Sara's Take 5

The countdown is on!!

2008-09-15T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well Thursday starts another exciting year of DEER HUNTING!! Deer hunting is something that is huge in our family. My husband and I both hunt as do our kids. Boo hunts strictly with a bow, which is just perfect. His Uncle will be sitting with him next weekend for the youth hunt and My husband will be with Ian, who gun hunts. I really hope that they are successful hunters this year. As for John and I ....it's game on!! Thursday is opener of early season and John has to work....tee hee.. I don't!! So today means washing my clothes in baking soda and scent remover, only to spray them down with a moldy leave spray and getting all the finishing touches ready for yet another very competitive season! I am armed with a brand new 20 gauge this year with a new scope for fire arm season and also a brand new bow for Bow season.......WOOHOO!!
So my dear husband, When I bring home Bullwinkle, don't cry, your still the man!!
Anyone who may read this, if you are a deer hunter, grab your doe pee and your gear, and we will see you in the woods! The early opener is only for Does but it is never to early to spot where Bullwinkle is hanging out!! Be ready for him on the 1st of October with your bow! As for me, I can't wait until next year when Sissy is old enough to give it a go!!!She has passed hunters safety and is just waiting for the Birthday. I am getting out numbered in deer camp! There is a saying,"Go hunting with your kids and you won't have to go hunting FOR your kids!"

September? Already??

2008-09-08T08:31:00.000-07:00

Our summer has just seemed to disappear in an instant and I am sitting here wondering how we have made it to September already!! Our summer was definitely a busy one, and now the kids are again in school and things are really slowing down, for a minute anyway! My little one is in Early Primary this year which is our schools fancy term for kindergarten and so that leaves me 2 and 1/2 days a week.......WOW!! Friday was her first day of school and that was just a half of a day and that was very nice. Today is her full day, and boy is it quiet in here. Almost too quiet.

Bean is a big 2nd grader this year and is loving her new teachers. She is really excited to be with all of her friends. Sissy is a 6th grader in a brand new building to her at the middle school and despite the fact she was sure she would get lost, shoved in a locker, Or worse she had a great first day of school and came home smiling!!

Boo was very nervous about school this year, and the night before tried convincing me that he should just stay a 7th grader and I assured him that would not be a great option for him he reluctantly went, and came home with smiles. He really missed his aide and teachers and was happy to see them all. SO FAR SO GOOD!!!! We have a few minor kinks to work out and I am still working on making his schedule a little more user friendly but for now he is content and I am just really thankful that there were no major bumps in the road. Sissy has been a great help to him already as she now rides his bus and helps him with his locker and waits with him before and after school. I am so proud of her, she is a great big sister to him. I sleep better knowing she is there for him and I don't worry as much about the teasing and such when she is there with him. She is one smart and tough kid that knows right from wrong and won't tolerate her brother being harassed at school.. YEAH SISSY!

So now I guess it is time to discover myself and do things that I like to do with no kids here. If anyone knows what that is please let me know. My whole existence has been kids for 14 years and I am not sure what to do when they are not here!!!!

I have been taking care of some kittens for the last 4 weeks. My dad found theses little guys in his pasture, cold with no mom around and decided I needed to save them.

They were so little and still had their umbilical cords, now they are 4 weeks old and MONSTERS! They eat like little pigs from the bottles and are so stubborn they will not eat any other food. So if anyone wants a kitty...tee hee!

Another Bike???

2008-08-11T06:22:00.000-07:00

As you may recall from a previous post around Easter, My little bitty one a brand new bike. Bean was really bummin, she desperately wanted a new bike even though hers was only a year old. Well she went to the Kent county youth fair last week with her best friend and registered to win a new bike following a completed scavenger hunt. Well,

Saturday we got the call that we needed to be in Lowell to pick up her brand new ladybug bike!!!As you can see she was pretty excited!!!
So now we are re thinking our policy on gambling and considering a family vacation to a casino.

Discharged

2008-08-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

We received some great information today. My Brothers White Blood cell numbers are now normal and he was discharged this morning after 12 lONG days in the hospital. He will have to take it easy, as there is a high incidence of relapse and have to go back and have blood drawn to continue monitoring the blood counts. He will also require physical therapy as he has lost some of the use of his hand/arm, but he is well and that is what we are focusing on. It has been such an emotional couple of weeks. You go from everything is well and good to the desperate situations like losing someone that you love. That happened twice to my family in less than a week.
I have really learned a lot the last couple of weeks. Life is so uncertain that you just never know when you are going to receive THAT phone call.
I am so blessed. I have an amazing husband that I am so in love with and the most wonderful kids that never were upset or frustrated when Mom was at the hospital so much lately. They really tried to pick up the slack around here and did a wonderful job at it.
My brother is on his way to recovering and that in of itself is such a blessing. Being only 1 year and 2 weeks apart we have always been incredibly close.
Most of all I have learned that family is the most important thing in my life and I will not let anything get in the way of that. No matter who or what tries to come in between,your family will always be there for you, I have to believe that.
There is an old saying keep your friends and family close and your enemies even closer, I really understand that now. There is a person in our midst that really needs a lot of prayers right now. That has tried really hard to drive a wedge between our family. I pray that she never has to go through what she has put the family through in the last couple of weeks and that she understands that being a miserable person is not healthy. Pray for her to come to peace with whatever demons she is battling and find a way to overcome them. Pray for her to begin being truthful to herself and others around her that do care. The last two weeks have shown me that you can not always depend of tomorrow being there to make things right, you must start today.

Still hanging in there...

