I heart Ryan but hate unicorns. Still love me?

I'm linking up with Sunday over at Adventures in Extreme Parenthood today.  Playing around with Ryan Gosling like he's my sexy hot social skills partner is fun.  I mean really fun.  I will warn you though, all the opinions from here on out are mine.

I'm having a hard time wrapping my brain around some things going around in our community lately.  I've intentionally tried to keep my mouth shut and head low.  I've been struggling with so much else I've not had the intestinal fortitude to articulate how I feel on some things and quite honestly I'm still wrapping my brain around what so many people have said.

There has been a lot said about hating Autism and how that implies a whole host of other things.  It's no surprise here that I have a love affair with foul language.  Sometimes nothing is better than a good old fashioned bad word.  But there is one word we simply do not use in our house---and it's the word HATE.  We banned it early on because for me it's a word that's so powerful, so visceral, so...I don't know.  It brings whatever you are saying up a notch and once said, it puts you on the brink of no return.

But that's just me.  That's what we do at our house.  It may not be what you do at your house and that's your right.  Your right to use your words as you see fit.

I cannot, and will not, condemn someone else for using their words differently than me.  They have a different story.  Sometimes a very different story and I truly can see how they have come to the conclusions they have.  I wonder how they do it.  I wonder how they survive and I am in awe of them for their unconditional love of their child.  They have a right to how they feel and what they say.  And I admire them for it.  I will not judge.  How can I?  It's not my place.

Nor is it anybody elses.

I am the mom of a boy who has Autism.  That is all I know.

PS---Blogger's not playing nice and not letting some people leave comments or letting me leave tracks at other blogs.  Feel free to hate that too!

Oops I did it again...

I'm joining forces with Sunday today because this Ryan Gosling thing is fun.  Seriously, I've not laughed so hard in ages. Go over and check it out and spread the love.

We are still on Spring Break. I hope the teachers are yucking it up because when they get back there's going to be hell to pay.  The boy's not happy about missing school and has taken to Hanging his teacher and anyone else he can think of.  Thank God for parental control is all I can say.

The only thing bringing me some semblance of peace is the fact the kids have Tae Kwon Do camp.  Four blissful days from nine till noon where I only have the baby.

But there's been a catch.  On the first day Alex and Lizzy both brought home this pleasant little surprise:

Seriously, seriously?!?
It's so phallic it's wrong.  

Nunchucks.

Yeah, that's right.  Frigging nunchucks.  Always a fun toy to have around when your kid has no concept of personal space.  Add limited gross and fine motor skills and its just bound to go south.  Only a matter of time.  And since the oldest two have a healthy case of sibling rivalry, they've been beating the shit out of each other since the first day of Camp.

So during Spring Break I may, or may not, have said things like:

"Please guys, don't nunchuck your sister."

"Alex, you have to remember the nunchuck increases the size of your bubble.  OUCH.  GAWD.  FUCK.  Those things hurt.  Please don't nunchuck me like that."

"Hey honey, hand me a nunchuck.  Come on, quick!  The neighbors dog just broke the fence and I think I can get him.  Come-on, give me a damn nunchuck.  Aw frick, he just went back in.  Never mind."

"Is that the way Master Lee showed you how to use those things?  No, I didn't think so..."

"Please guys, don't nunchuck the windows.  They didn't do anything to deserve that kind of treatment."

"Here let mommy try, those things look pretty easy.  OUCH.  GAWD.  FUCK.  Those things really hurt."

"For the last time: DO NOT NUNCHUCK YOUR LITTLE SISTER."

"That's it.  I've had it.  Hand them over.  The nunchucks are in time-out."

In that vein, I give you this:

And this:

I'll stop there but really, with nunchucks?  The possibilities are endless....

A meme. Be afraid, very afraid.

I was going to write some more about our wonderful adventures in Spring Break Land but like many places you go, it's over rated.  Quite frankly, without my kids in a Tae Kwon Do camp this week I just may have thrown myself out an upper window by now.  I think I've discussed this before and while jumping out the window may impart some bodily harm, it wouldn't be enough for me to get out of making dinner.  The cost benefit analysis deems it necessary I stay within the confines of my house.  Dammit.

My good friend Kelly over at Unplanned Trip to Holland tagged me in a Meme.  I'm never quite sure how to feel about these things.  I love to read other's view on Meme's but truth be told, these things are a lot of work with all the tagging and linking but I love them just the same.  Yes, I am that lazy.  

