My friend Denise asked me what some of the products were in the last post (where I tried not to be wordy LOL)... so since the boxes weren't too clear in the picture (posted again below the post), they are the following:
The orange/yellow box in the back, which is quite pretty actually, is a "Canterbury Organics" Rosemary Sage Cornbread Dressing Mix. It's basically my lazy stuffing for Thanksgiving this year, & it's not gluten free so not for everyone here.
The Organic Mashed Potatoes (another easy way out) is by "Edward & Sons". I intend to make it with goat milk, so we'll see how that goes!
The small gold box is turkey gravy from "Imagine Foods". I like their broths too.
The brown bag is spice cake by "Namaste", which is gluten/dairy free. I also made a separate cake from scratch for Little Bear; a recipe from an SCD cookbook (will post separately).
The large jar is Premium Apple Pie Filling by "SpearsFarm" & the frozen pie crusts are by "Wholly Wholesome". I used the filling but added in a peaches mixture, then made a top for the pie (my first ever, & a big deal for me heehee...).
I did this for hubs, for something somewhat normal LOL... not the prettiest thing, but I do hope it tastes good!
I bought some organic cranberry sauce for a treat too.
For sides I'll be making some green beans with almonds & possibly some peas with pearl onions, courtesy of Cascadian Farms organic boxed frozed veggies ;-).
A few years ago we had visited a historical farm & I've been wanting to take the kiddos back there ever since. I read they were going to demonstrate how scrapple used to be made, so it seemed like an excuse to go (like I needed one).
We walked along into the farm, checking out the sheep in the distance (Butterfly's favorite farm animal).
The footbridge
There were animals, of course, as it is a farm!
The horses there are huge as they are the working breeds. Butterfly went right up to one & petted it (it was behind a fence). When it turned toward her she kind of jumped back. It was really huge! But it was gentle & just checking her out too. :)
Here's a picture of a machine they used to chop the meat. It made a consistent banging sound as it ran. The farmhouse & buildings were all historic. This is the icehouse with the pond & horse in the distance.
There was also an outhouse (missed taking a picture of that one)... it was an "unusual" two seater. :)
One thing the kiddos really enjoyed was an over 100 year old well. They all took turns pumping water for a while; it was tough to get them away from it.
The real surprise was that day they were having reenacters at the farm. We hadn't expected that & had never seen a reenactment, so that was a real fun treat for all of us!
We were wandering around, looking at the animals, when we noticed some folks dressed like Revolutionary War soldiers walking along a dirt road down the hill from us. Others noticed them too & in a few moments they had a bunch of us following them.
Here are some of the "soldiers" ready for battle...
Here's a shootout. Some started coming down the hill, a few on horseback.
A few on foot marched past us. Some others on horseback went down into the wooded area & through a stream.
They are really acting it all out, all day. They are in period dress & speak in character. They will not speak or interact with anyone out of character (even their own families in attendance; I found this out later from one of the reenacter's wives).
That said, this video coming up is fun. The Americans are coming back with their prisoners. First they march by with them, then the soldiers follow on horseback, happy about their conquest & very dignified.
One of the soldiers on horseback noticed the babies & nodded down at them & me (& my camera :-))... cute.
Then the last one on horseback spoke to one of the onlookers. I don't know what she did but he said, "Thank you Mistress." (She replied, "You're welcome Sir." LOL).
He also greets, "Afternoon." to a few of the onlookers on both sides as he passes.
As they rode away he looked down at one of the younger boys watching with his family & said, "Young Sir, sign up!".
After that you can hear Storyman say to me, "I don't understand." Funny... we explained it more later :-).
The banging sound heard in the background was not shooting; it had nothing to do with the reenacters. That was actually the machine I pictured earlier working to chop up the meat for scrapple.
After they marched up the hill toward another historic farmhouse where they apparently reenacted what happened after the prisoners were captured. We didn't see it but were later told it involved shooting & a hanging (eesh).
We walked back up to the main house & watched them make scrapple a bit more. Hubs tried it & continued to hang out there hoping they would have some bacon (they didn't). The kiddos pumped some more water & we finally walked back up to leave.
