Not A Whole Lot Changes in Ten Years

Tonight we spent some family time watching home movies from our family vacation to Colorado, Utah and Yellowstone in 2001.  It never ceases to amaze me how little my kids have changed in the ten years that have passed since that favorite trip.  Yes, they have definitely matured during that time – but their personalities are much the same. 

Greg was the narrator for much of the video.  I’m still surprised by how much of a Southern accent he had back then.  I guess I never really noticed it as he was growing up, but boy was it obvious in retrospect!  He still speaks quite slowly; he was a little embarrassed watching, probably because his girlfriend was enjoying the home movies along with us – but I thought it was cute.  It’s just part of what makes him Greg and yet another thing to love about him.   You could tell he felt important because he was given the responsibility of taking the video.  He was sure to tell us what amazing sights we were looking at and would zoom in on the names of the various geysers, springs and mudpots in Yellowstone.  I’m grateful he provided those important aspects, so that now, 10 years later, we would know what we were looking at!   He was the obvious oldest child – reprimanding a younger sibling for saying something silly, hiking in the hundred something degree heat through Arches National Park with his 1 year old brother on his back, complimenting me by taking a picture of me and mentioning my weight loss – yes, I was struggling with weight even back then. 

Then there was Mark!  Questions, questions, and more questions!  Obnoxious noises followed by even more questions.  His dad repeating the same thing over and over and over again to him, until he finally complied.  Let’s see: spitting in the hot springs to see if his spit would boil; taking a stick and “writing” in these bacterial deposits in Yellowstone, despite signs warning to leave the natural habitat undisturbed!  Curious and destructive!  Hmmmm,  wonder how New York City and its inhabitants are faring!  But I love him like crazy and miss him terribly right now.

Lindsay was the boss, well kind of. I think she and Mike were competing for that job.   Should I be even slightly surprised?  She wasn’t bossy in a mean sort of way, which did actually surprise me a little.  She would just tell people what they were supposed to be doing.  Ummm, she still does that.  She was tough as nails, doing whatever her big brothers were attempting, but there she was playing with the little ones and making sure they were safe!  That’s my Lindz!  Gotta love her too! And something else that I noticed – she was almost always with me – when she wasn’t doing some kind of daredevil thing, that is. That kind of surprised me and made me smile just a little.  Maybe she didn't really mind being with me as much as I might have thought.  

  

Then Todd . . . thinking that he was as big as the others, following in their literal footsteps; showing that he WAS bigger than Thomas – taunting and teasing just a little.  Hmmmmmm. . . .     Throwing a big rock at Mark, crying when he didn’t get his way – I should explain that he was only 4!  Well, that still doesn’t explain the rock.  But cute, with a sensitive side that teared up very easily.  And Patiently holding out a Cheeto for a groundhog.    Yep, that would be Todd, more patient with animals than with his siblings.    A little bit more challenging – but I love him lots anyway!

Thomas was only about 18 months during that vacation.  He was still so little – but he was so good.  I remember how amazed I was that he tolerated 2 weeks of camping so well and so easily.  My biggest concern was keeping his face and clothes clean so that the bears wouldn’t smell him coming!  He was pretty quiet and rarely complained.   Okay, so Thomas is a lot more vocal these days and I’m sure he would have something to say about long car rides and staying in a tent and the outdoors for so long with absolutely no electronics!  But that sweetness and innocence is still there, even today.  Who can help but love Thomas?

Needless to say, Garrett was totally bent out of shape because he didn’t make an appearance in this movie.  My thought is this: after listening to all the kids’ fussing and crying, throwing rocks and screaming to go to the bathroom, plus looking at the loaded-down Suburban with barely room to spare – well, let’s just say I’m totally amazed that Garrett made an appearance at all!  Period!  He’s lucky he’s even part of this wonderful family, but then so are we.  

Panama City 2011

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Day 9 ~ Garrett!

Well today, I will attempt to get back on track as far as writing here.  I was doing so well for a while!

