The Guy Across the Street

Despite the fact that we have been in our home over 2 years, we don't really know many neighbors. Neither of the neighbors directly beside us speak much english. We wave, but that's about it.

Right before our ice cream social, we went door-to-door to some of the closer neighbors, inviting them to meet our state representative. In the process, we met "Kevin".

Now "Kevin" has always seemed nice enough. In his mid-fifties, lives by himself, waves to us sometimes, and managed to completely BURN his entire lawn over the summer, despite the fact that he spent several hours a week watering, fertilizing, etc. Not sure what this has to do with anything, just found it very ironic.

Here would be a good place to mention that we happen to be in the awful habit of naming some of our neighbors, even though we don't really know their names. The man to our left is "Hector", his wife is simply known as "Hector's wife" (Don't ask me why). We don't mean any disrespect, and I am not sure how or where the names even come from. I think "Kevin" was dubbed "Kevin" because Gretyl thought he looked like a "Kevin". But for whatever reason, I was sure he was a "Scott".

Unfortunately, "Kevin" would be out of town and unable to make it to our ice cream social, but he did introduce himself. And that is how we found out his name was actually Bill.

When it came time to sell Poinsettias for the swim team, Gretyl went over and knocked on Bill's door. He didn't want any flowers, but he did give her $10 towards the cause. I thought that was extremely nice of him. I kept meaning to have Gretyl bake him some cookies and take them over as a thank you. I didn't actually get around to making her do that until a couple of days before Christmas.

So Gretyl bakes 2 dozen cookies and burns all but 11 of them. So I take all eleven of the somewhat sad looking cookies, put them in a baggie, and wrap them up in tissue paper and put them inside of an extra special tin that I bought especially for his cookies. I make out a Christmas card and add a little note, thanking him again for supporting the swim team.

December 23rd, I send Gretyl over with the cookies. His car is in the drive, but he doesn't answer the door. We make a couple of wise cracks about him not wanting to open the door because he doesn't want to give Gretyl any more money.

December 24th, Gretyl and Kyle walk over to try again. I say okay, take these to Bill but DON'T go inside of his house (after all, we don't know him all that well). I walk away and then come back and look out the front door a few minutes later. No Kyle and Gretyl to be seen. Hmmm...so much for not going inside.

When they come back, Gretyl has $20 he gave her to check his mail for the next 10 days! So now, I am feeling kind of bad that we gave him only 11 cookies! And also because every time I send Gretyl over, he feels the need to give her money!! But okay, I get over it.

Flash forward to today. We go out to get our mail for the first time since Christmas eve. There is the nice tin that Bill returned, with a nice little note thanking us for the cookies, re-iterating the request for Gretyl to get his mail, and wishing us a happy holiday. Along with the note is a $25 gift card for Red Lobster.

So altogether this man has given our family a total of $55 in cash and prizes. And we have given him 11 cookies. I wonder what would have happened if we actually gave him 1.5 or even 2 dozen cookies.

7 Interesting things about Gretyl

1. She likes broccoli. She likes cheese. She hates cheese on her broccoli.
2. She is proud that she coined the phrase "Faster than a cow can clap, whistle, and stomp it's feet." I'm not really sure that a cow can do any of these things. So I guess if she ever tells you she will do something as fast as a cow could clap, whistle, etc.... don't hold your breath.
3. She taught herself how to play the piano by watching youtube clips (over and over and over and over again).
4. When she was about 3 months old, her parents dropped a container from the bank's drive thru, on her head. They also caught her skin in the zipper of her little pink bunny snowsuit when she was about 4 months old. Poor thing. It is a wonder she survived her first year.
5. She tested at the 12th grade reading level when she was in 6th grade.
6. She changes her favorite color at least once a year. I think it is green right now, but it may be orange. I lose track.
7. She is way smarter than I are.

Gretyl's Blog

Plugging Gretyl's new blog now. The link is at the right, aptly named "Gretyl's Blog." It's cute, I promise.

Wrapping paper purchased, and as expected, there is no way I will be wrapping tonight. I am, however, closer to being done. Only three presents to buy yet. This week should fly by. I may not even get the wrapping done until next weekend. Better to be wrapping next weekend than shopping, though. So still patting myself on the back:-)

This week's agenda:

• Monday- (finish grocery shopping) Nothing major!
• Tuesday- Visit gramma, pickup/fill her scripts for the week. MAYBE wrap presents
• Wednesday- Swim Meet trumps date night
• Thursday- Kyle's Christmas pagaent
• Friday- Another swim meet followed by scratching head wondering where week went

The item I was worried about getting here, has been shipped!! Got a nice little email with a tracking number! On a Sunday, no less. Color me happy and surprised!!

'Tis the Season

So I just noticed that in November and October I blogged a whopping two times each! Kind of sad:( In the spirit of looking at the glass as half-full, though, this post will put me half-way towards my December quota.

Let's talk about the holidays!!

I always feel so badly for those poor folks that have to work on Christmas eve. Being the very empathetic soul that I am, I make it an annual tradition to visit all of these establishments as close to possible to closing time on December 24th. Sometimes I even walk out with them as they are locking the doors. I wouldn't want them to think there wasn't any point in them being there. And as long as I am there, I usually purchase a thing or two (or three or four...).

It's not like I need to be there, though. I do this for THEM. As a holiday gesture. I just pick up random things to be polite. A dozen rolls of wrapping paper, tape, ribbons, gift cards, and enough toys and sweaters to top off the cart.

Then, I usually stay up until 3 or 4am wrapping. Sometimes I get an entire 3 hour nap in before the kids come and get us to see what Santa brought.

THIS year, however, things are going to be different!! As I get older I notice two phenomenons.
1. We get better at managing our finances.
2. I hate the cold, more and more each year.
These are the two biggest factors that have enticed/enabled me to shop early and online!

I detest running from store to store in the cold, coming back out from each store and running 1/2 a mile to the back of the parking lot to hop into my cold car. Then driving to yet another store because the first three stores didn't have the *must have* item on the list.

