Happy Helloween!

We did our annual Holland/Fischer Helloween night tonight.

Different venue, same kids.

 Love them all.

The Fischer kids were the Wild Kratts.

(If your kids have not watched that show, they are missing out.) 

(Emma Grace's wig was just a hot mess. Literally. I tried to help a sista' out by flat ironing it. Not a good idea. Bless my little heart.......) 

The Holland Kids went as Ariel, Popeye, and a Special Ops:

Great weather, great friends, and great kids.

Who could ask for more?

(Except maybe a wig that works and some high heels that don't give you blisters. Right, Leah Kate?)

 And this one?

He was awesomesauce.

He waited until we got home and as soon as his feet hit our floor, he lost his you know what, but you know what? Homeslice went out and socialized and trick or treated and had a blast for the first time on  Halloween ever! And that was a huge win. 

HUGE!

So, to sum up.

Tonight was awesome.

Hope yours was too.

Enjoy scarfing down your kids candy and telling them the dogs ate it.

Weekend Fun

We finally felt good enough about Owen's health and got the okay from the doctors to leave the UNC area, so we booked it to the mountains for a quick trip with friends.

And I forgot my camera.

I know. I'm so awesome, you don't even know what to do.

So here are two cell phone pics to share........

Neither of which was taken by myself.

So basically,

thanks Joel for bringing your phone and texting me two pics.

Love these girls and their sweet smiles:

Love this dog and this man who keeps pretending to hate her while starting to like her maybe just a little bit.

Here's to hoping that Owen's stoma continues to look awesome so we can take more weekend sojourns. And also because, you know, we like it when he feels good.

Maybe on our next trip I'll remember my camera.

Maybe not.

You just never know with me.

I like to keep you guessing.

Run, Forrest, Run......

Saturday was our first (of what I hope to be annual) participation in the Triangle Autism Society walk. It was great.  I was so proud of my family. And my friends. Seriously. I have the best, most loyal friends in the world. We are so blessed.

And we wanted to thank everyone by having them over for a big carb loading dinner on Friday night before the race. But yeah.....that didn't happen. Because we suck. So instead of carb loading, we sugar loaded as a thanks. Todd and I actually worked together on a project and only fought a couple of hundred times over how things should go because we rock like that. And we're both stubborn as a donkey's rear end so projects together mean strife. Can I get an amen? No? You work beautifully with your spouse all the time? Well, ain't you something? Bless your little heart.

Anywho - healthy treats are overrated so our thanks were full of chocolate and sugar. Because everyone knows that after a good run, you really just want sugar and beer, not the bananas and bagels they set out at the tables......I mean, seriously. (However, it is not a good idea to forget that you're drinking a beer and accidentally get in the car with it after a half marathon like I may or may not have done once.... Right, Danelle?)

And just look at that number there. Would you just look at it?! Our goal was $1,000. 

Oh my word. You don't even know how happy we were with that number.

THANKS TO YOU!!!!!! 

And our Saturday started bright and early and I think this pic sums it all up:

The reason for the run.

He was fussy. And confused. And he didn't like the change in our routine. But he also sensed our excitement and knew it had to do with him so he was all, "okay, I'll smile and wave because you want me to but my eyes are going to show you how I really feel about all this......" lol.

This one needed coffee. Or he could have been perturbed with me at the moment. It's really hard to decipher so let's just go with the "he needed coffee" theory.....

And these two were ready to roll out.

Once we got there?

Life is always better with Leah Kate!

And here's our team. Our crew. Our rockin' awesome friends and family. Our peeps. The ones we choose to do life with. The ones who make life more enjoyable. The yin to our yang.

And here's an action shot that cracks me up. Look at the legs. We are like the exact same stride. Love it. Bring it, girl. I hope one day we can enjoy long runs together. This was more of a sprint to the nearest port-a-potty.....

So, to sum up, we did it.

We embraced and celebrated something that was hard to accept just six months ago.

And I'm not even gonna lie,
that felt pretty dang good.

"Lucy, you got some splainin' to do...."

A little over a year ago,

we I brought Lucy, also known as "Cray Cray" into our lives.

And even though I'm pretty sure Owen and I are still the only ones who truly love her in this family, I watched him this morning as he intermittently cried and then cuddled up with her, and I thought, well he's the reason we I did this.

And we I think it was worth it.

So Happy One Year, Mona Lucille.

Thank you for all your "drive by lickings" and for constantly jumping up on our guests. Thank you for eating our hot tub cover and pulling limbs out of our trees in the backyard. Privacy is overrated, right? Thank you for chewing our patio furniture and hogging Kaia's dog bed all the time so the geriatric dog has to lay on the floor. Thank you for CONSTANTLY barking at the dogs who live behind us EVERY TIME YOU SEE THEM. Thank you for the time you literally jumped up on the kitchen counter and ate the hamburgers I made for dinner. Dude. I get it. They had to taste better than dog food and you deserve the best. Thank you for some of the fun marital fights you provided and for teaching me and Todd that we react to your shenanigans very differently. They make me laugh during stressful periods and they make him (and most other normal people) want to shoot your face off or rip your heart out. I'm actually quite shocked you lived to see your one year anniversary in the Fischer Fam.

