Martin Family Adventure

Heading out to pick up my girl-child tomorrow

My girl-child is in the front row, middle one sitting on the chairs. That's her mission trip team right before they headed out on the road to their project in Indiana at the beginning of July.

It's hard to believe that I'm leaving again tomorrow to make the trip back down to Florida to pick up my girl-child from her missions trip. I headed out on June 26th to bring her down and the time since then has gone by SO fast! I thought the time without her at the house would drag by but I don't know where it's all gone. 

We've gotten a bunch of letters from her over the summer and two phone calls. One was at the beginning of July and for 10 min. The other was Monday night and that was only for 5 min. She said that she's had an awesome summer but she's ready to come home. Five weeks away from home for a 12-year old is a long time, but she's done so well! We'll stick around in Florida until the 8th so by the time she comes home, it will be a total of 6 weeks that she's been gone. 

(Girly is the one in the middle row, on the left, with the purple shirt on - her eyes are closed...doesn't that figure? This is her team picture at the beginning of Boot Camp.)

We got a letter from her recently with all the things she wants me to bring to Florida for her. To be fair, I did ask her to send me a letter letting me know what she wanted to bring because they had a no-shorts and boots only policy so I knew she was going to want shorts and flip flops. Here's the letter that I got:

Dear Mom,

This is what I need you to bring when you come to Florida:

Shorts - all of them!

Capris - all of them!

Underwear * Eyeshadow

face cream * pimple cream

aeropostale t-shirts

more of my t-shirts

colored pencils * another blanket

snake stuffed animal

turquoise sneakers * plaid flip-flops

batteries * toothpaste * conditioner

shampoo * radio * another pillow

One Direction magazine

Love Girly, your favorite daughter!

 

I think she forgets that we have to get all of this AND her duffel bag with all of her mission trip clothes, toiletries, etc. onto a plane and fly it home. 

I went through her drawers and room tonight and I can't find any capris. I only found a few pairs of shorts, I did get some more of her t-shirts, but I have no clue where her other aeropostale t-shirts are.  We're staying in a hotel and at my aunt and uncle's house in Florida so I'm leaving the two pillows and blanket she requested at home. Batteries? I bought her a 16 pack before she left! Granted, Zach took two of them before she left, but still that left her with 14 batteries. What in the world was she trying to power while she was gone? I sent pimple cream in a package to her already (must have crossed in the mail with her letter) and I didn't even know that she wore face cream and wouldn't know where to find it. I can definitely bring the flip-flops and sneakers because I know what it's like to spend a whole summer in the same pair of boots. Radio? What the heck for? We'll be in a hotel that has a pool and we'll have a rental car with a radio. Nope, that's staying home. I might be able to stuff the 3-foot long stuffed snake in her bag, we'll see tomorrow morning. I sent her with a gagillion colored pencils. I wonder what she did with them? She took every last one we had in the house. The toothpaste, shampoo, and conditioner I can understand. 

Her list just cracks me up. 

See that big pile behind her and next to her? That was her duffle bag packed up beneath her bedding and pillow. Next to her are the sheets she brought plus the bucket with all her laundry and toiletry stuff, as well as the air mattress pump. This was all her luggage at the beginning of her adventure. That's what I have to get home in one duffel bag. The rest of her stuff is going to have to stay in a carry on. That's just the way it is. :) 

I'm so anxious to see her. The house has been so quiet with her gone. I think it's been a wonderful opportunity for Girly and Zach to be apart this summer and do their own thing, but  it's definitely time to have our family back together. I'm wondering if she had a growth spurt and grew a couple inches while she was gone. Her hair will be a little longer. She's going to seem SO grown up! 

Gosh, I love this kid! Can't wait to see her on Saturday morning! (This was taken the day she registered at Boot Camp.)

My niece is coming along for the trip and she misses her cousin. The two girls are only 6 months apart and have grown up very close to each other. This is going to be a nice trip for the two of them to take before they come home and start middle school at the end of the month. 

