Keeping My Cool.....kinda

You know you're feeling really low, when a phone message left from your insurance company makes you cry.

Wasn't sure what they even wanted, just left a message to call. Still the minute I get messages like that, the red flag goes up.

So I get the files of paperwork out before I even call so that I am prepared.
Sit on hold for 15 minutes and listen to the wonderful music and the occasional ad about how great they are.
Think to myself that maybe they are calling to congratulate me because my family has spent over a million dollars in equipment and we win something.

No such luck - When the conversation starts off with "Hi Ms. S. how are you feeling today?"
me: "Fine, until about 30 minutes ago and I got your message."
Rep: "Well we have reviewed some of your son's claims"

SIRENS START GOING OFF
RED LIGHT FLASHING
WARNING WARNING - $hits gonna hit the fan in 10.....9....8....7....6....5....4...3.....2.....1

Rep: "After reviewing his files, we see that there has been a mistake on our part and we need to put a hold on claims until further investigation can be made."
me: "Pardon?" "Put on hold?""What mistake on your end?"

Rep: "Well it seems that we declined some claims and we shouldn't have."
me: "OMG....."

They messed up!!! They called to tell me THEY MESSED UP. OK so they aren't on my $hit list today. :)

I had a mini heart attack waiting for the bomb to drop and the conversation actually ended up pretty good. Thank God I didn't lose my cool early in the conversation!
That was my "Keeping Cool" example.

Today wasn't the day to start anything with me! I am already ticked off at our other insurance about getting a stander for Daniel.

My example of "NOT keeping my cool"

Apparent insurance company "C" doesn't think Daniel needs to stand. We got denied a stander. That with his diagnosis is there really any point to it. YEP pretty much said that. To which my reply is....with your "diagnosis" is it really necessary for your to eat or breathe? I mean whats the point?

I would just love for some of these reps to be in our children's place for a week, hell how about a couple hours? Have them have to be dependent on someone to help them sit up or feed them, or help them "play" for gosh sakes. WTF? Does he really need to stand ? What are the benefits? Is this cost effective? Are you f*ckin' for real? C'mon. Really?

Look at the picture below, check out his accomplishments....
What do you think? Does he deserve to stand up and look eye to eye with his peers?

I hate some people. I really do. Some person sitting at a desk, flippin through papers, gets to decide what abilities my son gets. Some person sitting on their high horse, gets to decide that my son doesn't get to stand up with support to help him because it isn't "cost effective". I hope that when you're flippin through someones life eating your little snack at your desk that you don't choke, because I won't help you. And its really unprofessional for you to eat & smack your lips while you're on the phone you nitwit! Hope your Cheetos were enjoyable!

Ok I'm done. Thanks. Have a good frickin' day.
And people wonder why I'm a b*tch?!

Wordless Wednesday

New Medicine - Zanaflex

A week or so ago Daniel had a doctors appointment.
Things have been discussed at prior appointments about Botox, surgery and/or medications to help with Daniel's spasticity.

Prior to now, I have always declined these options. I never felt Daniel was "bad" enough to warrant any of those options yet.

Well this time, after some discussion it was decided that we should try it. Because of Daniel's recent growth spurts and weight gain we were going to try Zanaflex for the spasticity in his legs. The reason for the Zanaflex over the Baclofen is because it doesn't seem to lower the threshold for seizures.

Even after agreeing to try it I was very nervous, I still didn't think Daniel was horribly bad. I did the typical research and asked other parents of children with cerebral palsy. I got mixed results, some hated it and some think its the best thing since sliced bread.
Had I gotten overwhelming comments that it was horrible I would have not even attempted it. But I would then have always second guessed the decision.

So about 12 days ago we started him on a very very low dose- 1/4 of pill (1/2 mg.) in the a.m. and another in the p.m. I told the doctor, that I would give it a couple days and see if there was a difference in Daniel.
Not necessarily the spasticity, but if this was going to knock him out and make him loopy I wasn't going to continue to use it. I wanted my child's cognitive level to remain good more than I wanted him to take steps and be loose.

