be more grateful

Being able to go to the theater and watching Iron Man 3 with my mom and son (compliments of a family friend who gave me an AMC gift card years ago). It was the first time for all of us watching a movie in the IMAX 3D format; WOW!!! It was amazing!! There is no other way to watch this movie, in my world. It was a GREAT movie…the best of the three, indeed. Yes, indeed. I am excited to see where they take the next Iron Man. We all loved it! I could watch the entire Marvel series of movies all day. I have been hooked since the beginning.

Can’t wait to see all upcoming viewing this year!

^{SO FREAKING GOOD!!!}

My son met his new friend again at IKEA this morning, and they played in the play area together. Success: My kiddo played for 90 minutes WITHOUT any problems whatsoever!!!! :) Happy dance time!!! He hasn’t been able to play in there for quite some time, but we tried for the first time last Monday, and again today, and he has done amazingly well! Hot dog, man!!

I even found out from his friend’s mom that with the member card, he gets an extra 30 minutes on top of the hour time allotted for each kidlet. How cool! Also, if you ask for a frequent visitor’s punch card, your child gets a special treat of some sort after so many visits. What’s sad is my son is almost too tall to play in there now, and he is growing through a bit of a growth spurt at the moment. UH-OH. Hopefully he can last the summer without going past their limit.

for my mom’s great eye, as she saw a lawn mower in the front yard of a house on the way home. We stopped by, and the sign said $35.00(!!!!) The lovely Chinese couple who lived there had made the entire front yard a sight t behold. The husband is a landscaper, so he made quite the masterpiece: gardenscapes, art structures, rose bushes, succulents growing from rock; it was beautiful.

Anyways, the husband showed us that it did indeed work, as his wife allowed my son a bottle of water, because he was so hot and asked for a glass of water. They were wonderful. It took a few pulls to get the mower started, but it cut well, and for $35.00 we couldn’t really complain. As long as it lasts us the first season in the house that’s good with me.

Yay, we can finally stop hunting Craigslist for lawn mowers every day. Now, we need a couple more air conditioners.

ZOOM, ZOOM, ZOOM! This is so cool!! :)

I am grateful for a wonderful day…and a pretty dang awesomely-behaved kiddo (for the most part) today.

Early this morning, we managed to all get out on time to make it to my son’s eye appointment. He did great!! I told him if he did well, that we could go to IKEA for breakfast, and he could go play in the play area for a bit (he hasn’t been in Small Land in a long time due to his meltdowns and behavior ticks that can pop up)...I also said he could have two desserts (from not being able to have any for the past week). He got his IKEA, breakfast, Small Land…AND two desserts! I was floored at how well he did during his eye doctor visit, and he also blew me away with being able to play at IKEA for about 30-45 minutes, without them calling me. SOOOO COOL!!!! Very proud mama today!

We then stopped into this furniture store I keep seeing TV advertisements for. It has two stories, lol. He did so well there, too! It was a true blessing to be able to go out in public, peacefully. He was sweet and nice to everyone, and didn’t have any issues. It was perfect!! He even got a massive blue balloon out of the deal from the nice lady.

After that, we went back home, ate lunch and picked up the apartment a bit, and then went back out to a nice park/lake-ish area for awhile. My son and I went rollerblading (he is awful to blade with…every three minutes, he complained and needed a break…wondering if the new skates were bothering him or if he was just wanting to whine). My mom was supposed to go with us, but she held off for now, until she can get in better shape and feel more confident on a pair of wheels. She walked around the lake while we went rollerblading. We all met back at the playground, where we enjoyed the sunshine and nice conversation with nice people. I went around the lake a bit later, after I chilled out. It was fun workout. I love rollerblading. :)

We then headed over to my fav natural foods store (lovely people and staff, and fantastic food choices!). Christopher was a bit more active and attitude-filled after being on the playground (he has trouble getting his adrenaline levels down). But, he did okay, all-in-all. We got a bunch of delicious food and went back home to cook up bison burgers an a side of veggie-packed spaghetti and sauce. Yum.

After the munchkin went to sleep, my mom and I sat down to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s (goal) with a tall glass of a tasty adult drink. ;)

I liked today! Good day.

SNOW!!! My poor state was seeing a drought as this moisture wasn’t coming, but, wow, it’s sure here now! Between last night and today (one day) we got as much moisture than our entire average of moisture for the month of April. :) Good stuff. We don’t want to see a fire season like we had last year.

