10 things I'm doing right now.

1. Sleeping through the night (with the occassional wake-up call).
2. Making lots of cookies for the girl's baptism this week.
3. Wondering where all the time has gone.
4. Changing diapers.
5. Running in two different directions (and this is just crawling).
6. Finishing a children's story inspired by this post.
7. Singing in our city's local Chorale Choir.
8. Loving the vivid beautiful colors outside.
9. Going to soccer practice and games twice a week.
10. Preparing to sing Beautiful Savior, with my girls at their baptism.

What are you doing?

Note to self...

Picture Mr. T strapped to me in a Baby Bjorn, the Hawk in his car seat perched on top of the shopping cart; Cici and Nini on either side of the cart; and yours truly pushing the shopping cart with my shopping list clenched in one of my hands. I see someone I know and we start chatting. The girls are picking out Father's Day cards and Mr. T's less than small frame is making the conversation more and more excruciating.

I say goodbye to my friend and quickly try to get as many things as I can before the Hawk gets too frustrated with his car seat. Somewhere in between talking to my friend and finding a Father's Day gift, my list becomes Mr. T's afternoon snack. I can't remember how he got a hold of it, but push forward and get as many things on the list as possible and make it to the check-out.

We run a few more errands and finally end up at home ready for some needed rest - but wait?! After unloading the contents of my mini-van, I realize that everything I purchased at my first stop were still at the store. I left everything. Fortunately, they saved everything back for me (thanks Target) and I was able to pick it up the next day.

My note to self...shop on Saturday morning when Craig can watch the kids.

A family's journey to understand Autism.

This post was inspired through a book I recently read called Look me in the eyes: my life with asperger's written by John Elder Robison. It is a fantastic book journaling John's life from childhood to adulthood and how he survived for 40 years without knowing he had Asperger's Syndrome. It is an amazing book and one that would recommend to anyone who needs or wants more information about autism. Here is our own family's story about autism and stretching beyond are own understanding to help a family member.

Living without a diagnosis

During 2002 to about 2007, I had the wonderful opportunity to have guardianship over my older brother. For years, our family knew that he had some communication shortcomings and repetitive behavioral issues that never seemed to be corrected despite being addressed in various forms. My parents were saddened at every turn as their hopes for this job or that friendship came crashing to a halt. It was assumed that he was just being difficult, but a family friend gave my parents some insight that encouraged them to bring him in one more time for some more specific testing.

After 30 years of misdiagnoses, our family was told that he had been living with autism. His diagnoses involved certain aspects of Asperger's Syndrome. Since all of his behaviors did not fit into one box, we were told that his form of autism was a very high functional form, known as High Functioning Autism. I felt a huge sense of relief for him and my family, because now we had a diagnoses and knowledge. There is nothing more heart breaking than trying to find help for someone, when you don't know how to help; and when agencies that are there to help, won't or can't, because they don't fit into their criteria for support.

Big Changes.

It was evident that his current situation was hurting, more than helping him. He had already had to move back home, and with money issues, and with no work; he needed a change. This is when my parents moved my brother to Utah and into our home, so that they could take a long retirement trip and serve a mission for our church. It didn't hit me how much help my brother needed until he began living with us. It was clear that he wasn't functioning well, was confused easily.

The details:

First, let me start by saying every person with autism is different. Perhaps this won't help you, but maybe it will give you ideas for your own family loved one living with autism. Here are few things that were disabling my brother from reaching his full potential.

1. When he arrived in Utah to stay with us, he couldn't think or act clearly. There were too many things in his life that were disorganized and too many guesses.

2. He had lots of big dreams but with neither a job nor the communication skills to complete them.

3. Easily distracted, he was prey to any telemarketer or computer scam as he lacked the understanding and guidance to say no.

4. He was sloppy, unorganized and had no idea how to maintain his space, let alone his own home.

5. He was side-tracked easily as he had no schedule.

6. He did not know how to manage his money, which often had grave circumstances for the my parents.

I knew that he didn't want any of this. He wanted what he saw everyone else having, which was, a normal life - or what he perceived "normal" to be. It was clear that he needed help, guidance, and he needed, for a time, the freedom from guessing what he should do. He needed a strict schedule, with some instruction, and a reward based system to get him back on track. This was a great realization, but one that I had no idea how to establish for him....until...

A system that works:

I was walking through Target one day. Completely overwhelmed by paperwork for the girl's adoption, and the realization that I had no idea what to do for my own brother. As I walked by the office supply section of Target, I had a very strong feeling that I needed something in this section. I entered the aisle hesitantly and was instantly hit with an understanding of what I could do to help my brother. I picked up a poster board, index cards, index card box, and a permanent marker and drove home with big hopes.

The first thing I learned from my brother was that there were a lot of assumptions. A grown man should be able to organize his time, what he eats, his living space - this was our assumption. It was clear he did not have this concept and that this was what was causing so many frustrated moments for him. Second, I learned that my brother's motivation for learning came from rewards - in his case, money to spend on the things he enjoyed. From here we made goals for him based on the things in his life that weren't going well and this entailed 10 separate goals, each with a small money reward. Once a week, I would interview him and have him read the individual goal and then we would talk about his success or how he needed to improve. All the goals were recorded on poster board, so he could see his progress.

We wrote each goal on an index card with the goals exact description and intent and had my brother read it in the first person - for example: One goal was to Maintain a Schedule. The index card would then say,

My family has made a schedule for me to follow each day and each week. I will follow the schedule. I will ask questions if I do not understand. I will ask my family if I need to change or have an activity that is not on the schedule.

Once he completed reading the goal we would talk about any problems he may have had in following his schedule, or successes. We would then make more specific goals, if needed, to go along with the primary goal. Here were the 10 goals:

1. Maintain Schedule
2. Spiritual
3. Personal Hygiene
4. Trust and Honesty
5. Diet and Exercise
6. Checking-in
7. Cleanliness of living space
8. Feelings
9. Attitude
10. Personal Behavior

Each goal was written on the poster board and index card and detailed based on my brother's needs. There was no questions or guessing as to what he had to do each day. It took a couple of months to have all of these new goals "sink in". He had several set-backs, but after a good six months, and after his routine and expectations were clear - he became more vigilant at completing them with great success.