In short order, here are the rules of the game:

1. Thank and link back to the person who bestowed the award on you.  Check.  Kelly, Kelly, Kelly..click here to find Kelly.
2. Post 10 things about yourself that others may or may not know. 
3. Nail 6 others with this award. 
4. Go find those 6 others and let them know you've given them the computer equivalent of Type A influenza.   

Now before y'all go running down to the bottom of the page I'll start with the ten things you may or may not know about me.  THEN, you can all go run down to the bottom of the page.

Aw, fuck it.  

Here are my people I'm tagging.  Who am I kidding?  We all want to know who I'm going to crucify and hang out to dry.  In no particular order, except for Flannery, here you go.  

1. Flannery over at Living on the Spectrum: The Connor Chronicles.
2. Peg at Straight up-No Chaser.  
3. Allie from Little Baby Fields.
4. Karen at Ow, my angst. 
5. Andrea over at Maybe it's just me...
6. Insert your name here if you think the Meme's got your name on it.  

Flannery always gets nailed when I do a meme.  One day she's going to come up to Kansas City and kick my ass, like seriously, the way they do in Fight Club.  She's going to beat me to a pulp and turn me into soap.  When the blog goes silent, you'll know that's happened but until then I will tag her.  Relentlessly.  I call it tradition.  She calls it a, "horrendous pain in her ass, a boil that needs to be lanced, a...."   

Now on to the ten things you may or may not know about me.  

1. I detest when other people in my family are sick.  I can't stand to hear them cough, sick-up or act like they are dying.  The fact that He Who Shall Not Be Named is still sick and carrying on like a wounded dove is driving me right over the edge.  To say, "Every time he coughs, a little piece of me dies inside, " is not stretching the truth.  Hurry the hell up and get better already or die.  I don't care which but just turn the corner one way or the other.        
2. I'm Type A all the way.  I can't stand to have a messy, dirty floors.  When I first saw Sleeping With the Enemy I was all, "Ohhhh, look now nice and clean their house is!  Look at how he lines up all the canned goods and see, who doesn't like their bathroom towels all neat and orderly?"  Sure, he was certifiably insane but I'd place money you could eat off those floors.  He'd beat you for it later, of course, but you'd have a full belly.    
3. Tamiflu made me sicker than a dog.  To the point that I had to preform several complete colon cleanses.  One of them was at my son's allergy appointment.  Since I had to drag him into the bathroom with me, he almost got sick because I was sick and I had horrible visions of him puking between my legs while I was on the toilet.  Think that sounds disgusting?  Try living it.     
4. I pretend not to be a bitch but I really am.  I judge people and I like to make fun of my neighbors.  I try not to but seriously, how long is that tree going to stay dead in your yard?  Its been there for two years and let me tell you a little known fact about trees---they stay dead.  Cut the damn thing down already.   
5. I am hypoglycemic as hell right now so I have to stop and come back before I pass out from low blood sugar.  Yeah, I know it's from eating cake and coffee this morning but when presented with the option of a piece of cake or a fruit salad, the cake wins every single time.  
6. I'm sick of my stats and really need to stop looking at them but it's like crack.  I have to go back and look.  I try to stop but I just can't.  And don't get me started on the 'Join this site' and 'Members' and all of that.  I don't know who I'm following and who's following me and what the proper etiquette is anymore.  I mean, what if you follow them and they don't follow you back?  That means they think you suck, right?  Do you then go back and un-follow?  I mean, that's a little rude don't you think?  And then if you subscribe to an e-mail feed with someone on WordPress should they follow you on Blogger?  Seriously, somebody help me with this one.  
7. I'm using an old razor right now and the only time I remember to replace it is when I'm buck-naked in the shower.  I'm too lazy to get out of the shower to replace it so I've been butchering my legs for over a week now.  
8. I love to bake but the thought of making dinner every night makes me weak at the knees because, you know, we all eat one well-rounded meal full of fresh produce and lovely vegetables.  And if you can't read the sarcasm in that, then I just can't help you.  
9. Everything I wrote in that first paragraph is a lie.  I'm secretly enjoying everything about Spring Break.  Except Daylight Savings.  I want to punch that ass-hat in the nuts.  
10. I wish I didn't have to fake-name it here and it bugs me more than you will ever know.  

I'm sure I could do more than ten things but I think that's sufficient to have your hand over your mouth in horror so I'll stop there.  

Now I'm off like a virus to go infect some more people....

I'm back with Awards! Yeah, I'm soooo gonna tag you.