2008-07-30T06:57:00.000-07:00

Well we are all still alive and thankfully well. It has been a really long couple of weeks for our family.A really close friend of ours was injured real badly at his elderly neighbors cleaning gutters and now is healing from a broken neck, back, and shattered heel. A couple of days later, I received a phone call telling me to get to the hospital that my husband was injured badly. He was hurt at work and had a part of a crane truck come crashing down on him and shot a bolt through his right arm. He is still healing up from that and although there was a lot of muscle damage he is expected to be okay. My Brother went into the hospital the following Wednesday (john was hurt Friday) and is still in there now. He had the smallest little scratch on his hand that allowed a terrible bacteria to overtake his body. We are hoping now that the doctors have identified the correct course of action with his antibiotics and the bacteria will not again become resistant to them. He is in an unbearable amount of pain with the swelling beginning to subside some. Initially we were under the impression that his antibiotics were working only to be told on Sunday they were already being resisted. There is a high incidence of relapse so we are praying hard and spending as much time with him as possible. Please bear with us as I have not been on the computer at all as most of my last two weeks have involved hospitals. We have witnessed many miracles the last couple of weeks and I am sure that my brother will be okay.

A few fun pictures

2008-07-10T05:51:00.000-07:00

This is what my little bitty bought with her birthday money....

She is so grown up!! It is so hard to believe she is growing up so fast.

She really wanted to swim in the pool and none of her brothers and sisters would swim with her....daddy would. She was so excited!!

He can't say no to those blue eyes and sweet little grin.

Meanwhile, knowing that Daddy was with little sister and Mom was taking pictures, the rest of the clan found a little trouble to get into.....

Apparently they want to be tattoo artist...nice real nice....

All the hopes and dreams and wishes you think of for your children this in not a profession I saw coming.

Now it is bath time. Until next time.......

It's your birthday baby!

2008-06-27T04:43:00.000-07:00

To my littlest princess,

It is so hard to believe that your birthday is here again!

6 years ago I was given the most amazing little miracle. You are such a beautiful, funny,sometimes naughty, but always perfect little girl and I am so proud to be your mom! You grow more and more everyday but you will always be my baby.You bring an unmeasurable amount of joy every day to our home. Happy birthday sweetheart, I LOVE YOU!!!

(p.s. You must get that look from your dad!!!)

Our vacation

2008-06-26T04:45:00.000-07:00

Well we are back from another vacation to our most favorite place for some rest, relaxation, and some fishing. It seems it took forever to get here and in the blink of an eye it was over. We had a really great time and the kids were really sad we had to leave.

Brutus had a great time as well, but really missed not being able to take a bath!

Due to all the storms that we have recently had the water level was pretty high and slowed the fishing down but we still caught a few...some were big....

and some were small.....
and some were just perfect
All in all a wonderful time
with lot's of smiles
And a few giggles
And a little bit of poison ivy...
couldn't get us down!!!

A few pictures of life in general

2008-06-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we took our kids to a local pond to do some fishin! It was a lot of fun, a beautiful day, Lot's of sunshine. The scenery was awesome including this beautiful swan..

I was simply in awe of the beauty of such an amazing animal.....until he decided to assault me. I was fishing away....proud of the fact I had time to do some fishing now that the kids are getting big enough they can handle their own poles by themselves, when the swan decided to ask us to leave. He came barreling at me as fast as he could honking and fluffing his feathers. I yelled to my husband for help who was laughing so hard he almost fell in the drink. So I dropped my brand new pole and ran like a little girl. Nice, the kids were proud. I don't like swans. They are scary and I now need therapy! He must have been protecting a nest or something. So I went home and snuggled Brutus. He might sink in his puppy teeth once in a while but he is not scary at all a little hairy, but no need for therapy bills!

So here is a couple of pictures....happy thoughts...happy thoughts...

This is one of my tulips that I really adored. Not sure what kind it is but the edges were really cool.

This is a picture of my dad( http://bertrjones.com/) and my oldest daughter. He wrote a song for a little girl in our local area that is in need of a liver transplant when he performed a benefit for her. Our elementary school has started penny drive and arranged a bake sale that has taken in quite a sum of money for the girl and her family so, my daughter thought it would be cool to sing her song at the end of the year talent show. She had no idea that her grandpa was going to surprise her and show up to sing it with her. AWESOME!!! She was so surprised!!

The coolest grandpa on the planet, for sure.

So as were are counting down the last 2 days of school, keep your eyes peeled for swans on attack and enjoy the outdoors! Wishing you all a great day!

Five favorite things about Meme

2008-05-26T07:39:00.000-07:00

I was recently tagged by Julie Lorenzen at http://www.autism-blog.net/ and asked to post my favorites...so with all the recent stressful school related events it sounds nice to list some of my favorites. Thanks Julie!

Five things found in my bag:

1. Chap stick.....always a couple of different brands..never leave home with out it!

2. Pictures of my kids.

3. Band aids....my kids are accident prone to say the least.

4. Motrin...you just never know

5.nail trimmers

Five Favorite things in my bedroom

1. The collage frame of all of my babies as sweet little babies

2. The hand prints my kids all made for mothers day......priceless

3. A picture of my parents on their wedding day

4. my bed, it is the only place in my house where I can relax and have some quiet time

5. my dresser, It is really big and has a great big beautiful mirror behind it. Very pretty

Five things I am currently into

1. Being an advocate for my son

2. Trying to share our story and journey with autism in hopes of helping someone else

3. Trying to enjoy the Michigan weather and get my yard in shape.....the Michigan weather part is tricky though.

4. Planting my garden. I can't wait for all the fresh veggies!

5. I love to watch Lost and my name is Earl. Definitely my fav's right now

Five things I have always wanted to do:

1. Go on a second honeymoon.

2. Spend a weekend with my sister. She is my best friend and I miss her a lot sometimes.

3. See real mountains in person. I have seen them on t.v. of course but would love to see them up close and personal.

4. learn how to water ski.....kind of dangerous for my clumsy self....but would like to try!

5. take a nap, I have needed one of these since my kids were born!! tee-hee running out of ideas!

