Kindergarten Kids are a Crack Up!

I found this on Pinterest and had to share...

Source: doodlebugsteaching.blogspot.com via Erin on Pinterest

Mary Kiker would NOT want 100 Grandmas! Haha. And what is little Erica going to do with 100 trampolines...or Preston with 100 guns? :)

Our class will celebrate 100 Days of Kindergarten this coming week. If we do anything as entertaining as this, I promise to post it.

Skor Bar Cake

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Cake:

1 Yellow Cake Mix

2 Eggs

2 Cups Warm Water

1- 3 Oz. Box Instant Chocolate Pudding

Mix together and bake @ 350* for 30 minutes. Let cool completely.

Frosting:

1/2 Cup Melted Butter or Margarine

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Tablespoon Instant Vanilla Pudding

Mix well. Blend in 1 (8 oz) Cool Whip. Top with 4 Skor Bars, Crumbled. Keep Refrigerated.

Special Bond Between a Rescue Dog and Dying Boy

Don called me from work this morning to tell me of a touching story he read on MSN about a little boy who is dying and a rescue dog. "You've got to post this story on your blog" he said. 

I turned on my computer, pulled up MSN's homepage and read the article. Don is right. It's a sweet story that will tug on your heartstrings and I want to share it with my readers.

Here is the link...

Lucas and Juno: Special bond of a rescue dog and dying boy

Hostess, Please Keep Making Twinkies

As I was clocking in at school Friday, John, a fellow staff member, said to me “Did you hear? Hostess is going out of business.” I know John wasn’t expecting my reaction upon hearing his news. I asked him if he was sure, then I went on to explain the sheer panic on my face. You see, Tuesday is Twinkie day according to Cody (autistic) and Hostess makes Twinkies.


Immediately the wheels in my head started spinning and I began devising a plan:

I will have to buy a years supply of Twinkies, at least, because it will probably take me that long to help Cody cope with the fact that Twinkies will no longer exist. There are 10 Twinkies in a box and 52 weeks in a year, so in order for Cody to have 1 Twinkie a week (on Tuesdays, mind you), I will have to make room in my freezer for at least 6 boxes and maybe a few more for good measure.

Having a little time to kill this morning before going to work, I decided to get online and see what articles I could find regarding Hostess going out of business. As you can imagine, there are all kinds of stories floating around the internet, but the one I take comfort in is on CNNMoney. It says…

NEW YORK (CNNMoney)-- Rest easy, Twinkie lovers: Hostess Brands, the storied American manufacturer of snack cakes, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Wednesday, but said it will continue to churn out Ho Hos, Ding Dongs and other iconic products.

"Throughout the proceeding, we're going to operate business as normal," said Hostess spokesman Erik Halvorson. "They'll keep making Twinkies."

I am hoping, if worse comes to worst, that another big company will buy Hostess out and continue making their products as insinuated in the following paragraph of the same article…

Published reports indicated that Hostess sought potential buyers, including Oreo-cookie maker Kraft Foods (KFT, Fortune 500) and Campbell Soup (CPB, Fortune 500)'s Pepperidge Farm.

Regardless, I am going to purchase those aforementioned boxes. It’s better to hope for the best, but prepare for the worst, right?!

One Autistic Girl's Amazing Story

My friend at The Fragile X Files posted an amazing clip about an autistic girl's breakthrough. Much like Temple Grandin, this child is helping us understand autism. Please click on the link, watch the video and prepare to be enlightened. I promise, you will be glad that you did.

The Fragile X Files: Thanks to Carly Fleischmann: If you haven't heard of Carly Fleischmann, let me introduce you. Watch this video. It's almost 10 minutes long and usually I hate videos (...

He Thinks His Forklift’s Sexy

My son Chase got a new job working in a warehouse for a big electronic company. He loves it and is happy he doesn’t have to work with the public (at the liquor store) anymore.

A couple of days ago, I received this picture/text from him on my cell phone…



“If you think this is sexy, you should see it when I’m on it.”



