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Those with contest butttons on their sites (grab the code under the button on the left bar of the blog) will get an extra entry if they’re sporting it on their blog before November 25th.

The rules and information about the contest are located on this page. You can also access the other contest previews from there.

If you’re not that page and you’ve already left a comment, you should be, so please contact Fae!

On this American holiday based on misunderstood 3000 year old roots in Ireland, (TV documentary states 3000 years, The History Channel article states 2000 years), it is a good time to revisit the West Memphis 3, imprisoned for horrific murders of 3 young boys, found guilty largely on religious fear and intolerance. I’ve written more in depth on their case, if you’re interested in reading it, the post is located here.

For those of you familiar with the case, I’m reposting an article from the NY Times, the article intact with active links here:

Happy Samhain. May everyone be free to celebrate as they desire, without fear of repercussions.

Here are just a few more items that are being offered for our “31 Days of Yule” contest…just a taste of what’s to come! We’ll be posting more over the the course of the month…don’t want to overwhelm you!

The rules and information about the contest are located on this page. You can also access the other contest previews from there.

You can get extra entries in contests all month by grabbing our button located here. Please leave a comment on that page so you get credit!

Enchanted Evening Herbal Bath Salt by Wiccan Window

Laughing Vixen Glass Pendant comes with chain)

Blue Dragon Pin by Fraidy Cat Creations

Home Blessing Spell Kit by Rosemary Grace

Raven & Triple Moon Pendant in Sterling

Ok, so Aidan needed his own post too. I didn’t mention it yesterday, but it was a huge day for my son. I was mostly in bed for the better part of a year (explains the large gap in blog posts), and the kids had to grow up pretty fast during that time…I could barely take care of them when they got home from school, and what I did I did with little or no emotion – there was none there to be had. Matt was wondering if he’d have a bedridden wife to take care of for the rest of his life. Luckily, it was a matter of getting medications right (I really need to blog about this,but it’s a post in and of itself, I’ll get there eventually).

Anyway, Aidan, who was lucky enough to inherit anxiety from me and ADD from his father, took a huge developmental step backward this summer. He’d never spent more than a few nights away from us, and at 12 often gets terrified at night (very visual chronic nighmares), and would sleep in bed with Matt and I every night if he had the choice. He’s seeing a psychologist who started off with Matt working on his computer IN Aidan’s room with the light ON, and we’re at the point where Matt is in the hall with Aidan’s bedroom light off but the hall light on. Baby steps.

So this summer was very tough on him. The children were sent out of the house for an entire month while I dealt with withdrawal from the last round of medications I was on, before we hit the jackpot with the ones I’m on now. Aidan internalizes everything, and I know he worries a lot, and feels the need to take care of me. His being away for a month was totally necessary, as I am the one who needs to take care of him, and I couldn’t do that this summer.

Since he’s been home and back in school, he’s not wanted to spend a night out of the house. The few times he’s tried, he’s developed stomach aches and has needed to be picked up and brought back home. Interestingly enough, his transition into middle school has been stellar (he was very anxious about that), but he hasn’t wanted to spend a night away, and is still having issues with anxiety about being alone at night.

The three day school trip to Lake Fairview that his class was going on this month was a concern for all of us. Two nights in a cabin in the woods, with a window by his head (a huge fear for him), and no lights save the dim moonlight coming through the windows. We doubled-up his time with his therapist, who works cognitively with him.We told him repeatedly that this was not something he *had* to do, and that he could stay home if he wanted and that would be perfectly ok. He refused our offers, with an audible gulp and rather big eyes. He was going.

We lit a candle and sent calming energy to him the first night with Gillian. Matt was shaking and had tears in his eyes on Monday night, he was so scared for him. This was just too big.

It had to be Aidan himself, who, through force of will, decided to put away his fears. He went and enjoyed every minute, save an hour or so around the time that one of the boys told him that the movie “Halloween” was filmed there (it wasn’t; it was filmed in Southern Pasadena, California). He had a ball.

Here’s what he wrote (last night about his trip;

This was an extremely exciting trip for me, and it was emotionally stressful and took a whole lot of preparation, Knowing me, I get really anxious quickly and easily, but I had no anxiety at all during this trip.