Friday was Garrett's 6th birthday!  It's hard to believe.  Seems like yesterday the nurses were placing him in my arms.  I remember thinking, as those big somewhat goopy eyes stared at me, that he reminded me of Todd.  And what do you know - Garrett and Todd look the most alike out of all of my kids.  He's pretty stubborn and quick to anger like Todd too.  But he has such a sweet side too - he love to sit close to me, still loves to sleep next to me (when I let him) and loves to give hugs - like Mark.  He's very tender hearted and shows his feelings, like Thomas.  Bossy and independent like Lindsay - HA!  In constant motion and noisy, like Greg.  I don't believe Greg's quite so noisy now, but when he was little he was so energetic just like Garrett.  Garrett does well sitting still in school and usually in Primary.He'll watch a movie or TV show fairly quietly.  But every once in a while  he gets some sort of urge to move and make noise.  He will typically grab an action figure, sometimes a toy weapon of some sort, but more often than not he will get hold of some obsolete object ( a handy clip to hold big things together - like electrical cord bundles; tongs used to turn meat on the grill and who knows what else?) and then he goes.  He runs and runs, back and forth and makes interesting noises.  Often I'll stop him and ask him what he's doing and he'll just give me a sheepish grin and say "playing."  The other day he was looking for something (probably the clip I mentioned), and he said "you know for when I'm doing that noise thing."  So I have no idea what's going on in that cute little head  - but he's busy!  (Just so you know, Greg used hangers when he would run around and make strange noises - and I think he turned out pretty okay!)

Despite his sharing traits with his older siblings and picking up on some of their habits, both good and bad - Garrett is .. . .   uniquely Garrett!  We are so blessed to have him in our family.  I prayed to know if I should have one more child and received a very clear affirmation!  I know he was meant to be a part of our family and perhaps he's the child that will help me learn patience!  HA again!  I do feel rather old at times when I'm chasing him or having to physically remove him from a situation.  I'm often caught thinking, "I'm too old for this,what was I thinking?"   But it's a fleeting thought.  I love him dearly.  I'll put a positive spin on it and maintain that he is keeping me young!

Happy Birthday Garrett!  I hope I have many, many more birthdays to celebrate with you!  Love MOM

Day 30 ~ Feels Like Summer

Yesterday I ventured out with Thomas and Garrett to Alligator Creek for some fun in the sun!  We met up with Heather and Chloe, friends from KC that used to live on our court.  The weather was perfect, not too hot and the water splashes from Garrett were refreshing!

Garrett was a little bit nervous about getting in the water alone.  He's so used to constant companionship!

But then a Justin Bieber song came on, he started dancing, and all was better!

Thomas and Chloe were great at entertaining Garrett.  He loved the lazy river.  And Thomas even jumped off the diving board into 12 ft water.  He was a little bit nervous, but he did awesome.  I really think he wanted to impress Chloe!

We finished up with a trip to Snobiz for some awesome snoballs.  They aren't on every corner like they seem to be back home in NOLA; they are few and far between here.  These were our first snoballs of the season.. Delicious!

Day 33 ~ Simply, I Am Blessed

Without a doubt, I am blessed.  


My week has been less than spectacular.  I've had a cold that has dragged on, missed a day of work, got very little accomplished around the house.  And then today I was just starting to get back in the swing of things when the kids became very noisy, my head began throbbing and a virtually new computer purchased for Greg was no longer functioning.  Suffice to say that little human hands had been all over that computer.  I was crying, yelling, scolding and then found myself at the desk here attempting to address a graduation card.  I glanced up and saw the Facebook page open and read a few posts here and there.  I became even more irritated as I read about the successes and joys that friends were experiencing.   I admit, I should have taken pleasure in well, other people's pleasures, but not today.   Instead I began contemplating deleting my Facebook account so I wouldn't have to read about other people's good days and be left feeling bad about my less than good ones.  


So I expressed what I was feeling and this is what I wrote: I find Facebook to be such a downer at times. I really enjoy reading about others' experiences, but it can be a huge waste of time and I often come away feeling others have it more together and are just better at everything. So all in all it's probably not a good relationship. I think maybe it's time for an intervention.


And almost immediately family and friends came to my rescue.  I was reminded of all the blessings I have and not to take things posted so seriously.  Which, I of course, already knew.  But sometimes we must be reminded of even the simplest of things.    


So I'm thankful for the MANY comments!  It's nice to know that someone out there really is listening, or in this case, reading!  And that you cared enough to respond and not allow me to participate in my pity party for much longer.  True friends will be there when you're even a little bit down, confront you with reality when needed, call you on the phone, make you laugh and even offer chocolate!  So thanks again ~ I'll hang on to you guys, on Facebook and in the real world! 


So, as I was saying . . . I am blessed!  With so many tender mercies, too plentiful to number!  Here are just a few, in pictures . . .

Last month Lindsay and I spent a weekend visiting friends in Kansas City and went to the Princess Diana exhibit at Union Station.  This was the only picture we were allowed to take.  It was a replica of the cake from her wedding to Prince Charles. 

The next day we had lunch at the Plaza in downtown KC.  Very lovely.  We chose Cheesecake Factory for lunch.

Lindsay was becoming impatient waiting for our meal.

But she thoroughly enjoyed it when it finally arrived!

