The end of summer.....sob, sob

So, it's the last weekend of the summer, that sucks! I'm sorry, I know it's a family blog but, stinks just isn't a strong enough word. This summer went waaaaay too fast!

We did a little family field trip on Friday, I think it's becoming a tradition...some little science day at the end of the summer; which is odd for me since I really don't like science. Obviously the rest of my family does so, I was out voted. Apparently antiquing was not high on their lists of things to do...humph! We went to the Bakken Museum which and I quote the brochure "is an electrifying experience"...it's a museum of electricity. For everyone who just said "a museum of what?"...I shall repeat, a museum of electricity and it's really, really cool. It was created by the guy who invented the pace maker and it's located in a gorgeous tudor mansion overlooking lake Calhoun in Mpls. So, the location had me at hello but, besides that it was fun and all three kids ('cause that is what Rick becomes in these situations) had a blast (oooh not a very good description to use for an electricity museum, sorry). They tried all the experiments...well, except for one that Jenna refused to try because it sent electricity through your body (safely, we assume) but, Rick? well, lets just say he wants to get one for our house 'cause he thought it was the coolest thing ever...he scares me sometimes.

If the summer must end then let it be by a lake on a gorgeous sunny afternoon with ice cream!

Happy Labor Day everyone!

I wanna be a rock star...

Sam: Hey, Mom...I'm gonna be a rock star when I grow up

Me: Oh, Okay.

Sam: How old do I have to be to be a rock star?

Me: I don't know but, I'm pretty sure older than nine.

Rick was teaching him the art of badminton racket guitar in the garage...wanna know what song they were "jamming" to? Night Ranger...Don't Tell Me You Love Me. Poor kid being raised by "80's" parents.

I got stung by the bee...

They look innocent enough when they're animated but let me assure you that when they fly right in your face in real life...it hurts. I was just minding my own business and BLAM right below my right eye that little bugger (pun intended) got me. Now remember the movie Mask? Well, one half of my face looked exactly like Rocky Dennis...I'm not exaggerating. After a day and a half of swelling and pain I decided to go to urgent care. They immediately escorted me to emergency and stuck and iv in my arm. Apparently those little buggers (pun intended, again) can do some damage. All is good, after a few hours of an iv of steroids and anti biotic I no longer scare small children with my mere presence. I do however still look like I have a gumball stuck in my cheek...it's a cute look. And how was your weekend?

Sam

Some people tell us that Sam doesn't "look" like he has autism. I'm not really sure what that means but, he does. The thing about autism is that every child who is diagnosed is different just like any kid. They have some common core issues but, exactly how these issues affect them and how they deal with them is unique to each child. Sometimes you don't know what might bother them you just have to "punt" as we always say. Here are some facts about Sam that might seem in contrast to what you may have heard about kids with autism.

*He's smart and does well in school. He has accommodations, one is because his handwriting is not at grade level and probably won't ever be good (maybe he could be a doctor!) but, put that kid in front of a computer and just watch him go! His school surprised us and had a computer issued to Sam and put in his classroom, just for him!

*He has friends. There are quite a few kids in his grade that go the extra mile for him and include him in things. They know him pretty well by now and just know when to be there for him. He's even starting to join in by himself...that is awesome!

*He LOVES to give hugs! In fact we have to remind everyone at school to try to give him a high five instead...you just can't go around hugging everyone you meet. My heart breaks whenever I hear from another autism Mom that she's never gotten a hug...we are VERY blessed.

*He can read your facial expressions...trust me on this one. He can definitely tell when I'm not happy and when I smile at him...he smiles back. He makes eye contact but, just not as much.

*He tells us he loves us every day and it still brings tears to my eyes.

Sam loves to climb trees, ride his bike, play with his dog and bug his sister. He likes hot sauce on his food, playing video games, and thinks the Jonas Brothers are cool. Maybe you know a kid like that?

If you can help us by donating to the Walk Now for Autism Walk please click the link on the right of this blog. Please send a link to this post to anyone you think would help us find a cure and help Sam. Thank You.

World Peace...

Jenna went to her first Girl Scout day camp yesterday. While Russia was invading Georgia and guns and bombs were going off this is what Jenna was making at camp...maybe there's hope in our next generation.

Weekend Update...