He was now living on his own. I would make frequent "checks" at his apartment. He was active in his singles ward and his work, for now, was volunteering at our church's welfare centers. I continued to interview him. In 2007, after years of mostly successes he married in the Salt Lake City Temple. He received job training assistance because of is diagnoses and is now working successfully - with a steady income and steady job with people who know his limitaions.

I know that none of these goals would have been a success if it wasn't for his "good attitude" and desire to change. I have detailed interview forms and more information if you are interested. It was a long journey filled with heartache and joy as we saw him succeed and grow into the person he wanted to become.

Do you know anyone on the Autistic Spectrum?
How has autism affected your life?

5 weird or random things about me...

Here goes...I was tagged by my sister at half full life to mention 5 weird or random things about me. I new that I would never complete this tag if I didn't ask Craig - since he knows me best. I'm sure my sister could add to this list but here are five random or weird things about me...

1. I have a propensity to leave the cupboard doors open in any room with cupboard doors. It wouldn't be so bad if I didn't bump my head or run into them, but I do.

2. I belch, burp - whatever you want to call it - a lot. I have a hard time digesting my food, so this must be a way my body deals with - sorry no video!

3. Just thinking about eating a Popsicle that has a wooden Popsicle stick inside of it - makes me nauseous.

4. According to my husband (this something I don't notice) I can't say crayons. It sounds something more like "crains".

5. I do some sort of high pitched cackling thing, perhaps known to most as a giggle, when I am on amusement rides and when I am skiing. My husband loves to make fun of this!

This was such a fun tag! Let's see, I pass this tag to Laura, Noriane, Nicole,Marie, Wendi, and Amanda L. I have been having to replace my side links because they disappeared last week. I hope that if you are a blogging friend who's name isn't on my sidebar - that you'll be so kind as to let me know. I don't want to loose track of anyone!

Do you find that your husband or other half can pick out those quirky things about you more than you?

A lesson in writing a mystery...

While pursuing the very small children's section at our local Blockbuster, we found an entire shelf just for Scooby-doo cartoons. We picked up one and took it home to watch. Despite the very telling and obvious end to every Scooby cartoon, I still found myself being wrong almost every time at who exactly was the villain. Was it the grounds keeper, the visiting friend, the rich owner, the lurking neighbor? ooooooh, the curiosity and staying power of these little mystery cartoon segments! It gets me every time!

In honor of Scooby's excellent mystery writing, here are six things it takes to make a great mystery from someone who has absolutely no experience in writing them:

1. Cheesy one-liners. Every a-game detective or lead character has to have something that only they say, a one-liner like "Scooby dooby doo!", even if it comes from a dog.

2. A side-kick. Mysteries need a good side-kick to keep the mood light in times of suspense. Scooby not only has himself, but Shaggy who helps in keeping this "real -man".

3. A smattering of could be villains. Not one, not two, not three, but four or more is appropriate for making a mystery stay mysterious and keep the people guessing. There are always a smattering of villains or could be villains in every Scooby episode.

4. A chase scene. I cannot remember how many and really have no interest in keeping track of how many Scooby-doo cartoons I've seen; but, there is a certainty that each of them will have a chase scene.

5 and 6. A Thelma and side-kick mishaps. I am certain that no mystery would be solved without Thelma's vast knowledge of everything and anything, and the mischievous mishaps of Scooby and Shaggy.

What did I miss?

Answering the tag.

My sister has tagged me -I don't like to do these tags much as they are often too deep for me! But, since I don't want to get beat up by my big sis - I guess I'd better answer the tag!

Here are 6 qualities about myself...

I am...

1. Happy

2. Independent

3. Stubborn

4. Understanding

5. Helpful

6. Forgiving

... this was hard work to come up with these six qualities... I need a nap!

What are six qualitites about you Chrissy, Natasha, Nicole, and Marie?

Missed Moments Friday

I find that at the end of the week I've already missed several things that have happened that I never recorded and often times don't get recorded because I don't have time. I've felt for sometime now that I am not writing enough about the girls daily life; the little things they say and do that I know I will miss each day they grow older. I am starting a post called Missed Moments Friday that will document some of those things that I missed in their lives and in general. If there is nothing I've missed than I'll fill Friday up with something else!

Curriculum Fair: The girl's new school had a fun night last week called the Curriculum Fair. Each grade and class had a different project they were working on and presented it in booth form at the Fair. There were prizes and food and lots of fun! Some of the crafts their kindergarten class worked on were really cool! They made a panda bear out of paper mache that I didn't get a picture of that was really neat.

This area was where they got to work on being a dentist. They had a hard boiled egg sitting with the shell in cola. The children got to try to use a tooth paste and tooth brush to try to see if they could brush the stain off the egg. The kids were really excited about this project!

Cici's Protect the bald eagle sign.

Nini's protect the bald eagle sign

Their class has been learning a lot about endangered animals and made these picket type signs about saving the bald eagle. They were very proud of them!

Playground scare: I walked with the girls and our little dog Rolfe to the park on Thursday. Luck be it for the girls that their old school was having some sort of evening affair and the playground was full of a lot of their old friends from their french immersion school. Nini was beside herself running around yelling at everyone, poor thing - we had to have a little chat about calming down and enjoying her friends instead of constantly looking for more. I couldn't take the dog into the playground area and had to stand on the outside of the sandy area. Nini starts getting up on the monkey bars which she can do quite easily. Having had a long break from it, I think she was a bit scared and froze one bar into the set and hangs their. She looked at me to save her, but I figured she would just drop. Instead, within seconds, she puts her feet up through her arms and starts to do this summer salt thing in mid air. I'm running with the dog in toe -Nini wait, no! -freaked out she was going to drop right no her head. Fortunately, a very very nice man standing a couple feet away, sees her plight and saves her from falling. Whew, it was very scarie. We went back today and it was a lot calmer and no near fatal accidents.