I can’t believe it snowed on May 1st. I mean, it’s always possible, but in my area, we got 4-6 inches of water-packed snow. Colorado is nothing if not a bipolar state of weather showing off. This is how the past week looked:

Sat: 73 degrees
Sun: 78 degrees
Mon: 80 degrees
Tue: 63 degrees
Wed (today): a whopping 39 degrees, with winds, chills, snow an ice. Quite the turnaround from the week of sunny and beautiful. I was just out in shorts and a tank top, tanning the other day, lol.

The coming week is being forecasted as:
Thu: 48 degrees
Fri: 57 degrees
Sat: 53 degrees
Sun: 61 degrees
Mon: 67 degrees

So crazy! This snow will only be here a couple of days before it runs away like it always does here. The ice s a big thing out here, because it freezes overnight. W had multiple car crashes in the state already today, and hoping people slow down and pay more attention tonight and into the morning hours to avoid any wreckage an harm.

We need this snow, but I a saddened for the people who took time to start up their gardens and get things going…only to have freezing temps come in and cause a bump in the ground. I sure hope everyone was able to get out and try and protect what they started on those hot, sunny days.

Another great thing about the snow is that my lucky kiddo got to go and play in it with his friend earlier today. They had a blast! :)

Come on, Colorado, this is nothing! Minnesota trained me well! ;)

Well, yes, I was grateful to be able to help my mama friend out with watching her munchkin for the day (and, he is a real cutie…definite charmer), but my kiddo went crazy with the extra stimulation over the morning hours. We went to the park to try and wear off some energy at about 10:30AM. It didn’t really help the energy to lessen any, and they both have this weird attitude about them lately, so it got to be a pain having them bicker about things. Have I mentioned ever how grateful I am that I have only been blessed with one child? No? Well, let me get that one down now! ;) Lol. I jut don’t believe I was made for multiple children. God gave me as much as I could handle, and even that’s questionable most days.

The boys ended up playing fairly well at the park, and had a good time. There were only a few instances where I had to intervene for whatever reason. They loved the ducks and geese swimming around in the water…and the big piles of dirt (ugh). What happened to that huge blast of excitement kids used to have to go to the park? I had to practically drag them away from the piles and back on the equipment.

My temporary kiddo’s mom texted to say that her class didn’t happen the way she had planned and was heading home earlier than expected. It took me 15 minutes to get the little cutie off of the playground (and here I thought my son was bad…I am now grateful to how much easier it is to get me son off of the park than I had thought). It took forever, because Jake sat at the top of the climbing structure and wouldn’t budge. I finally got him down, and we headed back home.

His mom was back already, so I grabbed his bag he brought and started getting him ready to go home so that I could start homeschool time with Christopher. Well, Jake did not want to leave, and ran through the hallways, instead. I couldn’t get him, and I was getting agitated. Not only was my son being a pain, but Jake didn’t want anything to do with me. I eventually had to call Amber (Jake’s mom) over to get him.

It was a crazy morning, that I was grateful ended earlier than planned…although I definitely would have watched him all day like I was thinking in the first place, I was just wearing thin much too soon.

Speaking of Amber, I just wanted to say how grateful I am that she and her partner can now (if they want to) have an official civil union ceremony here in the great state of Colorado after midnight tonight!! :) How kick-ass! That makes me very happy! There are lovely couples that have been standing in line for hours, awaiting the time that they can start the process. It may not be perfect yet, but it is definitely the first step in making “same-love” marriages legal down the road. Good job, Colorado! Whoohoo!!!

My new friend in my apartment complex texted me today to say that she has a class tomorrow from 8:30AM-4:30PM, and asked if I may b able to watch him, because she doesn’t have anyone to take him for the day. I love this little dude, so of course I said I could help her out. She was in a bind, so that felt nice to take the load off. His name is Jacob (Jake), age 5, and is such a cutie. His older brother, Zeke (newly 7) is equally as cute and funny, but has school to keep him occupied during the day. We will be picking Zeke up from his bus stop after school. They rock, and so does their family!! I feel grateful to know them.

