You're My Buddy

Lately Liam has been a pistol when it's time to go to bed. 


He's all boy.  He normally goes and goes until he just stops and finally falls asleep.  Lately, in bed, I have been laying with him after we day a prayer at bedtime.  A week or so ago, he patted his head and said "Do this."  He wanted me to scratch his head...I sometimes do this to get him to relax.  Fast forward to last night. 


Neighbors in the next cul-de-sac were shooting off some Memorial Day fireworks.  We opened the blinds to watch them from our window.  Ava was sleeping, so it was just Liam and myself nestled up against the window, watching the fireworks.  Once they were finished, we closed the blind.  I started scratching his head.  When I was finished, he would say "do that again."  So I scratched his head a little bit longer.  He. Loves. This.  When I was finished, AGAIN he asked that I scratch his head.  I wanted him to get some sleep, so I told him it was time for bed.  He leaned over to me and said "You're my sweet buddy!"  He said it again.  I had to laugh.  He wasn't trying to get me to do it again, but it was his way of thanking me for doing that for him.  Today when I got up and gave them breakfast, he said it again:  "You're my buddy!"


I love it. :-)


Peace, love and buds,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Crossword puzzles

Looks like someone has been in Dad's crossword puzzle book?

Peace, love and artwork,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Ava & Liam: 29 Months Apart

Recently Ava and Liam had doctors appointments within days of each other.  I thought it was interesting how close in size they actually are!


On 05/25 Ava measured 3 feet 6.5 inches tall.  She weighed 39 lbs 1.6 oz. She is 62 months old. 
On 05/21 Liam measured 3 feet 2.5 inches tall.  He weighed 37 lbs.  He is 34.5 months old. 


So, for the record, Liam is 29 months behind Ava, but only 4 inches shorter and 2 lbs lighter.


Peace, love and vitamins,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam :)

Tick #2

Ava was sitting at the table coloring on Tuesday, when I saw something dark in her hair.  Upon closer inspection, I saw it was a tick.  I tried to flick it off with my fingernail, but it seemed firmly attached to her scalp.  So I scraped it off with my nail.  The little booger tried to get back to her scalp pretty quickly.  I went and got a wipe and scraped it off of her scalp into the wipe.  It took quite a few pinches to get this tick to stop moving.  I put it in a jar of rubbing alcohol and inspected her scalp further.  I think I got the entire tick off all at once (the head seemed like it was still attached to its body). 

Ava says she remembers itching her head at naptime, so she thinks it was there at that time, too.  Knowing this, I would say the tick was on her from 10 a.m., when her class was outside at school until 7:30 p.m.  Bummer.  We’re heading to the doc tomorrow to be preventative and ask for a course of anti-biotics, just to be safe.  I don’t think the tick had yet found a blood supply on her scalp, so that is a good thing. 

Having had a tick on me when I was 7-months pregnant with Liam, I am a little less worried, knowing how little it was attached to her.  Thank goodness it came off as easily as it did, and hadn’t yet gotten to her blood.  A friend said they seem to be more active this year.  I know I found the tick on me in May, so it must be this time of year that they are so active. 

I will definitely be mentioning this to the day care principal tomorrow, to be sure they are vigilant about it.  I’m sure they probably haven’t had an issue in the past, but hopefully now they will be cautious and check everyone. 

Please check yourself and your friends EVERY TIME you come in from being out-of-doors!

Peace, love and nervous about ticks,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Ava's Pre-K Graduation: I Forgot the Kleenex!

: 

Today Ava graduated from the Pre-K class at Lighthouse Academy.  I had NO. IDEA. I would be such an emotional wreck EVEN BEFORE it started!  Oy vay, that really surprised me?

