Jump!!

October is Disability Awareness Month. Witt's teacher Ms. Janet asked me if I'd head up the Hop-a-thon for their school to support muscular dystrophy.  Of course I said yes, because I know why she asked.  Because, even if it is muscular dystrophy or autism, there is such a need for disability awareness in this world, now more than ever. 

What makes autism awareness so hard is the fact that you can't see the disability.  You're eyes can't see it, even though it's just as present as the child with the physical disability.  We can't see, therefore, nothing is wrong.  So as a result,  in many circumstances, kids with aspergers/autism are the ones feared, misunderstood, made fun of, the ones with no friends.  They are the weird kids. 

I've been struggling with this as I watch Race get older.  It's so hard for me to watch him struggle in social settings.  His peers are socially moving forward naturally.  For us, moving forward is so much work.

I am grateful for the opportunity I had to run Witt's hop-a-thon.  I'm so grateful for Witten and his understanding of what he was doing.  I love the Montessori Children's House.  Because I know that we weren't just hopping for muscular dystrophy that day.  I watched Ms. Suzanne hop scotching, Witten hopping down the grass in a pillow case, and my good friend Vickie running the pogo sticks while Ms. Eva  cheered kids on from her station.  And all the staff actively participating in such a good cause.  And in that moment, I thought of Ms. Cooley a few miles away with Race, doing her part; carrying the torch.  And in that moment, for JUST a moment, my eyes teared up, and gratitude overwhelmed me.  Because YES, we were jumping for muscular dystrophy, but we were also jumping for ALL disabilities.  We were jumping for Race. 

31

I turned 31 on the 11th.  I had a perfect day, though since then my thoughts have been way too deep.  Thoughts about life and getting older and the experiences we collect within ourselves.  But I'll save those thoughts for another post...you'll understand why. 

Today, I'll focus on my perfect day. 

• my boys fixed me breakfast. 
• Witt bought me shaving cream...wait, let me explain...he heard me complaining that I was out a few weeks ago.  This kid totally amazes me.  Last year he bought me a hot glue gun because he had remembered me say at one point that I needed to get one.  He's so thoughtful that way.  So I got the best shaving cream in the world, bought with so much love.
• Race bought me a big pack of gum.  He counted out the money and paid for it all by himself.  That right there was a gift.  He's so smart, and he knows when I'm in the car, I'm chewing gum. 
• Lane gave me lots of hugs and kisses
• John took me out for the evening.  We had a great time up in Jerome nearly backing off a cliff, running into some naked people carrying their mattresses down the street (sorry no picture of that, this is G rated...besides I was in frozen, trying not to stare, shock mode) and eating at the Haunted Hamburger. I pigged out on hot wings; it was great.  If you've never experienced Jerome, you must.  There's nothing like it; especially around Halloween.  Then we went and picked out a few books I've been wanting.  I couldn't have asked for a better evening. 

We had a beautiful view at dinner, looking over the Verde.

This picture is for my boys.  They took it.  This is how Mama looked the day she turned 31.   

And here's another picture for my boys.  This is where I was born.  A little house in Snowflake AZ.  October 11, 1980.  It used to be a Doctor's office.  Now there's a big metal horse out front...

Nanna said I was born pretty much underneath the right front window.  She went with a midwife when she had me.  Papa said the trees are much taller now around the house. 

As I sat there in the car, looking out the window to the place I was born, I waited for this feeling of "enlightenment" to wash over me.  After all, this was the place I took my first breath, and where life began.  Well, the feeling never came, but it was neat to finally put a picture with the place I had imagined in my head.  I love my mom so much.  And though the feeling of enlightenment didn't come, a deep appreciation for what she did for me that day did.  She is a brave, strong cowgirl.

Can I just say that I loved being 30.  And I'm going to rock 31 even more.  There is something about being in my 30's that is so wonderful and beautiful.  I have my beautiful family, I'm not looking TOO old yet, and I feel so much more understanding for everything than I ever could have in my youth.  Not saying I know it all people, just saying I understand it better.  I guess that's what life does for you; gives you experiences...but that is way too deep of thought for this post. 

Who needs a weight room...or a trainer?

Lane likes to help Daddy work his arms.

Who needs to go to the weight room when you have everything you need at home??  Just keepin' it simple.

Gold Belts

The boys had their gold belt test last Friday night and did great! 

Here's Race doing his self-defense portion of the test.

On Saturday they got to be a part of the huge Black Belt Graduation where they not only received their Gold Belts, but watched the 3rd phase of the Black Belt Tests, watched some amazing performances and met some Tae Kwon Do Masters.



The boys with Ms. Jyoti.  We LOVE her!  She is one of Witten's favorite people.  Not only does he get to see her do her black belt awesomeness, but she's also one of his teacher's at school.  She's so special to us.