The kids are still on break and I'm a bit dazed, caged and confused but its good to be back to blogging.  I missed everyone!  I'll tell you all about break later but right now lets settle for this.

I love getting awards, really I do.  This one is especially pretty because it's a flower.  I like flowers.  I really like them when they are outside.  At a distance.  In someone elses yard.  Or at the park.  The one three miles away.  Yeah, the park is even better.

Because while I like to look at flowers, they don't really like my family.  They cause my kids eyes to swell shut from all their fun pollen.  The kids start rapid fire sneezing so I swear I'm at an artillery range.  All I want to do is duck and cover.  Don't even get me started on how allergic my husband is.  Yeah, yeah, yeah, I get that plants have to reproduce, but really, couldn't they have evolved pollen-less pollen or something?

I totally got sidetracked there...

Anyway, Andrea from Maybe it's just me... gave me this award and just for her I will try to be all happy and not too sarcastic since this is the Sunshine award after all.  Wait.  I think I can be sarcastic and happy.  No rule against that.

And because I'm a lazy bum and have been sitting on the sofa all day and not anywhere near the kitchen being all domestic making pain in the ass mints or anything like that, I received the award from Not Just Another Mother Blogger!   I love reading her work.  Love it.

Anyway, here are the rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Andrea and Not Just Another Mom Blogger!
2. Link back to the Blogger (or Bloggers) who awarded you.
3. Answer the following questions, down below.  
4. Pass the award out and victimize ten other Bloggers letting them know, of course, that you've nailed them.  

Favorite color?  Purple but don't tell my daughter.  She's of the rule that only one person in the house can like a particular color.  The two of us liking the same color will just piss her off.  If she ever asks you, I like green the best.

Favorite animal?  A dead hermit crab.  Preferably three dead hermit crabs.  Hey, the rules did not specifically state weather the animal was living or dead.  I prefer three very dead hermit crabs.  Better yet, I'd prefer three very dead hermit crabs that happen to reside in the aquarium on my kitchen counter this very moment.  

Favorite number?  Eleven, it's my birth date.  And yes, I was born on 9-11.  

Favorite drink?  Caffeine-free diet anything.  I'm a whore like that.  I'll have some jet fuel in the morning to get me started but anything after about 9:00 AM just makes me ill.  You thought I was crazy now?  You really don't want to see me all hopped up on caffeine throughout the day.  

Facebook or Twitter?  I loathe them both equally but if I were in a corner at gun point then I'd have to say Facebook. 

My passion?  Shelling.  Duh.  

Giving or getting presents?  Right now it's all about giving them out.  I really would like this year for my husband to not go to Sam's Club or Costco at the ninth hour and buy whatever's left in the jewelry cabinet for the holidays, birthday, whatever.  Just skip it this year and come home early.  

Favorite day?  Friday.

Favorite flower?  Orchid but only when they're blooming.  The rest of the time they just bug me, which is about 99% of their life-span.

And I received this award from Caffeinated Autism Mom.  The Liebster Award.   Again, I love reading her work and with kids on the Spectrum we speak the same language.   This Award is given to up coming Bloggers with less than 200 followers.   In German, Liebster means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kindly, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing and welcome.  I am not sure I am worthy of this award as I don't see "Lizbeth" and "sweet" generally used in the same sentence, but I'm taking the award and running like hell. 

The rules are the same for the Liebster Blog Award as for the Sunshine Award.  I'm not going to rewrite them, I know you all are smarter than that.  

Now this is time where I nail people who mean a lot to me.  

For the Sunshine Award I nail:

1. Flannery, over at: Living on the Specturm: The Connor Chronicles.  Really, you actually thought you were going to scape by?!?  I think not.  
2. Grace, over at: That's RightISaidIt.Dot.Mom.  Oh yeah, you're next. 
3. Kara at: karacteristic.com.
4. DeeAnn over at Snippets 'N Stuff.   

And for the Liebster Blog Award I nail:

1. Jazzy over at Jazzygal. 
2. Karen V. at Solodialogue.

I don't care if you do have over 200 followers.  That little member/followers thing has always been a thorn in my side.  I get that's it's an easy way to keep up on Blogs but there are soooooo many people who read who don't "follow."  That, and because Blogger is being an ass-hole and taking away that option for non-Blogger blogs, I'm a bit miffed.

And so there are no hard feelings, I put everyone's name in hat and picked the first four for the Sunshine Award and the last two I pulled out were for the Liebster Award.  Except for Flannery.  I have her named first, every single time.  

