Yes, it sucked but I feel like I came out on top

The exhaust has been fixed and the car drives silently once again, except for the squealing on the front end.. What I should say is the car no longer rumbles. ☺ They did a great job fixing the exhaust and even welded a new hook in place so if it breaks again it doesn't drag on the ground. That would have been really nice to have yesterday but it all worked out. The entire repair was only $50 and I was able to pull that off. Look, it sucks that the the repairs were needed in the first place. It sucks even more that someone broke into the car last night but rather than dwelling on the obvious negatives, I'm going to focus on something else instead. At the end…

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We had a break-in last night

I was getting ready to load the car up and take the exhaust to get repaired this morning when I notice that someone had broken into our car...again. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time it's happened and I doubt it will be the last. You'd think the obvious security cameras would make people think twice but apparently not. I'm pulling video this morning but it might not have picked anything up. Thankfully, there wasn't any significant damage but they absolutely trashed the car. I'm not sure how they got in because I had locked the doors yesterday afternoon and hadn't been back in the car until this morning. Not only did they trash the car but they left things in the car that weren't in there to start with. Whoever…

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Here’s how I’m dealing with our broken down car

With any luck, the exhaust on the car should be fized before lunchtime. That's of course, assuming everything goes off without a hitch. My Mom is taking the boys to school in the AM. I'll load the exhaust into the car and make my way to the repair shop, where I have an early morning appointment to drop it off. My Mom is going to pick me up at the shop and we're going to go walking. I've no idea when the car will be done but they made it sound like it wouldn't be too long and the repair should be relatively inexpensive. I'm hoping it remains that way and there aren't any surprises. I want to say a big thank you to my Mom for helping us navigate…

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I’m trying to remain positive

Today's been a challenge for me on a few levels. We finally were ready to remove Maggie's kennel from the house and that sucked. Noone wanted to remove it before today and we respected that because we thought it might help them work through things. It seems to have helped and that's a positive thing. Lizze, Gavin and myself went for a walk this afternoon and it was gorgeous out. We got to see all the newly hatched baby geese, the first painted turtle of the year and a bunch of freshly bloomed flowers. It was invigorating to witness Mother Nature at her best and it put all of us in a great mood. Shortly there after, I was scheduled to meet with the principal to work on some fundraising…

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My 5 biggest #Autism Parenting worries and how I’m addressing them

If being an Autism parent was a video game, the difficulty setting would the three or four notches above the highest setting. That's not meant to be a joke. Autism Parenting requires more from a human being than most human beings are capable of. My wife and I are no exceptions to this. Over the last seventeen years, we've had to constantly triage our life, shifting our priorities on a daily basis, in order to meet the needs of our kids. It's an exhausting way of life because there's always so much to worry about. I wanted to address some things that my wife and I worry about as Autism parents, as well as, how we're addressing them in a positive and productive manner. I'm focusing on things that I…

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Does this make me the monster I feel like I am?

I'm going to cut to the chase. Putting things bluntly, Gavin is driving me absolutely crazy and I'm not as patient with him as I should be or as much as he deserves. He's constantly asking me the same questions and sharing outload, every thought that pops into his head. It's exhausting, frustrating and overwhelming. I used to be so patient with him in this regard and would listen to every word that came out of his mouth. Over time, it's chipped away at me and as Gavin's overall cognitive ability suffers, the constant talking increases. Getting him to do one or two step tasks requires multiple attempts and a great deal of coaching. I've no question in my mind that he's doing the best he can. I also know…

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Emmett’s Martial Arts Tournament Results (Tons of Pictures AND Video)

It's been a long day, but I've finally recovered enough to write this post. I'm going to keep this brief and let the pictures/videos do the talking. ☺ Emmett had his martial arts tournament on Saturday morning and it was a pretty awesome experience. I had originally thought this was going to be something that wouldn't have any actual competition but I was wrong. There was no sparring or contact anything, but they did compete. Everything they did was scored by the judges and the highest score won. He competed in the Empty Hand Kata and the Weapon Kata. I'm super excited and incredibly proud to share that Emmett took first place in both competitions. He had the highest scores of anyone who competed today and there were a ton…

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I’m really pushing myself today

We leave for Emmett's martial arts thing in about an hour. I'm absolutely not feeling well and I just want to go back to bed. Obviously, that's not an option. I'm going to have to really push myself this morning. I know how important this is to Emmett and I will not be the reason he doesn't make it there. My hope is, after I get moving around a bit, I'll begin to feel better. I'm so excited for Emmett and I want today to be all about him.

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