I hate trying to push my cart through the crowds. I hate waiting in long lines. I hate buying something at a *not so great* price at store #1, just in case I can't secure said item at stores #2 thru #6. I hate finding it for half the price at store #2 and then not feeling quite as elated as I should because I know that only means I have to go back to store #1 and stand in line to make the return.

One might ascertain that I hate Christmas, but quite the contrary. I love Christmas. I just hate Christmas shopping (and to a lesser extent Christmas baking, but that is a whole other issue).

I am so, so, soooo proud to say that today is December 13th and I have almost ALL of my Christmas presents purchased. Online shopping has got to be the best thing ever. Don't get me wrong, I still invest the appropriate amount of time looking for good deals and comparing prices at different places and double checking *in-store* prices just to be sure I am not getting raked over the coals.

I honestly think I made out way better this way, though. For the last two weeks packages just keep pouring in. It's like....Christmas. I have a couple of guidelines that I try to follow.
1. Do not pay shipping unless it is a great deal or there is no other option
2. Thoroughly google for a promo code before checking out
3. Check out at least 3 other online prices

So far there is only one gift that hasn't already been delivered or isn't already in transit and trackable online. The one item is an absolute *must* have item and though it says the expected ship date is Dec 15th, I am secretly freaking out. (Is it really secretly freaking out if I write it here?)

Planning on wrapping tomorrow--which means that I will actually wrap sometime later this week, still putting me way ahead of schedule!

Empty-Handed

I come to you today empty-handed. No cute pictures of the kids or even confusing pictures that you can't quite make out. I don't even know if I know where my camera is it's been so long since I have taken a picture! I was thinking about getting a book with tips on taking better pictures, though. So if I ever do take any more pictures maybe they will look a little better.

As usual, we have been super-busy. This was supposed to be the year where things got a little easier and we slowed down to smell the roses--I can't understand what has happened! It's all good, though.

It's good to finally have the elections behind us. Although it would be nice if everyone took the signs out of their yard before the first 6 inches of snow fell. Especailly those Mcain folks. What are they waiting for? There are no hanging chads, no recounts, it's done. Take down the signs!

I could see if you had an Obama sign that you wanted to leave out for a couple of extra weeks. You know, maybe like a bragging point. "See--my guy won! I have good taste, brains, and powers of prediction--this proves it!"

Gretyl's swim team practices are well underway and her first swim meet is on Dec 4th. Lots of hustling and bustling involved for all with that. Their practices begin at 5:30AM on weekday mornings and go until school starts. After school they practice until 6:00PM. They also practice on Saturday's from 7:30-10:00AM. Fortunately she only has to attend a minimum of 6 practices a week. They get Thanksgiving day off for good behavior. All other vactaion days (including the day after Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, the day after Christmas, and all other school holidays) they practice from 7-11AM.

The weekend after Christmas they will all go to Ohio University where they will stay for two nights. The trip itself sounds almost like a hazing expereince. From what I can gather, they swim almost non-stop. They take a few breaks to gorge themselves on extravagent buffets, and I think they turn in at 10:00PM and don't have to be back in the pool until 6AM.

I'm really not complaining, though, it's such a great experience for her. She is making new friends and despite being exhausted, I think she is having a lot of fun. The 9 week grade reports came out and she managed to still maintain all A's (Actually, two of them were A+ but whose counting!)

Keenan is continuing to do very well if you don't count against him the fact that he came home with SIX calculators on Thursday. When asked about it he told us "It was calculator give-away day at school." Hmmmm... I don't remember ever celebrating that day when I was in school. After I told him that I would have to be sure to call his teacher and thank her for all the cool calculators, he admitted to "borrowing" them. We have been having a little bit of a problem with "borrowing" lately.

We're having Thanksgiving at our house this year, so guess what that means--time to get the xmas decorations out!! It sounds so cliche', but I swear Christmas starts earlier and earlier every year. When I was purchasing things for Gretyl's Dance in Mid October, there were already ornaments for sale at Michael's Craft store. And of course if you haven't already gotten any Christmas decorations you planned to buy, you are stuck looking through the picked-over piles of snowmen and reindeer.

It's okay, though, I am totally into the spirit of the season this year. I have been blasting the Christmas station at work and in the car for couple of weeks now. I'm guessing we will put most of the decorations up tomorrow so they are up for Thursday. I'm pretty sure the Christmas tree is the new symbol of Thanksgiving.

Chris and I had a "date" night last Thursday. It's been an eternity since we have went anywhere without the kids. It was probably a snooze-fest by most people's standards, but we really enjoyed ourselves. We went to Whole Foods and ate dinner in their cafe. We talked for a couple hours without interruption! We did a little browsing at Kohls and then came home. We are hoping to be able to do this once a week. Considering we haven't done this more than 5 times in the last 5 years, this is very exciting!!

Okay, I can't bear to leave you with nothing, so here is a candid shot of our in-house chef.

Whadya Mean No Trick-or-Treating?!

Okay, I may have mis-spoke. I thought that everyone understood that going to the movies was INSTEAD of trick-or-treating (verses going to the movie in ADDITION to trick-or-treating). The message may have been less than clear for those under 48 inches. Kyle was shocked when I got home from work and he realized we weren't going door to door begging for junk food. Suddenly my fun movie outing did not sound so appealing. We were forced to step it up a notch at the last minute and abandon the movie plans for Dave & Busters.

Dave & Busters is a pretty cool place. A giant playhouse filled with bright lights, carnival type games, and a video arcade. You could drop some serious dough without even realizing it there. Fortunately for us, most people must have been too busy loading up on free candy from their neighbors. The place was pretty empty and all the games were half price. The kids gave the trip six thumbs up and declared D&B's to be our new halloween tradition.

No Trick or Treating, but Who Cares!