Gymnastics: I was so excited to find the le petite gym opened about two miles from our home. It's the newest thing I've been to here in Montreal and it's just beautiful. The girls go once a week for a non-competitive gymnastics for an hour. They hired a great couple gymnastics team from Bulgaria who used to perform in Vegas for one of the Cirque de Soliel acts. They are just wonderful. Cici loves the beam and the floor, while Nini is a whiz at the bars.

The temporary residents of Montreal Club: So, it's not really an official club, but as everyone in the photo above is from different parts of the world, I thought it sounded clever! LeAnne on the left is from Australia and is here for the next three years. Kristen, in the middle is from Vegas and is here for probably another 12 months. She's expecting her fourth baby in June! We've started an informal gathering at least once a week to eat or talk. Today, I we were headed over to Kristen's to make crepes. When she came to pick the girls up for our carpool run to school she chimes that instead of crepes, let's wash our cars. I quickly replied timidly, OK? Anyway, I wasn't sure of the whole let's wash our own car thing, but it turned out to be a lot of fun, with three cars in her driveway, and each of us washing our car, and scrubbing it inside. I brought over our shop vac and we all took turns vacuuming it out. They weren't sure about the whole self-portrait thing, but they'll get used to it!

Ice Cream Sandwiches: These sandwiches turned out to be yumm-a-licsious! They are made from pillsbury chocolate cookie dough and vanilla ice cream. Simply put the cookies on the cookie sheet, bake, and freeze for about 10 minutes. Once the cookies are slightly hard, take a 1/4 cup or less of ice cream and push it on one of the cookies. Finish by sandwiching another cookie on top of the ice cream and eat! I actually liked them better the second day - so perhaps freezing them for an hour might make them taste even yummier! Calorie count on these is about 250, you can use light ice cream and it will be less; as each cookie is 100 calories. They were really easy to make!

Running shoes and weight goals: I decided to hit a few more stores and ended up finding a nice pair of Nike running shoes that work really well. I've managed to run everyday, three of the days for 30 minutes and one of the days 40 and today I walked with the double stroller ( the girls are the same weight just a bit taller than last year) for a half an hour and when Craig came home I ran for 25 minutes. I've lost three pounds and fit into a pair of jeans that I couldn't button a month ago! Yeah!

Do you find you miss great blogging memories?
Do you like ice cream sandwiches?
Do you think you could live in another country besides the one you're in now?!

Why I can't stop smiling!

This week turned out to be a really great week. From getting my goal done of launching my etsy shop, to a nice weekend at our cabin, there were a lot of things to smile about. I felt pretty grumpy this week though, which made me want to make this list even more. I just hate feeling unappreciative of all the good things. Some of you wonderful bloggers have asked about starting your own smile list, and I would say to that, smiling is for everyone!

1. I launched my Esty shop. No one has bought anything off of it, but I don't mind much as I am just happy that it's up!
2. My sister told me that she is hopeful her and her family can come and visit this fall.
3. Craig has plans to travel soon, but since my discovery of the Gilmore Girls, at least I know that I can do on my down time - I'm on the 8th episode of the first season!
4. We are in the middle of planning a trip to Portland to see family and down to California and Disneyland - a very welcomed winter vacation - I'm just looking forward to sun, at least in CA!
5. I am finally feeling better, some congestion, but I think I'm ready to venture outside to exercise this next week.
6. I was happy to be able to get 14 miles on the treadmill.
7. I am feeling a difference in how snug my clothes used to fit, and how well they fit now! I've even picked up some weights.
8. I made a lunch date with two friends for Monday. We're eating Vietnamese food downtown - yummy!
9. Despite really cold and windy weather, we had beautiful sunny days and although, I wouldn't want to spend much time outside in it, at least my windows show nice bright light.
10. I prepared 7 packages to send for goodmail and have failed twice at sending them, including one of the packages contents being devoured by one of my dogs! However, Craig and I are planning what we've coined our "Voting Roadtrip", to go into NY and get our vote in for Romney. Because we have a property in NY, we were able to send our voting registration to the county of our cabin. We leave right after droppin off the girls, go to the post to mail my good mail, vote, and hopefully get some lunch in, before 3:30 - so we can get the girls in time for school's end. (I'm not giving up on my goodmail!)
11. Tuesday, I received a lovely card in the mail from Carol - Thank you! 12. Wednesday, Jenny sent this wonderful goodmail, based on this post. Thank you so much, it was such a wonderful surprise!
13. And, Maria totally shocked me with this goodmail on Thursday. My smile post last Sunday about Raspberry pies, inspired her goodmail thoughfulness! The best thing about it is, was the Canadian post sent it in basically a day - now that's fast! Thank you Maria, we picked some pies and hot cocoa up on our way to our cabin on Thursday - your goodmail was really good!


14. Tonight we'll sleep a bit safer, now that I bought a new smoke dectector and carbon monoxide dectector.
15. We drove to our cabin Thursday night, since Craig had the day off on Friday.
16. When we drove up to the cabin that night, we realized that a tree had fallen 75 feet from our cabin. There have been some huge wind storms, and we felt very fortunate that it didn't land on our any closer to our cabin.
17. We relaxed Friday during the day and took a drive to Saranac Lake to see what they say is the oldest winter festival in the states. It wasn't much of a party on Friday, but the yearly ice castle they build was up and very neat. We are excited to try to see the Quebec City Winter Festival this weekend!


18. Elise had a fever Friday night, but recovered quickly to go cross country skiing with us at the Olympic park in Lake Placid.





19. We took the girls skiing and they did a great job, a lot better than last year I recounted on this post. We all stayed up this time and we think we can actually handle this sport more often. And I am smiling because I didn't fall once!



