My Purple Brick Road

Foto-Friday

2012-02-17T01:41:00.000-08:00

This edition of Foto-Friday comes from Tyson. We took a walk a couple of weeks ago (because the weather in St. Louis has been unseasonably warm) and Tyson took some photos. Sit back and enjoy the world through my 9 year old's eyes:

And one more when we got home:

Books of the Month

2012-02-16T01:17:00.000-08:00

In the basket (behind these, We have too many books. Well, okay. You can't really ever have too. many. books.

But we have more than our basic storage can handle. To solve this, I put the seasonal and holiday books into a box in the basement.

Each month, I take out books that go with upcoming holidays, seasonal changes, etc., and I put them in our Book Basket. I wanted to briefly share the book we have out for February:

Yes, yes, I know that Valentine's Day is over, but we like to celebrate all month long!

I the basket behind these, I also tucked a few books for President's Day. Those have been moved to the front of the basket so that they're better featured. But those Valentine's books are still there!

What are you reading this month?

What's in the Binder? - February Edition

2012-02-15T10:26:00.000-08:00

This is THE BINDER.

As we beef up Riley's home education, I pulled out my old grad school binder (what? I'm a creative-type...) and filled it with activities for him. I used a binder because I also use many of these activities with my music therapy students at work, and I like having it all together. And, the portable nature of the binder means that I can keep Riley occupied (without pulling out the iPhone/iPad/digital babysitter) at one of Ty's scout meetings etc., should the need arise.

I pack the binder full of stuff for a month. The month of February is all about Valentine's Day. Who cares if the holiday comes & goes before the month is over? We celebrate the whole month long.

So, you might be wondering: what's in the binder?

A puzzle. It's made of hearts of graduating sizes, so we can also practice lining them up from smallest to biggest & vice-versa. (I think I made this during my clinical internship. It seems like a long time ago, though I'm sure it's only been a few years!)

This goes with a song I wrote about a valentine's card. The song asks the child to count how many hearts are in the card.

I put magnets on the back of the hearts and use this activity with my trust cookie sheet.

Hearts of various colors and sizes. These can be used in a hundred different ways, but mostly I use them with a song that was written by a music therapy intern I worked with years ago. It targets receptive color identification, but we've also used these for color matching, following directions and concepts such as big/little.

Lacing cards. I just printed Valentine related pictures, laminated them and punched holes in them. Right now Riley is just working on the fine motor skill of lacing, but next year we'll use these for copying laced patterns.

Ah, buttons. I saw this idea here, I didn't make mine fancy because we will retire the hearts and use a different shape next month. I also cut the button "holes" pretty generously this month. The slits will get smaller as Riley gets better at buttoning.

Pattern cards and pattern/counting/sorting manipulatives I got from Scholastic. Riley is just beginning to complete patterns, so we're using the simplest cards, but they get pretty challenging later on!

"One Heart" book. I made some pieces to go with this. I'll share them later in the month.

I also included the V printable pack from Confessions of a Homeschooler. If you haven't checked out her site, you should. It's my go-to resource when I don't have time to make my own.

Love is in the Air...

2012-02-14T05:14:00.000-08:00

That's a Winner!

2012-02-13T05:21:00.000-08:00

Tyson won third place in his division of this year's Pinewood Derby!

We are parents who believe that the kids should make their cars, and it's odd that we always see cars that were clearly done mostly by the parents. I have even heard of dads who work with CAD machines doing their sons' cars at work! Every year, Tyson draws the design he wants for the shape of his car. Matt & I only help with things like cutting with the saw, spray painting and the final assembly - you know, the parts that are a bit too dangerous or difficult for him. But Ty decides where the weights will go, what shape the car will have, what the paint job will look like, etc.

We were so happy for Tyson, and he was shocked and over the moon about winning a trophy! (Remember that for a kid with special needs, this type of success comes rarely and usually with HUGE effort, so this was monumental in his young life.)

I though I would share a few pictures from the evening. You can tell from his expression that he is full of joy!

I Spy...

2012-02-12T05:59:00.000-08:00

Again, with the 2012 Goals, we are doing some great new things. One of the goals was to improve Riley's home education. He now has "homework" every day after preschool that we do together. Since Tyson gets homework time with me, I thought it was only right that Riley should, too.

Whenever possible, I make fun things that Tyson might enjoy as well. This is an example.
It's our "I Spy" jar.

I filled it with pink rice (using a fantastic tutorial I found here), as well as a variety of little doodads. Since this is February and we are all about Valentines, I chose items that were pink, red, or otherwise Valentine related.

I made the rice, and collected the items. I took photos of all the objects so that the kids would know what to look for. Then I filled a re-purposed spaghetti sauce jar, alternating rice with a few objects, back to rice... in small amounts until it was almost full. I added a pretty ribbon, and just tacked the lid down with hot glue. Most tutorials tell you to glue the lid down, but I want to change this monthly, so I just temporarily tacked it in three places.

After the jar was done, I printed out the pictures. I printed small versions of them so that they would fit into a laminated matchbook pocket that I made to keep them all together.

I also wrote 1-2 word descriptions of each item on the picture because it's never too early to expose kids to print.

I did not laminate the pictures because we won't need them again. They only need to last a month, and then I'll be subbing in new items and pictures.

I finished it up by sticking a small self-adhesive magnet to the back of my folder so that it will (hopefully) always be with the jar. The magnet sticks to the lid (and also explains why I made such small pictures).

This has been very popular with the boys, and it was incredibly inexpensive. I made it using only items and materials we already had around the house.

I Love the Mitts!

2012-02-11T12:13:00.000-08:00

...and I'm not talking about the GOP primary candidate. (That would be a different post... On a different blog... Because although I am very politically opinionated, I don't do that here...)

No, I'm talking about mitts, gauntlets, wrist warmers, fingerless gloves.

I think I'm addicted to knitting them.

Seriously.

It's bad.

I knit five (5) pairs during December and January. That is a record for me. It started with my need to have warm hands for work in November. Then Riley wanted a pair. And then I thought "Hey, they knit up so quickly and are so fun to make that I should make some for my niece's Christmas gift." It was pretty much all over after that.

Rather than stop after each one to share what I had made, I kept launching straight into another pair. So I thought I would recap the many pairs of fingerless mitts here in one post.

These were for my lovely niece, Morgan.

These were for my lovely (new) sister-in-law, Angie.

I liked Angie's so much, I knit a pair for myself.

These were for Riley (3yo), who I cannot get to sit still long enough to model.

These were Tyson's (who does sit still to model).


This was a pair I made in November. I also did a scarf to match.

How do you keep warm in the winter?

Acts of Love

2012-02-11T09:50:00.000-08:00

As you might already know from my Goals-2012 post, we are working on making our family more Christ centered. One way that we are doing that is by having a monthly theme that involves ongoing discussion and learning. I have chosen themes that also tie into holidays, seasons, etc.

What do you think of when you read the word February?

I think of hearts, candy, flowers and most importantly, love.

So, our theme for this month is "We Love..."

The main focus of this theme is to do an act of love for someone (inside or outside of our home) every day. Our pantry door is a great place to post family projects and lessons, so this is where we are tracking. It started like this:

I created a display using a variety of scriptures concerning love. We read these regularly and talk about each one means.

Then I made this:

That there is a jar of 112 construction paper hearts. There are four of us and 28 days in February. I have challenged my family (myself included) to do an act of love for someone every single day.

Each afternoon/evening as people filter in from their various days at work, school and preschool, we talk about what act of love they did that day. We then write it on one of the hearts and post it on the door.

This gives us an opportunity to learn about the many ways we can be a blessing to people by doing things for them out of love. It can be as simple as opening a door for someone who has their hands full, to leaving a nice note for someone, to saying you're sorry without being told (which is kind of big with my three year old right now). We talk about how we do things for others out of brotherly (or sisterly) love, and that we don't expect anything in return.

The purpose of posting them is not to be proud of ourselves (in fact, I write on all the hearts and we don't put names on who did what). It is so that we can see how easy it is to be a blessing to so many people in such a short amount of time. And yes, it is nice to look at that display and feel good about learning to love others the way that Christ does.

We are 11 days into the month, and this is what our door looks like today:

If you're keeping count, we are a bit behind. A couple of people sort of forgot in the business of their days, but we will be doing extra acts of love - this is a month long project.

How do you learn about acts of love?

Kids Say, part 2

2012-01-28T09:56:00.000-08:00

At breakfast this morning, Matt & I were discussing Instagram. (I'm keowdie, by the way.) We both love to share photos there, and were talking about some of the people we follow. The word "follow" was said quite a lot during this conversation (e.g. "Do you follow her? You should follow her," "I also follow him on Twitter. He's funny," and "who is that? Did they follow you back?")

All at once, Riley (my three year old preschooler) jumps into the conversation and says,"We learned about that at school."

We stopped and looked at him, and I said, "You learned about what at school? Instagram? Taking pictures?"

"No," he said. "We learned about following. We learned to follow God."

Good Heavens, I love talking with my kids!

Kids Say...

2012-01-26T17:37:00.001-08:00

A conversation that took place at dinner tonight:

Matt: Riley, I hear a lot of playing at the table. I should hear a lot of nom-nomming. Eat up. (makes loud smacky chewing noises)

Tyson: Dad, you shouldn't chew with your mouth open. That's what they call 'chewing like a cow.'

Matt: Did you just correct an adult?

Tyson: um... (looks at me for rescue)

Matt: Ty, you could have at least said it nicer. That sounded very rude.

Tyson: Okay. I'm sorry. (brief pause) Dad, could you PLEASE not CHEW like a COW?

Well, at least he said "please," right?

Tantrum, Explained

2012-01-14T01:37:00.000-08:00

How do you know that your three year old's tantrum was likely caused by a too-busy day and an overtired kiddo?

You send him to his room, and later find him like this:

Greetings

2012-01-11T01:24:00.000-08:00

Well, I added another goal to my 2012 list.

I will send special occasion and birthday cards, in the mail, to the people we love.
Because I sorta forgot several people, sent out several late, and just generally mucked it up last year.

Once upon a time, I loved making greeting cards for people. Store-bought cards are fantastic, but I really like sending a birthday wish that has a little extra love and time put into it.

Over time, life got busy, "need to's" got in the way, and I stopped making them. I turns out, that I still love making these personalized greetings. I recently had a few minutes an made a couple of cards for January birthdays.

How do you wish the ones you love a happy birthday?

Let's Take a Walk, part 2

2012-01-08T05:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I posted some of the pictures that Riley took on our Photo Walk. Today I thought I'd share some of my photos from that walk.

It's rare that we get even one January day with weather nice enough to be outside (without being bundled like a polar bear), but we've had nearly a week of these lovely days!

Let's Take a Walk

2012-01-07T12:44:00.000-08:00

Every now and then, we like to take what we call a "Photo Walk." We get our cameras and set off into the world to find some interesting things to capture. The only rule is that you can't set up photos ops. You can only take pictures of things you find, exactly as you find them. As we are walking and clicking, we talk about finding beauty in the world, about this beautiful world God has created and whatever else comes up.

I love going through the photos later and seeing what the boys found interesting or beautiful on our walk.

Riley and I took one just around our neighborhood today, and I'm sharing some of his photos here. Check back tomorrow for some of my photos.

How do you find beauty in your world?

Happy New Year

2012-01-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Well, I might be a little late on this, but I think I have updated and revised my goals for 2012 about a bajillion times. My list is done, and I am posting it because I need the accountability. I'm planning to post monthly updates on these goals.

Without further ado:

I will continue to center our family on Christ.
We've come a long way, but still have far to go.

I will improve consistency with routines in our home.
By this, I mean that I often forget to do things like pay allowances, do monthly chores, support my kids to follow their own routines, and the like.

I will improve the beauty of our home.
Did I mention that after 11 years in our home, we still have a bare light bulb and shades but now curtains on the windows of the master bedroom?

I will read three books on ADHD.
Can you ever really learn enough about your kid's disability?

I will prepare emergency supplies and plans for our home and family.
It's been months since we did a fire drill, tornado drill or watched Safeside Sally talk about stranger safety. Also, if I do get stuck in my car during a blizzard, I will have to crawl into my guitar case to keep warm and sustain myself on Extra sugar-free gum.

Write at least 3 blog posts each week.
Writing is good. Pictures are good. These things are especially good when I post them where family and friends can see them.

I will lose 10 pounds.
Why not? I lose my car keys all the time! Seriously, I accidentally gained a few pounds since miscarrying a month ago. You know, because I've been eating my way through the grieving process the way corn worms eat through a big juicy cob. I feel icky and I'm pretty sure that's not helping me get through this.
Since I'm a music therapist working in special education, I do, of course, have benchmarks for each goal. I don't think I'll bore you with all of those, but you can be sure I'll be posting about each as I complete it!

So, what are your goals for 2012? Leave them in the comments or link to your post. I would love to see what everyone is doing!

Hustle and Bustle

2011-12-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

The hustle and bustle seems to be going on all around me right now. But it just doesn't feel like Christmas to me. This may be due, in part, to the fact that it has not snowed yet here in St. Louis. And we're experiencing balmy temperatures in the mid to upper 40's (maybe even a 50 this weekend???).

But there's more to it than that. I'm just not really feeling it this year. I think I fell off my horse. My Christmas horse. Or maybe it was a reindeer. Whatever, I fell off this year. Here's why I say this:

~I haven't baked one cookie, brownie or other holiday treat.

~I got as far as putting up and decorating the Christmas tree with my family. All the other decorations are still in their boxes. In my garage. Where they will stay. (Except for the stockings, which will probably be located at 2am on Christmas morning following a frantic search through lights, tinsel and fake evergreen stuff. And only because the children will be disappointed if they're not filled.)

~I have been playing Christmas music in our home, but instead of working with the boys to come up with a fantastic playlist, I'm letting Pandora Radio do that for me.

~I haven't sent any Christmas cards out yet. Given that Christmas is in four days, I'm thinking I won't be sending cards this year.

~I haven't done any Christmas crafting (which is like Santa going on the Atkins Diet & giving up cookies).

~I just started a couple of hand knit gifts for family members. Three days ago.

Yikes. Our Christmas isn't exactly a Hallmark Holiday Feature, is it?

I'm still adjusting to life as the mom of a baby who is already in Heaven. Emotionally and physically, since my body seems to be slow on the uptake (especially in the waistline area). Family stuff and work are keeping me overly busy, and there's just not enough time, energy or me to add all the holiday hustle and bustle. In years past, I would have been ~~completely freaking out~~ wrought with guilt over these holiday transgressions.

But this year I'm not. I think I'm finally getting some perspective. Out of necessity, I'm weeding out the superfluous stuff and just going with the stuff that is really important. And I am so. not. stressed. about it. I am chill.

I stumbled upon a great blog post this morning that perfectly sums up my thoughts and feelings.
Hop on over to Life as Mom and see if you can find some helpful perspective in amongst all this hustle and bustle.

Are you cutting back, giving up, or altering any of your usual holiday activities?

How We Study

2011-12-12T13:35:00.000-08:00

Now that Ty is in third grade, they have tests. Real tests. Over subjects like science and social studies. For a kid with ADHD, this is tough. He actually learns very little during the day at his public school. Most of what he learns is what we study at home.

I like to call it "Home Schooling in an Hour a Day."
(Yeah... don't get me started. That is a topic for another post.)

We use a multisensory approach to learning around here. I thought I would share some of the things we do to assist in learning.

Movies. I make movies and PowerPoint (or KeyNote, since we are a Mac family) presentations that cover the content of the current unit. I usually download images using Google Image Search. I also include narration as well as print. I use text to emphasize the most important words. Sometimes I draw my own diagrams or pictures to illustrate a concept. I use the computer's built in camera or my iPhone camera to snap a photo of the drawing. This simulates a direct teaching session without me actually having to cover the material daily. He can watch the movie on his own, an then we do one of the following activities together.