While I'm in Florida, I'm also going to be able to meet my friend, Bethany, who I have known online for many years and have mutual friends with. I'm also excited to be meeting up at the beach with my buddy, Anna, and her two girls. Anna moved from the east coast to the west coast at the end of last year and I didn't think I'd be seeing her again any time soon. I was thrilled to realize that we're both going to be in Florida at the same time. I'm also getting to spend time with my grandmother, who I haven't seen in two years (though it doesn't feel that long because we talk to each other every week on the phone). This is going to be an amazing trip! I might even make another zine about it like I did with the last road trip down. 

I'm not sure how much I'll get to blog while I'm away since I don't have a laptop (only my cell phone), but I'll definitely be posting pictures and stories when I get back. 

A big adventure for a 12 year old

It's crazy to think that in just 17 hours, the girl-child and I will be on the road with friends for the long 24 hour straight shot drive down to Merritt Island, Florida. Girly is taking part in a 5-week missions trip with Teen Missions International.  She will start out in Boot Camp for a week and then head off to her project site in Indiana. I'll be heading back down to Florida to pick her up the first week of August and we'll be staying, along with my niece, for 4 more days to take in some lazy beach time before heading back home.

This is quite an adventure for our 12 year old. She went away last summer for a week of camp and then for a week in Rhode Island on my parents' boat, but this is 6 weeks away from home and 5 of those will be with the mission team and with no phone calls allowed home. We'll have to communicate the old fashioned way - snail mail. I spent about an hour addressing, labeling, stuffing, and adhering stamps to about 60 envelopes so that she can simply pull out the paper and write letters home. I've already sent off a letter to her in Florida to make sure that she has something to read when she gets there. As I sat writing her first letter, I thought of my mom sitting at home 21 years ago writing letters to me as I took my first trip with Teen Missions to Uganda, Africa when I was 14 years old. 

While at Boot Camp, the kids aren't allowed any junk food but as soon as they are done and on their way to their project site, they can have goodies. I stopped at the discount food store and stocked up on her favorite goodies and juice pouches so that she'd have something to snack on and share with her team members on the drive to Indiana. Since I took the picture above, we added a few more items to her stash and had to find a bigger box to put it all in. I had to chuckle at the Depends Undergarments box that we fit it all into. I don't even know how we ended up with that box in our collection, but I hope it will give some laughs along the way on her trip. 

On Friday of last week, one of Girly's best friends threw a surprise going-away party for her at the state park. One of the games they played was trying to get Oreo cookes down their face and into their mouth without using their hands. This picture cracks me up. She has such amazing friends that I know she'll miss this summer and they'll miss her, but she has a lot to look forward to when she gets home. She'll be going on the church's youth group camp-out the weekend after she gets back and then she starts middle school at the end of August.  

Getting ready to take her on this journey and get her started off on her big adventure makes me realize how much she's growing up and that, as a parent, I'm constantly in a state of learning to let go. It's so amazing watching her grow into herself and there are time when I really think I can see those wings sprouting and spreading. 

A day of misadventures

Today has been morphing into a day of misadventures. 

Here's a conversation that transpired between Zach and I this morning (very reminiscent of yesterday's coversation):

Zach: Mom have you washed those spoons yet?

Me: No, not yet. I'm planning to get to that sometime today. 

Zach: Those dishes have been there for at least two day or maybe months! 

Me: Zach, they've only been there for a day. 

Zach: Then when am I going to get a clean spoon?

Me: When you wash one for yourself. 

Zach: I told you yesterday to get your butt out there and wash them. 

Me: And I told you yesterday that you can wash them yourself and not to talk to me that way. If you're so impatient, then would you like to wash the dishes for me?

Zach: No!

Me: Then be more patient and show some more respect.

Zach: I'm sorry, Mom.

Erika: I forgive you.

Zach: Thank you, Mom.