20. Sassy sent this great care package to our cabin. It was waiting for us when we arrived with a bunch of See's candy in it! She packed our box with Bordeau's for Craig and dark chocolate coconut and almond nuget (not sure the exact candy name) for me. Thanks Sassy!
21. The girls were in fine form at the cabin, meaning they fought a lot! Small space, means more time with sister - but I took this picture when we were leaving the skiing center. Craig and I were walking in front and they were busy talking 15 feet back from us, I couldn't help resist turning around and snapping this photo of them "getting along"!
22. We left this morning from the cabin so that we could ge to church on time, it was pretty stressful, with lots of tantrums from the girls; we ended up leaving late. Craig was doing 80 on the freeway and when we came over the hill, a state trooper through his headlights on and as we passed, lit us up. The police man stated that Craig was gong over 80 MPH, and Craig stated politely back, "Not to sound trite or anything, but we were just trying to get to church on time!". He was of course hoping that this would soften the polic officers heart, but unfortunately we were still given a ticket. While back on the road, I looked over the ticket and found this at the bottom:


22 continued: It was just a funny reminder that you can find humor even in stressful situations. We still have to see how much it was though!
23. When we realized we couldn't make it on time, for me to play the piano, I called Kathy, a good friend of mine, and she was more than happy to fill in for me.

What is making you smile?

The 5 best times to stub your toe...

Time #1: While carrying something extremely important, such as a baby or large plate of food.
Time #2: While people are watching you or in public place.
Time #3: A couple months after breaking your baby toe - be sure to stub it in the same place.
Time #4: Right after you hit your head on an open cupboard.
Time #5: When you've only been awake for 30 seconds.

And yes, all of these have occurred in my life, if not this month, - #3 - just this weekend. I'm still in pain!


Monday

The girls and I traveled to Vermont today to have the girls see a pediatrician. The medical system in Montreal is so bad, that not even my friend who's a doctor can find a pediatrician. I am fortunate that I have a doctor that we can use in an emergency, but it was time for them to have a good yearly check-up. It was fun to hit the mall by the doctor's office and chow on some very missed Taco Bell tacos, but I wasn't impressed with the pediatrician they saw, like I have been with the infertility center in the same city. I think I'll stick to my resources up in Montreal. We left around 10 and got back around 6:30 p.m. I was perturbed that I missed the post office by 5 minutes, I had some goodmail I wanted to send out - next time! It was about four hours of driving. When we got home the girls were ready to run, Nini even pulled out her tennis shoes and hit my treadmill at 2 miles per hour! Cici was just happy to twirl around!

SPT to follow soon Lelly!

How far would you go for a good doctor?
Any "times" I should add to my stubbing your toe list?

Why I can't stop smiling...

My goal is to write down those blessing and grateful moments as they happen during the week and post them on the weekend. Last week I had 40 things that made me smile, not every week can be as good as that - but I'm going to try to get it as high as my last "smile" post.

1. Took pictures of things for my Etsy shop and am progressing at feeling confident I can officially open it on Wednesday, January 30th!
2. The Raspberry pies are back at McDonald's, and although they are really good, I've only had one this week. I almost had another one on Friday, but thankfully they were out!
3. I found some beautiful paper at a local paint/craft store (not equal to Michael's or Hobby Lobby though) they come in large sheets for $4.00.
4. Found the girl's Easter dresses for only $17.00 each - matching but different colors. Really cute!
5. I actually got our my violin Sunday and practiced. I may not be Issac Perlman, but I haven't lost how to play (it's been about a year). I played it for about 10 minutes once earlier this fall, but nothing of great significance.
6. I've practiced it two more times this week and am working on my vibrato - sorry no blogger debuts anytime soon!
7. Nini goes to gymnastics at her school - straight from class to the gym for her class. I always like to sneak a peak at her to see if she's safe (still worry weather they have everything secure), and I caught jabbering away to her gymnastics teacher - it was the cutest thing!
8. Cici's leg warmer were falling down last week at ballet, but I came up with a way to keep them up by sewing a band of material/ribbon and streaming elastic through it. It worked beautifully - yeah!
9. I am happy that my house has not been a place of clutter for me. The 20 bags+ of giveaway we took to the charity shops has left us feeling free of of a lot of chaos - it's great.
10. I purchased a swiffer mop this week, which lets me spot treat our hard wood floors, which cover the entire house (except the basement), without getting out the heavy duty mopping. Cici has even got into doing it for me.
11. Am hoping to start a music class for the kids at church, since most don't have the finances to take music. I am really excited about this, and being organized has helped feel that I have the time to do this.
12. I've put more order into my mornings by making the girl's lunch while I make dinner, finishing all the dishes at night, and even putting out the mornings breakfast dishes and cereal to make it easier to get out the door on time.
13. Spent a very cold 30 minutes this week in 4 degree weather talking to a woman with twin girls a year younger than my girls. I am grateful that I was able to answer her questions about same vs. separate classes, and find out some great information that might allow us to transfer the girls to an english school.
14. I exercised every week day this week! I couldn't do it outside this week, it was really really cold and really busy - but I made changes and used a DVD machine to run/walk 16 miles this week on our treadmill.
15. Montreal has a lot of great restaurants, but not ones that are really suited to children. We finally went to one today (Saturday) called Baton Rouge - it was kid friendly and had a great burger - something I've been craving for awhile.
16. My new passport came this week! It's absolutely gorgeous, with photos inside every page - my husband has a tinge of jealousy!
17. We received a refund check for most of the cost of our pipes that froze at Acorn Cottage.
18. We are excited to be planning a weekend at Acorn cottage soon!

What is making you smile?

Why I can't stop smiling...

I love the new blog posts that are going around regarding weekly blessings. I love it, but wanted to do it a bit more my way! Each week I will post all the good things and blessings that I experience within the week and post them on the weekend. It also gives me a chance to journal them and record them, so on bad days, I can go back and remember all my blessings.

1. The sun was shining all day for three days this week.


2. The ground has a fresh coat of snow on it today and will snow all day.


3. Walmart was not crowded on Tuesday, no fights, and I was out in 10 minutes.


4. Cici started ballet Tuesday and it's so great to see her in her cute blue tutu.


5. Craig and I had a great interview with Nini's teacher on Tuesday and things are looking up for her at school.


6. I prepared and sent my first hat order and plan on launching my Etsy shop next Friday, January 25, 2008.


7. I made some leg warmers out of the same yarn as my crochet hats and already have one order from a friend at Cici's ballet class -they are really cute!


