Yes I am here. I have been hesitant to blog as our life has been scrambled a bit and y'all do NOT want to read the complete drama, trust me. BUT. The kids are fine and healthy and A~man's behavior is stable for the most part. Hubby and I are closer than ever. YET we have been facing the possibility of losing our home...our vehicle called it quits a month after it was paid for and for us is too expensive to fix. (we are a one vehicle family) If it wasn't for the fact hubby has a kind friend that owns a car lot we would be on foot....(we have been before but that was before and we were much younger...and rode our bikes everywhere) but as of today the vehicle we have been driving is ours. (with payments of course) Still waiting on the house issues. Looking back I wish we would have chosen a much smaller home for our first house. You can't go back though can you? The cause of all of this turmoil (well NOT the car...WE are rough on vehicles) the service provider for my childs special needs. UNFREEKINGBELIEVABLE. But I cannot go into the details except for the fact we are now officially with a company that is on the ball and cares. This company is appalled at what the other place has done to us. I went to a half day training today to deal with sn's behaviors (I have had the training before kids when I was "working" ;) and I am so impressed with the staff. They CARE. Shouldn't a mental health support organization be like that??!!
The icky bitter icing on the cake is my husband lost his job this week. This is the second time he has worked for this "place". He quit the first time...similiar crap, he was fired this time due to a load of bullshite...excuse my language. I have NO respect for the owner of this place. NONE. I like the manager and other sales associates but will never step foot in that store again.
Did I write all of this for any reader to say "oh you poor thing" ? No. So don't give me that as I do not want it or expect it. I believe as a Christian things happen for a reason. I am not thinking "sour grapes". I am angry (it takes a LOT to make me angry) but we went through similiar stuff when A~man was a foster child ensuring he had services for his disabilites and things got ugly then. Because of that and a dear friend of ours the local DSS system concerning SN's foster children has changed. It wasn't pretty and we made no friends with DSS. (ok we did have a few;)I'm hoping soon there will be a similiar statewide occurance.
I have momentarily felt like throwing my hands up into the air to God "what are you doing to us?" It has been an avalanche.Yet I feel God with me every step of the way. He IS there. There is a reason for all of this and I have placed it all in his hands.
Looking back 10+ years before becoming a parent our obstacle was infertility. After the fact I can see we would not have our SUPERFANTASTIC A~man without Gods perfect plan. We wouldn't have the SPECTACULAR Z~girl without A~man coming first. (as he could not come into a house with children because he was extremely medically fragile as an infant) God has some plan in this 9 month turmoil we have experienced and I believe we will see the light about it soon.
A mostly unneccessary (I do not think that is a word hahaha) disclaimer- if you know me IRL..family...friends. Do not share what I have written on this particular subject with anyone. I have only told one local friend...a couple not local friends...and do not want my mother in particular to worry unneccessarily. God IS in control even when our current situations seem uncontrollable.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Friday, May 13, 2011
life's lessons sometimes..arent pleasant
We have several holly trees around our house. They are BIG, TALL trees that need trimmed. Right beside our front door is a haven for bird nests. In the past it has been Mourning Dove's nests. (my favorite bird) We learned over the years that Mourning Doves are a very trusting friendly bird (in our experience) and when the babies had flown from the nest they would come right up to you within a couple feet. I guess they were used to us watching them from a distance. The last Mourning Dove family we had though the baby bird died and after a few days (with Z insisting) we buried the baby. We think it was the same bird pair as after the baby died there the Dove pair did not return to that spot.
We were pleasantly surprised this spring to discover a pair of Robines nesting in that same tree. Over the last few weeks we have watched her make the nest, sit on it, and the three baby Robine's grow. Today Z ran in though yelling "there is a snake in the tree". We observe the birds throughout the day from our front steps and we also have a view from a window right into the nest. When she said that I figured there was a snake on the ground. No, there was a snake IN THE NEST. (a really big black snake about 4 foot) She was in tears and I was in tears. At first I told her to run and get a big stick as I could see a wee baby bird head sticking out from the coiled snake. By the time she got back though I knew that wasn't the right thing. For one thing the snake wasn't "bad" he was getting dinner...the whole cycle of the food chain came to my mind and we talked about it. I sure hope it is also getting some of the pesky Voles we have in our yard too! Also...with A~mans impulse control issues I could not let him see me messing with a snake. He would then think it was OK to mess with a snake. It was all a part of nature but still it made me sick to my stomache and so sad that the kids SAW it happening.
During all this the mama and daddy Robine kept flying in that tree. It was pitiful. For hours that mama kept bringing food to that nest. Such an innate thing I told Z for a mama and daddy (even if it was "just" a bird) to take care of its family.
