What’s my donation?

The measure of a life, after all, is not its duration but its donation.

~Corrie Ten Boom

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IEPs according to Dr. Seuss

I saw this funny on Facebook today and had to pass it along.  Single Mothers who have Children with Autism had a poem that I know some of us can relate to.

An IEP is an individualized education plan that is made for each student receiving services by the public school system for special needs.  This plan is made by a “team” of people working together to make sure the best is being done for the child.  Administrators, parents, therapists, advocates, teachers, the list goes on and on of who can be on the team.  Needless to say, the IEP meeting doesn’t always go as smoothly as it could because of so many opinions and passionate interests involved.

IEPs According to Dr. Seuss…

Do you like these IEPs?
I do not like these IEPs
I do not like them, Jeeze Louise

We test, we check
we plan, we meet
but nothing ever seems complete.
Would you, could you
like the form?
I do not like the form I see.
Not page 1, not 2, not 3.
Another change,
a brand new box, I think we all
Have lost our rocks.
Could you all meet here or there?
We could not all meet here or there.
We cannot all fit anywhere.
Not in a room
Not in a hall
There seems to be no space at all.
Would you, could you meet again?
I cannot meet again next week
No lunch, no prep
Please here me speak.
No, not at dusk and not at dawn
At 4 p.m. I should be gone.
Could you hear while all speak out?
Would you write the words they spout?
I could not hear, I would not write
This does not need to be a fight.
Sign here, date there,
Mark this, check that,
Beware the student’s ad-vo-cat(e).
You do not like them
so you say
Try it again! Try it again!
and then you may.
If you let me be,
I’ll try again
and you will see.
Say!
I almost like these IEPs
I think I’ll write 6,003.
And I will practice day and night
Until they say
“You’ve got it right.”

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Happy Mother’s Day, Mama

 

Thank you so much for being the one to teach me…

  • to sing in the good times and in the bad times.  Music is special to me because of you.
  • the way to spell JOY is:  Jesus, Others, then You.
  • that hard work pays off.
  • that nothing comes between me and my family.
  • that Christ is the cornerstone who has the strength to carry me.
  • Faith in Christ + ANYTHING = NOTHING
    Faith in Christ + NOTHING = EVERYTHING

I love you oh-so-much and am so thankful for the family ties you have given us and the godly heritage we can continue to build this family on.

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Overflowing

This Spring has brought an overflow of blessings.  I am sitting here physically tired (and I just woke up!) from trying to keep up with God.  He has put His hand on our family and I want to praise Him for it.

Our family is closer knit together than ever before.  This seems like such a small thing; but it is HUGE!  Chris and I have always had a good marriage.  He is kind, hard-working, and loyal.  A wife can hardly ask for more.  Plus, he is a hunkie hunk!  Jackpot! I know!  It just seems to me lately like in our family there is such sweet harmony and cooperation.  While we’ve never been fighters, we are in sync even more now.  Only God can do that and I am so thankful He has chosen to bring us closer.

Kayla is a blessing to me in ways I can’t explain.  She has a very curious mind which questions everything in a learning way.  Sometimes this will push a mama to the edge.  I remind myself often that she is learning and processing every minute of every day.  Right now, she is forming an image of wife, mother, worker, friend, sister, daughter, christian.  Right now, while she watches me, she is seeing what works, what doesn’t, and what we can “get away with”.  Lord, help me be an example of You and Your love.  Kayla has also taught me to be more compassionate – that everything is not black and white.  She is a beautiful picture of accepting others and how to have wide open fun.

 

Kayla is also gulping in her school work.  She is changing and learning at warp speed.  This school year is so close to being over and it couldn’t have gone better.  Kayla easily picks up concepts that I know I didn’t even begin to learn until I was much older.  My favorite part of her progress this year has been her advances in reading.  She has taken off in this avenue and there’s no stopping her now!  Praise the Lord!

