Turning 50 Part 4

Katelyn's husband, Matt, wrote this one. Don and I love having him as our one and only son-in-law. It makes us happy that, after being around our crazy brood for a couple of years now, Matt will still claim us. By the way, if you saw Katelyn's rock, you would approve as well! :)

This one is from my aunt Cindy. I am blessed with some pretty wonderful aunts, but I've got to admit, Cindy is my favorite. She is only seven years older than me and, for that reason, I spent more time with her than any of the others. I have soooo many fond memories of her! Obviously, she was a great sport to include me on her dates. 

Best girl trip ever...up to that point. 

We were at this mall in Rancho Cucumonga, CA...

and, as we left the H & M store, I noticed one of the zippers on my backpack was down. I searched my backpack for my wallet and couldn't find it. I was sure someone had unzipped the backpack and stole it. Beverly, Jennica, Katelyn and I looked everywhere and Bev was really close to jumping a guy that "looked guilty" standing by the trashcan. I phoned my husband back home and had him call the bank to put a stop on our credit cards. Then, when we got back in the car, I looked in my backpack one more time, and there was my wallet. 

I think it was Jennica who took this photo of me from the back seat. As you can see, the girls still won't let me forget that moment in time. 

Talitha is my daughter-in-law. She is a fantastic cook and such a good mom! Talitha must also have a great sense of humor and a lot of spunk to be married to my son Chase, who is a big kid at heart and loves teasing everyone.

Much like my brother-in-law's note on the last post, this is another "you had to be there" moment. John is a co-worker and good friend. 

Susan is John's wife. We DID have a great time watching the taping of Wheel of Fortune! You can read about it here .

Bridger is my great-nephew (my sister's grandson). Reading children's handwriting is my favorite! I am so glad Bridger had a good time at my house eating pizza. :)

Of all the teachers I've worked with over the years, I've been with Susan the longest. She is amazing! Never has she made me feel inferior or asked me to do anything I am not comfortable with. Consider yourself blessed if your child was/is lucky enough to have her for a teacher.

If you missed the previous "Turning 50" posts, here are the links...

Turning 50 Part 1

Turning 50 Part 2

Turning 50 Part 3

Out of the 2010 Archives/ Christmas Brainteasers

The DJ on the radio this morning was playing a game he called "Christmas Realist". He described a realist as a person who would take it literally if someone said "I'd let him eat crackers in my bed any day." or "I've got a lot on my plate." or "Who let the dogs out?"


The DJ read a Christmas song title the way a "realist" might say it and if you knew the answer, you could call in and win a prize. For example: The DJ said " Adorn the Rooms" and a caller answered with "Deck the Halls". Follow?


As I was listening, I thought, "Hey. This is how Cody communicates!" Everything is a guessing game with him. (Too bad I was driving my car at the time. I could've totally kicked butt with all the experience he's given me.)


I decided right then and there that I wanted to blog about this. There's got to be other "Autism mom's and dad's" who are good at this! So...here some of the song titles the radio station used with a few "Codyisms" thrown in:


1) Higher on the Dwelling Peak


2) Zilch Holiday Ash


3) Left in a Trough


4) Frigid the Flurry Guy


5) "I'm excited to see Ho, Ho, Ho!"


6) "Did you get dust up your nose?"


7) Rattle Chimes


8) Elation to the Earth


9) "I will listen to Along Comes a Woman on if it doesn't run out of batteries."


10) Zero Divine Darkness


11) "Don't let the bumble in."


12) Kris Kringle Infant



Answers-



1) Up on the Housetop


2) O Christmas Tree


3) Away in a Manger


4) Frosty the Snowman


5) "I'm excited to see Santa Claus!"


6) "Did you sneeze?"


7) Jingle Bells


8) Joy to the World


9) 'I will listen to Chicago on my iPod."


10) O Holy Night


11) "Don't let the bee in."


12) Santa Baby





Please leave a comment and let me know me how well you did, even if you don't have a child with Autism :)

Maybe I Want to be Booed

The idea behind Halloween Boo-ing is simple. You make up a plate or basket of treats, sneak to your neighbor's house, knock on the door and run away, leaving the treats on their doorstep. It's acceptable doorbell ditching, really. Once you've been Booed, you display a sign on your door or window so neighbors can tell who has already received treats and who hasn't.