I went in with the thought, OK lets see how badly this med screws Daniel up.
Well the first couple of days, he did sleep a lot and seemed kind of wacky.
I talked myself into giving it to him the 3rd day, telling myself "You gotta give it time, see what school and the therapists think".
Well since the 3rd day, Daniel has been the same personality wise, and he is still here mentally, doesn't' seem fuzzy. My main concern. He actually is more touchy now-- he is able to move his arms and hands to feel your face and hair. Or he likes to pat me on the back!

There has been a marked difference in the spasticity of the body too. He is able to move his left leg with better steps. Actually lifting instead of dragging it. Good thing.
BUT (there always has to be a but right?!)
Where I thought he was strong, he wasn't as strong, it was all the tightness in the body that made him appear to be strong. The good thing is that the medicine is helping the tone, and allowing us to be able to work on the weak areas more easily instead of not at all. So for now we will continue with this med. IF we see negative reaction to it, we can get him off it pretty quickly and he will be back to his normal.

Although I don't like pumping meds into him - I prefer this over the surgery. And who knows, someday maybe the meds won't be enough and we'll have to look at the other alternatives.
Here is a photo of Uncle Daniel with his sister Alexandra's newest baby - Chase.
WOW, this made me realize just how big Daniel is getting! (excuse Daniel's hair - his aunt who cuts his hair is in Texas!)

Interesting Google Search

It's funny the things people are looking for in Google searches.
What is even more odd is, when they do these searches...our blog is coming up as a hit somewhere along the line.

Here are some of our favorites.

how do you stop snots from coming when you sneeze (um yeah, good luck with that)

when i get sick my boogers are green (c'mon...really?)

picture of a sneezing person (why?)

pictures of snots and sneezing (was the sneezing person just not enough for you?)

boogers normal (what is a normal booger???)

boogers nasal hair (ouch)

my child has stuffing nose booger (wow...a kid with a stuffy nose and boogers? very strange)

why is snots green (lol)

picking boogers with fingernails (yep...that's how you do it)

picking boogers with fingernails videos (for the person who just can't seem to figure it out)

green boogers when sick (what color were they BEFORE you got sick??)

snots (yep, that about covers it)

put heat on unpopable zits (not related to boogers, but I loved the 'unpopable zits'...next name for my band.)

hard versus sticky boogers (hmm...i wonder who won? my money is on sticky)

green boogers of cp (are these different than green boogers of non cp?)

how to get a child to get the boogers out of his nose (have finger, will travel)

can green boogers be normal (better question....can green boogers NOT be normal?)

are green bugars normal (yes, but spelling it 'bugars' is not)

green booger like coming out of mouth (TMI)

boogerectomy (one of my all time favorite terms)

what are normal boogers (how would YOU answer this question?)

Is it normal to have hard boogers? (not if you get them out in a timely fashion)

booger nose dolphin (the famous cousin of the bottlenose dolphin perhaps?)

Now, with all that you've just seen....
Do you think perhaps I might write way too much about boogers?
I didn't think I did....but perhaps I do!

Boogers, boogers and more boogers!

SIGH...Sucks Being Old!

Nothing makes one feel old more than when your children have birthdays. Brittany turned 20 last week, and next week Victoria will be 16. AND those two are not even the oldest kids...Caitlin will be 24 in August and Alexandra will be 22.

I take that back, Alexandra made me feel older when she made me a Grandmother!

How about Caitlin making me feel old when she said I needed to get with the times and get "Facebook". She created an account for me and that was last week.....I still can't figure out what the heck I'm doing on there!

Better yet, be at the store with your oldest daughter (23+) and your youngest son (3) and someone mistakes you for the grandmother. SWEET....Thanks for making my day!

Here's another one: "Why are you wearing that? You look like a grandma in that-I suppose you're wearing grandma undies too!" Nice, thanks for that image booster Tori, I appreciate it!

Then there is always the call from my daughter that is at college. We have a full conversation where I think she is talking about one thing in her college style lingo, and come to find out during the 15 minute conversation ...we're not even on the same page, hell we're not even in the same book! Not even close to talking about the same thing. Duh!!

