Fiona has birth family contact

Fiona has always desparately wanted contact with her birth family and who could blame her.  She has regular contact with Rob, had one visit with Dee (other brother) and nothing else.  The reasons for this are so complicated.  Mostly they hinge on the fact that the birth family members who are capable of being in contact in a safe and appropriate way have not been consistant and reliable in the past.  The lack of constancy caused Fiona such mental health issues that those in charge of her care (not me!) decided that there would be no contact.  Period. 

That has recently been amended and a cousin was permitted to send a letter and a lot of pictures to her.  When Fiona called last night, she was over the moon with excitement and joy.  I am glad too.  I am in irregular contact with this same cousin (mostly via FB but occascionally by phone).  She is a good person.  I think the big problem is that she too has a very complicated life and not always perhaps the supports she needs (or needed then) and the ball got dropped.  Sadly, that "ball" was Fiona.  For a loooooong time I was really angry with the cousin. Because I could see the pain my daughter was in from her lack of contact. 

Then I found out, years later why the contact stopped and my heart went out to her.  I wish she had had the courage or thought to share what she was going through with the people who were in charge of Fiona's care.  I think (or is that hope?) that it would have made a difference in the decision to sever contact.

If contact is to be re-established I can't think of a better person to facilitate it than Jane and the team at the Great School in the City. 

Labor Day Weekend

This would be why we didn't swim in the ocean when we went
camping this weekend!  Isn't the surf spectacular though?
Thanks to Hurricane Earl this is how the ocean looked on
Saturday and this was not high tide.  We really enjoyed
watching the surf though and thanks to my wife have some awesome pics.

We did hang out with my mom and picnic near a lighthouse we love.  We also had time to do some hiking where we could admire Casco Bay.  After the hike we played soccer (our family's variant of this anyhow!) in the big field where we lunched.

There were campfires. . .

and so many memories to carry forward into the months to come.  I just love camping!                               

Song of peace and love

I have a favorite song that goes "when I breathe in, I breathe in peace, when I breathe out, I breathe out love."  We need to breathe in peace the next few days because next week the busy-ness of fall descends upon our quiet household.  (okay, so we are not a quiet household and you are all laughing, but things do ramp up!)

Homeschooling begins in full swing, not just "homeschool lite."  Wednesday, Lissa starts her gymnastics again and this means I have to skip lunch so that I can leave work early enough to bring her.  Thursday, KC has art lessons from 4:30 to 6 and on Friday, Rob has piano lessons at 3 p.m. (the teacher just called me today to set the date and time of his classes). Then on this coming Saturday I have to chair a meeting at church in the morning, and Kirsty resumes her Saturday work schedule.  Sunday will be wide open for our family though and if it is nice, I anticipate a hike in lieu of formal church.  The following weekend the kids and I go camping with friends from church at the ocean in Maine.  The following Saturday we add KC's dance class to our clipboards of fun and then we end the last Sunday in September with church in the morning and a trip to an adoption picnic in the afternoon.

At some levels coordinating all this is a challenge but it is also a joy.  I see our brood increasingly able to find their strengths and interests beyond their immediate sibling group and this is of course right, natural and healthy.  I just need to keep singing my song!

A Rockin 25th Birthday!

Not camping but fun

We had planned to leave for our camping trip this morning but nature dictated a change in plans.  Hurricane Earl is roaring up the east coast and it is not clear if the coast of the state we plan to visit will get a glancing blow or a more significant hit.  Even a glancing blow might mean it wouldn't be too bright to have 1/2 of our family in a tent under towering pine trees.  LOL  So we decided to err on the side of caution and stay home till Saturday morning.  Most reports indicate the danger will be over by then so we hope to leave home early and arrive at our campsite by 8 a.m. and still have a good chunk of the weekend to camp.

BUT that left today with children who were understandably disappointed.  An Ooma who was significantly disappointed herself.  I don't get a lot of off time from my job (in fact my boss tried to call me in for Friday of my vacation and I stood firm) AND today is Chet's birthday and we had him primed for a camping birthday celebration.  Most 25 year olds would be fairly amenable to a change of plan but not a 25 year old with autism.

K and i came up with a fun plan b.  We drove to NH to the Polar Caves.  It was cooler there--our state is sweltering right now and that has bothered lots of the family, though not me!) The air was cleaner and easier to breathe.  It was a good day to visit as we were almost the only people there.  There were a few other visitors but no lines, no queues to see something, all of which made it an achievable experience for Chet.  We did all the caves but the last one as I was not sure I could safely get both Lissa and KC through the lemon squeeze.  KC is good about waiting if you ask him to, Lissa not so much and in that enviroment, waiting sometimes equates with safety.  So we skipped that but did all the others.  We fed the animals and admired the peacocks.  We saw a ravens nest,which was very cool.  It was a very fun visit.  In the picture above we are all posing by the signature sculptures that flank the entry to the Polar Caves.  I just noticed when I was uploading this picture that I have had these shorts for a positively sinful amount of years.  I am wearing these same shorts in a picture of my niece's 1st birthday party.  She is a year older than Chet.  Maybe I should write to the company that made them and tell them how long they have lasted!  LOL

When we got home we did supper and Chet's "rock and roll" themed birthday. I will post some pictures later.  It was fun and he seemed to genuinely enjoy his gifts.

New Migraine aid?

Earlier this week one of my residents came up to the office and asked if I read W*men's W*rld.  I didn't want to tell her usually it was my Chet who read them, but occasionally I do see cute desserts in them so I said sure.  I have helped her out with a few non business paperwork issues and I think she wanted to reciprocate by giving me something.

And she did. I was looking through it during my lunch and right after the cool cheese cake recipe was an article on a natural treatment for migraines that I had not heard of.  Sheesh. I thought I had tried them all.  Niacin therapies, feverfew, and more.  This  article talked about taking butterbur but it is something you take daily, not waiting for the crushing migraine to come say hello.  I went to a couple of the medical websites that I use for verification of data and got the brand name of a form of this herb that does not have something in the process that will kill my liver.  Apparently if one is not careful, there are capsules out there that may get rid of your migraine AND your liver.  Not a two fer that I am interested in.  So I have ordered the butterbur and we will see what happens.  It has been used pretty extensively in Europe for about 20 or so years.

It would be cool if it helps!

Lissa can't wait for puberty!

Last night Lissa was in the bathroom with me getting ready for her shower.  I was still wearing my work clothes (which is unusual but it was kind of a crazy day) and she had just eaten a snack.  Sticky hands city with which she then reached up and began to pat my bosom.  (don't you love the victorian delicacy of the word bosom??  LOL)  Anyway, I gently told her that breasts were private parts and we did not touch them without permission and she had sticky hands that could get my dress gunky.  She looked up at me angelically.

"Ooma, those are bwests."
"Yes, Lissa, they are."
"I can't wait till I get bwests Ooma."
"Really?"  (thinking to self, oh geez, what the heck???)
"Yup, cuz then I can put my toothpaste on my toothbwush all by MYSELF!"

ROFL