Happy Hour Friday #2

Otin hosts this Friday game where we're asked to just take a moment to talk about what makes us happy. I figured that I needed a post to offset all the negatives that I let loose yesterday in my Take a Peek Through Our Window post.

Here goes:

- We have a new pumpkin in the family!! I am thrilled to announce that our Pumpkin-Farmer friends back in Ontario, added another little girl to the pumpkin collection. Grace Anne has made Isabella a proud new big sister and has also made three little boys in Calgary very excited to meet their new 'cousin'. In absence of a photo of the newborn, I'll show off her adorable sister instead.



- I got a lot of kind comments following yesterday's post about what a great mom I am and how wonderful I must be and how beautiful and stunning and witty and charming.... okay, so I'm exaggerating a little. But the comments were so sweet. But now I feel guilty about it. Because truly, life isn't that bad to warrant me getting such a pat on the back. I know that there are parents out there who may have children with physical disabilities whose needs FAR surpass my children's. Or people who are caring for their own elderly parents. Or people who have no children of their own, but are caring for other people's. I'm just doing what I do because it's our life and it's the way it is. I hope Otin doesn't mind, but I'd like to share an exchange we had because I think it best describes my feelings about this. He said: "it must kill you to hear people complain about silly things like having to get up early or their days at work!". To which I replied, "No, it doesn't. It's all relative, isn't it? I couldn't live a boring life either, it would make me crazy! I'd probably still choose mine. A single mom with even one child earns my respect. Or someone who works outside all day doing physical labour. As tacky as it sounds, I just think everyone needs to be kinder to each other and appreciate that we all have our own stories and challenges. There's no such thing as perfection." I am happy to have enlightened some of you who may have had no prior knowledge of some of the challenges that families with autism may be going through, because I hope it will give you pause before judging the next parent you see with a tantrumming kid.

- GEEK ALERT!! But I am so excited to have learned this week that there is a new L.M. Montgomery (author of Anne of Green Gables) book that has just been released, entitled "The Blythes Are Quoted".

These comments come from the Publisher: "Adultery, illegitimacy, misogyny, revenge, murder, despair, bitterness, hatred, and death-usually not the first terms associated with L.M. Montgomery. But in The Blythes Are Quoted, completed shortly before her death and never before published in its entirety, Montgomery brought these topics to the forefront in what she intended to be the ninth volume in her bestselling series featuring her beloved heroine Anne." Sounds great to me!

- I am happy for my kids that it's Halloween on Saturday. The twins don't really have an understanding of what's going on, but they do get the routine of going door to door. Unfortunately because of their restricted diets, they don't get a lot of the treats, but I plan to run ahead to every house on Saturday with pieces to a puzzle for Owen and some diet-friendly treats for Will, to ask the neighbours to hand those out instead. Tomorrow Jake and I are headed to his school dance (3rd grade people, can you believe that! AND he asked a girl to go with him and it wasn't me!), then on Saturday our whole family was invited to a Halloween party! I am very, very happy about this, more for Jake, Owen and Will's sake than my own, because we have never been invited to anything before. Usually we get the polite invite that awkwardly suggests only bringing Jake and one parent, unless it's from one of our friends in the autism community. Anyways, we're thrilled to be invited, even if we only last 10 minutes. And when I say I'm happy for my kids, I'm including my husband in that statement. He already has his costume ready and did a little dance in it tonight for our benefit.

- I am happy that my boys are still all healthy (knock wood), despite the fact that H1N1 is in their schools.

- I am happy that a Chinook is rolling in tomorrow, just in time to warm this city up for Halloween.

- I am happy to report that I think we've killed off all those miserable mice!

- I am that I've had some new followers this week and have gotten to meet some really great people in the blogging community. I only wish I could get more organized to find some time to spend on each of their blogs. Eventually, I'll get a rhythm going and get on top of comments and blog browsing.

