Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to Everone!

I'll be on a blogging hiatus while we're busy with Christmas. Best wishes!

Progress in Math, Telling Time

Samuel started the school year being able to tell time on the hour and half hour. We have been working on telling time to the 5 minute markings around the hour on a clock face. I have tried a couple different things. I had this terribly marked up clock face with circles drawn around the hour numbers and then I wrote in the 5 minute times outside of the circle (I used a clock face slightly larger on the page than the ones I pictured here). It was a bit messy looking. I have also used a talking "teaching" time clock. That was good, but it was distracting because any time it talked it had to say an introduction that was programmed into it, kind of distracting.

I had the best success when I recently started using three clock face worksheets during each lesson (these worksheets are from the Enchanted Learning website). I begin with a time on the hour or half-hour, which he is already familiar with, easy.

Then on the next page he has to tell time within a few minutes of that. Each day we progress five more minutes. I only write the minute numbers around what we are working with, I'm no longer filling in the whole hour anymore. That was just too messy on the worksheet.

On the third worksheet I give Samuel the time and then he has to draw the correct time with the hands. After several weeks of prompting, he has recently been able to do these three worksheets each day without any verbal or hand-over-hand prompting from me. Now it's just the written prompting of the green minute numbers filled in.

I'd love to hear what you have tried with your child or student to teach them time!

This is the third worksheet we use during a lesson, on which I give him the time and he has to draw it with the hands.

Some Progress in Math, Subtraction

The first photo is a recent example of addition problems that Samuel did. It turned out a little messy because I had to "fix" the fours. The touch points for four don't work on one with a closed top. Careless preparation on my part, oh well. Samuel can do these problems without the sentence at the top of the page "I see a plus sign....", I'm just putting it there for right now to make it consistent with getting him to think about the kind of problem he is looking at.

I have been trying to teach Samuel subtraction for several months now. The first attempts I made at teaching him were using word problems in which he crossed out the items being subtracted. This worked pretty good. He seemed to understand that the number he ended up with was the answer to the problem and he knew where to write it. I only had to prompt him how to do this a few times. However, when I removed the sentence with the problem and just put images for him to cross off he couldn't seem to get it.

The next step was top use touch points on the numbers. Samuel learned to add at school with touch points and he had this system down quite well. Using touch points for addition is simply adding the dots that are on the numerals and the total is the answer. For subtraction you teach by starting on the top number and then counting backwards on the touch points of the lower number that is being subtracted. It has taken Samuel a while to understand this but we are starting to make some progress! I have been using more physical prompts (hand over hand placing his finger on the numbers or the touch points) and I try to minimize the verbal prompting. I started putting two problems at the top of the page and folding the paper in half. When Samuel did those problems I prompted him. Then, after he finished them I flipped the paper to the bottom half and told him, "Okay, this time you do them yourself." At first he couldn't and I had to prompt him again, though usually less. Eventually, he was able to do the problems on the bottom half of the page without prompting.

What was really exciting recently was when I put both addition and subtraction problems on the same page. The only "prompt" he had was the words saying that it was an addition problem or subtraction problem. I did not have to prompt him at all to do the problems after that! The next step will be to remove the words from the page.

This photo shows how there are problems at the top of the page, which I had to prompt him to do at first. The page was folded in half and when he finished these problems I turned it to the bottom of the page and he did these with less prompting, eventually no prompting.

This photo is an example of getting Samuel to differentiate between addition and subtraction problems. Eventually the only directions on the page will be words to the effect, "Solve these problems."

I Have Been Tagged

I have been tagged by Mother of Many at A Blog on the Spectrum

"When people say 'Christmas' you immediately think..."

..about how simple I want to keep things. At this point in my life I'm just not into a lot of decorating or entertaining. I'm more interested in focusing on Advent - preparing for Christmas spiritually. As we have had more children I wait for my husband to get out our tree (yes, we have an artificial tree!) and I put off decorating it as long as I can. We try to wait as close to Christmas Day to decorate it as we can.

"Favourite Christmas memory..."

This is a tough one to answer because I have so many happy memories to choose from. Christmas time was always a lot of fun in my family. Among my favorite memories are going to see my parents once I was an adult. They left the area that I was living in, Virginia Beach, and I had some great times travelling to Pittsburgh, Colorado, and Michigan to see them and my siblings. It was great to get away from my routine of working two jobs and attending college part time and being able to see my parents.

"Favourite Christmas song/carol..."

I don't know that this was written as a Christmas song, but I love "Sheep May Safely Graze" by J.S. Bach. This is on a favorite CD I have of James Galway entitled "A Christmas Carol." I love all the music on this CD, and am partial to it because I am a flutist. I chose it as the processional music in our wedding.

"Favourite Christmas movie..."

.. is A Christmas Story. This movie is a timeless depiction of all the craziness in the life of a child as they anticipate Christmas. It's set in the '30s (or maybe the '40s) and I grew up decades after that, but it really brings back memories of my childhood!

"Favourite Christmas character..."

I'm having trouble recalling from the stories and legends I know.... I'll fill this in later. I will say that I try to focus on the one who is the reason for Christmas, Baby Jesus!

"Favourite Christmas ornament/object..."

.. the various homemade ornaments that I have from my childhood and that my children are now making!

"Plans for this Christmas..."

I'll be spending Christmas with my immediate family and the godparents of my two youngest children. I'm sad that we won't be seeing my parents and siblings like we did last year. I'll see my parents within a few weeks after that though, so that helps.

"Is Christmas your favourite holiday?"

I think because of how far-reaching it is, yes, Christmas is my favorite holiday.

The universal joy of Christmas is certainly wonderful. We ring the bells when
princes are born, or toll a mournful dirge when great men pass away. Nations
have their red-letter days, their carnivals and festivals, but once in the year
and only once, the whole world stands still to celebrate the advent of a life.
Only Jesus of Nazareth claims this world-wide, undying remembrance. You cannot cut Christmas out of the Calendar, nor out of the heart of the
world. - Anonymous

I'll tag others soon.

Life is going along at our house quite well. I am as busy as ever. I rarely have a free moment anymore. I am stealing time that should be used for other things around my house to even do this writing. It's a little frustrating sometimes, but this shall pass. Even with all the frustrations and challenges I am happy with how we are all doing.

I am not at all in the Christmas spirit yet, which I suppose is okay. After all, it's not Christmas yet! We are enjoying our new Advent wreath and two Advent Calendars; one given to us by my oldest son's godparents and the other from my parents. It is still somewhat of a novelty for me to keep up with all the feasts and celebrations that the Catholic religion has. I didn't really grow up with these things being celebrated in my home. I gather all the kids together in the morning and we talk about feast days as we go over the calendar each day.

I am so grateful for the Personal Attendant help that Samuel has. The two people who help us out are doing well with Samuel. In between the times that I do his school work they keep him busy and out of trouble. It's really great to know that I don't have to worry about Samuel sneaking food or sneaking time on the computer. We still have a ways to go teaching Samuel to be more independent in using his free time appropriately. The visual schedule we use will help us teach him.

