What Happens When You Give Your Son Your Camera

Taking pictures with my camera is one of Marcus' latest hobbies.



He had an impromptu photo shoot one day.  Of course, he snapped pics of his beloveds







Our humble tree



My feet



Me playing his first love



And then he wanted to just takes pictures of his ol' lady.



I don't know how to work a lens unless I'm behind it, so I felt weird just smiling and taking beauty shots.  I mean, how many different ways can one smile?  So in order to oblige him, I had to improvise.



Tyra would never call me fierce, so I went with this instead.



It's so sad that there are already so few pictures of me and now I get to add these to our archives.




Our children will look back on these pictures, wondering what Mom looked like when they were kids and voila, they'll see this.



But I feel the most sorry for my husband.



He may have told people that he's married to a sweet, demure little thing.



So now that I'm pinning myself as a freak on the world wide web, I'm afraid that Mike's reputation will be on the line.



Honey, I love you.



Just think back to the days when you thought I was cute.



If you're embarrassed, I promise I'll go to the mall and take some Glamour Shots and post them on your Facebook wall.




But at least I had on a little bit of makeup.



And wore my nicer sweats.



I love you so so much.  And I'm honored that you want to grow old with me.




And call me your one true love, your greatest treasure in this life.



Because that's how I feel about you.



Alright, done with the photo shoot.



The photographer gives his smile of approval.


I normally don't ask for feedback on my posts, but would you mind commenting, texting, calling, writing me a letter, messaging me on Facebook, sending me a telegram to let me know that you're still my friend?  If you're new to my blog and don't know me in person, have I just shooed you away?  Were you expecting deep lessons on raising a child with special needs and now you're just appalled?  Let me know. Thanks.

To relieve you of your utter disgust, I leave you with someone far cuter.



Okay, I'm going into hiding now. So long.

Take A Walk On The Normal Side

It all started with us hanging around outside.



Big D was testing out his new walking legs while Audrey was quarrying her rocks for her fledgling business (see previous post for details).



Marcus was enjoying the fresh air as well, cruising around like he knows he's hot stuff.



Little by little, we started walking further from our house.



Farther than Marcus has ever walked from our front door.



And that's when Mike and I realized we were on a walk.



Like a "we're not pushing a stroller", real kind of walk. So we headed for the college behind our neighborhood, not really sure how far we'd make it. Not really sure how far Marcus would make it.



We'd tried things like this before, but Marcus either couldn't steer himself well enough, lacked endurance, or preferred to be pushed around. But this time, there was no coaxing involved. It all came so naturally and Marcus was just ready.



Audrey, always ready to burn off some energy, led the way.



And Derek was as ready as could be, keeping up the best he could.





We walked on rocks,



And dry grass,



Where we let them loose





On the way back, Big Poppa was the first to get tired



And the Champ's legs started to expire at the last stretch



Although his smile was still going strong



When we got back home, I told Mike that I needed that little outing. Heavy-hearted due to several JS families struggling with severe needs for their children and feeling a general spiritual malaise, I felt like God breathed a little fresh air into me by allowing us to enjoy our first ever family walk.  What a typical family would consider normal and unspectacular is to us normal and extraordinary.

It's amazing how special needs has given me a profound appreciation for the details of life that I used to overlook.  And it's amazing how God can use these ordinary experiences to water my soul during the weary seasons.

Audrey's Lesson On Finance

Like many other 6 year olds, Audrey loves to collect things and loves to make signs. The other day, she combined the two passions. After scavenging around for rocks, she put them on display with a hand-crafted sign.



In case you don't read 1st grade English, it says, "rocks for sale" and "no money money money".  In other words, FREE. Once she opened up shop, she stuck around on the big rock and as each neighbor strolled by, she gave them a good stare, wondering if they'd take her up on the offer. I think I remember her even laying on the rock, Cleopatra style, modeling next to her goods. But still, no one was interested.



We went for a walk and on our way back, she was excited to see how many rocks were left, but was disappointed that they were all still there. And to make matters worse, she heard some "big kids" walk by, read her sign, and giggle. This just tore her up. How could NOBODY want her free rocks?!

Christmas morning, on our way out to church, Audrey was the first one out the door. After inspecting her display, she ran to tell me that someone actually took a rock and not only that, left her 3 coins. Twenty cents! It must have been a neighborhood Santa who put Audrey on the "nice" list for so generously offering her rocks free of charge. To Audrey, it was a veritable Christmas miracle.

Walking back home after church, she was still talking about the wonderment of it all and how she made 20 cents overnight. I saw dollar signs in her eyes. I guess right after that, she went outside to amend her sign, because today, I found it like this:



Translation: "Ain't nobody be taking my rocks for free if I can make a profit!"

Notice also that the rocks are now nicely organized by size. Pretty soon, she'll be selling ad space on the big rock. Little Miss Audrey is now in it to make some dough, people.

We were out for the better part of the day today and on the way back, she was looking forward to seeing a mountain of cash on the big rock. But uh....not so much.

So she made more changes to her sign yet again:



Translation: "The rocks are still 20 cents, but if I'm not here to receive your payment, go ahead and take one for no money money money."

I Should Have Told Them

Conversations I should have had before putting our house on the market:

Hey, Derek. When strangers come over to look at our house, don't worry. They're not here to abduct you, so you can chill out.

Hey, Audrey. It might not be the most helpful thing to throw your clothes all over the floor when Mommy's frantically trying to tidy up before a showing. And if you're going to throw your clothes on the floor, try not to have the pants inside out with the pant legs still through your used underwear. Thanks.

Hey, Marcus. The people coming over to look at our house are not coming over to play with you. So you don't have to keep yelling "Hi!" really loud and start talking to them about how well you decorated the Christmas tree. Oh, and you don't have to rush to the piano and start playing all your songs because they probably didn't come over for a recital. Thanks for the background music though.

Hey, Audrey. Even though there have been lots of Asians visiting our house, you don't have to notice the Caucasians coming through the door and say, "WHAT!? They're not Chinese!!"

Oh and Marcus, when the Caucasians are looking around, you don't have to give them a lesson on Korean cuisine and declare, "I'm eating MEE YUK GOOK!" with bits of seaweed all over your teeth.

Alrighty, kids. Thanks. Love ya.