Everything Changes

That is a seven year old severely autistic boy, writing words.

Last night I taught him to spell his little sister's name, and he smiled and laughed. Then, he looked at her, erased her name and wrote a new word.

He wrote BABY.

I think everything just changed.
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Everything Changes

That is a seven year old severely autistic boy, writing words.

Last night I taught him to spell his little sister's name, and he smiled and laughed. Then, he looked at her, erased her name and wrote a new word.

He wrote BABY.

I think everything just changed.
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Halloween Traditions Old And New

As long as there have been twins in this house, there have been Twins Club holiday parties. I joined when I was pregnant (it's where I met the awesome Sarah) and ever since joining, we've drug our entire crew out for every holiday party we could. The Halloween/Fall parties have always so much fun.

The usually include bounce houses, and crafts and a picnic which is ridiculously fun. I don't know why, it just is. I think I'll be really sad when my kids are finally too big to do this stuff.

Yeah he's facing the wrong way. He's autistic leave him alone!
The new thing we do for Halloween time is that for the past two years we've gone to Six Flags for FRIGHT FEST which is spoooooky fun. SEE....

The put up graveyards and cobwebs and flood the park with fog at night. Plus there are spooky characters roaming around to make it extra Halloweeny.

The most "nervous about spooky stuff kid in the world" wanted to get his picture taken with these guys who did this zombie old west show. This slays me.
It also slays me to write "zombie old west show".

They also do trick or treating with ladies dressed up in dresses that I THINK are supposed to be southern belles, but I am fairly sure Miss Scarlet would call this look Poor White Trash. We all know how bad and tacky that is.

The girl didn't get to ride too much but I think at 18 months she's doing just fine in the stroller ride.

I like going to Fright Fest. It's a huge undertaking to take six people to an amusement park all day but it's a lot of fun when the day is themed like this. I hope we keep doing this one.

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Halloween Traditions Old And New

As long as there have been twins in this house, there have been Twins Club holiday parties. I joined when I was pregnant (it's where I met the awesome Sarah) and ever since joining, we've drug our entire crew out for every holiday party we could. The Halloween/Fall parties have always so much fun.

The usually include bounce houses, and crafts and a picnic which is ridiculously fun. I don't know why, it just is. I think I'll be really sad when my kids are finally too big to do this stuff.

Yeah he's facing the wrong way. He's autistic leave him alone!
The new thing we do for Halloween time is that for the past two years we've gone to Six Flags for FRIGHT FEST which is spoooooky fun. SEE....

The put up graveyards and cobwebs and flood the park with fog at night. Plus there are spooky characters roaming around to make it extra Halloweeny.

The most "nervous about spooky stuff kid in the world" wanted to get his picture taken with these guys who did this zombie old west show. This slays me.
It also slays me to write "zombie old west show".

They also do trick or treating with ladies dressed up in dresses that I THINK are supposed to be southern belles, but I am fairly sure Miss Scarlet would call this look Poor White Trash. We all know how bad and tacky that is.

The girl didn't get to ride too much but I think at 18 months she's doing just fine in the stroller ride.

I like going to Fright Fest. It's a huge undertaking to take six people to an amusement park all day but it's a lot of fun when the day is themed like this. I hope we keep doing this one.

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The Pumpkin Ritual

Murdering pumpkins is a long standing family tradition. I like to blame IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN for this. In my family it's just not Halloween if we don't murder some pumpkins and watch the Great Pumpkin.

I let my children participate in the carnage because you know, it's fun to gut stuff together. In fact, the oldest boy does it exactly long enough to say he participated and then he's kind of icked out by the process. I swear I'm going to make him do it all next year.

We also like to paint their faces to mock their demise. Bwaaahaaahaaa pumpkins your fate lies in our hands! BEHOLD THE SILLY FACES WE WILL MAKE YOU WEAR!

It's sort of sad really, these pumpkins go to their end manhandled and mocked. But I didn't tell them to be plants. I learned, on the TV, so you know it's true, that the only place on Earth that pumpkins won't grow is Antarctica. This makes Antarctica a lesser place in my mind. I'm not sure I'd want to live in a place with no pumpkins.

How could a place exist without these amazing orbs of joy that exist only to make wee ones smile?

Well, and frighten off demons. They're good for that too.

I'm thinking the demon population in Antarctica must be running rampant. That's another good reason to avoid that place.

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The Pumpkin Ritual

Murdering pumpkins is a long standing family tradition. I like to blame IT'S THE GREAT PUMPKIN CHARLIE BROWN for this. In my family it's just not Halloween if we don't murder some pumpkins and watch the Great Pumpkin.

