the rest of the story....

Well most of my subscribers know me on facebook and know the rest of the story but I thought I would come back and write it all down.

I guess it was Wednesday night. Z~ girl slept in my friends dd's room in a bunk and I had previously arranged for A~man to sleep in our room. Our gracious hosts made him up an airbed (although the kid honestly loves to sleep on the floor...not sure why?), he took a shower and went to lay down. Unknown to us....he had taken the cordless phone into the b e d r o o m. The hubby, my friend, her hubby and I were sitting in the livingroom nearby chatting. I had my EARS on. I kept hearing some beeps but thought I was hearing things. Finally we hear some more phones sounds....not sure if it was their answering machine or what...but I went in the bedroom and found THE PHONE. I took the phone and went and sat back down....wondering. I asked my friends dh if he could check the phone and see if any numbers had been dialed. The rest is blurry. He got up to go check I believe...and there was a knock on the door. It was at least 10:30. Evidently my mischief maker had called 911 not once...not twice...but a dozen times! He tied up all the emergency phone lines for the city. (small city;) My friends dh talked to them...not sure what he said...but all was well.

Do you laugh do you cry do you scream when something like this HAPPENS??? My friend and her hubby...were as cool as cucumbers...they handled it so well. Perhaps it helped that my friend is a dr and familiar with PWS? maybe. If it would have happened with my family?? it would have been NO SMALL MATTER. My MIL and step fil? they would have been ok with it but he would be in DEEP DOO DOO. Well he did get in deep doo doo with us. Than we talked about how it could have prevented people from getting help they REALLY needed. He's a smart cookie but this wasn't the first...and most likely won't be the last. Lord help me.

Oh I did laugh though....when he didn't see....can I admit that? Sometimes if I didn't laugh I would be crazy by now. ;)

a very thankful Thanksgiving

I have a good friend....my best friend in high school....so many fun memories.... that I haven't seen in about 17 years. Her husband is in the Air Force and in the last couple of years moved relatively close to us in AL....6 hours away. We have been trying to get together the last 6 months and they invited us to their house for Thanksgiving. We have no local family anywhere near us....and were not able to buy 4 plane tickets this season. So reuniting with old friends... was such a blessing this year! Granted with just the four of us we always have fun and special times...but add in another very special family and it was MUCH to be thankful for! I swear the entire time I was there I felt warm fuzzies....and it takes a lot for me to get warm fuzzies. It is just so special (excuse my cheesiness) to meet up with someone that knows your strengths and weeknesses when you were child....someone you shared your special dreams for the future with. THAT is who my friend Heidi is. :D

At first I was hesitant as they had not met the A~man....but he (and all of us) were welcomed and accepted. A special thumbsup to their BIG boy....who is just a bit older than our A~man. He was so patient...and kind....playing with A! I think my hubby had fun playing XBox (or whatever game it was...I'm not a gaming girl ;) with J too! Z~girl had a blast with Miss O....wish we lived closer so they could meet up....but AL is a lot closer than the other places they have lived! Such a fun mix my little Tomboy with my friends girly girl! Oh and MR H. Sweet boy. 3 yrs old....my all time favorite age!(I was a 3 yr old teacher for many yrs) He's a mans man.....but I will conquer this boys affection!!! :D

We were able to take a trip to my friends office! Very cool. My friend is a doctor and I'm so proud of her!! <3 She even checked our blood pressure. :)

Anyway it was a wonderful 2 days....even though I wanted to stay 3 or 4 (hubby wanted to spend time at home Saturday and Sunday morning before he started back to work Sun night) but I am thankful for the time we had.

I will save the visit by the police (at our friends home) for the next blog.....a funny occurance (rolling my eyes)...well one of those situations where you have to laugh....or you will cry....which is MY LIFE IN GENERAL. :)

Lighting a candle tonight

in memory of my nephew Ryan who was killed in a car accident 2 years ago. He was 20 years old.

OK if you read my blog you know I can be scatterbrained. I'm comfortable with that now...it's who I am. Two years ago today I had scheduled us to fly to spend Thanksgiving with family....this was the year Thanksgiving came earlier in November so the week before we were to fly out...the nonrefundable tickets were bought one of my brothers emailed me saying in a nice way "could you not fly here any sooner than Thanksgiving day?" uhhhh I had booked ON THANKSGIVING DAY!! I was embarassed.

The kids are excited....we are...and after a long day of flying from coast to coast we finally arrive in Wa. From the start it strikes me odd. My brother R was supposed to be picking us up. Well most of my east coast family meets us in the airport. My brother S's girls...and his son....my great nephews and great nieces...and my mom. NO ONE looked happy. My brother R comes up to dh and I in a hug and says...I will never forget these words "R was killed in a car accident last night"... I felt so sick...like I had been hit in the gut...with all these eyes of my family on me. I remember hugging R saying I am sooo sorry...and running to the bathroom...to get sick and sob.

The rest is a blur...memories with family....some good even amidst the sorrow. It was a rough event for A and Z. We went to the viewing and brought them....I think back and wonder if some of A`mans issues...his obsessions with death were caused by this. A~man had only met R once...but R worked with adults with disabilites but their one time meeting...they were fast friends. You can't go back and change things... I remember standing next to my niece T...she is like a sister to me...heck most of my nieces I feel are more like sisters to me....just staring....walking out of the room hugging my brother and sobbing like I have never cried before...like I have never cried since. Seeing my nephew there....stilll and cold. I have NEVER cried like I did with R's death. I remember A~man screaming " my cousin is not DEAD".

I pray for his parents and his sister tonight as I often do....hoping they have peace....and comfort. If my heart hurt so much I cannot imagine their grief.

