Friday, March 26, 2010

some happy thoughts today.......








Sunday I wanted to attend the viewing of my parents' neighbor who had passed away and I had known pretty much my entire life. While this was sad..it did bring me to spend the day with my sister, her daughter, and my mom and dad. It caused me to think back on a lot of old memories of days gone by with my family and all I was thankful for. It made me value time and being alive even more than I have been.

We had a very nice visit. Noah was with me. The weather ended up being much nicer than the forecast had predicted and we got invited to stay for a cookout for supper. We had so much fun....and a very nice visit. The kids and I did some sidewalk chalk......and just being together, remembering memories and creating new ones....besides the fabulous food we ate and the fun doing all the sidewalk chalk art....it all made me incredibly happy.

Noah has lost one of the 3 teeth he needs to...and is working on that one that is really stuck. It is about ready to come out which is great news so he can avoid surgery and being put under anesthetic and having a lot of things done to his mouth that would also be costly and probably not really necessary.

Noah is VERY excited because his cousin Audrey and his aunt Melissa are to come spend the day Sunday with us. Spring break is next week already...state testing is coming up in April...and it wont' be long and school will be out for summer again already! SO hard to believe how fast time is passing by.

We had some incredibly nice days for awhile..but the ice and snow came back last night...not too much but enough to cause the local schools to close. Today will be an easy day of school for us here at home.

I love you Noah! You make me very happy!

Mommy
XOXOXOX

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Dear Noah........school on the go......

Yesterday since it was so nice outside and I got my work done on time for a change I decided to load us up in the car, drive to Union City, Indiana and park and work on schoolwork while we waited for trains to come through town. We had some time before your speech therapy appointment and I figured what a better way to sit and do school work, enjoy the outdoors and take you railfanning all at the same time. We got to see 2 trains in less than 30 minutes.....one was really short...the other really long.

Needless to say you were thrilled and of course you are ready to do it all again!

I love you....

Mommy
xoxox




SHORT TRAIN



The REALLY LONG ONE!

Monday, March 08, 2010

Movie clip of those train sets inside luggage....

Dear Noah.........fun at the train show and birthday party....

Sunday morning you and I got up at a decent time...had breakfast from McDonalds and then went to the model train show over at the fairgrounds. This is something we do every year though we missed last year. We had a great time this year and you were specifically looking for a specific train engine to buy and sure enough the last table of trains we looked at...had the train engine you wanted. AND a car to go with it. The man selling them marked them down for us...giving us BOTH for only 25.00. You were thrilled.






I am always on the lookout for something off the norm...unique....new. While there I came across a display of "N" scale train displays where a man from Englewood takes guitar cases and old luggage, guts them out and then puts very elaborate train displays INSIDE the cases! WOW...these were amazing and so unique. They take up a small space, are quick to set up and play with or look at, and are portable! AND use recycled items! I had a long talk with the elderly gentleman about that....and he got out a photo album showing me how he made these sets. A most amazing story. Here are some of his displays. The guitar case one was my favorite...having an old 50s style theme including Jukebox...and the restaurant inside featured dancers inside the restaurant that were actually moving around and dancing to the music. It was just amazing. I asked for his business card...asked if he made any of these for custom orders...but he prefers sticking to this for a hobby. GREAT new innovative idea however, and great money maker and someone doing this would be in business forever!












Here the man I spoke with (noted above) was the PRESIDENT of Dayton N Track, Don Kriegbaum and he has many things he is involved in....here is a link to one of his websites:

Dayton NTRACK

Then we went to pick up grandma C. to take her with us to your other grandma and grandpa's house for a double birthday party..one for your cousin Audrey and one for your aunt Becky. We had a great time there...a very nice visit. I made your aunt a unique gift this year. I had always wanted to make her an 'activity box" as when she was little and then got older she said one of her best gifts was always those activity boxes you would give to kids or rainy day boxes. I figured I could make a unique one for her...and finally decided to do it. I went to Webb's Antique Mall and found an old small overnight antique luggage box...and then decoupaged old photos of Becky and the family and special memories on the outside and inside of the case and then filled it with old kid toys, antiques, and some gifts for her today. I think she liked it...I had fun making it.


