week....sometimes more and sometimes less. This is a local homeschool mom. Her boys are now in college but she still likes to keep in touch with the homeschool community. She has created these really nice unit studies. I can see any type "homeschool" benefiting from them. Our family is pretty ecclectic with a dose of unschooling thrown in. They have a LOT of info in them...more than a months worth! We have gotten the tree unit study, early settlers, and Christmas unit study. Most likely we will be getting the horse and bird one in a couple months.
 You will find it here.

worst fear for a mama.....

Losing their child. I have had nightmares about this. Especially with a child that knows no strangers...has no fear...and has a hard time staying focussed. This became a reality this weekend.

We belong to a girls running club and Sunday was the first "fun run" we all participated in. There was a large crowd as before the fun run there was a 5K race. During Z's race I was trying to take pictures of Z, of her club members and of a couple other friends of hers. Part of the time hubby was with me and part he was at a different part of the course. Looking back I realize A~man was with me...then the race was over...spoke to a friend and hurried to the finish line where hubby and Z were. I get there....we look at each other and said at the same time "WHERE IS A~man???" I turn around and it is a HUGE crowd and walk back to where I was. It isn't long and I see him walking up the hill with a casual friend of ours. <<>> I left my son with AS !!!! She told me he came up to her chatted and said he was a little lost. *sob* I thanked her and praised him for finding someone he knew! I am PUSHING that guilt out of my head....but I am so thankful he realized what to do. (find someone he knew) I am also thankful she was there...actually there were many friends there...

What does a parent do when they have a child that needs a little (or a lot) extra supervision? When do they know when to let the strings looser...and when to keep them tight? What about when a younger sibling needs less supervision...gosh this is what I am trying to figure out. I do not want to be too overprotective....yet still protect what it took me so long to have.

Special needs basketball tomorrow!

A~man is BEYOND excited. Our church (I say that but partly due to hubbys schedule we have not been to church since before Christmas....Aman has though hahah)  has an awesome special needs program. The main reason we started going back to church 6 years ago was the fact they have a special needs Sunday school class. Now they have a sn's day program and ds goes to this on Wed afternoons IF his school work is done and he is in a calm mindset . He then stays for dinner at church with his helper.

Anyway I was supposed to be talking about BBall! It starts tomorrow and I so look forward to it. It is all ages and all abilities. From a 5 yr old to 40 or so....to high functioning autism to profound MR in a wheelchair. (with a helper :) I do not cry easily. BUT I have tears in my eyes at one point during this event. It's funny, entertaining and uplifting! I plan to take lots of pictures.

hmmmm?

TFVJU8825M35

a few words on the effects of caffiene on the unsuspecting....

from my husband. He's working tonight -he does some assistive living in a rental house we have with a young man that has autism, bipolar, and a few other things. Z and I met the two of them for coffee today....here is the story although I may have to edit a couple words hee hee.

I have learned a valuable lesson today on Barrista's and how important the dosage is to double check.
When they say "here is your fruity frozen delicious non-caffeinated drink have a nice day." It pays to ask "are you sure that is decaf?" I am sure there there are folks that have caffeine allergies, enjoy sleeping at night or just plain want a fruity frozen delicious non-caffeinated drink that would appreciate the reasurrance of some kind of CAR(caffeine administration record). I assume today was a mistake as I have never seen the young lady before and have not to my knowledge ****** (made her mad) off in some way. Maybe she was having a bad day and decided to pass some of it along to her unsuspecting guests. Maybe I reminded her of her 5th grade science teacher that failed her for no reason. Maybe it was quite the opposite. Perhaps she enjoyed a hard hitting middle of the night caffeine buzz and said "this is a good thing I will pass it along so someone else can enjoy it.



The moral: a double shot of espresso cleverly administered in a sugary frozen drink late in the day can make one's day interesting.

We were about to leave and this girl brings us another frozen drink over explaining that she had mixed his wrong. I am sure big T, my hubby, and my eyes bugged out at realizing this. What he thought was a frozen non caffeine drink....in fact....had a couple shots of espresso in it. So now my husband is dealing with..well...a whole lot right now. HE will likely not sleep tonight. Sortof funny.....but not. ;)

My Son....

is such a mystery. Technically speaking....on paper he is developmentally delayed, autism, MR, Prader-willi, his bio parents where borderline...etc etc.  He is also such an awesome child...he is a people person...he is a people (well peeps over 15;) Magnet. If we go somewhere I have learned...there is no hurry...most people WANT to talk to him. (and those are the people I especially like :) His bio grandma said when he was a baby he was going to be a preacher...I chuckled inside at that when he was a babe but gosh if it is possible for a SN's person to be one he will be.

