Disneyland Part IV - OOOPS! No Flash Photography!!

Ok...So I had my camera with me and I was just snapping away in the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and Andy proceeded to remind me that before the ride it was specifically stated that there was NO FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY. And I yell at my kids for their listening skills....

So why let perfectly (or not quite so perfect) good pirate pictures go to waste? ;)

Disneyland Part III - Characters

On the Saturday morning that we were in Disneyland we went ahead and did the "Character Breakfast" or I think the buttons the kids are wearing says it's "Breakfast with Minnie and Friends". Basically, it was a buffet of breakfast foods and many of the characters were guaranteed to be around for picture taking and autograph book signing. It's not cheap, (if I remember the prices I will post them) but in the end it was totally worth it. Especially for my kids, since wandering around the park for hours just to find all the characters was just not an option.

Gotta love the dayglo Tigger!! :)

When I get a chance.....I will scan the autograph books to show you Chip -n- Dale's signatures. They are very cute, especially Dale's because on his signature because somehow he incorporated his buck teeth into the signature!

My children's favorite character by far was Goofy. But that will warrant it's own separate post since there are plenty of pics and a few stories as well! And no, Mickey wasn't at the breakfast. We saw him but the line was so long that the kids didn't bother with pics or and autograph.

Disneyland -Part II--The Pixar Parade

Just because it was so cute.....


My kids loved this parade (and I admit, so did I!). It was very sweet and had all the "modern" Disney figures that my kids know and love. (I forgot to mention, the Pixar Parade is over in Disney's California Adventure) The selling point of course was the fact that "Lightning McQueen" and "Mater" were in it!



Of course they both liked the "Bug's Life" characters, even though they still haven't seen the movie! Don't worry....I think we are going to correct that situation this weekend.





And the gratuitous shot of how my children often made their way back to our hotel room. You are not one bit surprised, are you?

Disneyland - Part I

So it's probably going to take me forever to get some of these pictures posted but I will try my best!

These first couple of pics were taken the first day we were there. The only reason the carousel was an option at this point was because Matthew had not had a taste of the other rides. Once he started in on Space Mountain and Splash Mountain....there was no turning back!

Teacups again .....and there would be many more times. It was Mason's favorite!

Alice in Wonderland.....the kids enjoyed this. Andy was entertained in the fact that he figured this ride really would have been fun in college. And probably under an herbal influence as well!

Stay tuned for more.... ;)

Oh No...Critter Trauma

So I hadn't planned on this post either but....tonight I just spent an hour trying to comfort Mason during bedtime. He brought home another stuffed animal from preschool this week and this time it was Charlie the dog. For whatever reason, Mason has gotten extremely attached to this critter! I think some of it is Mason seems to be a 'dog' person. He loves them, real and otherwise. And Charlie has spent every one of Mason's waking moments with him. So tonight when it was time for bed, Mason started talking about how he was going to miss Charlie. And pretty soon it turned into tears, and then to downright sobbing. Sobbing! And just when I would think I had him calmed down, he would start sobbing again. oh boy..... he seems to have become really attached to this animal and understands (and I mean really understands)

that he has to give Charlie back. He even went so far as to inform me that he wasn't going to school tomorrow. In his mind it means that if he doesn't go to school, he doesn't have to give up Charlie. I can't blame the boy for trying! By the time I had him calmed down and he had been silent for awhile, he turned to me and said "I love you mommy". Yes, insert "awwww" here! And then about ten seconds later, he was playing with my hair and said to me "I love your curls too"! So very sweet......

You Have Come A Long Way Baby

I promise I will get around to a post on our trip to Disneyland! However, first I need to do a Matthew post.

Let me start by saying Matthew has had a great school year. I mean, fantastic! No real problems in the classroom, academically is right on target, has finally discovered that reading can be really cool, and that math and science is even cooler!! He loves his teacher and so do we, he has adjusted to first grade amazingly well, and socially has made friends on his own without intervention from me. He can follow/contribute to conversations, can understand and partake in other imaginary play with other kids, isn't intimidated to join in pretend play with his peers, and actually understands very well when directions are explained by his teacher.

So in October, we visited his doctor for his Asperger issues (she is actually a developmental pediatrician) and after evaluating him, she pretty much said that he now is much more 'neurotypically normal' and that unless we had some specific problems in the future, we didn't have to come back. She cautioned that it is possible in the future (maybe 3rd-4th grade ish) that a learning disability could come into play but she said at this point he is behaviorally normal. Which was really good to hear! So in the last couple of weeks I have met with the school speech therapist with whom Matthew had been working with as according to his IEP (individualized educational program, kids with disabilities get these for help in their education) and we decided to do a review/re-evaluation of his skills. Basically, this meant I refilled out some paperwork regarding his behavior and the school psychologist and speech therapist had to do different observations of Matthew to see how he behaved in various school settings.

