Christmas Pictures

Who knew bubble bath would be so exciting?!?!

Oh, yeah... I guess we better hurry and plant those tulips! Good thing we have months of winter left!!!!

So, I don't actually have pictures of our Christmas day (it's a long story involving a dead camera, forgetting the charger, a desperate call to the next door neighbor, who kindly crept down to our basement under cover of darkness, and a SIL who stopped and picked up the charger on her way to Raymond, so my camera could be ready for family pictures the day AFTER Christmas). So we did take a few pictures of the kids opening some of their presents that we'd left here at home, when got back to town...

More fun this week

Sarah took one look at this cardboard box and just knew it needed to become a plane. Of course, Hannah couldn't resist climbing in, too.

I find that I go through stages with photographing my family. Lately, I' ve been taking fewer pictures of my kids-maybe in part because I spend so much editing portrait sessions. But also, I think, because I feel frustrated a bit- those priceless moments happen so fast, that usually I have a choice- click quickly, and capture the moment, (most likely using just snapshot mode and snapshot results), or to fiddle with things to get my creative lens and setting, and miss half of the moments. So, I'm trying to turn over a new leaf- and remember that in the long run, I will be sad if I don't record all those bits and peices of daily life. I'm also going to try to post more pictures too. So here goes:

What's up?

I thought I'd share our most recent fun from when I last hosted Sarah's preschool co0op.

We read about dinosaurs, made some dinos out of modeling clay, and (for a short time) pretended to be dinosaurs.

During music time, we danced with windwands. I made the wind wands while I was the Primary music leader in our ward in Champaign-hooray for still getting to enjoy the fruits of projects I used to have time for!. I keep them hidden away in a special box, but they are always a hit when I pull them out.

We did lots of other learning stuff- but that all seemed to involve markers and glue, so I kept the camera put away. :)

For Josie

I never created a post of this sort before, but this story really touched me and has stayed with me:

I recently read an article about a little girl who died in the hospital due to a break down in medical communication. You can read more http://www.josieking.org/page.cfm?pageID=10

Her parents took their grief and pain, about the unneccessary death of their little girl and have started an organization that aims increase patient awareness and safety in hospitals. They are helping hospitals put in place programs that empower patients, families, nursing staff, and doctors to alert a special response team, when they see a patient's safety at risk.

I hope that you'll read more here

http://www.oprah.com/article/relationships/parenting/20091020-orig-josies-story-excerpt

and if you feel inclined, pass it on.

More Love Notes

Evan's girlfriend, Stella, has started flexing her literary muscles, by writing a note to bring to Evan each day. I think they are so precious! I've decided to include a few, with original spelling, then a translation:

Evan- I wesh that you levth with me bat you thot. Love Stella

(Evan- I wish that you live with me, but you don't. Love, Stella)

Ther Evan

ets me agen I rele mes you. Love Stella

(Dear Evan-It's me again. I really miss you. Love, Stella)

Ther Evan

ets me Stella. Ef you coth vaes my hows bat you cat. ene way we will caey e chthr at scool and I tothley love you Love Stella

PS- Cep owt of thos fits wit Brett

(Dear Evan- It's me Stella. If you could visit my house, but you can't. Anyway, we weill catch up at school. I totally love you, Love Stella. PS- Keep out of those fights with Brett!)

A few meaningful quotes from the past week...

So much of my role as Evan's mom is seeing what he is capable of, and finding ways to pave the way for it to happen. These quotes really spoke to my soul, as I've come across them this week:

"Every member of the Church is important to us. Indeed, every person- member or not-is important to us, but surely among the most significant of all our responsibilities is the responsibility to protect and nurture the children of the Church... We care so much about you and about the children you are teaching. Prepare well to bless these little ones. Give it your best effort. Your influence will, quite literally, affect these children for eternity. Enjoy the assignment that you have, and discharge it faithfully... However much we love and admire children, I am certain we underestimate who and what a child is and what in the hands of God he or she may become. May God bless you always in your sacred opportunity to help save the children of this Church."
-Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

"Never forget that these little ones are the sons and daughters of God and that yours is a custodial relationship to them, that He was a parent before you were parents and that He has not relinquished His parental rights of interest in these His little ones... Rear your children in love, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Take care of your little ones. Welcome them into your homes, and nurture and love them with all of your hearts. They may do, in the years that come, some things you would not want them to do, but be patient, be patient. You have not failed as long as you have tried."
-President Gordon B Hinkley

"Wanted you to know..."

