A week has passed and things have calmed down a bit Now I'm not stressed - just tired. The weekends seem to fly by so quickly - we had an activity every night last week - after awhile it's like "Okay, I just need to stay home one night" :) Anyway, I think this week is going to be a little less hectic. We have the open house for Mary and Katie's school on Thursday... they, especially Mary, seem to be excited.

Here are some new pics too - some from soccer - I'll try to get some better ones. Yes, she's orange again this year -- yikes - I was hoping for something a little calmer! Katie's pic is in her Clifford hat that they made at school. It makes me laugh because she usually won't wear anything on her head, but she loves the Clifford hat! See..school is doing wonders for her :)

Can you say "STRESSED OUT" - For those of you who know me, have lived with me, gone to school with me, etc, you know that I am a creature of stress - and in my adult life I have continued to be a pretty stressed-out person. I attribute a lot of that to my personality, but especially in the last 5 years I think it has stemmed from my difficult pregnancy with Katie and her resulting autism diagnosis.
If you have never lived with an autistic child I will just tell you that there is no good way to describe it. It is a 24/7/365 job - it is constant, unrelenting and at times, physically and emotionally draining. Bill & I live in a constant state of tiredness, although I do for the most part get a lot more sleep than I did in college. We are 24 hour policemen, security guards, fire-fighters, cooks, maids, butlers, chauffeurs - like a lot of parents - just to a different level. I live in a "Katie-proofed" home - but it is far from stress-free. The fear of having her escape the house to run away and never again be heard from is a real life daily fear and struggle.
We are thrilled to have this new class at school for Katie. I think the all-day class will be good for her - and good for me. With the way my work schedule is set up I will usually have 2 weekdays at home without kids to get things done. My house (theoretically) will be clean and thus my stress levels should drop.
Well stress equals tired and sleepy - so I should probably go...lots of pictures to post tomorrow. Good Night.

This is so weird - it's 10am - my house is clean (I've even shampooed -- sp?- my carpets - surfed facebook, done the laundry, dishes, etc) - and it's staying clean. Yes, the girls are both at school and I don't work until tonight. This is a weird feeling that I will have to get used to. I need to go to the grocery store this afternoon - and get caught up on all of the things I had fallen behind with while I was working full-time and while the girls were home all day. This is a weird feeling - but one I can probably get used to. :) The only problem is I tend to miss them by lunch time --- LOL!

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!! YEE-HAH!!

From the pictures you can tell that Mary was a little more excited about it than Katie. Poor Kate - she didn't even want to get on the bus -- but once she saw her busdriver and aide and realized that this was an "ok" thing - she got on. Mary on the other hand was super excited and was ready to go see all of her friends and meet her new teacher. Now I have the whole day off to clean my house, run errands - and of course, stop into school and see how Katie is doing in her new classroom. I am hopeful that this is going to be a great year for both of the girls.

PERSPECTIVE...

I must say that today I have gained a new perspective on a lot of things, and I just felt like I needed to share.

I guess it hasn't all happened today, but it seems as though I have realized once again how precious life is and how much I love Bill and the girls. A wonderful woman whom I went to Moody with was just recently diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer. She has two young daughters and a husband (whom I also knew at Moody). I have been so touched by how many MBI'ers have come together (with much thanks to modern technology and the internet) and are praying for them and rallying around them. It's really amazing to me that even when you have not been in touch for a long time that there is something about the bond of being a child of God and knowing His love and knowing right now that they need a huge outpouring of HIS love and healing - and knowing that He will give it to them. It is the love and comfort that we all know is there everyday, but seems to meet us right at our point of need when the situation arises.

On a much lighter note, when I came home from work tonight I was so blessed to see that my wonderful husband of 10 years now had cleaned the basement playroom which had pretty much turned into a disaster and I was seriously dreading having to make it my first project to tackle once the girls were back in school. Thanks, Bill. I love you!

School starts in 36 hours. Yee-haaaah!!!! All day, both girls, wow! I'm feeling old.

The power came back on early Sunday morning. Hallelujah! I was beginning to lose it! Enough said about that - but we are back in the land of the light!

My new focus of my "free" time (ha ha) other than trying to get my book about autism started - which hasn't happened yet- is trying to reconnect with old friends from the past - especially college. I have a friend from Moody that got me hooked into "facebook" and that has actually helped me a lot... When I was in college I was always the one that kept everyone connected to each other - I kept track of everyone's whereabouts and was kind of the "yellow pages" of our friendship circle. It's funny when I think about it now, because that is just who I was. I did that for YEARS after we were out of school. (Part of this was due to the fact that I was friends with a lot of guys - moreso than with girls - and because I was the GIRL - it was almost logical that I be the one to keep everyone connected. ) Now I have started doing it again. It's almost weird. I've been out of college for 15 years and all of the sudden I feel this urge to find out where my old friends are - are they married, do they have kids, where do they live, etc? This can be a difficult task, especially when they move all over the country, change e-mail addresses without telling anyone, etc. I have one "friend" in particular right now whom several people are trying to get ahold of and all I can say is - "that number is not listed at this time" - I know, I'm crazy. But it is entertaining - and with my unlimited long distance - it can be really fun to chat on the phone with someone I haven't talked to in 5 years. I'll keep you posted on my findings :) And, if you are a long lost college friend of mine, please let me know (LOL).

RAIN RAIN GO AWAY....

I am getting really tired of this weather. We have no power. Horrific storms came through here yesterday - almost seemed "hurricanish" as they were coming through. Power lines are snapped all over the place and there are trees (big ones) down all over, too. We lost power at supper time yesterday (Thursday) and are being told that we may not receive power back until Sunday night at Midnight. Yikes. It is not a real problem to not have power - more of an inconvenience --but autism and no electricity don't go very well together. Katie doesn't understand why she can't watch her videos. Telling her that the TV is broken doesn't mean anything to her. That is where it gets difficult. You can't explain anything to her, or reason with her. It is very black and white - either she can watch her videos or she can't -- no in between....and there is no way to explain to her why she can't watch them.
We are actually at my parents house tonight. Bill is in a wedding tomorrow. We had a sitter and were supposed to be going to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner together - but with no power we couldn't leave a sitter at the house with the girls...so here we are, using the computer and doing the laundry - and Katie is soaking up all the videos she can :) It's almost kind of funny - like we don't realize how much we use electricity until it isn't available. Oh well, Bill says we can pretend to be roughing it in the U.P. It's kind of joke because he knows how much I hate "roughing it" and that camping is not one of my chosen activities ....

Katie's new teacher came for a home visit yesterday. That was really nice. Katie took to her right away. My only concern is once again that the school system isn't setting her up for success. We've had all these meetings to get this new AI classroom set up and as of yesterday it still seemed as though the new teacher hasn't been given all of the resources she needs to get things done. She doesn't even have all the names of the children who will be in the class. It's only frustrating because (and for those of you who have read my blog for awhile know) it seems like we always have little snafu's that keep things from happening as they should. The good news this time is that the teacher is awesome - I am just concerned that they aren't giving her everything she needs....



