He's famous . . .

Some of you may remember, back on May 4th our family was at a picnic during the primary season that Senator Obama and his family were attending. Our family was chosen to sit with the Obama's within the "line of sight of the cameras" in a highly covered primary visit just 2 days before the Indiana primary. We were blessed to be chosen and even more excited that Senator Obama came and sat with our family and asked, "What can I do as president that would impact your family?" During this time, he asked if Robert would like a picture with him and as they were posing, Harrison ran over and barely able to withhold his excitement, hugged the Senator's legs. Barack reached down and picked Harrison up. Harrison was so thrilled that the explosive joy on his face was adorable. When Obama smiled, I heard about 50 press cameras behind me going off. I expected to see Harrison's picture in a newspaper that next day. No such luck.

Fast forward to today . . . Our kindergarten class at daycare was getting ready to take a look at their Weekly Reader magazine. It was, of course, an issue on the election. Our kindergarten aide opened it up and she sprinted to my office. She came in waving it in excitement. "Sheri, you've seen this right?" I had no idea what she was talking about. I opened the magazine and on the inside was one side of the layout devoted to Senator McCain and one to Senator Obama. The photo of Obama was the one where he was holding Harrison!






It was obviously taken at the same time as the photo I took, but was definitely from behind me a little higher. It is credited as "Obama with boy - AP image".

I was shocked and like any crazy mother I cried! And you should've seen his face when he got off the bus and I showed him his picture. He just beemed! A lucky boy indeed . . . a picture with our future president and in a national distributed magazine. I called Weekly Reader and asked them to send me a few and they are sending me a poster. Cool!

Wooohooo, tattoo. . .

We had a fabulous time at New Republic Tattoo today. I had to go first or else I was afraid I would not go through with it. I was so terribly nervous. Once I saw the design he did, I felt so much better and after the initial zap! I was good. Donny is wonderful and he did a great job making me feel comfortable. He did an AWESOME job on Robert's tattoo as well. At first without the shading it really looked like Harry Potter! LOL Watching the shading and seeing the face come alive was amazing! We are both terribly pleased.

Car talk . . .

Me: Harrison, tell me about this picture you drew at school on Friday.

H: It's a picture of a lady who is singing opera and a guy throws an army grenade at her and there are 6 blood splats.

Me: Oh, nice. Did you do this in school?

H: Yep. It was free drawing time in art. I can draw whatever I want.

Me: I'm surprised. Maybe "he" shouldn't have thrown a grenade at her.

H: Well, she was binging REALLY bad.

Me: You got me. What if I sang really bad?

H: Maybe, I'd throw a pineapple at your head.

Me: Thanks.

H: No problem.

Daddy's talented . . .

Fall pictures of the kiddos . . .

More pictures over at our family blog.

Go on over and check out my lovelies!

Fall is here. . .

Beauties . . .

My very own saints . . .

I opened an email last night after a pretty crappy day.  Do you know what it was?  It was an invitation for Dustin for a play date.  It was sent Friday.  I have been so crazy lately that I haven't checked my email lately and I was upset I missed it.  I was at a conference all day Saturday and a Robert's day with all three kids could've been much better with a break from Dustin.

I responded hoping that they were up for it on Sunday.  They were!  I woke Sunday morning with a headache that hurt so badly I could've cut an arm off with a rusty paring knife and it would've hurt less.  What a blessing to have a break on a day like today!

They picked up a smiling face at 1:00 and we went over to my moms.  The kids had a blast.  We were able to relax and it was desperately needed.  On the way home McCartney asked to go to the park.  I still had a wicked headache, but I knew I could sit on a bench and enjoy the sun not having to worry abut what Dustin was doing or who he was irritating.  Robert dropped us off and he went home for some alone time.  The kids played and then we walked home.  When we got home, I as greeted by a wonderfully happy, smiling face.

Thanks Marla and Joe and dear sweet Maizie.  You are saints!  You gave us a blessing and know we can face our week brighter and more relaxed.  You rule!

Tee Hee . . .

Thanks to Yondalla's info . . . my son is on the Yes We Can (hold babies) blog!  Even though you have seen the picture before check him out!  And the site is too stinkin' cute anyway!

Anyone, Anyone? . . .

Anyone out there have anger pee-rs.  Dustin has been in a very rotten mode lately.  He is angry and foul most of the time.  He is disagreeable and has run out of the house on more than one occasions lately.  A week or so ago I thought the upstairs bathroom smelled badly.  I figured with 3 males in the house it must just be time to clean the toilet and surrounding floor.  I did.  It was still smelly. 

I wash my hair every morning because I shower before bed and when I get up in the morning I look like medusa.  I went to move the towel that I hang over the tub side and it was wet.  It smelled like urine.  I leaned down into the tub and there was a river of really smelly pee in the tub.  (Dustin's urine is FOUL due to some of the meds he takes)  I freaked out then woke Dustin up.  I had Dustin clean the tub out and told him needs to use the toilet, yada yada, yada.  (welcome to the world of FAS)

I am astounded that the dog has had 2 accidents on the bathroom floor this week.  I am tired of washing the bathroom rug.  Tonight I walk into the bathroom find another dog accident and then get in the shower and turn the water on.  It begins to really smell foul.  I realize he has been pee-ing in the shower now.  ARGH!  I call him in the bathroom and ask him if there is something he wants to tell me.  He says, "I pee on the rug" *gag* and I say anything else?  He says, "I pee in the shower all the time".  I ask the ridiculous mom question, "WHY?"  Here's the fun answers . . . 

