Ben's picture has arrived... finally!

So here it is.. I've got to tell you, I am so pleased that both have turned out so well.. check this out!






They both look so grown up!



I have been so busy trying to get everything done (work, housework, knitting, homework, housework, dishes, cleaning, housework.....) I think I'm falling back into that never ending cycle of recriminations that I used to do before the broken shoulder incident... I am trying to pull myself out of that cycle and trying to give myself permission to do things just for me.. I am working to finish that sweater that I started before the shoulder surgery that I just now picked up again, maybe tomorrow I'll take a picture and show you how far I am.. really I'm close to being finished.. this year I will have a new, alpaca cardigan. Also, I discovered a spinning teacher here in Hillsboro, and I called her and promised myself that in the middle of this month I am going to take a couple of lessons so that I can move forward in my attempt to spin my own yarn.



And tell me if this is silly, but I really want to learn to play the violin. This is something that I have always wanted to learn, but I was thinking really? At 40 years old? Learn the violin? But then I thought, well... why not? Wadda think? Too much ?


With everything else that's going on in my life, taking on yet another task seems daunting. I wish, truly that I was born an organized person. I just do not have the time to learn all the interests that haunt me! Certainly not learn them and keep up with the laundry!

Sam's Picture is Back

So Sam's school pictures came back.. they are actually really good. He was clearly thinking of our school picture conversation. See...



Sorry about the quality of the scan. Any one of you who know me are going to laugh and would be right to say that this is an expression straight off of my own face.. Really this is 100% his mother.. poor kid.

Ben has not had his school pictures taken yet, which is really strange, normally this would be done by now, but picture day for him is not until Oct. 20Th.

The first part of the school year was horrible, everyone got sick within the second week. Sam's school had 55 kids leave the school on Tues of the 2ND week.. Not just calling in sick, mind you, but start throwing up in the hallways, classroom,bathrooms, or office, and be sent home. Luckily everything seems to be calming down.
Sam is loving his class so far, and I am thrilled.

Ben seems to be okay in school, but he is at that stage where, when you say anything at all to him, his response is "I know, I know" in an exasperated tone.

"Ben put your shoes on"
"I know, I know"
"Ben your sandwich is ready."
"I know, I know"
"Ben, get your head in the corner, you cannot call your brother a dick!"
"Mom!, that is so unfair!" (this is the other thing that I am hearing all day long!)
"Ben, in this house we are supposed to be respectful towards everyone and calling people names, even our brothers, when they are being mean, is not oka....

(interruption)

"MOM! I KNOW, I KNOW!! Can I get out of the corner now?"

humm. well, you all get the picture, right? I remember that Sam went through this at nine. Ben has it down pat. The rolling of the eyes, the disgruntled grunt, the shaking of his head as he walks away exclaiming,

"You just don't understand what I'm saying Mom!"

On to other things, the weather here is supposed to turn for a very fast drop in temperature this week and me and my shoulder are here to tell you that the weather channel is absolutely correct!!! Ouchie momma! I'm just going to make sure that I have a supply of pain medication on hand for the winter. But I will come in hand for the family weather needs.

I had a friend laugh at this the other day and say..

"Wow, that really sucks, that's like being the weather girl X-Man, and the only super power you got was different kinds of pain to tell you what's coming, but you don't get to move it around like Storm"

I have to agree.. If I have to be a mutant, why can't I have the cool super powers?

Picture day..

It's picture day at Jr. High... I have to tell you, I hate picture day, because, although I have very handsome young boys.. I do not very often get good pictures from school. It's not really the photographer's fault. I have children that have taken in into their heads that professional photographers are not to be smiled at. Because of this unfortunate mindset, I get pictures like this...








and like this...



Really these guys are so adorable... when they are not in front of school photographers they look like this...



Or like this..

So this morning, before Sam left for school, I started this conversation...

"Sam, I'm paying for these pictures, and every year.. really they are just crap"

"So."

