Liquid hot magma

I'm injured.

It is, as they say "merely a flesh wound".

I got burned on Tuesday and still have about 4 nasty blisters on my finger.  I wouldn't normally blog about this sort of thing, but Abby is highly concerned about the future of my finger.  She is so concerned that she asked her psychiatrist to examine my finger during her medicine check appointment today.  He was confused.  I was amused.

What caused this horrible injury to my second favorite finger?  (I think you know which is my favorite)

The injury was caused by direct contact with meatloaf.

No, not a pushed-to-the-brink-by-Gary-Busey Crazy (with a capitol C) Meatloaf (with a capitol M).

No, this injury was caused by reheating a slice of my mother's delicious meatloaf.  The glaze on the meatloaf, when re-heated for only 40 seconds, turned into a styrofoam plate-melting, skin-melting lava.  Tasty, but life threatening.  

Worry not, I will find a way to survive.  Flowers would be appreciated, but not as much as I would appreciate someone washing my dishes.  Stay safe, people.

11 months old already?

Lucy is 11 months old today.  If you follow my Facebook page, you know that I have taken a picture of Lucy and the same pink teddy bear on the 29th of every month since she was born last Leap Day.  That teddy bear sure does look like he is shrinking.

As the months go on , Lucy's wild spirit is coming out in the photos and the little stinker won't sit still for a shot.

^my favorite^

Abby wanted to get involved to show how big she is getting too!

One more month until my baby girl turns 1.  Seems like she has been here forever.

Mostly-wordless Monday

Abby has had enough of winter.

If you listen quietly, you can almost hear her saying "whatthehell" under her breath.

Pinterest Challenge Week 2

Last week, I told you about the Pinterest Challenge that Abby have undertaken to both expand her horizons and spend some time together.  Week 1 was crafting with Lucy's feet so for Week 2, we needed a recipe.  Nothing too fancy, nothing with vegetables (per Abby's demands).  We needed something fun to make and even more fun to eat.  We needed....chocolate.

We modified a recipe we found on Pinterest and decided to make a Cookies and Cream Crazy ice cream pie.  A chocolate pie crust, with some hot fudge at the bottom, topped with Oreo ice cream, drizzled hot fudge and a mixture of crushed Oreos and chocolate sprinkles (you know - for texture...lol).

Not a recipe we will repeat anytime soon....oh, it was absolutely delicious but obviously it's a very rare treat. And not a word to Abby's doctor out of any of you, ok?  (For the record, even with 4 people eating it - we made it last over a week)

  Looks good, huh? 

 Yeah - we don't play around at dessert time here in the Middle of Crazytown, that's for sure.

I am the Gate Keeper

Well, the weather outside is frightful, but I will still be heading out to Walmart tomorrow.

We need a baby gate.  Lucy is crawling up steps.

Not even 11 months have passed since she was born and she's already decided Mom and Dad and the living room in general are boring and there is far more excitement to be found upstairs.  To be honest, Grandma and Abby do have a lot of fun up there.

To eliminate her boredom, Rob decided to entertain her with a game called "Butt on the Roof", where he yelled that phrase and held her up and put her butt on the ceiling of the living room.  ("Butt on the Ceiling" doesn't sound as much fun when you yell it).  We got about 3 minutes of entertainment from it.  He rejected my request to be the next contestant.  Whatever.  That certainly would have provided more than 3 minutes of entertainment.

We might be a little stir crazy this evening.  Can a thaw come early this year, Punxatawney Phil?  Please?

Are you on Pinterest?

I was obsessed with Pinterest a few months back, and I have recently renewed my love of this website.  Lucy is turning one soon and I have been using Pinterest to plan her party.

So if you aren't on Pinterest (which I'm going to call "P" for now on since the red squiggly line signaling an incorrectly spelled word every time I type it is annoying me), here is the lowdown...

P is a place to share crafts ideas, recipes and Do It Yourself projects.  You can plan extravagant weddings there that very few could actually afford.  You can clothe babies that don't exist.  You can admire Halloween costumes that took months to build.  And you just might find something fun to do with your kids.

Imagine you have giant labeled bulletin boards (called "boards" on P) with categories like recipes, crafts, DIY projects and you look through ideas and "pin" them to your boards.  You follow your Facebook friends and random strangers, if you like their style.

Abby and I decided to take a 52 week Pinterest challenge.  Well...I decided and Abby didn't complain too much.  So week 1, we used our favorite crafting tool....Lucy's feet.  Painting Lucy's feet and stamping them on paper has become a fun tradition for Abby and I.  Pinterest has loads of ideas on how to turn those little piggies into amazing little works of art.  So I present to you, unfinished of course, to not spoil the surprise for the person receiving this Valentine's Day gift....

