Jacob's 2 sec's of Fame on TV!!

Brant and I watched and waited intently during the evening news the other night, hoping to get even a small glimpse of Jacob! The tv Station had gone to his school several days before and done a little news clip on them. The kids all wrote down their questions and got and opportunity to ask them and chat some with the reporter. Here's a recording of the little clip that they did, in between the sports and weather:) Jacob is seen near the end of it and is to the left, in an open spot pretty much by himself. You'll know him when you see him-lol-being a little silly the second the camera hits him! His friend, Olivia is right in front of him waving and good friend, Graham, is "hugging" the reporter at the very end. Brant was awesome the first time we watched! He was pointing out Jacob and all of his friends in no time!! Thanks for helping spot them buddy!!

In the Mind of an Autistic Artist

I found this story, of Stephen, who is an Autistic Adult with a Photographic Memory. He is extremely talented!! They flew him up over New York and now, from memory, is free hand drawing a DETAILED paneramic view of what he saw!! Having our own little Autistic Artist in our family, I feel a connection to this story in so many ways and wanted to share it! Be sure to pause the music...I moved it up a little closer to the top so you don't have to scroll down so far:) Also, check out Rissa singing (right) BEAT IT, while you're at it:)....well, it's actually Brant's voice (lol)!


Watch CBS News Videos Online


Watch CBS News Videos Online

It's really made me stop and wonder if Jacob has a photographic memory b/c when he draws or makes things out of his clay, he's very detailed. He can see something once and recreate it either immemdiately or months later! And usually it's pretty exact. Once, in Primary, they were talking about the army of Helaman I guess had pitcures and had done 'Sharing Time' out of it and all. Before you knew it, he had sculpted a very detailed warrior out of his ball of clay. Teachers and kids, alike, were coming up to Marty and I talking about how amazing it was. Brant was the first to find me, "MOM! You should have SEEN what Jacob made!!!". {He has the need to have something in his hands most of the time so we, with Primary leaders consent, let him have a small ball of clay b/c it helps him feel a little more centered and focused.}

Daddy's off work for a week!!

The school district that Marty contracts into, was out of school all week last week, for Fall Break! It was so nice to have him home! Marissa LOVED play dates with dad, as did I!! We spent a lot of time outside b/c of the beautiful weather.

One day, Marty asked Rissa where she wanted to go for lunch and she said, "Pawk! ...WWeeeeee, Sweeeeng....Ruunnnn Fast!" Translation: Park!!! Slide, Swing...I get to run super fast!

So we packed a lunch and headed to the 'Pawk'!

When I asked Marty what he wanted to do for lunch, on a different day, he said, "Swing, club, ...green!" Translation: Golf! We were going to hit a coarse somewhere, but ended up not having enough time, so we hit the driving range instead. We dropped Rissa off to a friend and enjoyed our time together. I'm not sure if we even actually ate lunch, now that I think of it:)

When asked what I wanted to do for lunch, on yet, another day, I chose 'Sub, store', which translates to, "Subway and a little Shopping". Thanks for a great week together, Marty!! It's now Monday Morning and we miss you already (but we are glad to be getting back on our regular schedule, I must say:)!!

My Cousin Needs Your Vote for tv show, So You Think You Can Dance!!

My cousin, Justin Giles, is an Amazing Choreographer!! He is currently in the Top Eight running to be a new Choreographer on So You Think You Can Dance!
Please click on this link http://www.sytycdism.com/ and VOTE for him!!! Click on the red that says Which Choreographer Should SYTYCD Bring IN? and then under Contemporary Choreographers CLICK --Justin Giles!!! I expect all of you to go do it...NOW!!! :)thanks!!:)
...oh, and spread the word!! Tip: Send the LINK to your grandma's & friends & neighbors...& the Ice Cream Man... to make it super easy for them!!!!

Rissa & I Start Joy School!!!!

I was actually not even thinking about Preschool at all for this year, until some friends expressed that they really would love to have Marissa in their group. After a couple of weeks of thought, I decided to let her participate. She is the youngest and her attention span isn't as 'long lasting' as some of the older, much wiser kids-lol :)--but I know she's loving it!! She really is learning a lot and she LOVES being with her friends!! I love teaching them (every seven weeks)! I love to see how they all interact, play and how they absorb everything they are taught!! I have been so excited both times I got to teach! I was excited to watch her learning in action!! Well, I can see that she has learned a lot already...but after teaching last week, for the second time, I think I came to a realization and that realization was that she's way too much like her mother!! SHE IS A SOCIAL BUTTERFLY!! Chatty, chatty chatty! Here are a few pictures from the two weeks that I've taught.

I was the first to host Joy School, so this was the first week of the school year.

The theme for the month was Ocean, so I came up with an Ocean game that the kids had fun playing. We also learned about Circles and the letter A, we practiced cutting with scissors and we made little Aquariums for our craft. Apples were our yummy snack.

To get the wiggles out, all of the little princesses dressed up in Marissa's tutu's and ballerina clothes! We only had one boy that week ....he got to dress up in Super Man capes!

cutting, cutting, cutting!!


Last week was my second turn to teach. We learned about the letter E, squares and Orange.

I think I glued their Elephant Ears on up-side-down, but the kids didn't care! They loved wearing them!

