Wordless Wednesday- Toothless

Wordless Wednesday- Our first day of school

The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

I have started and stopped writing this post six or seven times now. Life is still crazy, insane and hectic. But good. For better or worse, this is what's been happening for the past couple of months...

We did it. We (sniff) left our home in Texas and moved "home". It's been quite the adventure. I'm going to recap the move in this blog, but I'm going to do it quickly. So here it is- the Good, the Bad and the Ugly!

The Good

1. Our new home is beautiful! It has a lot of great upgrades that we never would have spent money on: crown moulding everywhere, epoxy floor in garage, built in speakers in living room, office, upstairs game room, patio, garage, fancy lighting for the landscaping, and best of all- a pool!

2. Our new ward has been great. The day we moved in, we had tons of help from the ward and family. After all the "movers" had left, we still had ward visitors bring a casserole and some cookies and invites to YW for Emily.

3. Jason's amazing dad drove to Houston three times to load our stuff up into a trailer and haul it 1000 miles back here. Yes, three times! And, yes, I think he's crazy, but I'm very grateful for his hard work. I just hope his back eventually recovers!

4. My parents "adopted" Bullet for 3 months, so that I could show the house and pack. It was a blessing for me, but quite the ordeal for Mom and Dad. Bullet took off after a cat and came back with several gashes that wouldn't stop bleeding. Mom took him to the vet and then put up with the ordeal of nursing him back to health. She must have done a good job, because when she came up to visit, Bullet hopped into her van to go back home with her.

4. Since our moving day was two weeks before school was over, there was drama about Tyler's ability to enroll in high school next year without "finishing" 8th grade. Neither school district in Texas or here was very flexible. So our wonderful friends- the Fullmer's- hosted him for a couple of weeks. He enjoyed his stay and I didn't worry about him a bit, knowing he was in good hands. He came home a new and improved Ty- taller, more mature and helpful. I'm glad he had that experience and I wish I was the one who could've stayed at the Fullmer's while everyone else moved.

5. No more travel for Daddy! That's a very good thing.

6. We found a strong Special Olympics group here, and Randy has started playing basketball with them. He loves it. I love it too, because I've already met other moms that can teach me about the schools and the area. When basketball is done in a few weeks, he will be participating in swimming, bocce and soccer. He's really looking forward to all of them.

7. Less than a week after Ty got here from Texas, we sent him with his Teacher's Quorum to go on High Adventure. They hiked, swam, repelled, biked and had a great time. Ty wasn't too excited about going with a bunch of strangers, but they weren't strangers when they got back. The timing was perfect! And Emily just got home from her first Girl's Camp experience. Although she got sick, she loved it and had a great time.

8. We have been able to visit with family and have family visit us several times since moving here. Cousin swaps, birthday celebrations, baptisms- I love being close enough to have these experiences and so that my kids can really get to know their family.

The Bad

1. Every move has casualties and this was no exception- our camera (and the reason for few pix on our posts), Jason's iPhone, our grill and a couple of car break-downs. The car was fixed and Jason bought the latest iPhone. But we haven't been able to replace the camera or the grill and I really miss them.

2. Our house in Texas hasn't sold, and prospects aren't good. Our realtor talked us into leasing it out, and he was confident it would be leased right away. While it's being shown more often, we still have an approaching double mortgage payment looming with no potential renters. Boo.

3. Just a couple of weeks after moving in, Randy was swimming near the bottom of the pool. He didn't have goggles on and had his eyes closed. He got a little too close to the bottom and chipped his front tooth. We found a great dentist and had it repaired, and thankfully, Randy still loves swimming.

4. I was very careful about lifting and moving, so that I wouldn't hurt my back. But shopping at Walmart did me in and I threw it out while picking up a packet of pencil leads. I am now on very friendly terms with a local chiropractor. And he is on very friendly terms with my money. sigh.

The Ugly

1. While our home is beautiful, there are a lot of projects that need working on. Our master closet was completely gutted, and Jason has built some nice custom closet organizers. He says he's 3/4 finished with 1/2 of the job. But it's enough to hang most of our clothes. Our "To Do" list is quite long. It will keep us very busy for a while.

2. "Where is _____?" is heard often around the house. We still have boxes in the office, toy room, closets, bedrooms, garage, etc. Our "front room" has no furniture, just boxes and food storage. I know it's temporary, but it still drives me crazy.

3. The girls and Randy are still sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Jason needs to assemble Randy's bunk bed, and he is planning on building bunk-beds for the girls. But his work schedule has kept him so busy and my back hasn't let me help with assembling. The kids say they are OK with it. I think they just like an excuse for a chaotic room.