Me: You're welcome, Zach.

Zach: I love you, Mom.

Me: I love you, too. 

For the record, I finally did get to the dishes today after heating up a couple pots of water on the stove. Before I got to that, though, Zach washed his own spoon. 

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I finally told Girly that she was not wearing her pair of jean shorts for another day longer and that she needed to take them off and put them in the washer. They could have walked there on their own, they were that nasty. She put up a fuss about it, but I won in the end. I told her to wash up and get another pair of undies and shorts on. She insisted that she had no other shorts to wear, which I knew to be bull-kaka because I had just washed and folded a bunch of shorts that I made for her earlier in the summer. Right now, though, she's on a jean shorts kick. She brought out another pair of jeans for me and asked me to cut them down to make shorts. I told her I would deal with it later today. She put up a fit and insisted she was going to cut them down herself. I told her that if she did, I wasn't going to hem them for her. She insisted that she could do it herself since she has her own sewing machine and knows how to sew. 

She laid her pants on the floor of my craft studio and was about to cut them herself. WITH A ROTARY CUTTER AND NO MAT! Yes, she was going to use my berber carpet as a cutting mat with a wicked sharp rotary cutter. I had to invoke the threat of calling Dad at work just to get her to stop. So, what does she do? Throws the jeans on my craft table and also throws the rotary cutter. The saying, "don't throw scissors" also covers any other cutting tool, including rotary cutters. 

She yelled at me and I sent her to her room. She came out a little bit later with a pair of capris on and crying because she felt so bad for the way she treated me. She hugged me and apologized. It's nice to know that time outs actually work and that she's thinking through her actions and making things right. See? There's no need for violent parenting. 

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Back to Zach, he asked me this morning if he could climb on the roof of the house. I told him, "Absolutely not!" A little bit later, I hear my neice yelling to me, "Zach is walking on the house!"

Yup, I go outside and Zach is walzing back and forth across the roof of the house. Apparently, he only heard the word, "Absolutely," and didn't hear the "not!"

I told him to "GET DOWN FROM THERE! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU THINKING? WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU?"

He said, "Oh, Mom, that was SOOOOOO COOOOOOOOOL!"

*bangs my forehead with my hand*

After we talked about the consequences of walking on the roof and explaining that Dad is only allowed to because he's careful, has experience and he was up there to fix something, he ended up with a time-out in his room. 

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My niece and nephew are here for the day while my sister is at work. They love the trampoline and so do the neighbor's grandkids. They usually play nice together, but I had to go out and have a talk with my neighbor's granddaughter, explaining to her that, "No, you can't kick Hannah in the crotch on purpose." She promptly through a 6-year old temper tantrum and told me that she was going home forever. I just replied, "Okay." Really, what else was I supposed to say? She offered!

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Speaking of the neighbor's granddaughter, she was outside a bit later and eating an orange. She asked Zach if he wanted part of it. He said yes and she handed it to him and he quickly rolled it across the street and into the ditch on the other side of the road. 

I got a knock on my door telling me all of this, so I handed a replacement orange to her and then called Zach to me so that I could ask him what was going on. His answer?

"She asked me if I wanted some and I told her yes, but I was really kidding and just wanted to roll it across the street."

It was an honest answer, but then he had to give an honest apology. 

That's when I realized he hadn't yet had his Concerta for the morning. 

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And to think that all of this happened before 10 am. The day is still young so I guess it's not really a "day of misadventures," it's only been a morning of misadventures......*sigh.* There's still another 8 or so hours to go. 

Not sure what goes through their heads

I really wonder what goes through the heads of the two little people I live with. 

The other night, Girly told me that her feet really itched. I asked if she got bit by a mosquito on them and she informed me that she was playing "Truth or Dare" with the neighbor's grandson and he dared her to walk through a patch of poison ivy with bare feet. Just like her mother, she's not one to back out of a dare and walked through the patch of poison ivy. I washed her feet and hands down with Technu to get the oils off of her so that it wouldn't spread any further. Did she really think, with the generational curse of poison ivy that we have in our family, that she wasn't going to be affected by it? Really, what was going through her head?