Oh My God I'm on fire! Ouch. Ouch! Somebody put me out!!! Anybody? Anybody?!?

Karen over at Ow, my angst kindly awarded me with a very special award and like a good friend it took me a few weeks to get my act together and claim it.  I'm on FI-YAH.  Or something cool like that.  

Anyway, having the mental acuity of a three year old right now I don't remember how I found karensomtingorother but I'm glad I did.  Among other things, you'd swear we were separated at birth, have the exact same kid and live the exact same experiences.  It's like she's me in another dimension, except she's funnier.  Now I"m stuck on this other dimension thing.  Hey, it could happen.  I could have a portal stone in my back yard.  You just never know....

Anyway, you know the drill.  I tell you seven things you don't already know about me (but now that you've read them you can't get them out of your mind and you'll never look at me in the same light again) and I pass the award on to a few lucky victims.  I'll wait as you scroll down to see if I nailed you.

Now that you're back, here ya go.  A few thing you wished you never knew about me...

1. I like tampons better than pads.  See I told you, you'd never get this out of your head.  Ever.  Your welcome.  
2. I told off Emma's mom from the other day.  I really tried keeping my mouth shut but when she made some lame-ass excuse about cancelling the play-date I Went Off and told her, among other things, she could, "Put it in her daughter's community service log."  Yes, I really told her that.  I'm not proud but Good Lord in Heaven, God Almighty did that feel good.  
3. I'm a summer girl and am not looking forward to winter.  I'm always amazed I made it out of North Dakota alive.  Notice I didn't say sane, just alive?  
4. I don't wake up pretty.  I need a cup of coffee plus a good ten minutes till I am even approachable.  Even then, its best to err on the side of caution.   
5. I'm a total type A with the house.  I like to have everything neat and clean which falls in exact opposition to having three small kids.  
6. I secertly like to bash the neighbor about having a sucktastick yard.  They've had a dead tree in the front yard for over a year.  The real irony?  Even with all the storms we've had (we don't have small storms in Kansas) not a single one has knocked that damn tree out of the ground.  I know it's staying put to spite me.
7. And the last bit of information and a real kicker:  My mom has found my blog.  "Hi mom!!  I'm on to you.  You can quit lurking in the background and stalk me out in the open."  I don't care.  I will not shut this site down and move over to Wordpress like I said I would.  I just started figuring out Blogger and I don't have the mental fortitude to try and learn something new.   

I know there are several of you laughing your ASSES off right now.  Go on, yuck it up.  YUCK IT UP.  I know you're rolling on the ground right now, next to your chair trying hard not to piss yourselves.  Don't you wish you were wearing a Poise right now?

And now I shall exact revenge and name you below.  

Flannery over at Living on the Spectrum: The Connor Chronicles.  You know every meme I get you're going to be next.  I don't know how or why but I always name you.  Now it's more like tradition and I have to name you.  It's gotten to the point where if I don't name you, I'm afraid I may offend you by NOT listing you.  

Grace over at That'sRightISaidIt.Dot.Mom.  What can I say, I love ya lady.  Consider this an easy way to make stuff up, you know, how you love public service perosnelle or something.  I don't know, say what you will, I'll still read it.  I love your blog.     

Allie over at Little Baby Fields.  She is just a sweeite who never cusses, has a beautiful family and I still love her for it.  I often wonder how she can stomach all my F-bombs.  Allie, I am working on it.  

And DeeAnn over at Snippets 'N Stuff.  I love hearing about Cody and her general take on life.  It's refreshing and reminds me how insane I really am.  

There ya go, that should do it.  

Now go on and give me a hard time in the comment section.  

See, it's impossible for me to do a wordless day...

We actually set a record high yesterday.  It was 108 degrees at the Kansas City airport and it was 111 degrees closer to our back door.  I went for a walk last night and it "felt like" 114 degrees.  That's bloody hot.  I'll do somewhat of a wordless day today in an effort to conserve energy and to maintain my sanity in this heat.

I received this award from my lovely friend Jazzygal.  You totally have to pop on over and visit her.  You'll like what you find.  Now I will tell you, I've been lame and received this award back in June while I was on vacation.  And while I never really forgot about it, I was remiss on doing anything with it.  Thank you Jazzy and sorry for being as lame as I am.

I took this picture when we were at the pool that shames all other pools.  Look off the the left of the man.

Read the sign...

That gave me a giggle.  Probably not what they had in mind...

We've had a few days where we've skipped the pool and have been out in the sprinklers.  I think most of the water evaporated before it hit the ground or just upped our humidity levels...but it was fun none the less.  

