Early Morning Ride with Dad

I'm BAAAAACK!

I have been rightfully scolded by the Happy Hippy for not blogging. BA-aa-aa-ad blogger!

I have been on sabbatical! That's "fancy" for "I haven't had anything good to blog about."

Alec's progress has slowed considerably; there is still progress, just not leaps and bounds overnight. It got me down. The autism community seems to be grieving this summer - all the lost potential of these kids, and the difficulty of the battle. But the battle rages on. I am still looking for an internet community of moms who are where I am along this journey. Those further down the road are very helpful and knowledgeable, but I would like to have some folks to share the journey with. I am joining the local autism awareness group, which will crank up this fall. Alec sees his DAN doctor Aug 7. I am looking forward to stepping up his bio-medical treatments.

Alec just told me. "Your time is up." He wants to have the computer to himself. Since he can work the mouse, he is unstoppable! He is reading this and laughing. God is SO GOOD!

Read- Aloud Read-Along

Finally - read-aloud success!

The Boxcar Children was one of my favorite books. And now it's one of my kids' favorites too.

I took the advice of a homeschool mom further down the road than I, and got everyone of a copy of our read-aloud. J and O love to be read to, and it gave them a chance to follow along, and see and hear new words without the pressure of reading aloud to a group. B is very visual, so much so that he can't comprehend a story unless he reads it himself. Having his own book to follow along in worked like a charm. He enjoyed the whole book, knew the storyline, and later was re-reading parts of it to himself.

If I paused for any reason, O would jump right in reading. Her reading has improved tremendously since she began the program to address her dyslexia. It was great to hear her reading out loud with no hesitation, great inflection, and most of all, no anxiety.

What a great way to spend time together.

Cure for Homeschool Blahs

Lately I've been mulling over curricula for the fall. No one at my house seems to want to learn, and the room we use for school is bright and cheerful - but totally uninspiring. I need a BIG fresh idea for fall. Well, I found it in a book I got this weekend.

My problem is this: Our house is missing a significant portion of its wisdom gua due to a jut-out in the house plan. With no place for knowledge chi to go, of course noone wants to learn!! The solution is simple. I will place an object at the imaginary corner of the missing rectangle. A bird bath in the front yard should do nicely. Until I get one, I think I'll use that garden gnome sitting in the garage. It has a red hat, particularly good for upping the intensity, according to feng shui principles.

They should be BEGGING me to teach 'em! I'll let you know how it works.

A Good Idea

Alec and Mr. Gray

Recreation Time

Alec had a great week at VBS. His therapist, Mr. Gray, was his 1:1 helper. That attention kept Alec focused and he participated in all the activities. He listened in story time, and did the crafts himself. We were all amazed at what he CAN do if he is contained. And when he got rowdy ( usually in a large group), Mr. Gray was able to step out with him without disturbing everyone else. His teachers loved it - if he got restless during an activity, they didn't have to choose between ignoring him, or attending to him and losing the rest of the group.





A little update on his progress - for a couple of weeks now, he has been working the mouse on the computer and WRITING! Suddenly his fine motor coordination improved a notch and he has been unstoppable. Praise the LORD!

Back to It!

O and AB

The boys with friend Joseph


I have been a very baaad blogger lately.





In May things came so fast and furious I couldn't keep up. Now that things have slowed down, I'll catch up.





VBS this week was loads of fun and fellowship.





Julia had the quote of the week. When the teacher said they were going to hear a story about David and Goliath, she piped up,


"What are we going to do for fun?"





Today at Sunday school, Burke raises the bar with his comment. QB is his assistant teacher and one of his favorite people (she has chips at her house and a trampoline). QB asks Burke if he would like her to put his papers and art project in a bag. He says, "No, but I want you to leave a comment on my blog!"





She did. Thanks, QB!

Encouraging Words

Every time I think of you - and I think of you often! - I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There's no end to what has happened in you - it's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives.

Just think - you don't need a thing, you've got it all! All God's gifts are right in front of you as you wait expectantly for our Master Jesus to arrive on the scene for the Finale. And not only that, but God Himself is right alongside to keep you steady and on track until things are wrapped up by Jesus. God, who got you started in this spiritual adventure, shares with us the life of His Son and our Master Jesus. He will never give up on you. Never forget that.

1 Corinthians 1: 4 - 9 The Message

From Alec to Mary Elizabeth

I love Elmo too!

Birthday Fun

Alec loved his plush Wonder Pets!

Burke liked Indy but his favorite was the Build-n-Roll, a multi-level marble maze that he could build out of building blocks.

