Tim Shriver on the Colbert Report

"I didn't say you cannot use the [r] word: I don't want to be a cop; I want to be a teacher. You're allowed to be humiliating, degrading, and hurtful. I'm allowed to petition you to at least recognize what you...say and be aware of the option you have to stop...I'm asking you for...social awareness for a forgotten population."

Random Pictures

Don't be fooled. They are NOT that nice to each other very often.

Don't mess with these 2!

Clarification on last post. Kiril's family will be submitting their appeal this week, hopefully. Another family goes before the same judge and is hoping to adopt a child with Down syndrome this Thursday. So lots going on in that region. And if you are on Twitter, if you will become a 'fan' (I'm not Twitter literate) of Reece's Rainbow, Patricia Heaton (of Everybody Loves Raymond) will donate $1 to RR. 10,000 'likes' = $10,000!

Very Real

There is a very real situation going on across the globe in Eastern Europe this week. One that will not make the newspapers. One that most people will miss. For one family though, it's very real and very sad and very scary. You see, they put their heart and money into an adoption. This adoption is for a little boy who has Down syndrome. They have spent nearly 2 years trying to adopt this little boy. They have visited him. They have fallen in love with him. He is theirs. At least in their eyes. But there is a catch.

You see, the judge in Eastern Europe told this family after 5 hours of hearings that she believed due to this little boy's 'condition' she did not feel he was suitable to be adopted. She (the judge) thinks this boy is better suited to living the rest of his life in an orphanage and denied their request to adopt this little boy. She told this family if they were interested in any other child, she'd be happy to approve the adoption. You see, this judge has nothing against the family.

So this week, (after filing an appeal) this family will go before the very same judge and plead with her to allow them to adopt the same little boy. This little boy's life literally is in the hands of this judge. Not only that, there are several other children in this same region, who have Down syndrome, who are being pursued for adoption. Families that will go before this very judge and ask the same question: "Can we adopt a specific child from this region".

So this very real drama is playing out in Eastern Europe this week. It may not make the nightly news but you can bet those of us in the 'know' are paying attention. We are sending up lots of prayers and good karma and all sorts of good vibes in hopes that this judge will be swayed to allow these families to adopt the children of their hearts.

If you would like to follow along, here is the blog: http://oureyesopened.blogspot.com/

The Bully

No one likes a bully.

Ever seen a bully up close and personal?

Take a look.

He is by far the smallest kid in his class.
Yet, the last 2 days he's been acting out.
Throwing baskets of crayons on the floor.
Hitting people.
Pushing people.
Grabbing them around the neck.
Before you ask,
No we do not watch wrestling!
I'm pretty sure the teachers are so looking forward to Spring Break.

Saying Goodbye

I lost a friend this past week. She was young. Only 54. It should not have happened, yet it happened so quickly. One day she was fine. The next she was fighting for her life. They say it was a blood infection. In 4 short days, she was gone.

Yes, I am saddened.
I cannot imagine this world without her.
She was such a force of nature.
Always planning something.
Always working on something.

She leaves behind a husband and an 8 year old daughter.
We actually met at Mother's Day Out.
Her daughter was in the same class as Judson.
Her daughter was Judson's first non-family playmate.
I have no pictures of my friend.
You see, it's an unwritten rule,
You don't take pics of other mothers.
Only the kids.
(And aren't they adorable kids!)

Truly, while I'm sad for me.
and I'm sad for her husband.
Mostly,
I'm sad for her daughter.
Why does an 8 year old have to go through such a loss?
It makes no sense to me.

I saw the daughter tonight at visitation.
You could tell she was still processing.
There were clouds in her eyes where twinkles used to be.
But she was holding it together.
I was sitting there talking to her while she ate.
She said, "You know, I like chicken tenders.
My Mom liked them and I guess I got that from her"
There was one tender left on the table.
She said she was not supposed to get it.
(I'm sure someone had told her that but they hadn't told me)
So I said, "you want me to go get that tender for you"
She smiled very sheepishly.
So I said, "Don't tell anyone and I'll sneak it over here for you"
That was all I could do for a little girl who lost her mom.
Cop the last chicken finger.
It made her smile.