Out of the blue today, I received the following e-mail, from an aquaintance at church. The e-mail meant a lot to me, (and since this blog is the only journal I keep these days) I hope you'll bear with me!

Hi Becky,

I meant to send you a note a couple of weeks ago, then got side-tracked. I taught in Evan's primary class a few weeks ago and just wanted to let you know how totally impressed I am with Evan. He is such a thoughtful, intelligent, well-meaning child, who obviously knows the gospel and wants to do what is right. I almost had to laugh at how precious he was at one point. He asked to go get a drink during class time, so I told him he could go but needed to remember to be very reverent and come straight back. Just as he was leaving, he came right up in my face and said very seriously, "I give you my word that I will be reverent." That tells me what a respectful boy he is who truly wants to be good. When he came back he proudly reported that he had kept his word, for which I thanked him.

I have always enjoyed your children. I find them so adorable, Sarah too, with their knowledge of the gospel and willingness to participate in group discussions. I could just sit and listen to their chatter for hours. I love to see little children who are obviously being taught well in their homes and already have such strong budding testimonies. I know you've struggled lots with learning how to help Evan with his specific needs, and I admire you for it. Many parents would find reasons to excuse certain behaviours, but I admire that you've been diligent in working with Evan to improve and correct his behaviours, and I find him to be much improved and so pleasant to be around. There is no doubt in my mind of what a good little boy he is, with the best of intentions, and he is blessed to have such devoted parents who work endlessly to help him reach his potential.

With much respect,
K.

So, so grateful...

Evan has had his Irlen glasses for a few weeks now- and it is making a world of difference! Nathan has blogged in detail about it here:

http://gf-gastrognome.blogspot.com/2009/10/rhinestone-shades-and-cheap-sunglasses.html

I am so grateful that it is helping-so grateful that we live in a time that there is some awareness of Irlen syndrome, and that other family members were able to pave the way and find out about it. I had been fasting and praying for help for Evan, and solutions for his struggles, and feel like this is a HUGE answer to my prayers.


And, just in case you'd like to know what it was like for Evan trying to read, this link shows an animation of roughly what he would've seen as he tried to read:

http://www.irlenwa.com.au/irlen.htm (at the bottom of the page there is a drop down bar, for Distortions, select "River")

Love- Preschool Style

Yesterday, while I worked on the computer, Sarah stamped a card for her friend Xavier, then had me write the following message:

To Xavi:

I hope you change your mind about marring Elina!

Love, Sarah

Short, sweet, and to the point, don't you think?

A funny story (from awhile back)

I was going back through the book where I write down interesting things the kids say and do, and found this one:

Not too long after Hannah was born, Sarah decided that she REALLY wanted to be carried like she was swinging from a branch. (She was probably pretending to be "Diego" of cartoon animal-rescuing fame). Nathan said, "Oh, Sarah- I can't!" Sarah replied, "But i still have all my baby teeth!"

The Good, the bad, & the ugly

With Evan around, life is always interesting. He is such a mixture of highs and lows. Here are some notables from the past week.

-The Good-
Evan is so, so happy at school this year. I pick him up 4 afternoons a week. We are often the last of his classmates to leave, because he is so busy saying goodbye to friends, and teachers that we pass in the hall. Sure, he is off-task, but at least he's off task in a socially beneficial way!

He has such a good heart, which I get to see more of all of the time. After conference today, Nathan baked just a handful of cookies, with a little bit of leftover cookie dough we had. He gave Evan and Sarah each a cookie. Evan had had a rough afternoon, so without saying anything, Nathan gave Evan another cookie when his first was finished. Evan asked, "Is that the last cookie?" When Nathan said "yes," Evan immediately broke his cookie in half and gave half to Sarah.