Sometimes its not even a child who has to do something to make me feel older. There is the issue with my left knee which makes it almost impossible to squat down to pick up Daniel off the floor, or sit Indian style on the floor. OLD

Or waking up in the middle of the night with "hot flashes" or what I am assuming are hot flashes. Forgetting what the heck you were just doing seconds ago...so you walk back to the room you were just in thinking you'll remember. Doesn't work!

Mood swings- I'm going to say this comes with getting older. My girls will tell you that I've always been this way (they lie, did I ever tell you that??)

The yearning to always want to sleep. I use to hate sleeping, thought it was wasting the day away. Now, Sleep is my friend. I LOVE SLEEPING, I crave it. I look at the clock and think ooh only 8 more hours and I can go to bed. LOL I get excited when Daniel takes a longer than normal nap--cause then I can nap too!!

Anyone else feeling old? Or is it just me?!?! I always wanted to be that hip cool mom (I think thats the lingo they use) not the frumpy old fart mom. But Hey...at least I am a good mom! (I think!)

IEP - My New Approach (amended)

Going to the IEP tomorrow.

There are so many horror stories I've heard.
Last years went really well, so why do I worry?

Fear of the unknown. Not sure what will happen.
Losing my cool. Comment crappy about my kid, and I lose it
Say he can't do something that he is able to do...I bite heads off.

I might seem easy going, but I will give you my opinion and not in the most calmest ways. This is to anyone not necessarily school.

So the new approach-

I know what Daniel can do and I know what Daniel will be able to do.
IF the right people are in place to assist him.
IF the people involved in his days don't already have doubts about Daniel.

IF the people involved find alternative methods for letting Daniel express himself.
IF those people who are there to help Daniel are willing to think outside the box, because Daniel is not your typical child.
IF those people involved with Daniel are willing to listen to what he has to say.

Just because he doesn't have his words, doesn't mean he isn't speaking to you. You might have to listen in Daniel's language, but you need to watch and listen. You'd be amazed at what you hear. He is truly brilliant

My new approach- I will not stress over what other people think....I don't care, we are not here to make you happy. YOU are here because I think you will be able to help Daniel. Otherwise, you won't be here and we will find someone else to aid Daniel because Daniel's potential is endless. DO NOT put limits on my child.....it will be your biggest mistake, because we will prove you wrong.

I fully believe our IEP will go well, and hey if it doesn't....We will fix it!

Another one of my favs from our photo session:

Look in those eyes...there is an extremely beautiful person in there. Count yourself among the lucky to have your life touched by a very cool kid. :) Of course I'm his mom, I can say that!

AMENDMENT: IEP went really well. All that stress over nuffin'!
We have a good team working for Daniel, seems we are all on the same page on everything.
We will talk more later about a big decision.......and transportation!! Little do they know-- I still have to get the ok from dad too!

Here's Something Cool

Daniel's speech therapist sent this to me in an email....thought it pretty interesting.

Imagine how things will be with augmentative devices in the coming years...


Thanks Pat!

Twitter Telepathy: Researchers Turn Thoughts into Tweets

Amazing....What A Picture Can Tell You

Remember a couple months back--come on think back.
I told you guys about Daniel being able to participate in "The Littlest Heroes Project"

I won't bore you with all the photos today (but I will over the next week or so and I'll post some more!) PHOTO ALERT!!
This one captures Daniel being the ham that he is. This photo some parents wouldn't think of getting printed...I on the other hand love it. Daniel in the middle of a full belly laugh.
THIS is truly Daniel-happy.

I envy people who have this talent of capturing someones "being" in a photo, a simple click of a button and wham.......you forever get to see how that person is feeling at that split second. It's also amazing the emotion that comes when I look at this picture..... Andrea truly has a gift.

If you're ever in Michigan and need a photographer---Mishka Photography (you can see the button on the right side!). Very personable and very professional - EXCELLENT

Busy Busy Bee

This week has just been incredibly busy.
If you ask me why or what I was doing...
I can't tell you exact, but I know I've been constantly doing "something"
and I never feel like I get anything done.

