Busy day

We did a complete re-org of the garage today.  Funny thing is, you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at it... there's still a LOT of stuff in there.  But it feels pretty great to us. 

No pix of that... but here are a few of my other project, before the New Year starts...

My first ever attempt at cutting The Boy's hair on my own.  When we lived with my folks, my mom always did it, and the last few times, I've just taken him to the barber down the road.  Today, though, I decided to be brave and try it on my own, so I borrowed a pair of clippers from a friend and away we went.

Not too bad, if I do say so myself.

Rough day here...

For some friends, anyways... and The Honey's been gone most of the day helping them out.  Mostly, we're just thankful that things weren't worse than they were.

Nothing picture-worthy, though... most exciting thing I did today was re-arrange the kitchen and find places for all of my new Christmas goodies :D  I wasn't sure it'd all fit, but I ended up with extra room once I was all finished.  That felt good.

Here's to a better day tomorrow!

Ugh...

4 days with no posts... but it was Christmas.  You forgive me, right?

Lots of pix over the last few days, and I'll try to find some time to put a few up.

My guys are both home right now, though, which is what makes it harder to post.  Too much other fun stuff to do :D

Christmas was amazing, and my loved ones are WAY too generous.  Let's leave it at that.  I am more blessed than I ever thought I could be.

Here's hoping everything is going as well for you as it is for us.

<3

Cookie Day #3

Cookie decorating with some friends today.  The kids had a great time.  The Boy made lots of different cookies, but my favorites were the ones with our Team's colors ;)

We were also supposed to make pie, but that's been put off till tomorrow, since the egg substitute I bought was chunky when I opened it.  Um... EW.  It was too late by that point to bother going out, so we'll have to hit the store in the morning and try again.  On the bright side, though, The Boy really enjoys cooking with me, so he'll help once we get started again. 

Today was cookie day #2 (out of 3, I think). 


I took The Boy and his best friend over to a family friend's house...We did like 5 types of cookies, and they boys both started out a little bit 'eh' about doing cookies, but in the end, I think they had a great time. 

Our pieces de resistance were these 'melted snowmen'.  Cute, but harder to decorate than you'd think.  We each did a few, but let me tell you... I don't think I'd do a whole batch of these by myself.  Oy... these 3 were enough for me. 

Already dropped the ball...

But that's why I started early, right?  To try to get a running start at this thing. 

Yesterday we met some friends to make cookies.  I meant to take a picture, but no such luck... so here's a generic internet picture ;)  We're not finished over there, and will meet back up with them on Thurs. for sugar cookies.

 

Tonight, the Little Man says "Awww... I should have asked for weights for Christmas"  He doesn't want to "be a wimp my whole life"... Um... ok... Anyways, the Honey says if he keeps his room clean, he can have the set that was already sitting in the garage.  SO... here's my guys hamming it up with their weights.  

 

Next few days... lots of cookies, cookies, more cookies and some pie ;)

An early resolution

I've recently met someone online who is great about chronicling her family's life.  She takes at least 1 picture/day of something that's happened, and writes maybe a paragraph or 2.  I think that's awesome, and am going to try to do this this coming year.  I'd like to blog about us more... what's going on here and so on.  So here's to the (early) start of Project 365/2011.  I'm excited about it now, so we'll start a few days before the new year.

The Boy spent the night last night with a friend, so The Honey and I had a nice chill evening wrapping his presents.  Now I'm in the front half of the living room while The Honey wraps *my* presents behind the couch.  We've got football on the TV, but "our" game isn't on until 4:15, so we've got time to kill.


Here's how we spend our Sundays - The Game is on, and we're spending our time in the online community for our team.  Before the weather turned nasty, we'd spend a good part of the afternoon before our game and then again at halftime throwing around the pigskin in the back yard.  That's no longer possible, but we still spend the afternoon together with our football :D.

Leaves, leaves, everywhere. Or... Why it's a good thing I've decided I enjoy raking.

Today is a rainy wet day, and the Boy is home sick for the umpteenth time this month.  We've spent a relatively quiet afternoon, and I thought maybe I'd write a bit.