My Bekah is physically getting stronger (PRAISE THE LORD), and is forming some opinions of situations (PRAISE THE LORD), but with these come new challenges.  She is amazingly tall for a three and a half year old.  With her new strength and growing length, she is getting even harder to hold.  With her new formed opinions, she doesn’t always want to be held.  I love changes with Bekah because changes mean progress!

 

We purchased a new special tomato chair on a ridiculous sale for her after borrowing a chair from school to see how it would work.  She likes to play in the chair and watch some shows with big sister.  Right now, Wonder Pets, and Elmo are her favorites.  It is nice for her to have a chance to be independent from anyone.  We are hoping to build some form of a tray for her with this chair though.  She still needs a little help with keeping toys and being able to play.

 

Bekah has started with a new occupational therapist.  We go see her at a clinic now and Bekah LOVES it.  She has great equipment that Bekah can learn on and new toys that Bekah has never seen.  So far, Bekah’s favorite activity has been Mrs. Cathy’s swing.  I’ll have to show you some video of this soon!  Mrs. Cathy has a huge bin full of dried beans and uncooked noodles.  Bekah digs and digs in the bin with her feet and hands.  Love it!

 

Also, Rebekah just got her newest pair of AFO’s.  They are humongous compared to her first pair.  We are back to breaking them in and the process is hard.  Lots of trips to the orthotist to get them fixed up just right.  Bekah’s cute purple butterflies are so cute and girlie.  It’s a nice touch that Jake and the guys do for their patients.

 

We are digging further into her vision issues.  Everything she does physically is affected by her vision.  She tilts her head and will only perform tasks in certain positions.  We are realizing now, that this could be the key to unlocking some of her physical setbacks.

 

Speech therapy is going well.  Bekah goes twice a week to Dynamic Therapy and works with Miss Elisabeth.  They are practicing with a Maestro and getting better and better at using it for a communication device.  Bekah’s very own device will be ordered soon and then she will have a tool to communicate all the time.  How exciting!

 

So many changes.  So much progress.  I am overflowing!

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RUN FOR YOUR LIFE

Sooooo…

After picking up Bekah from school today, I stopped at a neighbor’s house on our road for a photo opportunity.  They have two of these beautiful blooming shrubs in their yard.  I don’t know the family that lives there, but I thought they surely wouldn’t mind us snapping a few pictures of my beautiful girls in front of their beautiful shrubs.

 

So, I get Bekah out of the car and set her down in Kayla’s lap.  I’m doing my song and dance to make Bekah laugh and look at the camera (you know the happy whistles, tongue clicking, name calling, and finger snapping.), when all of the sudden, Kayla hears a large bumble bee buzzing around her ear.  I don’t know about your kids, but when it comes to bugs, Kayla’s plan of attack is RUN FOR YOUR LIFE.  Just as I snapped the picture, she started yelling “Come get Bekah! Come get Bekah! Come get Bekah!”.  So with brows furrowed, hair flying, Bekah’s leaf grabbin’, and bee buzzin’, Kayla nearly chucked Bekah right off her lap and onto the mossy ground.  I tried to settle everyone down and try for one more picture.  Kayla was not having it!  She marched straight for the car because she could see all the other bees now.  I figured this wasn’t a time to negotiate; so we headed home for naps.

 

Even though this picture didn’t turn out quite how I had imagined in my mind, I am so glad we have it.  You can see in this picture just how very much Bekah adores her sister even if she is completely frozen with fright?!?!

 

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A Ray of Sunshine

This girl is a joy to be around.  She lights up around family and friends.  She is an entertainer, a playmate, and an inquisitive observer.  Kayla can memorize like you wouldn’t believe, loves to sing, and can put away the clean silverware faster than I can.  She has decided that she wants to be a veterinarian, an orthotist, a special education teacher, an artist, and a mama when she grows up.  She doesn’t shy away from work and jumps up when you ask her to do a favor for you.  She still doesn’t want to go to bed on time, but that’s just because she wants to hang out “just for a little bit longer”.