OK, so maybe that wasn't so "quickly." Writing our experiences out show me that the Good far outweighs the Bad or the Ugly. I just have to keep reminding myself how blessed we are.

Why I Love My Autistic Kid

I joined a Yahoo discussion group in Phoenix in preparation for our up-coming move. I usually just "stalk" and never join in any of the threads. But I couldn't resist piping in on this one.

One of the members is a young adult on the spectrum. He posted this: "So that is the question I am posing to all of you. What are the things you love about your autistic children? Since I don't have one myself, I can only sare (share) the things I love about myself, which, among other things, are that I think of myself as intelligent, loving, and very friendly."

Here was my reply:

I love this question, mostly because there are many, many things I love about my 10-year-old autistic son.
1- I love his complete lack of deception. I never understood the word "guileless" before now. I can ask him if my dress makes me look fat and he will honestly tell me. I also know that when he tells me that I look pretty, I really do.
2- My son is the best audience member. His school had a pep rally last week with cheerleaders from the high school. His teachers told me how he clapped and cheered for them and got the whole audience excited because of his enthusiasm.
3- I love his consistency and how he makes me be consistent. Sometimes, it's impossible for his schedule to remain the same. But when something out of the ordinary comes up, like his dad's business trip, I know how to prepare him and consequently, prepare his younger sister too.
4- I love that he wants me to tickle him awake. To me, that sounds like a terrible way to wake up, but he loves it. I also love that he asks for massages, squeezes and tickles when he needs an outlet. I know others on the spectrum hate that kind of input. So I'm glad my son likes, even craves it, because it is a way for us to connect.
5- I'm glad that his OT recommended we play board games together and that he now loves board games. We play at least every Sunday, and I'm glad there is someone else in the family that likes to play games as much as I do.
6- It's really easy to buy Christmas/birthday presents for him. What is he obsessed with now?
7- I like how I know everyone in his school, because HE knows everyone. I'm proud to be stopped in the hall by a child- older, younger, doesn't matter- to be asked if I'm Randy's mom. And I'm always proud to say that I am.
8- My son is a great host. When a friend comes over for a play-date, he remembers his social stories and tries really hard to make his friend feel comfortable.
9- He has the best laugh. TV shows and movies are funnier when I watch with him. It is literally painful to watch "America's Funniest Home Videos" with him because we laugh so much.
10- And lastly, because he doesn't know how to do anything half-way, I love how he loves me. It is unconditional and honest, which is the best kind of love there is.

Most of the things I don't love about having an autistic son is how other people, mostly those who haven't had a chance to get to know him, judge him. I don't love that his play-date invitations aren't reciprocated, and how that makes him sad. I don't love not anticipating his melt-downs. I can usually see the triggers in hind-sight, but I'm learning how to prevent many of the triggers and he's learning what to do to diffuse the volatile situation. While I sorrow for my son's struggles and his budding awareness of his "differentness" (his word), this charming and amazing boy has added so much to my life and I thank God every day for sending him and his 3 "neuro-typical" siblings to me and my husband.

Thanks for the question. I need to give my boy a hug.

April Fool's Virus

I thought it was my civic duty to forewarn everyone about the new "April Fool's virus." We thought we were safe, using Apple products and keeping our anti-virus software up-to-date. But apparently, we weren't thorough enough, because this one slipped by all of our safe-guards.

The main symptom was that the mouse pointer (the little arrow on your screen) was stuck in the upper left-hand corner and wouldn't move. I tried unplugging and reconnecting the mouse. I tried rebooting. I googled the symptoms on my iPhone, but didn't want to reinstall mouse drivers without my husband home (like I know what that means anyway.) Lucy wanted to play Webkinz, so I went downstairs to help her. That computer had the same issue. I finally broke down and texted Jason, who was stymied also. He said to leave it alone until he got home.

I hollered to the kids to not touch the computers because they weren't working, when a grinning teen-ager told me he could fix it. I told him not to touch the computers, because I didn't want more harm done. He started giggling and that's when I started to put two and two together.

Tyler walked into the office, turned over the mouse, and removed a small post-it note that read "April Fool's." Apparently, this nifty little trick worked on all of his teachers as well. What a stinker.

He'd better watch out next year. I'm thinking bug-flavored brownies?