I'm tired today - stressed a little I guess. Two weeks 'til school and I can't wait. They both need it so badly. .. and so do I. I'm looking forward to drinkng my latte' and cleaning my house. Isn't that pathetic? :)

I know that I haven't written very much about the new classroom that Katie is going to be in this year - but I am really excited about it. Her new teacher called yesterday and is going to come do a home visit next week to get to know Katie. I think that will be great. She sounds wonderful and is really into these AI Kids - and it was reassuring to know how focused she is on their safety - especially after the issues with Katie running away last year. She said that she is used to kids with elopement issues (running away) and that she is totally focused on keeping the kids safe. That was a huge relief for me. As much as I want Katie to learn, she also needs to be safe in her classroom - otherwise I am not able to focus on work or other things that I need to do while she is in school. Last spring I went through about 2 weeks of being so stressed out on trying to keep Katie safe at school that it about drove me through the roof. I couldn't sleep and I just wanted to scream -- I don't want that to happen again - so this is reassuring for me.

It's starting to cool down here. The girls are still enjoying the pool, but for the first time in awhile, it is almost too cold to swim in the morning. I love it.

Well, I need to run - lots to do before work this afternoon...

Well my best intentions of starting that book have yet to materialize. It's always one thing or another it seems. I am hoping that once school starts and I have a day or two a week to myself that it will be a different story and I can actually get going on it.

Three weeks til school starts - that for me is hard to believe. We aren't ready. Not even close. I need to buy both of the girls shoes and clothes and all that good stuff. We've done bookbags and lunch sacks, but that's about it. With both girls being in school all day this year, it will be a real change for us as a family. It's awesome though. Katie will be in her new classroom for the AI kids aged 3-6 and then Mary will be in the big 1st grade. Yee-hah!!

I think that I have decided to start writing a book about my experiences with autism. I'm not really sure how I have arrived at this conclusion, but I have always enjoyed writing - and since autism is such a huge part of my life and the life of my family, I thought that maybe this would be a good way to take a lot of what has happened in our lives. I am thankful that I started blogging almost two years ago...as it will provide a lot of information to help me with the book. I'll keep the blog updated with the progress of my writings. I thought maybe I'd try and get started today.....

THERAPY...didn't go very well today. I don't think Katie was feeling very well and she was so crabby. She cried and cried and was fussy. It wasn't good. It has been a really hard couple of days. She hasn't been herself for a few days. But that is the way autism is. It's really difficult sometimes to know what to do...

We have therapy again tomorrow -- so we'll see how that goes. I'm praying for the best. I really can't wait for school to start. Katie needs it so desperately. She needs the routine on a daily basis. That's an autism thing. She's doing a little better tonight..

more later...

I am adding a new link to my visited sites listing. Dr. James Dobson has a really good series on autism right now. You can listen to it online or download it as a podcast. www.focusonthefamily.com
Dr. Dobson is very well known for his Biblical based child rearing advice and has invited some physicians to talk about new therapies and options for children with autism.

CEDAR POINT....was awesome. I will (as usual) need to upload my pics...but we had a great time. It was a long day and we didn't get home until 2 in the am,...we are very tired. I am seriously impressed by how fearless Mary is. She wanted to ride everything! (Even things I didn't want to ride...and for me that says a lot!) A little later today I will post the pics.

Katie did extremely well. We were so pleased. She is really coming along so nicely. It is great to be able to take her places that we always thougt would be too much for her... She rode all the kiddie rides and actually even rode a few adult rides. It was so funny to see her excitement -- as she would bury her head in your shoulder when we rode rides (like the Woodstock express - kiddie coaster) that she wasn't sure of...but overall she had a great time. Now if Mommy, Daddy, Grandpa and Pat can recover, we'll be all set.

I've changed the main blog pictures. The one of our family (top right) is at the same location as last year - The Robert Wadlow statue in Alton, IL. He was the tallest living man in the world and was from Alton. We try to take pictures there each year to see how the girls have grown.

Here are a few new pics from vacation....

We're back from the first part of our vacation -- I can't wait to upload my pictures - but that will have to wait until sometime tomorrow. It's 1:30 in the am and we've only been home a few minutes. So much awesome stuff happened. Katie learned how to swim!! It was so exciting. She's only 4 and she can tread water like a fish. It is awesome. Mary had a much harder time and wasn't comfortable until she was a few months shy of 6..so with Katie's autism we are thrilled and relieved that she is at least beginning to understand how to swim.

The family reunion was good - not a very good turn out this year - but the faithful few were there. My cousin Jason and his wife Mindy and son Logan were there. They are our pals. We did a lot of fun things including ice skating (not me -- but the first time for Mary. She did surprisingly well once we got the right size skates on her. She needed a 5 -- keep in mind she is only 6 -- YIKES!). Katie made a brief appearance on the ice - in CROCS! Also a YIKES as I had to head out onto the ice to "rescue" her. But overall it was excellent. We went to Six Flags St. Louis today - that was loads of fun. I hadn't been there since I was a child - so that was great. Mary loved it -- and actually Katie had a great time. She rode a lot of rides and actually did a great job waiting in line and eating in a restaurant. Bill & I were both pleasantly surprised at how well things went with her. We have decided that we will probably need to rent a stroller when we go to Cedar Point -- it will be a longer day at a bigger park with tons of walking - and she was pretty pooped out after only 6 hours at a smaller park.

Well I'll do my best to upload my pics when I get up later this a.m. -- I'll post the good ones here on my blog :)

The weekend flew by a little more quickly than expected. We are now hustling around with lots to do....haircuts, Mary's cast is coming off, shopping, oil changes, work ...the list is ongoing. I'm happy to be part-time and have a little more time to accomplish things :)

Potty training is coming along nicely. I probably should take some pictures of big-girl Katie sitting on the potty. We are so thrilled that she is wearing big girl panties and using the toilet. Many people told us she would be 6 or 7 before we could potty train her. She will not be 5 until October -- so that is awesome.

2 more days until the cast comes off -- don't worry, I'll take pictures.

I'm tired today...Katie always wakes up as soon as the sun rises...regardless of what time Mommy got home from work :)

Have a good day.

For those of you with whom I talk to on a regular basis, you already know that I started my new job as a "part-timer" this week. I'm still at Kohl's, but only on a part-time basis...no longer a manager. To be honest it has been nice to have a little more time with the girls, and an ounce of time for myself.

Only 5 days until Mary's cast comes off. I can't wait (and neither can she :) Hopefully it is healing up well and we won't have any further issues.

Well ..as a part-timer :) I have been home all day, but need to go in for a few hours this evening...so I had better start getting ready. I'm looking forward to a nice relaxing weekend....

Today is our 10th wedding anniversary. That is hard for me to believe. The years have literally flown by. When I look back at all that has happened over the past 10 years I find it so amazing to see where we have been and where God has brought us.