Everyone is gearing up for Halloween here. Kyle is going to be a prisoner with the black and white stripes and a plastic ball and chain. Keenan is going to be the grim reaper. What happened to my little boy? I guess it was a gradual descent at least. Two years ago he was a cartoon character, last year he was a punk rocker, and this year the symbol of death! He loves it, though. Thinks he is pretty cool (which of course he is). Gretyl has decided that she is just too old to dress up this year (which of course she isn't).


Each boy has a school party. Keenan's was last night and Kyle's is tomorrow. I managed to find some fun and tasty candies, nuts and drink boxes and fill a goody bag from Whole Foods. So they have their bag of allowable treats for the parties. While everyone else is trick or treating, we are all going to go to the movies. I really thought it would be a hard sell, but they didn't even care about missing the trick or treating. They are excited about the movie.


In other news--I got a new toy for the kitchen!! I'm happy to report that I finally own a Kitchenaid mixer:) And though I would have loved to owned the beautiful cobalt blue one, I ended up with the stunning "gun metal gray". Flashy (not). I bought it used from a lady who swore she "only used it twice". Yeah, sure, whatever. But it did look like new still and I know the model is not one that they have made for long.

It had been on craigslist for several weeks so I called her up and offered her a hundred less than she was asking for it and told her I could come get it immediately. She agreed quickly. Instead of feeling great, however, I started to feel suspicious. She agreed too quickly, why didn't she try to counter-offer? So we will see. Hopefully my effort to save $200 doesn't come around to bite me in the behind. This is my mixer, however, she must have lost the pouring shield during the *two* times that she used it. I really wish I had that pouring shield, though. Adding ingredients while mixing can be difficult.

So far I have made mashed potatoes, two loaves of bread, and two batches of cookies. Batch number one turned out terrible. Tasty, but flat as pancakes. I have come up with three possible reasons:

1. I may have over mixed it with my powerful new mixer!
2. It may be because they are chocoloate chip cookies but have no chocolate chips in them ("not me" ate the entire bag of all natural ghiradelli chocolate chips that I had in the pantry. "not me" is in huge trouble when I see him).
3. It might be because I didn't let the butter soften before I beat it with the sugar.
   

Not really sure if that makes a difference or not. I guess we will find out tonight, though. I made a second batch of cookie dough last night and again, I forgot to leave the butter out to soften. These are sugar cookies to take to school tomorrow. So we will see what they look like when I bake the dough up tonight.


The bread turned out awesome. It looked just like-- a loaf of bread!! I left it out on the counter overnight swaddled in a dish cloth and sliced it when I got home from work the next day. And it sliced--beautifully!! Thin and perfect slices. After failing approximately 20 loaves of bread, I have finally mastered the art of bread making. I had already made a good loaf from scratch without the breadmaker. But it is so much faster and easier to whip up multiple loads at once with the mixer. Now I will have to experiment and figure out different kinds to make.

Catching Up!

Here's a quick bulleted list of what has been going on (actually I can't make the stupid bullets work, so we will go with the rainbow strategy instead):

• Being President of the PTO has been way more time consuming than I thought--so lots of time on that. Between that and trying to get through closing the Q3 books at work, I feel as though I just ran a marathon. Oh yes, which reminds me we are all participating in a walk to benefit Autism research tomorrow morning. Bright and early tomorrow morning. No rest for the wicked!


• Gretyl got her first interem grade reports (not official grades, just the status at the half way point). All A's!! ...okay, 2 A-'s. But that still counts in my book!


• Went with Kyle's class on a field trip to the pumpkin farm on Monday. So much fun. And I discovered that I am a much better photographer outside on a bright and slightly overcast day.


• Gretyl informed us on Wednesday that she was going to attend the homecoming formal dance on Saturday after all. Was so excited but freaked out at the time crunch to get everything around. Her very first formal dance!!
  
• Keenan's bday was Friday. Not much fanfare as everyone was out of town this weekend. But Gretyl and Kyle and I went shopping so he'd have a few things to open and of course we had cake from whole foods. Absolutely to die for. Thank you Keenan for turning the big 13 so we could all have cake!


• Boys had their yearly checkups at the indecent hour of 8:30 this morning. Ugh.. Poor Keenan had to get two shots. Kyle narrowly escaped a needed booster. He hounded them from the second that we got in the door, making sure he didn't have to get any shots this year. They told him no, he was okay. He continued to ask just to be sure..about 20 more times during his physical exam. They assured him, nope, he was in the clear. At the very end they said, oh yeah, he probably should get his booster on the MMR. Kind of hard to do that, though, after they assured him he didn't need one.


• Spent the better part of the day shopping for flowers for Gretyl's hair, getting her hair and nails done, listening to Gretyl beg her friend Jack to reconsider about going to homecoming, and actually getting her ready for homecoming dance. I must say it was all worth it. She was absolutely beautiful. And of course I was such a dork, I even took a picture of her while she was at the salon.

Midnight Snack after the big dance

• Oh yes, and the ice cream social went beautifully. It didn't rain, but no one stepped foot out the back door onto the deck. All 12 of us stayed in the living/dining room area. And only a handful of people actually had ice cream. So we have been eating an awful lot of Breyers Ice Cream (all natural of course!) Kyle thought he had met a celebrity. He took an extra yard sign to hang on his wall and charmed a Kevin Bacon for State Representative T-Shirt out of the sweet young campaign manager. It didn't matter to him that she only had adult sizes and it went down to his ankles. He slept proudly in it. I will admit the first 30 mintues of the event was awkward and made my skin crawl. Everyone kind of congregated near the front door and had their own little conversations going. Chris somehow roped everyone in and got everyone into the living room and in conversation mode. I was amazed at how he handled the small crowd. There was some very good discussion with the state rep and the best part was probably when one man got a little riled up and shouted "The government is putting a gun to my head--And the Goverment is pulling the trigger!". His wife, who was sitting next to me, started to fidget andwhisper to her husband, "I think we should go, the sitter really needs to leave at 8." Well, they didn't leave quite yet, he had more to say. Nothing quite as animated as his opening statement, though. After everyone left, the state rep and his campaign manager stayed for another half-hour or so and talked with us (and Kyle) over coffee and ice cream.