People I would like to tag:

Well I am very new to the blogging thing and have a very small readership okay well maybe two people so...............

my dear sister destini....tag....your it!

http://www.glimpseofdestini.blogspot.com/

Know your rights......

2008-05-20T06:50:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog I was unsure what it was going to be about. I wanted to share my story with other families that may be going through what we are with our son and possibly another family could use some of our experiences to save them some hassle or heartache that we have experienced. The last couple of weeks have been really tough at school. We have been trying to develop our IEP for our son that sets his goals and education plan for the following year...his 8th grade year at our public middle school. Unfortunately for us, we were not informed of all the changes taking place next year concerning his classroom. My son has been in a categorical room since 1st grade and it has definitely been a great opportunity for him. Without any idea what so ever what was we were in store for next year I went to the IEP and was just dumbfounded. Not one phone call or letter to explain that they have eliminated his program and expected us to just follow along and not give it a second thought. I know some children do very well in general education classrooms and some do not. My son does not. He does very well in his categorical room and is working at his own level and pace with support of the teacher, para pro and his part time aide. Every year he is showing progress and is improving...definitely capable of learning still. I was very frustrated to say the least that with no extra support he would be expected to participate in so much more. My son was asked to come to the meeting as he is 13 now and they encourage him to participate in his IEP and goals. After hearing 10+ people quickly go through all of the testing and information and picking up on significant changes to be taking place, he lost it. He went into full blown fit throwing and hitting himself in the head and we had to take him outside to calm down. These are behaviors we have not seen in quite some time. PLEASE if you get anything at all out of my blog.....please know your rights as a parent of a special education student. You have the right to be informed prior to a change in placement. You have a right to leave a meeting for an IEP and not sign it. If you do sign it you have a right to call another one at ANY TIME, and revoke the previous one. Please be the one that stands up for your child because it is your obligation. I am including a sample of the letter I sent to the entire staff at his meeting, the superintendent of our school and the ISD superintendent of special education. Be heard and be the advocate. I have removed names and information that needs to be kept private for obvious reasons. Please remember if you need to contact your school and you write a letter, be respectful, state your concerns, be clear and use examples and do not attack. Faculty will not want to talk with someone they know is going to argue with them. I hand delivered most of the letters and emailed the ones that I could not hand deliver. Then I went home and waited for the phone to ring. It rang...off the hook. We are now working on another IEP that is much more realistic, and I believe that sometimes you have to shake the trees to be the voice that your child needs.

May XX, 2008

To all of the many people that work with my son, XXX XXX,
First of all I would like to thank those of you that attended XXX’s IEP meeting on Friday. I appreciate all the time you took with testing and observations and preparing for the meeting. I understand that it is a very time taking task that I do not take for granted.
Unfortunately, there are some things that I feel need to be addressed. I feel that I was ill prepared for this meeting as I was not informed until sitting in it, that so many things have been changed. That is the first I had heard of the categorical room not being in place for the students, like mine that truly benefit.I feel I should have been notified prior to this meeting as everyone there had the information but myself. I heard, as did others, the concerns that the general education teachers expressed regarding their students and my student. After hearing Mrs. XXX’s concerns on more or less short changing her students to make accommodations for XXX and the fact that she did not feel she could justly give him the necessary equipment to be included in the class that he will be in, and all the other major changes for his school year, I felt as if I did not have much choice as whether or not to sign his IEP. I don’t understand how such a critical component could be removed from a school that teaches special education students. History has shown us that XXX does not succeed well in a general education class room and frequently had to be removed from the class due to anxiety and disturbing behaviors, and that the curriculum was just too much for him even with accommodations. I was told by a meeting member more or less to not worry , after this upcoming year he then will be in the high school where he can again attend a categorical classroom and the teacher of that classroom is remarkable. So, if we all are in agreement, which we have been since he was in first grade, that the categorical room is the most beneficial place forXXX, then why is he being denied that opportunity now? I feel that his education has been compromised already attending school at XX Middle School when we had to remove him from his social studies class because he could not handle the classroom full of children and spent so much time with the social worker to excuse him from class. I greatly appreciate the time the social worker has taken with XXX , but the problem is he did not have a structured social studies program that met his needs. And again last week, when there was an incident at school involving some other general education students that were spitting in his face and trying to talk him in to being suspended. Did the other students suffer any consequence? I don’t know, because I was never contacted or followed up with from the assistant principal regarding the matter after my husband and I left the office. We were told ,however, that she would look into it and was not surprised with the boys XXX identified to her. But in the end, he was removed from a class that every child should be able to attend, without being harassed and humiliated. He has lost his right to attend gym class and participate with other students and is retaking an art class he has already taken. So what next year, when he is struggling next year shall we just pull him from all of these classes and do what with him? Send him to the social worker?
The goals set forth in his IEP are completely out of line and I am quite disturbed that they were even presented to me at all. Mrs.XXX XXX showed us her testing of XXX and where he fell into the categories of intelligence and had it all broke down, so we now have a very clear and up to date idea of where he is in his comprehension and processing levels. We know his reading level now and she made a point of saying that him doing his touch point math impressed her. That is so impressive to me as well, He is finally getting some of what we have been working on and is not incapable of learning something new, so we set goals for him to work on algebraic equations and geometry and fractions. Please let us not forget decimals. That is ridiculous knowing he is working at a second grade level and will no matter how much support he receives and no matter what accommodations are made, he will not meet his goals next year and I believe it is ridiculous to think he will, and is going to place undue stress and anxiety and frustrations on him.
He is a special education student, he is just a boy, and he is entitled to the best education we can provide him. I feel that I was inadequately prepared and felt like I had no choice to consider other options at that point and all of the new information presented to me and was incredibly overwhelmed. I am requesting another IEP and would like this one revoked. I would like also to be steered in the right direction to someone that will act as a parent advocate that will help my family to better understand what Josh’s rights are as a student of special education., and will also participate in the next meeting with myself and my son acting on our behalf that is not a member of the XXX Middle School staff.
I would like everyone involved to understand that as XXX’s mother, I understand completely that it is up to myself and my husband to ensure that he is treated fairly and help to work hand in hand with the school to create the most beneficial program for him and I am committed to doing that. I look forward to meeting with you all again in hopes of creating a more realistic program and setting goals that I feel he can, with a little work, achieve. I know that we all want to see him succeed.
Respectfully,
Sara XXXX
XXXXX Road
XXXXX, Michigan XXXX
XXX-XXX-XXX