I took the day off work and Bill is coming home early. We have a sitter and we are planning to do dinner and an IMAX movie ---a real treat for us since with Katie we don't tend to get out very much!!

The other bonus is that the weather has cooled off so much here that it is beautiful out. High of 75 today -- no more of that 97 business (but the girls do love the pool :)

So, I couldn't figure out why Katie was a little crab this afternoon. She loves to swim -- and I mean LOVES -- usually she is standing at the slider door waiting desperately to get into the pool, but today that wasn't the case. I even had my swimsuit on (miracle) and Mary and I were in the pool, but Katie just stood at the slider crying and trying to open the door to get back into the house. I guess she was tired. I should have known. She had both Occupational and Speech Therapy this morning -- and for some reason she was up in the middle of the night crying her eyes out. I went in and changed her and she calmed back down, but needless to say, the "bug" is pooped out. She been asleep almost 4 hours now. She probably won't sleep tonight! Yikes!

Well the 4th of July flew by faster than expected. I had to work in the morning and then we went to Bill's dad's on the lake so the girls could swim and then do fireworks. It was a good day. I'm off today -- much needed to get the house in order and catch up on some much needed mommy time with the girls.

I'm glad to be blogging again. It's nice to look back and see what has been going on. I am thrilled with Katie's recent progress. The pool seems to be good therapy for her as well. She would spend all day out there if we would let her. It's hard in the summer because she only has her two therapy sessions a week at the hospital. The school doesn't have anything structured for the AI kids (Autistic) in the summer... which personally I think is a shame. These kids need structure so badly. We try to give her as much structure at home as we can -- but the routine and schedule that school gives her is really the best option.

I recently joined facebook...that has been kind of fun. I am finding a lot of old friends from college which has been a nice treat....

We finally broke down and bought a pool. The girls love it - but it is still ice cold, and I think they are crazy for wanting to swim in it. Thank-goodness Mary has a swimmable cast or we couldn't have gotten the pool yet. Two more weeks to go in the hard cast and then hopefully she can wear a removable one .

This is my last week of being full-time at work. I am so excited to go part-time. I am looking forward to having more time with the girls - especially now with the pool because they just love to hang out all day outside.

THE PINK CAST...

Can you believe she is allowed to swim in it? Casts have come a long way since I was a child, but I am really happy for her. It's a hot summer and it's been hard for her to not be able to swim :)

Mary's garden is producing hot peppers like there is no tomorrow. She is loving it! The garden is almost outgrowing the small space that we have fenced in for it.

We're hoping for a "pink, swimmable" cast on Wednesday, so when we get it I will be sure to post pics.

Okay, so I know that everyone thinks I've stopped blogging -- but I'm back!!! It has been a crazy few months and there is a lot to catch up on...but I'll have to spread it out over a few days :)

The latest and greatest is that Mary broke her arm on June 1st with one week of school to go. She is in a huge cast and the hope is that it is off for our vacation plans in July. This is a recent pic of Mary with her cast standing in front of her garden - which is her new project this year. It is doing awesome with all of the super hot days we have had.

Katie is doing well. She has received a new therapy bike courtesy of "Gram-moo" and Papa -- she is so cute on it - and it is helping her a lot already. Her pic is on her new bike right after she got it.

I am going to be going part-time at work after being full-time again for almost 2 years. I am really looking forward to the flexibility of scheduling this will give us -- and it will also allow me to have more time with Bill and the girls.

Bill is really busy at work. Summer is flying by already. He has his motorcycle up and running again -- and he is riding it to work almost every day. He loves riding it and it gets great gas mileage... so after a few years of pleading with me to get it insured and licensed, he is cruising around on the bike!

More to come, soon! Glad to be back!

Spring is finally here! Yee-hah!! It has been a long cold winter in Michigan, and the girls are itching to be outside. Especially Mary... I need to take some pics of her riding her "big-girl" bik with no training wheels. She looks like she's been riding forever! We measured her height a few days ago, (compared to Mama's) and she comes up to the base of my neck.... She about 4'6" and she's only 6 years old!! Yikes!!!!

Katie's doing well. She continues to make drastic growth and improvement while on her chelation therapy. She is learning to communicate without words by "leading" us with her arm or by bringing us her diaper when she needs to be changed. She does use the potty on a somewhat regular basis -- as long as we are the ones initiating it.

Bill & I are both continuing to be super busy with work....it's that time of year. Not much else to report...I'll try to get some new pics up soon!!!

Well, I think winter might finally be breaking -- it has been so cold and snowy lately. Yuck!! It was 50 degrees today - a heatwave of sorts. It was a nice break from the cold. I need the weather to warm up so that we can wash the van and vaccuum out the inside -- I need a break from winter!

The girls are good. KATIE SAID TWO NEW WORDS THIS WEEK - "No" and "Poop" - both in appropriate context. :) Too funny! She is doing so well. We are just thrilled with her progress.

Mary is loving school and is enjoying life as only a 6 year old can. She has two very loose top front teeth -- I have a feeling the tooth fairy will be returning soon......

Per usual, I am short on time - but I finally was able to upload the Father Daughter dance pics. Things here are good, but hectic. Bill and I both have lots of changes going on at our work-places, so it keeps us hopping!!!

Katie is starting to make excellent progress and is beginning to use words, it's so exciting!!

Mary has a 'boyfriend' - I'm not sure we're ready for that -- but more later..enjoy the pics!

I know that I am way past due for a post, but as we have discussed before, I will not apologize for the craziness in my life. We are doing well - just really busy. Mary and Bill had their first father daughter dance last night. I'll try to upload some pics later today. Right now I am rushed for time. It's my mom's birthday and we are meeting them for Chinese - but I am sitting here in pj's with hair color in my hair - waiting for that to be done so I can get dressed and get on the move. It seems as though it is a never-ending cycle as of late -- but all in all we are good.

Mary is doing well in school - she continues to be the toothless wonder -- losing teeth like crazy - but is loving it. She is tying her shoes and reading -- it's awesome to watch her grow up.

Katie continues to be responding well to treatments. She is beginning to use more words and is having meaningful play with toys-- both of those are huge for her.

Bill is liking his new position as harbor master a lot -- he is back doing the things he loves -- parts, moving boats, etc. They are getting ready for the big Boat Show in GR this week - so he is nuts right now. Valentines week is always crazy for us because that is always the week of the boat show.

NASCAR is back -- lovin it!!! I always look forward to the return of NASCAR season. See my link to #8 for more info!!!

Well, I'll try to get those pics up later......

Well the weather is cold here -- and winter is in full swing -- plus I have a house full of "sicko's" too - so it really feels like winter. I was really sick yesterday -- and now both of the girls - especially Mary - are not feeling well. Mary is burning up with a fever and a bad cough - she stayed home from school. I've been trying to disinfect the house so that Bill doesn't get sick. He has so much going on at work.

Not too much else going on. Mary lost another tooth - and Katie is starting to say more words - it's awesome! We're all as busy as ever! More later....