Here are a couple more candid shots taken with my phone:  Thomas after Tae Kwon Do

and Todd showing off his Sunday best

and last, but not least, a couple from Mark in New York

Day 57 ~ More Thomas Memories Made

The last few days have been exciting for Thomas!  On Thursday night, he had his DARE graduation.  DARE stands for Drug Abuse Resistance Education.  His class selected his essay to be read at the ceremony, so Thomas, along with 3 other 5th graders shared their thoughts on the importance of being drug free.  Then by random drawing, Thomas was selected to read his essay at the next O'fallon City Council meeting.  He was quite impressed!   Here are Thomas's thoughts that he shared that night:

Dear Myself,

My name is Thomas Mattei

     I am 11 years old, I’m in 5^th grade, I’m great at video games, I have 2 parents and 4 brothers and 1 sister, I live in 7 Little Oaks Court  O’Fallon MO and I like to play with my friends and play video games, and I’m a little nervous, sometimes excited, or I’m angry or sad.

     My strengths are being a good friend and family member, I’m good a video games like I already said, I’m wanting to play hockey which I did play a while back and was really good at it, I’m also going to play trumpet and I’m in the choir at my school.

     I feel great about the D.A.R.E program, and it’s important in 5^th grade so young people can learn how drugs affect your life and they can cause bad injuries and sicknesses.

     In middle school I want to play football, be in the band, and I want to join the computer club, and I also want to join any other club that seems interesting and similar with me.

     When I’m in high school I’m still thinking of football, band and that’s all I’m probably going to be in until I find out about more clubs.

     I think after my graduation I’m going to go to college complete my Eagle Scout and get a scholarship to BYU Idaho and between college I’m going to serve a mission since I’m Mormon and I’m going to preach the lord and teach others about god and my religion.

     In my future I think it’ll be wise to be drug-free cause, I have a heart defect and even smoking can cause heart disease even for non-smokers, so I need to keep my heart safe and I’m dreaming of becoming a video game creator and I don’t want any bad ideas for a video game if I accomplish my goal.

     I pledge to be Drug-Free because I want to have a solid heart and help others on my way to growing up and I want to keep others and I safe so everyone can have a good future and we can all reach our goal, and I say if anybody wants to take drugs change your mind and CTR which means Choose The Right and  follow god and what he says and we all want to stay healthy and never stop realizing their goal and for people who do drugs they don’t ever realize what they lost like their career, their friends, maybe even their families and we don’t want that to happen anymore and there’s always a life lesson every day of your life, and I’ve studied presidents for a while and a saying that John F. Kennedy used was…

     Ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country…

-John F. Kennedy

     And by that we need to help our country and what that can also do about being drug-free is to help your country be drug-free instead of helping only yourself but to help others, and you don’t have to be selfish and look after only yourself.

From,

Myself

Thomas Mattei

Then on Saturday morning, Thomas earned his Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do!  We are very proud of Thomas for all of his accomplishments!

Day 79 ~ , Today, Tonight and Tomorrow

Tonight I am pondering what I have to share.  I feel that I didn't get a whole heck of a lot accomplished today.  I spent way too much time in front of this computer screen,  but no, I was not mindlessly gazing. It's ominous when one can look back on the hours spent in a day and nothing really significant comes to mind.  At least on first thought.  Just because I didn't get my basement completely cleared, cleaned and in immaculate condition (I really wanted to at least accomplish the clearing and cleaning, immaculate would be a stretch!), doesn't really mean the complete day was a wash.  I just tend to nag on myself when I spend too much time here staring at this monitor.

But I actually had a purpose to the staring . . . I spent some time scanning older photographs.  I'm working on a project for Mother's Day.  Shhh. Don't tell.  Granted, it likely will not be ready by Sunday, but it's a work in progress and our moms are patient!  So I started off scanning and of course things started going wrong, one by one.  Most of my time with the computer is actually spent putting out fires.  I know they are useful and really make us work less, but sometimes I wonder about that. Long story short, the scanning project took a very long time.  Then later, Lindsay and I spent some time looking at off-campus housing at BYU-Idaho.  We made a decision and then after dinner I was back on again completing the housing agreement and paying the deposit.  Seems strange and sad to think of another child gone, so I won't now.  Tomorrow is another day.

And here I am again.  Today  really is 79 days until Greg is home.  So if I don't write my blog - I'm officially behind.  Seems like I predicted that happening.  Oh well!  Tomorrow is Greg's and Mark's Pdays or preparation days.  So I will be writing emails to both of them.  Should I write them tonight or in the morning?  I'm thinking now - while I'm already here typing.  Tomorrow will be good for cleaning and I can ban myself from the computer (until I blog).  Next thing to ponder - should I write one letter to them both like Mike does, or two separate ones?  I always opt for the latter - that way I can individualize them and they're more special.

My pictures tonight will be some of the ones I was scanning earlier today.