XXXXX@yahoo.com

Frustrations

2008-05-13T07:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I feel I need to warn anyone reading this in advance. I am really tired today and full of frustrations and just need a place to vent. It has been a long couple of days. My little bitty has been sick since late Thursday night and was still sick again through the night last night(or should I say early this morning). Bean has now caught the bug and has been joining her sister in the puke fest for 2 nights now. Lovely. So before I go off to steam clean my carpets again........I had a meeting first thing this morning. I had yet another meeting called by myself trying to protect my son from harassment at school. You see this is very frustrating. My son has a hard time remembering names of kids but can tell you exactly what they were wearing down to the color of their shoelaces. He, being a 7Th grader, has been placed in a class for gym first hour with 8Th grade boys. So, he does not know many names at all only a couple specific kids that do not think of him as some kind of weirdo. So yesterday he called me from school complaining to me he wanted me to come and get him because his tooth hurt. I talked to him on the phone and sensed that he just wanted to come home. He is having a problem with his tooth, the last of his baby teeth that has abscessed. I knew he has been on antibiotic and the tooth had not been bothering him since early last week when I took him to the dentist and he was given medication so I just figured he wanted to come home and play light sabres. He is a star wars junkie. Well I continued to stay home and clean my carpets and uncountable loads of towels from my ever so projectile pukers and when he came home he was in tears.....again. Some kids in this gym class were again picking on him and trying to convince him to punch other kids and telling him he would get suspended and get to stay home with his mommy. Nice. Once child in particular told him he was stupid so Boo told him he was a big dummy( that is a swear word for Boo) and the kids then spit in Boos face. I was so furious. We have dealt with this kind of stuff ALL year and quite frankly I am fed up. I have made countless trips to the school and nothing. They can't do anything with his word against theirs and non of the kids in the group that are doing it will step up and nark on the other so we just keep going round and round and round with them. Everything from trying to throw him in front of a bus to spitting in his face. I know that he is and will be an easy target for mean kids to vent. I try SO hard to give him the tools to protect himself in the situation. I beg and plead with the school to protect him and I get absolutely nowhere. So today, my husband went to work late and made an appearance in the office demanding to see someone that would help us. It was totally unbelievable. She was incredibly nice, brought kids in to question them, showed Boo picts of every child in his class and assured my husband she would most definitely get to the bottom of the issue and he would be safe and not harassed anymore. That kids would be held accountable, and he would be placed in another gym class with kids in his grade. So why did it have to come to this. Why when I go in there do I get blown off. Because I am a woman, because I want to protect him and I am not burly,just some crazy mom they have to deal with on a regular basis. I am not convinced the problem is over because unfortunately i cannot trust the administrators at our school anymore, and when they call me later, my husband will again be at work.
Why can't kids see what they are doing to this poor kid. Why can't they understand that Autism is beyond his control, Why can't they see that we are doing everything in our power to help him heal and if he could be totally better he most certainly would. Why do they not feel any compassion for someone that just wants to be accepted and have friends like any other child. Why would they think it is okay to just spit in someones face and threaten to end their life by throwing them down telling them they will get ran over by a bus and the world would be a better place. I wish for one day they could just be inside his body to see what a struggle it is for him every day. I know there are a lot of really good kids out there. Some that have been taught compassion and understanding. To those parents of them kids, I applaud you. I know there is a smaller number of the mean and demeaning kids than the good ones. I know I cannot put him in a bubble and protect him from every bad comment and threat, but right now my heart would sure be better if I could. We are working so hard to show him how to make friends and be a friend and it is situations like this that push us 10 steps back for every step we gain.
I am sorry for the long post, my heart is really heavy today. Please every morning, tell you children you love them, tell them you can't wait to see them at the end of their day and tell them the importance of being kind to others. A disability can happen to anyone at anytime. You never know when it is your turn or someone in your family you truly care about.
Now, with one eye open, I am back to cleaning my carpets.

Happy Birthday

2008-05-09T08:23:00.000-07:00

This post is dedicated to my husband. Today is his birthday and Sunday is our anniversary (and mother's day).

John, wishing you all the best in the next year. Another year of marriage, raising our kids and another year for you to get practiced up because............MY BUCK WAS BIGGER THAN YOURS!! Better luck next year!!!!!!

Thank you for the competition!!I hope that you know how much we appreciate you and your hard work every day to keep our family going. You work so hard to provide us a beautiful home.....and LOOK what we created!!!!!

We LOVE you and here's to countless more years with you........and yes Beuford too, I know...I know package deal.

Could you just explain to him that WE would prefer he slept on the floor??

Happy Birthday to you!!!!!!!

Kids and Critters

2008-04-30T09:04:00.000-07:00

We have way too many stray animals around our house....mostly cats. That is where our incredibly selfish kitty mittens came from

my kids relentlessly chased him as a poor scared WILD kitten until they caught him and kept him captive in Sissy's bedroom for who knows how long until we had discovered him living quite comfortably there. Well, my husband is a softy and told the kids they could have him, but no more hiding stray cats in our house. Well now that spring is in full swing around here, all of the stray cats that hang out in our shed, sneak in our garage and consume our dog food and walk all over my car and leave little paw prints in the night, are in mating season and my back yard seems to be the 'special' place.Yesterday, I looked in the back yard and there were 4 cats that didn't belong to us that were just hanging out. Two of them are seen on top of the little hill there ( on my husbands target range) and there is 2 more that ran behind the hill when I tried taking a picture.

