Our Emerging Chef

Megan has taken an interest in learning to cook lately. This week, she has baked homemade chocolate chip cookies and a cake.

She has always been a very good baker, but is now learning to make meals. This week, she learned how to make Chicken Parmesan and BBQ Chicken. Tonight, we enjoyed a great dinner created entirely by our Megan! We had great BBQ chicken and baked potatoes! I'm so proud of our little girl....I mean, young lady.

YAY Megs!

Imitation

I'm so excited that I have to share! Steven has started doing some spontaneous imitation lately.
Little things, but big in our world.

Yesterday, he took the phone and placed it to his ear. He would walk around and intermittently "talk" and listen.

Also, he has copied my morning coffee routine. He has always loved my creamer, so I have taken to giving him a little splash in a cup each morning. Today, he got his splash of creamer, then got a COFFEE MUG out of the cabinet and poured his creamer into that! Then, he gave me the mug and pointed to the coffee machine....like give me my coffee! I put a little splash of coffee in his coffee mug. Then, he went and sat in "my" spot on the couch! So cute!

Betsy

A few good laughs!

Well, my new friend and I got together today. Our original plan was for Steven and I to go to her house and swim, but their pool motor was being replaced today and the pool wasn't swimmable. Instead, she and her son came to our house to go on the slip-n-slide.

Over the phone, we determined that the boys have lots in common. But, it was reinforced when we saw them together!

Some things I noticed:

1. Her son was fearful coming through the front door. She explained he was looking for dogs because he is so afraid of them. Steven does the same thing!

2. Her son flicks his index finger on random things for the sensory input. Steven does the same thing!

3. Her son took my drink and immediately poured it down the sink. Steven does the same thing!

4. Her son was hungry for lunch at 9:30 because they had been up since 4:30. Steven does the same thing!

I think this could be the beginning of a nice friendship! Neither of us was bothered or self-conscious of our child's behavior. That is a nice feeling.

Her daughter is coming home from camp today and we would like to get the girls together soon. Hopefully they will have something in common. It would be fun to have some new family friends.

Betsy

A new friend

I recently became acquainted with another mom online. After exchanging information regarding Texas services, we figured out that we are virtually neighbors! Her family lives right in our neighborhood. Her son is 10 and very similar to Steven. Her daughter is 12.

We've been invited over to their house to swim tomorrow. I was a little anxious because of soooo many variables.....the things that were going through my head were answered by her before I even put my thoughts into words.

She tells me, "Our house is autism proof, so I'm sure Steven can't get into much. We keep everything under lock and key. And, everything's already broken, so he can't do much damage."

She says, "I hope you won't be offended, but my son tends to swim naked. We try to keep him clothed, but sometimes we just get too tired to fight it."

Also, "You can come over as early as you want....because we usually start our day about 3am."

Then, she tells me to hang on....she comes back a minute later to explain that her son has recently taken to peeing in the backyard. She's proud of his progress, but he's now wanting to pee anywhere. Been there. Done that.

I'm really looking forward to our day tomorrow!

The joke is on us.....

The guys at Troy's office are known to play a few pranks on each other. They seem to thrive on telling Troy random things about Texas they feel he needs to know:

Examples:

1. "Insurance laws are different"--this required Betsy to review policy verbage and determine if we needed to make changes in our policy. We didn't need to make any changes.

2. "It's easy to find your way around."--not so much. Troy's been lost more than he's known where he's going.

3. "You have to water your house."--By the time we heard this last week, we thought we had caught on pretty well to these jokesters.

So we asked around.

Our neighbor, Ernie, showed us his soaker hoses around the house. He said he wasn't good about watering his house until he had to have $7,000 foundation repairs done this spring.

Our other neighbor, John, said this is the only place he's ever lived where you should point your sprinklers to hit the house instead of just away from the house.

I did some research on the internet and here's what I found.....

