It's such a rainy day here, I really feel for the kids and adults at Outdoor School today.  I started a load of coats, etc. that came home with Kris yesterday....at least I thought I started the load, but when I got up this morning, it hadn't run.  It was really rushing it to get things mostly dry to go with her today.  I'm not sure what she did yesterday, but it may have involved rolling in the muddy sand near the river from all the debris ground into her clothing and caked into the boots. She has very chapped lips and is rubbing them an sniffing alot, so I hope she's not catching a cold...guess it wouldn't be too surprising.  She's not acting sick at all, so hopefully she's enjoying her day.

She's such an interesting kid....she is rather quick to make her observations about people (remember...looks like Donald Duck at Disneyland,  looks like Mickey Mouse (the little guy with big ears at the pool), etc. etc.) so here's Wish with midnight blue hair and a pierced eye brown and Tofu with 50 dreadlocks going in different directions and a pierced lip and Kristin says....absolutely NOTHING.  Perhaps the key to understanding this is that in her previous observations, it has been analogies (this reminds me of....) whereas Tofu and Wish don't remind her of anything/anyone she's seen before.  I'm alittle concerned that next time we're on the MAX, and Krissy sees some gangsta with dreadlocks that she will loudly announce "Looks like Tofu" which may not be well received.  

David is celebrating his 18th birthday (Oct 20) tonight with some of his friends.  His Uncle Ray and Aunt Linda gifted him with a Lazer Tag party for his birthday, so he's very excited.  His sisters (not Kris!) are working hard still to win an invitation from him, but he's pretty definite that his party is closed to girls.  I think this may get me off the hook for being the designated driver clear down to McLaughlin in Milwaukie tonight...Thanks, Larry!  Will try and get Dad to take some pictures.  We're doing pizza and dessert here before they go, so it will be fun!

Just a brief p.s. on our Wednesday...Krissy reportedly had a great day.  Here she is at the end of it with her assistant , Tofu~

Wednesday~

Tofu and Wish reported a much better day at Outdoor School yesterday.  They didn't appear to be consoling each other as I drove off, a noteable improvement over Monday.  I ended up driving Kris out yesterday morning as the bus showed up and there were no seatbelts on it.  We have been very firm and consistent that she always wear her seatbelt and I felt it was important not only for her safety, but for her (and the bus company) to realize that we don't make exceptions for convenience.  If she's not seatbelted in, it would be very easy for her to make the jump that it's ok to get up and move around on the bus.  

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Benjamin continues to be healthy and bored.  I want to keep him home another week or so to make sure his flu shot has ample opportunity to kick in.  We know a large family here who have 10 out of 12 sick with the Swine flu including the mom who's pregnant.

In the photo above, Benjamin's not really dancing on the deck, but he was happy to get outside for short while today.  Hope this finds you all well~ 

Happy Tuesday...Well, it's a nicer day here in Gresham and I'm sure they are especially happy out on the Sandy River at Outdoor School.  Kristin's first day was somewhat shorter than we hoped...they called me and said they thought she had just had enough.  I think it was her run into the kitchen to snag some cupcakes that put Tofu over the edge.  Jamie and I drove out and got her.  I talked with Wish and Tofu and they were very gracious...I offered them an out, saying if it just didn't seem like it was going to work, I could send her to school.  But, they really seemed to think alot of the day was positive (she apparently really enjoyed the fish dissection, part of the field study) and wanted her to come back.  The new game plan is to pick her up  prior to dinner, so we'll see how that works out.  I packed so many clothes today, she should have a wide variety to choose from.  We started out in her snow bibs...they have the added advantage of making her very easy to spot out in the woods.  I'll put up 2 pictures....she was trying her cheesy look in one and her somber look in the other, neither of which is how she looks most of the time. Here's hoping for a calm, warm day for all~ Janelle

Above, listening to Daddy's Ipod on the MAX... Krissy is ready for ODS this morning~

                                                          Hope she can stay warm and dry today.........

It's an extremely wet and blustery morning here in Gresham...what a day to send Kristin off to Outdoor School.  The bus was over an hour late to pick her up, so while I know it was unavoidable (I think alot of their drivers are out sick) it makes it hard on her to be all bundled up and standing by the door waiting and waiting.  Anyway, during the wait, it started raining buckets, so the benefit to that was my deciding I should give Krissy my rain parka.  It's totally waterproof, so if she can stay somewhat dry at least on top, she'll likely be able to stay warm.  I understand the 'field projects' don't stop for the weather, so the kids will be out in whatever weather happens today.  I'll drive out this evening after dinner to pick her up.

Yesterday afternoon we (Kristin, Jamie and I) went to the Rose Quarter to see Disney's Fantasy on Ice.  We had carefully prepared her...this wasn't the regular Disney on Ice, so no Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, etc.  The lights went down and first out on the ice...(drumroll) Mickey and Minnie followed by Goofy and Donald.  She probably won't believe us next time.  They also came out at the end of the show and their appearance was of course the highlight for her. Thankfully we have no crisis to report~

The project director for her room called this morning and is re-ordering wall and trim.  He cautiously asked what had happened since Saturday and was relieved I'm sure to hear that she's taken a break from her demolition project.

Enjoy your week...be careful out there with all this rain on the roads (people who have been ER nurses feel compelled to give out unasked for saftey information :o)

Thankfully warm and cozy inside today,

Janelle

Indestructable?

So...yesterday they came to put the finishing touches on Kristin's room...and the pictures are what was left        of it this morning.  I was quickly taken back to the morning where the State of Oregon Housing Specialist sat at our table with Jim Seymour and us as we contemplated what might be best for someone with Krissy's 'skill level'.  Jim and we had agreed that wood walls would probably work great, but we were told "we don't do that....we use FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) because it is indestructable".  Ok, so....I'm thinking of giving Jim a call to see if we are of one mind that perhaps that knotty pine-cabin-look wouldn't have beeen a better choice after all.  I did hear Krissy up at 4:30 this morning...I am not familiar with what it sounds like to rip FRP off the wall, but I didn't hear any sounds that led me to believe that was what was happening.  Those large un-identifyable objects in the photo  used to be her walls.  You can see the exposed plywood around her door.

I really like the company that has done the work and I hate to ruin the project manager's weekend...I'mjust thinking he may need to see this to tell us what to do before Monday.  She's really just getting started and could have the entire room de-frp'd by Monday morning.  We were skeptical beforehand and told them, and then again as we saw the walls going up with the edging glued on, that she wouldn't pull something off....Anyway, Larry just got home and he hasn't seen it yet...Reflecting back on marriage101 I think you're always supposed to feed the husband before breaking bad news, so perhaps I should let him have breakfast before breaking the news...

Safe!

Thank you to those who've written wondering how our night went!  She did settle down, but was awake around 5am.  Other than shutting the water off to the house (the knob is up high in her closet, but one has time to explore when you're up before the sun) both  her room and her door lock survived the night.  I think the change in lock just threw her for a loop (change in routine is typically a difficult challenge for kids with autism)....the knob feels like it's unlocked but a new bolt overrides it.  She'll adjust as time goes on I think, so I'm optomistically expecting less of an issue tonight :o)  

Hope it's a nice Friday for you. If you have enough sunshine inside your home, you won't think so much about what's happening outside :o)