Do you ever feel like you don't have enough time to do all the things you need to do. I have been feeling especially crazy lately when it comes to getting things done. Between work, the house, the girls - it is a neverending cycle. School is back in full swing - Katie is thriving - continuing to say new words, eat new foods and she is truly a joy to me --- Mary is doing well also - the happy kindergartner tying her shoes, learning to ride a bike without training wheels (which is a trick in the ice and snow :) )

Bill, too, is staying busy with the new line of Hobie's and Hobie cats at the marina. Considering it's 12 degrees outside, the marina is suprisingly steady.

Not much else to report. I'm off for a haircut and then I need to take Katie to her speech therapy. It's always exciting to see how she's progressing ----

Okay, well I finally gave in and converted my blog from Beta to Google, so I am back. The holidays were crazy - but I will refrain from apologizing for not being faithful to my blogging family.

We are doing great - especially Katie -- she is starting to talk -- which is a huge answer to prayer -- and so encouraging for us. She has said her name three or four times this week -- which is amazing -- it brings tears to my eyes everytime she says it. I am hopeful that we can do another round of medication the end of this month as it seems to be making a huge difference for her.

Mary lost her first tooth over break and has three more that are loose. She also learned how to tie her own shoes - thanks to "grammo" who spent a whole afternoon patiently teaching her (thanks, mom!).

The Christmas craziness is finally waining at work - so my life is getting back to normal. Bill is back to work after a two week shutdown - which was great as he got to spend a lot of time with the girls.

We have decided to go to Disneyworld this summer - I am so excited!!! We went in 2005 -- but the girls are at a better age now --especially Katie - we are hoping to have a blast.

More later -- lots to do today!

Please allow me to be one of the first to wish each of you a Merry Christmas. I can't believe it is already that time --- December flies by too fast. We have had a wonderful Christmas Eve day - -and I am looking forward to a great Christmas. I am trying to take lots of pics so that I can post the best ones on the blog. I actually didn't have to work today, so that was a huge bonus. It was great to have a day with the family. My parents came over and we ate and played a game - and of course had presents - which is a tradition in my family - to have presents on Christmas Eve - ever since I can remember. :)

Well, I wish each of you a splendid holiday --- I'll post pics as time allows! Happy Holidays!

Apparently it is flu season in our town ! Yikes. Mary woke us up at 4 am to let me know that she needed to "puke". I am so thankful that the Lord gave me a steel stomach to deal with these things. Bill (hubby) was not so blessed and has a really hard time with such things. She laid around all day -- she could barely keep Sprite down. She wants to go to school in the morning -- but we had to draw the line and say "until you can eat, you can't go to school". This is almost humorous because usually we can't stop her from eating == and today you couldn't have shoved food down her throat if your life depended on it. Poor thing -- it made me so sad just to watch her. I think she and I watched "The Polar Express" 3 times before Katie got home from school at noon.

Work tonight wasn't too bad. I can tell it is only 2 weeks until Christmas because people are crazy. We weren't really that busy after 8 pm -- so I got to come home a little early. No complaints here...I'm tired from my 4 am wake-up call. I have cute pics to download from the weekend -- 2 parties and a Christmas program - so as soon as I get those done I will upload them for everyone's viewing pleasure! Have a good day.....

Wow -- the days are flying by. Hard to believe that we are closing in on Christmas fast! Work is nothing but insanity. Today was my 6th day in a row, so I am ready for a break. Tomorrow I am off and I have the infamous scrapbooking/cookie exchange tomorrow night so I am really looking forward to that. I am getting my hair cut in the am and then I need to put some serious time into getting my house caught up. It seems like when I work for a long stretch of days in a row that my house often gets left behind. Oh well, such is life.

Well, my day off has proven to be wonderful from the standpoint that I was able to work on cleaning my house -- which was a huge need. It was so nice to drink coffee and watch "the View" and be able to just get some things done. I need to work on my scrapbooking. My design team layout for next month is sitting on my counter. I'm not real fond of the paper - or the theme - so I'm kind of putting it off. I asked my neighbor (who also crops) what she thought would happen if I didn't do a layout next month. She didn't know what to say. I wondered if I could be permanently banned from ever being on another design team? That would be a huge bummer b/c there are a lot of cool benefits as part of the design team including a 10% discount and one free crop a month -- oh well, I'll be over my attitude in a week or so and then I'll hopefully be able to figure out what pictures I could possibly use on that layout.

Gotta run--- hopefully more tomorrow!

Well, I survived Black Friday in the retail world and have now officially been an employee of Kohls for three years -- that is hard to believe. I am so tired -- it has been quite the weekend. Bill had all of last week off, but with both of the girls being sick and working 42 hours plus the holiday - I am spent.

Mary goes back to school tomorrow - Katie's classroom still has tomorrow off -- she won't remember what school is by the time she goes back on Tuesday -- hee hee!!

Sorry this one is short, but I hope everyone had a fabulous holiday and I have two weekdays off this week, so hopefully I will have a chance to sit down and catch everyone up! Hope your turkey day was terrific!!! Christmas is only 4 weeks away -- Yippee!!!!

I am officially done apologizing for not posting more often. I will just be THANKFUL that I am able to post on occasion :). This is the busiest time of my year -- retail does that to you. I feel as though I have been running around like a chicken with my head cut off all day. Not enough time to get things ready for Friday - that is for sure. Bill has the week off of work. He had some vacation to burn, and being that it is a crazy week for me, he thought he'd take the week off, give my mom a break from babysitting - and help me out a ton by being here for the girls.

Mary's teeth are so close to falling out ... I can't wait to see how cute she will be with no bottom teeth (hee hee). Did I mention that both girls are on antibiotics for ear infections? It is almost winter, isn't it? I am kind of ticked because I had to take Mary to the hospital in the middle of the night on Wednesday night into Thursday b/c she was in so much pain from her ear. The Dr. at the ER said it was only an infection in the ear canal and she didn't need antibiotics. The next day I took her to the pediatrician with Katie b/c Katie had been running a fever and had a green nose. The Dr. was like, "Jill, she has an ear infection and she needs meds..." So I guess that was a waste of money at the hospital. That is not the first time that has happened -- but you know you can't take your screaming 5 year old to the Dr's office at 3 am b/c they aren't open. What else can I do????

Well, gotta run -- another busy day tomorrow!!!HAPPY THANKSGIVING if I don't get a chance to post tomorrow!!!

Sorry that I've been a bit delinquent in posting as of late. It's been crazy at work getting ready for the busy holidays coming up -- and I've still got this cold -- 3 weeks and going strong. They put me on an inhaler - she says I have something called a post-viral asthmatic reaction - but I don't have asthma. My lungs are clear but I cough all the time and people look at me as though I have the plague. It's lovely. Mary has it, too -- she has had a cough for 4 weeks -- but she feels good - so there isn't much they can do for her.

