Ok, folks...this one is a goodie. Soft Clothing, a sensory-friendly clothing company, and the Sensory Processing Disorder Blogger Network have teamed together to give away over $250 in sensory-friendly prizes!! I can't tell you how much we would LOVE to win this...and this blog entry telling you about it gets me 2 entries in the drawing pool! :) Soft Clothing really is an excellent company for those of us with kiddos that need a little extra "sensory attention", so if you know of anyone who might benefit please send them the link!
http://www.softclothing.net/products/sale/giveaways/
Now good luck to us!!!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Sunday, June 19, 2011
About your dad
My sweet boys...it's Father's Day today and I wanted to take the time to tell you a little about your dad. I know you see him and play with him everyday. But I want you to know things that you won't remember when you get older and life gets in the way. For right now your innocence protects you from the many outside distractions that might cloud your judgement later...
Cade - when you were born your dad was in a country called Iraq. He was a US Marine and was helping the people there to have a better life. It took a long time for you to be born (an unbelievably long time!), and he called us every 30 minutes to see if you had decided to make an entrance into the world yet. He loved you immediately, even though he was thousands of miles away.
His love for you has never wavered. Even though you struggle to do what is asked of you, he always tries so hard to have patience with you, to play with you the way he thinks you need it. He has worked hard to learn all about your struggles and keeps working to help you try to find your way. He might get loud or frustrated, but your dad will always love you...no matter what. And you can always count on him to protect you, to stick up for you, and to always be there to play.
Kai - your dad has always loved you, too...even before you arrived. When you were born your dad rushed off with the nurse and talked her into letting him give you your very first bath. He was so excited that he was able to do that very first thing for you. He helped to dress you and feed you from the very beginning.
And from that very first bath he has continued to be there for your "firsts." When you weren't crawling or rolling over when they said you should, your dad was right there to help get you what you needed to catch you up. And when you did catch up (very quickly!), he was there to teach you all of the things he had been waiting to teach you. He will always be there to teach you those things...to help you learn what is important in this world.
So my little boys...I wanted you to know that you are very lucky today to have a special dad. And when you grow up and move on to do great things, I want you to know that you can always, always, come back home to find your dad waiting with open arms. We are blessed that God gave both of you to us, and I want you to know how blessed you are to have your dad today, when you are 4 and 2...I cannot wait to see what adventures the three of you continue to have
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Cade - when you were born your dad was in a country called Iraq. He was a US Marine and was helping the people there to have a better life. It took a long time for you to be born (an unbelievably long time!), and he called us every 30 minutes to see if you had decided to make an entrance into the world yet. He loved you immediately, even though he was thousands of miles away.
His love for you has never wavered. Even though you struggle to do what is asked of you, he always tries so hard to have patience with you, to play with you the way he thinks you need it. He has worked hard to learn all about your struggles and keeps working to help you try to find your way. He might get loud or frustrated, but your dad will always love you...no matter what. And you can always count on him to protect you, to stick up for you, and to always be there to play.
Kai - your dad has always loved you, too...even before you arrived. When you were born your dad rushed off with the nurse and talked her into letting him give you your very first bath. He was so excited that he was able to do that very first thing for you. He helped to dress you and feed you from the very beginning.
And from that very first bath he has continued to be there for your "firsts." When you weren't crawling or rolling over when they said you should, your dad was right there to help get you what you needed to catch you up. And when you did catch up (very quickly!), he was there to teach you all of the things he had been waiting to teach you. He will always be there to teach you those things...to help you learn what is important in this world.
So my little boys...I wanted you to know that you are very lucky today to have a special dad. And when you grow up and move on to do great things, I want you to know that you can always, always, come back home to find your dad waiting with open arms. We are blessed that God gave both of you to us, and I want you to know how blessed you are to have your dad today, when you are 4 and 2...I cannot wait to see what adventures the three of you continue to have
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Thanks for the adventure...
This week Cade has been attending Vacation Bible School. This is a pretty big deal since most of our "classroom" situations are not positive ones. A local church in the area offered a small class for kiddos with special needs, and we were fortunate enough to get in. I have been so excited about this experience for him...it is nice to have a soft place to fall with people who understand what he is going through.
Now actually getting up for VBS has been a different story. I am always amazed at how my children can sleep forever on the mornings when we have somewhere to be, but are up at the crack of dawn when we can stay home and sleep in. This week has been no exception. Each morning I have dragged the kids out of bed to get ready to go. Usually they are wolfing down a paper bag breakfast in the car on the way, but we have made it on time.
Cade has had a hard time transitioning in the mornings, so this morning I decided I wouldn't talk about VBS. He was snoozing soundly (in our bed, of course) when I started waking him up...I dressed him in the bed and gave hm 5 more minutes...the whole routine. I had already decided to let them get a biscuit at Hardees on the way, so I rushed them out of the door and off we flew into the crowded Hardees drive-thru.
And of course...what comes out of Cade's mouth as we are pulling out??? "Mom, I have to go to the potty." UHHHH! So at this point I have a couple of choices. I can take Cade's suggestion and go back home for him to go potty - which, I'm thinking would involve WAY too much transition for my comfort. I can park the car, take both boys out of their car seats and brave the inside bathroom at Hardees- a better option, but very time-consuming and potentially dreadful (while Kai is already loudly exclaiming from the backseat, "ME OUT,TOO!" OR I can take the easy, but probably illegal, way out. I figure God blessed me with boys for a reason...
