Our new indoor playground

This is Nathan's new net swing. It helps him with self regulation and it is very calming for him. His occupational therapist highly suggested that we get one for him. Madelyn loves it too.

Spring Break

We are taking a much needed break from school. I am finally catching up on stuff. We've been swimming, we went to the movies, have played with friends, the house got cleaned, the laundry is caught up, bills have been paid, we have gone to the park and we are going to the air and space museum tomorrow. It has been a fun filled week. Madelyn left today for Texas with Grammy and Grampy to visit her cousins. She woke up at 2am this morning and came into our room to see if it was time to go yet. She was so excited to go. I forgot how easy life is with one child, especially when your talkative and energetic 5 year old is gone. Nathan is so much quieter than Madelyn. Madelyn started playing soccer. We'll just say that this will probably be her one and only season to play. She cries the whole time we are getting her ready to go and says that she just wants to do gymnastics. Once she is there she has fun the first half but when the scrimmage starts she runs off the field. Part of me just wants to allow her to quit but I know that is not right. I feel bad that she doesn't like it. But on the other hand I know better than to let her quit. What kind of mother do you think I am. I am trying to instill perserverance. We told her that she has to finish what she starts. So we all will endure. Luckily it is just once a week.

Please pray for my big sis Karen. She is in the hospital on bed rest and will remain there for the remainder of her pregnancy.

Happy Birthday To Madelyn

Our sweet baby is 5! She was born 3-3-03 at 3 am. Such a cool birthday!! Madelyn was sick all of last week and we ended up at the Doctor's office on Friday with an ear infection. Luckily, after 24 hours of antibiotics she was feeling better. Saturday morning Madelyn and I went to see "Madeline and the bad hat" at the performing art center with my mom, Aunt Kim and Ella. The girls loved it! We celebrated her birthday later on Saturday with a princess spa party. My friend Leah's teenage girls came and did hair, makeup and nails. The little princesses had a great time.

Daddy stayed home today and was the story reader in Madelyn's class. He leaves tomorrow am for a trip to Tennessee so it was really nice having him home. Tonight we celebrated at "Teds" with a Mexican fiesta with my parents and sister. Grammy and Grampy were suppossed to be there but their plane got delayed in Chicago. They are coming home from a mission trip to the Maldive Islands. My mom and dad gave Madelyn a cute table to go with her dolls and when we got home she had a sweet little tea party with her dolls. Anyway, Maddie had a great birthday.

The unwanted invader

Tuesday Nathan sneezed and told me he was sick. I said, "Nathan just because you sneezed doesn't mean you are sick." Famous last words. At 5am the next morning he walks into our room with a raging fever. I was just commenting last week how healthy our family was when it seems like everyone around us is sick. We went to the Dr. yesterday and he said it was the flu. They did the flu swab in his nose and he was so lethargic he didn't even care. The dr. was shocked when it came back negative. He thinks that they didn't get enough snot or the test was messed up. He has all the symptoms. High fever, lethargic, achy, his neck hurts, some strange sounding barky cough, and poor guy has lost his voice. We haven't been anywhere in two days and no home school. It is amazing how much I can get done when we aren't doing "school". I have to say it has been nice being home during this yucky weather. So far the rest of us are feeling good and hoping that we don't catch this unwanted invader.

Happy Valentines Day

I am reminded today of how our lives have changed over the years. When Jarrett and I were first married we were so poor so when it came to celebrating Valentines day we didn't have a lot of money to spend. For a couple of years, we were so frugal that we would go to the grocery store together, search for the perfect card, show it to each other, then put it back. Ahh, the memories! I hope you all have had a happy valentines day.

A four year old makeover

This is Madelyn and her friend Shelbi. I think the picture speaks for itself!

Oh, my aching tummy

It is 2:15 in the morning and I am awake with horrindus heart burn. I am debating weather or not to go to walgreens and get some medicine. I am suppossed to take daily meds for this because of my stupid eshopogas ailment (aka choking all the time)but I ran out about 2 months ago and haven't gotten around to calling my dr. to get some more. I didn't realize how much that stuff actually helped. I will be calling on Monday. Desparation is getting the best of me so I just looked up homemade remedies and found out that eating an apple can neutrilize the acid along with chewing gum. There's nothing like eating an apple at 2am. It seemed to help right away but now I am in pain again. It's my own fault, not taking the meds and giving in to temptation eating 2 pieces of pizza. I am watching "Hey Paula" Paula Abduls annoying reality show. Sorry for the ramplings.