The first day, Dad and I drove over to the school. He got my bag in and left, and I got on the bus and drove to Fairview Lake, in Sussex County, NJ. When we got there, I unpacked and ate lunch with a couple of my friends. Our first activity was teambuilding, and we did really well getting all the challenges done. After that was a hike to the 3^rd highest point in NJ. I brought home a stick from the top. After dinner  (, we played tennis, and then had a guest speaker who brought in birds. We then had snack and went to bed.

I was worried about falling asleep the first day, because it was pitch black and people were making weird noises. I fell asleep much more easily than I thought I would.

The next day I woke up, got dressed, went to the mess hall for breakfast, and then we went out to the lake for limnology (study of water). In the pouring rain, we went out on an open ferry in 40 degree weather. While we were out there, I froze my butt off and measured the depth of the lake with a stone tied to the end of a rope with numbers on it. It was 14 feet deep. When we came in, I couldn’t feel my legs. I ran around a little and felt better.

After that we had eco-art, making art out of things in nature. First I made my name out of sticks, then I knocked that down and made a bed out of sticks and leaves. We then ate lunch (turkey and mashed potatoes) and headed out to boating. Luckily, it had stopped raining. My friends Luka, Enlin, John and myself shared a boat. I really had to pee, so they dropped me off at the shore and didn’t come back when I was done. I got really bored, so I climbed up onto the lifeguard chair and watched everyone.

Next was forest ecology. We found two salamanders and named them Slimy and Slimy (it was my friend Matt’s idea). It started raining again, so we couldn’t hang out outside. We sat in our cabin and played charades. We went over to the mess hall for dinner (baked ziti and garlic bread, didn’t eat the ziti because I have an aversion to pasta). We had a party with live music (cough cough – the teachers). They had make-your-own sundaes, and I hung out with my friends.  Then we played truth or dare [insert from Mom: it was innocent – in an all guy cabin…like “I dare you to sniff my sock” *whew*] and went to bed.

This morning, I woke up, got dressed, ate an amazing breakfast – pancakes, sausage, cold cereal, the whole shebang – and then we went to Survival and made stick forts on trees. After that we went to archery and I shot four bull’s-eyes! We loaded the busses and headed for home.

The last thing I told him last night as he fell asleep (in my bed), was how proud of all the growth he’d achieved this year, and how he’d shown himself that he was strong enough to overcome any obstacle put before him. He’s been standing tall and proud this year…and handling this trip the way he did can only add to his growing self-esteem. Things are definitely getting better for Aidan. He’s such an incredible young man.

I don’t usually post pictures of my family. I’m fairly easy to find, should you choose to find me, but I choose to be open about my life and share it on my blog. I feel protective of the kids, and feel like I’m crossing a line when I post  a picture of them. So I usually don’t.

But it’s Gillian’s 10th birthday today.  This is a picture from our trip to Florida earlier in the month.

Last night was interesting. Gillian wanted to be cradled like a baby in her Daddys’ arms with her eyes closed. She wanted to be carried everywhere. This was actually a drawn-out state for her in her life, because she was 35 pounds at 7 years old, very sickly, and we carried her everywhere (she was diagnosed with Celiac Disease, and she’s still tiny, but at least *on* the growth chart instead of being in the negative 5th percentile). It occurred to me that on some level she was intellectualizing the fact that she was turning 10, and there’s a right of passage involved in that. She’s moving to double digits. I think she was acting out her babyhood, as a way to remember it and leave it behind as a memory. I think that’s really neat.

Today she is a tween, and she was testing that role out, with an occasional “Oh-my-GAWD” here and there. The real kicker is that her grandmothers and great aunt joined us for dinner. When I asked Gillian where she wanted to go, I was expecting a steak house or Italian restaurant that served gluten-free food (she’s been gluten free since her diagnosis, which is why she’s healthy now). Gillian scrunched up her little face in thought, and then said “I want sushi” (she tried it for the first time this summer, took a few months to think about the experience, and has spent the last week begging for it. So sushi it was. So strange to watch my baby grow up.