I have made a renewed effort to properly use reinforcers with Samuel. Using them properly makes his school work sessions so much calmer. As I prepare his schedule I prepare a token board. If I know that he will be agreeable to the work then I will use "high 5's" as reinforcers. Then for the subjects that he is not so agreeable I use "sweet snack" (Skittles ) or perhaps a "healthy snack" (raisins or peanuts) , or a "crunchy snack" (pretzels or a cereal bar). I want to move beyond just food reinforcers. There are some books he likes to look at, so I should have a supply of them ready for him to look at after he "works".

I hope everyone is enjoying preparing for Christmas! My thoughts and prayers this evening go out to a family I know whose son is scheduled for surgery tomorrow.

"Real" Chicken!

As the years have gone by, Samuel has gotten more particular about the food he eats. I have noticed he reacts to the smell and the texture. Years ago, he ate all his baby food just fine and started out on table food, but by the time he was three or four he would no longer eat pasta, with the exception of macaroni and cheese. He began to turn that away at about age six, at which time he would no longer eat hamburgers that I cooked at home (he eats fast food burgers without a problem).

Anyways, his repertoire of mealtime entrees now consists of chicken nuggets, fish sticks, pizza, grilled cheese and hot dogs. Even though he is rather particular, I feel fortunate that he eats the "variety" of food that he does. He eats canned green beans and carrots, applesauce, canned peaches and pears, raisins, and fresh apples and grapes. For convenience sake, especially having to deal with additional siblings and a husband to feed, for several years I did not push the issue of expanding the food horizons of any of my children. That is beginning to change. On the evenings that I don't prepare spicy food for the adults, I have been getting my children to sample other food. It has been going quite well, especially with my youngest son and daughter. Samuel, on the other hand, hasn't been so cooperative.

On Sunday I prepared a roasted chicken for dinner. I decided to throw down the gauntlet with Samuel and make him sample it. He protested loudly and ran away from the table. I let him sit in the family room adjacent to our kitchen while we ate. I did not give in and prepare a few chicken nuggets for him like I usually do. My husband and I kept telling him, "This is what your chicken nuggets are made of. This is "real" chicken!" The rest of us ate and went on our way. As I was doing the dishes, before I really even had a chance to think about Samuel eating, he came into the kitchen and said "Okay, I'm hungry, I'll eat chicken." (There was a tone of defeat in his voice - he can be so dramatic!) I sat with him and put a small bite of chicken on his fork. He smelled it as I put it to his mouth and he started to balk, but I urged him to try. At first he just touched it with his lips and within several tries he ate it! Then he ate the rest of it himself. I couldn't get him to touch the steamed carrots and mashed potatoes, but I was still thrilled with this little victory!

Happy Thanksgiving!

To those in the U.S., I hope you are having a wonderful Thanksgiving! If you're not in the U.S., well then I hope you're having a wonderful day as well! Samuel's Godfather (who joins us for most holidays) is with us. We tried going to mass this morning. Samuel was scripting an episode from "Rugrats" that included Reptar making monster noises, so we weren't able to stay in church for very long.

I had the kids make these wreaths so they could be mindful of what they are thankful for. My eldest is the one thankful for his go-kart; Samuel is the one thankful for National Geographic (he has several of their videos from the library right now); my youngest boy is grateful for his TEDDY bears; and I figured my little girl is probably thankful for her new baby doll, which she asks for every bedtime and nap time.

After the kids made their wreaths they got to play with shaving cream on the table. It has been a while since they have done this so they had a good old time!

Watching Television, Education Challenges

One of Samuel's favorite activities is watching television. Watching Samuel watch television can be kind of entertaining too! I took these photos on a recent lazy Sunday morning. When certain advertisements or shows appear on the screen, Samuel will cover his ears and recently I have heard him singing while he is covering his ears. Then, if the visual images get to be too much he will run out of the family room.

The first signs of Samuel having odd behavior while watching television were when he was two years old. He had watched "Arthur" for months, but one day when it came on the screen he ran out of the family room screaming and crying. It was several years before he could watch it on television again. It's not that he doesn't like the things he is seeing or hearing; this is what he does for the things he likes, but I guess he just doesn't know how to handle the pleasure that it brings him!

I'm still struggling with my increased teaching responsibilities this fall. I'm continuing the ABLLS assessment. My attempts at finding consultant help aren't going as well as I had hoped. One contact will not return my phone calls, another is way too expensive, and another wants me to go to a Dr. Carbone workshop. That's all well and good, but kind of difficult right now when the only ones I see on the schedule entail travelling out of the area and probably mean an overnight stay. I'm also dealing, really for the first time.. teaching Samuel some new concepts. Besides Samuel's different behavior, this is the first real struggle I have had with trying to work with him at home. I have to remember that there will be a lot of trial and error and that I shouldn't let a few challenges get me down!

Assessment Time

This past week marked the end of the first quarter of third grade for Samuel. As I have been saying, I have put a lot of time into preparing lessons and working with Samuel. I really need some direction and guidance on where to take Samuel's school work from here. I just got the "ABLLS", Assessment of Basic Language and Learning Skills and will be slowly doing this assessment on Samuel over the next few weeks. I heard this assessment mentioned by a friend of mine years ago, but I never had it done on Samuel. Now I can't believe that it has taken me so long to check it out!

I am hopeful that the assessment results and (hopefully!) obtaining the help of a consultant will give me some good direction. The last thing I want is for him to get bored or frustrated!

I'd love to hear what assessments others have had their children do, and what you think of it.

Two Out of Three Ain't Bad

A summary of Samuel's last 3 weeks at church:

Three weeks ago Samuel made it through ALL of mass sitting in church. I don't think we even had to go to the vestibule for a water break. Granted, it was early in the morning and at the time I thought perhaps he wasn't very awake, thereby accounting for his compliant behavior. Also, he recited the last part of The Lord's Prayer! I have been holding up a board book with the words to this prayer for well over a year now, but he has never said any of it out loud.


The second Sunday he not only sat with me, but with his brothers as well. We only had to take one water break, but it was at a pretty good time. Both weeks we reached the Homily before I gave him any Skittles (which has been my reinforcer to keep him quiet for some time now). Now for the amazing part: we attended mass at a time that we have not gone in over a year, AND THIS MASS HAD MUSIC AND SINGING! I informed him ahead of time that there would be singing and music. I asked him if he would be able to tolerate this. His first answer was "No," but after a few seconds he said, "Okay." I really didn't expect him to be able to tolerate it, but he did fantastic! He again said part of the Lord's Prayer out loud.

The third Sunday was today. Hopeful that Samuel would continue his positive trend, I had our entire family sit in the same pew, something we have not done yet. This appeared to bother Samuel a little, but he sat just as well as he had the previous two weeks. We didn't have to take any water break, but just before communion he got a little impatient. He was asking questions about the Lord's Prayer book and I asked him to wait until after church was over for us to talk about it. Well, that was a bit much for him so he tossed the book! Fortunately we were in the back row so it did not land on anyone. He then screamed so I took him out to the vestibule where he screamed again. I then took him outside of the church. It was a bit chilly so he was not very happy to be there. I told him that he needed to have a quiet mouth before we went back in. The screaming started again and this time his Dad came out. He gave me our little girl and he took Samuel out to the car. Thank goodness our 10 year old and 5 year old boys are little angels in church. They are used to us having to leave them when we have to deal with our little girl or Samuel.

