minor accident (but everything's okay):

Yesterday, while stopped and waiting to turn onto an expressway, a car bumped me from behind.  The other driver was definitely at fault, as I couldn't merge or I'd hit other cars.  I was also stopped and wasn't inching forward or anything.  Thankfully there wasn't any apparent damage to our cars, apart from a tiny line on my bumper.  She kept smiling and shaking her head and motioning "no" with her hand.  She appeared to be a South Asian woman, and I don't know if she spoke any English.  She got out of her car briefly and then went back in and took off!  I really didn't have a chance to talk to her or get her info.  I couldn't get her license plate either, because her car was new and didn't have one yet.  Maybe when she got out and saw there wasn't really any damage, she figured everything was fine.  The boys were in the car, but all of us are thankfully okay.  Really wouldn't want two bad accidents in the span of a year!  Manny thought I could have avoided the accident, but I don't belive so in this case.  Still, it was a good reminder to always pay attention to my surroundings and put that ahead of what's going on inside the car.

hiking castle rock:

Last Friday we went on a full-on hiking adventure at Castle Rock State Park.  I've known Castle Rock to not be for beginners, so I asked if it would be okay for a three-year-old.  The coordinator said that the younger lot would be able to go on a wheelchair-accessible trail that was easier.  So I thought that was what we were doing, but about a half mile in, I realize we weren't splitting up.  I couldn't and didn't want to go back or go off alone with the boys, so I just followed everyone else.  Isaac was the youngest one there.  Some parts were steep and narrow, but Isaac was a trooper, and I think he hiked 70-80% of the over-2-mile hike while I carried him for the rest.  We loved the hike, but I just wasn't as prepared for it as I wanted to be.  Our two water bottles were empty by the end, and that was about the same for my energy level.  But seeing Lucas fall in love with hiking again and Isaac develop this huge sense of accomplishment was truly worth it.  The view was magnificent, too.  Lucas wanted to go all the way up to the rocks at the top, which was just a little farther than where we peaked, but that will have to wait until Isaac is a bit older and we have more time.  

The boys did get to be with the other children a bit, and I got to meet a few more moms from the group, but most of the time Isaac and I were falling behind.  A couple kind ladies stayed back to keep us company.  Lucas just decided to run ahead and join the fast group in the front.  He wasn't shy, and he did get help over some rocks from another mom at one point.  I really appreciated that.  I didn't want to trouble anyone else, but it's also a big deal when Lucas decides on his own to go into a new situation without me, so I let him.  This is the second homeschool group trip we've been to, and he's 2 for 2 in feeling comfortable around these other kids.

I had to coordinate another parent to pick Naomi up and take her to her house after school.  I thought we'd be back in time, but the hike and drive took longer than expected, so we barely made it back in time for Lucas' class and didn't pick Naomi up until almost 7:30 p.m.  Thankfully, I had her daughter all afternoon until that time the next night, so I didn't feel as bad.

My legs are sore and rubbery, but neither of the boys feel any pain, so I'm glad for them.  I also felt nauseated for a while from the drive--I still get carsick, even when I'm the driver, but it's not as bad now as before.  I think being higher up in a minivan helps.  Naomi also gets sick, but neither of the boys do anymore, so I'm hoping we'll be able to make more of these hikes.

We're here, right on time!  The GPS was a little off target.  Sometimes you have to go with your instincts.

Lucas hasn't explored real rock caves and tunnels like this before.

More exploring.  He missed having Naomi around to help him climb in further.  I had to stay with Isaac.

Happily climbing on the rocks, and this was only the beginning.

Lucas and others watching people rappel down this rock formation.  I bet people would be surprised that I used to rappel back in high school (army JROTC).

But now Isaac and I are just bringing up the rear.

So happy whenever he saw a wooden platform.

Isaac walking across the bridge with his little backpack.

View from (almost) the top.

Isaac was so amazed.  "How did I climb this whole mountain?"

winning:

I won a homeschool association Gold Membership in a random drawing during an online homeschool conference.  I made a beeline for the Special Needs Conferences I missed and have been so encouraged and even comforted after just hearing the first seminar.  It's easy to feel lonely, misunderstood, and discouraged with a special needs child, but to hear how intensity does not have to equal chaos or perpetual disappointment--it has been so beneficial to me, and hopefully to my relationship with L.  Here is a short bio from the presenter:

Heather Laurie and her husband Christopher have been homeschooling for over 13 years.  She began the very popular website, Special Needs Homeschooling because 4 of her 5 children were diagnosed with autism.  Later the Laurie's discovered Heather and all 5 of the children also have a genetic disease called mitochondrial disease.  It is life shortening and progressive in nature, and Heather is often homeschooling her children from a hospital bed in her living room.  Their homeschooling life is filled with therapy, doctor’s appointments, and behavioral issues that many just don’t understand.   Her hope is to encourage and support special needs homeschooling families.  She shares joyful encouragement for homeschooling through very tough times, always giving glory to God. Heather provides real support for special needs homeschooling families, whether they are just considering homeschooling or they have already been homeschooling and they just need new foundations or new direction or ideas.