"Why don't you picture the Photo guy in his underwear?"

"That really doesn't do it for me mom."

"How about a cartoon anvil on his head" *

No response from Sam so I say...

"Umm.. How about a bird landing on his head."

"How about a bird pooping on his head" (small grin escaping from his face... quickly drawn back in)

"Whatever works... You know, Sam, when I was in the 7th grade, I was trying to look all sexy for my photo, and it was the worst picture I ever had taken, it was like this."

(View mom bugging out her eyes, sucking in her cheeks, and ducking her head) **

"REALLY DUDE, every time your Amuma (Basque for grandmother) pulls that thing out I cringe.. I'm trying to save you that pain later in life..."

This gets an actual laugh.... I am hoping that he will think of that face when the Photography guy whips out his camera... failing that, I told the story to his amazing aides at school when I dropped him off this morning, I hope it works..

I get to have a similar conversation with Ben next week. Sigh.

* No actual School Photographers were harmed in the writing of this blog

**This picture is not available for public viewing...ever.

New yarn..

So I called my friend Amy.. and said.. I hate you being in Texas and not just four blocks away, because, if you were four blocks away, I would drive over to your house, right this very minute and show you the new, self-striping yarn that I dyed.

All by myself.

It is so beautiful that I was tempted to drive over to Amy's old house to introduce myself to the complete stranger that lives there to show off the yarn. (Old habits, you know...)

Amy said.. put it on your blog. Then I can look at it tomorrow. Well Amy, here it is, and it is a thing of beauty. Hard to see, but there is a dark and light brown, then a dark and light pink.

Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty, Pretty... you get it.




One of the many cool things about Amy, is that before she ever saw this yarn, when I told her that I had finally made self-striping yarn in my very own dye pot, she started, like, jumping up and down with excitement (of course you can tell over the phone!) like if she had been just four blocks away, she would have jumped into her minivan and would have been to my house before I could have gotten out of my driveway...

Finally... the painted house.

Lots of pictures.. not much text... The colors are not quite exact.. it's hard to see the true colors here.. like the yellow was really a deep, dirty Winnie-the-poo.

The cream color on the bottom is dirty, and in flat paint.. so, impossible to clean. Really great for a home with kids... The painting was done by my father.. neat huh? the canvas has texture on it, so like a surface of a cave.. and the pigments in the paint are mostly sands and earth... I'll do a close up of his work sometime..

This is a better picture of the blue.

Same nasty cream.. see the grease spots.. that was caused by those sticky hands/feet/dinosaurs that you get for a quarter at the grocery store, when all you really want to do is scurry home like the tired rat you are..

On the right, may I present the ugliest mid-night blue ever.. and the color my husband still calls "Purple" ~right. This was flat paint too... sigh. AND please take note of the horrible border that has a very closely repeating picture that was designed to, but never once made me feel calm. These were never my choice, they came with the house.

This is really a good shot of the color too.

Now.. this is the big BIG success... on the top, 1970's horrible, rough, cheap wood paneling, on the bottom, very beautiful knotty pine that lightens up the whole area!

This one was just fun!

Check List

Mop the floor... check
Bake the cookies... check
Feed the children after they get home from the first day of school...check
Feed them again...check
Play "How long will the stupid human hold the door open for me" with Cloud...check
Get new glasses...check and check again!
Write a new post... ahhh..

Well, yes it is the first day back at school, and time to check in again here at the Kafooster household. Both boys are ready to sleep already (I'm so happy!) Ben is actually crying tired, if I can only keep him up for a few more hours, there is the possibility of a real nights sleep for me. Third grade has started out just fine for him, he is back with some of his friends from last year, and other than the need to sleep, he seems happy enough.

Sam started Jr. High this year and is very happy with his class. Sam is less happy with the ride home, his bus ride is over an hour because they go from his Jr. High, pick up high school students, and then he is the last to be dropped off. I don't really understand why yet, it is only the first day and I will have to watch and see how that goes.