Oh well, our church hasn't been "treated" to Samuel's screams in a long time but they got quite a dose of it today!

What will I do differently next week? First, I'll try to get the boys to bed a little earlier the night before! I got caught up in change-of-seasons clothing project last night and bedtime got away from me! Also, I think I am going to re-type the Lord's prayer on some plain paper. Samuel gets very interested in one of the pictures in his board book, which is what he was trying to talk to me about today. Important: I will show him the re-typed prayer and will let him know that it will replace the board book at mass! Also, if Dad gives me a break from Samuel, I'll be sure to take Samuel back into the church before we leave. I think that is important. He needs to know his behavior doesn't get him out of the expectation we have of him to be in church.

When I got in the car after mass, Samuel was crying and said "I'm so sorry Mommy!" I told him it was okay and that we would try again next week!

Long Days, Lots of Work

I hope I don't sound negative or self-pitying in this post, I'm just sharing what life has been like the last few weeks.

It has been a big adjustment going from one student at home to three. I'm still doing my best to look over all their work every day and to lay out some kind of schedule each day. This then gives me something to look back at to track my progress and the kids' progress. I'm having a hard time keeping up with it, and all that needs to be taken care of around the house. I had hoped that while I was going through the process this fall of discovering what Samuel really knows, that I could also be looking into additional consultant help and checking out alternative teaching materials. I've been surprised at how much I have to alter the materials I use to teach Samuel. I had thought the layout of the first grade materials I am using would appeal to him. He likes the pictures in the workbooks I have, but he just cannot seem to work on the pages. I don't know if there's just too much on the page, or maybe he has a vision problem. He does much better when I type his lessons in a large font on Writing With Symbols. Anyways, I'm so busy during the day that I keep forgetting to try to call potential consultants. I also haven't put as much into planning a social skills curriculum.. though I'm sure we're doing just fine with what I've put together at the last minute so far.

So far the subjects that appeal to Samuel the most are Religion, spelling, and reading(he likes th reader we use). One of my in-home helpers has noticed that Samuel doesn't react well when we try to count money ( I usually make up worksheets, so he's counting pictures of coins on paper). Now that we're up to the 7th week of doing this I'm trying to notice patterns as well.

Samuel's attention span has been very short and it was particularly bad last week. My strategy is to wait him out when he is not paying attention. So far he has been a bit better this week. Yesterday, however, I had to wait him out for almost an hour before he cooperated with working. This was around the time a favorite TV show of his was on. I made him work in a different area away from the TV. He didn't give in until after the TV show was over. We started working a good half hour before it was due to start! I'm so thankful that our in-home helper was able to keep a good eye on him during this time so I could keep the day going for the other kids! Once Samuel decided he was going to do his work, he finished up in less than fifteen minutes!

I'm finding I have a new appreciation for Samuel's former teacher and his aids. Sometimes it is not easy to get Samuel to communicate what he knows. I understand a bit better now just how much effort can sometimes go into teaching him. Not only that, but so much of his performance depends on his willingness to cooperate.

There's lots more I could say, but I am tired and need to get to sleep. Even though I'm exhausted now, I know this transition phase won't last forever. I still think I have done the right thing by deciding to keep all my sons at home for their education. Now I can understand the advice I've heard from others who have started homeschooling a special needs child; to know that a good part of the first school year might just be getting used to working together and "deschooling."

What Surgery?

Samuel's dental work went so well that now, only 9 days later, the whole experience is just a distant memory. He didn't seem to be in any pain this week at all. It is wonderful to see him with complete front teeth again! We have a follow up appointment with his dentist this week. I am expecting that everything will be okay.



We have been into our new school year for a month now. I am quite happy with how things are going. I have developed schedules for the boys that I review each day. I stay up late at night and get up very early in the morning to make sure I have work ready and lined up. Once the day gets started it is best for me to be completely prepared so that I can go an "automatic" mode.



Samuel's school day has become a series of sessions working at the kitchen table. We start off the morning with a look at the calendar and a Social Skills lesson. Samuel's two brothers join us for this. Then for the rest of the day I alternate teaching times between all 3 boys. Samuel has one in-home helper that is with us to get his morning started and then another starts later in the morning. He helps keep Samuel at the table while we do school work, and then they do other activities in the playroom or outside while I work with the other boys. The days go by quickly!

My goals for the next few months with Samuel are to continue trying to assess his abilities, coming up with more hands-on activities both for school work and leisure time, and trying to figure out where to take his lessons from here! I'm hoping to get some consultant help with this.

Praise Only for the Cured: The Autism Acceptance Project

Thank you to Estee Klar-Wolfond for this wonderful video statement about how autism is presented in the media. Be sure to visit her blog, The Joy of Autism.

Meeting Another Parent at the Park

Several Saturdays ago I took the 2 younger boys and my baby girl to the park. Samuel's helper was with us. It is so nice to have help for Samuel while we are out in public! It is impossible for me to take the kids to the park or on other errands without attendant help.



As my little girl played a cute little red-haired boy came up and touched her. It was as though he really liked her arms, he kept touching and rubbing them. My baby girl wasn't too amused! Then the little boy flapped his hands wildly and jumped up and down a little. "This looks very familiar," I thought to myself. I was quite sure he had autism. His Dad appeared a short while later. I could tell that he had been searching for his boy and he was quite exasperated. The little boy picked up someone else's bottle of water to take a drink. Dad yelled but by then the little boy was off on other adventures. Dad chased behind him. I wanted so bady to talk to his Dad, but even as the parent of a child with autism, I was stumped as to a good icebreaker to begin a conversation with him. ("Hi, I see your boy has autism..." ??? "Hi, I know how it is, chasing such an active little guy.."????) The icebreaker ended up coming from my curiosity when I saw the little boy was wearing a monitoring device around his ankle. My husband and I have thought about getting one for Samuel.

Anyways, the Dad and I ended up talking for the remainder of our visit at the park. His son is four years old and does indeed have autism. Dad is no longer married to his son's Mom. She lives with the little boy in another county and that is where he goes to school. He admitted that he doesn't have to deal with things on a daily basis like his ex-wife does, but he seemed to really enjoy talking with someone about his son. He had lots of questions, and we both shared stories about the funny things our guys do. I really enjoyed watching his little boy. He was cute and I could tell he is smart as a whip! Even though there are lots of differences between them, seeing this little guy brought back lots of memories of when Samuel was an active pre-schooler.

If it hadn't been for Samuel's helper keeping me on track, I could have stayed and talked another hour to the Dad at the park. It was best things wrapped up though, he was struggling to talk to me while he watched his son at the same time. I had the luxury of someone helping Samuel!

Root Canals Done on Two Teeth!

