Happy 5th Birthday Christopher!

Five things I love about this kid-

1- He's my buddy.  Loves to be by my side.  Except when we are walking in parking lots, then he likes to run away from me, but mostly he needs to be near me.  When I'm sitting at the computer, he will pull up a chair and lean his head on my arm while playing on the kids' laptop.   He's even been known to try and kick John out of "his spot" on the couch because John is sitting next to me.  (John does not like this one bit.)

2- He loves to cuddle with me.  Despite the fact that I am not a cuddler, I love that most mornings, Christopher will wake up and come and crawl in bed with me until I get up.  Then, at night, Christopher and I will put the older kids to bed and he will come downstairs with me and we will cuddle "in the brown blankie" and he will let me watch what I want to watch and he falls asleep cuddled up next to me.  I love those moments of quiet closeness. 

3- He's got a great mind for puzzles and building with blocks.  His teachers have mentioned several times about his "intricate structures"  he will create at school.   We're always amazed at the things he comes up with.  His communication skills might not be up to par, but I think there's a little genius hiding in there.  I'm excited to see what the years will bring. 

4- He doesn't like TV.  After years and years of watching Thomas, and Blues Clues and various other mindless Disney or Nick jr shows, it is so nice to have the TV off for most of the day, without any power struggles whatsoever.  I love his love of wanting to do something besides sit and stare at a braincell killing box.  Sometimes it's a challenge, but a challenge I welcome.  Besides, nobody EVER said- I wish I spent more time watching TV. 

5- He loves the outdoors.  He'd be outside every minute if I let him.  Playing, riding, running, as long as it's outside.  He's happy.  And the mountains are even better.  "I go see mountains.  I go play sticks.  I go find fire.  I go find a tent."   Fresh air, exercise.  We all need more of that, and sometimes we need a little five year old to hound us to go out and play with him, or take him to the mountains so he can run around and find all the sticks his little heart desires.

Happy Birthday Christopher!  You are such a joy.  I am grateful every single minute of every single day that you are a part of our family. 

Oh man!  I can't believe I forgot my favoritest thing of all!   I was going for 5 cause he's five and all, so we'll have to make this "Five and One To Grow On"

- He's my clean freak.  He cleans up after himself.  Garbage in the trash can, dishes in the sink, puts things back where he found them.  Some days, the only evidence he's left that tells me he made himself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich is the dirty knife in the sink and a few crumbs on the counter.  And he likes to make beds.  He thinks it's great fun to make the other kids beds after they run off to school leaving their beds unmade.  (and I admit, he's beaten me to my bed as well)

awesomeness

 

Since school just got out, Nick was showing me his yearbook the other day.  Showing me his favorite teachers, friends, the girl he likes, etc.

Feeling a little nostalgic, I rummaged around in the garage for the box containing my old jr high year books just for fun. 

I thought the kids might get a kick out of it.  Proof their mom was indeed a teenager once.  Plus some of the hairstyles are pretty amusing. 

I found a few other treasures buried in that old cardboard box as well.  I pulled out a couple to show the kids.

They liked this one the best. 

It's a fill in the blank type of book. 

The kids got a good laugh at some of the stuff.  Like the fact that I admit to kicking, pushing, hitting, and yanking people's hair, but I am apparently only sorry some of the time.

I think I worked on it in the second and third grades, however the date in the back is a little misleading, so I'm not 100% certain.

And then there's this.

My diary I wrote in occasionally in 1986 and 1987 - or 5th and 6th grades.  It's pretty trashed, pages torn and falling out, full of all the stupid drama in an eleven year old's life. 

And as I flipped to the back, I found an old address book in the back, full of all my friends info (and the guys I liked too) and then I found the cherry on the top of all this awesomeness. 

aww yeah baby.

Off to college

Nick "graduated" from jr high two days ago, so what do we do next?  Send him off to college of course. 

As I type this, his plane is preparing for take-off to send him up to BYU. 

