That was then . . . this is now . . .

Fun for years at the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo. . .


August 1972, Sheri rides "Little Poof".


June 2007 McCartney rides "Little Poof".


August 1972, Sheri makes friends with a goat in the "farmyard" of the zoo.


May, 2004 McCartney doesn't know what to think.


June 2007, McCartney brushes a new friend in the "farmyard".


May 2004, McCartney fits in the palm of his hand.


June 2007, McCartney with an old friend!

Ahhhh Memories . . .

A lost friend. . .

Today I found an old friend. The friend? Black Pine Animal Park in Albion, Indiana. I found Black Pine years ago and visited frequently. At the time it was located in the backyard of Karen and Brad Bonar. The animal sanctuary started as Brad and Karen began to take in animals that people thought they could keep as pets. Animals such as mountain lions, bobcats, snow leopards, caracals, and rhesus-macaque monkeys. The park grew as Barnum and Bailey Circus began contacting the Bonar's about taking in retiring circus animals. They adopted the tigers who originally did that stunt with the spinning round cages. They have Mr. Bear and Isaac who are retired black bear performers. They have Johnny a camel who is and retired performers. My favorite is Tarzan and Coby who are adult chimps. They have been in commercials and music videos.

The park has grown over the years of my absence. The tiger population has grown as they recently adopted 3 part Siberian tigers who were rescued from horrid conditions. They have also acquired some leopards, including a black one. There are also losses. Cesar a retired performing tiger, and the father to Cita and Jai, was buried at the former location. Pinky, one of Karen's Cougars, also passed. Recently they also lost Shengi, a female African lion. Today, Nala, still seemed to be in mourning, and the keepers said she is definitely missing her companion. Lucky, a dwarf bull was another favorite from the "old days" who is no longer with us.


The "petting" portion of the park includes many field animals including Emus, Llamas, Rheas, Ostrich, Sicilian donkeys, a mini-dwarf pony named Minnie, Pygmy goats, Welsh mountain sheep, and a pot bellied pig. The Llama's are so very sweet and the donkey's are beautiful. The kids loved feeding them today. If you make the trip to Albion, you can bring your own bread and feed the field animals. Watch out for Ginger, the ostrich, she;s a handful!

The best thing about Black Pine for families is how close you can get to the animals. I can remember about 6 years ago I was teaching Pre-K and I took all 4 classes. It was the summer that Cita and Jai, some tiger cubs, were born and they were very small. Karen let us pet the cubs and allowed the kids to play with them in the field. She used to also get the camels out and we could feed them "cookies". Today, the park is probably a little more stringent with there "no touch" policy than they used to be in Karen's backyard. But it is still well worth the trip. They relocated last December and are still in the process of building permanent outdoor habitats for all the animals. So, pardon their dust. Invest some time and some money at a local sanctuary, you will be amazed how cool it is!

Parenting hard kids is hard . . .

Parenting in general is difficult. I have to say that working in a daycare for 13 years before I had children, I thought I had it all figured out. I couldn't fathom how parents could be constantly running late for work. How could they forget show and share day? How could they forget it was a party day and come in late? Why did they carry the 4 year old down the hall? Etc. I knew that I would be a great parent and have it all figured out when I had my own because I had oh so much experience at daycare. WRONG.

I forget stuff for projects, I would rather carry the kid than drag him. I am always running late. I take back everything I ever said about any parent. Parenting is hard. You're "on" 24/7. I am by no means making light of "normal" parenting, but parenting "hard" kids is much harder. My children are difficult. I know that all kids have their very own issues. But, throw a children who has brain damage due to pre-natal alcohol exposure into the mix and you have a recipe for DIFFICULTY.

My children are better for having Dustin in their lives in many ways. They are much more tolerant of behaviors of their peers and they are probably far more compassionate than they could've been. They are also much more independent due to the many "melt-downs" and extra attention that Dustin requires. They have other issues that go along with that. They are incessantly annoying, probably because they have to fight for attention some of the time. McCartney is terribly strong willed and stubborn. She knows how to push buttons and then works it for all it is worth. She is in some ways more trying than Dustin. I will never know if this is a product of nature or our environment.

Parenting kids such as these is difficult. Not only does it do a toll on you as a person and a parent, but also on your marriage. It is a huge responsibility as a parent to take these issues and make them a part of your daily routine. It makes you grumpy and irritable. It makes you much more likely to snap at your spouse. They are the one person who is your ally in all of this, and the one you take it out on the most. It's unfortunate.

Like any marriage, Robert and I have different ways of dealing with the stress. Neither of us can understand the scope of what our words and actions have on one another. Robert retreats into a project and I keep on advancing. Mars and Venus. I push and push, like the stereotypical woman, and irritate and irritate. He is a true trooper. I can't imagine the stress that he has on him dealing with Dustin 24 hours a day. I have a break when I go to work, he doesn't. I couldn't do what he does. I suppose that is the mark of a truly great relationship, he is weak where I am strong and vice versa. Unfortunately right now I don't feel so strong.

We came to the realization last winter when we were dealing with so much difficulty with Dustin that only one parent can check out at a time. It's tough when there is a constant stressor in the home, especially one you love so dearly. One you wish you could fix and can't. I love my husband with all my heart and thank him for walking this journey with me. . . even with all my faults.

Wedding . . .

I went to a crazy kind of wedding today. McCartney and I hitched a ride up north with my mom and step-dad. The groom was Amish. Apparently they aren't too strict Amish because he has definitely turned "English" and the family hasn't shunned him. I have never seen so many Amish in one place in my life. It was beautiful and a wonderful girl and friend of the family is now a Mrs.