Samuel fell in our house last summer and had large chips knocked out of his two front teeth. The fall also knocked them out of place a bit as well. They never discolored or anything like that, but a visit to the dentist revealed that abscesses had formed because there had been nerve damage. The dentist recommended that root canals be done. Because Samuel cannot even sit for a complete exam, it was decided he should have the procedure done under general anesthesia.

We went to the hospital for this on Friday. I was worried about how Samuel would react to everything and was especially worried about making the trip home with him in the car. The hospital where we had this done was an hour and fifteen minute drive from where we live. After hearing about this, my Mom was generous enough to make the three hour driving trip from where she lives to help us out.

On Thursday we went to Samuel's pediatrician for a pre-surgery physical. Samuel allowed his blood pressure to be taken! We were able to do this by telling him the cuff wrapped around his arm would give his arm "a big squeeze hug." He protested and it took a couple tries, but it finally worked! This was the first time he ever allowed his blood pressure to be taken. We were also able to get his temperature taken with the probe held under his arm. I restrained him in my arms to get this done. He wasn't happy but he didn't fight too hard. He wouldn't let the doctor check his ears at all. The doctor skipped that part. As far as checking his throat, we had to hold him down on the exam table for that. Strange, because in the past it has not been so difficult. Maybe the combination of things, or the order they were done, was a part of his lack of cooperation.

I wrote a social story about our day at the hospital the night before we went. While my Mom drove in the next morning (we left at 4:30am for the long drive to the hospital!), I read the story to him. My Mom had a cool CD playing with animal sounds from Alaska blended in with music. I didn't know if Samuel would like this, but he seemed to enjoy it very much. We listened to it both ways of our drive.

We arrived at the hospital at 6am. It was still dark outside. The hospital building was lovely while it was still dark and all lit up. It was a relatively new building, and the furnishings, layout, lighting, and colors were very pleasing. It felt more like we were arriving at a nice hotel rather than a hospital! Samuel did fantastic while I left him with my Mom and I took care of registration. He seemed to view the experience as a sort of adventure and seemed to anticipate each step with curiosity.

We were placed in a private room within minutes. It had a television and Samuel could change the channels. This helped keep Samuel occupied while we waited for our nurse to get things ready. We had to go through the whole series of taking vitals again like we had done at the pediatricians office. We weren't able to get his temperature because the nurse had a thermometer that measured temp. by placing the probe in his ear.

One of the things I was most apprehensive about for the whole day was the administering of anesthesia. He was supposed to get a sedative first. There were two options: a liquid form or being given a shot. We tried the liquid but I was not very hopeful it would work. It didn't. So, he had to be given a shot in the leg. He was heartbreakingly upset at this, but he dozed off within a few minutes. He was then put on the bed and wheeled into the operating room. I followed, dressed in "scrubs." I was allowed to remain there until he was given the anesthesia (a mask over the face...). Even though he appeared to be asleep, he was crying and struggling as they gave it to him. Wow, that was hard to watch.

An endodontist took care of the root canals and then the pediatric dentist took x-rays so that he could carefully look at the condition of Samuel's teeth. He has never had a very thorough exam of his mouth. The dentist found two small cavities and filled them. He also capped Samuel's front teeth. That was a pleasant surprise. I had not realized they were going to do this during the surgery. His teeth look so much better now!

The surgery was scheduled for 7:30 to 9:30am. It took a bit longer, and I didn't get to see Samuel until after 11am. My Mom and I had plenty of time to visit with each other in our room! We haven't gotten to talk to each other like in person in a long time! (There are always lots of children intervening!)

Samuel woke up just fine and did just fine on the car ride home. He was quite energetic the next day, yesterday. Today he is moving a little slower, but he doesn't appear to be in any pain. He says that he is not in any pain when we ask him. Fortunately, I have been able to convince him to take some chewable Tylenol. I gave some to him when we got home, but haven't had to since then.

We had a great experience at the hospital. The nursing staff was terrific, the pediatric anesthetist was great, and the two doctors who operated on Samuel were wonderful as well! I am so grateful that we had all the good help, and I am especially grateful to my Mom for helping to make the day much easier for me!

The Fun of Twisting Things Around

Samuel likes to take things he is familiar with and put funny twists on them. He has been doing this lately by considering how different shows/other TV events would be if they were on the "Noggin" channel (a channel that broadcasts shows for pre-schoolers from 6am-6pm, then becomes "The N", which I will NEVER let my children watch, programming for teens from 6pm-6am). He asks other family members about it. Here's an example:

"Mom, what would happen if Nascar was on 'Noggin'?"

"It would be animated," was my first reply. Then I decided to take it a bit further.. I told him" It would be called 'Nascar Babies'" (Thinking back to how the Muppets had their "Muppet Babies" show and the Disney Characters had "Disney Babies.")

Then I took things even further.. I made up a commercial about the show.. "Coming up next on Noggin, it's 'Nascar Babies!' See Jeff Gordon, Rusty Wallace and Michael Waltrip back when they wore diapers and raced their push toys around the track!" (Never mind that they were all probably babies at different times!)

Samuel thinks this is hilarious and asks me to repeat it throughout the day.

Some other things he has asked about are "What would happen if 'Anderson Cooper 360' was on Noggin?" "Would would happen if 'Dream Car Garage' was on Noggin?" So far we've just told him they would be animated and then he adds "And they'd be babies?"

Thank you, fellow bloggers!

I'm taking some time this morning to forget about housework (which I should forget about on Sunday, a day of rest, anyways!), schoolwork, and other pending things I have so that I can catch up with my fellow bloggers. I haven't had much time to "visit" with everyone that I like to catch up with. Besides the other blogs I have listed there are lots of others I like to look at too!

Anyways, I think back to how alone I felt before I started blogging compared to how much support, comraderie, knowledge, and even entertainment I experience by blogging and "visiting" other bloggers. I am so glad to have this at a time when I'm less able to get out and about outside of my home!

Some Bumps in the Road and a Difficult Transition For Me

Since last Thursday, things have gotten a bit more difficult with teaching Samuel at home. Last Friday and Monday we did five different periods of working at the kitchen table (FIVE different periods EACH DAY, that is). I think it was Monday that he finally lost his patience. He was starting to complain each time he had to sit at the table. He would not comply, so I started "waiting him out" . When I do this, I stop prompting him to pay attention except to occasionally say "I am waiting, are you ready to work?" Or I might say "You let me know when you are ready to work." Other times I just ignore him and then he will eventually say "Okay, I'm ready." This can be hard to do if I have something else that needs to be done and I end up waiting for many minutes at a time. In this case, we had a few 30 minute sessions at the table and one that was 45 minutes (15 minutes is the target). One of our sessions got moved up to his bedroom when he started throwing things and clearing the table. He had been scripting heavily and would not focus on his work.

Yesterday I decided to reduce the amount of work and I gave him easier tasks. There were no meltdowns so I was happy about that. I suppose I should make changes to Samuel's schedule a little more gradually. Not only did I increase the volume of work significantly, but we have new material we are covering as well. We've went from working at the table one time per day to repeated times working at the table. Why should I be surprised that he's having a hard time with that?!