THINK this was a forced smile here.....haha








Audrey's Cake





Becky's cookie



Mom slaving away in the kitchen making spaghetti


The TWILIGHT theme for the party






One of the items inside Becky's luggage...this reminded me of the fish you win in those bags at the county fair.





I also made a very special Twilight Diary for Miss Audrey.....where I took a regular lock and key diary and altered it.....adding in pics from the movie Twilight to it..especially Edward Cullen as she loves him.....and I forgot to actually take pics of the actual results. It was pretty cool...nearly every page had photos glued into it...with room left for writing. I also added quotes, trinkets, keys, special items for different holidays and days...leaving room for her to add more. I had fun making it and think I have a couple of others who are interested in getting something similar.



I wish I had a picture of it...or a few...but I forgot to snap some of it for some weird reason. Maybe Audrey and her mom can snap a few. I do have one of her opening it and smiling so big. THAT was what I had hoped for. She loved it and then actually wrote in it before I left that day...locked it and HID it she said. I am happy.....that was the exact reaction I was hoping for.



Anyway....cake and ice cream were good. Becky had a big decorated chocolate chip cookie for her birthday instead of a cake. You just had 2 helpings of strawberry ice cream.

Then we stopped and visited with grandma C. for a bit before coming home. All in all we had a great day. The weather has been super nice too.....sunny and much warmer. We are all getting antsy for spring now.

Today I want to take a drive...it is too nice to stay inside....but you are talking with your dad and aunt Mary on the computer for a bit. SO we will have to go later or another day. I thought we could buzz over to Versailles, OH and catch some trains zipping through town!

I love you lots Noah!

Mommy
XOXOXOX

Thursday, March 04, 2010

Noah's review of a Wii game

Dear Noah.........reflecting on the status of things.....


I have realized recently I am not posting here as often as I had been. That is partly due to being a bit busy, but also partly because things are flowing pretty steady with us now at home, doing school at home, and therapies locally, etc.

I find our stress levels have dropped tremendously......all that turmoil and crap basically we used to have to deal with on a DAILY basis via the public school system is gone.

Today I am just very thankful we do continue to homeschool. For so many reasons...but mostly because you are handling things so much better in your life, in general and with school. We eliminated a huge source of troubling issues when we started homeschooling again...and we will continue on with no regrets.

I do have something funny to share. A week or so ago I had you change out of your clothes to put some clean clothes on. Actually I think you had gotten out of your pajamas to get dressed. I said I would bring you some clothes. I got sidetracked and a couple of hours I think had gone by. I finally called you into my office area for something and I looked and there you stood NAKED! When I asked you WHY you were standing there naked you told me, "Mom, you never brought me any clothes!"

This is one of the times I am reminded you have autism.....because that is very typical of something you would never think of coming to say to me on your own...like, "Hey mom I need some clothes!" You were perfectly fine being naked. I asked you, "Didn't you get cold?" and you said no. I felt horrible, but it was also sort of funny to you and me both. We both ended up laughing and I got you some clothes to put on.

There are still times when you cannot distinguish between a man and woman, often calling a female "him" and a male "her" and not recognizing the difference at all...even when it is obvious what their gender is.

At night if I am asleep you will not verbally say anything to wake me or shake me even if you need something.

Those are the kinds of reminders I get now that you still have a few little issues...and still need some prompting and redirecting. Or when you say something in a public place way too loud about someone and they can hear you.

BUT otherwise......we are sailing along...and we are pretty happy...and enjoy our time together.

You are still working on your time machine ideas......and now also love to watch Tom and Jerry cartoons.

You are doing very well in school and math you are ahead of the class...same for reading. So you are making it...you are coming along...and I am very proud of you.

I also love you a lot!

Mommy
XOXOX