Tuesday, September 27, 2011

The Goat journey begins

So my ASD son had as you know begun high school. He chose Ag as one of his electives. Raise an animal and learn to care, show and sell it to earn some college money. Woot. I just hope my son gets the whole "show" part. He hates people "looking" at him and of course doesn't really like the "unknown". I'm counting my fingers and saying prayers.
Today we took him to his goat number drawing. This is where you wait your turn to draw a number to find out when you get to pick your show goat. Ahh alot of stuff just to pick the goat. Lol.
So on Saturday bright and early we will be at the Ag Barn along with every other Ag kid in the district and wait our turn to pick a goat. Oh yeah did I mention what number my son drew ....140!! We will be waiting awhile. I guess that is why they said it will go from 9am to 5pm. I just hope I can keep him interested and not get fidgety and have to hear "when will we be done" a zillion times. I'm sure I'll hear something from him, but I will pack him something to eat :) that will definitely keep him happy and have a fully charged phone he can goof on. Sometimes there is a time and place for Netflix in your phone - this is going to be one of them.
My husband and I are going into this positively. Animals are his thing so I believe he can do this. I just have to support him and remind him it's okay to make mistakes we are learning together. He doesn't have to know it all yet. I don't want to think of the show part since that isn't until February:)
Here's to the Ag experience!!

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Newest challenge

So my son that started high school, CJ, enrolled in the Ag class at school. I mean duh the kids loves animals and everything that has to do with animals. It's one of his gifts with Autism. He is excited about raising the goat, yep that is the animal he picked. So I'm glad I'm excited too and the teachers for this class are wonderful. They have so much knowledge that CJ just soaks it up. There are sine days when they talk about stuff and he can't write it all down fast enough. His spelling isn't his strong suit so he does what he can and listens to the rest to tell us about when he gets home. So we have paid for the goat and now wait till the end if the ninth to draw for a goat. This is new to all of us so many prayers are needed. I know CJ will do great raising this animal I just worry about showing it at the "fair". He doesn't like everyone "looking" at him and he won't be sure of EXACTLY what he is supposed to do and that equals lots of mommy talking and trying to calm him down. I'm staying positive and hopefully he'll just watch and see what the others do:)

Thursday, September 15, 2011

High School days

So this year my middle son enters high school and my youngest 8th grade. My oldest, my daughter, is still being home schooled, but I wish sometimes selfishly she would just "survive" public school.
Any whoo - I made it a point to contact key people before this high school year began. At the urging of my son's math teacher (and might I say Godsend) I am the squeaky wheel!! I emailed and made sure to ask in what way they would be supporting my son and I with the upcoming school year. I also made sure to remind them that with Autism routine and the unknown changes would be our first hurdle so I would need his school schedule so we could go over everything before his fateful first day. At this school they dint usually get the schedules until the first day which was one of the reasons my daughter struggled and she is now homeschooled. The school was new and not prepared for us or at least that is how I felt. So this time I wanted to start off differently for my son. He can benefit with the socialness of it all.
I did finally get his schedule the Friday before school and prayed that would be enough time. I was also lucky enough to find a maintenance man to help us get his locker open that we were unable to do at orientation. Another thing he was told to handle that first day. Hello **knock on head** he will get to overwhelmed and shut down. Ahh relief he was feeling relieved and he opened it several times after that and we went through that schedule until he felt comfortable.
Us running through the schedule and me taking the time to introduce him to key people so he knew them and they knew him was a huge pay off. I didn't feel like when I sent him to Kinder. UNPREPARED. Not us - ever again!!
He came home so loving it. The one thing bothersome was when I asked him who he had lunch with. I ask them all this question every day. Just to see whose names I hear & stay in touch with who they are surrounding themselves with. He was sad because he sat alone. For three days I would ask the same question and get the same answer. Then one day the answer changed not alot, but it was hopeful. He said that a girl came and talked to him about FISH club and asked if he had anyone to eat lunch with. He answered no and that was the end of HIS conversation. I was so annoyed with him. Why??!! I was telling him that was her trying to reach out and help him feel comfortable, but I had to pull the reigns on myself. Duh he is "autistic" social skills dummy. It's a work in progress. So I tell him you go and talk to her and ask her questions about FISH club. The whole speech about trying to meet new people. My sin has the biggest heart. So day 4 he jumps in my truck and I start to ask the usual questions. Before I get to the lunch question he says she walked over to him again. She gives him more info on FISH club and invites him to eat at the table with her and her friends. He was so happy!! His exact statement "I have new friends!!" I cried all the way to pick up his brother. Happy tears are such a blessing. He said she told him he could sit with them anytime and my son's innocent response, "really??" He's been eating with these seniors ever since. They even added 2 more freshman to the group. (I will say every high school should have stand up kids like the ones running FISH club) FISH club stands for freshman in senior hands!!
Tomorrow a better post not from my phone:) It's 1:35am and I need to try and sleep. Zzzzzz