- Here are all the reasons why you shouldn't feel sorry for us and our circumstances:

* because autism has made us appreciate every single achievement that our kids accomplish, that we may have otherwise taken for granted.
* because autism has taught us to be parents who are not complacent and who realize that action and hard work is the only way you can change your circumstances. Sitting and moaning about your life isn't going to make it any better.
* because autism has brought the five of us closer together and has given us a stronger bond with Jake because of our common challenges with his brothers.
* because autism has introduced us to some amazing people who I would have never met otherwise. It has forced a deeper level of friendship with a handful of friends that may have never happened had it not been for our boys' diagnosis.
* because despite our initial upset, Owen and Will's diagnosis forced us to pack up and move across country to Calgary and we love it here. We could have never foreseen living out West otherwise.
* because my boys don't speak, they show us love in ways that other parents may never experience.
* because autism has taught us tenacity, perseverance, patience, tolerance, acceptance, joy, compassion, passion and understanding. We see beauty in things that others see as ugly. My boys have taught me to find humour in the everyday and to see that intelligence doesn't just mean that you can summarize what you've read in a book.

- I am happy to have Happy Hour Fridays to remind me of all that I am grateful for. I hope you all have a great weekend and Happy Halloween!

Viv Is My Favourite

Viv of A Proud Mom to Many played along in yesterday's meme and she followed my lead in proving why she is an UN-Warrior:

- I eat organic. Sadly, this includes quite a bit of organic wine and beer...which goes well with organic cheese and chips. Which means that the number on my scale is saying, "jeez Babe, you gonna lay off those binge nights soon, right?"

- Mint Bailey's rocks! There is nothing bad that can be said about a person who starts their day off with Mint Bailey's, that person just has really good taste.

Click HERE to hear Viv try to prove why she isn't worthy of the title of a Warrior Mom.

And here is why I disagree:

I only discovered this Mom blogger recently and already I'm a HUGE fan. This SuperMom has SIX kids: (an 11, 9, 7, 3, 1 year old and a new baby born in May), plus TWO more step-sons. Plus TWO dogs, TWO cats and a long-distance hubby. She is essentially a married single-mom who is doing remarkably well, with a great sense of humour through all of her hardships.

She loves her some coffees: "Why I Need Coffee In Order To Live"

She can cry like the best of us: "It's a Pity Party.."

She writes to Victoria Secret: "Why I Hate Gravity.."

Listen. She's struggling through life as most of us are and like a lot of us moms, she is often isolated from the world of talking grown-ups and could probably use some grown-up conversation now and then. Will ya wander over to A Proud Mom To Many and show her some love?

Wednesday Words of Advice & Warriors *Why I'm an UN-Warrior*

It's Wednesday! It's your chance to choose one of these blog topics to write about, include the applicable button below in your post, then come back here to include your link in Mr. Linky so we can all click on over to check it out. Don't forget to take a moment to click on a couple other links to see some posts by other bloggers. Tomorrow night I'll be choosing my favourite post and stopping by your blog so that I can write a post profiling YOU! For a refresher on what to write about, see HERE.

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I am an UN-Warrior and here are the sad reasons why:

- I cry at least once a week. Not because I feel sorry for myself, but because I'm scared.

- We have mice in the house at the moment and even if one was crawling on my kid, I think I'd be paralyzed with fear. Paralyzed while standing on a chair.

- I can preach about nutrition and healthy eating, but I eat like crap when I shouldn't and I can't get my kids to eat vegetables.

- I sometimes start my day with a shot of Mint Bailey's in my coffee (I always leave a giant gulp-full at the bottom so I figure half has sunk so it shouldn't count).

- I'm partially deaf. I rely on reading lips. A lot. But I'm too much of a weenie to get fitted for a hearing aide.

- I can be judgmental. I really try not to be. But I have NO patience for parents who don't put the needs of their kids first or for people who constantly play the victim card.

- I am sometimes really shallow. I got together with my husband because he had great legs. I thought this even in the 11th grade. And fyi: he still has great legs.

- I'm a Mama Bear. But there have been times that I have held my kids from being themselves, because I was more concerned at how other parents would judge us. I'm ashamed of this.

- I can't run. Jake thinks this is a major personality flaw, so I guess it is.

- I can be a miserable bitch. At least once a week. And often, hubby and I snap at each other. Or I beat him up until he cries.

Have you got any advice to share? Or a Warrior you want to write about? Go blog about it. Then come back and don't forget to enter your blog's URL in Mr. Linky below to share it with us. Happy Hump-Day!

