Cool things I found on other blogs today...

As I was browsing through my reading list of the blogs I follow, I came across so many really cool things that I want to either do, buy or make.  They are so cool that I wanted to share a couple of them with y’all. 

I saw this Towel Rack project on the Mod Podge Rocks blog and followed the link to the original post over at A Little Knick Knack. 

Not only is it a super easy project, but it’s Mod Podge which is my latest obsession AND…the towel rack in the kids’ bathroom keeps falling off the wall and I am so tired of putting it back up over and over.  I am going to tear those crappy, boring towel racks down, make my own with some super cool scrapbook paper and hang those suckers up and be done with it.  YAY.  Can’t wait to make them!

Next, I saw this  FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC inspirational sign/manifesto over on Mely’s Blog Sex, Lies and Bacon.   This sign is SO perfect for me right now.  I want to hang one in the entryway of my house!!!  And, I am kind of on a kick lately of these sign things…Did ya see my Family Rules post a couple days ago?? 
This sign can be found and purchased at http://www.holstee.com/.

Really cool stuff huh??   You’re Welcome!

Busy and fun weekend

My kiddies were with their Dad this weekend so I had a whole weekend to myself.  Woot!! 

Friday , after packing up the kids and their stuff and dropping them off at their Dad’s, I met up with a friend.  We grabbed some dinner and went to a movie.  We saw “The Chang Up”.  That movie is a hoot!  So many hysterical lines in there that still make me giggle.  It was raunchy and crass at times…but seriously hilarious. It even had a sappy, feel good type ending.   I have seen 3 movies this past week and I *think* this one was my favorite…just because it was so dang funny.

Saturday, I went over to my parent’s house to change out my headlight and a brake light that went out this week and to top off the fluids/oil in my car.. And, to borrow a knee brace from them.  I am only 36, but I messed up my knee doing goofy karate kicks at my co-worker. LOL!!  My Dad and I did the car work, then I was mending a torn pillow that wa ripped.  My Dad laughed at me and said, “It doesn’t surprise me to see you work on a car…but to see you sewing, now THAT is weird!”  hahaha.  He jokingly said I am the son he never had. 

My Mom is having her 70^th birthday in October and my Dad told her they would go on a trip to wherever she wanted.  She finally decided on a 7 day cruise to Mexico.  They invited me and my Mom’s BFF to join them.  YEEEEHAW!!  I am so excited.  We did a 4 day cruise with the 4 of us last December and it was a blast!!  With my crazy life at home, I NEED a vacation more than you will ever know.  So, my Dad and I picked our cabins for the trip and booked the trip online.  Have I mentioned that I am excited???  SEVEN DAYS!!!!  I can’t wait!  I have the best parents EVER.



the beautiful sunset on our last cruise to Mexico




My parents...aren't they cute??  Married 43 years! ♥



I headed home after that to tackle my household chores.  My awesome Mom came along and helped me tidy up the kitchen, bathrooms and fold and put away laundry. My mom rocks…not sure if I have ever said that before ; )

Later on I met up at the Cheesecake Factory for dinner with friends.  YUM!  Then, went to Wal-Mart for a few needed items and rented a movie from RedBox.  We watched, “The Town”.  It was better than I expected.  Didn’t go to bed till 3 am. *yawn*

Sunday was church. Another good message and service by Pastor Mark and the music team.  I was only a few mins late this week.  Go me!!

I was missing my kids so I asked the Ex if I could come visit them and bring them lunch.  I picked up Happy meals and food for me and the Ex and hung out with them for about an hour.  They were swimming and having fun...and actually not fighting!!!

After that I went to the beach with friends.  Such a relaxing and fun time!  I laid on the sand and soaked up the sun, played some Frisbee and went wading into the waves… I was about 50 feet away from dolphins!  So cool!

I rushed home from the beach to jump into the shower and get glammed up for my date with a guy I have seen a few times recently.  We went to dinner at Island’s, rented a movie and came back to my place.  The movie was really cute (She’s out of your league)…but I was exhausted and my throat was really starting to hurt.  I think my date was hoping for some romantic stuff but I was just not feeling it. I just wanted to go to bed.  So, I said my goodbyes, took some cold medicine and collapsed. 

Fun and busy weekend

Our Family Rules

I have seen these great signs lately on Etsy and in a few stores.  They are the “Family Rules” signs.  They are not cheap to buy and they come pre-made. 

I want to make one for MY family with rules that apply to us.  So, I typed up the rules that I thought fit us best and used some cute fonts that I downloaded from Kevin & Amanda‘s Blog.   

Now, I just need to print them on cute, crafty, colorful paper or at least in different bright colors and make our family sign.  I will do this in all my spare time (Bwahahahahaa) I still have a 6 canvas Mod Podge project sitting in my dining room that I am planning on getting to “someday”. 

Well, the point of this post was not to prove how much of a slacker I am but I wanted to share with you Our Family rules.

Soccer Season Has Officially Begun

Today was Lilly's first soccer practice of the season. It was not however, the team's first practice. The league was short volunteers to coach. As of a week ago, we heard that she might not get to play this year if there wasn't a coach for her team. What a bummer!!!

Last week on Facebook, a gal that I knew from high school asked me what team Lilly was on... and I explained none so far. She is the assistant coach of a team in our league and age division. She made some phone calls and got Lilly on their team. Yay!