Cardiology Appointment

Took the Saw-man for his cardiology follow up. They are tracking a blood clot that he has inside his heart. They suspect it is from his PICC line from his open heart surgery when he was 9-10 months old.

Since our cardiologist works for a 'teaching' hospital, there is always another doctor/student shadowing him around. He always goes over Sawyer's case with the 'newbie'. Always tells them what an unusual case he is. What a miracle he is.

He also has a wonderful bedside manner with Sawyer. Doesn't mind it when Sawyer grabs his glasses or stethoscope or pen or whatever. Today Sawyer was in rare form. Mimicking the doctor's actions. Saying the words. Pointing to the paper and pretending to know what was written there. Telling the new doctor where to place the stethoscope. (He is a seasoned veteran after all)

After all is said and one, Sawyer still has the blood clot. It's relatively the same size as before. It is very stable and at this point, the doctor does not want to go in and surgically remove it. So we continue to watch it. Even better than that, we do NOT have to go back for a follow up until the Summer of 2012. He has no physical restrictions. So, all in all, a very good report!

Good News and Bad News

A Conversation

Turner: I've got good news and bad news.
Mom: Okay.
Turner: I'll start with the bad news first.
Mom: Okay (it's always good not to distract him while he's communicating)
Turner: The bad news is: I had wet pants this morning but I changed them.
Mom: So the good news is you changed your pants yourself.
Turner: Yep.
Mom: That makes me happy!
Turner: Yeah

Did I Ever Tell You....

I Hate 1970's decor!!!!

No seriously....what were they thinking? Brown paneling? Shag carpet? (usually brown or green) brown...brown...brown.....

So, you ask, Why did you buy a house built in the 1970's? Ummm...because the price, location and yard were awesome.

So after 12 plus years of living with brown...I've taken the bull by the horns and finally formulated a plan. (Okay...and yes, I twisted my husband's arm to spend just a few bucks to do so)

My plan...THE DEN. Brown walls, brown brick, very worn carpet...going...

Still looking for just the right paint to cover the paneling. While I wait, I decided to attack the fire place. Research upon research led me to a white washing technique. 5 parts hydrated lime with 1 part salt and water to the consistency of pancake batter. That's it. It's manipulative-able (Hey, it's my blog, I can use whatever words I want) for several days. Slap it on and wait for it to dry. Took less than 1 hour to mix and paint. It went on beige but as it is drying, it is getting to that chalky white color for which I was looking.

Just started

When I went to bed last night
This morning

I wanted something more casual. Something that could stand up to four children.
Here's hoping!

They Make Me Smile

Not a day goes by that these kids don't make me smile, at least once!

Like this kid, who puts on a pair of pants that I had out for Sawyer. "But Mom, they are my favorite pants!" So he wears the pants ALL DAY. They are no less than 6 inches too short. I'm thinking maybe he can start a new 'capri style for boys'.

Or maybe it's when he swings. He swings and there is a sense of peace and pure happiness on his face as he tries to escape the earth's gravitational pull. Nothing matches this look.
And this kid. Who has started just crawling up in my lap to snuggle lately. Not sure why but I love it. Most of the time, the kids are moving at such a rapid pace, there is 'no time for snuggling'.

