Wordless Wednesday!!

Optimus Prime!

Big News on the Road Less Taken!

Big news on the Hippie Home front : 1) At 10 am tomorrow we sign papers on our new house!!!!!!! and 2) We are adding number 3 to our family!

After 3 years of trying to sell our house and buy another we are free! Free! Free! The house we have bought is in a great neighborhood, but a total rehab job. So, starting tomorrow, and for the next week and half, we will be rehabbing the new place and boxing up our old place. The blessing is we can still live in our old home while we get the new place habitable. I am hoping to post pictures of our before and afters. Give you updates on our progress, and such. I am excited and overwhelmed. Thank God we have so may handy friends that are going to help us with this project! It is quite the undertaking.

On top of the good news about our house, last Tuesday we were surprised with the news that we are expecting #3. We were really surprised! C will be 10 when the baby is born and G will be almost 7! Talk about spreading them out! LOL! Someone asked me, very seriously, if I still had

my old stroller, car seats, and such. I laughed and replied no. (For over 6months The other half and I had been talking vasectomy!) She replied, very seriously, that I probably should have kept them. LOL! I could only laugh. I gave those things away before G was 5yrs old,to people who needed them much more than I, at the time. I would have never thought I would space my kids out this far! We are both at peace and happy. The kids are over the moon! But I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried. Not so much about the baby's health, as I worry about the economy, my Other Half's job, bigger house equals bigger payment + Baby..... But what is that saying, if he can bring you to he will bring you through it? I have been praying alot!

I hope all of you are doing well out there. Just remember the election is almost over! ;)

I am hoping to keep you posted about all progresses in the up coming weeks and I look forward to reading your blogs on my "breaks".

Wordless Wednesday!!

This is G's 12 week old Labrador/Bluetick Coonhound puppy. This is the dress he picked out for her at Petsmart! G, Darbie (the pup), and I were at Petsmart yesterday. We came across a display of dog clothing. G brings us a grey dog shirt with skull and cross bones all over it. Very biker Dog. The shirt says," I get my good looks from my dad." I laughed and read it to him. I said is this the shirt you want to get? "Yes. I am her dad." Was his reply. I told him it looked to me that it might have been made more for a boy dog than a girl dog. I also pointed out that they only had smalls and mediums and she wears a large. But if he really wanted it for her, and couldn't find one he liked, we would buy it. He immediately finds this little dress. He smiles really big and says,"Here's a dress! She will look so pretty! She likes red and black, just like me!" I have know idea if those are Darbie's favorite colors, she and I haven't had that discussion yet. But I do know that we put that on her yesterday afternoon and she hasn't tried to chew on it or get it off yet! Trust me that fact that she hasn't chewed it is what has amazed me the most!

A boy and his dog......

To Those in the Special Needs System

As most of your know G has ADHD and Aspergers Autism. For us, that means that he has been in the public school systems special preschool for 3 of his 6years of life. He has been in group occupational and speech therapies for the same amount of time. This also means that I have met many parents who are emotionally drain and feel the "system" is a real pain in the neck and that it doesn't work. Now, I am not going to dispute any of that. Although we have been very blessed by not having many "bad" experiences.

Here are the things that I do know about the psychologist, OT (occupational Therapist), Speech Therapist, Special needs teachers, and Intake Care Specialist (kinda like a case worker) that we have met. They work tirelessly. Most are over burdened and underfunded. Most really want the best for the child they are helping. They didn't go into these fields because they don't like children! Their jobs are emotionally draining too. So please, If you are a parent of a child with special needs, and you have had one of the above that really worked hard for you and showed they cared, Tell them! Email them your child's progress. These guys have surprised me with all the children they remember and hope are doing well. So please, drop them a line. Update them on your child. Tell them what a great job they did. Just as we parents need encouragement, they do to. And with out these people going the extra mile,I know G's regular and scholastic life, just wouldn't be as full. So if you think about it, go the extra mile and write them a quick thank you. It will mean alot to them to know they've made an impact.

I Should Be Sleeping....

