Thursday, February 5, 2009

Editorial Note

I have been a bit of a slacker when it comes to blogging ... so I am making an attempt to rectify that. I will be trying to back track and fill in the gaps where possible... please be patient and bear with me...

**Added Halloween pics and stuff...

Saturday, January 17, 2009

BAM!!!

When Emeril first coined that saying (is it really a saying if it is only one word?) I am sure this is NOT what he had in mind...

I was making dinner as per the usual. Chicken was in the oven and roasting away... The cauliflower was chopped and rinsed... Then I remembered I had forgotten to put a little water in the bottom of the pan for the chicken. I got some water and opened the oven and BAM!!! Oh yeah, don't put cold liquids/solids in a blazing hot Pyrex dish!

I am pretty sure I am going to die about 5 years sooner after that incident.

Literally, as the water hit the dish it exploded. There were shards of glass all over the oven and embedded in the chicken and on the floor and... Thankfully no one was hurt. Except now I had about 45 minutes to come up with a new dinner plan. Not an easy task when you have multiple dietary restrictions to take into account. Can't order a pizza or Chinese. Can't go to McDonald's or Wendy's. So out came allllllll the leftovers (man, there were like 25 containers of food in the fridge). We made due but I was very sad... On a brighter note, my fridge is much lighter and there is more Rubbermaid in the drawer!

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Bed...

We were getting ready for bed last night. Things were going along as usual... until Dave went into John's room and found him sucking on the nozzle of a Purell pump bottle. Yup, you read that right. He snatched the bottle out of John's hand and proceeded to try to sweep any remnants out of his mouth. He then checked the back of the bottle and decided we needed to call Poison Control. I quickly realized we didn't know the number. (Bad parents, bad, bad parents!) So I called 911 figuring that had to be a close second. They proceed to tell me that they can connect me but first they want to confirm our address. (Ah, the wonders of modern technology... she already knew our address based on the number that I called from.) I was immediately on the line with PC explaining what had happened. Shirley (the very helpful employee from Poison Control) wanted to know how much we thought he may have ingested, what kinds of signs and symptoms John was exhibiting and then she explained that it was likely that he hadn't ingested all that much and that we should give him some juice and a snack. She did mention that we should watch him for the next half hour (yay, another late bedtime) to see if he starts to act "drunk". Like what I asked. She described drunk as swaggering walk, bumping into things and tripping over his own feet. Great! She just described what he does all day every day! So I promised to call back if we noticed anything funny and thanked her profusely at which point the 911 operator jumped to alert me to the fact that she had listened to the entire phone conversation and that she too would be available if I needed her. Woah, what service! I thanked her as well. We all went through the requisite info exchange: my name, John's name, address reconfirmation and another round of thank you's.

I got off the phone and poured John some juice and poured some cereal into a Snack Trap. We all went back to the "campfire" that Kayla had built where she was making everyone s'mores - of course James and John's had rice milk marshmallows she said. All of a sudden the door bell rings. Immediately I knew who was at the door. I open the door and standing on the stoop is a First Aid Squad member. He was responding to a call about a baby swallowing hand sanitizer. Ugh! He then informs us that dispatch thought the squad should follow up in person. He tells us that he lives about a hundred yards away and so he came over on foot but that a bus would be there shortly. Man, did I feel like a bad parent! He took a look at John and realized that he was really fine. He called dispatch and told them they didn't need to have an officer (yes, a police officer) dispatched. Double ugh! About a minute later lights start flashing and swirling up the street and an ambulance pulls up in front of the house. (The twins thought this was GREAT!) A second later an officer appears at the door! He too lives around the corner in the other direction and has a newborn so he felt he had to respond. Next came the Rescue member who had to take our official information and have us sign something saying that we refused medical attention.

So long, crazy story short... John is fine. We think he probably didn't eat much if any at all. On another note, it was a good feeling to know that our Emergency Responders have such a quick response time! Thank you to the Kendall Park First Aid Squad and Police Dept.

Friday, October 31, 2008

Light the Night

Lots of exciting pics to share from Halloween...

Here are some pics of Kayla's class:


Kayla as Super Girl!


Kayla with Super Man and Princess Presto.


Kayla being turned into a Mummy!


The finished product!
(Notice John waiting patiently in his stroller in the background.)


From here we raced over to James's school for his Halloween party:

James is Ultra Cool Buzz Lightyear!


Kayla and James enjoying some snacks.


John, once again, being a complete angel - although dressed as a Fire Fighter!

Buzz loves his teacher Mrs. Fech!

