Recovering Noah

Ahhh , here I sit. August 17 th and it's my 37 th birthday - and let me tell you... this year has been a year of reflection. I think I finally started to understand myself this past year. Sounds silly, maybe. I mean how can you live 36 years and not understand yourself... but it's like things just started making sense. My wants, my needs, my personality, my parenting skills, what I can handle and can't handle, letting go, dreaming big.... all of it just started to click this past year. And I don't have all the answers.... I think that's obvious. But I'm starting to feel a bit at peace with myself and who I am. I still worry, though. A LOT. Especially about the kids. Especially about Noah. And I still sometimes mourn the life I thought I was supposed to have... but it's not as bad as I thought it would be. And that's why I thought that on my 37 th birthday I'd write a letter to myself at thirty. Because thirty was a very difficult year in my life. ...

Okay. So, um, we've decided to send Nandi & Eli to public school this year. Eeek ! I know. I know. After all the belly-aching that I did last year and all the reasons I've listed about why Eli would do better being homeschooled and after all the WONDERFUL advice that ya'll gave me about homeschooling.... and I go and do this. How many of you want to smack me upside the head right about now? Oh man. It was a hard hard HARD decision. I mean, if I keep Eli home and put Nandi in school then I know without a doubt that her RAD would flare-up big time. And if I keep them both home then Noah would really suffer. Poor thing has already been ignored practically all summer long. It's easy to ignore him because he's so quiet (literally) and likes to stay in his room. And if I put Nandi & Eli both in school, then Noah would finally get the attention he needs (and maybe get potty-trained!) but Eli would have a miserable time. How do you choose? How do you say, ...

We're on vacation right now and, boy, do I have a lot to blog about!! Whether I actually get around to it is another matter. I really should just do another video blog (or vlog as the cool kids call it), but seeing that my last one was, like, 30 minutes of pure ramble, I think I'll give it a pass. Right now, we're in the hotel room and I'm watching Noah's face as Sim tries to feed him french fries dipped in Marmite . Sooooo gross. And such a British thing. Of course, Noah's favorite way of eating french fries is to dip them in water and get them all soggy.... which isn't much better if you ask me. Anyway, my friend Chantelle wrote a fabulous blog today that I totally could've written myself. Except I didn't. And she did such a good job of it, I thought I'd send ya'll her way. You can read it here http://this-little-life-of-mine.blogspot.com/2010/07/im-super-mom.html . She's a speakin ' my language! Tomorrow, we head out to Gon...

This post kind of goes along with Courtney over at Storing Up Treasures . She's challenging everyone to take off the warpaint and show our faces in all our God given glory... warts and all. The first picture was taken right after I washed my face this morning. I admit that the headband is hiding all the gray hair in my bangs. I've been repeatedly called out on all the gray that I have. I'm sure me and Ms. Clairol need to make a date real soon. This weekend perhaps? Anyway, Eli took the second picture. I'm wearing the shirt I slept in last night. Can you read it? It says "Mrs. Darcy" on the front. And don't worry, I don't think my husband cares one bit that I go to bed wearing a shirt that says "Mrs. Darcy" on it. He's just thankful that I finally stopped wearing the one that had a blow-up photo of Mr. Bean on the front. True story. And, besides, I think his heart went a little pitter-patter, too, when Colin Firth emerged from the fountain...

Today was one of those days where I just wanted to throw a toothbrush and a change of clothes in a backpack and hightail it outta here - without the kids. Okay, we'll maybe I'd bring Noah because he was the only who didn't make me feel like slamming my head in the freezer door over and over again all day long. And to top it all off, Sim was supposed to be home 20 minutes ago and just called and he's at least 2 hours from home. So I figured I'd blog out my frustrations real quick so that I don't bombard him with relentless venting the moment he walks through the door. Okay, so maybe I'll vent just a teeny tiny bit because otherwise he might think he's walked into the wrong house. Don't think of it as me being a nagging wife. Think of it as me maintaining honest and open communication . Yeah! Yeah! That's it! So, here's the deal-io. Despite my previous admissions that I can't wait to send Eli on the first bus back to public school, deep dow...

