The Cabbage Patch

Autism Awareness ~ My Goals

My goal for my son?  For him to be an independent adult.  I'm not expecting him to be a doctor.  I'm not expecting him to be a teacher.  And, once again, this is the face of autism.  Don't you just love him?

Last

Pumpkin was fussing that she didn't want to be last for photos.  It was a moot at this point since she was the last one I was taking photos of.  It took a bit but we were finally able to take a better picture.

Happy Easter!!

Do you know how hard it is to get a picture of all the children smiling and looking good?

Jesus Christ is Risen Today, Alleluia

Jesus Christ is risen today, Alleluia!
our triumphant holy day, Alleluia!
who did once upon the cross, Alleluia!
suffer to redeem our loss. Alleluia!

Autism Awareness ~ The Face of Autism

My Sweet Ballerina

Pumpkin

Sunday Summary

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.  

Autism Awareness ~ Friendships

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.  

Honey Comments

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?