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Today we drove to Llano, TX. This is part of the Bluebonnet Trail. I knew that it was past peak but I expected to see some. There were no bluebonnets this year. At all. Not even any wildflowers. We've had no rain. And, of course, we were ready with beautiful dresses. Oh, well. We did stop at Buchanan Dam. It was closed. The water levels are extremely low. I don't know if that has anything to do with it but it was disappointing. The little beach there was open so the kids were able to romp around a bit. We then kept going to Llano for some Texas BBQ. It was good.
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Yesterday, Cecelia and I cut the rest of the Court Ladies costumes. I need to get started on the Empress's costume first so she can have her dress for publicity photos. I still need to cut the pattern for the Clockmaker's costume. She'll wear a tunic, pants and a robe.
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A lady I met on-line but have met IRL, spoke about interval training just recently. As soon as I can get the treadmill opened (which involves organizing the pantry), I want to try this. Right now, I do Pilates. I just want to get back into shape for the summer. Winter always brings on a bit of extra weight.
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The wind has been blowing like crazy. Friday was miserable with the wind. It also brought smoke into our area which made Pumpkin's asthma act up. It had been a while since she's had an asthma attack but for the past month she's been having trouble. Honey's asthma has not been struggling though. Honey's lung function is at 89 percent so I really thought she'd be the one struggling.
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I am in denial. Completely in denial. I don't want my son to grow up. My son is almost 100 pounds; he is almost 5 feet 1 inch tall. I don't know how this happened. He is big! I can wear his shoes. Recently he was prescribed antibiotics. I read the dosage at least 10 times and each time I read it as "Take twice daily". Not once did I read it as "Take TWO twice daily." See? Denial. Now, I know why he is not getting better as fast as I'd like. So, we'll continue to take two twice daily and see what happens.
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Ben is deploying to Afghanistan in August. He'll be missing his cousin/goddaughter's wedding. We'll be taking another trip to Massachusetts this year but this time, it'll be drive there, attend wedding, drive back. It's right at the beginning of Nutcracker season and we just can't spare that much time. The deployment is not a big surprise. He was actually supposed to deploy in July for a 12 month deployment but is instead on a 6 month one leaving in August.
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And, a photo from today. I worked on editing it with many different things. I will work on others and spread the attention around the other children. It must all be equal.
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Brother has learned a lot about friendship in the past couple of years. He mentions that one guy he knows is not a good friend because he doesn't interact with him much. This guy tends to ignore Brother especially when other boys are around. This happens a lot to Brother. But, until just recently, he didn't notice it. Maturity can hurt.
He's figuring out that friends shouldn't just come over and ignore you at your own house. It hurts him. How do I know? He was doing an exercise with his ABA therapist about this very topic and he started to cry about it. He feels strongly but can't express himself so all he can do is cry.
It's hard to sit back and watch his hurts. I try to remind him of his friends who do hang out with him totally. He has one good friend who has Asperger's who is just a wonderful friend. They can both hang out but they completely understand when the other needs a bit of a break from sensory stimulation. It's great. They're amenable to each other's ideas. It's been a good experience for both of them.
I don't blame the other boys or at the very least try not to. It's hard for mother bear not to come out, but I do try since really, they are just immature boys.
I understand about hurts regarding friendships. Someone who I thought was a friend has been slowly pulling away. I didn't recognize it at first but it's become pretty obvious. Our daughters are friends so we'll always interact in some way but I realize that our friendship really has only been more surface. I don't understand it and it does hurt a bit, but I do understand. I don't know if I did anything to offend but if I did, I don't know what it is.
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Honey after being told Pumpkin's wounds were worse than hers:
"I was wounded saving my country!!! And, now you're saying Pumpkin's injured worse than me? And give her all the GLORY?!?!"
Then this morning when I mentioned how I was going to post this on my blog, she said, "Do you want me to repeat it for you? I like people laughing at me. I like being famous! Let me know when people comment."
Where does she get this stuff?
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The weather this week has been wonderful! The mornings are blessedly cool with the sun coming out later in the afternoon for some 80 degree weather. The wind has been blowing so even though it can feel really hot, it's very, very cool. This is Texas spring at its best.
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Brother has been playing baseball with Ben every evening if possible. He's been reading a pitching book and trying to learn how to pitch. I'm so impressed with his progress and his tenacity. He's catching pretty well even though he doesn't chase after the ball yet. He's working on his batting as well.
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I'm craving chocolate. Right now.
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My friend, Cecelia, and I got a start on our ballet sewing this morning. We cut four of the eleven Empress Court Ladies dresses. I hope to avoid the late nights like I had for Nutcracker.
I'm also wanting to make something like this. I don't know if I'll have time though.
I don't remember if I've mentioned that we're doing "The Empress and the Nightingale" for our spring performance.
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I'm going through a lot of "soul-searching" about whether I want the children's education to head in the direction it's headed in. We do too many workbooks. I don't like it. So, I'm working through it all in my mind.
