Berries are a Girl's a Best Friend

Happy Sunday, all. It's a happy lazy day around here. The sun shines, the temperature is into the 70s, and we're all enjoying the fact that Jason is home and not at work. :)

Look what I've been up to today!

Mmmmmm, yummy strawberries! Fresh from a local farm (we bought them this morning.) And headed straight for my freezer.

See? Washed and drying on a cookie sheet.

Raspberries, already frozen. We bought some of those today, too. :) Berries make me happy.

Maybe it's the prarie girl in me, but I find it oh-so-satisfying to stock my larder (read: freezer) with the fresh foods found in our island community. Salmon. Crab. Blackberries. Locally grown produce. Mmmmmm! I'm lovin' it.

My friend Tabitha found a recipe for chocolate raspberry sauce in her canning cookbook, and I cannot wait to try it! Most of the raspberries I freeze today will be saved for that. The rest will wait for baking recipes and future smoothie concoctions. The farm we went to just opened their fields for U-Pick, so I'm hoping to make another trip out there in the next week or two. A girl can never have too many raspberries. :)

That's about it for now. I have zuchinni fritters to start frying for dinner. :) Hope you're each enjoying summer, wherever the season finds you. :) Happy lazy day to you!

Monday Miscellany

Hey Y'all! My friend Flower Mama over at Thoughts and Whatnots does a Monday Miscellany post most Mondays. I always enjoy reading it, so this week I thought I'd give it a try myself. :) Ready for some random? Oh good. Me too. Here goes.

#1: I name my appliances. And I talk to them. I lectured Martha the other night about her mood swings. She nearly burned dinner, you see. She has a nasty habit of over-cooking food when I least expect it. Ruined that last batch of bread I made. Maggie, the gal next door, isn't nearly so tempermental. She vexes easily, though, when Caleb leaves her door wide open. Makes extra work for her, trying to keep all our food cold.

#2: Our church's VBS starts tonight! If you missed all the adventures in Egypt last year, you can take a look here. Guess what the theme is for this year? The Wild West. Squee!!! Happy dance!!! As a girl, I dressed up like Laura Ingalls every chance I got. I still dream of hoop skirts and sun bonnets. (And still wear the petticoat my grandma sewed for me when I was about twelve.) Excited? Over the moon. :)

I am not, however, wearing a skirt to VBS this week. For practical reasons. The thrift store did provide me with some overalls, though. I have a red bandana and a cowgirl hat. Just need to add some pigtails. :)

#3: Caleb overheard me talking about the pool the other day, and decided he wanted to go swimming. He walked over the the hall closet (where we keep most of his clothes in a plastic dresser), and began calling for his swimming trunks.

"Swimming trunks, where are you? Where are you, swimming trunks?"

Utterly hilarious, that boy. He personifies everything. I have NO idea where he learned to do that. Ahem.

#4: Speaking of the manchild, he caught a baby snake the other day. I thought he was playing with a worm. Until he brought it into the house to show me. And in his excitement, dropped it on the kitchen floor. The black wriggly thing took off like a galloping horse, and this Mommy may or may not have screamed "Get it out of the house! Get it out of the house!" about a dozen times. Thankfully Daddy was on hand to save the day, and Caleb took his new friend back into the yard while Mommy hyperventilated. The end.

#5: I had to look up the word "miscellany" before writing this post. Tricky spelling, that one.

#6: We wore jackets to the beach this morning. In the middle of July. Oh, and I left butter in the trunk for two hours while we played and when we got home? It was still cold. Can't say I miss the heat of southern Ca. Summers up here are simply lovely.

And that concludes this edition of Monday Miscellany. There's dinner to be got, and VBS to dress for, so I shall bid you all adieu. Hope your week has started as pleasantly as mine!

Let Me

And now for something completely different. :) A song. A song that simply came to me while at women's retreat a few months ago. I can't truly say I wrote it. I think He did. He just shared it with me. And now I'm sharing it with you.

