Love this idea

Jordan from Oh Happy Day came up with another great idea. A Leisure Book! For those times when you have free time but forgot what it is that you like to do when you have free time!!!! I am unabashedly stealing this idea and, with a little modification, it will become a gift for Eric when he celebrates his birthday in March.

details here

A nice side effect of snow.....

is that I got to take some lovely photos both of the children and just the beauty that is this place I live.

Please to enjoy a sampling!

A New Year

but still the same old snow. We have been walloped here in the Pacific Northwest. It seems to have been snowing since summer! School finished early for Christmas due to snow and today was going to be the first day back. However, last night we received about 6 inches of snow in about 2 hours! This morning, the snow was still all around and school was delayed two hours. This would be okay except that the buses run on a snow route and that means much difficulty for an autistic child. To get Alexandra to school would have required getting her into the car and driving about 5 minutes to wait for a bus that may or may not have come. Then she would have been at school for less than 2 hours. I knew that after 3 weeks out of school, this kind of change would not have been a good thing for her. So I sucked it up and kept her home. What is another day between mother and daughter?!! She needs school and I need her to be in school! Another side effect was that Owen did not have preschool as the snow kept them from their work too. Can we please just get back to rain please?!!

Happy New Year!

Here's to 2009. I sincerely hope it is a good one, that is filled with happy days and peaceful nights. I hope for many things but I will not bore you with those. Instead, I will bore you with my resolutions. I decided to make a lot so maybe some will stick!!

1. Blog on a more consistent basis - That would be nice!
2. Do not purchase anything for 6 months. Obviously this does not include essentials like food but simply the extraneous things that i allow to clutter my life
3. Organise my house and throw the excess away.
4. Learn to let go of things that are just taking up space
5. Take Owen for soccer lessons
6. Take Alex roller skating once a week
7. Take Alex and Owen for swimming lessons
8. Make sure they get to the park at least twice a week
9. Eat dinner at the table every night - we fell out of this habit and it needs to be reintroduced
10. Go to see grandparents in Wisconsin

I also want to make sure I try a new recipe for dinner at least once a week.

So Happy New Year to everyone. I hope it is all that you wish.

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Today was one of those milestone birthdays that puts pressure on a person to feel something that they are not even sure they know how to feel. I felt as though I should feel different or contemplative or have some revelation. Instead I felt the same thing I feel every morning - is there coffee made and where is it? After coffee was successfully placed into my personage, I made my way down to Gig Harbor sans children - now that was a gift! I got to browse through my favorite Borders bookstore and found some of the beautiful British magazines I covet so dearly! There was no going to the kids section and hearing how much they needed yet another Thomas/Cars/Bearnstein Bears book. It was a wonderful break and went a long way to restoring sanity. I made my way back to Silverdale and purchased myself a little fresh fruit tart and some other delights for the family! Then back home for lunch and reality!

Alexandra is feeling way under the weather and there is nothing as pitiful as a sick child. Add autism and an unwillingness to take medicine or receive anything in the way of comfort, and it makes for a long afternoon/evening. I did get a little afternoon reprieve too which was wonderful. I went to Michaels and purchased a few Martha Stewart Christmas things and then to Costco for more basic household items. Again, it was just me and my ipod and it was only playing Kathryn songs! Not a Laurie Berkner to be found!! No offense Laurie!

Back home for a pork feast and then it was all about Alexandra and trying to get her to take comfort! I just got a little visit from my friend Jenna who was brandishing a birthday bag filled with coffee beans and a wonderful travel cup - yeah, she really knows how to make me happy! Now I wind down this day with a feeling that it was not celebrated with the dramatic act called for, yet feeling that it was a pretty good day after all. I wonder what the next year and decade will bring and hope it is just a happy, joy filled time that makes my heart happy and my soul full. Here's to all that is good and pure and real.

And now onto Thanksgiving!!

A New Addition!

Our family has grown!!! We now have a little kitten to add to our little unit! A quick summary. Maddux and Alex - not too happy about it. Daddy and Owen - absolutely beside themselves happy about it. And I am feeling okay about it. In spite of myself, I find myself enjoying the little silly thing. So Ladies and Gentlemen, I give unto you, Jackie Brown!

 

 

 

 

Alexandra is a rock star!!

She does like her accessories!!! Or rather, my accessories! She was leaving for therapy on Thursday afternoon and it was pouring down rain. Apparently that meant wearing sunglasses for little Alexandra! SHe has really taken to accessories of late - gloves, hats, scarves! It is kinda nice!


She does like her accessories!!! Or rather, my accesories!