Getting sick of the rain.

How bout you? It's hard to plan any outdoor activity with the threat of rain almost every day. But on the days that are sunny we do manage to get out and enjoy.



This was taken July 4 at Port Maitland, Lake Erie. It was a beautiful day, not to hot, not to cold. And the sunset was fantastic.



And remember keep your eyes open for fun!

Wow, July 1 st already

Where does the time go? And why is it going so fast?

So, a couple of updates on our little house of horrors. My wonderful oldest has moved, yet again. Although this is the first move in 2 yrs it doesn't seem like it has been that long. So she is now on the east side of town almost directly across the road from the old provincial jail. She finally asked for help on Monday, knowing she was moving Wed. Typical eh. I will give her some credit. She did have stuff packed and had a truck on reserve, but everything else was true to life for her.

I won't comment on the condition of the apt she moved out of. How she can live like that is well beyond me. But it is her life, not mine and I can't (won't) have that here. She wouldn't be willing to live with our rules anyway so that is a useless point anyway I guess.

I'm guessing she is settled into her new home. We haven't heard from her yet, so I'm guessing (no, hoping) that things are going well for her.

Now on to Duders. We think we have found a therapist to work with him for 1hr a week. Not much, but at $40/hr it's the best we can do right now. I'd heard some really great things about this lady from a few people around town. I got really interested when a lady at the local toy store started singing her praise. Well, low and behold, this same therapist was having an open house/bbq at her parents farm and we decided to meet her and see how Duders interacted with her. He seemed quite taken and she was so full of energy it was almost scary! We definitely liked what we saw, liked the range of autistic children/adults she works with and liked the way she got down to Duders level and let him lead the way. So we will see how that goes. He still needs a lot of help with fine motor and socializing. Eating is a disaster, writing is, well a few scribbled lines, if we are lucky and he still needs constant watch and reminders that he is not the only one and has to wait his turn without hurting others. Makes it so much fun in a crowd, let me tell ya! But I'm hopeful that this will start to change for the better.

We are still waiting for the blood results. Our new appt is July 20. After that I'm considering trying a gluten free diet for all of us. Boogabutt's allergies are getting so bad, the poor kid is constantly suffering now. Will that make a difference for her? Who knows, but I gotta try something. We have definitely noticed a huge difference in Dudes behaviour with no chemical additives or preservatives. He has calmed down so much. Impressive to say the least, and scary to think of what they are putting in kids food.

Now on to a funny note, I stopped a runaway horse today. There were three girls riding the local trail through one of the local conservation areas. They had stopped to get a drink and give the horses a bit of a rest when the youngest one jerked his head, yanking the reins out of the riders hands and took off toward the kids and I. Not at a full gallop but a fast trot with the rider chasing on foot and one other rider starting the chase on her horse.

I'm tellin ya it's quite something to see a large horse running towards you with no rider in the saddle. He did stop easily enough for me. So that made it easy to return him to his owner. The kids were in seventh heaven to be that close to a "real live biggie horsey" :) And then they got to pet two of the three horses. One was so big, Dude could run right underneath without ducking. And yes I know that was dangerous, but you try to catch him! All three riders were extremely apologetic and very grateful for the quick catch and return of the horse. One said that happened before with another horse and it took 3 hrs to catch it cause no one would stop to help, just spooked the horse more when they started to squeal. Poor thing. So that was my good deed for the day I guess.

Now for the rest of summer. Hopefully I can keep both young ones happy and entertained!

Getting along for once.

I think this picture speaks for itself.

The last day

Of school that is. Bittersweet. On one hand I will enjoy not having to rush my two slow-pokes out the door, but on the other, now I no longer have any kid-free time.

Kenny is not taking it well. A conversation from this morning...
K -"I go see Mrs Thomas's class today, right Mommy?"
Me- "Yep"
K - "Today is my last day" (said more like a statement than a question)
Me - "Yep Dude, it is".
K - "No"
Me - "Sorry buddy, it is"
K - (getting visibly upset now) "No, I said no, listen to my words!"
Me - "I'm sorry dude."
K - "NO" (screams this at the top of his lungs) and then breaks down in tears.

Not a good start to our summer vacation. When I went to pick him up, his helper (a special ed teacher with trained experience) said he hasn't let her out of his sight. No not just out of sight, but has been bugging her to carry him on her back all day. He would not let go of her. We were supposed to go to the park for an afternoon picnic but with sever thunderstorm watches and warnings out and rain on and off, they cancelled that and had the picnic in the classroom. Poor 'S' just couldn't catch a break from him.

When it was time to go outside, 'S' took Kenny for a walk, just the two of them. You could see how much she is going to miss Kenny over the summer.

Now I know our school system is not the best. It has many flaws, but one shining star in the county board is VT and the staff there. They are some of the bestest teachers and volunteers going, hands down. But still, it's going to be a long, long summer.

Sometimes...

my middle daughter really amazes me.

Yesterday was her last day at Sparks. She is moving up to Brownies in Sept and the Sparks troop had a graduation ceremony for the 5 girls that moved up. During the potluck her and another girl were arguing about the balloons and who gets to take them home, so I'm figuring on a hassle when it's time to leave.

After cake and some running around time, the balloons are handed out. Pink for the girls who are staying in Sparks for another yr, orange for the girls that are moving up to Brownies and some blue for any extra kids (ie siblings). No point to the colours btw.

Anyway, as we were getting M & K in the van one of the younger Sparks comes out crying. Dad explained that her balloon had popped and she was devastated. So we asked Kenny if he would give his blue balloon to the little girl. Nope, not happening and I'm not surprised. But then Maddy piped up and offered her orange balloon to the little girl. Shock!

To say that I'm very proud of her for that is an understatement. It's so nice to see her act in such an unselfish manner. Now that might change after an unscheduled meeting with her teacher tonight...........

A good day

With the way things are going right now, I'm going to take things one day at a time. Maybe even go to one hour at a time. But not today. It was great.

We went to Halton County Radial Museum on Guelph Line, just south of Rockwood. Rob says he was there yrs ago with his Dad, but no one else. Of course Kenny loved it. Looking at old streetcars, riding them, including a trolley that was built in 1892 and was orginially pulled by horses. NO. 327 is now enjoying a 20 minute trek back and forth at the museum. They have done a beautiful job in restoring it, along with a couple of other cars.

Anyway Kenny had a wonderful day. He was so excited to be there. It was hard to get him to sit longer than 20 seconds. Lots of hand flapping and spinning, not to mention echoing. But no big potty accidents. Which I didn't think there would be, why you ask? Cause I remembered to bring his knapsack with a couple of changes of clothes and pull-ups. So of course no accidents. You only do that when Mommy forgets to bring the knapsack.

Wonderful day. Thank Goodness for these.

Oh no.......

Help me. Please. The end of school is only like 3 weeks away. He is already showing signs of regressing. It's going to be a long summer.