Matthew's Buzz Birthday

Big day for Matthew

Going Green... Going Crazy!

Well, that is how I feel about it. Now that the Earth Day celebration is over we can get into it. I think this whole green movement is completely nuts. Wow, I am really going to get it for this one. Let's start with the grocery bag thing. What kind of hoax is that? They are charging us for reusable grocery bags that are going to save them money? Do you know how many of those bags I would have to buy in order to take home all of my groceries each week? I love plastic grocery bags. I recycle them over and over again. I could name 100 things I love to do with plastic grocery bags. They are fabulous, and I won't give in....yet. Why do they make hybrid cars so ugly? Why are "green" light bulbs so fluorescent? I think they use fluorescent lights in prisons and torture facilities. Ummm, maybe talking about torture isn't "green" enough these days. Don't even get me started on the last two states I have lived in charging me to recycle so I can save them money on their landfills. Then they have the nerve not to empty my recycling box that I am paying for because I didn't sort my milk cartons properly. Ugh! Now, lets move on to green cleaning supplies. I don't want to buy them. They are more expensive. Everybody is doing it. Ugh. I can't help it. I bought some. This stinks. Well not literally, it smells fine. But, it doesn't work half as well as my green apple Palmolive. I miss my Joy. You know what I mean? So, after a going through this giant bottle for a couple of years I will go back to my other dish washing soap.

I just bought these last week. I couldn't help myself!! The pink one is a grapefruit spray from Target. Yummy. It doesn't say anywhere on the bottle antibacterial. So, I am nervous. And the other one is a green bleach spray. I am a sucker for bleach products. I have boys, remember? Hopefully I will have better luck, and look I can save 50 cents on my next green purchase!

Birthday Fun

Spencer had a great day. Jeremy picked him up from school and took him out to lunch. He had popsicles at school for his birthday treat. When he came home I let him open some of his new presents, which just happened to be a slip n' slide and a new swimsuit! When you have an 80 degree day in April you have to take advantage. Then we headed off to POJOs, some version of chuckee cheese, but with bumper cars! Then we came home and opened presents and had cake. And the cake, it might not look too exciting, but that is pretty impressive considering the ingredient restrictions we had to work within. We were all happy, and Jeremy saved the day once again!

Happy Birthday to You....

You know you live in Idaho....

when your son comes home from preschool with

It's Time

When I started my blog about a year ago I wasn't sure what direction it would take. I knew for sure that I was not going to talk about some things that are just too close to my heart. I have changed my mind. I have wanted to talk about this on my blog for some time, but wasn't sure how to. For most of you, this will not be a surprise. But, I know there are friends, and maybe even some family that this will be new information. April is the month we celebrate Spencer's birthday. April is Autism Awareness Month.

About five years ago Spencer was diagnosed with PDDNOS (Pervasive Developmental Disorder Not Otherwise Specified). We really didn't know what that meant at the time. Since then we have learned that PDDNOS is on the autism spectrum. About two years ago he was officially diagnosed with Autism.

About five years ago my heart started breaking. So many pieces have broken off I don't think it will ever be back together again. My sweet boy is trapped behind this wall of autism. We are tyring to chip away at this wall to help him emerge. Every day is a challenge. Every day we fight the battle. Some days we see glimpses of Spencer come out from behind the wall. Those moments are so wonderful!

Thank you to everyone who has supported our family. Thank you for loving Spencer!

Easter

We had a lovely Easter weekend, and a very busy one. The weather cooperated, and we were able to have a great time with 15 kids running around for Easter Dinner. I hope you all had a nice holiday too!

Wednesday Night

Spencer has been asking us lots of questions about coconut trees. So, I decided we better check it out for ourselves. The boys were so excited, they couldn't wait for Dad to get home to open the coconut! A fruit with milk inside? Unbelievable! A year ago today we were on our way to Hawaii. I thought a little coconut party would be appropriate.

Wednesday Morning

One of the things I love about my blog is that I can show my family moments from our life instantly. We end up with a lot of serious bed head at my house because of baths right before bed. Sam usually gets the best because he got the thick Wismer hair. This week has been kind of nuts. Super busy, nonstop craziness. I did take the boys on our first family bike ride where both Spencer and Sam were on bikes without training wheels. Hooray! It was kind of fun, and kind of not fun. Not only do you have to teach your kids how to ride a bike, but I guess you have to teach them bike safety and etiquette. Whatever! Thank goodness our neighborhood is so flat. We hit one little hill, and complete mayhem! I guess I forgot to teach them how to brake too. It was definitely a little nuts, but fun, and mostly nuts. Matthew was in the trailer behind my bike. I kept telling the boys to follow me, and then Matthew would say, follow me too!

What were we thinking?

Jeremy and I cleaned out our garage this weekend. When we were going through the garage we found this lone piece of wood. We both looked at each other wondering why we had it. Then we realized, at some point we decided to save this piece of wood for fuel storage. We really had to laugh out our brilliant plan. I'm sure our family would survive a winter on that!

Sam's new love

Yes it has been windy here, but that is not why his coat is blowing. He is moving fast! I'm not sure why I was so scared to teach my boys to ride a bike. The first time he got on the bike he just took off like it was nothing. Of course the stopping and starting took some practice, but now he is happy riding all over by himself. So lovely!

Spring Break Part 2

Friday and Saturday we packed in more fun, family, and friends. Most of the time I forgot the camera, but here are some pictures when I remembered! We had fun taking the boys to BYU campus. They loved the bookstore, we are kind of bookstore nuts. Jeremy and I frequent bookstores for date night, and we take the boys whenever we need to get out of the house. They are becoming experts at perusing the aisles and finding the books the are interested in. The BYU bookstore has so many memories, and it is fun to share that with them, especially the candy counter! The BYU art museum has a great exhibit for kids right now showing the art works from the I Spy Books. They had a great time playing at Connie and Dave's house as always. Thanks! We got to have an adult sibling dinner, a real treat. We got to eat Cafe Rio for the first time, thank you Anne and Dave! I was able to have lunch with one of my dearest, sweetest friends in the world. Thanks Heather! We got to have Dinner in Salt Lake with Jeremy's Dad, and amazing dessert! Obviously, a great trip all around.