-The Bad-
On Tuesday, we took Evan and Sarah for their regular dentist visits. Evan had his first cavity. I have to admit that I feel like a failure. Evan's molars are REALLY tightly spaced, so I suppose it could be MUCH worse, but I can't help but think that I slacked off too much while we were traveling this summer.

-The Ugly-
So Evan got sent to the principals office for the first time on Wednesday. He and a bunch of his little first grade friends were playing during recess. It was a rousing game of, as Evan called it, "Get 'em back for stealing our rubber chicken!" (the school has rubber chickens in with their balls, frisbees, etc). They got carried away, and Evan and another little boy ended up throwing sand at one of the other boys. Even worse, the sand got into the eyes of said little boy. So, to the principal they went. They were lectured, missed library time, etc. From what I hear, Evan took it pretty hard. (Which is good, under the circumstances). Just for good measure, I added a few other consequences when he got home.
So here's hoping that things were memorable enough that he'll reign himself in before flinging sand again

A bit about Hannah

Hannah has started to fall into an amazing new pattern the past few days- when she wakes up from her nap, (if allowed) she'll sit in her rocking chair, or walk into Evan and Sarah's room, and spend up to an hour looking at books

Sometimes it seems like Hannah walks around all day emptying drawers and playing with her findings. She likes the fancy stuff best!

Will Work for Food

Okay- not really. But I do think it's super cute when toddlers want to do all the grown up stuff!

A Sense of Style

One of the things I think is fun about Sarah is that she has her own sense of style. I first started to realize this when she was two. Shortly before we moved from Illinois, I ran into a garage sale with tons of sparkly or sequined little girl shirts. I remember standing there, thinking "These shirts are NOT what I would pick, but Sarah will LOVE them!" Even when she was tiny, she loved a bit of bling!

And it's continued- I don't always let her choose what she wears ( yes- mean ole mom sometimes forces her to wear practical clothes for the tasks at hand), but it is fun to see what she comes up with. The other day, she picked up a scarf that usually lives in with the dress ups, and asked for it to be tied around her head, with a bow at the back. Not quite adorned enough, she added a butterfly headband on top.

I may be biased, but I think she is super cute!

Random Thoughts

To keep pace with my racing thoughts, here are a few bits of randomness from my life lately.

You know it's time to lower the crib mattress when your kiddo falls out. Ugh.

Things have been so busy lately, or I guess, I should say, that I have been packing so much in- We have had gloriously warm and dry weather this month. During the summer I found great deals on lots of supplies (mistint paint that matches my pre-existing deck and trim paint, concrete paint, cute $20 shrubs clearance priced for $.79...), so I have felt so blessed to have a chance to get out there and get some things done. In the past few weeks I've:

-Planted 5 shrubs plus some other perrenials I got from freecycle.
-Stained my new gate (pictured in a previous post)
-Re-stained the wood of my front planter boxes.
-Painted the back concrete steps with that cool concrete paint (also mis-tint, but a great match with our siding)
-I have tan paint (also mis-tint) to re-paint our peeling shed (I'm not sure why the last owners thought that forrest green was a good color for the shed, when the house is medium brown, with dark brown trim...). This may not get done- the wood is pretty peeling and warped, and may be too far gone to repaint. I wonder how much plywood I might be able to get from freecycle.... Hmmm....


Value Village recently had a 50% off day, and I went and got a bunch of things we needed ("new" dress shoes for Evan, some more dresses for Sarah-she'd outgrown most all of hers-. I also picked up some things I didn't NEED, and felt a bit guilty about it (a cute set of matching containers & other bits of randomness). Then I realized- You know you have been living frugally for a long time when you feel guilty about "splurging" at the half off day at the thrift store! (I didn't feel so bad after that!)

Also, grocery shopping last week I got a 8kg of ground beef for a smashing deal, so now I have 8 kg of gr beef, browned, seasoned, and frozen in individual meal size containers. Awesome!