Let it Snow!

Today it snowed all day! It was absolutely beautiful!!! We had so much fun at Short Christian Academy today. One thing I love about homeschooling is that we get to be flexible and change things up when opportunites come our way. For example, I had all this other stuff planned today but instead we did "snow" stuff. Nathan learned how to read a thermometer when he wanted to see the tempature falling. Both kiddos drew winter landscapes and wrote and illustrated books about a snowy day. Then they sat in our "author's chair" and read them aloud to us. Of course, we did some of our regular work but we got to do it in front of big window watching the snow fall. After lunch the kids got bundled up and went outside to play. Even though a lot of the snow didn't stick they still managed to have a pretty good snowball fight. This pic of Madelyn is when Nathan hit her in the face with a huge snow ball. Thank you God for a good homeschooling day.

Our Space Unit

We are paper maching (I don't know how to spell)two of the planets, Earth and Venus.

Another Miracle!

You know how we have been trying to get Nathan to eat fruit and veggies, well it is going pretty well. Tonight he mixed his corn with ketchup and Jarrett fed it to him by the spoon full. He ate 4 big spoon fulls. He tries to swallow them whole, then his gag reflex kicks in. The faces he makes are hillarious!

A couple of nights ago we tried to get him to eat a grape. He didn't want the skin on it so I painstakingly peeled the skin off an entire grape. Try it sometime, it's fun. He freaked out once it got in his mouth and he swallowed it whole and then his entire dinner came spewing out onto the floor. It was pretty funny!

I have moved!

This is a pic of me really enjoying one of my last cokes!

Sorry, I haven't been around lately. I now live at the YMCA. Seriously, if I am not at home or running kids somewhere I am at the Y. I am doing 4-5 hours of cardio and 3 hours of training with Holly. Plus the kids go to swimming lessons and gymnastics there twice a week. I have come to terms that I will never be "skinny" I am short and squatty and that's ok! Instead of my legs or arms get skinny they are bulking up. My trainer now can see my triceps when I am doing tricep dips. Isn't that what every girl wants to hear? I just have to keep telling myself that I am making my heart healthy.

I am still drinking around 90 ounces of water a day. The girls at sonic know my name and always know to give Madelyn 2 mints. Everytime I order they hear her screaming "And two mints for Maddie!!!" I hear the sonic water with lime is catching on girls. Keep it up! If you need me just call 272-YMCA!!

He's Back!!!

Jarrett got back tonight and is alrealdy sound asleep and snoring, it is 9pm. He is exhausted, poor baby. We missed him dreadfully. I kept the kids very busy or shall I say they kept me busy. Sunday we went to a really cool children's hands on musuem in a town about 2 hrs a way. The kids had a blast!

We have been so busy I feel like homeschooling has been an afterthought lately. Nathan has been doing his work but I know we could be doing better. I like for us to take a subject that he is interested in a really explore it. We did that with Space for the last couple of weeks and it was so much fun. Some weeks I am better at the balancing act than others. The next two days I will be taking care of my 6 month old nephew while my sister is out of town so I figure this week is pretty much a wash.

Madelyn has started in the last week becoming more interested in our homeschool. She is asking for some "work" like brother and I made her some flashcards with simple three letter words and she is reading them. She is still writing everything from right to left though. I have brought out all my old kindergarten games that I had kept and we are playing those together. When we have "DEAR" time (drop everything and read) she is participating more and more. I am starting to think Maybe, I can homeschool her. Some days we think we should send her to "school" but then part of us wants to keep her home. I am believing that God will make it clear to us what we are to do so for the time being I will just continue to pray and enjoy my days with her at home.

Another Nathanism

This morning Nathan woke up before me and starting playing the Wii (which he not supposed to do). When I woke up and fixed his breakfast I told him it was time to turn the Wii off. He said in his most serious voice, "Mom, God said that men need to finish what they start, so I need to finish playing this game." I told him, "God also told you to obey your mother and father so turn it off now."