Sundays In My City

Unknown Mami hosts a beautiful meme on Sundays called 'Sundays in My City', where we get to post photos of where we live basically to make everyone jealous. Pop on over to her blog to get a free online vacation.

I think I need to remember to take my camera with me while running mundane errands throughout the week, so that I have something interesting to show on Sundays. Instead, I went through some of my old photos and found some wildlife we've seen around Calgary and in Banff.

elk

Big Mountain Sheep alongside Lake Minnewanka

Grrrrrrrr

Grrrrr...
these pesky little gophers are everywhere ** see bottom of post for a laugh

I think that tacky-dressed tourists count as wildlife. Atrocious.

this poor ole boy looks past his shelf date

A magpie. A bird I thought was beautiful when I first moved here, until I realized they are scavengers and as annoying as seagulls.

For the grand finale.. outiside of Calgary, there is a museum that is entirely devoted to gophers/prairie dogs. I haven't been, but a friend of mine made the trip out there to see these stuffed vermine. I have to admit that it is quite humorous.









Enjoy your Sunday!!

FancyPants is my Favourite

FancyPants of On Living Overseas played along in yesterday's meme and she cracked me up in doing so. Her wise Wednesday Words of Advice were the following:

If you teach your children the proper names for their private parts- be prepared for embarrassment.

Click HERE to read the story that explains how she came to this understanding.

I have 'known' FancyPants for quite some time now. The online community is pretty incredible when you can tap into like-minded people that can entertain you at the same time. I was fortunate enough to land myself in an online book group 8 years ago, as a way to talk to other grown-ups who shared my interest in reading, as I was on my maternity leave with Jake. A group of 20-something women, all from different parts of North America, all from different walks of life, formed an instant friendship that is still going strong eight years later. FancyPants introduced me to what it was like to be in a military family. She is a navy wife, raising two young children and doing a damn good job of it too. I admire her strength and her sense of humour through all of her trials and tribulations while holding the fort when her husband is at sea. She recently moved to Japan and is adjusting to life in a foreign country and not only making the most of the situation, but immersing herself in the culture to soak up all that she can from the experience.

FancyPants is fairly new at this blogging thing, but I'm doing my best to encourage her to keep at it because I do so enjoy getting glimpses of her life. Help me out, will ya? Show her some love. Visit her and leave a comment, not only to help with her homesickness, but also to let her know that she's doing a great job.

My favourite post from her blog: What It Means to Be a Navy Wife

Wednesday's Words of Advice & Warriors *Odds 'n Ends*

It's here! It's your chance to choose one of these blog topics to write about, include the applicable button below in your post, then come back here to include your link in Mr. Linky so we can all click on over to check it out. Don't forget to take a moment to click on a couple other links to see some posts by other bloggers. Tomorrow night I'll be choosing my favourite post and stopping by your blog so that I can write a post profiling YOU! For a refresher on what to write about, see HERE.




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My Words Of Advice:


1) If you get that nagging voice in your head that tells you to call the shop to have your snow tires put on the car, even though it's early OCTOBER... do it!

This was what we woke up to this morning. And since Calgary doesn't believe in plowing or sanding any streets other than the main ones, I slid through three intersections while driving the twins to school, white-knuckling it the whole way. We made it safe and sound. Until Jonathan was driving the kids to a concert tonight and someone nailed the back side of the car. Day One and already an accident. Not good. Should have got those snow tires put on last week.

2) What's the best way to make your house smell homey, especially during the holidays? Simmer a pot of apple cider all day. Here's our family recipe (roughly, since I rarely measure anything):

jug of fresh-pressed apple cider or concentrated apple juice

3/4 bottle white wine

1 cup fresh cranberries

8-10 cloves

6-8 cinnamon sticks
*if you have any clementine oranges, I like to throw in a couple,
if not, throw in a couple of orange wedges

* bring to a boil and let it go for 5 minutes or so to burn off the alcohol

* bring down to a simmer and add a bottle of ginger ale

* let simmer all day

3) Are you a fan of Billy Bob Thornton? I can't stand him, but there once was a time when I could tolerate seeing him in a film. Until I saw him in Love Actually, when he played a US president. But then I DESPISED him once I saw this interview of him on Canadian CBC Radio's the Q. I had heard clips from this before, but had never seen the video footage. My advice to you: watch the clip. Then tell me what you think.