Let me have the pen,

Let me take your hand,

Let me lead you through the dance.

Let me write your life,

Let me have control,

Let me love on you a little bit more.

Let me, let me.

Let me take you on this adventure,

Let me author every chapter,

Let me take you where you never thought you'd go.

Let me show you joy,

Let me make you laugh,

Let me love on you a little bit more.

Let me, let me.

Let me lead. Let me have. Let me take.

Let us dance.

Let me write your happy ending.

Let me love on you a little bit more.

Just wanted to share a few of those "good things" God is doing in my life. It isn't all clouds and rain. :) Happy Sunday, y'all!

A Venting that Ends with Verses

Hey everyone. I'm back. Blogging to you today from my deck in the backyard. The sun isn't shining, exactly, but it's warm out. The manchild is creating a beach in his sand box by adding water from the hose. Actually, it just looks like a mud pit now.

And I'm grumpier than a hungry bear in spring. Just been one of those days, you know? Actually, it's been two of those days. In a row. The Mommy wants a nap, or a nanny, or maybe an all expenses-paid trip to Ohau for, like, a year. It's days like today (and yesterday) that I want to hollar out on Facebook: "Child for sale! Cheap!"

Don't laugh. I can hear you, you know. It's not funny. You try running around Wal-Mart for ten minutes, looking for a boy who decided to run off the moment your back was turned. Imagine searching the toy aisles, the pet section, and the flatscreen in Electronics where Tangled is playing. People see you and think you're a bad mom, but really, you're just panicked that someone has abducted him. Then, ten heart-pounding minutes later, you find him. In the pharmacy. With his four year old arm in the blood pressure testing machine. Big huge smile on his face. Pressing buttons and happy as a clam.

And that was just today.

I think I'm developing a tick in my left eye.

Funny? No. Definitely not. So please stop laughing.

There's a lot of new things going on with the Bud these days. Besides random escapades across Wal-Mart. Caleb is currently seeing a speech therapist once a week on Tuesday afternoons, and an occupational therapist on Wednesdays. I have calls in to two more specialists, for two very different issues, that will probably necessitate more doctor visits in our future, and perhaps even some dietary changes. Children's Hospital in Seattle is taking their sweet time getting Caleb in to see a speech pathologist; we probably won't get an appointment until September, even though we've been waiting since March. So the question of whether he is autistic continues to hang over our heads, unanswered and pending.

In the meantime, we deal on a daily basis with a boy who lacks a label, but struggles with obvious issues nonetheless.

We've discovered in the last month that Monster Boy has Sensory Processing Disorder (sometimes called Sensory Integration Disorder). He's hypo (or under)-sensative in the areas of oral, muscular, and touch-related senses, which means that he craves sensory imput much more than most of us. This need to touch and move (and yes, put things in his mouth) helps account for a lot of his behavior, and the occupational therapist has been helping us to understand these needs and find appropriate ways to meet them.

In some ways, I feel like we are getting to know our son all over again. We try different activities like scientists try experiments, to see which things help and which don't. The pool? Great calming activity. Hiking? Not so much. Trial and error. Good days and bad days. Hope and frustration. That's sorta my life right now.

The One Who Keeps Me Sane provided some precious verses this morning as I read through Psalm 66. He always knows just what to say. :)

"He has preserved our lives and kept our feeet from slipping. For you, O God, tested us; you refined us like silver. You brought us into prison and laid burdens on our backs. . . we went through fire and water, but you brought us to a place of abundance." (Ps. 66:9-12)

Verse 5 says: "Come and see what God has done, how awesome his works in man's behalf!"

And verse 20, which I really and truly needed to hear today: "Praise be to God, who has not rejected my prayer or withheld his love from me!"

(Emphasis all mine)

God is doing good things, friends. I hope I have not discouraged you. "Life is pain," says Wesley in the Princess Bride. But "Fear not! for I have overcome the world," says our Prince, our Hope, and our Champion.

