Candy Train

This year we made a candy train instead of doing a ginger bread house. It came out pretty well I think. We had decorated the living room and the tree that evening and the candy train was a yummy way to top off the night! The kids ate candy as they decided what to put on the train (although I did most of the hard labor ;) Eric wouldn't pose for any pictures though. With Eric it is hit-or-miss when it comes time for a picture, but I assure you, he indeed did participate. I also added a couple pictures of when We put the star on the tree..hehehe! The tree couldn't really accommodate our star. The star was a bit heavy. Jeff saved the day though. He put a wood dowel in to beef it up, so, all is well now!

Halloween

The boys were so excited to dress up with a Star Wars Clone Wars theme this year. Ethan was Commander Cody and Eric was Jango Fett. Claire was a cute little flower fairy. I love it when they are too young to pick their own costume because then I get to pick! :) So fun!

Eric is 6!

Happy Birthday to my Eric! We are so glad you are a part of our family! We love you!

Cutie Claire

Just a couple cute pics while playing outside.

A Few More Rocket Pics

It's About Time

OK, I'm back! I'm sorry it has been so long since I've posted. I'm a delinquent, I know. I suppose I will start off with showing you our fun at the rocket launch. When the weather gets cooler Jared, my dad, & my hubby break out the rockets! The men had more failures than successes this time around, but I think we perhaps enjoy the laughs at catastrophes as much as excitement for the successes. Mostly I have pics of the kids. Sara and Eric collected rocks, Ethan brought his bike to chase down the rocket landings....I mean crashes. Eric had on his trusty ear muff things (what are those called anyway?) because he is more sensitive to the noise than any of the other kids, but that is also typical of autism. Claire liked hanging out in Brandon's Jeep. All the kids really loved Brandon's Jeep! Fun had by all!

Claire's First Birthday!

Here are some pics of Claire's party. I had fun planning a girl party! We love our little Sweetness! She is adored by all! We love you Claire!

Our Little Graduate!

Eric graduated from his preschool today. I'm especially excited that he participated pretty well in the ceremony. He usually freaks out and won't participate when they are put on the spot. They sang a few songs, gave out diplomas, had a class DVD played, and ate cake....or frosting in Eric's case (he just eats his frosting and leaves the cake.)I'm also excited that we got a pretty decent family picture. I thought he might be too overwhelmed by the time we did that, but he was great! His teacher, Mrs. Willen, was super fantastic this year! We will miss her! She has assured us that Eric's Kinder teacher is really good. Mrs. Willen has a son that has special needs as well and had the same teacher when he was younger and she really liked her. Eric will be in an all-autistic classroom of combined kinder and first graders. I think he's going to do really well! Congratulations Eric! We love you and are so proud of you!

Mom's Been Cooking Again.....

So, here is what Eric thinks of my cooking. This was yesterday (Saturday 5/24) and Eric had been trying to get me to make cookies. Well, we hadn't had dinner yet and I told him if he wanted to cook (he loves to cook!) he could help me with dinner first. I let him scramble an egg in a pan next to mine where I was making our real dinner. When he got bored with that he just went off to play while I was finishing dinner. Next thing I knew he was driving his little fire truck up to the stove to put out a fire, apparently the dinner I had been making (although it wasn't really on fire.) It's nice to know what he thinks of my cooking! Hahaha! It made me smile.

Also on Saturday the boys had been hanging out with their dad helping with yard work and Ethan found a couple of lizard eggs! Pretty cool! You can tell the boys had been in the dirt by the pic of Ethan with his lizard eggs. Eric had collected three beetles. He calls them baby beetles. He even took them to bed with him last night! He is so funny! I moved them once he was asleep because there was no lid on the bowl he had them in. When he woke up this morning the first thing he did was check to see if they were awake and he thought it was so great that they were awake too!

Sara....This One's For You! Meet THE NEIGHBORS!

We call it the Enchanted forest due to all the wild life that reside there like in the movie Snow White. Let's see....2 flamingos, an owl, a cowboy's shadow, the Virgin Mary, Lady with her bloomers showing, 7 FAKE pigeons, 1 FAKE duck, fire hydrant lawn ornament, 2 cranes, a bird bath (for all the fake birds I presume), some other statue most likely of another saint, silk flowers adorning the Mother Mary and some interesting trellis bench thingy. Now they just need a partridge in a pear tree! If only you could see the garage inside! Oh, and Mary is lit up at night with twinkle lights! Goody!

Flu.....again....ew!

Well, we have the flu again! No, I don't know if it is the Swine...I mean "H1N1 virus" or "Influenza A Virus Subtype H1N1" hahaha! The government is so ridiculous with their political correctness. We have not been tested. None the less it is awful! Here are some pics of Claire being fascinated by the humidifier! This week I have it and the kids are slowly getting better (they still cough a bit.) I hope all of you friends and family are doing better than we are these last couple of weeks! Take Care!

