"it's like a party here"

I wanted to write about a few fun/good things that have happened this week. And because I can't figure out how to move these videos to a different spot, I guess I will tell my stories in reverse order.
Last night we went to a professional soccer game- our first. Bill had purchased this package through Easter Seals that included 4 tickets to a baseball game (our city's minor league team), 4 tickets to a soccer game, and some kind of tickets for Magic Mountain. We never used the baseball tickets, and I doubt we'll use the Magic Mountain tickets. But I'm so glad we used these soccer tickets! The night was a resounding success!!
Henry watched the entire game with excitement. He seemed to really follow what was happening, cheering and shouting at the right times. Well, he made a lot of noise the whole time, to be honest. That's what I was trying to capture in the above videos- the way he was hopping around and making sound effects for each kick and header. It so happens, though, that both times I started recording, someone fell down (our opponents were the NY Red Bulls), he turned to announce this to me, thought I was taking his picture, and posed. I still posted both videos- I think they're cute (but I'm a bit biased).
I was just floored that the game held his interest like that. You can see that he brought some books with him, and held on to them the whole time, but he never once looked at them. It's been a couple years since Kate played sports, so maybe he has just matured, but we would always need to entertain and/or feed him at her games. I can't be sure if it's something about soccer, or the stars were just aligned properly last night.
Of course Thomas enjoyed himself. He got to meet the mascot, got a free little soccer ball that they threw into the stands, and daddy took him all the way to the top of the stadium when he started getting antsy.
I probably had the least fun of all of us- only because I was freezing my behind off. As soon as the sun went down and the breeze picked up, I was cold. My teeth were chattering as we walked to the car! But no one else was cold. That tells you how much fun they were having! If I hadn't hustled us out of there, we probably could have stayed to get players' autographs and stuff. We'll have to go another time!
The other story I wanted to tell is from last Saturday (the day before the storm). I was having Henry work on his "all about me" poster for school, and of course Thomas wanted to create his own "all about me" poster. (Note to self- always prepare for 2.)
I put on a group of Paul Simon cCDs, set to shuffle, and we worked for awhile. Then Henry moved on to a puzzle, while Tommy continued working carefully on his poster.
At one point I came in to the room, heard The Obvious Child, and started dancing around a little. (I defy you to hear that song and NOT dance.)
Tommy looked around and said "it's like a party here right now."
He elaborated: "One kid drinking water, one big kid doing a puzzle, and a mom dancing. That's a party."
Then he added: "And my new friend is my brother."
A party indeed. Does it get any better?

Ike reaches Ohio

I'm sure this post will induce eye-rolls from anyone living in Florida, the Carolina coasts, Texas, Louisiana...

But around these parts, we've never seen wind like this.

Sunday morning's weather report warned of a high wind advisory for the afternoon. And the winds rolled in around 3 maybe. We had just returned from our trip to the library, and Henry was settling in with a DVD he had borrowed.

A small branch fell from our tree, and the little tykes basketball hoop blew over. The strange thing was that there was no rain accompanying the wind, so we kept going outside to check things out. ("These are sure some high winds!") I was all geeked out about all the pinecones that had fallen in the backyard, and Tommy and I were heading out to collect them, when Bill said "I don't like the way those trees are swaying. I think it's dangerous for you guys to be outside." I rolled my eyes and we came in.

30 seconds later we heard a thump, and looked out the back window to see this:

That's when the power went out. Poor Henry just cannot deal when the electricity is out. Never mind that he normally spends lots of time doing puzzles or reading books. Those activities just will not pacify him when he has a movie he wants to watch.

Tommy, on the other hand, thought the whole thing was a great adventure.

I don't think that Bill and I conveyed too much worry, but Henry was so anxious about the electricity situation. He must have asked every 30 seconds are they coming to fix the tree that fell? Once I ran a quick errand up to the main street, and saw that trees and branches were down all over town, I knew that they wouldn't be fixing our problem too quickly.

A large branch came down from another neighbor's tree:

Every yard in our county looked like this or worse:

Yesterday and today all the schools are closed, as are many businesses. 330,000 people were without power yesterday and they are estimating that some may have to wait up to a week to have it restored. Many of the electric company employees had been sent down to Texas to help out, and are having to be called back.

Our power came back on yesterday afternoon, so we are lucky. I am laying low this morning, though, because yesterday I ran around like a chicken with my head cut off.

Despite listening to the news, I didn't fully grasp the scope of the situation. We had no electricity, no phone (our battery backup had run out), and cell phone service was very spotty. I text messaged the kids' sitter, and she had no power either. The university I work for was not closed, so I assumed that they had power. I packed the kids up, grabbed some movies they could watch while I worked, and off we went.

We'll stop on the way to get some breakfast! I promised.

(Our house did sustain some damage to the siding. Looks like it used to be painted yellow.)

So, let's think this through together. 329,999 other people cannot make breakfast at their homes either. How crowded do you think the restaurants that ARE open are going to be? That's right- pretty damn crowded. Unfortunately, Henry and Thomas' mom did not think that through, and instead drove to Starbucks (line out the door), Tim Hortons (line out into the street), McDonalds (line out into the street stopping traffic), etc. etc.

Add in a couple other stops to places that turned out to be closed, and all the intersections that had to be treated like 4-way stops because the lights weren't working, 2 whiny kids saying "but you said we would get something to eat! I'm huuunnnggryy!" And you've got me losing my mind.