We were pleasantly surprised this spring to discover a pair of Robines nesting in that same tree. Over the last few weeks we have watched her make the nest, sit on it, and the three baby Robine's grow. Today Z ran in though yelling "there is a snake in the tree". We observe the birds throughout the day from our front steps and we also have a view from a window right into the nest. When she said that I figured there was a snake on the ground. No, there was a snake IN THE NEST. (a really big black snake about 4 foot) She was in tears and I was in tears. At first I told her to run and get a big stick as I could see a wee baby bird head sticking out from the coiled snake. By the time she got back though I knew that wasn't the right thing. For one thing the snake wasn't "bad" he was getting dinner...the whole cycle of the food chain came to my mind and we talked about it. I sure hope it is also getting some of the pesky Voles we have in our yard too! Also...with A~mans impulse control issues I could not let him see me messing with a snake. He would then think it was OK to mess with a snake. It was all a part of nature but still it made me sick to my stomache and so sad that the kids SAW it happening.
During all this the mama and daddy Robine kept flying in that tree. It was pitiful. For hours that mama kept bringing food to that nest. Such an innate thing I told Z for a mama and daddy (even if it was "just" a bird) to take care of its family.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Redhead of the Day
This post has been long overdue. I have had a writers block trying to come up with a blog fitting of this. It's a given I think that parents of special needs children have a tough job. Parents in general have a tough job. What about the siblings of these special needs children? We were blessed with A~man when he was 4.5 months old and 17 months later we were doubly blessed with a little bundle that we were not supposed to be able to conceive. This post is about Z~girl and how totally special she is as a daughter, sister, and friend. Her spunk delights and often times tests my patience (I joke that she could argue with a wall) but I would not want her to be any other way than what God made her to be. She was given that spunk for a reason and I adore it. There is a reason for her spark and it will cause her to excell in all that she tries.
As a family we love going out in the communtity to restaurants, walking downtown, or even the grocery store. Ever since they were babes I would take them to walk (in a stroller)in our charming downtown as that is where my husband worked and is back working once more. It is a truth that because of A~mans outgoingness (not a word) that he steals the show. But Z's spectacular strawberry blonde wavy hair (she gets mad if I say that she says it IS RED :) causes HER to get attention. I'm bragging but even on the days (and there are many hahah) she refuses to brush that wild mane...it remains GORGEOUS.
A couple years ago we were at one of our favorite breakfast places and met the most charming white haired woman. It was one of those times when you just know you were meant to meet a new friend. We were lucky enough to run into her several times over a length of time and the kids would always keep an eye out to see if Karen was there. One of the times A~man was in a funk. I do not remember what the issue was but most likely he had gotten in trouble at home and was clammed up and unusually quiet. This gave Z~girl her moment to shine. She had a delightful conversation with this sweet woman and they have/had a lot in common. A love for books, words, and writing. Not long ago we ran into Karen (I have her permission to say her name) and she said that she wrote a poem about Z and that there would be a library reading of her poem and others from a book that was published by a group of lovely creative souls.
Last week we went to that reading and it was delightful! I hope to share a few in my blog in the next few weeks but for now I will share the one by Karen Heggen about my Z~girl-
Redhead of the Day
How long ago did it start,
this tendency to look each day
for the favorite redhead?
One recent restaurant redhead
was a girl of seven, a girl
with an abundance of fizzy
shoulder-length light-red hair, a girl
whose talkative ten-year-old brother
usually got most of the attention.
On the day that turned the tables
he was in a blue funk at breakfast,
sat pouting, while she and I started
talking across the aisle about her accomplishments.
For me, the details slipped away as days
went by, but for the child, the joy remained.
Weeks later, while I was driving home,
miles away from where she and I
had met, I heard a car honk, looked
toward the left lane, and there she was
with her parents her whole face beaming
at me, arms waving, red hair bouncing,
that enthusiasm repeated at several
red lights along the next mile or more.
My whole body began to smile, my
heart grew full all the way home.
No grandma I may be, but my daily
dose of redheads brings joy to me.
by Karen Heggen
The book this was published in is called A Long and Winding Road. It is the Ninth Anthology of The Seasoned Poets of the Blue Ridge. I hope to share some more out of it soon. The poems are full of many laughs, tears, and memories as the years go by. I love them! Oh and when we were in the store last week a different poet recognized Z from the reading. She was on cloud nine my precious redhead.
As a family we love going out in the communtity to restaurants, walking downtown, or even the grocery store. Ever since they were babes I would take them to walk (in a stroller)in our charming downtown as that is where my husband worked and is back working once more. It is a truth that because of A~mans outgoingness (not a word) that he steals the show. But Z's spectacular strawberry blonde wavy hair (she gets mad if I say that she says it IS RED :) causes HER to get attention. I'm bragging but even on the days (and there are many hahah) she refuses to brush that wild mane...it remains GORGEOUS.