So yesterday, we finally had the meeting to go over what the observations/findings were and to sum it up.....he is out. He doesn't need services, he doesn't need the IEP anymore, he has very little that is socially abnormal. In fact, it was a very short meeting (under 1/2 an hour!) and his teacher (who was there) laughingly said it was one of the more enjoyable ones she has been to! I was pleased to say the least. And I commented to her that I was almost laughing filling out the questionnaire because almost all the questions were "NO" when three years ago so many of them were "YES". As in yes, we observe this behavior and this behavior etc. It was just amazing to me because so many of those questions totally pertained to Matthew three years ago and now don't even relate at all. There are a few tendencies, he can still be sensitive to some noise, he still often takes things quite literally. His Doctor actually said she really believes most of these things are due to his natural temperament (Andy has a few similar traits as well!). But he has also learned to read facial expressions and understand emotions of others. He has learned empathy and can relate to how other peers may feel about things.

Andy and I are so incredibly proud of how far he has come. To the child who often left me in tears of exasperation to the kid that seems to have very little fear in him at all. The future is looking very bright indeed!

Oh Dear.....

I don't know what is up with today, but I keep coming across interesting/entertaining/disturbing concepts. Must be because I have been stuck at home with a kid who isn't feeling well (Matthew). I believe these links fall under the category of "If You are easily offended, do not click here and here". I honestly thought I had seen it all until today.... and yes, I do read Perez Hilton! ;) (I swear it's the Internet version of the Enquirer!)

And They Will Continue To Be Monkeys....

Mason brought home "Buttercup" the bunny for a visit this week. (Don't worry....a stuffed animal...not real!)

He also took Buttercup with him when he went to a playdate at Clara's house. As expected, it was all "monkey see, monkey do"! :)

Did you notice that even Buttercup is upside down on her head? ;)

Buttercup was also included in on a little game of "torture the kitty"!

What's Playing in My Kitchen

So I haven't done a music post in awhile and I figured it was time. I actually have been thinking on it for about a week and then today Sarah inspired me! So this is what has been playing on my Ipod in the kitchen lately. Or "kitchen music" as my kids sometimes call it! ;)

1) "Wake Up Call" Maroon 5 -- kinda dark yet kinda fun.

2) "Falling Down" Duran Duran -- Oh how I loved them as a teenager. I haven't listened to the rest of the album yet but this song reminds me very little of D2 of the past. And that's ok! :)

3) "Burning Down the House" Talking Heads -- Couldn't stand them when this was popular. Must be my own aging process because I am now totally loving the danceability of this now!

4) "Road to Nowhere" Talking Heads -- I had to mention this one because if you listen to the beat and then listen to Keith Urban's "I told You So" there is some similarity. Perhaps KU was inspired?

5) "Crushcrushcrush" Paramore -- Their songs are good for running/walking to.

6) "Don't Stop the Music" Rihanna -- Another good walk/run song ...mama say mama saw mamacousaw (ok, don't know how to spell it, but love the Micheal Jackson sample!)

7) "Left of Center" Suzanne Vega -- I hadn't heard this in years but was glad to be reminded how good this is.

8) "We Both Go Down Together" The Decemberists -- I love their music, such great storytelling....it's like musical books.

9) "Parallel" Bad Religion -- I just go with it....I seem to always need some Bad Religion!

10) "It's Oh So Quiet" Bjork -- Reminds me of show/dance tunes

11) "California Dreamin" The Mamas and The Papas -- Can't explain....I always kinda liked them!

12) "The State of Massachusetts" Dropkick Murphys -- Ok so I am currently having a serious love affair with this group! Pure genius with the melding of celtic and punk.

13) "I Think I'm Paranoid" Garbage -- I still like them... and here is to hoping they release more music. Of course they could totally have something in the works and I can be clueless to the fact!

And a couple of other mentions: on myspace there is a band called The Seedy Seeds. They are very cool and occasionally I get on there and listen to them. They aren't on Itunes but you can listen here. And something else.... I have been slow to jump onto the "Captain Bogg & Salty" train but recently I downloaded their music and I really like it! Did you know they are on myspace as well? Check it out here.

The Chaos of the Egg Hunt

This video is borderline nauseating.....the chaos of children (and there were only three of them hunting!) finding egg treasure is enough to make me dizzy. And not in a good way..... ;)

However, it is cute to watch their expressions of excitement.....especially Mason!