Great Family Weekend

Crowds of people decended on Morgantown this weekend for the big game, but we managed to stay home all weekend!!  Yeah us!!!  Since the weather was great, we were outside most of the weekend, we went "camping" in our yard.  By "camping," I mean we played in the woods, ate one meal outside and the boys rode around in the Rhino.  My favorite thing about this type of "camping" is that our house is 100 yards away.  I don't have to pack/unpack twice, we can use our own bathrooms, I can prepare meals with no more hassel than usual, and the most important part, Bobby's rountine can stay pretty much the same.

Bobby managed to wear the same pajama pants and t-shirt for 2 days of playing in the dirt.  He had to take them off before he was allowed back into the house. 

Bob likes to joke that he went fishing and this is what he caught at the end of the pole...

If we let Zoi off of the leash, she is off into the woods like a bolt of lightening.  She comes back, soaking wet in black sludge, full of briars and smelling bad.  So, like it or not, she stays right with us...

After playing in the dirt again, Bobby took a cookie break...

After 2 long days of playing outside, we came in and I cooked a big Sunday dinner and Grandma Carolyn came to eat with us.  Nothing says Sunday dinner like roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy,  green beans and warm bread with real butter melted on it....Yum-O!!  Bobby always enjoys his grandma's company...

Now that it is Sunday evening, we are preparing to get back into the work week.  Bob's work vacation is over and he has to go back to work tomorrow, Bobby is bathed and watching Elmo to get ready for "nighty night", and I have to go pick out school clothes and make sure Bobby's backpack is ready to go.

The Smith Family Explorers

The Smith men went out into the wilderness...

The younger Smith worked to prepare the soil for future plantings while the elder Smith went further into the woods to search for fossils...

He made an important discovery and we are currently in the process of contacting the Museum of Natural History to see if they want to display the fossil.  It is believed to be from the species Crocaswalkas...

The Elder emerged from the woods and rested along the old fence post to watch over the younger Smith male...

The younger Smith worked in the soil for a while longer...

before they both returned back to the family cabin to prepare for the evening festivities involving the local Mountaineers.

Halloween costume attempt/School pictures

We have been trying to figure out a Halloween costume that Bobby would like and would actually wear that was age appropriate.  I thought that I found the perfect costume at Wal-Mart yesterday-a mountaineer!!!  I got it out when Bobby got home from school to see if he liked it, well he loved the hat...

Funny this is, whoever made this (yes it was made in China), took "Coon skin hat" to mean fake gray/black racoon (looks more North Marion than WVU).  No big deal, Bobby really seems to like this hat since he put it on multiple times through the evening and looked at himself in the mirror.  But when Zoi walked in the room and saw a racoon on Bobby's head, she wanted it for herself!!!!  She was after Bobby trying to get the prize.  Bob and I both jumped up to get the hat first.



The first problem came when I got the costume out of the package, the package said L, but the costume said M which was too small.  I knew that it would be tight and that I would have to exchange it, but I wanted to see how it looked.  Problem 2 (and the biggest problem), he would not let me put the costume on him for anything in this world!!  We had the same problem a couple of years ago when we got him an Elvis costume and he did not like the fringe at all and would not put it on.  This costume too has fringe and he is not having any part of it!!!!  Oh well, back to the drawing board and I was so excited, at least he had met the Mountaineer, he has never watched Iron Man or the Green Lantern (the popular costumes).

School pictures are today and this is a big stressor in this household.  Bobby has to go in the gym (not his favorite place) where there are a lot of people milling around and he just generally doesn't like the process.  So, we practiced this morning before he left for school...

I'm not sure how he did yet, I have to leave soon to go pick him up from school.

Mommy's Birthday Weekend

Saturday was my birthday.  Bobby gave me a great gift Saturday morning, he slept until 7:30 am so we all got a good night sleep.  Grandma brought over a small cheescake and mini cupcakes so that I could blow out my birthday candles before she took Bobby home to spend the night with her (thank you Mom) so that Bob and I could go out for my birthday.  Bobby had other ideas when it came time to who got to blow out the candles...



