Red Rock Overlook Hike in Pictures

I know I haven't written in nearly a week, and for that I am truly sorry.  I have tons and tons of ideas floating around in my head, many of which are in various stages of my writing process and sitting in Blogger waiting for me to get back at it.  I am also working on a guest post that will be showing up pretty soon...

But enough with the excuses!  I thought I would share with you, in pictures, why I have gotten little to no writing done today.  It was just too beautiful outside to be sitting inside with my laptop in front of me!  Hubby and I took the Crazies to Red Rock Overlook, a nearby park, for an afternoon hike and geocaching adventure.

Princess, styling & profiling in her very
"fashionable" hiking gear... she yelled "GEOCACHING"
just before I snapped this.  :)

And they're off!

The Little Things

At my house this isn't always the case!

It's the little things, really, that make motherhood so rewarding:


The extra long hugs, especially when you know your kids don't usually love them.

The charming I'm-so-proud-of-myself smiles of accomplishment.

The crayons found hidden in your underwear drawer by only God knows who, that make you laugh out loud at 6:00 a.m. when you find them.

The almost compliments received, like "you'd be pretty today, Mommy, if you weren't wearing make-up.  Or that shirt."

The hilarity of going out without the children, thinking you look great for a change, only to discover one of your charming offspring used your shoulder as a tissue when she hugged you good-bye, and so now you look like maybe YOU are the one that uncouthly blew your nose on your shirt.  

The countless pieces of artwork that threaten to swallow your fridge whole.

The shampoo bottles in the shower that have all been filled to the top with water.

Nova Scotia

This week on the Crazy Train, we are very happy to have my mother and sister visiting with us.  Birdie was so excited about their impending visit, in fact, that on Friday, while awaiting their arrival, she planned a very special event for them.  When when my mom and sister got here, Birdie enthusiastically told them about the wonderful trip to Nova Scotia that they had the opportunity to be a part of.  Yep, that's right-- Nova Scotia.  Don't ask me why.

Image from Cross Canada Train Tours

By now, my mother and sister have learned that sometimes Birdie's big plans happen, and sometimes she moves onto other things before bringing them to fruition, so they weren't much worried about Nova Scotia.  After a few minutes of excited banter, Birdie moved onto a different topic, and that was the last mention of the trip on Friday.  Saturday afternoon, however, Birdie started making preparations for a day of "travel by train" to the vacation wonderland that is Nova Scotia.  She set up most of the top floor of our townhouse, including her bedroom, the bathroom, and the hallway, as different stops on the vacation tour.  She was very proud indeed of her Nova Scotia wonderland by the time she finished Saturday at dinnertime.  Everything was in place for the big event on Sunday.

Understood Rules

Yesterday was a horribly disagreeable day here on the Crazy Train.  The day started off rocky, and continued at a consistently bumpy cadence the rest of the day.  For whatever reason-- the alignment of the stars, the toss of the dice, the smell of the laundry hamper (your guess is as good as mine!)-- peace was not to be had between Princess and Birdie.

The civil unrest began shortly after breakfast, when I went out to get my morning exercise.  (We have a sidewalk loop right in front of our townhouse where I try walk a mile or two each morning.)  The girls declined my invitation to come out an play while I walked, stating that they were "in the middle of THE most awesome story show ever and didn't have time."  Whatever.  They were getting along nicely, so I let it go.

Twenty minutes into my walk, just as I was getting to the good part of the Harry Potter book I'm reading, Birdie came charging out the front door.  She let the whole neighborhood know that "Sissy tried to strangle me with her bare hands!  TWICE!"

Vicious, aren't they?  (borrowed image)

Great.  "So what did you do to cause that reaction, Birdie?"  Guess I'll finish my walk later.

"Uhhhhhh, nothing?!"  She said this like it was a question.  Which meant the answer was decidedly not "nothing".

To Infinity and Beyond!

How do we manage to have such dorky conversations at the dinner table?!

Tonight, we were talking about how Brussel sprouts, cabbage and broccoli are all cruciferous vegetables (don't laugh yet-- it gets dorkier), even though they seem so different.  What makes them cruciferous, Princess wondered.  I explained that they are all related because the flowers on the plants have four petals that resemble a cross, thus "cruciferous", which is Latin for cross-like.  Princess didn't like this explanation.  "A flower shouldn't make them RELATED.  Broccoli rocks, but cabbage and Brussel sprouts suck!  I mean it!  That's just dumb."

He does look dumb...

"You want to talk about dumb", said Birdie, "then let's discuss Buzz Lightyear for a minute.  (So she was the one that left the Toy Story DVD lying in the floor earlier... hmmm.)  That idiot likes to use the phrase 'to infinity and beyond!'  Like there is anything beyond infinity!  It's infinity because we don't know where it ends!  Duh."