Not to leave sweet Maddie out, she is twirling around the tile floor pretending to be Karlie Karslie from the movie,"Ice Princess" She wants to take ice skating lessons. Oh, to be four again!

Jarrett leaves us for 7 days tomorrow. He is going to Savannah for a sales meeting. Pray for me! While I was gone last weekend to Florida/Georgia for Mama Bear's service Jarrett was mister fun dad. I have a lot to live up too. Madelyn asked me on the phone before I came home if I could stay gone for one more day. Isn't that just so sweet?? Do you all remember that this was my child that wouldn't leave my hip. Jarrett took them hiking, out to eat, to the movies, up to the lake with Grammy and Grampy,etc. It just isn't right. Now I have to be the one who instills order and limits back on them.

Yesterday I took a boot camp class and when I woke up today I could hardly move. Sitting on the toilet was pure torcher, especially when you have to pee every 10 minutes because you are drinking 75 ounces of water. I also started eating 1200-1400 calories a day. That is a lot harder than I thought it would be. I bet I have been eating over double that. My trainer who I started with tonight is having me write down everything I eat along with how many calories are in them. I was pretty sad when I realized how many calories were in my cereal and OJ I eat every morning. I suffered through the humiliation of her measuring each region of my body and measuring my body fat. Luckily my body fat has not really gone up since this summer. But my but and hips have definitely expanded. I just got a little pudgy from not being aware of how much I was eating and how much pop I was drinking. I am bearing all of this in hopes that it will keep me accountable and that I will stay aware of how I am treating my body. I have been given this body to take care of and treat with respect. So I will try, and if you would like to get ahold of me this week you can find me on the elliptical trying to burn 500 calories or keeled over from lack of food.

My healthy living tip for the day comes from my sis Kim. Stop by Sonic and order a Route 44 ice water with Lime. It cost 26 cents and is a great way to get a lot of your water in. The Lime really gives it a kick. Good luck fellow friends who are trying to get healthier. (I am refusing to call this a diet) By the way, to all of my friends and sisters who are pregnant, you just go right on ahead and enjoy all your pizza, pasta, cookies, chips and don't worry about me.

IT'S A Miracle

Nathan ate 2 1/2 green beans tonight!! He has an aversion to fruits and veggies so this is a major victory! On the other hand he has a love affair with desert, so being the wise parents that we are, we told Nathan that from now on if he wants desert he has to try something new. It actually worked tonight, I had brownies in the oven while we ate dinner, I think that helped. He soaked the beans in ketchup then swallowed them whole and made a hillarious face. I can't wait to tell his OT and speech pathologist. Anyway, it was one victory in our kitchen tonight.

Not a New Years Resloution, just a list that happens to be written around the time of the new year

I really don't care for new year's resolutions because I never can keep them. I end up forgetting about them because I get too busy or I just flat out give up. This new year I am going to make a list of things I would like to accomplish during the next 12 months and if I don't I am going to cut myself some slack and not beat myself up about it. I like making lists and I especially like marking things off my list. I figure if I write this list out on my blog maybe I am less likely to forget about them plus I know some of you readers will hand out a hefty dose of accountability.

Ok, I will admit that I am one of "those" people who resolve to lose weight every year. And I fail. So I started Sept. of 2007 instead of setting myself for failure in January and I did great for the first time in my life. I lost 20 pounds very slowly and got healthy. I was working out 5-6 times a week, had a ton of energy and I felt great. I remember laughing (inside my head of course) last January when all the new years resolution people joined the YMCA. It was so busy that you had to wait in line for a treadmill. By Feb. the majority of those people had quit and there were no more lines. I did great until our cruise. I got comfortable, I did still go to the Y but not with the same intensity as before. I started drinking coke again and the rest is history. I have gained 10 pounds back. It just kind of snuck up on me. I know better so now I have to make the decision again to get back on the horse so to speak.

So here I go again.
Here is my list, short and sweet:
1. Exercise 5 times a week. Lose inches, some pounds would be nice, eat healthy.
2. Enjoy my children even when they are testing me.
3. Contact a lawyer and make a will and trust.
4. Drink more water each day.
5. Spend time in the Word each day!!
6. Finish FAITH. (A class I have been dreading to take for years at church. You learn how to evangelize. You go out and share the gospel. I know, I know it is such a privilege to do this but I am scared. Jarrett and I both are taking the class.)