I've given up trying not to think about it, (and not just because my blood runs a little more red than blue. -I went to the U of U for a whole day before finding out we were moving to AZ) in case you haven't noticed- I'm a worrier, especially when it concerns my kids and we are exploring new and uncharted territory, and so I decided to blog about it.

We're sending Nick to EFY for the week. (Especially For Youth- a week long LDS resident camp of sorts held at colleges across the country- Nick is attending the one in Provo)

He's been gone for nearly that long before, but usually I am passing him off to the care of trusted scout leaders for the duration of the trip. 

My mom will be picking him up at the airport, and making sure he gets to BYU safe and sound, but after that... he'll be on his own. (not counting the trained and experienced staff of course)

Oh, I'm sure he'll survive, and be okay, but I need to know he'll be great.  Fantastic.  That he'll remember to take his meds or put in his contact.  That he'll remember to charge his phone so he can call home if he needs/wants to. That he won't lose anything important.  That he'll have a good roommate, and that he'll make lots of good friends and lots of good memories.

I hope he takes lots of pictures.  I forgot to tell him that. 

pre-school graduation

Christopher graduated from pre-school.

Next stop- Kindergarten.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around that.

Around the fact that my baby is going off to kindergarten next year.  All- day kindergarten.  That seems so long.

And then there's the fact that somehow he's the same age as Nick was when he graduated from pre-school.  How can that be?!?!  Nick was so grown up. So precocious.  So ready to move on to bigger and better things.

Maddie was the same.  Even Zach.  After two years of pre-school, he'd made so many strides, was such a different kid, I felt confident in sending him off (of course it wasn't a full-blown standard kindergarten, but neither is Christopher's either).   

Somehow it's different with Christopher.  With me.

He just seems so young.

Maybe it's an autism thing?  A baby of the family thing?  Maybe it's a I've met two year olds who were better conversationalists thing? 

I don't know.   yes.   no.   D- all of the above.   whatever.

They had a cute little ceremony in the class where the kids filed in wearing their little paper graduation caps with little yarn tassles.

John was out of town, but I pulled Zach and Maddie out of their classes to support their brother.  Plus, they served cake, and other treats, so it was a win-win for them.

Christopher got his diploma,

hugged his teachers, (love them all by the way, they are amazing)

 licked the frosting off a cupcake, then said, "I go home play wii now."  And just like that pre-school was officially over.

water day

The pre-schoolers had a "water day"  last week at school.

I arrived at the school barely in time to change into a swim diaper and his swimsuit, so naturally he only got his hands and feet wet.  Of course, if I didn't change him, he probably would have gotten soaked.

(when we come prepared for the splash pad at the mall, he won't go near it, but when we don't, we end up buying him a change of clothes from the nearest children's clothing store, because he can't handle being wet once he's done playing)

I think his favorite part was the popcicle.  He'd eat those all day if he could.  (somedays I think he does.  He's pretty quiet and sneaky about it, and is really good at throwing away the evidence.)

I was glad I went, and I think he was glad too.

It's funny cause it's true

They passed out these t-shirts at one of John's computer geek conferences awhile ago for the guys to take home to their wives. 

For those not in the know, the "V" stands Virtual.

Everyday is something

May is hard. 

Okay, maybe not hard, just busy.

School is almost out, so everybody is wrapping things up.

Some of the things we've been working on lately-

School projects- reports and posters.  Zach did his explorer report on Juan Ponce de Leon, and Madison had to do a famous American report and a whole presentation on Shawn Johnson.

Maddie is running for school council Vice President.  More posters, and a couple campaign speeches.  Wish her luck.  Voting is over, but we still don't know the results.  She was running against three of her friends, so she feels a little conflicted, but I think she will be fine with whatever the results are.  She didn't even vote for herself.  She voted for one of her friends.  " I think she will make a great Vice President.  And it just feels sorta wrong to vote for yourself." 

Orchestra concerts- I think I've been to four so far, and we have two music lesson recitals this Friday,  (viola and piano) thankfully at different times.