Claire Growing Up

Here's a few pictures of Claire. She sure knows how to strike a pose! We love her to pieces!

Spring Break at Lego Land!

This year we finally went to Legoland! We had been wanting to go for while now and figured Spring break was the perfect time, and it was! The weather was perfect (I loved that part!) The boys really enjoyed the park. Ethan was more content to just take it all in visually and building on the hands on stuff, while Eric wanted to go on all the rides. It worked out pretty well since I stayed off most rides to be with Claire and Ethan while Jeff took Eric on the rides Ethan wouldn't go on. One thing funny that happened was when we first got there I kept smelling a dirty diaper and I just wondered if the whole park stunk and Jeff could smell it too and it wasn't Claire, but wherever we went we could smell it. Well, we figured it out and it was the park map! The paper stunk! It wasn't even just the one we had, they all smelled that way! Weird huh?! Recycled paper? Hahaha! I really don't know. Anyway, we did a 2-day park hopper and went to the aquarium too. Ethan almost liked the aquarium better than Legoland! We had loads of fun!

Indiana Eric

Eric dressed up as Indiana Jones and was pretending to swing from vines. What an adventure! Eric has such an imagination! (That weird thing in his pocket is a book light that he is pretending is his whip!

Just A Small Update

Here's a little something cute and funny to post today. This morning I went to put my shoes on and a binky rolled out of my shoe! Claire is such a character and is really getting around now!

Also today Jeff and I went to a meeting at Eric's school to get the ball rolling for the transition to kinder! Wow, it should be interesting! It's hard for me to see Eric being main streamed, so, I'm getting a bit anxious about how that will go! Eric (and I) really could use prayers from anyone that is willing!

Ethan got a really nice note from his teacher last week that said he has been trying really hard on listening and focusing in class. (He has had a hard time with those) She said he has really done a good job! I really like how this teacher has encouraged and praised him this year. He sure has made progress and is in the higher reading class. He really excels in that area. Good Job Ethan!

For those who do not know, Jeff has been going through the application process for the Border Patrol and he has passed everything so far and we are waiting on a notice and offer to see when he will be going to the academy. I'm glad the academy is in New Mexico now. It is only ten hours away, so, we should be able to go visit a couple of times at least while he is gone. The academy is 4 months long. It is going to be challenging for all of us, but I sure am glad that I have so many family and friends here that I know I can count on!

As for me...I am wishing I was more organized and have been trying to do a bit of de-junking. I also have joined Weight Watchers...again....but I have lost about 5 lbs so far. I hope I can keep it up. I've been in a lot of pain these days and it sure is hard to get enough exercise. Anyway, there you go, a small update on the Harris Clan!

Miss Mischief!

Claire got a hold of a marker today while I was making lunch for the boys! Can I just say that washable markers are fantastic! I was able to laugh instead of freak out and I love it! So here are the pics of little Miss Mischief!

Today the boys were playing Legos in their room and of course they started fighting over who had what first. Well, Eric had taken the hat off of Ethan's Lego man and because of the number of fights that they were having I ended up making them put them away and I took the hat into my possession. After a while they just went off and played other things. We made lunch and I went to bathe Claire and put her down for her nap. While I was bathing Claire Eric came in to use the bathroom and Ethan came in to see Claire splashing and being all cute. Then out of the blue while sitting on the toilet Eric apologizes to Ethan for the Lego incident, "I'm sorry, I love you, I give you a hug?" Ethan is weirded out at the idea of hugging Eric while he is doing his business. So Ethan says, "Ew! I'm not going to hug you when you are going potty!" At least Eric meant well and was willing to apologize, which not something he is typically willing to do. I wonder why is it that the toilet is some kind of means to an epiphany anyway? So, funny!

Claire's Milestones

Well, I figure since I'm not too good about keeping baby books with the kids milestones, I'll just put them on here for now. I really regret not keeping better tabs on Eric. He might have been diagnosed a little earlier and early intervention is absolutely critical for kids with autism. Anyway, Claire started crawling early in her 6th month. Nothing is safe anymore! I find myself having to close all the doors down the hallway now! Now in her 7th month she is even pulling to standing now and can take a couple of steps while holding on to something. She is getting her first tooth as well, I just noticed it a couple of days ago. She is always trying to mimic our expressions and sounds we make. She is so funny, she loves to growl. It's hilarious! She is absolutely giddy when she sees a dog. She calls them "gog". She even calls a stuffed bear chair in the boys room a "gog". She is such a smarty pants and is a super happy little girl! We love her sooooo much! :)

Christmas Day

What a fun Christmas! Eric made Mom & Dad a nice calendar at school and he even made the wrapping paper! Ethan gets to sneek around with night vision, which he is excited about! The boys got some fun video games and Claire naturally just loved the wrapping paper! Merry Christmas!