Did I tell you, he and I have a ritual on Friday nights? He and I go to the grocery store. We go through the same conversation every Friday night. He'll say, "Grocery store. No Judson. No Ansley. No Turner. No Daddy. Just Me (Pointing at himself) and Me (Pointing at me)". I reassure him that is indeed the case. He gets all giddy and grabs my purse and the bags and heads to the car. He meets and greets everyone at the store. First stop, bakery. He starts asking (very loudly) "Where's Donut Lady". He gets a donut and coke. Rides in the buggy that looks like a car. Says Hello to EVERY ONE. I smile the entire time. How could you not?
This one makes me smile and shake my head at the same time. I believe she may have gone to the Cindy Lauper school of fashion design. You just never know what she is going to wear. Perhaps the pink faded flowery pants, underneath the red/white/blue stars and stripe skirt. Top it off with a yellow top and a blue leopard print pullover. Accent it with pink m&m crocs. You are set to go. (That's for when it's warm) In cool weather, we have the sleeveless sheath and same pink crocs. It's anyone's guess as to whether it is going to be old wrapping paper ribbon tied in her hair, 6 or 7 barrettes, or just the all natural, hair in our eyes look on any given day. She'll tell you she is 'designive' just like Gigi. (Her grandmother)

She is also the one who has to be organized. Let me qualify that. Her things must be organized. You ask her to go clean her room. When you go back in and check it, her bed is made quite nicely. Her stuff is stacked very neatly in bins beside her bed. Books lined up better than any library. Ribbons tied neatly together. Not a scrap of paper (that is hers) out of place. Look around the rest of the room, stuff is piled in heaps. Books thrown in the shelves with no order or precision. Stuff PILED on the other bed in the room. You get the point.

So I shake my head and smile.

Not to be left out. This guy. NEVER. STOPS. TALKING. Even when you send him to his room to sit on his bed for timeout. He's in trouble. Doesn't stop him. He starts singing. Not a sad song. Nope. A happy, perky song. You go in and say, "Turner, you're in trouble. Stop singing and sit quietly". His comeback. "Sorry Mom. I can't help it. I just love that song".

He can't say his 'r' sounds yet. Cute! Makes me smile. Can't say his 'L' sounds either. *smile*

Taught himself how to swing. Three years old. Decided he wanted to be like his big brother and sister. What can you say? Sometimes he does pick up the good stuff from them.I caught one of the VERY RARE times he was not smiling. Maybe that very teeny tiny scrape on his knee was bothering him. They are called 'bleeds' and need much attention.

Enough Already

Can't you think of something better to say? Why use the "R" word?

Today is the day to forever end the use of the word Retard(ed) as a derogatory term.
It's not funny. It's hurtful.We love him. Do not use that word.

World Maths Day

Did you know there was such a thing? There is. On March 1st (anywhere in the world), kids participate in a math competition. They are scored on 100 timed tests across 5 levels of difficulty. Each test lasts 60 seconds. The system usually pits the participant against 3 other kids across the globe. Judson competed for the first time, this year. He played kids from South Africa, Pakistan, Malaysia, China, Canada, Cayman Islands,UK, Australia, etc. There were over 5 million participants divided into 5 age groups. Judson was in the 8-11 year old category.
He finished with a 99.05% accuracy. He answered 3325 questions correctly out of 3357 presented to him.

To give you some point of reference, the person currently in 1st place in his age group has answered over 6000 questions correctly. That's right, more than 1 a second. The person currently in place 100 has answered over 3900 questions correctly. So there are a lot of sharp kids out there.

A little more perspective:
Level 1 (addition): his avg was 35/game
Level 2 (more difficult addition): his average was 34/game
Level 3 (subtraction): his average was 25/game
Level 4 (multiplication): his average was 43/game
Level 5 (combination of all of the above): his average was 33/game

Let me tell you, Judson is fast. If his fingers could type as fast as his brain works, he'd definitely be in the 4000-5000 level range. Amazing to watch him work. I dare anyone out there to try this competition. It is a great challenge. The difficulty factor increases with the age category. The 18 and above age range get to answer questions such as the cube root of 2197. (in 60 seconds)The Human Calculator

Calling All Home Schoolers....

This is the year we want to try to home school Sawyer. I need some feed back and help to determine what curriculum to use. He is 6 years old and would chronologically be in 1st grade in the 2011-2012 school year.

MATH???

He can count to 20. (or higher if you give him the 30, 40, 50, etc) In other words, he understands that 21 comes after 20. 31 after 30. He recognizes numbers to 20. He can count items to 10ish.

