Thursday, April 30, 2009

My "Son" Shine


Ethan loves when I sing him this song. He also likes it when I change the word Sunshine to Superhero!
This will replace the winter scrapbook page on my wall that needed to be changed 2 months ago for spring. I figure this could run into summer and not look as out of place as the winter page has looked all spring. All Stampin Up! stamp sets, ink and papaer but the letters are cut with my cricut!

He's doing so good


Micah is working so hard doing his work! I really dont have time to post Today is crazy buisy but I just wanted to post this and the only project I've had time to do in a week!

Wednesday, April 29, 2009

My sisters 25th wedding anniversary






My sister Lori and brother in law Steve renewed their vows at the castle in town last Sat.Then we went to the banquet hall for lunch. It was nice. The boys weren't with me for the ceremony. Bailey and Micah were at the Wii bowling tournament at school (they both won 2nd place in their age catagories) I only got to stay for 1.5 hrs then had to be at the castle (uncle matt watched them) and Ethan was home sick with Scott. So it was just me and Maddi. She loved the castle! Me not so much some of the stairways (ladders) and rooms were very narrow and I'm not thrilled with any small spaces.
Anyways I am now as of Monday a homeschooling mom, well at least to Micah. This is our 3rd day. Micah has a little bit of work left to do but we all needed a break and Ethan needs a nap so here we are! Micah has done fairly well today was the first meltdown...which is good for him. Asperger's is hard. He looks and acts normal for the most part and then bang all of a sudden it rears its "ugly" head. Sometimes I have to remind myself that it is the Aspergers and not my son who is behaving so fiercly. It is still frustrating, because there is no reasoning with him to calm him down only time and space can do that, so patience is very important. And some days I dont have many, by the end of the day I just want to go to bed, not cuz I'm physically tired, but because I am just emotionally spent............I always feel guilty when I complain because I've seen how much worse Autism can be, I am so lucky he doesn't have it more severly, I can talk with him and he responds, I'm lucky to be able to hear my son say I love you and that he hugs me.......I know some mothers who live with out this. I am blessed to have such a unique little boy. I just have to remind myself of these facts sometimes when I dont know what else to do with him. By the way we still haven't heard back about the house, which is definatly taking its toll. As much as I dont want to admit it I'm coming to the conclusion that this means our offer is not going to be accepted....yet another roller coaster of emotions.

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Stressed and pics of fishing






I am stressed....I wanted all the papers ready for monday to go up and take Micah out of school to be homeschooled...life never goes as planned. The school psychologist wouldnt sign the objectives paper (states what you plan to teach the child for the homeschooling year), she said she wasnt sure what the objectives needed to be. According to everyone I've talked to and everything I've read, they just need to be vauge so you have room to adjust depending on how the child is progressing. So I made them vauge. The school guidance counselor took them to Micah special education teacher (who can also sign for the objectives) and I hoped to have them sent home at the end of the day friday with Micah ( who cleaned out his desk as friday was to be his last day) They werent sent home because she says she's not sure either. I feel like they are stalling for some reason. Frustrating. So I have to get up and get to school first thing in the morning to go up there and get this done. I have no idea who to call for leagal advice to make sure I am doing this right. I know other special education teachers some not in our school district that might be willing to sign the objectives but I dont know if the teacher has to be in our district! I cant find a definate answer online and I dont know who to call. I find myself in the same boat as with the IEP and other problems I've had with the school this year, Alone "against" the school with very little knowledge of the laws and the school is still stalling just as they have with everything else this year. I dont know what to do.
As far as the house the listing agent said that this bank usually takes 3-6 days to get back on offers. so we are still waiting! I am trying so hard not to stress about it, but I want the house so much. We have looked for 7yrs and we have only once found a house in our price range that was big enough for all of us and we didn't grab it when we had the chance because it was in worse shape than this house and it needed a new roof and I think it needed a new septic too. I'm afraid if we miss out on this offer it will be another 7yrs until we find something.........that would be devistating. We need a house, mom and dad want to move in here because its one level and they arent getting any younger. So this is the year we have to move and if not here, then where? I'm afraid we will end up with a house that has less square ft than here and a mortgage payment of more than double the rent we pay here! I need to stop thinking about it, Im getting stressed again. Anyways here are some pictures of our fishing trip last Sunday.

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Vacation page from Ethan's first year album


This was our trip to Dorney Park, which the kids absolutly loved! We also went to the crayola factory which was really fun too, they had all sorts of stuff for the kids to do and it wasnt to crowded either. It was a nice little get away right before school started.