"The key is to maintain an even moisture level in the soil around the house," said Janie Harris, Texas Agricultural Extension Service housing specialist.
She said people should continue throughout the year to keep constant moisture levels around the foundation but look at other ways to conserve water such as using water conserving low flow toilets and shower heads in the house.

So, now we shall water the house. Can that be a kid chore?

The grass is always greener....

Today, I finished phase 2 of the backyard. I removed all of the mulch from the backyard fence. These photos show the cleared ground but you can see the staining on the fence from the dampness. I moved allllll of this mulch!!!

Here is a picture of the grass growing in the backyard. It's still spotty, but I'm sure it will fill in over time.

My next step is to put a border around the trees, plant some flowers in the borders and be ready to enjoy a colorful yard when weather permits!

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is Troy's Father's Day Gift! He didn't have to do any of it!

Yardwork has become a reprieve

After two days of the kids having stomach flu, they are better today. I was feeling a bit restless and have a ton of laundry to do, so decided I really should stay home. I decided to get started moving the mulch from the backyard. I got about 75% done before stopping when it got too hot. I think I can have it done tomorrow, then will put in edging and some flowers and/or plants.

Water Slides!!!

This morning we went back to the community center for some swim time! I talked to the manager and arranged for Steven (and us) to get advance entry to the water park and indoor pool about 10 minutes before it opens and avoid the crowds. She was very willing to help us out and arranged that for all future visits!

Steven was excited to get into the deep end. We spent a good half hour just swimming and enjoying the water. Then, we convinced him to try the water slide! He went up the stairs just fine. He sat down just fine. He was a little hesitant to go, but we pushed him:) He really liked it and was ready to do it again right away!

The second time wasn't quite as smooth because a) he had to wait in line, b) he didn't want to get out of the water at the bottom and c)he decided he was starving right then and there.

So, we came home and have eaten lunch. In a little while, we are going to head to "Extreme Bowling" (rock music, glowing bowling balls, special lights and Steven's headphones!). We'll see how that goes!

Betsy

Cinnamon, Spice and Pine Sol

I know this will shock you all to death, but I have become a bit of a domestic goddess since we moved in. I bake brownies. I cook dinner every night except Friday (pizza night). I sweep the floors before Troy comes home every night. I do laundry every single day. I even mow the yard, trim bushes, and rearrange furniture on the back patio.

So, it wasn't a big deal to me when I tackled Steven's room today. I did the basics....scrub walls, baseboards, doorknobs, etc. I swept and even mopped with pine sol! It smelled beautiful!

Then, I walked into the kitchen.

Picture this....unlocked spice cabinet. Steven. Costco size bottle of cinnamon.

Our house smells SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good now! Pine Sol AND cinnamon.

aaah.

Oh, and for anyone who didn't know this, here is a helpful tip.....rubbing cinnamon directly onto your torso will give you a rash.

You're welcome.

Love,
Bets

Betsy's Happy Day

Today, we tackled the garage. Troy realized when we moved that he has "too much stuff". He has really been working on paring down and getting organized. Also, this house is much smaller than our old house....thus, the garage has been the catch all place since moving.

We got a storage unit, put some stuff in there, went through other stuff and threw lots away!

We loaded stuff into the back of the truck to take to the dump....which is closed on Sunday (as I found out after driving there!).

And, now, I can park my new wheels in the garage! If there is another tornado, my new vehicle is safe!

Oh, happy day!

Betsy

Steven's Happy Day

This morning, Steven woke up happy, alert and ready to rumble! This was how he greeted Daddy this morning!
Here's a picture of Troy (wearing pants AND a jacket!!!) and carrying his umbrella! Last week, when it rained, Troy's boss noticed that Troy didn't have an umbrella, so he bought him one and gave it to him as a welcome to Texas gift! The men and women at work are really razzing Troy and trying to teach him things he needs to know about Texas (ie: you must own an umbrella).

After Troy left, it was time for breakfast. Steven chose cinnamon rolls, which I put in the oven. He promptly sat down and watched them cook.

