HIT THE ROAD JACK!

So I have been away for a while...literally! I took my three sweet babies on our first Evan-less road trip! Two days down...two days back...and six action packed days in So. California with Nanny and Papa! I have so much to write about, but I'm going to try to do in in instalments. So, for my first installment...

THE ROAD TRIP!

Thank goodness for DVD players! Cameron sat by the cooler and handed out drinks. I had the snacks by me in the front and handed them back...we stopped to switch the movies every couple of hours and it was a pretty smooth trip considering!One of my goals was to ENJOY THE RIDE, so we took what ever time we needed to stretch and play. Road side rests were a big hit...they collected sticks and had sword fights to get out some of their energy.Cameron had to pick some wild daisies. (that's our van)He said "I'm sorry mom, I just couldn't' wait until Mother's Day. I had to pick you a bouquet."

(could a Mother just die!)Hooray! The hotel we booked on Priceline had an out door pool. What a great way to end the day!I splurged and had pizza delivered to our room and called it a pizza party. Ewan got up after he finished his and said "Dat was da bestest party of all time!"They got to watch one movie before bed.Heather still thinks she needs a bottle to sleep. Evan thinks it's ridiculous, but I figure as long as it's just water, what can it hurt, right :) Is this sooo cute? My exhausted boys cuddled up together in bed.
We hit a heat wave on the way home and it was between 100 and 106 degrees all day on both days. It was already over 90 in the shade when we left our hotel at 9:00am. It was 103 in Portland at 5:30 when we got home! The heat really wiped us out!

It may sound crazy, but I am really proud of myself for being brave enough to take that long of a trip with out my sweet husband/navigator/chauffeur. It really turned out so well and I am so glad we did it! (more details to come!)

I love little boys...

Evan took the kids for a walk this morning (his first day off in about a month) and my boys brought me home pockets full of "flowers." They were all squished and wilted and Cameron said "Are they beautiful? Do you want to smell this yellow one? Does it smell good?" Ewan said "I pick flowers for you too mommy!"

I couldn't help but think..."Dear Mother, all flowers remind me of you", one of my favorite primary songs as a child...

Lucky BOY!

After lots and lots of extra chores Cameron finally earned enough money to go to Hallmark and get a new WEBKINZ. Just his luck, they were having a special..."Buy one Get one FREE!"Meet Brownie the Pinto and Tom the Cat.

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?