And yes, I let them pee in the shrubs and drink from the sprinkler.  I stand by my statement that the sun is browning out the yard.  It is not all the urine.

Drinking from a cup: overrated.  

Teaching the baby to drink like dog.  A useful skill. 

Summer.  

Where the "feels like" temp has been over 100 for the past month and the sun has been slowly baking the yard to a crisp yellow.  Like hay.  

Where the trees have gone into seclusion and have been dropping leaves. 

Where the kids are getting good and bored.  

And learning everything they should, without the onus of a classroom.

Where my kids are happy.

And where, at the end of the day, the house is a mess, the kids are minus a bath and the dishes are still in the sink.  

But they are happy.  

Which makes me happy.

And where I'd like to remain for a good long time.  

Summer.

Note: Clearly I can not do a wordless post.  And no, I have no idea how I lived in North Dakota for over ten years.    

And a thank you to all my friends out here who have so poignantly shared their lives and experiences. Without that, I would not have slowed down enough to appreciate what is right in front of me all along.  Thank you. 

Awards, times two!

Lord in Heaven, I've been tagged.  I came so close to skating by and bbsmum got me.  Which was probably good because I was coming up empty handed.  Thank God that hail storm drilled us or I'd have come good on my threat to post about bellybutton lint and/or ear wax. 

Go visit bbsmum at Mum accepting autism, you'll like it there.  I do.  I'm over there clogging up her comments day in and day out, I love her that much.

Karen tagged me too.  Solodialogue is her amazing blog which is so eloquently written and insightful.  I'm over there blabbing away too!

In all seriousness, thank you both for tagging me.  I know I moan and groan about Meme's but secretly I love them.  They make me stop and think about things I don't normally apply brain power to and the fact you think I'm worthy of them means a lot.  Thank you both.   

Anyway, I know you all have skipped all that up there to get to the good stuff here.  You know, this is where I tell all.  So here it is.

Seven things about Alex, compliments of bbsmum:

1.  He doesn't like to smile for the camera.  Ever.  This is a problem in our house since we, like, own stock in Nikon.  Sorry Cannon.

2.  Alex is smarter than me.  Big surprise, right? 

3.  His current form of stress relief is to come up and give me a kiss, with really wet, spitty, saliva covered lips.  I think he does this on purpose but I'm not willing to give up the kisses, no matter how disgusting.  That would probably explain this nasty cold I've been harboring.

4.  Once he goes to bed he stays there.  And I love him for that.

5.  When we came home from Loose the Wheels bike camp I asked him to try his bike at home and he said, "Nope.  I already know how to do that!" like I missed the memo he'd been at camp all week nailing that skill.

6.  When he was almost four I told him he was 'pushing my buttons' and he walked right up to me and pushed every button on my sweater.  He then yanked it up and went "Boop!" on my jeans button.  Hard.   

7.  I love my little man with every ounce of my being and its true what they say, I can't imagine my life without him.

Now here are seven things about me, compliments of Solodialogue.  Take a deep breath so you can swallow back down your breakfast, lunch or whatever's in there.

1.  After Alex said, "Nope" to getting on the bike I may or may not have said, "I paid a shitload of money for bike camp, now get on your damn bike and ride." 

2.  During the winter, I gauge whether or not I'm going to shave my legs based on how cold I am.  If I'm freezing then I skip it rationalizing the extra fur will help insulate and keep me warm. 

3.  I'm a total Type A.  I love a clean house and if I could, I'd rope off rooms and turn my house into a museum.  I like to vacuum and get pissed when the kids mess up the vacuum lines on the carpet.   

4.  Dirty kitchen sinks creep me out.  

5.  Don't get near me till I have my coffee.  Once I get my two cups in the morning I do the rest of the day caffeine free.  There's a window around 10:00am where I go hypoglycemic and turn feral.  My husband swears he did not know about this prior to our marriage and swears I misrepresented myself.  I won't lie, I did.  I totally hid that teensyweensey little fact from him.   

6.  When I have a really bad day I go to WalMart and judge people.  I already know, I'm a bitch.  Please hold your comments on that and tell me something I don't already know.   

7.  I miss my old house.  I love where we are now, don't get me wrong, but there's something about the house that you bring your kids home to for the first time.   

There you go, seven more facts about me and seven new facts about Alex.  I've decided to do a great disservice to the Meme and not tag anyone.  I've tagged just about everyone I know in past Meme's and some of you twice.  I'm afraid I'm going to get a restraining order I've tagged so many people.  If you really want to be tagged, send me a note and I'll dedicate a whole post for those of you I've cheated.  I'll be more than happy to do so!  