As the timer crawled to the beeping noise, Steven got a closer watch to make sure he didn't miss anything!

Finally, it was time to eat his cinnamon bites! He is having a great day today!

Our first Tornado!

Tonight, Steven wanted to go for a ride after dinner. We walked out front and heard a unique siren. The wind was blowing and I looked up in the sky and saw a tornado...a real, live tornado!

I came back in the house and told the family to come outside and check it out! We tried taking pictures, but they were too dark to see anything!

As the wind picked up, we saw our neighbor's tree blow into their driveway and decided we should go into the house. We peeked into the backyard and saw that we lost a tree--it fell into the fence and onto the shed! Here are a pictures of our backyard!

We came back in and got the news on--just in time to hear "a tornado confirmed in Flower Mound."

Megan is a bit freaked out. Danielle is very excited she was here for it. Steven it tapping away and wondering why we aren't going for a ride. Troy and I are posting to the internet! Another first for the Gilchrist Family!

Lewisville Lake

This week has been eventful. I took the kids to Lewisville Lake on Monday morning. The lake is huge and there is a camping area, day use area, boat and jetski rentals, etc. At first, they were all a little unsure of it (as shown by the first picture). After a while, the girls went swimming all the way out to the buoys. Steven went swiming in the opposite direction.....by the boats! I didn't get a picture of the girls way out in the water, but did get this picture of them bringing Steven back into the swimming area!

As you can see from this picture, Steven absolutely loved the lake!

After the lake, we came home and showered then went to Ikea! We got Megan's new queen size bed! I'm not sure if they slept great because of the new bed or the activity at the lake!

An Epiphany

Yesterday, it occurred to me that I am feeling very much at home here. I had a few frustrating moments, then realized that I'm happier overall here than I was in Queen Creek. I still miss everyone, but I'm looking forward to making new friends here in addition to my friends back home.

The house is starting to feel like a home to us. We still have a lot of things we want to do, but we are doing a little bit each day to make it feel more like ours!

The grass is coming in in the backyard....spotty. But still, there is green! I'm playing with the arrangement of the backyard furniture, kid pool and grill to figure out what works best. Little details, but things that make it feel more like ours.

This week was a big one for finding the convenience features of our home! All this time, the garage door wouldn't open at the touch of the button and the clickers were never to be found. When the Brinks guy installed the alarm, he found that the breaker to the garage door was flipped off. He also programmed our alarm key chain thingy to open and close the garage door! Small things, but very cool!

Last night, we also figured out the sprinkler system! The front yard is virtually fixed, but Troy wants to install a few sprinkler heads. The backyard will need a little more work, but it's completely doable in a day's work.

This week, we are going to tackle the garage. We are renting a storage space, so I can start parking in the garage when everything gets cleared out of there!

Little things....but mean a lot.

Today we are going to pick up Megan's new mattress. (Let's see if she actually reads the blog!) Then, we will head to Ikea to get her new bedframe that she has chosen! Megan has graciously agreed that she will give up her bedroom for guests. In a few days, we will have a queen size bed for guests.....any reservations?

That's all for now:)

Bets

New car, sold house, school is almost out!

Wow! Lots of things have happened in the past 24 hours. Yesterday I was feeling blue and missing my friends. Then, we bought a new vehicle!

After that, we came home and found out we got an offer on our QC house! That will be a welcome relief to have it sold!

Today is the kids' last full day of school! Tomorrow is 1/2 day....I think we will kick off summer by going to the community center today for some water time!

Birthday photos

Blowing out the candles on her birthday cake!

This is our Megan, first thing in the morning on her 13th Birthday!

This is a great picture of Megan and Danielle! We had a blast shopping all day and then went out for a great dinner!

In the blink of an eye....

Our baby girl turns 13 today....seems like only yesterday she was born. She's grown into such a lovely young lady and we are so proud of her. I'm looking forward to spending a fun day with her!

Happy Birthday Megs!

Love,
Mom and Dad