I Like to Play With My Food

I bought Bailey and Zack a kid's cooking set last year with aprons and real cooking utensils that are just their size. I'm always looking for cute recipes for them to try. I love Family Fun Magazine, Taste of Home Cookbook for Kids, Kids Can Cook, and All Time Favorite Recipes for Kids. These cookbooks are the best!

These are a few of our most recent projects.

We have a lot of fun in the kitchen!



Lawn Mower Cupcakes for my Dad's birthday









Octopus and Sea Weed












Grass Hopper Dip and Carrot Sticks











Dinosaur Nachos

Please come home . . . . .

Kris is working a lot these days. (12-14 hours a day, 6-7 days a week) We just seem to see each other a few minutes each day. He's working all weekend. He left the house early this morning and I'm not sure when he'll be home. He has an open house tomorrow. So, he'll be gone all afternoon tomorrow. I miss him a lot. I want him to come home.

Purge. Label. Re-Arrange. Repeat.

So, this is the first day this summer that we have been home most of the day. I got up this morning thinking I would get a lot done today.

I did.

I made a huge mess.

I emptied out a couple of storage cabinets in the school room and that's about it. I emptied them. Onto a card table. And my desk. And the floor. It looks like a crazy person lives here.

Maybe that's because a crazy person does live here.

After I started pulling things out, I realized it wasn't so disheveled that I really needed to completely empty everything out. In fact, all I'm really doing is moving things from one shelf to another and putting new labels on things.

So now, I'm going to be up all night, trying to put everything back. I wouldn't be able to sleep knowing I would wake up to a mess.

I do this a lot.

We've only lived in this house 14 months and I've cleaned out the school cabinets at least 4 times already. I've cleaned out my scrapbooking storage area 8 times. I've cleaned out the bedroom closets 5 times. I've cleaned out our coat closet 2 times. I've cleaned out the pantry 3 times.

I purge. Then I label. Then I re-arrange. Then I repeat.

Purge. Label. Re-arrange.

Purge. Label. Re-arrange.

Why do I do things like this?

Maybe I'm addicted to my label maker.

The summer is swishing by so fast! There are so many things I still want to get done . . . .
I have a stack of books I'm wanting to read, I want to start an art journal, , I want to learn 5 new violin pieces, I want to knit a few more chemo hats, I want to try some new recipes . . . . . .

And then there is the list of things I NEED to do, like re-do the school room, make lesson plans for next year, clean out closets, clean out the garage . . . . .

Our summer calendar is so full, it's hard to fit these other wants and needs in anywhere. The kids start art (day) camp in a couple of weeks, so maybe I can work on some things while they are learning to be little Rembrandts.

Until then, I'll just have to work in five minute sprints between t-ball, violin lessons, Kris' open houses, pool time, library visits, July 4 Celebrations, Dad's surgery, trips to the Discovery Center, VBS . . . . .

It's Gotcha Day!

I originally posted this on June 21, 2009. Today is my sweet Bailey's "Gotcha Day", so I decided to re-post. Happy Gotcha Day, Sweet Bailey Jean!!!




Eight years ago today, our Bailey flew home to Texas and officially became a part of our family.

We had waited 9 years to have a child we could call our own. It was, at times, an extremely painful wait. But when my baby girl was placed in my arms, all of that pain was wiped away. It was if it had never happened. The wait was over and we were finally together.

That night at the airport, cameras were snapping and people were laughing and talking. Documents were presented and information passed hands. But I was in another world. I just hugged her and cried and said over and over again, "Mommy loves you, Mommy loves you, Mommy loves you . . . . "

Looking back over my life, I realize Bailey has always been a part of me. I loved her long before I knew her. I will never understand how God put us together or why he chose to give her life a world away from my own. It doesn't matter. She is mine. We may not look the same, but our hearts beat the same beat. We are a part of each other.

At night, while she is asleep, I sneak into her room to watch her sleep. I look at her little face and wonder what she saw in the first few months of her life. Who held her first? Who changed her first diaper? Who fed her the first time? Who was the first to rock her to sleep? I want to see them, too. I want to thank them for loving her. I want them to know how much she has grown and how happy she is.

When Bailey talks about adoption, she explains it this way, "Jesus gave me to my mommy and daddy. Then, he stuck us together like glue. Our family is glue." I couldn't have said it better myself.

"Sleepy Dog"

Oh no, oh no, oh no. "Sleepy Dog" is in Pampa.

Bailey has a bedtime ritual that simply cannot be changed. Really. It CANNOT be changed. It MUST be done in the same order, at the same time, every night. If one little step is left out, then the whole household will suffer. Really. I'm not joking. She is very committed to this ritual.

There are seven steps she must take before she can go to sleep. Step number six is reading a little book called "Sleepy Dog". She cannot go to sleep if I read it too soon, too late, in the wrong lighting, if my voice is too loud, too soft, or if I'm not sitting in the right place.

Well, much to our dismay, we left "Sleepy Dog" at my Grandmother's house in Pampa on Saturday.