As far as the material we are covering, I am finding that I still need to alter the way I present material to him. I had thought the first grade level workbooks I bought him were formatted in such a way (larger type, nice pictures, etc) that I wouldn't need to alter them. However, he still seems to be distracted by (or somehow unable to process) what he sees in the textbook. All part of the trial and error process I'm going through to come up with what is best for him!

Samuel has been very moody this past week. He has burst into tears a few times. One time was while he was watching "The Backyardigans". My other two sons were watching it as well. We tried asking Samuel why he was upset but his answers didn't make any sense. All we could figure was that it was a new episode of the show that he had not seen yet, or perhaps the music in the show contributed. He did not leave the room, which is what he usually does when he doesn't like what is on television.

It's not easy keeping up with all three boys and their schoolwork! I'm trying to grade and file away their work each day. I also write out a list of the next day's work. At the end of the day I review it, write in a score for their work, if appropriate. I have been teaching one child at home for the past 6 six years; now I have three children to teach! My little girl wants to be in on the action at the table too, so there has to be activity ready for her as well.

Our in-home helpers have been helpful by keeping Samuel occupied while he is not at the table doing his schoolwork. They help during his work time by being seated strategically at the table so he cannot run away!

I'm attempting to meet with the in-home service providers we used to have to arrange for some private consultation regarding Samuel's behavior. This isn't an easy time of year to meet with them, with school just beginning. They are very busy.

Three Days Under Our Belt

After three days of teaching two of my sons at home (actually, the first two days I also did some lessons for my oldest son too), I am quite wiped out! Every day has felt like a marathon race! The first day was the craziest. I had mapped out a schedule for the day that included times. Whenever I do something like that I get very frustrated. While it's good to make a plan, I need to remember that it may not necessarily reflect reality. It took me until the morning of the second day to remember that my plan was a starting point, from which changes can be made.

In spite of how tired I feel, everything is going well so far. Samuel seems to like the books I got for him. He is using a reader that is styled like a Dick and Jane book. He has never really cared for them, but he seems interested in this book. He looks very carefully at the illustrations and I make sure to refer to them as we read the story. I am re-typing one of his religion books on "Writing With Symbols". So far what we are reading is a review, but he is very interested in it. I'll elaborate more on other subjects later.

My kindergartner is my most challenging student! Every time I call him for a lesson he protests! This lasts for a minute or so and then I somehow convince him to cooperate and then he's fine after that.

I have been sticking to my plan of approximately 15 minute lessons for each child at a time. The last two days I have been able to do 4 sessions of work with Samuel. In addition to that he is being read to several times per day, both by me and by our in-home helper. While this might not sound like much time, this is a big increase from the amount of time we spent on work over the summer each day, AND HE IS ACCEPTING THE INCREASE AND IS COOPERATING! During each work session we cover two or three subjects. One thing I can do immediately to improve is to be better prepared early in the morning so that I'm not spending my day planning the next session of work. As time goes on I will either increase the number of work sessions we do or will make each session longer. Perhaps I'll do a combination of these two things.

My kindergartner started soccer today. He was not very eager to participate but hopefully his attitude will improve by next week. His oldest brother will play starting next week.

On the Eve of a New School Year

Samuel and his younger brother are starting their new school year tomorrow. My oldest son is busy with some auto racing things with my husband this week so he'll start his new school year next week.

My oldest is going into 5th grade. I am putting Samuel back into first grade work, which is the level of work he did in Math and Reading last year. My youngest son will be starting Kindergarten.

In the past I have used a curriculum and have "enrolled" my oldest with the place I bought my curriculum and materials from. I'm going to deviate from that a bit this year. I am going to use some workbooks and textbooks - the Traditional approach. However, I want to get more into some Unschooling (letting the course of study be determined by my child's interest), and some Charlotte Mason method where you "spread a feast" before your child and let him "digest" what they are ready to learn. (Info about the different methods is from the "Simply Charlotte Mason" website) It will be fun to see what all we come up with to study this year. The hard part will be keeping track of it all and making up tests of knowledge from that material.

I'm planning to teach them individually in 15 minute sessions. That will be enough to get my oldest a quick lesson and then get him started on an assignment. I can probably cover 2 subjects with Samuel in 15 minutes, and then our in-home helpers can supplement that with some kind of activity or assignment during the next child's session, then he can get a break and then be ready for another lesson session the next hour. My youngest boy can probably get in one or two subjects during that time frame also.

Well, it's late and I still need to get some things together so I better run!

Science Test - Good results in more ways than one!

For Science this summer we read two books: the first one was "Whales, The Gentle Giants." We started this one in May, when he was still in school. Between finishing the school year and going on vacation in June, it was slow going with the reading. We did not finish it until the end of July.




We reviewed and did the test in early August. I was a bit disappointed with the results. I didn't even score it. Was I disappointed only because of the "score?" No, it was more than that, I don't think I did a very good job of picking out the 5 basic relevant facts of the book that Samuel could connect with. Maybe there weren't that many relevant facts, maybe there were only two or three! In making up this test I used a combination of things that were used in his tests at school this past year: multiple choice, selection, and fill in the blank. Maybe it was just overkill staying with this one book two months. I thought I did a good job of doing minimal reading each day to keep Samuel from melting down as we worked. Maybe he was only just so interested in the book, and not that much at that.

Shortly after we finished this book we started on the next book: "What Makes Day and Night" This is a subject that has been of great interest to Samuel this summer. He has been interested in sunsets, and his interest in "planet Earth" goes back to a Blue's Clues episode about the planets (ever heard "The Planet Song"? ) Anyways, this book was much easier reading, of much greater interest to Samuel, and we finished it in a few weeks, rather than a few months. As we read it each day it was easier for me to pick out the five relevant facts that I wanted him to know. In fact, I even added an extra fact because it was so easy to pick out.





I typed up a study sheet and went over it with Samuel. He answered questions orally and then the next day he took his test. It went very well! He answered all the questions orally and then I had him write a few of the answers himself. He wrote "day" and the number "24" without any spelling assistance!

I suppose there are lots of ways to look at these two events and analyze them, but in my amateur opinion I'd say we both were more successful with the second book!

More "School" Work

I typed a few Religion lessons for Samuel on my Writing Without Symbols software. I use this for many lessons in all subjects. It really is a useful tool for teaching him!

I have also been using it to type a few short sentences each day about the saint whose feast is on that date.

Making money counting worksheets on "Writing Without Symbols" is very helpful. Samuel had to try twice to count 35 cents correctly. Then he went on to count 36 cents correctly too, by himself! He wasn't counting quarters at the beginning of the summer, at least not at home.

As we read our book about "Balto" I have Samuel fill in missing words in sentences. I have been trying to have him independently spell Balto's name correctly. He is doing so much more frequently now, after several days of repeating this exercise he is getting it now! Even though we are reading the whole book, I just want him to remember 5 or 6 facts from it.