Darbie Summer, Because Every Dog Needs A Full Name :)

I should be sleeping but I can't. Despite the killer cold I have there are 3things keeping sleep at bay. 1)The other half is at a gig 2)Our new puppy needs to be up longer so she will sleep longer and 3) We have sold our house and we sign on our new home on the last Monday of this month! Some would think I would be so happy about it that I should be able to sleep easy. But, No. This house is in a GREAT neighborhood. However this house is double the square footage I have currently and is a TOTAL rehab project. So what am I doing? I am so glad you asked! I am currently looking at decorating ideas and pricing miscellaneous things on line. I love the Internet. I can window shop at 11:40pm on a Saturday. Awesome!


I am feeling very blessed though. My father in law is under 60 and retired. He redoes homes and sells them occasionally for fun and out of boredom. So he has hopped on our project like white on rice! He is an excellent handyman and schedule maker. This has taken such a burden off of my OCD wannabe self, let me tell you! I don't have the time to be as anal retentive as would like to be, but my Pop in Law has the time! Next Thursday he rolls into town, with schedule, we will go over it, talk to some roofers, take measurements inside the house, price supplies, ect. Then after signing papers, on the last Monday of this month, We will all go over and clean what we can and start busting up the things that need busted! Oh, yeah and fence the yard. That is my personal first thing first. If that yard is not fenced in first, then the kids and dogs are going to drive us nuts while we try to get this place livable in under 2 weeks. Fun, fun!


We are also blessed that many friends keep bugging us as to how they can help. To those out there bugging me, I LOVE YOU! Thank you so much. You are Awesome. And to the rest of you that know me and are in the area, please stop by and explore our chaos!

The Cross Roads of Life

Among trying to sell our house and the kids being home for the summer, I am finding I am at an interesting place in my life. I am at that place of change. The kids are both in school this year. C full day, G half day. I think I would like to start back to school myself, finish out my French degree. I tried last year but they keep having trouble with my record. They have me down for a class I didn't take and a grade that I didn't get. They have fixed it 3times and 3times it has some how not been fixed. So I have to travel down there in the next month and try, once again, to rectify the situation. Uhhhhhh! Not looking forward to it. And to be honest I'm not as excited about going back to school as I use to be. Not sure why. I love learning. So I am trying to get that sorted out as well.

Then there is the matter of do we have another kid? Most of our friends are just now procreating. It is kinda cute to see their new little ones, but then my mind quickly goes to sleepless nights, endless poopy diapers, and crying. Then there is also that matter of freedom. Our current children are old enough to be with a sitter and we can go out to a movie or just a cup of coffee with some frequency. It's nice. Then there is that other half of me that is at peace with having 1 or 2 more. I think that is because I am at the age where I always thought I would start a family. So maybe it is more a state of mind in that respect. To be truthful, I was never really a kid person. Not that I dislike them. I just wasn't lining up to offer to babysit. So I am pondering that....

The kids and I are also "Church shopping". I don't dislike the church I go to, but I don't really have any friends that go to the same services I do. That might not seem like a big deal to some. I am not uber social. But having people there that you know kinda holds you accountable to go. The Other Half says going to church should be because I want to go for the pure joy of learning about God and should be motivated by that alone. That would be nice if that were true. Let’s be real, the kids get out the door so they can see friends and go to a cool class. The fact that they learn about God, while seeing friends and enjoying a cool class, are just icing on the cake for them. It also has to be said what motivates the Other Half to get out the door on Sundays is the fact that he plays in his church's worship team 2 or 3 Sundays out of the month. Other than that he doesn't go to his church. I am for whatever helps me get the kids out the door.

I have some friends that go to a church that seems cool enough. They have many arts programs for the kids and adults. The only thing that deters me from going is the fact that they don't have praise and worship and what if I don't like it there? Is that taken as an insult to my friends? There is another church near us that some other friends go to. It is where many people I use to know go to. It's fairly artsy. I have current friends there that would, unbeknownst to them, act as accountability for me. Plus my children LOVE their children. Do I go? I don't know. I should be praying about it. But I will admit it. I am only half heartedly praying about it, at this point. I would, ideally, like for The Other Half and I to go together. That would be accountability at it's simplest. But he wants a church that he can lead worship at, or at the very least, help with. And the 2 churches I have mentioned either don't have/or want worship, or they are so full of musicians that the church doesn't have a worship team deficit. So who knows.....