Julia loved the Barbie stuff, the favorite being the Barbie swimming pool, which they filled with water right in the middle of the living room rug!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRIPLETS!

Alec, Burke, and Julia are turning 7 today!

Hard to believe it's been 7 years since our bundle of triple joy arrived.

Yest at Wal-mart - buying b-day party supplies - I ran into a sweet lady who had preemie twins - a boy and a girl. We had spoken on the phone years ago, as we shared pediatricians and also the babies shared some similar serious health issues. We did some catching up, and it reminded me just how much we've been through.

She was a godsend! What a wonderful reminder of God's protective love and mercy and healing and grace! It reminded me just how many times I had begged the Lord to take one of them from death's door, and just how many times He had answered right away.

Bedtime prayers were extra-sweet last night!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PRECIOUS ONES!

THE BIG APPLE

New York was so much fun!

Here we are atop the Empire State Building. Other favorites were the M&M Store (yes, 3 stories of M&M's! - only in New York - now THAT'S a specialty shop) and Dylan's Candy Bar, also 3 stories of candy. Central Park playground was also a hot spot.

One of the highlights of the trip was Mary Poppins on Broadway. It was incredible! Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!


This is as close to Lady Liberty as we got! Four times I've been to New York, and each time we've run out of time and energy to do the Statue of Liberty.

Night (uh, day) at the Museum

The three amigas with DUM-DUM. We searched the museum for Dexter, but didn't find a trace of the little mischief-maker.



Snowflake in a photo-op with the star, Rexie.



Inspired by the native art and the green movement, Auntie Susan created her own masterpiece, entitled "Afternoon Snack."

American Girl Place

Happy Birthday, Laura!

Laura masterminded the trip for her 12th birthday celebration. What a great idea. The dolls even had their own plates and cups.


Snowflake nervously awaits her make-over.



Voila! Snowflake looked FAB! We were ready to hit the town!

More Pictures

QB Photo Shoot

So glad to be back...finally. I have had a terrible sinus infection from the pits of Hades. I tried the home remedy Neti pot nasal wash, also from the pits of Hades. Now I am taking antibiotics straight from Satan's minions themselves, Big Pharma!!

Finally I get to post the beautiful pics QB took of our kiddos.

Putting the Puzzle Together

Alec's response to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet has been phenomenal progress! Today he put together a 48-piece puzzle! Yesterday he picked up the shirt I put out for him, turned it around, opened it up and put it on just like he had been doing it for years. The day before he needed it laid front down and the back flipped up so he could see the opening at the bottom of the shirt. I am elated!
The autism community has used a puzzle to represent these kids for some years now. Some find it offensive to suggest that there children have "parts missing." But I think it represents the puzzle that autism is. We have figured out so many of the parts. Many kids are getting well, losing their diagnosis of autism. And still the medical establishment hasn't accepted one piece of new information. This is sooo frustrating. This not only affects autistic kids and their families, but our society as a whole. The financial burden of caring for these kids who aren't recovered will be enormous. Not to mention the lost contributions of these people to our society.
It affects those of you with "normal" kids, because the CDC is NOT being forthcoming with what is known about vaccinations and their scheduling. Because of their inability to address legitimate questions in public hearings, people are opting not to vaccinate or to delay vaccination until there are some answers. The CDC is blaming this drop in vaccination rates on "parents confused by the vaccination schedule." It's hard to be confused by a schedule that involves getting shots basically every time you go to the pediatrician. Two days ago the CDC sent this news story to all the major networks and they dutifully read the press release without digging further. Sounds like spin, in anticipation of some new direction with vaccinations. Beware the government's increased control over your child's health care. Unfortunately, the CDC seems much more interested in protecting the pharmaceutical companies than the public health of the American people. And unfortunately the American Academy of Pediatrics seems to blindly follow the CDC, and unfortunately the pediatricians blindly follow the guidelines of the AAP. PRAY for independent thinkers in all areas of this fight. Be one yourself. Be an informed consumer rather than depending on "experts." One year ago I was an "expert", a retired psychiatrist that BELIEVED there was no cure or treatment for autism. That was what my profession taught. Then I opened myself to learning more. Now I KNOW that there is a cure. I am living it!
Spread the word! There is hope!

Now I will climb down off my soapbox! (and write my congressman.)

WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

Another First

Today Alec hit another milestone!

He put together a 24 piece puzzle by himself. This is the first time he has ever finished one. He usually did only the faces, and then lost interest.

Guess what?! He finished two different puzzles today! Another step forward. I can't wait to e-mail the ABA team in Jackson.

My Baby Knows His Phone Number!

It only took him 3 days to learn it!