Several weeks ago, we went to my niece's 4th Birthday Party. Now, let me tell you, my sister-in-law, Beth, is Miss Cathy Creative. I mean, she can do things with a sewing machine that Martha Stewart can only dream about. She's gives me quite a complex, my SIL. Her crafting abilities blow me away. Anyway, my niece is quite the little tomboy and she was bound and determined to have a super hero birthday party. So we get to the party and the kids are all given a little something that Beth had whipped up a few days prior. Namely, hand painted super hero shirts and homemade superhero capes. You'll have to look at the pictures below. They are the cutest darn things I've ever seen. Then the kids were treated to an outdoor obstacle course where they had to chase the bad guys through pools of lava (a sandbox turned into a swimming pool with water dyed red and a 2x4 to cross), go through the ring of fire (aka a hula hoop hanging from the swingset) and scale tall buildings with a...

A few years ago, when Noah was around 4 1/2, I got so excited because he finally ate sandwiches cut into strips. Up until then, he'd only eat peanut butter on rice cakes and refused to touch sandwiches. And I remember calling my mom and telling her that this means that maybe one day he'll eat sandwiches cut in half and eventually maybe he'll even eat a whole sandwich. Because, you see, to me that was what normal kids did. And it wasn't so much an abnormal vs normal thing. It was more like that's what all the other kids did and I really wanted to hold onto that. I thought it'd help him blend in more at picnics and parties and get togethers. I mean, yeah, I know it doesn't really change anything... but it meant a lot to me. Well, fast forward 4 years and Noah has finally discovered Capri Suns and Gogurts! And, yes, I am considering that a miracle. lol We don't really buy that type of stuff... but they served Capri Suns at the library picnic the other day...

When life hands you blueberries........ Make Blueberry Muffins! When life hands you apples.... Make Apple Pie! When life hands you baskets and baskets full of tomatoes and zucchini.... Make Tomato & Zucchini Soup! When life hands you cucumbers.... Make Cucumber Salsa! I am so grateful for my Pa Lester and Mawmaw Ruby... and it warms my heart that Noah, Eli, and Nandi have been able to spend time with them this summer. The kids love wandering through their garden... picking blueberries and apples and foraging for zucchini and eating tomatoes off the vine. My grandparents are a huge blessing to me and and even bigger blessing to my children. I thank God that the kids are able to know their great-grandparents and make memories with them this summer. P.S. Don't forget to check out the BEST blueberry muffin recipe ever! Be sure to swap buttermilk for the milk. It's delish! Thanks for the blueberries, Pa & MawMaw!...

We've spent A LOT of time outside this summer. Noah is crazy about water, so most of our mornings are spent with Noah in the little pool and Eli riding his bike up and down our street while Nandi draws with sidewalk chalk in our driveway. As for me? I use it as a time to sit outside and catch up on my emails or returning phone calls. It's pretty much the only time I can do it, so I do take advantage of it. Wellllllllll..... the other day I had my phone sitting in the folding chair by the little pool and I walked to the mail box to get the mail and I turned around just in time to see Noah fill a bucket with water, get out of the pool, walk over to my chair, and pour the entire bucket of water on my phone! I guess he told me, huh? Thank goodness I didn't have my laptop out that day. Good grief. He also took my CD out of the stereo and bit into it and turned off The Bachelorette while I was watching it the other night. Guess he doesn't like my taste in entertainment.... An...

I'm not sure if I mentioned this before, but Noah loves biographies. I can read a Junie B. Jones book or a Captain Underpants book and he immediately leaves the room. But sit down and pop open a biography and he's all ears. Lately I've been reading the In Their Own Words: Harriet Tubman biography to him each night. I find the whole In Their Own Words series so fantastic. Some books I've read aloud to Noah and it's a struggle just to get through them, but this series rocks! The Harriet Tubman one has really moved me. I don't even remember learning this much in school... and now I really want to learn more about the Underground Railroad. And Noah seems pretty fascinated by it, too. If he'll sit through a chapter without screaming, flinging a toy, or running out of the room then you know it's got his attention! Anyway, I was wondering if Eli is too young to learn about slavery. He doesn't have the attention span to sit through chapter books yet, but we...