Rain Goddess

Wow - Eight days since my last post! Good news, though. I have discovered how to harness the power of rain. You will probably see me on Oprah in the near future, bringing much needed rains to african nations. I have to admit I came upon this simple solution completely by accident. It might work for other individuals, but I am pretty sure it is just us Cunninghams with this unique power. All we have to do is plan any event, at our home, and invite plenty of people. Ideally, said event would center around an outside activity.

Tomorrow is the long awaited "backyard" ice cream social with our state representative. As you might have guessed by my subtle remarks above, the forecast calls for storms tomorrow afternoon. So, it may turn out to be more of a "living room" ice cream social. Should be nice and cozy :-)

Weekend Update

What an eventful weekend! Saturday morning we went to Leeds farm. We have went every year for the last 5 or 6 years and it just gets better every year. http://www.leedsfarm.com/

We got to pet baby goats, and see baby pigs, cows, and bunnies. The older two rode on a huge and extremely tall zip line. Kyle was tall enough, but as they were strapping him into the harness 60 feet off the ground, he had a change of heart. They rolled around in giant hamster wheels, bounced on a massive "pumpkin" pillow, went on a hayride, made their way through a corn maze, and played in a cornbox (think sandbox, only huge and corn instead of sand). We saw lots of friends, some that we hadn't seen in years (it was an autism day at the farm).

I have some great pics that I haven't yet loaded onto my computer. For now, here is a picture of some random guy in our living room. He looks familiar, but I can't quite place him!
Later that day we had bday party #2 for Kyle, with family. Sunday was Dodge ball for Keenan and catching up with one of the girls who used to work with the boys. She just finished Officer's Training in the Coast Gaurd and is getting ready to begin flight training. She already has her pilot's license and has worked on cargo planes for several years. She's such a fascinating individual and excels in most everything she does.

We also managed to make 4 dinners for this week and master the art of bread making, sans the bread maker!!

Five Interesting Things About Keenan

1. He can recite entire spongebob episodes, complete with all the different voices
2. He loves (and I mean LOVES) saltine crackers
3. He can can make amazing things with only a roll of tinfoil
4. He has the most charming sense of humor
5. He has an astounding memory. Here is an example:

GRETYL: I remember Kyle was eating a lunchable right before the fire. After they put the fire out, I finished eating the rest of it.
KEENAN: Yeah, it was a little pizza with a butterfinger and a drinkbox.

The day in question was June 30, 2004. This conversation was a few days ago.

Back to the Grind

The kids finally went back to school tday. After having three bonus days off this week, it was tough for them to transition back in. It was apparent in many areas through the afternoon and evening. Kyle threw up in the car on the way home from school, but he seems to feel fine other than the one puking incident. Thank heavens it was Chris' day to pick them up. I can't imagine that funky smell coming out easily.


Poor Chris spent 2 hours trying to do one worksheet with Keenan. It was math homework and it seemed as though he had no idea how to do it. At least Keenan was not frustrated at all. He reportedly giggled his way through the entire ordeal. Who knew math was so funny. Actually, when he laughs hysterically for no reason like that, it usually means his meds need adjusting. It's kind of funny and amusing, actually. And it sure beats the heck out of an Angry Keenan. Unfortunately, the giggly Keenan usually has no ability to focus. Could be why the math was so hard.


Oh yeah, and I got mad when the boys were fighting Tuesday and took the TVs and Wii away for an undetermined amount of time. They are adjusting and have even stopped complaining about it. Frankly I don't care if they ever watch the stupid thing again.


Another busy weekend on the horizon. Means no sleeping in for me Saturday, but some fun pictures for the blog.

The Bday Bash

How did it go you ask?

Well it has been 4 days since the party ended. I think Chris and I have finally recovered enough to talk about it.

They never stood still for too long, but I think the heacount was 14 plus Kyle. So there were 9 kiddos that weren't able to make it for one reason or another. Those 9 kids were my favorite.
Actually, to be fair, I think the kids all had a good time and there were a couple of really good points in time where they sat nicely and were good. (During the magician and watching Kyle open gifts).

It really was a good party, just not at all the party we had spent so much time planning! To begin with it was a very wet day and it had to be inside. 15 excited kids in one small house is about 10 too many. And as for our really cool games that we had planned...well I don't think we ever imagined some of them stating they simply didn't want to play. I mean who doesn't want to limbo or go on a fun scavenger hunt??

They did sit very nicely for the magician who came. So that was a nice break from the chaos. They also, surprisingly enough, sat very nicely and watched Kyle open up his presents. And this couldn't have been an easy task. Prior to the event I had give him all the good manners reminders. You know, open the card first, be gracious even if you already own 10 of whatever it is you opened, etc.

When I said open the card, however, I really didn't expect him to read every single word of it to his audience of 14 eight-year-olds! One kid gave him a card fillws with birthday riddles. I think it took him 5 minutes to read that one.

And when I said be gracious, I meant a simple "Thanks, I love it". Instead, however, every chid received a hug after he opened their present. A huge hug--whether they wanted one or not. It was pretty sweet, though, and they all took it fairly well (except for the one who hid under the coffee table--but fear not, he got his hug too).

5 Interesting Things About Chris

1. He has always wanted to see B.B. King play live

2. He needs to wear sunglasses even on the shady days

3, When Gretyl was born, he wouldn't let the nurses change her diapers because he said they were too rough with her

4. He pretended to like country music when we were dating because he thought it would impress me.

5. When he drove garbage trucks in Michigan winters, he would buy coats and gloves for jumpers who couldn't afford them. ("Jumpers" are the guys that don't have a commercial driver's license, so all they can do is ride on the back and jump off at the stops and dump the garbage cans)

Things I Love

I love the way that Kyle still mispronounces a couple of words. I should probably make more of a point to correct him, but it's just so darn cute!

opposed ... as in:
You're opposed to eat all your vegetables if you want to get dessert.

fercept... as in:
I ate all my vegetables, fercept half of them that I was too full to eat. Can I have my dessert??

