Today is the day we ask the world how much longer??? PLEASE take 5 minutes and do the same! This is mass faxing/mailing/calling campaign that will cover community-wide autism issues. Please, I would do it for your child...
http://www.nationalautismassociation.org/howmuchlonger.php
I've been such a bad blogger lately, I just haven't had time, energy or motivation it seems! Hopefully I'll snap out of this funk soon! Just a quick update though...Xander got all day Kindergarten!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sooooooooo happy this will do so much for our family! I'm going to be doing doubles on Tuesday's and Thursday's and work 8 hours on Sundays, so I can knock out my 40 hours in 3 days and have 4 days a week home w/ my family. I'm going to try it for 6 weeks and see how it goes...I'm nervous, I don't know if I can handle 16 straight hours at work, it's not like I work behind a desk you know, after 8 hours I'm exhausted...so we'll see, but it would be great to be home w/ my family 4 days a week and still get my 40 hours at work.
Work is starting to pick back up, the hospital worked out whatever it needed between the ER docs and Anthem, so we now accept them again, so that's helped...hopefully I'll start getting my hours again, and we can catch up on the bills that we are so behind on.
Miss Kloee the puppy is growing so fast, she no longer looks like a little puppy, but like a miniture german shepherd now. She has begun basic training, teaching normal puppy stuff, sit...leave it...walking on a leash... etc.
She's really smart, but she is such a puppy wild and chewy, I won't miss this stage when it's gone!
I think that's about it for what's new here
Here's a new pic of Kloee and Isaiah
The kids started back to school yesterday. Isaiah took it rough, he's going threw a separation anxiety stage (which he skipped as an infant so I guess he's making up for it)...I could see him trying very hard to hold back the tears. I was praying we didn't have another incidence like we did w/ camp, w/ the full blown meltdowns, and we didn't...so I was very proud of him. Xander was so excited he was awake by 3am! So far we're off to a great start. We won't know until sept 2nd if Xander will be invited into all day kindergarten. More than 1/2 the kids will be invited, so I think his odds are pretty good. I really hope so because I get next to no sleep right now! I get off work, unwind and go to sleep around 3am...get up at 7 am w/ the kids, go back to bed about 9:30/10...and get up at 11 to get Xander to school, so if he went all day I could sleep from 10-1:30 which would make a HUGE difference for me...so we'll see! Here's a few pics of the kiddos...
11 more days till the kids are back in school...11 more days to get my house organized so we can have easy stress free days! I got the mud room turned back into a mudroom yesterday (as opposed to the catchall storage room it had become) Rob put up huge shoe wracks on one of the walls for me...everyone has their own wrack, it looks like a shoe store in there lol, but it's SOOOOOOOO wonderful to have ALL the shoes in one spot LOVE LOVE LOVE it! The back packs have spots, the lunch bags have spots...it's great. Got Tierra's room and closet organized, the boys room and closet is organized everything is organized and pretty much ready to go...now I just need to get the house cleaned as it has become a pit w/ me doing so many projects...I've got 11 days (of which most I work) to get it done...times a ticking!
Tuesday Xander has his kindergarten testing to see if he'll get all day kindergarten or 1/2 day. I'm soooooooo praying he gets whole day, I feel like he needs it...plus it'll just make life so much easier w/ me working and all...I'll update when I know!
So have you thought of doing a walkathon in your area, but don't quite know how to start...there's a great site dedicated just to that...check them out...you might even see a video you recognize over there!
http://walkathonguide.com/
I can't believe how fast this summer is going!!! I have soooo much to do and so little time! I feel like I need to get the house totally organized before school starts. I've gotten tons done! I'm almost caught up on the laundry, and have gone threw all their clothes, and given away what won't fit. Their closets are organized, and ready for back to school shopping! I still need to get the mud room organized so I will have everything organized for shoes and back packs and coats galore! I've found it very difficult to balance, summer fun...work...and all this organization...there's just not enough time in the day! Which is why my blog has been unusally quiet lately! Hopefully once the kids are back to school, and my house is organized I will be back on more! I hope everyone is having a great summer!
I finally got around to tackling my laundry room, something I haven't done since we've moved here. I got it setup w/ an area for my sewing desk, and an area for me to fold clothes. The rooms not totally done, it still needs more electrical run in there, then drywalled before I can finish it. My goal is that eventually the sewing desk will also be where I do all the bills, I want a little lap top or notebook computer in there...and eventually it'll be my little office in there. But for now at least it's functional, something it wasn't before!