Bob's ongoing dental issues became extremely painful for him on Saturday, so we ended up getting takeout and watching 2 movies at home.  Hopefully the dentist can get him so relief this week.  Poor man!!

We had my brother Chris and his family over for lunch today.  They came in and made it a birthday party, complete with birthday cookie...

The kids got in on the action when it came time to blow out the birthday candles...

Kinlei hasn't been feeling well all week.  Throughout the day she started getting fevered and after she took some Advil, she emptied her stomach and her fever just kept rising.  Tiffany and Chris decided to take her to the doctor since they were already in Morgantown.  Brenalin was not ready to leave.  We were downstairs watching movies on the big screen, so Brenalin stayed while her sister went to the doctor and they were going to stop by on their way home and pick her up.  Well...

the poor baby was admitted to the hospital.  Brenalin hung out with us and played.  We got out Ashley and Kaitlin's old doll house and had a great time...

After Brenalin woke up from her nap, she was not happy.  She was crying and just ready to go.  I called Chris and he was on his way to pick her up.  I let her pick what to watch on tv, but she was still crying.  Trying to think of something to make her happy, I let her watch something on Bobby's iPad.  She picked a Dora episode.  She went from full crying to full laughing in 60 seconds of holding the iPad (this thing has crazy powers!!).

She was extremely happy to see Poppy and couldn't wait to go see her sister.  Praying that Kinlei's tests come back negative of any yucky viruses!!!

Glad that my birthday weekend is over.  Dental emergencies and hospitalizations are more than enough fun for one weekend.   

iPad War

Since school has started and the pool is closed, we are back into our school year evening routing.  Bobby is again asking for "Jeopardy" and Bob and I relax on the couch with him.  Bob and I try to be the first one to get our hands on the iPad to play with while Bobby is watching his show and if either of us sit it down for a second the other one grabs it.  Now Bobby just takes it out of our hands when he wants it, which is getting to be all of the time. 

Bobby took the iPad to Zoi's bed and built a pillow fort around him.

Bob and I both let Bobby have the device when he takes it from us, after all, it is his.  Now that Bob and I are used to surfing the net and playing games with touch screen capability, neither one us want to get out the laptop-it seems like such a chore.  The Smith family loves the iPad!!!!!

Bobby took the iPad and went to bed!!

I still use the laptop when I have a lot of typing to do, such as blogging, but 90% of the time, it's all iPad.

Bobby likes to move the cards around in solitare (he doesn't know how to play the game).

Now, I don't want you to think that Bobby is spending all of his time on the iPad playing educational apps, because he is not.  His favorite is the Laurie Berkner app.  He likes to watch his favorite music videos and listen to his favorite Laurie songs.

He will only do the educational apps when he is made to sit down and work.  The rest of the time is fun, just like most kids. 

Breakfast time before school-complete with iPad.

I have read a lot of things about the iPad and different apps on Facebook and other websites.  One thing that has been talked about often, if anyone is thinking about getting one for their kids, the 1st generation iPad is holding up much better with children.  Many are complaining about their iPad2 breaking in no time.  These parents are often ones who have the iPad and iPad2.  We haven't had any trouble with ours (which is 1st generation) and Bobby is not what you would call gentle with it!!!

Play with me Daddy

There are always toys that end up on Santa's list or we buy for birthday presents because you know that they will love them.  After a couple of days of the mess that these beloved toys make, they somehow make it to the top shelf of a closet to save Mom's sanity.  Bobby found his million piece marble maze that was shoved in the back of the hall closet in a grocery store tote.  He played with the tubes for a while, but then decided that he wanted it put together.  Something amazing happened, he didn't bring it to Mommy, he brought it to Daddy to put together!!  Yeah Me!!