But seriously....

Thanks for being an awesome running partner and a loyal dog to the kids.

Here's to hoping you make it to through your second year in our home.
You may want to tone down your craziness a little bit. I heard talk of shotguns the other night..... There's only so much I can do to protect you. Help a girl out. (And please try not to lick the inside of Todd's mouth again. That may have been the straw that broke the camel's back. Just saying.....)

The Conversation that didn't happen.....

OWEN (preferably in August): Hey Mom?

ME: Yes?

OWEN: I'm thinking about being in and out of the hospital for the next couple of months.

ME: Oh. Okay? What's going to be wrong?

OWEN: The doctors aren't really going to know. Could be an allergy to the tube or an infection or bacteria or acid, etc. But no matter the cause, my g-tube is going to cause a LOT of problems.

ME: Okay. Well thanks for letting me know. I probably shouldn't try to go back to school right now.

OWEN:  Yeah, probably not. Good luck with that.

ME: Good luck to you too. Hope everything works out okay.

OWEN: Oh and Mom?

ME: S'up?

OWEN: I know I complicate things a lot of times, but damn I'm cute.

ME: True story, son. True story.

We're home.

Again.

With no promises of what's to come. 

For now, the tube stays.

That could change.

We have awesome friends.

We have awesome family.

And we have an awesome God who is going  to continue to give us strength, even when we get a little peeved at His plans. He's cool like that.

Occasionally I miss this.

Usually I'm too busy to notice, 

but occasionally an old picture will catch my eye.

Followed by a sigh.

And sometimes I miss those toddler days.

Not all the time.

But sometimes.

Awwwwwwwww.

Coming out of the Closet......

So I came out of the "autistic" closet on FB the other day.

Obviously I'm not super private since I blog about our family life and struggles, but I've always been hesitant to post about the joys and struggles of autism on facebook.

And I can't really say why, other than I feel like it's an invitation for the world to judge my family?

But I took the plunge and decided that raising money for a great cause was more important than my own facebook insecurities.

And wow. Just WOW.

We made a team for the Autism Society Race on October 12th.

And my kids think $1,000 is like the pinnacle. One thousand dollars can buy you anything you want according to them, including a trip to Hawaii. lol. And knowing we only had a month to meet that goal, we set our goal for $1000 and decided to go for it.

And I put it on FB and less than 24 hours later, we're over halfway there.

Just WOW!

God is good. He took my fears and insecurities and said, step off the ledge, trust me, and just watch what I can do through modern technology.

And He did.
And He's doing.

And we're so grateful.

And if you go to this page and look up the team, Owen's Pack, you can see our goals and successes. And if you want to join us in racing, donating, or praying, we are extremely grateful.

(I couldn't figure out how to link it but you should be able to copy and paste....)

http://www.kintera.org/faf/search/searchTeamPart.asp?ievent=1052904&lis=0&kntae1052904=95938A8D3A214D4AADD248E769AFEF8F&supId=0&team=5685234&cj=Y

And our life with autism and other health needs keeps on keeping on.

Owen did better transitioning to school this week and even seems to have made a few friends.

He also learned the song Boom Chicka Boom. He's very proud.

As for our battle with Bacteria and the tube? Well.......? Let's just say the infection is in one corner of the boxing ring and we're in the other with our bottle of Cipro. And we're waiting to see who makes the next move. The site doesn't look terrible but it doesn't look great either. We have another follow-up with Infectious Disease this week and we're cautiously watching what happens when we go off the cipro on Monday.

In other news,

the bigs are rocking out their school year.

Isaac comes home each day with stories of football and friends. I think maybe he's learning something too but I can't be sure based on the fact that all he wants to talk these days is sports. And my boy was a serious help last weekend while we were getting our new church building ready to launch.

Emma Grace (here with Noah) is working hard figuring out third grade tests and more homework and how to improve the much needed skill of eye-rolling as she advances on towards the pre-teen years.

As for me?
Holy cow.
College is a little bit harder with three kids.

I mean, who'd a thunk it, right?

One semester at a time. Well, more like one hour at a time......

As for Todd?

You guys.
There is some serious stuff happening under this roof. Feelings are changing.....

And don't tell him I told you this, but the other night he said he thought Lucy was cute. (This is a big step up from threatening to rip her face off.....) So one year later, he's finally softening a very teeny-tiny little bit to our crazy furry family member! I think I'm going to go buy them BFF necklaces tomorrow.

Little Lamb.

Oh. And holy crap, this came for me in the mail the other day! And I won't say who sent it because then you'll all be begging her to buy you one too, but I will say that I was shocked. I've never owned a Coach anything before and let's just say I might be a little bit obsessed with it. It's so pretty. And I know we shouldn't be all about "stuff" and I'm usually not a girly-girl, but man, sometimes stuff, like a surprise Coach bag from my sister, just makes life a little more fun.

Did I mention that it was Coach?
Don't you just love it?

We went to dinner tonight with my brother-in-law's family and yes, they all hugged the coach bag upon parting. Because they're cool like that.

And that's about it for the haps around these parts.

How about you?