R2BC ~ September 2015

My family decided to come and visit me in South Africa. Woohoo, much excitement. 

We had an extra special time together and built up a huge bank of awesome memories. 

Picture shared without permission! :p

Image captured by Niki van Velden Photography

The end is in sight for my Project 365. The year has flown by quickly and I have enjoyed 

the challenge of figuring out my camera. I have a lot more to learn and no doubt will

share a few images on this blog. 

Image captured by me

We have a little adventure coming up and the countdown has begun. Watch this space!

Nick's calendar

~*~

#R2BC ~ August

We went out for supper. Me, the husband and Nick. The fact that we can do this is huge and it never fails to make my heart sing. I am not bothered that my boy always requests Spaghetti Bolognaise. I also order the same meal each time we visit this particular restaurant! The beauty is that we are able to go out on a spontaneous whim without prior preparation or experience any stress.

My secret shout out reason to be cheerful has to be my Johanna Basford adult colouring in book. I held back from this latest craze that is going around the world..... until I found Johanna's latest publication. It is uber cool and highly addictive. There is something so relaxing about having an Orla Kiely mug full of fine liners and an amazing picture to colour in. It also gets me off line, which has to be good thing! :)

The countdown is now on until my Mum and three sisters arrive here. I never thought I would see the day that they would all be under my roof at the same time. It is going to be a blast. Hope the husband and Nick can manage with a house full of loud females. Too bad if they can't!

#R2BC ~ Sweet 16 and other news

Happy 16th Birthday to our sweet and innocent Nick. ‪#‎ourforeverchild‬

I cannot lie. I do hit a bit of a low in the days leading up to Nick's Birthday. The day itself is a reminder of all that we are missing out on, him included. Thankfully the pity party for one fizzled out around morning tea time of the big day, and I was all happy and cheery again by the time I picked the Birthday boy up from school. Hmmm, my reason to be cheerful? Thinking. Thinking.... Celebrating that my hectically autistic 16 year old is a really easy teen. :p

I attended a photography wildlife talk last night. The presenter was really interesting and I also understood quite a bit of his technical jargon. I am loving this hobby of mine and really get a kick out of creating images. Most of my photographs are rubbish but who cares. They are my rubbish and I like them. 

Hey, my Mum arrives on Tuesday! She is hanging out with us for the next six weeks. Don't really have any exciting plans for her (sorry Mum). I am sure that we will come up with a few ideas to keep her occupied..... Hope she likes little yappy dogs!

#R2BC ~ making lemonade!

There is nothing like a little bit of respite to get the old mojo back. Raising a child with special needs is not an easy road. We all know that. No matter how much we adore our precious kids, whether they be tiny tots, moody tweens or spotty young adults...... sometimes we need a break.

We have just been on an overseas trip with friends. It was a wonderful experience and we had a lot of fun together. I ate a lot, drank more than I normally do and had copious amounts of exercise every day.

When life gives you lemons

make lemonade!

It helped tremendously to know that Nick was being well looked after at home and that he was happy with his lot in life. Oh of course 'Mother Guilt' raised her head, although she was banished as soon as I set my foot on the first plane!

Having the time away replenished my reserves. I came back feeling lighter and ready to take on regular life again. Time out is highly recommended!

Onward and upward.......

Reasons to be Cheerful ~ busy, busy, busy!

Life is a bit crazy in our house at the moment. We are going away on holiday with some friends. We leave this Wednesday and will be away for nearly two weeks. Gasp. I will not feel guilty that I am leaving Nick behind. He is going to well looked after and will be perfectly happy. I will NOT feel guilty. I will NOT feel guilty..................

This is my favorite picture of the week. I only took the one shot and it is 99% unedited. My #Project365 photography challenge continues to encourage me to take out the Nikon (or iPhone) every day. So much to learn but really loving it.

My Mum arrives in five weeks and the first born will be home in six weeks. Nick turns sixteen in three weeks. To be honest, I am not sure how I feel about his Birthday. In fact, I think I will put that date on the back burner until after the holiday.

Anyway, as you can see, I have lots of reasons to be cheerful. Although it may be a bit Pollyanna (ish) it does helps to have a 'glass is half full' attitude.

Onward and upward!

Reasons to be cheerful ~ April

You know, living the life that we do, I find it necessary to push away the blues and take the time to focus on the ups. No one knows what it is like to live in our house. Only a select few are aware of the amount of care that Nick needs. Severe Autism and all that goes with it is no joke. I have down days, especially when I look too far into the future and start stressing about what is going to happen to Nick when I am too old to care for him.