I'm Stylish. Hey, stop laughing! Seriously, I can still hear you...

No she didn't.  Oh yes she did.  Racer's Mommy thought it would be the cat's meow to pass this along to me.  I think it's the first time in my life I've ever been called stylish.  My main shopping hot spots for clothes are Target, Sam's and Costco so I'm still trying to wrap my brain around that one...

Anyway, here are the rules:

1. Thank and link back to the person who sent you the award.  Racer's Mommy, you're the best!
2. Share seven things about yourself.
3. Share this award with 10 other people and let them know.

Here are seven things about me:

1. I hate other people's kids.  I love mine but despise others.  I have, however become slightly more tolerant of them.
2. I feel like I'm 30 but really I'm 41.  There are days when I look in the mirror and scare the crap out of myself wondering who the old person is staring back.
3. I have a ginormous sweet tooth.  It usually lands my ass on the loo.  Given the choice between sweets or the loo, I'll choose the sweets and suffer the consequences.  Every. Single. Time.
4. I run as my outlet.  I run away from things and to things, but I always run.  Its where I find peace.  Where I try and find my own center of gravity amidst the rest of the things that are swirling in my life.  
5. I think of my other son ever single day.  And it doesn't get any easier.  At all.  
6. There are days when I hand my kids off to school and think, "Fuck em.  Lets see if you can do any better."  And I walk away relieved.  And I don't look back.
7. Equally, there are days where I desperately want my kids near me.  Just because.  But I've never wanted it bad enough that I pull them from school. 

Scary, huh?  Now onto the part where I get even.  I'm going to try and honor the award and see if I can find ten unsuspecting bloggers but I don't want to piss off too many people.  Let's see how far I get.  

1.  Arduinium
2. AUTISM ROCKS
3. Jazzygal
4. Living on the Spectrum: The Connor Chronicles
5. The a-word
6. Rise to Me: An Autism Dad's Ruminations

OK, I have six.  Did you think I was going to play by the rules?  I think not! 

This is Me Meme

I've been tagged by the lovely Fi over at Welcome to the mad house.  I absolutely love her positive attitude and every time I pop over to see her, she makes me smile big happy smiles.  

I've also been tagged by Jazzygal who has either changed her page up a bit or I was seriously way too slobbery drunk last night while I watched Lizzy dance all her Irish dances at the Ceili.  In my defence, there were a lot more people drunker than I was last night.  That's all I'm saying.  I could have sworn things looked different there yesterday....either way, I love her style.

So I love this meme because it lets me take a tiny peek at how my kids see me.  I had visions of me looking stick thin with a modest bosom and a killer smile.  No such luck.

I had to bribe Alex with 30 minutes of I-touch time to even get him to pick up a pencil.  After a ton of bickering and begging he simply huffed, "FINE.  But I don't understand why I need to draw you when I can see you just fine."  Fair enough but draw the damn picture.  I hate when my kids are smarter than me.  Apparently I have Angelina lips, a hair helmet, no clothes and no bosoms whatsoever.  Damn.

Alex's version.


Lizzy said sure and whipped something right up.  Look at this.  Jesus-H, did you just get the scare of your life?  My hair parts in the middle like the Dead Sea, I have black saucer eyes that are trying to bewitch you and its raining.  If Lizzy starts killing small neighborhood animals I'm screwed.

Lizzy's version.

And Gracie just randomly drew something at her highchair in between trying to eat the crayons.   Looks about right for a 16 month old. 



Gracie's version.



Anyhoo, this meme was created by Tara at Sticky Fingers and here are the rules:

• Ask your child to draw a picture of you. It doesn't matter how old they are.
• Post the picture on your blog. Go on.... be brave!
• Call it the 'This Is Me Meme' .
• Pop over to Tara's post to add it to her linky.
• Then tag some others.

I'm all for playing by the rules, and God knows we have them in this house, so I'm tagging some of my bloggy buddies.  Here they are in no particular completely random order of two :

Connor's mom over at Living on the Spectrum: The Connor Chronicles.  Because cheese is good (someday you'll have to tell me if it means more than keeping up on your calcium and Vitamin D requirements or if its hidden code for something) and because I have visions of her with Indiana Jones and not Calista. 

Karen over at Solodialogue because she makes me think and sometimes it makes my brain hurt in a 'good but now I need to go ponder things' kind of way. 

Have fun!!