So my kids being my kids decided to try and lure the cats to them so they can 'make friends'

In the photo above is Bean hiding behind a cardboard box. In front of the box was a bowl of food and water. Unfortunately for her, she did not catch herself a kitty but it sure kept her busy for quite some time.I took these from the bedroom window in our house as to not disturb the catch in progress. No animals were harmed in the making of this story, and thankfully we do not have any more cats yet!

Growing Up

2008-04-29T12:55:00.000-07:00

My little bitty is the baby of our family. Her little blue eyes and sweet little voice pretty much gets her what ever she wants. With 2 older sisters and 2 older brothers it is a pretty good thing for her. They are always there for her every little wish and want. I guess I still look at her as the baby too, which is hard when you realize that she is growing up way too fast. She is closing in quickly on being a big six year old.

She was so excited to FINALLY lose her first tooth. She knows that losing the first tooth now puts her in the big kid club! It is so hard to believe that she is old enough to lose her first tooth. She immediately had to call her big sister who was not home at the time to share the exciting news and declare her big kid status.

Last night was a music program for the Sissy and Bean. It was the annual school program and this one was themed around saving the earth and was called Easy Being Green. It was so much fun to watch them stand up and proudly sing their song(sissy my 5Th Grader) and Bean laugh and giggle because everyone was watching her(she is a first grader). I could not get a real good picture. They looked horrible, flash on they were too dark and flash off they were too bright and fuzzy. I need to learn more about the camera I guess. But regardless, It was absolutely a pleasure to be there. They are definitely growing up so fast. This is Sissy's last month of school before Middle school...WOW! Now I feel old! I look at the baby pictures on the wall and just wonder how it went so fast. No Destini, I do not want another one!!! Actually at the program last night there was a woman with a real young baby who pretty much screamed for the whole program. I felt so sorry for her, She wanted to watch her daughter's program but her little one was just not cooperating and I just sighed a big sigh of relief, I am so done with that. I am sad my babies are not babies anymore, But I sure don't want to go back there either. I love being able to take the kids places and do the big kid things with them. I am so proud of the kids they have turned out to be and just sometimes wish I could freeze time for a while.

Spring has sprung!!

2008-04-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

I absolutely LOVE this time of year.

For the first time I finally have spring flowers that came up, No dogs tearing them up, no ground moles munching them, no kids riding bikes through them!! YEAH!!

It has been perfect weather to take your dogs for a walk...or let your puppy do it for you...

Who's idea was it to keep the dirty white dog anyway? Must have been the kids.....
As you can see Brutus likes to play outside too!I guess I should have kept the black puppy!

My favorites.....

2008-04-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

Here are some of my favorite things, things that I love.

I love blue, it is my favorite color

Even American dolls need their hair done!

I love fishing.. That is always something we can do as a family...

One of my very most favorite things in life is music, it soothes me and keeps me sane,With out my radio cranked and singing, my house would never be cleaned!

I love, really love, sleeping babies

Although, Ellie is not real impressed, she does not know where to sleep!

I love Darth Vader....our version.....

I also love clean babies....They are so sweet and smell good!
okay well she is still my baby!And...probably my most favorite is a big strapping manly man that is so sweet he can take time out to play a little Disney princes dress up with his princess
I love to laugh... and laugh with my kids!
I love sunsets.....
Last but not least....I love smiles that light up my world.

Show me your"This is what I love posts!!"

Kids, Kids,Kids

2008-04-09T06:47:00.000-07:00

Well,

We survived another week of spring break. The kids were home all of last week and returned to their classrooms yesterday. Unfortunately the weather was not as we had hoped. And today is going to be a beautiful day....go figure.

We did have an opportunity to make it to the movies once and the park

It was really nice to not have to get the kids up in the morning to catch the bus and not have to do homework every night!

Boo was working on a project for school. He had to do a report on a famous artist. It was supposed to be his work with me just helping him to read to him and help him to understand the directions. The artist he was given was Amadeo Modigliano. There was a series of questions that he had to answer on his report, and one was to give his personal feelings on the artwork. His answer was "My personal feelings about is art are that I like the colors but definitely not his art." " I would have liked his art more if he would draw deer or monster trucks" Can't wait to see what his grade is on that one! I try really hard not to correct his answers because it is so fun anymore just seeing his own answers and I hope that the teachers will appreciate them as he didn't participate in class previously. It won't be long and we will be back on Summer vacation and we can really work on his reading.And maybe work on artist appreciation!!

We still have our white puppy! We have named him Brutus. He is such a sweet little guy with a serious chewing problem. He also keeps us very busy. I just don't understand why no body took him....tee hee! I sure tried real hard to find him a great home, okay so I didn't put ALL my effort into it, but I was going to....for a short minute!

What a wonderful day

2008-03-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

Ya know it is sometimes difficult to judge how your day is going to go. Well pretty much all of the time, there are always uncertainties and life just likes to throw you curve balls and you have to see if you can make lemons into lemonade. Well today I made lemonade.