A couple years ago we were at one of our favorite breakfast places and met the most charming white haired woman. It was one of those times when you just know you were meant to meet a new friend. We were lucky enough to run into her several times over a length of time and the kids would always keep an eye out to see if Karen was there. One of the times A~man was in a funk. I do not remember what the issue was but most likely he had gotten in trouble at home and was clammed up and unusually quiet. This gave Z~girl her moment to shine. She had a delightful conversation with this sweet woman and they have/had a lot in common. A love for books, words, and writing. Not long ago we ran into Karen (I have her permission to say her name) and she said that she wrote a poem about Z and that there would be a library reading of her poem and others from a book that was published by a group of lovely creative souls.
Last week we went to that reading and it was delightful! I hope to share a few in my blog in the next few weeks but for now I will share the one by Karen Heggen about my Z~girl-
Redhead of the Day
How long ago did it start,
this tendency to look each day
for the favorite redhead?
One recent restaurant redhead
was a girl of seven, a girl
with an abundance of fizzy
shoulder-length light-red hair, a girl
whose talkative ten-year-old brother
usually got most of the attention.
On the day that turned the tables
he was in a blue funk at breakfast,
sat pouting, while she and I started
talking across the aisle about her accomplishments.
For me, the details slipped away as days
went by, but for the child, the joy remained.
Weeks later, while I was driving home,
miles away from where she and I
had met, I heard a car honk, looked
toward the left lane, and there she was
with her parents her whole face beaming
at me, arms waving, red hair bouncing,
that enthusiasm repeated at several
red lights along the next mile or more.
My whole body began to smile, my
heart grew full all the way home.
No grandma I may be, but my daily
dose of redheads brings joy to me.
by Karen Heggen
The book this was published in is called A Long and Winding Road. It is the Ninth Anthology of The Seasoned Poets of the Blue Ridge. I hope to share some more out of it soon. The poems are full of many laughs, tears, and memories as the years go by. I love them! Oh and when we were in the store last week a different poet recognized Z from the reading. She was on cloud nine my precious redhead.
I't my blog I can cry if I want to.
It's been a rough PWS night. Despite my monitoring the hubby found in A~man's room tonight...RED JELLO MIX. Uhhhh I do not even EAT JELLO. (since finding out what it is made out of)He also found a bunch of other wrappers for cereal bars. Do I need to add my son in the past has psychotic type reactions when he has eaten something with RED40? I'm praying for the best tomorrow though despite this consumption. For someone to look at A~man he is the perfect height/weight...his endocrinologist said this earlier this month. So for him weight is not a problem. Eating something that could harm him (red40 etc) is. For anyone reading this would you fear your child eating harmless (yet yucko imho) jello? no. I remember as a child probably doing the same. (yuck) I remember when I was probably 5 eating a tub of frozen whipped topping one early Saturday morning while watching early cartoons. The result? I vomited. My son cannot vomit. There is a chance with Prader-willi syndrome of their stomach rupturing if they consume too much. A very slim young adult with PWS had this happen in GA in the last few years.
Add to it our service provider for the last 6 months has made our life a living...heck. I can't go into the specifics with that but the very place that is supposed to look out for the needs of the consumer is only interested in one thing. Money.
Ok that is my sob story. The next one tonight will be a much brighter one. :)
Add to it our service provider for the last 6 months has made our life a living...heck. I can't go into the specifics with that but the very place that is supposed to look out for the needs of the consumer is only interested in one thing. Money.
Ok that is my sob story. The next one tonight will be a much brighter one. :)
Friday, April 29, 2011
Have you ever wondered about the Blue-footed Booby?
I remember seeing pictures of this unique creature but never knew its name. It's hard to look at a picture of one of these and not giggle. I truly believe God has a wonderful sense of humor.
I received an opportunity to do a review on an e-book from The Old Schoolhouse from The Curiosity Files about these unusual birds. The first thing I did was show Z-girl the pictures in the e-book of the birds. The pictures are excellent! Her favorite color is blue so I believe she was smitten. We have done several e-books and this one would be a wonderful one to do this summer during a break and would be a good preventative for the "MOM...I'M BORED". Or in my son's case "mom, I'm boring..heehee" It encompasses every subject imaginable: science,math, Bible,geography,writing,spelling and vocabulary! I know with my daughter a lot of it could even be done independently.
What I especially like about this e-book is that it is easy to use with a variety of ages or in our case developmental levels. There are activities to challenge from the youngest child to maybe an older child listening in about what his younger siblings are learning about. I highly recommend this e-book during a "break" to keep your child interested in always learning about new things. For 6.95 I think it is a bargain for this much potential activity and learning!