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is next week -- this time of year seems to come too quickly as I get older....

Mary has her first two loose teeth! She is so excited. She keeps asking me to call the tooth fairy and let her know. My response was -- "The tooth fairy and I are very good friends -- I have known her about 36 years (hee hee) and I'm sure that when those teeth come out, she'll be the first to know!" Mary's response was , "Do you know her phone number?" to which I replied -- "Yep - I'm pretty sure I've got that one covered!"

What a week...I've been really sick since last Friday, but in true Mommy fashion I must continue on....I think the whole town has this cough..it's not fun. Thankfully the girls and Bill are pretty healthy....

Halloween was a crazy day..I'll post some pics. The girls had parties at school and then a big party at church in the evening.

Hopefully I'll be healthy and back to my blogging self soon....

Okay, I think I have come out of my depression as a result of the Tigers pitiful World Series performance. They were truly outplayed and deserved to lose. Although it was upsetting for me to see Jeff Weaver, a former Tiger, bask in the glory of kicking their butts. To be honest, I am glad it is finished and I can now move on to bigger and better things -- the Holidays are fast approaching and are much more deserving of my time and energy than the World Series.

What a weekend this is turning out to be. I took the girls Trick or Treating at the local supermarket (Meijers) and that was a blast. They had all kinds of stuff for the kids -- and it is nice for the kids to be able to dress up. Mary is very excited about Halloween. Katie has no clue what Halloween is as far as I can tell. I am one of the room mothers for Mary's class, so I get to be at her party. That will be fun. I have the day off of work for all of the festivities. Our church has a huge party also where they have inflatables and games and dinner -- all free for the community. It is a blast! The girls always have a great time at that - and this year I have two of my girlfriends and their kids coming along, too ...so it will be three times the fun.

I went scrapbooking last night with my friend Alicia -- that was a blast as always. I only got one layout done, but it was a very cute one, thanks to my crop coach (Alicia). She does more coaching than cropping, but that serves as a huge benefit to me --thanks Alicia!

Well, I probably should go...the girls are being too quiet and that is never a good thing :)

How can a world series game get rained out? I mean, seriously? Maybe it's a good thing -- those Cardinals need to be slowed up a bit. I know, the Tigers are really coming up short...but "it ain't over til its' over", right.

Today was crazy. Katie didn't have school at all, and Mary had an extended day, so things were really messed up. I can always tell when Katie's routine is off because it really sends her for a loop.

Does anyone out there watch "The Nine".....we don't seem to talk about TV shows much in blog world, but I am really fascinated by this show. I don't watch (and have never watched) LOST, which I am told is very similar to the NINE --- but it really is an interesting format for a TV show...just wondered if anyone else is intrigued by it...

Well, gotta run..hopefully game 4 will go off without a hitch tomorrow -- but rain is in the forecast....

GO TIGERS!!!

I am watching the World Series and blogging at the same time -- which for me could be a bit challenging. I have had good intentions of blogging more this week, but I have been very busy. We had Katie's IEP at school (Individualized Education Plan- required by law for special ed students) yesterday. It went well. They are keeping Katie's personal aide, and that was my only major concern - so at least until the end of the year we should be okay.

I had today off. That was a good thing. I had worked all weekend and had a lot to do around the house. I feel like I am always coming from behind when I have to work all weekend. There is so much to do with the kids -- Mary's last soccer game of the fall was supposed to be last night, but it was cancelled b/c of snow -- how funny is that. It was only 35 degrees out -- too cold for 5 year olds to be playing soccer if you ask me, so I was thrilled to not have a game.

Okay, the game isn't going so well at this moment, so maybe I should stop blogging -- hee hee -- GO TIGERS!!!

WORLD SERIES BEGINS TONIGHT!! GO TIGERS...

Okay, that is all I will say on that subject...for now. Actually I have really cute pictures of Katie at the Apple Orchard that I want to post. She was such a trooper...and actually picked an apple. It was great! The picture on the right is Katie's aid Amy helping her to pick an apple. Katie wasn't sure at first, but she had a great day.

Well, although the graphic quality of this pic is not the finest, Pudge Rodriguez says it all with his expression ... GO TIGERS!! I am so excited about the Tigers going to the World Series. As I have shared with some of my blogging pals, I have been a Tiger fan since I was 14 years old and I was in love with Lance Parrish, the catcher for the Tigers, who won the world series that year. Ever since, through Thick and Thin -- and there has been a lot of Thin, let me tell you, I have remained a true Tiger fan.

Finally, this year, we have had something to cheer about. I thought it was interesting that my local newspaper stated that it was appropriate that Detroit have a good year in baseball because the state of Michigan as a whole has really needed something to cheer about. Hello, we have to put up with the Detroit Lions -- although they did win today! Seriously, with unemployment and all of that, it is nice to have some nice Michigan news for a change. Go TIGERS~~~

The silly days of soccer are upon us. These kids of mine crack me up! As you can see, Mary is on the Orange Diamonds -- gotta love that orange jersey, and Katie just hangs out and makes me laugh. 3 more weeks of fall soccer - it'll be snowing before the season is over!!

Not too much else going on. Bill and the girls have been sick, so we've all been going to bed early. Work is crazy for both Bill and I. With the threat of snow on Thursday, Bill is crazy busy as people are freaking out that their boats are going to freeze in the lake.

Well...the Tigers are playing!! Go Detroit!! Gotta run....

Wow! I am tired. Seems like it has been quite the week -- nothing out of the norm really, but it seems the further into the fall we get, the busier my life becomes. The girls are doing well. Both are fighting off their first cold of the season. I think they have passed it on to Bill now --

Katie is doing so well. We are really pleased at how she is progressing. She has her IEP (Individualized Education Plan) in a few weeks. I am interested to hear everyone's comments as we don't always see eye to eye. The big thing is that she really needs to continue to have her own aide in the classroom. We are praying that that piece will remain in tact. Katie turns 4 next week -- that is hard for me to believe.

My father-in-law found an ELMO TMK for the girls for Christmas. I work at a retail chain and I can't even get one, but somehow he found one. I'm impressed! I need to come up with some good present ideas this year. Mary's b-day is one week before Christmas, so it means twice the presents and sometimes it is hard to be creative.

Well, I need to get ready for work. I get to scrapbook again tomorrow - I'm excited about that....

Sorry it's been awhile. Things have been so busy. We are running around like freaks lately. Soccer, school, work, family...my mom was out of town for a week fishing in the UP -- which made my life crazy ...she helps me so much with Katie (and Mary, too). I really miss her when she's not around. I also have been trying to scrapbook at least twice a month. It is so much fun to be back into scrapping again. I had really missed it.

Work has been very busy for Bill and I both. I feel like the holidays are almost here. Hard to believe it is October already. Mary is loving school...all she ever says is "school is great". She has a cold, Katie, too... 3 weeks into school before our first sickeness isn't too bad :)

Katie had a Dr's appointment on Friday. We are going to run chelation therapy on her for the next 4 months. I really am excited about this because even after just one session of treatment (they do 3 days on the meds and 11 days off) we have seen some great improvements in her. I will be sure to keep updating her progress with the chelation... it really it is an exciting therapy option for autistic families.