Alec is making good progress in therapy as the diet goes along. Both of his therapists have commented that he seems sharper, and "right on." He is getting all his questions correct. He is more cooperative with therapy - he was even waiting in the schoolroom after a break!

He has had a 1 - 2 second delay in responding verbally until fish oil pills. If we would stop the fish oil, the daly would return. Now thanks to the diet, his delay is gone without fish oil (he won't take it without soda) AND he is talking faster!

As for myself, I LOVE this diet. In 2 weeks I feel 10 years younger. No more stiffness or slight achiness when I wake up, no more headaches. I feel like running up the stairs instead of trudging. I have lost almost one clothes size! I don't know how many pounds because we don't have any nasty, vile scales in our house! :)

Just this AM there's a news story about wheat prices doubling! Looks like we got off bread just in time. But it's because the farmers are switching to GMO corn and soybeans!:( Thanks be to the Lord they haven't mass-marketed GMO wheat or we'd all have Morgellon's Disease. At least some of the corn is destined for bio-fuel!:)

Here's the wheat story link: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24361263

Tagged Again!

This one's alot shorter! Thanks, Andrea. Now I can get my bro-in-law back!

3 Unimportant, inconsequential, uninteresting things about ME:

1.the only bone in my body I have ever broken - in my little finger on my right hand. Happened in the first grade.

2. I learned to smock when I was on bedrest gestating the triplets. Haven't sat down long enough to smock since they were born.

3. I majored in physics in college, BA - i.e. "cocktail physicist" - knows enough to chat about string theory but totally useless for real science work!

This time I'm getting:
1. Frogs and Bees
2 Irish Lassie @ the Brown Bull
3. Cowboys and Crosses
4. The Mc Cain @ McCain's corner
5. Mr. Tweedy @ the Brown Bull

Just This Morning...

As usual, I was trying to keep Alec quiet in church. It was only the first song and already he was shouting.

I leaned over and whispered ,"Be quiet."

He yelled, "BE QUIET!"

I tried to ignore him.

Then he shouted "Ahhhh!"

"You're being ugly," I whispered.

He wailed, "YOU'RE BEING UGLY!'

So we took a trip to the lounge for an attitude correction. He seemed to understand.

We return; another "Ahhhhh!"

I whisper something to him.

He shouts, "SPANK YOU AGAIN!"

We spent the rest of the service in the lounge. After the sermon our pastor hugged me and laughed.

Little did I know that while I was gone, Burke had put his head down in the chair, rump in the air with a little plumber-crack action, and Julia had proceeded in trying to pull his shirt down to cover up his rump. My sister-in-las thankfully moved down to tend to them!

Always an adventure!

TAG! YOU'RE IT!!

While I was chuckling to myself that my brother-in-law had been tagged by the Scottish Teuchtar and leaving a comment to that effect on his blog, he was busy tagging ME.



So here goes:



What I was doing 10 years ago:

We were anxiously awaiting the birth of our first child. After 5 years of infertility, we were one month away from realizing our dream of parenthood.



5 things on my to-do list:

1. review Alec's ABA data and make new targets

2. put away the rest of the folded laundry

3. soak and dehydrate another batch of almonds ( for almond flour)

4. stake out the sheep and the goat so they will quit eating my landscaping

5. order the movie Autism Yesterday from Amazon - a documentary of kids recovered from autism



5 things I would do if I was a billionaire:
1. Put up billboards everywhere that says "Autism is cureable."
2. Fund research for autism treatments.
3.Get my husband to retire.
4.Give large sums of money to fund adoption grants, and micro-loans to people in developing countries.
5. Buy everything in the World Vision catalog - goats, sheep, cows, chickens, water wells, schools, hospitals, everything!

3 of My Bad Habits
1. I procrastinate.
2. I'm indecisive.
3. I can't decide!

5 Places I've lived:
1. My parents' home in Jackson Miss.
2 . A dorm at Ole Miss.
3. An apartment in Mountain Brook, Alabama
4. Our first house in Homewood, Alabama
5. Our house now, my dream log house that I contracted, and the last house I will ever build!

5 Jobs I've Had:
1. restaurant hostess
2. psychiatrist
3. gestator
4. domestic goddess
5.blogger

5 Books I'm Currently Reading:
1. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - Narnia Book 5 - our current bedtime read.
2. Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreyer - I love it! If anyone says they don't understand me, I'm going to throw this book at them!
3. Galatians - from the New Testament
4. Breaking the Vicious Cycle - by Elaine Gottschall.. Healing the gut as the basis for healing autism.
5. Children with Starving Brains - by Jaquelyn McCandless, MD. A medical treatment guide for Autism Spectrum Disorder

5 Folks I'm Tagging:

1. Frogs and Bees
2. Cowboys and Crosses
3. Adventures in Autism
4. MOM- Not Otherwise Specified
5. Irish Lassie @ The Brown Bull

GOOD CLEAN FUN

A dirtpile is a magical place for a kid!




