Creamed fish.

One of our have-some-summer-fun/take-up-some-of-our-day/get-a-dose-of-sugar-in-the-middle-of-the-day-so-it's-burned-up-by-bedtime activities was stolen from Alana. Not sure where she got it, so if it's from you, here's your credit. -->CREDIT<--

I basically put out a plate (yes, as if it were for the family pet) of fish (Well, fruit snacks shaped like fish, but fish, nonetheless...) covered in whipped cream. I took a little too long readying my camera and fetching the children (there I go again with that family pet reference) and my whipped cream began to melt in the sweltering heat. There was still plenty left for the game however. My littles were then instructed to sit on their knees with their hands behind their backs and find the fish on their plates using only their mouths.

They looked at me liked I was crazy.

Why aren't you thrilled? There is a plate of whipped cream in front of you, that in and of itself should be enough to send you in face first even if I hadn't asked you not to use your hands, AND I just told you there are FISH made of HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, AND CARNUBA WAX underneath it!

Apparently,
Their knees hurt. And a bug flew in the whipped cream. And it was hot outside. And...

Whoever eats all their fish first gets a prize. On your mark, get set, go!








And yes, they totally dressed themselves on this morning. Brynn has an affinity for knee socks that cannot be understood. EVERY day.

Carrot pizza.

We have been busy, busy little bees. When our days aren't filled for us, we usually try to find something to do or else boredom sets in fast for a 6-yr-old and two 3-yr-olds. Not so much me, there are a million things at home I need to be doing that I just keep pushing to the wayside for the sake of entertaining my children. See what a good mom I am? ;)

Last week, I bought a three-pack of premade pizza crusts in the small 6'inch personal size and a jar of pizza sauce so the kids could make their own pizzas one day. Craft + lunch. Two birds: one stone. See how that works?



They loved it of course. Crafts you can eat are the best kind. I only bought pepperonis to top their pizzas because... well, I know my children. But about half-way through, Layla announces that she wants to put carrots on her pizza. Carrots. I did have some carrots, but... carrots? I had given them free reign to do their pizza completely on their own, but I really couldn't decide if I should let her do it and hope she got some extra veggies in that day or if it was too big of a risk that she would decide she didn't like it and waste the whole pizza. I made sure she knew if she put them on there she had to eat it no matter what...
.
.
.
.
.
.
... maybe carrot pizza doesn't sound so great afterall.

They did an awesome job. Brynn basically copied everything Layla did. Spread your sauce. A little cheese. Pepperonis. More cheese.






Cale... sweet Cale. Cale took 12 minutes to put down a little sauce, then clean it off his hands, put some sauce on, clean it off his hands, put some sauce on, clean it off his hands. Then he piled ALL of his cheese in the very center, with a few pepperonis around the edges. It was the cutest pizza I've ever seen. And don't tell the girls, but his came out of the oven the best! (They all tasted exactly the same of course.)




They had tons of fun, I think and gobbled up their finished products rather quickly! Success :)

Update...

No 4-month wait afterall! Cale's assessment with the CDC is next week.


Helloooo, paperwork!
No idea what to expect if anyone has anything to offer? No idea what God's plan is (I realize you can't tell me that!). I just know we're trying to do what's best for our little boy and follow our hearts. Prayers are welcome, as always :)

First Impressions/FREEdom

Saturday, we spent 12 hours at the park (14 for Nathan!) for our first major outreach project for Revolution Church. We had about four booths set up for the annual 4th of July Celebration: one for food, one for door prizes, one for games and prizes for kids, and one for face-painting. Everything at our booths were free and any donations were used to send bibles to troops overseas (which we had on hand if anyone wanted to write messages inside).

Nathan got there a little after 6am to start setting up and get the shaved ice machine running.

The kids and I arrived just after 8am. I got to work on posters until my first facepaint "customers" arrived, and then I didn't move... for five hours. Literally. Facepainting was a hit!


We pretty much just let the kids run wild playing on the playground, bouncy houses, going from booth to booth collecting free candy, free SnoCones, free flags, pinwheels, toys... we had friends spaced out all over the park, so everyone was kind of watching everyone's kids. At one point, I know I saw them riding the firetruck for at least 30 minutes strait. They were having a BLAST.







At noon, half our team (including Nathan), left to go over to another park to play in a co-ed softball tournament where they lost gracefully, lol. And then played another game that afternoon that they also lost before heading back to help us man the booths for the last couple of hours.