We have 3 puppies left that I woke up to whining in their crate. We have sold all but 3 of them. They are like the 3 stooges and always in some kind of trouble. So darn adorable though that you can not get upset you just have to giggle at them and when you can no longer take the sight of your shoes running past you with puppies attached to them that are smaller than the shoe, time to put them away for a while and let them rest. This is my broom thief!!My broom is always on the go! Then to wake up to my little bitty who is plainly upset that all the other kids are at school and she has no one to play with, top that off with some snow which has just decided to not stop falling this year, I was prepared for a sour day. Then cool things just started happening. My little one and I decided to brave the elements and ventured out for awhile. That just improves ones mood just getting out of the house for a bit. Just the 2 of us. Then the kids started rolling in from school. Boo had a field trip with his class today to a movie on planets, a restaurant and then a book store. He was so excited about his trip and could not wait to fill me in on all the cool details. He bought some star wars books with his extra money I sent him and he is so incredibly proud of his books. Of course nothing is cooler in his eyes than star wars right now,except his dad, naturally. He is so funny. When he walked in the door and was telling me about his trip I asked him what he had for lunch. They went to a Chinese buffet and I was concerned he may not like that real well. He obviously had something chocolate on his face. He says "Well mom, I had pudding for lunch and I am saving the pudding on my face in case I might get hungry later." I laughed so hard! He was such a funny little guy before his autism starting rearing its head. I am so thankful for the little bits and pieces of him that I get back. He had the funniest little sense of humor and it is amazing that somewhere in his body it has been hiding all this time. I know this may sound weird but his autism diagnosis has really changed our family for the better. Not that it hasn't been really hard and the biggest challenge my family has ever faced but the opportunity to be able to take those little moments and cherish them. To know that somewhere in him, the old boo still exists. The whole experience I believe has made us a stronger family and I know has made my other children so much more compassionate. So anyway, John took us out to dinner tonight just because it was such a feel good kind of day, to a real restaurant with real waiters and no drive through speakers with real food and it all started with this....my lemonade. After all the begging and pleading with mother nature to hurry up already with spring and give me a break from the 5 kids with snow pants and boots and mittens. If I would have gotten my way, sure it would be so much warmer and the kids would be able to go outside and scream their little hearts out and ride bikes, but I would not have gotten this picture of boo getting off the bus in such a great mood that he wanted to catch snowflakes on his tongue.

Now I just need to convince him to button up his coat!!I certainly hope that you can enjoy your lemonade today. Sometimes the things that you worry about are so small when you can sit down with your own glass of lemonade, and know that it is all you really ever needed all along.To just enjoy your family and the curve balls and know that there are always small blessings along the way. I guess I can stop begging mother nature to hurry up with spring and let her take her ol' sweet time because apparently there are still moments to be enjoyed. 110 inches of snow isn't really that much right?

Easter Weekend

2008-03-24T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well, this weekend was a busy one . We decided to go to My awesome sisters house for Saturday and join them at their church for the annual Easter egg hunt. Wow..... was there a lot of people there. It was so great to see the kids, we don't get to do that enough. I felt bad having to leave the kids were so disappointed we had to go. But lucky little Bitty won a bike. She was so excited!!!
That was the true test for Boo and the homeopathic medicine we seek for him. Be in a church full of bounce houses and a bazillion people with out slipping into a full blown fit! He did great. He did have to step outside for a minute or two to recoup but over all handled it well. It seems as if Easters have been so special for us, Last Easter was the first time he flew a kite by himself, ran, laughed and had so much fun, even when sponge bob the unruly kite decided to slip his grasp and fly away home, he just waved goodbye! We never would have been able to put him into a situation of that many people before and walked away smiling like we did Saturday. He participate in the egg hunt amongst a whole lot of kids and actually got himself some!! Sure there was a lot of anxiety....for me as well... I was prepared for the worst, finding all the closest exits, and never needed to rush him out of there. I don't know if we will ever lose the Autism Diagnosis but I sure feel so much better about his life now. I do think there will be a day when you can tell someone about his autism and they won't believe us. He has come so far. So many of his little quirks are becoming less and less noticeable. Everything had to be so routine for him and he is allowing himself new opportunities. At 13 he no longer wants a happy meal!!
I don't know how many people read this blog, and even if nobody does, I am going to keep writing it anyway, just in hope that someone, someday who is concerned about their child's health and possibly a diagnosis of autism will read it and know that there are other options. You do not have to medicate you child, you can stand up and take a stand against the norm and treat your child with alternative medicine. God has been great to us, and there was a time when we thought we were getting more than our fair share of hardships. Something good has come from this. I have seen other children and members of my family helped with alternative medicine. I feel that my job now is to spread the word and help others through what can be such a difficult time. After a diagnosis, you mourn. For what you thought your child's life would be like and all the dreams you had for him or her. Then you pick yourself up and do something about it. It doesn't matter what the diagnosis is. Just for the record, I am not anti-vaccine. I do believe that vaccines have saved a lot of lives. I am just for safer vaccines. I don't believe vaccines CAUSED my sons autism, I believe that was the spark. I do believe getting all that junk out of his body will keep bringing him back to us. We have a long way to go and I try not to even look at that anymore. We look at how far we have come and the new things he is always doing and thank God for every new day and every new accomplishment he achieves.

Being a Mom

2008-03-12T22:51:00.000-07:00

Well, as requested per my sister, I am making a list of things that I love about being a mom

* Watching the ecstatic look on my sons face when I tell him he acts just like his dad.....most definitely a compliment. He is Daddy's boy
*Little girl giggles....the are the cutest.
* walking in to my child's classroom...seeing their eyes light up telling all the other children 'thats my mom!'
*the big bear hugs at bedtime
*the sound of little feet running up and down the stairs on Christmas morning.
* watching my kids sleep
* eating dinner at the table with all of the kids, everyone excited to tell us about their day.
* The excitement of the first snowfall and the kids are so excited to build that first snowman.
* The sense of accomplishment That I feel with every I Love You.
* The refrigerator art that is always on display and always plentiful
* Turning on the radio and the whole family dances in the dining room
*watching them read their first book
*All the goofy smiles and faces when the camera is in action.
* When the kids want to surprise me with breakfast and I get a peanut butter sandwich. Only the best for their mom!
*My girls asking me to do their hair.
* Seeing my son grow and change and becoming healthier every day.
* Hunting with my son

The laughter....that is my most favorite part of being a mom is the laughter. We all know that it is not always calm and controlled and you will have tough days, but seeing your child's eyes light up and their whole face smiles and it just makes the whole world right.

puppies puppies everywhere

2008-03-05T09:39:00.000-08:00

We have two inside dogs that live in our house. Their names are Tuffy and Ellie Bear. They are our foo-foo dogs.