I think I am at that point in my life where everything I though would be isn't. Now I have to find out what are my new dreams and hopes? In some ways that’s ok. I have lived in the past too long. To be honest, my old hopes and dreams were very cold and sad. I always dreamed that I would be either an actress or doing something big in the fashion industry. Have a penthouse. Maybe be married or have a long term boyfriend, but probably neither. And start adopting children when I was 30. (I would still love to adopt.) I would travel around the world doing glamorous things and live a very cultured life. Some of that dream is good, quite a bit is very cold and lonely. I guess it is time for me to evolve further. It is time to grab new dreams and stretch myself more as a person. I just don't know what that means quit yet.

Oodles of Updates

I was reading over my blog the other day, and realized that I don't follow up on things very often. So I thought I would take the time to update. Thank you all for the prayers for Talia. She is pictured above. She was born mid April and weight a little over 8lbs! She and my cousin are doing fine. My cousin is so in love!

G & C are doing well. They are on summer vaca and driving themselves and me nuts! But all is good. G is going to be in Kindergarten next year and C is also moving up a grade. G's diagnosis came back as Aspergers Autistic and ADHD. We weren't really surprised. We spent May taking different meetings at school and listening to different reports on his progress. Currently his pre-k team and I are fighting with the school so he will be where he NEEDS to be next year. I have had 3 people that work for his school tell me ,off the record, that I need to be very vocal and keep on the district all summer long. This is an interesting place for me to be in. I am not a very loud person. I am not , intentionally, a pain in the butt. But for G I will be. It seems that the district would like to put him in a class with lower functioning children for his school day. This goes against what his Team, 1 outside psychologist, 1district psychologist, and what we ,his parents, want. Unfortunately for the school district I know what my legal rights are. It would seem they want to to do that because it would be easier on them scheduling him and cheaper. The plan that everyone ,who knows G, would like would be Kindergarten with typicals and then taken out of class for his OT (occupational therapy) and Speech. He is such a mocking bird that if he isn't with typicals more often then not, he starts regressing rapidly. The longer he is around typicals the more "typical" he becomes. Everyone that has interacted with him believes that he has the potential to mainstream and live a very full life, if we can just get past this bureaucracy and get him to a class that challenges him. So, it looks like I will be spending the summer advocating. But G is so worth fighting for!

As for home updates. We listed the house on Monday. We had a guy come by today to video a virtual tour, to put on the Realtors website. Just a half hour ago the Realtor called and someone wants to see our house tomorrow morning at 10am!!!! Yippee! I really hope we sell this place fast. I would love to be moved before the kids start school. We would like to move in town where I can bike practically every where. It would be nice to have other children around for our kids too. Last time our house went in to contract it had been on the market less than 30days. So I am hopeful. Please pray. I am tired of trying to sell a house!

I wish I could say that we have big plans for the summer, but we don't. The kids are at a friends vacation bible school this week. They are lovin' that. We will probably drive out of state to visit the grandparents once of twice. Other than that trying to sell a house, taking G to therapy, and C to tutoring pretty much takes care of our week.

I hope all of you are having a good start to summer. Be careful as you are traveling. Most of all enjoy each other and have lots of fun!

The Goverment Wants Your Infants DNA

I know it has been FOREVER since I have Blogged. Life has been crazy, but all for the good. However, I ran across something today that made me shudder! I just couldn't keep this kind of info to myself. It seems that Senators Hilary Clinton, Christopher Dodd- Dem, and Orrin Hatch- Rep, introduced a bill, that President Bush signed one month ago, that will start a US DNA data base. The bill says they can start taking DNA from infants at birth, immediately.