Well, I had better go.. I haven't heard Katie in awhile so I need to see what she is up to. Last night while I was at work she stood in the bathroom sink and turned our master bathroom into a swimming pool. Bill said the water was flowing down the walls and into the kitchen below. I am really glad I missed it!!!

Well it's been a week without a blog from me, so I'm long overdue. Things have been crazy. It seems as though with both girls in school the weeks are clicking off like days and every time I turn around I can't belive how quickly time flies. I think that it just shows how old I am getting (not feeling) -- but the reality is that the older we get, the faster time does seem to go. It will be the holiday's soon...work is an everpresent reminder of that. We already have a small area devoted to Christmas trees and holiday seasonal items. Yikes!

Mary and Katie have an open house at school tonight. I'm actually looking forward to it, mostly because we haven't had much of an opportunity to meet Mary's teacher and see what is going on in the classroom. Also, Mary hardly says anything about Kindergarten. Last year - when she was at the private school in K4 - she couldn't stop talking about all of the things they were doing, but now it's like pulling teeth. Hopefully tonight I will see what she has actually been doing :)

I spent most of my day at the Allegan County Fair with my daughter Katie and her early childhood class on their field trip. It was "handicap" or "special ed" day at the fair. Admission was free and they could ride the rides for about 1 1/2 hours for free. It was great fun for them. Katie was so tired by the time we were done, but it was a great time. I think it is so important for kids like Katie to have exposure to public events like the fair. Even though she did have several meltdowns, she was such a trooper! This is a self-portrait that I took of the two of us when we were hanging out waiting for her class. Katie would not go in any of the animal barns. She caught one whiff of the smell and she was done for the day, so she and I walked around and for awhile we just sat on a picnic table and watched people an animals go by. She loved that!!! She is such a joy to my heart!!! I'm glad I was able to spend the day with her. I think she may be "mommy'd out"!!

Good Morning!

I am enjoying one of my new-found mornings of freedom when I don't have to work and both girls are in school. WOW!!! It is so nice to have some Jill time. I love the girls...but I also need to learn to take care of myself. They are both on the bus by 7:30 so it gives me time to have a cup of coffee and clean the house :). Today I went and got my hair cut without having to chase two kids around while I'm trying to get a decent haircut!!!

The weather here has been crazy...rainy and cold. It feels more like November than September....which is a bummer because both of my girls love to be outside!! It is supposed to be much nicer this weekend.

What a week....

I have not been meaning to be neglectful of my blog...but as I have looked through my blogging pals blogs, they too seem to be running a bit behind in updating. It is just a busy time of year with the kids getting back to school. I feel like we are running at 100 miles an hour all the time. Also, our church has built a new addition and our first day in the new church is tomorrow ..so that is just more "excitement" to our already crazy schedule.

Things are going pretty well with back to school. Katie is not adjusting as well as Mary. Mary loves kindergarten and loves riding the bus. She is doing fine with public school. She has asked a couple of times if she is going back to her old school...but I think she is almost past it. Katie is another story. She either doesn't want to get on the bus, or doesn't want to get off the bus. On Friday, she had her shoes off in the van (at the bus stop on the corner) and I had to carry her to the bus and put her shoes in her backpack. When the bus driver dropped her off at lunch time, he said that by the time he got to school she had her shirt off, too! You have to love autistic kids and how they hate shoes and clothes in general!! It's funny to me now, but I do wish that she could at least wear shoes!!!

Well...it's getting late and I'm actually watching Dale Jr. try and secure a spot in the Nextel chase for the cup. I challenge all of my blogging pals to update their sites very soon as I am dying for an update!!!

MICHIGAN'S ADVENTURE -- This week has been so busy that I didn't get around to writing about our trip to Michigan's Adventure onThursday. My mom watched Katie so that we could have a good day with Mary and give her some quality one on one time. Plus, Katie would have been miserable. I didn't take a lot of pictures, mostly video, but here's one that shows how much fun we were having.

CHELATION THERAPY - It is a controversial thing in the world of autism. But, after doing our research and finding a doctor with whom we are extremely comfortable, we are doing it. The goal of chelation is to give the patient a chelator which binds to the bad things (in this case, the heavy metals) in their body and helps them to pass these things out of their body. It can be administered in several ways, but the safest, especially with little kids, is having them take tablets 3 a day, for 3 days and then you do a test to see what levels of metals they are passing. A lot of people, including Bill & I, believe that if autistic kids can be de-toxed from all of the toxicity in their systems (mostly heavy metals including mercury) that they can show drastic improvement in many areas. Our doctor says the results of improvement are about 50/50, so we'll just have to wait and see! Today is day 2 of 3 with the first round of medicine - we are praying for good results!!!

My husband e-mailed this to me and I couldn't resist passing it on to all of my blogging friends ENJOY!!! SAD NEWS Please join me in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and trauma complications from repeated pokes in thebelly. He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebreties turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The grave site was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very smart cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times he still was a crusty old man and was considered a positive roll model for millions. Doughboy is survived by his wife Play Dough, two children, John Doughand Jane Dough, plus they had one in the oven. He is also survivedby his elderly father Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes. If this made you smile for even a brief second, please rise to the occasion and take time to pass it on and share that smile with someone else who may be having a crumby day and kneads it.

Can you say CHUCK E. CHEESE? We went yesterday for my neighbor's 39th birthday. 4 moms and all of our kids -- it was crazy. This was Katie's favorite spot -- lying on the skee-ball game. Too crazy-- especially when a boy (probably 8 or 9) decided that he was going to throw skee-balls at her. When I told him that he should not throw balls at a child he said "Lady, she shouldn't be up there and I'll throw them at her if I want." I said, "No, you won't. She's a child, and sometimes child go places they shouldn't. It will not be a good thing if you hit her with a ball". He gave me a dirty look and kept righ on throwing the balls. He was there with a daycare group -- okay, seriously, why would you take a daycare group to Chuck E. Cheese? It was fun. The food was bad as usual, but the kids had a great time. The best part is that I don't have to worry about losing Katie because they put hand stamps on you and the stamps have to match in order to take the child out with you....I often joke that people wouldn't get too far trying to kidnap Katie anyway. She throws a fit when her own mother tries to make her leave -- I can't imagine what kind of meltdown she would have if a stranger tried to pick her up!!!!

6 days of work in a row and I am a tired girl....I have 2 days off now, so that will be good. I miss seeing the girls when I work so much...and Katie is at a stage where she bawls every time I leave for work -- she lies at the garage door and kicks and screams - it's horrible, and it makes me feel so guilty for going to work. Bill and I have talked about how part of it is her age and part of it is her autism. It's so hard on me. I am exhausted, so I'll write more tomorrow ---

We went to the beach this afternoon. This is what I love about Michigan....Bill and I have both been under a lot of stress and he had the afternoon off, so we decided to head to the beach...it was great. Katie really didn't want to leave --- (autistic kids often love sand and water) so she had a major melt-down...but other than that it was amazing!!! Thanks Bill for thinking of such a great way to spend a Friday night. It was so much fun that I didn't even miss my scrapbooking.

