Squishy Saturday

It rained, rained and rained... Not really heavy but for a long time... It finally cleared off in the late afternoon... This morning Monkey and Peanut participated in the First Annual Walk-A-Thon for their school... People could pledge so much per lap or just give a donation no matter how many laps completed... It was raining off and on the whole time... Temperature was in the mid 30s... Peanut walked 5 laps and Monkey walked 12 laps... The money raised helps fund school activities like our Children's Theatre, Back to School Supplies, Fields Trips and many other programs... I'm really proud of how well they did despite are icky weather! Monkey and I went to Mass and then spent an hour at the Spring Celebration... It is our parish's largest fundraiser of the year... We had a soda brought from home and enjoyed some of the Live Auction (watching not bidding) plus Musical Entertainment from our Priests 'The Three Pod-Rays'... This years theme was 'Nautical'... So, the priests dressed two of them as 'Pirates' (Fr. W & Fr. F.) and third was a Navy Sailor/Captain of a Cruise Boat (Fr. C.)... That was quite entertaining in an of itself... Previously the 'Three Pod-Rays' dressed as Mafia Men... ::smirk:: They played several songs on the organ (Fr W.), accordion (Fr. C.), triangle/tambourine/bells (Fr. F)... A few I remember were Theme Song from Hawaii Five-0, Surfin' in the USA, and Helena Polka... After their first set we went home because we were broke and hungry... I'm living like no one else, so later I can live like no one else!

Our Lady of Fatima - Friday

Feast of Our Lady of Fatima
Summary:
On 13 May 1917, three children were pasturing their little flock in the Cova da Iria, parish of Fatima, town of Vila Nova de Ourém. today the diocese of Leiria-Fatima. They were called: Lucia de Jesus, aged 10, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto, aged 9 and 7. About midday, after praying the Rosary, as was their custom, they were amusing themselves building a little house of stones scattered around he place where the Basilica now stands. Suddenly they saw a brilliant light, and thinking it to be lightning, they decided to go home. But as they went down the slope another flash lit up the place, and they saw on the top of a holmoak (where the Chapel of Apparitions now stands), "a Lady more brilliant than the sun", from whose hands hung a white rosary. The Lady told the three little shepherds that it was necessary to pray much, and she invited them to return to the Cova da Iria during five consecutive months, on the 13th day at that hour. The children did so and the 13th day of June, July, September and October, the Lady appeared to them again and spoke to them in the Cova da 0a. On the 19th of August, the apparition took place at Valinhos, about 500 meters from Aljustrel, because on the 13th the children had been carried off by the local Administrator to Vila Nova de Ourém. At the last apparition, on October 13, with about 70,000 people present, the Lady said to them that she was the "Lady of the Rosary" and that a chapel was to be built there in her honor. After the apparition all present witnessed the miracle promised to the three children in July and September :the sun, resembling a silver disc, could be gazed at without difficulty and, whirling on itself like a wheel of fire, it seemed about to fall upon the earth. Afterwards, when Lucia was a Religious Sister of Saint Dorothy, Our Lady appeared to her again in Spain (10 December 1925 and 15 February 1926, in the Convent of Pontevedra, and on the night of 13/14 June 1929, in the Convent of Tuy), requesting the devotion of the five first Saturdays (to pray the Rosary, meditate on the mysteries of the Rosary, confess and receive Holy Communion, in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary), and the Consecration of Russia to the same Immaculate Heart, This request had been announced by the Apparition on 13 July 1917, in what is called the "Secret of Fatima". Years later, Sr. Lucia related that, between April and October of 1916, an Angel had appeared to the three seers on three occasions, twice in the Cabeço and once at the well in the garden behind Lucia´s house, who exhorted them to prayer and penance. Since 1917 pilgrims have not ceased to come to the Cova da Iria in thousands upon thousands from all parts of the world, at first on the 13th of each month. later during the summer and winter holidays, and now more and more at weekends and any day all the year round.

