Cheep Medicine

 The last few weeks have been a bit crazy. Like face-eating crazy! Amid the packing for our move, one of my ovaries suddenly decided it wanted to kill me. A few days later a giant wind storm attempted to blow the state of Virginia right off of North American continent and the power went out for almost a week. Making matters worse, the sun blew up, causing a heat wave and 100 degree  temperatures... and we had no electricity (or air conditioning).

 (Checking out the storm damage 2 blocks from our house)

After sleeping in pools of sweat in our own beds the first night of no power, moving the family down to the dungeon basement for the second fun-filled 90 degree night, and spending the horrifically hot day camping out at a McDonald's with playland (and A/C), we got word that the power at Mimi and Pop's house had been restored!

 (Recharging our electronics at McDonald's)

We spent an hour scrambling about in our darkened house, trying to find and pack the necessities to survive a few days away from home. We ended up at Mimi and Pop's house until July 5th when we got word power was back on in our part of town.

Needless to say, all of this change and activity threw Iraq for a giant loop. By the time we got back home and started trying to settle back into our daily summer routine, poor Iraq was wound up tighter than a ball of woolen yarn that had been through 10 very hot dryer cycles.

We had to handle her as we would a grenade with the pin pulled out, and no matter how lightly we tread, we were still subjected to intermittent explosions. She ran away from the therapists that visit throughout the week and erupted in tears at least 4 times every hour. She begged incessantly for random and unnecessary items and her OCD behaviors caused other people's trinkets to disappear and large piles of "stuff" to grow in strange places.

Just when we were about to erect a large billboard advertisement on the highway in hopes of selling our out of control offspring (it's a joke people!) we received word that the guinea fowl babies (keets) we had been waiting for had hatched and we could come pick them up.

This was either going to create a world of excess work for us, or provide a little relief.

We set out to the bird-lady's house after bed time, and once there received a fantastic tour of the incubators, the brooders, the coops and we got to meet lots and lots of chickens of all different, wonderful breeds!

Iraq was enthralled!

Our four, hours-old keets packed up and ready to go, we decided on a last-minute "impulse buy."

The little fluffy chick was like an irresistible nick-knack sparkling from a shelf in a grocery store check out line. And in that one moment of weakness, we may have spent the best $5 ever!

This is Millie, our impulse-buy chick. She was hatched on the 26th of June and she is a Mille Fleur Cochin chicken. As cute as she is today, she could end up looking something like this some day:

(This is not my picture, but one from a breeder of these lovely birds)

This is a bantam (miniature or small) breed of chicken.

Yesterday Iraq spent the entire day nurturing and caring for Millie. Now mind you, this is a kid who thinks "playing" with dolls means arranging them in a perfect row by hair color and that small children (like her sister) are simply an annoyance. She has never before shown this kind of heart-felt empathy and nurturing toward anything or anyone. She has mimicked these behaviors in the past, yet for us it was like looking upon an empty exoskeleton - a cicada shell emotion. 

Now suddenly Millie has made it real.

Every half hour or so, Iraq brings Millie back to eat and drink in her brooder. When Millie is satiated, her peeps can be heard throughout the house, calling her "mommy" back to pick her up again. Millie prefers Iraq's attentions to her warm, cozy, keet-filled brooder.

They read quietly together, they dance together, they talk to each other and they do lots of cuddling. Millie is the sweetest-natured bird I have ever met - content to do what ever Iraq wants to do.

Since yesterday, Iraq has been smiling for hours on end. Suddenly that grenade with the pulled pin has morphed into a kitten lounging in the sunshine. The whole atmosphere within the house has calmed and quieted.

We'll be moving at the end of the month, and Millie will be moving right along with us. Better yet, where we're going there is an active 4-H club. If Iraq turns this new-found enjoyment into a long-term love, she can get involved with so many facets of poultry-raising. There are shows where her "babies" can win awards. She could learn to hatch eggs in an incubator... (can you tell mom's excitement may be running wild about now?)