Samuel's Visit to a Different Dentist

We took Samuel to a new dentist yesterday. He fell in our house about a year ago and broke two of his front teeth. (There were tooth marks in the grout on our tile floor where he fell!) Our local dentist tried to get x-rays but Samuel was not very cooperative. We monitored the condition of his teeth the next few weeks and he seemed to be healing okay. We knew at some point that we wanted to get to a pediatric dentist for another attempt at x-rays. That's what our visit yesterday was for.

I had talked to Samuel for the previous few days about what to expect at the dentist. I knew he would probably have to be held down and, sure enough, he had to be so that the dentist could get a good look and take x-rays. Samuel protested quite loudly, at one point he yelled "I'm sad!"

The x-rays showed that there is some nerve damage so Samuel will eventually need a root canal, after his teeth finish growing. In the meantime, the dentist plans to inject some calcium hydroxide to the root area to clear up some abscesses that he has. This will get done in the next month or so while Samuel is under general anesthesia.

Sitting in Church

Yesterday was a great day in church. For the first time in two and a half years Samuel sat in church for the entire duration of mass! I cannot believe this happened, I had no plans to try it when we entered church yesterday morning.



It was seven months ago now that we stopped sitting in the cry room at church. Since then we've had good weeks and bad weeks there. Most weeks we stayed in the church for a little over half of mass, then Samuel would be too restless so we would go to the vestibule area, where other restless children and latecomers would sit or stand. In the last month Samuel has been a bit more restless in church. In fact, just a few weeks ago he screamed and we almost left. He had not screamed in many months, maybe since early spring.

Yesterday, Samuel was very quiet in church. I didn't even start to give him Skittles (his reinforcer to keep quiet) until we were in the there almost 10 minutes. I'm sure another reason he kept quiet was that he was very tired. I put in lots of verbal reinforcing praises and hugs and pats on the back between the times I gave him a Skittle. It really takes a long time to reduce a negative behavior by praising him for the times he shows good behavior!

I was so happy when we left at the end of mass and made sure I told him so. We followed by doing one of Samuel's favorite things, eating a donut at the "HandyMart" and taking a walk over to the bankrupt motorcycle shop to read their closing sign.

School this Fall for Samuel

My husband and I have given much thought to this matter. We have decided to withdraw Samuel from school and teach him at home this year. There are several reasons we want to do this, let's see if I can explain it concisely:


1) Homeschooling is my first choice in how I would like my children to be educated. I want to raise my own children and teach them to live their lives according to our Catholic faith. This can't be taught to them in a school run by the government where they can't even talk about God.

2) I am concerned about Samuel's behavior and I am afraid it will get worse by having him in school. In my opinion there are too many limits in the school setting that prevent the flexibility that is needed to deal with Samuel's outbursts. I met with Samuel's teacher several times last year to talk about his behavior. After several meetings they made a few changes, but not to the degree that I wanted. I just don't have the time to keep meeting and begging and pleading with the school to do what I think is best for my child. The input needed is way too high in proportion to the output that I get. For right now I'm better off using my energy directly on Samuel. I can also better monitor his progress when he is home with me.

3) I want Samuel to be with his family. He noticed last year that he was sent off while the others stayed home and he didn't like it. Samuel is part of our family. Our family's life includes him and all that goes along with it. I am fortunate that I have a good starting point from which to teach him.

I met with Samuel's special education teacher and the principal of his school today. I requested the meeting because I wanted to be sure they understood how much I appreciated their help over the past few years. I am glad that I sent Samuel to public school the years that I did. I told the teacher that there were complaints I had and that I would write to the school and the Director of Special Education to let them know, but I wasn't there today to talk to them about that. It was hard going in to talk to them about this, but I am glad I did it. They told me a bit about an upcoming autism program in the schools that sounds like it will incorporate more parent involvement. I hope it will be successful. While some parents are happy with how school is going for their children, most feel unhappy with it. I also got to see the new special education classroom; it's about 3 times the size of the room they had last year. I am going to take Samuel in next week to say goodbye to his teachers and his aid. That will be heartbreaking, his aid is so nice and I know she really liked working with Samuel.

In other news, I have been able to get 30 hours per week of in-home help with Samuel through a medicaid waiver. I am hoping to eventually get 2 to 3 dependable helpers. As of today I have one who has been able to help consistently and it has been wonderful. It is such a relief to be able to have hours and hours where Samuel is being guided appropriately in his activities and I am free to get some things done around the house. I am able to take Samuel and his siblings out for errands and other outings more easily, and I have been able to leave Samuel at home with the helper, which makes it easier when I take the other children with me on errands.

A Sampling of Academic Work this Summer

Samuel has had in-home help for three hours per morning five days per week this summer. These sessions are a weaving together of preferred activities and non-preferred activities. Some academic work done has been telling time worksheets, counting money (real coins and worksheets), phonics worksheets, addition worksheets, looking at the calendar. Samuel gets a break after his helper leaves, but then mid-afternoon I have him do some "worktime" for me. We finished reading "Whales." Now we are reading "What Makes Day and Night," which goes nicely with his interest this summer in sunsets. At bedtime I have read biographies about George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and Thomas Jefferson. The boys have enjoyed hearing Virginia mentioned so frequently as I have read the Washington and Jefferson books.

These pictures show the basic facts that I pulled out of the Benjamin Franklin biography for Samuel to review. I read the biography out loud to all the boys at bedtime over several weeks. Each day I would type up a short sentence or two on our "Writing With Symbols" software about the previous night's reading. These five pages were what I kept as the five things to remember once we finished the book. We have a video from the Nest company about Benjamin Franklin's experiments with electricity. Samuel really likes this video so I kept the "facts to remember" from the biography related to that and how he came to live in Philadelphia after being born in Boston. Some other time I'll have to focus on his role in the American Revolution.

No Time to Blog!

I haven't been blogging all that much lately for a variety of reasons which, all put together, are really eating up the little spare time I have ever had to do so.

Our family has received a big blessing in the form of a Virginia Medicaid "waiver" which, if all goes through, will give us the money to pay for an attendant for Samuel for his "medical" needs, his ability to dress and care for himself and to remain safe during the day. In the last two weeks I have been hiring and training two attendants, who either attend or have graduated from an area college. Everything is approved, I'm just waiting for a final confirmation about the number of hours of assistance we will be getting.

I have also been very busy putting together "work" for Samuel to do. We finally finished reading the book about whales. I'm preparing a "test" for him to take early next week. I'll share the worksheets and study sheets about this as soon as I can. I have been reading books to all the boys about Benjamin Franklin and George Washington at bedtime, so I have been making up worksheets and study sheets for Samuel about this.

After assessing Samuel's handwriting skills the past few weeks I have decided to delve more into Handwriting Without Tears (HWOT). Samuel learned to print upper case letters with this method at school. I'm not sure how closely this was followed to teach him lower case letters. In any case, he has had trouble writing within the lines on traditional kindergarten-size lined paper but seems to do better when I used HWOT ruled paper. I can get some of this from abcteach.com website, but I have gone ahead and ordered some supplies from HWOT as well. I plan to use this method for my rising kindergartner and if I can I will teach them together. We'll see.

