William's and Zeke's Hobby!

It started with Zeke really.  Zeke started having a fascination with "stop animation" after we had watched a film about how the makers of Shaun the Sheep made and produced their movies.  Zeke and William both have autism.  So they both are routine oriented and like things just so.  But they both also see detail where other people might not notice it.  So "stop animation" is something they both love and do well.

About 2 years ago Zeke started spending every spare moment taking pictures with his little Fisher Price camera and making "stop animation" movies with it.  His movies always use his Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railway or his lego people.  When Tim noticed that this passion he had was not just a passing phase, he bought Zeke a small child's camera/movie camera.  Now Zeke makes movies and "stop animation" movies as well.  Tim helps Zeke put his pictures into a computer program to music and they play like a real little movie on a DVD.  Zeke has made many movies.  Lego Man 1, 2 and 3.  About a week ago, he took my hand and brought me out to a message in huge letters he had typed onto his computer screen.  It said...Hero's 2 coming in May.  It was his announcement for his next movie sequel to Hero's 1, he had made a few months ago.  Letting us all know and be excited, like you would see in a trailer of a movie about the next one coming out.  I was amazed.  As he can not read or spell hardly at all.  But he had found the words he wanted to use on other things where he knew what they said and used them.  Such a smart boy!   Zeke does not really know how to be gentle with things even when he is trying and also fidgets with things till he breaks them.  Needless to say he is on his third camera now.  But because this is such a good thing for him we keep replacing it.  And it is not  an expensive one.  Just the sturdiest one we could find. :)

A few months ago William got interested in "stop animation" as well.  He started to mess with stop animation in his spare time with his legos.  He has always been into legos. Actually, he has a very small room in our house that is just his special quiet space.  His lego room.

Messy and overwhelming, I know. No one is allowed in that room but his faithful dog!  See her at the bottom of the picture patiently watching him?  It is his space.  (He won't let me clean in there for fear I will vacuum up or sweep up a tiny lego. Or move or break something when I dust.   So he does the cleaning in there and his bedroom weekly. (He doesn't like me to clean his room either.  He doesn't want me moving things around or touching things) He likes things just so. We didn't buy all those legos for William.  Many of those legos are hand me downs from my eldest son Stephen, gifted to him when Stephen moved out.  Yes, and the accumulation of Williams life as well.  Anyways, "stop animation"  has now become his hobby as well.

I recently made Farmhouse Cheese Corn Bread.  I had William taking pictures so I could  put them on my farm blog to show people how I make it.  When we were finished and I pulled the corn bread out of the oven, I cut him a piece to sit and eat for helping me.  He went over to the kitchen table and in a few minutes came back with this movie for me.  He said it was for on my farm blog to put at the end of the recipe page.  I liked it so well I thought I would share it here.  Enjoy.

May God help us all to see the details in life and enjoy the gifts of those around us.

James 1:17  Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. 

 

Blessings, 

susan