Why Dye When You Can "-Ing"?

I'm going to be honest, I have a love/hate relationship with the Easter holiday (and most holidays, if I was being really honest). First off, what I love... I'm a Christian and I cherish the idea of celebrating Christ's ultimate sacrifice and resurrection because He loved us that much!  Before Roo & when I was younger, this time of year made me feel closer to God. Now... well, things aren't like I expected them to be. That's just the truth. I thought that when I had children I was going to relive childhood memories with them, and pass on traditions. Instead, I'm usually trying to find some little tidbit that I can tack on that will survive the sensory overload and extra excitement while still bringing on the smiles. I seriously try to keep the sparkly, sugary special needs take on life.. The whole "make new traditions" thing, but sometimes it's SO hard. And progress... can't forget progress.. sometimes it shows itself in the most unexpected ways.

For instance, this was a couple of years ago... she helped.

And last year, we managed to keep her in the room ... for the most part.

And this year...

This year she effectively communicated that she did not want to color Easter eggs. I mean, seriously, every time I asked her, "No!" But she did agree to color Easter pictures with us, and we did it as a family. It was the runner up prize I guess.

It was okay.

She was happy, & that's what matters.

The Friday before Easter, she went with me to a doctor's appointment because her daddy had to work late and I didn't have anyone to watch her on such short notice. It wasn't a big deal, but sometimes it's just a tad annoying not to be able to talk freely. Afterwards, I thought I would get lucky and she would be preoccupied enough with the Ipad that I could get an Easter outfit while we waited for my scripts to be filled. So we  stopped at a dress shop.

I was not that lucky.

I forgot about the mirrors. *sheesh!*

The twenty thousand mirrors all  along the walls...

So I did what I had to do.

While she was going from mirror to mirror--smudging, licking, & smiling at herself--I flew through the store and grabbed whatever caught my eye ... grabbed the first shoes that made  me pause, and grabbed a dressing room. It was stressful. It was quick. I got A LOT of looks varying from pity to snooty... Buuuuttt..  It was a success! :-D

The Easter Bunny came as scheduled and Roo was happy with her goodies. Have I mentioned that the Easter Bunny doesn't bring sweets to her? Nope, he's so awesome that he brings small toys and knick-knacks, because they make her smile more than candy. ;)

My husband and I attend different churches right now. I'm okay with that, mostly. I miss having him with me during service, but we're each doing what's best for ourselves at the moment. A wise lady recently said that the grass may be greener on the other side, but that could be because it's on a septic tank! You've gotta admit, she has a point. haha

Roo usually goes to church with me, and she has become such a big girl, staying in the pew. She loves Sunday School!

She doesn't like special services though. They confuse her, I think. On a normal Sunday, we have a few songs, a small scripture reading & then everyone is dismissed to classes according to their age. She hears a Bible story in class and does activities & a coloring page with the other kids. Afterwards, they come back to the adults in the sanctuary, an offering is taken up and birthdays and anniversaries are recognized. After that, and this is her favorite part, Roo, either by herself or with some other kids, goes up front and sings a song. Then each class comes up and tells what they learned that day. It's really cute, & like I said, she loves it.  During this past Easter Sunday, she waited until the gift baskets were through being given away, and started marching up to the front. In her mind, this was NOT how Sunday School was supposed to go. I ran up to her and grabbed her hand to take her back to our seat and she starts to come along, but puts on the brakes right when we're almost there. Most people don't realize that she can "talk." It's not always intelligible, but she does try and Terry & I can usually figure out what she's trying to say. She talks the most when she's angry..

"-ing!" she said.

"No," I said.

"-ing!" she said.

"Nooo," I said.

"-ing!" she said.

"No!" I said.

Then suddenly, we were addressed from the platform, and she was told that it was okay, she could come and sing. And she did. She sang her heart out. While she ran up there, my pastor gave a short explanation about how she has autism, and routine is important to her because there were many visitors. It was sweet. I know there are churches that go about inclusion all wrong, and that some people are still ignorant enough to think our special children are punishments from God, and even some idiots will try to "cast the demons" out of our children; but there are some churches that do it right, that know our children enough to know that they are blessings, & love them enough to help them through the rough spots. If your a Christian who's given up because you've come across some churches that don't understand, keep trying! Use Google! Ask around! Don't give up!

Anyway, however you celebrated Easter, I hope you enjoyed it! :-)

We Have To Go To The Store, Now

That was one of the first things my husband said to me when he got home from work today. Roo and I were standing there ("the welcome party" *snicker*), and there were no smooches, hugs or anything for us. It was all, "Get ready, I want to go before the crowds hit, blah, blah, blah.."

Okay, so I want to know what it looked like when the crowds hit, because Wal-Mart and Krogers were packed... Petsmart, not so much.. but WalMart and Krogers?? Oh my word! You'd have thought there was some sort of major Black Friday event going on, and it was only 4:00! I know snow is coming, but it's not supposed to hit until tomorrow night.