The game is simple and easy for everyone in the neighborhood to play, but our family hasn't been Booed in years. In fact, one year we started the game by Boo-ing a couple of different families, but it never got back to us. The people in our neighborhood tend to skip those of us that don't have small children. I am sure they assume that older people don't want to be bothered and maybe that is the case with some, but not all. Believe it or not, people in their 40's are capable of running and hiding in bushes. :)

Anyway...If you would like to start this game in your neighborhood, here are three different
websites that have free printable Boo signs and instructions:

Party NV

The TomKat Studio

Anders Ruff

If You Have a DOT, Expose It

Usually I stay away from thrift stores for a couple of reasons.

#1- I rarely find anything worth having.

#2- I usually leave slathering my hands with sanitizer and feeling like I have lice in my hair (psychological, I know).

My last visit to the thrift store proved satisfactory, however. I found the vintage game Probe.

In the 1980's, Don and I use to play this game at my aunt and uncle's house.

We've often wanted to play it again, but somewhere along the line, Parker Brothers stopped manufacturing it.

Probe is a great word game, kind of like Hang Man meets Scrabble. Each person chooses a secret word and writes it in their word tray.

Players then draw cards and follows the instructions given. Here are three examples...

Everyone tries to guess each other's words, accumulating points as one letter after another is exposed.

 

This particular game is in excellent condition. It even came with plenty of the original paper inserts.

Have any of you ever found hella good deals at a thrift store?

"We've Got Eleven Games Coming Up."

Cody loves spending time at his grandma's house. He really likes playing with her Atari. (Remember my blog post 'Toys From Christmases Past'?) Anyway, Cody likes to chant, in order, the games that he will play on the Atari when he gets to grandma's house. Apparently he started doing this in the year 2001. It took us about seven years to figure out that he was adding a new game each year. Now that I look back, it seems like we were a bunch of dimwits for not catching on sooner, especially after seeing it in writing...

2001- Yars Revenge
2002- Yars Revenge and Kangaroo
2003- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, and Pac Man
2004- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, and Pit Fall
2005- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, Pit Fall, and Grand Prix
2006- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, Pit Fall, Grand Prix, and Donkey Kong
2007- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, Pit Fall, Grand Prix, Donkey Kong, and Centipede
2008- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, Pit Fall, Grand Prix, Donkey Kong, Centipede, and Asteroids
2009- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, Pit Fall, Grand Prix, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Asteroids, and Stampede
2010- Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, Pit Fall, Grand Prix, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Asteroids, Stampede, and Q-Bert

Now Cody's talking about 2011 and has added a new game. He says, "We've got eleven games coming up!" then he continues with...

"Yars Revenge, Kangaroo, Pac Man, Pit Fall, Grand Prix, Donkey Kong, Centipede, Asteroids, Stampede, Q-Bert, and Circus Atari."

Cranium

On Thanksgiving Day, after we've stuffed our faces with delicious food, the fam gathers around to either make crafts for Christmas or play board games. This year we chose to play. Some of our favorite group games are Apples to Apples, Imaginiff, Balderdash, Mad Gab, and Swap. But this year Cranium was the hit. My sister-in-law absolutely loves it when someone has to pull the Playdough card and play it. For me, Charades is my least favorite card. (It probably ought to be the Humming and Whistling card since I suck at both.) This year, the card that totally kicked butt was Drawing with Your Eyes Closed. Let me show you why. And just to make it so you can play along, I've posted the pictures first and then the answer, so scroll slowly...



Did you guess Flat Tire? FYI. Those lines are arrows. :)

This is a clown ( I thought it looked like Disney's Huey, Dewey, or Louie.)

Toucan. I'm diggin' the backwards wing.

I'm proud to say this work of art belongs to me!

7 Great Mouse Skills Programs

The following website has online games for teaching mouse skills (single click, double click, drag and drop). If you have young children, I think you'll like it. Check it out!

7 More Great Mouse Skills Programs - Blog Top Sites

Hide-and-Seek the Autistic Way

A few years ago, Cody went through a phase where he loved to play Hide-and-Seek. That may seem normal enough but let me finish. Most of the time Cody wouldn't tell us he was playing and he'd just hide, usually in the coat closet. It's a good thing for Cody that we are observant or he may have stayed in there for hours. (With him being Autistic, I am not joking at all!)