Some quick snippets are : One health care expert and prominent critic of DNA screening is Twila Brase, president of the Citizens' Council on Health Care who has written a detailed analysis (PDF) of the new law in which she warns that it represents the first program of populationwide genetic testing.
Brase states that S.1858 and H.R. 3825, the House version of the bill, will:
Establish a national list of genetic conditions for which newborns and children are to be tested.
Establish protocols for the linking and sharing of genetic test results nationwide.
Build surveillance systems for tracking the health status and health outcomes of individuals diagnosed at birth with a genetic defect or trait.
Use the newborn screening program as an opportunity for government agencies to identify, list, and study "secondary conditions" of individuals and their families.
Subject citizens to genetic research without their knowledge or consent.

Senator Ron Paul has come out to say this is unethical and unconstitutional. The senate voted unanimously on it. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?tab=main&bill=s110-1858#votes
The March of Dimes has come out in support of it. http://www.marchofdimes.com/aboutus/22684_28048.asp
These people support it but the real question is; How comfortable with it are you? And Why didn't they give us the option to opt in or opt out?

Now for some fun questions:
Why isn't the media going crazy over this?? This is fresh meat. Bush signed it!
Where is the ACLU when we really need them??

To get the full article just click on the title of my "article".

Wordless Wednesday

How C&G spent the blizzard of '08

Sorry so late, Updates!

Let me start out by saying all of your prayers have been appreciated and have helped so much! My cousin was released from the hospital the day after my last blog! She is on the same heart meds as my 70 year old Grandmother, but she and Tallia are doing well!!!! The doctors decided to release her after her heart was able to behave for a 2days straight. The meds she currently is on shouldn't harm Tallia either. We are all so happy! Unfortunately, because of the heart condition, my cousin cannot go into labor. They have told her it will kill her. So at the end of March, I believe, they will do a C-section for Tallia. She will be a couple weeks early, but they have determined that she is very healthy and it shouldn't harm her at all. So ,for now, my cousin and her unborn daughter are enjoying lots of rest and relaxation. Thank God for modern medicine!!!

Now, the reason I haven't updated in a while was the morning after my cousin was released from the hospital The Other Half had ACL surgery. We were so naive to think he would be up and moving by the weekend, WRONG! He was having allot of fun trying to steady himself on crutches as he hobbled his was to the bathroom with me right at his heel ready to catch him at a moments notice. Well, I was going to try to catch him, anyway.... So for the last couple of weeks I have been nursemaid and mom. Exhausting! C has been great. She has been on her best behavior. G on the other hand.....After 4days he found out all daddy could do was yell at him from the couch when he was misbehaving. Man that kid is smart! He would continue being naughty until I came around a corner and then it was Stop! Drop! and Run! It was an adventure I will tell you that.

Even though he was laid up The Other Half managed to hobble to G's first big Psychologist meeting. It was our first meeting with the Doc so it was just grown ups. It was so nice to have him there. He remembered to mention things about G that I had grown accustomed to, but aren't "typical" behaviors. He also had things to say about how G is around him that is different from his time spent with me. So it was a good meeting. We both came out of the meeting feeling hopeful. I am feeling overwhelmingly hopeful that this woman will help point all of us in the right direction. Her testing will be done tomorrow afternoon and then March the 12th we will find out the results. We will know whether our son has high functioning Autism, like preliminary test have shown, or is just ADHD and slightly delayed. This will also help the school, and us, decide which schools in the district he should attend for Kindergarten and what programs are available to him. We are so scared to send him to Kindergarten next year, but these tests will help to ease some of that. It's yet another life line we have been given during his dimly lit journey. Thank God for it!

My highly injured Other Half also managed to shock me with a surprise birthday party last month! I was completely floored! I had no idea! It was so sweet. He managed to get about 8 of our friends to brave a snowstorm and eat Mexican with us for my bday. They all worked together to make it so special, it was so sweet. My friend Mimi came up with some party games, Other Half bought a round of Margaritas, and we all just chatted, sang If you Like Pina Coladas, then we made wishes. Mimi had collected milk weed pods over the summer and was trying to think of something to do with them. So she came up with this great idea that we would all take one, go out side of the restaurant, open them, blow the fluff out and wish as it flew into the snow flake filled air. The pictures she took turned out so cool! I will have to get them from her and post them. After that we finished the night with lots of hugs and car donuts in the snow covered parking lot!

