Family Fun Fair

We had the chance to go to the Family Fun Fair in Salt Lake, put together by Westminster College students for children with autism and their families.  It was one of the only sunny days we had in May, so the timing was perfect.  Clay was asked to do an interview for the local channel 2 news, and we all got a kick out of watching him talk and seeing ourselves on tv. 

The kids had SO much fun!

Can you tell how much Buddy Boy hates looking in the direction of the sun? 

These guys had all sorts of great stuff.  The kids made superhero masks, made huge bubbles, did sensory-integration activities like shaving cream and a dark glow room, and decorated t-shirts.  Buddy Boy saw a bunch of classmates and that made him pretty darn happy.  Afterwards, Clay was exhausted.  He hasn't been out in the sun for 9 months after all, and it's probably what drained him completely! :-)

More Trampoline Pics

Oh my gosh, my kids love the trampoline.  It was seriously one of the best investments we've ever made.  The only problem is that they don't like bouncing without Clay or I, and frankly, we're not as "bouncy" as we used to be. 

Thankfully there are many neighborhood kids who are extremely happy to jump with them.

Silly kids.

And then, of course, we love the spring flowers.  Why did we think we could take artistic and I don't know, NICE pictures of the family with our PHONE cameras?? Lazy little leeches that we are.  We couldn't possibly walk into the house to get the REAL camera.

Ah well, it's the thought that counts, right?  Sadly, in this case, probably not.

Sneaky Little Dude

So...Buddy Boy is on a reward system.  It's one his therapists and teachers created.  Designed to help him to not only recognize his emotions, but also to choose positive emotions, it's a cute sticker chart with smiley-face stickers.  When he has made an effort to be happy, he earns a sticker.  When he's earned three stickers he gets a treat.  His school does it every 30 minutes.  They ask him 'How are you feeling, Buddy?', and he usually replies 'calm and happy!'.  If he is indeed, calm and happy, he gets the sticker. 

I am not so good at doing it every half hour, and he has noticed.  The other day he had earned three stickers and gotten a treat.  I then put the treats away out of his reach.  Unfortunately, I have a sneaky boy.  He made a discovery.

Silly kid, for whatever reason, didn't dare just put the stool on the floor...he's convinced the only way to reach his treats is to put the stool INSIDE the bin.  I didn't discover his discovery until he'd eaten half a dozen Hershey's kisses!

Easter 2011

Well schmuck...I've gotten behind.  I'll catch up as quickly as I can, starting with Easter.  The week before Easter, the kids did a lot of decorating.  We tried a new craft that we found HERE to make yarn eggs to hang:

Epic failure, by the way.  First we didn't use enough yarn, then we didn't let it dry long enough. 

The Friday before Easter, we boiled and decorated eggs.

Saturday we did a few egg hunts.  The first one was at Smith's.  They provided free breakfast and, just like last year, they did a fabulous job...we loved it! After that we did our own hunt in the backyard, and later we went to Granny's house to do another one.  Munchkin and Buddy Boy loved them all SO MUCH that they made us re-hide the eggs many, many times at home.  While we were gone at one of those hunts, the Easter Bunny dropped off some Easter buckets.

Sunday was the spiritual day.  We talked about the meaning behind the holiday, went to church, and had a Christ-focused day.  For dinner we had "resurrection rolls", and something else (but for the life of me, I can't remember what!).  The rolls were hollow...thanks Chandelle for teaching me how to do them!

And that...was Easter!

Aye yai yai...

How do children become so sweet, kind, thoughtful?  Today Munchkin said to me, "There may not be a cure for autism yet, but LOVE is kind of a cure, and it's the best kind of cure we can give!"

What a sweetie pie, right?  I'm continually amazed at her ability to think so deeply, and to recognize and be able to express pure, true love.  I'm also astounded by her ability to switch back into "kid" mode so suddenly.

2 hours later:

Munchkin's friend (during their playdate):  "Your mom is so cool!"

Munchkin:  "Yeah, she is, but she sometimes swears."

Y'all have a rock I can hide under?

The only consolation I have is the friend's reply:

"So does my mom."

Buddy Boy's Field Trip

Buddy Boy's school had a field trip a couple of weeks ago, and they went to the Children's Discovery Museum at the Gateway.  Munchkin had been once before, but no one else had, so we decided to check Munchkin out of school, join Buddy Boy's class, and make a family event out of it.  I'm really glad we did, because there were a couple of meltdowns, and as annoying as it is to me, Buddy Boy responds MUCH better to his teacher's prompts than to mine.  That's probably typical though, right?  RIGHT???

Anyway, we had a good time:

Munchkin really loved doing the news show.

After a few meltdowns, Buddy Boy finally found solace playing with building toys and letters.

Hanging in the life flight helicopter.

Some random playing there.

Fun times!