The ASA - Autism Society of America - is having an online art exhibit. They are encouraging us to upload any images done by someone on the spectrum. The link below takes you to the online exhibit in case you want to check it out.

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=art_exhibit

Earlier today I was heating something up in the microwave and had two minutes, thirty seconds. I told Deklan I had to go to the bathroom and asked if he thought I had enough time. He said go mom - you can beat it. Then he came in the bathroom and started saying, "Mom! Mom! Mom! I'm cheering for you. Mom! Mom! Mom!"

Isn't that sweet?

Before that I was wearing lipstick and kissed him. He wiped the lipstick off and said, "I wipe the lipstick off but it just rubs the kiss in more."

Deklan was in a very loving mood today. He kept hugging and kissing me. He said, "There's a magnet that goes from my heart to yours."

Ok - so I took the day off from being mommy yesterday. I felt much better when I went to bed last night too.
Anyway, Deklan just asked me, "You know you weren't a mommy yesterday, are you a mommy today?"
I said, "What do you want?"
He said, "Salt." (He was eating an apple.)
So I got up to get the salt and said, "What would you do if I weren't a mommy today?"
He said, "Ask somebody else to get the salt."

HowManyOfMe.com

There are 2 or fewer people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Thanks to Bobbi (Mixed Blessings) who got the link from Mother Hubbards cupboards.

I am a HORRIBLE person!

There, I said it. Have you ever thought that you really don't want to be a mommy anymore? I love my kids more than anything, but sometimes the Autism (Deklan), the ADHD (Dakota), and the jealousy (Hayleigh) are just more than I can handle. So today I took the day off from being the mommy.

The last two nights both of my girls had sleepovers away from home. Deklan has been horrible to get to bed. Actually he was fine getting to bed - as long as it was my bed. I have to move him to a different bed in order for me to sleep. Right now he happens to be sleeping on the spare bed in my daughters' room. I put him to bed and he said he was thirsty. I got him something to drink but it wasn't right. Then it was right but he wasn't thirsty anymore. Then he was scared. Then he was... Last night I actually slept with him for nearly an hour - long enough to make sure he was really asleep. I already have a sleeping disorder and he is making me so frustrated. I was diagnosed with Circadian rythem sleep disorder last year. Basically, it's kind of like my internal clock is mixed up. Since I have kids home I can't sleep during the day all day. Sometimes I'm able to get in a nap. Anyway, when I do get sleepy I need to sleep right then, otherwise it's like I miss my opportunity and I become too tired to sleep. His night time fits have really irritated me. Not just at night either. All his fits are beginning to get to me. And he's started having accidents in his pants again. That really bothers me - he'll be 6 in a month and he'll start 1st grade before that.

Anyway, this afternoon I decided I was taking the day off from being a mommy. I told Deklan that I was not a mommy today. I told him that he could ask daddy for whatever he needed. He thought that was kind of funny. Later I told him to do something then said, "Well, if I were a mommy today I would tell you to do that."
He said, "Yeah, but you're not being a mommy today remember."

So am I the only person who ever just wanted to take a day off from their regular life?

So Deklan fell a couple of days ago and hurt his big toe. The skin was actually pulled away in a little chunk and there was blood around the nail. I'm not good with blood so I'm sure it's not as bad as it sounds. Anyway, he stumped the same toe again and caused it to bleed again. I wanted to clean it but he wouldn't let me touch it - no water, no washrag, no bandaid, no touchy. So I said I'd call the doctor and see what he suggested to use to clean it. He thought that was a fine idea - he was even ok with going to see the doctor.
He said, "I want to go to the doctor but don't let him cut my toe off ok."

Today is my birthday. I'm 34 in case you are wondering. I didn't mention it to my family - figured they should remember. Guess what? They actually did. Of course the first call this morning was from my mom - I knew she wouldn't forget. My kids remembered when they were talking about going swimming on Sunday and realized today was Saturday. But the biggest surprise was that my husband actually remembered - and got me something. We don't have a lot of money and he usually uses that as an excuse. This time though he bought me candy. Not just any candy - FUDGE! I love fudge.

Another Deklanism before I go.

A good friend of mine and I were pregnant at the same time. My son is 6 weeks older than her daughter. Deklan and Kelsea have always been "boyfriend and girlfriend." Deklan is true to her. (I think Kelsea is a little more fickle - you know, out of sight out of mind kind of thing.) He has always said that Kelsea is his girlfriend and they are going to get married someday. I tried explaining that some things change as we get older. He doesn't believe it's so and I quit trying to convince him. Let's just cross that bridge if we ever come to it. Anyway, we found out that my friend is now pregnant with twins after nearly 5 years of trying. Our kids will be 6 in August and October. Anyway, I was telling them that "Aunt" was pregnant.
Deklan exclaims with sheer excitement, "Oh, you mean my girlfriend is going to be a sister!"

