Eyes, Blizzards, and Goopy Noses

For the past two winters that we have been back in the midwest, we have started winter off with a blizzard.  This year, Blizzard Aiden.  About a foot of snow and winds upwards of 40MPH.  The boys LOVE snow, and didn't even fuss too much about the wind and cold temps, which amazes me.  Despite their sensory issues, they overcome them because of the novelty of snow. 
Zach has caught a winter cold, and has the goopiest nose.  He insists on wiping it anywhere but a tissue, which is super disgusting.  We are still working on the tissue issue, hoping he will catch on.  If I am not readily available for him, he will wipe it anywhere.  I am happy he is finally starting to get the hang of blowing his nose, up until recently, he would always just suck it back in, instead of blowing it out of his nose.  In due time, I hope.  At least he's not a picker like Israel, man is that a hard habbit to break!  I need a good line to tell them, to scare them into not picking.  I told Israel that he is putting germs in there that will cause sores, but it has only happened a couple times, and he only half believes me.  Maybe a reward system will work better.
Israel's other issue is his eyes.  Just in the last month or so, he has been blinking hard, almost like when you get goop in your eyes.  I have asked him several times why he does it, and he says that it hurts to look at faces, or that sometimes when he is looking at something he feels like he can't look at it any longer, he has to look away.  This seems to be a relatively new sensory issue for him, I'm hoping it will be temporary, but I am reminded of a time when he was 4, he was turning his head and closing one eye when looking at things.  I brought him to an optometrist that I trust, and he said it is a common problem for kids that age, that his eyes weren't working together to form one image, so he was accomodating.  After a few short weeks, he stopped so I didn't think anything of it.  That was before he was diagnosed.
Israel also got a new special ed teacher, and she seems so warm and friendly!!!  Yay, victory!  What a blessing to have a warm person in that position.  Not that his other special ed teacher wasn't, she just seemed to be a little drained from dealing with him.  Anyway, looking forward to some positive things coming from the change.
The weekend's blizzard delayed school by 2 hours today, and both the boys enjoyed it immensely.  We spent the morning playing games, and they went off to school in great moods.  Here begins another week.  Only eight more days til Christmas vacation.  We are all looking forward to that!