Saturday, August 6, 2011

In "autism" news

Friday my husband and I attended my middle son's high school freshman orientation. It was a nightmare bit chaotic. It started with us arriving early and picking up his class of 2015 shirt and then being sent to the auditorium. Let me just say I'm glad we got there early because it soon filled up fast and not even all the parents could sit. They they sent us to the gym to watch a pep rally. Just a motivator for the freshman, but we all thoroughly enjoyed it. It reminded me of my high school days of pep rallys and fun. We were then told we would be split up and he would go with a group & the parents would meet with a "counselor". He was already saying he wanted no part of it. Then it was the famous "I don't know". ugh When will this stuff get easier??!! Honestly, I was scared to separate too, but separate we did. I told him to go after I found out we were going to meet up as soon as the thirty minutes were up. We parted, I almost forced him and it took everything I had not to burst into tears with worry. 30 minutes later we met up and he had run into 2 of his friends and was pretty upbeat. Pfew RELIEF!! I made the right choice. 1 point for MOM!!
Then the good stuff. I found a counselor to explain the "schedule" to me because these don't look like the right classes. By the way the "schedule" is nothing but a course selection. UM hello, my son is on the Autism spectrum. He does not really care for surprises or chaos. Not only that as the counselor looks at it - it is wrong. He has 2 classes that are not for freshman. Really??!! Oh yeah they can't fix it now, but they will call me when they get it taken care of. I won't be holding my breath. Problem number 2 - HIS STUPID LOCKER IS BROKE!! Do you know how many times we practice that before school starts along with the schedule. OBVIOUSLY NOT. So they have no one that can fix it now, but they told him he should remind them on the first day of school. NEWS FLASH my son will be already facing new routines, new faces and now I hate to say this a new chaos.
I will be there the week before school starts and do my best to get a real schedule (preferably the right one) and get the locker fixed. Wish us luck - better yet please send us lots of prayers:)

A Day like no other

Today I awoke to hear that 31 men were killed when their helicopter was shot out of the sky. Not only were most of these US men, but some of the SEAL group that worked with the elite who "took care of " Osama Bin Laden. It was with sadness that I watched the news today. The days of banning myself from the one sided news media couldn't keep me from wanting details on the loss of so many men. I knew that this was a bigger loss than the one in 2005 when the US sent in a team to retrieve 4 SEALS & was shot down. Today seemed ominous. I attended my box packing for the troops with my group Cypress Cares and then came home. I had planned to attend my 20 year reunion, but just couldn't bring myself to want to go. How could I and enjoy myself?! I knew I couldn't.

Today a parent received a phone call, saw the news or received a knock on the door and today their world will have changed forever!! God Bless those men and their family's for their sacrifice.

Sunday, July 3, 2011

17!!

So my daughter turned 17 yesterday. 17 I keep saying out loud like it will sink in the more I say it. This is the daughter that also has PDD on the Autism spectrum disorder. She has grown in many ways by leaps and bounds. She still has her moments that if we let her she would have us do everything for her. She wanted a small family get together how awesome is that. We borrowed a moonwalk from one of the organizations I do a website for. A very good organization by the way Krysta's Karing Angels. Check it out if you have the time.
Anyhooo, we jumped in the moonwalk in 100 degree weather. lol it was fun, and had moonwalk battles. We had such a blast. She is still in no hurry to drive THANK GOD!! She is still not good at making decisions on a dime and well, you can't drive in Houston passively. It's like pulling teeth or I get an I don't know to get an answer sometimes. I mean really kid how can you not know??!!! It's one of the trying things to go with autism. At least her great grandmother was in town for the occasion. The day went by to fast. Oh I forgot she declared she has a birthday week lol - just like her mommy!! haha