1. Numicon??? Like it? Not? What level should I start with?
2. Math U See???? Like it? Not?
3. ????? What other things have you tried? What worked? What did not?


READING????

We've used index cards and taught him sight words. Via this method he can read Dick and Jane. How do I piggy back on this? Or not? Is there something you would recommend? How has it worked for your child?

WRITING???

We will continue using an O.T. who is working with him on Writing Without Tears. His fine motor skills are one of his weakest areas.

Any other things that you are doing that are working well? What do you do about speech? Anything specific?

What I Learned Today (EDITED 8:43pm)

1. Do not make a left hand turn into the school parking lot between the hours of 3-4pm. If you do and a police officer informs you of your mistake, tell him you were not aware of it and that you are sorry. Then appear extremely shaken and tell him your son is in the nurses office with an injury.

2. Do not take your child to the emergency room for a bleeding tongue. (Luckily I thought this was the case and took him to his pediatrician.) To suture a tongue would require complete sedation.

3. Ice pops are the recommended treatment for bleeding tongues.I will spare you the picture of the tongue with the hole in it where he cut himself with a pair of scissors.

UPDATE: I learned one more thing today. My sister suggested soaking a tea bag in warm water. Then squeezing the excess water out. Then placing the tea bag on the cut. Luckily, Sawyer was cooperative and stuck his tongue out. That did the trick! Hooray!
(AND YES, he cut his tongue with scissors at school. It was a very large and deep cut. I don't know how)

Taking Advantage

Oh boy, this warm weather has us excited. After all, it's February and the temps are in the 60's! Today we decided to head over to the local game ranch and have some fun. We met some of buddies and had some laughs. Fed the animals and enjoyed the weather. Can't ask for much more.

The Few!

Seriously, every other time we've been there have been dozens of deer greeting us. Actually, more like accosting us. Today, this was about it. They must have been in hiding.



The Proud

The Gang!
(minus T and S. Turner's there somewhere, promise.
Sawyer was making up a Snow Day.)


That's all. Sorry. My battery died and I couldn't take anymore pictures.
Happy to report Turner fed the sheep by himself.
Alex still needs some work. Best he could do was throw the food in the general direction of the animals.
Ansley and Makayla would have stayed with the rabbits all day long.

Pinewood Derby

2nd in Show, Baby!

50 Days Left in This School Year

With only 50 days left in this home school year and the weather being so wonderful, we decided to have a play day today. We went to the library for reading time. Then, we went next door and played on the playground. Good Day!!!!


These chairs employ many rules of physics in order to move. Feel free to ask Judson for an explanation. Basically, you just sit in them and they start to spin. Great for getting all silly dizzy.
Somebody had a bit of 3-year old attitude today. Not mentioning names, of course. But it might be renamed Turn-i-tude.

Artists!

So my friend Lucia turned me on to this:

http://rhythmofthehome.com/winter-2010/creating-art/

I have been looking for something to go over the credenza in my dining room.
So I decided to try it.

This is the result. (You'll have to bear with me on the pics. I had to remain close to the action and could not get up and be all creative on the shot angles)

Sawyer was the first casualty. Seriously, he had a sealed bottle of paint. He shook it.
And this was the result.
Through out the painting process, he kept saying
"Where's the yellow?" "We need more yellow"
We used painter's tape and taped off artist canvases.
Then I let them paint the canvas.

The almost finished products
The finished products
Mom, Judson, Turner and Ansley each made one
Sawyer made two. (Gotta keep him busy)
It was great fun.
Now they want to do one for their bedroom.

Odds and Ends

Building Bridges

Yes sir, he did build that!

Collections!
Only one little girl can collect and organize so many things!(with the help of her brothers to dig, gather and carry)And THAT GIRL is.....
So you notice the ever so ENORMOUS scar on the face?
Courtesy of her brothers!
I thought we might have to go to the emergency room....
No amount of apologizing could stop the drama.