Breaking News!

We have power!!! Yay--clean laundry!!

Hurricane Ike strikes Ohio!

We are very fortunate as we did not sustain any damage to our house, cars, etc. Much of Central Ohio did not fare as well. There was only wind, not actually a storm. It was very weird. There are trees down everywhere and a lot of damage. The Governer has issued a state of emergency here and there are an estimated 1.5 million people without power. It could be up to a week before we have power again, but I tend to think it will be sooner for us. Meanwhile, school was cancelled nearly everywhere and they are already calling off school for tomorrow in some districts. Chris's employer had no electricity, so he gets to stay home with the kids today. I suspect they will have power by tomorrow and it will be back to work for him. No luck for me, however. My work did have electricity. So I scrounged for clean clothes and took my somewhat wrinkled butt to work! (If only I would have done the laundry before we lost power!)

Before we realized it wasn't the best time to play at the park, Gretyl and Kyle and I went to the park. Gretyl and I were loving the wind and thinking it was pretty neat. Kyle was the only smart one who begged us to leave immediately-lol. Wise beyond his years, that one. Before we left, however, I snapped this picture of Gretyl. She was hanging from this tree branch and the wind is blowing her body to the left. You can see her body is at an interesting slant.


We lost power shortly after we returned home. And thankfully, right before we were about to head out for a long overdue grocery shopping trip! Of course, thankful as I am that we didn't stock up on groceries that would go bad, I was at a loss as to what to do for dinner! Right or wrong we left the older two at home while we went out to get some food. With most groceries out of power in our area and all the open restaurants super-busy, we found ourselves at Whole Foods. Before they decided to close and boot everyone out of the store, Kyle discovered the fresh fish display (blegh!!!). He was very interested in them and asked the man if the largest one was a shark.
On a funny note, we were in such a hurry we didn't notice how Kyle had dressed himself. Kyle decided it would be fashionable to wear a sweatshirt with jean shorts and dress shoes--and one sock! Well school has been cancelled for tomorrow. They just called it off. Not shocking.

In less than 24 hours...

I will be surrounded by 8 year olds. Anywhere from 10 to 24 of them-- not many have responded one way or the other. It's so nice to have the exact number of kiddos nailed down like that. Actually, I think it is karma coming around to bite me in the butt. I am probably the worst at RSVP-ing. I usually call the morning of the party and muster up some sad excuse about not seeing the invitation until that morning and is it too late to confirm. So I guess you could say that I am learning a very valuable life lesson here!

Forecast for tomorrow is storms for most of the day. So it looks like we will be having it inside. Should be a long and memorable 2.5 hours :-)

On the docket for tomorrow's party:

limbo

egg and spoon races

scavenger hunt

magician

cake

presents

fishing

twister

Hopefully we have enough to keep them all occupied for the time frame. I think I planned more than will fit, actually. Better to have to many activities than not enough! Shopping for trinkets for gift bags today. Lots of prep to do yet!

Kyle Works On His Roller Blading Skills

Here is a really fun video we took at the park yesterday. Hopefully you will have better luck than I did with the sound. I can watch it, but I can't HEAR it. I think it has something to do with the fact that it is an .avi file and I don't have the right codec. At least that seems to be what all my internet detective work was telling me. I never did figure out how to download the proper codec, though.

The video is hilarious nonetheless. Right before I started filming, Keenan had told Kyle he was going to show him how to roller blade. Kyle, however, was hyper-focused on the set of steps in the background. He is determined to get to those steps so he can climb them and then proceed to roller blade down the hill. He is so determined, in fact, that towards the end you will see he decides that crawling might be easier. I'm not sure what the thoughts were in his head. Maybe something like "I can't move across this flat pavement, but going down the hill will be much easier!" At any rate, enjoy!

Too Tired to Title This One...

Keenan played dodge ball today. The rules are much more complicated than I remember in school. He is an excellent dodger, but we'll have to work on catching the ball and hitting people with the balls. We were able to get one picture before the batteries in my camera died. Here it is, nothing to exciting--but you can at least see him.

After replacing the batteries at home, I couldn't resist snapping a few sleeping pictures of Kyle. I still love to watch him sleep. He not only slept through the handful of photos being snapped, but he slept through me trimming all of his finger and toe nails! I guess he wore himself out at the park playing during Keenan's dodge ball practice.

Up next we have a picture taken only yesterday, of an actual Gretyl--in her natural habitat:

And yes, she was actually on both of them at the same time. Later we had the privilege of dining with this beautiful creature and two of her companions (the two that she was speaking with in this photo). This was after we tracked them through the thick wilderness of Polaris Mall. More on that later.

Chef Keenan!

Keenan made a meal in the crockpot today. I didn't eat any of it because it had meat in it, but it smelled divine and everyone loved it. He did a great job of reading the recipe, finding the appropriate measuring cup that was called for and measuring out the ingredients. And he was so pleased with himself. I am trying to let the boys do more in the kitchen. They love it and it's a great exercise in patience for me:) I would let Gretyl do more, but she doesn't want to. Here is the recipe for Keenan's dinner:

CROCKPOT GARLIC BROWN SUGAR CHICKEN
Chicken pieces-enough to feed your family-legs, thighs etc.

1 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon-line soda
2-3 Tbls. minced garlic
2 Tbls. soy sauce 1 tsp. pepper (regular black or cayenne (stage 2))

Place chicken in crockpot. Mix all remaining ingredients and pour over chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Serve over rice or noodles. You can thicken the juices after cooking with a little cornstarch. If using cayenne pepper, it gives dish a szchewan flavor.