Because I couldn't make it to the toilet.

Because their is something wrong with the toilet.

Because the toilet doesn't like me.

Because I like being in trouble.

Because I decided it would be good.

Because I'm bad.

Because I was trying to be good. (the typical Dustin answer)

and finally . . . the truth . . . 

I was trying to be mean to you and dad.  I was angry.

HALLELUJAH.  Truth.  (who other than a parent of a special needs child would be thrilled that their son said they pee in the shower because they  are angry at you as a parent)

Now, what do I do about it?  He is already very rarely unsupervised, am I going to have to watch him pee now too?  Ideas?  Anyone?

And by the way, I made him clean the shower and the floor and it is really sparkly clean.

For inquiring minds . . .

Last night was NOT a breakthrough with Dustin. As soon as I walked in the door with the other kids he was back to the ugliness we have seen lately. Sigh. I was so ready for a peaceful evening. . . enough bitching about that . . .

McCartney has an appointment at the dentist today for a filling. We had one filled last week and it did not go well. Last Wednesday night McCartney started complaining about a toothache. By 9:00 that night she was sobbing. I called the dentist in the morning and he got her in by 1:30. (I love that man) She had a cavity between two molars. Uh-oh. My mom and I have awful teeth. No matter how we care for them, they rot. I am a crazy brush-er and a mad floss-er. I still get cavities all the time. So does my mother. I have a feeling that McCartney inherited our teeth, fortunately she loves the brush her teeth. As he was filling that tooth, he noticed that she needed an identical filling on the others side. Thus the appointment today.

The last appointment did not go swimmingly. She was good about putting the nitrous mask on (which reminded me of a few reckless moments during my college-age years TeeHee) But, it made her a little irritable. She was actually a little belligerent. Not that belligerence isn't common for her, but it was different, a drug induced belligerence. He was all stealthy-like in trying to give her the shot, but as soon as he pulled her cheek back she freaked out and almost bit him. It took 4 or 5 attempts and me and the nurse holding her down to get her numb. Oh, and bribery that I would get her this stupid singing pen that she really wanted from Wal-greens a few days prior. After the shot, it only took about 3 minutes to complete the filling. And, woohoo, the pen was on clearance which made me terribly happy because it was killing me to spend $6.00 on a singing pen! *eyeroll* So, I dread the dentist today, but I will be positive and try not to think about last week when I deal with the darling little Miss McCartney. And . . . I get off work early so BONUS.

Just when I think I am down and out . . .

Dustin was up with smiles this morning and had a fabulous day at school today. You can never figure that boy out. I hope this mood holds tonight and we have some good family time and a peaceful evening.

At my limit . . .

I am at my limit today. Yesterday I spent the day helping mom and stepdad trim the bushes at their two duplex rentals. I worked my tail off for about 6 hours. I am beat. This morning Dustin was in rare form early. I kept telling him to lay back down and rest some more. He refused. I caught him up several times and sent him back to bed. (He CANNOT be left unsupervised, so being up without a parent is absolutely NOT an option.) I caught him up one more time and decided it was time for me to get up. As soon as I walked out of my room, he thought he was in trouble and ran down the stairs and out the front door.

I got dressed in a hurry and headed out the door as well. He was standing one block away in his pajamas hollering at me. As soon as he saw me he took off running down the block. My first instinct is always to not chase him and give him a minute to come back. But for those of you who do not live with FAS have no idea how very impulsive these kids are. When he runs he doesn't look both ways to cross streets, he looks for front doors that are open to run into and he takes off through back yards to the alley. You see our neighborhood has a cross street every block and the main street tends to have speeders. I am always afraid if I don't follow him that he will get taken by someone, ran over or killed. So I ran inside to get my keys. I usually chase him on foot, but I thought maybe I'd scare him this time by getting in the van. I was desperate.

I got in the van and he did initially hesitate, shocked to see me in the van. But it didn't last and he took off through a backyard. I told him that I would have to call the police if I lost sight of him and he came back to the main sidewalk. But that was short lived as well and he took off again. I bluffed and told him I was going home and I expected him to come back in 2 minutes. I did actually drive around the bloc k and back home, but he was not fooled. He continued to stand on the sidewalk hollering about how horrible I was. I was seeing red by this point and got back into the van, went down the block, parked and grabbed him before his shocked little face could even register that I was so flaming mad!

I am beyond done. I cannot do this all fall. This is traditionally a BAD time of year for Dustin and it has lasted through the new year and I just don;t think I have it in me to do this for that long. I am defeated and down-hearted right now. I feel like i have been run over by a tractor and smashed into the ground. I hate looking at my child and seeing red. I hate looking at my child and knowing there is NOTHING I can do to make this better in a timely fashion. I hate the whining and the crying and the defiance. I hate this disorder. I hate his mother for drinking while he was supposed to be safe and warm inside of her. I am sorry, but I do. I hate this right now and I hate myself for hating her.

You may now return to your scheduled programming . . .

New pics . . .

A few new pictures have been uploaded at our family site.  Here's a sneak peek . . .

That's my boy . . .

Tonight I headed to Lowes with Dustin and McCartney.  When I left the house I told Harrison that he needed to blog.  He asked me what he should blog, I said, "anything you want."  He replied, "I think I'll blog about who people should vote for."  When I came home he was beaming . . . the entire post was his own words.

Go check it out . . . keep in mind he is 6.