Remember in my blog post a few days ago where I mentioned that I had plans on keeping Eli in public school for 1st grade? We'll, Eli has other plans. He gave me a note that the "doctor" wrote on a "prescription pad" detailing exactly why he can't go back to school: Translated as: "Eli's head is hurting. Tummy hurting. (He has a) mosquito bite and eye infection." And, according to Eli, the only cure is for him to stay home and watch cartoons all day. Is that boy dramatic or what?? ;-) P.S. Yes, we WILL be working on spelling this summer... lol

Well, it's Memorial Day and I'm sitting here by the pool while the kids are splashing around. That probably sounds really nice and relaxing, but the truth is that the pool is a little $15 thing we bought at Walmart and I'm sitting in a garage sale lawn chair and sweating like a pig who's just realized it's about to get stuck on a spit and roasted. Ewwwww .... that's not a very good visual, is it? Anyway, Nandi and Noah are out playing in the pool while Eli - who is currently shunning anything that involves being outside in 98 degree temperature (no doubt about it, he's my son) - is inside driving Sim crazy. And I'm sitting here watching three ducks giving my kids the stink eye because they think that anything involving water is their territory. It kind of amuses me that there's a huge ' ol lake right across the street and I end up having to shoo ducks away from our plastic swimming pool every evening. Well, the purpose of this post is to play...

Please pray for the staff and children at Sarah's Covenant Homes in Ongole, India. They were hit by a cyclone and there's a lot of devastation. You can read more about it online or you can read Nikki's personal account HERE on her blog. Please also remember Genie and Linda who are two volunteers from our church that our volunteering at SCH. Linda is a nurse who went to SCH to train the staff in emergency medical procedures, and Genie is a wonderful lady, who at 64, said she finally discovered her passion in life... helping the orphaned and special needs children of India. As far as I know, power is out across Ongole and it's impossible to reach SCH. Nikki mentioned on Facebook (just before her computer battery went out) that they were unable to make it to the children's home today and will have to try again after the floods subside. Many people are left homeless now. No word on how the boys at Angel Home are doing. It's half a mile from the coast. Please remem...

I love parodies. They crack me up. And, apparently, I'm one of the only people who hasn't seen the Bible video below called "Baby Got Book". It's a different take on the "Baby Got Back" song... which, I admit, I still turn up full blast when it comes on the radio. When Noah was little, I made up a parody called "Baby Got Flax" and it was all about fruits and veggies and wholefoods. But, uh, no... my rapping skills are pretty scary so there is definitely no video coming your way. So enjoy this one below. It's cute.

That's right! Anoop's debut album hits iTunes today! Whoo hoo! Party at Noah's house! If you've just found this blog then you may not know that our little boy, Noah, has autism and is nonverbal. And kids with autism - as a general rule - aren't that interested in a lot of things. Noah, especially, likes to spend most of his days sitting on his bed spinning the wheels to toy cars or outside swinging on a swing. He may watch Elmo videos, but he doesn't watch TV or anything outside of Sesame Street. He likes music, but only music that he listened to as a baby... like The Wiggles "Yummy Yummy" and They Might Be Giants. So, imagine our surprise last year when the American Idol season started and Noah ran to the TV all excited when a contestant named Anoop Desai appeared on screen and started to sing. I mean Noah went nuts. He was glued to the T.V. and would hop up and down and clap his hands and get all excited. When Anoop would sing a ballad, Noah would ca...

Okay, I would be really remiss if I didn't mention this super-duper Mother's Day fundraiser going on over at Sarah's Covenant Homes. Wait! Don't click off. Don't let your eyes glaze over. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm talking about India. Again. For the gazillionth time. But ya'll, it's my passion. Plus, my kids totally helped out with this one.... and surely some of you have some compassion and admiration for me doing crafts that involve tiny glue dots and rhinestones with a child who has RAD. I mean, seriously, do ya'll know how many rhinestones and sequins and glitter stickers accidentally got knocked off the table, stepped on, and ground into the floor during the making? Enough that surely you'll want to whip out $10 and say " God bless this woman's soul! I wouldn't even attempt that with my own child . " Oh. Wait. You mean the "take pity on me" route's not working? You're not moved yet? Hmmm... different tactic. ...