Our backyard might be my favorite place on the planet.  I'm not sure why... I just love it there.  I find it peaceful and it reminds me of my family.  I had a writing teacher once who asked us where our 'base' was... where we were most comfortable writing from.  I had no answer for him.  Or rather, I had a very untraditional answer for him.  My answer at the time was 'my computer'.  I didn't have a physical place.  Just a feeling I got when I had my laptop... connectedness to the world... and I could go anywhere with it.  Now, though, I have *that place*.  It's my yard.  I wish I was out there right now writing, and resolve to do that a bit before the weather is so completely cold that it's out of the question for the year.  I keep meaning to send that teacher an email to see how he's doing and let him know I've found my place.  He'll be thrilled. 

Some of my favorite times last year were when we would all go out and do yardwork together.  The Honey taught the Boy to mow the lawn, though he doesn't do it by himself.  When it turned to fall, we would go out and rake together.

This year, we have had less time to go out and rake together, but it's ok... I've decided I kind of enjoy it, and will spend some of my 'alone' time during the day outside raking some days.  I take my IPod outside with me, put on some "Trans-Siberian Orchestra" and go to town on our leaves.  It's peaceful.

I thought I might get out there today, but it's raining buckets, so it'll have to wait.  We'll see what it's like tomorrow.  The Honey says it's good to rake the leaves when they're wet, cuz they stick together and don't fly around as much.  They definitely stay in their piles better.  On the other hand, though, they're a heck of a lot heavier, so we'll see what I feel like.

It's a good thing, though, that I've decided I like to rake.  Our 2 yards, combined, have something like 10 trees... and they're shedding their leaves faster than I can keep up. 

My mom says she thinks I probably enjoy it so much because it's one of those jobs that you can really SEE your progress as you go along.  I'm sure that's at least part of it... but at this point, as I'm raking, not only can I watch my progress, but I can also practically watch it being UNdone... the leaves come down that fast.  I took a pic yesterday right after I finished, and then again today, 24 hours later... you can see it covered again... and it was a 'slow' day.

Here's the tree that's currently laughing at me...

That's all in the front yard.  The back currently looks like it's wearing a blanket of leaves, but I'll get there when I can. 

In our city, if you rake your leaves to your curb, a vacuum truck comes around and sucks them up.  Our truck has made its first sweep... it'll be back one more time, but I don't know when, so I've been trying to keep as much out at the curb as possible.  After their second sweep through, you're on your own.  I'm a little afraid all of ours won't be down by the time they come around again, but we'll see.  That's what our new fire pit is for, right?  :D

About me...

So my little bro, who is getting into web design, thinks that I should have an 'About Me' part on the website, explaining why/how the business idea came to be.

Putting thoughts together here.
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About Me:

I spent roughly 8 years working with children who have special needs.  I have worked with children ages 18 months through roughly 15 years, in a variety of settings:  public school inclusion, public school self-contained classes, home therapy, and home respite care.  The children I have worked with over the years have disabilities ranging from mild learning difficulties to genetic disorders, and from autism to cerebral palsy, with everything in between.  My circumstances changed, and I moved to a new state.  We decided that it would be best for my family if I were to stay home, rather than look for a job.  I missed being a part of the Special Needs community, though, and spent a lot of time thinking about how to stay involved from home.  That's when I realized that I could put my background, skills, and knowledge to use helping make life better at home for families of children who have disabilities.

One thing we found with all of the children I worked with over the years is that visual supports help them to understand the world around them.   Creating these visual supports was one of my biggest job duties, and one of the most important.  Every child is unique, and this means that the supports that they need at school and at home are unique.  This is where I can help.  I will meet with you and get to know you, and through you, get to know your child.  During our consultation, we will talk about your child's needs, and create a plan for the visuals you need.  Within an agreed upon time frame, I will create proofs for you, personalizing everything for your child.  You will have a chance to check over everything and request changes before I create hard copies for you. 

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If you're reading this, what are your thoughts?

I posted this on Facebook yesterday, and have gotten a lot of good feedback.  I think I may be able to make a go of it.  I thought I'd re-post here, not that too many people read my blog, but still... it's family news, I guess... my attempt at stepping into self-employment.

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A few weeks ago, I had the beginning of an idea, and I'm putting it out there now to see if anyone thinks it might be feasible. If I tagged you, it's because I think you might have some kind of a unique perspective on my idea that I could use, so if you have thoughts, I'd love to hear them... If I haven't tagged you and you're reading this anyways, and have an idea, please lay them on me.

