A mom knows stuff & can sense what is going on in the next room but what is good is when your kids figure that out & wonder...how?  This morning at 6:30 I hear something that sounds slightly suspicious so I peak in my boys bedroom to see they have taken the cushions from a small section of couch & are jumping from couch to cushion to cushion (they were just warned the other day about doing this).  This time they were VERY quiet so as not to give themselves away...only mom knew anyway.  When I crept around the corner & quietly said "put the cushions back" I got a shocked look from Eli's face & he said in the sweetest voice "How did you know?"  He seemed pleased with the response "God makes mommies able to hear EVERYTHING they need to."  The cushions went back, the light went off, & they left the room without another word.  That was the easiest something has been solved in quite a while!

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My youngest, now 4, has a spread on our bedroom floor each night so that he will sleep on that instead of edging us out of our king size bed.  I didn't realize how much I had missed cuddling with him until last night (I have always gotten the cuddly end...my husband gets the kicking end :)   ).  When I had a nightmare I couldn't shake early this morning I heard Ty rustling on the floor & thought "if he would come up here I know we would both sleep better"...then guess who comes over to say can I get in your bed for a little while??  Soon as he snuggled up against me we were out!  Maybe I'm just thinking about how fast they are growing up since they each just had their birthdays but I hope my boys still like to sit & cuddle with thier mommy as they get older :)  There is nothing like it! 

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Below is a list of some of my favorite eating spots for lunch in Moore County. They are in no particular order.

Please feel free to add to the list.

 

My Favorite Lunch Spots

Squire's Pub. I hate fast food. I refuse to eat it, unless there is absolutely no other alternative. When I'm in a hurry, I call ahead to Squire's Pub and ask for the loaded baked potato with steak and mushrooms. With tip, it's about $8, and I get a great meal faster than a trip around the Mickey D's drive through.

Panera Bread. They made it on my breakfast list, too. I like to get the half sandwich and cup of soup, especially the potato or french onion. The service is excellent, the food is good and fast. They also have a great grilled cheese sandwich for kids.

Corfu's. You've got to try their pan-seared grouper with lemon caper cream sauce. My mouth waters just typing the description. If the weather is nice, I like to sit outside and imagine I'm in some little Mediterranean seaside village. The funeral home across the street brings me back to reality, but the food is still awesome. I usually order water and come out for less than $10 with tip.

Caterino's. I am a Southerner. A good ol' boy redneck from South Carolina. I honestly did not know that people drank unsweet tea until I was in college. The very idea...Imagine the culture shock I received when I met real live Yankee restaurant owners here in Moore County. Nick Caterino is one of those guys. He is a little brazen, but underneath that tough exterior is one mighty fine baker and sandwich maker. His bread is baked fresh daily and the portions would choke a horse. Even I can't finish the meal. Sometimes. I just let them build me a sandwich. They're all good. The Philly is amazing. The Meatball sub comes in bread that has this impossibly thin layer of crunchy goodness that gives way to a chewy center. (He also makes some pretty good homemade wine.)

Eastwood Diner. Remember that part about being Southern? This is where I go to get back to my roots. Eastwood Diner is one of the few places in Moore County that I order tea. And I don't have to tell them sweet, either. Their buffet will make your tongue slap your forehead, trying to lick your lips. Fried chicken, collards, sweet potatoes, banana pudding (pronounced nanner puddin'). This is absolute paradise for only $8.

When Dan isn't stuffing his face, he sells real estate in the Moore County area with Fore Properties.

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Want to raise well-behaved children? Teach them a virtually fail-safe formula for success in school? Family psychologist, author and popular parenting speaker John K. Rosemond is coming to the Sandhills area Jan. 25 and 26 to present lectures on those topics and more. "Assuming the Power of Parenthood" is scheduled for 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 25; "Bringing Out the Best in Your Child" is the topic at 10 a.m., Saturday, Jan. 26. Sandhills MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) is sponsoring his appearances.

Rosemond, a nationally syndicated columnist in more than 175 newspapers, advocates a return to parent-centered families where children are raised to become responsible adults. He teaches logical, proven approaches for the most significant challenges parents face today.
 
Straightforward guidance covers issues such as self-esteem and discipline to television and chores.
Following each presentation, Rosemond will sign books, including his latest, Parenting by The Book, published in fall 2007. The author of over 10 best-selling books on parenting and family issues, he is writing several more, including "one that will liberate parents from the psychobabble surrounding toilet training, babble that has transformed something simple and straightforward into something unnecessarily stressful and complicated." Other books include A Family of Value, Because I Said So! and The NEW Six-Point Plan for Raising Happy, Healthy Children.