Nick's eagle scout project- trying to remain optimistic, but I think at this point we might need a miracle.  Nick is trying to fix some specialized equipment for disabled kids.  Between getting started so late, the one guy who knows what he's doing is in Asia for 6 weeks, the company who built the equipment in the first place has discontinued the product and won't return our phone calls and emails, etc... let's just say we're getting worried.  (what happens if you FAIL at an eagle scout project?  What do you do if you just CAN'T do what you promised?!?!?)

Baking cookies to try and entice/reward any scouts and their leaders who spend their time helping Nick.

End of school parties. Today is Christopher's water day which I will most likely be going to because I'll kick myself if I don't.  My list of chores can wait.

I need to start making caramels for teacher gifts.  The kids love to give them, and most of the teachers seem to love getting them.  Having a special needs kid means a lot of caramels though.  I want to thank all those souls who take care of my baby - teachers, aides, therapists, bus drivers...

Dental issues.  I had a cavity that got worse and needed a crown, and that was a nightmare experience as it was, and then because the pain wouldn't go away, they decided I should just get a root canal on top of it.  Once again, that experience was so   awful   fun, the endodontist gave me free movie tickets to make up for it.  (nothing like hanging upside down in a chair with your mouth full of   crap  necessary dental instruments, and thinking you are totally going to lose your lunch.)  - Believe it or not, I'd still recommend him to anyone getting a root canal, he's super nice and competent, it was just one of those days.


Luckily though, I got a bunch of percocet out of the deal, and I love me some percocet (and vicodin, and lortab...) except it makes me itchy.  Not itchy enough to throw them out of course.  (and for those of you worried about my safety and well-being, don't worry about me, I can quit any time I want to. Ü - Just kidding I already have.  My mouth doesn't hurt enough to warrant wasting them on it any more.  And yes, I was very careful to not operate heavy machinery or make important decisions while hopped up on my favorite drugs)

And then there's figuring out the schedules for the family for the next couple months- traveling, summer pre-school, EFY, camps, etc, etc, etc.  I still haven't got a grasp on that.  One thing at a time I guess.

caving in

For the most part, my kids know (or should know) that when I say "No."  I mean it, and don't you dare ask me again. 

I do try to be reasonable, and say yes when I can, or at least make my "yeses" conditional.  ( yes's? yes'?  what is the plural of yes?" )  "Of course you can go play with your friends, after your homework is done."

It's not working so well with Christopher.  I'm not sure if it's a baby of the family thing, or an autism thing, or both, or what,  but he doesn't take "No" very well.

He is getting better.  For a couple of years, that hated word would have him screaming on the floor.  I'd ignore him and step over him, send him to his room, or even give him a swat on his diapered butt (not hard, just enough to get his attention) and let him know that behavior isn't acceptable.  He screamed a lot back then.

He still doesn't like the word "no", but the mere mention of it doesn't cause him to fall to the floor in screaming fits any more.  But a conversation will go something like this - Just for clarity- Christopher's side is in italics.

Mommy, I play Wii?

No, you don't need to play on the Wii.

Later! (I guess he's learned that "later" is much better than a flat out "no.")

Fine, you can play on the Wii, later.

Okay, okay, okay!  Okay! Okay!  Okay, okay, okay! Okay!

It took me awhile to figure out what was going on with all the "okays".  He'd be in my face, repeating that, until I heard those words coming out of my own mouth.

Mommy get on gray pants, go for a walk.

Just a second, mommy's busy.

Mommy get off of chair, put on gray pants!

Deciding that getting some exercise would do us both good,  I responded with- "Okay, okay, okay! let's go for a walk."

And suddenly it all came crashing into view.  "Okay, okay, okay" is what I say when I give in.  When I've had enough pestering, and decide that holding my own isn't worth the fight anymore. 

A couple thoughts- 

first I find it interesting that I had no idea I did that, but my four year old picked up on it.  Every time he says to me "Okay, okay, okay!" he's basically saying, "Come on mom, say those words- give in to my demands, let me do what I want, and say those magic little words."

And secondly, what do I do with that info?