(I warned you it would get dorkier.  Doesn't everyone talk about cruciferous vegetables and infinity with their little ones?  I say make each moment a dorky teachable moment.)


This was not the first time the subject of infinity has come up at the dinner table.  About three weeks ago, the whole family had discussed the idea of infinity to some extent over dinner.  The whole conversation made my brain hurt, and I was glad when it was over.  I should have known it wasn't over for good.  Things have a way of getting repeated again and again around here.  I'd say it's like deja vu, but it isn't as baffling as that.  My kids just cannot let things go.  Ever.  Even when you think they finally have.  It takes very little to revive a long-forgotten topic-- like seeing the Toy Story DVD, for example.  That was all it took to set my expert conversational-track-jumper into action, making the leap from cabbage to infinity in a single bound.  

Big Day in Small Town NC

My girls have spent the last couple of July 4ths at our house in the suburbs of Virginia.  This year for Independence Day, however, I packed up my car and drove south to the small town in North Carolina where I grew up, and where my folks still live.  Now that they are old enough to really enjoy it, I thought it was high time Princess and Birdie experience this holiday of patriotism, greasy grilled food, and amateur pyrotechnic displays in a place and way that I recall fondly from my youth.  I think that they are really happy that we did.

We started our day bright and early with my home town's "Big Day" celebration, which kicked off with a parade.

Birdie waiting for the parade to start

The lead unit in the parade, right after the
police car escort and the National Guard color guard

What Makes Us Different

Image courtesy of University of North Texas Dept of Biological Sciences

As I have mentioned before, Birdie and Princess are identical twins.  Recently, Birdie has really been fixated on and fascinated by the fact that her sister is called her "identical twin", and yet there are many differences between them.  Being very literal in speech, every time this comes up, Birdie is really bugged by the discrepancy.  The fact that she and Princess have the same genetic material-- which is supposed to define you-- and yet they are so very different really drives Birdie's need to understand how DNA works.  I have not wanted to get into a huge amount of detail with her about the mechanics of genetics-- mainly because I am pretty sure I would run out of info before she was satisfied.  We have, however, talked a tiny bit about how a baby's womb environment can change its DNA expression.  She was not impressed by this explanation, and has apparently given the whole identical DNA thing a lot of thought.

Last week, Birdie and I had the following conversation:

Enthusiasm in Pictures: Wednesday Disability Blog Hop

Welcome back to the Disability Blog Hop, hosted by Meriah at With A Little Moxie!  This week, our prompt was:

 SAY CHEESE! Let's have some photos - just post some fun pictures that have a connection with disability - your child with Down syndrome/special needs, yourself and your bad-ass chair, your hearing/seeing dog. What-have-you, but let's have us some FUN. 

 

Well, that's certainly easy enough!  My contribution follows.  :)

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One Special Daddy

Daddy's girls

Yesterday, my husband celebrated his ninth Father's Day.

Yesterday, my girls and I celebrated another year with the most amazingly perfect father I could ever dream of for my girls.

My Mess, My Memories

This past weekend, my family and I were invited to my friend's beautiful new home for a housewarming party.  Her house is so lovely!  Everything is so immaculately clean.  The decor is tasteful and eclectic, and reflects the personality of the hostess perfectly.  The yard is absolutely to die for, and the whole darn town has a very Mayberry kind of vibe.  Needless to say, I loved it!!!  I am green with envy over her yard, the abundance of open space in her new house, and the freshness of it all.  It is all so... new.

And my house is so... lived in.  Quite frankly, my place could use some serious "freshening up".  Some new carpet.  A coat of paint or ten.  Hell, even a once over with a soapy rag from top to bottom would help!  But alas, all the living we have done, and continue to do in this house-- the very living that has made this place the mess it is today, keeps getting in the way of the "freshening".  Well, the living and my reluctance to change some things.

I have two main reasons for not wanting to update my house.  You can decide if they are good reasons.


My first reason to delay home improvement is that "the kids are just going to mess it up again anyway."  Can you hear my dramatically put-out tone of voice when you read this?  I try to convince myself this is the practical voice in my head, helping me to wait until I will get more bang for my renovation buck.  In reality, it is probably the lazy-ass voice in my head, which knows from experience how much more fun it is to wield a crochet hook than a paint roller.

To Be Seen Without

Welcome to the Wednesday Disability Blog Hop, which was started by Meriah at With A Little Moxie. I stumbled upon this hop via my friend Becca's blog, The Bates Motel, and if you haven't had the privilege of reading her work, you should stop by sometime.

Any hoo, Captain Kirk has posed this week's prompt for the Blog Hop...

...and here's what I have to say about that.


I have lived an extremely unusual life.  I can honestly say that in my 36 years of existence, I have never-- nope, not even once-- met a completely "abled" person.  Every single person I have ever met on this great planet we call Earth, has had some sort of disability or special need.  Yes, even you.