That's all folks!

Funny Thing

Saturday night we had our "almost like a real holiday" Valentines celebration. Randy being the special and wonderful husband that he is decided he'd take us out on Sunday for yet another Valentines celebration. I got to pick where! My only criteria was: 1) I do not have to go to the counter and order the food 2) They wait on me from start to finish, meaning I don't have to clean up either.

So after some research we decided to eat at Frontera(Tex-Mex) Restaurant. It's a family restaurant and the kids can fill up on chips while we wait so no one gets grumpy or bored. Plus, it's noisy enough if my kids do get loud, who'll notice? It met all criteria and then some!

While we were waiting on our food, the kids noticed the staff was pulling together many tables behind us. Being curious, they started asking us questions. We told them there must be a large 'party' going to be seated there.

Sure enough, a LARGE party was seated. 11 kids and 4 adults to be exact! They were a multiracial group. (Hispanic, Caucasian, African-American, Bi-racial) It was quite fun to watch them being seated and how the parents situated each child into the proper place at the table. I chuckled to myself as some kids had to move because they were not allowed to sit by certain other kids. Some kids were situated between parents. Some were allowed to sit at the 'kid end' of the table. I chuckled because that is exactly how we do it but on a much smaller scale.

It was quite interesting to watch the whole dynamic of the table. How quickly they seated the children. How well behaved the children were without the parents constantly telling them to be nice/quiet/etc. Which kids were talkative. Which ones were quiet. How the parents took control of what was being ordered while making sure the kids got what they wanted. The whole thing was very fun to watch. (Because I'm a people watcher and because I was lucky enough to be facing them)

Finally when all was quiet and the parents could catch their breath, they looked around and noticed our table. Fun to see them elbow the next one to check us out. Then see them discuss us. (Like I did them with Randy. Foster? Domestic?) Then a few minutes passed and they noticed Sawyer. Again a quick discussion amongst the parents. There was instant bonding between us without a single word being spoken. Although I'm sure they considered us amateurs because we had so few kids. ;)

Not only did I get a nice dinner out but also a nice floor show too!!!! How lucky can a Mom get?

Valentines Celebration-Family Style

If you didn't know, let me just say "I do NOT like Valentines". I think the jewelers and florist and candy makers got together and created/exploited this day to make you feel guilty and get you to go spend money. I mean REALLY. If your significant other doesn't show you that he/she loves you through out the year, One day just ain't gonna get it. So years ago Randy and I decided that we'd just start a rose garden and each Valentines Day we would add another rose bush to the garden. We'd also make a special dinner at home and not have to deal with the craziness of restaurants on Valentines Day. It worked out well when it was just the two of us. It works out even better when it's the 6 of us. So while it might not seem romantic from the outside, it sure was fun celebrating Valentines this year.

Today:Randy and Judson went and picked out TWO rose bushes for my garden. (Don't think that thirteen years of marriage must have created a gigantic garden. I don't have a green thumb, if you know what I mean) While they were away, Ansley and I decorated and made dinner. She was so funny. She giggled and got very excited. She gave me a great big hug and said she just loved doing this kind of stuff with mom. I gave her some wrapping paper and asked her to cut out hearts. She also made heart shaped place cards. She insisted we have a candle too. So I pulled out the only red tablecloth I had (which was meant to fit the table w/o the leaves in but who cares) and put her flower (from Daddy-Daughter date night) and the candle out. Then I told her we would get out the good china. You know the stuff. That breakable stuff that is in the cabinet and hasn't been used since child #1 was born. She was beside herself. She said "This is just like a REAL holiday".

We made shrimp, baked potatoes, mixed green salad, and yeast rolls. Ansley and I also made a chocolate cake with fudge center and vanilla glaze. Oh yeah, the kids had plain noodles. (Why? Because I have picky eaters)
Everybody used their best manners and no dishes were broken in the "almost like a real holiday" celebration. It made me realize I need to do this more often. I think the kids felt really special.