Rest assured, I don't give in when it's important.  Ice cream for dinner?  No way.  Buying that expensive item just because you want it?  In your dreams.

I just don't like knowing my almost 5 year old thinks he can get me to give in just by pestering me to death. He wants to play on the Wii all the stinking time.  Different activities- racing cars, flying airplanes, bowling, golf, kayaking, etc.  One time he played on Wii fit, and jogged for probably 40 minutes straight.  It's not like he's just sitting there playing Super Mario Bros.  And, lots of kids with Autism/Aspergers tend to have hand-eye coordination problems, so I reason that it might be good for him, but HOURS at a time?  He's OBSESSED with the thing.  But on the other hand, many times what he is asking for is my attention.  He wants to go for walks, ride bikes, play basketball in the front yard, he even wants me to play on the Wii with him.  

But still, I wonder how many times I must have given in to his demands with an "Okay, okay, okay!"  That he's picked up on that fact?  

As a mom, I find it a little scary.

Back in the saddle again

I have to say I had a pretty great mother's day.

John took care of all the meals and the clean-up.

I got a nap.

The kids really tried to get along.  Which was wonderful.  (I always thought my mom was weird and/or demanding the impossible when all she ever wanted for birthday/Christmas/mother's day was for us kids to not fight- sorry mom)

And the kids all made me home made presents and/or cards.

Which I really and truly love.  I get more excited to open those than I do store bought presents.  I keep them forever. (This one is still on my fridge)

This year's lovelyness included-

I love seeing their little personalities shine through.  Maddie is all girl.  Hearts and flowers and butterflies...

Zach is simple and gets straight to the point.

When Maddie told Nick his poems were too plain and he needed to decorate it a bit,  he decorated the card with math equations.  - so typical Nick.

Christopher is in pre-school, so I got three presents- a flower box with lilies made from tracing his hands, a picture of me and him, and and a window thingy with both his hand print, (I love little hand prints- except when they are sticky and all over my walls etc) and he even wrote his own name.  Which might not be a big deal to other parents of almost 5 year olds, but it's the first thing I've ever seen where he wrote his own name.  All of his art projects and papers come home from school with his name written by an adult. And he won't write for me at home either.  "No! mommy do it.  Mommy makka you a Christopher name."

And that's all I ever hoped for on Mother's day. 

A day where I can appreciate my kids and their individualities and creativity while I spend time with them and am not distracted from the meals that need to be fixed, and can enjoy being in the same room with them because they are all trying to get along.  And remember why I love being a mother.  And also take a guilt-free nap if I feel so inclined.   (which I did)

But John wouldn't be John if he didn't try to spoil me and get in an unexpected surprise every so often. 

I woke up to find a brand new bike sitting in my living room.

I love it. So cute and fun to ride.

I was planning on saving up and maybe buying a pink one, but this one is perfect.  (well, as soon as my new basket liner gets here, then it will be perfect.)  It has a bell, and a basket, and a cute retro paint job.

Love, love, love it.

And mother nature surprised me as well with gorgeous weather to go riding in.  May is usually pretty horrid, so at first I was a little disappointed I wasn't going to get to ride it much in the next 6 months. 

I spent yesterday riding all day long.  Bike ride with Christopher in the morning.  Later I needed to drop of one of our Netflix DVD's at the mailbox, and I thought maybe I'd take it to the official blue mailbox about a quarter of a mile away, (passing our neighborhood mailbox on the way) but when I got there and realized that pick up wasn't for several more hours, but the mailman would be picking up the mail from our mailbox in the the next hour or two, I came back and just put it in there.  (Hoping for a faster turn around from netflix) Then, later, I realized I forgot to drop off John's early voting ballot, and decided that was very important, so I rode back to the blue mailbox (with half the kids in tow) then the other kids were upset they got left behind, so we went on a family bike ride for family night last night.

So, you might be asking yourself why I am inside typing away on my computer, sitting in a padded chair, when I could be out enjoying the gorgeous weather? (it's only supposed to be 78 today)  And well, the truth is, I'm a little saddle sore.