Needless to say my "To Do" list is just as long as it was 7 days ago!
So many things to update on that I won't begin now as it is too late and I need to sleep.
Of course tomorrow when I don't have time again I'll be saying...."I shoulda done it yesterday!"

Here is the newest crown design...
I had fun with this one! This is just one example. You can have Black- Eyed Susan flowers instead of the white daisies...possibilities are endless. Why shouldn't mom feel special on her favorite day!! Queen for the Day!

Then I just have to show you how cute Piper is in her crown.
Is she not the cutest!?! Her mom is having a Blogoversary Giveaway on her blog also...go check it out"Fraase Family". This is a really cool Giveaway and she's helping other in the process. Can't get any better than that!

Crazy Eights

Alrighty - it has been a whopper of a week and my first post back is this little meme. I got tagged by Keri over at "Life of Logan"

Rules, because there are always rules:
- Mention the person that tagged you.
- Complete the lists of 8's.
- Tag 8 of your wonderful bloggy friends.
- Go tell them you tagged them!

8 THINGS I LOOK FORWARD TO(not in any specific order):
* Sleeping
* Daniel standing unsupported by himself
* School being out so Daniel can sleep in (and me too!)
* Getting Daniel Eco 14 set up completely how we want
* Getting Daniel's IEP this Friday over with!!
* Brittany to come home from school for the summer
* Caitlin & Alexandra to get married to their significant others
* Tori to have a successful softball season

8 THINGS I DID YESTERDAY: (sheesh I don't know that I can remember)
*Went to Daniel's speech therapy
*Cleaned the house
*Sewed an eagle beak for a play
*Made some more custom crowns
*Made phone calls for insurance issues (oh joy)
*Went to bed right after Daniel went to bed! nice!
*Got 2 bikes from my sister in hopes that I will ride and be skinny
*Paid bills

8 THINGS I WISH I COULD DO:
* Find about 10 extra hours in a day.
* Help Daniel to become stronger so he can be like every other little boy
* Give Daniel his voice
* Be more talented.
* Have more than one of me so I can be everywhere and not miss out on anything
* Get my parents back but healthy
* Not be so stressed all the time
* Be wiser, so I knew I was making the right decisions instead of guessing and hoping I'm doing things right.

8 SHOWS I WATCH:
* American Idol
* Anything on Food Network
* Sponge Bob (not by choice)
* Max & Ruby (has anyone ever noticed that there is NEVER a parent around?!)
* Medical Mysteries
* Any cartoon that will make Daniel and Lonnie :) happy.

8 BLOGGERS TAGGED
I don't like tagging, as I can never get anyone to do it!! So if you read this and you'd like to be tagged and have a little fun....I now tag YOU!!

Birthday Party Giveaway!

WIN IT!!! AN $80.00 VALUE!!

One of you lucky readers is going to win their own "Better Than Normal" birthday party set! This includes one special customized & personalized crown for your child and 5 additional basic crowns for party favors/hats for the guests! No two crowns will be alike!

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO HAVE A BLOGGER ACCOUNT, JUST LEAVE A COMMENT OR ENTER YOUR BLOG IN ON MR. LINKY!!

YOU ONLY HAVE TO DO ONE OF THE WAYS TO ENTER OR YOU CAN DO ALL TO GET EXTRA ENTRIES!!!

Ways To Enter:

1. Take either of our cute buttons (Daniel's or Better Than Normal Bee) and put it on your blog.
   (Or, if you want me to love you forever, take both!)
   
   
   
   
   <a href="http://betterthannormal.org/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="photobucket"src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh12XvbeX_fX42RAjP8qbYnBa4CSK-f4z0VBeidWLwm7vLE3MU5GAqBnxcQGL4o3fFDZAzrBlEjG79J9ExXQKRQNNZdJ3HTIyLZoCMGqeMKCc_3-ZeRoEDboBYSgeGJzlihhIJt_ShFnyM/"/></a>
   
   
   
   
   <a href="http://danielspranger.com/" target="_blank"><img border="0" alt="Photobucket" src="http://i732.photobucket.com/albums/ww323/vidasista/daniel.png"/></a>
   
2. Visit BetterThanNormal.org and tell me which special crown you would want if you won!
3. Become a follower if you aren't already on either this blog or my other blog. ( Be SURE to do this! Lots of people have missed out by skipping this step! Do it on both you get 5 extra entries!!)
4. MUST DO: Post a comment on this post telling me which of the above or below you did!. If you don't have a blogger account remember to add your email address so I can contact you!
   

