Desert hiking fun

Paper or Plastic?

I went to the store today to pick up some last minute Easter and birthday supplies. I forgot to take my cloth grocery bags. No problem, as I needed a few more anyway, I thought. Walmart even had them at the end of the aisle for a dollar each. I picked up about four of them, as that's about how much I had in the cart. I don't shop at that store very often, so these were a different color and design from my other bags, black with only a tiny tag saying Walmart. I figured they'd do just fine.

So I go to the checkout counter. I put the bags on the counter first, so she can use them straight off. Well, she rings them up, and then sets them on top of the plastic bag turntable, and starts to ring up a few other things, putting a pair of shorts for Sam on top of the bags, and then starts to put things into a plastic bag. I couldn't help it, I said, "you know, you can put things INTO the cloth bags - that's why I'm buying them." So she gives me a non-commital grunt, and puts a few things into ONE of the bags, and sure enough, she put the other three into their own plastic bag. I swear, she put about two items in each plastic bag.

Moving will be Bittersweet

Yes, we will be leaving the Big Bend. This has been our home for more than 4 years now. We moved here before Sam's first birthday, so he's about to celebrate his 5th birthday here in the park. We've had the greatest backyard a family could have. We have friends that are incredibly hard to leave behind. I can't entirely explain all of our reasons for leaving. There's the whole park service truism: move onward to move upward; we've been here a while now. I think the biggest reason is Sam. We moved here for him, so he could grow up living inside a national park. Some of Eric's greatest early childhood memories are of living with his family in Yellowstone, where his dad was a seasonal park ranger. But this means we also have to be willing to leave for Sam. He needs more than what he can get here. So we chose a park in a small town with large city benefits nearby. We chose a town with a good school system, and best of all, regular speech and occupational therapies available. Sam's made huge strides, but he's got such a long way to go, and he needs everything we can give him. I've worked with him as much as possible, but I'm his Mama. He needs a real SLP to do the therapy, and once every three weeks isn't cutting it; it never has. His current therapy schedule goes against everything I learned in college during my clinical work. He's on a monitoring schedule, not a therapy schedule, and that's how it's been since he started. Now the Coop that I used to work for is going to start using 'teletherapy'. This is, I think, where an aide will assist Sam at the school, and his SLP will monitor/direct via satelite uplink. Given that Sam has a sensory integration issue, I think this is going to be disasterous. Heck, I'd be against it for any kid. I'm vehemently opposed to my son being a guinea pig for this. The parent letter I received in the mail stated, "studies have shown it to be as effective" as regular therapy. Hah! Did they cite any of the studies? Nope. I'm willing to bet I could find 5 studies for every one they had stating the opposite. I do owe Sam's SLP an apology. I vented and took my frustrations out on her when she called to set up Sam's next therapy session on the 25th. Anyway, I think teletherapy only really makes sense from a managerial point of view. When you have as many miles to cover as the Coop does, and you have a very limited number of therapists available, coming up with ways to cut down on the number of hours your therapists spend on the road instead of in their office or doing therapy does make sense. I should know; I lived that life until I got sick of the driving and 12 hour days. Oh, they'll still have to send someone down in a car - San Vicente ISD doesn't have an aide on staff, let alone anyone qualified to do therapy in concert with someone via satelite, and I never did convince any of them that it was faster and shorter to drive through Marathon and down 385 (94 miles instead of 110, 1 hour 40 minutes instead of 2.25 hours).

So where are we moving to? Chickasaw National Recreation Area. Sulphur, Oklahoma.

Ice-cream Boy

I was playing with this picture for his party invites, and didn't use it afterall. So I'm putting it up here on the blog. Sam is really coming a long, long way. He let me cut his hair this time without a single complaint. Just amazing, considering that I still use the clippers, and how much it really bothered him in the past. It was heartbreaking to have to pin him down with my legs while I shaved his head with a razor, while he's shrieking, "Scary, scary! Mama, Scary!" Scary was a word he learned to explain what a haircut was.

Popsicles in the Basin

Circus

Well, acrobats, really. This is a Brittish couple working their way around the US in an old double-decker bus. They're at the Starlight through next week, as they've realized that Spring Break will bring in plenty of money. This is exactly the right kind of entertainment starved community for a small act like this. It was a fantastic show, and Sam loved it. Heck, all of us loved it. They were incredible. Best of all, no admission fee, just a passing of the hat (and boot). We might go see it again. Maybe next time we can get there early enough to get drinks first. (the Starlight Theater is a working restaurant and bar, think Brit-style pub)

The Princess sleeps in her Throne

I do think this carseat is appropriately named the Regent. I was worried that her head would flop forward when she fell asleep, like it did in that awful old EB 3-in-1 monster. Nope, this seat is reclined just enough that she can snuggle right in and sleep.

Sheep riding is fun

Sheep riding accident

Being Awyn

My daughter is sometimes a complicated personality. This is an understatement.

Awyn's latest thing is to try to pee standing up, like a boy. Her brother can do it. Her daddy can do it. Why can't she? About a month ago we were outside in the backyard when she declared she needed to pee. I told her she could squat outside, or go in the house. She declared with a footstamp that set her curls bouncing that she was going to pee standing up. Smirking, Eric and I told her to go right ahead and try. It was late enough in the evening that we could simply strip her clothes off and toss her in the bath, an event that was rapidly approaching whether she peed on herself or not.