I hope R is up there playing his drums in glory!! ~Joy~

parenting is aging me....go figure

Today my husbands stepmother in law sent us some pictures. To back up she married FIL a couple months before he passed away...in 2004. Anyway it must have been pictures she had found. It was dh's senior pictures that FIL took, some pictures of him (fil) from that time period, grandparent pictures (my parents and dh's grandparents) , PRECIOUS reminders from the past...pics of the kids as baby/toddler with them. I'm so thankful to have the pictures now.

OK now for my vain side...it doesn't show often. Pictures of ME (oh and dh was in there too;) with the kids when they were a baby and toddler. OMGoodness! As dh said "you look like a little kid!" now I wasn't a little kid....I was 31....but b'gosh I looked 21. Maybe it was because I was so skinny? Honestly though...even though I wish I was 20 pounds at least lighter....I like my face better now....I"m rounder....more....well curvy....(I'm trying to see that as a positive). Now? well I look every bit my 39 years....but thinking over the last 10 years of parenthood...I've earned it! I would show before/after pics but....well I WON'T. I might show a local blog friend if she asked though. ;)

Mom I'm hungry....

This is a common thing for kids all age to say right? It's a sad thing also when you hear about children in other countries that do not have food or the means to get it. I have another version and very heartbreaking for me.

A~man just turned 10 this week...yippee but I will save that post for another day. Tonight (3-8) he was with his respite provider at our church that has a special needs classroom. They have a day placement for adults with sn's but A~man is kindof like their special mascot haha and in the summers he is there with the rest of the younger children with sn's. But Wed's are his special afternoons without mom or dad hanging out at his favorite place on earth...church. While he was there we took Z~girl to go swimming for some more one on one attention. (or is it two on one?:) While ds is at church he hangs out in the classroom socializing then he goes to eat as they serve a meal on Weds. I'm not sure when things went bad...I'll find out more details tomorrow...for now I know enough. Hubby went to pick him up from church....he was throwing a fit screaming bad bad stuff...he had to carry him to the car. Keep in mind this is a HUGE church...geesh I wonder what people think? He is so high functioning that when he falls apart I know people must think he is just a bratty kid (he's NOT) that must have been raised by wolves....ok I gotta chuckle...but he has autism thrown in there which is a double whammy on self control.

Anyway this entry has no rhyme or reason...I'm rambling...just need to vent. He gets home in hysterics....dh has to go back to work:( and I could not get him to get ready for bed. He sits on the couch and starts saying he hasn't eaten dinner and he is hungry.....just crying "I"m so hungry please feed me!!!" Rip my heart out already....Did I feed him? No. I know he had been fed....so I just held him on my lap and let him cry....finally I was able to get him to jump in the shower with the promise when he calmed down he could call daddy. He wanted to tell daddy he was sorry for the way he acted. He also was telling me he wanted Jesus to forgive him....(he screamed he hated Jesus in church) RIP MY HEART OUT AGAIN! stomp on it too....

I just instantly thought of GRACE. I told A~man that Jesus forgave him .....he did it long ago so he could forgive him now. I told him that God loved him VERY much.

I am exhausted.

PEACEFUL weekend

We had planned to go camping this weekend but it was off and on rainy and cold...cold for the south that is. ;) We tried our best to find a cabin nearby to rent but our area is notorious for leaf lookers and it seems they are all filled until the last leaf falls off the tree. The kids were so dissapointed....soooo we went to a new waterfal...a small one but it was so peaceful.

DH actually took a cat nap by the falls on a most comfortable rock....I found a comfortable rock myself to lay on while keeping an eye on the kids. After a bit we decided to explore some more and crossed the highway where Z~girl found another path. On that path we found some more leaves for our collection and yet another waterfall of sorts...more like a damned off area. I'm hoping to return there in a week or so when the leaves have more color.

Then....we went to Lowes to buy a fire pit. This is something we have been wanting for ages and I told DH it would be our belated birthday presents. (our bdays were in July) So we cooked hotdogs and made s'mores that night. Afterwards after a minor scuffle between A and Z they settled into the INDOOR tents I made for them in the livingroom.

Bonding with nature...

This afternoon it was just me and the girl. The hubby texted asking what we were doing and I told him "bonding with nature" he chuckled...a private joke. We both (before kids) used to work with a little boy with autism for years and during part of that time we shadowed him at a montessori school....there was a day when both dh and I were there...along with the ABA (applied behavior analysis ) consultant...and "D" was hugging a tree....the teacher said "he was bonding with nature" The ABA consultant looked mortified and dh and I both chuckled at the polar opposites of the teacher and "specialist". Anyway...Z and I bonded with nature today...but then again...our family enjoys exploring Gods Creation on a regular basis.

We are doing a Tree unit study. I LOVE TREES. When I was more artsy...most of my pictures had a very detailed tree in it. Before I get too big of a head...the unit study was not created by me but a local homeschooler who's children are grown. It was made especially for the levels my children are at. My dd is 8 and ds is 10......both "3rd grade" whatever that is;). She chose the books specifically for my advanced 8 yr old and my more challenged 10 yr old. The books she chose for both have been WONDERFUL. It is also our 4H project for the year so we will be using it for an extended amount of time.

Today the most colorful leaf we found were some red oak leafs. It was the most wonderful girl bonding, chatting about the changing leaves, the why's etc and what we would do with the beautiful leaves we found. We each found about a dozen of the SAME type...some red and some still green off the ground. We found a bench and she traced some of hers (actually for this she did different kinds in addition to oak) and then used colored pencils. BEAUTIFUL! When we got home she did some crayon rubbings with them and I used some contact paper to laminate mine.

I'm hoping ...if we are brave we might take one last camping trip this weekend. Even though we are in the south it will be CHILLY. But it would be fun to explore the trees...the sounds...the smells and the chill of fall!