8. I found an ingenious way (at least I think so) to organize my earrings using a four layered photo display board and hung it up in my bedroom closet. I can see all my earring all the time without trifling through any drawers or looking under my dresser!


9. American Idol started this week!


10. NCIS was new - one of my fav shows.


11. Thursday, Cosco put out their new rolls of ribbon and it was free because of my Cosco rewards check.


12. By noon on Thursday I had: Gone to Value Village, found the girls their new snow pant outfit (they have to wear snow pants everyday until all the snow melts -which will be a long time) on sale and 30% off, found two pairs of pants, a dress, and two shirts that all fit perfectly. And was home before noon!


13. Am totally finished with our bedroom - there isn't anything I need to do or organize in this room - woo hoo!


14. Am so, so, so, so thankful that Excedrin is readily available to me today, as I don't think I would be able to stand up straight without it today.


15. Friday, Craig and I celebrated our first date on January 18th, 1993.


16. A new family from Las Vegas moved into our ward, she's my age and has young kids like me and is American!


17. I took her to the biggest grocery store I could think of and they are coming over for dinner Saturday.


18. I ran 9 miles this week, had to take a break because of some major cramps all Thursday and Friday, but am still feeling dedicated to my exercise goal.


19. I am perfecting the art of shrinky dink - it's a very scientific and picky craft!


20. We are now registered to vote for Super Tuesday in NY! Yeah! We are taking a special voting road trip to vote.


21. It's Friday! Movie night at our house and we are watching Aladdin with the girls. One of the things we ate on our date was Dr. Pepper and twizzlers. It was actually the first time I had had any caffeinated drinks. (Except for a moment when I was with a friend, we had a can of Jolt together!) So we are picking this up tonight to enjoy during the movie.


22. The girl's mood has change drastically and they have become more content, energetic, and I think, unless it's just hope, there fighting has decreased.


23. We made head ways this week with them and the specialist they are seeing.


24. We decided to take a break from infertility treatments, I still need to go to the doctor for some health issues - but we felt that we should wait for now. I am feeling more at peace with waiting for more children. It's not always the right time.


25. We might be coming to Utah during the blogging party! We're are at least talking about it and it's on the table.


26. We found out this week that our cabin's frozen pipes will most likely be covered by insurance.


27. We worked all day today on our home and accomplished yet another trip to the donation center and threw away 5 more bags of things we just didn't need - and I mopped the floor.


28. Every room is clean, and we only have a few more bins to go through - yeah, I'm doing the cleaning dance right now!


29. After our guests left, it wasn't hard to clean-up.


30. Romney won in Michigan and now in Nevada!


31. I don't look sick anymore...After going in to get my hair done professionally, not by my hands, the person doing my hair said upon finishing - at least you don't look sick anymore. Apparently my last dye job, was too dark for my skin tone.


32. I made chocolate cupcakes today and didn't even eat one!


33. I have a raspberry piece of pie waiting for me.


34. Met a really nice mom of the girl's classmates today and had a great conversation - really lovely woman.


35. Didn't get any bills on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.


36. Wore tennis shoes instead of boots today.


37. It's 8:30 today and the girls didin't put up a fuss at bed time.


38. My desk is clean!


39. Watched a great movie last night - with Russell Crowe in it, called 3:10 to Yuma - it was really good - especially for a cowboy movie.


40. Am feeling very blessed to have a blog and have "met" so many wonderful women. Thanks for all your comments- I sincerely appreciate every word.

What made you smile this week?

25 things about Nini.

First day we met...April 2003, Kemerovo, Russia.

1. Nini's name isn't really Nini.
2. Misses daddy the most when he travels.
3. She will choose strawberries over candy any day, dislikes breads, but loves to eat flour.
4. Loves to cook with me and is a pro at cracking eggs.
5. Doesn't like dresses and would rather shop in the boys section. Would rather be peter pan, captain hook, or a prince during playtime and dress-up.
6. Runs crooked - it's really cute!
7. Has an amazing memory and can recall things nobody else can remember.
8. Doesn't like loud noises, but is often the loudest in our house.
9. Asks why? about 100 times a day.
10. Was born two months premature and weighed 3.5 lbs at birth.
11. Is taller than her sister.
12. Has never, ever liked to sleep,stopped naps at 15 months, and screamed every night until she was 4 because she didn't want to go to bed. I used to name this nightly event as the "Sleep Wars". One night without making a sound and in the dark, she got out her life jacket, found her baby, and strapped it to her like a baby bjorn and fell asleep! Check out the picture:
13. When she's not calling me mommy, she says Pootoo, I asked her what it meant and she said "beautiful", I'll take that!
14. Her favorite movie is "It takes two" with Kirsti Alley and the Olsen twins.
15. She didn't respond to sounds and speech for the first two months after we brought her home. Until one day I called her name and she turned to look at me. That moment, I knew she trusted me.
16. She loves people and always is concerned about others.
17. She is starting to get freckles.
18. Her eyes are brown.
19. She loves her short hair, because she doesn't have to stand for a half hour while I comb the knots out of her hair (once it took an hour!)
20. She is very, very sensitive.
21. She loves, loves the beach and would live and sleep in sand if she could - I call her my beach babe.
22. She would rather eat with her hands than a fork.
23. Likes to take apart everything!
24. Loves to make her own songs up on the piano.
25. Will protect her sister first, before herself.

25 things about Nini - Just Because!

We Love you sugar!

14 years and counting!

Who is this cute couple?
Taken June 26, 2007

Year one: Working nights, $1 dollar date nights
Year two: Arco burgers 2 for 1, blue festiva, Inga
Year three: Our first backyard, Portland theatres, sunday night family dinners
Year four: Graduate school, DC, Mekong Branch, my first "big time" job.