HAIR CUTS and AUTISM don't go together very well. My mom and I took Katie to get her hair cut short because we all liked Mary's so well. It was insane. Our poor hair-dresser was literally following Katie around the room trying to cut wherever and whenever she could. She got a good start to the cut but my mom basically finished it while Katie was in the bathtub at our house. That is about the only place we have success with hair-cuts with her. The before and after pictures are not as good as Mary's so I'm not posting them (mostly because I need to take an after picture from "now" as opposed to when we left the salon.

I'm starting to feel better....about the situation with Mary and the hot tub. I haven't let Mary play with the little girl since Friday when I heard about it through the grapevine. Mary keeps asking me why and I just tell her that until Mommy can talk to the other Mommy she isn't allowed to play over there. She's funny b/c she keeps saying, I already promised ___ (the other mommy) that I won't play in the pool anymore. I just have to tell her that I know, and that I appreciate how honest she was in coming forward about it, but that mommy needs to clear some things up before she can play with her friend again. What a pain in the butt. But on to bigger and better things.... We have pulled Mary from private school and have enrolled her in public school. This has been a very emotional decision for both Bill and I. We have been praying for a peace about it, and actually I was amazed at how easy it was to enroll her in public school. She will be in the same building as Katie -- we have two elementary schools in town - and she will go in the morning just like Katie. She is very excited .. and I am just relieved. I told her Private School teacher yesterday and she was just devastated. The school has been having a lot of problems - it is really sad. We are just at a point where we are doing what we have to do...I hate life changing decisions - they are hard work.

I'm glad for the weekend... Wow it's been a week. I went scrapbooking tonight, which I love, but amidst the conversation (there were several of my neighbors there) I found out some things about what Mary has been up to in the neighborhood that are a little disturbing to me. I know that she is mischeivious, but after some of the things that were said I find myself a little unsettled. I knew that earlier this week she and her "little" friend got into thier hot tub and were sitting on the edge of it with their hands and feet in it. Mary told me that the friend had asked her to open it because Mary is much bigger than the other girl and she was unable to open it herself. Mary admitted to me that she opened it. Apparently the parents felt it was Mary acting independently and they did not allow her to play with their daughter for a day because the father was very upset. The parents didn't see Mary do anything, they just went off of what their daughter said. The parents told my other neighbor that Mary was standing on top of the hot tub jumping up and down (okay, what would the point of that be) and then she opened it up (which she did) and they felt she is a bad example for their daughter. I think the reality here is that both girls are at fault and it bothers me that the parents haven't said anything to me directly. I know that they think I am a bad mother becuase I don't always hang out outside in the front yard with all of them. I HAVE AN AUTISTIC DAUGHTER WHO WILL RUN AWAY IF WE ARE IN THE FRONT YARD!!!! I am so tired of having to defend all of my actions all the time. I'm sorry that I can't be in an area that isn't fenced in because Katie will be in danger. I give Mary a lot of freedom out of necessity. I always know where she is and she is very good at asking permission to go and do things. I guess that I shouldn't be that upset, and that I just need to let it go..but I'm just upset that the neighborhood knows more about what my daughter did than I do. I'm glad that Mary told me what had happened before I heard about it at the scrapbook store. That was my Friday night. I'm off this weekend -- I need it!

Today Was Crazy

Well it was my day off, but it wasn't a true day off. Katie had her yearly appointment with the pediatric neurologist this morning. That went pretty well. She said that Katie looked great and that it seemed like, all things considered, Katie was doing really well. We talked about the new doctor we are seeing and how we are trying to modify her diet and see what happens. Like my pediatrician she also told me not to put too much hope in "alternative" medicines. She was concerned that I might have become "Anti-vacine" (which I am not). I told her that I am not opposed to vaccinating children, I just think that parents need to be better educated about what is in the shots and in how they are being administered.
Once we got past that it was a good visit. Katie is all set for another year unless we start to have more sleep issues or if any new issues develop. Then we came home and Mary went with Papa B to Coney Island for lunch and then to the lake for a swim. She learned how to "dive" off the diving board today....she is growing up so fast. Katie had speech therapy this afternoon. That went really well. She is making such good progress. By the time we got home from that it was 3 o'clock and the day was pretty much spent. Seems like today was my day to run 5 million errands - so I am tired. But all of this is why I am a few days behind on the blog...hope to do better...but I close the next two nights at work, so we'll see what happens. :)

These are the pictures ..before and after! What a big change. Mary looks so cute....Maybe Katie's hair is next!!!

I want to say that I am so excited because I am actually going scrapbooking tonight. I haven't been in months!!! I printed off a bunch of the pics that Mindy sent to me and I can't wait!!! Bill is actually leaving work early so that I can can get an early start. :) Mary got her hair cut really short today. I have a before and after pic. As soon as I upload them I will add them to the blog!!!

This is Katie on our vacation. Gotta love that harness! It is a life-saver with her :) Mindy sent me a cd with150+ pictures on it -- it will take me awhile to get through them all, but this one of Katie is so cute...she's such a treat! ..and after all, she is really what this blog is all about! My mom spent hours at the healthfood store today trying to find some foods that she can eat. It is going to be a challenge to get her diet re-vamped so that she isn't eating all of the foods that bother her. We had a little scare today...while the sitter was here, Katie managed to go into Mary's room and somehow flip over the toy kitchen (which is quite large - and she flips it over all the time) but today she somehow got it wedged between the wall and the door and there was no way for the sitter to get into the room. It ended up that Bill had to come home from work and use a crowbar to move the kitchen enough so that the door would open. What a mess. She was in there for about 45 minutes -- the sitter said that she was just happy as a clam, jumping on the bed and laughing !! She's a little stinker!! But we love her!!!!!