Little Questions: We do this for all subjects. I leave a little question or math problem written on the bathroom mirror/sliding glass door/window in his room in dry erase marker. The next time Ty passes by, he sees it and solves the problem or answers the question. Then I check it and either write a happy response (if he got it right), or I call him in to discuss the error (if he got it wrong). We also have a small white board that I put questions or problems on and leave in the most peculiar places. He might find it tucked into his underwear drawer, in the refrigerator, rubber banded to the box of cereal, on the shelf where he keeps his Nintendo DS, etc. He writes his answer and brings it to me to check. Usually, when I put it where a leisure or fun item is stored, I have confiscated the fun item so that he must answer the question and bring it to me in order to get that item. He gets it as long as he answers the question to the best of his ability and with a good attitude.

Quiz cards: Ty's teacher sends home a study guide for all science and social studies tests. I make flash cards with a question on one side & the answer on the other. He will look through them on his own and then I quiz him aloud. To make this a more sensory friendly activity, we usually do the quizzing while taking a walk, or while Ty fidgets on his rocker board, etc.

Jokes and Examples: People learn best when learning is fun. People also learn best when concepts can be related back to real life. In all of the materials I make for Ty, I try to include examples that he can easily relate to, and things that make him smile. For example, in a recent science test, he had to name three living things and three nonliving things. The examples I put on the flash card for nonliving things was "rock, paper, scissors."

Games: I make lots of games up for curriculum content. It goes back to that whole "learning should be fun" thing. Currently, we are using a game I call "Jump To" for science. This unit covers carnivores, herbivores, consumers, producers, etc. I took several sheets of scrap paper and wrote the name of one animal on each one. Then I spread them out on the floor of our living room and give instructions like, "Jump to a carnivore," or "Tippytoe to an omnivore." when he starts to learn the information, we play in rounds, where I take turns following his directions, too. He tells me if I'm right or wrong. I purposely get some of them wrong, and when I do, he has to tell me why I'm wrong and what the correct answer would have been in order to "steal" that point from me.

When these aren't enough: I add an extra layer of sensory input. Tyson is what we in the special education community might call a "pressure junkie." He fidgets, jumps, crashes into my [poor] furniture, etc. in an attempt to gain pressure sensations into his nerves. So, adding support objects such as weighted blankets or lap pads, rolling him up tightly in a big blanket, sitting on a big fitness ball, etc. help him stop fidgeting enough to focus. We also do things like "pushes," where we stand facing each other, touch hands in front and he pushes on me. He gets these as a reinforcer for working hard or getting a really tough question right. His goal is to push on my hands with enough force to make me step backwards. He also recently learned to stand on his head (while leaning against a wall) so I will often quiz him or take dictation for a writing assignment while he's upside down. I know it sounds crazy, but he is so calm and still, and he just seems to focus and think better that way.

Of course, sometimes I can do all this and he's still climbing the walls. When this happens, I just go with it. My dad just about had a heart attack when he saw the picture below, but as the mother of a child with ADHD, I have to be
Flexible-Go-With-The-Flow-And-Do-Whatever-We-Need-To-Get-The-Task-Done-Mom.

So, this is how Tyson studied for his science test last week. I quizzed him, and he pretty much stayed this way the whole time.

So, how do you help your kids study for tests?

It All Changes in One Moment

2011-12-10T09:24:00.000-08:00

Over the last week, I have had much to contemplate, much to commit to prayer.

The one thing that shocks me the most is how much everything can change in just one moment. Sometimes that change is a good one, like when you find out that you are pregnant. We experienced that type of change-in-a-moment in October. We hadn't been trying, in fact I was on the pill. But during a week when my husband was out of town, I realized in the busyness of "single-parent-duty" that something was up with me. I took the test, and in that moment - that very second - when two lines appeared, everything changed.

My family - We became a family of five.

My older son - He became the oldest son.

My younger son - He became the middle son.

My husband - He became the father of three children.

Me - I became the mother of three children.

Our home - It became a smaller house that needed some serious reorganizing.

Our cars - My SUV is big enough, but my husband's car will not seat two car seats and a booster.

The importance of my career - It became something to consider even more earnestly than before.

Our budget - It became a wee bit smaller (only a wee bit, see why here).

My To-Do list - It grew exponentially and suddenly included tasks like locating and unpacking hand-me-downs, thinking about baby names, knitting baby items.

It was such a surprise - a great big, joyful, awesome blessing of a surprise!

I waited four days until Hubby got home, and I told him. I attached an additional towel hook to the wall in the bathroom and waited for him to notice upon his return. He was shocked. Ecstatic. A little worried about finances, but so happy.

I visited the doctor for an ultrasound. We got a picture of a little splotch. I went back & got a new picture; the splotch had grown. I went back again & got yet another picture; the splotch had grown again and now had a heartbeat. We saw the flutter and a wiggle on the screen, and my heart leaped with joy. I grew a little bump and started making little accommodations in my wardrobe and my job.

And we told people. Our parents and siblings; our sons; friends; people we work with. All celebrated with us.

And then,

ten weeks and six days after that first moment of change...

we experienced another moment...

and it changed everything.

I went to the doctor for a routine visit on December 2. I went alone, you know, because it was a routine visit. We tried the external ultrasound, but there was "screening" and couldn't get a good image. So, we did the internal ultrasound. And it took one moment to see the thing I never expected to see.

My baby had grown - I expected that.

My baby looked like a baby - I expected that.

My baby had no heartbeat.

I did not expect that. I was not prepared for that.

There was no wiggle. No flutter. just a very still, very small baby.

My doctor was wonderful. He explained some things which I don't really remember now, and he sent me down the hall to the women's clinic in the hospital for a "check of life."

The technician was very kind. I think I was the only one who really needed to see a third ultrasound to confirm and fully comprehend what was happening. Looking back on the day, I think I was the only one who had doubts, who thought there must be something wrong with the machine.

The technician ran the fetal EKG, and I saw the flat line. And all I could think was, "No. No. I felt the flutter of movement just a few days ago. This is not happening." And then I saw the look on the technician's face. And then I cried.

Although everything changed again, we have found that a few things remain the same... sort of.

My house still needs reorganizing.

My To-Do list is still too long.

The importance of my career is still something to consider.

We are still a family of five.

I am still the mother of three children:

Tyson is nine years old.

Riley is three years old.

Shalom is in Heaven.

I'll be posting more about how we are coping with our loss, where faith fits in and how we are honoring our baby's memory in future posts. Please leave a comment if you have experienced this loss or love someone who has. I am finding comfort in the stories, thoughts and prayers of others. I would love to hear from you.

Because of Jesus...

2011-11-28T16:21:00.000-08:00

...we have Hope.

Arise, shine, for your light has come,

and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth

and thick darkness is over the peoples,

but the Lord rises upon you

and his glory appears over you.

Nations will come to your light,

and kings to the brightness of your dawn.

~Isaiah 60:1-3

Celebrating the first week of waiting,

the first week of advent.

Advent

2011-11-27T13:15:00.000-08:00

Advent is almost here. Will you be celebrating?

We are doing some new things this year as we prepare for Christmas. We will be doing a weekly study of the Advent wreath. It is already made & posted on the pantry door.

Fancy, I know... some green construction paper and an old file folder.

And we've got some candles ready and waiting to be colored, cut out and glued to the wreath.

We have our Advent coloring books, which I printed (free) from here.

I found it a little difficult to find a free weekly study about Advent, so the lessons will be from a combination of sources.

We're also bringing back a tradition that we started last year.

This is our Jesse Tree. It's some branches from our Tulip tree in the back yard that we put in a vase of cotton balls. We keep it on the dining room table, and each night we read the devotional after dinner. The boys take turns hanging up each evening's ornament.

We unpacked the ornaments and devotional yesterday.

Last year was our first year with the Jesse Tree, and we loved it. You can download your own here for free. Many thanks to Ann Voskamp for sharing this beautiful resource.

How will you be celebrating Advent?

I'm back

2011-11-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

Hey, all. I've got a ton to share, first of which is that I've missed you. I've missed sharing things with you. Whether or not you've missed me is, I suppose, a question that hangs in the air. See, a while back I sort of withdrew from the whole blogosphere. I'm not sure why... I guess life got busy... but, I stopped posting and I stopped reading. Except for a few of my favorites.

One that I've mostly kept up with is smockityfrocks.com. That Smockity is funny and wise; she makes me laugh and teaches me something new every day. She is the kind of writer whom you start to feel like you actually know her after you follow her for a while. You just know that if you bumped into her in the grocery store, you'd absolutely want to be her best friend!

Right now, she has a fantastic giveaway that you absolutely must check out. Vision Forum is giving away some gift certificates through her blog. If you haven't heard of Vision Forum, you should definitely check out their site. It's a great source for Christian books. I receive the catalog in the mail, and I can tell you that I'm so excited to get it... I think I must know how my sweet grandmother used to feel when the Sears and Roebuck catalog came.
So, be sure to check out this link:

http://www.smockityfrocks.com/2011/11/600-vision-forum-giveaway.html

for chances to win.

Another blog that I have continued to lurk on is A Holy Experience. Ann helps me stay grounded and helps me remember to slow down and make time for my Father. Okay, she also makes me think that I might like to sell our belongings and move to the middle of nowhere to become a farmer, but that's only because her photographs are beautiful, her words are poignant and her quiet approach to faith is calming. We will be getting our Jesse Tree out this weekend. It's our second year, and I can't wait. You should check out her blog when you get a chance.

I've got more news and thoughts to share, so check back soon!

I Want to Blog

2011-10-09T10:38:00.001-07:00

I really do. I want to blog daily. But I have such a hard time finding, well... the time. I don't know how others manage it. But I am still here, journeying down this purple brick road.

Little Visitors

2011-08-07T04:00:00.000-07:00

We have more visitors around here!

Last weekend, Riley was out "helping" his dad in the yard, when he heard a strange sound. Of course, he went to investigate and found a bird's nest in the seed spreader that we keep under our deck. One bird had hatched and was cheeping for his momma.

By the next day, three more had hatched. They were so cute! (and they reminded me of my own children, what with all the "I'm hungry," all the time...)

We kept an eye on the nest all week, and in what seemed like a very short time, the birds had gone and the nest was empty. Riley was quite disappointed when he realized that the birdies had gone, but it gave us a great opportunity to talk about how God has a plan for each of us... Even those little birdies.

Mrs. Magnificent

2011-08-05T04:00:00.000-07:00

Mrs. Magnificent has emerged!

About 15 days after she went into her cocoon, we noticed that it had slightly changed color. The off white stripes were more of a yellow, and the light brown looked a bit more orange.

About three hours later, I heard a ruckus in the kitchen and (initially thinking I was going to have to break up a WWE Smackdown-style fight between the boys) was pleasantly surprised to find them excitedly looking into the cage. Mrs. Magnificent had emerged and was patiently drying her wings.

We waited a bit and then put her outside in the flower bed. She stayed for a bit, and then flew off.

The boys loved this experience so much that I promised them that we will look for caterpillars and do this again next year. It gave us a great opportunity to talk about the amazing things that God does in our world. And, I have to admit that I thought it was fun too!

Survivor Corn and Other Oddities

2011-08-03T04:30:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed the odd stuff you find in the kitchen?

Like when you open the refrigerator and find two Matchbox cars floating in an uncovered dish of yogurt and maple syrup?

No? That's just me? Oh, well that's embarrassing.

Well I've discovered a couple of interesting things (not perpetrated by my children) this week.

First up is the survivor corn. You know how you always here on TV and read in books about the will of living things to survive? Usually it's a story about a dog that lived for three weeks with it's head caught in a jar, or a bear rescuing her cubs from a flood or something.

Did you know that corn apparently also has a great survival instinct? Matt brought home some corn from a local farm, and as I was shucking it, I found this.

That's a piece of buckshot. Based on the way the kernels grew nicely around the lead, I'm guessing it ended up there early on in it's development. Probably the result of dove hunters.

But did this corn just wither up and die of a gun shot wound? No it did not. It showed remarkable will to survive, and incorporated the lead shot into its beauty.

I'm glad I discovered it before someone bit into it... Otherwise the buckshot might have ruined the beauty of somebody's smile!

In the same batch of corn, I found a "vanishing twin." Inside the husk of one ear of corn, I found this little anomaly.

It is the start of another ear of corn. I showed the boys and when we peeled back the soft husk, we found out what corn looks like before its kernels grow into their crunchy, juicy yumminess.

And finally this week, I discovered that when you microwave a big bowl of milk (in preparation for making yogurt) it sometimes forms a crispy-looking film on top. This film gets all wrinkly and ripples from the slightest movement of the air around it.

You might already have known that, but I didn't. And the boys had fun fanning and blowing on the bowl of milk to make the ripples. Before I scraped it off (wherein we found that it's really not crispy, but is more goopy...) and finished the yogurt.

See, kids? Housework can be fun and exciting!

Laundry Bags

2011-08-01T09:44:00.000-07:00

I guess that technically every blog post could be titled, "Show and Tell," since the whole purpose is to show you pictures and tell about what's going on. But I am thinking about doing a semi-regular feature wherein I can show off some of my recent crafty goodness. Or "amazing feats" of cleaning and organization. Or (if I can figure out how to post videos) some of my recent educational music videos or podcasts. Or whatever I've recently done that bears mentioning.

I have to give a special thank you to my G-ma Alice for this one. She taught me how to sew. Thanks to G-ma, I understand the basics of sewing and construction and can usually find my way around my sewing machine. I am by no means good at sewing, but I can make basic items, Halloween costumes for my kids, and mend some things.

I don't have a permanent home for my sewing machine; all the stuff that seems to follow it around, so I usually wait until I have a list of things to sew. Then I haul it out and it lives on the end of my dining room table until:

I am completely stuck on a project and can go no further...
I am completely frustrated with a project and would rather eat it than try to finish it...
I can no longer stand the mess on the end of the table...
I have company or host dinner for one or more persons.

This go around, I've made sachets, worked on a quilt for Riley, and made laundry bags for our pop-up trailer.

Whenever we go camping, we always end up with no place to put the dirty clothes. Matt's clothes end up in a plastic shopping bag, mine end up going back into my bag (where I make a futile attempt to keep the clean ones separated from the dirty ones) and the boys' clothes end up in the strangest of places (like in the refrigerator, under the mattress, and mixed up with the pop tarts and cracker boxes).

My solution was to give everyone a dirty laundry bag. I went looking, but didn't find any that were priced an amount I was willing to pay. So I made some.

I have a big box of fabric scraps downstairs and actually found four pieces big enough for bags. Then, just for fun, I personalized each one. They are by no means fantastic, but aren't bad for my limited lessons and experience.

We ended up with fun laundry bags that cost me nothing, and taught me a bit about making up my own patterns and embellishments.

How to...

2011-07-21T04:00:00.000-07:00

...make mostly useful stuff from things you might normally throw out.

This week we are talking about fire starters. We enjoy pausing on our journey down the purple brick road to enjoy family camping trips and hunting seasons. One of the most important parts of camping is the camp fire, but sometimes its the most difficult part to get going. This is especially true when kindling is scarce or the wood is damp.

There are lots of different ways to make fire starters, and this one uses something that you normally throw in the trash:

That's right! It's your dryer lint!!! (And in our case a bit of dog hair. Sorry about that.) It's largely made up of cotton fibers. If you're a mom, it probably also includes shredded tissues, Legos, silly putty, paper clips, bugs and playground pea gravel. That's okay. Just do your best to pick the big stuff out.

WARNING:
Now, I should tell you that this project requires a stove, and involves the pouring of hot wax. Like, really hot, melted wax. In these situations, I find that a little common sense goes a long way, so please be very careful and keep kids at a safe distance for the more dangerous parts.