The lecture series will be held at Pinecrest High School Auditorium, Southern Pines, NC. Rosemond, one of America's most in-demand public speakers, is the busiest by far in the parenting field. In a typical year, he gives more than 200 presentations to parent, teacher and helping-professional groups nationwide. His talks and workshops, which are filled with humor, factual information and practical advice, receive consistently superlative ratings.  Additionally, Moore County teachers will receive Continuing Education Units for attending.

In addition, Rosemond directs the Center for Affirmative Parenting, in Gastonia, NC, which provides "skillshops" and other educational presentations for parents and professions who work with children and families. The center also provides print and audio materials on parenting and child development.
"All that aside," Rosemond says, with a smile, "my real qualifications are that I have been married to the same wonderful woman, Willie, for 37 years-a rich marriage that has produced two children and seven well-behaved grandchildren."

On Friday, Jan. 25, Rosemond will speak on "Assuming the Power of Parenthood," his centerpiece presentation. After illustrating the differences between traditional and modern parenting styles and discussing the failures of the latter, Rosemond outlines an equally clear solution: Parents need but conform their behavior to each of the "Three Seasons of Child Rearing" as they naturally and logically unfold over the term of a child's dependency. Attendees regularly use such terms as "uplifting," "liberating" and "empowering" to describe this powerful yet immensely entertaining presentation.

Saturday, Jan. 26, he will speak about "Bringing Out the Best in Your Child." Rosemond advocates a return to a style of parenting which fosters the "Three R's: Respect for legitimate adult authority, a willingness to accept Responsibility and a Resourceful attitude toward challenge."

In that presentation, Rosemond shares the nuts and bolts of a traditional child-rearing formula with today's parents, empowering them to go home and empower their children for life-long achievement.
Advance tickets are $15 and are available online at the MOPS Web site www.sandhillsmops.com and at the Moore County Chamber of Commerce. Group sales are available. Tickets at the door will be $18.

Sponsors assisting MOPS in bringing Rosemond to the Sandhills include Lil Branch's Children's Shop, Drug-Free Moore County, Bill Smith Ford, First Health, Harris Teeter, SandhillsKids.com and Sandhills Sports Center.

ABOUT MOPS - Sandhills MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers), a charter of MOPS International, exists to meet the needs of every mom in the North Carolina Sandhills area - moms from all different lifestyles who all share a similar desire to be the very best moms they can be!  MOPS' primary tools for encouragement are regular local meetings where moms of all ages and from all backgrounds gather to build friendships, share practical parenting strategies, and meet with mentors.
Sandhills MOPS is one of 4,000 MOPS groups that meet every month throughout the U.S. and in 29 other countries. More than 110,000 women are currently registered in MOPS groups.  For more information, please visit www.SandhillsMOPS.com or www.MOPS.org.

 

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First I learn that the Grinch from Chef Warren's Downtown tree has been stolen.  I am THRILLED that the person was caught.  Then I learn that someone grabbed the lights on the Ice Cream Parlor's downtown tree and broke a bunch of the light strands.  Today I arrive at work to learn that someone completely destroyed the tree that Scribner Associates Sponsored and my son's 2nd grade class decorated.  The kids worked so hard and were so proud of their tree.  The town employees found the tree lying on its side.  It was so mangled that they couldn't put it back up.  They brought it to us so we could salvage what we could.  It was very sad and depressing to see our beautiful tree lying on its side with the top 1/3 of it completely gone.  Yes, gone.  Most of the decorations had fallen off and broken but the town employees saved what they could.  Three strands of lights, 180 bulbs, were gone.   My mother-in-law said she hopes that someone who needed lights for their house because they couldn't afford them took them.  I guess I'm not in a very charitable mood because I doubt it.  I think whoever did it was just trying to be mean and spiteful.  An unhappy person who wants to make everyone else unhappy right along with them.

Right now I can't imagine wasting my time and money to decorate a tree next year knowing that people just randomly walk down the street and destroy what we have done.  Down town Southern Pines looked so beautiful this year.  It was definitely the best year since I have been here.  Why do people want to ruin that?

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It's official. My husband will be heading home in a few weeks. And although I don't actually have a date and probably won't find out when he's coming until the plane takes off (I once had 4 hours notice - not cool!), I have confirmed through a reliable source that the wheels are in motion for his safe passage home.

So, what does that mean for me? Well, if you're not a military spouse you probably think I'm on cloud nine swooning about the house dreaming of seeing the love of my life. While that is a wonderful thought, it's definitely not reality. Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that he is finally coming home but I am also stressed out about the upcoming reunion.