In the end, it doesn't really matter if chickens become a life-long love or if just having Millie right here, right now is the extent of it. All I know is that Millie has brought out some changes in Iraq - and that this one, tiny, fluffy little chick is helping my daughter grow!

And the keets have been fun, too!

(Iraq with a guinea keet)

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We're Moving to the Country! Good Things Are Happening!

For almost three years now, my husband has been having to commute 64 miles (each way) to work. You see, we had a house in town near where my husband worked and then the kids ended up in a school we just loved... and then my husband's facility was shut down and he was transferred to a facility waaaaaay out in the country. We didn't want to uproot the kids again...

But the commute paired with the higher cost of living in town has just been too much. There have also been changes with our girl's school, and The Skink will not be able to go there in the coming school year. So we decided it was time to start looking for a place to live closer to my husband's work.

After weeks and weeks of searching and turning up very little as far as rentals (unless we wanted to live in a single-wide behind a factory... which we didn't) I totally lucked out and found a little-known website with an expired listing for a place that sounded way too good to be true, and I called. The voice on the other end of the line sounded surprised... but then said as luck would have it, the house was going to be available again around the end of July!

We scheduled a visit...

and fell...

in...

LOVE!

See that lovely, white farmhouse nestled under the mountain range?

We're going to be moving there around the end of July!

 

It's a 1905 farmhouse that has been completely updated and restored. It has been decorated in era style. It is part of a 300 acre horse farm. It's only 18(ish) miles from my husband's work. In short - it is the house of my dreams!

The little yard bordered by the white picket fence will be the yard where my children will play, and where Brandy the Wonder Dog will relax in the sun. The Skink will enjoy the cows that will come up to the livestock fence right by the little play yard. Mommy will love the fresh air her children will be playing in, devoid of the exhaust from the hundreds of cars and trucks we see, hear and smell each day in the city.

And under a large shade-tree in the back yard, a chicken coop awaits... and I can't tell you how excited I am about getting chickens and having fresh eggs to feed my family (not to mention some colorful new pets).

There's also a fish pond on the property. Broadway is eager to learn to fish in his own back yard!

(The back of the house)

Oh - and did I mention HORSES?? Having been a mega-horse-addict my entire life, this place looks like heaven to me! We won't be able to afford any of our own horses for a while, but the people who own the property have four horses... and four cows. YAY! 

 

We found out just last night that we will be allowed to rent this amazing place! Iraq and I jumped up and down, yelling, "We got the house! We got the house!" This says a lot, because I have never been the jump-scream type! I'm so amazingly excited and happy I can barely see straight! 

I'm less excited about having to pack up the house, but whatever, right?

And with that I will leave you with a few pictures from our visit to Mimi and Pop's house yesterday -

Got some great shots of this Osprey hunting when we were out on the boat!

Here, fishie, fishie, fishie!

Dinner!

May great things come your way, too!

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My Budding Photographer

 Yesterday morning, Iraq informed me she wanted to use my camera and she wanted me to "model" for her so she could take pictures. Truth be told, I instantly morph into the biggest goober in front of the camera, so I wasn't overly thrilled with the idea. To say that I am not photogenic is like calling the ocean "a little water." But when I uploaded the photos, I was rather pleasantly surprised to find she had taken some really good ones.

So today when Mimi came over and asked if we wanted to go to the Transportation Museum, I grabbed my back-up camera and put it in Iraq's Hello Kitty Purse. I told her she could take all the pictures she wanted of anything she wanted to take pictures of, any way she wanted to take them. (Grow, creativity! Grow!)

I may be a little biased, but I think she is showing some promise! These are a few of my absolute favorites:

Not too shabby for a kid who just turned 9! Needless to say, I will be doing everything in my power to cultivate this new found form of expression for Iraq.

While Iraq carried her purse to keep the camera in, The Skink carried her own purse... with a change of pants just in case.

The model trains were The Skink's favorite thing! Well, those and the real trains. She seems to really like trains.

(Iraq demonstrates how a train's pistons work.)

(The rocket is part of the museum's exhibits... but both structures look as if they could take off at any moment.)