Well as you can see - it was ELEPHANT Day in Plainwell. Katie didn't ride, but Mary loved it. It was so hot out waiting in line, but Mary had great fun. They had the elephants a few years ago when I was pregnant for Katie, and Mary rode then, too. She says she still remembers it, but I'm not sure about that :)

Well, this morning was the doctor's appointment to find out what is up with Katie. Let's start this by saying that I bawled. So it's not good. First of all she has some weird bacteria with a two word name that I can't spell or pronounce living in her intestines. The strange thing about this particular bacteria is that the Dr. had never heard of it before, so she did some research on it. It is usually only found in people who live in tropical climates (which Michigan is not), eat a lot of shellfish (she has never eaten any fish) or have prolonged exposure to snakes and/or amphibians (which she also has not) - so how in the heck did she get it. It can be found in tropical freshwater - which if you consider gull lake tropical than that might be the culprate since she has a tendency to drink the water when she swims - she's 3 -- all 3 year olds do that. The doctor is putting her on an antibiotic to try and combat it -- The next thing is the food allergy test -- this is the part that made me cry -- she is allergic to all of the foods that she eats. She can't have rice, wheat, flour, barley, oats, sesame, cow's milk, cheese, soy products, all citrus is out (orange, lemon, lime, tangerine, grapefruit - which by the way she doesn't eat) -- it's insane. i looked at the doctor and said -- what am I supposed to feed her? The girl survives on grilled cheese, chicken nuggets and pretzels -- she can have chicken, but not the breading -- I don't know what to think. Now on to the even "better" news - she has heavy metal poisoning (which is very common in autistic kids) - and she has to start taking supplements to try and get her body to naturally rid itself of all the metals it is keeping inside. This is one of the biggest problems with kids like Katie - figuring out how to get the metals out. She has toxic levels of arsenic and a bunch of other metals (the report is downstairs - I can get more specific later) and we need to get them OUT!!!! Well, that is the main jist of it. I'll try to write more tomorrow. I went back to work tonight. -- it was okay ---

Since I am enjoying my 8 days off work and have time enough to take a test that tells me I am a totalitarian - just like Kish and Emily - then I guess I have time enough to finally write about our vacation and what is up around here. Vacation was pretty good except for the fact that the weather in St. Louis was horrible and we didn't have power in our hotel the first night. Also on Friday we went to St. Louis Mills which is this awesome outlet mall - but about 30 seconds after we walked in the door the power went out. Not cool. Thankfully my mom had packed a flashlight and candles - and we survived. The power came back on the first night around 1 in the morning. That was a good thing b/c without air conditioning it would have been a long night. It was about 101 degrees that day. Mary learned (FINALLY) how to swim without her life jacket and also my mom taught her how to spell MISSISSIPPI - seeing that we went over the Mississippi river about 15 times while we were there. Katie did pretty well over all. We had a few minor lapses, but she is doing so good. I am hoping to have some really great pictures for the blog when I get them from Mindy -- We bowled and went to a water park and did lots of fun things. It was a nice time away from the crazy-ness of our lives -- and I am still enjoying my break from work. Reality will hit on Thursday! YIKES!!

You are a Social Conservative (33% permissive) and an... Economic Liberal (28% permissive) You are best described as a: Totalitarian Link: The Politics Test on OkCupid Free Online Dating Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

Vacation Pics.... There will be more later. My cousin's wife Mindy is going to mail me a cd with tons more pics...but these are from the Robert Wadlow Statue in Alton, IL. (Near St. Louis). He was the tallest person in the modern era at over 8 feet tall. To give these pictures perspective, my husband is 6'5" and he looks like a midget next to him.....

I'm Back.... Sorry, Em. It's been busy around here. We've been getting ready for vacation and it's just been a little crazy. Things are good. I won't know the results of Katie's tests until the end of next week. I'm excited to have some time off of work, and most of it I'm just going to spend at home...but the break will be nice. I've been reading all of "your' blogs -- Em., did you see that I took your quiz. I tried to set up a "how well do you know me" quiz on my website and that IQ test (if you wonder what I'm talking about, you can link to Emily's blog on the right.) but they didn't want to copy over. All right, I know this is short, but I have to run. Lots to do today!!! Bye

Wednesday --- My oh my! What else can I say. It is my day off -- again :) - Because today is my and Bill's 9th wedding anniversary. That is hard to believe. It has been a long road - but a fulfilling one. I look at the girls and I know that what we all have is great and special, and in the world we live in, it is an accomplishment to be proud of. No big plans today -- Bill and I are going out to dinner, but the girls and I are just hanging out today. I need a day to recoup because yesterday after I got home from work, Katie managed to climb up on the kitchen counter and pull out a crystal salad bowl which she proceeded to shatter all over the kitchen counter and floor. It looked like a diamond mind exploded in my kitchen. I should have taken a picture, but I was so insane with panic that I couldn't. katie was cut and bleeding and she was trying to get out of the kitchen by walking over the glass -- I've never seen such a mess. Mary was a big help to me, but it was an hour of cleaning, vaccuuming, repairing cuts and scrapes and trying to keep Katie out of the kitchen so that she didn't get hurt. If she gets out of my sight for more than 30 seconds, it is trouble waiting to happen! I will tell you all that we did get a new tv - and Bill has put brackets around it so that Katie will not be able to pull it off of the entertainment center. His comment was "it will be pretty hard for someone to steal the tv, now." I was kind of like " who is trying to steal the tv....", but hey, whatever works! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY, BILL!! I love you!!!

What a Week... Wow .. it has been a crazy one. I am so tired. I never like these 5 day in a row stretches at work. Plus there has just been a lot going on. As some of you know, with Katie's autism things are never dull around here. She really loves watching videos on tv, as is common with most autistic children. However, her attachment to the tv has led to its ultimate destruction as it has been licked, pulled, slapped, knocked over and handled far too much. It died for good last night. Bill has fixed it several times in the past, but it is beyond hope I fear. Far beyond the "Lazarus" stage as I would call it. I believe that we are going to have to go get a new tv today. Actually I think that Bill and the girls are going to go get it while I'm at work. That ought to be interesting. There is a circuit city right next to my Kohls', so I'll probably take my lunch when they come and go over to help pick it ought. If money wasn't a consideration, we should probably get a projection tv so that she can't knock it over. Our vacuum also died this week, so I have been on appliance replacement overload, but I found an awesome clearance deal at work on a vaccuum, so we should be all set with that one. I also took Katie up to have her blood drawn for all of the tests that her new doctor wants to run. That was kind of stressful as Katie hates being confined or restrained at all and in order to draw blood, that is necessary. They are running a huge battery of tests including food allergy and metal counts to see what is going on in that body of hers. It's a never ending journey of trying to figure out what we can do to help her "escape" the things that confine her inside of herself. Well, I've got tons to do and I have to work at 3, so I had better go..... Have a great weekend. I'll write more later, probably Monday because I am finally OFF!!!!

Happy Birthday USA!

Wow - Hard to believe that it is the fourth of July already. The weather here has been awful this weekend so far. I knew that would happen because I have had four days off. The good part is that with the yucky weather the marina hasn't been that busy and Bill has been able to cut his hours back. That has been great for the girls and I.

Katie is doing well. I never got back on and talked about her new doctor and everything - but the readers' digest version is that I think if we can get her on the right diet and on the right therapies, we may be able to see some great progress. We are really encouraged. She needs to have some blood test and other tests done this week and then we should be able to find out what we are really dealing with.

We are going out to the lake swimming this afternoon and then staying for fireworks if it isn't raining. We had thunder and lightening last night, so that would have made it impossible. We actually go out in the boat to see the fireworks, so lightening kind of throws a wrench in it.

I hope that everyone is having a great holiday....if I take pics this afternoon I will try to upload them later! happy 4th!