Year five: cheese fries at Silver Diner, Mt. Vernon, lots of studying, Rolfe
Year six: School over, first trip to Europe, and 2nd, own first home

Year seven: Five Guys discovery, Young married couples group, more traveling

Year eight: A sad goodbye, Move to Utah, help family, Olympics
Year nine: begin adoption process, England, paperwork, paperwork, paperwork
Year 10: Russia, adoption, surgery, and lots of firsts
Year 11: So. France, Cafe Rio, movie nights with friends
Year 12: Move to California, lots of desert, Disneyland
Year 13: more Disneyland, over 10 road trips to Utah, move to Montreal

Year 14: Counting on a hundred more years to come!

Happy Anniversary Craig!

My 107 List.

In lew of passing 100 posts, I was wanting to post my 100 list as my 100th post, however, it didn't quite work out this way. So, in lew of celebrating my 107th post, I have 107 things about me. If you read the first 34, they are all mixed in with the others, so start from #1!



1. I love a clean sheet of lined white paper.
   
2. Writing always clears my head.


3. I prefer writing to speaking, since I often ramble when I talk, and sometimes get caught on my words.


4. My dream is to be a famous writer - of what genre - I'm still working on. I have too many ideas and too little time to focus on one!


5. I still pen my personal journal for me and one each for the girls. It seems more personal.


6. I love to draw,


7. paint,


8. dremmel (wood carving)


9. crochet


10. I am a frustrated impatient sewer.


11. I am good at a lot of things, but not great at any one thing.
    
12. I'm the youngest in my family.


13. I always wanted a younger sibling, but eventually gave up and dreamed about having six kids.


14. I think I'll be content with four kids.


15. I've accepted that I'll never conceive my own children.
16. I don't agree with fully open adoptions.
17. I believe children need security and open adoptions doesn't allow for this or closure.


18. I was adopted with my older brother Richard (although I call him Ricky or Ricardo!).


19. While Rick was vacationing with us in DC in 2001, I found our birth father through the internet. That night we both spoke with our birth father for the first time.


20. My first photo is at my 18 months. In 2001, my foster mom sent some pictures of me at about 13 months. I received a photo from my birth dad, that he thinks is me - how can he not be sure?


21. Our family moved to California in 2005, six months later I found out that my birth mother's family was living only two miles away! I was able to meet my birth aunt.


22. I am still trying to absorb the whole experience.
23. Ask me about Autism and adoption and I'll talk your ear off.
24. I've watched almost every war movie made.
25. Craig has seen all of the Jane Austen films and more love or period stories than he cares to admit.
26. I've been married 14 years on June 26th.
27. I lived on a farm with goats, cows, pigs, a pony, rabbits, chickens; the whole thing.


28. I grew up on rabbit meat, instead of chicken.


29. I don't like to touch raw meat.


30. I prefer hamburgers to steaks.


31. I could eat a hamburger everyday.


32. My favorite hamburger of all time is from Burgerville (a chain in the NW), 2nd is Five Guys in the DC area, and In-n-out comes in at three. I


33. I love to eat out at restaurants.


34. I love diet coke, and almost never have any other soda, unless it's diet.
35. I am either full or really hungry, I have no middle ground and am 100% of the time dealing with nausea.


36. I always have room for dessert.


37. I dislike Popsicles because of the wooden Popsicle stick, it always makes me gag.


38. I rarely enjoy eating breakfast and prefer to save my appetite for lunch. If I do eat breakfast, my favorite cereal is Captain Crunch.


39. I rarely use a recipe for maincourses.


40. I am learning to enjoy cooking.


41. I love to bake, especially cookies, love that cookie dough!


42. I love Tom Jones and have been to one of his concerts in Vegas.


43. I used to make up dance routines to "Hey, Mickey" and to other various songs.


44. I was a cheerleader.


45. I didn't get the courage until my Senior year to try-out.


46. I can't dance, but that doesn't stop me from trying.


47. I still would consider taking dancing lessons.


48. I love shopping.


49. I usually buy something new when Craig goes out of town.


50. I've never been successful at buying my clothes over the internet - my body doesn't work like that - I have to try on.


51. I am crazy about ironing my clothes and rarely wash new clothes before wearing them because of how crisp they look.


52. I like the bohemian styles.


53. I've never been good at accessorizing.


54. I taught myself the piano at age six.


55. I've played the violin, piano, saxophone, clarinet, flute, and the drums.
56. I love to play in orchestras.


57. I compose my own music and love to rearrange hymns.


58. I can with certainty know what notes comes next in any song I haven't heard before.


59. I know the words to only a few hymns because I usually am playing the piano.


60. I am constantly singing melodies, but never the same melody for more that a minute.
61. I am constantly humming, or whistling.
62. The song I hum, whistle, the most is Battle Hymn of the Republic - not sure why, except it is a catchy tune.


63. I've been a member of a rock band.


64. I do not like to perform solos.


65. My right hand has a tiny tremor in it that gets larger when I get nervous or strain my arm muscles.


66. I can say "bird crap" in Vietnamese, A rare gift I learned from my husband.


67. I am a human phone directory - I still remember my phone number from high school and my friends. I I had no desire to travel until I met my husband in 1992.


68. I've been to France, Germany, Belgium, England, Wales, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Andorra, Monaco, Spain, and Russia. We've been to Iceland, but only the airport to catch another flight.


69. My favorite place in the world is Vienna. The music history there is unbelievable.I've touched Beethoven's Piano in Vienna.


70. I've stood in Jane Austen's home in England.


71. I've been stranded, picked-up on, and laughed at, while traveling.


72. I've never been good at learning a new language.
73. People are always curious if I'm from Germany, Russia, or Sweden.
74. I am a full quarter Swedish.


75. I generally don't like to fly, ride elevators, and small spaces.


76. I dislike the word hate.


77. But, I hate spiders.


78. I find fake pine scent and banana flavoring can't be recreated - nature made them perfect.


79. Fall is my favorite season.
    
80. I believe age is required to have wisdom.
81. I would never want to go back and redo anything about myself, except, to push myself harder in school and on the piano.