The boys with Mr. Chad.  They think he is THE STUFF.  Yep, he does back flips on the ground, fights with sharp swords and lets them throw him around.  The boys say he's a Jedi. 

We couldn't catch Ms. Kathy at the Ceremony.  She was pretty busy.  But we LOVE Ms. Kathy.  She knows how to work Race through his melt-downs and makes him push himself.  I appreciate that she doesn't put up with Witt's stubbornness.  She demands "Black Belt Attitude" as she calls it.  He does a lot of push-ups for her, but she loves him in spite of it.  Thank you Ms. Kathy for all your love, fun, and hard work.

Witt is learning and growing.  I love to watch him spar.  He's pretty awesome at it. 

Race is hooked.  He so looks forward to Tuesdays and Thursdays.  It's been so good for him.

I LOVE tae kwon do.  I love what it does for my boys, and someday I'm going to do it too.

Captain Underpants

"I crack you up hu Mom"

"Yes you do"

"I'm hilarious hu Mom"

"Yes you are"

"I make you smile hu Mom"

"Yes you do"

"ok, now I'll take a picture of you wearing your underwear on your head ok?"

"Um, no"

Hair

The hair is a hit. 

Except for Lane.  The hair freaks him out.  He screams when any of us are wearing it.  This is my blurry picture of him escaping the hair.

Old Friends

By "Old" friends, I don't mean we're old, heck we're living up our 30's (and late 20's for some of us)! 

After the mud run, we drove our tired bodies out to see Brooke.  Thanks for taking us swimming Brooke, it was so good to see you.  Since our visit, I've been catching up on some of our crazy old adventures in my head.  It's made me miss all my Wilkins girls. 

I'm so blessed to have Auntie Adriane (as the boys call her) live close.  She saves my sanity and keeps me feeling young with late night talks and just doing girly things.  Just like being a teenager again (except I don't bounce back into life as easily...definetly feeling the age there).  Sometimes our hubby's think we're a little crazy.

I can't believe how grown up we are.  Raising kids, being responsible.  It blows my mind.

Next time you owe me a wrestling match Brooke.

Lords of the Mud

Last weekend I lived a dream.  You heard me right.  You see, I am Eowyn of Rohan and these are my traveling companions.  We are, the Lords of the Mud!!

  The hobbits, Sachel and Tanner, Lady Galandriel (just got her hair cut), my lovely elf friend Arwen (aka Xena), and myself, Eowyn.  We've been extremely bored since our victory in Middle-Earth, so we decided to join the Mud Run, to relive our glory days...and relive we did. 

So, we kissed our families goodbye and set out on another incredible journey, this time, through the traitorous terrains of Rawhide Arizona.

Here's me kissing my dear Faramir goodbye.  He was a little embarrassed by my attire... I can't imagine why. 

We warmed up a little different than other teams...they were doing silly things like jogging in place and stretching. We really warmed up.

And so did this little hobbit.  He and his brother were soooo excited to be running in their first big race, after ours of course. 

On your mark, get set, go!!  We were in the 2nd wave. 

We named this obstacle the Holocaust Pit.  Watch the slide show  and you'll understand why.  There was something exciting, creepy and disgusting about being in a mud hole with 50 other people, that hundreds had been through on the wave before.  So much fun!

There was something totally awesome about running through the mud with a sword.  LOVED it!!

We even ran into a balrog!!  Ahhhh!!

And so was our journey.  We all came out alive, even though the hobbits broke the fellowship and left us ladies in the dust...we had a blast.  Definitely one to do again.  Except next year, we'll be either vampires or Jane Austen characters. We haven't decided yet. 

After our run, the kids got to do theirs.  I was so proud of all of them.  Their run was about a mile and they ran the whole way!  It had been a hard morning for Race Man.  Way too over stimulating, but man you should have seen him run!!  I'm so proud of you guys!

Check out the slide show of the event.  It has even more pictures of the different obstacles.  Annell's waterproof disposable camera malfunctioned after the Holocaust pit.  Apparently it wasn't mud proof.

What a fun morning!  Thanks Nanna and Papa for watching the little ones.  And thank you Sara for coming all the way down to help.  I love my siblings so much.  And I love my dear friend Adriane.  I'm still laughing about all the fun we had.

There's another check off on my bucket list!

For Rohan!!

Witten's Teeth and Mommy's Mental Health

Once there was a little boy named Witten who started to complain about his face hurting.  His mommy has learned  not to make too big of deal about things because a. history has proven usually nothing is wrong, and b. she's learned that with raising spirited boys, if she doesn't try to stay calm, she might end up with a heart attack or something. 

Well, the complaining continued.  And then he started messing with his mouth.  His mommy thought, maybe he has a cavity...  but then, no way.  We go to the dentist twice a year, his brother has never had a cavity.  We brush twice a day, and even if it WAS a cavity, it wouldn't be hurting THAT much....blah, blah, blah.  And besides, how could a boy who prefers fruit and veggies over candy (seriously, the kid loves healthy food)  have a toothache right?