This year I have pondered if he would be able get addition and subtraction concrete. It's been YEARS working on this...he's 10...sometimes he will get it and other times (usually during the yearly required testing I HATE TESTING;) he will act like he has never heard of the concept. Reading has been a similiar process...he is 10 but at a barely 2nd grade level...it will seem like he has it....then 3 steps forward 4 steps back.

But the questions he asks! now sometimes they are questions he knows the answers to, questions to irk someone, but then he comes up with some that make ME think!

Today (and I should have written down the exact words as they were better than mine) he asked where we were before we were born. Were we dead? I told him that God knew of us before we were born but that I didn't know the answer to his question. His mind is constantly working....

Secret message Valentines!

I wish this idea was originally mine but I found it here- http://themagiconions.blogspot.com/2010/02/secret-valentines-card.html while looking here- http://www.oneprettything.com/?paged=2 which is one of my favorite places for fun things to make. Both A and Z loved their valentines!

The hubby bought Z and I roses and of course both kids received some little surprises. All in all a very sweet day!!

Show and Tell

I'm hoping to do this once a week- share a link, an idea, or maybe curriculum that works for us.

Today is a link http://www.homeschool-by-design.com/index.html   This is someone I know local that has an awesome website for those thinking of starting to homeschool or those that are currently homeschooling but may need encouragement. I am hoping hoping to get something put together on special needs homeschooling for her site. It is such a broad subject though.... Anyway I encourage anyone interested in homeschooling to check out her site. She is a very nice person with a whole lot of insight!

A little retail therapy

Some woman like shoes or clothes and maybe purses. Nope not me I hate to shop for those things but instead would spend hours in a fabric store. (ask my hubby!) After a little coffee/donut time with a friend...where our boys went a little nutzo ;), the kids and I stopped at a fabric store for me to recover. They were soooo good. A~man likes to hang out in the little area that has toys and Z~girl? well she shares my love of all things fabric....gotta love THAT!! Here are some things I picked up. The pinking sheers (mine are MIA) are to finish up a couple fleece quilts for two of my nieces. The felt and book are for a homeschool sewing class I'm hoping to prepare for in March if I can get my ducks in a row. The fabric Z picked out for me to make her a skirt for the father/daughter event in a couple weeks. Little does she know I am going to make her American Doll (ok it's a cute look a like) a matching skirt.

These were taken a couple days ago when I gave Z her first machine sewing lesson. She has been wanting me to teach her for a long time. She and I made a cute skirt for her American Doll. I haven't taken any pictures of it yet but will soon. She did awesome!

You know it's gonna be one of those days when.....

you wake up to find your son has chopped all his hair of with safety scissors. Yesterday he took a couple chunks out of it with my sewing scissors when my back was turned....or I was using the toilet....or doing something! I try to keep all scissors on top of the refridgerator but being the crafty bunch we are it's not too hard to find a pair if you are determined enough. WHY does he do this? I haven't a clue. He says he doesn't either. I'm guessing it is related to maybe the impulse control of the ADHD?? HE'S 10 THOUGH. I've learned yelling doesn't help (so I don't), swatting? no. So I told him he lost his favorite toy and cannot have soda till it grows out to a respectable length. Unfortunately it won't be grown in before the Vday swim party on Friday. My son will be the one with the baseball hat on in the pool. ;)

That pretty well set the mood for the day. Getting any school work accomplished was not happening. I think tomorrow will be a day off for us....to all get our humour back...a day of enjoying each other as it's getting to that point in the school year I am feeling burned out. The games and puzzles are out and waiting!

Animals should definitely not wear clothing !

Animals should definitely not wear clothing as it would be disasterous for a porcupine, because a camel may wear it in the wrong places, because a snake would lose it, because a mouse would get lost in it, because a sheep might find it terribly hot, because it could be very messy for a pig, because it might make life hard for a hen, because a kangaroo would find it quite unecessary,....... by Judy Barrett  

Z~girl and I were doing some of her work today on the computer and this story popped up in the the language arts section. What a comical story! Well we were interrupted by some attitude issues and Z~girl had to spend a little thinking time in her room. A~man must have overheard the story as the next thing I know Buster (fake name to protect the innocent ;) came into the livingroom wearing a striped tshirt. After Z~girl had served her time she joined in the fun and put pants on Buster....followed by Aubrey finding him some goggles.
 
Would you like another chuckle? After lunch Buster wanted to go outside...so being the good owner that I am I took him out in the snowfilled yard. I got  almost to the front hedge and realized that the dog was still wearing a shirt. The lady next door that I do not know well had been shoveling snow. She was no longer shoveling her snow she was standing staring at me! I really hope she remembers I have children at home during the day homeschooling and does not think I spend my day dressing my animals!!!
 
Here is a fun lesson plan I found using Judy Barrett's book. I hope to use it this week.

http://www.teachervision.fen.com/lesson-plan/reading-comprehension/48612.html