This is Tuffy. He is 60 pound dog trapped inside this little 7 pound body. We named him Tuffy for a reason. He is absolutely my baby. He is bigger and badder than any cat by far....or so he thinks. He loves our kitty, way more than I do.

This is Ellie Bear. Please forgive her not so girlish figure....she is at her due date and still no puppies in this picture.

She is the # 1 reason Fruit of the Loom is doing so well in business. She is a terrible underwear chewing dog. She is definitely a sweet dog, but she is still a chewer. My kids are lucky to wear the same pair twice. Clean or dirty.... doesn't matter. She is just as happy ripping them out of a clean basket as she is out of the dirty hamper. Naughty girl.

Together they had 8 little pooping machines! They are so sweet! They are definitely a handful and for whatever reason she has way more puppies than a little dog should be allowed to have. The vet said....expect 3-4. Little dogs do not have a large litter....O.K.

This is the only female of the litter. She is for sure a honey.....sweet as can be and the tiniest for sure.

This is my favorite little guy. He is an absolute angel. I wish I could keep him...who knows I still might. He is so priceless. I am sure he wouldn't eat much, and he never would be a naughty puppy.....right?Never chew or bark .....just sit there and look pretty.I am sure he would not like undies. Exactly my point.

Here is the rest of the clan. I THOUGHT that putting them in this pool would contain the little buggers, but of course they escape quite frequently. They started on food this week, and they really like to be ON the plate. Funny little story, I went to the local hardware to purchase this little pool and asked the lady where they kept them. I told her it was for my puppies. She asked how old they were and I told her and she freaked....."you can't put puppies in there they will drown" We live amongst some of the brightest for sure.
As you can see...my puppies are great swimmers. Aren't they adorable!!

My husband says I can't keep them all....I don't see why not? They look pretty harmless to me.

The appointment

2008-03-04T09:22:00.000-08:00

Boo's appointment went great. Dr. Lisa had to seek and find what was causing the anxiety this time and pinpointed it as usual. Boo announced last night that he was feeling better. He said "mom my head feels good." It is such a blessing to have him able to tell us what works for him and what does not. I know a lot of parents of autistic kids do not. I noticed too that he slept really good last night as well and that is half of the battle right there. I am really excited to talk to the teachers this week and see if they notice a difference in him. I do need to work on getting the amalgam out of his mouth though so his detoxing of metals can progress. We were hoping that because it was in a baby tooth he would have lost it now, but unfortunately it seems to like right where it is. I am hopeful that he will continue to make progress and we will continue to see him blossom. He was actually feeling so well last night that he decided it was game on with dad and of course the rest of the kids took the opportunity to join in the fun.

For those who do not believe

2008-03-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago after 'dealing' with our sons autism and getting absolutely nowhere but broke and frustrated we were offered a blessing. At the time we didn't know and understand why the things that were happening was actually setting us up for the best thing possible for our son and our life as a family. Boo had been to Dr. after Dr. with the 'It's autism there is nothing you can do but medicate him and hope for the best' attitude. We were told to take him to a doctor at our local Mental health hospital and evaluated. After many hours and a thousand dollars we were told that the only thing we could do was medication trials that would consist of 6 weeks on and six weeks off until we found the 'magic' one. Well that was my biggest mistake. After a few short weeks of this He was absolutely miserable and the fits were more and more. There was just no reasoning with him at all. Our doctor assured us that when the medication was in his system and we gave it some time it will most likely work to help him. Anxiety has always been his biggest enemy. Well we ended up in the Emergency room with suicidal thoughts and a toxic liver. They sent in social workers and such and to make a long story short told us that it was his medication talking and they felt that if we continued the medication and just kept a close eye on him he would be fine. My husband and I both agreed that we were done medicating him and would just deal with the behaviors and anxiety rather than to ever hear those words come out of his mouth again. As you can imagine our doctors were not happy with us and actually threatened protective services. At that point we were very scared and didn't know what to do with him. I felt I could not take him to the doctor in fear that they would threaten us more and according to all the research I had done, I knew this doctor was the last one available to us in the provider handbook that had ANY experience at all with autism. Immediately following (within days) a friend of my fathers told him of a doctor that she sees that is a homeopathic doctor and encouraged us to go. Our insurance does not cover (witch doctors) homoeopaths and we simply didn't have anymore money to waste. With a little encouragement we did go to the first appointment. I had never had any experience what so ever with any doctor but an MD and it was not an easy decision, but at the time we felt all other doors were closed for us. The first appointment was absolutely amazing. She was so knowledgeable and understanding and I was so not. I was a brat. I didn't fill out the questionnaire with my concerns because I thought if she was THAT good she would know without me telling her what was wrong with my son. She finished her testing and looked at my husband and I and just blew us away with the information. She had pegged everything right on the head. She told us exactly what she thought he was or was not doing and why. I remember just crying thinking how badly I had waited for so long to have someone see what was truly happening with him, let alone why it was happening. She set him up on a treatment plan and although we were still very hesitant we followed her instructions to a T. Within the first night we noticed a difference in him and with in months he was progressing so fast we did not know what was going to come next with him. Well unfortunately the last couple of months we have been unable to take him due to the financial strain and The school has noticed a big difference with him. I talked with them again today as he was trying to be the class clown again,attention span is getting smaller and his anxiety is really taking it's toll. UGGG! The boy went from not talking to being the class clown. Well I called and made him an appointment and he is going back in Today. The school sees it. They can tell the difference even with homeopathic medicine. My son is medication free and takes whole food supplements to support his body and it is not just something I want to see that is not really there. She is amazing and she is helping him and he is beating autism. We have truly been blessed and God closed some doors for us only to open the best one yet. Homeopaths are real, they are interested in helping you and they are preventing medication being dumped into a child that does not need it. I never would have dreamed that he is doing things that he does now. It has been the best investment we have ever made. While being treated homeopathically he has no need for physical therapy any more and had made more progress in 2 years that in 10 previously. My family has truly been blessed.