Thank you, Dad! {Nathan}

Evan appreciates having treats. I don't mean that he enjoys treats, though he certainly does. He appreciates them, kind of the same way Ben Gunn, the maroon on Treasure Island, appreciates cheese.

A couple of weeks ago we were at a family gathering; desert was pie and ice cream. Evan can eat neither of these so he had a piece of gum. Yesterday he went to a birthday party. While everyone else was eating cake, he munched on a few pieces of what may be the only gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free*, corn-free, grape-free, coconut-free non-gum candy in the world. He routinely watches other kids have fruit snacks, potato chips and juice boxes that are off-limits because they have some trigger food on the ingredient list.

Today we had company for dinner, and there was wheat-flour carrot cake with cream cheese frosting for dessert. Knowing this ahead of time, I made a rice-flour carrot cake for us. With the lemon glaze from the freezer, It was one of the rare times Evan had it just as good as everyone else. As he finished his second helping, he gave me a big grin and said, nodding, "This is great, Dad. Yeah. Really great!"

After dinner, one of the other husbands asked me what I do for fun. Pretty much the only thing I do is bake, but I don't usually think of this as "for fun" anymore. It doesn't really count as leisure since I have to do it for us to live.

Ben Gunn spent three years on Treasure Island before Jim Hawkins and crew arrived. For three years he lived on salted goat meat and fruit. When he met Jim, one of the first things Gunn did was ask for a piece of cheese. He said that he would dream he was eating cheese, only to awaken and find himself in a cave, with nothing but salted goat for breakfast. When he finally got his cheese, you can imagine that he enjoyed it, but he probably appreciated it in a way that most of us never will. Tonight as Evan thanked me for making him a good cake, it seemed like he appreciated it,



* gum always contains soy lecithin. I think it is the soy oil that bothers him and soy lecithin seems to be fine, at least in the amounts they put in gum.

Bits & Peices of Progress

This one is for you, Suzy!

Sometimes it seems that the progress on our house is so slow, too slow. I try not to, but I do feel self conscious about all that is un-done, or half done. Lately, I took a few minutes to capture some pictures of what we have done over the past 25 months living in our home. It made me feel a lot better about our progress...

When we moved in, our front gate was dilapidated and held in place only by coat hanger wires. Nathan's new gate is a huge improvement!

New vent covers, to replace the rusty old ones.

Okay, not a thrilling picture, but it does showcase our lovely new entry way flooring, new baseboards (I put that part in myself!), and door stopper.

This won't seem like a big deal to anyone but me, but when we bought our place, there was a big hole in the wall behind the front entry door, from the door knob. A couple of different types of door stoppers didn't seem to prevent the knob from occassionally crashing into the wall. Our neighbors showed us their "wall shield", so now we are bullet proof! (or at least knob proof!)
When we moved in, our deadbolt was silver, and our door knob was gold, with a big bashed in part that looked like a forced-entry-gone-wrong. I put in the new knob set all by myself!

Another shot of our new floors, and trim work. Oh, all the doors in the house were brown when we moved in, and I've painted them white.
I was so thrilled to get this chandelier! It was amazingly priced on an end of season clearance sale- $20! It is an Energy Star fixture, and came with 5 CFL bulbs. The glass looks yellow in this not-so-well exposed shot, but it's really white. It is SUCH an improvement over what he had before (just as an indication of that- one of our favorite missionaries was over for dinner. He was from California, and had spent a lot of time at Disneyland. After carefully probing to see how we felt about the old chandelier, he confessed that it reminded him of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion!)

Delicious Consequences

I am a big fan of having consequences for negative behavior build greater skill and understanding. I'm not always on the ball with this, but I love how it often works out, when I am together enough to handle things this way.

One night, while Nathan was away at the conference in Banff, I had made chicken and rice for dinner. Okay, it was a little plain, but I was one tired woman. Anyhow, at dinner, Evan commented, "Mom, I hate to say it, but this dinner is boring!" So, I decided then and there that Evan would be helping me make dinner for the next two weeks.

