Life with an AS child...

I haven't posted much. Need to get back in the habit.

Life with an Asperger's child is challenging. Life with an Asperger's teen is insane. The emotional rollercoaster is taking it's toll on me. My oldest son can go from elation to depression in 3.2 seconds. Today, after church, he decided to become upset over the fact that his brother wants to charge him rent to use his nintendo (my oldest two boys bought a nintendo gamecube together two years ago.. in a fit of anger, my oldest sold his "half" to us, saying he would never play again. Of course, he didn't mean it. So we said, if you want to play, you'll have to pay. So he pays 1.00 an hour to play...rental of the machine. Well, my second son, co-owner of the machine, raised enough cash to buy out my half. Now, he's "full" owner, and has raised the rent... to 1.50 an hour). This did NOT go over well. I tried to point out that if we go somewhere with games, such as Double Dave's (Pizza), Mr. Gatti's (Pizza), or Cici's (Pizza... notice a trend?), he has no issue with spending $20 bucks on games there, and it only lasts a few minutes. $20 will buy him almost 14 hours of blissful, brain-numbing time on the gamecube. But he doesn't get it.

So this upset led him to desire to be alone... so off he wandered. We meet in a school, and when church is over, they lock up the school. We didn't know where he was, and we couldn't leave until he was found, because they can't lock up with a minor (or anyone) still in the building. It was very frustrating.

It ruined our lunch. Bugman (dh) was so upset over it all (and angry) he just wanted to go home and watch NASCAR. We sent oldest son off to his room. I ended up going to Taco Bell for lunch for the rest.

I am praying the rest of the week doesn't go like this.

I know, it's been too long since I posted. Just a crazy life around here.

I have a friend who has been sad lately, so I made her some ATC's (Artist Trading Cards). I hope she likes them. I sent them to her in the mail. She just learned about these, and is excited to learn about making them. They are the same size as a baseball card (approx. 2-1/2 x 3-1/2).

This first one I call "Chicken Soup will Make You Feel Better" It uses the cutest "chicken soup" stamp by Claudia Rose (the spoon is included on the side of the stamp).

This next one I call "Jesus Gets You Through Those Days".

I am trying to do my best to find time to create something each week.

WARNING! Gross descriptions ahead....

I feel gross. Downright gross. I didn't know a human could produce so much snot. I think I could single-handedly provide enough mucus for some kind of medical study. Wanted: Forty gallons of mucus. I could answer that ad.

This does not make for a creative person. I did walk in my studio and gaze longingly at the items sitting on my table. I bought some items at the local art supply store (no, not M's or HL). We have this cool store called Texas Art Supply... I love it there. Anyway, they had all markdown/red tag items an additional 50% off. What a deal! I have a whole bag of stuff, a lot of it from Memory Makers (I think...i'm too tired to go look). I got this stamp set called Hollie's Inspiration from Prickley Pear Stamps for $3.00! I got some other doo dads. I love a bargain.

Someone told me that M's carries the Suze Weinberg Melting Pot... something I have wanted. It is regularly $35, so with a 40% off coupon, it would be $21! I will check tomorrow!

I'm off to drug myself... if you get this congested, and have to sleep at night, I cannot recommend enough Zicam Extreme Congestion Relief. It is a life saver!

Feelin' Blue

I have a cold.

I feel awful. My nose is congested, I am coughing, I'm achy... just plain yuck. and could I laze around and relax? Of course not. That doesn't happen with this Mama (unlike SOME of my friends who are given the luxury of a three hour nap in the middle of the day despite having four kids). While my loving husband Bugman was off dealing with the Houston court system for a speeding ticket, I had to lug kids around, pick meat from the meat market (we bought a 1/4 of a cow), load meat into the already overcrowded deep freeze (do you KNOW how hard it is to fit a 1/4 of a cow in there???), pick my order from the Seabrook farmer's market, and then pick up a kid, deliver another... aaaaaaahhhhhh!

And then there's the teenager thing... My oldest is dealing with the issue of being affectionate toward girls in general (just a friendly thing) and why it's off limits (why don't they understand???). He is really struggling with this. He just is a loving, affectionate boy. It's not a "s*x" thing for him... nothing overt about it. Just a loving, friendly hug or arm on the shoulder, but it's offended some teenage girls AND boys. It's hard being a boy with Asperger's. People don't understand because it's not a "visible" problem.

Off to help bugman with a brisket he's been cooking for the last 22 hours!

I Did It!!

We have been trying to potty train this little one for almost two weeks. From day one, he has been great about "peepee" in the potty, but forget trying to get him to "poopoo"!! We tried everything... special underwear ("Don't poopoo on Mater!!"), but nothing worked. So we resorted to bribery! If you will poopoo in the potty (and Mama or Daddy has to see it there! He tried to tell me he pooped the other day, but I never saw it, and his heiny sure was clean, so I'm not sure he really did), then you can have a new hotwheels car!!

Well, he pooped in his pull up (that he wears when we are out) on Sunday after church. Then he didn't go for THREE DAYS. I was beginning to panic. Yesterday, he finally went...in his underwear. **Sigh** I was about to give up. Today, he has been fine. He got up from his nap, and went potty (#1), and then suddenly said "I have to poopoo!" and RAN to the potty. YEAH!! He did it!! Tiny did a HUGE #2, and here he is with is new hotwheel. He is sooooo happy. We have five more cars to go!

Tiny with his new purple cadillac hotwheel.