We signed Riley up for piano lessons today. There's a lady that used to work at my school, and she gives lessons at her house. He starts Friday. He's pretty excited, and we are pretty excited he's excited. He can read music, from his recorder class at school, and he's been playing those songs on the iPad piano.

A Cake and A Scouting Event

Last Friday was the Blue and Gold Dinner for Scouts. It was a potluck, and people were to bring cakes for the cake raffle.

We decided we wanted to make a giant Oreo cookie cake, so off I went to Williams-Sonoma, to get the coordinating "Cookie" pan. I bought the mix that goes with it too-or I tried to at least. They didn't charge me for the $20 mix! Anyway, I brought it all home, and on Thursday, Quinn and I made the cakes.

They were a big pain in the you-know-what to get out of the pans!! I coated the pans really well with PAM, and then I added flour (like the recipe said), but they still didn't want to come out, and when they finally did, you could see the damn flour in spots. Grrrrr. I sprinkled powdered sugar all over the top to try and hide the ugliness of it all. It still looks like an Oreo though.

The next day-the powdered sugar pretty much absorbed. It still looks kinda ugly. It tasted pretty good though-a little too sweet, but ok. OH, and how do we know how it tasted??? Oh well the boys could not LIVE without our own cake, so we paid another $20 to buy it back!!

There was a storyteller at the dinner. He told a story about the future look of a Cub Scout. This guy, a really big, tall guy, then pulled Quinn out to put this giant shirt on him. Quinn is the teeniest one there. The same thing happened last year as well. Quinn loved it, as you can tell.

Quinn's den did a skit. They all pretended to be asleep at camp. Quinn wakes up, crawls across all of the other boys to the last boy. He wakes that one up and says, "I have to wee." He's told to go back to sleep. Back across all the other boys. He does this a few more times...

On the last time he says, "But I really have to wee!" The kid says, "Go ahead then." Quinn stands up and says, wait....for....it...."Weeeeeeee!" It was really very cute.

Quilt and Oscars

I am watching the Oscars and sewing my quilt binding. I am on a mission to get this quilt finished. I have 3 sides to go!!


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Allow Me to Bore You With Pictures of my Cute Dog

Oh this dog of ours. She's just so cute and lovable.

This was Monday night. The boys had just gotten back from the beach. Maya was happy to see them. She curled right up with Quinn and went to sleep.

Then this afternoon, sleeping next to me.

Then this evening while Quinn watched TV. How cute is that?

More TV time with Quinn. Yes, this little dog is a keeper.

Oh and this was my fortune today. At first I was a little concerned that there's less than a week left of this month, but then a friend told me that I have already overcome many obstacles this month. I hadn't really thought of that! I guess I have.

I dropped off the letter I wrote requesting testing for Riley, at his school. Riley also mentioned that he was pulled out of his 5th period class to discuss the bullying he's been experiencing from one student. I feel pretty confident that THAT boy will be leaving Riley alone from now on-he was pulled out of his 6th period class for a little "chat." I think even as he sat in the VP's office, Riley still didn't want to "tell" on the other boy.

Kevin and I watched the movie Temple Grandin tonight. What a great movie! Her mind is amazing.

Random Around the House

This has been a week filled with phone calls. Still trying to figure out where we can take Riley for testing where A) insurance will cover the evaluation or B) the out of pocket isn't going to cost between $3500-$4800! I got ahold of Stanford's children's psychiatric department. There's a 9 month wait for testing. NINE months! I am waiting to hear back from them after contacting Riley's doctor for a referral. We figure we have a good chance of our insurance working there, as that's where we take Quinn for his endocrinologist appointments. I have also called the Children's Health Council, and I really like the guy I spoke with. Insurance does not cover that. In the meantime, Riley had a rough time at school on Wednesday. There's a kid from his 2nd period class (and he also had PE at the same time as Riley), who has been harassing him. Wednesday was particularly rough with led to both of us in tears, and 5 emails to school officials. I believe someone will talk to that boy now, and I believe we will get a meeting for support for Riley now. The school can do the testing for us. I figure if they are willing to sit down with us and figure out some solutions, then we can afford to wait for Stanford. We'll see what happens when I take our letter requesting services, on Tuesday. If this doesn't work, we are back to the drawing board. It's been rather frustrating. That's the biggest news around here. Here's a look at some random stuff...

I got this cupcake cookie jar for Valentine's Day from Kevin and the boys. I LOVE it!