We used a cardboard egg carton, dryer lint and some candle wax. This wax was given to me (read: it was free), but you could also use the stuff that's left over from burnt up candles. Just scrape it out and save it.

I melted the wax in a soup can, using the ~~redneck~~ ~~hoosier~~ do-it-yourself double boiler method.

Meanwhile, the boys rolled pieces of lint into little balls. They placed these in each space of the egg carton.

I placed the linted egg carton onto a foil-covered cookie sheet, then poured the hot wax over the lint and into each little cup. (The wax is really hot, so the boys did not get to help with this step.)

I set them aside to let them cool for a good, long while.

All that's left to do is cut the sections apart and pack them away for our next several camping trips. If you are a super-prepared-for-anything type of person, you could also put a couple of these in a water tight bag with some matches in your 72 hour pack.

When it comes time to light the campfire, you just put one under your pile of kindling and light the cardboard. the lint acts like a wick and the wax gives you a flame that burns long enough to get a fire going.

Please always use caution around fires. You should only light a camp fire outdoors inside a cleared and ringed area with sand/water nearby. Never allow children to run or play around fires, and never, ever leave kids unattended around a fire. Especially if they are creative and adventurous boys with a unique curiosity and ability to challenge the laws of physics.

Remember the old commercial: "Smokey the Bear says only YOU can prevent forest fires."

A Visitor!

2011-07-16T04:00:00.000-07:00

We have a visitor currently residing in our kitchen!

Can you tell what it is?

It looks like a little stick or piece of wood. It used to be a greenish-brown caterpillar. And soon it will (hopefully) be a beautiful butterfly!

The boys named it Mrs. Magnificent. Although its been 10 days of waiting. and waiting. and waiting.

It's very hard to wait. I thought this type of caterpillar would pupate in a week, but now I'm thinking maybe its the variety that pupates for a month. So we could have more waiting in our near future. and waiting.
and waiting...

How to...

2011-07-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

...make useful items out of ordinary household byproducts.

I am all about saving money. I clip coupons; I shop sales; I insist that my family eat leftovers before they spoil; I enjoy garage sales and consignment shops; and I am all about reusing/re-purposing stuff. To me, one of the most important steps to saving money is to make use of what you already have, and to avoid waste whenever possible.

We here on the Purple Brick Road have been looking for new and interesting ways to reuse household byproducts that might normally be thrown out. Now, I'm not talking about going so far as to compost using human waste, or to stuff my sagging couch cushions with crinkly newspaper. But, I think I've got enough to make an interesting series, so this will be the first of several.

Today I'm talking air fresheners.

A couple of weeks ago, I cleaned out my spice cabinet. I ended up with a depressing amount of expired spices. And I don't mean "This expired last month," either. I'm talking about, "Ohmygosh, this container of cloves is older than my firstborn child!"

I absolutely hated the idea of just tossing all of those little plastic spice containers. So, I decided to re-purpose the them. (Confession time: I might have a ~~totally freakish and very serious problem~~ slight obsession with containers.) These are great little containers with different kinds of lids, perfect for bathtub and sandbox play, as well as sprinkling/containing glitter, small stickers, etc.

In order to make the emptying process faster, I got out my trusty trash bowl (read: a re-purposed margarine container) and started dumping. By the end of the project, I had lots of little containers for the boys... and a big bowl of yummy smelling spices that I couldn't cook with.

Coincidentally, I also recently cleaned out the boys' sock drawers, and I had a pile of mismatched and too-small socks.

So, I combined the two items and made sachets. I simply put a couple of large spoonfuls of the spices into each sock, then sewed the top closed just below the cuff. Then just to make them pretty, I tied the top of each with some ribbon remnants that I've been collecting pretty much forever.

I got a good number of sachets, and all it cost me was 45 minutes at my sewing machine.

These sachets were pretty potent, so I put one in each of my plastic shoe boxes, which I store in the garage, and which tend to acquire a certain aroma during summer months. I also dropped about four of them into Hubby's hockey bag, which wreaks so badly that it could probably be weaponized by the military and used as a weapon of mass destruction.

Not a bad use of items I almost threw in the trash. Stay tuned for some other money saving, re-purposing projects!

Bye-Bye Tonsils!

2011-07-11T17:25:00.001-07:00

Well, Riley is short two tonsils & some adenoids now. But he gained two tubes in his ears. His procedure was this morning at 10:00, and we are now hanging out in his room. His tonsils were HUGEMONGOUS and he has sleep apnea, so we'll be staying overnight.

So far, he is taking this like a champ! He's been munching all day and so far he's had two slushees, most of a PB&J, some trail mix, apple juice, a little macaroni & cheese, a couple of chocolate covered pretzels, and some of his dad's chips. He's now scarfing down some pudding and fruit (with a couple more chocolate pretzels). He has watched Batman Begins and an entire DVD of vintage Tom & Jerry cartoons, and he's now watching Scooby Doo. Oh, and he took a nice, long nap earlier.

He wants his IV out and wants to go home now; his throat is a little sore; and his voice sounds funny. But he's doing really well.

I have to say a HUGE thank you to all of our family and friends, both near and far. All day I've received phone calls, tweets and Facebook comments expressing support and love, and telling us that the people we love have been praying for us. Thank you all for your prayers.
We love you!

Things I Never Thought I'd Hear Myself Say

2011-07-06T04:54:00.000-07:00

Have you ever heard yourself say something at the same time that everyone else in the room heard you say it? And have you ever been surprised to hear the words that came out of your mouth?

The most popular example I can think of is that moment when you say something and then realize that you sound exactly like your mother/father/grandparent/caretaker. Sometimes that moment comes with an inner groan of, "Oh dear. I really have become my mother/father/grandparent/caretaker. I'm talking about that moment when you realize that you just gave the old, "I will turn this car around if you do not stop touching your brother," or "Because I said so," or, "Don't make me come up there!"

I do that often, as I'm sure anyone who is a parent, step-parent, foster-parent, guardian, etc. does.

And then sometimes there are those things I say that come flying in from left field. I have no idea where they come from, but they are often dictated by whatever is going on with the people around me (the usual suspects include my husband and kids, of course).

Over the last week, I've said some amazing things. Things I never thought I would say in a million years. Here are some of my most shining moments from the week:

"Dude. We do not put our penises on other people. It's rude." (This was followed by, "Yeah! And really weird," from my other son.)

"Please stop flogging my refrigerator with a rubber snake."

"Did you seriously just bonk my kid in the head with a butter bottle?"

"Why did you pee in the middle of your bedroom floor? Batman does not pee in the middle of his bedroom floor."

"Please do not lick the caterpillar. No, he does not like to be licked. It makes him sad."

"Oh, it's okay, Sweet Pea. Everyone falls into the toilet every now and then."

Is it me, or is there a running theme of private parts and bathroom-related comments? Such has my life become... just a string of bathroom-related comments.

The Tortoise and the Hare

2011-06-24T10:09:00.000-07:00

Make that "The ADHESIVE and the Hare."

Actually, it was "The adhesive and the HAIR."

Well, really it was more like, "The Adhesive IN the hair."

Little Dude had to get a sleep study done. Because he isn't sleeping well. (Okay, that part might have been obvious.)

He gets up a couple of times a night, which, as everyone knows, means Mommy gets up a couple of times a night. In fact, last month I felt like I had a newborn baby again. Except I didn't have the maternity leave and helpful family & friends around to make it bearable.

Also, Little Dude sounds like Darth Vader when he does sleep.

It's sad. And loud. We can hear him through his closed door. When his door is open, we can hear him from the foot of the stairs. It's a little funny!

But also, it's not so funny. I feel bad for the little guy. And now that I'm home for the summer, I feel bad for me. Because an interesting thing happens when you have a three year old who doesn't actually sleep: they lose their freaking marbles. (So does Mommy.) Seriously, he is extremely hyper and impulsive, prone to extreme tantrums and is having difficulty learning things that he should know by now.

I know, I know. This sounds like every other three year old you've ever met. But think of the most hyperactive, impulsive and moody preschooler you've ever met.

Now imagine that kid on meth. After downing three espresso's and a case of Red Bull.

Welcome to our family!

So, we took him for a sleep study. (Actually, Matt took him for the "sleepover," but I scheduled it and filled out all the paperwork.)

This is an interesting experience. Have you ever had one? They attached about 50 censors to Riley. He had them wrapped around his chest and belly, taped to his arms, knees and face, and glued to his head. GLUED. To his HEAD. Over his HAIR.

His "do" was hysterical when he came home the next morning! It was sticking out all over his head, and it was really, really funny.

It was really funny... Right up until the moment we tried to get it out of his hair.

Did you know that sleep clinics use INDUSTRIAL strength glue to keep those little things stuck to kids? We tried the special wipes they gave us, but they weren't very useful. We tried a couple of other things, and settled on baby oil as the best sticky-stuff-remover. After a lot of rubbing and scrubbing with the baby oil, we figured there couldn't be much glue left in his hair, so we shampooed him.

Lather, Rinse, Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

Repeat.

The great thing about having boys is that they are dirt magnets, so by the end of the day, it was easy to see all the spots we had missed on his skin.

And by the next morning, it was apparent that we had removed neither all the glue nor the baby oil from his hair.

And this leads me to one of the other great things about boys. They look awesome with short hair. Really short. That has been unceremoniously shaved off in the bathroom by a frustrated mother wielding fourteen year old clippers that make a really annoying sound.

He hates it, and I've promised him that he can grow it back out. For now we're calling it his "summer hair."

What do you think?

A Weekend Away

2011-06-22T14:41:00.001-07:00

I have to admit to being a "country girl" at heart. I dislike all things "city," and love forests, fields and fauna. If I could, I would have chickens, goats, a couple of sheep or alpacas and a hugemongous garden. Unfortunately, our neighborhood indentures and committees frown on these things, so for now I'm making due with a smallish garden, wool purchased at local yarn stores, and frequent camping trips.

Last weekend we went to a state park we hadn't visited before. We went to Graham Cave State Park. We loaded up the kids and an astonishing amount of normally forbidden junk foods, hooked up our little pop up trailer and headed out into the wild blue yonder. Sort of. The park was only about an hour and a half from our home, but in our part of Missouri, you can drive relatively short distances and be away from everyone and everything.

The weekend was fun. During the day. But both Friday and Saturday night brought us thunderstorms with high winds, a little hail, heavy rain and some scary moments. We found out Saturday morning that a funnel cloud had been spotted just 9 miles from our campground. And the end of each storm inspired prayers of thanks. Check these photos for some of the things we did:

Guilt Steals Joy...

2011-06-15T13:59:00.001-07:00

I recently read those words in Kristen Welch's awesome daily devotional "Don't Make Me Come Up There!" I'm enjoying this book quite a bit. Kristen has a wealth of wisdom, and a great sense of humor, about the everyday challenges of motherhood.

But really, those words ring true for everyone, whether you are a mother or not.

"Guilt Steals Joy."

I might have to incorporate that into my next tattoo. I definitely need a consistent reminder to let go of my guilt. We don't need to feel guilty when we sleep in on a Saturday. We don't need to feel guilty when we have that dessert after dinner (or before dinner for that manner). We don't need to feel guilty when we buy that pretty nail polish or purchase that large sweet tea (as in Kristen's case). We don't even need to feel guilty about those three boxes of Girl Scout cookies we have hidden in the chest freezer in the basement, conveniently tucked under a plastic bag clearly marked "chicken gizzards" (but which is actually full of some awesome wool for knitting)...

I'm sorry. Was that last one just me? I'm telling you, you can hide ANYTHING in a freezer under or behind a bag that says "chicken gizzards" and you are practically guaranteed that nobody in your family will go near it!

But I digress. When it comes to guilt, I have quite a bit of experience. I grew up with a mom who has a black belt in guilt. Although she used to heap a good helping of guilt on herself, she was like a ninja with the guilt. She'd sneak up on you, smack you with a healthy dose, and disappear in a puff of smoke without ever actually having been seen. Nowadays, she's a lot better about guilt in every way. I don't think she lugs as much around with her, and she very rarely sneaks it onto me (although I do occasionally get those voice mails about how I don't call or write, and she talks to my three sisters all the time, but she never hears from me, yada-yada-yada).

I have spent a lifetime feeling guilty about everything from that insensitive thing I said to a lady at the grocery store eight years ago to just plain not being as good as I thought God probably wanted me to be. I always assumed that I should feel guilty because I must be disappointing God in some way. Every minute of every day.

These days I'm getting better too. About the guilt. I still need to work on that whole keeping in touch thing. What can I say? I don't like to talk on the phone. Last year when I read the Bible in 90 Days, the biggest lesson I learned is that God is not who I thought He was. He is much better than I ever gave Him credit for. We don't have to drag all that joy stealing guilt around because Jesus already took it away. God created joy so that we could experience it. He wants us to have joy. He doesn't want us to simply exist with the joy stealing guilt monster looming in the back of our consciousness. He wants us to live with joy in our hearts.

So I have been choosing one thing each day that I feel guilty about. And I have been letting it go.

You should try it. It feels good!

Top Ways to Know Summer Break is Here:

2011-06-08T10:28:00.000-07:00

10. The cicadas have invaded Missouri and are wreaking havoc on my sanity. And my car.

9. St. Louis has already experienced its first heat advisory.

8. My neighbor's air conditioning hasn't stopped running in 7 weeks.

7. My boys are sporting their "summer hair" (i.e. buzz cuts).

6. I am sporting my "summer hair" (i.e. ponytails and twisty buns every day).

5. My tennis racket has been freed of its bag and cleared of the cobwebs. (Yes, I have cobwebs in my garage... I know. That's a shocker.)

4. My normally quiet house is filled with noisy boy sounds all. day. long.

3. My normally delightful-smelling home suddenly has an air of sweaty dogs (and boys).

2. I am suddenly getting lots of ~~cleaning/organizing~~ knitting projects done.

And the number one way to know summer break is here:

I'M BACK TO BLOGGING!!!!!!!

My school year job might drag me (kicking and screaming) from my blog, but summer break mostly leaves me alone to share my extremely ~~interesting~~ ~~crazy~~ blessed life with my friends & family who live far away. (And those who live close, but who apparently lack enough things to do and feel compelled to read this ~~masterpiece~~ train wreck despite having actual social contact with me on a monthly/weekly/daily basis. Yes, I said daily. Feel sad for those people.)

Brace Yourselves!

2011-01-31T13:20:00.000-08:00

Mostly, that's what we're doing today, anyway. Apparently a huge ice/sleet/snow storm is on it's way to St. Louis.

Bread, milk & eggs are flying off grocery store shelves.

Hardware stores are sold out of every kind of snow shovel, ice scraper and bag of salt.

Gas stations are busy, with people trying to fill up their cars before Hades freezes over.

Big box stores are out of generators, kerosene heaters and lanterns.

They are predicting .5 to 1 inch of ice, followed by 3 to 12 inches of snow, followed by winds gusting up to 40 mph.

The biggest problem will be the ice. A half inch of ice puts an additional 50 lbs of weight onto above-ground power lines & tree branches. When the wind comes later, that will mean lots of broken power lines and many, many homes & businesses without power.

We are ready. We've got lanterns, ice melt, lots of food and a gas fireplace. We're prepared to hunker down for a few days. If we don't lose power, I'm sure I'll be posting about it.

And then again, everyone knows that the meteorologists in St. Louis are right about 55% of the time, so it could do absolutely nothing tonight. I'll let you know tomorrow!

Winter Visit

2011-01-20T09:18:00.000-08:00

When the snow falls quiet,

we put out the tray of seed.

And a host of God's small creatures

come to visit for a while.

Thankful for what they receive,

they commune with each other,

with God,

and for a few moments, with us.

New Year's Eve Storms

2010-12-31T14:00:00.000-08:00

Well, 2010 is certainly ending with a bang here in St. Louis.