She doesn't know how much longer she has here on earth due to her illness, nor does she know for her children.  We may not have such illnesses, but we don't know the number of our days, either.  What we can do each day is live in victory, rather than focusing on being victims.  This is what she has done in her home, and I will strive to do the same for mine.

saw the mouse again (but not that mouse):

We haven't had a lot of Saturdays together as a family this year, whether due to work, events, Naomi's schedule, or other things, but this past Saturday we were able to squeeze in a fun time at Chuck E. Cheese's.  I don't usually take the kids to entertainment spaces anymore, unless we go for someone else.  The dynamic is just different now for us.  Isaac keeps asking for me to put him in a class or to stay out all the time, though, but I can't with all the different things on our plate and the budget to do that with three kids.  He is his sister's brother!

The kids were happy to be there, even though L. had declared he wouldn't do anything there and is still nervous around the spinning lights up front.  He just needs some time to adjust.  I'm sure playing Deal or No Deal helped--he likes to play decision-making games that involve money.  Manny won the max prize on that game, so perhaps like father like son.  L. is always quick to point out that he doesn't like or love money, but finds dealing with it interesting.  I think it's similar for his dad, even though Manny hasn't really ever talked about or emphasized that with L.  It's always interesting to see what gets passed down even without intentional influence.  

I was with Isaac for most of it, so most of my photos are of him.  

Taking a ride with Barney

This ride was new to us.  It's his first time learning to use a gas pedal.

The older two partnering up for Fruit Ninja points.

He got the ball in the hole for 40 tickets.

Manny won the big prize and cleaned out the ticket machine, so the employee had to come by and give us the rest.

Mirror fun

Having fun on the firetruck.  He's at that toy vehicle age now.

He did pretty well at this whac-a-frog game for his first time really playing it.

He was determined to not have help for Skee-Ball.  His goal was just to get all the balls in the gutter, and he met his goal.  :)

I was surprised his aim was so good, although I guess I should realize he's 3 1/2 now.

N.'s stash of tickets.  We let the kids choose their prizes, and they all got candy, much to my dissatisfaction.  I guess it's fine in moderation.

bbq picture day (and the vaccine debate):

School photos are done.  Naomi of course had hers at her school, and she's done her own hair and outfits for all of them.  Lucas had his photo taken at the private school where do our satellite program.  Lucas has been refusing haircuts, saying he wants to grow his hair out, but the picture didn't turn out too bad.  Both boys are telling me they are tired of the hairdressers hurting them.  I will probably cut Isaac's myself, and we'll see if I let Lucas grow his hair out for a while.  

On Picture Day, Lucas' PSP also had a barbecue at the school.  He didn't want to go at first, but settled down once we got there and ate outside.  I made s'mores brownies for it, feeling a little guilty about bringing sugar, but they'd specifically suggested chocolate!  Lucas was about to throw away his food when a jet passed low overhead and the boom overwhelmed him (he couldn't cover his ears because he was holding the plate).  He was pretty flustered after that.  We ran into someone from the homeschool group, and she validated his feelings, so he felt better.  But then she started going down the path of how his disorders were a result of his vaccinations.  This really bothered me, and it's not the first time I've had that said to me.  Lucas is actually the one who had the fewest vaccinations, and I delayed his MMR shots util long after he already showed developmental differences and was diagnosed with the speech and language disorders.  Plus, he doesn't have autism.  Doctors and therapists have tested him, and they've conclusively determined he is not on the spectrum.  But because speech issues are a common sign of autism, I understand it can seem like he might be.  Anyway, I already know it's useless to get into a discussion, so I just listened until we left for a quick promised trip to the park before picking Naomi up.

I'm not a doctor--though I do have a biochemical engineering degree and medical transcription certification--but I do think that the vaccine schedule for young children is very aggressive, and I believe some children are susceptible to adverse reactions or damage to health caused by the shots.  I understand parents not wanting to take the risk.  I also do not trust the pharmaceutical industry completely.  Look what happened with the EpiPens.  I do not like the idea of human aborted fetal tissue being used to create vaccines.  Also, some vaccines still contain thimerosal.  It may be a tiny amount of mercury, but mercury can damage your system, as can aluminum, which is present in some vaccines.  I do suspect that vaccines can be risky if a child's immunity is compromised, but I also think the benefits outweigh the risks, that it's better than bringing the disease back to the masses or exposing a child who truly is immuno-compromised and/or cannot be vaccinated.  

