Whatnot Wednesday

 

 We are on another of our weekly expeditions to Houston for Ben's job.  We were a little concerned because we aren't staying at our usual hotel.  That means no duck - remember the duck.  Jack loves the duck.  But when we pulled up here Monday night, Jack said, "We're going to have lots of fun here.  I bet they have some new previews."  And they did so all is well.

Jack loves a hotel. I mean loves it. He and I have done nothing during the day.  We drag ourselves to the lobby just before 10 in the morning to get the breakfast buffet and so I can get an iced latte before the Starbucks in the lobby closes (who has heard of such??).  After that, we stay in the room all day.  Today, I was like, "Dude, you wanna go try to find a Barnes and Noble so you can look at books and movies? {and so Mom can another hit of  iced latte - her own version of crack}"  Jack was like, "Nope.  I'm going to stay right here all day again today."  Seriously, he loves hotels.

I love hotels.  And I always have the best luck at hotels.  The staff is always super friendly and helpful.  I hear horror stories from others about hotel stays, but I rarely experience any negative stuff.  For instance, today I got a text from work that my biannual background check was due by the 30th - something I wasn't aware of.  So, I call the front desk.  I can't even get my whole question out and she says, "We have a printer.  We have a computer.  We have envelopes.  We have stamps."  The whole process was easier than if I had been at work with the documents in front of me.  When I was standing at the front desk filling out the address and Jack was running in circles behind me quoting the preview for Super 8, she anticipated my needs before I had them and just kept talking about how adorable Jack was.  I was waiting on her to say, "I have a clone of you back here that can sign your name and fill this paperwork out for you.  I have a nanny that can care for your child and slip him a valium as needed."  Seriously, I love hotels.

We ate lunch with Ben's family this past Sunday.  Jack's aunt and uncle gave him an Alabama sock monkey. He loves getting new "friends" so he was happy.  He kept calling him Big Al named after Alabama's mascot, but when we got home and had the actual Big Al elephant with us it started causing some confusion.  The monkey's name continued to change throughout the day, but always somehow resembled Big Al.  I think we have finally ended up with "Bigga Bigga Bigga."  So, of course, Ben (and now Jack) spend a large part of the day singing, "Bigga, Bigga, Bigga, oh can't you see?  Somehow your words just hypnotize me."  You gotta love a little Snoop Dogg culture.

Speaking of Snoop Dogg, Tara and I had taken Piper and Jack to eat at the Japanese Steakhouse a few weeks ago.  We were getting ready to leave and Tara said, "Let's go to the hizzle my nizzle."  Jack said, "No, let's go to the Zazu!"  You gotta love a little Lion King culture too.

I posted on facebook last Sunday that I was addicted to NFL Red Zone and I am.  That's totally true.  No commercials - just the biggest plays of every game going all in one place.  It is, quite frankly, sportstastic.  One of my facebook friends commented with this tweet that I think sums the wonderfulness of it up perfectly:  “NFL Red Zone channel is so paralyzing,” read one tweet, “it took me 90 minutes to get motivated enough to order a pizza online.” 

This is the third day of our trip and I'm on my third book.  This makes me happy.  I'm just saying.

Jack hates to write and frankly, he's not very good at it.  We've been trying to practice for months now.  He really wasn't feeling it.  Then, I had an epiphany.  He LOVES to write his letters now.

This is Battle: Los Angeles - one of MANY movie titles we write in dots and Jack copies.  And sometimes, I can even get him to write this by himself as an incentive for a new movie to write.

That's his name. I'm telling you, if we get a movie buff for a Kindergarten teacher, we are gonna be soooo ahead of the game!

Keep Dancing

I had the privilege of going to hear Emily Colson speak at our county's Sav-a -Life banquet this Monday. It was wonderful to hear her talk about her journey with her son, Max.  There were so many things that gave me hope listening to her talk so joyfully about this special gift God gave her.  My friend Beth at Counting our Blessings said everything I felt that night and did it beautifully.  I'm going to let you go here and read what she wrote about a very special woman and her wonderful son Max.

Whatnot Wednesday

It's been a while, but I'm back. I know you are all on the edge of your seats with breath held.

Jack has decided that he wants some control of the radio in the car.  For the past three weeks, all he wants to hear is "Junkyard" by the Zac Brown Band.

This isn't his favorite version, but he'll take it in a pinch.

Just yesterday, he branched out a little and moved on to this request:

He actually said "Shining Star" but eventually we figured it out.  It's times like this when you know you're doing something right as a parent.