His impending return means that my "To Do" list just got enormously long. You see, military spouses work incredibly hard to create the illusion of having everything under control while their husbands are away. I'm not saying we don't have it all together but we do run things a little bit differently when our men are across the ocean.

If fact, I think I run a pretty tight ship when he's gone. The bills get paid, the kids are fed and the house is still standing when he returns. In my book that is success. Granted we eat a lot more Mac-n-cheese when he's gone and the kids spend more time sleeping in my bed then their own, but who says that's a bad thing? Plus, I have complete and utter control of the most prized possession in the house - the remote control. Although, this may sound like the good life it is certainly better with him home. So, in the next two weeks I will graciously prepare to hand over the remote and welcome him home.

First and foremost on the list is shaving my legs. While I might appreciate the break from razors, it certainly won't be appreciated by him. Then I need to clean up the many little "gifts" the dog left in the backyard and fill in the holes from digging paws. Oh, and let's not forget the garage. God help me if he comes home and finds "his" garage in disarray. Especially since he "organized" it before he left. And did I mention the car? I still need to get the oil changed and the carpets cleaned before he sees what Libby did in the back seat!
 
Plus, he has no idea that I bought a new headboard for the bed and a matching quilt (It's from Pottery Barn!). Somehow I forgot to mention that. It's probably better if I explain that purchase when he gets home. So I definitely need to make sure the sheets are clean....and of course the check book needs to be balanced, the house dust busted, the towels washed, the frig stocked with his favorite food and a good twelve pack of beer. Oh, I better check his laundry basket to see if he left any dirty clothes when he left. That would be bad if they were still there when he returned. And the list goes on....

At this point you're wondering why anyone would create this much anxiety about having everything "perfect" and if my husband is some kind of control freak. Shouldn't he just be happy to see me? Well, as far as my husband is concerned he has only two requirements when he gets home - to see us and a goodnight's sleep. A cold beer is considered an added bonus. As far as the rest of it, that's all me. It's my gift to my husband. I want to make sure when he walk's through the door after spending 48 hours traveling home from some God forsaken location that everything is in order. Not to prove that I can do it alone but to assure him that he doesn't have to worry about us when he's gone. It's sort of my insurance policy for his safe return. My theory is simple, if he doesn't have to stress about his family falling apart while he is gone then he can focus all of his attention on his job and come home in one piece.

And so far, it's worked. Which means if you see me in the next few weeks talking to myself, neurotically checking my "To Do" list or just looking a little more frazzled than usually, remember it's all part of my re-deployment ritual. Feel free to offer me an adult beverage, I'll probably need one!

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Apparently the most exciting thing to happen to Southern Pines during the holidays was the disappearance of the Broad Street Grinch and I missed it! Luckily, a loyal SandhillsKids member forwarded the clip of our very own Chef Warren being interviewed by WRAL! If you haven't seen the video of the Grinch-nappers, it's worth a peak. ENJOY!

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/offbeat/2007/12/25/owens.nc.grinch.stolen.wral?iref=videosearch

 

 

I have usually been able to joke about some of the things that a child with Autism gets himself into. Read some of my other blogs for more stories. I say that humor is what gets us through each situation. However this morning humor does not apply.

We woke up at 6am to prepare for our trip to my mother's house. As I finished my last cup of coffee, I walked into the kitchen to put my mug in the sink I noticed an odd smell. "Brian, I smell something burning." "Me to it smells like plastic" he said. We checked all over the kitchen and did not find anything. "SCOTT!"

We have been using our fireplace to help cut back on our heating bill. It has by at least half. It heats the house up very nicely, and I love the smell of the fire and hearing the crackling of the wood burning. We roast marshmallows and sometimes even enjoy a hotdog every now and then. Love it!

The fireplace heats every room except for Scott's. Because of his autism, we have to keep his door locked during the night. Scott wakes up much earlier than we do (between 4 and 5 am), so to keep him safe we keep his door locked from the outside. If we did not he would wander all over the house and even attempt to get outside. Keeping his door locked is imperative! Since the heat from the fireplace is not able to reach his room, we installed a small space heater. I say installed because that is what I had to do. I could not just put it in his room and tell him "do not touch." I wish! To keep Scott from messing with it required lots of bolts and screws, as well as a crate covering it to keep him from playing with it. That was a month ago. It has been doing a great job keeping his room toasty.

