Are You Kidding Me???!!!???

Okay people!  Who was supposed to remind me that the full moon was today?  Ah, I didn't get the memo and Autism kicked my butt today big time!!!!! So I made an innocent decision for my family to do something together that we all really like, go to the movies.  James giggles hysterically every time he sees the commercials for Hotel Transylvania so off we went.  James had an EPIC tantrum getting into the car, then an equally EPIC tantrum getting out of the car.  The one where he was trying to bolt across the parking lot took the prize because as my husband tackled him back to safety, James was screaming "BUT I DID EVERYTHING RIGHT!!!! I LOOKED BOTH WAYS TWICE!!"  We finally made it safely into the theater 3 minutes before the movie was about to start and SOLD OUT ~ Another Oscar winning performance!  We finally made it home but I was done!! I had nothing left!!!!
As we headed out later for a quick supper and a little shopping I saw the reason for James' horrific afternoon~ >>FULL MOON ALERT 2012-2013<<

I Love You More!!!

This is one of James' favorite conversations with me.  It goes something like this:
"I love you Mom!" (James)
"I love you more!" (Me)
"I love you the most!" (James)
"I love you more than the most!" (Me)
~and today he added this final little jab~
"I love you best of all!... well except for toys, I really like toys!"
So today as my husband and I celebrate our 18th wedding anniversary (that's porcelien, I know, I checked), I know that I am loved!! One boy (well man when I met him) I grew to love and one boy I have loved since the second I knew he potentially existed!  We are so blessed to have found each other.  Yea us!!

Our Budding Writer ~ FINALLY!!

Those of you who know the story behind how my husband and I named our children, just bare with me. For those of you who don't, here it is.  Our daughter Charlotte, was named for my favorite author, Charlotte Bronte.  I am very lucky to have a family name that is very near the last name of the lead character in my favorite book by her, Jane Eyre.  So Charlotte is Charlotte Ayres (to be perfectly honest, if I had my complete way with naming her she would have been Jane Ayres.  Didn't get that but we are super happy with Charlotte)... My husband got to name our son for his favorite author, Jane Austen soooooooo... James Austen.  Got it?  Good.  Now what does that have to do with today's blog?  Just a little back story so that you understand that our children really have no choice than to become writers not just mediocre writers, but iconic writers.  Charlotte started at a very early age (5) with her first book called The Flower Who Wrapped a Present.   She has since become a very accomplished young writer and hopes to make a living at it (I have tried to tell her that having a backup plan may be a good idea!)
Today, I got a wonderful email from James' teacher telling me that James wanted to write a story today and needed to be redirected back to the work he was supposed to do but if he finished the work he could write.  James came home with a horribly crumpled paper (which we found out later needed to happen so he could fit the page in his pocket) with the following story. He says it isn't finished yet but we enjoyed hearing it at supper!

The story of the Knight named James
              Chapter 1
Once upon a time a knight in gold walked up to the King. The King said "James I want you to go to the cave of the dragon." "I will do my best" said James. "And you will" said the King "you will win and take the sword of fire" said the King. So the Knight sent of the cave he found it and fighted the dragon he striked and got : the sword of fire.
          Chapter 2
James the Knight found Kevin the archer
Agan James walked in the forest and founed his friend Kevin they sent Of Jacob G. the house man they found Jacob G. and was going to see King Trenton but they had to fight a evil Knight They won and resqud the King.
          The End

James then wanted to cast us for the roles to do the movie over the weekend.  He is very strict and his casting following gender roles to the T.  Charlotte declared that she wanted to be the King.  James looked at her and stated that she couldn't be the king because she needed to follow the rules!  It all makes sense to him but she likes to shake things up a little.  To bad the queen doesn't come in until the 16th chapter!  I guess I will be silent this weekend! 

Rare Moment.........AWWWWWW Moment

Okay, it goes without saying, I LOVE my kids!  I don't always love how they act towards each other but siblings will be siblings.  James can be full of surprises and today was a wonderful one.  It is Charlotte's 16th birthday today and this is what he gave her:

It is a sibling coupon (that is what he calls it, a coupon) He was so sweet to give it to her and I made sure she thanked him even though I knew she was trying to figure out what "things" he meant.  Are the things her indoor skydiving she got for her birthday, her pre-cal homework, emptying the dishwasher?  What does he mean was her questioning glare my way when she got it.  I told her to accept it for what it is.  He is giving her something that on the face of it is amazingly sweet.  AWWWW, he really loves her and for the first time he gave of himself this year!

So today, my baby turns 16 and I am not sure how it happened! How did this gorgeous baby grow into this amazingly brilliant and beautiful young lady?  How could I be chosen to have such an awesome kid?  She is a true scholar and to this point (to my knowledge) hasn't tripped into the familiar teen territory of being a rebel.  Charlotte gave me the title of Mom and it has and will always be my favorite name of all time!

Today, I celebrate both of my kids and the amazing relationship they share.  My husband and I are truly blessed!!!!!!!

James' Question of the Day...

"Mom, are flies ticklish?" (Okay, how do you answer a question like this one?)
"Ahhh, don't know buddy, but I know I get ticklish when they land on me."