We had another treat then when the reenacters appeared in a field near the parking lot & another battle erupted with soldiers on horseback again too. I was standing next to one of the reenacter's wives at this point & she explained they were finished for the day & just having some fun.
This is how I found out they had to stay in character until it was all over. She had been walking with a friend (a lady reenacter), & said to me that she forgot her friend can't answer her as she must always speak in character until the day is over. Fun stuff (to me anyway).
She also said her husband, who was in his 70's (there was a mix of older & younger ones in this current day reenactment ;-)), often "played dead" so he didn't have to run up & down the hills (heehee).
The last surprise for the day was her husband walked up after he was finished with the reenactment. He had his gun & took a few moments to explain to the kiddos how it worked; they loved that. Then he had to walk away for a moment & gave the gun to his wife, who promptly allowed Storyman to hold it (I have pics for our personal record!). He was thrilled!
We may have some future reenacters here. At the very least we all enjoyed this so much we'll be searching these events out once the weather gets nicer again.
I am SO very thankful for my husband & children. They are blessings I never thought I'd have & definitely don't deserve. I pray the Lord will bless them & keep them in His loving care always.
Thank You God for all my struggles & challenges as they draw me closer to You.
I took the kids to a local fish hatchery last spring. They loved it so much, that it made a nice, small outing for Big Guy's birthday. This was back in Sept., so I'm just a bit behind in this entry. It's much more fun in spring because of course that's when the nursery is just loaded with new fish.
We had a nice time walking around & feeding the trout though.
We heeded the sign...;-) Inside they have a few "occupants"...
He would be quite menacing, if... well, if he was still alive...
Live (sorta) on the inside
Owl Pellets
We learned how to tell a male from a female trout:
Adventures in Autism has a great video at the link clarifying why I don't like this organization (at least one of the reasons). There are more reasons in this article I posted sometime back, here.
Tammy at AutismLearningFelt has an Autism Mom's Thursday today in which the topic is Thanksgiving with autism, & how that day may differ from those who do not have autistic children.
I decided to contribute, because our Thanksgiving would probably be considered different from most.
When I was growing up Thanksgiving meant decorations, a nicely set table, company, & special foods. These things always seemed to be very important, particularly the food.
I tried that for a while in the early days with my kiddos but have finally given up (thankfully).
I do not decorate in general, never mind special holiday decorations. The kiddos tend to grab things, & anything put out that isn't normally out, like a special occasion decoration, is very subject to grabby hands.
For years I tried to control that, & continually rearranged & replaced the decorations, but as of the past few years I stopped decorating at all. That has alleviated a lot of stress.
I still might try to do a special craft (if they're easy) with some of the kiddos, & hang them off the refrigerator or a door or something. They, too, have been grabbed, but at least they're not usually breakable. They might end up torn somehow, but usually survive rather well. :-)
I do not set tables. That doesn't mean a fancy holiday table, but tables in general. On a daily basis, one of the children puts out a few placemats, napkins, & utencils for each meal, avoiding Little Bear's spot as he will grab the setting & it will end up on the floor. Each plate is filled & then brought to the person at the table, so I do not set food on the table in servers.
Since I can't do that on a regular basis, holiday table setting is completely out. That typically means many more breakables, & just can't be done here. We also don't go to anyone else's home for holidays anymore because they do set nice tables & have regular foods, which brings me to the next difference between our Thanksgiving & a "normal" one: food.
Our food is very simple. My oldest has been gluten & dairy free for almost eight years, & aside from an occasional infraction continues to be on a special diet. Butterfly does not tolerate dairy, does better off gluten, & is highly allergic to tree nuts. My Little Bear is a story unto himself in that he hardly tolerates any foods. His severe eczema as a baby was controlled by some very strict food eliminations. He eats in an "SCD" sort of way; for a while it was strict but now it's somewhat modified. Unfortunately, he's still not able to tolerate many foods.
Everywhere we go we typically bring food. To go to someone else's home & pack foods is not necessarily convenient, but we've done it in past. A few years ago we gave up that too, for the most part, as the boys tend to grab food also, not understanding that certain foods are not good for them. At holiday meals most people walk around with food, leave it places, & drop crumbs.