This morning, we had storms that resulted in a fast moving, powerful tornado. Matt was looking out the back door when it came through. He heard it coming and wrangled everyone into the basement. We are so thankful that our home was spared. Although our house & cars are covered with little bits of insulation from someone's house. we sustained no damage. But many homes all around ours did not escape unharmed. Even as I write this, I can hear emergency sirens all around our home.

This house is just 100 yards from our house.

The siding was ripped off, many of the roof shingles are missing, and a second story window even blew out the front of their home and onto the driveway:

About 300 yards from our home is a major intersection. There are some restaurants, businesses and churches.
This car was parked in a McDonald's parking lot:

This is St. Paul's church and school: The church sustained roof damage:

And the building where the priests live is pretty much missing the roof and one wall.

Light posts were knocked over:

And this truck just blew over onto its side.

I took this picture while standing on what was left of a retaining wall, looking over the edge.

Half the town was shut down.

This is right up the road I drive to take Riley to day care.

This church is right up the road from our home. They sustained serious damage.

A few miles away, in Sunset Hills, MO, we found even more damage.
I know the family that lives here; please pray for them.

Approximately six homes were completely destroyed.

Look closely at this photo. You can see a small black car that was blown off the the parking lot and onto its side on the grass:

Debris was everywhere, and we had to be very careful as we walked around. We found broken glass and boards almost a quarter mile away from the heaviest damage.

The best thing about this whole ordeal is that there are no serious injuries and no fatalities in either of these locations. People were in the homes that were destroyed, but they took cover and the Lord protected them.

Winter is for Knitting

2010-12-29T16:12:00.000-08:00

Okay, well, thr truth is that as far as I'm concerned, every season is for knitting.

But winter is especially good for knitting because your hands don't sweat on the fiber.

And knitted items make great Christmas gifts.

And somebody always gives me a gift certificate for my favorite local yarn store.

And everybody knows that yarn store gift certificates will certainly burn a hole in the pocket or bag in which they are stored if left there too long. So they have to be used quickly.

I did, actually use one of my certificates today, but that's a post for another day. Today, I'm sharing pictures of the slippers I made for Riley (age 2).

I call them the Tweet-Tweet Slippers:

I knitted them with a strand of Splash and a strand of Encore worsted. The splash makes a great effect for a kid-project, but it was not very fun to knit with. It's hard to see the stitches, and Lord help you if you have to rip it back for some reason.

Now I'm working on some blue dog slippers for Tyson. I had hoped to finish them this year, but the knitting is slow with the novelty yarn, and I'm quite certain that I couldn't finish them by Friday night... even if I did absolutely nothing bu knit between now and then.

More than a Tree

2010-12-22T05:57:00.000-08:00

It really is much more than a skinny, lopsided Christmas tree...

This is a hand made snowflake my great grandmother made.

It is the first on the tree & the last off the tree.

This tree is a reminder of those who have passed.

A star made by my grandma.

It's one of many she has made over the years.

This tree is a reminder of those who are far away.

Matt gave me this ornament for my birthday many years ago.

We walked along the historic streets of an old, old town.

We found a little shop & I found this ornament.

This tree is a reminder of good times gone by.

My aunt gave us Mickey. He is holding a clock that says 1999.

We chuckle when we see it.

This tree is a reminder to laugh.

This is our Snow Monster, from Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

It has always been one of my favorite Christmas specials.

This tree is a reminder to see the world through a child's eyes.

But most importantly, this tree is a reminder to rejoice...

...to honor...

...and to remember the Reason for the season.

Winter...

2010-12-16T09:10:00.000-08:00

It snowed.

It was a powdery, dry snow...

...that blew and drifted between the houses.

It tried to cover the Christmas lights, but they were having none of that.

It covered up the last of autumn...

...the last of summer.

It blanketed the garden...

...left the sunflower stranded in white...

...drifted up against the fence.

But the sun came out.

And the trees bent in the wind and collected snow between their branches.

And someone forgot to tell this little green leaf that it's time was over weeks ago.

The snow blew up onto the porch...

...and covered the hillside.

And a small feathered friend waited patiently for me to go inside so he could have a bit of seed.

Happy winter.

2010-11-25T07:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-12T14:00:00.000-08:00

That Was a Humdinger!

2010-11-11T18:34:00.000-08:00

So, you know how God made kids so that they tend to be inquisitive, curious creatures? And you know how they are forever asking interesting questions & making really fascinating comments?

I think this is one of the ways that God sort of shares is sense of humor with us. I mean, really... sometimes these comments make you question whether you are fit for parenthood, and sometimes these questions just make you wonder what planet your kid is really from. They are almost always good for getting a chuckle.

Well, I have to admit that our oldest is not so much a curious person. He has always sort of just accepted his world as it is & doesn't really question it. Every now & then, he'll ask a question or make a comment that makes me think to myself, "Phew! That was a humdinger!" It maybe happens four or five times a year in our house.

Well, Tyson was on quite a roll today, because he hit me with THREE!

1. This morning (before his eyes were even completely open) he says to me, "Mom." I thought he was going to ask me something easy, like "what's for breakfast," or "if time travel could be possible would it really rip a hole in the space-time continuum if you met yourself?" Nope. Nothing so simple as that. He asked, "Did you know that a girl can get married to a girl and a boy can get married to a boy?"
Oh boy. He's seven. I ~~honestly~~ naively thought we had a couple more years. I blame it on public school. Anyway, in the moment, when we were rushed to get to said institution on time, I told him that wasn't exactly true & that we would discuss it later. (Then I practically ran straight to Husband in a slight panic & sought advice before revisiting this topic later this evening...)

2. Later this morning, as Tyson was eating breakfast & I was packing his lunch, he hits me with, "Mom, how did Daddy grow all that hair under his armpits?" Ugh. Really? Do we have to have the whole "someday your body will change" conversation over breakfast? I told him that at some point, when a boy is a teenager, he starts to grow hair in strange places on his body, like his arms, legs, and ~yes~ armpits. He said, "Hmmm. Pappy and Popi are pretty old, so they must have a LOT of hair growing out of their armpits!!!" To which I replied that it doesn't keep growing like the hair on your head; God put the underarm hair on a timer. It only grows to be so long, then it stops. He appeared relieved and then his eyes got wide & he said, "Uh, Mom? When I grow up will I start growing hair... you know...? And on my... you know... [whispers] backside?" Really, son? It's 7:15 in the morning.

3. Tonight, as I was cleaning out his ears (by the way, why are boys' ears so icky?) I mentioned that his brain must have been working overtime this week. He asked why & I said because when his brain works really hard, it pumps extra wax out his ears, like exhaust out of a car. He said, "Mom, that's SO not true. You're teasing me." Yes, I said, I was. Then he said - are you ready for this? Brace yourself.

"Anyway, ear wax tastes really gross."

And that, Ladies & Gentlemen, is why I call these HUMDINGERS.

This Humdinger has been brought to you today by God's Awesome Sense of Humor.

Oh, the Irony...

2010-11-08T21:29:00.001-08:00

My boys are getting to be two independent thinkers. Well, the Elder has been for a while, but the Younger is really growing into his independence lately.

So, what do you get when you put my two boys in the same room, then walk away to do something trivial (like cook dinner, change the laundry or - Heaven forbid - use the bathroom)? Well, lately you get quite a bit of fighting.

And with the fighting comes yelling (& the occasional blood-curdling scream).

Have you ever had that out-of-body-mom-experience where you hear yourself saying something at the same time your kids hear you saying it & you can't believe you're saying that? (This situation is often - but not always- accompanied by that sudden realization that you sound exactly like one of your parents & you cringe & wonder when & how THAT happened.)

Well, I heard myself tonight:

"I can't stand the yelling. You guys are constantly yelling at each other & I can't take all the noise. You're both bright kids; I'm quite certain that you can work out your differences with calm & quiet voices. The yelling has got to stop. I can't think when you two carry on like that, so for the love of all things purple will you please stop the yelling?"

I know. This doesn't sound so bad, right? I was beginning to congratulate myself on my awesome parenting skills when I was hit full in the face with the irony.

I WAS YELLING THE WHOLE TIME!

Which might explain why my kids were looking at me as though I had just grown a daffodil out of my ear.

What's Wrong with this Picture?

2010-11-01T18:17:00.000-07:00

I used to love those brain-puzzles where you have to find all the things that are wrong with the picture. It was always silly stuff, like a picture of a mom, hard at work in her daily routine. Only she's have a banana propped between her ear & shoulder instead of a phone... and she's be ironing with a toy firetruck instead of her iron.

Well, this is a photo I took of a flier that Tyson brought home from school the other day. It's advertising a couple of days when the local middle school's indoor swimming pool will be open for district families.

See if you can spot What's Wrong with this Picture.

Can you see it?

I know, at first I thought it must be the fact that a middle school has an indoor pool (in a district that is asking for a raise in taxes today). I mean, sheesh, my high school didn't have any kind of swimming pool at all! Unless you count that massive ~~sink hole~~ pothole out in front of the band room that used to fill up when it rained.

But, no. That's not it! Remember, this flier is advertising a fun-filled experience of family togetherness. Here's a hint:

See it now? That swimmer is not having a fun-filled evening of swimming. That swimmer is clearly in distress!

And he's not alone! There are a bunch of other swimmers-in-distress on the back of the flier!

It made me think that maybe we should skip this school activity in favor of more safe activities.

You know, like juggling swords.

Happy Halloween

2010-10-29T13:56:00.000-07:00

Thank you to the friends, both real life & online, who have offered prayers & words of encouragement. I love you all.

Since I am still not back on top the life, I shall heretofore attempt to brighten up the blog by distracting me (an you) with images of fall and fun. And a lot of cuteness.

Enjoy.

Happy Halloween!

An Unusual Theme for Today...

2010-10-26T06:25:00.000-07:00

I know that I am usually pretty upbeat (some might even say "quirky," though I don't know about that).

But today I'm not feeling very upbeat. Or quirky.

I am remembering back to the time when Matt & I were first thinking and praying about starting a family.

The one prayer I most frequently uttered was to ask God to help me be a good mother, and to bless us with precious, healthy children and a house full of joy (and free from the yelling grew up with).

I've been thinking about that time for about two days now. And I keep coming back to the feeling that in answer to our prayers... (guard your eyes if you're sensitive...)

That in answer to our prayers, God shit on us and then had a big ole laugh.

Because none of that stuff happened.

Instead, one of our children has a disability, and everything has to be a fight, an argument. And instead of being flexible and listening to reason, he screeches and throws tantrums. And even though I swore I would never yell at my kids the way I was used to parents yelling, that's about all I do with this one and I feel powerless to stop that. And so our home is not full of joy; it is full of yelling, arguing & screeching. The younger one is beginning to pick up on the older one's terrible behaviors and I don't see any divine intercession taking place at all. Instead, I feel like God pooped on me, laughed & then walked away throwing a casual, "Yeah. Good luck with that," over his shoulder. And He hasn't called or written since.

I'm sorry. I know you hate the language, and honestly, so do I.

But the feeling is so big right now, I have no other words to describe it.

Multitudes...

2010-10-25T06:30:00.000-07:00

On a morning when I can hardly see past the blur of tears...

On a day when my life is not where I wish...

At a time when I feel no nudge from His hand, "...go this way..."

In a moment when I feel all the demands of this life crashing down upon me with a weight more heavy than I can bear...

I find, still, that I have much to be thankful for:

161. A gentle rain on a fall evening.

162. The way the brilliant colors creep across each tree.

163. A finished knit.

164. Crunchy leaves under my feet.

165. Pumpkins, cornstalks & piles of ghords.

166. A day at the pumpkin patch.

167. Little boys, picking big pumpkins.

168. A dinner with my Nani & Popi.

169. A fresh baked apple pie.

I may not be able to hear His voice today; I may not be able to feel His direction; but I can see the work of His Hand all around me.

In which grad school opens a whole can of worms...

2010-10-14T18:51:00.000-07:00

I'm taking a graduate music therapy class right now. Technically, I'm a non-matriculating student. (I love that word... it's fun to say!) This semester, the class is ethics. Well, it's actually:

"Legal and Ethical Issues in Music Therapy."

I know. It sounds like it should be a non-narcotic sleep aid, right?

It actually hasn't been too bad. The professor is really good at facilitating interesting discussions. Now that we are talking about supervision (that is, supervising music therapy practicum students and interns) our discussions have taken an interesting turn.

We talked this evening about different approaches to supervising college-age students who have finished their coursework, but are not yet professionals. It's a fascinating period of personal & professional growth, and there are many different approaches to shepherding an intern through this time.

The approach I tend to use the most is the verbal approach. This approach is characterized by discussions, conversations and verbal analysis of sessions, behaviors, breakthroughs, etc. with clients.

The approach that I tend to avoid is the more experiential approach in which music therapy supervisors and supervisees actually use music therapy techniques to process events and sessions that occur with clients. This approach is characterized by a lot of musical improvisation.

Some of the other students in class (many of whom are actually undergrads) reported that they might prefer the experiential approach over the verbal approach. They were, after all, musicians first.

[Cue can-opener sound effects]

This is the part where my can came open and all the worms wriggled out.

I used to love improvisation. I actually used to be very good at it. For a time, I planned to be a jazz musician. As my job. Until my mom pointed out that at some point I would undoubtedly need things like health insurance and money for rent. (After this she pretty well demanded that I declare a major which would lead to a steady paycheck. Consequently, the first question she asked when I came home a week later & told her I wanted to be a music therapist was, "Is that a real job?")

But I digress.

I loved improv. It came as naturally as eating cupcakes.

And then...

Then... well,

Then I got robbed at gunpoint while working the counter at a small video store, and although I walked away physically unharmed... that part of me, that musician who rocked at improv & song writing... well, it just withered up and died. I lost all ability to improvise even the shortest solo. I could still play music that somebody else had written, but I just couldn't express myself that way at all anymore.

It was replaced by post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety disorder and depression.

The PTSD is pretty well gone, although I still struggle a bit with the other two.

But I realized, as I was listening to those young musicians talking, that I never bothered to try & fix that broken musician in me. As a wife, mom & music therapist, it's easy (really easy) to turn all of my attention outward, to the people who will take all I offer & then ask for more.

I think this has worked for me because the idea of exploring that part of me is frightening. What if I can't get that back? The possibility of failure here is potentially devastating.

Believe it or not, I've been able to get by without improvising very much at all. I write many of my own songs for therapy, but that music is for teaching, not for expressing.

So this class was supposed to be a completely cerebral experience. I was taking it just to further my education and cognitively challenge myself, and it has opened up a can of worms for me. It's not exactly a huge emotional issue. But I do keep thinking about it.

What do you think? Have you ever felt like you lost a piece of yourself & wondered if you could get it back? Did you try? How did you do it?

Multitudes...

2010-10-10T17:32:00.000-07:00

Matt has returned, and that is quite possibly the best blessing of the last week. He took a trip with my dad & one of my sisters; they rode their bicycles the entire Katy Trail in six days. That's 225 miles that took them halfway across the state of Missouri.

Life has calmed down & returned to the normal level of semi-chaos.

Here are just a few of the many blessings I counted during the last two weeks:

137. Walking up to a whispered birthday wish from my son.

139. Quiet, calm weekday mornings.

141. Developing a new understanding of who my son is.

143. Knowing that God made my son exactly the way he is meant to be.

145. Birthday flowers.

148. My toddler's joy when I pick him up at the end of the day.

150. The way music reaches a child with a severe disability.

155. Baking leaf-shaped sugar cookies for fall.

156. Reading to my sons.

May you find a multitude of blessings this week.

For more Multitudes, visit A Holy Experience.

2010-10-08T06:39:00.001-07:00

End of Summer Gift

2010-10-01T06:00:00.000-07:00

I took these photos last week.

A little end of summer beauty from my Vinca's.

Relax. It's a joke.

2010-09-30T06:00:00.000-07:00

How many kids with ADHD does it take to change a light bulb?