It was a very sweet ceremony!  Ms. Ebony marched the kids in, they then performed three songs.  The rising 3 year-old class also did a song.  Ava’s class sat up on the stage in the sanctuary / auditorium of the East Cobb United Methodist Church.  They also had a slide show set to a song called “Let Them Be Little”.  The slide show had pictures of the kids throughout their years at Lighthouse.  Normally one to realize that the song is oozing with emotion and heart-string tug attempts, I can USUALLY overcome and trump the tear-thing.  Nope, not this time.  My eyes were welling with tears!  Raphael’s Mom sat to my right and was also holding back the tears, which made me feel better.  I looked over at Doug and HE even had a smidgen of a tear falling down his cheek.  My sweet man, aww! 

Ava looked SO big sitting up there on stage in her cap and gown.  When she went to get her “diploma” from Mrs. Edwina, her cap fell off… quite a few of the kids had this problem.  J  Ms. Ebony then went through the graduating class and asked each child what they wanted to be when they grew up.  Their answers? 

Ava: Horse Rider (because you get to do tricks).  Ava says she originally said “teacher” during practice, but changed her mind, because "horse riders have the best job and get to do tricks!"

Jack:  An artist

Ruby:  A house decorator

Tommye-Elyse:  A teacher

Sara: A Mommy

Max:  A ship builder

Eli: A firefighter

Veer: A car driver

Raphael: A doctor

Mia: A Horse Rider

Ava was given a Barbie and a nice outfit from Miss Alicia.  She was also given a Pre-K graduation medal, a sash she wore when she accepted her diploma, and a nice princess art set from the school staff.  We also gave her some pink and yellow daisies, her favorite colors! 

The school had a lunch that followed.  We ate lunch at the same table as Tommy-Elyse’s family (her Mom Tommye, her Dad Threadwell, her ten year-old brother Trenton).  We also met Edwina’s husband, Mr. Campbell.  We learned that Ms. Ebony recently earned her Master’s degree in Social Work and will be leaving within the next month.  We’re so thankful for the amazing job she does every day with the Pre-K class!  She will definitely be missed. 

We had asked Ava earlier in the week where she wanted to go, letting her know we wanted to have a special family day to celebrate her graduation.  She wanted to go to Monkey Joe’s.  J  So after Ava’s graduation ceremony, we woke Liam early from his nap at school and headed to Monkey Joe’s!

Peace, love and “diplomatic” behavior,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Honoring the Strykers

Our friend Alicia Stryker asked me a while back if she could include me as a reference on an application for an Autism conference they hoped to attend (for parents with Autistic children).  She had to submit an application requesting to go to the conference.


From Alicia's blog:  "WinShape is an amazing retreat center located on the grounds of Berry College in Rome, GA. An organization called Myles-a-Part sponsors a weekend each year at WinShape for parents of autistic children. Tina Dula started Myles-a-Part after her son Myles was diagnosed with autism. She, along with Cynthia and Faron Wiseman, read through countless applications each year and then select 6 married couples to participate. The weekend is free and it includes all meals, snacks, sessions, lodging, and even a 30 minute massage. :-) All of it is paid for by Bubba Cathy, the son of Truett Cathy (owner of Chick-Fil-A)."


She and I both thought it was odd that they never contacted me, or the other friend Alicia listed as a reference.  About a month before the conference, I was finally contacted by Tina.  She asked if I (along with the help of Alicia's other reference friend) could contact any of their friends, to send some notes of encouragement, cards and small gifts to them, to surprise them at the retreat after dinner on Saturday night.  I was told that a basket with the notes would be left in their room, for them to find after dinner on that Saturday night.  I thought it might be a daunting task, but was up for the challenge.  At first I started Facebook-stalking them, to determine who all of their close friends might be (who I might not know).  I sent numerous messages out to friends, telling them to send letters, cards and any gifts our way.  I collected somewhere around 15 cards from numerous friends and family.  People were so willing to send things in the mail.  That made my heart smile.  I couldn't wait until Joe and Alicia opened the basket of cards, notes and gifts.


I took the job seriously and tried to find as many "just perfect" things for the occasion.  I didn't want to slack on this job!  The basket included quite a few things.  I wanted to keep with the "retreat" and relaxation mentality, so everything was about some serious chill-time and being pampered.