Folks also tend to leave drinking cups around with liquids in them, which my boys will take & either spill or drink themselves.
The past few years we've spent Thanksgiving alone as a family, which has taken a lot of stress off me. I still try to make a dish or two everyone can eat that is a bit different from our typically very plain foods. Since there are picky eaters here as well that is usually done more for hubs & one or two of the other kiddos. My severe boys are happy with the turkey, although Little Bear doesn't seem to like any poultry anymore, so this year I'll probably have to plan to have something else for him or a leftover available.
So our Thanksgivings are pretty much like any other day, but maybe with a different vegetable dish or dessert available. I find that everyday with autism there is enough to be concerned about, rather then wasting much needed energy fussing & stressing over one particular day that will be over quickly anyway.
The day isn't bad, & is somewhat relaxed as there's no homeschool, just the usual tasks that always need doing, & hubs has off work. The past few years we've also always had someone fall ill on Thanksgiving, so my prayer this year is really that everyone just stay healthy.
I also try to keep the kiddos focused on the fact that the reason this day is a big fuss is not for all the reasons most make it to be. Rather, it's because a group of brave believers wanted to settle somewhere they could worship their God, who is also my God, in freedom & safety. It's horrifically ironic & sad that right here, where believers came for freedom to worship & serve Him, persecution for doing just that is becoming more & more prevalent.
It's also odd that those who don't even care about Him or that freedom continue to celebrate this day (as well as others)... but in remembrance of what?
Those early settlers & believers were very thankful to Him for providing freedom for them. I am too. But my prayers also include that this freedom be remembered & continued.
I am very thankful to God for all the day trips we were able to take this Fall & all the activities we enjoyed together as a family!
I'm also thankful for the new practitioners & consultants on board for my severe sons, & do pray for wisdom that it all can make a positive difference for them.
I also thank God for His patience, & for not giving up on me, no matter what.
My little Ladybugs are quite timid in a lot of things, baths being one of them. Particularly Ladybug II. I even put bubbles in for her. It helps a bit, but for some reason she's always very tense & there's eventually a bit of a meltdown. I wish I could get her to relax & enjoy her bathtime!
We were watching a show where an infant was getting a bath, & my Ladybug II had her eyes fixed on the screen. Storyman & I were showing her how the baby was enjoying her bath (thankfully the baby on TV was smiling), but Ladybug II watched the baby with obvious concern.
Then Storyman says to Ladybug II in a nice way, "You're future is full of baths so you quite need to get used to it."
I couldn't help but laugh; I thought that was so funny, particularly the way he said it.
I had hoped to get the kiddos back to the zoo before winter weather starts. We tried for a Sat but it was very rainy. It cleared up a bit so we went Sunday instead. It was still dreary most of the day & a bit wet in places from the previous day. But the zoo was almost empty which was great. Although there's not as much going on as during peak seasons, there was no waiting to see any exhibits & we walked around easily. The temperature was also very comfortable.
The monkey house is always fun. We were up at the glass where there was a gorilla. He turned his, um, bum, to us, then slowly turned around. Then he suddenly stood straight up & beat his chest at us; I believe he made a noise but we really couldn't hear it from behind the glass. There weren't many of us but I suppose he felt protective over his area.
Under the blanket was a new mommy orangutan. A zookeeper was explaining but I could only hear a bit. I did get that it was her first child & a girl. The baby will cling to her mother's body for a good 6 months without letting go (I think human children should come with that ability; so much for daycares then... hehe). The smaller creature climbing up the ladder was a gibbon.
The gibbons also enjoy eating pumpkins.
We all got a kick out of this pretty leopard, grooming him/herself like a domestic kitty...
We got a great closeup look at the tigers as they walked right by the glass. That's another great thing about going off season while it's cooler outside... the animals are typically more active.
I think squirrel monkeys are very cute. It was handy having our own budding naturalist with us (Storyman), who explained that after they eat they spend a lot of time sitting around while digesting.
The otters were playful as usual.
The penguins are really cute (the fish stink was really strong there). Check out their little huts in the back. It's like a whole penguin neighborhood!