He may be a little cocky, but it pleases me that he is excited about his job. :)

Kindergarten Art

One of the little girls in our Kindergarten class drew this picture of Mrs. B.

By looking at it, can you guess what Mrs. B’s ethnicity is?







She's Caucasian. :)

I Wanna Get Chocolate Wasted

Source: artofdessert.blogspot.com via Caralee on Pinterest

Guest Post/ Grandparenting a Child with Special Needs

I put my mother on the spot a couple of days ago and asked her to write a post for me. If you haven't already read 'How Do Grandparents of ASD Children Feel?', please click on the link and do so.


Before reading her words, however, I want you to know the first year of Cody's life was hard. Cody was born with multiple birth defects and we spent a great deal of time either in doctor's offices or in and out of hospitals. If it weren't for my mother, I could have never made it through that first year. She was by my side every step of the way. Years later, my mom even flew to Oregon twice within a six month period to take care of my younger children while Cody fought for his life in PICU.


From my point of view, grandparents play a significant role in raising a child with disabilities. My mother is an incredible person and I am happy that she wrote the following guest post:

Having Cody for a grandson has been an awesome experience. I can honestly say I would not want Cody to be any different than he is. He is truly a gift from heaven.

Everyone who has the opportunity to know Cody finds out what a great personality he has. I’m sure they will never forget him.

With that said, I have to say it has been hard at times to see my daughter, Cody’s mom, go through some very difficult times with Cody, most of them medical. I marvel at how amazingly strong she has become in facing these struggles.

Cody was my first grandchild. I didn’t have a preconceived idea what a grandchild should or shouldn’t be. I was never disappointed he was born different. My greatest worry has always been whether he is healthy or not.

I love Cody the same as all my grandchildren, we just have a different relationship and bond. I was privileged to be a big part of Cody’s first year. He loves his grandma, and grandma loves him!!

Sock Monkey Quilt

I received a phone call early this afternoon from Nikki at Cody's day program. She's the cute girl who keeps me posted via notes in Cody's backpack (see this post and this post ). When Nikki identified herself, I was a little nervous. I thought maybe Cody was sick or in trouble, but she was calling to tell me about some really cute quilts that had been donated and she wondered if she could send one home with Cody.

In my mind, I was visualizing a lap or crib size quilt that had been tied. I was pleasantly surprised when Cody came home with this...




 I couldn't get a picture of the entire quilt and
I was even standing on a chair. It's that large.



Here is a close up of a few of the squares.



The entire thing is machine quilted.



The backing fabric is textured...an added bonus for Cody because he is blind.

It even came with a pillow case...



This is the sticker that was in the upper left hand corner of the quilt.




Thank you Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for your thoughtful donation. Cody loves his quilt!

How DO Grandparents of ASD Children Feel?

I had an aha moment after reading one particular paragraph in the article I posted yesterday. It read...

"Researchers explain that grandparents often feel added frustration when coping with a grandchild with autism because they empathize with their own child as well as their grandchild and are concerned about the well-being of both."

Never had it occurred to me that my own mother may feel this way, but it makes perfect sense.

My grandmother use to tell me that you never stop worrying about your children, no matter how old they get, and now that my own children are adults, I completely understand what she was talking about. It's easy to imagine how I would feel if one of my sons or daughter had a child with special needs.

Looking further into this issue, I found a research report written last April by Connie Anderson Ph. D. for the Interactive Autism Network.  I want to share with you the following pie chart from that study. The data shows how much grandparents of children with ASD worry about their adult child:


                  If you'd like to read the article in it's entirety, chick here.


Now that I am enlightened to the issue, I am going to put my own mother on the spot and ask her if she will write a post for me. I'd like her to share some of her thoughts and feelings about being a mom to a daughter who has a child with autism.

We all have so much to learn from each other and I welcome your comments on the subject.

U of U and Google Seek Answers for Autism

The University of Utah has teamed up with Google to teach ASD children how to use Google's 3-D modeling software called SketchUp.


