A Day In The Life Of LADYSAM

Thursday, April 21, 2011

North Central Kansas Autism Foundation: Welcome to the North Central Kansas Autism Foundat...

Our Autism Foundation now has a"temporary" website! Its the best I can do for the moment with so much going on. But at least we can have it out there. I have had 3 opportunities this week to discuss Autism with people, concerned parents and grandparents and gave out my first business card! At this point, we have 6 Board of Directors. We are still looking for three more. I am getting excited. Our first Board meeting will be held in early June. I am really looking forward to getting our activities up and running!

North Central Kansas Autism Foundation: Welcome to the North Central Kansas Autism Foundat...: "Visit us on Facebook ! We will be planning activities for the summer! It is also Autism Awareness month! Facts and current information will ..."

Saturday, April 16, 2011

aNnUaL EaStEr EgG hUnT...




The city of Concordia has an annual Easter Egg Hunt each year. The Wesleyan Church sponsors it and several hundred people come out for it. This year was extra fun because since Easter is late this year, the weather was PERFECT. There was a petting zoo with little nanny goats that were not quite a day old yet! Chickens, and lambs were also part of the experience. I have uploaded a collage of pictures of each child just for fun! Next Sunday is Easter. I plan to have a feast on Saturday with an egg hunt here for the kids. I hope the weather is just as gorgeous as it was today!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

WiShEs


  • I wish I could change others behavior

  • I wish my grass was beautiful like others

  • I wish there was a world with out autism

  • I wish that I could sing, and it would be beautiful

  • I wish I knew what to do with it most days

  • I wish I could stay 37 forever

  • I wish I didn't have such an ugly haircut

  • I wish I had some chocolate right now

  • I wish my mother to know how good of a mom she is and was when I was growing up

  • I wish I didnt have to wear glasses

  • I wish my dad could know how good of a man he is, especially deep inside

  • I wish I could have a group of girlfriends to do something fun with

  • I wish my laundry was all washed and put away

  • I wish I was a kid again, carefree, not a worry in sight

  • I wish I didn't have to make any decisions, good or bad

  • I wish I had more money to spend, just on something frivolous

  • I wish I had more space for my garden

  • I wish I felt like having a garden

  • I wish my children could see just how deeply I feel for them

  • I wish I knew where to put all my feelings, instead of this box inside my chest

  • I wish I knew where Carlisle goes. Is he like Perry on Phineas and Ferb and on a secret mission? I wish the swimming pool was open so we could hang out there

  • I wish summer was here already so I didn't have to send Bethanie off each day

  • I wish bedtime for the kids was easier

  • I wish I had some chocolate right now

  • I wish someone would come to visit [me] because they just wanted to

  • I wish people had more time for one another

  • I wish my mantle wasn't so dusty

  • I wish I could run I wish I could do math better

  • I wish I had super human strength so I could save the day for everyone

  • I wish I knew what to do or what to say

  • I wish what was in my heart is more visible to others so they can see the real me inside

  • I wish I was the little girl inside my heart and not an old woman

  • I wish I could curl my silver hair

  • I wish someone would clean out that refrigerator

  • I still wish I had some chocolate, anything chocolate

  • I wish no one had to leave the house tomorrow

  • I wish everyone would leave the house tomorrow

  • I wish I could dance like those on Dancing With The Stars

  • I wish my husband wasn't closing up all the windows right now

  • I wish I could be completely out of debt

  • I wish I could go camping and fishing like when I was a kid

  • I wish I lived in the mountains, or could just visit them

  • I wish I could have 2 or 3 more kids

  • I wish I didn't suffer from anxiety/panic disorder

  • I wish I had more stamina

  • I wish I could see my dearest friend to tell her what she really means to me

  • I wish my parents could see how far I have to look to see them (they high on a pedestal)

  • I wish I knew where Carlisle was.... Here Kitty Kitty Kitty!

  • I wish we could have an evening free of anger, heartache, fear

  • I wish everyone knew the truth about the gospel

  • I wish I could go to the temple, without worry or stress of what is being left behind while we are away

  • I wish I was in Hawaii

  • I wish I could roller skate

  • I wish I knew the answers to life's biggest mysteries

  • I wish.....for so many things.

  • I wish I could find faith within myself, to make things better.

Thursday, April 7, 2011

NeW EnDeAvErS...


Jeff and I are finally activating some of our goals that we have had for some time. Things are in place for our autism foundation to start up. So far, we applied through the state to create our own non-profit business. It is called, "North Central Kansas Autism Foundation". This foundation is totally non-profit, and we will be seeking funding, grants and donations to help families in North Central Kansas to learn more about autism, support them, give them resources they need to become a successful family with autism. Budget cuts in Kansas have been severely slashed for mental health agencies to come into homes and help families like ours. It is sad. We are losing 1/2 of our therapy appointments and 3/4 of our case management through our mental health agency. Some ask, "Why don't you go to another agency"? We would but in our state the only agency we are "allowed" to use is one specific agency to receive services (respite, case management, therapy). Basically the state is screwing over families like ours who really need help keeping their loved one home (and not hospitalized, but guess what? the state did away with state mental hospitals too). So, there are a lot of families in this very under served area that needs help. Some of the things we will do will be monthly activities (probably on a Saturday). Things might include: Therapeutic horseback riding, painting on canvas, physical fitness, and the best part is that it is going to be FAMILY based. It will include all of the family, not just the autistic child and their parent. So many of these kinds of things ONLY include the person with autism and caregivers. The siblings get left out. Not here! All family members will be able to take part in everything we do, and we fully encourage that. As this point, we have about 5 board of directors. Its a time game now. We are waiting on state papers to come back, and we need to raise $400 so we can apply for non-profit status. Once that happens, we can raise money and get started! Anyway, that's what is new there.