I hope to blog some more this weekend to share with you some of those good things God is doing. Jay works all weekend, though, so I can't promise a preponderance of posts. :) All I can promise is that I will do my best.

Happy Friday, y'all!

Friday Night Randominity

Hey everyone! Just wanted to say hi. I know it's been kinda quiet around The Inkwell this week. But that is about to change as I prepare a glimpse of the random Friday Night thoughts my brain is currently entertaining. Ready? Set? Go!

Thought #1:
I wore a sun dress today. A sun dress. This is big news, people. I wore it all day long, to Wal-Mart, to the backyard, to the front yard, in the house. I did finances in it, changed diapers in it, made dinner in it. The weather was that warm today. I think we may actually have a summer yet.

Thought #2:
I am crazy-in-love with Starbucks Iced White Chocolate Mochas. I just discovered them about a month ago, and good gravy gracious! where have those been all my life?? I am not, however, crazy-in-love with the price. A tall costs $3.50, and my weekly allowance keeps disappearing through the nearest drive-through window. So I am now attempting to recreate the heavenly drink at home. I have not succeeded yet. But I do have white chocolate syrup. That's gotta be the secret ingredient, right? Or is it the cream?

Thought #3:
I seriously considered throwing this week a going away party. I am not sorry to see it end. Out of all the weeks in 2011 so far, this one will not make my favorites list. Good-bye Week #26! Adios! Dosvidanya! Don't let the door hit ya . . .

Thought #4:
I found a dress yesterday. A dress, people. No, not a sun dress. Common people, pay attention! That was so five minutes ago. This is Thought #4, not #1. ANYWAY. I found a dress. Dark green, velvety. Flowy. Medieval. Renaissance. Long sleeves and everything. The best part? It only cost me $5. Best. Sale. Ever. I have plans for this dress. Oh yes. I plan to wear it to my birthday party. Which leads me to . . .

Thought #5:
I am throwing myself a birthday party. I haven't had a party in a long time, and this year I decided, why not? So party we will, like it's 1533. Or 1826. Or whenever the heck Rapunzel's tangled story is supposed to take place. Yep. Let the long hair fly! Tangled is my theme, and guests are allowed to dress up fairy-tale-style if they so choose. Oh, I sooooooo choose! Hence the dress from Thought #4. :)

Thought #6:
Wow. I didn't think my list of random thoughts would get this long. My brain is pretty much mush after this week, and I'm suprprised I've been able to write coherent sentences at all. And many of them, too, apparently. Huh.

Thought #7:
I probably won't be on here much over the next week, because two of my favoritst people in the whole wide world are coming to visit. My mom and step-dad fly in on Sunday for a week of grand-parenting, grand adventures, and memory-making. I can't wait to see them. :) So bear with me while I take another short hiatus from blogging and know that it is for a good cause.

Thought #8: (last one, I promise)
And now for some funny Caleb quotes that had us in stitches this week:

"Owwww! Smoothie hurt my eyes!" (said in the throes of a brain freeze from drinking said smoothie too quickly).

"O and T! O and T! We go the O and T!" (He means OT, which stands for Occupational Therapist. Caleb just started seeing one here in town, and I call her the OT. But Caleb calls her the 'O and T'. Hilarious.)

"Wook! Wook! Mommy, mommy, wook!" (He can't pronounce "L" to save his life, so it comes out as "W". But the "wook" is so darn cute that now Jason and I can't hear it without cracking up. We wook like wookies in this household.)

"No! No bite me no more! NO BITE ME!" (Screamed at the nurse who administered his four year old vaccinations.)

"Awww, it's so cute!" (Said of anything he takes a fancy to: a worm, a toe, a cereal box.)

"I can't take it anymore!" (Said whenever a tantrum is brewing or when he's unhappy with the current flow of events. Seriously. I hear this sentence a dozen times a day. Can anyone say drama king? I have no idea where he gets THAT from...)

~~~

Well that's about all for tonight, folks! I hope you have a great weekend and a happy 4th of July! ;)