February 28, 2009

February Box-Tops Results!!

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Before I get to our BoxTop results for this month I want to share some pictures from last Sunday.  Jack finally got his first neck-tie! He was so excited to wear it. He asked me a few months ago for one of those neck things you wear to church =) Picture 093

It's looking like he's still having to get used to his collar being buttoned all the way to the top =)

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Hailey wanted to sit like a princess...Picture 095

Jack was looking up at Daddy, showing off his GREEN shirt and TIE!! I thought this outfit made him look like such a little man.Picture 096

But he's still my baby, and his dimples get me every time.Picture 097

Okay on with the Box-Top results!

Hailey was so excited to take her bag FULL of boxtops to school yesterday.  She had a total of 133 for February! Thank you so much to Ms. Amy, Amanda & Josh, Ms. Tabby, and Grandma-Great for helping us collect this month!!

If you'd like to help Hailey's school earn enough $$ to purchase some new playground equipment just click HERE.

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February 25, 2009

Aspergers Syndrome In Our Eyes Ch. 2

 

If you haven't read Ch.1 click HERE.

 

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When Hailey was just a little one she would jump when I would just holler across the house for Darren to come help with something, or she would start crying when my mom would start cracking up while we were watching TV.  I remember us consoling her a lot. As she got older she would frantically complain about all the noise Jack was making.  She would scream in the van that he was being too loud and for him to stop talking!! I knew we needed a doctor when her preschool teacher was trying to calm her down one day and when she whispered in her ear that everything was going to be okay, Hailey yelled, "Stop hollering at me!!" That was scary. Total sensory overload.

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See these pants...we call them 'comfy clothes' Anything with that soft, velvety texture is her favorite. Her clothes CAN NOT be itchy! She will come out of them in a second if they are wet, or stained and it doesn't matter where we are ...This has subsided now with the help of her medicine. It was defiantly an obsessive/compulsive action.

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Now the smell sense is one of her strongest!!  She gets whiffs of things long before I do and sometimes I never do!  Car exhaust, stuff in the garbage, perfumes, etc.  She acts like they are overwhelming her and wants them fixed!! You can tell in this picture that the smell of the pigs was getting to her, but her desire to be with them was so much stronger =)

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You'd think with all her heightened senses she wouldn't want to touch bugs. She can't stand to get her hands dirty with food, so why dig in the dirt for bugs?? I don't try to understand anymore! She has a wonderfully delicate touch with tiny creepy crawlers. She's not scared, she lets multiple bugs crawl on her at a time and is very caring of them. She feeds them, shelters them, and even wants to bring them in our house! (I have to draw the line somewhere) Ladybugs are her favorite, caterpillars, even worms,(NO spiders), and other little guys that I don't know their names!

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Oh, the food issue! I'm sure like any child there comes the picky stage.  Only liking certain foods. She was no different...I think it's just the level of tantrum she would go into over her meals. Every issue was the end of the world for her and at the time I just thought I had the most stubborn (and loud) child in the world!

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Now as far as presentation...that's a little more with the OCD side of things. She has to have a clean napkin all the time, once it's been used it's no good. (Wet wipes work the best.) She takes her lunch to school everyday no matter what they are serving. We tried school lunch earlier in the year but it didn't go well. She panicked in the line because the lunch lady told her to grab her milk (she hates milk - like her mom) it was over from there...she didn't remember that I packed her a juice. The chaos of the line and getting her food on the tray just seems overwhelming right now. So we stick with home lunch. Sandwiches always sliced diagonal!

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When most kids her age don't care about vocabulary definitions, or solar system functions, she demands answers! In the picture above she was almost two years old and had been on multiple Jeep rides that day. The adults were worn out from driving her but she had no other desire... the other kids played in the huge yard, watched TV, went to the playhouse, Not her...Hailey's mind was made up and this is what she was interested in doing. She still loves to play, but learning academics for her is right up there with playing outside!

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I'll probably notice this more as she gets older, right now she seems to fit in but is usually the goofy kid =) You can tell that some kids think she's weird (yesterday at our doctor's apt. one actually said that out loud) He was older though... again, I think she's still at a innocent age and I'm treasuring that. It's going to come all too quickly when she will become more self aware of her differences and so are others. I do know that Hailey doesn't realize when she should interact with her friends. I have to remind her to say Hi, she asks me Why... People give her comments and she hears them I'm sure but doesn't respond most of the time.  She just doesn't seem to think there's anything to say.  This is a huge example of the social awkwardness.

 

I talked to her doctor this week about how to tell Hailey about her Aspergers.  He said just to make sure we keep it all about her positives.  Even her quirks are her positive ones that make her HAILEY.  And when something is hard we just have to try harder because we think differently than others. However I can point out how some things she does effortlessly (like learning to read) because of how her little mind works. I'm not looking at telling her right now...when she starts asking questions then I'll know it's the right time.

February 22, 2009

Winter Break 2009

The kids were on Winter Break this week (some new holiday that makes the summer shorter) I had asked Darren to take off Monday and Tuesday so we could go up to my grandparent's house in north GA. He got off but he got court on his regular off days of Wednesday and Thursday!! Go figure!! I decided to go ahead and go because the kids and my grandparents were so looking forward to it. Last minute... and I mean LAST MINUTE... Darren weaseled his way out of court and hopped in the van as we were pulling out =) I was so relieved not to be taking that trip by myself! Plus I wanted the family time!!