My son is loving the idea of spending the day with his best friend, Jake! :) We are going to the library sometime in the late morning/early afternoon, and hanging out there for a bit; may find a park to hit while out and about. Luckily, I still have my son’s booster seat for the car he no longer uses that Jake can use. It is supposed to be a semi-nice day tomorrow, with temp in the upper 60s…a chance of rain here and there, but no biggie. Today was amazing; hot, but amazing. Colorado is such a crazy state! Today it was 80-something, and on Wednesday, we will be in the 30s, with 4-6 inches of snow over two days, lol. I am okay with that, though, because it will all be gone days later…when it goes back up to 60 degrees.

I hope my kiddo and Jake have a good time together. They can go either way sometimes. I am thinking if it is raining and they cant go outside and play, that I will rent a movie (or two) from Redbox, grab some popcorn, and have a movie afternoon. I should come up with something crafty for them to do, but my brain lacks that crafty chick gene.

I have been picking things up the past hour to make my place more visitor-ready. Nothing like last-minute cleaning! :) Hoping tomorrow is a great day. I wouldn’t agree with her asking me for a price, but I did mention if she might be able to watch Christopher while we move next month, that would be fantastic! I m grateful for friendly mamas.

☀ SUNSHINE! (and sunburn that will be a suntan in the morning)
❀ Kids playing nicely in the morning warmth
☀ Chipping of beautiful birds
❀ Fresh air
☀ Blue skies
❀ Neighborhood dogs
☀ Texting with an old acquaintance from MN
❀ Food (after not eating for three days!) Yum!
☀ Crisp-tasting water
❀ Sunscreen on pale skin
☀ Smooth legs
❀ Shorts and tanks
☀ Attending my niece’s soccer game and cheering her on! :)
❀ Sand pit
☀ Swimming
❀ Conversations of randomness with a parent friend
☀ Watching a T.V. show OnDemand after missing it air live
❀ As always, 43Things!!
☀ This delightful picture I just found on Google:

This artwork is by nivois on deviant art, and I just love it…and all of nivois’ work! This one is titled you are my sunshine

♥ Catching up with a friend!
Sunday, when my family and I went out for breakfast at our usual place every, we were happily surprised to see a guy there whom was our server person when we first started going there…and, we fell in love with him. He is so sweet and just awesome. We would sit in his section every Sunday and hang out…he taught me how to do the Cup Song thingie with plastic cups…so cool! A little while back, he started getting scheduled for dinners and we didn’t get to chit chat anymore. Well, Sunday, he was there! It was so much fun seeing him and catching up with what’s been going on. The manager actually scheduled him for dinner because we had mentioned how much we miss him. That place is like my second home and family. :)

♥ Meeting fantastic new people!
Monday, was great too! We got over to IKEA for free breakfast, and enjoyed people watching. My kiddo was behaving pretty well …which is a rarity lately. We ate and had coffee (bad me on the coffee). My son loves to talk up anyone and everyone, so he asked me if he could leave the table by me to sit with the lady he was talking to; he said “she is insisting on it), so I walked over to meet the woman he was chatting to. Turns out, she is a wonderfully kind grandmother to a grandson who would be there shortly, and would likely love to meet my son. I told her my son is on the autism spectrum, to which she told me that her oldest grandson is as well. She further told me about this amazing plant-based medication (made by a group of doctors, if I’m recalling correctly), that has been shown to help the brain of autistic individuals to rewire (in a sense). She gave me a lot of info to look into and said she takes it to help lessen her brain tumor and her daughter and both grandsons take it for concentration and and focus. I am definitely looking into it! We sat down and talked some more…I told my mom to come over and chat too, because I kind-of left her at the table while I went off). Soon, her daughter and grandson showed up, and those two boys got along splendidly! They both loved certain games and such, had the same sandy blonde hair, blue eyes and thick, long eyelashes that girls will eventually be very jealous of. They were so cute together! :) We all exchanged numbers and hope to get the two of them together again for a play date. We thought we had bid farewell, but we ended up seeing them again later at a different part of the store…and started talking again. The grandmother was to be going in for a brain scan to see whether or not her tumor has shrunk more, so I am hoping it did! I was so thankful and grateful to meet such lovely people. I hope we can catch up again very soon.