And people are rude! What has happened to us as a society that we think it's okay to give people the eye or storm off, or nearly run someone over with your Wally-Kart on purpose?!? If you're in that big of a hurry or someone is going too slow say, "Excuse Me".. You'd be amazed at how fast the waters will part. Sometimes.  That's what I did. LOUDLY.

Poor Roo! She'd had enough of crowds and stores and was in that unreachable place, sobbing her eyes out, and all I wanted to do was leave. But there were so many people checking out, even at customer service, it was like a gridlock. We weaved our way through check outs & came to the main way. It was jam packed with lines to customer service. There I was, standing there, just me with a child in my cart, who was crying loudly, obviously not trying to get in line, and only ONE person towards the end of a line looked at me and tried to move to let me through. Unfortunately, even after that one, young person tried to move, our eyes met and we both knew that even if she did get out of line, there wasn't enough room for me to get by.. So what did I do? I started playing my own round of Wally-Kart. "EXCUSE ME. EXCUSE ME. COMING THROUGH. YEAH, WE JUST WANT TO GET THROUGH HERE. THANKS SO MUCH." And Bam! It's amazing how fast people suddenly notice you when your about to run them over, teeheehee..

Roo finished her meltdown in the car while daddy checked out inside. Eventually, she calmed down enough to ask for some tissues (in her own way), and I put in a favorite CD of hers. That really mellowed her out. I don't know if she heard me or not, but all I could tell her when we got in the car, mid-meltdown, was that I understood, and sometimes crowded stores upset me too. I'd like to think that she did, but probably not. On our way home, we treated her to McDonald's fries for supper--her favorite--because she was such a trooper.. And, lets face it, after such a stressful shopping spree, nobody was up to cooking. That was our big adventure of the day, shopping.. stocking up.. and surviving. ;)

Two Pumpkins & A Guinea Pig

So here's a little something you may not know about me, I am an animal lover. If I had the resources and time, I would put Dr. Doolittle to shame. As of right now, we have 2 guinea pigs, a cat, and the occasional grasshopper or toad (because who doesn't like hoppers??:). The toads and other found pets have a short stay of a couple of days in a temporary cage, but it's still fun.

The guinea pigs are both male and close to 3 years old. They each have their own personality and preferences, and Roo & I love them. I'm not completely sure about her dad, but I *think* he might be a closet guinea pig lover.

The first one we bought from a friend for Roo, and he was such a chunker that I wanted to name him Gus after the little mouse on Cinderella. After about a week of going back and forth on names and talking to her about it & getting no where, I was almost set on Gus. Then she overheard me talking to my mom on the phone about it, and she very clearly chimed in "Moo Moo, yeah. Moo Moo."  I was shocked, Mom thought it was funny, and when I would try to convince her of a different name she would get upset. So, Moo Moo it was.

Moo Moo is a sweetie, but after awhile he became lazy. Almost like he was bored. I did a little online research and it turned out that guinea pigs are a "herd animal" and that they tend to be happier when they have some friends. 

So I turned to Craigslist and found a beautiful pig for sale not to far from me. He came from a home full of kids, so I hoped that he would be more outgoing than Moo Moo because he was still very skittish. 

Well, I was wrong. Moo Moo stepped up to be the dominant pig, and Lucky let him. I've heard awful stories about boars fighting and spraying when they first meet, but it was like these two shook hands and agreed upon it. Moo Moo became outgoing and protective of his new friend to the point that I couldn't look at Lucky without Moo Moo chattering his teeth at me. They're buddies.

The absolute worst part of owning a guinea pig is how often they poop. The second worst part is if they pee on their hay it will make the whole house smell like a barn (same with wood shavings, that's why I don't use them). Occasionally I will call them my little poopers.. but they're pretty good. Moo Moo has made some new friends though...

I bought some soft, cute pumpkins from Petsmart for them to cuddle with and when they do it's adorable, but something got into Moo Moo the other day... I thought for sure they were fighting over food or something. So I grabbed a couple of carrots to split them up. Lucky started to gobble his up, and Moo Moo ignored his. The only thing I could think of was that maybe Lucky had challenged Moo Moo somehow, because 3 year old pigs are way past puberty so that shouldn't be an issue. So I sat down, and the fighting continued.. I looked over & I started to watch them.. 

not my pic, but pretty much my facial expression

Dirty Little Moo Moo was acting like a pig and trying to mount Lucky, and Lucky was like "Don't even.." and then Moo Moo started mounting the pumpkins! I'm not joking! Those poor pumpkins. There were two of them, and a little witch and he would give a little love to all three of them & try again with Lucky.. And this went on for like a half hour! Gotta hand it to Lucky though, he never gave in. So if you ever here me talk about "the pumpkin humper" or "the one who isn't gay," you'll know who I'm referring to.