A semi-annual review of Samuel's already in-home services is coming up next week. This is causing my husband and I do lots of thinking about Samuel's school situation. I will talk more about this when I am able to (after our meeting next week).

I'm sorry that I haven't been keeping up with my blogging "support group" that much lately, but I will get back in touch as soon as I can.

Where Did this Past Week Go?

Wow, time is flying on by! I have been very absorbed in trying to clean and organize my house.. an ongoing project for me. I'm also working hard to finish my oldest son's school year, and have been busy making lessons up for Samuel and his youger brother, who will start kindergarten this fall.

Samuel has been very caught up in a Playstation game, Jack and Daxter. He and his younger brother like to play it. It involves visiting various locations, so Samuel now "plays" this game while he is outside. There are 4 or 5 locations in the backyard he sits and goes through this game in his mind. Each location he plays at represents a particular location in the game. While he is doing this he sifts through the dirt or pine straw or sand that happens to be there. This week I'll be breaking the news to Samuel and his younger brother that starting next week we'll be taking a "break" from this game!

One night last week I had Samuel try something new for dinner, meatloaf. His brothers ate it without a problem. I had to provide soda as a reinforcer for trying it. He has not liked hamburgers lately so I figured he wouldn't be very willing to try meatloaf. As I asked him to eat it I made sure he knew a sip of soda would follow. He was not happy! He leaned over, SMELLED it and said "I don't want to eat STINKYBURGERS!" Now there's a new name for meatloaf!

I have noticed an increased sensitivity to smell with Samuel in the last few months. He smells his food, he smells other people's skin (usually their arms), and he smells his own skin and his armpits! While I was kind of sad he didn't like my cooking (though I didn't care for meatloaf as a child either!), it was enlightening to know WHY he didn't like it and I was glad that he was able to tell me this.

In the last week or so Samuel's interest in watching videos has returned. Watching videos has taken a back seat to playing on the computer for quite some time now. As his interest in videos increased his interest in playing on the computer has decreased. As always, he likes carrying around videos with him. He took quite a selection with him on our vacation. I limited it to what he could carry in a small canvas bag. He likes to carry them with him when we go out at home too. I make sure I specify to him that they STAY IN THE CAR.

Lazy Sunday

I have a billion things I could be doing today, but I'm trying to make today a day of rest, like Sunday should really be! My husband and oldest son are away this weekend. They have a racing event up in Sodus, New York. This is relatively close to where my husband grew up, so he invited a bunch of friends and relatives to come watch. This is a different type of event than they participate in. They have been away a little longer, and when I have talked to my husband on the phone it sounds like it has been a lot of work. They are very tired.

My youngest boy is playing playstation and Samuel is playing out in the back yard. I can see him out my window.

There is an awesome lineup on the History Channel later this afternoon, awesome for our family anyways. There are three "Mega Disaster" shows on in a row.. first there's "East Coast Tsunami", then "Asteroid Apocalypse", then "Yellowstone Eruption." My oldest son will be so upset that he missed these! Then after that there is an "Ice Road Trucker" episode! My husband and I really like this show. (I bet if my husband wasn't so busy with everything else in his life he'd go up to the Northwest Territories this winter to try his hand at ice road trucking! Either that or he'd be up in Alaska on one of those "Deadliest Catch" fishing boats!)

Coming soon..I have been tagged by "Bishops Wife" to share 8 random facts about myself.

Settling into a Routine for the Summer

We have been back home from our vacation for a week and a half now. It's different having Samuel home all the time now. I'm relieved that we don't have to do all the driving around. I am so over the "mom's taxi" lifestyle! Here's the general pattern of our weekdays:

WAKE UP

The kids are getting to bed quite late, so I let them sleep in. I try to get up around 5:30am. Mornings are my time alone to get things done. I work in the kitchen, laundry room, and then get outside to water plants or pull weeds.

Ideally I would get the kids up at 8am but it's usually 8:30. Then we rush to have Samuel dressed by the time our in-home helper gets here at 9:00. Samuel has not been nearly as cooperative with her as I had hoped he would be. She used to come after school, and Samuel was often tired and irritable at the prospect of 3 MORE hours of work after school. I'm going to start getting Samuel up at 8am. Perhaps if he has some time to play by himself before she arrives he'll be happier.


I had thought the 3 hours his helper was here would open up all kinds of time for me to work with my other children (we have to finish 4th grade this summer for my oldest son). But it has been very hectic. The three hours go by very fast. My oldest son isn't always very agreeable to working at this time either! My baby sleeps in until 10-11 so at least things are more manageable because of that.

AFTERNOONS

We eat lunch after the in-home helper leaves. Then I give the boys some free time. After that I get my oldest son back to work. Baby girl takes her nap at 3 o-clock. I sit down with Samuel during this time and go over some work with him. He either gets to play outside after that, watch TV for a while, or play on the computer.

EVENINGS
Once 4:30 or 5:00 hits I scramble to clean up the kitchen and work on dinner. After dinner the kids and I get outside for a while. I play with Samuel a little and then I do a little gardening. If my husband is home and is working in the garage Samuel likes to "hang out" with him out there. I'm encouraging my husband to find something for Samuel to "help" him with out there!

BEDTIME
Bedtime for the boys has been around 10pm. I'd like it to be a little earlier, but by the time I bathe the 3 younger ones and we get them a snack and let them play something of their choice (an incentive for Samuel to put on his pajamas by himself), this is what time it is. Samuel hasn't been falling asleep very well since school got out. He talks to himself a lot during this time (he is doing a lot of "self talk" all the time now, this has been increasing since last fall). Often he calls me and asks me to lay down with him for a while. Sometimes he will leave his room and come find me.


My oldest son is participating in a music/art day camp in August. Other than that we have no scheduled camps or activities that we are participating in this summer. We go to the park one morning per week and that is where my oldest and youngest sons get to see their buddies on a regular basis. Samuel doesn't particularly care about seeing anyone there. Our in-home helper comes along. Ideally we'd be looking for chances to make him socialize there but we're still working over the hurdle of getting him to do anything there besides talk to himself.

How is this compared to the past few summers we've had? Well, I'm relieved to not have to drive Samuel in town for summer school. That lasted 4 or 5 weeks and meant getting him there by 8:30am and then picking him up at 11:30. Since I have been still doing school work for my oldest son during the summer for the past few years, that was tough because there wasn't enough time to get much of anything done in the 2 hours we could be home. Then, last summer Samuel would get home from school and have 3 hours of in-home help! Two summers ago I was pregnant with my baby girl and didn't feel like doing much of anything! Last summer she was not walking yet, so my activity was restricted somewhat by having her around. This summer I can get around and do things a little easier since the baby is mobile. However, she wants to stick to me like glue and wants to "help" with everything! If she is not "helping" then she is inevitably tearing something apart around the house!

Making Snacks!

As Samuel has browsed his favorite website these days, Nick Jr., he has become interested in some recipes that they have. He started talking about one of them soon after we returned from our vacation, "Lazytown Sports Candy Pops." After he told me that he was going to make them several times, I finally sat down with him at the computer and we printed out the recipe. A day or so later we went to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients (I'll talk about that trip in a separate post!). Here is a picture of the finished product. I was supposed to get 6 of them, but we only got four.