Frozen Moments

As the end of the school year rapidly approaches, and the impending summer "break" looms nearby, I find myself wondering what new and unbelievably embarrassing scenarios I have waiting for me in the near future.  You see, it is my selective memory personal experience that the summer has way more of those situations-- the ones where the occurring events are so completely mortifying that you will always and forever have every detail of it burned into your brain, like it just happened.  I refer to these situations as "frozen moments" since I can see them like the are paused on the tv screen, frozen in time.

Car Shopping 101

Image borrowed from Ai-Dealer.com

A car dealership is no place for children... which is exactly why Hubby and I took our angels with us car shopping yesterday.

If you have ever been on a car lot, then you know that one of a salesperson's best tactics is to make nice with your kids (if you are crazy enough to bring your kids).  You see said salesperson kissing up to being sweet with your kiddies and you are supposed to instantly trust him.  My kids seem to throw a wrench into this plan.  When they were smaller, their constant crying warded off the sales team.  These days, their crazy clothes, unkempt hair, the stuffies both girls bring that they are obviously conversing with, and Princess's willful avoidance of eye contact when spoken to by strangers (aka car salesmen), all add up to a very hassle-free car shopping experience for Hubby and me.  It probably also helped that, prior to our little visit, we let the girls play with water guns for two hours (making them very tired), loaded them up with chocolate chip cookies, and then told them we would only be staying a "few minutes" at the dealership before we went toy shopping.  I don't know for certain if this had an effect, but call it a hunch.

Princess & Birdie's Fantasy Life

Can you hear the Twilight Zone theme music emanating from this image?

There is a world that exists solely in the minds of my daughters.  No one else is invited to visit.  No one else, I believe, could truly understand this place.  It is the place where most all of Princess and Birdie's playtime is spent, and it is hard to get them to leave.  The world is called Story Show Land, and my girls are its supreme rulers.

Mother's Day Reflections

The week after Mother's Day eight years ago, I had the distinct pleasure of becoming a mother myself.

Me as a brand new mom, still stoned from the awesome
delivery room drugs.  Dude, I look puffy!

Better Together...

The day Princess and Birdie came home from the hospital

My daughters are so connected.  Of course they fight and sometimes don't see eye to eye-- they are sisters, after all-- but most of the time they are the best of friends.  It is a very special bond that Princess and Birdie share.  I envy the closeness between them.  They have been together since the beginning of time and they seem to be joined by some invisible bond.  They love, support and care for each other  SO MUCH... it is just hard to explain.  Recently, they have been especially loving.  This has made me nostalgic and sappy, and so I have been reviewing my photo albums.  Here's few of my favorite pictures.  You can almost see the invisible bond in these photos.  :)

The Diabolical Easter Egg Hunt

Bwahahahahahaha!

I was up to no good today.  What kind of mother would take advantage of the festivities of the Easter holiday to manipulate her kids?  The desperate kind, like me.

You may recall from my previous post, The Things We Hold Onto, that my children have a hard time putting things away.  And throwing things away, for that matter.  I decided to trick motivate them into cleaning up their disaster zones bedrooms by making them an offer they could not refuse.

The Talent No-Show

Princess and Birdie cheesing for the camera.  Already, Birdie has the diva attitude down cold.

Both of my children are absolutely certain they are destined to be stars.  Princess knows her stardom will be the result of being a Princess, so she has nothing to prove.  Birdie, on the other hand, is still searching for her claim to fame.  She thinks she may be onto something with the school Talent Show.

Last week the girls brought home fliers announcing the upcoming school Talent Show.  Princess immediately put hers in the recycling bin.  Birdie read the flier and had stars in her eyes.  Oh sweet lord, not again...

Treasure Defined in a Nutshell

My daughters have very different definitions of treasure.  I am sure you have noticed that treasure is a topic of great importance at my house because of the frequency with which I use that word in my writing.  I thought maybe some visuals would help.

Birdie's definition of treasure is loose and expansive.  For example, discarded potpourri found in a neighbor's yard is treasure.

Old potpourri

My Unscientific Theories about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD)

Last weekend when I logged onto Facebook, I found waiting for me a message from my husband's uncle.  After reading my blog, he did some research and found the same things I learned a few years ago-- that doctors and scientists have plenty of theories but aren't really sure what causes autism and ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder).  He asked me a question that I feel is worth addressing here, because I have wrestled with it often.  He asked what my gut instinct as a mom told me about what caused our daughters' ASD.

Oh dear lord, where to start?  This question takes hold of my brain sometimes and pesters me-- harasses me-- and leaves me feeling a whole bunch of unpleasant things that include exhaustion, exasperation, guilt, anger, and resentment.  I used to ponder this idea a lot more when the girls were younger, but less as time goes by.  Whether this is because I care less about figuring it out, or that I spend my time doing other things, or that I have accepted that the why doesn't matter much to my situation, is beyond me.