4) I can't gush about this download-able software program enough. Our family had a little *incident* with one of the kids who was surfing YouTube for kid shows, and instead was witness to some gay porn. I am not making light of it, it was horrific for us as parents, to have to deal with the consequences of this. Our twins had worked for years to learn to use the mouse and keyboard on a computer, then to navigate pages independently. Watching video clips was the one thing that they both loved doing so much, but now we couldn't trust YouTube. We found an amazing alternative.

ZacBrowser was designed for kids with autism, but I would HIGHLY recommend it for any parents with young kids at home, who have an interest in the computer. Go to www.zacbrowser.com and download the program for FREE. It will create its own desktop icon so the kids can learn to click on it and not have to go on to the internet browser at all. The program has more than one link (games, music & video). No outside content can come in and no one can navigate out of the program on to inappropriate sites. The video option is like a mini YouTube, but its only clips are all taken from kid movies and tv shows. It's wonderful!

Have you got any advice to share? Or a Warrior you want to write about? Go blog about it. Then come bac and don't forget to enter your blog's URL in Mr. Linky below to share it with us. Happy Hump-Day!

Happy Hour Friday

I have a new friend. He doesn't know it yet. But his name is Otin and after only one day of 'knowing' him, I can already tell that we're going to be besties. It's kind of refreshing to have found a blog that so entertains me, that isn't just about parenting, or autism, but just about life and creativity and stuff. Just stuff. He's a really fun writer and it's not contrived, or at least it doesn't seem to be, in an effort to get readers.

Otin hosts this Friday game where we're asked to just take a moment to talk about what makes us happy. I think it times in nicely with our Canadian Thanksgiving. I have a lot to be grateful for so here goes:

I'm happy I found Otin's blog: The Wizard of Otin. This makes me happy.

***

My absolutely most rewarding moment of the week was when Owen, his therapists and I went to get his haircut. Not only did he wear the cape. He stayed in the chair for 20 minutes. He let them spray water on his hair. They CUT his hair. They BUZZED HIS HAIR WITH CLIPPERS. Then he laughed and didn't want to leave! This is the kid who used to shake at the entry of the salon and wouldn't take a single step inside. If dragged in, he'd sit in a turtle position and cry and lash out, with his hands over his head. Three years of trial run visits with no hair cuts. Three years of 'desentization programs' at home to get him used to a brush, to a pair of scissors, before they had even touched his head. It all came to this. Six years and we've finally had a successful haircut!!! *I suppose I should have taken a picture to make this announcement more dramatic, but I forgot (story of my life)*

***

My super-hero husband caught the mouse that was partying under our bed the other night. I had a night of terror listening to that little rat scurrying, gnawing, scratching and twittering right under my head. I was so happy to hear the SNAP of the trap when we got the little bugger.

***

It's blizzarding outside and it's -15 with the wind chill right now. Am I happy about it? No. But this cold means the wood fires are burning again. And I love the smell as it wafts through my family room and I love its cackling sound. It feels homey.

***

I don't know about you, but I am very impressed with this year's new shows on tv. Modern Family and Flash Forward have made me VERY happy. Nothing this fall has made me laugh harder than this scene from Modern Family:

***

I love when matchmaking works. This week I was lucky enough to pair up my friends at the Knox Pumpkin Farm in Ontario, with an old friend who is a producer at TVO Kids.

TVO Kids spent a full day today at the Farm, filming a tv show and segments for their station. I am so unbelievably homesick for the Farm, particularly in October. But I am really happy to know that I have put my matchmaking skills to work successfully, so that more people will fall in love with my favourite place of the fall.

***

I LOVE my slippers. Have you ever heard of Padraig slippers? I had bought a few pairs for some babies, but finally saw them in ladies' sizes last winter. My gram got them for me for Christmas and I wear them all the time. Too often, probably.

They're so soft and cozy, they wash really nice and they let your feet breathe. If you buy them for kids, they stretch with the growth of their feet. They are lovely!