I shared one of these with my baby girl. I liked it and Samuel liked his too, though he didn't ask to eat any of the others after that. They contain vanilla yogurt and then you mix in crushed pineapple, and a mixture of berries. I used blueberries, grapes, and strawberries. You put it in a plastic cup and then freeze it. I was very surprised that Samuel liked it because he doesn't eat most of these fruits. I'm sure frozen up in a popsicle they were a good sensory treat for him though.


A couple days after we made the sports candy pops, Samuel woke up while I was in the shower, went down to the kitchen, and decided to make his own "treat." When I came downstairs there were five plastic cups on the kitchen table. In each one were some Nestle's strawberry powder, a small dab of Cool Whip, some Hershey's Chocolate syrup, and then a marshmallow. He called it a "Wuzzleburg Sports Pop." ("Wuzzleburg" is from "Wow Wow Wubbzy") While I was surprised at the combination of ingredients, they do look kind of nice together. He also used a very small amount of each ingredient, so it was almost like eating an enhanced marshmallow! I'll have to help him with the presentation.. maybe it would be a good topping for an ice cream sundae!

We'll be doing some more recipe browsing and "cooking." I'll update our culinary adventures as we go along!


Recipe for Lazytown Sportscandy Pops, from Nick Jr. website

Servings: Makes 6 pops

Ingredients

1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple in natural juices
1 cup combination cut up grapes and berries (blueberries, raspberries, and strawberries)
2 cups vanilla yogurt
6 tsp. raspberry or strawberry jam
6 plastic spoons
6 six-oz. paper cups

Step 1 Place the paper cups on a cookie sheet.

Step 2 Transfer the yogurt to a large bowl and set aside. Drain the crushed pineapple and stir it and the fruit with the yogurt.

Step 3 Spoon the fruit and yogurt mixture--a little at a time, about a fourth of the way up--into each cup. Add a thin layer of jam on top of the fruit mixture.

Step 4 Add another layer of fruit and yogurt mix, another thin layer of jam, and continue like so until the cup is full.

Step 5 Insert a spoon in the middle of each cup (handle side up). Cover lightly with plastic wrap. Freeze until set, about 3 hours or overnight.

Step 6 To remove the plastic cups, dip the cups into warm water for about 5 seconds and gently slide off.

Maine Vacation - Midcoast Region

The third day after leaving home we arrived at the cottage we would be renting for a week. It is in New Harbor, Maine, and we rented it from L. Dewey Chase Real Estate. We stayed in a cottage called "4 Stars." You can look it up at this website: rentals.ldchase.com/rental.list.php We used this same real estate company four years ago to rent a different house and were happy with them. The house we rented then would be too small for us now. This time we were a closer distance to Pemaquid Beach, a place we have come to enjoy over the years. We could walk to this beach by crossing a path in an empty lot across the street from us. We had to walk over some big rocks to get there. I had a hard time with that since I had to carry the baby. I was amazed how easily Samuel was able to walk over them!

Samuel absolutely loved the beach. I think he was in sensory heaven! He liked playing in the sand and walking in the COLD water. It was a bit too cold to wade, but there were a few hardy souls that were doing so, and swimming! We spent lots of time at Pemaquid Beach. Each time we went Samuel explored a little more. One time he and I walked to the opposite end of the beach and explored some rocks. He liked wading and sitting in the sun-warmed pools left behind at low tide. By the end of our week there, Samuel was picking up the seaweed and checking it out!

Here are some more highlights of our week. One cloudy day we went over to Boothbay Harbor, about a 30 minute drive from where we stayed. It is a charming town that has a lot of quaint boutiques and antique shops. This time we only had lunch there, no browsing in shops like we did on our honeymoon! On our way home we stopped at a miniature golf course and my husband took all three boys. Baby girl and I wandered around the rest of the property and browsed through a sea shell museum. The owner of the golf course runs the course during the summer and then lives in Florida for the winter.

We were very fortunate to have the opportunity to take a family ride on the water. Our good friends who live in the area have a son who works at a marina near Falmouth, Maine. We were able to take a catamaran ride thanks to him and his friend who owns it. I was a little apprehensive about all of us being on the water, but felt better once I saw the kids would have life jackets to wear. I thought Samuel might enjoy wearing it, thinking it might be like a weighted vest, but he wanted nothing to do with it. We kept a harness on him instead. My oldest son got to stear the catamaran, which he greatly enjoyed!

On our last day of vacation we went to Pemaquid Point Lighthouse, down at one of the southernmost points of the peninsula we stayed on. We honeymooned at an Inn that was within walking distance of this. On another visit (the one where Samuel kept waking up at daybreak - 4am!!!!) we had dinner in the house right next to the lighthouse. Some people we knew at the time were renting an apartment on the second floor. They had been living there for 15 years (would you ever give up an apartment like that?)! There are some amazing rock formations and cliffs in the surrounding area. My husband and oldest son walked on them while the rest of us explored the park area.

The godparents of our two youngest children live in this area. We saw them every day that we were there. We used to see more of their sons, but they are all grown up now and have moved away. Our last evening they had a pot-luck dinner for us at their house and invited other people we have met over the years. It was great fun, though (as often happens) I did get a little overwhelmed as the evening went on with whiny demanding kids, mosquitoes, and a husband caught up in conversation with other adults!

Other information about the area we visited.. locals and tourists enjoy a local treat, The Lobster Roll (pronounced "lobstah"!!!). It can vary a little, but it is basically a hot dog roll with lobster meat (I've had it where the meat is mixed up with mayo, like tuna salad). The going rate for one on this trip was about $17! We did not partake this time. One of the towns we passed through in Maine as we headed north, Wiscasset, had people lining up for them!

One of the northernmost towns on the peninsula we stay on is called Damariscotta. It is quite picturesque. During our stay we experienced its main street, including the sidwalk, being repaved. It made traffic through the town heavy, but fortunately there were ways to get around it. The paving was completed our last day there, just in time for the area's tourist season, which always gets under way the week of the 4th of July.

We were very sad to leave our cottage as well as our friends and the area. We hope to be able to return next year. My trips to Maine have always been enjoyable no matter what stage of baby and toddler I have to deal with, but I sure do look forward to the day when I can experience these things with children that are a bit more independent!

All photos are from Flickr.com. Pemaquid Beach pictures taken by MaineMama. First picture is of the NW (I think!) end of the beach and second photo is of the SE end of the beach, if I have my directions correct. We walked on a path through the area with the trees in the second photo to get to the beach. Picture of the seaweed was taken by Thallium. Boothbay Harbor picture taken by Harry390. Picture on the water taken by denjes3, near Falmouth, Maine. We sailed on the catamaran near here. Pemaquid Point Lighthouse picture taken by eva8. Red's Eats picture taken by Madame Pocklock. Lobster Roll picture taken by wendalicious (this is a lobster roll from Red's Eats). Damariscotta scene picture taken by GTOfan. Downtown Damariscotta picture taken by Wildhorses.