Lucy's "Sick" Day

Lucy woke up this morning with a sore throat. She didn't have a fever- my kids never do- and she wasn't her normal morning-grumpy self. She was an irrational, hysterical, sobbing mess. So, home she stayed. Of course, she experienced a miraculous recovery about an hour after lying in bed. Being the mean mom that I am, I insisted that she stay in her room anyway. (If you stay home sick at our house, you spend the day acting like a sick person.) She came out to show me the song she had written with accompanying illustrations. I had to share.

Love

Your

Teeth

No junk food

Don't be sad

Have a lovely day

The End

NOW it must be true

Jason and I had dinner at Pei Wei last night and spent the whole time discussing the move situation and what we should do. I was feeling pretty despondent (still) when I opened my fortune cookie.

Yeah, I know I've had answers to prayers, but this!

My Big But

This time, it's really official.

The Welker family is moving. Not to somewhere exotic. We're moving back home to Arizona. For many of you this is old news. The new news is that the house is officially for sale. As soon as we have a buyer, we'll be on our way.

This whole process has been another life lesson for me. I know God lives and loves me personally. But do I put that belief into practice daily? I've been reciting Proverbs 3:5-6 over and over.

"Trust in the Lord with all thy heart;

And lean not unto thine own understanding.

In all thy ways acknowledge Him,

And He shall direct thy path."

I say that I trust my Father, but I continue to fret, worry, and stress over things I have no control over. He has previously answered our prayers, and I know this is the path we should take, but I still mourn and pout about leaving my beautiful home, my friends, and our amazing ward family. I know He has worked miracles in my life before, but I continue to doubt that everything will work out in the end. I am abundantly blessed and am excited about being closer to family, but I constantly murmur and complain about all the work and changes ahead of us.

This morning I read scriptures that brought great comfort to my heart.

"Trust in the Lord, and do good;

so shalt thou dwell in the land,

and verily thou shalt be fed.

Delight thyself also in the Lord;

and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.

Commit thy way unto the Lord;

trust also in him;

and he shall bring it to pass.

Rest in the Lord,

and wait patiently for him:

fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way."

(Psalms 37:3-5,7)

Yes, there is a lot I can't control- a buyer for the house, the time-frame of our move, finding the perfect house in Phoenix, etc. But I can control my attitude, my words, my demeanor around my children. I'm so grateful for scriptures and that nagging voice in my head that reminds me to stop, to read, to ponder, and right now, to trust.

Baby, It's Cold Outside

Houston has seen some very uncharacteristically cold weather this winter. This weekend wasn't just cold- it was literally freezing! Highs in the low 30's and wind-chills in the teens. We just aren't prepared for that.

Apparently, neither is our house.

Coming home from Seminary, I noticed some water collecting in the street in front of our house. Small rivulets of water were streaming from the little patch of grass between the sidewalk and the road.

Jason was staying home from work because he finally admitted that he had a cold. We called the plumber, who confirmed Jason's suspicions that the freeze broke one of our pipes. He gave us two options... #1- Pay a lot of money to dig around our yard to try to "find" the broken pipe, then replace it. #2- Pay a lot of money to replace the "rotten, stinky, cheap" PVC with copper and not even worry about finding the leak. The plumber was voting for option #2. He told us he would return the next day with an estimate.

For those of you who know my amazing husband at all, spending 24 hours stewing about how big an expense this would be is enough to drive him completely batty. On Saturday morning- despite continued freezing temps AND his cold- he decided to start digging "just to see" if he could locate the leak himself. He called a member of our ward who liberally offered advice and a specialized shovel. And then Jay got to work.

Our neighbors drove by and asked what happened. A few minutes later, she and her husband came back and started digging along side my husband. She works with lawn irrigation systems and really knew her stuff. She called her brother for assistance and eventually the leak was found and they determined it was coming from under the sidewalk, just above the manhole cover. While Jason was ready for a sledge-hammer, Tori knew more sensible ways of working around that problem.

Tori and her brother, Adam, made quick work of circumventing the leak with $20 worth of supplies from Home Depot. They filled in the new holes, and while our front yard won't win any beauty prizes, WE GOT NO MORE LEAKS!

Our neighbors- Tori and Nelson- were (are) amazing. They spent their entire Saturday afternoon helping us out. They refused any payment and wouldn't even let us buy them pizza. They epitomize the Savior's teachings,"Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."

I have to say that my husband is amazing too. Gordon B. Hinckley once said, "Get on your knees and pray, then get on your feet and work." Jason said that he had prayed and prayed that there was some way to fix the repair, but not have to pay massive amounts of money. I'm the type of person who would pray like that, then wait around for a miracle to appear. My husband has the faith to make his own miracle. The miracle was that the right people were home and available to help and that the leak was "easily" found. I know there are others in our ward and area that were much harder hit by this freeze. I'm just grateful for my blessings.

