This post is going to be a fun one to write! Because just a few weeks ago our Family was Blessed with the opportunity to Review not one....but two Awesome games. You know we LOVE games around here. I use them for those moments when I'm trying to get dinner finished, for teaching during our school time, cheer up a sad Kiddo, past the time when it's bad weather outside and let's not forget those fun Family Game Nights!!! USAopoly graciously gave us Wonky: The Crazy Cubes Card Game and Tapple: Fast Word Fun for Everyone in exchange for Our Family's opinion. (Each Retail for $19.95)
Growing into the Woman God Intended Me to Be...... Embracing the Calmness while Letting Go of the Chaos
9.29.2015
9.17.2015
Super Teacher Worksheets~ REVIEW
I spend a pretty big chunk of my time teaching the kids and preparing for their various subjects. I love whole curriculum sets for the most part, but I love unit studies too. So, I kind of do a mixture of both. With that said I'm always looking for supplements for our unit studies and extra work for the kiddos to take along with them when we have days on the go. I have heard of Super Teacher Worksheets back a few years ago, so when I was given the chance to Review their Individual Membership for a full year I had a skip in my step for days because I was so excited. Super Teacher Worksheets is an amazing resource for both Homeschool and Brick and Morter Teachers. With this one website for only $19.95 a year you have access to over 10,000 different worksheets on so many subjects and topics from grades K-5th(some can be used for a little older) you may never have to Pin something to an online board again! :)
9.16.2015
Stinky Kid Math ~REVIEW
We had the opportunity to Review a Math Supplement for the past several weeks. This time it was for Mahala. She has struggled with Algebra for a long time now and honestly am a little worried. So, when I was presented the chance to try Stinky Kid Math from Stinky Kid Math I was like sign me up...this is something for us over here. :)
9.13.2015
When Things Look Out of Control....
I Quickly wanted to share one of my Favorite Quotes that I heard a few years ago. “God wont Protect You from What He will Perfect You through”.
This gave me a world of comfort and relief….I knew God had my life under control, even if at times it didn’t look like it to me. Like that whole Tapestry story…..underneath the huge needlepoint tapestry is a huge mess of strings and tangled knots. So many stray colors and lengths of thread, you couldn’t make out heads or tails of what the picture on the other side looks like. But, when you walk around to the front you see the Beauty of His masterpiece. It’s clear now….the storms are calm….You are His Masterpiece. And He has created You for His work, to Love Him, to Live for Him, to Trust Him.
Your life may look like a mess now, but I promise God has a plan…..just Believe and have Faith. Sending you all Love from my Heart and Praying Daily for You all……
9.11.2015
Breakfast for Daddy
Kaden is still doing fine around here...knock on wood. :) We have been making little changes here and there and trying to be as consistent as possible for his daily routine. We had a few extra things to do this week that wasn't in the plans...but, we were able to give enough notice to smooth right over the possible bumps and meltdown craziness.
One of the things we had going on this week was my Husband's Birthday. Kaden was so excited about it and wanted to surprise Dad with an omelet breakfast. Yep, he was the sweetest little helper and I must say he was focused and willing to participate in every area of the morning.
He cleaned and sliced mushrooms, made the spinach, shredded the cheese. stirred the eggs and poured them and flipped the omelet before he put it all on the plate. He even walked it up while I brought the coffee and we served Daddy in bed. I was so proud of him for showing love and compassion...he struggles with that. But, today he was a super star and we all told him how proud we were of his hard work and participation in Dad's special day.
Here are a few pics, I'll post more of that day later. :)
One of the things we had going on this week was my Husband's Birthday. Kaden was so excited about it and wanted to surprise Dad with an omelet breakfast. Yep, he was the sweetest little helper and I must say he was focused and willing to participate in every area of the morning.
He cleaned and sliced mushrooms, made the spinach, shredded the cheese. stirred the eggs and poured them and flipped the omelet before he put it all on the plate. He even walked it up while I brought the coffee and we served Daddy in bed. I was so proud of him for showing love and compassion...he struggles with that. But, today he was a super star and we all told him how proud we were of his hard work and participation in Dad's special day.
Here are a few pics, I'll post more of that day later. :)
9.05.2015
The Old Normal Needs to Change
My sweet Kaden....I love that little cutie so much. The struggle lies in his meltdowns. I can live with the developmental delays, the quirkiness of his personality and I can even handle the lack of personal hygiene. The thrashing his body around, hitting himself and throwing himself down the stairs....not so much. He is almost 9 yrs old and not one broken bone yet....knock on wood. But, I fear the day is coming that we can't protect him from himself. What will we do in 8 years and another 75lbs?
I talked with his ABA person yesterday and she knew this talk was coming....she's predicted it for 4 years now. I refuse to put him anywhere, even for a few hours. We are planning for the future when Dad and I wont be here, so he has money. I know his Sister will be the one to take care of him. She has loudly voiced that she gets him at her house and not Skylar's. Kaden is closer with Mahala, so I can easily understand that.