Here's Hailey on our road trip up there.  It was a 5hr. ride with a nice stop for dinner (sit down meal).  She felt she needed the shades...you never know how bright those night time travels can be?  All she cared about was that they matched her outfit!!Picture 064

Jack on the other hand was a little concerned with the pending weather conditions up north.  So he prepared early....wore his mittens the whole way...only taking them off to eat!!Picture 065

We got there about 10pm Monday night so we went straight to bed...but the next morning we were off and running!!  It was so cold that day! But that did not stop the kids from wanting to play outside and of course ride the Jeep!!

I went out to catch a ride with them and saw this little bird in the grass eating some seeds... it was in between us and the Jeep and only about 4 feet away.  It wasn't scared and just kept on eating.  I tried to get more pictures of it but Jack got impatient (really wanted to ride) and started jumping....he said the bird needed to move so we could go!Picture 067 Picture 068

This is my grandparent's house and the barn. Picture 069

The view behind the housePicture 071

And the view to the left... Picture 070

As we drove down the neighbor's dog, Rufus came running over.  He's such a friendly little guy and he led the way for us.Picture 072

Hailey watching her Daddy drive the Jeep.... If I'd known this would have been our only Jeep ride I'd have taken more pictures. The weather got rainy the next day so we didn't take any more. Picture 073

Me and Jack riding in the back.Picture 075

Hailey hanging on up front...next year she'll probably be able to drive it!! She's almost tall enough!Picture 076

Grandma-great got treated to a Bible story from our little reader.Picture 078 Picture 080

Before church on Wednesday the kids, and Daisy played a little animal Bingo.  They did so good considering they had to stay inside the whole day. We watched Spiderman a few times too!Picture 082

I think Daisy is taller than Pedro now and she's not even a year old! She's just really skinny still.  When we got home Jack said Pedro looked little =)  She is such a happy puppy!Picture 083

Here's the boys!!  See... I told you Darren came with us!Picture 084

Thursday morning while Darren and I packed up the van, Granddaddy-great took Jack for a hike while Hailey played Bingo with Grandma-great.  They went down to the swamp and back about 4 times!!Picture 086

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Here they go again...Picture 090

When Hailey realized what they were doing she grabbed her coat and took one last hike with them...I don't think Granddaddy-great could do much more =) Picture 091

They were all holding hands....so sweet! 

When she got back she said (complete Dora the Explorer style) with so much excitement... We went down to the Swamp...Over the bridge... then up the Slippery hill!!!  Picture 092

Click here to see last year's trip in a slide show!

I'm so glad we got to go and can't wait to go back...when it's a little warmer =)

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February 20, 2009

Our Awesome Weekend part 2

So part 2 starts with Noah's super cool Star Wars birthday party!! He's turning 5 the end of this month, but since we were all going to be together Amber decided to have the party while they were up here. I'm so glad they did.... we had a blast!!



Here we are in the kitchen getting things ready. (L to R) Tabby, Sarah, Amber, Me. Amber made a great crock pot full of chili and Sarah made mini-cheese burgers....me and Tabby brought cheese, sour cream, chips and drinks (we didn't spend much time in the kitchen!) Can you guess who this is?? The kids loved the masks! Jack is shooting us!!

So is Riley =)

Isabelle said forget the masks and give me some cheese!! Such a cutie... It was so much fun having her as a house guest.

Momma Jan and Papa Steve looked over Kirkley while the party was getting set up.

Ben had to get some lovin' in...he got a great smile out of her....little did we all know that a few days later he would find out that he and Tabby would be expecting their second little bundle of JOY!!!
Aric, Noah, and Darren made themselves at home in front of the big screen watching CloneWars.
The cake was super cool although I didn't get a picture of it.... I think I was holding Kirkley at the time. Although I was able to capture this funny activity!!
It was time to hit the pinata and the boys were coming up with crazy ideas like climbing into the ceiling (my husband) and so forth... Sarah and Tabby go downstairs and bring up this puppet theater contraption...Great Idea...But of course the guys have to build it and act like it was all their doing =)
They think they are so cool!

Our patient little ones waiting in line while all their daddies were busy trying to be engineers!
(L to R) Noah, Allyson, Jack, Ralston, Hailey, and Sage
I was definitely on the wrong side to get pictures while they were hitting, but here is Noah taking a whack at Darth's head! Mike and Darren were keeping it steady, while Aric manned the rope.
Jack giving it a little tap!
Hailey taking swing!
Then it was time for a little Rock Band/World Tour fun! Here is Aric on drums.
Larry, Darren and Aric. Hailey loved singing along!
We went not too late into the night living out our dreams of being in various bands, singing our hearts out and dying of laughter!!
Sunday night we headed over to Burger King to let the kids play after church. All the girl value meals came with these great sunglasses and thanks to Dawn I got copies of these hilarious pictures.
(L to R) Dawn, Jason, Me, and Tabby
This one is even better!!
Aric, Darren, Jason, and Mike
(don't you love the two in the middle....they are our local police officers!!) I think they should wear the pink glasses on duty... I'd take them seriously, wouldn't you?!?
Before everybody left to drive back to the homes (which are way too far away!!!) We had to take some goofy pictures.
We made matching purple foam sun visors; complete with glitter skull and crossbones!
Here's our serious one
And our not so serious one!! And just so you know... my fireplace must have some magical affect because the last time we took a group shot in front of it, that night Andrea told us she was prego... now two days after this pic...Tabby tells us!! So if you're trying just come to my house and take a picture with your girlfriends in front of my fireplace... I think it's lucky =) And here are some crazies of the kids...we aren't exactly claiming any of them as our own!
Noah, Sage, Riley, Jack (red spider man!)

Noah, Sage, Hailey, Riley, Ralston, Jack....Isabelle was sleeping (I don't know how)

Check out Tabby, Amber, and Dawn's blog for more pictures from this weekend!