From there it was home to rest and then off to Calvary Chapel's Annual Light the Night...


The Minis with the Richter kiddos... didn't know they would be there!


John with Daddy.

John with Uncle Chad.

Friday, August 8, 2008

The R-Word

I have recently been made aware of some of the "finer" (please read with complete sarcasm) points of a new movie by Dreamworks that opened last week, Tropic Thunder. It astonishes me that in our world we still choose to use such ignorant and self-righteous terms. I won't even dignify the movie by using the word that is repeated over and over. I will say that it begins with the letter R.

Why is it that the N word has been inexcusable for years (don't get me wrong I completely agree with that social more), yet the R word is still encouraged as the thread on which so many jokes are spun? Someone recently referred to my son as R and I saw red for weeks. But I had to realize that this person is ignorant and obviously knows nothing about my son (even though she is family). My son at the age of 4 is reading at the 2nd grade level, has memorized all 50 states and their capitols and is teaching himself Spanish. Yes, he may not be able to have a coherent conversation but that's fine with me. I have learned so much more from him than from most adults.

I will admit that as a teenager I made jokes about these things. You know how funny we thought it was to joke about the length of the bus someone rode or the speed at which they could finish an assignment. But as an adult I have seen the error of my adolescent ways. And while I don't condone this behavior I can also see that this was a child's behavior and as children we need our parents and other trusted adults around to guide our actions. However, as adults (which is what I thought the people running Dreamworks are) we have a responsibility to use and promote informed and respectful speech. Just as a person cannot choose their ethnic background (and therefore should not be ridiculed or disrespected for it) so it is true for our disabled family, friends and neighbors. They did not choose to have these obstacles placed before them. (Though as a result they often work harder than you and I ever will.) Instead let us look up to them for not giving up in the face of trial and adversity, let us cheer them on and let us come along side to run the race with them.

Won't you join me and the millions of others that have already said I will not support such ignorance and bigotry. Tell others that you won't go see this movie and let Hollywood know that this ISN'T funny! You can click on the box to the right to let your voice be heard.

Summer Musings

John has recently received his first cell phone. In true 21st-century-kid form he, um, mastered the use of the phone quite quickly. Now if he could just get his aim right!


In other news I have been trying to grow things. My mom ordered some bulbs online and I planted them late in the season thinking I wouldn't see any blooms until next summer but...


I also think that I failed to mention that we had a new driveway and front sidewalk put in. When they were digging to put in the new asphalt they moved a bunch of dirt. We used some of that dirt to fill in some empty spots. After a couple of weeks we found that we had something that resembled a pumpkin or squash plant growing in the front beds. Well, after a few more weeks we now have lots of these... But after much searching I can't figure out exactly what kind of squash these are. Anyone know??? We have already picked 5 and have at least another dozen that will need to be picked soon...

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Walking on Sunshine

The summer could not be any hotter. (Well, they could but then I would be in a puddle in the corner and wouldn't be able to write to y'all.) I also can't believe that it is already the end of July. Whoever said that the summer was a time to relax didn't have kids. Since school got out at the end of June we have: driven to Nashville and back, started back to school (for James), [I] led worship for VBS, had two sick boys, taken K to Gymnastics camp, celebrated at least a half dozen birthdays (with at least a half dozen more to go this summer), had Thanksgiving dinner in July... I am sure that I am forgetting something...

But I have yet to tell you about some of the more exciting things that have happened. About 2 weeks ago Dave and I met with a Nutritionist who specializes in ASD kids. She gave us a "plan" and we have embarked upon a new adventure. On Sunday we started enzymes with James. It has been 2 full days and he seems to be doing well. So I think tomorrow or Thursday we will go from the 1/2 dose he is taking now to the full dose. There is always the chance that these treatments will at first cause James to go "backwards" but the end result is almost always improvement.

Also, James will be attending a full day autism program in the fall where...wait for it, wait for it... THEY are going to potty train him. I know I couldn't believe it either when they told me. It isn't that Dave and I don't want to (alright maybe we don't want to) but its just that we aren't really sure HOW to. So I will keep you all up to speed on that as it progresses.

The other great news is that John has started walking. I don't mean that he holds on to the couch and walks around the living room perimeter. I mean he stands up and puts one foot in front of the other and takes a couple of steps and then falls on his butt. We have tried to get it on film but of course as soon as you turn on the camera all he wants to do is eat it! So we will try sneak some footage when possible and share.

I will leave you with 2 great pics. One is Kayla climbing the dugout pole in Nashville. The other is one that my Mom took of the boys. Enjoy!