Monday~ Burgers and corn on the cob on the grill
Tuesday~BLT's
Wed~Cranberry Chicken and rice
Thur~BBQ Ribs with fresh green beans and bacon
Fri~home made sweet and sour chicken
Isaiah had his week at Camp Circle of Friends...he had a great time and made friends YAY!!! He did have a rough time leaving me every day...on Thursday I decided to stay w/ him...his anxiety levels were just so awfully high, and I knew he would enjoy himself more if I was around. His favorite things were the horse back riding, and the water slide. Here is a video I put together of camp, I'm going Friday on the last day to give it to the volunteers as a thank you.
This week I decided to re-tackle to the playroom. With the new puppy the kids need to keep their toys in a spot where she can't get them or they may be gone! It's not done, I couldn't finish it in just 2 days...but I made a HUGE dent in it. I replaced the flooring, and doubled the size of the room...and bought some of those cheap closet organizers to organize some of their toys. Shoe wracks make the perfect garage for medium sized cars and trucks!
Monday- Hamburgers and baked beans
Tuesday-Spaghetti
Wed-Colorful Kielbasa
Thur-GF/CF Corn Dogs...new for us! Recipe Below
Fri- Chicken and corn on the cob on the grill
Source: Randall Wade, GFCF Kids, Yahoo Groups
1/2 cup gfcf flour blend
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
3/4 cup milk substitute
gfcf hotdogs (I use Bar-S)
You can't tell from the pic real well, but Xander was napping in the hallway. Kloee decided that looked like a great place to nap as well!
Sat. Rob and I were both off of work, so I had set up appt.s w/ breeders to go look at puppies. My trainer had given me a list of characteristics to look for to help select a good trainable service dog...picking a pet is easy you find the cutest one, that is playful and responds the best to your family. I'll admit I was nervous as heck picking out a service dog. But I found one, that matched all the criteria we were looking for. Met her mama who was very sweet and friendly (another criteria). So we decided to take her home. We stopped by petsmart on the way home to find her a harness, shampoo, puppy food, and some toys.
I remembered having a puppy was like having a newborn but what I forgot is that you worry about them like they're a newborn! She slept and wouldn't eat most of the day and I was worried sick! I text my trainer who said she probably was just overstimulated. Made me feel better but was still worried she wasn't acting like a puppy!
By the end of the night she finally ate, and today she's much more energetic so I'm relieved! Hopefully she'll make a good addition to our family!
So, link after link after link Rob read about the benefits of having a service animal for an autistic child...and he is now ON BOARD!!!His only thing was he is not comfortable getting a large dog from a shelter, so he wants to start w/ a puppy. I was hoping to avoid housebreaking and puppyhood, but oh well it's a small price to pay! We are going Saturday to check out 2 different breaders, and w/ any luck we'll come home w/ our new service dog to be!
Monday: Shrimp Scampi with Salad
Tuesday: Chicken Tot Pie with corn on the
Wed:Egg Salad Sandwhich with Corn on the cob
Thur Cranberry Chicken with rice
Fri:Apricot Pork Chops
Ingredients
1 lb. spaghetti noodles
3-4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp butter or margarine
4 garlic cloves, crushed
3-4 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese ( I'm omitting this, but would be good if you do milk products)
About 20 frozen shrimp
Directions
1. In medium saucepan, cook pasta as directed on package. Drain.
2. In skillet over medium high heat, add olive oil, butter or margarine, crushed garlic cloves and parmesan cheese. Stir continuously until starts bubbly. Then reduce heat and add “de-tailed and deveined” shrimp. Let simmer for 6-7
minutes.
3. Once pasta is cooked and drained, add shrimp sauce to the pasta noodles and mix well.
4. Serve
About 2 years ago, I found out there was such a thing as an autism service dog. The benefits of these dogs are numerous...besides being the child's best friend (and often only friend)...the dogs help with socialization's, giving the child something they can talk about with other people...when otherwise they have no idea how to go about having conversations with people. The dogs can be trained to keep the child from running off, alert the parents if the child wakes up in the middle of the night, console a child during a melt down, and interrupt self injurious behavior. The drawbacks are these dogs are SOOOO expensive. The cheapest being around $5000 up to around $20,000...and these are all not for profit companies we're talking about. They say you need to "fund raise" the money...I'm sorry but how the heck do you fund raise that kind of $$$??? I mean seriously, we just did a walk-a-thon and I was psyched to get $500! So the thought of a service dog for Isaiah was put on the back burner...it'd be nice but not for the price of a car!