82. I learned how to stand up for myself when I worked for a computer company in Arlington, VA.


83. I worked in Marketing and graphic design.


84. I was only one of 10 women in a 100 plus company of men.


85. I once started a logo design company called Logo Diva, still love the title.


86. I tolerate large crowds, but feel very claustrophobic in them.


87. I love pine trees.


88. I love cloudy days.


89. My favorite beach is in Oregon.


90. I've always wanted to live in a light house.


91. If I and another person are passing on an empty street, I have to say "Hello".


92. I think Texas is the most openly friendly area I've visited.


93. I don't like to talk on the phone for very long.


94. I get impatient with myself very easily.


95. I love horses and have always dreamed about galloping on one, but am afraid of them - just ask my husband!


96. I still have daisies from Natalie Merchant (former lead singer of 10,000 Maniacs) she gave to me from a bouquet she held after a concert in 1992 - It was my 20th birthday.


97. I asked my husband out on our first date to see the movie Aladdin in the Theatres.


98. My blog is named shecalledme in honor of this event.


99. I whistle while I work.


100. I get side-tracked.


101. My first crush was Ricki Schroeder and my second Gil Gerard, ie Buck Rogers! Loved that show and Battle Star Galactica.


102. I never graduated college and flunked out of Psychology and English, but aced all my music classes.


103. I've since retaken both and passed with flying colors.
104. I think about getting my degree everyday and as soon as I can I'll go back to school.



105. I believe every good or bad experience I've had or will have, defines me and my personality.


106. I don't always learn the first time.


107. My husband makes me laugh the most.

Daily Doodles Sunday: 10 things to 1 remembered

10 Things I did today:

1. Went to church
2. Played the piano for Sacrament Meeting
3. Played the piano for Primary
4. Played the piano for Relief Society
5. Played the piano for RS Choir
6. Got out of playing for the Ward Choir
7. Arranged VT dates for sisters I visit
8. Attached crochet flowers to a new outfit for the girls. (really cute)
9. Got papers ready to fax for adoption.
10. Read Sister Hinckley's "Small Things" book.

9 People I talked to today:

1. Emelia - I gave her the Russian RS book and Ensign - she was so excited.
2. Kathy - One of my friendship pillow recipients!
3. Carina - Set-up VT, she'll come with me to help translate for Emelia and also gave her books.
4. Kathy - Another Kathy in our ward.
5. Valerie
6. Sharron - Mother-in-Law
7. Craig
8. And the The Girls.
   

7 things I ate today

1. Hot Dog
2. Bun
3. Pickle
4. Ketchup and Mustard
5. Cheetos
6. D. Coke

6 things I said today

1. "Whoops!" Under my breath after proceeding with a third verse of a hymn when there were only two. Quite embarrassing!
2. "You look so beautiful in your dresses!" To the girls. Nina even kept hers on all day and is sleeping in it right now.
3. "Would slowing down the song help?" Suggesting this in RS for a special number we're doing for the RS enrichment activity next Saturday.
4. "Cici, can you get me another d. coke please?"
5. "Did you have a good nap?" A friend next to me got some zzz's in Relief Society!
6. "Ahhhh!" regarding my frustration with blogger tonight!

5 things I should have done today

1. Eaten some vegetables, fruit maybe?
2. Read the scriptures more
3. Not eaten a hot dog after fast sunday
4. Played the piano - my own piano and the music I like to play
5. Played D flat while playing the intro for the Hymn "I Stand All Amazed"

4 things people said to me today

1. "Told ya!" Craig saw Sarkozy had won the France elections. As he was reading it he said there was sure to be riots. "Told ya!" was said as he went online 45 minutes later to see the story of the riots.
2. "Remember that talk you gave awhile ago about when you were sunbeam and felt the spirit even then. I woke up this morning and thought of that and was happy. I felt like a sunbeam today"
3. "You look really good. Very springy in that dress!"
4. "Mommy, can I PLEASE have a piece of gum?"

3 things that shocked me today

1. People saying I looked tan - I don't remember getting one!
2. Being approached by a woman who was looking for work so that she could buy her son medicine - she's in our ward. What a tragedy to not have enough money to buy medicine for your children? Very heartbreaking.
3. Seeing a missionary in our ward break down in tears while bearing his testimony. He was always a very shy, somewhat stand-offish guy. It was very touching to see him so filled with emotion - emotion I had never seen him show. Missionaries are a big part of our ward - I think we have three sets.

2 things I need to do tomorrow

1. Fax adoption papers -we're almost there!
2. Bring IPod to Dentist

1 Thing I remember about today

Blessings come to everyone, but some people struggle to find them in amongst there daily struggle to survive their own circumstances. I may never know their struggles, but I can listen to them, help them, and never judge them.

Daily Doodles: 10 things to 1 Remembered

10 Things I did today:

1. 9 AM Church
2. Made Cookies w/ the girl's and their cousin Zak
3. Taught Jenn and my niece how to crochet
4. Played "Gotcha Socka": Take rolled up pairs of socks and six kids and let them run through the house in a circle. While they run past you, you get to throw socks and them. It's fun and an energy releaser!
5. Read the Scriptures (yeah!)
6. Prepared some good mail for some old friends
7. Ate way too much cookie dough, it's my only food weakness :(
8. Thought and planned more about how to start my own non-profit organization for foster children.
9. Snuggled with my girls
10. Teased my sister!

9 People I talked to today:

1. Kim - a friend of Jenn's whom I began to communicate with regarding similar problems with tantrums at bedtime. We communicated through email and finally were able to meet!
2. My mom.
3. Nina and Cici
4. My four Nieces
5. Jenn (My sister)
6. William (My brother-in-law_
7. My brother - Rick
8. and 9. Craig, once in Utah and Craig, once in the Yukon Territories - Yellow Knife.

8 things I'm grateful for today

1. My love for my family
2. Safety for my husband
3. Strength to endure my trials
4. Understanding to have compassion for other people trials
5. Snuggles with my girls
6. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
7. Cousins for my girls to play with
8. Cucumbers with salt

7 things I ate today

1. 1/2 a banana
2. cookie dough
3. cucumbers
4. spaghetti noodles
5. meatballs
6. quesadillas
7. d. coke - is that food?