Wanna go ride bikes?

I joke because I can. We are finding that the key ~ at least for us ~ to living with a child with special needs is humor.

And that joke was a perfect way for me to announce some exciting news.

Tyson can ride a bike!

After a summer full of frustration and tears (for all of us) he is able to ride his two-wheel bike with no training wheels.

Look at this face:

That is the face of Satisfaction. Accomplishment. Perseverance. Pride. Joy.

He's cruising around the circle like a champ!

His bike is a little small for him. We told him we would not buy him a bigger one until he learned to ride the one he has. With his birthday & Christmas coming up, I think there may be a new bike in his near future!

I cannot tell you how happy we are. I was honestly beginning to think he really wouldn't ever learn. He cried and gave up so many times. He put his bike next to the garbage cans in utter defeat several times. I ran behind him around that circle more laps than I can count. I prayed for him so many nights.

This accomplishment, the look on his face, the joy in his smile is truly one of the greatest blessings ever.

Halloween Ghosts

2010-09-28T20:46:00.000-07:00

Well, October begins this Friday, and I thought I would share our new Halloween decorations.

We made them for FREE! with materials we had around the house, but you could make them pretty cheap if you're resourceful.

Here's what you'll need:

Some old tennis balls (or golf balls for smaller ghosts)
White fabric (I used garage sale-find curtains)
Scissors
White pipe cleaners
Fabric (or permanent) markers
Needles & white thread
Very enthusiastic helper

Here's what you do:

Cut the fabric to cover the tennis ball, plus enough to hang in a spooky fashion. I just eye-balled it. You'll need more than one layer if your fabric is thin. Also, more layers mean a fuller "body."

Put the tennis ball in the center & gather the fabric around it. Fasten with a pipe cleaner.

Shred the fabric that's hanging loose. I started it by snipping several places along the edge & then let the boys finish by ripping the strips apart. Be sure all the rips move up, toward the tennis ball. (I couldn't get a picture because Riley needed a little help.)

Draw a ghostly face with your marker.

Fasten a loop of thread to the top using a needle & thread. Just thread the needle and slip it through a couple layers of the fabric. Then knot the ends.

Repeat until you have several, then hang them in your home or from your tree.

Visit Kristen for more Works For Me awesomeness.

Multitude Monday

2010-09-26T17:24:00.000-07:00

In these last hot days, we head outside...

We tackle the last outdoor projects of the summer...

Small hands imitate large ones...

And we say farewell to summer.

Remembering some blessings from the summer:

15. The smell of just-cut grass

18. Eating all three meals with my boys every day

30. Lazy days with the people I love

35. Silliness on a hot summer day

36. Tennis with my husband & boys

37. Sunsets that paint the sky

50. A safe return home from a long road trip

61. Thursday afternoons with my Nani & Popi

The blessings of summer have come to an end, but the blessings of Autumn are just beginning.

Rabbit, Hounds & Great Big Balloons!

2010-09-25T18:18:00.000-07:00

I'm apologizing in advance for the number of photos. I took over 100, so it was hard to whittle them down to these "few." Last weekend was the Forest Park Great Balloon Race. It's an annual event in which over thirty hot air balloons take off from Forest Park for this Rabbit & Hounds balloon race. They set up a fair grounds with booths, games and (my favorite) funnel cakes.

In this Rabbit & Hound race, the Energizer Bunny balloon takes off five minutes before the other balloons begin to inflate. When they are ready, the other balloons (the hounds) take off and chase the Bunny. They mark the ground where the Bunny lands with a big X, and the Hounds try to drop bags of birdseed as close to the X as possible. The one who gets the closest wins a prize.

One of my favorite parts is that everybody gets free Energizer bunny ears; it's funny to see who wears them.

People even put them on their dogs!

The balloons are truly a sight to see.

There are several themed balloons:


My Favorite

Patriotic


Matt's favorite


Riley's & Tyson's favorite

Hey, what's that? Hiding behind that tree...

Do you see it? I think it's...

Yeah. It's a... a....

...Gigantic Energizer Bunny!

Consequently, if you wanted to fill this Bunny with AA batteries, it would take a little more than 550million of them.

We don't know which balloon won. Several of them set down just moments after taking off due to a crazy cross wind that resulted in a bit of balloon chaos. They were whipping around, barely missing each other. All in all, it was great fun.

How I Spent My Day...

2010-09-19T19:44:00.000-07:00

Grocery Shopping

Clearing clutter from the main floor of our house

Cooking up 20 lbs of ground beef & deer (for tacos, spaghetti, sloppy joe's & stuffed peppers)

Baking chocolate chip cookies

Baking homemade bagels

Finishing up a little laundry

Throwing out the bathmat after the washer ate it

Trying to make yogurt for the first time (I don't think it's going very well...)

Repeating, "Please do not sit on your brother," about a million times.

How did you spend your Sunday?

Won't You Consider?

2010-09-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Seven months ago, a very special blogger took a trip that changed the lives of many.

She changed the life of my family; she changed the life of a Kenyan family... just by taking a trip, presenting a need (because she's very good at that) and blogging about the whole thing.

Okay, that was much more simplistic than what actually happened, and I do believe in giving credit where credit is due (though she would probably say that she doesn't deserve any credit...). Kristen didn't just go on a trip. She trusted in God and allowed Him split her heart wide open, to show her the most heartbreaking places on Earth, to show her poverty, despair, faith and hope all rolled up into one of the most desperate areas known to man. And she came back and shared her experience with her readers. She continues to move hearts and hands through her blog.

And in bravely fulfilling a purpose that God seems to have assigned her, she moved our hearts and our hands, and we brought into our lives and our family a beautiful little girl who lives on the other side of the world.

And now, another blogger who moves me almost daily has embarked on a similar journey. Ann has a beautiful way with words. She has a talent for expressing in words that which does not easily translate from heart to mouth to syllables. She is a daily inspiration to me, though she doesn't know it at all.

If you have a moment, if you are brave enough to allow God to break your heart, if you have faith enough to allow Him to move you... please visit Ann's blog. She's been posting pictures and words all week that will repel you, hurt you, make you look into the face of desperation.

But her words will also show you true faith. Raw, powerful, inspiring faith.

And her words will show you that there is hope. Real, honest, tangible hope. God moves among the hearts of people, brings them together. Across miles, across oceans, across languages. It wasn't a terrible sacrifice for us, but it continues to be a tremendous difference for a seven year old girl in Africa.

Please read the stories of these women. And if you can find the space in your heart, make the space in your pocketbook, create the space in your life... consider making a real difference in the life of a real child.

Because...

2010-09-13T19:11:00.000-07:00

...sometimes God shows us just how beautiful He is.

In Which God Blows the Odds to Pieces

2010-09-12T15:42:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday morning, when I woke up, I was the mother of a child with special needs.

I just didn't know it yet.

In fact, it turns out, this is a title I've carried for 7 years. We just didn't know it.

Oh, I guess there were times when we wondered, questioned, considered... but that's other people's kids. I know how that sounds, but hear me out. The thing is, that when you are a person who dedicates her career to serving children with special needs, you sort of just figure that the odds of God giving you your own child with a diagnosis are astronomically insane.

And then God steps in and blows all of your carefully considered odds out of the water like a pirate ship full of C4.

We met with the psychologist on Thursday, and I have to admit that going into that meeting, I think I was more afraid that there would be no diagnosis than I was there would be. I honestly prepared myself to hear something along the lines of, "Tyson is a delightful child... and he does not qualify for a diagnosis, which means that all of the behaviors, the tension, the trouble in school is probably due to parenting problems."

Instead, we heard, "Tyson is a delightful boy. He's very sweet... and he definitely qualifies for a diagnosis."

So here is where we stand:

1) Tyson now has a diagnosis of severe ADHD, combined type (if you're a numbers cruncher, we're talking two standard deviations from "normal"); he has significant deficits in Executive Functioning (which explains a lot); he definitely has some oddities and symptoms that fall under the category of Asperger's Syndrome (i.e. high functioning autism), but those evaluations were inconclusive.

2) We have been assured by a very respected and competent professional that none of this is due to our shortcomings as a parental unit. (I know it might seem obvious, but I have feared that this was somehow my/our fault all along).

3) We will be meeting with the pediatrician this week to discuss and begin the process of finding an appropriate type & dosage of medication. (Pray for us - this can be a terrible process that includes tantrums, tears, depression, feelings of hopelessness... and that's just the parents.)

4) Once meds are in place, are stable, and are showing some results, we will be exploring a few treatment options for the Executive Functioning deficits. Among our list of possibilities are music therapy (of course!), Brain Gym and CogMed (a computer software brain-training program that looks awesome).

5) The question about autism is still there. It's just dangling out there in space. The medication will either alleviate those autistic-like symptoms, or it will further reveal them. If they do not get better, we will revisit and reevaluate for autism in about 6 months.

6) We will continue to utilize a variety of behavioral supports at home, will be seeking an IEP at school, and will most importantly, continue to pray that God will guide us on this part of the journey.

Also, we are just trying to settle into this new label, to the realization that Tyson's disobedience is often not his choice, to the new habits that we all need to cultivate, to our lives as a family with someone who has special needs.

Do you have any children with a diagnosis? How did you deal with it?

How?

2010-09-08T21:31:00.001-07:00

We here on the Purple Brick Road will be faced with an outcome tomorrow.

There are only two possible outcomes.

The only thing that is certain - absolutely certain - is that one of two things will happen.

Each possibility means something completely different, though neither truly means the "end of the world as we know it" (& I feel fine...)

You'd think that one would be better or worse than the other; isn't that how everything in life is? One option always weighs more heavily than another?

So, then I ask you:
How can I be afraid of both outcomes?

I apologize, kind friends, for my absence. Several factors (I think they call them collectively "life") are taking up my time & energy. Please don't give up on me... I have much to share, just as soon as I pop my head above the water & catch my breath.

The Lingering Question

2010-08-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

Alarms went ignored.

Gentle words from a mother waking her child went ignored.

People slept too late, and there was such a frenzied rush to get out the door.

Pets went ignored.

Even the cries of a toddler wanting "up" went ignored.

When the mother's voice went ignored again and again, her voice got louder.

She hates to yell.

Doesn't realize she's doing it until the words, impatient & much too loud have been released into the world like a thunderstorm.

She thinks to herself that this is what she knows. This is what her mother did when she was little.

But she's a grown woman now. She can make her own choices, doesn't have to follow paths forged before her.

So why? Why does she still do it?

There is an answer, hanging in the back of her mind.

It scratches at the back of her skull like a rat scratches behind a wall.

It tells her that she's not good. She's full of sin and is letting that awful nature win the battle.

He forgives. She knows this. Her Father is full of Grace, and he forgives her.

But the damage is still done.

It puddles up, fills up the house and the home and the lives like rainwater filling a river.

And what if it's all her fault?

What if her bad habits broke the little one she loves so much?

What if the thing the doctor says in a few weeks is all her fault?

What if she caused the inattention, the behaviors, the trouble?

What if the tiny raindrops of her quick temper, her impatience, her loud words all piled up on the first who swelled her heart?

What if God blessed her with a beautiful son, as perfect as a human can be...

...and she ruined him with her own imperfections?

Because...

2010-08-17T17:59:00.000-07:00

...why wouldn't you put a bucket on your head and run around the house laughing hysterically?

Gratitude

2010-08-16T19:49:00.000-07:00

Several months ago, I found a wonderful blog. Ann doesn't know me, and I only know her through her beautiful blog. I cannot explain it, but her words are incredibly calming to me. In a life full of anxiety, this comes as a blessing to me. I hope some day to be as quiet and strong in my faith as she is.

Ann started a Gratitude Community, and I've been contemplating joining for a while. A few weeks ago, I bought this:

And I started my journey in gratitude. Since then, I've tried to see at least five blessings each day. Things that make me smile; things that I find beautiful; things that give me peace; I am surrounded by God's love. The question is, can I see it?

I've been calling this my Blessing Book. It's an ongoing list of ongoing blessings. I liked the way Ann does her book. She makes it pretty with magazine pictures, pages from books, etc. I've been using magazines, pretty papers, stamps, watercolors, etc. in making cards & scrapbooking for years, so the idea of making each page special appealed to me.

Some of the pages are just pretty, and others have pictures of things that I love, things that make me smile, and even a few things that make me laugh... I guess I'm not quite so solemn with mine as she seems to be with hers.

You could say I'm counting my blessings.

I started my book by counting the three most significant blessings I have in my life. The three blessings I give thanks for with every single breath.

Here are a few other blessings I've counted:

15. The smell of just-cut grass

16. A hot, humid day that fades to a warm, comfortable evening

17. Warm cookies, baked with my boys

18. Eating three meals with my boys every day

19. Two year old tickles

20. A huge success for a seven-year-old who had almost given up

To see the multitude of blessings shared by others, visit A Holy Experience.

Projects, Preparation & Prayer

2010-08-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

This week was our last before school starts. Tyson starts this Tuesday, and I got back to the ole grind last Wednesday.

Last week was a busy one. Here are just a few of the things it included:

~ A very hot trip to the St. Louis Zoo. (The heat index was 106 the day we went.)

~ Back to School shopping

~ An attempted trip to the art museum, which was closed that day.

~ A trip to a special doctor (more on that later; all is well)

~ Meet the Teacher Night

~ A sleepover at Nani & Popi's house (for Tyson, not for me)

~ Knit Night

~ Basement cleaning

~ Lots of laundry

~ BBQ chicken in the crock pot (who wants to stand over a grill when the heat index is 111? Not my husband!)

~ My first day of meetings,meetings, meetings

~ A significant and worrisome decline in the cleanliness & organization of our home.

I hope to continue to blog at least a couple of days a week throughout this school year. It's calming, centering & fun... and those are things I need to keep making time for this year.

I've got a few photos to share, and something new I've been doing for a while.

Mostly, I'm turning my attention to getting the house, schedule & family organized & ready for the insanity that is about to be unleashed over here at the purple brick road. I'm struggling with the place God has me in this season, my anxiety is flaring up like a four alarm library fire, and I caught the cold that Riley brought home (two days after starting back to preschool). If you have the chance, please pray for me, kind friend. I am utterly certain I cannot do this all by myself.

A Garden Surprise

2010-08-05T05:23:00.000-07:00

Weeds irritate me. I have a lot in my garden to be irritated about at the moment. I spend hours each week pulling, plucking (and occasionally cursing at... ahem) the weeds. If you've read this blog before, you might already know that last year when we expanded the garden, we bought top soil to fill it. We live on clay & rock, so the garden must be elevated a bit.

So, we bought the top soil. What the company delivered was local fill dirt. Disguised as "clean top soil." When it's dry it's hard as a rock. When it's wet it doesn't drain. And it came fully seeded with the stuff they use to make hay. Yay. Yay for hay? Notsomuch.

So, those weeds are pretty much the only thing that grows. And I spend lots of time fertilizing the stuff I want to grow, and exterminating the stuff I don't.

That said, occasionally a weed demonstrates such a strong will to live, that I have to leave it be. One in particular proved to be quite stubborn.

I picked it (but missed the root), and it grew back.

I poisoned it, and it grew a little tan-colored.

I yelled loudly at it, and I'm pretty sure it laughed at me.

I stepped on it, and it grew crooked.

Eventually, I was forced to be impressed with this little weed, and decided to respect its will to live.

So imagine my surprise when I came out the other day and found this on top of it:

It's lovely!

(And leaning...you know, from being stepped on a few weeks back.)

I think it must be some sort of rogue sunflower.

It has several more buds down the stem. Do you know what this is?

If you know what kind of ~~weed~~ flower this is, leave it in your comment.

I might be inclined to send a lovely surprise to anyone who helps me out...

WFMW - A Fancy Breakfast

2010-08-03T21:00:00.000-07:00

This breakfast has three main parts, all of which can be changed to suit the season & your family's tastes. It's a little more effort, so I usually save it for special occasions, or I make enough to quickly throw it together each day for a week.