Ok, that is mine, let's hear what's on your list.

I am adding this article to my blog for my benefit, so I can refer to it. Recently, Nathan's pediatrician and his therapist told us that Nathan most likely has aspergers, which is is a very mild form of autism that primarily affects social skills. I won't get into all the nitty gritty details but I will say that to us it is no big deal. It is just another bump in the road. We found a great social skills group that meets weekly and we started back in Occupational therapy and Pragmatic speech therapy. Our biggest deal is trying to figure out the best placement as far as school goes for next year. We are earnestly praying and seeking wisdom on this matter. It is a decision that we do not take lightly and we know that God will direct us, He always has. We are going to Nathan's developmental ped. in a couple of weeks and we will be interested to hear what he has to say. He has always said that Nathan is socially quirky but he doesn't have aspergers. It really doesn't matter unless we put him in school so that he can receive the services that he needs. If we homeschool we just get him the help he needs and it doesn't particularly matter what he is labeled as.

Socialization and Children with Asperger Syndrome


Anybody who has been homeschooling more than twenty minutes knows that the most popular probing question from the masses is: "And what about socialization?"

This is an especially bothersome question for families affected by Asperger Syndrome who want to homeschool. Since lack of social skills is one of the hallmarks of the child with AS, people naturally assume that keeping a child home instead of exposing him to the social climate of school will just worsen the situation.

The reverse is true, in my opinion, for the following reasons:

1. School has people, but that doesn't make it social. In fact, it is usually fairly anti-social since kids can be very cruel and bullies seem to be an ever-present part of the school experience. What is social about exposing our children to daily torment? Nothing. Children with Asperger Syndrome are natural targets for bullies and the situation frequently results in a tantrum, depression or violence, all of which could have been prevented by avoiding this "social" atmosphere.

2. Homeschooling does not mean denying social experiences. To the uninitiated, homeschooling conjures a picture of cloistering your child at home all the time. For most homeschoolers, nothing could be further from the truth. There are trips to the library and the park, gatherings with other homeschoolers, and lessons and clubs that tie in with the child's interests. And, we still live in neighborhoods, still have extended family and friends, church and other social obligations. Homeschooling does not mean restricted movement but rather greater flexibility.

3. Social experiences tend to be more positive when done through home education. As homeschooling parents, we can monitor social gatherings to keep them positive. That is, we can pick and choose the activities, watch for bullies and intervene, head off other kinds of trouble, and teach our children with spontaneous social lessons "in the moment," (or make a note to discuss things later). In short, we are on deck. Finally and perhaps most importantly, we can steer our children gently homeward before sensory overload undermines the whole event. In school, our kids do not get the luxury of this kind of protection or customized teaching. It's usually a case of "sink or swim." Our kids tend to do more sinking than swimming.

4. Homeschoolers may get more social opportunities out of their day. When we homeschooled, my son was in the comfort zone of his home surroundings for mornings of academic work, and that still left him with some energy in the afternoons and evenings to try other things. Parks department classes, bowling league, swimming lessons, and Boy Scouts were just some of the things he tried. When we stopped homeschooling and put him into a regular school, however, these fell away. He was too burned out from the school day to do anything else, and quit all outside activities. Although he'd wanted to try public school and did fine academically, the tradeoff was that he gained some very negative social experiences and lost some very positive ones.

5. The idea that our kids need the classroom experience of having positive role models around them every day is suspect. It's true that positive role models are better than negative ones, but just placing our kids alongside peer-age so-called normal kids does not mean that they will intuitively pick up on proper behavior. In fact, their condition of Asperger Syndrome means they will NOT pick things up intuitively. Things like social graces, body language and speech pragmatics must be consciously, deliberately, and specifically taught, bit by bit. Unless the child has a one-to-one aide to provide full-time tutelage in these things and allow ample rehearsal time, not many social skills will be picked up. Contrast that with the home environment, where the parent does have the time and patience to teach these things and can provide a safe place for rehearsing them.