We had Eggs with our snack. Some of the kids really wanted to try cracking it open, so I let them all crack one. We then boiled some and scrambled some to see some of the different ways you can cook them.

I cherish this time with her and am loving every moment at this age!!! It's such a busy age, but so much fun for a me!! Wheels are turning in her little head and there's a surprise around every courner....ummm... sometimes a not-so-good surprise....but I'm just trying to focus on the good, fun surprises and growth moments!!

Nana & Papa Come on a Surprise Visit to see US!!!!!

We were all so excited, early yesterday morning, when we got a call from Papa saying that they were in Las Vegas and were driving down to see us!! Nana & Papa are MY mom's parents, so the kids' Great-Grand parents. They live in SC, so we don't get to see them very often, so what a wonderful surprise it was!!! Marty, Brant & Jacob had to leave for a Scout Field day so Marissa and I had so much fun having them to ourselves for a little bit!!

Marissa immediately bonded with Papa!! Before we knew it, she was dressing him up and picking flowers with him! Not to mention that she had him running laps around the place, inside and out!! I was so excited for her to spend time with them! She knows them from pictures and from our family prayers, but it's a whole new thing to BE with them, HUG them and BOND with them!!

She and Nana bonded very easily too! The first thing on Rissa's list was to show Nana her baby that sucks her bottle and cries! Her Tutu, jewelry and fairy wings (well, Rissa prefers, butterfly wings!) were all on the list of "Must show Nana" too!!

Nana is known for her hats--they come in all different shapes and sizes, but we all love her baseball caps with glitter, rhinestones and BLING!! I loved sitting and talking with her! I showed her several of my pottery pieces that I made on the Potter's Wheel and sculpted by hand. I shared some of my sewing projects and we talked a lot about artsy stuff:) Nana is one of the most amazing women I know! She is soo talented!! She is an amazing painter & artist! She's also one of the best Story tellers that I know!! I have so many wonderful memories of her stories of fairies and princesses! She used to tell us stories about the fairies who lived in the woods that were (at the time) across the street from her house. We also talked and laughed about past Halloweens! The kids and I have the house decorated for Halloween, so I was telling her that every year when I'm decorating, I always think of the different years as a child of going trick-or-treating at her house. One year, she dressed herself in a black gown and paled her face and hands. She laid down with arms across her chest, in the long flower bed that is built into their porch. I'll never forget walking up to the porch, lights dimmed and some creepy music playing softly in the background. Was that my Nana? Was she really dead or alive? Made of plastic or blood and bones? My brothers and I get closer, closer, closer...BBWWAAAHHHHHHAAAAA!!!! I think my younger brother and I cried for a day about that scare!

Then there was the man down the street who stuttered. One year she sat in a chair, in black, with pantie hose over her face. Weird...again, we couldn't quite tell who it was! Well, that year, she scared the stuttering man down the street so bad that he passed out! When he woke up, all he could say was, "Mmmmiisss Giiillllleess.....IIIiiiiss tthhhaaattt Yyyooooouuuuu?!

Three Peas in a Pod! uumm, Jacob kept insisting on doing this goofy face...still cute kid though!

We got treated out to dinner and desert! We ate at Westgate b/c we knew they'd love seeing everything there! We ate at Shane's Ribshack (yum!) and then walked around to Cold Stone for some ice cream. Westgate has shopping, movie theatre and the Hockey arena is there. Concerts, motor crossing, Big Trucks...all kinds of events are held there! There are huge fountains that shoot up water to lights and music and it's just a fun place to hang out. On the way home, we drove 'next door' to show Papa the Stadium where the 2008 Superbowl was held. You can see how big it is, from our street, so he was really excited to get close up to it. He was amazed at the grass field that sits on a plat form and can be brought into the stadium for games, and then rolled (electrically of coarse) back outside.

During dinner, Papa showed the boys his GATOR BOWL ring! He played football for USC and was in the FIRST ever, Gator bowl in 1946 and HE MADE THE FIRST TOUCHDOWN OF THE GAME!!! He was later recruited by the Green Bay Packers, but declined the offer b/c he would have to leave Nana behind for months while he trained, etc. Nana was far along into a pregnancy and he wanted to be with her. Papa coached for some 30 years. He was inducted into the SC Hall of Fame as a coach, many years ago. Just last year, he was also inducted into the SC Hall of Fame as an athlete!! We all loved hearing him tell about these awesome experiences from his life!!

Brant loved listening to Papa talk about sports!! He could have listened to him for days!!

Jacob is planning all of the neat gifts that he is going to make them out of clay! He esp wants to make some things for Nana b/c they got a chance to talk about it a lot. He can't wait to make them and then take them to her when we go home for Christmas.

We are so very thankful for this quality time that we had to spend with such amazing grand/great grandparents!!! They have no idea how much their visit meant to all of us! We can't wait to see them again in a few months!!!

"I Tooted"!

So here's our little Princess tonight at the dinner table, letting us know that she "tooted"! This is always a topic that our little Rissa is ready to talk loudly about anytime, anywhere!! She was being so silly and funny while she ate, that I just wanted to capture it on video. We also got her to say a few words that are really cute when she says them, "He's so Cute", or rather, "He's so Toot" is one of them! Brant made the comment that "Marissa's not going to get many dates when she turns 16 if she's still 'tootin' all the time like she does now!". Dad is ok with that:)

(Don't forget to PAUSE the music:)