At six o'clock we took our kids down to the stadium for the parade- actually, they WERE the parade. The Andersons on their bikes, our kids and the Freemans, and a handful of others... all decorated in red, white, and blue, wearing hats and waving flags marched around the track while the crowd cheered! They loved it. After that, the meltdowns kicked in. We'd been there 11 hours... too much sun, too much sugar, just TOO much.

It took us another hour or so to get back down to our booths and get our things, get loaded up and say goodbye. The fireworks were getting ready to start and the park was getting crowded, but they were D.O.N.E.

We all were, but the day was a huge success I think! Revolution Church served between 600-800 people! Around $500 in donations were made. I know that I personally spoke to several people about our church who showed genuine interest in joining us Sept. 12th for our kick-off service, so we're excited!



Pastor Kris Freeman and his wife Jennifer :) Love them!

Safety First.

Sleeping on the cold hardwood floor in the middle of the living room surrounded by noise and chores and the regular happenings of the day in the middle of the morning, sweetly covered by his twin sister. He slept this way for 2 1/2 hours.

This is what happens when you spend your night walking around the house, being put back to bed countless times, but eventually sneak your way out to your Mommy's car where Daddy finds you at 3am. Or when you climb on top of refridgerators to get the toys locked away in high cabinets at 2am. Or if you are found at 2:30am stabbing cans of Dr.Pepper until the liquid bleeds all over the counters and floors, for no reason at all. It's exhausting and leaves you so tired that you fall asleep right there in the middle of the floor.

We have since installed an alarm on his bedroom door that is turned on at bedtime. He tells us when he goes to bed that he is NOT going to come out because that noise is TOO LOUD, and so far, he hasn't. We have also started him on Melatonin to help him sleep better at night. It seems to be working. He is also sleepier during the day right now, but it's only been a few days so he hasn't quite adjusted. Hopefully, these two things will help keep him safe, which is obviously, our number one priority. I hate that it's come to this. I feel like he is trapped in there, but he has broken, removed, or just unlocked every lock we have ever tried. He has taken keys, he has hidden things, found things... so far, this is the only thing that has worked. I feel like we are manipulating his sensory sensitivity, but there is no way he is going to forgot what sound that alarm will make if he opens his door.

His behavior during the day is still better. Not nearly as harsh as it was before. He will shut down if he is over-stimulated, and there are certain triggers that we have been able to identify that send him into "Cale's World", but we are already learning how to handle those on our own. And we are meeting the most random people in the most random places who have been SO helpful in sharing their own experiences! Just called today to check on his referral since I hadn't heard anything in so long and found out it never went thru. Grrr... So I called myself and was told a scheduler will call me in 24 hours and then there is a 4 month wait. In His time....

Queen of the house goes to Princess Camp.

Week before last we sent Brynn to "Princess Camp". Maybe the best idea we ever had, maybe the worst. She is called "Sass" for a reason!

Princess Camp is really just dance camp for 3-5 year olds, taught only the girliest and prissiest of dance moves and the basics of ballet. If you've met our Brynnie, you know the girl LOVES to dance. And for a 3-yr-old, Sass has got some MOVES. But prissy ballerina moves, they are not.

Every week during the Layla's dance classes when we would leave, Brynn would BEG to stay with her in class, but she wasn't old enough. We have almost decided to let her go starting next fall, but we weren't sure how she would do in a classroom setting where she is asked to slow down and pay attention (she struggles with hyperactivity... no, actually she doesn't. It doesn't bother her a bit, we struggle with it. She quiet enjoys going 90 miles a minute). We thought a week of camp would be a good way to see how she handles this whole slow-down-and-pay-attention-to-the-teacher business.

We got to watch her through a television screen. Oh my. She was actually very obedient- (woot woot!). She did GREAT at the barre. She did her best during stretches. It was just that floor work that got her... but oh so entertaining for the rest of us. She did as the teacher asked for the most part... she just has to put her little Brynn spin on things! Have you ever seen a ballerina do leaps with her hand on her hip and her head cocked to the side? Or plie' into a forward roll? lol. The other moms watching in the waiting room were CRACKING UP watching her. She was hysterical. Layla kept asking, "Why is Brynn going so much faster than the Miss Courtney?" (the teacher).





What's even more hysterical is that Layla went to "Diva Camp" which was more hip-hop based and she was completely out of her league. Could not break her ballerina mode for anything, but Brynn stood outside of the door and followed everything they did! Ha.

Just a few quick shots of my littles on Father's Day, as sweet as ever.