A Fabulously Flawed Life

Talk about some serious shaving cream, sun, and sprinkler fun!  To celebrate Dylan going into Middle school we threw all the 5th graders an outdoor bash.  Just like we did for our oldest kiddos . Dylan immediately got into it and joined in the fun as soon as we arrived. This year we didn't do as many organized games because it just wasn't needed.  Each kiddo was armed with a can of shaving cream and the festivities began! Ahhh... to be a kid again. Thank goodness Megan had the slip and slide ~ it ended up being the shower to wash off all the shaving cream. {snicker} I just adore this little man.  Out of all my boys, he is the most like me.  He handles life the same way that I do and has many of my personality traits.  It just makes it easier to understand him and be in his life.  He's truly a joy and blessing in our family.

This year for Mother's Day Jason did the laundry and the boys folded all the socks.  Dude. Now that's some serious love.

  Lately the boys have had way too much time on their hands, so we headed over to Hobby Lobby and got some models. Ahhh... busy boys + bonding time with dad = quiet time.

Rub a Dub Dub ~ Faux Hawks in the Tub!  Tub time with Drakie.

 Hallmark Recordable Book ~ Drake's Reaction {Video} As a speaker at BlissDom , you get mailed a box of fabulous swag from the sponsors. This year Hallmark sent a recordable book with a note saying that they know how hard it is to leave your little ones and so here is something to help make the time apart a little easier. Isn't that so thoughtful!  I know, I know.  The guys over at Hallmark are marketing geniuses.  But it really meant a lot to me since it is really hard getting away. Here is Drake {and the boys} reactions to the book when I gave it to him.   {{giggle}}  <-- that's a link to our YouTube video.  xoxo, Laurie

I found this picture today of Drake at 19 months.  {{bwaahaa!}} I needed the laugh as I had a parent/teacher conference with Drake's preschool teacher today.  It looks like he's not ready to advance to Kindergarten.  {{huge sigh}}  The good news is that his preschool has a kindergarten program.  The classes are a lot smaller and he would get the one-on-one attention he needs.   So he could attend there and then if he wasn't ready to advance to 1st grade, we'd put him in a public school Kindergarten.  It might make the "hold back" a little less obvious or traumatic. The problem isn't that Drake's not smart, it's that he's not maturing at the same pace as the other boys in his class.  Yes, it's obvious that Drake isn't at the same stage - but I guess I just thought that he would step it up in Kindergarten.  His teacher is amazing and I can tell she has his best interests at heart.  So most likely we'll put him in Kindergarten pr...

This semester Davis was accepted into the Rocky Top Therapy Center .  It's an amazing program that our school district provides for kiddo's who lack specific types of social development.  Such as improvement in the individual's confidence and discipline while improving gross and fine motor skills, posture, balance, and coordination.   Davis went every Tuesday morning from 7 - 9am for nine weeks.  He picked his horse, Swifty, and every week he cleaned, fed, and took care of him.  At the ranch Davis was taught how to learn the body language of Swifty, build trust, and developed a strong bond with him. Davis' confidence skyrocketed thanks to this experience and the therapists were so incredible to see the specific needs of Davis and taught him how to find his "calm place" that he uses on the horse in real life experiences as well. At the end of every session, they ended their day with "ups and downs" where they gathered in a circle and shared o...

This is a very short video clip of Davis catching his first football during a game! A while back I overheard my oldest son, Davis, say that he "would never be a sports person".  I'll be honest, I gasped and it made me really upset.  What really bothered me was that at 10 years old he had already decided something so profound about himself. Naturally, I took that boy aside and we had a chat.  You see, I have raised Davis with the drive to allow him to experience the world so that when he gets older, he'll have all the facts to decide for himself what kind of person he does or does not want to be.  I feel so passionately about this and have  sought out specific experiences to try and make them well-rounded individuals. I'm not fully explaining myself the way I'd like to.  But raising a child with high-functioning autism - I decided when he was toddling around that he would live in OUR world and I would not allow him to slip away and live inside his own...