Kayla drives me to be better; to be my best.  She makes me want to pour into her because I see her potential.  I just can’t wait to watch the journey unfold what God has planned for her.  She has a tender heart for others and is fiercely devoted to her family.

I’m so very thankful the Lord brought her to us and allowed us to be family.  I’ve learned things about myself, about my husband, and about my God, just by being around Kayla. 

In a week she’ll turn seven.  Where has the time gone?  Everyone warned me not to blink my eyes… for time won’t slow down or wait for us.  I clearly remember that sunny Sunday afternoon when I finally held her in my arms for the first time.  She has been a ray of sunshine ever since!

Mama loves you very much Kayla!

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A Beautiful Doodles book for my Beautiful Doodler

Kayla has really been enjoying this book I found for her. She is a very creative girl. I love how this doodle book sparks her imagination and let’s her run free. I found this book at Marshals. But, after some investigation, I found out there are multiple editions with different themes. Most can be found on Amazon.

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The book starts the page and you finish it out however you see fit.

 

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My, have you been to the salon?!?!

 

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Not sure how my pictures fell in upside down…  The cupcakes might dump right off the page!

 

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Kayla loves bubble baths – – can you tell from this picture!?!

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Bekah’s Buttons

I’ve had a little time this morning and have been working on setting up buttons on my iPad for Bekah to start making choices.

Won’t it be fun for her to have a choice for an activity? I’m excited for her to learn about cause and effect in this way.

Here are some of the buttons I’ve set up so far. I’ll add some food choices in for her too. Peas or carrots?!?

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New access = New toys

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First of all, please let me say that I am pretty sure miss-matched clothes are VERY “in” this year!  Anyway, even if they aren’t, this girl is so super cute!

 

We borrowed this TumbleForm seat from Rebekah’s school over Spring break to see if something like it might work as some in-home seating for her.  Rebekah’s teacher said that the chair had not been used for Rebekah in the classroom but that we could try it out at home. I was optimistic that we could somehow make it work for Rebekah and also adapt it so that it could be another option for her in the classroom as well. We had a great time this week trying the seat in different areas of the house and in different positions for Rebekah. While I was cooking dinner, Bekah had a chance to play and explore on her own in the Tupperware cabinet for the first time EVER. I realized what a huge thing this was for our sweet little girl.

 

You see Rebekah can’t sit, walk, or crawl on her own.  This makes movement quite restricted for her.  In our home, Rebekah has a high chair strapped into our dining room table chair that she is quickly outgrowing.  Something like this:

It is very close to impossible to get her little arms in and out of the straps without bending them into all sorts of weird angles.  Other than this tiny highchair, Rebekah has no seating in our home.  She is either in her highchair, rolling on the floor, in her crib, or being held by one of us in a sitting position on the floor.  As you can imagine, this can become frustrating for Rebekah and for us.

 

It was so fun to see her adorable face light up with excitement when I opened the cabinet and let her have at it.  She discovered different shapes, different colors, and different textures.  She learned that different bowls make different sounds when you jabber into them and bounce them onto the floor.  She also learned that Mama and Daddy will pick them up if you slide them far enough across the floor.

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As Rebekah ages, we are learning that she has quite a sense of humor.  Rebekah loves to make other people laugh and has a good belly laugh anytime she finds something particularly funny. – – Usually big sister Kayla gets the best laughs! We love to hear her laugh!

 

We had to try a Tupperware hat.  Hats are the best!

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This little smile lights my life!

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Well, the TumbleForm had to go back to school this week.  The good news is that Mama made a strap to send back to school so that Rebekah can now use the seat in the classroom.  This chair will now be another option for her while she is at school.  We’ve also found a similar seating system that we think will work for her here at home.  (More on this later!) Hooray for options that will equal access and interaction!

 

See the cool pink buckle strap my Mama made?!?

 

 

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What’s for lunch?

Rebekah thought this was so funny.

What am I supposed to do with this crazy thing? Bang it?

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Smack it?

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Hide it for later?

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Oh! Eat it!

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“Thanks Mom for my yummy lunch!”

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