Halloween Pictures







We went to a party Saturday night at a neighbor's house, so we were in our costumes early. Just in case I don't get photos taken on Tuesday evening, I took some now. Have you ever seen such cute boys. I couldn't find the perfect Clark Kent glasses for A-bear, but he looks pretty sharp in the blue ones I found. Joseph watched the OSU game on TV Saturday afternoon in costume. He loves to imitate the referees, so he costume was perfect. He loves it.

In addition to trick-or-treat night Tuesday, our two black cats will be spayed and neutered that day. Seems appropriate...

Pictures of New Chairs

Sarah suggested I post pictures of my new chairs. (I finally put fresh batteries in my camera, it took three sets before I found a pair that worked... ) And here is a chair. I still love them. I feel like I've always had them. No picture of the whole kitchen, with all the chairs around the table, 'cause the table is covered with junk...

Couldn't resist including one with a kitty.

Also, I've added a new link. I found this blog by randomly searching the web. I've always liked the things he has to say. He has a very interesting entry about his Dad attending his son's baseball game. (They do the same Miricle League baseball as we do--but they are in Atlanta.)

Halloween Costumes

Alex is going to be Clark Kent--Suit jacket, white shirt and tie open over his Superman shirt... Joseph is going to be a football referee. I actually painted black stripes on a white shirt for Joseph, and it turned out pretty well. Not perfect, but I'm a DD, not a DG, so I don't have to be perfect.

Pictures next week, I promise.

Speaking of domestic goddesses and disasters. I found cooked chicken at the local grocery for $3. I think they take the hot roasted chickens that don't sell at the end of the day and chill them, then sell them the next day for $3. Seemed like an incredible bargin. I'll use the meat to make casseroles, etc. Any favorites that you want to send me?

I've been very worried about keeping up with home and family starting in January. Dave will have a new job/work challenge/ whatever you call it when you are self-employed (90% sure it will happen). He'll still be self-employed, but he'll be working out of an office 30 minutes or more away instead of 5 minutes away. Relying on Dave to pick up a child and take him to gymnastics, or meet a bus at the last minute may be a thing of the past. I may have new professional challenges next year, also. I need to find a way to streamline the dinner hour. I'll need to be doing homework and driving around town, not cooking. SO!!! I was delighted to find cooked chicken for $3. Actually, we'll have more cash in the house so I could spend more on food. What do I do? Where do I buy freshly prepared, good, healthy dinners for my family if price isn't a factor? Do I need a home chef to visit once a week? Where do I find one?

Random Thoughts on Friday, mostly about Alex and race

Ah, the relaxation of Friday afternoon. I'm in the office, contemplating going home early. Only thing that stops me is that the Maytag repairman will be there, and Dave is dealing with it. If I go home, I'll have to deal with it... (I guess I'm pretty sure Dave isn't reading my blog.)

Alex's piano teacher stopped by my office this week to chat. I learned that she is expecting in March!!! A BABY!!! So exciting.

I also learned that she didn't know Alex was adopted. She didn't realize that he was bi-racial, and never questioned that he was our biological child. I'm glad that he fits into our family so well that she never questioned his belonging. I think that it must be obvious to everyone that he isn't our biological child. I'm delighted that it isn't. Grandma Helen thinks he looks more and more like me!!! The racial element will be a challenge. We've told him, in passing that he is mixed race. I don't remember the circumstances, so I don't remember my exact words. I think he was talking about the brown children in class and the white children and I had him compare his skin color to mine and showed him how he was darker... But I've never wanted to make a big deal out of it. He just isn't old enough or secure enough to understand. However... When he is old enough, if we have not said it often enough, and it comes as a shock??? What then??? My black neighbor Eloise once told me that "If you could raise him as a white man it would be best, but you can't..." I've not deconstructed all the layers of meaning in that statement, but it certainly has made me think.

A better day

We had a much better evening and morning. Since I complain so much about the stresses, I need to tell all of you that normally, the household runs smoothly. Alex wrote sentences without complaint last night. I let him make his spelling words with magnetic letters, and as soon as he would make the word, he would come up with a sentence, no fight, no fuss. Do you think he is a tactile learner???

We have a Joseph's monthly meeting this evening. Once a month the whole therapy teams meets with the behavior consultant. We go over all that we are doing in therapy, and we discuss problems, and what to work on next. Always useful, always helpful, always stressful. I usually need to spend an entire day after the meeting putting the therapy materials in order, typing up notes from the meeting, making changes in the paperwork we use to conduct therapy. I may need to hire a "lead therapist" to do some of that work next year... I just don't think I'll be able to keep up.

Continued from yesterday

I think I'm a better blogger in theory than in practice. I'm better at everything in theory than in practice. I guess that is pretty normal, but it is frustrating. I know when I have too much to do because I get short tempered. These days, with the antidepressant medication I'm taking, I'm not nearly as short tempered as I have been during the past 5 years. But just lately, I'm feeling on edge. I think it is because I am truly stretched too thin.

I got home yesterday at 6 pm. Heated leftovers, put dinner on the table, and then needed to do homework with Alex. Dave had turned on the TV for boys when he came home. He had taken the dinner things out of the fridge, but hadn't started heating anything. When it was time to eat, I turned off the TV. Alex was mad. Once Alex is mad, no homework will happen. I just didn't have the patience to deal with it and I sent him to bed at 7 pm. Dave doesn't always agree with me and he wanted to try to coax Alex into doing his homework, but I didn't even have the patience to listen to them.

I've not quite figured out what to eliminate from our lives... and if all goes as planned, both Dave and I have new challenges coming in our work lives during the next 3 to 9 months. We will be able to afford more help at home, but someone will still have to do homework with Alex, and supervise Joseph's program. Maybe Alex will make enough progress in the next nine months so that he will be able to do his 20 minutes of reading a day without an adult listening, or practice piano without me helping.

Complain, complain, complain....

I think I'm too busy to blog

I suspect everyone that blogs feels that way. But, I'll try to keep it up.

Tomorrow is another day...