Lunar Blackout!

A friend of my husband's posted about having a Lunar Blackout the other day as the moon would be at it's brightest point.  We decided that would be a great idea to see what we have, how to use it (for those of us that don't know), and to practice what we will be a sure thing to happen in the future.

This is the way our Blackout started.  I was a bit tempted to quit right from the get go after this guy decided to get the flu.  But we cleaned up throw up by flashlight.

 

In the morning my daughter declared this whole thing lame as  the power was not off  to the bathroom, stove, microwave.  We explained to her that they are all attached to some important unit, ie furnance, fridge, freezer, so we couldn't turn them off.  Then I decided it might be lame when I discovered I had no soda in the house but my husband did.  Boo.  Not fair, we don't drink the same poison.  And of course, being true to the moment, he informed me that the roads were closed do to the emergency so we could not go to the store, not that I planned to anyway. The morning started with fresh eggs from our chickens and bacon (as we have to eat what is in the fridge first as it will go bad).  We didn't actually turn the power off the fridge, freezer, or furnace but we were trying to live the concept.

 He is very excited and thinks we are having "izza" for every meal.  Poor kid.  That was NOT on the menu.

 This was the dish washing station.  My husband tried to explain to me the set up and I got lost.  Can I tell you I think that was the cleanest my dishes have ever been?  He had 4 pots that he scrubbed or dunked them in.

 Sharing the leftovers with the dog.

 Then the first crack in the ranks started.  My husband had given the kids an "emergency radio" so we could contact each other.  Next I hear a broadcast from the emergency broadcast station of WCEB (my husband's initials) stating there was a temporary road opening to Smith & Edwards only.  He felt we needed to go on a field trip to grab some necessary emergency supplies.  Oh brother.  Shhhh, I did grab some soda for me.

 Lunch was MRE's.  What can I say.......

I explained to my husband that I have eaten some gross things in my life but hands down this beat them all!  I was able to eat the chicken rice thing but that hot dog?  I almost lost the one bite.  The cookies were old and rancid.  It was HORRIBLE!!!!!  And I used to give my daughter (my pickiest eater) a hard time about how she will have to eat what we have during an emergency.  After this we decided to get rid of the old MRE's and restock with better food. 

 

Next we had a fire starting lesson.

He taught the kids several methods and/or fire starters.  It was interesting for me also as I have never seen the cotton ball with Vaseline or the lint in the toilet paper tube (my contribution).

Then as a "morale booster" we had shooting practice with Appleseed's new gun.  He gave them lessons on how to hold it, where the safety is, etc.  He is very serious and professional for a 4 year old and it was adorable.

This one was mad that we kept having him stand behind the shooters.

Shooting.

And dinner.  This time it was Mountain House (freeze dried food).  It was much better than MRE's.  I still was not a huge fan but this at least I can eat without crying uncontrollably.  he he

It was a great experience and I am very glad we did it.  I loved doing a puzzle with the kids by lantern and head lamps.  I loved the togetherness as no one was on the computer, phone, or watching TV.  We plan to do more of these in the future for sure.  Thanks to Frugal Farmers for the idea.

 

Lightbulb

Recently Butterball was diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder.  I am so glad that I finally took him to the doctor.  I initially took him in for anxiety, which he also has.  But the other disorder was like a light bulb.  And I am still finding light bulbs with learning about this.  It is so amazing and relieving to understand some things. 

 

Here is an example of some of the things that we have learned. 

 

When he was little we would have sunglasses on him and also put blankets on the windows of the car. At the dentist he has sometimes had to wear two sunglasses. 

They can be sensitive to lights. 

 

He has always wore his belts so tight that I was sure it would cut off his circulation or be very uncomfortable. 

Tight clothing is very soothing and relaxing to people with this.  He has been sensitive to the length of clothes on his arms, or his waist.  Part of that is that he is more comfortable in tighter (smaller) clothes.  Now I don't get rid of clothes when they are too small for him, unless they are ridiculously small.  And then it is a battle when he realizes it.  He has always had a hard time finding "comfortable" socks.  Now we know that seamless socks are the best.  I now stock up when/if I find something that he will wear.  He usually wears his shoes tied so tight it is crazy but for some reason shoes are bothering him lately.  There have been days when he can't have his shoes tied all day because it "feels weird".