 "I love you down to the tips of my toes"

Check out Pinterest, especially on a snowy night...I'm off to find a new recipe for soup and some ideas on what to do with St Patty's Day foot prints!

It's starting to make sense

Lucy has been "baby talking" for some time now..."Mum mum mum mim mem mem mum" and "bad bad dad bad dad bad dad dad" are two of her favorite speeches.  She has also said "Aaaabee" and "Neenee" (which we believe to be "Granny").  A few days ago, she looked at her bottle and whispered "baba", like she was whispering sweet nothings to it.

About a week ago, came "Up".  Lucy stood on the bath mat, watching as I filled the tub with water and tubby toys, looked at me and said "Up".  Genius, right?  She has said "up" about 400 times since then, and at least 3 of those times have been an actual request to be picked up.

So trust me, I have realistic views about my nearly 11 month old's vocabulary.  I know that she is merely learning how to make noises, and most anything I hear is just random, which should make what I am about to share with you even funnier.

This evening, Lucy was sitting in the bathtub, playing with toys and it seemed as though she almost forgot I was there.  She looked up, caught my eye and said "waddup".  I, of course, scared her by yelling "Wazzzzzup?"  Don't judge me, it's nearly Super Bowl time.

After the bath, I wrapped her in a towel and gave her my "post-bath speech"...."Don't pee on Mommy."  She answered me with "gonpoop".

Don't worry, I do not believe my daughter was telling me she was going to poop.  However, I did move to the diaper and fresh clothes a little faster than usual.   Just a bit of happenstance that happened to make us laugh.

(and for the record, I ran for no reason - she was either just babbling or she has a wicked sense of humor)

Bedtime

"Wow - your room smells like a fart."
"Um...that was you."

I really wish I could honestly say I was not a part of the above conversation.

All is well...

Blood tests are back.
Cholesterol within normal range.
Sugar within normal range.
Happy momma today!

Blood, sweat and tears

We headed out this morning to the local hospital to complete the blood tests ordered by Abby's doctor.   We arrived  at the local hospital annex to find a packed waiting room at patient registration.  Abby sat down to watch the television, which was showing "Animal Planet" and had a large sign that instructed us not to touch the tv.  Animal Planet was showing Jeff Corwin, which should have served as a nice distraction for Abby, except that Corwin was tagging seals...with a big ol' needle.  I waited for Abby's reaction, but she only once gave me a quick look with raised eyebrows, a look that I interpreted as "Seriously?"

After waiting 45 minutes, we found out that they do not accept Abby's insurance.  So we headed to another location and walked in to no line and immediate service.  Abby had requested that her dad be with her and that I could wait outside with the baby so "I don't scare Lucy with all my crying".  A giant blow to my ego to not be her requested support person - but when you want to squeeze someone's hand, I guess there is no one better than Dad.

But Dad was parking the car, so I was the one.  I explained to the nurse that Abby was very afraid and Abs told her "I'm very scared - I'll probably freak out."

3 minutes later, 2 vials of blood were drawn and 7 tears were shed.  2 tears belonged to Abby and 5 belonged to me - so proud that she didn't scream, faint, freak out or any of the other tragedies she predicted.

My little girl is growing up.

Not all fun and games here...

Life in the Middle of Crazytown is never dull, frequently joyous and occasionally challenging.

Some things that you might take for granted can present a large problem here due to Abby's autism.  Tomorrow morning, Abby has to have blood work drawn at the local hospital so her pediatrician can check her for diabetes and high cholesterol.  At 5'10" and 195 lbs, she wears a women's medium or large - yet is designated overweight.  (ug - another post, another time)

So having blood drawn, kind of a pain, right?  Nobody like needles so we understand her nervousness.

Nope.  Not even close.

She began to shake when we explained it to her in the doctor's office.  She cried in the observation room.  All way home in the car, she asked if she was going to faint (something she once saw me do while donating blood at the blood bank), she cried some more, she insisted that she doesn't need these tests because she isn't "chubby".  She came home from school telling me that her aide agreed she isn't chubby so she doesn't need that test.  (I am sure the aide told her she wasn't overweight - Abs added the "skipping the test" part.)  She asked the in home therapist about it and cried when we sat and explained to her that the doctor ordered the tests so we had to listen to the doctor.  The therapist showed her videos of  happy children having blood drawn, cheerfully announcing that "It doesn't even hurt."  She watched the videos begrudgingly, through her fingers, as frightened as if she were watching Freddy Kreuger.