Honestly, I thought it would be dreadful, and that he would drag his feet the whole time. Not so! The first night, we made gluten free pizza- it was fantastic! Evan was a huge help with mixing up the dough, cutting foods up into topping size bits, and spreading everything on. Even better, as we cooked together, Evan made comments like:

"I'm learning my ingredients!" "I was wrong- I though baking was hard, but I learned that it's fun and easy. And at the end. it's delicious!"

Over the next 2 weeks, Evan had so many positive things to say, about cooking, but also about himself- "I'm a good helper with cutting things!" And, come to think of it, I haven't heard any complaining about my cooking lately either! :)

Stella, Marriage Plans, and Prayer

When we were at Temple Square this summer, Nathan obtained a copy of the Book of Mormon in Serbian, since Evan had wanted to give a Book of Mormon to his special friend, Stella. (Stella's parents and grandparents immigrated from Serbia in the decade before Stella was born.)
At the time, Nathan pointed out to Evan that we maybe ought to build up to giving them the Book of Mormon, not just start with that.

When school started up again, it seems that Evan had decided he had better find out what Stella knows about religion. About a week ago, I picked him up from school, and he sadly told me "Mom-Stella doesn't even know about Jesus! She just kept saying-"Jesus? Who's that?" An hour later, I had forgotten all about it, but Evan seemed so serious. I asked him what was up and he exclaimed, "Mom, I can't marry Stella if she doesn't even know about Jesus!"

Apparently, yesterday Evan was teaching Stella about prayer, and she said, "Uh, how does that work again?"

I feel like Evan has a real, living, growing testimony, and I'm proud of him for sharing it with a little friend that he really cares about!

Back to School

It''s interesting to see how Sarah is impacted by Evan heading off to school full time. The first two days of school for Evan, Sarah seemed to enjoy the extra space and attention. By the third day, around 9:30 am Sarah and I had this conversation:

Sarah: "When does Evan get home?"
Me: "Not till just before dinner time."
Sarah: "Oh... Well, is it dinner time yet?"

Of course Sarah and Evan don't always get along, but it has been wonderful to see them play together so well, for so much of the past summer. Whether pretending to be a knight and a princess, or Luke & Leia, of Star wars fame, they've often surprised me by how often they've found a way to work such different interests into the same imaginative play.

A thing of beauty...

Today while doing some shopping, I spotted a kite printed with Anakin Skywalker, jedi & star of Clone Wars. (Clone Wars is of Evan's current obsession). It was $2, so I bought it. When I put it in my cart, I wasn't sure if there would be a chance to fly it before the cold weather set in.

It worked out that Evan and Nathan had a little time after dinner, while I gave the girls baths. With the gentle breeze, and since Evan can run like the wind, the kite performed quite well. When Evan returned, he raced upstairs and said with a huge smile, "Mom! She's a beauty!"

Two dollars, very well spent, I'd say!

Proud Mommy Monday: Successful Family Vacations

My sister has been participating in a blog trend, started by her friend, called "Proud Mommy Monday", so I decided I'd share one. I just found a great ld/adhd resource on the internet, and was reading an article on having successful family gatherings, (easier said that done for special needs kids)

http://www.greatschools.net/LD/family-home-life/parents-top-tips-making-family-holiday-gatherings-work-for-you-and-your-child.gs?content=990&page=5

We actually managed to have some succesful vacations and parties with family this summer, so it was neat to read the articles and see how many of the strategies we have learned to incorporate on our own, and to pick out some more to add!

If only kids could play on a backyard trampoline for a good chunk of every family gathering!!!!

Family Pictures in Utah

Months before our Utah trip, I started lining everything up to have extended family photos taken by the talented Keli Blain of Keli B Photography. After a year of following her blog, I felt a little like the grown up version of a preteen at a New Kids on the Block Concert (only on the inside, of course). I had a great time watching her in action, and can't wait to get everything framed and hung!

Long time no posts...