Anyway, enough of all that depressing stuff for now. The point of this post is to lift myself out of the doldrums and share a few positives that made me smile.

We took Nick to Cape Town for the Easter weekend. The husband was running an Ultra Marathon and we were there as part of the support team! Cough, cough.

On the big day, we all got out of bed extremely early and dropped the husband off at the starting point. Nick didn't seem too perturbed about leaving the house in the dark, dressed in his pj's! Later that morning, we headed off to a super large shopping mall. Nick was absolutely amazing. He took in the new sights and noise with relative ease. He even tried on a few sweatshirts/rain jacket that I wanted for his brother. Due to Nick's chilled state, our shopping experience went on for a bit too long and we were late to pick up the husband at the finish of his race. Oopsie.

A while back I introduced Nick to store bought meals. Personally, I don't think they are a very healthy option and I would prefer home cooked, however, they save me a lot of grief when traveling. Nick now wolfs down Spaghetti Bolognaise, Macaroni Cheese and now a combo of the two. Talk about easy peasy!

I am really thrilled that Nick is now happy to walk into any restaurant and eat from the menu. Okay, we are choosing Italian venues at the moment because of the Spaghetti Bolognaise. But, hey, it's a start. Edge plus one and all that.

Nick is becoming a dab hand at traveling and our quality of life has improved due to his resilience and flexibility. Go Nick!

Time to start planning for our next adventure!

Reasons to be cheerful ~ March

It's crazy how fast the days are flying by. Four more sleeps and my first born turns 19! I am extremely delighted that he is going to be home for a few days at the end of March. Although we are comfortable with him flying the coup, it is kind of quiet in our house and we do miss having him around. Nick has communicated to me a few times (via sign language) that he would like to go on a plane to visit his brother.

I have to give a huge shout out to the amazing staff at Nick's school. They are a great bunch of people and work well together, ensuring that our kids are happy, productive and given as many opportunities as possible to excel.

I am loving my new photography hobby. It is such a learning curve and I do have a long way to go, however, the fact that I have something that is exclusively mine is very liberating. Autism is such a big part of my life and I really needed something else to think about.

I hope your week has been as nice as mine. Cheers!

Note: If you would like to join this lovely blog hop, click on the above image.

Reasons to be cheerful ~ February

I am thinking about today and reflecting on my reasons to be cheerful..........

In fact, today is full of wonderful reasons. Except for the 4:30am wake up. Thanks, Nick!!

I met some lovely friends for coffee early this morning.

Nick's wonderful school facilitator did some overtime which gave me an extra couple of hours of *me time*.

I went out for lunch with some more lovely friends. We chatted about our boys who are now first year university students. We decided that we are not pining away for our kids and we accept that this is a new chapter in their lives as well as ours. If they are happy, we are happy.

I had a bit of spare time after lunch before I needed to go home. So.... I headed for the beach to dip my toes in the sea. I misjudged a wave and got soaked. Went home with a wet dress and sandy feet. Bliss.

It's my husband's 50th Birthday and we are going out for supper. There will be Champagne.

Onward and upward.

Reasons to be cheerful - January

Hmmm, reasons to be cheerful?

Well, today has been eventful, although no great shakes. Mind you, digging below the surface I can think of a few things that have made me smile today.

Nick loves going on outings, especially to the shops. In fact we have some really fab moments together when wandering around the grocery store! Today, the cheeky boy nipped off pretty smartly while I was still in the process of grabbing my bags from the car. I had a quick panic attack and made to run after him..... however, I thought to myself.... stop, give the kid a break, he is 15 after all. I slowed down and hung back a bit. To my delight, he stopped and looked around... and kept looking until he found me! Yes!

Late morning, I left Nick at home with a carer and took my first born for his yearly eye test (and mine too!). Am a bit saddened that my eyesight has deteriorated, however, I was informed that my age was the contributing factor! Sigh. On the plus side, we both have very cool new glasses that should be ready in a week. I have had to go the multi focal option. Bit nervous about that. Anyways, will remain cheerful!

Last but not least. I woke up this morning thinking about supper.... as in, the monotony of cooking. Groan. Suggested to the husband that we go out for an early supper. He was keen. Woohoo. Lovely healthy fish and salad with a glass of wine. No dishes. Win win.