***

I am grateful for flat rate long distance plans.

***

I am grateful that in a few short days I'll be eating turkey and pumpkin pie.

***

I am grateful that pvr's were invented.

***

I am grateful that my husband will be home in a little bit from soccer practice, because I hear another frickin' mouse scuttering around in the kitchen.

Wednesday Words of Advice & Warriors *Pointy Toes*

It's here! It's your chance to choose one of these blog topics to write about, include the applicable button below in your post, then come back here to include your link in Mr. Linky so we can all click on over to check it out. Don't forget to take a moment to click on a couple other links to see some posts by other bloggers. Tomorrow night I'll be choosing my favourite post and stopping by your blog so that I can write a post profiling YOU! For a refresher on what to write about, see HERE.


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My Words Of Advice:

Let me tell you a little story about how I started my day today. I had dropped the boys off for school and had a bit of time to kill before a doctor's appointment. I thought I would drop in to a nearby Denny's for a coffee while I waited.

Let me give you a bit of back-drop of my city. Calgary is an old Cowboy town. Not so much now, with its recent inflation of the population, the cowboys are not usually found within city limits unless it's Stampede time. But the downtown business core certainly doesn't look nearly as sophiscated as other high-power cities. It's not exactly full of Hugo Boss, Prada or other brand-name wearers. I'd say business casual to New York or Toronto, would be considered business-formal to Calgarians.

So back to Denny's. I was walking into the restaurant and passed a pair of men who seemed to be leaving a business meeting, given their attire. Both were wearing grey suits.

Not bad. But the big mouthed buddy was wearing them with grey and tan coloured, snakeskin cowboy boots with the POINTIEST toes I have ever seen!

Now I wouldn't say I'm a malicious person or purposefully mean. But I can't deny that I have mean thoughts sometimes. So naturally, I had a few when I saw the mix of these two clothing choices.

So when Buddy says to his friend "Are you kidding me? The ladies love me!!!"(and I'm not really an eavesdropper on purpose, but if you're talking loudly as you walk beside a person, what do you expect?). 

I had a mean thought in my head in response to this. I thought (and I warn you, I say not nice, not classy things sometimes in my head), I thought, "Not with those p*ssy boots they don't!". - please don't be offended, I'm ashamed enough of my thoughts as it is.

Now here's my advice. Don't think mean thoughts.

Because you could do the same thing I did and mistakenly SAY THEM OUT LOUD!

I have never felt so horrified in my life. I have never done that before and still don't know how it happened. I probably wouldn't have even realized I'd said it if Buddy's friend didn't spit coffee out of his nose and Buddy didn't call me an F*n B*tch.

I hope my wisdom helps prevent similar future mishaps for you all, or you might just end up being the victim of a pointy toe kicked up the backside.

And as a side-note. If David Beckham was wearing that same combination;

 

 that body

+

the grey suit      

=

I would keep my mouth shut. But I can't promise that I won't be thinking not-so-nice thoughts.

(Where is my judgement gone? My dad is so going to be proud of his daughter after this post).




Have you got any advice to share? Or a Warrior you want to write about? Go blog about it. Then come back and don't forget to enter your blog's URL in Mr. Linky below to share it with us. Happy Hump-Day!

Post-It Note Tuesday

I do truly love the staff at the boys' new school. But seriously, this is the third time Owen has come home in a different pair of pants than I sent him in because he's had 'an accident'. He isn't toilet trained, so what kind of an accident could he have, other than no one changing his pull-up? I just don't think it's fair that a kid who can't speak to tell anyone, is left to feel uncomfortable.

It really does. They say that this smell is actually considered to be good news, since it proves that the asparagus eater's kidneys are functioning as they should. If you've never noticed, you might want to look into those kidneys!

 

I can't help it. Archibald's Hard Cider is all I think about. 

I can't even talk about it. So gross.

 

I would say that they named that well.

Moms that are trying to connect with their techno-kids, but you don't yet know text jargon... please don't use WTF. It's not cool (or appropriate) coming from us.

Ya. People are idiots.

This was a meme brought to us by SupahMommy. Go check in what the others stuck up for Tuesday.