We also had FUNNEL CAKES for breakfast!! They turned out great and were so easy. I was the best mom in the world for an entire 20 minutes or so. Here is the recipe for those..we will definitely be making these again! A word of caution, I got this recipe off of a blog for a family of 15 (link is at the right), and it makes a TON. You might want to cut the recipe in half.

Funnel Cakes
1. Heat three cups of vegetable oil over medium high heat until it reaches 350-375 degrees.

2. Whisk together 4 cups of flour, 1/3 cup of sugar, 2 teaspoons , 1/2 teaspoon sbaking powder, 1/2 teaspoon salt. Make a well, then add 2 1/2 cups milk 3 large eggs. Whisk until smooth.

3. Put batter in gallon sized bag. Remove excess air, and seal. Cut 1/4 inch wide hole in bag. Carefully squeeze 1 cup of batter back and forth into oil making a free form lacy web. Cook until golden on bottom, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, turn the cake over and cook until golden brown on other side, about 1 more minute. Transfer funnel cake to paper towels to drain.

4. Dust funnel cakes with powdered sugar and serve warm.

The Cunninghams Go to Washington

Okay--not really.

But we did received an exciting, but scary, call today. We have been asked to host a neighborhood ice cream social / meet-n-greet, for our state rep who is running for re-election. He is a republican, and normally that is not the way my votes tend to swing, but he is supportive of "autism-friendly" legislative bills. He actually came knocking at our door last weekend, trying to meet the folks in his district. I was impressed, but not in any shape or mood to do small talk with a local politician. I am pretty sure I was up to my elbows in my umpteenth failed batch of homemade carmel and at Chris's direction, Gretyl politely turned him away.

Chris has signed on to be a part of an advocacy committee that is organized by the boys' school. They are a very politically active group. They write letters, have meetings (and ice cream socials), etc. All in the hopes of putting real stories and more momentum behind the issues that affect those of us in the autism community. Funding sources like the Autism Scholarship, Medicaid Waivers, etc that we have here in Ohio are always at risk of being pulled.

So the advocay committee called us up this evening and asked us to host this shindig in our back yard. As I understand it, this is one of several that the committee is organizing. They try to make sure there is at least one in each of the district. They actually told us we could host either candidate, but they did tend to lean in the incumbent's direction.

I suppose this is how it is supposed to work. The state reps represent the people. And we want to ensure that our group gets heard loud and clear. We host the gathering and give him a podium to meet and talk with more of his constituents...help him in his quest for re-election. Then hopefully he remembers us if he gets re-elected, when we need him to act on our behalf. It's just new territory for us.

I will have to read up and try to at least know where this guy stands on all the issues. Then I need to make the back yard look presentable--We have about 25 days to prepare!! It would be nice if we actually had green grass. Lack of rain has done a number on our yard this year. Not that it was ever a finely manicured lawn. Maybe the leaves will fall before then and no one will notice. Oh my...what if it rains!? Will I have 25 people cramped in my small living room?? Ack...need to stop thinking about this for now.

In other news...the boys went to the dentist today. I have to say neither of the boys are stellar brushers. But if I had to award one of them a medal, it would definitely be Kyle. Although he has an aversion to any toothpaste that tastes remotely like...well...like toothpaste, he does scrub them pretty well and often uses the fluoride rinse that I buy. KEENAN, on the other hand--that child will spend 6 milliseconds in the bathroom and exclaim that he is finished. And prior to the no junky food in the house deal, this child would sniff out and hijack sugary food tucked away in a steel plated box. (okay, so maybe he's only sniffing out the skittles and starburst in my underwear drawer--but still!)
So who won the dental Olympics?



Keenan! No cavities for Keenan and two more for Kyle (makes a total of 4 for him). Wondering if there will be more silver than white in his mouth when they are finished. Thank heavens they are only baby teeth. I still have time to scare the daylights out of him.

Keenan's New School

Prior to this year, Keenan had been enrolled in the local school district. We had to fight them every step of the way to keep him included with his typical peers, but each of the last three years we were able to have him attend school with one of his personal staff from home to assist him.

He only went to school for half of the day, and was homeschooled at home by his home staff for the other half. This was better than the alternative scenario they would have offered us had we not pushed for more. Their solution to his education would be to put him into a classroom with 5 or 6 other kids that had extreme behavior issues. These kids would then do a small amount of academic work that was far beneath his level and watch lots of movies and work on skills like brushing their teeth and hair.

Not a very productive way for him to spend his day. Especially since he is reading chapter books and doing 4th grade level mathematics. Admittedly, he is not at grade level for his age, but he is far beyond the picture symbol math and kindergarten primers that they would have him do.

Of course, what we fought so hard for each year, wasn't ideal either. For most academics he was educated at home--by himself, one-on-one. A sad and lonely existence to say the least...not to mention having to have an aide at his side all day long was driving him nuts and doing little to foster independence!

Kyle goes to a wonderful private school. Half of the kiddos are higher functioning special needs kiddos, and half of them are typically developing. Each classroom has two masters level teachers and one aide teaching 8 typical kids and 8 higher functioning special needs kids. It was a complete fluke that he even ended up going there. I only added him to their mile long waitling list as an after thought--right after I had added Keenan to the waiting list.

To this day, I have no idea how it is that we got a call saying they had an opening for him this past January. The only reason I accepted the invitation to interview for the opening was because I wanted to see and know more about it for Keenan! As it turns out, we enrolled Kyle and it has been one of the greatest things that could ever happen to him. We love the school and the staff.