I let my children participate in the carnage because you know, it's fun to gut stuff together. In fact, the oldest boy does it exactly long enough to say he participated and then he's kind of icked out by the process. I swear I'm going to make him do it all next year.

We also like to paint their faces to mock their demise. Bwaaahaaahaaa pumpkins your fate lies in our hands! BEHOLD THE SILLY FACES WE WILL MAKE YOU WEAR!

It's sort of sad really, these pumpkins go to their end manhandled and mocked. But I didn't tell them to be plants. I learned, on the TV, so you know it's true, that the only place on Earth that pumpkins won't grow is Antarctica. This makes Antarctica a lesser place in my mind. I'm not sure I'd want to live in a place with no pumpkins.

How could a place exist without these amazing orbs of joy that exist only to make wee ones smile?

Well, and frighten off demons. They're good for that too.

I'm thinking the demon population in Antarctica must be running rampant. That's another good reason to avoid that place.

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I'm Not Sure I Understand...

I realize I've never claimed to be a cool mom but as my son keeps telling me that he's a space matador in Lego Universe I have to confess, all I can think of is something like this.

OLE!
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I'm Not Sure I Understand...

I realize I've never claimed to be a cool mom but as my son keeps telling me that he's a space matador in Lego Universe I have to confess, all I can think of is something like this.

OLE!
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Halloween Logistics

At my house Halloween begins with the trip to the mountains for pumpkins. Going to the pumpkin patch has always been a family tradition for us. We took the first boy when he was weeks old, strapped on to my chest with a baby carrier, and listened to the old farmer tell us about brown fat which we thought was an old wives tale but is apparently true.

When I lived in Indiana, the pumpkin patch was a trip to a big flat open place under more sky than I can properly verbalize. I miss the big flat land and all that sky, but it wasn't that pretty. It was functional, as most things in Indiana are. In Kentucky it was a folksy farm, sort of similar to the farms of Indiana.  In Florida it was really just an imitation pumpkin patch I'm not even sure you can grow pumpkins in that soil. The boy scouts would lay out pumpkins like a field and we'd go run around them and pick out our winners.
But in Georgia, in Georgia it's magical.

There is a hayride with inclines so steep you feel like you're gonna fall out. You go through a stream and there are talking pumpkins that tell you about how God gave us pumpkins. I SWEAR I LOVE THAT PART.

There are huge swaths of pumpkins to run and play and to choose exactly what you want. No reason to choose just a plain old orange pumpkin when they have red and blue and white too!

A friend on plurk asked me the other day how I find the energy to do all the stuff we do with our kids. I've thought about that a lot. It's not about energy. I don't have ANY of that.  It's about willpower. You have to have the willpower, despite being tired and having the cranky, go get four kids dressed and get out of the house.

Because they won't ever be 9, 7, 7 and 18 months old again. When I'm long dead, I want them to tell their grandkids about how their Mom and Dad used to take them to the mountains to get pumpkins. And how we ate fried pies and went on hay rides and everyone got their own pumpkin.

My children are my immortality. I'm making sure mine is a good one.

Halloween Logistics

At my house Halloween begins with the trip to the mountains for pumpkins. Going to the pumpkin patch has always been a family tradition for us. We took the first boy when he was weeks old, strapped on to my chest with a baby carrier, and listened to the old farmer tell us about brown fat which we thought was an old wives tale but is apparently true.

When I lived in Indiana, the pumpkin patch was a trip to a big flat open place under more sky than I can properly verbalize. I miss the big flat land and all that sky, but it wasn't that pretty. It was functional, as most things in Indiana are. In Kentucky it was a folksy farm, sort of similar to the farms of Indiana.  In Florida it was really just an imitation pumpkin patch I'm not even sure you can grow pumpkins in that soil. The boy scouts would lay out pumpkins like a field and we'd go run around them and pick out our winners.
But in Georgia, in Georgia it's magical.

There is a hayride with inclines so steep you feel like you're gonna fall out. You go through a stream and there are talking pumpkins that tell you about how God gave us pumpkins. I SWEAR I LOVE THAT PART.

There are huge swaths of pumpkins to run and play and to choose exactly what you want. No reason to choose just a plain old orange pumpkin when they have red and blue and white too!

A friend on plurk asked me the other day how I find the energy to do all the stuff we do with our kids. I've thought about that a lot. It's not about energy. I don't have ANY of that.  It's about willpower. You have to have the willpower, despite being tired and having the cranky, go get four kids dressed and get out of the house.

Because they won't ever be 9, 7, 7 and 18 months old again. When I'm long dead, I want them to tell their grandkids about how their Mom and Dad used to take them to the mountains to get pumpkins. And how we ate fried pies and went on hay rides and everyone got their own pumpkin.

My children are my immortality. I'm making sure mine is a good one.