A busy week...

Here is Chet. He is heading into work on his very first day! It's been very hard for him, as a young man with Asperger's Syndrome to find a job. He had virtually given up hope, and started volunteering at Meals on Wheels. Last week they offered him a job! He's not working full time yet, but he is hopeful that this will come to pass. This picture is then, a success story for staying the course, plodding on, and not giving up!

And on Monday....

Chet started his new job!! I even got his "okay Mom, whatever" to take his picture as he walked into work! He's so very happy, and we are very proud of him, that his volunteer position with Meals on Wheels became a paid position because of his work ethic and his dedication!!! He is working part time, but it means all the world to him.

Meanwhile back at home, poor Robbie spent the day lounging on the couch, as he fights off a cold. His loyal companions, Wally the Cat, and Fergie the Dog kept him company. We told him he was the filling in a pet couch sandwich, which he found vastly amusing. This is a sure sign he was not feeling well, because he never laughs at my jokes. C'mon, they're funny. Really.

family celebrations....

We like to have fun celebrations for all the small holidays, because...well, it's fun! On Friday, St. Patrick's Day, we had a mini St. Patty's feast. I made vegetarian "steak" strips" with corn for "corn-ed faux-beef", and green rice. Boy oh boy was that rice neon green! It was awesome. OH, and green milk for the kids and I!! There was green cake with green frosting for dessert, and some coloring pages to do after dinner. KC really, really got into his cake. He was laughing like a leprechaun as he painted a beard and goatee onto his wee face!

Oh I must be such a beautiful baby...

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Aren't these the cutest little twists you've ever seen? This sleepy fellow let me comb and twist his hair until it was all done, about 30 minutes or so. He really liked the process, but of course, today would not let me even touch his head!

A warm day, and a hike!

What a bee-u-ti-ful day we had in central Mass today! It was over 60 for the first time in months, so we went for a hike! We went to our family's favorite spot, Wachusett Meadows, a Mass. Audubon sanctuary. There are many fields, rolling hills, and woods. Robbie takes a homeschooling class here once a week, so both he, and KC, are really familiar with the place. KC has just discovered hiking in the fields. He really got into hiking in the woods, only staying in his carrysack for about 8 minutes. He walked nearly 1.4 miles of the trail, and since the trail is only 1.5 miles, he did the lions share of it! He was so proud of himself, and he is conked out now, just out of his evening shower. What a wonderful day!

What a difference a day makes...

Top view was yesterday morning...
bottom view was this morning.

I went to sleep and woke up blonde!
Naaa, just kidding, I went to the beauty parlor,
and got "blonded" or would that be
"blondied"?

It all started 2 weeks ago. I got this faboo
hair color, ash blonde it said, and I thought it would be a nice transition for my red hair, as I wanted it to be blonder for summer. The red always fades so badly, and I like a nice golden blonde. After all, I was a blonde. Once upon a time, before the "Gray" family moved in upstairs, lol!
Anyhoo, it came out brown. Then the brown started to fade and it turned dark auburn-brown. And I just so didn't like it. So my pal Erin at the beauty salon bleached me good and proper, and it came out....very very very blonde. If it doesn't tone down on it's own, then I might have Erin put in some "lowlights"....

...and isn't that quite enough about my hair, anyway?

Well, today was the warmest we've had in awhile, so the crew and I took in the air outside! First we walked about half way around the block and back, and some of us still had energy to race around the backyard. KC is so much more mobile than he was last fall, and he was zipping back and forth across the muddy backyard. He loves the little tykes 'gas station', but was only lukewarm about the swing today.

It is supposed to get warmer and warmer until the weekend, and the backyard, which is currently only half a mud-pit, will become thawed, and rained upon, thus ensuring that anyone who ventures there will return as a mudmuffin!

what if...

I've spent some time today pretending what if I was as small as...
I guess it started when I saw a squirrel merrily eating from Robbie's new birdfeeder. How it got up there, we don't know, but we suppose it jumped from the ground. Imagine this feat of wonder,
being the size of the squirrel. The feeder is over 5 feet from the ground, which in squirrel measures would be like...15 times it's own measure? maybe even 20. Yet, every day, I go out onto the deck and holler "Hey squirrel" and watch him flip off and up to the tree over yonder in a matter of nano seconds.
Today while I was checking out the snowdrops from yesterday, I had a titmouse flit right over my head. I went to stand under the big pine tree and saw this amazing sight, and realized I was looking up the tree just the same way that squirrel would, as he went zooming up, up and away!

Spring is coming!

The caption is not as easily read as I had hoped...it says "The first sign of Spring...snowdrops popping out of the sere earth". I was just outside on this chilly Sunday morning and isn't it a wonder what I saw?! The first hint that life is returning to our corner of the earth. I saw another flock of Robins yesterday, poor things, and Robbie and I saw our first kettle of turkey vultures last week. Now if only we could get some temperatures nearer to 50.....

Here are some pictures of what I've been painting on KC's room walls. I am about half way done with the pictures, and have been having a marvelous time working on them. I usually do a bit every day while KC naps, and when he wakes up, and we go to change his diaper, he gets to see the newest update! I love the look on his face as he hollers "POOH", or "EYEORE" or "PIG"!

The Crew

Here is Feargus Patrick before he was groomed recently. Unfortunately, all his long locks needed to be shorn as he had many many furballs, in part because of his penchant for jumping into snow thrown from snowshovels, which plaster his coat with snow, and gets it all twirled up. Still, he is a fine looking guy, wouldn't you say?!



KC is really getting into the whole camera thing. I keep whipping it out to take "cute" photo's and he's right there with his cute face on!








And speaking of photogenic and cuties, here is Robbie, partaking of one of his favorite activities, reading. His number one favorite thing to do is watching the Patriot's play football! The other months of the year are spent reading, schooling, and taking many trips to Wachusett Meadows, a local Audubon sanctuary where Homeschooling programs have started to take place. He loves going there each week, and is really getting good at identifying birds. We saw a bald eagle a few weeks ago and he was first to i.d. it! Last week he and his group found coyote fur in the woods, evidence of a coyote disagreement, and a group of deer feeding in the meadow.



This is Wallace Sebastian, better known
as Wally. He is playing in a bag that is a
perfect match for his eyes! This is one
of Robbie's favorite fellows!
This is big brother Chet, playing cards with Robbie. He is such a good older brother. He loves to watch movies with Rob, and the two older boys will play card games for hours on end.

So there are some photo's of the crew, all taken in the last week. I am so enjoying being part of the "modern Era" as Chet calls it! Digital Camera, YAY!
Thanks, MUM!
I'll put up some more photo's next week!