This must be the quickest blog post I have ever written. I haven't even checked for errors! Thank you to the lovely ladies who continue to host 'Reasons to be Cheerful. Apologies for not adding your poster or linky. I am working off my iPad, which makes adding all the little extras quite difficult.

Here is today's #project365 instead. It took an age to load.

Reasons to be cheerful

Woohoo, can you believe it? Two blog posts in one week!! Short ones, I admit..... but hey, time has been limited of late.

I have such wonderful reasons to be cheerful this week.

Number One: We have just had a weekend away (see previous blog post). This was very exciting for me as it is was the very first time that we have taken a plane trip that involved the whole family. Nick was amazing, very relaxed and happy to go with the flow. Needless to say, this is quite an achievement for my autistic teen.

Number Two: I have just completed a short photography course. I now have a fair idea on how to use my camera on manual mode; and I also have a better idea of how to *make* a photograph. There is still a LOT for me to learn and it is going to be fun practicing

Number Three: It is grown up time for me tomorrow. We are going to a 50th Birthday celebration. It starts at lunch time and ends....... I am not sure when! Kids are all sorted. My only stress is finding something to wear! 

Have a happy weekend. xx

Reasons to be cheerful 18.7.13

There are a number of things bothering me at the moment. Our neighbors are doing extensive alterations and every day, from sun up to sun down we are being bombarded with noise.  I am also feeling a complete lack of motivation to be proactive around the house. My weight is increasing with age (and chocolate) and I really need to do something about it. I am feeling guilty that I don't do enough with my kids, especially Nick... he really needs a lot of input in order to progress. Yes, I have also been feeling a bit miserable for my Nick, as he is missing out on all the wonderful things that life has to offer. 
In order to shake off my negative mood I thought it best to focus on the positive aspects of what is going on around me. There is nothing like linking up with Mummy from the Heart to change my mindset.
Although my son Nick is autistic, he is in fact a really happy teen. I am very grateful that he is a gentle young man, who with time has overcome his need for extremely rigid patterns and schedules. Due to his increased confidence and exposure to real life (as in, going out into the community), life has become a lot easier for him. This in turn has also opened up my world. 
I am thankful that a year ago I made the rash decision to buy a puppy; and subsequently adopt his brother. Our crazy dogs give us a lot of joy. Although, let's be real here ~ they can also be right pains! Dogs need regular exercise so they are forcing me to get off my fat backside and down to the local park. Hooray, I am also getting to burn off some calories. Sort of!
I am always grateful for Nick's school. We have a really great gang of girls working there and it goes without saying that our kids are just the bees' knees. My boy is so happy there ~ which makes me happy! 
Last but not least. It's a beautiful hot winter's day. The jackhammers will stop at 4pm. We are spending the afternoon at home just chilling. I have a couple of plans up my sleeve for Nick. Oh, I have also managed to *persuade* my first born to cook supper. Win win!

Am feeling better all ready! :-)

Reasons to be Cheerful ~ Birthday kid!

It has been a while since my last link up to #R2BC. You know how it goes.... life gets busy and then before you know it, the months have flown by and phew we are facing the end of May.
For this post I thought it would be prudent to focus on my son. He turns 14 on Saturday and the month of May has always been a topsy turvy time for me. Why so? Well, my boy is severely autistic and he is WAY behind his typical peers. Each Birthday has been a milestone missed and a sad reminder that he is very challenged.
Anyway, enough of the blues!
This year I choose to celebrate Nick's Birthday and here are my reasons why...........
I am overwhelmed that my boy is beginning to talk. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think that he would be able to say a word. At this stage he is still sounding out the letters to make a word. For example; tonight he said "f...i...sh". As of the last two weeks he has been saying "car" and "cut". Believe me ~ my heart is singing big time!
Nick has become incredibly flexible with any change in his life/routine. If you know autism, you will be aware that many kids on the spectrum (not all) rely on rigid routines because of their need for sameness. My boy used to be like that, however, I have been working on this issue for many years and it is now paying off. Each time we go out into the community and I observe my Mr Flexible, I just grin from ear to ear.
I spend a lot of time with Nick and of course there are days that he drives me crazy, however, I find him to be a very easy kid. I love that over the last two years our relationship has really blossomed and he is now happy to hang out with his old mum (this wasn't always the case!). 
This year, I choose to celebrate Nick's birthday.
Thank you, Michelle, from Mummy from the Heart, for providing me with the platform to focus on the positive aspects of raising a child/teen with autism.

Nick's first Birthday cake in ten years!