To all of you out there, again, thank you soososososososos very much for your prayers on behalf of my cousin they are truly working.

Vacation Over, Update on My Cousin

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, we flew out of the States on Thursday and headed to the UK for the Other Half’s gig. We arrived on Friday in the Uk. We hung out with friends. The gig went great on Saturday. We headed down to London on Sunday. Then we were on a flight out of the UK around 7am their time, which would have been something like, 2am our time! Yuck! Needless to say I am jet lagged. I will blog on our vacation tomorrow and give pic. I am so tired that this will be more of a summary piece today.

First off, thank you all for your prayers for my cousin and her daughter. They are both still stable. As I posted I visited with her briefly last Tuesday. She was doing better. Well, Wednesday evening her heart started to spike again. I guess they were giving her oral meds that are easier on the baby and hoping that would be enough to get her heart back to normal. Well, it wasn't enough and it started to spike again. So, they had to bring in the University Hospital to consult and it was decided that they should give her intravenous drugs. That helped but it's not so good for Tallia, the baby. They took an ultra sound of Tallia and her weight is a little over 2lbs. There was talk of giving my Cousin a c-section because it would save Tallia, but the chances were not favorable for my cousin. Hearing this, my mom called some ladies from our prayer group and they weren't down immediately to pray for my cousin, Amanda and Tallia. Amanda wept and thanked them immensely for praying for her and the baby. As of Friday she had stabilized, some what. From what I understand there is still a possibility for a C-section if Amanda should go into some form of arrest. Amanda is so scared of dying. And we all know that Tallia's chances aren’t that great either. So please continue to pray. Their situation is still touch and go. I am hopping to go down and visit her today. They don't allow a phone in her room, so I can't call and talk to her personally. I am appreciating all of you thoughts and prayers. Many thanks!

Wordless Wednesday

A rare Mommy and Daddy get away!

Yet Another Update

Visited with my Cuz for a very very short bit. She said the Drs. think she always had something wrong with her heart but the pregnancy exasurbated it. She said the meds she is on finally feel like they are working. She said her heart beat kept going up to 245 yesterday. The baby ,little Tallia , is, in my cousins words, " doing well, for now." My poor cousin looks so tired. I can tell she is worried aobut her little girl. Please continue the prayers.
Thanks

Cousin Update

My cousin is still in the hospital. My sister,the nurse, said our cousin is still touch and go. They are having trouble with regulating her heart beat. It keeps racing to 200. On top of that, they found out she has pnemonia. I haven't heard any word on the baby. My cousin is 7months pregnant. I am going to see her in a few short hours.
Please continue your prayers. They are greatly appreciated.

Prayers Please!!

My cousin who is 26yrs old and pregnant had several heart attacks last night! She is NOT over weight. She does not have a history of heart problems. The doctors have not determined how many heart attacks that she had last night, but they seem sure it was more than one. From what I know the baby is ok and my cousin is concious. Last I heard the Drs. are trying to find out what might have caused this and how to prevent anotherone. My cousins mom is snowed in at her home in Colorado and is hoping she can get a flight into our state by midnight. Then my cousins dad is in Florida and is hopping on the soonest flight. Thank God for my sister the nurse. She is currently at the hospital with our cousin. She is reading charts and graphs and talking to Doctors.
Please pray for my cousin, her baby, and her parents. Her parents are just beside themselves and trying to get to her ASAP.
Thank you in advanced!

Monday Munchies

Most of you who have been reading my blog know that my son G is on a special diet that helps to curb his Sensory Processing Disorder. G is on a low/no gluten diet. Having one person in the house on a special diet can present problems for the chief of the house. Many of the gluten free products taste "funny" to the gluten loving palette. Not to muntion that gluten free is not cheap! So I am always on the look out for a good middle ground. I have found that in Gillian's Foods Gluten Free Pizza Dough. You can find it almost any health food store. I purchase mine at Whole Foods. It runs about $5, but it is a dough the whole family can enjoy. You treat it as you would any other frozen pizza dough. Even though it is gluten free, wheat free, and lactos free it tastes "normal". So for those of you with a family member or a friend in need of a yummy gluten free, wheat free, lacotos free food. I highly recommend Gillians Pizza dough, not just for them to enjoy, but everyone else as well!