If you'd like EXTRA Entries:

1. Post about this giveaway specifically on your blog and link back to here for 10 extra entries.
2. For FIVE extra entries, purchase anything from Better Than Normal before the end of this giveaway. If you win your original purchase will be refunded plus the shipping.
3. Follow me on twitter - 2 extra entries
4. Tweet about this giveaway. Please leave the link to your "tweet" in a comment. - 1 extra entry
   

Contest ends at 11:59pm EST on April 30th when I will draw a winner at random. PLEASE leave your email address if it is not visible on your profile. I will notify the winner and they will have 36 hours to respond before I will choose a new winner!

Obviously, if you already have my button and are already a follower, all you have to do to enter a comment on the giveaway post and you could easily win!

Isn't that simple?!?! Just enter your name into Mr. Linky below and then leave a comment telling me if you did any of the extras!!

Contest open to US & Canada...Spread the word!!

Cerebral Palsy Awareness Winner

Well I hope that everyone had an enjoyable Easter weekend.

We kind of laid low and took it easy. We're a little hesitant having Daniel out and about since this is the first week in a long long time that he hasn't been sick!

That being said, it gave me time to work on things that desperately needed to be worked on around the house. Got curtains made for two rooms, got a few rooms cleaned, put together Daniel's BlueWave Potty Chair (and got peed on...what more could I ask for?!)
While I did these types of things that were much needed, Lonnie and Daniel worked on colors, shapes and playing trains.

I also got to work on making a few new crafts. Crafts are my "release". I can just relax and do them at my own pace. I have an "Ahhh moment" and just chill.

So if you can remember, last month was Cerebral Palsy Awareness Month.
Our "blogger friend" and mom to Logan & Levi had a little contest to raise awareness.

One of my crowns was to be a prize. Melanie from the Fraase Family Blog got to pick a crown for her daughter. Melanie was very cool (must be something with the name?!) and gave me some ideas of what her daughter liked and I got to get a little creative. I love when people let me come up with things! Of course after I'm done I'm nervous they won't like it either! LOL
So if you'd like to check out what the new "reversible customized" crown looks like, check out my other blog! Hopefully Melanie and her daughter Piper will enjoy it.....I enjoyed making it :)

What Happened?

I remember when everyone at the company I worked for use to say I was a neat freak.
--My house is a frickin' pig sty
Someone would walk by my office and I knew where everything was.
--Don't even think I could tell you where the car keys are half the time
I could tell you what was said during what meeting and who attended.
--Not a clue to what happened last week, let alone who was around me!
I could tell you almost word for word a conversation that happened months prior. They use to say I had the memory of an elephant.
--What did you just say?
I was so organized that everything was color coded in my files so if anyone had to come step in they could figure it out easily. I worked for a Japanese company, when you left work your desk was to be completely cleared of any papers. I would always get the compliments from the management on how organized I was and now my office looked.
--If someone from that company came into my house now they would have a heart attack. Drop right on the spot. I kid you not.
I was the trouble shooter, I took care of the emergencies, the line down situations with the Big 3. I was the one who got those "oh crap we're in trouble calls" and I took charge.
--Now I get phone calls and I am clueless, it takes me the better part of the conversation to finally figure out what issue the person is talking to me about and which child. I now usually end up getting off the phone in tears of frustration
I was the person that people came to for help because they were lost in an argument with a supplier and needy my "b*tchy" problem solving side to come out, and I would "win" because I wouldn't back down, I knew I was right and if I wasn't I was going to convince them I was.
--Why am I not winning anymore?

What the heck happened to me?!?
Somewhere along the line in the past few years that person up and took off!
I used to come home from work proud of what I had accomplished. I might have complained about it some, but then again who doesn't?