What I especially like about this e-book is that it is easy to use with a variety of ages or in our case developmental levels. There are activities to challenge from the youngest child to maybe an older child listening in about what his younger siblings are learning about. I highly recommend this e-book during a "break" to keep your child interested in always learning about new things. For 6.95 I think it is a bargain for this much potential activity and learning!
Friday, April 22, 2011
AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE
AC-CENT-TCHU-ATE THE POSITIVE (Mister In-Between)
Bing Crosby ( written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer)
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
(To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me, hmm?
(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right
(You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between)
You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate (well illustrate) my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This song started going through my mind tonight. A joy ;) of having older parents I have a wide range of songs that enter my thoughts. This is something I feel I really need to keep in mind.
Today I had a really negative experience when someone learned we homeschooled. We have been homeschooling 5 or so years and how many negative comments have I gotten? Maybe a half dozen. How many positive comments? I couldn't begin to count. Also talking with my hubby tonight I realized how positive my day REALLY was. The unpleasant occurance at the grocery store was less than 5 minutes. What did we do besides that in the community? A~man went to the barber shop to have his hair cut. He has been going to the same place since...well forever. (with a few haircuts done by hubby and I inbetween) They LOVE A when we go in there. It is like a scene from the TV show Cheers. He probably asked the barber 1,000 questions and the barber answered every single one of them and in all honesty A~man was probably the most entertaining customer he had for the day. Then we walked down to the coffee shop...another positive....after that we went to one of our favorite shops to talk to our friend B who loves the kids. Why did I let a negative 5 minutes take over my thoughts for the day when I encountered so many positive people today? Heck everyday I encounter so many more positive people EVERY day. With my friends and with casual aquaintences and even strangers.
My prayer tonight is to focus on the positive....instead of letting a few rotten minutes ruin my day. (it didn't ruin my day but hopefully you get my point)
Bing Crosby ( written by Harold Arlen and the lyrics by Johnny Mercer)
You've got to accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
You've got to spread joy up to the maximum
Bring gloom down to the minimum
Have faith or pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
(To illustrate his last remark
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they do
Just when everything looked so dark)
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No, do not mess with Mister In-Between
Do you hear me, hmm?
(Oh, listen to me children and-a you will hear
About the elininatin' of the negative
And the accent on the positive)
And gather 'round me children if you're willin'
And sit tight while I start reviewin'
The attitude of doin' right
(You've gotta accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between)
You've got to spread joy (up to the maximum)
Bring gloom (down) down to the minimum
Otherwise (otherwise) pandemonium
Liable to walk upon the scene
To illustrate (well illustrate) my last remark (you got the floor)
Jonah in the whale, Noah in the ark
What did they say (what did they say)
Say when everything looked so dark
Man, they said we better
Accentuate the positive
Eliminate the negative
Latch on to the affirmative
Don't mess with Mister In-Between
No! Don't mess with Mister In-Between
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
This song started going through my mind tonight. A joy ;) of having older parents I have a wide range of songs that enter my thoughts. This is something I feel I really need to keep in mind.
Today I had a really negative experience when someone learned we homeschooled. We have been homeschooling 5 or so years and how many negative comments have I gotten? Maybe a half dozen. How many positive comments? I couldn't begin to count. Also talking with my hubby tonight I realized how positive my day REALLY was. The unpleasant occurance at the grocery store was less than 5 minutes. What did we do besides that in the community? A~man went to the barber shop to have his hair cut. He has been going to the same place since...well forever. (with a few haircuts done by hubby and I inbetween) They LOVE A when we go in there. It is like a scene from the TV show Cheers. He probably asked the barber 1,000 questions and the barber answered every single one of them and in all honesty A~man was probably the most entertaining customer he had for the day. Then we walked down to the coffee shop...another positive....after that we went to one of our favorite shops to talk to our friend B who loves the kids. Why did I let a negative 5 minutes take over my thoughts for the day when I encountered so many positive people today? Heck everyday I encounter so many more positive people EVERY day. With my friends and with casual aquaintences and even strangers.
My prayer tonight is to focus on the positive....instead of letting a few rotten minutes ruin my day. (it didn't ruin my day but hopefully you get my point)
Friday, April 15, 2011
I'm losing...
WEIGHT that is! It has been an extremely slow process that started back in December. I want to be a better example for my son with PWS and for my daughter. Also I think my back/hips would hurt a lot less if I weighed less. Anyone that knew me before kids would laugh as I was a bean pole. My nickname in school was stick. :( Since Decemberish (NOT a word) I have lost about 14 pounds. Woohooooo! I am down one pant size and that makes me very happy. I would like to lose at least 20 more.
We have had a beautiful spring filled with lots of outdoor time! Here's a picture I took while were walking at one of my favorite local places.
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