Then there's Zach. Right now, we don't have hot water. The propane ran out and that's the only thing we use propane for. Instead of filling it right now when we need to get our van worked on, Idecided to put it off and we've been without hot water for almost a month now. It's summer and there's always the pool to cool off in (or the lake or nearby streams), I've been heating up a pot of hot water to do dishes as well as for taking "showers." To be honest, I don't even miss it much. It's just become a way of life the past month. 

So, back to Zach. He wanted to eat a bowl of cereal and there were no clean spoons since I didn't get to those yesterday before needing to head out for student orientation at the college last night. He asked if there were any clean spoons and I told him no. He pointed towards the kitchen and said, "Then get your butt in the kitchen and wash some!" 

Oh yes, he said it. My response was to tell him that he could get his own butt in the kitchen and wash his own spoon and to show me some respect next time. Considering that he has no filter and there's autism at play, I don't get too worked up over things like this, but channel him in the other direction. Even with Girly, I try not to freak out too much. Hey, they're kids. They're still learning the ropes. I get to help with that while they're still living at home. 

Last week, Zach asked me, "Hey, Mom. What if we were all born with our butts on our head?" I wanted to answer, "Then we'd all be butt-heads," but I figured I didn't need to give him any more ammo in his language arsenal. He said, "We'd all have to put our whole heads in the toilet just to poop!" I have a vivid imagination and I started laughing just imagining it. How does this stuff go through his head?

Art adventures in the front yard

I recently had a small art camp here at the house and even though there were only 3 children (including Girly), we all had a blast! We mostly worked on canvas but the girls were having so much fun and were finishing their projects so quickly that I was able to add some extra projects into the class. 

One of the girls asked if we could do splatter painting and I thought, why not? I gave each of the kids a big cut of multi-purpose cloth (it feels like canvas) and set them up in the front yard.

We watered down a rainbow of acrylic paints and used all sorts of brush sizes and then the splattering began. It was so fun to watch them come up with crazy splatter patterns, add more colors, decide which color they needed next. 

The girls even painted the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet to add a bit more of themselves to the canvases. 

They washed off at the spicket on the back of the house and then we came inside to add "extras" to their canvases - ribbons, fibers, painted bottle caps, fabric shapes and letters and then we added ribbons at the top so they could be hung up at home. 

 

I love how different they all turned out to be. One canvas was hung while it was drying so that the paint could drip down (on the left). The girls were so proud of their creations!

Here's a video that I shot while the girls were splattering:

Lazy summer day adventures down at the river

One of the things that I love about summer is the amount of time that we spend outside. The winter lasts so long here in northern Vermont. I try to spend as much time outside to soak in the sun, the fresh air and the relaxation. Yesterday, my niece and nephew came over for the day, so I took them and my kids to a nearby river for some fun. We were the only ones there. Another couple showed up just as we were leaving. 

Girly and her cousin, Hannah, made and packed the lunches. I brought along a book that I haven't wanted to put down since I started it (Little Princes, if you're interested in a really great and feel-good non-fiction read). Zach brought his nets and jar to catch fish in. It was a relaxing couple of hours and I could have stayed longer. 

Isn't it beautiful? This is tucked on a backroad behind a bunch of brush and trees. You wouldn't even know that it's there unless someone else told you about it. The sound of the water coming over the falls is hypnotic. 

Ethan and Zach were intent on catching the little fish that swam in the shallows. Zach brought along one of his containers to put the fish in to bring them home. 

Zach caught a small brook trout and brought it home and put it in our fish tank. So far, it's doing fine, but the other fish don't seem to like him and they're hiding from him in a corner of the tank. I told Zach that eventually, we're going to have to return Mr. Brook Trout to the river because he's going to get too big for the tank and we don't need him eating the other fish. 