I love taking pictures. Especially of clouds and nature. I'm not especially good at it, but I enjoy it all the same.

This picture was taken somewhere around Alamosa, Colorado on July 5th.

This picture was taken in Englewood, Colorado on the 4th of July.
This picture was taken as we were leaving Colorado and heading home to Kansas. Not sure exactly where we were at the time - somewhere along I-70. The view is actually a mirror view - I took the picture while looking in my driver's side mirror.

These pictures were taken in Garden City, Kansas on June 25.

These next two pictures fascinate me. I said they look like cotton balls I could just pluck out of the sky. Deklan said, "I think they look like little butts."

This was taken on June 26th.

This was also taken on June 26th at the Garden City Zoo. This is the bottom of a man-made water fall. I liked the way the water looked - kind of like a small rushing river.

Also taken at the zoo. It's a picture of a dragon fly.

Thanks for letting me share.

I Love...

My hubby.
My apartment.
My bed.
My little bitty town.
My computer.

We are finally home. We were in Aurora, Colorado - a suburb of Denver. We actually came back on Friday the 10th. We had enough of being away from home for so long. We weren't supposed to come back until early this past week but we were so ready to be home. We left about 3 in the afternoon and arrived home about 1 a.m. We used to live in Aurora before moving to Kansas. I didn't realize how much I really don't like Denver anymore. It takes all day to get somewhere just to spend 20 minutes before turning around and going back. Ok - maybe a slight exaggeration, but not much.

Things just didn't seem the same - I guess they never really are once a person moves away. I had one friend that really took the time to spend time with me. The rest just had to work me into their schedules - even though they were fully aware that the kids and I were going to be there. Granted we were gone for quite a few weeks and I was probably at my breaking point anyway, but I really don't know if I'll take my summer and visit them again. At least not next year. The important thing is that the kids and I enjoyed most of our time away. We took a couple of days and went to the mountains. I reconnected with a couple of friends that I really haven't seen since high school (1992). That was fun - awkward, but fun. Anyway, I'm back and I have a couple of "Deklanisms" to share with you.

One being...
We stayed with a friend that has a really nice, large house. I asked Deklan if he thought we should get a house like that. (I really have no intention of moving and love my apartment.) Anyway, here's his idea of what our next house should be.
1. It should be a flower painted house. (I'm not sure exactly what he has in mind but that scares me!)
2. It should have a gate for the backyard and should come with a dog run.
3. It should have so much dirt so we can plant flowers. (I don't have a green thumb by any means.)
4. It should come with 4 bedrooms so the dog can have her own room. I asked what about the girls (they currently share a room). He said, "Hmmm... you're right - only 3 bedrooms." (Apparently the girls don't need a room of their own and the dog can share with them.)
5. It should have 14 windows.
6. It should have 3 elevators because it should be 5 stories up and have 20 doors because there's only going to be 5 bathrooms. (I guess that's one bathroom per floor.)
7. Make it come with an Xbox and a Wii - only one of each though.
8. It should have 20 - no, 21 - clocks. (Can you tell I'm always running late?)
9. Make it come with a limo and more than $100 dollars and 2 comfy couches.
10. It should have 48 trash cans. (I asked, "You think we have a lot of trash?" He said, "Yeeaah!"
11. It should have pictures of "our band" on the wall. (Right now our band is Big and Rich.)
12. For the 3 bedrooms - 1 is big, 1 is medium, and another 1 is medium.
13. It should have 100 packs of pens and 100 cars - blue, but not toy cars. (100 packs of pens and I probably still couldn't find one when I needed it.)
14. He said, "What about let's buy furniture at Big Lots?" (Umm.. ok.)
15. A set of CD's - Rascal Flats, more Big and Rich (although I think we have all of their CD's) and "I don't know what else."
16. "How about it comes with food?" (I asked what kind of food.) Spaghetti, chicken noodle soup, asparagus (yes, he likes asparagus), chicken, green beans, peanut butter, jelly, bread to go with the peanut butter and jelly, bologna, and Miracle Whip.
17. It should have fly swatters and 28 lamps.
18. It should come with bottles and cups. Bottles like the ones with straws that don't come out and cups that you just suck (tip and sip cups). (He likes no-spill cups with lids.)
19. It should come with bones for the dog.
And, I swear this is really what he said...
20. Probably a replacement for Hayleigh - but not a monkey.