Saturday, May 21, 2011

The Best Day Ever

I'm an outside gal. I love being outside, always have since I was a little girl. I remember sometimes admiring my surroundings and feeling these tears fill my eyes. I never knew why it just happened. Later in life I recall explaining it to my mom. It was as if I was noticing all this beauty and creation around me and almost felt unworthy to be in it's presence. It just enveloped me how beautiful the world could be. It doesn't take much to make this woman *me* cry, but not for sad things. I still get that I'm so happy feeling of tears or will be watching my now teenagers and something will be said between them or one of them will do something for the other and this sense or pride just overcomes me and sometimes so do the tears.
My middle son, who was diagnosed "autistic" when he was 4, gets that same feeling. Pretty awesome when you think about it. We worked vehemently on picture books to recognize what facial expressions meant. Some things parents take for granted, it's expected to see my grinning from ear to ear and know it's different than when I was aggravated with him. Those days are long gone.
This isn't the first day he has proclaimed the statement - the first time I heard it was 4 years ago. BUT I can say I couldn't remember the last time I heard it. The family started in search of a bike for his younger brother. Off to Academy we went, well it was the third store we stopped at, and my son found a toy grenade.... YES I know probably not what every parent wants their kid to play with, but it's a toy for crying out loud. His logic for wanting it made it sound like a great "game" for the family. When the "trigger" was squeezed it ticked down and then made a sound like it was exploding. Do you know what he thought of it's use should be?....HOT POTATO!!! I loved it. (We played when we got home and had a blast). Next stop was a Walmart, where he was lucky to find a game he had on his "game wish list" on sale for $20. Dad surely couldn't say no to that. There were other games on his list that he could have asked for, but he knows how tight we have to be with our money for now so it killed him for me to even bring it up to Dad. He didn't ask for the game, but I caught him looking in the window and knew he wouldn't ask. He was almost in tears as he and his father walked up to the ticket counter. "Mom", he says sniffling, "I'm so happy". The only reason he asked for the grenade - it was $1.99. Oh how I love my kids. Usually when Dad is off, he is a fireman, once every 2 weeks we try go out to dinner as a family. Dad and I had decided tonight was the night to go to our favorite mexican restaurant. We were seated and he looks at me from across the booth and says mom "This is the best day ever". I laugh and say I hope love bug, when you are older you remember all these "best days" and have some for your own children.

Thursday, May 19, 2011

counting down

Oh, I'm counting down till the kids are out of school. I don't know which is more excited. lol So two more weeks, we have finally gotten rain in the dry old south. I've been working on 2 webpages maybe one more to add. Trying to get this stuff done so our summers can be spent fishing, vacationing, camping and whatever else intrigues us.
The part I'm not excited about - filling out all the paperwork reminding me that my middle son is going to high school next year. UGH!! I can say raising three teens at the same time has it's challenges, but with a good relationship just another day at "the office". Today this boss is taking a late lunch while the workers are arguing amongst themselves. lol
M

Monday, May 16, 2011

For the troops



So yesterday I had my family work our annual Cypress Cares golf tournament. It's CC's biggest fundraiser to help us raise some $$ for shipping our care packages over to the troops. They really appreciate bits of home. We are lucky to receive so many donated items, but the shipping is outrageous. It's about $14 a box, but sending 200 boxes adds up. So every fundraiser we can do sure helps. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and we had so many golfers show up to play. We haven't gotten our figures yet, but I believe we had a successful event. Everyone had so much fun for this wonderful event. We couldn't have asked for better. Next year I hope we get more golfers and more sponsers for our Veterans that play for free:)

Monday, May 9, 2011

Busy Busy Busy

In all my 16 years of being a parent, I have never been as busy having a home schooled daughter and 2 boys in junior high. Of course it probably wouldn't be so bad if I didn't volunteer for so many things, but I just can't help it. I have the time and it makes no sense to just be doing nothing. I get to see my kids at school, get to know their teachers which has helped rid my youngest of bully issues. I volunteer for Cypress Cares, a wonderful organization that packs and ships bits of home to servicemen/women overseas. Cypress Cares is one of my favorite as a child of a Vietnam Vet, I feel this need to make sure all our men and women know how much they are appreciated. I am also a wife of a fireman, and a member at a different fire department myself. I'm pursuing my EMT actually just gearing up now to take the NR test. pfew I'll be so glad when that is over. Right now I do the website for the department along with --- I almost forgot I do the website for another organization I volunteer with called Krystas Karing Angels. This wonderful group supports families who have lost loved ones due to drunk driving. So yeah, my husband says I'm busy, but I couldn't be happier these are all causes I care so much about.
Of course my kids always come first. I don't want to miss anything and since they are still willing to share how could I refuse?!! lol I'm so blessed.
Right now trying to keep up to date on the fires in Texas, the layoff's of some fireman and police and end of the year hooplah for the kids. Um yeah, I'm gonna be busy for a while:)

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

oh take the Sheen away

Well, been pretty preoccupied with the kiddos school stuff and station business. It's time to get the kids ready for next school year - YES it's only March. ugh

So is anyone as annoyed by all this Charlie Sheen business? Please take him away already - off my tv, off the radio and please off the internet. I do not get the lessons we are teaching our kids today. "Yes daughter, if you behave badly you get lots of extra special attention" <---- SARCASM at it's finest. I mean really?!! Oh this poor man. "See kids this is what happens to you when you do drugs" that's what I've been telling mine. Yeah, he's getting media attention and I hope he invested his money well because he won't be doing anything anytime soon. Maybe this man can realize the things that matter are his kids and now he doesn't get to see them.