Todd's first day of preschool

Pop Pop feeding Garrett

Greg and Mark as Santa's helpers

Cute little Lindsay

Thomas and Lindsay

Cute one of Thomas

I miss these two!

A favorite of Mark

Thomas and I at Yellowstone

Another favorite

Day 82 ~ A Thomas Day

The last couple of days I've had the awesome opportunity to spend some time with Thomas.  Yesterday he spend an hour at Learning Consultants in group meeting new friends.  There are 5 boys in his group, not all have Asperger's, but they have similar issues and are close to his age.  Afterwards, we joined a couple of the parents with their sons at McDonald's.  All the boy had their DS's and Gameboys out and Pokemon was discussed nonstop, that is among the boys.  The adult conversation was good and I was able to glean some new information about places and programs that might benefit Thomas in the future.

One of the things that was shared was a program in the St Louis area called Touchpoint that specializes in services for those on the Autism Spectrum.  I will definitely seek more information about them in the near future. While searching their website I came across a blog written by a man by the name of Aaron Likens.  Aaron is employed by Touchpoint as a community educator.  He basically travels Missouri enlightening folks about Asperger's and other conditions on the Autism Spectrum.  He's especially suited to this task as he, himself has Asperger's.  So I spent much of the evening poring over his blogposts.  I have included his blog here on the right side under "other blogs that I follow" - "Life on the Other Side of the Wall".   I didn't have time to read as much as I would have liked, but there were two posts that I found particularly compelling.  I couldn't help but tear up as I read his truth, knowing my Thomas's experience is much the same.  I only wish everyone could have a greater understanding of how he thinks and feels.  So that is one reason why I'm writing this today - to enlighten!  I too am only just beginning to figure this out and I want to be as informed as I can, so that I can truly be an advocate for Thomas!  

Here are the links to those 2 posts for those of you interested; I encourage you to read and be enlightened! 

http://lifeontheothersideofthewall.blogspot.com/2010/04/large-impact-of-small-prank.html

http://lifeontheothersideofthewall.blogspot.com/2010/04/im-sorry.html

Today we spent some more time together.  We went to another doctor, we'll go again in two weeks.  Then Thomas agreed to try out Chick-Fil-A.  He was kind of set on Burger King so I'm grateful for the compromise!  This was a new restaurant and I was anxious to go there as I hadn't been to one in a while. There aren't too many Chick-Fil-A's around here. It was wonderful Thomas - Thank you!  

Day 85 ~ Easter Preparations

The day before Easter is typically spent dyeing eggs.  We'll get started on that soon - after I run to the drug store for the dye kit and some Easter grass.  Do I really want the Easter grass, though? It usually just gets thrown around and ultimately winds up being wound up in the vacuum cleaner brush.  It's so fun and festive though!

I won't be able to take pictures with my camera of all the dyeing fun because I sent my memory card to Mark and I had better be getting one back really soon!  So I'm choosing some pictures from Easter 2007 to get me in the mood.  Oh the wonders of Easter egg dye - my nails will certainly be colorful!  I do seriously love the tradition, although fewer and fewer of my kids enjoy participating.  It gives us an opportunity to talk about the real meaning of Easter and what an awesome thing that is!

 This picture actually reminds me that Thomas needs a haircut today!

 Such colorful fun!

 Yeah, Garrett, just stick your whole hand in!

Yes it dyes your hands as well as the eggs!

 And this reminds me that I need to find that bunny that sings and hops!

 Mike's parents came for a visit that Easter.  Please, no one tell her that her picture is on here!

 My only 3 boys here now.

Wow!  I bought a box of 140 plastic eggs this year.  Can't wait for the Bunny to hide them all - we'll be finding them for months to come.

Day 88 ~ Halloween Favorites

This morning I came across a rather disturbing photo of Greg, costumed as the Joker from the last Batman movie.  I thought I did a pretty good job with his makeup that Halloween.  It was perfect as Garrett was Batman that year and Greg the evil villain - they made a good pair!  So I decided to pick some of my favorite Halloween characters over the last 20 years . . . . .  Just wish I would have had time to scan some of the older ones.

Day 93 - It's Thomas - A Favorite Repost!

I originally posted this Smilebox Creation a couple of years ago . . .  At the time we did not know that Thomas had Asperger's Syndrome.  Looking back on what I wrote in that Smilebox - it all pointed to that diagnosis.  We've learned a lot these last 2 years and there's still so much to learn.  It's been a journey with many mountains and valleys.  Yesterday was a particularly deep valley, but that just means there's only one direction to go -UP!

Today's repost is dedicated to my one and only Thomas!  He's an awesome kid with a heart of gold!  We all love you Thomas!

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