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Pages from Ethan's 1st year album




time flies.......for real it only seems like yesterday! I do miss having a baby around in alot of ways, but in some ways it is nice like not having to pack half the house when we leave to go somewhere and finding a place to change a dipar or 3am feedings...those types of things, but man do I miss those tiny little bundles to cuddle and love and those raspberry kisses! I just have to enjoy all the bigger kid things now...Until I get some grandchildren!
Of course I used Stampin Up!'s simply scrappin kits and a AC Moore sticker on the one page.

new research found link between vinyl flooring and autism



Vinyl Flooring Linked to Autism
U.S. and Swedish researchers have discovered a surprising link between vinyl flooring and autism in children. In the course of researching allergies and indoor air pollutants, scientists discovered infants and toddlers who "lived in bedrooms with vinyl or PVC flooring were twice as likely to develop autism five years later than those with wood or linoleum flooring." The scientists said the connection was "far from conclusive" and recommended further study. Vinyl floors are made with phthalates, a softener for plastics, which may be emitted into the air from normal wear-and-tear. The controversial chemical was banned by Congress for use in children's products in 2008. In all, researchers identified four environmental factors associated with autism: vinyl flooring, the mother's smoking, family economic problems and poor ventilation in the home. For more information about proper home ventilation and healthy indoor air quality, see the BobVila.com article, "Prescription for a Healthy Home."

I found this on bob vila's home blog site here is the link to his
http://www.bobvila.com/OnTheLevel/Vinyl-Flooring-Linked-to-Autism-3939.html
copy and paste to your browser.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

even more pics of the house






We will remodel one of the bathrooms before we move in and the other one later. The little cubbies in the walls will be finished for storage and little nooks for the kids to play in! they are so excited

more pictures fo the houese






It has a Huge yard!!!........ I am so excited! I hope it all works out! Pray for us that we are making the right choice and that it all goes well either way.

Our new house?






Maybe!!! We will be placing an offer on the house on Monday! We have already been priority preapproved. So If the bank accepts and everything goes right we will have a house! Finally after 7yrs of looking! It is 5brm 2ba. 2100sqft, Over 2 acres. in ground pool full basement. It needs some plumbing work (thank heavens I married a plumber) and new carpets and a little patching on the walls and a lot of paint and cleaning to be able to move in. It has been vacant for a yr now so the yard needs mowing and there is some junk in the yard that needs cleaning up. Anyone wanna come help?:P We are going to remodel the kitchen later it is liveable. It is our diamond in the rough! God is awesome!!!

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

page of Ethan's first year album


This is the last page of Ethan's first year scrapbook. It is his first hair cut with our long time barber, Mr. Shaw. I used Stampin Up!'s scrapbooking kit (dont remember the name of it)I absolutly love our scrappin kits, they have everything you need and it all cordinates! (which I'm big on)

more of Maddi's album



Daddy's little girl and our little "Queenie"
Creative Memories paper that someone threw in the garbage at my scrapbooking b-day party. Also my Stampin Up! set I love this new set

Easter 09

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Saturday, April 11, 2009

Maddi scrap page


made with my pretty new stamp set! this is last May at our church, for the Mother Daughter Dinner.

Egg hunt at Stacy's








The kids always have fun at Stacy! the only thing I'm bummin about is how few pics I took, which I just realized when I downloaded them! Ethan kept saying "I won, I won" he was so happy! The other boy in the picture is Anthony D.(Disenger) as Maddi calls him. Anthony and Maddi are in Kindergarten together and Anthony is Stacy's nephew. Maddi says that Today they decided they are married, so now Anthony is her boyfriend. go figure that logic, but cute none the less. It was a nice day (minus the wind).

decorating eggs 09





one of thier absolute favorite traditions! we got this egg coloring kit free out of the bee movie that we bought for christmas. cant beat free!

Officially 30



yep its official! Maddi woke me at 7:20am (so much for sleeping in!) by jumping on me and yelling Happy Birtday! then her and the boys made me breakfast in bed. Mom and dad took me out to lunch at Subway. Scott got me a special ice cream cake! Mom watched the kids and Scott took me to Fashion Bug for cloths and then out to dinner at Cracker Barrell. It was a nice Birthday!

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

a few more of Bailey's scrapbook pages





Between the scrapbooking weekend and my birtday party (plus about 3 other days) I have completed 2 full 8.5x11 albums for Bailey a total of about 60 2page layouts. Pretty good.