Since I've moved here to Dayton, probably the only thing that would make life better would be if we had a little more cash rolling in. I'm sure pretty much everyone feels that way, right? Jeff and I have decided, at least for the time being, that in our world, it makes the most sense for me to not have a job outside our home. Child care costs are astronomical, and I'd be working just to pay for day care for Stephen, and that doesn't make any sense to us at all. We love my having the flexibility to be able to volunteer at school, or to take the pets to the vet when needed, to be home during the day to take care of stuff around here, and to be here to take care of Stephen when he gets home from school. This isn't a situation I've had before, and I'm relishing it, for sure. BUT... if I could be bringing some money in to the house, that would be even better, especially with our trying to plan a wedding.

So here's my idea... use what I know best, right? For 8 years, I worked with children who have special needs. I love them all, and for those of you who are on this list because I worked with your children, I consider myself so blessed to have known them and you. I would LOVE to continue to be involved somehow in the Special Needs community. One of my major job duties over the years was to create visual supports for 'our' kids... star charts, behavior charts, visual representations of rules to follow, or rewards to be earned, you name it. I got good at this. I am very well versed in the use of Boardmaker and other computer programs to create exactly what I want. So why not put that experience and knowledge to use? What if I were to meet with families and create supports for them to use in their homes? I know that where I used to work, we would create anything parents needed at home, but I get the feeling it's not like that here, necessarily.

I know there are a lot of budding companies out there to provide services (tutoring, respite, ABA, etc) to children and their families. I can't (right now) join one... I need the flexibility to work when I want... and I don't have the credentials to do something like that on my own... I don't (yet) have the degrees I need to be allowed to single-handedly devise and carry out therapy plans.

What I CAN do is what I've always done... create the visuals that help children understand their world.

What do you think? Is this feasible? How do I go about it? Would it be better to start the whole thing on the up-and-up right away, or to try it just on the QT for a while to see if there's even interest?

If you're a parent, is this something you'd consider? Would you meet with someone like this if you heard of it? Is this something you even need? How much would you pay someone to create personalized visuals for you? I'd be looking to recoup material costs, and something for my time. What's that worth?

I have contacted Mayer Johnson to see if something like this is even allowed, as far as they're concerned... but I *think* it would be ok, based on what I've read on their website.

I'm welcoming any and all thoughts... comment here, or send me an email, if you'd rather keep it between us.

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I have gotten the green light both from The Honey to do what I think I need to do, and from Mayer Johnson to use their symbols...

Now the question is... can I do it?

Welcoming suggestions for a company name, too...

A beautiful day

I feel like I'm literally walking around in a cartoon today... sun shining, birds singing, blue sky, and I could be walking around with little hearts floating above my head.  It's beautiful out.

The Boy doesn't have homework tonight, because they have some big standardized test tomorrow, so after I picked him up, I suggested we come outside and write.  He's working on a new story, and it's been longer than I meant for it to be before I came back to our blog. 

So we walked in the house, put down our stuff, and now we're outside.  Gorgeous.  The Boy's got a pad of paper, trying to figure out how to get it going.  I've got my trusty computer.  I love this machine.  It keeps me connected to You. 

Since I last wrote, we had ourselves a nice little family Easter.  The Honey bought and cooked up a ham, which I LOVE, and we hid a basket for The Boy.  Very chill day, but I loved it.  We took some nice family pics out here in the yard. 

Spring Break was the week after.  The Boy and I didn't do anything too remarkable during the week... just kind of hung out.  He had a playdate with his best friend, which is always nice.  They get along really well.  On Friday, though, we drove back to MD to have a very short visit with my mom. stepdad and sister.  We made an attempt at cleaning up some of my stuff and moving it out, and The Boy got to spend some Qtime with his aunt, which he loved.  It was too short a trip for everyone, but we missed The Honey and The Dog and The Cat, so it felt good to come home too. 

I brought home some hosta plants from my mom's backyard.  We'll see if I can make them work in this little thing I'm trying to call a garden. 

Ok, guess this isn't happening today.  The Boy isn't settling into any kind of groove, so I think we're done with the writing for now.  Hopefully I'll be back in a few days.