Part One: Pancakes.
You can use your favorite scratch recipe (I use one I altered from my Betty Crocker cookbook - my version has no fat and whole wheat flour), box mix, frozen, or whatever you like best. You could also use waffles.

Part Two: Fruit salad.
I make mine fresh with whatever is in season. The one in the picture (below) included apples, oranges, fresh pineapple, blackberries & blueberries.

Part Three: Yogurt Sauce.
I blend together a banana and about a cup of yogurt. My kids also like a little honey in it. If you use banana, it won't keep very long in the fridge, so if you're planning to eat this another day, you might want to pick another fruit.

You are limited only by your own creativity. In the summer, I will sometimes use chopped fresh pineapple for the fruit & flavor the yogurt with a little coconut extract. We call this the Tropical Fancy Breakfast. In the winter I cut up bananas & pecans & flavor the yogurt with a little maple extract.

Anyway, warm up your pancake or waffle.
Top with fruit salad.
Pour a little yogurt sauce on top.
Enjoy!

That's about it. Again, a recipe so simple you can hardly call it a recipe. My kids love it because it's tasty; I love it because it's actually healthy.

For more WFMW ideas, visit We Are THAT Family.

How Does your Garden Grow?

2010-08-03T05:16:00.000-07:00

With lots of these:

cucumber flower

And a few of these:

cucumber

Three of these:

watermelon

And one of these:

okra

And a happy surprise that I'll post more about later this week.

Hibiscus...

2010-08-02T10:13:00.000-07:00

WFMW - A Tasty Summer Treat

2010-07-27T20:32:00.000-07:00

We call this refreshing summer snack

"Lemon Fizzy-Twizzy."

It's so simple to make that I'm not sure it can be called a recipe.

Here's what you need:

~As many drinking cups as you have people
~ White soda, cold (I use Ginger Ale)
~ Lemonade, cold (Right now we're using Country Time)
~ Twizzlers - they have to be the regular kind, like that shown (We like cherry the best)

Here are the super-difficult directions:

1. Fill the cups a little more than halfway full with soda.
2. Top it off with lemonade.
3. Give each person a Twizzler & tell them to bite off each end.
4. Put the Twizzler into the cup and use as straw*.
5. Eat your straw when your drink is gone, or as you drink it.

*Note: Occasionally the "straw" will close up at an end. If this happens, just bite off the collapsed part & keep going.

That's it! My kids think it's fun to use their edible "straws." And, as an added bonus, if you happen to have a youngster with sensory needs (like those from autism or ADHD), this is a great sensory snack. The hole in the middle of the Twizzler is really small, so kids have to work all those oral muscles to get their drink. Plus, the cold temperature, fizziness and tart flavor all provide sensory input.

I do want to mention that the handsome (and very enthusiastic-looking) chap in the above photo helped to concoct this snack. I promise, he likes it a LOT more than it looks like in that picture!

Oh, and kids who don't have sensory needs think it's a yummy treat, too!

I know it's not exactly healthy, but on a hot summer day, this snack works for me!

For more Works for Me Wednesday happiness, check out We Are THAT Family.

Things I Should Be Doing Today

2010-07-27T08:01:00.000-07:00

~ Turning my thoughts toward going back to work in three weeks.
~ Dusting and vacuuming the house.
~ Doing a day of education with Tyson.
~ Emptying the dishwasher.
~ Tending my garden.
~ Painting some shelves for Ty's room.
~ Working on Riley's quilt.
~ Planning out a project.
~ Finishing a project.
~ Cleaning out my laundry room (so we can work on it this weekend).
~ Exercising.
~ Tackling Mount Wash-more. (At this point it's beyond a K12)
~ Reorganizing the boys' closets & dressers.

The problem is that I've had a terrible time with self-discipline lately. I've been staying up much too late, sleeping much too late, eating too much junk food, yelling at my kids too much, letting household tasks pile up, letting the laundry back up, neglecting my Bible time, skipping exercise, indulging in too much crabbiness, reading too many books, watching too much TV...

...and generally letting myself get off track.

The problem is this crazy be-a-work-outside-the-home-mom-for-nine-months-and-be-a-stay-at-home-mom-three-months thing.

During the school year, the wheels come off the household wagon. That's because I'm out of the house for 8 hours a day, and I'm generally exhausted from the strain of the whole thing the other 16 hours of the day. Add to that Ty's hectic cub scout/tennis schedule and my guilt over putting Riley in daycare, and I'm pretty much useless most of the time.

I know, I know. That doesn't sound very Hellen Reddy, I AM WOMAN of me. The truth is, I don't know how other working moms do it. I suspect most of them hire house cleaning services and feed their families fast food or something.

So I always start the summer with a bang. My house gets cleaner. My overall mood improves. This place works like a well oiled machine.

And then, when the school year begins to loom on the horizon and I realize this family wonderland is not going to last... well, I think I sort of get a little blue.

I feel disappointment at the fact that all of my great systems and habits will be interrupted, terminated, harpooned.

I feel frustrated at the fact that the school year allows me the ~~burden~~ opportunity to have a job and a family, and to do a piss-poor (pardon me) job of managing both.

I feel cheated by the culture that helped to raise me to believe that I could have it all and look beautiful too. When you have it all, you have to manage it all, and it's really hard to look beautiful with those dark circles under the eyes.

I feel tired of the guilt over constantly feeling that I'm failing at everything at once; I feel tired of the constant conflict - Part of me wants to be that super-successful career girl; part of me wants to be barefoot, pregnant & in the kitchen, tending to my children & husband.

So with 17 days left of this life, I'm feeling tired, apathetic, crabby and just generally blah. I long to enjoy these last days of summer...

I guess I just need to figure out how.

How do you pull yourself up and get the wheels put back on your wagon?

13 Years...

2010-07-26T13:20:00.000-07:00

A guy rang my doorbell today.

It was the FedEx guy, and he brought this:

I haven't received a box like this before.

This is what I found inside:

Beautiful

Delicate (and perhaps suffering from a touch of heat exhaustion... but they're already looking peppy-er)

Gorgeous.

And the card?

13 years ago today, Matt I promised to love each other in sickness & in health, in good times & bad... as long as we both shall live.

Thank you, Matt. These flowers are beautiful.

I love you!

Butterfly

2010-07-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

WFMW - How I Cook Bacon

2010-07-20T22:00:00.000-07:00

Okay, let me start with a confession.

I cannot cook bacon in a skillet.

If the world was coming to an end and its very salvation depended on my ability to cook bacon (to an edible state) on a stove top, we'd all be in trouble.

But I LOVE BACON. I cannot think of any food that is not made better by the addition of bacon.

So I have learned to adapt. I nuke the bacon in the microwave.

I start by getting out the bacon, two dinner plates, two paper plates and a roll of paper towels.

I put one paper plate on the dinner plate, then add a paper towel (or two if it's thick-cut bacon) on top of that.

Then I put my bacon on top of the paper towel. Be sure it's in one layer.

I was making BLT's for dinner this night, so I cut the bacon strips in half before I cooked them. When I make it for breakfast, I leave the strips long.

Then, I put another layer of paper towel(s), another paper plate and another dinner plate on top, and pop it into the microwave.

Cooking times vary, but in my microwave, I cook it on high for approximately 1 minute per whole strip of bacon. (I cooked this batch for 6 minutes.) Also, if you're doing more than one batch, you might need to decrease the cooking time a bit for subsequent batches... at least I have to.

When it's done, you'll need to take everything out of the microwave carefully. The whole thing will be extremely hot. I put it on a pot holder next to my sink. I remove the top dinner plate and set it aside, then I remove the top paper plate & paper towels and put them into the sink until they're cool enough to throw in the trash.

The bacon comes out really flat, which makes it perfect for BLT's. Oh, and see all that bacon grease on the paper towel there? I would rather have it there than on my sandwich.

So there you have it. That's how I cook bacon. I know that it's not exactly eco-friendly, with all the paper towels and paper plates, but this is what works for me!

For more Works for Me Wednesday tips, visit We Are That Family.

Chucking Rocks

2010-07-19T02:58:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite outdoor activities is chucking rocks.

We find a place on a gravel bar where there aren't any other people. Then we wade in a bit and start letting the rocks fly. What boy (old or young) doesn't want to here the words, "Well, for pete's sake, throw that rock!" I think it's interesting to watch my boys approach this activity in their own ways.

There is some tandem wading,

...usually at first as everyone gets used to the cold river water.

And then they sort of do their own things.

Tyson enjoys the feel of the water on his feet:

He likes to search for interesting rocks and share them with us:

He is fascinated by the skipping of rocks, and he both loves to watch Matt & my dad...

...and "teach" his little brother how to skip rocks:

Riley takes a completely different approach.
He loves to watch the boats go by:

And other than that, well, Riley just loves the

pure...

...and complete...

...joy...

...that comes from chucking rocks.

A Camping We Will Go...

2010-07-18T02:31:00.000-07:00

Summer is for relaxing, slowing down and recuperating from life's crazy pace the rest of the year. The best way we know how to unwind from the hustle & bustle is to grab the pop up trailer and head into nature.

So, what do we do while camping? Well...

We relax. I know it looks like a whole lot of nothing, but there is some serious rejuvenation going on here.

We read. A lot. This is my dad. What you don't see in this picture are Matt, my step-mom, my step-grandma and myself, all reading while the boys chase bugs nearby.

We eat fabulous summer foods. Watermelon, foil dinners, hot dogs roasted over a fire and s'mores are our favorites.

And we sleep. All that fresh air makes for some tired boys and long slumbers.

And yes, sometimes one of those tired boys leaves the campfire (on his own) to commence with the slumber... with unbrushed teeth and s'mores still on his cheek.

We also enjoy chucking rocks, but you'll have to come back tomorrow to find out what that looks like.

What do you do to relax in the summertime?

Where Have I Been?

2010-07-17T14:31:00.000-07:00

Well, for starters, I've been here:

Last weekend, we went camping at Onondaga Cave State Park, in Leasburg, MO. This was our second trip to this particular park, and this time we decided to take the tour of the cave.

The tour was 90 minutes, and took us very deep under the park. Despite the fact that I'm not crazy about small places, and I might be a ~~complete sissy~~ little afraid of the dark, I love cave tours.

If you've been reading my blog for any length of time, you know that I love nature. I love anything that has to do with the outdoors (or in this case, the most natural of "indoors" possible).

My love of the outdoors is closely related to my relationship with God.

When I am out, in the parts of the world that have hardly been touched by humanity, I feel the closest to Him. I feel free to marvel at His power, His grace, His love.

I love that He put in us ~ as part of our humanness ~ curiosity, wonder, and appreciation for beauty.

I think that when God created this earth, He delighted in leaving for us interesting places to explore...

...interesting treasures to discover...

...hints of His power...

...and beauty to stand in awe of.

I found comfort in that big, dark space.

Because looking at these wonders, I was faced with the reality that God has always been here...

...and that He left his footprint, this beautiful reality of His power & might, for us to find.

And I'm certain that as I delighted in each new sight, He delighted in my curiosity, awe, and appreciation of the beauty He put there.

Our Fourth of July Weekend

2010-07-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

This year, went took a road trip with my husband's family. We drove from St. Louis, MO to Woodstock, IL, which is about a 6 hour drive. (Okay, it was a little longer than that because we did stop to eat breakfast & lunch in parks along the way.)

We had a fun time, and Woodstock is a great little town. (It's where much of the movie Groundhog Day was filmed.)

They have a town square with a little park in the middle.

There are cobblestone streets, and charming shops, with cobblestones painted on the floors:

It's a charming town, with an Opera House, and a court house.

The square was decked out for the holiday, with red white & blue everywhere.

We drove up Saturday, then spent some time in the town square. Right now they have all these rocking horses displayed. Each horse was painted by a local artist, and they are adorable. (I'll post some pictures of those later this week!) When we had seen the horses and town square, we went back to the inlaws' house and had dinner. After it got dark, the boys made shadow puppets on the ceiling of the screened in porch.

Sunday we played some rock band, visited my husband's grandfather (in a nursing home) and ate way too much food. We all gathered again on the screened in porch when it got dark to watch the town's fireworks display. They have the perfect view, and it was so comfortable and easy just to sit in a comfy chair, out of the rain and away from the mosquito's to watch the festivities.

Tyson loved the fireworks. Unfortunately, Riley fell asleep just before they started. Try as we might, we could not wake him up to see them. Our normally light sleeper was exhausted and out like a light.

WFMW - How We Learn Spelling

2010-06-29T23:30:00.000-07:00

I know most homeschool families don't do spelling as its own subject; spelling words are learned incidentally, as they come up in other subjects. But we here at the Purple Brick Road do a hybrid - public school Aug-May & homeschool June-Aug. Since we a have a child who doesn't learn best through public school methods, we spend our summers catching up on what was missed during the school year (and we also focus on subjects that public school doesn't really teach, such as faith/religion and patriotism).

Thus, some of our SHS (Summer [Home]School curriculum is dictated by the district's benchmarks. This is a long way of explaining that we have to focus on spelling as an individual subject because there are lists to be mastered.

With a multi-sensory learner, this means that we don't just copy, copy copy word after word onto a paper. We take a... well, a multi-sensory approach. Most of our strategies can be used for anything that needs to be memorized:

On the first day of the week, Tyson copies the list (usually 12 words) onto the sliding glass doors with a dry erase marker. Did you know this wipes right off, like it would on a white-board? This puts it on a vertical plane, thus altering the visual perception.

On the second day of the week, he copies each word onto an old cookie sheet in shaving cream. After he has copied it, he reads the word, spells it out loud, and says it again ~ spelling bee style. This incorporates tactile and auditory learning.

On the third day, we build the words. Sometimes we use magnets (and those trusty cookie sheets or the metal front door). Other times we use these fun foam stickers (which I got at Target - 100piece packs in the $1 bins!). We will either stand at the table or put the letters on one counter & the cookie sheet (or cardboard/paper) on another, so he has to walk between them. This engages tactile & kinetic (movement) learning (and also gives him a break from the horrible, terrible handwriting part).

On the fourth day, we play a game where I call out the words, and he jumps, steps, hops, etc. from one letter to the next in order to spell the words. If he gets stuck, I help him sound out the word, or I will sometimes write it on the white board for him. This engages auditory, tactile and kinetic learning. It also acts as a practice test since he's no longer copying the words, and it helps with his working memory because the letters are out of order. He has to remember which letters he's already done.

The last day of the week is spelling test day. I read the words, give it in a sentence and he writes them on a white board. Paper and pencil is by far our least favorite tools for learning, so we use them only when necessary (like for journaling.)

Of course, his little brother gets to participate, too, so he's already learning some of his letters. But mostly, he just does it for the fun of it:

For more Works for Me Wednesday posts, visit WeAreThatFamily!

Knit-serverance Pays Off, I Hope...

2010-06-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

I have been knitting the same "quick" project for what seems like for. ev. er.

It's a baby sweater for a friend. The baby was born a while ago and I am still knitting this sweater. In all fairness to the sweater, this particular version is not the first of it's kind here. This one is actually my third, third attempt.

The first time I cast on too many stitches. Okay, that was my fault for trying to cast on, watch TV, and prevent a cranky two-year-old from destroying the ~~world as we know it~~ house, all at the same time.

The second time I cast on the right number of stitches, but I neglected to swatch. The ~~dreadful~~ thing was nearly 7 inches long before I realized that my gauge was horribly off, and that sweater would probably have fit a preschooler. I'm all for making baby knits that babies can grow into, but I like for that to happen before they start kindergarten.

I have finally finished the body...

It's a little wonky, I know... but it is knit beginning at the bottom of the front side, up, over the shoulders, and down the back side.