So as I ran down the hall to open his door, the smell was more intense. I opened Scott's door and yelled for Brian. The smoke was thick and I could barely see Scott on the floor in front of the space heater. Scott looks up at me and says "I fire." After the few seconds it took for the smoke to fill the hallway and clear up his room, I could see that indeed the space heater had caught on fire. The unit was melted and scorched and burn marks now scar his hardwood floor.

Indeed "Our Christmas Miracle"- Scott is fine, not a burn mark on him. The only damage done was to his floor and the headaches we all had from the smell.

I wish I could say that it was due to a faulty unit. But I am comfortable saying that Scott was the cause. I believe that when he woke up at 5am he got bored. He started to play with the space heater and then saw the small vents. Vents spaced enough to fit something in. This is what I believed caused the fire.

Unfortunately I know that this will not be last of our Autism Adventures. As Scott keeps getting older and stronger, he is also growing smarter and quicker. He is thinking about things that I hope I will be able to think of and head him off on.

So keep checking Sandhills Kids for more about our Autism Adventures.

-Christine

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 "Is that a Christmas card?" asked my five year old with great anticipation as it is her job to set out for display all such incoming holiday greetings. Amusingly enough, the card in question was not from family or friend, but was instead an advertisement from a global lingerie distributor - one with very few secrets from what I can tell. Darling hubby had thoughtfully placed the card in question in a position of prominence on our kitchen counter so I wouldn't inadvertently overlook the enclosed coupon. Enough said.

 

Trying to maintain some measure of dignity, I informed my impressionable daughter that no, this was not a card that needed to be displayed in our living room. But, as usual, my undernourished proper side was overwhelmed by my all-too-healthy wicked side and I couldn't resist asking if she thought we should send out a similar card.

"Oh no, Mommy, you can't do that! She's showing her belly button," protested my wise little angel.

Ah, the blessing of celebrating another December in the company of such innocence. There is simply no substitute for kids when sharing the joys of tree-trimming, present wrapping, or better yet unwrapping, and all the other little pieces and parts that makes each Christmas season so special.

I should come clean and admit that as a single adult I would hang a tree-shaped piece of green construction paper and call it good. What a Grinch! Of course, I blamed my meddlesome housecats as my handy excuse. They spent plenty of quality playtime suspended from the curtains, I saw no need to add another climbing structure to the room: especially one with tinsel, lights and other alluring feline delicacies.

One year my decorating resolve weakened and I was rewarded for my effort with months of vacuuming pine needles out of the shag rug and one whopper of a vet bill. Yup, you guessed it. The world's stupidest cat - truly no exaggeration - stripped the tree of a silken thread-wrapped ball, enjoyed her own private holiday feast, and was promptly rushed to the hospital for major abdominal surgery.

Alas, now that I have more kids than cats in my house, I was forced to embrace all manner of yuletide cheer and can honestly say that I am no longer the Scrooge of my youth.

Just recently, I was utterly charmed when my son announced that he had "this whole Santa Claus thing all figured out." In perfectly reasonable seven-year old logic he opined that Santa knew if you'd been bad or good because God passed along that information. He came to this conclusion, he said, by reciting for me the opening prayer read each week at our church, which states "Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid..."

Surely no sticks and coal would ever be placed in the stocking of a child so precious. Nope, this year it's more like a heap of Legos for him and oodles of glitter pens and fancy paper for my daughter.

Now if I could just find that phone number for my, um, friend, Victoria: I could finish my shopping!

Laura Douglass writes for The Seven Lakes Times where this column originally appeared.

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I eat a lot. It's something I'm really good at. The best part about it is the fact that I have a very high metabolism, so it doesn't show. Below is a list of some of my favorite eating spots in Moore County. They are in no particular order.

Please feel free to add to the list.

Breakfast

• Panera Bread. When I tell people I'm at the office, they know I mean Panera. I don't buy coffee there; I rent space. Free wireless, nice staff and lots of potential clients walking around. Oh yeah, they also have great lattes and those cinammon crunch bagels with honey-walnut cream cheese.
• May St Market. Morris Pennington, the owner, will sit down and chat when he has a free second. I take my girls there on some Tuesdays before school as a reward for getting up and getting ready in time. I can eat a great breakfast, go over homework and still make it to school on time.
• Mac's Broad St. My other hangout with the girls. I can't go in without seeing 10 people I know. I feel like a breakfast potentate.
• Sizzlin' Steak or Egg. This is what Mac's used to be. The classic diner. Their link sausage is the bomb, and their grits is the real Southern stuff. No, you don't put syrup on it...

Lunch and Dinner in subsequent blogs.

When Dan Askins is not stuffing his face, he sells real estate in the Moore County area.

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