Always building something!



King of the hill singing at the top of his lungs!









I remember when I was a kid, the excitement when someone would get a load of dirt in the neighborhood. We would all gather to watch, with bated breath, the dump truck unload it's cargo. We would play there everyday until the pile was gone. From the top, the pile would seem really high, and just a little dangerous. You couldn't help but feel like King of the World. Hours and hours of fun!

Getting Some Results!

Things have smoothed out a little around here.

And the kids are hungry! They ate 22 eggs last night, between the 4 of them. Julia doesn't have a nifty egg business anymore - we're eating ALL the eggs our hens will lay.

Today Alec was walking around munching an apple - a new sight. Julia ate THIRDS of green peas tonight.

I have lost my taste for coffee. Unbelievable, right? Strange but true - it no longer tastes like"nectar of the gods". I even put my coffee pot away.

AND I have lost a few pounds. I'm liking this diet more every day. I have more energy. My afternoon refrigerator raids have virtually stopped.

The kids are counting it down - "only 17 days left"

Alec is talking more, and Wait - cover your eyes if you have delicate sensibilities - He FINALLY had a truly formed stool! Anybody familiar with "mashed potato poop" knows this is very significant. Finally he's not getting stuff he can't digest.


In other news - soon the pimped-up version of Funny Farm Journal will be unveiled, thanks to a really cool b-day present from Queen Bee and Hippy Chick.
Stay tuned!

WE TURNED A CORNER ALRIGHT...

straight into the jaws of hell!!

Every 3 hours the kids change from nice to horrible, like Dr. Jeckel and Mr. Hyde!

Remember back to your worst, most irrational PMS melt-down. Do you have the moment?

Funny later, right? So ridiculous during the melt-down you, maybe, could have laughed? It's even funnier when little people do it. My psychiatry training is coming in handy. They are like little delusional patients. You don't tell them they are being irrational, you just reassure them that things will be OK, not to lose hope, etc. Some examples : "I will NEVER get more markers!" "She's eating green beans just to make me look bad!" "Nobody loves me!"

Eventually it passes. Then they are little angels, being so loving and creative and helpful. They are still on the restaurant kick, only this morning it was a fancy restaurant - costumes required.

We are having quiet time now.

A Good Day

Thanks to everyone that has sent their prayers and support. We seemed to have turned a corner and things were much smoother today. The kids and I went to get some treats (toys, not food) to celebrate 5 days on the diet. There was NO MENTION of food while we were out shopping! I was so proud of them.

Tonight the kids decided to have a restaurant, complete with menus. Burke and Olivia cooked and Burke was the waiter. They used their best manners and our fancy glasses. They had a ball working together. Plus they ate, and ate, and ate! It's so much more fun to " eat out."

There has been a very strange side-effect on this diet. Since Day 3 time has moved much slower. Not in a bad "will this day never end" way. In a good way. I'm no longer anxiously rushing from one thing to the next, feeling overwhelmed with all I have to get done. Even though I am cooking 3 meals a day from scratch I have time in my day to hang out with my kids, talk to my husband, visit with friends. It is so noticeable that I look at the clock alot. It's like a Twilight Zone episode. How can what you eat change your perception of time? Makes you wonder. If this is life without grains, I love it!

Hello from the Detox Unit

We are still alive after 3 days of no sugar and no carbohydrates. Alive but not happy! I never thought I would see my kids weep over waffles, PB&Js, bacon and Mexican food. Their hollow eyes stare back at me from gaunt little faces. But I am NOT giving up! I think they expect me to cave, because honestly, I have several times in the past, threatened them with" food boot camp" when they whined about vegetables. After a couple of days I would get busy and give in to PB&Js.

But this time it's different! I am a woman on a mission! I am going to get my baby well from autism! Hip-hip-hooray!

Where are those cheerleaders when you need them?

In case you think they are being weenies, I can say that detox is not pretty. I have been quite irritable, achy, no energy, stomach ache, and this little ache on the back side fo my eyeballs. But I have not cried. Thank the Lord I have little sympathy for them now or I couldn't hold out. I can't leave them with Sheila or Dad because they ( admittedly) cave in easily. Which is a problem - because we are out of bananas. We have eaten 3 bunches of bananas in 24 hours! That might be a record!