Bon Appetit!

Lost

Oh my gosh! Lost is good again! I think I almost bit off all of my finger nails! Many I wish it were next thursday already! Darn you Lost! Darn you! Any one have any guesses as to what is going to/has happened?

Great Websites

I came across some great websites recently. There is this new website called zafu.com. They promise to "Find your perfect Jeans, pants, & Bras in 3 minutes." You take a mini quiz about your body shape and voila they pop out the Jean, Pant, or Bras that would best fit you. I took the Jeans quiz and it was on the money. Some of my favorite types of jeans were on the list. So if you like shopping online, or would just like to stream line your shopping trip this website can help you out.

For those of us who admire many a celebs star style ,but not the price tag, there is fashionunder100.blogspot.com/. She dublicates celebrity outfits for under $100. She comes up with some amazing stuff. I believe she updates it daily.

Now I am currently getting ready for an awards dinner in the Uk. So I have been scowering the internet for easy hair dos. Because this is a formal function I have been looking for something that will look great with my dress and that I can do my self. Two sites nexxus.com and fordmodels on youtube just might be the answer to my prayers. They have easy do's with lots of instruction. So if any of you, or someone you know, needs a glamours style done fast and at home, I highly recommend these.

Lastly, with election season in full gear glassbooth.org/ can help you figure out which canadate best represents your views. It not only tells you the top 3 canadates that are compatable to you , it gives you their answers to the same questions you answered. It is a very informative site.

With that I am off! It is time to put a little sick guy down for a nap. If I'm lucky I will get one too! ;)

Made it out Alive!

The other half doesn't travel for work as much as he use to. However, when he does he is usually gone for 5days or more. Those times when I am left on my own with C & G give me a renewed appreciation for having a partner in parenting! Last week He left for his BIG annual work conference. He was gone about 6days. By day two I was at home with two children that were crying for daddy at the drop of a hat and not hesitating to call me a "Bad mom." I had to tell them that," If making them clean their room, do their homework, eat their dinner, or stop fighting, made me a "bad mother", then yes I was." *Sigh* The life of a "single" parent. I wish I could say the days got better but they didn't. G's ticks were in over drive. He was repeating things more than normal, which was starting to drive me mad. It made me appreciate how nice it is to be able to tell G,"Go ask your dad." When his repetition of the same question or spelling word has got me to my breaking point. But alas, I just had to suck it up. It is also nice to have someone to help C with her homework while I am helping G with something, or visa versa. My hats off to you Single Mom's, you are amazing!
Thank God for good friends. I was able to get out for a few hours on Tuesday night and go to a bible study at my friends house. She has a 13year old son that she allowed to babysit for me. I had figured I would pick Joel up at 6, he would babysit at my house from 6:30-10pm and I would run him home. Well bless his parents heart, they called me before I picked Joel up and said they wanted to "serve" me by picking Joel up after bible study, that way I wouldn't have to wake the kids up and drag them out into the cold! How sweet! It was sooo sooo very nice of them and it made my life so much easier.
Well Sunday evening came and the Other Half arrived home to big hugs all around. The kids were relieved to see someone other than me and I was relieved to have reinforcements. It is amazing how much of a difference 2 parents make. It is so nice to have another person there to pick up the slack when you need a break or if the kids do, even if the break is for 5minutes.
To all the single parents out there, you are amazing. You deserve a medal. I have all the respect in the world for you!

Simplicity

What is this? This is no ordinary cardboard box. This is The Dream House! How beautiful is it that children look at this and see potential?! All I had to do was cut 2 windows and 1 door. They did the rest. What you can see is flowers drawn on the top and sides. Every dream house needs a garden, right? On the inside C and G drew furniture and animals. After they were done decorating they christened their new home "The Dream House". How beautiful. "Be it every so humble, there is no place like home!"