I miss that person. I miss not feeling that I am accomplishing something important. Sometimes my hubby will come home from work and tell me about an issue at work and how he is frustrated with it. I just look at him with envy. I would love to be that person I use to be, that person who felt important, that person that people looked too for guidance, the answer person. I always knew what was going on with the company and I was always the first to know things from management. I was someone.

Why does being a SAHM make me feel like I don't do anything? I do tons of things I know. I try to manage our lives, schedule things, keep bills paid with money my husband brings home. I am a care giver, a teacher of sorts, a part time pretend doctor, cook...whatever.

The question I ask myself is WHY can't I feel important as the SAHM and feel like I am contributing to our lives in a worthy, important way?
Somewhere along the line, I lost pride in myself. Lost the self esteem that I once had in myself.

Did it happen because I am not in the "working world" anymore?
Did it happen because I feel like I failed my child(ren)/husband?
Did it happen because with everything that is going on in our lives that we don't have time for maintaining a relationship?

None of this probably makes sense to a lot of people.
All I know is some how the Melanie from 2001 does not exist and is not the Melanie in 2009.
And at times that makes me very sad.

What Is More Important?

Which is more important to Lonnie; Opening Day at Tigers Stadium or Good Friday?
C'mon take a wild guess?!

One Of Those WOW Posts

There are times when I go to certain blogs to get a laugh.
Then there are time where I visit others because I know that they walk in the same shoes I do.
Some times I cruise the blogs to see if I can find information on things to help Daniel.
Then there are the times where I read something and it just gets me choked up, feels like a kick in the stomach, and I know what they are feeling.

Here is an excerpt from Rachel's Blog of a post she recently wrote:

These words almost became my mantra… “Thank you, no. This is my life. I need to be able to do this with or without help.”

Then, one day… I crashed and burned.
It’s true.
I couldn’t be strong, not for another minute.
I was curled up, in the fetal position, on the floor of our apartment and I could not stop crying… no it was more like wailing… I couldn’t stop wailing. I called Aaron at work and told him, “You have to come home. I can NOT do this!”

I broke.

I snapped.

I couldn’t imagine one more day, let alone many more years, of being strong AND brave AND responsible AND managing it all. It was just too much.

But I learned something that day, yes, the day that I was completely leveled by the thought of cracking open a can of soup and making a grilled cheese sandwich for Leah, I learned that sometimes you don’t have to be brave or pull up your boots and tromp through the waist deep mud. I learned that sometimes you’ve got to retreat.

Go to a safe place.

Lick your wounds.

Gather your strength.

Not only is there nothing wrong with retreating… it is necessary at times......

I’m not Wonder Woman or Supermom.

I am just me.

And I am sitting here pondering how sweet
sad
fragile
short
and exquisite life is.

Sometimes, I need to be reminded to take my own advice… and retreat.

Check out more of the post over at Rachel's Blog. She is a mom of two very special children, who are very lucky to have her as their mom.
My heart ached for her when I read her post.

But she is so right, how many of us Special Needs Parents brush off the help from others because we feel we need to stand strong and be the "Super Hero" parent?

Sometimes, its ok to be sad, upset, scared of what is coming, of what is happening right now, of the loss of the life you thought you were going to have. So RETREAT! like Rachel says, have your mini-melt down, get your thoughts together and start the next day. But know this, you are NOT alone, and you are NOT a bad person for feelings/thoughts that you have!

Do You Have a Code Word?

Remember when you were growing up and your parents taught you a secret "code word"?

You and your parents agreed on a code word that is easy to remember. This way, if anyone told you that you need to go with them because your parents were hurt or in the hospital, you'd can ask them for the code word. If they know the code word that you and your parents shared, it was safe to go with them. If they do not know the code word, you were supposed to run away from them as fast as possible.


Well our purpose of the code word is different from what I described above, but just wanted to give you the idea of why. Daniel's therapist gave me the idea because part of therapy sometimes involves cooking. We will change the word for home because the word the therapist used, we will use too often (therapy code word - delicious) for my stellar cooking skills! OK...so Lonnie stop laughing its not that bad.