My poor blog has been so neglected!!! We've been living the summer life- renos, trips, playing outside... Right now Nathan is at a conference for TWO WEEKS! He left 1 week, and 1 hour ago. Mostly we've survived pretty well (with help from some very kind friends and fam.!). We've definately had our moments too- Just a few of them- The toilet overflowing before 7:00 in the morning. Hannah's not tall enough to pull things off the table, and within 24 hours pulled off and broke a china plate and our Brita water pitcher. Blame it on all the molars that are popping through her gums, (or something), but for a 3 nights in a row Hannah was waking up every TWO hours- and not just going right back to sleep either! I've been thinking about friends (some of who read this blog) who've gone years being the go-to girl all day long, as their husbands go through med school, residency, etc. I've always been in awe of that...Sarah, Kristy, and Katie-You Rock! It's been 8 years since Nathan was gone this long- I guess it's a fantastic reminder of how much he helps me with everything, and how much I rely on him. I hope I don't forget once he gets home!

"We r ead to know we are not alone" and another little victory

From the moments I first read the title quote (from CS Lewis), it has been a favorite of mine. As long as I can remember (since at least Jr High), I have been reading for information, for a way to connect with the world, and to find others who share my struggles.
Tonight, I feel like I've had another small victory. For a few weeks, I've been meaning to find time to search the web for "adhd and won't sit to eat" or some such things. Evan has always had a hard time sitting and an even harder time sitting to eat. I know that this struggle isn't unique, but at times I have definately felt that the degree to which this can be a problem IS unique, or at least atypical.
After all, what is a parent to do when they have asked their child HUNDREDS of times to use their spoon, and even tried having them leave the table when they sometimeswouldn't use their utensils instead of fingers for things like soup.
Tonight, right before dinner, I searched and found a great webpage, with tips submitted by (I'm loving this) a mom of 2 adhd kids who is a "doctor working in Child Psychiatry." (sounds like good cred. to me!)

One of the life-changing tips was:

2. If the child gets bored and fed up with eating, try

• a. Playing a story-tape on a cassette player at meal times.

• b. When he/she has eaten a little for themselves, but stops because he/she gets fed up with coping with cutlery etc, why not put a few mouthfuls on the fork for him/her? It may seem odd to be "feeding" your 8 year old - but not many of them will still be letting you feed them when they are 18! Or you could let him/her use a spoon or his/her fingers - as long as they have eaten some of the meal with "proper" cutlery first. It is important that children learn to use cutlery, even if it is hard going, or they will feel left out later. However, many children with ADHD find fiddly things like cutlery very difficult to manage - so help them to eat when they have got fed up themselves, rather than get into a battle over it.

Bingo! Solution found! I'm okay with deviating from the norm, as long as the deviation has an element of progress built in. The new program- At the beginning of each meal, we'll set the timer (we're starting with 7 minutes). That'll be "utensil time", wherein everyone will use their "best utensil manners". When the timer dings, indivduals can choose wheter to continue with the utensils. It worked like a charm tonight! Evan used beautiful (I daresay almost genteel) manners scooping up bits of rice and felafel for each bite. When the timer rang, he even chose to keep using his utensils. The best part was that we were satisfied that we were both 1) teaching appropriate manners 2)acknowleging Evan's challenges and not making them into a power struggle.

Ahhh-sweet, sweet progress! (We'll see how dinner is tomorrow!)

Up and Running

Did I mention that I have officially got my photography business up and running? I'm not sure when I finally decided to "go for it", but it's happening! Today I scheduled my first referral, the friend of a friend, who was "thrilled" with the portraits I'd taken of her cute little guy. For me, there is something so powerful in capturing authentic, and emotionally significant pictures of people. It's so exciting and rewarding- I spent years in college, and since, wondering what I might love enough to pursue further education in. In college, I never even considered studying photography, because I didn't see myself as "artsy". I guess it can take time and growing up to figure some of these things out.

If you haven't already, I'd be honored if you'd stop by my site:
www.capturedbybecky.blogspot.com .

I'll keep you posted on how things go!