Now actually getting up for VBS has been a different story. I am always amazed at how my children can sleep forever on the mornings when we have somewhere to be, but are up at the crack of dawn when we can stay home and sleep in. This week has been no exception. Each morning I have dragged the kids out of bed to get ready to go. Usually they are wolfing down a paper bag breakfast in the car on the way, but we have made it on time.
Cade has had a hard time transitioning in the mornings, so this morning I decided I wouldn't talk about VBS. He was snoozing soundly (in our bed, of course) when I started waking him up...I dressed him in the bed and gave hm 5 more minutes...the whole routine. I had already decided to let them get a biscuit at Hardees on the way, so I rushed them out of the door and off we flew into the crowded Hardees drive-thru.
And of course...what comes out of Cade's mouth as we are pulling out??? "Mom, I have to go to the potty." UHHHH! So at this point I have a couple of choices. I can take Cade's suggestion and go back home for him to go potty - which, I'm thinking would involve WAY too much transition for my comfort. I can park the car, take both boys out of their car seats and brave the inside bathroom at Hardees- a better option, but very time-consuming and potentially dreadful (while Kai is already loudly exclaiming from the backseat, "ME OUT,TOO!" OR I can take the easy, but probably illegal, way out. I figure God blessed me with boys for a reason...
So, yes, I probably broke all kinds of laws at Hardees this morning. I'm just hoping not too many of the diners, drivers, or other respectable members of society saw my 4-year-old's little white bum while he stood in front of our van this morning! In the words of Michael W. Smith, "Saddle up your horses, we got a trail to blaze!" As usual, boys, it is always an adventure with the two of you. So today I just say, thank you for the adventure! Your mom is blessed to have both of you, happy to watch you grow, and thrilled at all of the writing material you give me each day!
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Blessings
Tonight I'm just a sad sack...there's just no other way to put it. On almost every day I am able to celebrate the successes of both of our boys, find joy in all (ok, almost all!) that they do, and generally be thankful. Today just hasn't been one of those days. I'm not sure why that is, unless waking up to Cade's screaming from the backyard to let him in (yes, he had opened the door and was outside before we were even up) just sent my mind into a downward spiral for the day. And the fact that a meltdown from my little man ensued quickly after he was pulled back inside the house lest he wake all the neighbors with his incessant hollering, maybe that was what really started it. Whatever it was, today has just been a "down in the dumps" kinda day.
I hate to be sad. Being sad makes you think about all of the rotten, unfair, unfriendly, and generally yucky things that are going on right now. Being sad just magnifies everything that might be just a little bad on another day - makes things seem a much bigger deal than they would be any other time. Being sad makes me grouchy, too...it makes me not want to try too hard to go out of my way to make anyone else feel better.
I talked to God today. I will be honest and say I gave Him a piece of my mind. I let Him know just how unfair it is that He made things hard, that things aren't the way I thought they would be. I told Him all about how mad I am that He made my little boy struggle, how mad I am that his days aren't that of a typical little 4-year-old boy. I squawked about how just watching him on the playground off in another world makes me cry for him. But mostly I let God know how mad I am that He didn't make that change.
I heard one time that God doesn't mind when we feel the need to fuss at Him - that He can take it all. I hope that is true. I believe that God knows we sometimes need to unload our cares, and He is the only one that can take all of that pain and hurt and actually turn it into something good. And I do believe that He knows that deep down I do still love and honor Him. And that, even though I painfully crave with all that I am for Cade to just be a typical little boy and for us to go back to the day when things weren't wrong and he was just another happy little boy without a care in the world...even still I know that we will find ourselves blessed to have come through this trial stronger - more deeply thankful - than we would have ever been without it.
So I think it is ok to be sad sometimes. For I think it is only in these most vunerable moments that we can find our true place in the world...and remember that this isn't really our world at all. This temporary home has temporary trials. We just have to find a way to muddle through - to be courageous, be honest, be dependent on Him - and just to sit back and enjoy the blessings...
I hate to be sad. Being sad makes you think about all of the rotten, unfair, unfriendly, and generally yucky things that are going on right now. Being sad just magnifies everything that might be just a little bad on another day - makes things seem a much bigger deal than they would be any other time. Being sad makes me grouchy, too...it makes me not want to try too hard to go out of my way to make anyone else feel better.
I talked to God today. I will be honest and say I gave Him a piece of my mind. I let Him know just how unfair it is that He made things hard, that things aren't the way I thought they would be. I told Him all about how mad I am that He made my little boy struggle, how mad I am that his days aren't that of a typical little 4-year-old boy. I squawked about how just watching him on the playground off in another world makes me cry for him. But mostly I let God know how mad I am that He didn't make that change.
I heard one time that God doesn't mind when we feel the need to fuss at Him - that He can take it all. I hope that is true. I believe that God knows we sometimes need to unload our cares, and He is the only one that can take all of that pain and hurt and actually turn it into something good. And I do believe that He knows that deep down I do still love and honor Him. And that, even though I painfully crave with all that I am for Cade to just be a typical little boy and for us to go back to the day when things weren't wrong and he was just another happy little boy without a care in the world...even still I know that we will find ourselves blessed to have come through this trial stronger - more deeply thankful - than we would have ever been without it.
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