If you would like to learn more... Visit: Santuario De Fatima (upper left hand corner you can change the language of the site)

I went to Engineer's transition meeting today... It is a meeting you have with the school for those on IEPs/Special Needs when they switch schools... Engineer is moving from his elementary school to his middle school... This was his 3rd Transition meeting... He had one when he went from Preschool to Kindergarten and one when he went from Kindergarten to Elementary School... His Kindergarten was a self contained Kindergarten only building at the time... Part of a 10 year study I believe... The Kindergarten has since been reintegrated into the Elementary Schools... It went very well... I'm excited to work with the Middle School... I think he is going to do well there....

We had our last Autism Support Group meeting tonight... We socialized and we had a speaker from one of the two local hospitals come and talk to us about Orthotics... We will have a few Family Fun Events this summer but our traditional meetings are done until the fall...

Teeth Thursday

Linebacker had speech this morning... We then headed out the door to Peanut's Show N' Tell... This is her last Show N' Tell of the year... She wanted to bring Little Guy and Big Boy... Teacher thought that was a good idea... We showed up and they returned from their trip to the Zoo and had Show N' Tell... Her class had a great time asking questions and playing with them...

We then went to a friends house who is near the school and visited... My friend S. made a DELICIOUS baked chicken lunch... She also taught me how to make a Lady Bug out of pretzels, apples, PB and raisins/craisins... I then went back to pick Peanut and Monkey for their dental appointments... Peanut is CAVITY FREE! Monkey is also CAVITY FREE! He however has adult teeth that need to come in... So, we are going to pull a couple of baby teeth to make room for these adult teeth... Peanut also had speech....

Wordless Wednesday

Twins and Trim - Tuesday

Little Guy and Big Boy are learning to pull up... Watch out world... They will be walking soon... They are 10 months old today... Here are a few photos of them 'standing' and otherwise being CUTE!
Big Boy coming out... Little guy going in...

Big Boy on the Left and Little Guy on the right... Little guy on the left... Big Boy on the right...

Big Boy on his knees... Little Guy on his tummy...

Little Guy standing next to the couch...

Big Boy standing... Little Guy hanging out in the seat...

Little Guy and Linebacker...

Little Guy...

I also gave Linebacker and trim... He was starting to look like the 'British Invasion'... His birthday just around the corner... I wanted to trim it up so he would look nice but wouldn't have that I just had my hair cut look... I worked on FPU Lesson 2: Relating With Money - Nerds and Free Spirits Unite! I watched the DVD again and completed the workbook section for Lesson 2 while watching... My homework is to start collecting credit card offers for 13 weeks... Should be interesting to see how many we are sent in just over 3 months... I'll let you know and share a PIC... Normally I just rip them in half, unopened and throw them in the trash... I started using my envelope system and I put my first deposit into Baby Step 1: Emergency Fund of $500.00 (since I by myself make less then 20K a year)... I also registered and started my FPU Membership online...

Mother's Day - Monday

Sunday:
I had a wonderful Mother's Day... Peanut and I went to the 10 AM Mass... We then ate a delicious french toast and sausage breakfast hosted by the Knights of Columbus... I called the mother's in my life and chatted... I ate a snack of taco dip and tortilla chips... Chris ran out for some errands including extra Mother's Day shopping... He and the children gave me my gifts... I had a leisurely nap... I woke up to a delicious salad with all the fixin's, t-bone steak (grilled outside!; {Mother's Day is our kick off to the grilling season}), french fries and broccoli... My hubby had bathed and put all the children to bed but Little Guy and Big Boy... We ate together just the two of us and chatted... We bathed Little Guy and Big Boy... I read a bit of Total Money Makeover... Off to sleep I went...
Monday:
As for today... I had myself a minivacation... It is rare I have a day without an appointment during the school year... Today was that day... I'm going to running like crazy the rest of the week but took today to relax and pamper myself... I watched more of my FPU DVDs... I worked out my 'Basic Quickie Budget' and started using my envelope system... I also filled out Lesson 1: Super Saving - Common Sense for Your Dollar and Cents in the work book... Tomorrow I will review the questions and rewatch the DVD to make sure I completed all the activities then start on Lesson 2... My husband made burgers and hotdogs/sausages for the start of the week on the grill yesterday... I enjoyed a hotdog for lunch and cheese burger for dinner... Melt in your mouth good! I sure missed flavor of charcoal grilled food! We eat steaks, burgers, and hotdogs/sausages year round... Sure does taste more flavorful when grilled...