 

Some foods will make them feel like they are gagging, even when it was fine the day before. 

Ohhhhh, that explains the fit he had when he wanted triangles with cheese, which he had the day before, and then refused to eat it as after one bite it "taste weird, I feel like I am going to gag."

 

He is very uncomfortable in other places.  I have not tied down whether that is the noise level which can bother them, or the lighting, or just plain anxiety.

 

I have learned that massages, lavender, bubble baths, chewy foods, and "squishies" all help him.  Squishes is me tightly squeezing his upper legs or arms.  When I can tell he is getting elevated or bothered or whatever, then I will do squishies which I have noticed can help.

 

This has been a learning process that is for sure.  So yes, I will leave places when he is uncomfortable, yes I will let him wear his shoes untied, and yes I will be more relaxed about what he wears to certain places, like church.  Because if he feels better then he behaves better.  And as difficult as this disorder can be, I love this smart, creative, funny, caring, loving, sensitive boy.  A boy who wants to build robots and make prosthetic limbs and make flying shoes. This is my sweet Butterball.

 

Day 12 - make something for someone you don't normally get along with

Seriously?!? Holy cow this was hard to even think about. I tend to be a peace maker so I was having trouble thinking of people I don't normally get along with. I tend to have this horrible desire to get along with everyone. :) But my daughter immediately thought of people. She made little alligator gifts for her brother Butterball and put some candy in it for him.

She said she should do something for me to as "I really don't get a long with you." She cracks me up. I had told a friend about this task and she texted me a lecture later about something to do with my kids and then included, "How was that you mad at me now? OK lets make up." It cracked me up!

Day 11 - clean, fix, or do something for someone else

We have been getting very behind because we have been so sick in our house. And just plain exhausted. So on a weekend we caught up with a few. This was hard for my kids and I to think of what to do. So as we were driving somewhere we decided to clear snow off people's vehicles. We were not dressed right for this and so we ended up getting done one. UGH!

But at least we did something. I tried to get them to do more but they were freezing.

My daughter is digging what she called a potty trail (the snow was yellow) so that she could walk over to do the side of the vehicle. What a nut.

Day 10 - Get a gift card to a restaurant and tape to drive through window

I cheated! I know, shame on me! I have a friend that I texted telling her she should follow me through the drive through. Turns out she has two kids with a birthday this month and not a lot of cash so I cheated by buying her a gift card to go out to eat with the kids. Darn....I just thought that I should have taped it to her forehead or something. Hmmmmm....maybe next time.

Day 9 - send a card to a random person in the phone book

My daughter picked out our random person and we made a card and then wrote our message. And yes, I am the dork that made the card, wrote my message, realized the card was too big for the envelope, trim the card, add daughter's message, take a picture, and then mail the card. And then when I post the picture I realize the trim had cut off part of my message. I am a dork.

Day 8 - Tape coupons on the items at the grocery store

What a blast. I rarely use all my Smith's coupons so I plan to do this more.

My daughter is finally clicking into how great this is. She said, "It actually feels good to be giving like this." Hey, better late than never.

I even saw a lady near the meat section buying a ton of meat so I gave her two coupons for her meat that I had.

I had a great time.

Day 7 - Leave change in a place where kids play

This was fun but a bit awkward as there were kids there already. Appleseed put down one penny and wanted the rest. Then he placed them all one by one around the gum machine.

The older kids put their money all over. When we got out to the car a lady came out with a child with a hand full of money saying my kids had dropped their money so I explained to her what we were doing.

Day 6 - Hang post it notes with nice messages on public mirrors

Boy do I need to pull out those papers sometime so I can do the title the correct way. Sweet Butterbean wrote this one for the boys and hung it on our bathroom mirror.

I accidentally wrote this one. I had been working on phonics with my son prior to this. I think I got mine a bit mixed up. I was going to hang this one on my own mirror but when it was all said and done I had put it on a public mirror. Oops. I hope someone got a laugh out of that.

I went to two different stores and used all their bathrooms and slapped mine up.

Butterball wrote two of them and hung one in each of the boy's bathrooms at school. I was surprised that he got into this.

