Let me introduce you to the new obession!

WEBKINZ!

Cuddly, adoptable, animal friends that have a virtual life on line where you can take care of them.

Furball the Lab, Sticky and Herman the Tree Frogs, Thomas the Frog, Peekaboo the Elephant and Funny the Gorilla.

People on the Autism Spectrum often have what are refereed to as "special interests." I heard a quote recently that said "Nurotypical people have interests that go a mile long and an inch deep. People with Aspegers have interests that go an inch long and a mile deep." From the time Cameron was 18months old, he has had one special something that occupied most of his attention. When a new special interest hits him, it is a little bit consuming...and can effect the entire family. Luckily we have turned what started as a really rough week into something great for all of us (even MOM!)

Cameron spent almost every waking moment at the start of the week, begging, crying, pacing, obsessing about when he was going to go to the store and get another WEBKINZ for his collection. With some great advice and a little ingenuity, we turned it around.

We made a chart for Cameron to show exactly what jobs he could do and how much he could earn per job. We mapped out how much he already had saved and how much he needed and then we scheduled a day on the calendar as "WEBKINZ Day" (or in other words, a day you can go to the store and get a new WEBKINZ if you have earned it.) Organization and predictability like this are the key to a happy Cameron. Not only did it work like a charm, my younger children thought it was just the cool thing to do to help mom clean the house!

Please excuse me while I brag!

We just had Cameron's yearly IEP meeting. For those of you who don't know, an IEP (individualized education plan) is a legal document drawn up by a team of people at a child's school. It basically states what accommodations and services the school must provide in order to assist a student with special needs. It also lists goals that are specific to the challenges and abilities of that student.

It can be a daunting meeting if those involved don't "get" your child or are reluctant to put services in writing and then be legally bound to provide those services. Ours was a RAGING success! Everyone there who knows Cameron, just raved and raved about his progress, and what a special little boy he is. They also came prepared to word his IEP so that he will get the maximum benefit and have all of the accommodations he needs in order to be successful. I was THRILLED.

But now to the good part...Both his teacher and the school Occupational Therapist went on and on about what they love most about Cameron is his "extraordinary compassion and empathy for his classmates."

Let me explain why this is so significant. I take no credit for his compassion. He came to this earth with a deep love and concern for others. But what he did not come with was an ability to empathise. This has been the challenge we have addressed the most at home. For example: We have had to literally teach Cameron what "sad" looks like. "Do you see that they (the person he just pushed) are crying? When they are crying, they are sad. Do you remember how you felt when you fell down and you were crying? That is how they are feeling right now." We have taught this same principle in a million different ways a million different times in the past two years.

When he was younger and at church or at a play group or at someones house, he would bite, body slam, punch, push, or a combination of all of these with total detachment. He didn't seem to see the other children. He only saw himself and what he wanted. It was an extremely difficult time for our family. We tried all sorts of discipline techniques with no change. Then he was diagnosed and we understood just how much he needed to be taught things that most of us know instinctively, and we totally changed our approach.

To be honest, this has been a tremendous challenge. We have had some really low times. I have felt embarrassed by his behavior and guilty when I didn't handle it the best way...I have felt overwhelmed, and sometimes even depressed.

So it is with great joy that I brag away today! The teacher said that one of the most effective ways to motivate Cameron is to have him teach or encourage or help one of the other children. They said he can be kind and patient and accepting of the other children's challenges. I feel that this is the real Cameron, and the more we teach him, the more he is able to be his best self.

When he was younger and we were so confused about his behaviour, I remember people telling me that Heavenly Father sent him to be ours for a reason. I would secretly want to scream and say "Then why am I failing him?! Why is he struggling so much?!" When he was diagnosed, I remember thinking..."Now I know. Heavenly Father knew that I would do whatever it took to help him. He knew I was a problem solver and Evan is so accepting and together we can help Cameron's life be a miracle."

Well this was one of our first miracles and I just wanted to share.

We love our zoo...

As our two years in Portland draw to a close, I think one of the fondest memories I will take with me are of all the many trips the children and I have taken to the zoo. We live 7 min. from the zoo and have taken many, many opportunities to use our membership. Even in the winter, we would bundle up and brave the elements and practically have the place to ourselves.

One of the best parts of living so close, is that we just pop over there for an hour or so and we don't feel like we have to see everything.
One of our favorite games we play as a family is "I'm thinking of an animal" Someone will say "I'm thinking of an animal that has long legs and a long neck and lives in Africa." Heather and Ewan's attempts at the game are hilarious. Heather's will go something like this...

"I finking animal, has big feet, Elphant!"
When we moved here in 2006, Heather was just 10 months old and I would put her in a backpack and Ewan in a stroller and Cameron would walk. We have graduated from that to Heather being in the stroller and today was my first attempt at three kids with no stroller (aka device with which to restrain them).
We will really miss living here. I have loved the city, the neighborhood, the places to go and most of all the people who have blessed our lives.

Some of you may have seen the trailer for the upcoming movie BabyMama. There is a scene where a mom asks her little boy "Is this poop or chocolate?" I just laughed my guts out and thought...that is me! That is my life! Some of you may have heard me talk recently about how I feel this statement perfectly sums up this stage of my life, both literally and figuratively.
Some of what I do is pure poop. I will refrain from grossing you out about some of the disgusting things I have to do/clean up as a mother of three little children.
But so much of what I do is pure chocolate...reading bedtime stories with my own dramatic flare, getting smoochies, putting piggy tails in Heather's hair and listening to my children pray just to name a few. Today I was in my boys room and saw this mysterious smudge on the door jam of their closet. Hmmm...I thought. Mysteriously brown. (sniff) No smell. And I wondered...Is it poop or chocolate?

He'll kill me for this one day...

Heather had to try on Sara's high heals, because she's just that kind of girl. Ewan had to do what ever Heather was doing because he's just that kind of boy.

SEASIDE, OREGON

My friend Sara and I took advantage of the first warm day of the year (it got up to 85) and took the kids to the beach.

It was fun for them just to get their hands in the sand and dig.

Heather and Cameron couldn't wait to get their feet in the ocean. (Ewan worried the entire time that they were "going died")Ewan is strange. I just had to say it. I decided at the beach that there is something seriously wrong with this child. Take a look at what he's eating and then watch carefully for what comes next and decide for your self...


The sand goatee... oh, and don't think for a minute that the sand eating in the video was an isolated incident. The first three times we freaked out, cleaned him up and explained how gross it was. By the time I shot the video, he was on his seventh or eighth time.

I'm so glad I ignored my messy house, my piles of laundry, my grocery shopping and the hundred other things that needed to get done yesterday and played with my babies...They are getting so big and how many more days like this will there be?

WHAT AN IMAGINATION!

Cameron is so fun to watch sometimes. These pictures were taken one night when he was playing "Imaginext" Dinosaurs in our living room while the other children were sleeping. He built elaborate dinosaur communities consisting of "leaf eaters" on one side and "meat eaters" on the other. And then the battle began.

He spent easily, and hour and half acting out battle sequences between the dinosaurs.
You can see the carnage spread from one end of Dinosaur Land to the other...