Standing Up - Saturday

We participated in a Jericho March this morning... We stood up for all the unborn who can't voice their right for life! We marched from downtown bike shop parking lot to our only abortion mill in the entire state... North Dakota Right to Life organized it... Marches have taken place in the past for the other abortion mills that were open in our state... Shortly after the march they closed... We marched with seven religious leaders to the abortion mill, followed by seven trumpets, seven American flags, seven Christian flags, a child’s coffin, and unknown number yet of people wearing black arm bands. Silently we marched seven by seven. After circling the abortion mill the horns let out and the crowd shouted together seven times “Let Our Children Go!” We also had the replica of the original image of Our Lady of Guadalupe on Juan Diego garment was there... It is credited with several miracles already... It was a powerful and moving event... I took my 5 youngest children and myself... We had beautiful weather... They had predicted 70% chance of rain... We were truly blessed... I'm there with the trio every Wednesday at the abortion mill praying when the weather isn't too harsh for the little guys... We stay and pray a minimum of one hour... Please take the time to become involved in your area... Thank you!

First - Friday

It is the 1st Friday of the month... Has a whole week of May almost gone by? WOW! Time sure does fly... We had our last CCM formal meeting... Other then a few park days during the summer... I won't see everyone till the Fall... Big Boy saw a SLP for a feeding eval... It was concluded he is a slow/lazy but impatient eater... You may ask yourself... How do those two things go together? Well, when he is ready to eat solid food... You have to feed him when he's ready to eat it... However when he's eating it... It is a slow process... If you don't start feeding him when he is ready he protests... He wants nothing but his liquid food and to be left alone! After eating that he will nap and you can try again with the spoon... I started watching Financial Peace University Home Kit DVDs... WOW! I thought I learned a lot from the borrowed CD set... LOVIN! the DVD presentations... I'm learning by leaps and bounds now... Dave Ramsey is entertaining, informative and no-nonsense... I really like his style... I just casually browsed through my kit... Right now I'm just watching the DVDs without filling out the workbook... I plan to go back and do that... Watching the DVDs over and over will be the key to making this stick in my mind...

THRILLED - Thursday

Look what the UPS guy brought me!?!?!?!

I'm sooo excited!!! I can't wait to start the course and become DEBT FREE! I've already done a little bit like figure out my debt snowball... I'm off to unwrap the shrink wrap and see what all the goodies are in the box...

Wordless Wednesday

Two Hours - Tuesday

It took me two hours to put together the children's new swing set... I hope you enjoy the picture tour of it's assembly...

PS: I've never put together a swing set before... However, I'm the 'put it together' person in our house...
You need one swing set and 'tools'...

You have to make sure your supervisors are watching so you don't slack on the job... ;-)

What it looks like in the box...

All the hardware...

All the big parts...

Monkey and I working on the top of the main frame (taken w/ timer feature)...

Ice cream truck came by while we were working... We just took a picture... Monkey thought ice cream trucks were fictitious...

Frame done...

Swings almost done...

All the swings done...

IT'S DONE!

Linebacker going down the slide... Peanut waiting...

Linebacker swing...

All the 'big' children having fun...

It's May! Really? Monday

It's May! Well, you could have fooled me because there is SNOW on the ground... What is up with that? I will tell you what is up with that... We were told that a big rain storm was coming... So, the children and I prepared by cleaning up the lawn... Here is what the yard looks like all cleaned up... Talk about a rare occasion... Our yard says 'we have children'... LOTS of Children! I love it! We definitely enjoy the space... Like having our own private park right behind our house...

Children's toys neatly stacked next to the house for the big rainy/windy storm predicted to strike later that night...

North Eastern Part of the Yard

South Eastern Part of the Yard (photos over lap)

Little side bar here... You may have noticed our yard looked a bit empty if you had seen PICS of our yard before... That is because our swing set of almost a decade has been put to the curb along with the rear tires from my hubby's car... Our swing set was the neighbor's two doors down (who had it a while too) and when they moved instead of putting it at the curb... We took it... It gave us many years of fun... However it being so well used and the harsh weather had really taken it's toll on the structure... First reason for it leaving, it was no longer safe to keep using... It had lost one permanent swing (like a swinging see saw) and the slide... So, out to the curb it went for what we call clean up week... More about that in a minute...