Anyone out there know if flies are ticklish?  My little man wants to know!

The King of Negotiations is at it Again!!

James is the KING of negotiations and making deals.  I received a fabulous email from his teacher this morning that took me back to one of my first blog posts >>Remember this one? Click here<<.  I sent James to school today with what would be considered a lot of money for a little man.  The money is for the read-a-thon his class did last Friday to raise money for their class field trips this year.  I sent an email to his teacher letting him know that James had it in his backpack.  The email I received back was priceless (which is good because with a capitalist like James, "priceless" is about all I can afford these days!) In the email his teacher let me know that he got the precious envelope with the money but later James decided it might have been better as a birthday gift for him.
James is obsessed with his birthday this year and is already planning a HUGE event!  I keep telling him it is a few months away and I need to get through Charlotte's 16th birthday first (not to mention my birthday and an 18 year anniversary celebration~ they are all within 5 days of each other starting this Friday!)  Anyway, back to the email... Apparently James is trying to hit his teacher up for an IPad or cell phone.  He knows I won't get them for him because Charlotte didn't get her cell phone until she was 12 and he is going to be 9.    Someone please send extra strength to get me to and beyond November 12th!  Oh and just to add to the mayhem, this morning James started talking about Santa.
PLEASE                      HELP                  ME!!!!!!
>>I think there is a reason that this song has been one of his favorites forever!<<

I know I use this picture a lot but this is what we need to get all the
things that James feels he needs to survive in this computer age!

I Guess IT Was HUNGRY!!!!!!

James constantly loses things!  I mean things that are super important to him like his favorite stuffed animal, DS, 3DS, favorite Wii games...  He spends a lot of his time running and screaming trying to find these things.  My husband and I have told him over and over that he is responsible for his things!  However, when he loses them, our lives become a living HELL!!  Just like I need a microchip embedded into James somewhere, I need microchips for his belongings.
His DS with his "FAVORITE" game in it had been missing for weeks!  We had looked absolutely everywhere!  Finally I told my husband to dump over the couch because things tend to go between the recliner portions of the couch.  He dumped over the couch, not only did he find enough dust to make an actual dust bunny (YUCK!), but there was the prodigal DS with the "FAVORITE" game still in it!  

Today, James was playing with his 3DS and don't know how he did it but somehow he lost it in the matter of 10 minutes!  Again, we looked everywhere.  Eventually, I looked at my husband again and told him to dump over the couch.  Wouldn't you know it.......... there was the 3DS!  I guess I need to feed that couch more!  From now on, if James loses anything, the first place we will be looking is under the quiet and comfy couch!
"Mom! I lost my watch."  "Dump over the couch!"
"Mom! I can't find Rodger (his favorite stuffed animal)" "Dump over the couch!"
"Mom! Can you help me find my.... "Just dump over the freakin' couch!"

Rowley Math! AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH

Timed anything for James is torture!  Timed math, never a good thing.  James hates doing this part of his homework.  We have tried me writing and him telling me what to write, we have tried not timing it, we have tried just about everything.  Today, was EPIC!!!! James was beside himself because I crossed out the top line on the page which has the answers.  Little man when ballistic!!!!
"MY TEACHER TOLD ME I WAS SUPPOSED TO PRACTICE ONLY!"
"James, you know all of the X3 facts, so I crossed out the answers."
"MOM, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE MY MOM ANYMORE BECAUSE YOU ARE MAKING ME DO SOMETHING MY TEACHER WON'T ALLOW!"
"Sorry buddy, today is our timed practice test.  Do you want the timer or the stop watch?"
"I AM LEAVING HERE FOREVER AND NEVER GOING TO DO MY MATH BECAUSE YOU ARE WRONG!!"
This went on for what seemed like an eternity!  Eventually, he said, "I will do it if you race me with the final division test." "Okay, lets go..." I finished my test slightly before he did but I pretended to still write until he finished his at 4 minutes 31 seconds!  SUCCESS!!

Don't really care if some numbers are hard to read because he did it and he was
wearing his Mario glove while doing it!! 

Homework Revisited and Revised!

Because homework has become my nemesis, I have started a new tactic.  When we get home I ask James how long he needs.  He ALWAYS says 50 minutes.  When the 50 minutes are up, we settle in.  He is given his choice of what to do first.  Today was science because he adores science and he only gets it once a week.  Then we did our Rowley math race.  We sit so that he has the page upright and I am seeing it upside down, and then we race.  If I write the answer first, I win but if he says the answer first, he wins.  I think know he will be passing his X3's this week! Then we tackled math which was easy for him today (rounding and subtracting large numbers).  I started him off rounding the first 6 equations because for some reason he is morally opposed to estimation and rounding.  When we got to the ones I hadn't rounded, I started to help him when he looked like he was having difficulty.  He cocked his head and clearly stated, "Mom, I do have a brain in my head you know!"  Alright, I will stop trying to help.  Now we are taking a BIG break until after supper and then all he has is writing his spelling words 3 times and writing 3-4 sentences about what he learned reading the science today.  And VOILA... homework is complete, James and mom are happy but the process takes from the time we get home until he is tucked in for the night.  I guess for now it is better than the alternative!!