Then came the school year from hell, and the evil neighbors and I began wanting a watch dog...I may not be able to afford a awesome service dog, but if I could at LEAST have a big scary looking dog that would bark at evil children, I'd feel a little better! I almost had the beautiful Husky Skye, although very friendly and docile, her big wolf like features might deter some bullies away from her!But as you know the husband backed out on that one.
The other night I stayed over at work to sit w/ a suicide patient (which means they pay me to play on the computer LOVE IT!)...after checking my emails, I got bored and started looking up service dogs again for the heck of it, who knows maybe I missed a site before, maybe there were new agencies...if nothing else it gave me something to do. Well, I came across a woman, who trains service dogs for profit, and get this charges $2000...WTF FOR PROFIT??? REALLY??? THAT CHEAP??? $2000 is a much more reasonable amount to fund raise! She wasn't in my area, Colorado I think...but that got me thinking...maybe I could find a private trainer! Well I found over 100 in my area most were just obedience training, but about 40 of them were licenced to train service dogs. I emailed every one of them. One in particular was extremely helpful, and we've emailed back in forth in great length. She is very experienced and is definitely training for the love of it!
Now the next challenge, getting the husband on board! He has moved past the NO phase on to the, I'll consider it stage, so we've made progress lol. I've found numerous links for him to read...I think the biggest problem is, he doesn't understand that this isn't just another pet, this is an actual working dog that could make our lives 100 times better...I mean seriously, going to a store w/ out him darting off in a 1000 different directions all the time, that alone is worth it if the dog does nothing else!!! So we shall see what becomes of this...he did say we'd have to find the kittens homes first before he would consider it...so that's first, I said ok one kitten for one dog lol. Keep your fingers crossed for me! I feel in my heart he is going to come around once he understands that this is something that will have great benefits for Isaiah.
It's pretty amazing to watch this video...it all started w/ a magazine cover, in England...and took off around the world! I'm so proud to have gotten to be a part of it (we're towards the end, North West Indiana !), and have several personal friends in this video, who are the most amazing woman I've ever met! As much as I want to undo my child's autism...I would have never gotten to know how strong and amazing moms can be without it, so for that I'm grateful.
During Autism One, they had a dinner, and at the dinner, was an amazing little boy...who sang and played piano for us...I have a new favorite song! Can't wait to see this kid on American Idol some day lol
I'm back from Autism One, and I must say WOW!!!!!!! What a GREAT experience...it was exactly what I needed! I tell you what, there is nothing in the world like Warrior Moms! What an amazing group of moms! Some days you feel so alone in this flipping battle and when you finally get together like that, and you meet other people going threw the same things you are, and juggling as many shit plates as you are, it's a great experience. This will defiantly be an annual event for me! I met so many of my amazing Internet friends...it was great to see them in person finally and I felt like we'd been friends forever, it was pretty cool. I think I wiped the vendors out of free samples lol...I have 3 tote bags full of STUFF! The lectures were amazing...how often do you get to see the greatest minds in the autism community all under one roof like that??? I must say my favorite was Raun Kaufman...I will post more on him later on, because he was too amazing not to share! I got my autographed book from Jenny McCarthy...I must say, my personality I'm not the awestruck fan type...I really could care less if your famous, I don't know you (not to sound unappreciative to the attention she's brought to our community because I AM grateful!)...but I did do the whole picture thing for the heck of it. I also got to see Age Of Autism speak...and they had a few of the Minnesota Somalian parents with them, and the one mom had the whole room in tears she was pretty amazing. I was bummed I had to miss Andrew Wakefield, he spoke before I got there...maybe next year! Anyway, that's just a few small highlights...like everyone had said, I did leave feeling refreshed, like I can take on the world now...Autism One really is recharging the batteries so we can continue this journey on the quest to heal our kids!
I'm am very excited to announce that I am able to attend the Autism One conference in Chicago this weekend!!! I was approved for a grant that will pay for the seminar itself...I am also going w/ another mom so we are able to split the cost of the hotel room and gas...so it shouldn't be a too expensive weekend...but from everyone I've talked to this is a must attend event.
For those of you who don't know what Autism One is, it's a conference full of over a 100 presenters, the greatest minds in the autism community. What i like is you have so many choices...it's not just at 1:00 you go to this presenter at 2:00 this one...there's usually about 4 different presenters to choose from, which is great since all our kids are different and we're all in a different spot in this journey, or should I say battle!
Another great thing, is I just found out Isaiah was accepted to attend camp circle of friends!!! This is the Summer camp for autistic kids that we did the walk-a-thon for. They can only accept so many kids, and this year Isaiah is one of them!!! I can't WAIT for him to go to camp!!! I hope he has a great time being around other kids like him, and hopefully maybe make a friend!
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