They grow up so fast . . .

Yesterday I got kindergarten shots for Harrison. I can hardly believe that he will go to school in the fall. I never thought he would grow so big so fast. About 4 months ago, when he was still 4, he brought me a book and began reading. I mean reading. For about a year and a half he has been sounding out letters and putting together blends. He knows about silent e and how it makes the vowel long. He can tell you about rhyming words and opposites. He even knows what punctuation is. He has been reading random words for a while, but he brought me book and READ it. I was amazed!

I have had an issue with the daycare moving farther from my home. Due to that fact, our neighborhood school does not transport to the daycare. I finally was able to opt him into a school in that area and we are all set. It has been a huge stressor and now it is all done. I am so thankful that I got him into a school closer to the daycare and transportation will be taken care of. But, the fact remains, my baby boy is going to school. . .

Titanic Fun . . .

Boat loads of fun . . . a yet, a little morbid. . .

Today at the daycare we rented a large Titanic Slide. It was so fun! The kids loved every minute of it. It still is a little creepy to be sliding down the sinking deck of the Titanic though. Kinda disrespectful to those who loss their lives on the ship, but tons of fun!

Here's a pic of McCartney on the slide. . . more to come later.

My mom's new toy . . .

My mom is the best Nanny in the world. Check out what she and PaPa bought for the grandkids. . .


McCartney goes up . . .


Harrison goes for a ride . . .


McCartney's nice form . . .


Dustin says, "Whoa!" . . .

My adventure with the ignorant . . .

We decided to take the kids to the Pizza Hut buffet tonight. Dustin loves it. The little ones can graze all they want. I however, had a run-in with a drunk. . . at least I hope he was.

I'm accompanying Dustin to the buffet and I asked him not to grab a plate. The stacks were all hot and I knew he would immediately drop it on the floor or start hollering. He went to grab a plate anyway and I said, "Dustin, I asked you not to touch those." A man across the buffet says quite loudly, "Damn lady! Let the kid get his own plate. I taught my kid how to do it when he was little. Damn!" I was shocked and responded with, "Sir, my son is special needs." He grumbled and moaned at me the entire time we were getting Dustin's food. As we walked back to our table I was still a little shaken. We sit, I look over and he is sitting on table over and one back.

Dustin was pretty well behaved and the little ones were darn good. It was actually a nice time. Towards the end of the meal, the man tries to get my attention and I pretend not to see him. He stands up, grabs something off the table and comes over to our table. He extends his hand and shakes me hand apologizing for what he said. I told him it was fine and that I understood that Dustin's disability is hidden. He proceeds to throw money at me. I told him he was being ridiculous and he very loudly begged me to take it to show me that he was "Sorry deep down in his heart". The entire time he is getting louder and louder and continued to lean over the table, beating on his chest over his heart. I'm thinking, "Oh mercy! Robert get back here now!" He finally leaves. Not without getting into a little screaming patch with his wife saying, "I can't leave the tip, I just gave that lady my last 4 dollars. Damn woman."

After all this, Dustin is like, "Mom give me my money. It's mine. He gave it to you because I'm special needs!" I could've climbed under the table. I'm totally embarrassed. I want to leave. Robert comes back and has no clue what has just passed. Finally when we leave it says, honey you are leaving money on the table. Usually we just put the tip on the debit card with the bill. Dustin once again starts hollering, "It's mine because I'm special needs." For crying out loud.

Last Friday night the kid across the street was home with some friends. He is about 12 or 13 and lives with his sister and her boyfriend. He starts yelling out the window at us playing in the front yard. He is calling Dustin a "retard". Dustin was instantly upset and began crying which made the kid holler other ugly and hateful things. I lost it. I was so angry. I threatened to haul my "fat ass" as he called it, up those stairs and he could call me names to my face. He stopped. Funny part is, he rides the "short bus" to another school.

I hope this in not an indication of things we will have to deal with as the gap between Dustin's actual age and his developmental age grows farther and farther apart. I know it is, but I hate it for him.

Manic Monday . . .

After a fabulously lazy weekend I had a day off today. I decided to run a few errands since my crazy summer at work begins Thursday when the kids get out of school. A few errands turned into about 7 including a visit to the veterinarian for Max, the toy fox terrier mix. He's a pain. I swear he has little dog complex, similar to short man complex. Today, I think he lost half of his fur due to excessive shedding from being nervous. It looked like it was snowing in the office there was so much fur flying around. I had the doc get the vet tech because I refuse to hold down my own dog. He bit her and they had to muzzle him. Nice. I love feeling like a failure as a pet parent too. Although the best part is that now he is traumatized and he is nice a quiet tonight.

The other big thing I accomplished today was getting a money order cashed. No big deal you say? Well, my bird ate 4 of the routing numbers off the check. I took it to the bank and they said they couldn't cash it. So I took it back to the check cashing place that issued it to my renter. They couldn't cash it and gave me a claim form to fill out. It would take 65 days to get my money AND I had to have the receipt. I don't have the receipt and neither did my renter. I spent 40 minutes on hold with the company and they told me it could take 90 days if I did not have the receipt. Finally I got them to give me the routing number and with a little prodding of the bank, and talking to the "higher-ups" they said they would cash it. That could've been an expensive snack for the parrot. . .

By the way, thanks to AWB, or as I now call him Angry White Gramps. He offered AND delivered a full size basketball hoop to our house this weekend for my son. His son obviously discovered girls and cars as he grew older and abandoned the hoop. It was nice of him to think of us and offer it for Harrison. I knew you had a soft heart somewhere in there. *wink* By the way, my dog ran right over and peed on it, he must read your blog too. LOL