A Saturday Version of Only THe Good Friday

Yes, I am very, very aware I am late doing my OTGF post! Why else would I title this as being a "Saturday Version" then?

And why am I late? Well, actually I'm only a little over two hours late so that's not too bad, is it? I could say I've been busy and that's partially true. Or sick too and that was true earlier in the week. But the truth is, I just plain forgot about the time and didn't think of it till after I got out of the shower and the computer was free then -Mandy had been "hogging" it with her silly MySpace and Facebook most of the evening.

But I did remember to do it now -and that's good, in my book anyway.

You all know I'm engrossed in stuff now for the Autism Walk the kids and I are doing on April 4th and I'm really happy about the fact that I finally got things set up with the Autism website so it is functioning the way it should now and also, I'm really happy that I figured out how to put a donate button on my blog too. That button allows people to donate what they feel they can afford and not some arbitrary amount that the people who administer the walk think folks should give. That had me really ticked off and I don't really like feeling that way -especially when it is about something I feel so strongly about as I do the Autism Walk. I think we now have 11 or 12 people signed up to walk as part of our team and also, have several others who have said they will sign up and participate too. That really makes me feel good to have people coming forth and supporting our team -supporting Kurt and Maya too that way.

Maya has really been going strong lately with the "Twenty Questions" thing. Everything and anything we say to her or in front of her -whatever -elicits one question after the other. Enough questions that tonight, after she and Mandy got home from a trip to State College to pick up some parts Bill needs for a automotive job he has to work on today, that Mandy announced she has officially changed Maya's name over to "Question!" Yes, it is frustrating -especially when she asks us about something that you are left struggling to find a way to explain a simple word -like "hurt" for an example.

Last night, Maya was bouncing around on the sofa again -as usual. I wasn't paying attention to her or to Kurt because their Dad was in the room here with them. I had my back to them as I was reading something on the computer so, yes I had an excuse for not seeing out of the eyes in the back of my head I guess. But anyway, the kids had pulled all the cushions off the sofa and Maya thought it wa really cool then to bounce and jump and slide on them. That is until she tripped and slipped, falling into the big cedar-chest we use as a coffee table and hit her nose. That brought Bill back to reality as he jumped up to pick her up and realized she'd given herself a little bit of a bloody nose in the direct hit her face made on the table.

After coddling and cuddling her a bit, she was fine -has a tiny cut/scratch right down the very tip of her nose -and I was holding her then. I figured since the memory of the hurt nose might still be fresh in her mind then, I could use this event as an example of why it isn't a good thing to bounce and jump on the furniture nor to pull the cushions and pillows off and have them all over the floor making it really easy to trip and fall over them and then, gee -you hurt your nose! I was stressing to her that Mommy, Daddy and Grammy just don't want to see her get hurt and that I was sure she didn't want to get hurt either now, did she?

Then comes the question - "What's hurt?" Oh brother, how the hell does one explain the meaning of the word "hurt" anyway?

But pain in the behind that she and her "20 Questions" can be, I'm sure you know how grateful I am that she is the little question box anyway, don't 'cha? I figure if she keeps up with all these questions once she starts school in the fall -kindergarten is looming come September -she'll either be the smartest kid in the class with all those questions and answers she'll be getting or else, she'll be the most appreciated child all throughout her school years for having the ability to ask questions and get the teacher to go off track on the actual lectures and teachings that were planned for the day.

And tonight, when Bill came home from work, he brought in a little surprise he had planned to give the kids. He'd picked up a four-pack Mallo Cup candy bar and figured he'd have two for Kurtis and two to give to Maya when she and Mandy got home. What he wasn't figuring on though was that after he gave one Mallo cup to Kurtis, he thought he had put the rest up on the island and that it was out of reach from Kurtis little grubby hands -all covered in chocolate from the cup Dad had given him. But boy, was he wrong!

Before Bill realized what happened, Kurtis has managed to snag that little candy bar package and had scarfed down two more Mallo cups leaving only one of them then to give to Maya on her return home.

But much as I'd rather Bill had not given the grandson that candy shortly before supper and all that kind of deal, it still made me feel really good, very positive on Kurt's behalf knowing that he knew what package the candy was in and that he had been able to figure out a way to get hold of it too! Just shows me one more way the little guy is learning -more and more, every single day!

And that's what is important isn't it? Sure, a balanced meal with him taking maybe 4 or 5 bites out of it would be better for him -much more nutritional and all that -but he seems to be growing fine and dandy, obviously he's learning things and that's good too. But the "cute factor" of his pulling the wool over his dad's eyes? Now that part you know I really loved!

And tonight, after the little guy had his evening bath -quality time wih Dad on that deal too -and which he had screamed like a little banshee all throughout the bath so I'm surprised Bill didn't come out of the bathroom looking like a really frazzled old man or something, Kurtis was in his playpen, ready for bed -dressed for it anyway -but apparently in his mind, he wasn't ready to go to sleep. Not quite yet anyway.

So he's standing in there, leaning on the rail and looking straight at Mandy who was doing an excellent job of ignoring him too, I must add. And he begins saying to her "Out." Over and over, he says that one word but each time, he puts a different inflection into his voice. Trying to get Mommy to give him some sympathy there and let him out to run a bit more and such. Sometime, when he starts doing that, I'll have to grab my camera and do a quick little video of him repeating the "out, out" just so I can post it and everyone can hear how cute and comical -and even sad, it sounds when he makes that request.

It could always be worse as he could be having a screaming meemy hissy fit -enough to shatter one's eardrums in the process. So, seeing that he is getting the hang of voice inflections, I do believe that's a pretty darned good thing too, don't you?

And now, I'm done with this for today. Not that I don't have lots and lots of things that are good things, even the bad, wicked, rough, sad, tragic stuff in life is good at least in one context if none other.

And that would be that I'm still here, still suffering sometimes from events, still enjoying most everything though that comes my way cause you know, it means I'm still here for et another day!

And I do think that's a darned good thing!