I look forward to having something new to do. Something to put my mind to.

Monday, March 21, 2011

Dancing: Night of 1000 Dances...


Tonight both of the girls were in a performance put on by the High School. It was the High School Dance Team's end of the year dance recital, and they needed filler time while they changed, so for the past 5 years, they invited "The Dance Company" and other gymnasts and such to be the fill ins. It is quite a lengthy program. Fortunately for us, Madison was 4th on the program and Bethanie was 12, so we were able to leave after she performed instead of waiting through the whole thing. But the girls did a fantastic job, kept up energy during their dances. The funnest part was that Madison went prepared to wear her Fall Fest T-shirt and shorts because her costume wasn't in. But when we got there, she was surprised and it came in just in time so they got to wear their costumes! The funny thing is, it is the same colors we are painting their bedroom. :P
On another note: My mom had knee surgery today. This was on her GOOD bad knee. The one that had not had surgery before. This one was different. Instead of just a scope to help clean it out, they found torn tendons inside and fixed them while they were there. She is in tons of pain. I am glad she is on THIS side of the surgery. Sometimes the mental preparation is worse than suffering through the pain, although I bet tonight she would beg to differ. Love you mom!

Friday, March 4, 2011

TiMe fLiEs...

Honestly I don't know where my time goes. Sometimes it seems like my days are all blended into one. I am pretty busy with the kids. Sometimes I wonder if they should still be so needy at their ages! I cant believe it is FINALLY March. The winter hasn't been too bad, but my body just doesn't like the cold weather. I have Fibromyalgia and it is flared up and doesn't seem to settle down unless the sun is shining and its 65 out.


We switched the kids rooms around on Monday. The way things were set up with the girls room was terrible. There isn't a single wall that you could put a bed on. So there was only room for one bed, and it stuck out in the middle of the room. That was just a twin size bed, so Madison was still sleeping on the crib mattress on the floor. We felt like she really needed a bed of her own. It became such an issue so we decided that the other bedroom that Matthew was in would really be a better fit for two kids. It has TWO walls that are full walls. So we bought bunk beds for the girls, and now Madison FINALLY has a bed of her own. A real bed. She is OVER THE MOON (idiom). Bethanie is as well. She gets the top bunk and she LOVES it. They really both needed their own space. Matthew has a pink room at this point. But BOTH their bedrooms (ours too and the hallway) are going to be painted. Matthew's will be done like denim, and the girls will be a hot green and a teal blue. Very girly.


Another fun thing is that we surprised Madison with getting her ears pierced. We woke up last Saturday, had to drive to Salina to order Bethanie new glasses at Sears, and I asked Madison if she was ever going to get her ears pierced. She didn't know, so I said, HOW ABOUT TODAY? Totally spur of the moment, and as an after thought, I remembered the HE** we went through when Bethanie had hers done at 3 years old. WRONG THING TO DO FOR HER. But Madison has a higher tolerance for pain. She didn't even shed a tear. She was so strong at this! I am so proud of her. Oh, and Bethanie's new glasses look so good. They are still on order and Matthew just got a new pair too. Jeff and I just ordered ours. THANK GOODNESS FOR OUR FLEX ACCOUNT which allows us to pay for 4 people to wear glasses. :)
Madison is hugging Claire Bear as she waits patiently for her ears to be pierced!
She picked out the studs herself. They are a teal flower. So pretty and she takes very good care of them, lets me clean them and she is willing to show EVERYONE that comes her way!


Here is a side view of Bethanie's new glasses. She went all out for the bling. I liked these frames on her, and I tried them on (and the black version) and liked them on me. I am jealous! But she only needs glasses for reading, so she wont wear them all the time.

Today I felt inspired to make a huge meal. I don't normally cook like this but I have a large chicken in the oven and I made two pies. Pumpkin and Fresh tart Cherry. Most of the time I don't have the energy or desire to do such baking.


Matthew is progressing in school slowly, but its moving forward. We were able to get him out of doing his State Assessments by using a medical exemption. TONS of stress released after this last IEP meeting. Even though he does his school work at home, he is still a student at a (virtual) public school and so then he has to abide by public school things.
So, there you have it! Sorry you made it this far?

HAHAHA !

Josh Littman Interviews His Mother-A Boy With Asperger's Syndrome (turn off music below)

Q&A from StoryCorps on Vimeo.

Jeff & Stormy-Eternal Companions

Jeff & Stormy-Eternal Companions

My Peeps!


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