Would you believe she simply arched her back and peed straight out, like a boy, and didn't get a drop on herself?

Being Awyn, she then decided she can always pee standing up. It took me a little over a week to figure out what all of her accidents were all about. I kept finding her wearing a different pair of panties, or naked from the waist down, and a saturated pile of clothing in front of the toilet. At first I thought she wasn't sitting right on the toilet. It didn't occur to me that she was trying to stand up to pee. Well, she is, and she's not at all discouraged by the piles of wet panties she's currently going through. I'm getting a little tired of the extra laundry though, and washing the bath mats all the time.

She also wants to pee on a cactus. Part of me wants to let her try. I'll be standing by with the tweezers.

When reading, one should stand on the sheep.

Crazy girl

I can't remember what she's eating here. She's our little goofball.

Robots Oh My

Sam and Awyn were playing with Sam's robot. I used this picture as part of Sam's birthday party invitation. He's asked for a robot cake, and rockets. So we're trying our best to comply.

Face washing time

Awyn is supposed to be washing her hands and face. Her hair is also a little wet.

Awyn's New Ride

Awyn now has a Britax Regent, in Madison (that's the pink and floral cover's name). They were on sale right along with us getting our tax refund. I was debating between the Graco Nautilus ($150 + shipping) that harnesses to 65 lbs, converts to a high back booster, then a low back booster, and this seat. I chose this seat after it went on a mega sale. It harnesses to 80 lbs. She'll be riding in this seat for a very, very long time. She loves that it's pink and has flowers, but thinks it's too big. Sam is in deep seat envy and would like his own. Unfortunately, the sale is over, and I have other plans for the rest of our rebate money. Maybe I'll get him a Nautilus. The only down side to the Regent is that it's not airline approved; and it's way too heavy/bulky to haul through an airport anyway. We'll just have to come up with a different plan for when we fly. Oh, and we're moving, call us for details.

This is not a box

Sam and Awyn play in the carseat box.

H I P spells everything

Awyn likes to spell words and names. She likes to recite the alphabet. Is she some kind of genius? Of course she is!

Well.... Ok, so to be more honest about these Wunderkind skills... Every word is spelled H I P. If you ask her how to spell Awyn, she says HIP. If you stop at a stop sign, and ask her what it says, she says, "H I P, stop!" As for the alphabet, she sort of says letters in any particular order as best as she can come up with them, usually with lots of h's, i's, and p's.

Why is Awyn so eager to spell and read and learn ABCs? Because her brother really does spell words and read words, both sight words and using phonics. He has the alphabet down cold, and knows every letter by sight, and what sounds they make. He does get tripped up by combination sounds, like sh, ch, tr, and whatever x is supposed to do. Still, it's impressive at times. Sometimes I wonder if it isn't compensation for how delayed his language skills have been, and his definite continued need for speech and occupational therapies.

Binoculars

Sam and Awyn love playing with binoculars.

A new type of Crib Tent

Sam and Awyn love it when I turn Awyn's bed into a tent.

Painting

Awyn has decided that painting with water colors is wonderful. She dips her brush into the paint, then the water, and then paints on the paper. Mostly she tells me she's painting eyes or monsters. I'm glad she tells me, because right now it looks like a lot of multi-colored lines.

All us firefighters have helmets

I was goofing around with my hard hat before heading off to the Fort Davis Wildland Firefighter Academy. I spend, according the the notes I took, 33 hours in class time, not counting lunch and dinner breaks. I learned a bit about digging handlines and fire and safety. I passed the test with a respectibly high score that should make anyone proud. I will go for my physical next week, then do the pack test, and get my red card. Eric's not sure where my gear should be stored; his is down at his office because he didn't have enough closet space in his ranger closet (he did before I took up half of the uniform closet).

I really did enjoy the training, and I met some fun people. I was one of five women to attend the class, out of 15 students. I was the only one who wasn't already a structural firefighter with various volunteer fire departments. They were a little vague on hose lays and nozzles, because everyone but me already knew all about that. Still, the foam was cool. And I did like using a pulaski to cut line.

Another South Rim Hike

Eric led another training hike up to the South Rim. I'd planned on going with him, but I had a tummy bug. So I missed his 'bubbles on the Rim' talk again. I'm in deep bubble envy. I want to blow bubbles off the South Rim. It's only a 13 mile hike... I think we'll have to plan another trip soon; I can always find a sitter for the kids.

Monsters Beware!

Awyn brought her lightsaber all the way down into the cave to fight monsters. From the moment Eric and I started telling the kids that we were going to a cave, Awyn started talking about monsters. She packed Sam's lightsaber too, but his stayed back in the van instead of in his backpack.

Sam wants to type his own name:

samuel lee leonard

Yes, another family picture!

Of course we had to get a picture of Sam and Awyn with grandparents.

Ah, my little family

A family portrait with the bat, naturally.

The Bat

Yes, we now have a series of pictures with the bat. Sam has loved the bat on all three of his visits down into the cave.