Day 5 - Buy a gift card and give to someone in need

The kids and I discussed who we thought should get the giftcard and came up with a great choice.  So we went to get a giftcard and a little something she needed for her home.  Butterbean was the only that would pose for the picture.  We are loving this task!

Day 4 - Do some spring cleaning and donate to charity

I know I am not typing these titles word for word on my sister's cute papers so I hope she forgives me. I am too lazy to get the paper out to make sure I say it right. Today was not a hard one. YEAH! I had all my kids donate something. My daughter donated a book and 2 shirts. She tried to donate 2 more books, she is always trying to give the books away, but as they are part of a set I wouldn't let her. Butterball donated his "itchy" shirts meaning all his sweat shirts. He has always hated sweat shirts. And he did try to donate a Nerf gun, Dad told him no. Then a horse toy, little brother threw a fit. So he donated a small pretend walkie talkie. Little brother still threw a fit that he didn't have his own "talkie walkie" but it still went in the bag. And I donated a ton of clothes and some Christmas decorations.

I hope my kids willingness to get pictures of these get better. I asked Appleseed to get out and let me take a picture of him at the donation center and he said, "Just take our picture from us in here." So I did.

Day 3 - Hang flyer on a billboard.

Today's task drove me crazy because I had so much anxiety over possibly having to speak to someone about hanging up my sign. Thankfully a friend unknowingly helped me out by asking if I would be going to 7-11 anytime soon.

There was my perfect excuse. So I got her her soda fix and asked the cashier, who I am very familiar with (he he, not because I go there a lot at all) and she said I could hang it up. Whew!!!!

I asked my son to let me take a picture of him with it but he wouldn't let me. So here is the picture I got of him. Oh, the flyer reads, "Take what you need" The rip off tags on the bottom are "Faith, hope, courage, Love" What a nice reminder.

Things heard in my massage parlor. SCARY!

My bones are barely cool.  I wuv them.

OK, I demand absolute silence from now unless it is to say how much you plan to tip me.

Oh man, you are going to make me choke to death from the laughing, or tooting.  Man it stinks over here now.

Toot!  That toot meant no to your question.

Man your feet are gross.  Really dirty and they stink.  Good thing it is not my hands touching them....but a spoon.


That was a scary massage parlor.  I was pleased with the 10% discount for saying I worked with old people though.

Day 2 - Give out Valentines

I let all the kids pick a family to give out Valentines too. Appleseed was thinking with his hand rubbing his chin. Then I went to take the picture and he stopped and frowned.

We made our Valentines. Sorry sister that I didn't use the stuff you gave us. I didn't know we had stuff in our box until I saw one other sisters. We will use it another time as I hope to do random acts of kindness throught the year.

Here is Appleseed's choice which was not a big surprise. He cries for Grandma when he is in trouble, scared, sick, had a nightmare, doesn't want to eat....pretty much anytime. He loves his Grandma.

This is Butterball's choice. She has always been a very dear friend to him and he adores her and her family. Course we all do. Her Mom is also someone that Appleseed has cried out for when he is upset, and he pretend calls her all the time.

Here is Butterbean's choice. She dearly loves this girl. They are amazing and always giving.

And Applseed or Cricket's choice. Cricket is technically too young so Appleseed got two choices. We love them too. At one time my boys were going to marry these girls. And there is Applseed in true fashion with my boys, wearing two different shoes.

I love our random acts and so do my kids. Thank you again sister!

Random Acts of Christmas Kindness Day 1

For Christmas we received a Christmas countdown package from my sister where we get to do random acts of kindness to help us celebrate Christmas.  Today was Day 1.  We were to round up stray carts in a store parking lot and put them in the stalls.  My kids were so excited and chose Wal-mart as our store.

We parked at the very back so we could bring any carts that were way back there.  I was very nervous that my kids would hit a car.

Even little Cricket helped in his own way.

 

Then my daughter and I had to go back to the store again so we did some more carts.  We tried to take them to where they put them in the store but the door was down.  I hope we didn't make more work for them by having them there.

There was a Sub for Santa table at the entrance.  We picked a paper and then went and got the item.  It was a lot of fun to pick it out.  My daughter needs a little more compassion for others as she was a bit grumpy that it was not for her and said she wants one just like it.