And I picked up the stitches for the sleeve:

This was no easy task, since even though I swatched and got gauge, ~~it lied as gauge swatches tend to do because they are pointless and evil~~ my gauge is off anyway. This sweater is still too big, which made the measurements for the picking up of the sleeve stitches way off.

Argh! I did a little knitmath (ugh...) and I think it's going to work. Of course, it did involve math, so there is a chance that this sweater will only fit a baby that is shaped like a bowling ball with pencils for arms. Whether it does or does not, I will finish this ~~stupid~~ precious sweater soon. I need to get this thing off the needles. Need.

In my frustration, and with a road trip coming up this weekend, I might have caught a small case of startitis. There is a chance that I might have sort of cast on a pair of socks...

This was another risky move. This particular yarn has been started into four other pairs of socks, and has been ripped back each and every time.

The colorway is lovely, but the changes come up so quickly that I'm having a hard time finding a pattern to compliment it. So, the four failed attempts were really due to my own pickiness. That, or this yarn is cursed.

Bucket Fillers

2010-06-28T03:15:00.000-07:00

Although I do not write about books very often, I read them a lot. I read all of kinds of books. Political, cultural, religious, mysteries, thrillers, humor, knitting books and occasionally, even a classic.

I also read to the boys a lot. Of course, Riley mostly gets read picture books (since he's two years old) but he does, on occasion, throw a complete and utter fit if his request for the Bahbo (Bible) are not met with the immediate fetching of this Book before bed. (I am convinced he will grow up to be a preacher.)

For Tyson (who is seven years old) I read mostly chapter books. We have read half of the FableHaven series, a couple of Judy Blume books, the first Percy Jackson book and we are currently reading "Do Hard Things."

Although the request from his school is that the children read 10 books over summer vacation, I feel this is a pathetic goal. As we are learning from "Do Hard Things," children will generally live up to our expectations, no matter how low they are. So, Tyson reads at least one book to me every day. (He had already filled the chart from the school on the 8th day of summer vacation.)

Last week, we read this book:

... and I have to say that it is an exceptional book.

I've seen it in the counselors' offices in several of the school buildings I work in. It's a slightly concrete way of teaching kids about how their actions affect others around them.

The basic idea is that everyone has an invisible bucket, and when it's full, people feel good about themselves. Kids can fill up other peoples' buckets by doing nice things, showing good manners to others, and just generally behaving in a thoughtful manner. When we do things that fill the buckets of others, our own bucket gets filled up too. That's being a bucket filler.

When we are mean or inconsiderate to others, we dip out of their buckets. As a result, we end up dipping the goodness out of our own buckets, too. This is called being a bucket dipper. It touches on situations such as sharing with others and bullying.

The illustrations are adorable, and, although Jesus is never mentioned in the book (of course, if he was you wouldn't find it within five miles of a public school) it's a huge lesson in loving thy neighbor.

You can check out more about the book and other bucket filling resources here.

Inexpensive Entertainment

2010-06-26T15:12:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full swing, and that means that I am constantly looking for fun things to do that get us out of the house... but don't cost so much we need a second mortgage on the house.

In our county, we have lots and lots of opportunities for cheap (and sometimes free!) entertainment. Our library hosts summer reading clubs for babies all the way up through adults. They have fun prizes for reading certain numbers of books, and they also have interesting speakers and workshops for families.

We also have one of the best public zoos in the country. Regular admission is free, although they do have some areas that require a small fee. If you ever visit St. Louis, you really should check it out.

Our county parks do a lot of fun things as well, and a couple of weeks we took advantage of one of my favorites. Our local Sculpture Park had music & movie Friday. This is where a local band comes and plays a set, and then after it gets dark, they show a family film on a giant inflatable screen. And the whole event is free.

Of course, they have snack vendors roaming around, some people bring fast food and some even bring fancy platters of fruit and cheese, and break open bottles of wine! But we here at The Purple Brick Road are on a budget, so we go a little more old fashioned. We pack a picnic dinner.

Everyone in the family loves a good picnic.

As the mom, I especially love the clean up. Just a few wet wipes and a shake of the blanket, and it's all done!

Okay, maybe it takes a little more than just a few wet wipes...

This event happens on one Friday evening each month of the summer. And on the other Fridays there are other things to do, like car shows, nature walks, etc.

What do you do for cheap entertainment during the summer months?

Giveaway Results!!!

2010-06-16T07:23:00.000-07:00

Here are the answers to the KidSpeak Giveaway. There were some great answers from the couple of entries I got. (I especially liked Connie's poodle answer!)

~ Bed = bread (any kind)
~ Bean beans = Green Beans (Who would have thought this kid would love green beans?)
~ Doodles = Noodles (Pretty much any kind... it's all doodles around here!)
~ Eye kee = Ice Cream (which is, I am sorry to say, it's own food group in our family.)
~ Kickle = Pickle
~ Kinckles = Sprinkles (which are often placed atop a bowl of eye kee.)

And, now for the winner.

Drum roll, please...

Connie from Smockity Frocks!

AND

Becca from Long and Winding Road!

Since there were only two entries, I have decided to send you both a set of five cards. I really do appreciate that you took time to stop by, read and enter. And tweet and blog...

And also because I read both your blogs and I adore you!

Congratulations!

KidSpeak - and a Giveaway!

2010-06-10T08:35:00.000-07:00

It's time, once again for another episode of KidSpeak. This is where I share with you some of the funny, quirky and just plain cute things my kids have said recently.

First up, Riley. He's 2 years old, so he's just beginning to put multiple words together. The results are sometimes confusing, but he always knows what he's saying.

~ "Windy fine." He is afraid of the wind. Wind usually comes with storms, so he is very concerned at the slightest breeze lately. I say, "Oh no. The wind is fine. It's just a little breeze..."

~ "Uh-oh. Ty-Ty trouble." Riley is quite familiar with being in trouble, so he's very interested when anyone else in the family seems in trouble.

~ "Ty-Ty done poop." He's also just beginning potty training, so he is very interested (and insists on accompanying everyone) whenever anyone goes into the bathroom. Ty-Ty is usually not amused by this running commentary.

~ "ah-ddada-bee-buh-dah-mee-bah." Your guess is as good as mine...

~ "Mawn, Daddy!Sit down! Pay." Translation: "Come on, Daddy. Sit down and pray," while waiting for his Dad to come to the table for dinner. I believe Riley could end up being a pastor.

~ [Crying] "No! Ree Bah-bo! Bah-bo! Mommy! Ree!" Translation: "No! Read the Bible! Bible! Mommy! Read!" after I told him that we could read another book because we finished reading the Bible. He did not stop until I got the Bible in 90 Days & started reading. More evidence that there is a future pastor among us.

Tyson has had some interesting thoughts to share lately.

~ "Mom, can you make Hot Dog Casserole? It's easy. You just cut up the hot dogs, then put the casserole part on top." Yes, darling, if only it were that easy...

~ "MOM!" [Oh my. Is he bleeding from the head?] "TODAY IS MAY 26. It is my HALF BIRTHDAY. I am seven AND A HALF today."

~ "There are two kinds of ninjas: Fire ninjas and regular ninjas. I'm going to be both kinds." Okay.

~ "Riley, NO BITING. That's inappropriate. And GROSS." Uh-oh. He's starting to sound like me...

~ [At the dinner table] "You know what's weird?" [breaks wind, loudly- grins HUGE] "Okay, not that. I was going to say something else..." Ugh. Life with boys. It bears mentioning that both his dad and his little brother had a good chuckle over this one.

~ "Dad, you really need to go easy on Riley. He's had a looooong day." When his dad was trying to get Riley to clean up his toys. Riley did, in fact, have a long day that included a couple of bumps on the head and a few trips to the time out rug.

And finally...
~ [Me] "Buddy. That's not necessary. I don't want to hear that. Save the drama for your Mama."
[Tyson] "Well, you're my Mama, so I saved it all up for you!" Oy. What can I say to that?

And now for the giveaway. I have a set of five handmade cards (blank inside, with envelopes), and I want to send them to one of you.

Here's how you can win them:

Riley has some interesting substitutions for common words. Most of them have to do with food items. Below I have listed six of his most common substitutions. Leave your best guess (in the comments section) as to what five foods he's talking about. I will randomly choose a commenter who has correctly guessed at least three of the six.

You can get additional entries by Tweeting this, by linking to this post in your blog and by following this blog (if you don't already). Just leave a comment to let me know what you did (include the link so I know if you Tweeted or blogged!)

Here are the KidSpeak versions of his favorite foods:

~ Bed
~ Bean beans
~ Doodles
~ Eye kee
~ Kickle
~ Kinckles

Can you tell what they are?

I'll choose the winner and post the answers next Wednesday (June 16). Good luck!

Weedless Wednesday

2010-06-09T08:35:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on Our Garden 2010 (v 2.0).

I had started everything inside, then moved it all outside. This is a practice I must learn to stop. Ever since we got the bad soil in the bigger garden, the little sprouts die within moments of being moved into the ~~concrete~~ clay that is my garden.

So.

I replanted everything. From seeds.

So far, the only thing that is really thriving are the potatoes:

They're doing really well because they are in a garbage can with lots of good soil. In fact, they are growing so well that they grew above the top of the trash can before I knew it! I hope I didn't wait too long to throw some more dirt in on top of them. Supposedly, if I keep throwing in more & more soil, I will have a garbage can full of potatoes by the end of the season. Although at this rate, I'm thinking it might be full by the end of the month...

Another veggie that's growing pretty well is the corn.

We planted ruby and sweet yellow. I put them in closer rows than last year in the hope that we'll get more actual corn.

I planted peas in pots again. In years past I have had them on the front porch, and out in the yard. In past years we've been lucky to get one or two pea pods before they got baked in the St. Louis heat.

This year, they are on the deck, right next to the house. They'll get a bit of morning sun, but will spend the rest of the day in the shade. We also have chives, green onions, and the wheat grass Tyson planted at school in May. I like keeping the onions on the deck so that I can run out & pick what I need while cooking.

So far, the garden is looking pathetic overall. I took this photo before we had a bit of rain. It's much greener now, although most of the green are weeds. I have no idea where they got this soil, but it is infested with weeds. I mean, it's taking hours each week just to keep them at bay... right now it looks like a green carpet. Of weeds.

We did plant green beans, tomatoes, okra (only three plants this year), watermelons (in the front yard), bell peppers, lettuce and spinach. Everything but the lettuce & spinach have come up so far.

What about you? Do you have a vegetable garden? An herb garden? Advice on controlling weeds? I'd love to hear from you!

Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean...

2010-06-08T14:11:00.000-07:00

Didn't there used to be more words in that jingle?

Anyway, I love my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

I have used it to clean an embarrassing buildup of grease on the back of my stove.

I have used it to clean smudges from my walls.

I have even used it to clean scuff marks off my kitchen floor.

I thought I had found every possible use for the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

And then, as is so typical for him, Riley discovered a new use for it. (He's very ~~mischievous~~ talented, you know.)

That is my sort of new laminate floor.

That is very permanent marker on my sort of new laminate floor.

I will spare you a photo of the wide eyed look of shock (yes, shock, I say) I had on my face when I saw this.

I initially wondered how on earth he got hold of a permanent marker. (He realized that he can open up a whole new world of possibilities for himself if he just moves the step stool over to the kitchen counter. Resourceful little chap, isn't he?)

Then I wondered how on earth I would get it off of my floor. Then I realized that I would probably never get it off my floor. (It was right in the middle of the walkway, too... no way to cover it with a rug or strategically placed plant stand.)

So, I pulled out the usual remedies.

I tried vinegar. Didn't work.
I tried 409. Nope.
I tried Windex. Nada.
I tried warm soapy water and a scrub brush. Oh dear.
I tried Woolite carpet cleaner. Hey, it's still a floor, right?
I tried hot, bitter tears of hopelessness.

I had pretty much given up when I saw that little sponge sitting quietly under the sink. I didn't think it would work. But I didn't think it would hurt, either.

Approximately 10 seconds later, my floor looked like this:

Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean...

Good. as. new.

And that, my friends, is why I LOVE my Mr. Clean Magic Eraser.

This is the part where I'm supposed to tell you that I have absolutely no relationship with Mr. Clean or the makers of his Magic Eraser. My infatuation with him and his cleaning products is completely platonic and one-sided. I get no benefit from sharing the wonders of this product with you. I'm pretty sure that you, also, get no benefit from me sharing the wonders of this product with you. But kudos to you if you've read through this very boring and mostly pointless post to this point. Kudos to you.

Crazy County

2010-06-06T10:05:00.000-07:00

I love clipboards. I never met a clipboard I didn't have a use for. Or a binder, for that matter, but we'll get into that bit of crazy another day.

The truth is, I love office supplies. I'm almost as happy to be in an Office Max as I am to be in a yarn or craft store. (Almost. Nothing truly beats the smell of wool in a small, cramped yarn store...)

I'm not sure why, except to say that I love the potential that is found in almost every standard type of office supply. They all have the potential to organize. The bring order from chaos. And since most of the time my life (and my house) tend to lean more to the chaos side of the force, this bringing order thing appeals to me.

The clipboard thing started about 11 years ago when I was doing my music therapy clinical internship. It lasted 6 months, and my clinical training director was a very organized woman. She organized her life on a legal pad attached to a clipboard. She had her schedule, her to-do lists, important notes... all of it right there. I loved the idea and got my own clipboard.

Over the years, my system has gone through many transformations. There was the brief period of the Day Runner. There was the year or so that I used a 5x7 clipboard in an effort to save space. There were the two serious attempts to get rid of paper and keep every thing in my phone. There was the steno book phase that ended badly. But always I came back to the clipboard. I'm currently using a clipboard with a Daily Docket sheet (which I customized for my life).

Do try not to notice that this is Tuesday's list. I tend to only keep a docket for Mon-Fri. This week, I got a lot done on Tuesday so I took a picture of that day.

I might have gone a little crazy with the clipboards for summer school, too. We have four of them.

These are Tyson's. Riley has a set that are very similar. The small orange one is the token economy. Ty gets a sticker for every lesson he gets through without whining, arguing or refusing. (Motivation, attitude and work ethic are a big part of our summer this year.) After he fills up the chart, he gets to trade it in for a reinforcer. (Which could be an item from the prize box, a family trip to the ice cream shop, extra time to play video games, etc.)

This is the plan for what we will work on this week. (Obviously, there is a lot of trying to figure out what Ty picked up this year and what he didn't... so I know what he still needs to learn on.) I went ahead and filled in the full week, knowing that not all of it will get done exactly as it says. We'll go to the library one day, which will take the place of something on the list for Monday. We'll also probably go to the park one day. But this way I have a plan for each subject, and we'll just make up what we missed later in the week or next week. The items in yellow are the assignments Ty will need to complete mostly on his own. (Again, work ethic is a big focus this year.) I can't decide if I should make him finish every assignment each day, or make him finish all for the week by Friday...

I know. I'm trying so hard to be organized that I might be crossing a line & maybe setting a foot into the Land of Crazy with this. "Oh, no," you say, "It's good to have a plan. You're just being organized. God likes a little organization."

Really? Would you think it was just a little over the Crazy County line if I told you that Riley (the two year old) also has a full sized clipboard with tasks like "shape sorter," "sort colors," and "picture vocabulary" on it? With the same subject headings...

Welcome to Crazy County. Population 1.

On Your Mark...

2010-06-04T14:13:00.000-07:00

I've been working all week to get things ready for the official start of our Summer {Home}School v2.0.

Here's a little peek into just a few of the things I did this week:

The schedule is done & posted:

Last year we did a "routine" that did not include times. I was worried that having times would stress me out because, although I definitely need a structure to my day, I can sort of become a slave to what the clock says. I know. It sounds strange, but I am a woman of extremes. I tend to hover either near the "parked on the couch in my pajamas all day" end of life... or at the "anal retentive, type A control freak" end of life. So this year I've added times, and I am taking them as a suggestion for myself. I understand that very few days will actually follow this schedule and that when things interfere it in no way means that I am an irresponsible mess. I know this. I do. Really.