Simple things in a simple life, (Simply crazy! Work full time, two kids in school~ A husband starting at the end of this month.. first time back in school for him since high school. 1979 is the last time he has walked into a classroom. Dear Good Lord, why am I still sane, Oh Dear Lord.. am I still sane?)

On to a subject switch. I wanted you all to get an update on Charlie. He is doing much better. You see, when you have children that are on medications for chemical imbalances, it is very, very important for everyone to watch them as they reach puberty. The hormones that start to course through their little bodies interact with medications differently, even if they have been on the same medications for years. When Charlie was hospitalized they took him off of all medications and he evened out. He just needed one. He was on more than one before. It happens so quickly in some children, this teenage change.

There were signs though, he sold his PlayStation, offered to give away his favorite video games, his mother and I spoke about these things the week before he tried to overdose. His mother took him to see his counselor just a few days before. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!

I try to get the word out to other parents that have their children medicated. By all means, medicate if that is what is best for your child, no judgement behind that statement at all. Each child is different, and no one knows them better than their parents. With that in mind, never let a doctor tell you that you should stay on course with the meds if you start to get that really bad feeling in the back of your head.. the one that wakes you up at 3:00 am. Really monitor closely the changes in behavior as your child enters into puberty.

I hope others read this, I hope teachers read this and pass it on, I hope parents pass this on to their friends. It's really easy to say "Well, duh, there is a higher rate of suicide for teens on anti- whatevers" but when you have Life happening around you, and you are around your own child everyday, the idea that they are "teenager-ing" at all passes you by.

geessh, I should have posted two different posts.. day and night.. say you still love me for all of my topsy-turvy ways!

Book recommendation..

I haven't been ignoring you all.. really, I'm just half blind, and I have been avoiding all things computer until I get new glasses... I don't have them yet, but I wanted to tell you all about a book that I read, well, listened to, about a month ago. It is called "Thirteen Reasons Why" by Jay Asher, this is his debut book, and I tell ya.. I will be watching this guy. This book should be required reading for all Jr. High and High School students. It tells the story of a girl who commits suicide from the point of view of herself, and one of the persons she leaves behind. Stop... don't roll your eyes at me.. really, this is unpretentious, powerfully written, and really deals with high school culture head on. It opens a discussion that is very much needed.

I say this because one of my elder son's classmates and friends. Charlie, just tried to commit suicide this month. Yep, a 12 year old boy. He was hospitalized in the Psych ward for two weeks, but insurance only covers so much. His mother, a wonderful woman, is watching him very closely. Now, Sam and I have been having this on going conversation about listening to other people and what they say about hurting themselves or other people. The fact is that my children, because they are autistic, are usually placed with students who are defined as "ED" in the school district..this is "Emotionally Disturbed"

Of course, autistic people are not generally emotionally disturbed... at least mine are not... My boys are funny, quirky, well adjusted Vulcans. However the school district has no nice, neat defined place for Vulcans, so they lump them together with all of the other quirky children that they cannot define...

These children are wonderful, but I realized early on that they will be more prone to hurting themselves or others because of the individual issues that they have, ergo, Sam and I talk a lot about signs to listen for. Paranoid you say? Well, obviously not.

Back to the book, it held me spellbound, it really addressed the feelings of the girl and why she made the decision she did, how seemingly little things effected her life in a big way. It also give the reader, and frankly the person considering suicide as the answer, the feelings of the boy who was alive and listening to the tapes she left for him and his reactions to her honesty after it was too late for him to help her, or to get help for her.

Do yourself a favor, if you have the time, jump into this very well written book. If you have kids you love, read this book with them, open the discussion, talk about other options, make them aware of other people around them, and what they can do if they think that someone is needing help. Not everyone will be as lucky as Charlie, and still be around after his first attempt.