:D

Gardening

The first time the Little Man and I visited the Honey here at his house, we came out back to throw a football around for a while. It was the first weekend in November, and the weather was gorgeous. I fell in love with this yard that day. Maybe it was the feeling of having a real family... the family I'd been wishing for for my son and myself for 8 years. Playing 'catch'... doesn't get any more simple than that, but it was such an amazing feeling, and one I hadn't been sure I'd ever find.

Anyways, fast forward almost a year and a half, the back yard is most definitely my favorite part of what is now our home. It is big enough to come out and play in, fenced - so I know it's safe for the boy-, gets great sun, but also has enough trees that you can find shade if you want it. Plus, there's this great little 'island' in the middle-ish where there are flowers growing. Better yet, about half of the flowers we already have are orange Daylilies. Those are my absolute favorite flowers. They're so bright and cheery and beautiful.

I decided a few weeks ago, the first time we had really beautiful Spring weather, that I wanted to do a little bit of yard work, and maybe take a stab at a garden. Raked up some of the leaves and tree branches that had fallen over the winter. I got all geared up for it, and then we had a cold snap... poured rain all day one day and then snowed on top of it overnight. Surprise that morning when school was delayed 2 hours because the roads were so bad! Anyways, ever since, I've been itching to get back outside and play around a bit. I got my chance yesterday. It was gorgeous out, so I grabbed the pup and went out. Did a bit more raking, and then spent about an hour pulling weeds. We have a section running along about half of the house in the back... it's maybe a foot and a half wide, and then it's separated from the rest of the yard by a wooden rail... I have to believe it was meant to be a planter of some sort, so I'm going to take a stab at it. The Honey says he's not sure if anything will grow there, and I don't know, either, but I'm excited to try. I'm not even sure what kind of soil is back there... half of it is covered in little pebbles, and the rest feels almost claylike, but we'll see if we can make something work, that little garden and I.

I've never attempted anything like this. I've always been an 'inside' kind of person. All the way back to when I was a kid... I was that little girl who stayed inside to read at recess at daycare. My mom likes to go outside and play around with weeds and take the loppers to an overgrown bush here and there. I never got the appeal. Give me a book and a couch, and I'm a happy camper. Something about this yard, though... I'm in love. So I'm going to try. I have a few potted flowers I've been given this year... didn't fare too well inside, but I'm hoping to revive them outside. We'll see where we go from there. I've heard that tomatoes are easy to grow. Maybe I'll try that... especially with there apparently being a shortage this year. Would be nice to have my own growing here. Not even sure if it's the right time of year to try... I've got some research to do :D

I'm not ready to sink any money into this... I'm sure it could get to be a pretty expensive hobby pretty quickly... especially since I don't know yet whether my thumbs are going to end up being green or black. But I'm going to start with some basic stuff, and I'm excited about it.

Over the years, since Blogger first sprung into existence, or at least since I've known about it, I've had several blogs. Some served the purpose of just getting general thoughts out, and were open to whomever should run across them, some were more private - only a few people knew where to find them, and some were just for me, to get my thoughts out.

I've been thinking lately that it's time for a new blog... for a new chapter in my life. Or, what sometimes feels like the FIRST chapter in my life. So here it is... our Family Blog. I've seen a lot of family blogs popping up here and there, and I think that's cool... you can get a glimpse into how things are going here for us... more than that quick 2 sentence Facebook status we put up every once in a while. Maybe, from time to time, my men may even choose to blog. They're both great writers themselves. The Honey has had a love for writing much longer than I have, and the Little Man has been bitten by the bug too, though his problem is the opposite of his Mama's... he has too many ideas and not enough time to get them all out before a new one occurs to him. Me? No ideas, and lots of time, lol. I don't have the creativity that either one of them does. The ability to just make up a story eludes me. The Honey has written some great stories. The Little Man has some excellent ideas. My brother writes fiction all the time. This is not something I've ever been able to do, though I envy them all the outlet. I love words. I always have. I can't make up the stories, but I can put my thoughts down to words. It's actually one of the first things the Honey ever said he admired about me, and that was one of the greatest compliments I think I've ever gotten. So that's where we are... I'm putting my thoughts down to this blog, and maybe you'll read it once in a while. That would make me happy.