Thankful

I was emailed by Autism speaks and invited to share what I am thankful for in regards to my autistic child. They are collecting stories from people who have been affected by the disorder. This is what I wrote. I have no idea if or when or where it will be on the site. If I am able to find it I'll let everyone know.

I am so thankful for my beautiful son Ethan and for the opportunity I have to be his mother. I'm thankful for the progress he's made and all that he's worked so hard to accomplish. I'm thankful for my husband who truly is as invested as I am in Ethan's success. I'm thankful that Ethan has an older sister Lorin with unending patience and a younger sister Brynn who adores him. I am thankful for many wonderful and patient teachers, therapists, doctors and school administrators who have bent over backwards to give my son everything he needs to succeed in life. I am especially thankful for a pediatrician who actually listened to my concerns and a special ed kindergarten teacher who loved Ethan unconditionally. I am so thankful for the friendships I've made with other mothers of autistic children and for the support it's given me. I'm thankful that God has given our family this opportunity to grow and learn and have experiences we might have missed out on if autism weren't a part of our lives. I am so thankful for all of the progress that has been made in Autism research and the mysteries that continue to be unfolded.

Also I have been considering starting an autism blog. Input please, good idea or not?

On other news, at Lorin's school every year around Thanksgiving they have the Turkey Trot. Each grade has a race to win what? A turkey. The PE teachers pick the best in each grade to participate. Lorin was chosen and she ran in the race and that girl brought home a turkey!!! SHE WON!!! Unfortunately I already bought a turkey because they are cheap this time of year and we will be spending thanksgiving with Steve and Arlene (this is not unfortunate, we are rather looking forward to it) so we won't even be cooking our own Thanksgiving turkey. Now we have a plethora of turkeys. I see lots of turkey sandwiches, turkey noodle soup, turkey casseroles, turkey empanadas, and any other turkey concoctions we can come up with in our future.

The turkey is so huge she has to use her leg to prop it up!

I just thought this was cute. Ethan set up the toys just how he wanted them and taped the paper to the door and had Gary write in bubble letters exactly what he wanted his "guys" to say.

Grades

I'm sorry but I am going to be one of those moms who brags. Feel free to skip this post if desired. I got my kids report cards today. Lorin got 5 A's and one B+ which is totally FANTASTIC!!!!!! Though not really a surprise. That's pretty much standard for her. She's smart and her teachers always love her. She works really hard and is kind to others. She is just a stellar kid.

I knew before I opened Ethans report card not to be surprised by low marks. He has had a tough year. He really struggles. I was SHOCKED by his marks. They were HIGH!!!! He got an A in math and the rest were high B's. He doesn't even have grades recorded for the first six weeks of school because he was struggling so much. Just the day before I was feeling like he just wasn't making any progress.

I'm in trouble now!!!

Anyone who has known me for any amount of time knows I LOVE to sew. It is pretty much my drug of choice and a coping mechanism. I need my sewing fix almost everyday. I also love to make and wear jewelry. The bigger the better. Well, another love of mine, like many other women, are shoes. I have often dreamed about making shoes but never thought it actually plausible. Then, today, I was reading the blog on my favorite sewing website and read an article about making your own shoes!!!!!! WHAT!?!?! I never knew anyone could just make shoes. The post mentions a woman who loved to sew and wanted to make shoes to match the clothes she made so she just took apart a pair of shoes she loved and figured out how to make her own. GENIUS!!!!! She got so good at it she started teaching classes and then she wrote a book. I am so getting that book for Christmas. The website is marywalesloomis.com and the book is aptly named "Make Your Own Shoes".

May the Force Be With You

For Halloween this year we were all Star Wars characters. I didn't have patterns for most of them so I just used patterns I already had and changed them slightly.

Brynn of course was princess Leia. I don't think she would have gone for it if she couldn't be a princess.

Here is Ethan reprising his role as Luke Skywalker (its actually Obi wan but he claims Luke.)

Lorin was Padme Amidalah. I had to piece her together out of different patterns and used a knit fabric which my machine kept eating.I think it turned out great though.


Gary was the infamous Emperor. Gary loved having a cloak. Who wouldn't.The cloak really is a versatile part of any man's wardrobe.

UH OH!!! The Emperor is using the powers of the dark side on Padme!!!!

I kind of ran out of good girl star wars characters so I just went as a Jedi.

They have no idea the danger that awaits. HA HA HA HA HAAAAAA

Every year on Halloween we have a creepy dinner.

This is swamp juice. MMMM yummy. I got some frogs eye pasta for the fish eggs. Cooked them and colored the with food coloring. Then added Swedish fish and a gummy worm. Then topped it all off with ginger ale.

And of course we had our mummy dogs and blood and guts soup.

We also had witch fingers, and eyeball and brain jello. My eyeball didn't cooperate so much, but the brain rocked. I made some for a Halloween party we were invited to and everyone was afraid to eat it. I was so proud.

Here is the awesome pumpkin we carved. I found the idea in family fun magazine. It was super quick and easy and looked hilarious.

We had a great Halloween. We hope all of you did too.