Well y'all, it's been almost a year since I have written on this blog, and that HAS to change! I have so much I should be sharing, and for not doing that, I am sorry.
So here we go:
What have we been up to?
Well, to tell ya the truth, not that much of anything different. We're still here, on our lil 10 acres of Freestone County. There's still the five of us, plus Butch's nephew, Cory. We have the addition of 4 adorable, fur-ball puppies, courtesy of Holly, our very "friendly" (chuckle, chuckle y'all--its better than what Butch calls her) lil mutt. And we no longer have pigs or chickens at the moment. I won't tell y'all what happened to them, but I bet you can guess. We did eat very well over this last year that I haven't been blogging.
How have JB, Jenna, and Ressie been doing in school?
Let's start with the girls. Jenna is in second grade, and is a total wonder of a student. She makes straight A's and all of her conduct grades have been perfect since the beginning of time. Where did this wonder kid come from?? Hmmm... maybe she takes after her Momma?? (*bats eyelashes and smiles a super-hopeful smile) Ressie is a great student also, which, sorry folks, but it seriously surprised the hell outta me! (She probably takes more after Butch than me, *smile*...) She has been very well behaved in class and also makes straight A's. BUT... she is not that great on the bus. She's been written up a few times. And because of that, we now have the addition of sticker charts for their behavior on the bus. Every time they have a good day on the bus they get a sticker. At the end of the month, the kiddos that have a full month of stickers get to go to Dairy Queen for a special ice cream treat. Woohoo!! Fun for them! Wait--except that the girls thought it would be fun to make Momma a sticker chart too. And Momma gets stickers for good days just like the kids do. And if Momma has a full month of stickers, then she get to go to Dairy Queen too. I mean, "lead by example", right?? I'll take a sundae a month! BUT... Momma messed up on THE FIRST DAY!! And of course they had to point this out. That they were all gonna get stickers that day, but not Momma. All because Momma unbuckled her seatbelt just a smidge too soon. I really had to hang my head for that one! And of course, they're never gonna let me for get about it!
Ok...so enough Momma bashing, and on to JB. JB has not had the best transition to the new campus at school. He moved to the intermediate school this year when he started third grade. Another new thing this year? He's riding the bus. And so are the girls. But the girls ride the big bus, and JB rides the little bus. So far, the bus has been an awesome change for me, and the girls love it, but I'm not so sure about JB. Its hit or miss most days. Some days are good on the bus, others are terrible. But hey, that's life I guess. I want him to try new things. He can't sit in a bubble his whole life and never experience anything new because its "out of his routine". We have to create new routines and encourage change. So that's the same attitude I have to have about him changing school campuses. Except for the fact that its now January. He's been going to school since August. You'd think he's be acclimated by now to the new school. I'm just not so sure. He still has some pretty rough days, and his is chinning behavior is getting worse. But on the bright side--more actual words are coming! Yes, you read that right!! MORE WORDS ARE COMING!! And that my friends, is an AWESOME thing!!
What's going on with all "farm stuff" right now?
Honestly, not a lot. Not what should be going on. We are down to only the dogs and the goats right now. And of course, the one lonely guinea, who actually is now the longest surviving animal on our place. He's even been around longer than our two dogs. WOW, that's one tough (and very loud) guinea. Chickens are in the works again...well, they will be when the coop is finished, anyway. We are working on what we want to plant this year. I hope we're able to get some things in the ground! Home-grown always tastes so much better!
I will quit boring y'all now! But--HEY--most of y'all were dying to know what's been going on around here, I know it! (*rolling my eyes and laughing)
Much love to all!!
OH YEAH, I almost forgot---We are still rolling and doing lots of fun stuff with Big T's Buddies Autism Support Network. We are also working with other friends on the upcoming Big T Memorial Cook-Off. Be watching for updates on both on mine and Butch's Facebook pages, or here on my blog (I'm making a promise now to work on it more!!). If you would like to know how these two great things got started, check out this page on my blog at http://dirtroadsandautism.blogspot.com/p/about-big-ts-buddies.html.
You can also check out these websites for more info: for Big T's Buddies, www.bigtsbuddies.org, and for the Big T Memorial Cook-Off, www.bigtbash.com. The cook-off also has a Facebook page that can be found at https://www.facebook.com/bigtmemorialcookoff.