The weather is starting to warm up now. It's good to see sunshine again. But it doesn't replace the sunshine and warmth in my heart.

New Year's Catch-Up

Last year, we started a new tradition for New Year's. It's fun for us to look back at how we've changed and stayed the same. Here are our results, complete with this year's silliest pictures and a couple of new categories...

Tyler-

Favorite breakfast- Over-easy eggs

Favorite lunch- Totino Pizza

Favorite dinner- Ribs

Favorite color- green

Favorite TV Show- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Favorite book read in 2009- The Compound by S.A. Bodeen

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Put half in the bank, buy a laptop, cell phone with good service, some new games and a giant plasma TV in my room."

Best Friends- Austin F, David S, and Cory M

Best thing about school- Leaving

Worst thing about school- Arriving

Favorite Past-time- Hanging with my friends

Favorite Song- "Check Yes Juliet" by We the Kings; "Ghostbusters" by Ray Parker Jr.

Emily

Favorite breakfast- crepes

Favorite lunch- Tostadas or burritos

Favorite dinner- Ribs

Favorite color- Black

Favorite TV Show- Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends

Favorite book read in 2009- The Maximum Ride series by James Patterson (yes, she read all of them this year.)

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Take my friends shopping to the Galleria Mall."

Best Friend- Teya M

Best thing about school- Lunch

Worst thing about school- 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 9th periods

Favorite past-time- Playing DSi, computer, coloring and sleepovers.

Favorite song- "The Final Countdown" by Europe

Randy-

Favorite breakfast- Cap'n Crunch with Crunchberries

Favorite lunch- Leftover pizza

Favorite dinner- Pizza

Favorite color- Red

Favorite TV Show- Teen Titans

Favorite Book from 2009- Anything by Dav Pilkey

If I had a million dollars, I would- "First of all, get a really cool game, and the rest buy DSi points for as many games as possible. And a calculator. And a clock."

Best Friend- Josh T

Best thing about school- Totally awesome events and parties

Worst thing about school- Room 86 (time out room) and work

Favorite past-time- Play and watch video games

Favorite song- "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor; "Should I Stay or Should I Go" by The Clash

Lucy

Favorite breakfast- Oatmeal with chocolate chips and raisins

Favorite lunch- Banana/Nutella sandwich

Favorite dinner- Hot dogs or burritos

Favorite color- Pink and blue

Favorite TV Show- Tom and Jerry

Favorite Book from 2009- All the pink books in the library (but she didn't like "Pinkalicious" very much.)

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Buy all the things I like, such as toys, and buy some stuff for dad for building projects." (I think she's a little jealous of this.)

Best Friends- Lynlee B, Emelynn Y

Best thing about school- Specials (PE, Music, Art) and Centers

Worst thing about school- Homework (Yes, in Kindergarten!)

Favorite Past-time- DSi

Favorite Songs- "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor, "Yellow Submarine" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" by The Beatles

Jason

Favorite Breakfast- Muesli and yogurt, or Target's Chocolate Hazelnut cereal, or Chocolate Chocolate-chip muffins

Favorite Lunch- "Any lunch I don't have to make and includes homemade cookies"

Favorite Dinner- "Steak, maybe? There's so many good foods."

Favorite color- Brown

Favorite TV Show- Lie to Me

Favorite Book Read in 2009- "Rough Stone Rolling" by Richard Lyman Bushman

If I had a million dollars, I would- "Buy a fur coat . . . I'd move closer to family, invest the rest and maybe go back to school"

Best Friend- Karen W

Best thing about work- Coming home

Worst thing about work- Long hours

Favorite Past-time- Holding down the couch with Karen and playing family games

Favorite Songs- "She Loves Me" by will.i.am, "Careful" by Guster

Karen

Favorite Breakfast- Sticky buns on Christmas morning

Favorite Lunch- Anything Jay makes for me

Favorite Dinner- Blue Hawaii calzones from Alamo Drafthouse (When he heard this, Jason said, "Oooh good one. I want to change mine.)

Favorite color- Brown and deep purple

Favorite TV Show- Fringe

Favorite book read in 2009- "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows

If I had a million dollars, I would- Open a board game store.

Best friend- Jason W

Best thing about being a stay-at-home mom- Staying home

Worst thing about being a stay-at-home mom- Staying home

Favorite Past-time- Dating my husband, crochet, and playing board games

Favorite songs- Anything by Zoe Keating, "Viva la Vida" by Coldplay