If interested in reading the article, click on the following link:


University of Utah, Google seek answers for autism

"The Tub Stinks."

Cody was getting his pajamas on after his bath tonight when he blurted out, "The tub stinks."

In a matter of seconds, I had the following thoughts go through my head: Cody doesn't have the greatest sense of smell due to Choanal Atresia, so what could he possibly be smelling? What would make the tub smell bad? Are the pipes getting stinky? Crap, we remodeled and put in new plumbing three years ago. I mean, what the hell? Do we even have any Drano in the house? Should I plug in my Scentsy? I just cleaned the bathroom this morning!

Anyway, you get the picture.

So, I asked Cody, "Does it really?" (I'm sure I was giving him a WTF look, but he's blind, so that's irrelevant.)

He replied, "Yes it does, a little bit."

"What does it smell like?" I asked.

Cody answered, "It smells like butt, because I washed my butt good."

Seriously, how does one even reply to that?

FYI, there is no odor. This is just one example of Cody's autistic brain at work. He was letting me know he did a good job washing up.

A Special Kind of Friend

Back in August of 2010, I wrote a post about how Katie, an employee at Cody's day program, sent home this note...


To read the post in its entirety, click here.


Katie left the day program to teach English in Korea. Apparently she is back in the states, because I found these items in Cody's backpack this afternoon...

Isn't that the sweetest thing ever?!

Katie knows Cody well. He loves it!

How Lucky Am I?

I received this...




from Lizbeth over at Four Sea Stars .

Notice that it is called the sunshine award. I'm not sure what that is suppose to mean, but if it is insinuating that I am a barrel of sunshine, my family would probably disagree.

Regardless, here are the rules:


1. Thank the person who gave you the award. Thanks a ton Lizbeth. Really, you shouldn't have. (How's that?)


2. Link back to the blogger (or bloggers) who awarded you. If you'd like to read about how Lizbeth caught a jack ass robbing her house click here, or read the hilarious way she writes about stressful situations in her daily life, or how she goes pool hopping with her kids. Basically, just read her blog!


3. Answer the questions below, then pass the award out to ten other Bloggers, giving them a heads up of course. :)

Okay. Here goes...


Favorite Color?  Blue.


Favorite Animal? I love puppies and even have a board on Pinterest called Puppy Love. Katelyn thinks it's unnessesary, but I beg to differ.


Favorite Number? I suppose it could be 4 because I have 4 children or maybe 32 because that is the size, in ounces, of Diet Coke I like to drink, but truthfully, I think having a favorite number is just weird.


Favorite Drink? I just answered that. I would love to drink Coca-Cola Classic, i.e., drink of the Gods, but too much sugar is not good for my waistline (bonus information).


Facebook or Twitter? Facebook. I've never tried tweeting and probably never will.


My passion? Let me think. Hmmm. Peanut Buster Parfaits? Blogging? Watching Survivor? I suppose it depends on the moment.


Giving or getting presents? Giving, for sure. It's one of the reasons I enjoy Christmas so much.


Favorite day? Thursday. Wanna know why? Because the next day is Friday!


Favorite Flower? I love pink or white carnations. (More bonus info...I hate marigolds.)


Now, I proudly present the sunshine award to the following awesome bloggers. (I know the rules say ten, but I'm breaking them and choosing five.)

Momma and Papa Bear at Goldilocks and the Three Bears

Tammie and Alessa at Carolina Heart Strings


Mark and Bonnie at The Fragile X Files


Catrina at Because Mommy Said So

and last but certainly not least,

Tessa at Apples and Autobots




Happy New Year everyone!

Shout Out for Cheesy Bloggers!

Thanks to my friend Lizbeth at Four Sea Stars, I discovered a blog last week called Cheesy Bloggers. Please head that way and read my post The Traumatized Tree. Who knows? You may even find yourself participating in the Cheesy Blogger Look Alike Game.

Hurry. Go!