Witten looks forward to Bountiful Basket Saturday.

Sometimes mommy's brains just don't work quick enough.  So, she FINALLY looked in his mouth.  And wouldn't you know she could SEE the cavity. 

The dentist said, "it went up the nerve and the tooth is dead.  We're sorry, but not even a cap will work.  We need to give this one to the Tooth Fairy. Oh and by the way, but don't panic, this is probably just the beginning of issues for Witten's mouth...do you see his under bite, and the way these back teeth are facing...blah, blah blah."  I wasn't listening anymore.  I was wiping the sweat off my forehead and thinking dollar signs $$$$$$$. 

So the big tough cowboy got his tooth pulled.  He was a champ.  He goes in for a spacer in a few weeks.  And Mommy took a few more St. John's Wort that day. 

Daddy's Shoes

Our Daddy's been working so hard for us and we miss him.  So this is for you Daddy.

We love to wear your shoes Daddy,
As you can clearly see.
Pretending we’re as big as you,
For soon that day will be.
We hope to be like you someday,
Strong, Patient, full of love.
You’re the greatest Dad on earth,
With quite the shoes to fill. -author unknown-

Little Man is Two!

Little Man turned two on the 1st.  I can't believe it.  He loved his special day.

 He loved his book and bike.

He rode his bike all morning.

Lane came to our family right when Heavenly Father knew we needed him.  It was at a time of uncertainty in our economic situation.  Our business was suffering because of the economy and change was coming whether we wanted it or not.  Logically, it wasn't the ideal time to plan for another baby.  But I knew in my heart it was time, despite everything that was going on.  He's my leap of faith.  And I'm so grateful I took that leap, because he has blessed our lives so much.



We love you Lil' Man.  You bring our home so much happiness.

Happy Birthday.

OT

I am a big believer in sensory integration.  Not just for kids with Autism, but for all kids.  Race goes and hangs out with Ms. Betsy (our Occupational Therapist) twice a month.  He really looks forward to it; she's got some fun stuff in her office and focuses alot on sensory integration with him.  One thing great that Ms. Betsy has taught me is just being a kid, doing kid stuff is sensory integration.   

I find the human development absolutely amazing.  How playing outside, skipping, swimming and riding bikes are so important to our bodies.  And not just for our muscles, but for our brain as well.  And isn't it interesting that kids today do it less and less...

Race and I so appreciate you Ms. Betsy.  Thanks for letting us come play.

Going for a Circle

I remember my Papa, whenever he would take a drive somewhere, he'd say he was "going for a circle".

Well, my friend Vanessa and I needed a "Get out of Dodge" Day.  We needed a girl's day.  I've been wanting to go home and check out the fire damage, so we loaded the babies up and took a Saturday to drive a circle.

It was a great day.  Lane and Cairo were awesome.  We had some fun pit stops along the way.

My whole childhood, whenever we drove through Holbrook, I wanted to stay at the Wigwam.  Oh come on, you know it looked fun!

Well, we didn't stay at the Wigwam (I'm still trying to convince John to swallow his pride and just take me there one of these weekends before we die), but we did stop and pet the dinosaurs...which really freaked Lane out.  He wanted nothing to do with them.  

And actually "petting" the dinosaurs is a bit of an exaggeration.  There were "DO NOT TOUCH!!" signs all over, and the very not so nice man who ran the "Rock Shop"  refused to take a group picture of us.  He must have been having a bad day.  Kind of a let down since I've been wanting to stop there for the last 20 years. 

So we continued on our circle, me a little disappointed. But my day was brightened when I ran into Mr. Jacobs at the Springerville Safeway!  This pic is for you Sarah and Bonnie!

And Safeway was much more exciting for the boys than the dinosaurs anyway.

I couldn't leave RV without showing Vanessa what the huge ball you could see from miles away was.  Oh, good ol' RV dome, when did they give you a paint job?  I kind of got used to the pink beach ball look.

Then there was the old house.  It looks so different without Daddy's trees.

Then we went to see the trees.  This is outside Greer.  It's really something you just have to see with your own eyes.  I was amazed by two things.  First, that the fire came right up to the edge of town.  I knew it had gotten into Greer, but I guess I just didn't realize how close to Eagar it got. 

The second, was despite all the damage and burn, the mountains are still so beautiful.  I love the White Mountains.  The smell, the feeling, the people.  I miss it.

Across the street from Molly Butler's:

We hung around Greer for a while enjoying the cool mountain air.

Then we headed for Payson to eat at the sooooo yummy Gerards Bistro.  Love it!  It was a great way to finish up our circle before we headed back over the hill. 

 

It was a super fun day, but we were ready to be home and out of the car by the end of it.  Besides, we were starting to miss the other guys.