The only thing I didn't realize was that practice had already begun and they had already picked their team name, etc.

Normally this would not be a big deal, but when you have a kid like Lilly that has a hard time in groups and in new situations... and the team already had met once or twice, that worried me for Lilly. What if she didn't fit in and melted down and got all clingy?

So, today we showed up for practice and her coaches and teammates were very welcoming. Lilly was in a good and confident mood today which was a major bonus. Phfew!

Both coaches are positive and motivating, yet firm and no nonsense. That is EXACTLY what Lil needs in order to do well!

She got right out there and participated and paid attention. She did trip once on her shoelaces and started to pout and walk off the field, but the coaches were so great about ushering her right back out there with the team.

For a first practice, her Dad and I were pleasantly surprised at how great she did. She had a blast!

They already have their uniforms and they are... PINK and black!!! Much better than the neon and forest green one she had last year. Blech!

I'm not trying to get ahead of myself or jinx anything... but I have a good feeling about this soccer season for Lilly.

Lilly is in the blue shorts on the far right.

One kid at a time

As a single Momma, I try my darndest to be able to have one on one time with each kiddo.  This weekend I was able to get some good quality alone time with both of them. 

Friday night, Lilly and I went to see a really awesome local musician play a live show.  We went to Lestat’s in San Diego and saw The Gregory Page Show.  It started a little after 9pm and we hung in there till 11:00.  She was very well behaved (for the most part, I did have to bribe her to stay a bit longer with a chocolate milk) and she loved seeing him sing the songs that she has heard me play in the car.

Here we are before we headed to the show.  She was really into the movie she was watching and as usual, didn’t want to pose for a picture.  She HATES pictures.  Please excuse our vampire eyes…darn red-eye removal got out of control. LOL

Here is the artist we saw, Gregory Page. ♥

On Sunday, we tried to figure out what we all wanted to do.  The kids rarely agree on anything and Sunday was no exception.  Lilly wanted to go to the movies and Riley wanted to go to the beach.  My mom offered for Lilly to come over and hang out with them for a bit and she was happy about that.  That gave me the opportunity to spend a little bit of quality time with Riley!!  We threw our beach toys and towels in the car and headed to the beach.  It is only a 15 or 20 minute drive to our favorite beach spot…Riley took that time to catch a cat nap on the way.  SO cute!!! 

We had fun jumping in the waves and playing in the sand.  We even saw dolphins playing! 

I always wanted to have 2 kids.  What I didn’t plan for was being divorced, having a child on the spectrum, and having one child absolutely despise the other child.  Most days and activities are just not fun because one kid is usually pissed off or crying.  

This weekend was no exception…but I did get a little glimpse of what it is like to just have one happy child at a time…and I absolutely loved every second of it.

                                                                                                                            

Short End Of The Stick

I hate to “steal” stuff from other blogs…but sometimes they say what I want to say…only much better than I ever could.

Once again, I read a blog post by Jen over at Living Life, with a side of Autism. She was talking about her younger son and how hard it is to see him not get as much attention and the things he has to deal with having a “special needs” sibling.  Please take a minute to go read it HERE.  Her post made me cry.  She is really good at making me do that with her touching words and the raw emotions she so beautifully writes about.
I too, feel horrible a lot of times for the “crap” Riley has to put up with and the horrible things Lilly says and does to him.  He is such a sweet boy and does not deserve to be the recipient of the majority of her anger.

Riley tells me that he doesn’t like the way Lilly acts or the way she treats him.  Some days when I pick him up from daycare, he says, “Do we have to pick up Lilly? She is so mean to me,” It breaks my heart.  I just tell him that I love him and I know that Lilly does too…but she has a hard time being nice to him and that doesn’t make it right…but that’s just how it is and I am sorry.

What kind of BS answer is that?  What else can I tell him?  Poor kid has to live in a house with someone that completely loathes him and does everything she can to remind him of that.  She will have rare moments when she will play with him and share her things with him.  As their Mother, it makes me so happy to seem them play and have fun.  Riley is just thrilled to pieces to be accepted by her.  But it doesn’t last long.  She is back to torturing or yelling at him in no time.  How confusing must that be to a 3 year old?

I can explain to Lilly how mean she is to him or ask how would she feel if he treated her that way…but to a person with Asperger’s or that has issues with empathy…what is the point?  She does not care one bit.

I worry that Riley will have self-esteem issues later on in life from being too scared to express himself or do what he really wants.  Will the harsh words she is constantly spewing at him sink in and will he believe them to be true?

I try my best to have one on one time with each kid.  Being a single Mom makes that pretty challenging but my parents are great at taking one of them for a short time so I can spend time with the other kid alone.

Lilly’s Doc recently suggested we try her on a medication that has been helpful in lessening aggression with kids on the Spectrum.   Her Dad and I are willing try give it a shot.   Her anger, yelling, mean hurtful words and frequent meltdowns are very hard for anyone around her to deal with.   I am praying that it helps and doesn’t have any major side effects.

I just want to have fun with my kids and NOT be their constant referee.

Asperger King

Saw this recently on another blog and it made me “LOL”.

With my life, you gotta have a sense of humor to survive.