We had a great time celebrating Bryce's graduation with the Rame family...thanks everyone! It's always hard to see him go but, we know he'll do well in school and will make a great police officer one day. Aloha!

Happily Ever After...

Happy Anniversary...with much love to my Mom and Dad!

The Parade and canned peas...

Okay, here we go...I'm officially the president of Park Elementary PTO....wooooo hoooo! and to start out we decided to be in Le Sueur's Giant Days Parade. We've never done this before, I don't think I can emphasize this enough...WE HAVE NEVER DONE THIS BEFORE and therefore, had absolutely no idea what we were doing. Our treasurer Dawn, who rocks, kind of took the lead, thank goodness. She did a very good job of not annoying the president of our Chamber of Commerce...very patient woman, with all of our questions. I had to get the t-shirts and figure out how we were going to transport ourselves through the parade route. We learned many lessons on our first parade. First of all, we decorated Rick's truck with our school color balloons, and signs and then drove to the start of the parade. I'm sure you can guess where I'm going with this...we lost about half of the balloons. Two of our fifth graders jumped in halfway and managed to save the rest. Once we got to the start we had to wait an hour before we actually started moving...we're thinking next year we could probably put the balloons on while we're waiting. It beats sitting around discussing with our neighbor how we can do in the neighborhood rooster that crows ALL THE TIME...oooh, sorry little off track there. Don't start sending me nasty e-mails we're not going to kill the rooster, we just like to complain about it.

Here's the back of the truck crew, one of their jobs was to refill our buckets with all of the leftover carnival prizes. In our brilliance we thought we could clean out our storage room and get rid of the last remnants of the school carnival that has been officially terminated....wooo hooo! We thought we had plenty of stuff to hand out but, we bought a couple of things of candy, just in case. Did I mention that this was our first year and we had no idea what we were doing? Yah, we ran out, the back of the truck kids took the beads off their necks and threw them to the crowd, we tossed the pom-poms we had for decorations. We told the girls to keep the ones they had in their hair...you have to draw the line somewhere!

Rick graciously volunteered to be our driver, and no, I did not threaten or torture him into it...pinkie swear! Driver Rick and his co-pilot/navigator/pom-pom waver Sam got to stare at this guy all the way down Ferry Street. And really people this is what Giant Day's is pretty much about...Green Giant and the invention of canned peas; yup, that's why we're all here...canned peas. You know what? I don't even like canned peas.

Despite everything we had fun and I think we're actually going to do it again next year...keeping in mind all the lessons we learned!

Rimshot

The cast of Robin Hood at our brand spankin' new auditorium at our high school...tax dollars well spent!

Maid Marion, Rob and the Merry Band

Rimshot...the cutest member of the merry band (at least to me)

Every year Prairie Fire Children's Theatre comes to town for a week and tries to transform our kids into actors...they do a pretty good job. I know what your thinking "how good could they be after only a week?" Trust me, you'd be amazed at what these kids learn. If they come to your town, sign your kids up 'cause it's a great program. This year Le Sueur did Robin Hood, not your typical Robin Hood but, a fun week-long-do-able Robin Hood. Jenna played the part of Rimshot who is in the merry band. Rimshot does a little drum roll and cymbal shot after Cook Henny (another merry band member) tells a joke. Last year they did Snow White and Jenna was a lady bug (yes, I know a lady bug in Snow White...it's called creative license.) so, playing a character that is actually listed in the program by name is a step up. By the way she had to sing and dance beside the grueling task of doing the rimshot and that was tough I tell you. I actually watched auditions 'cause I don't have a job and Sam was at summer school. I was really proud of my little peanut, she can shoot that sweet voice of hers right across the stage. She practices by yelling at her brother.

Let me just jump back and speak a little about last week for a minute, I want to pat myself on the back for getting my kids to all of their activities and not forgetting to pick them up. Don't laugh it could have happened, granted I would have noticed eventually...I hope. There was a day when I made six trips into town, I'm not actually sure I got it right but, I had two kids in the morning and we tucked two kids into bed that night and that's what counts. It's kind of a twin advantage that their schedules aren't usually too far off and I don't normally have to play taxi cab but, man, this week was one big blur and we're not done yet...more on that later.

If you want more info check out their website: http://www.prairiefirechildrenstheatre.com/

1 Year Later...

God Bless...