The Blown Photoshoot

I was headed ome from downtown late last Thursday, after taking pictures of the kiddos at a few scenic places, when I spotted an antique firetruck, and teens in formals. I thought- I would looove a picture of that for my portfolio. So I was brave enough to stop, and ask total strangers if I could take their picture for my portfolio. They agreed- but in my excitement, I totally forgot to check my camera settings. The sun was quite bright, so my camera's LCD was not much help. Imagine my dismay, when I got home, to find that I had totally blown the exposures. The top of Miss Julie's adorable blond head dissapeared into nothingness. I'm consolind myself by saying that at least they hadn't been paying me...Ugh! Oh well- I guess sometimes learning is painful!

 

 

Such a Lucky Lady

During Sacrament today, when it was time for the Primary to sing, Evan and Sarah marched up to the front. They smiled 100 watt smiles, and were reverent. Good reminder- I am so, so blessed!

 

 

 

What a difference a day makes...

It's amazing how a night's sleep, and a new-to-me oven can cheer up a girl! For the first time in 6 1/2 years, I have 2 full size baking racks! For all the baking we do, that'll be fantastic!

You are the trip I did not take...

You are the trip I did not take;
You are the pearls I cannot buy;
You are my blue Italian lake;
You are my piece of foreign sky.

(by Anne Campbell)

Tonight has been a rough night. As I lay in bed, my thoughts ended up turning to Evan. We have spent a small fortune on therapy/screenings/dietary modifications for him this year. Well, maybe not so small of a fortune. It's actually taken up pretty much every spare dollar we've had, not to mention a huge amount of time and energy.
It was our 10 year anniversary just over a week ago. Some people celebrate their 10 year anniversaries with trip or cruises. Ours was a pretty quiet one, with a precious few hours spent together reminiscing and enjoying each others company.
If I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change it- Most every day, I see a happier boy- who has better social skills, attention span, impulse control... I am really, truly pleased with how far we've come just since January. But just that small part of me grieves that it's not just about me-or Nathan and I- any more. As I lay in bed, my mind flashes back and forth to a number of times that I've felt jealous lately. I am fairly good these days at not being judgemental. I am not so good at not being jealous. I do try to remind myself, of all we are blessed with-that if I could see others challenges as clearly as I can see their cutes houses, or vacation photos, I wouldn't feed jealous. We have infinitely more joy-and growth- than we would have without our amazing kids. I think the effort and money we are investing in Evan now is likely to save all of us years of struggle and grief.

So, after writing this, I feel more at peace with how things are, what lies yet to do.



Poem by
(“To My Child,” quoted in Charles L. Wallis, ed., The Treasure Chest [1965], 54)

Another Piece of the Puzzle

Evan was recently screened for and diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome, a visual processing disorder that runs in Nathan's family. The first video is a short (4 min.), upbeat introduction to Irlen. The second is a longer (8 minutes), not as peppy, but more in depth explanation of Irlen Syndrome.






We've decided to go ahead and get Evan tested & get the glasses. We'll post pictures in a few months when we've got them!

The Uni Diet and Baking up a Storm

Yesterday Miss Sarah and I made a quadruple batch of sorghum/arrowroot muffins while Evan was at school and Hannah was napping. (I figured out that the funny smell that I've noticed at one of our local heath food stores must be arrowroot.)
Sarah and I have a good time baking together- and it's a good thing! Lately, I read Dr Mandell's "The 5 Day Allergy Reduction Diet", which is all about the benefits of a 'rotation diet' for people with food allergies and sensitivities. The book deserves a post of its own, but suffice it to say that Dr Mandell's plan calls for only eating any given food one day out of every five. Have potatoes on Sunday? No more potatoes until Friday. Have Quinoa waffles on Monday? No more quinoa until Saturday, etc. It's taken about a month or two for us to slowly adjust our meal plans and eating habits to reflect this.
Why bother? The idea is at least two fold: if you are frequently eating a food, it's difficult to tell if you have a mild or atypical allergy response to it. Not eating a food for 5 days gives your body a rest from it, and lets you see how your body reacts when you do eat it...

It's a fascinating idea, and Evan's teacher said that she's noticed an improvement this week in his attention and listening skills. I'll post more soon-right now I've got to go figure out a snack that my kids haven't eaten in the past 5 days!