I'm not saying he needs full time babysitting for the rest of his life. But, in the past almost 5 years of testing, therapy and education Kaden is still consistently the same. He's super smart, but socially and emotionally he has deficits. They other day he misspelled alligator, by forgetting the second L. He was so upset, started pacing the floors and slapping himself. I tried to move on and expressed how it was a common thing to forget the other L. No biggie, let's do something fun now?!?!?!?! PLEASE!!!! :) :)
Nope, he went up the stairs kicking his feet along the wall. Once upstairs he started throwing himself down, not even trying to catch himself. The whole time he was crying and asking God over and over why he was so stupid. That he should have never been born. After letting him fall 3 times we stepped in. We waited 3 times, because we try not to over react to this kind of behavior. But, honestly this is not a typical tantrum.....he is mentally tortured with these emotions. A typical tantrum a child is either wanting something or is trying to get out of something. Kaden's meltdowns revolve around something new in his environment, a last minute change that's out of my control or when he feels like a failure. And that can be as simple as his sheet coming off by accident in the middle of the night. Yes, this has happened in the middle of the night and we were up dealing with his meltdown half asleep and scared to death.
So, back to the other day....after the 3rd time Skylar and Hubby had to restrain him. Over an hour of Kaden fighting, pulling and pushing he decided to melt. He literally rested for 3 minutes and then started talking about a character in one of the books we are reading. The guys just look at each other dripping in sweat and wonder what the heck, but thank you Lord that Kaden is back with us. Because when he is in meltdown mode you hardly recognize him. It's so scary.....this is the part I hate about Autism.
As he comes down the stairs with a stretched out shirt and sweaty hair I recognize his sweet little smile....my Baby is back. He asks for some water and if we can play legos. All of this like nothing has ever happened. It takes us a little while, but we go back to normal. But, it's traumatic....it's a crazy life. But, I am so thankful God gave me him....I would never for a minute want him to be someone elses Baby Boy. I just want to keep him safe....we Love our sweet Kaden. We are going to go back to a strict gluten free diet again. He did better when we were consistent with this. During the Summer we have been lazy with that, eating gluten foods here and there. I'm also looking into a few other types of therapy. Pray with us as we tighten down around here. Change is hard, pray for Kaden as we try new things over the next few months.
I talked with his ABA person yesterday and she knew this talk was coming....she's predicted it for 4 years now. I refuse to put him anywhere, even for a few hours. We are planning for the future when Dad and I wont be here, so he has money. I know his Sister will be the one to take care of him. She has loudly voiced that she gets him at her house and not Skylar's. Kaden is closer with Mahala, so I can easily understand that.
I'm not saying he needs full time babysitting for the rest of his life. But, in the past almost 5 years of testing, therapy and education Kaden is still consistently the same. He's super smart, but socially and emotionally he has deficits. They other day he misspelled alligator, by forgetting the second L. He was so upset, started pacing the floors and slapping himself. I tried to move on and expressed how it was a common thing to forget the other L. No biggie, let's do something fun now?!?!?!?! PLEASE!!!! :) :)
Nope, he went up the stairs kicking his feet along the wall. Once upstairs he started throwing himself down, not even trying to catch himself. The whole time he was crying and asking God over and over why he was so stupid. That he should have never been born. After letting him fall 3 times we stepped in. We waited 3 times, because we try not to over react to this kind of behavior. But, honestly this is not a typical tantrum.....he is mentally tortured with these emotions. A typical tantrum a child is either wanting something or is trying to get out of something. Kaden's meltdowns revolve around something new in his environment, a last minute change that's out of my control or when he feels like a failure. And that can be as simple as his sheet coming off by accident in the middle of the night. Yes, this has happened in the middle of the night and we were up dealing with his meltdown half asleep and scared to death.
So, back to the other day....after the 3rd time Skylar and Hubby had to restrain him. Over an hour of Kaden fighting, pulling and pushing he decided to melt. He literally rested for 3 minutes and then started talking about a character in one of the books we are reading. The guys just look at each other dripping in sweat and wonder what the heck, but thank you Lord that Kaden is back with us. Because when he is in meltdown mode you hardly recognize him. It's so scary.....this is the part I hate about Autism.
As he comes down the stairs with a stretched out shirt and sweaty hair I recognize his sweet little smile....my Baby is back. He asks for some water and if we can play legos. All of this like nothing has ever happened. It takes us a little while, but we go back to normal. But, it's traumatic....it's a crazy life. But, I am so thankful God gave me him....I would never for a minute want him to be someone elses Baby Boy. I just want to keep him safe....we Love our sweet Kaden. We are going to go back to a strict gluten free diet again. He did better when we were consistent with this. During the Summer we have been lazy with that, eating gluten foods here and there. I'm also looking into a few other types of therapy. Pray with us as we tighten down around here. Change is hard, pray for Kaden as we try new things over the next few months.
9.02.2015
Mayan Mysteries Online from Dig-It! Games ~REVIEW
I'm thrilled to be able to share our experience with Mayan Mysteries from Dig-It! Games with you. We were given the opportunity to Review it the past several weeks. As you know Kaden is crazy about the computer, games and History facts. How could this be any better? Well, I could love playing it too......and guess what? I do enjoy playing right along with him. :) This game is recommended for Kiddos in grades 5th-9th. There is Heavy Reading involved in this game and for younger Kiddos or those with learning disabilities they may need extra time and help. I love the option they offer to have the passages read to you.
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