So with that there have been a burst in some great tv shows hitting the airwaves that deal with maybe shedding some happy tears and in the opportunity in witnessing something miraculous. Coming Home on Lifetime - wonderful show about our fine service men/women coming home. Secret Millionaire - another wonderful touching show. Undercover Boss it's great too. The one I always have my kids watch "What would you do?" Just a small list of shows I love watching for the moments and pieces of hope that are there for everyone to see and share in:)

Hope everyone has a great week, month heck day!

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Where did the paddle go?

I'm sad to say I missed when talk about this first came out in June of last year. It's come up again due to numbers coming in on the amount of tickets being written to elementary students. Yes, that's right - elementary students. If you haven't seen what I'm talking about the article is here Tickets in schools, What the heck has happened to our society. Now misdemeanors are handed out like once "swats" or "paddles" were when I was a kid. I'm glad to say this isn't happening in the district I'm in, but heard some teachers would love for it to be implemented here. I am totally against this of course, but the way kids are today I see where the teachers are coming from. We live in a sue happy time and everyone wants things their way.
I don't remember when we all became a society of making the mighty dollar more than spending time with family. I long for the days of the Blue Law, when most stores were closed so people could either go to church, visit with family or just rest altogether.
People want to complain about the parenting some kids aren't getting and I don't imagine it not to be true, but we as a society helped by taking the one day parents can enjoy being a parent by making them work. Also, what the heck happened to the paddling days anyway. When I went to school if a kid got sent to the office we all knew what that meant and let me say it didn't happen often. They got paddled.
Kids are not stupid as my son will tell you. He saw it at it's best when he would be bullied, but always when a teacher wouldn't "see". They are smart and no the school can't really do anything. They make a phone call to the parent and then it's up to the parent. The same parent that is practically working all hours to provide for their family.
I wish they would give US, the parents, a choice for our kid. I'd say paddle him. They so far have been great kids in school, but if it came to it well there are consequences to their actions. That is what these kids don't get!!!
So instead of teaching them in a different way about consequences, they get a ticket, a misdemeanor and the parent is really the one who pays. Kids get embarrassed so send them to get paddled AT SCHOOL. Paddling would be a great consequence only because the probably get embarrassed.
Alright enough of me on my soap box. Have a great weekend.

Thursday, January 13, 2011

Those pics of candy toss



So I realized I forgot was lazy and didn't ever upload my few pics from candy toss. I'll have to say it was quite enjoyable being atop a firetruck with our Santa and tossing kids, big and small, candy. My kids and I have done it every year since I joined the firestation.
These 2 teenage boys of mine had such a blast as did I. Alli doesn't do the candy toss with us, she hates the sirens and well, with autism it hurts her ears. So she stays with dad or Nana and we go. So my teenage sons and I do our small, but fun part. The best part of our my time doing the toss was hearing my oldest son say, "it makes me happy seeing the kids happiness". Yes this from the child I had to go over flip pages with in elementary to learn to read facial expressions, and who hated loud noises just as much as his sister does. Yes this is my other child with "autism" and he has come leaps and bounds. Whether or not he has autism it would have still made me beam with the comment he made to me. The fact that he has autism only made it a sweeter moment.
My youngest also had a blast and it touched him when he saw a small girl glow after capturing Santa's attention.
When our season of candy tossing ends we get a little bummed, but we remember we have next year. I hope the older they get they still want to go with me like they do now. I get excited at the innocence of children when they see Santa - I think it's what keeps me so young :) lol

New Year's Resolution

So I've decided to be more diligent on my blog. I know everyone says that, but at first when I started this it was my own kind of therapy. I am very motivated in the causes to which I belong and a firm believer that one person can make a difference. I choose to try and be one of those people and hope my children believe they can do it too. It's true by the way. I've seen countless acts of one person coming up with an idea and putting it into action. I have come a long way since 2008 when I the phrase "time heals everything" made me cringe. It's a true phrase I'll give you all that, but at the time when things are at there lowest it's not comforting to hear. At those moments usually it's hard to see past a day let alone to see solace in the future. A future you are clinging onto by fingernails to hope gets better. I've been on twitter off & on for years now, but can say like friends that come at times you need them I have met some crazy, hilarious and innovative people. Some from the world of autism who have comforted and given me insight to my 2 children. Some from the EMT world which I hope after school to be a part of. Some just those that agree and disagree with my politics. For whatever reason I came here to write, I am greatful. I know I won't be sticking to ONE certain topic because I mean really - who only wants to talk or read about one topic. (and if this is therapy lol. I don't typically need therapy on one thing) Either way this is a New Year.