Because my children were underweight as infants and toddlers, I was not comfortable following the schedule.  I also had them at home instead of daycare, so I felt delays would not present a widespread threat.  What we ended up deciding to do was to spread out the shots and delay as many as possible, similar to Dr. Sears' alternative vaccination schedule.  We thankfully had a pediatrician who didn't pressure me about it very much.  But unlike true anti-vaxxers, right before the older two reached school age, I willingly got them caught up on their shots and TB tests.  Then I went on to delay again after that.  I've declined the vaccinations that are optional, like flu and rotavirus.  With Isaac, I did not delay as much because we traveled when he was 15 months.    

I respect others' decisions and their rights to make those decisions, and I respect that parents are trying to educate themselves and others.  I also do listen to and appreciate parenting advice (though I may not always agree).  But telling me that my child's disorders were brought on by his shots is not that helpful to our particular situation and isn't something that I think can be proven.  Unlike many others' experiences, it was not right after the shots that I noticed something different about him.  (However, Isaac getting the mumps after his MMR booster has become some form of anecdotal evidence in my book).  I'm more concerned with addressing where he's at right now, and the majority of my time, energy, and brainpower has been poured into that.  I hope I haven't offended anyone.  We'll just have to agree to disagree?  :)

S'mores brownies--they taste good, but they're pretty bad for you.

Great day to eat outside.

Lucas likes me to take pictures of him going high on the swing.

weekend (night out, festival, climbing trees, in memoriam):

Manny was able to work remotely this weekend, so we saw more of him, except Naomi went out on Saturday afternoon, and then I went out Saturday evening.  He made breakfast for the older two while I took the little one out to buy groceries.  It is much more difficult to go to the store with Isaac than it was with the other two, but leaving him home would make it difficult for everyone else.  Afterward, Manny went to get a haircut, Naomi got picked up by her friend, we took the boys to MOD pizza, and then we went to Target.  Naomi went out with her friend again, this time to an art & wine festival (which she said had very little art or wine, but a lot of everything else).  She had a lot of fun, but I completely forgot to send her with some money, so she wasn't able to do or buy as much as she would have liked.  That evening I went to dinner with my friend O.  I always enjoy hanging out with her.  It was a fun day, but my mind was constantly on the death of my friend Bill (whose 40th anniversary party I'd just recently attended).  He and I had so little in common, and yet we bonded in our faith.  I think he also reminded me of this man who used to live in our trailer park and just had a presence about him, despite being older.  It's been a rough year with deaths of beloved friends and people who impacted my life.

Sunday we started our sermon series on the words of Jesus, starting with the first recorded words from when he was 12 and was found teaching in the temple.  Isaac cried when we got there, because Naomi just ran off to youth group, and he wanted her to stay by his side.  I tried disciplining him, distracting him, talking to him, but it just got worse.  Eventually I resorted to pretending I was Naomi taking him to his class, and that calmed him down.  I am a realist, but sometimes you have to do what you have to do with the dreamers.

After church, I was at the sign-up area again while Manny went to do some treasurer duties after leaving the boys with me.  They were bouncing around and being loud, which is how they are together.  My best friend and I were talking about how our boys are subdued when apart, but just lose it when together, we think because of having very different personalities.  A friend of ours, an elder, remarked to Manny how funny or interesting it is that two mellow parents could have such energetic kids (I'm not sure the exact words he used, but that's the gist of it).  I'm mellow apart from them, but I can get pretty mad at my kids and yell a lot--I've been praying and working through this for years.  All the kids are too high-energy for me, but this is a way I have been stretched and grown.

I thought Manny had picked up Naomi from youth group as well, and he thought she'd just come out and find us, so she came out half an hour after service with a friend, feeling a bit abandoned.  Next time, we'll be sure to check who's getting her when both of us have something.

Lucas has been begging me to go to KFC for weeks, and I kept asking him to ask Manny, but Manny just decided on his own to take us there today, much to Lucas' delight.  Then Manny made good on a promise he made Isaac to take him to the park.  Isaac was insistent that the rest of us pretend we weren't there so that Manny would be the one to "take" him.  The older two tried their hand at Pokemon Go and found one, and then they went off to climb trees.  I don't let them if it's just me, but I feel better about it when Manny's around.  Isaac wanted to go up higher, but he had to live with the fact that he's just too little.

O. and I at BJ's Restaurant after dinner.

Naomi and two friends from school at the festival.

He was proud for climbing this one, just a couple of feet up.

We told Lucas he didn't need to be up any higher, but he said, "This is my only chance!"