Bobby is helping...

Daddy, it isn't tall enough...

Perfection!!  Thanks Dad!!

Let's Make Cake/Happy Birthday Daddy

Bobby came into the kitchen to help me make a cake for Daddy's birthday.  First, you empty the box mix into the mixing bowl...

Then you put your hands into the mix, because that's the way I roll...

Next, add the water...

Then add the oil.  I'll spare you the pictures of his hands in the bowl after each process!!

Last, but not least, add 3 eggs...

Mix all of the ingredients with a spoon...

and runaway before Mommy turns the mixer on!!!!

While the cakes were cooling, I heard a big boom in the fridge.  Somehow a can of Coke froze in the fridge and exploded.  I had to empty the fridge and clean it out, so my tolerance level was much, much, much lower.  Therefore, I went ahead and iced the cake by myself.

All cakes to Bobby are birthday cakes and he loves to blow out birthday candles.  Actually, all candles should be blown out according to Bobby, which is not fun during a power outage!!   We usually sing Happy Birthday and light the candles multipe times so that Bobby can blow them out again.

In-home therapy fun

We finally started an in-home therapy program with Bobby this week.  He's not that excited, but I am!!

Yes, this is Bobby whining during one of his therapy breaks.

Bobby met Kathleen last summer when she was a student at WVU.  She has since graduated and only has to take her test to get her BCBA (Board Certified Behavior Analysist).  Bobby knew exactly who she was when she walked through the door and what that meant!!! 

As soon as she walked in, they sat down and got to work so that Bobby would know when she is here, they are going to work.  Bobby fussed and whined the majority of the time that they worked together, but he never got up from his seat!!  A major victory. 

Kathleen is working on ABA (Applied Behavior Analysis) with Bobby.  She is also teaching me how to work with him and writing programs for me to work on when she is not here.  I have been sitting at this table with Bobby working for the past year and I don't have any idea how to move on to the next step, and that is why Kathleen is here!!  Since Bobby had all of the medicine changes this year, which lead to some major behavioral issues, we took a few steps back starting in spring and focused on just getting Bobby to sit.  I felt successful when I watched Bobby and Kathleen work and he stayed seated. 

You may have noticed the poker chips and cards on the top of the table.  Bobby's work and break cards are velcroed at the top.  During a work card, he has to sit and work, during a break card, he gets a 2 minute break.  When the timer goes off and break is over, Bobby generally comes back to his seat just by hearing the timer.  During each work session, he has 10 poker chips and each time that he correctly completes a task that is asked of him, he gets to take a chip off and after all 10 chips are removed, he gets his 2 minute break.  The work/break cards show him visually how many more times he has to come back to the table and work, while the poker chips visually show him how much work that he has to do during each work session.  Sounds complicated I know, but it really isn't and Bobby loves to pull the cards and chips off of the velcro and for some reason he (and many other kids with autism) need this visual indicator of the work expected of them. 

Kathleen will be coming 2 times a week to work with Bobby and I will be working on the programs every other day.  Since Bobby is also receiving ABA at school this year, I am hoping that he starts improving educationally!!

Happy Bobby-work is over for the day!!  Time for Elmo!!

Halloween Through The Years

It has been raining nonstop for 2 days, Bob is back at the academy for a couple of days, Bobby is watching Elmo, so I have been playing on the computer.  I started looking through pictures and thought that I would share Bobby's Halloween costumes.  The first couple were before I got a digital camera and I decided that it was just easier to take a pic of the pic rather than go upstairs and scan the pics, so sorry about the quality of a couple of the pics.

Our baby bee...

A 1 1/2 year old monkey....

A 2 1/2 year old bug...

He then became more manly, a firefighter!!

He loved his Red Power Ranger costume and actually put the mask on...

Last year he was an astronaut.  It was so cold on Trick or Treat night that he had to wear a jacket overtop.

 I also came across this last pic that I just love and wanted to share...