Here's a video that I took while we were there. I find it hilarious that Zach is already telling "fish stories." The brook trout that he caught in the video is supposedly a lot bigger in Zach's mind than it is when you look at it with your eyes. 

The things I find on my camera

The girl-child takes my camera on a daily basis. The rule started out that the kids were not allowed to use it since they tend to break things like that. Another camera was broken by kid-handling and I don't want it to happen again. Sometimes she gets caught in the act, other times I plug the memory card in to upload my photos and I find photos that I didn't expect. Photos like these make me wonder what goes through that child's head. :) 

Let puberty begin!

When I was pregnant with my second child back in 1999, I thought it was so smart to have my kids so close together. They're 13 1/2 months apart. One was born in 1999 and the second arrived in 2000. I figured I could get the diapering over with at the same time and as they grew up, they'd be the best of friends and play together. They'd always have someone close in age to play with. 

Yeah, that didn't work out quite like I planned it. My son was diagnosed with autism when he was a wee little one and didn't get out of diapers until he was 7 years old. My daughter, though a neuro-typical child, refused to potty train because she figured that if her brother could poop and pee in his pants and he was a year old than her, then why couldn't she? It wasn't until around her 4th birthday that she decided she was done pooping and peeing in her diaper and switched over to big girl panties cold turkey. I knew she could do it, she just didn't want to if she didn't have to. She's always been a bit stubborn, that girl-child. One day, I sat down and figured out that with only two children, I put in 11 years worth of diapering - 7 years with the boy-child and 4 years with the girl-child. I know that's not a record or anything, but it was more than I ever thought I would have to do when my wee ones entered the world. 

They also aren't the best of friends. I should have known they'd have the same type of sibling relationship that my sister and I had. We're 15 months apart. Or that my brother and I have. We're 18 months apart. My girl-child and boy-child have the typical sibling relationship of liking each other one minute and not being able to stand each other the next minute. They argue, they know how to push each other's buttons, they will sometimes hit each other. Yup, it's the same way that it was with my siblings, except that I didn't dare swear at my siblings and both of my kids have potty mouths when they get upset with each other. Sure, I thought it when I was their age, but I would have had my mouth washed out with soap if I ever tried that as a child. 

One thing that I didn't think about when I had my kids so close together is that we'd be dealing with a boy-child AND a girl-child going through puberty at the same time. Let me assure you that this is even more challenging than the diapering issue or the sibling rivalry. 

The hormones have definitely started on both fronts and they're manifesting themselves in ways we weren't quite prepared for. 

The boy-child wants to know everything about penises and sex. 

The girl-child wants to argue with absolutely everything we say. 

Zach asked me the other night, "Mom, are there bones in my penis?"

I told him, "No, there aren't any bones in your penis." 

He asked, "Then, is that why it's usually always floppy and squishy?"

I said, "That sounds about right." I mean, what else was I supposed to say? I wanted to laugh, but I've tried not to do that when the kids have legitimate questions about their body parts, puberty, sex, etc. I want them to always feel comfortable asking me questions and talking to me about that kind of stuff. So far, so good. But it doesn't stop my hubby and I from chuckling a bit later on because it IS funny. 

And then there's the girl-child. I was at the store wtih her a couple months ago on a grocery run and I picked a box of tampons off the shelf. I asked her if she knew what they were. She said they were pads, so I corrected her and told her what they were. No embarrassment on her part. That's a good sign. But....what came out next was super funny. 

She said, "You still need those at YOUR age, Mom?"

Um, hello! I'm ONLY 34! I'm the young parent when it comes to her classmates. Most of the parents of her classmates are at least 8 or more years older than me. 

I counteracted that one by telling her that most women need those until they're close to 50, sometimes a few years past that. She responded with, "Oh, crap. That sucks." 

Welcome to puberty, kids. 