This school is the only of it's kind in the nation. There are people around the nation on the waiting list and it is something like 300 kids long. And this fall--less than a week before school started--we found out that Keenan was finally going to get in:-)

I still feel the need to pinch myself every morning when I wake up. Keenan is thriving there and has met a few friends that are very much like him. In just two weeks, I can already see his level of independence is increasing. After all, he hasn't attended school without a personal aide in over 4 years! He seems less stressed and more laid back and he loves not having to have "learning sessions" at home. He is not in Kyle's building, he is actually in a middle/high school building. They have a huge building that was donated to them. It used to house an athletic club, so there is a pool and everything there. He is starting a Dodge Ball league through the school on Sunday. He is so excited :):):)

*****CuTe StOrY aHeAd*****

As some of you may or may not know, Autistic individuals tend to take things very literally. Every now and then this happens to Keenan and he will flip out over something that someone says. Well, I was suggesting to him that he trade phone numbers with one of the new friends he made at school. He got very upset with me and said our phone number belong to us and we couldn't just go and trade it away. I had to try not to laugh it was so cute. I tried to explain that he wasn't going to trade phone numbers, he was just going to give his friend his phone number. Of course this made matters even worse. "GIVE him our phone number?? Then we won't have one!" Finally I did get the point across and he did get the phone number. It was such a milestone:-) How truly lucky and blessed I feel lately. So many, many good things happening for our family.

The New Routine

Well, the kids are all back in school now. I must say it is off to a great start :) We have a good schedule in place an everyone has adapted to it better than expected.

The boys get out of school at 3:30 every Monday through Thursday. So on Monday and Wednesdays, I start my workday at 6am and leave at 3pm to go pick them up. Chris does the same thing on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I can't say how wonderful this has been.

It's so awesome to pick them up ourselves and bring them home where Gretyl has just gotten home herself. I actually get to talk to them about their days on the trip home and have snack and talk some more. Then there is still time to make dinner and have it ready so we can all eat together as a family by 6ish.

Lunches are made as we clean up the dinner mess and the boys are usually asleep by 8:30. I told Gretyl she doesn't have a bedtime this year and she has been going to bed around 9:30 on her own! Last year her bedtime was 10pm and she rarely made it to bed before 10:30. Of course she didn't have to get up at 6am every morning last year...

Chris and I are usually in bed by 10pm or earlier ourselves, too (It's actually past my bedtime right now!). Unfortunately, our beautiful world will change some after Thanksgiving. Neither of our bosses are thrilled with us leaving at 3pm two days each week. This is supposed to be a temporary measure until we find adequate care for after school. I'm sort of just hoping Thanksgiving comes and goes and no one says anything and we continue as is.

Gretyl says she loves highschool. She says that they treat them more like adults and give them more freedoms and privileges. She was going to go the first home football game last friday with some friends and then walk back to the house. Then it rained, so she played with her two new friends instead: Leonardo Davinci & Victor Paquito. Her pet rats!!!!!!!

I have to admit, I will never touch them, but they are pretty amazing and a teensy weensy bit cute. Especially the hairless one. But I won't go into much about them. She told me she was going to blog about them and put on some pictures. I'm sure that will be right after she cleans her room (hopefully you are recognizing the sarcasm here). She will be joining the swim team this October. She has been taking lessons privately for a year or so. I think it will be a great thing for her and won't look too bad on the ol college applications either.

Well I should write more, there is still so much to catch up on. But I can hear my pillow upstairs calling out to me!

Kyle's School Shopping Trip

The older two would live in blue jeans and t-shirts if we let them. Kyle is a completely different story. Here is the list of things that Kyle chose when we went school shopping:

• -8 button down oxford shirts


• -5 ties (2 clip on and 3 that work like slip knots)


• -3 pairs of dress pants (need to find more in his size)


• -1 pair of black square-toed dress shoes


• -1 pair of khaki shoes that aren't quite dress shoes and not quite tennis shoes


• -dress socks


• -underwear (of course)


• -"wife-beater" style undershirts to go under the dress shirts.

I have to admit I am kind of glad that the suspenders were to small and that the sweater vests are not out on shelves yet! Also very glad that he doesn't go to the local public school. If he went anywhere else, he might come home with a bruised eye (or ego at the very least). Here, he will probably be very well-received.

Ode to Gretyl

The boys both start school August 25th, but G has an extra two days. She begins the first day of highschool on her birthday. Poor thing :( I think it will be good for her to get back to some kind of normalcy.

Maybe when she turns 15, it will be magic and all of the teenage drama will come to an abrupt halt. (we can dream, right?) If I don't kill her first, I am certain she will grow into quite an extraordinary individual. Right NOW, however, she is somewhat of a royal pain in the ....elbow??

We are so proud of her individuality, she is constantly amazing us. A while back, she was obsessed with Leonardo DaVinci. She spent HOURS practicing writing with her left hand, backwords (so you could read it in the mirror). I'm not sure if Leonardo was left handed, she just has something about left-handedness. She seems to be willing herself to be left-handed--because it is less common.

Yes, Big G spends most of her life swimming upstream, against the current. This is my child who refused to read the Harry Potter books. I thought she just wasn't interested in them. Long about the time book 7 was due to come out she couldn't refrain any longer and read the first 6 over a two week period and drug me to stand in a horrendous line at midnight to buy book 7. (of course we also saw it the next morning at the corner CVS--where there were no lines!) She explained that she didn't want to read them before because everyone else was reading them. Very cool. Kind of makes the speech about "if everyone else jumped off a bridge, would you?" a little less meaningful. I have it tucked away, though, should I ever need it in the future.

Though she doesn't know how to play the american version of chess, she somehow researched and studied up on Japanese Chess. She made her own little paper board and pieces and everything. Very interesting game, actually. They have extra pieces and they move in very unique ways. Makes my brain hurt, though.

Sometimes she spouts things out in foreign tongues. I don't know what prompts her to learn some of the things she does. I think she said something about us not appreciating her art the other day. In Italian. She asked me to purchase her spanish II text book online so she could study it over the summer before school started. She loves foreign languages (or so she said today). She got a book from the library today on ASL (American Sign Langauge). Her little cousin just turned 4 and they suspect he has almost a total hearing loss in one ear and very limited amount of hearing in his other. He may be attending a special school for the deaf. So she is all set to learn sign language now.

