What is a teenager?

Big Brother summed up what teenagers and kids on the spectrum perfectly the other day.

DH took the doors off the Jeep and asked Big Brother if he wanted to ride to the activities we had around town that day. Big Brother wanted nothing to do with it. Later in the day we talked about the boys driving up to the racetrack the next day and that DH wanted to take the Jeep with the doors still off. Big Brother was all excited about it. I asked him why he wouldn't ride in the Jeep around town going no more than 40 mph, but can't wait to ride in the Jeep going 60+ on the highway.

His answer:

"I am a world of contradictions".

Yes he is, as are all teenagers.

Spring has sprung!

Believe it or not, winter has finally left New England. With Spring comes new life, warmth and lots of bugs. It also means that we are always on the move.
Big Brother is learning that High School is harder than it looks and that you can't cruise through school. Regardless of how smart you are, you need to put forth the effort or you won't succeed. I am sure he will take that lesson to heart.
Big Sister had her first real part in a play. She played the mom of Martha and Dickens in "The Secret Garden". She learned to work in a team and put the needs of the team ahead of her needs.
Little Brother learned to read this year. He has dyslexia and a perfectionist streak. He has ADHD and I finally gave in on medication. Between that and finding the "Gift of Dyslexia" site he is reading finally.
Little Sister is just Little Sister. She is still doing well in her studies and being generally cute. She doesn't like being the youngest, but is learning to deal with it.
Life goes on and as the seasons change and the children grow up we see God's hand in our lives and pray that He will continue to guide us through the seasons yet to come.

Thankful for little things

We are so thankful to God for His provisions for Little Sister. She was so excited about Spring finally coming to the great white north that she had to go play on the swing. Though she has seen the Mythbusters where they prove you can't do a 360 on a regular swing, she had to try it anyway. When she swung very far back, gravity did it's thing. She fell flat out of the swing and hit the top of her forehead on the slide. She was shaken up when she came in and was dizzy. Until recently I probably would have put an ice pack on her head and told her to go sit down, but after what happened to Natasha Richardson, I decided to call the doctor just to be on the safe side. She seemed fine, but so did Natasha. The exam was normal, but Little Sister said she saw sparkles in front of her eyes. The doctor wasn't going to do any imaging, but since Little Sister was adamant about the sparkles she figured better safe than sorry. So we got to have a CAT scan on Little Sister's head. Everything looked normal PTL! The doctor sent us home and things seem to be okay.
Little Sister has been groggier than usual and a little grumpier, but I understand that's normal after getting your bell rung like she did.
We just Thank God that it was nothing serious and hug her a little tighter.

Still kitchen remodeling

When I first started this blog, I posted pictures of our kitchen remodeling. Well, we are still remodeling, but I think we are almost done. I am including recent pictures so folks can see our progress.





This is a potato, onion and garlic storage container that DH made along with "Mr. Fish" one of our 4 pets (the other 3 are hermit crabs).

This is the new sliding door leading to the deck we put on this summer.

DH took down the old chair rail and wallpaper and replaced it with wainscoting (forgive the spelling, and the shop vac).

Yes folks that is a real floor. We have been living with the luan since the project started and now we have a real floor!!!! Can you tell I am just a little happy about this.

Stupid teenage tricks

I know that the teenage brain is missing in action, but I wasn't sure just how much so till today. Big Brother (age 14.5) mows the lawn. I asked him to do that today and then put the tractor back. He mentioned that he thought tractors should be able to go on the road. I told him that he was not to take the lawn tractor on the road. He mows the lawn then everything gets quiet. I thought he had put the tractor back in the shed. No such luck. He decided that taking the tractor up the street was a good idea. No...I have no idea why he would think this was a good idea, but he did. So I took off in the van after him and found him pushing the tractor about an 1/8th of a mile from the house. It had died while crossing a neighbor's driveway. Not only had he taken it out of the yard, but he didn't check the amount of gas in it. He moved the mower out of the way and I brought him back to get the gas can. He refilled the mower and then drove it back home and put it away. He is rightfully embarrassed and I don't think he will do it again. I am going to be completely grey before I am 45 (and I turn 43 this year).

Can't argue with this logic

Little Sister has an interesting way of coming to conclusions.
This morning she asked me if she could watch "Little Einsteins". I don't have a problem with the show, but I think it is a little young for her (she's 7 1/2). I told her that she wasn't a little girl anymore and the following conversation took place:

Me: "You're not a little kid anymore"
LS: "Yes I am"
Me: "No, you're a middler"
LS: "But I'm not a large, I'm a medium which makes me small."

The conversation ended at that point and I told her she could watch "Little Einsteins". I can't argue with that kind of logic. :-)

Getting Fit on the Wii

We are an electronic family. When our XBox started dying last summer we wondered what to replace it with. We considered the XBox 360, but it didn't offer games that we could all play as a family. We pressed our luck and went in search of the illusive Wii. We figured almost a year after it was first released, it shouldn't be that hard to get. We were so wrong! I was amazed when in store after store (and on line too) I heard the same thing, "We don't have any and don't know when we will get any in". One day I was in the mall looking for something else and just for kicks I asked in the local Gamespot and they told me that they heard a rumor that EB Games in the mall had just gotten a shipment in. I rushed across the mall and asked about it. The folks at EB were shocked. They had only gotten 4 in about 10 minutes before and I was the second person to come asking about them. I quickly snatched up what I needed and began on a very interesting journey into Wii land.
Our family has had a lot of fun playing the Wii and now we are going to work on getting fit using it too. When I heard Wii fit was coming out, I made sure to be at the store when the doors opened. We got the game 2 days ago and have not been disappointed. From Little Brother and Little Sister up through DH and I, we all have burned more than a few calories on that little board.
We have done Yoga, run in place, checked our balance, ski jumped and put little balls in little holes, just to name a few. I would recommend this anyone who hates exercise but knows that if they don't they won't be healthy.
I only wish they had come out with something like this years ago. I would probably be in better shape if they had.