I realized that as I was taking Madison her forgotten viola to school today (it fit pretty well in my handy dandy basket)  Also the wooden chair at my desk is a lot more uncomfortable than it usually is.

I know, I probably only rode like 5 or 6 miles yesterday.  Over the course of the whole day.  But that is 5-6 more miles than I've ridden in the last two decades. Seriously.

I take that back, we did do a bike activity with the cub scouts a few months ago, and my partner let me borrow her bike. But it wasn't more than a mile.  Oh, and also unless I burned it or tossed it down the garbage disposal, there is a picture of me somewhere riding my dad's bike and I think I am pregnant with Maddie, and the bike is too big for me, and felt ridiculously awkward, not to mention I am never at my most graceful when I am pregnant,  and it was a mountain bike so I'm leaning forward, and felt like my derriere was on display... Anyway, I barely left the driveway, and should anyone find any photographic evidence, I'll probably deny it's me in the picture.

Anyway,  I just want to end this with a big thank you to John and my kids for making me feel so loved.  I am blessed.  Hopefully I will be able to hold on to all these warm fuzzies as we sprint through these last few crazy weeks of school -and with them their projects and activities and what-not and staying up late at night to work on posters and papers and everything else. And if not, I can hop on my new bike and deal with any frustrations that crop up that way.

conversations with Nick

"Mom, some kids today told me that I am not a real geek because I don't know who Spock is."
"We'll have to take care of that then."

"Do you know who he is?"

(insert image of me doing that Vulcan hand greeting)  "Live Long and Prosper."

"That guy?!?!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mom!  Doctor Who is AWESOME!!! It's even better than 24!"

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"I've heard this song before.  What is it?"

"I'm sure you have.  It's from Phantom of the Opera."

"What's Phantom of the Opera?"

"A Broadway musical.  It's probably the most famous Broadway musical ever."

"I thought Les Mis was."

"No.  Les Mis is my personal favorite, and then Wicked, and then Phantom, but Phantom has been around the longest and is the most well-known."

(next day)

"I asked my drama teacher if she'd ever heard of Phantom of the Opera.  She seemed annoyed with me and told me to sit down and finish my work."

"You realize that's like asking your orchestra teacher if she's ever heard of Beethoven, or asking your English teacher if she's ever heard of Shakespeare?"

"Yeah, I kinda figured that."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Hey, guess what?  I tried out for baseball today."

"Uh, You did?  Really? How'd you do?" (he's never even been on a t-ball team)

"Well, the coach said I'm a great kid, but I can't throw, or catch, or hit.... But he said I can run!"

"I'm proud of you for trying anyway.  Just remember, you fail 100% of the things you don't try. (Like my awesome motivational speech?) I NEVER would have done something like that when I was in jr. high.  I would have been too afraid I would have made a fool of myself."

"Oh, it's no big deal, I make a fool of my self every day.  Just yesterday Liam (his friend)  dared me to stand on a chair and sing Do You Hear the People Sing?  (from Les Mis) during lunch.  So I did."
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small price to pay

I have a screen saver on my computer laptop that I love, but my computer seems to hate. 

The screen saver itself works fine, it's just that my computer tends to freeze up when I want to use it again.  You know how normally all I should have to do is swipe my finger across the mouse pad and I should be able to quickly check my e-mail or whatever?  It really should take the briefest of seconds.

Sometimes it's frozen for a few minutes, sometimes for quite a lot longer.

Mostly, I just end up shutting my laptop and "putting it to sleep"  then opening to "wake it up" again. 

Sometimes, even then, I am banging my head on my desk waiting for my machine to cooperate. 

John says all he has to do is disable my screen saver, and my woes will be over, but I won't hear of it. 

  

Why, you ask?

Because at any given moment, I can walk past my computer and see these little faces staring out at me. 

I think it's worth the inconvenience.

Fashion sense (?)

"Mom,  are these tights too crazy?"

"This coming from the girl who hasn't worn a matching pair of socks all year?"