6. Finally, we need to measure by a different yardstick. Our kids with Asperger Syndrome do not typically need or want the same level of social interaction than their neurologically typical peers do. Not everyone wants to be surrounded by others all day long, have large parties, or a dozen friends. Many of us (self included) cherish solitude, are happiest in our own company and function better with fewer social interactions. This is not abnormal, only different, and it should be honored. It is far better to have a little interaction and look forward to more another day, than to have too much interaction and suffer devastating consequences.

In short, parents can rest easy that their home education program is probably doing more for their child's socialization than a public school counterpart could. The only dark side, and there is a dark side, is that our children will probably never be totally at ease in social situations and will always have a few challenges, no matter what we do. Asperger Syndrome is, after all, a lifelong condition. And because of that, there will always be someone ready to proclaim why our child seems socially inept. "It must be because he was homeschooled!" they will cluelessly proclaim. Sometimes, you just can't win.

Copyright 2002 Lise Pyles

Winter Blast '07

I haven't posted in a while so I will fill you all in on what has been going on around the Short house.

We are finally thawing out here in Oklahoma. We were hit with a terrible ice storm last week. The power was out from Sunday through Wednesday night at our house. Sadly, there are still a bunch of people without power. We stayed cuddled up by the fire until bedtime each night then slept under a ton of blankets. I am thankful that I am not a pioneer woman. I was not cut out for living in the dark. We would go to bed at 8pm because there was nothing to do. We popped popcorn on the gas stove and played sorry but we had a hard time telling the difference between green and blue. During the days the kids and I hung out with my parents or my sweet friend Lisa, who took us in and fed us and let me take a shower. We lost part of our bradford pear tree and our oak in the front yard now looks like a Charlie Brown tree. The minamal damage we had was nothing compared to what others have suffered. It is an amazing sight to see those old trees just snapped in half because of an inch of ice.

Nathan celebrated his 7th birthday during the ice storm. We had to change plans because "chuckie cheese" was out of power. He was a great sport about having to make a change and he had a great time. I can't believe he is 7! TIme is flying by.

My sweet precious Mamma Bear passed away on Dec. 13. She was 92 years old and had lived a long fruitful life. We will all miss her tremondously but we have a peace that she is with her heavenly father. There is going to be a memorial service for her in Valdosta, Georgia in January. I am going to fly down there with my sister, Kim.

Next, in the news: My mom just found out she is having heart surgery on Friday. Apparently, she had suffered a heart attack and never knew it. Please remember her in your prayers, this has been a hard week for her with the loss of her mom and her health.

I have being seeing a dermatologist for the past 2 months because of some strange bumps on my head and face and a suspicious mole on my tummy. So today, I go to get stitches out of my stomach and a cyst off my face and I had to bring both kids with me because they had eye doctor appts. right afterward. Nathan gave a play by play of everything the dr. was doing, "Mom, they are sticking a needle in you. Does that hurt? It looks like a fish hook mommy. Ohh, there is blood. Don't worry mom, the Lord is with you!" He kept telling me the last part over and over in the most sweet and tender way. It totally melted my heart and I was trying not to laugh so my nose wouldn't get cut. I have a single stitch hanging out by the side of my nose. Can you imagine how attractive it looks. Several people at the YMCA tonight, were like, "you have something next to your nose." Jarrett just kept telling them it was a buger. Nice.

I got the pathology report back on the mole on my stomach and it was severly dysplastic which he told me is on its way to skin cancer. Scary. I feel very thankful to the Lord for taking care of this and getting it off of me. I will have to be checked every year now because of this bad mole and we have a family history of melanoma. It has left a terrible scar and every time I look at that I will be reminded of why I should be more careful in the sun. I rarely use sun screen and I think I look better when I am tan. No more, just get used to really pale Kathy. It is not worth dying over a stupid mole or a temporary tan! My plea is for all of you to get all of your body checked out and get anything wierd off of you. It is such a deadly cancer yet it is so preventable and treatable if caught early. Thank you Stephanie for insisting I see a dermatologist, even though it took me a year to do so. You may have saved my life.

Nathanism's

We were just reading a story about Jesus's birth, we saw a picture of the wise men. I asked Nathan if he knew what they brought to baby Jesus, he said, "Yeah, Gold, Frankincense and Merchandise."