You'll notice that all of the academic subjects are in white. That is so that they can be moved by Tyson. One of the things I taught him this year is how to "eat the frog." Some days he wants to get the worst stuff done first (i.e. eat the frog) and some days he prefers to put it off until later. Either way, it helps him to have a little control over his day.

I have a few spare subjects on the other side of the door:

Also, I reworked the chore lists. Riley now has a list of his own, and they are both posted on the fridge daily:

The lists are in top loading page protectors so that they can use dry erase markers to mark each task off the list when it's done.

This is an example of one of Riley's lists. (We have a different one for each day and I change them in the evenings.) I drew pictures to help him figure out what he's supposed to do. (I'm not sure why I put pictures on Tyson's list since he can read now. Maybe out of habit? Maybe to make it a little more fun? Or maybe out of some subconscious need for him to retain a little of his littleness...)

I also put together Tyson's summer reading folder. He has so many papers for this subject that this one needed its own folder. Since we won't be doing a lot of worksheets this summer, I don't think he'll have a folder for any other subject.

In this folder he has:

Summer Reading Club Log for our local public library
Our own summer reading log to track book titles, minutes, etc.
Summer Reading Log for school
Recommended books for summer reading (from school)

Tyson's school encourages reading over the summer. The thing I thought was funny is that they give the kids a prize if they read ten books over summer vacation (chapter books count for three). Summer vacation is 12 weeks long. It doesn't seem like they are setting the expectations very high. We read almost every day... at least 4-6 days a week. (Even when we are camping.) And that's just the days that Tyson reads to us! That doesn't count all the books I read aloud to him. Needless to say, I'm confident he's going to earn the prize from his second grade teacher.

So, do you read a lot in the summer? How do you encourage your kids to read?

God big.

2010-06-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

When the sky begins to darken...

...and the wind begins to blow...

...my Wild Thing looks at me, looks outside and with such serious concern says,

"Momma. Windy. Windy, Momma."

I pick him up and hold him close. I take him outside before the rain begins to fall. We go out to see the thing he fears, to feel it blowing our hair.

And then I hear myself say the words before I realize they're in my mind...

"Don't be scared. There's nothing to be afraid of...

"...God loves us.

He gives us rain to water our garden.

He gives us wind to cool our faces.

He gives us thunder to remind us that our God is big."

And I have no idea where the words came from. I wonder why I didn't just tell him the old standby about God rearranging the furniture in Heaven. And then I see it in his eyes, and I think he's beginning to understand. In that very basic way that a two year old understands anything. And in his toddler-speak he says,

"God big."

Memorial Day

2010-05-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

I cannot tell you how thankful I am to the men and women of the armed forces and their families. They volunteer to give up years, and sometimes the rest of, their lives in order to ensure our way of life. In the name of freedom and liberty, these people leave the love and comfort of their homes, families and friends to put their lives at risk... many of them knowing that they might not return... to make this world a safer, better place.

I must admit to feeling a little sad when I think about what Memorial Day weekend has become. It was meant to be a solemn day to honor and remember those who have lost their lives, who willingly made the ultimate sacrifice so that you and I could continue to live our lives that are so full of freedom, liberty and safety. But Memorial Day has become a gluttonous festival of one-day sales, pool openings and bar-b-ques. People gather together, not to honor our fallen soldiers, but to shop till they drop, guzzle beer and burn meat.

We have determined not to teach our children the new and commercialized start-to-summer version of this holiday. This is not to say that we do nothing fun, but we take the time to teach the meaning of this day. And we honor our men & women in uniform.

Yesterday, we spent several hours at Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery with more than 5,000 members of Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Adventure Club and Girls Scouts. It was the Good Turn. We had a ceremony where the flag was raised, then lowered to half staff, and then the scouts and their families place a flag on each an every grave in the cemetery. It is a solemn and reverent occasion. Here are some photos I took:

School's out for Summah!

2010-05-28T15:44:00.000-07:00

There are only two Alice Cooper songs to which I know any of the words... the title of this post would be one of them.

Summer vacation has begun.

Wednesday was my last day of school, and I've been doing pretty much nothing ever since.

Oh, there are lots of things I should have been doing...

but it is so rare that I have two whole days to myself.

Yesterday I went to see Sex & the City 2. Yes, I know it's a very Christian movie to see. Ahem. But it's really not that bad. Despite a few naughty words and two (I think)... um... gratuitous scenes, it's mostly just about a few girlfriends who trip & stumble though their lives. I think my favorite part was when the two moms in the group (Charlotte and Miranda) toast all of the moms who raise their kids without a full time nanny! Most of the women in the theater laughed out loud at that!

Today I also didn't do much. I sorted a few magazines. I went to the gym. I shuffled a few papers here & there.

Next week I being preparing in earnest for summer school.

Next week I also begin blogging in earnest about summer school. (I know that everyone is probably very interested in my very exciting summer plans...)

I'll also be blogging about the garden, the boys, the house and anything else I find interesting, amusing or otherwise noteworthy.

So, check back Monday for some sort of incredibly fascinating post about some sort of incredibly fascinating topic. Cheers!

3 - 2 - 1

2010-05-26T06:46:00.000-07:00

SUMMER VACATION!!!!!

Well, it's almost summer vacation.

I have four music therapy sessions to do this morning, and then I will finish the day by cleaning out my car & packing up instruments for the summer.

And then I can sigh. I can breathe. I can throw the stress by the wayside.

I can get everything ready for our Summer (Home)School v2.0

I'm excited. I'm using next week to clean up the house (because by the end of the school year, it resembles Oscar the Grouch's home), and to organize materials for three very full months of home education. I'll also be blogging about the organization process, as well as our adventures as we go through the summer.

So, if you enjoy the likes of The Three Stooges and Abbot & Costello... then this will be the blog for you. I am quite certain we will be bumbling through lessons in Bible, Patriotism, spelling and math. I am sure to trip & fall flat on my face. But, it will almost certainly be a comedy of errors, as I am determined to embrace this summer with grace, humor and joy.

Have a wonderful day!!!

Wave!

2010-05-12T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hi! I'm still here, though some days it feels as though I'm barely here.

As the school year winds down, my stress levels (and the amount of time I have to spend addressing work matters) goes way, way up.

Hence, my lack of presence around the blogosphere.

sigh

I promise, I will be back soon. (The countdown currently stands at 9.5 days left in the school year!)

And when I come back, Purple Brick Road will be bursting (yes, BURSTING, I say!) with posts on Mother's Day, homeschool, teaching the nontraditional learner, faith, gardening, kidspeak, recipes and maybe even a good, old fashioned giveaway or two.

For now, I will leave you with a photo of my Mother's Day gift. My husband & boys are so awesome!

Sorry the quality of the photo is so bad. The problem with wanting to take a photo of one's fancy new camera is that you have to take the photo of the fancy camera with the less than fancy camera on the iPhone.

Oh yeah, I'll also be posting all about my ~~hi-jinx~~ adventures in learning to use this thing...

It's May!

2010-05-04T06:25:00.000-07:00

And do you know what that means?

IT MEANS THAT WE ONLY HAVE 3.5 MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL!!!
(I'll bet you didn't know that the teachers are worse than the students!)

And then our Summer-At-Home v2.0 begins!

This is the last big push of the (public) school year, which means it's a hectic month.

At work, I have last minute music therapy assessments to finish, files to organize, progress reports to write, and student information to gather for the person who will be serving my students over summer school.

At home, I have to finish getting the garden planted, plan the entire summer curriculum for my own boys, compile materials for the projects we will be working on, figure out our schedule (including Ty's sensory breaks - new this year), pick a knitting project or two (or five), and I'm feeling that springtime urge to clean my house from top to bottom.

Never fear, I will be sharing much of this right here at My Purple Brick Road! (I know. Try to control your excitement. I can hear you groaning with boredom and clicking the "delete blog" button on your Google Reader....)

The most important thing, the thing that is weighing most heavily on my mind, is what and how I will teach for summer school. Some of it is dictated by Ty's school curriculum - I've got to get him caught up on spelling, math and writing so he's not too far behind when he starts second grade. I'm a total newbie, and since we only get to homeschool during the summer... the learning curl is a bit flatlined.

Ahem. So if anyone has any general advice on homeschooling, helpful links, books I can get at the library, etc., I am happy to hear about it!

There are several blogs I will be scouring for tips and wisdom (you know who you are!), but I welcome all comments!
Thanks!
Have a great day!

Therapy Thursday

2010-04-29T04:13:00.000-07:00

Tyson has now been doing his new therapy for one week. So far, I think we might be seeing some improvements, though I'm not sure I can attribute anything we've seen to the therapy so far. But, this has been week one of what will be approximately 12 weeks of treatment.

The new therapy is called therapeutic listening. Basically, Tyson listens to electronically modulated music for 30 minutes, twice each day through these ~~big~~ ~~ginormous~~ special headphones.

The music on the CD is modulated, but the headphones further modulate the music, controlling some of the right-left stereo effects.

I think Tyson has been more relaxed. He still tries to get out of doing homework, but I think it's partly out of habit. And it does seem that once he resigns himself to doing it, he is sometimes getting it completed in a reasonable amount of time (not counting sensory breaks every 30-45 minutes).

I guess time will tell if this therapy will work for Ty. So far, I have to say that I'm glad that he doesn't seem to mind it. In fact, I think he actually enjoys it!

Click here for more information on Sensory Processing Disorder.

WFMW - The Basket

2010-04-27T20:48:00.000-07:00

This is "The Basket." It comes out whenever either of our boys are sick. And since Riley (2yo) just had a two week, double flare-up of strep throat, I though I would share this little convenience.

It began when Tyson (the older) was a few weeks old. Then it wasn't the sick basket; it was the baby basket. Babies need stuff. Lots of stuff. And I realized when I was still on maternity leave that I felt like I was constantly roaming the house to get this or that or whatever Ty needed at the moment.

When we were upstairs, his bulb syringe was downstairs. When we were downstairs, his extra socks were upstairs. We ended up with burp cloths everywhere, and rarely had a clean backup binkie handy when he needed one. I decided to corral all of the baby stuff into one portable place. We kept the baby nail files, extra socks, binkies, burp cloths, etc. in one place. Thus, The Basket was born. It went everywhere the baby went.

Eventually, he grew up a bit and we didn't need it any more.

And then he had his first bout of the flu, and I realized another valuable lesson:

Kids need stuff. Sick kids need lots of stuff. Pretty much now.

So I dug the basket out of the closet and put it to work again. And that's what we do any time either of the boys gets sick. We take the basket out of the closet and fill it with sick kid stuff:

thermometer
Motrin
lip balm
hand sanitizer
pad of paper + pen (to record fever, time & dose of meds, etc.)
lotion (for giving massages to aching little backs & shoulders)
doctor's card with phone numbers (just in case)
anything else we might need

We just keep the basket with the kid. This way there is no need to stumble down the stairs for more Motrin in the middle of the night. That definitely works for me!

Click here for more great tips!

What is SPD?

2010-04-27T01:29:00.000-07:00

Last week, I mentioned that Tyson has started a new therapy. I've had a couple of emails about him and his sensory stuff, so I decided that a blogpost is in order.

First of all, please let me say that I'm writing this as a mom. Yes, I'm a pretty informed mom, given that I have degrees in music therapy and psychology (specializing in applied behavior analysis), but this is about my little boy. My LilMan. The boy who made me a mom.

In many ways, my education, training and professional experience hasn't been all that helpful with Ty anyway. My emotions blur my vision when it comes to him. My love and concern for him muddy the waters of what I know. And what I see. This is why he is 7 years old, and we are only now beginning to figure out what is going on with him. We hope.

We think Tyson might have SPD, or Sensory Processing Disorder. We are in the process of finding someone who can either confirm or deny SPD as an appropriate diagnosis for him. It's a difficult and complicated task. So, what is SPD? In a nutshell, it is a neurological disorder wherein the brain does not receive and/or process messages from the five senses correctly.

The sensory system is always changing, which makes kids with SPD hard to identify, and even harder to figure out. Some days, everything seems to be functioning normally and there are few snags. Other days everything is out of whack and nothing happens without arguments, tantrums or tears. Kids with SPD often appear to simply be behaving badly when they are reacting (or not reacting) to stimuli around them. They are frequently misdiagnosed as being "hyperactive," or as having ADHD. They can also be mislabeled by teachers, parents and caregivers as "lazy," "moody," and "unmotivated."

Some kids with SPD are hypersensitive to certain forms of stimuli. These are kids who have meltdowns when they have to get dressed in the morning because things like stiff fabrics, seams of socks and clothing tags make them crazy or actually cause them pain. These are kids who react with intense emotion and behavior to sounds like box fans, lawnmowers and even the hum of fluorescent lights. These are kids who have hypersensitive gag reflexes and reject certain types of food textures (usually mushy) or flavors. The list goes on...

Some kids with SPD are hyposensitive to certain forms of stimuli. These are kids who may have freakishly high tolerance for pain. They fall down or bump their heads and don't seem to notice. These are kids who are clumsy because they don't know where their body is in space. They can't feel the chair under them, so they wiggle so much that they fall off the chair. These are kids who seem to be hearing impaired because their brains don't register all the sounds around them. Again, the list goes on...

Some kids are a mixture of both. Tyson is a mixture of both. When he was little, we called them "quirks." The way he cried if we asked him to play in dry oats or sand. The way he refused to take his shoes off, even for bed. The way he refused to walk in the grass until he was three years old, even with shoes on. The way he ate everything - and I mean everything - we presented. Hot, spicy, bitter...

You know how when kids are just beginning to eat real solid foods, and parents give them a lemon wedge or a dill pickle, and then the kid screws up his face in that reflexive pucker, and there is a funny uncertainty in their eyes, and it's just the cutest thing ever? Tyson never did that.

When he was little, they were harmless (sometimes amusing) quirks. The way he would eat salsa so spicy that his cheeks would turn red and his nose would run. The way he would insist on covering his entire face with a blanket to sleep.

Sometimes his quirks worried us. His speech was severely delayed. We had to teach him to cry whenever he fell or bumped his head, or whenever another child behaved aggressively toward him. We did this because we were afraid he would become injured and we wouldn't know it. We did this when he was 14 months old because a child at his daycare bit him on the face and he never cried or fussed and nobody knew that it happened until I asked why his cheek was red and then later saw the perfect oval of teeth-mark bruises appear. It worried us that he never slowed down for illness. He could run a fever, and wouldn't show any symptoms until it was near or above 103.

You would think that a kid who had such a high tolerance for pain would be fearless, but Tyson was (and still is) a very cautious child. He hates to fall down. He hates ot take risks. He absolutely hates new and unfamiliar experiences. He is picky about his clothing, and Halloween is a hugely stressful time for him. I secretly cannot wait until he grows too old to dress up because we will have fewer tears for something that should be so much fun.

When he was younger it was cute and mildly frustrating. Now that he is older it is seriously impacting his ability to function in a school setting. He is generally hyposensitive. In SPD language, we would say that his engine runs low. Constantly. His teachers always think he is lazy and unmotivated, that he doesn't care about succeeding or learning. They believe he must have ADHD and (although they cannot legally suggest it) they wonder why we haven't just medicated him already. The fact is that his central nervous system cannot regulate his state of mental arousal correctly. This means that seat work (especially writing and reading) is super challenging for him. It's confusing for his teacher. It's frustrating for him. It's infuriating for me.Homework time is a battle (think General Washington) In first grade my son has about two hours of homework a night. (This is usually about two worksheets + 30 minutes of reading). By the time he reaches third grade I will have to lobby God to add more hours to the day.

So, there it is. SPD in a nutshell. I'll be posting more about this part of our journey as we go.

If you would like more information about SPD, please click here for a great resource.