Winter Wonderland!

Hi there! Snow has arrived in the Entiat Valley. It began yesterday, and by today there was enough snow for the kids to go sledding with Grandpa!!

The kids had a blast! It's the best opportunity for pictures of the kids.

Soccer Nightmare! Hello Fall!

Well, the weather is much cooler nowadays. Thank Goodness! Summer is much shorter here than it is in Sacramento. We're all happy about that!

As for the boys playing soccer, well, it's a good thing I got pictures of them when I did...cause there hasn't been much soccer playing lately! Bowen quit early on, and now Jimmy is refusing to practice, despite me dropping him off (and sugaring him up before-hand). There is a game this afternoon, so we'll see how that goes. After today, there's just one practice and one game left. Jimmy says he likes only to play in the games, but he has a tendency to simply walk off the field when he's tired whether the ball is in play or not.

School is going well for the kids, although Jimmy is having a tough time adjusting to it. He still says he hates school. He does like having friends, though, and his writing is improving.

Today, I needed to run Bowen's glasses to him at school, and Bowen seemed genuinely happy to see me there (even gave me a kiss and hug on his way to the playground!). Jimmy saw me and waved as well. Jimmy's excited about a field trip to the apple orchard today--wish I could've gone to take photos...

But, I needed to go update my address with the Dept. of Licensing...when I left, I noticed she wrote my address down wrong on my card....So, I had to go back in with Emma & Andrew in tow...Well, Emma needs to use the potty anytime we're out and about, so I let her use the bathroom. I could hear her flush on the other side of the door...then she says, "Ugh OH!" as water splashed all over the floor. That darned toilet overflowed!!! So, while I waited my turn at the Dept. of Lisencing, I got to mop the bathroom floor! Yay! All so I can get registered to vote on time!!

Family Firsts

Here are the boys! Bowen and Jimmy started soccer yesterday and here's Jimmy's first day of school! Bowen was home sick yesterday, but both are back to school today. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!! Mom just might get something done finally!!!

Quilt Show

I made it out to the quilt show in Reardan this weekend. What a pretty area! Such a nice way they display their quilts, all along the fences and on the barn and The Buggy Barn quilt shop. I'm pretty happy with the picture opportunities, too! There were some craft booths there, as well, and Virginia Cole was there with her miniature quilt art. I just love her stuff! Check her out at http://www.gallopingpony.com/ to see her work.

School starts in a few days, and with all the chaos of summer, I'm looking forward to settling down into the routine of the school year.

Here's a little critter that Jim found out in the garage...actually it was hiding in the cover of his motorcycle, and it made its way into the laundry room! I've never seen Jim move so fast, when he was hustling to grab a glass to trap it! I took a picture (I have never seen a black widow before), so that we could all learn what to avoid! Creepy!!!

Is It Autism?

To further explain Asperger Syndrome:

Here's an excerpt from the website http://www.autismaspergers.net/ :

"This diagram as developed by Daniel Rosenn, M.D. (1997) shows autism as a spectrum disorder with different levels of severity and presentation. Considering autism as a continuum of its own may help solve the problems of defining and classifying people who are within the autism spectrum. The cluster of circles at the Severe-Kanner’s end of the graphic depict the relative ease of diagnosing autism in a person when she is at this end of the spectrum. Towards the moderate area, the presentation of autism becomes more varied as indicated by the introduction of different shapes such as the square and the triangle. The high-functioning-Asperger (HFA/AS) portion of this syndrome has the greatest diversity in shapes because the variation in presentation along with the number of people with autism in this area is the greatest. At the extreme right, those with autism blend into the general population. This autism spectrum severity wedge diagram shows that it is impossible to state unequivocally that a person with autism must have a particular trait or cannot have another trait. "

I'm finding lots of interesting stuff on the Autism Asperger Publishing Co. website www.asperger.net if you're interested in more information.

Day 12 ~ post op, and I'm doing pretty darned good! I haven't had to take much medication today (just a dose of naproxen this morning), despite running around the yard picking up stuff.

Our neighbor with the bulldozer came by today for a few hours. I am amazed at the difference already! We've watered down the dirt for hours, in several places, and it's paying off! Our neighbor really knows his stuff! He's able to get some huge boulders up and pushed off out of the way. After some more dozing tomorrow, we should be closer to being ready to pour some concrete. In the meantime, the dozer gets rid of weeds, sage brush, and thistle in an instant! That makes me pretty happy!

Chicken update: We're down to 7... Sometime during my week away, two went missing. I do suspect that we have two hens a-laying now.

I have to say that, during the past 2 weeks, I'm glad that I took lots of pictures. I have this thing that happens, anytime I have to take narcotic pain reliever, that I have gaps in my memory. Looking through my pictures during the past 12 days, has been a little bit of a surprise! Not only that, but when we all arrived home yesterday, I took a peek in the fridge, and there was zucchini that I had forgotten that my cousin had given me before the surgery...It's all very bizarre to have gaps in my memory.

As for an update on Bowen, the Opthalmologist has said that he does not have amblyopia after all. So, that's a relief! His eyeglass prescription is correct, and there's nothing to be concerned about as far as his eyes are concerned. Great to know!

At this point, I've found a couple of books about Asperger Syndrome (AS) that I think I'll end up adding to my library. The OASIS Guide to Asperger Syndrome is the first, and the second book is Asperger Syndrome and Sensory Issues. The first book seems to be an encyclopedia for the topic, and the second book is a very practical look at how Asperger's affects the behavior of someone with AS. For a long time, I blamed myself for being a bad mother, assuming that Bowen's odd behavior must be due to something I had done wrong. I'm relieved, not only to know that there is a reason for this behavior, but also that there are other parents out there who have faced the same parenting difficulties. Ultimately, I'm concerned not only with raising an AS child, but how to handle the dynamics between Bowen and the other kids. Anyway, that's all for now.

Just for fun, I've added this picture, taken by my friend, Kara, of Emma and Jimmy driving a little Jeep. It was June of 2006, so Jimmy was 3 1/2 and Emma was 18 months old. They grow so fast!!!

Reunion

Well, I wasn't sure if I could make it, but I did get to the family reunion this year. The kids had a great time playing with their second cousins on the playground and also getting their feet wet in the Columbia River.

At 7 days post-op, I'm doing pretty good. I have had some allergic reactions, first to the surgical glue, and now to the vicodin, so I'm off the heavy drugs and going to see if I can make it from here on out with just benedryl and tylenol. I'm feeling pretty sore though. Very happy with the results, but need to get beyond the healing process.

There's a quilt show coming up in Reardan, WA where they hang quilts all over the outside of the barn and nearby fences. I'm looking forward to seeing that and possibly getting a good picture of the scenery there.