We went into the "small mammal" house to see what was there. The bats were cute but creepy. That whole area really stank! We could barely stand it in there.
I did linger long enough to get a picture of the meerkats. I think they are SO cute!
This aardvark... not so much. Looks like a huge rat to me (eeew; no offense "aardy"- s/he was actually quite friendly).
These giraffes were passing by each other & for a moment looked like an "X".
Definitely not the most fascinating species at the zoo, but (for some reason) I had to take a picture of this squirrel eating out of the garbage.
Another great bonus to going off season - we got a parking spot in a lot very close to the zoo! I think it was the first time we didn't have to walk a mile to get there after parking. :)
Samaritan's Purse has their shoebox program in full swing right now. It can be done all year round actually, but during this season they have drop off locations whereas during the rest of the year they need to be mailed.
We haven't done this for several years, but since I've been able to get out a bit easier I took the kiddos out to choose their shoebox items. Storyman filled a boy box & Butterfly a girl box, each for someone within their age groups.
Here is Storyman's stuff, ready for packing:
Butterfly's stuff, ready for packing:
It's optional whether you wrap the boxes or not, as long as the top is wrapped separately. They also have an "EZ Give" option where you can give the donation online & they will track your boxes for you. It will be fun to actually know where our boxes went!
There are a couple of drop off locations nearby. They are ready to go...
Very creative title eh? (That's about as creative as I get these days).
I've been working with Storyman & Butterfly on wrapping up their current levels with their CLE programs. I just ordered a bunch of new material for Butterfly, & already have on hand most of what Storyman will need. It will be good to move along.
We've been really happy with this program since I "found" it late last year, & I'm generally pleased with how it's working for us. It's getting the job done well, being challenging yet not frustrating, & quite flexible. It's also teaching them (mostly Storyman at this point) to be an independent learner. This is helpful to me & is very good for him (& will be for Butterfly too, as she progresses).
I feel the HANDLE program has been going well for both Little Bear & Big Guy. They like most of it, & much of it if not fun can be made to be fun (or at least somewhat :-)). I haven't seen any huge gains but Little Bear has had a bit of a spark that I like seeing. I can't put my finger on it, but small things matter.
I'm working on videos for our consultant so she can update us for this month. We have a few more months until the 6 months are up, then we'll see what to do from there. I'd really like to continue it with our present consultant or a new one. She won't be traveling back to our area. There's someone else I like because she does more than HANDLE so we'd be able to use her for more than one modality... but, we'd have to travel to her. That's a huge obstacle so we'll see.
I also have another consultant lined up for possible homeschool help with the boys starting in January. She is also long distance but can work via video/phone/email; she'd evaluate their individual situations & guide me through some activities with them. I'm seriously considering what to use for fascilitated communication for Big Guy (it has to be affordable & suit his needs). If I can decide on something that works for him maybe it can work for Little Bear as well.
I'll be changing natural health consultants for the boys. We've had 1-1/2 years with them with no improvements at all. Granted many have said it takes time, & could be years. However, they are very expensive, & the folks I use for the other kiddos work similarly for much less. They are supposed to actually work more "in depth", but we'll see on that too. That phone consult to get them started will be this week.
I have so many books I'd like to get to reading... I don't mean "for entertainment" type books. I mean autism, Christian living, etc. type books. I also like to listen to sermons online. I get little time to read & my brain forgets once it's put down somewhere. I'll start a book, not get back to it for a while, & forget about it entirely. Then when I find it & try to pick it up again I typically can't remember anything about it. I listen to sermons online at night & fall asleep in the middle of them. Pathetic, I know.
I'd love to put two words together for a somewhat thoughtful &/or entertaining post yet it's tough to squeeze out an update or trip entry these days. I do have a couple of those I hope to post this week.
I'm mommy to six special blessings including two with severe autism, all fearfully & wonderfully made by God. (Psalm 139:14) We are truly "living and learning" on the autistic spectrum, and we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us! (Phi 4:13)
Statements posted on this site are for informational purposes only and not to be construed as medical advice. If you need medical advice please consult your physician, DAN! or other experienced autism practitioner.
I bought some organic cranberry sauce for a treat too.
Oh, & a turkey. :-)