Anyways, the purpose of the code word at home/therapy is for when your little one has helped prepare food or made a treat. They are so proud that they mixed up the ingredients, or added something, cooked it. They are beaming with joy, and they want to share with you.

Well if I say to Dad...'Daniel and I made cookies, they are Scrumdiliumptious'.

(Scrumdiliumptious =Home Code word) he then knows to say "Wow those look great, you did an awesome job, but I think I'll wait to have those for my bedtime snack. I can't wait!"

Why you ask?
Because in our house scrumdiliumptious now means : Our little guy helped make them and is very proud of his accomplishments but he sneezed, coughed, drooled in the batter so eat at your own risk! Or if he just added too much of the wrong ingredient like salt or something! But don't you dare say anything to burst his bubble!

Although it will always be fun when someone doesn't catch the code word and takes a big chomp from the cookie with too much salt, and they have to mask the look of disgust quickly because Mom will kick you in the shin if you let on.

So be warned - if you hear the code word while you're at my house. Eat at your discretion. :)

Maybe a Butterfly Soon?

As some of you might remember, we had some caterpillars (2) for our butterfly experiment this year. They have been hanging in their cocoons for a while now and I thought perhaps they didn't make it. But this is what I saw this evening. I could be wrong, but I think we might have at least one flutterby tomorrow.

Watch the short video and ignore the background sound! But I think someone is trying to come out! There's a lot of shakin' going on in there.

The True Purpose of a Peep

Marshmallow Peeps.

Truth be told, I personally can't stand them. Never have been able to eat them. Grosses me out for whatever reason. But I do like the colors that they have now. In the past years I have always ended up getting them to put into the Easter basket just because, well they are suppose to be there. No one in my family eats them, unless of course everything else has been eaten! Then you have to pull the Easter grass off cause its generally stuck to it.

This year I was given a little idea by Daniel's preschool teacher. While Daniel was out of school a lot this past month I asked for "homework" and she sent me a list of activities they were doing in the class for us to try at home. One of them was painting with peeps. Clever idea!

All the colors that peeps are in now, I figured we'd give it a try. We are a crafty family and Daniel loves getting messy.




Here are a few photos from our peep painting experience. I will warn you, it is a bit messy and sticky. A bath might be required after this craft. Best thing about it, if you have a child that likes to put things into their mouths, its all edible. Well except maybe for the peeps!! :)


So go grab your colored peeps, a little bit of vanilla pudding, dip and paint!! The color of the peep changes the pudding and voila' you have art!!









You gotta check out the Peeps website Also check out over at Bakerella what they do with their bunny peeps! Plus she is having a giveaway for a brand new Nintendo DSi. Check it out and try to win!

Here are a few fun peep trivia facts:

• Marshmallow Peeps were first introduced in 1953. Back then, the Peeps were squeezed out of a pastry tube one at a time and the eyes were painted on by hand -- taking a total of 27 hours to create one Peep. Today, technology can make one Peep in six minutes. (I think I still have my first peep...I use it for my doorstop during the Easter season!)
• Last Easter, more than 700 million peeps were consumed. (or used for arts/crafts/science experiments-microwaving!)
• Marshmallow Peeps have been the top selling non-chocolate candy for the last decade - even outselling jellybeans. (C'mon Man.....really??)

Are you a Peeps fan? Have you ever been curious about other Peep possibilities?

Give me your ideas, I've got some extras here that need a purpose!

Here Chickie chickie chickie-AMENDED

With Easter being right around the corner we decided to have a little fun with some holiday type activity. Some steps turned out well, and well some turned out to be messy but fun. I'll let you figure out which was which!

Can't say we aren't sanitary...gotta use the rubber gloves! That is half the fun!!!

As you can see, Daniel was our taste tester. Actually he wasn't the only one, he was the only one I caught on camera!

If you can't tell these are suppose to be lil' chicks. Didn't turn out quite like they were supposed to but it was fun anyways.

Check tomorrow to see the only purpose a Peep really has in this world!

Amendment: I forgot to put the link to where we got the idea for the chick. Bakerella!
You didn't really think I was that crafty to figure these guys out by myself!