Continuing on 'Is it really May?' story... It turns out the temperature DROPPED so there you have it... Rain storm becomes snow storm... It was just a light dusting... Enough to make things pretty but it all melted away... You never known it snowed at all... The temperature is still quite chilly... Here are a couple pictures of the snow dusting we had.... I took these photos just before 6 AM... Little Guy had woken me up... I looked out and saw it had snow... Fearing it would all melt as soon as the sun was high in the sky... Making all my 'evidence' disappear... I went out in my PJs/flip flops and snapped a few PICS... My van with a layer of snow...

Backyard... Snow on the lawn and picnic table...

Children's toys with snow on them... It wasn't enough for the patio to have snow on it...

Now back to clean up week... Clean up week is an annual quad cities event (2 ND cities and 2 MN cities)... Basically you can put anything at the curb (minus hazardous, building materials and a few other exceptions) to be picked up by the city for FREE... Any other time of the year you have to take it to the proper disposal facility or fit it in your trash can (one single city issued trash can, everything that doesn't fit is fined) and a FEE is usually attached for disposal when visiting the facility/landfill... Second reason why our swing set left our yard this past week... I have a few PICS below of our 'pile'...

This is behind our shed... Where we put the big things then add everything else before hauling it to the street... I'm using a broken toy to hold the gate open...

Front view almost 1/2 way done... You can see the double glider of the swing set sticking out on the right side of the photo...

Back view about 1/2 way done...

Front view completely done... You can see the double glider of the swing set still sticking out on the right side of the photo...

Back view completely done... Yes, the swing set is still under there...

We collect all year long... It is mostly cardboard boxes (packages being shipped to us for b-day/cmas, b-day/cmas presents we have bought, large purchases {high chairs, strollers, etc}), large broken toys (like ride-ons, and other outside plastic toys), occasionally an appliance (in years past refrigerator, dryer, dishwasher {this year}, etc), and unusable furniture {dressers mostly but we have put out our one and only crib, 1st plastic toddler bed and books shelves}... A percentage of our furniture is 2nd hand and after a few years of usage it goes to the curb unable to be used by anyone else unless you are furnishing your backyard or using it for spare parts... The children take after their mommy and are hard on things... You have to be a pretty hardy item to survive our family... So, there ya go... A peek at outdoor fun in our house the 1st week of May...

1st Son Saturday

I'm going to share about my oldest son... For those who are new to my blog... My oldest is Engineer... He was diagnosed with Classic Autism (mild to moderate) and ADHD... He is large for his age... He's 11 but pretty much the size of a 14-15 year old... He doesn't understand his strength and hasn't been able to learn to control his aggressive behavior... It is hard to figure out what triggers his out bursts... He is currently living in a group home of 6 residents (he is one of 6)... The home is a regular single family home that has been divided into a duplex (single story) and has the added requirements of a residential facilities like sprinkler systems... Since it is a duplex he is in practical terms one of three... He has 24 hour staffing... We are still his legal guardians so they have to have us sign or give a verbal ok to changes (meds, register for activities, etc) in his life... We see him often because he is less then 2 miles from us... He is preparing to go to middle school (6th grade) in the fall... He has been in the public education system since March 2003... He is doing pretty well educationally... One of the subject he excels in is geography and he dislikes probably handwriting/penmanship about the most... He is currently in a Horseback Riding Therapy program... He enjoys that... His interests include geography, construction, and trains (real not toy or cartoon)... He is not a big camera person so it is hard to catch him on film... Here are a few photos from Christmas till now...ENJOY!

Engineer and Big Boy...

He wanted a chocolate cake this year with no frosting... In years past he refused to eat birthday cake at all... He doesn't like ice cream cake either... One year we put a candle in a bowl of ice cream scoops...

Opening presents... He's fast so don't blink...

A Menards Lionel Train!

Helping decorate the tree the week before Christmas... Not an activity he was interested in the past...

Opening Christmas Present... I had to snap the pictures FAST!

One of his many gifts... More Lincoln Logs...

All his presents packed up and ready to take to his house...