The hammock

2008-02-29T08:24:00.000-08:00

Well,My husband returned home from his trip. It was really exciting to see the kids so happy to see him especially when he brought them home gifts for being so good for me while he was gone. Sometimes our house can be so quiet and others just totally unruly. So what is a little bribe sometimes?? He brought them home a couple of videos that they wanted and a gift for me for my birthday. My birthday is not until March but John has no ability in him whatsoever to wait and is just like a kid that spills the beans on every little secret that are supposed to keep. So when he was explaining to the kids who's was who's he told them the BIG present was for mom for her birthday. Then my little one asked me so sweetly...."Mom when I am 72 like you will I get a big present from daddy too?" Nice, real nice. I will be 32...big difference kid.

I now am the proud owner of a hammock. Not just any hammock but a monster of a hammock that the kids demanded he set up in the living room to check and try out. If it safely handles 5 kids it would surely handle me!

Sure enough it was a huge hit for the kids and seems to be very sturdy. Our vacation consists of a rustic campground on a river fishing and swatting mosquitoes for a few days. The kids love it and so do we. Of course, there is always going to be some minor incidents as with any vacation IE: kids falling in, husband getting stuck with catfish barbs and passing out,someone throwing up in the tent, kids catching trees with their fishing poles.....the very tops of trees....but all in all, it is a ball. I am ready, a new hammock,fishing pole and now just need the nice weather!

Here is a picture from our vacation to the river last year before all of the major crisis happened and Boo caught his very first catfish. He was so proud he gave the thumbs up! A couple of years ago he would not have had the patience or ability to catch fish let alone smile and give the camera an opportunity to see him so happy....that is what it is all about. Kids don't remember how much money you spend or the fancy equipment you have, it is the memories of the fun they have and the time they spend with you.

Breaking News!!

2008-02-29T06:46:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone....just an update on some breaking news......I went to get some groceries at the store yesterday and bought myself a brand new pair of boots for winter. So the news is.......It will be spring now!! That is how it happens you finally accept the fact that summer is only going to consist of a couple of weeks and you find a steal on a pair of boots. Then you don't get an opportunity to wear them. Nothing assures the spring coming like buying new winter boots!
Also just to confirm my theory on the way home from the store I saw the first woodchuck of the year!! Yeah!

To snore or not to snore

2008-02-27T06:46:00.000-08:00

My husband has been gone for a couple days now. He is taking some classes to help him prepare for the changing technology for his job.
There has been so many times when I have had to wake him up from a sound sleep due to the fact he is snoring so loudly that all the neighborhood dogs are barking and howling. It can be just deafening.
So when the news came that he would be gone for a few days for his training I was sad he was going to be away but secretly thinking how much sleep I was going to get at night. I have grown pretty used to hearing the loud noises and am amazed every time I wake up in the morning that I have slept a wink at all. Well I must say I was wrong.

How could I be used to that awful noise? I laid awake thinking it was too quiet. I turned on the t.v. and still nothing. It has been 2 days and I am ready for him to come home.Do I really need that awful noise to sleep well?? It is amazing how easily one can adapt to things. When the babies were small one little whimper and I was out of bed, tripping on the dog to dash to the crib and now I can sleep better when my windows are rattling as my husband is soundly sleeping...emphasis on the SOUND!!

So lesson learned, I need my family at home all safe and sound and snoring. I am looking forward to the chaos when he walks in the door and the dog and the kids all fight to be the first one to greet him and steal the first bit of attention, the look on Boo's face when he pulls in the driveway but most of all the sleep!

In Loving memory of...........

2008-02-26T09:48:00.000-08:00

Spring.....ah what a beautiful word. Especially considering we are approaching record snowfall for the year and it is only February. I wish I could be as excited as our local weather lady. The first snowfall is always exciting and I can't wait to break out the hot cocoa for the kids and build the first snowman. Well it is February and the excitement passed a long time ago. The lost mittens(Approximately 53 pairs) the one missing boot and the "Mom, my coat won't zip" mornings are definitely taking their toll on me. That is why I LOVE SPRING! Spring is a chance to undo some of the wrongs that were made last year. A fresh start. The ambition and effort that goes into my yard and garden every year with such force that I am certain that my yard will be the prettiest on my bumpy dirt road. Only to be reminded in July that it is too stinking hot! Even with the best of intentions my garden always ends up full of weeds and it is more like a where's waldo when you are looking for the tomato plants. The yard has so many weeds that I am not sure how close to the field I should mow because you really can't tell the difference between the two. So this year It will be different. Work smarter, work harder and know that every spring I get another chance.

I have never really had great luck with plants. I make several trips to the greenhouse and pick out the prettiest. I plant them all over the yard.....aww they are so beautiful..Then in about a month when I am standing in the kitchen getting a cold glass of water thinking maybe the plants are thirsty too and by then.....too late.

So I just tell myself well I am just supporting the local business with the purchases and make a mental note next year to water the plants.

My house plants are not much better. When I moved into my new house I had several house plants. They were beautiful. I was certain I was ready for the responsibility of the new life and was so excited. The house was clean, the pool was bug free and the kids were happy and fed and I did so great watering them that they got a little droopy. So I thought okay well let's put them outside to get a little warm air to dry them out.. Well apparently they sunburn. So what is a girl to do? Too much water, not enough water.....the stress. So this year I am going to do artificial plants.....Problem solved. So this post is dedicated to the loving memory of my houseplants...may they rest in peace and I promise to never buy another one again. Amen.