To Sleep.........is divine! OMG

Daniel has never been a great sleeper. I figure he got that from me.
I go in these spurts of not liking to sleep, wanting to sleep ALL THE TIME, and wanting to sleep but can't so I cry!

We've done the whole Melatonin thing for Daniel and it just doesn't seem to work. Plus I hate giving him more drugs on top of all the daily stuff we give him. So come 3 a.m. Daniel is generally awake and wanting attention.
If I am with Daniel I will lay in the bed with him and we'll talk about the butterflies, the things we're going to do the next day, I'll make shadow puppets on the wall, we'll practice rolling over from one end of the bed to the other, we will hold our legs up in the air and count our toes and kick out feet, just giggle.
Well, not so much the same thing with Dad. Lonnie will smile as Daniel and explain in the sweetest way possible "Daniel sweetie, you need to go back to sleep. Nope, stop smiling at me...close your eyes and go to sleep. Daniel.....Daniel...yep thats Daddy's nose! Daniel...its time for sleep. Yes....Eye...very good, thats Daddy's eye. Daniel get your finger out of my nose.......its time to sleep. Daniel, why do you have to be so damn cute.......FINE, you wanna watch some tv?" Big smile....and then he'll watch a show and go back to bed.

With me? I can't get him to do that for the life of me. When he's with me we're up for hours.....I can't figure it out!

More so lately I haven't been sleeping well, so once I finally fall asleep, if there is a little Daniel awake Lonnie tends to him so I can get a little sleep. INSOMNIA sucks! So generally I'm not falling asleep when most people are and when they are getting up I tend to have just fallen asleep. So sleep isn't often with me, UNTIL I got these Melatonin strips from Jacolyn.

OMG

Sleep..............ah what a wonderful thing. Two nights in a row, complete sleep. Much needed sleep. AAAAH sleep is divine!

So if you're looking up sleep issues on the internet, contact Jacolyn...she'll hook ya up with these enlyten Melatonin strips. I am HOOKED

Oh and let's not forget the Energy strips she sent me too! YEP they work too.....with her three little ones I can't imagine that she doesn't use these little babies every once in a while too!

ECO- 14 Programming

Well -

Let me just tell you all this much- These augmentative devices aren't just a plug in, charge, and play kinda thing!!

We are trying to get it as customized as possible for Daniel. Reason being, I think if it is more "his style" that he'll be more willing to use it. I have learned that I have to be very careful when I program it that Daniel is not around to watch me. The little booger seems to watch my every move and has figured out how to get into the programming area! I still have my training to go to which will tell me how to lock that feature from him!

I am still working on getting a good video of him using his device. Right now its hard. Its hard because he always has his head down looking at what he is suppose to be looking at and not at me!!

We work on it a lot, get him use to the keys, and where his "words" are. Of course on the main page that comes up we have "About me" button, "Potty" button, "My words" button, "Eat" button, "Toys" button.
Ya know....the important stuff.

For some reason, anytime one of us is using at computer Daniel feels its HIS TURN to use it and you better well acknowledge that you are aware that you're working at HIS computer.
Daniel has his home computer which has his games and has a touch screen monitor for him. And he also has his ECO-14 augmentative device. So according to Daniel - HE IS TOP DOG, and no one is allowed to use ANY computer in the house without his say so. If you got to use it and he saw you use it, then he gets to use it next and for twice as long! Kid is a riot!
Here is a photo of Daniel at therapy working on the computer and using a mouse. He has also started doing "Therapeutic Listening". (more about that in another post)

Today while Daniel was watching "Blue's Clues"....I thought OK, he's distracted I'll check my email real quick. Next thing I know he is looking at me and yelling "ON ON ON ON"
He thinks if he yells and repeats himself saying he wants "ON", he'll get it.

I know don't give into him.
Well it is technically HIS computer.
OK Daniel, your turn! (and we get a big ol' grin from ear to ear).
All is good once again in the world!

Stick Figure Family

Make your Stick Figure Family at FreeFlashToys.com

You gotta try this thing out! Its pretty funny. Can't wait for the kids (girls) look to see how I made them!! I think pretty accurate!