Rules are fun especially if James has some control in them.  Doing
homework is a rule in our house but now he has choices!!

He Doesn't Quite Get IT!

James "GO TO" car movie for the past several weeks has been Tarzan.  I love it but am a little tired of James watching the final battle between Tarzan and Clayton over and over again.  Honestly, I think he is trying to figure out exactly what is happening on a deeper level.  So today, we had a very long conversation about it on the way to pick Charlotte up from school.
"Mom... he (Clayton) got a lot of damage when he fell.  Did he die?"
"Yes James, Clayton dies when he falls."
"Why mom?  He had the branch around his neck so the damage shouldn't have been too bad cuz he was holding on."
"Well James, our necks are not meant to support all of our weight so when he fell, he broke his neck and didn't survive."
"Hmmmmm...." (Long pause)  "I guess next time he should hold the branch with his hands so he won't die from the damage."
Good plan little buddy!

TOOOOOOO Funny! Papa, I need money!!!

James class is doing a reading fundraiser to raise money for field trips and the like.  He was so excited when I told him we could call his Papa (paternal grandfather) after he finished his homework.  I heard my father-in-law answer the phone and the first thing James said was, "Papa, give me money!"  He then went on to explain about the program in his Jameslish.  It was very cute and when I got the phone, I filled in the pertinent details.  James hasn't quite mastered telephone etiquette but he certainly loves to talk on the phone and that is half the battle!

Drama 101

My kids have always been Dramatic, see the capital "D"!  Charlotte, because she is a girl and James, well his moods fluctuate with his whims!  My husband got this wonderful picture of the kids and it screamed DRAMA to me! Enjoy

     

The Word Police!

We are very careful with what we say around James.  He repeats everything!   We attempt to limit his exposure to words that can't be said in polite company.  On occasion, we watch movies with colorful words.  Tonight was one of those occasions.  James was neatly tucked up in his bedroom with the door closed so we felt safe to watch The Kings Speech.  The therapist in the movie has some well, unusual tactics to tackle the stammering problem.  One of them is stringing questionable words together in succession.  It worked for the king but unfortunately, James caught us just at that part.
"MOM,  why are you watching something with the "F" word.  It is the word that you said could never be used!" (James stuttered through this by the way) "Well, I am not using it, I don't use it and I don't want you to use it.  It is just part of the movie."  "Well turn it off and never watch it again!" Foiled again by Mr. My Way or the Highway!

Do you see the halo?  

When He HAS to GO, I Gotta Get Creative!!

James is technically a camel.  He can drink and drink and only pee a few times a day.  Today, of all days, I needed to wait for Charlotte to make up a test in one of her classes after school.  About 20 minutes from when she might be done, James started to complain about having to pee.  Great!  "Sorry, little man, you are going to have to wait."  After about 10 minutes he got desperate!  "Mom, I really need to go!  Can't I just pee in the bushes?" "No, you can't pee in the bushes at your sisters school!" I looked around and grabbed an empty water bottle. I remembered my husbands stories about family vacations with the infamous mayonnaise jar.  Well, I didn't have a mayonnaise jar, I had water bottles.  The most traumatic thing about the whole experience for him was his shirt got wet and he hates wet shirts.  He was shirtless when his sister got to the car and she wondered why.  I decided her not knowing was the better part of valor.  Just another day in the wonderful world of JAMES!!

He wanted to keep his catch because gold is his
favorite color.  Looks like he needs to drink more!!

 

No News is Good News RIGHT???

I try to believe that no news is good news, however, after a few weeks of almost daily emails from James's teacher outlining the day, today I am a little worried.  I usually get the email shortly after the homework email that is sent to the whole class.  Probably I have become dependent on them.  It is likely that James' teacher doesn't send 30 individual emails detailing each kids day.  James can't tell me what has reliably happened during his day so I count on the filler information.  Today NO EMAIL so should I worry or should I just try to relax and breathe and assure myself that I would get contacted if there was really something to chat about?  I like the daily emails!  It has a lot of really great information that I can share with James' behaviorist, neurologist, psychiatrist, and others on his team.  So today, I am at a loss with what happened today, I hope he had a good day.  Maybe I will get an email tomorrow.

I guess today is just a secret day.  James isn't sharing!

Phew... That is Much Better than...!!!

Okay, just a short visit today but this little quip was too good not to share.  One of the biggest troubles we have with James is he throws things at the TV.  Could be the reality and fantasy world mixing or something.  Anyway, today, he was flinging things at the family TV downstairs and I told him if he didn't stop the TV would get broken and I would sell him to the ..... (fill in your own politically correct/ incorrect group of people here).  He looked at me and exhaled deeply and said, "Phew... that is much better than replacing it with the TV from my bedroom!"

WHAT????? I would miss my baby if I had to sell him to the ..... But he is more concerned about his TV.  Just goes to show how kids on the spectrum think.  James is seriously connected to his stuff and I am connected to him!