Quinn and Maya having some bonding time.

My friend, Sheri, made this scarf for me! Isn't it cute??? It's very happy. I love it!

Maya, sleeping practically upside down.

I finally finished my puzzle. This one was quite challenging as the colors are very similar.

I started a new puzzle. This is the last of my "World's Smallest 1,000 Piece Puzzles."

I didn't leave the house today-neither did Maya. The boys are RV camping for the long weekend, with my parents. Kevin and I are here, just hanging about. We have some plans to see some movies.

I finished this book today. It was very good. Lots of similarities to things we deal with around here, but not as extreme. I'm now reading Look Me in the Eye by John Elder Robison (brother of Augusten Burroughs, author of Running With Scissors).

*If some of you are confused about this post, we are currently seeking testing for Riley, our oldest. He has been diagnosed by his therapist as PDD-NOS (an Autism Spectrum disorder), but he also fits criteria for Aspergers Syndrome. I had a post about it, but I removed it. Since getting this diagnosis, we have been working very hard to seek additional testing, so that we can get some help for him at school-mostly with social skills and the area of PE. He has always been a target for bullies, and we are dealing with one right now. Hopefully that situation has been resolved.

It's all Random

Here's a bunch of random pictures from this week and last.

My mom and I walked around the lake at the park yesterday. It was beautiful out! Our spring-like weather has been tricking the plants. This cherry blossom tree is in full bloom! I think these trees are so pretty and happy.

We saw 7 turtles sunning themselves on logs. You can see three in this picture. I used my phone to take the picture, so it's not the best quality. Can you see that one turtle is resting on top of the other turtle? So cute.

I bought the new Quilts and More magazine. I want to make something with this owl pattern because it's super cute.

Riley likes to read the same books over and over and over. I got him these books at Half Priced Books on Thursday (when I took the day off work). Hopefully he'll read them.

Last weekend or so, we went out to Big 5 to get baseball gear for Quinn. They had these chairs. Ridiculous chairs, sitting outside the store. It took both boys quite awhile to get into it. Can you imagine lugging this this to your kid's sporting event? They are $100 too!!

A New Toy for ME

I stayed home from work today. I decided I just really needed a day for me. I've had a lot to digest lately, and even more is coming our way as we discover how to best help Riley. It appears that we are in for lots of appointments. I need to do more research too.

I went out this morning, to a local sewing store, with no plans to actually buy a sewing machine, but the owner of the shop showed me this beauty, and I was sold. It was a bargain, so I decided just to go for it, and not wait for the Quilt and Sewing show in two weeks. I sat with the owner for about 45 minutes while he showed me everything it can do with fancy feet. I'm hoping to get to play with it this weekend.

French Fries

Riley had his regular appointment tonight with his counselor. Kevin and I went so that the three of us could explain to Riley what is going on. We were very broad about it, not using all of the titles. He's fine with it. He's ok proceeding with testing, and he doesn't feel badly about himself or the situation. It's funny, but in his mind, it's everyone else who has the problem. Not him. I emailed the school counselor today-letting her know what has transpired. I also dropped the name of the creep who continues to harass Riley. I will email some teachers about it tomorrow and get that taken care of for him. I'm so sick of mean kids.

We all met at Chili's tonight for dinner. Do you see what Quinn is eating? The pickiest eater around. He has french fries on his hamburger! Kevin eats lots of weird stuff on his hamburgers and sandwiches: french fries, potato salad! I was absolutely amazed that Quinn ate this! I have been amazed a lot this week.

Happy Birthday, Quinn!

Today is Quinn's 9th birthday. I really can't believe it's been 9 years already. It just seems like a blur. All those years have kinda just run together. This is his last year of single digit numbers. Happy Birthday, Quinn! Mom and Dad and Riley sure do love you!

We let Quinn open his gifts after school today, before his party.

He got two sets of Lego Ninjago, which he was thrilled with. He also got a Pillow Pet (a penguin), and two shirts, from his brother.

He got this book from his cousins. It's all about inventions. Quinn was very impressed. Riley was too as he promptly took that book with him to his grandparent's house tonight. At least Quinn has the distraction of 6 friends over for his party-a sleepover. It's loud. Kevin and I are hoping there's sleeping going to happen. Soon.

Here's Quinn's cookie cake from Mrs. Fields. Looks yummy. It tasted ok, but really sweet.

Not sure I will be back before Tuesday night. I've been in a bit of a funk over many things.