I have read it so many times, that I have it memorized. I have tried reciting it to her, but it's just not the same. She needs "Sleepy Dog". I was going to wait and pick it up the next time we're in Pampa, but I'm either going to have to have my grandmother mail it to us or try to find another copy somewhere.

Oh, "Sleepy Dog", please come home soon! We ALL need you!

An Ordinary Day

Bailey lost another tooth today. Finally. It has been loose since April. It was just barely hanging in there and she looked really funny when she was trying to eat. I'm sure the whole house will be wide awake most of the night tonight, listening for the flutter of sparkly tooth fairy wings. What joy!

It is Zack's turn to take the team snack for his t-ball game tonight. This is HUGE in his little world. He gets to decide what we take and help pass them out after the game. We were searching the snack isle at WalMart when he said, "Everybody likes raisins!" Really? Do most kids like raisins? I hope so, because that's what we're taking!

Kris is super-duper stressed today. His big trade show is this week-end at the Civic Center. I am so proud of him. The shows he has worked on in the past have been put together by at least 10 - 12 people. He has put this one together by himself. The kids think he is Clark Kent. I think they are right.

So, I guess this is just another wonderfully ordinary day in the Haney house. . . . . . . . . . . . .

T-Ball and Tornados

T-Ball and tornadoes just don't mix.

We should have known something was up last week when a storm spotter came to the game with his camera. "Something's coming" he said, "you probably shouldn't even start the game." But, being the die-hard t-ball coach that Kris is, he started the game anyway.

Zack was playing the outfield in the middle of the first inning when the sky started looking a little angry. I got in the car and turned on the radio just as the NWS was issuing a tornado warning. I jumped out of the car and grabbed the kids (and Kris) and away we went.

The game was rescheduled for the next evening, and it rained again. This time they were at least able to finish the game . . . .in the rain.

Finally, on Monday night, we were able to play a dry, mud-free, tornado-free game.

Remember When it Rained

The Treeless Treehouse

Our backyard is super-duper tiny. It was the only thing we didn't like about our house when we bought it last year. It's just so very, very teensy-weensy. Once we put in the swing set, wading pool, and sand table, it was full. The only way to add anything else was to go up.

So up we went.

These are pictures of the treeless treehouse while Kris was still working on it. The kids really thought they were helping. It would have taken half the time to build if they hadn't helped so much.

We are going to paint it as soon as we all agree on a color. (Kris wants brown, I want green, Bailey wants red, Zack wants orange.) We also have window boxes with marigolds already growing in them, a mail box, and a pulley system to add after we paint.

Eventually, Kris wants to put a roof on it. Zack wants to add a fireman's pole. Bailey wants carpet. I'm just happy it is finished enough for the kids to play in it!

Playin' Trains

Zack has loved trains since he was just a little guy.

We started his brio/thomas set for him when he was 3 years old. Every Christmas and Birthday we add something to it. It has grown way beyond what will actually fit on his table. He has a huge box of tracks that he keeps under his bed.

A while back, we went to Santa Fe to ride the old passenger train that travels the branch line to Galisteo Basin. It was so fun to make a whole weekend just for Zack.

Last weekend, PaPa took him to a model train club. They watched all of the trains and then went outside and toured a couple of antique train cars that were on display. Then, they stopped at Sonic on the way home. I'm not sure who enjoyed it more!

But Zack's favorite thing is having someone sit on the floor with him and build a new track on his table. He calls it "just playin' trains" and it's the sweetest time to spend with him. I know he'll grow out it one day, but for now, I'm going to enjoy "just playin' trains". . . . .

Free Chocolate Friday

What could possibly be better than free chocolate?
Click here.

Her Morning Elegance

This is so beautiful . . . .

Summer Autism Conference

I just spent two days at an Autism Conference. After 14 hours of training, I am both exhausted and exhilarated. I felt right at home with 750 people who have experience with this disorder. Everyone understood.

I think the most important thing I learned about Bailey's disorder is that "it is what it is." Someone said "when you meet one person with autism, you've met one person with autism." No two are alike. The people with the most extreme symptoms are the ones in the media. A lot of people with autism "just seem shy." No one sees the turmoil that lies beneath.

Most of Bailey's symptoms are extremely mild and for that I am grateful, but that doesn't make the other, more intense, symptoms insignificant. I am grateful that many people will never see her most troubling symptoms. I am grateful that she is a girl (girl's symptoms are very different from boy's). I am grateful that she is verbal. I am grateful that she is learning to read. I am grateful she is so intelligent. I am grateful she is loving. I am grateful she has a photographic memory (we rarely loose things at our house!) I am grateful she is fixated on something pleasant. But mostly, I am grateful she is mine.

If you want to learn more about Autism, visit Temple Grandin's web site http://www.templegrandin.com/templehome.html or watch "Big Bang Theory" - the character "Sheldon" is on the autism spectrum. So are Dan Aykroyd, Daryl Hannah, Matthew Laborteaux (Little House on the Prairie), Albert Einstien, Bill Gates, Mark Twain, Thomas Jefferson, Beethoven, Thomas Edison, Mozart, Van Gogh, Emily Dickison, George Bernard Shaw, Henry Ford, Bob Dylan, Da Vinci, Courtney Love . . . . .