This was Tuesday...Rob and I, the therapist and my mother have coached her all week.  We have provided "worry dolls", you tube examples, advice and hugs.  And so tomorrow is the day.  She is tucked in bed, her fast has begun and I pray she isn't crying.

So what's the good news?  My daughter has great body image.  My daughter has a great team of people supporting her.  And Abby's good news?  She gets to spend her giftcard from Claire's this weekend as a reward.

Wish us luck...  comment if you would like, I'd love to know who's reading!
Sarah

Abby...the funniest person I know

My 13 year old, Abby, is the funniest person I know.

Tonight at girl scouts, while discussing peer pressure, we had the girls partner up and act out pressure situations.  I gave Abby the role of "the bad girl".  Each team was able to choose what activity the "bad girl" would be trying to convince her partner to do.

I hear Abby tell her partner, "I got this" and it was soon their turn.

Armed with a pen as a prop, dangling from her lips, Abby the bad girl began to pressure her partner to "be like the cool kids....and smoke cigars."

Abby:  "Hey - you should smoke cigars...all the cool kids are doing it."
J, her partner:  "No thanks."
A:  "See those hot guys over there?  (Points to me)  They think girls who smoke cigars are cool."
J:  "I don't want to"
A:  "Smoking cigars will make us really cool."
J:  (giggling by this point)  "Nope."

Abby then turns to me and says "I should totally be on C.S.I."

Abby....Justin Bieber's biggest fan, awesome big sister, math genius, tambourine player extraordinaire and oh yeah....she also has autism.  Certainly not the most interesting thing about her, but hopefully she will open some eyes to what kids with autism are like.  Witty, bright, loving and amazing.

Meet the Mayor of the Middle of Crazytown

There is a challenge I put my girl scout troop through every year at our opening meeting...."Who are you?"
I challenge the girls to list 10 nouns/phrases that describe who they are.
So here's my version

Sarah
1.  Mom of two daughters
2.  Wife to Rob
3.  Step-mom to another daughter
4.  Girl scout leader
5.  Daughter
6.  Sister
7.  Volunteer
8.  Autism advocate
9.  Friend
10. Creative force (crafts, cooking)

Busy lady, right?  Yes - so here comes the ultimate question...."Why a blog?"

Well, I'm a pretty active Facebook poster:
*  multiple pics of the kids where I have to post both because the smile is just slightly different and "isn't that face gorgeous, too?"
*  random musings on pop culture, football and whatever else strikes me
*  crazy quotes from my family, like this ditty from my 13 year old, "Mom...you know Rascal Flatts?  That's the band's name.  I totally though it was that guy's name."

Basically, I love my life and the people in it - and suspect you will too.

So hopefully, you'll find something here entertaining, thought-provoking or amusing enough to stick around.
I hope so...because #11 on my list is "Blogger".

Welcome...and buckle up, people...there's rarely a dull moment in the Middle of Crazytown.

Sarah

Small rant - hope I don't offend anyone (repost from my personal Facebook page)

I've seen a few posts today about a school supplies drive being held locally where the items will be sent to the Sandy Hook Elementary students.  I myself am very active with several charities and I would never want to step on someone's toes while they are giving their time, money and goods to someone in need.  But, let's be honest.  Do the children of Sandy Hook Elementary, who survived an atrocious attack on their school and neighborhood, really need school supplies donated from a small town in Pennsylvania?  The answer is "No."   This isn't even my answer - it is the answer from the people of Newtown.  On December 27th of last year, the citizens of Newtown asked for no further donations, as shown in the following Associated Press article.   http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/newtown-asks-gits-article-1.1228032

Let me tell you who needs donations of school supplies...many children right here in our local school district.  Poverty affects many students within our own city limits.  Our state wide budget cuts don't help put pencils and paper in the kids' hands either.  You know who does put pencils in the hands of the kids - many of our teachers.  And for that, and many other things - I am thankful for the teachers I have known in my life.  All of them.

I genuinely applaud the efforts of those organizing the school supply drive.  But the old saying "Charity begins at home" completely applies to this case, in my humble opinion.  Many children in this area need food, clothing, school supplies and even more than that, they need to see smiling faces of positive role models helping their own community.

So donate to the school supply drive, or drop off a bag of supplies to one of our local schools, or put a fiver in the red kettle or whatever YOU WANT TO.  Just consider who might need your donation more.

I really hope I haven't made anyone angry with this post, that wasn't my intention.

Welcome friends!

Welcome to the Middle of Crazytown.  Special thanks for my blog name to my dear friend Karin, who once whispered to my youngest daughter "You got dropped right in the middle of crazytown."  Once you get to know us, you will see Karin was absolutely right.  We work hard, we love hard and we'll share our adventures with you.