•         Card / Gift bag (may be picture frames in the bag?) sent from someone ( “Keep Calm and Carry On”
•  Card/wrapped gift, looks like it could be a decorative word of some sort “Family” (or something like that?)
• 14 more cards from others
• Sparkling cider (red grape) / two glasses
• Eiffel Tower matchbox with matches (they've visited Paris, so I thought they would appreciate these)
• Scented candles from Melissa Baillairge
• Fancy schmancy coffee from Melissa Baillairge
• Fancy schmancy soap from Target
• Fancy schmancy bath fizzie from Target (It’s called “Honey Please”, so I thought that might be cute)
•  Fancy schmancy lotion (called Cloud 9)
• Andes mints (Alicia loves chocolate and mint)
• Reeses wrapped in the shape of a football / football foil (with them being sports buffs, I thought this would be perfect!)
•  George Winston’s “Summer” cd (instrumental piano – hey, It can double as a nighttime cd for their kiddos, if they’re not into piano).
• “I Love You” coupon book (nothing risqu?, but cute)
• “Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Autism: Stories of Hope and Everyday Success” book

That Saturday night, Alicia called me in tears at about 8:00.  She could barely talk, she was so choked-up and touched.  She couldn't believe the outpouring of support and love from family and friends.  She wanted to thank us for putting everything together.  She had no idea that the "reference" would be put up to something like this.  :-)  

Other than those gifts, I dreamed up / thought it would be ENTIRELY fitting if we gave them a gift of a nice shadowbox with a world map inside.  We gave them a fancy box of stickpins that they could use to pinpoint the cities / countries they've visited together.  You wouldn't believe how hard it was to find a nice map of the world that was large enough to show U.S. cities!  I know I would love a gift like that, and with all of the traveling they do, they can now make a memory out of adding new pins to the map.  Alicia mentioned that when they got home that weekend, Joe put the pins in the places they had visited. 

Doug helped me mount the map to some foam board with sprayment, cutting the foam board down to size, so it would fit in the shadowbox.  It took some searching to find a shadow box big enough, nice map, right stick pins, etc, but I think it was well worth it.  Check out the pictures of their swag below!  It made me happy to be the one that got to organize / shower them with love from all of their friends.  We know they appreciated it!

Here is a picture of the basket that I took at our house, before delivering to Tina. (Tina was the retreat organizer who then took the baskets for the couples to the retreat center).

A picture of the basket taken by Alicia, when they found it in their room:

A picture of the shadow box, taken by Alicia in their room at the retreat:

All of their stash. :)

Peace, love and retreat treats,

Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Evil Magician vs. Swiper

Liam is entirely fascinated with "Swiper" from Dora the Explorer cartoons.  Swiper goes around trying to get at / take the items that Dora uses.  He pops out of trees in an attempt to get at Dora's special item.  Dora then sees him and asks the audience to say "Swiper, no swiping!" three times.  After that happens, Swiper says "Oh, man!" and goes away.  Liam would often talk about Swiper at bedtime.  Liam got upset when his friend Frankie from school called him "Swiper." 

Ava seemed to be obsessed with the evil magician (aka Professor Hinkle) from the "Frosty the Snowman" movie.  At one point in the movie, he jumps out from behind a bush at the North Pole and without hesitation blows out the fire that keeps Karen (the shivering little girl who befriends Frosty) warm. 

Both kids don't understand what would possess someone / something to go out of their way to be rude.  Both kids torture themselves by asking to watch the show / movie over and over again, in an attempt to understand why that character might act that way.  I think it is definitely an interesting approach in dealing with fears!


Peace, love and the boogeyman,
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

Gardening 2011

This year we're hoping to finally get some landscaping done on the creek side of our house.  The footings for the house are exposed and have been since we've lived here.  It's hard to walk from the front of the house to the back on this side, with the ground as uneven as is currently.  Doug and I agree; right now the eroding soil (leading down to our creek) detracts from the value of our house.  We've decided to build a wall about 9-10 feet away from the house, with some railroad timbers.  We will need PLENTY of fill dirt to make this happen.  Before we can even get started...