~6~
I'm craving something sweet. Seriously. Where's the sweet stuff? I need to go shopping.
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I need a vacation. Or rather, I want a vacation. I really want to go to Korea for a visit but I'd need to save up quite a bit to take everyone there. I want to visit my aunt who is in her 70s. She was in an airplane crash in the early 90s so we has not been able to visit since then. I've not seen her much. As a result of the accident, she has Parkinson's. So, I really would like to go.
Check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.
One more shot of Brother in all fairness.
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My son was older when he received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and First Holy Communion. He was ten. Usually, you are around 7 or 8 (second grade).
I worried about whether he got it. I need not have worried. He does. He is a literal person so it was very easy to understand (and believe) that Communion involved the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ.
He just knows.
God just takes care of him. We are truly blessed.
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A fellow ballet mom asked me a question regarding what nurses should know about children with autism when treating them. She asked me through Facebook (I read it via email). I was going to speak to her about it tomorrow but then realized it would make a good blog post.
The very first time I recognized that healthcare providers needed to be aware of Brother's diagnosis was when he was six. He was terribly sick; throwing up constantly with serious abdominal cramps plus fever. I thought he might have appendicitis since he was complaining so much of pain on his right side. I took him to the ER around 4am. It was when they tried to have him drink a large amount of contrast for a CT scan that I realized I should've mentioned his autism diagnosis. This was not long after Brother's diagnosis.
A healthcare provider needs to know that a child with autism:
- might not answer your question directly.
- needs direct questions. Most can't understand nebulous questions. The pain chart is an amazing thing for them. I wish they had something like that for all questions.
- faced with something insurmountable such as drinking an enormous bottle of contrast that tastes yucky, will dig in his heels and not do it. No amount of bargaining, reasoning, or threatening will help him. Another path has to be taken.
- can't always sit still even during an exam. One time a doctor scolded Brother for wandering the exam room. He can't always sit still and he needs to seek sensory stimulation. Other times he can't attend to a conversation.
- can have processing difficulty. At times he can hear static between words. Other times you come in loud and clear.
- can have sensitivity to touch or be impervious to touch. Ask.
I'm sure there are many more. There other moms out there I need to speak to and find out what helps them. Please leave a comment if you know of more things healthcare providers need to know.
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When Brother was about 10, he started to question why he was continuing with his therapy. His two younger sisters needed speech therapy for articulation issues but were finished within a year to eighteen months. I explained to him that he had autism and that the therapies helped him in many areas. He didn't really understand but he's learning more and more what his weaknesses are.
As we were purging, I came across a picture of us where the children were holding disposable cameras. He wanted to know what he took pictures of. I told him he took pictures of the walls, ground, dirt, grass, etc. He then looked at me with a smile and said, "Well, that's autism for ya."
Who says people with autism don't have a sense of humor.
April is Autism Awareness month. This is the face of autism.
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As I stated in my previous post, we went strawberry picking. Here in Texas, strawberries are usually ready by the end of March but you are lucky if they are still there at the end of April. It was a lot of fun today. There was an abundance of strawberries which has not happened for a long time. We were done so quickly that our plans were kind of messed up. We persevered though. After picking seven boxes (my mom did most of it), we had lunch. The children spent some time feeding the goats. Honey was looking forward to the horses but they were not there. I know she was really disappointed. She even brought apples to feed them. Then we loaded up and headed to the Bluebonnet Cafe for some pie. We try to go around 3 for pie happy hour, but we were finished way too early to do that. The pies were delicious anyway.
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As we were headed to my friend's house so we could caravan together, I came across a speed trap in our neighborhood. The cops had set up their radar guns and were nailing all the drivers going over the school zone speed limit. Our town made out like a bandit today. There were cars coming around the curve straight into a ticket. Luckily, I pay very close attention to my speed in the school zones. I won't say how fast I drive otherwise.
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I made two strawberry pies when I arrived home. One will go to my sister and one will stay here. I have plans to make another one to share with the ballet moms and the teacher on Monday. I need to buy more ingredients. I want to go to the store tomorrow to pick up some no cook stuff to make freezer jam. I think the kids will enjoy smashing the strawberries.
Some of the kids were so funny. My oldest put more in his stomach than the box.
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I think my parents enjoyed their first field trip with us. The children really enjoyed having them with us.
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We are having a garage sale on Saturday to finally clear out all of our extra stuff. Well, most of the extra stuff. I'm sure there's extra stuff that I still have not gone through. The girls were all upset they wouldn't be there because of their ballet class, but when an invitation to a birthday party arrived on Tuesday, they forgot how upset they were.
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New adventure awaits as Ben is slated to move on to another job. Are we moving? No. But, Ben will have a new job starting this summer. Stay tuned. Things are still quite up in the air.
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April is Autism Awareness Month. I have no posts planned. I have writer's block. Hope for an unblocking soon.
Check out more Quick Takes at Conversion Diary.
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