The photo looks funny because it was dark, so I had to turn up the brightness to show where the kids were up in the tree.  Isaac looked on longingly.

hacked:

My smartphone got hacked today.  Lucas had my phone for just a little while when he ran to me to show an error message on my phone.  I normally don't let him use it, but he did well with his school and chores today.  The error message was in Russian I think.  I searched for a translation online and found that it was essentially a ransom note for the phone.  The phone had been put in Lost Mode by the hacker with a passcode I didn't know, so this probably means he got to my password.  Whenever I tried to guess the passcode, the phone would disable for longer and longer.  So I had no choice but to go online to the remote site and changed the password and wipe the phone completely.  Suddenly the new password wasn't working either, and the phone got locked again.  The hacker might have gotten to it again.  I couldn't get into the remote account anymore.

Thankfully I found yet another way in, where I could answer my security questions and change the password without knowing the current one.  I changed it to a stronger password, got into the remote access, and removed the phone altogether.  Now I could finally restart my phone.  I'd erased and reset everything, but thankfully I had backed it up recently--something I normally don't do--and I was able to restore my contacts and apps.  I'd also recently downloaded all my photos and videos, so they would have been safe.

My guess is that either Lucas (though he promises he never clicked on anything) might have accidentally clicked something while scrolling through his YouTube video, or it is because I had left the remote access page open for a while this morning while downloading something.  This whole process took a couple of hours, but I was able to get my phone back just in time to go pick up N and her friend from an after school club meeting.  I needed my phone to contact her friend's mom at work to let her know I picked them up.  I wish I hadn't been so panicky about it at first--both the boys told me later that I shouldn't have been like that, and they were right.  I can usually be so calm about technical problems, but it threw a monkey wrench in my plans, and I felt pressure to fix it before I went to pick up the girls.

I'm thankful it was resolved.  It reminded me how vulnerable we can be when it comes to technology.  Make sure your anti-virus is up to date, keep financially sensitive info off your phone, and log out when you're not using something.  And perhaps don't give your kids full access to your phone.  :)

lumination:

Here are some of our photos from Lumination.  We were there from start to finish, about four hours, and didn't get home till 11:30.  It's been a long time since we've been out at night with the kids.  Isaac called it a vacation, and I guess that's what it felt like.  I forgot our camera, but the phone photos turned out pretty well.  I need to get reading glasses soon, though, since I can't see the screen well unless I hold it farther away.

I thought we'd just be walking around looking at lit lanterns like we had at a similar event, but this event offered more to do, including a train ride and a show.  We stopped for pizza and salad and then continued exploring the park.  I was more in the mood for Chinese food, but the pizza was a better choice for the time.  All the rides were closed, but they kept the train running, so that was Isaac's favorite part.  One of the two stops had a very long wait, so we missed the first show and had to come back to the second one (at 9:15 p.m.) instead.  Both boys liked the hat jugglers the most in the Chinese acrobatics show.  Isaac doesn't usually sit through shows, but whenever a performance was done, he asked, "What's next?"  It was pretty crowded, but we still managed to run into Manny's coworker.  At the close of the night, we bought Naomi and Lucas some egg custard tarts.  They also were selling green tea churros, which we didn't get, but that was funny and appropriate for our Mexican-Chinese-American family.

The entrance during the day (you can see what it looks like at night in the previous post).

Heading in.  

Digital proof of the park photo.  Too bad Isaac refused to be in the picture.

Chinese zodiac display.  I was born in the year of the dragon.

Naomi was born in the year of the rooster.

Look how big my pizza is!  He said it was "gi-jan-tic."

A dragon made of porcelain plates.  It blew smoke (mist) out of its mouth.

The waterfall changing colors.  Isaac and Naomi like green, so I posted this one.

Couldn't get all of us in this selfie on the train, but Isaac looks like he's photobombing.

Waterfall from the train (Naomi's head is to the right).

Waiting at the next stop.

At the marketplace.

Amazing finger paintings.

Loved the reflection on the water (and the expression on Lucas' face).

They filled the butterfly garden with animated pandas and lit bamboos.  I know Lucas is not supposed to be behind the rail--he popped up when I took the photo.  Sorry about the creepy eyes.

The fairies (aristocratic women) of the Tang dynasty.

Another beautiful reflection.

Isaac was born in the year of the snake (Manny is a rabbit and Lucas a mouse).

Same porcelain dragon lit up at night.

Hula hoop performer.

I can't count how many she was able to keep up, but it was a lot.  Isaac was excited when she made a slinky with them.

Human pyramid.

This was a beautiful display of intricate lights.

In the garden

Animated cranes and blooming flowers

A towering temple