 We all had a great time and The Skink stayed dry our whole visit and so far, all day today! (Gee - I hope I didn't just jinx our "dry spell."

Iraq... Iraq did GREAT! In the not-too-distant-past a museum visit like this would most certainly have set her off. The lights, the noise, the sights and the crowds are all very over-stimulating for kids in the autism spectrum. I think Iraq is finally getting to the point where she is learning to control her impulses, and better monitor herself in large, public places. I'm SO proud!

The Skink had a melt-down shortly after we left the museum - LOL. Hey... you can't win them all!

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The One That Got Away

So we are potty training The Skink for the 3rd time. Yes - she was fully potty trained last October, and then ended up in the Pediatric ICU with a nasty case of pneumonia. As far as potty training, the timing couldn't have been worse... but is there ever a good time to end up in the PICU?

We got her potty trained again, but then guess what? She developed pneumonia AGAIN!

After her 2nd hospitalization, she lost interest in the whole potty thing. She would use the toilet if we took her there and planted her upon it, but she would also use her pull-up in between bathroom visits. *sigh*

Now that school is out for the year, I am making potty training a top priority! No if's, and's... and tons of butts!

The Skink has been doing fairly well... provided I remember to take her to the bathroom every hour on the hour. She has made some mistakes, and while we have always rewarded her for using the potty, we are now doling out a mild punishment when she makes a mistake... you know - trying to up the ante!

We had a great day today with no accidents at all... until this evening. You see, The Skink has not been initiating using the bathroom on her own. She usually waits until I ask her. It put a red flag up when she started trucking up the stairs in the middle of her favorite show. So I stopped her with the intention of "checking" the situation out.

As I pulled her drawers to the side to peek, something escaped...

...and then...

rolled...

down...

the...

stairs...


Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaggggggghhhhhh!

Yes - I had to chase poop as it rolled down the carpeted stairs in my home!

Ah - the things we do as parents!

As cute as she is, she got in some BIG trouble... after I was done gagging...

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Brief Weekend Update

 With summer settling in, we enjoyed a jaunt to Mimi and Pop's lake house this weekend to enjoy some swimming and boating. Iraq has morphed into her warm weather fish form and has mastered diving from the higher of the docks.

After some time in the water, Iraq came out to warm her pruned skin in the sun.

"Mom!" I heard her exclaim. "Mom, look! A dragonfly!"
A lovely, small dragonfly with gossamer wings had settled on her arm, perhaps to warm in the sun also... but strangely, no matter what movements Iraq made, it stayed with her. Sometimes it would fly up a bit, only to settle back down on her shoulder or her other arm.

"I wonder if Nana is sending you a message through the dragonfly,"
I said to her. As the last word skipped from my lips, I what Mimi would think. Mimi laughed a little at my words, but Iraq's eyes lit up at the idea of her paternal grandmother sending her a love note from heaven.

"Really?" Iraq asked me. "So you really think Nana is saying 'Hi' to me?"
I could feel Mimi eying me, but with a certain resolve in my heart, I said, "Yes I do. I think Nana wants you to know how much she loves you, even though she died while you were still growing inside of me."

At that moment, the dragonfly's wings started to beat, lifting it into the air. It flew from where Iraq sat on the lower dock... up, up and straight over to me, alighting on my right shoulder as if to whisper its appreciation to me.

Beaming from ear to ear, Iraq bounced up the steps and ran over to me. She stuck her finger out, and the dragonfly climbed onto it without hesitation. She took it back down to the other dock. Mimi quietly asked if we got many visits from Nana. I assured her that though they took on different forms, we certainly did!

Nana's dragonfly enjoyed the beautiful summer day with Iraq for quite some time, allowing Iraq to reposition it to a shoulder, knee or hand during lunch time.

When Iraq had eaten she eventually decided she was ready to swim again and gently set the dragonfly on one of the boats hanging in the boathouse, where it stayed for a little while before flying off.

 
The rest of the day was spent enjoying the water, blowing bubbles and riding the boat, but perhaps Nana's firefly was the highlight of the whole, wonderful day!

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