Who are you and what have you done with Evan???

I have made a new rule for myself that I don't turn on the computer until I've finished my school work each day. Otherwise, I have found that I don;t get everything I need to get done, done. BUT, I made and exception today, because the funniest thing just happened and I must share.

Just to preface this, Evan has become the resident dish-washer in our house lately, so he has the daily duty of washing dishes, and then I load them.

He has not always enjoyed this role, but today he had some sort of epiphany...

I'm walking through the kitchen, I stop an walk over to Evan, who is washing dishes, and give him an encouraging hug- He needs positive reinforcement sometimes. Don't we all?

Me: "Evan, you are doing an awesome job with hose dishes, man."

Evan: "Thanks."

I begin to walk away. Then, Evan calls me back.

Evan: "Hey, Michele?"

Me: "Huh?"

Evan: "I love washing dishes."

I'm sorry, did I hear you wrong? You LOVE washing dishes???!!! Who are you and what have you done with Evan???

Of course, I didn't actually say that. I didn't want to ruin this seemingly miraculous moment.

Me: REALLY?? That's great, buddy!"

Evan: "Yeah, ..................."

He begins to explain to me his creative analogy of washing dishes being like a rescue mission.

Of course, I didn't catch the whole analogy. You know, with the Hallelujah Chorus playing loudly in my head, and all...

I just love that kid.

"You're freaking me out!"

Lately Aaron has been doing a lot better expressing how he feels- or at least in a way that makes more sense to us. Which is awesome in itself, but it can also make for some funny moments. Moments that probably wouldn't be funny for a "normal" kid his age, but hearing him say things that sound so normal- things that he's never said before, can just make me chuckle.

For example, the other day I was playing with his hair, telling him how long it was getting and how I could practically put it in a pony-tail, (he's had a haircut since), when out of the blue he, laughingly, says: " 'Chele, you're freaking me out!" Oh goodness, It was hard to not laugh! Something like that wouldn't be so funny coming out of, say, Evan's mouth, because that's such a normal "pre-teen-teenager-y" type response. Is it a good thing he's starting to sound like a teenager? ;)

Really, it's just so awesome to know that he's learning more and more how to communicate "normally" and describe what he's feeling. That's such a big deal with autism.

I'm just glad it's so entertaining! :)

Also, I've been going through and organizing a lot of our older pictures and files on our hard drive, and I found this little gem of a video, of Aaron, from the fall of '07. It's such a special video, because it's right before Aaron really started changing a lot of his "autistic ways". And he was still calling us by the names he had given us, too. (i.e.-"Winifred-Michele", "Ma", "Father", "Begie", and "Christopher-Michael")

Anyway to explain this crazy video, it is Aaron and me talking back and forth, while he's "mocking me", this was also before he said he loved anyone, so I was having fun with that... Anyway, it may be a little too long to hold your attention. I just love it, because it shows how much he's changed in the past year and a half... And, he really has. Even in just his appearance. I was also looking through pictures from around the time this video was taken, and comparing them to how he looks now is just crazy!

I think the craziest thing about this video, though, is his voice. Man, has his voiced changed...

I also apologize in advance for my obnoxious voice in the back ground... I hope my voice has changed some since then, too. ;)

Blogging for Dollars!

That's what I'm doing! Well, blogging for points actually... But, points that can win me dollars! Am I making any sense???

OK, let me explain myself...

Being a senior in a high school, a basically broke senior in high school, that is, I have spent many a night trying to find scholarships for college. So, I literally just today found an AWESOME site that offers easy ways to win scholarships. The site is: ScholarshipPoints.com. What they do is offer many, many simple ways to earn "points", and for every point you earn you can enter yourself in any of the many scholarships they offer. As many times as you want! They actually have a drawing for 10,000 dollars EVERY MONTH. It's pretty great! So, I joined TODAY, and what do they do? They post a chance to win 100 points, for anyone who has a blog and posts a blog with a review of ScholarshipPoints.com! The first thing I thought was "I don't know if I can come up with anything I DON'T love about this site!" REALLY! So, this probably sounds more like a great plug for the site, than a review, but I'll try and make a critique of some sort... I love how easy to use and accessible they make their site. I am in the group on Facebook and I'm following their account on Twitter! The great thing about their Twitter is they a post a code every week, that earns you more points. Just for the people following them on Twitter! It's great! They are constantly posting new and different ways to earn points AND new scholarships to enter! Sometimes the amount of information on their site can be a bit overwhelming, but I did just start using it today and all of the information is certainly helpful and informative. I'm sure once I've used the site more, I will get used to it. Over all, I have found this site to be one of the best and easiest ways to enter scholarships!

I can't wait to enter the 10,000 scholarship 100 times! ;D

You like me! You really like me!

Well, two of you do, at least...

Alright, you guys, I know this is a long time coming, but I've been so distracted by, you know, real life lately, I haven't gotten around to finishing this up... I do have three blog drafts, (including this one), so I should have a few more coming in this week or so...

OK, onto the post...

Two of my favorite bloggers, Barb and Genny, apparently think my blog is worthy of being called fabulous! They nominated me as one of their five most fabulous blogs! Which surprised me a bit with my horrible blogging habits. But, nevertheless, I will wear this honor proudly!

Part of being honored with this title means I have to tell you my five of my addictions, then nominate five blogs I think are fabulous.

So, with out further ado...

In no particular order...

My five biggest addictions:

Photography- I love taking pictures of everything imaginable! I especially love stealing my mom's camera, (it's much better than my current one), and using her "close-up" setting and taking super close pictures, (with awesome depth of field!), of random things... :) I can't wait for the day I've saved up enough for a CANNON REBEL! What a happy day that will be! Believe me, you will all know when that day comes.

Photoshop- An addiction of mine that goes along with photography. I hardly ever go a day with out getting on photoshop and editing some of my pictures. It's a sick addiction, really. BUT, it's awesome, nonetheless!

Facebook- Need I say more? If you don't have one, you should get one. It will change your life... Seriously.

Music- Listening to it, making it, anything involving music. I just love it.

Cheese- OK, I know this is a weird one, but I had to get creative and have at least one original addiction. Yes, I've always loved cheese, (that just sounds weird). Not like creamy gross cheese, but stuff like mozzarella, swiss, cheddar... On it's own, on a sandwich, or any other way imaginable, really. It's weird, I know, but it's true. Just ask my mom.



Now onto my top five fabulous blogs. Before I say my picks, I'm just want to say that I'm not nominating Paige, Barb or Genny, since they've already done their fabulous posts. But, I still think they have fabulous blogs! Obviously they do, because they've already been nominated. And I'm not going to nominate a blog, who's owner I don't know personally, so that kind of narrows it down. Anyway, lets get on with it!

Davis Daily- I think this is going on her third or fourth nomination, maybe she'll actually do it!

Mom's Mayhem- My cousin- she is so funny!

Insignificant Teenager- I'm just hoping this will get her to blog! ;)

Katie's Kettle- Same with her!

Kristen's Kaleidoscope- And her too!

OK, I know it's lame that I picked three bloggers that don't even blog faithfully, but I don't know that many bloggers, (personally), and they are three of my best friends. I didn't have many options...

ANYWAY.

Get to blogging!

P.S. Maybe you've noticed my new banner... I was just playing around on the computer and I came up with it... I just thought I would try something new, but I'm not sure that I love it. So, I've made a little poll on the top right to see what y'all think! (All 5 of you...) Anyway, let me know what you think in a comment and/or vote!