More things to be grateful for:
♥ Earth Day on Monday – using reusable bags, recycling and bringing along an eco coffee cup for my tea
♥ Eyeing a beautiful hammock at IKEA (I have ALWAYS wanted a hammock), but nit being able to buy it…then, finding the SAME hammock (and the metal stand for it-a nice family ran to catch up to tell us they saw the stand there and wanted us to have it) both on clearance, because they had been returned! Turns out that hammock pattern isn’t even on their website anymore…yet they had it displayed (must be the very last one). So happy to finally have a hammock!
♥ Also finding a hanging indoor swing for my son that I have been wanting from IKEA for quite some time on clearance (it didn’t have its package)! It will be perfect for his sensory needs. Even more to be grateful for: when I asked the nice IKEA worker about it, he said his son loves the one they have…we chatted a bit as I told him about my son and how this swing will be perfect for him, and amazingly it was only $10; I told him how expensive things for sensory are if they’re labeled as such, but this was great! He then said that he would go check to make sure all of the items were in the bag. He came back and said it was all good. I told him how awesome he was for checking and thanked him. My mom grabbed the bag once we got home later and said it hadn’t been opened – how would he have checked? She then looked at the price and it read $4.99 (he lowered the price further when he went in the back). I didn’t even notice that when we were all talking. That was very kind of him. :)
♥ Speaking up and standing ground!
I am grateful for being able to take the lead (when my mom freaked out). I have always loved IKEA and have never had a problem…until that day. We left an item in the parking lit, got home, realized it was left, called the service center, service center told me to go back with my receipt and they would replace it. So, we drive back and customer service told us that the manager told him ‘once it leaves the store, it’s your problem, not ours, nothing we can do.’ We were both ticked off that wr had been told otherwise. It was a pain amd my mom couldn’t deal, and left. I stayed and dealt with everyone. The CS rep and the manager were rude and short with me…the manager ripped the receipt from my hand twice to look at it. I think they got sick of me and eventually gave me a gift card to get another one. I called home office and made a complaint against them…still haven’t heard back, and probably won’t, but I felt good doing it.
♥ grateful also for dark chocolate and delicious coffee I am not supposed to be having, but enjoyed greatly
♥ grateful for spreading autism awareness wherever I go, to whomevwr I speak to.

The seemingly endless days of chaos and terror in Massachusetts finally coming to a close. I have been glued to my T.V. most of the last few days as news coverage came in about the events. I was in tears hearing of the sad stories about taken lives, people being severely wounded and others who had been broken down from this emotional experience. I can’t even imagine living in or around the area where this all took place. My heart aches for the families and individuals affected by the heinous acts of these two evil souls.

I am grateful for the fast-thinking, brave and caring people that helped the wounded on the day of the bombings at the Boston Marathon, in any way they could. I am grateful for every single officer and staff member that came from far and wide to tirelessly help with this manhunt and finally bringing one of them to justice in Watertown. I am grateful that more people’s lives weren’t cut short, but saddened for those no longer able to go home to their loved ones.

I am grateful for social media for the ability to get information circulated as quickly as it did. Those two had no chance of making it past us once we knew their faces and to keep an eye out for anything out of the ordinary. I sure hope anyone out there to wishes to do the great people of our country harm have been watching this and know not to mess with us; we will find you.

After the final standoff, the video of the relieved Watertown residents clapping, cheering and chanting as each and every law enforcement car passed them was stunning. I have never seen anything like that – outside of a parade setting. It was a gracious ‘thank you’ from the people in that town; the entire state.

^{This image was posted on Minnesota Public Radio’s website:}

^{A police officer reacts to news of the arrest of one of the Boston Marathon bombing suspects, Friday, April 19, 2013, in Boston. Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured in Watertown, Mass. The 19-year-old college student wanted in the bombings was taken into custody Friday evening after a manhunt that left the city virtually paralyzed and his older brother and accomplice dead. (AP Photo/Julio Cortez)}

Hold your children and family a little tighter after being witness to these events, because you just never know what each day will bring. May the innocent souls lost be wrapped in the arms of God and forever be taken care of, and may the families and friends left to mourn them feel encased in love and support and be joyful for the lives they had and celebrate their time here with them. I am at a loss for how to feel here; there are so many emotions that come up in a situation like this. I am just grateful for all the good and support. The people of Boston, of Watertown…of Massachusetts, are strong and will build back their confidence and joy. They are such a tightknit community.

I have and will continue to pray for everyone there.

If you have been living under a rock here in the Unites States, or haven’t heard the latest, the story is here.