We had someone from Cobb County come out to check out the culvert in our front yard.  There are actually two huge pipes.  One is filled with dirt.  We were hoping Cobb County would clean it out, so that the water would flow further away from our front yard (in the culvert/pipe furthest from our house).  When they came out, they told us the one further away from us is actually meant for back-up only.  Not a huge deal.  They did clean it out.  When they visited, they asked about a string Doug had tied between two pieces of wood, from one end of our house to the other end.  When I told the Conunty guys about the eventual plans for the retaining wall, he ended up putting Doug in touch with the right people to get the ball rolling.  We had to submit the info to the county, the county had to submit it to the state.  We had to be approved to begin the work as the wall lies within the 25 foot buffer of a waterway in Georgia.  Yes, our little "trickle".  :-)  (We're technically not even supposed to weedwhack, since it is in a protected "buffer" area). 


All of the submissions / approvals happened.  We then had to put an ad in the local paper advising of our plans, so all neighbors would know about it.  (They could inquire about it, if they wanted, but the state already approved the plans).  Last Friday, we received the official approval letter from the DNR, advising we're good to proceed.  We can now pull the permit to get the ball rolling.  Wa-hoo!  So we will finally get to use the huge pile of railroad timbers that are neatly stacked (and tarped) in our back yard.  Hopefully they go a long way...they weren't cheap!


All that to say, I have done MINIMAL gardening this year, knowing that most of our money will be used to install this wall, and knowing that we might have to tear up landscaping anywhere near that side of the yard.


I do have my collection of containers in which I have gardened in the past.  They're an eyesore (I think some might think so) and I'm sure my neighbors just LOVE seeing them.  So, I decided a visual barrier was just the ticket.  I put in eight double knock-out roses and 16 "Fragrant Return" daylilies this past weekend.  I left a little entry-way "gap" in between, in which I hope to eventually add fieldstone or some sort of flat stone. 


While cleaning out behind the pots, I tried to pull out some HUGE weeds.  I had ONE LAST WEED left and tried to stabilize myself by putting my foot down behind the pot.  Big mistake.  I stepped on a yellowjacket bee's nest.  They let me know they didn't appreciate my arriving unannounced.  ;-)  I got stung once on the foot (wearing sandals) and ran away like a banshee.  I'm normally not a runner when it comes to situations like this, but they were pretty stirred up!  A bee followed me.  I ran again.  A bee followed me yet again.  I ran some more.  They left me alone after that.  Or should I say I left THEM alone?  Doug killed the nest with the remaining hornet killer we had.  I was SO glad I wasn't stung more than once! 


In the pots, I did plant some heirloom tomatoes (Rutgers, Celebrity, Beefsteak, Beefmaster, Mortgage Lifter, Cherokee Purple, Sweet 100 and a few others), jalapenos, Carolina Wonder bell pepper, a burpless cucumber, strawberries and some other things I can't remember right now.  Our little fig tree made it through the winter, so hopefully we'll see some fruit from it again.


Peace, love and hitting them where it counts... the BEE'S KNEES!
Shelly, Doug, Ava and Liam

This year's mystery plant.  I thought I planted seeds last year.  It turns out they were bulbs.  These are the leaves of amaryllis, although I didn't know it when this picture was taken! 

 Hello, Newman!  Staying far away from this poison ivy.  I have not had to deal with a poison ivy rash this year, like I did last year (three times!)

Amaryllis in bloom.

The finished product, after adding 8 Double Knock-Out Roses and 16 Fragrant Return daylilies.  I would say the pots are camoflauged, for the most part.

The left side.

The right side.

The yellowjacket bee's nest I stepped on... :(  You can see the dead bees if you look closely!

The containers are visible only when you get close to the garden itself. 

I left the gap as an entryway, in which I hope to put stone one day.

Lilies of the valley. 

My Grandma Nila had these in her front yard.  I love these. 

I just have to find somewhere to put them, until we get all of this landscaping business sorted out....

Had to pull out the amaryllis in order to put in the knock-out roses. 

I'm sure I will find somewhere fun to put these, too.