We finally found a grocery store that was open, went in and bought cookies, donuts, coffee cake and croissants!!! Henry also picked up a pack of cherry tomatoes. All the refrigerated areas were covered with sheets of plastic, so I couldn't buy any yogurt or Henry's beloved sausage links.

It's just as well, because when we finally got to my office, the power was out there too. We stayed for a few hours, which I finally realized was silly, and we came back home.

I like to think that I am a pretty rational, calm person. But this was a scary experience. If my power were really out for 7 days and there were no grocery stores, restaurants, or gas stations in operation?? What about parents of infants who need to buy and heat formula? Mother nature lets us think that we're in charge most of the time, and then gives us a little slap upside the head to remind us who's boss.

Henry's teacher e-mailed me back that same afternoon. She said I should feel free to contact her anytime, and explained that they'll also be sending home this form to report on Henry's day:

It looked like she circled the faces on this one, but subsequent forms have been self-evaluations by Henry, and all has been smiley faces.

She also said Henry is a joy to have in class. Well, duh. You can save all that teacher-y sunshine-y stuff for another mom, Miss C. Has he pinched anybody yet? I guess, on that front, no news will just be good news.

Friday evening Henry actually said "I'm going to miss my school. I'm going to miss my teachers." (!!!) I'm not going to put too much stock into that, as I think he was just plugging something in to his "I'm going to miss..." repetition. But it was still nice to hear.
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Thomas has been quite into coloring lately. For the past month or so he colors in the morning, colors in the evening, brings coloring books in the car... It's nice to see our huge collection of coloring books actually getting colored in. (Henry just likes to look at them.) I worry slightly when Tommy cries about something not being quite right- like he colored outside the lines, but he doesn't seem to be overly compulsive about it most of the time.

The other day he picked up something that Henry had made in school last year and said "why does Henry color so messy? Oh, I know, it's because he's autistic."

I did a double-take, but then said, "well, that's true. He's not as good at some things as you are. Some things, like coloring, are just harder for him, and that's because he's autistic." Well that was easier than I thought. Now Henry's younger brother understands his disability.

I know it's not really that simple, but then again, it is. To Tommy, Henry is Henry and Henry is also "autism", so Tommy knows about autism. I hope he will someday understand the kid next to him just a little bit better, like our friend Brian does. (Brian's mom's blog is private, so I can't link to it.)

This week Tommy started fall soccer, and also goes back to preschool. He is now one of the bigger kids in both settings, and although he was worried, as always, about being shy, he really wasn't shy at all. He's growing up.
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And just when I think I might be getting a grip on things, I'm really not. Henry had his 9-year checkup yesterday, and daddy took him. (Henry's doing fine. 15th percentile as always :-) Then today I realized I needed to get Thomas' medical form signed before he starts preschool. Oh, how dumb am I? I should have sent it along with them yesterday.

I faxed it over, only to have the doctor's office call and tell me that Thomas' last checkup was in February of '07. His 3-year checkup. I never took him for a 4-year checkup. Hello, youngest child, welcome to neglect.

So I need to hurry up and get him in for a checkup tomorrow so that he can go to preschool. 2 well-child visits to the doctor's office in one week. Not the most efficient way to operate, but it's all we've got.

Just keep swimming, just keep swimming.

why I e-mailed Henry's teacher today

Because when I try to ask Henry a (to me) simple question about his day, here's what I get:

G: Henry, did you eat the Spongebob Cheez-Its I packed in your lunch today? (Always hoping to stumble upon something new that he will eat.)

H: I didn't eat them.

G: Oh, well, where are they then? Did you throw them away?

H: No.

G: What happened to them?

H: Mr. J took them.

G: Mr. J took your Spongebob Cheez-Its? Did he trade you for something else?

H: Yes.

G: What did he trade you?

H: The Spongebob Cheez-Its.

(Bill laughs from the other room and then takes a stab at it): What did Mr. J give you to trade for your Spongebob Cheez-Its?

H: Nothing.

G: So what happened to your Spongebob Cheez-Its?

H: I threw them away.
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Not that I need a note home every day about whether he ate his lunch or not, but I would just like a summary of the school day that has not been passed through the Henry translation screen.

He did tell us about art class yesterday. They drew lines: "jagged lines were mountains, wavey lines were water, swirly lines were clouds" (he worked on the word swirly for a bit).

And he showed us an injury on the palm of his hand: "I was so excited to get my cupcakes! But I fell." It sounds like he slipped and fell to the floor while hurrying over to get his birthday treat to share. Can you stand it?

all-around, a satisfying weekend

A new puzzle--

An uncle who is ready and willing to play with all his cool old toys--

A Grandpa who takes you on adventures, like checking out the attic--

(Perhaps this photo is blurry because mommy was so nervous. Even more so when she heard Grandpa instruct "now stay on the wood beams- don't step on the white part. It won't hold you.")

Temporary tattoos and a slip-n-slide--

Wearing no shirt all day long on your birthday, sitting outside eating watermelon, looking at the cool comic book your uncle gave you--

Covering your ears and blowing out the candles--

And she's not pictured, but the big sister joined us for the celebration. Tommy and I took her home and I saw her apartment for the first time. I was left with mixed emotions: a little bit excited for her; I remember how it felt to go out on my own, a little bit sad to leave her there alone.

I know that's weird as she hasn't lived with us for months now. I guess old mommy habits die hard.

Happy birthday Henry! Thanks for making me your mom 9 years ago.