Well, this post was supposed to be all about how the kids are starting school and what all we have to do and the greatest, awesomest, best news ever about Keenan's school for next year. But I guess that will have to wait...oh yeah, and I guess I should change the name of the post to be something more in line with the subject matter. Very little about school in here!

Even Dogs Need Manners

Keenan was very funny this evening. He was using his words very appropriately and although he wasn't happy about a myriad of things, he was telling each of us (including the dog!) what we were doing *wrong*. At one point he was thorougly frustrated with Gretyl and I as he was trying very hard to tell us something and he felt that we were interrupting him. In reality, though, it was just a crazy time of the night with dinner and all the mess that goes with it and everyone all in one place. He finally felt as if he had our attention and could continue with his saga when the dog started barking. He leaned down next to Chester and said very seriously, "Chester, You're interrupting me and that's rude." So cute:-)

My Strong Little Man

Kyle was particularly laid back this morning! It could be a fluke. I like to think that this is the miraculous result from only four days of not eating artificial colorings, flavorings, and preservatives. Time will tell. I asked him as we drove to school and he ate his banana, if his body felt any different since eating only *good* foods. I saw his little head nod emphatically in my rear-view mirror. Really?? What feels different? He told me he was feeling much stronger :-)

Not the point of this thing at all--but far be it from me to argue when he was so pleased with his results-LOL.

The New Bread Maker

So, we have decided to try and get back to the basics. We're cutting foods with artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, and general gross and unpronouncable items from our diet. I feel really good about it. The kids are cautiously optimistic about it and Chris is completely on-board with the whole thing.

Domestic--I am not. Somehow I have managed to make it through 15 years of motherhood and three children, without ever really getting into the whole cooking and baking thing. I am sure it has something to do with my saint of a husband who could whip up something out of ketchup, baking soda, and freezer-burned lima beans if need be.

That being said, I am pretty sure he enjoyed the stranger in his kitchen that he came home to this evening! Armed with a bread maker I found at the good will for the bargain basement price of $5.99, and several natural recipes, I was on a mission. I had even managed to find the manual for my second-hand b-maker online. By 7pm, I had all the ingredients in the machine and home made bread was less than 2.5 hours away.

In another part of the kitchen I had *whipped* us up macaroni and cheese from scratch and it was cooking in a crock pot. (Mind you, I don't really go into the kitchen and *whip* anything up--ever.) Add to that, the quadrupled batch of dry ingredients I mixed together for our own homemade pancake mix (we should have enough to last us until G Graduates in 2012), I think I made more *homemade* items tonight than I have altogether this millenium (sad but true).

The macaroni looks as though it was a success. The bread finished up an hour ago and the house smells soooo good. I let the bread cool for this entire time and have made several attempts to slice the bread into sandwich slices--as my original intention when I bought the machine was to never buy store bread again.

The first few times I went to slice it, I managed to slice of the ends. Those wouldn't be good for sandwiches--and I had to make sure it tasted okay, didn't I?? So of course I ate both of the *butts* off my yummy loaf of bread. I decided it was just too warm to cut, because it was soft and squishing as I tried to cut it.

I waited 20 more minutes and tried again. I managed to slice off one slice that was not even really a slice. Way too thin and not even a whole slice. What would anyone do with such a small piece. Waste-not, want-not. I ate that too.

Not wanting to repeat my blunder, I sliced off a thicker piece but it was way to thick for a sandwich. This bread was not cooperating!! Still too squishy and somewhat warm. And thhis last piece was so crooked, it was an embarassment to see. I was sure I had better slicing skills hidden away somewhere within. I needed to get rid of the evidence. So--I ate that slice as well.

So now I have roughly 1/2 of a loaf of bread left. I don't want to leave it out to go stale. Not my beautiful bread :-(. I am bewildered as to how to go about making it into sandwich slices, though.

Ebay! Now if ever you need something, but aren't quite sure what it is, ebay is just the place to go. I have found countless items that I didn't even realize I was looking for on there.

I found several bread knives, but I seriously doubted they were superior to my own. After all, its practically never been used (on bread at least). I may have used it once or twice to cut some windows out of cardboard box houses once. And quite possibly, in a pinch, on some carpeting. But that is it.

After a very short search, I realized what I needed was a bread slicer. Good old ebay. I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. I have seen these at Panera. They are very quick and efficient. Thin, thick, tailor sliced to your exact specifications. Never crooked. I can hardly contain my excitement. And some of the cheaper countertop models started around $500! I saw a used full-sized model that stands on the floor, but wherever would I put it?? Let's be reasonable:-)

So, to recap before I head off to dream about my wonderful healthy, preservative-free bread: I found quite a bargain today with the breadmaker, but I ate half a loaf of bread, and I now all I *need* is a $500 bread slicer.

Here We Go!

Hola & Welcome!!

Reasons for beginning this blog include:

• Life gets a bit crazy and we don't always do a decent job of keeping everyone up with what is going on. (Thus the blog name of KeepingUpWithTheCunninghams--clever, I know).
• I need a captive audience for my babbling, bragging, venting, whining.
• I want a permanent record of all the wonderful things that happen to us, as well as obstacles that we have overcome. Anyone who knows me, knows that I would otherwise forget these things within a few weeks!

The reasons below are NOT the reasons that prompted me to blog:

• I am an articulate writer, with nary a typo, and this is my road to discovery.
• I don't know what to do with all of my spare time.
• We are being paid a sizable sum to share our unsurpassed parenting skills with the world.

Things you can expect from this blog:

• Pictures will be updated at a snail's pace--because it just isn't my thing.
• Most pictures will include at least one family member with at least half of their person cut off.
• I will bore you with more details than you bargained for in some areas, and leave you wondering from lack of details on others.

Things you shoud not count on from this blog:

• That it will make sense 100% of the time.
• That it will be updated daily, or even weekly at times.
• That it will be educational, entertaining, or that there will be any added value in return for your time investment.