Welcome to our adventurous world of OCD and cussing

This is definitely one of those "The Good, Bad and Ugly" posts. Where I let it all hang out.

Some people ask me what a normal day with Zach is like. Well, that depends on what his OCD is focusing on at the time or what autistic quirks are showing themselves at the time. Since his recent "thing" is swearing, that's pretty much what a normal day is like with Zach right now.

I was just going through my video camera on the computer to download videos I wanted to save, make room on the camera and get rid of the ones I didn't want to keep. Every now and then, the kids will take the camera and it's always a surprise to me when I download videos. I get some keepers, for sure.

Here's one that Girly took. She was apparently spying on Zach so that she could bust him and tattle to David with video evidence in hand. Since they're at school right now, I can laugh without them hearing me.

Needless to say, this recent OCD behaviour with the swearing becomes a big issue in school and it's pretty much pointless to tell people in public that this is due to his autism and OCD because I don't always want to be labeling Zach and especially not in front of him. We're working on this, but we're at a loss at the moment. 

You have your fair warning. There's lots of f-bombs (that's his favorite cuss word) and other unsavory words.  In the meantime, welcome to my world! It can be frightening, hilarious, frustrating and rewarding all at the same time.

Never a dull moment in this house

It's been far too long since I've written here. Life is continuously an adventure here in the Martin house. It's not that I lack stuff to write about, but I'm always running around in a million directions so this blog often gets over looked, but no longer. 

My mom (Donna, from Spatuals, Corkscrews & Suitcases) and I talk often on the phone during the week, being that she's in Rhode Island and I'm here in Vermont and we're the best of friends and I hate being away from her. We connect as often as we can on the phone and through email. She's given me the motivation and some ideas for my blog and as she usually does, she made me laugh and snort at the list she gave me. You'll soon see this blog come alive with posts pertaining to that list. You see, she gets to hear the good, bad and ugly of our adventurous life. Most of it is just downright laughable and I don't think most people would believe me if they heard most of the stuff that goes on here, but I'm going to attempt to put it all out there because it's memorable and laugh-worthy. Hey, if it's insane, I might as well share it because then you can feel better about your own life, right? After all, I tell David that's the reason I watch shows like "Keeping up with the Kardashians" (don't judge me!). He says, "How can you watch that show?" I tell him, "Because watching their lives makes me feel like mine is somewhat normal!" 

Speaking of not normal...

Life is never a dull moment in our house. Then again, there never was when I was growing up either. My family lineage is destined to be full of the "crazy." I think that's what keeps many of us feeling so young. I look at myself at 34 years of age and wonder why I don't feel as mature as I should be at this age and now I know why. It's the "crazy" in our family gene pool. It just passes from generation to generation and each suceeding generation seems to get even more of the "crazy." My poor kids. haha!

At the beginning of March, we got dumped with 25 + inches of snow.

The kids didn't have school for two days because of it. Our back door was drifted shut (above). The drifts at the school completely covered the front entrance and went right up to the roof! 

So, what do you do on snow days when you're stuck safe inside? You (the girl-child) build forts in Mom's studio...

And more forts...and then while you're (the boy-child) sticking your tongue out at your sister, the dog sneaks in for a kiss. Blech! Ew! And your sister finds it funny because payback is a beyotch!

And then later on, you both put on bathing suits and fill up the jet tub and pretend it's summer. But the water starts to get cold and I come in and you (the girl-child) say, "Mom, the water was getting cold but now it's warm again." I say, jokingly, "You didn't pee in it, did you?" You giggle and say, "Yeah!" Your brother gets disgusted and says, "Ew, Girly. That's so gross." He squints his face and says, "There, I got you back!" Yes, he peed in the tub, too. ugh. *Sigh*

There are definitely times when I'm so glad that even at 12 and almost 11 years old, you two are still very childlike. But believe me when I tell you that I'm going to be telling these stories when you bright your first dates home.