BLESS THIS FOOD

"Bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies..."

How many times have I said or heard this phrase and given it no thought? For the past several days it has resonated with me.

Today is D Day - diet day. Last night I purged the house of contraband - 3 lawn-sized garbage bags in the trash and 14 grocery bags to give away! At the time of this writing I have not had any coffee. My oldest is determined that I suffer just as much as they do, so she is watching me closely. Oooo - I just realized I didn't throw away the coffee!!

But for the safety of the children I might need some!!!

The kids have already started detoxing a little - as we would run out of things I would n't replace them. So no Sprite, so syrup, no ice cream. Suffice it to say there has been bitter weeping.

Burke even tried to talk his dad into taking him for a haircut. Burke HATES haircuts! BUT at the barber shop they are very generous with the lollipops! What a smart kid. It took us a few minutes to figure out his angle.

TTFN - I have to go make banana pancakes. Don't ask what's in them!

Cottage Industry

Julia has a nice little side business selling eggs. She feeds the chickens, gathers the eggs, puts them in cartons and sells them at our food co-op. This week we are going to kick it up a notch. In order to look more professional, we are going to print labels and stick them on the recycled egg cartons. This is a daunting task for the computer-illiterate like myself. In honor of our rooster Cookie who had to find a new home due to bah-ah-ahd behavior, I think we'll put his picture on the labels. I miss that stupid rooster!

10 ... 9 ... 8 ......

Eight days and counting down till we start the Specific Carbohydrate Diet! I have ordered my yogurt maker and found a source for fresh local goat milk.

Truth is stranger than fiction. Who ever thought I would be making my own goat yogurt?! This week I'll be making flour from almonds. I have been assured it's not that hard. Compared to giving up coffee and chocolate, what is hard?

We have gotten good results with the gluten-free, casein-free diet, but we are going a step further to clear up Alec's GI problems and poor eating habits. We are ALL carb addicts , so for everyone's health and to minimize Alec's access to unauthorized food, we are ALL doing the diet.

I hope I live to blog about it!

Our Little Professor

This is Soar-y, Burke's latest addition to his dino collection. He prefers the assembly-required species - the more parts, the better! Special thanks to Ms. Sheila for technical support during the construction. Burke has decided on a career path. "I will be a scientist so I can teach people and make things and talk about animals." It's a perfect fit because that's what he does now. Hopefully today I can get his blog up. He tried to set it up himself yesterday! When I caught him he was already on the Kodak EasyShare choosing pictures!

WORLD AUTISM AWARENESS DAY

http://www.walknowforautism.org/site/c.dfLJJTOqHkE/b.3908527/k.BEAC/Home.htm

This has been a week of highs and lows!

Easter Sunday I walked home from the egg hunt, hand-in-hand with my two sons, tears streaming down my face. Another year had come and gone, and Alec had still not found a single egg and put it in his basket. Same empty basket, same Alec. Only this year all the other kids his age had graduated from the safety of the back yard to the wide-open spaces of the front yard; they were BIG kids now. He sat in the grass of the backyard while everyone around him shouted and ran and rejoiced with each egg discovery. He didn't notice. He was playing in the dirt.

Monday wasn't much better; I was cried out . I asked the Lord for a word of comfort. My Bible fell open to Acts 14; my eyes fell on verse 22: "...putting muscle and sinew in the lives of the disciples, urging them to stick with what they had begun to believe and not quit,making it clear to them that it would not be easy."

"Whoa," I said. "I wanted warm and fuzzy. You can't put that on a motivational poster."

"Buck up!" came the reply. "Easter was just yesterday. Remember Good Friday? Keep your eye on the ending. Borrow joy from the ending to get you through the tough times."

"Ohhh."

So re-focused, awed that the God of the Universe speaks to a mere mortal like me, and humbled flat to the ground that He loves and cares for me in such an intimate,personalized way, I plunged in again to the routine of fish oil, gluten-free chicken nuggets, ABA therapy, and detox baths.

I had begun to believe.... that there was a cure for autism. He had led me to the pieces of the puzzle. I had begun to believe....that one day Alec would be normal. He had put that hope in my heart, and confirms it daily.

Then several days later, it happened. We were sitting on the porch swing, Alec and I. Alec said to me,

"Come on, Mommy. Let's go swing on the horse swing. It's made from a tire."

What beautiful words! That was my son's longest spontaneous utterance of his life!

And you know what? We did!

Guitaro... by Burke

Burke likes to play the guitar, aka"Guitaro." Burke also wants his own blog, and Olivia too. Thanks Aunt Andrea; we've created a monster!