Davis ~ Spy Gear Last year the boys and I started {quite accidentally} a tradition of going to Toys R Us and letting them take pictures of their Christmas wish lists. Davis ~ Mind Flex The two older boys scoured the store with the camera while Jason and I tried to convince Drake that he does indeed want something other than Batman.    Davis - Transformers Devastator Showdown Dylan ~ Nerf Dart Tag   I think it's so much fun seeing how the boys pictures turn out and what they end up asking for from Santa. {Neither of whom believe anymore but they play along.}   Dylan ~ Ultimate Mission Spy Set I used to do an e-mail wish list and every November I would e-mail all the grandparents what they wanted.  I have become a lot less obsessive compulsive and now just post their pictures in hopes of making their shopping trip a little easier.   Dylan ~ Spynet Laser Strike Dylan & Davis ~ Halo Toys from Mega Blocks You see, we have 7 sets of grandparent...

  Today I had a lovely lunch with my girlfriends at Panera Bread and saw these yummy gingerbread cookies. I immediately thought of my little sweeties at home and bought them.  They were soft, gingery, and delish! The rest of the day, I shopped for the next gift guide segment I'm doing for TJ Maxx and Marshalls.  I found the coolest gifts for men and will feature them on Tip Junkie on Monday with some crazy cool prizes.   With every job I accept, I find myself learning a new skill and stretching myself even farther.  Working with TJ Maxx and Marshalls so far has been a dream job and I'm terrified that I'm going to mess it up.   Right now I'm working hard to stay true to myself, deliver relevant content to my readers, and make the brand happy.  This is all so new to me that at times I'm a little lost.  Hopefully, my geniune excitement for the project with show through and people will like the final product.  {{crossing fingers}}

Chevy Malibu is Perfecft for my Techy Family from Laurie Turk on Vimeo . This is the last video that I did for Chevy.  Honestly, I had SO much fun making them.  I'm no Spielberg or anything but man it's fun to make fun of yourself!  {{evil laugh}} As I get closer to 40 I find that I'm really quite ridiculous and I think it's hysterical! I was supposed to show off the USB port for your iPod but um... I thought it would be more fun to poke fun at how techy my family is and how we utilize ALL FOUR of the charging stations in the car.  I mean, really what other family would use all of them at once.  {{bwaahaa!}} So I hope you enjoy my little white and nerdy video .  This was all done in one take as the boys did a great job playing along.

Dylan is now in the double digits as he turned 10 years old! To my dismay, he wanted his friend party at Main Event.  I guess good-bye are the days of home parties with decorations, props, and handmade goodie bags.  {{drat!}} The kids had a blast at laser tag, bowling, and arcade games. It's just what 12 boys want to do for a party.  They were in dude heaven. To set the party up for success, I made sure that both Davis and Drake had a friend to entrain them. Lisa and Billy came and I'm pretty sure they had just as much fun as the boys did. Main Event took care of everything.  So it was absolutely the easiest party I've ever thrown, although the ugliest.  {{shhh - don't tell Dylan}} Davis is a natural bowler and did an amazing job. Jason bowled with the little boys.  He says he was a great bowler until he took a bowling class in college.  HA!  I guess he lost his natural talent and hasn't scored as high since. ...

Sadly, Drake's preschool teachers last year were not the best fit. They were a little rigid and weren't as loving and accepting as his personality requires. {{snicker}} This year we are delighted at Drake's teachers as they are scheduled yet loving, firm yet accepting.  They seem to be working with his stubborn personality appropriately and enjoying his little quirks. He looks forward to school three times a week and is learning to be flexible and to follow direction.  I can tell a huge difference in him already. Drake is more agreeable at home, at karate, at soccer, and at school.  It just goes to show that when you love and accept someone for who they are - they thrive!