6 things I said today

1. "For Heaven's Sake!"
2. "Yes we're are adopting again...(When?) "When I get all my paperwork in."
3. "No, not right now"
4. "Get dressed!.....Yes you HAVE to wear a dress"
5. "I love you Sugar!"
6. "Five -o-rama!"

5 things I should have done today

1. Wrote Nicole, a friend that's been on my mind
2. Turned the TV off sooner
3. Given more hugs.
4. Spent more time at my girl's level - played more with them
5. Taken my Sunday book with me to church

4 things people said to me today

1. "I'm sure I've met you before!"
2. "Mommy, I want to snuggle."
3. "How do you do this?" referring to crocheting
4. "I love you too, snuggly mama!"

3 things that shocked me today

1. The death of the Cardinals Pitcher Josh Hancock - tragic.
2. The mass amount of cookie dough I consumed.
3. Jenn clipping her fingernails in the middle of Sunday School.

2 things I need to do tomorrow

1. Write Nicole.
2. Eat Mexican food.

1 thing I want to remember about today

I enjoyed watching my girl's be with family. It's been a long time since I'd seen them be so free spirited and just relax and have fun. Something I need to do more often.

How about you? What did you do today?

Daily Doodles and Getting Serious!

These two purses were purchased from the April Cornell/La Cache outlet store in Montreal. I got both purses for about $6.00! I love the one of the left - it is even cuter in real life. I loved the ideas Kristi gives on her blog about good/fun crafty places and I thought I'd share this one with you - if you ever decide to come to Montreal!

I thought for sure when I made this pillow that there was yellow in it. Funny how I didn't notice that there really wasn't any until i took this picture. This pillow is going to Scribbit for winning the Stout Disaster Contest. I'm very behind in getting these sent off! I'll add this to my Friendship Pillow collection I've started on SmugMug. Check the side column!

Yesterday, Cici did a great job with switch day! She wouldn't let me take a picture of her - but she handled the situation with grace. It's true you've got to pick your battles. This one was one I just wasn't going to let go. It was really great to talk to her about how we treat others and that tantrum's just aren't acceptable. As long as she doesn't have a trantrum like that again, she can wear skirts all the time.

That's also one of our dauchsunds, Rolfe, sitting on one of our very nice Austrian pillow! Who's house is it anyway????

I snapped Nina's photo too. Everyone at school was just in awe of how cute she looked! She doesn't often wear skirts! She was so cute!

Cici returned the favor and took my picture. This is me getting caught with some goodmail goodies! I've been saving goodmail so that I can send it when I get to the states. I've got a whole lot of sending to do when I get to Texas! I just wanted to thank Jenny for resending that good mail card - I've been looking for it all morning - I think it got stuck in our adoption papers! I didn't want you to think I didn't receive it! I'll post it soon! Thank you!

Getting Serious about Running!

Thanks to some online inspiration from Anne and Jenny and the sun that has been shining outside my house for the past two days (yeah!), I'm ready to get serious about running again. I used to love to run, but with the heat in California and the snow in Montreal, it's been hard to acclimate to my environment for the past two years. It's also been hard to move so many times and not get settled. All of these things and maybe some laziness pushed me indoors to occasionally run/walk/ do yoga.

To get me going and to lend support to others who would like to join me, I will be starting a "Distance Report" at the top of my blog. I know it's better to do exercises by minutes, but I'm a mileage hog and I thought it would be better for me to track my success this way. I will post my mileage goal, daily miles walked or ran, and the total miles achieved to date for that week. If anything, it will put my exercise goals out in the open and I can visually track my success.

I am using the text feature insert on the side column to input my numbers. If anyone needs some extra help getting out the door like I did, let me know and we can support each other!

Lake Placid and tips for xc-skiing with twins!

Our family is a large advocate of day trips and seeing as much as we can see in the area we live. We are currently residing in Montreal, QC for the next three years. With temps down to -25 degrees, it's cold! However, we have embraced the cold, the snow, and the freezing wind to introduce our girls to some winter sports. We headed to Lake Placid, NY on a Thursday night so we could be ready Friday morning for a full day of outdoor activities.

Home of the 1932 and 1980 Olympics, the town of Lake Placid is really cute. It's odd seeing so many attractions in such a tiny town, but you feel in the thick of things, with shops and restaurants and lots to do. One of the first things you notice is the speed skating track where Eric Heiden won his five gold medals. It's still active track open to anyone who wants to skate. It's right in front of the town's High School and during recess you'll see the high school kids skating! We stayed at a nice lodge style hotel on Lake Mirror. Lake Mirror is in downtown Lake Placid, and the actually Lake is more to the north of the town.

Our first activity was sledding at the local golf course. It's obvious that golf wouldn't be an option, so during the winter months the course is open to cross-country skiers and sledding. When we lived in Utah, we had taken the girls down a few small hills, but this was the first time they could do it by themselves. It didn't take any time for both to jump on the sled and swoosh down. It was the coming up that was the largest issue.
The next activity was dog sledding. The sled had 6-8 dogs and they led us over the frozen Mirror Lake. It was about $30 for all of us.

That same day we hit the skating track with the girls. There were lots of professional skaters (or at least people who had been on skates more than twice). The cone attached to my daughter was quite the impediment for Craig. She wanted to go around the track with him, but refused to leave the cone.

The next day was all about learning to cross-country ski. While Craig had already mastered cross-country, the girls and I were first timers on ski's; and while Craig went to shoot in the biathlon center, he left me with the girls to teach them to use their ski's. Trial and error, here are five tips for xc-skiing with twins:

TIP#1 Leave the poles behind, you'll just end of carrying yours and theirs.
TIP#2 If they both fall at the same time, don't laugh, they'll just keep doing it! Over and over again!
TIP#3 If they fall more than five times in two minutes - don't pick them back up again-it's time to get off your ski's and carry both of them back to the lodge.
TIP#4 The frightened scream/giggle you might do when you've never gone down hill on xc-ski's before, can be blamed on the twins - one is screaming, the other giggling.
TIP#5 Don't go by yourself!

All told, we left on a Thursday night and returned on Sunday. A little longer than our usual day trips, but we needed the break. What is your favorite day trip?