I've taken to writing the names of movies on Jack's snacks for preschool.  The main reason is because it helps him be more excited about going in the mornings.  He likes school but he doesn't really like getting out of bed and getting ready.  The idea that he has movies to read about at snack time helps.  For a couple of days, I was writing movies like "Cars" and "Rio" and "The Smurfs" because I was aware that Jack's teacher would see them.  I asked him about school one day last week and he said, "No more G and PG, Mom.  I only like PG-13 and R."

Jack is very literal.  When he doesn't like something or doesn't want to do something, he always has a reason for it - a valid reason.  If he doesn't want his picture taken, the battery is dead in the camera.  If he doesn't want to pick up his toys, his arm is broken.  The other day, he didn't want to go home.  He was playing and busy, so when I told him it was time to go, he wasn't feeling it.  He said, "Sorry! Can't go.  The house burned to the ground."

We had lots of friends over to our house last Saturday night to watch football and hang out.  We rented one of those big slides.  We had about 20 kids so it was totally worth it's weight in gold - especially when football is on.  We were setting up our television outside.  We only use it during the fall so it hasn't been out there for a while. During that time, I happened to catch sight of our windows and I thought I would clean them really quick.  Let me just tell you... that is a job that is NEVER ENDING!! It's like peeling back layers of a dirt onion.  Of course, when I got a text from my friend to see what I was doing, I told her "cleaning the windows... did u know people really did that??"  Maybe that's why it was like a dirt onion...

This Saturday was one of those great days in fall - those football days the Foremans love so much.  Auburn lost.  I BELIEVE.... the streak is over.  There was celebration.  All is right in the world again.  Let's move on.

Head over the The Wonderful Happens and tell us what made the world right for you this week...

Davidson's Prayer

This is Davidson.  Remember him?  He was my translator while I was in Haiti.  He also painted this picture for me which I cherish very, very much.

I've been so blessed to be able to stay in touch with him through email and facebook.  Davidson is a 24 year old student.  He has been unable to finish high school due to lack of funds to buy books and pay the exorbitant school fees.  He is in what should be his last year of high school now.  He is also the pastor of a Baptist church in Jacmel, Haiti.  He inherited this church when his father passed away about two years ago.  

Mostly, I just felt a connection to him on a friendly level.  We could laugh together - he was laughing at me the majority of the time, but I find myself ludicrously funny as well so it worked.  But what amazed me most about him was the maturity he had.  We questioned him a lot about his life in Haiti and the lives of his church members.  He has a wonderful understanding of the English language and was able to give us an idea of the spiritual and cultural aspects of life in Haiti and the greatest needs of the people.  My pastor found out that there were very few church members in his church who owned Bibles so that's been something our church has been able to provide for them since we returned.  He sent us pictures of him handing out Bibles in his church.  He's just a really cool guy.

During my trip to Haiti, I and two friends of mine did a women's Bible study on the book of Esther and how God calls each of us for such a time as this.  I talked mainly about how I had felt God's call on my life as a Mom to Jack.  I talked about Jack's autism and how our life as parents has played out differently than we thought it would.  Davidson was my translator every day while we were in Haiti so he became very informed regarding Jack's difficulties.  During our breaks, we were both able to share a lot about our families, so we really felt that we knew a lot about each other by the end of the week.    

I've said before that I went to Haiti to serve and felt that I was served.  I went to be a blessing and felt that I was blessed.  Davidson was a big part of that.  I get very excited when I get notes from him on facebook letting me know how things are going. I had emailed him after the hurricane hit Haiti a few weeks ago.  It took him a few days to reply, but when he did, he told me that he was fine and had not been effected.  Then he wrote this:

How is Jack?  Is he getting better with his problem?  I pray the Lord to keep him healthy in everything he's doing.  I pray for God to give him skill and knowledge.  For God is good all the time.  Amen  That's my every day prayer for him.

There have been many people that have prayed for Jack.  Some people I know pray for him every day.  People that love the Lord and love Jack.  And I am thankful for each and every prayer and I feel so grateful that God has placed people in our lives every day to love our family in such a wonderful way. 

 But reading this prayer from this man was something more than special to me.  He's still in high school - not because he should be but because he doesn't have the resources to attend most of the time.  He's the pastor of a church full of people with no money and an abundance of needs - most of whom live in tents.  And while he never verbalized it, I know that he doesn't have much food.  I know that because he didn't eat while we were there unless we gave him food.  He was with us from 9:00 a.m to about 8:00 p.m. every day and he wasn't eating unless we gave him food.  His country is in desperate poverty and had just endured a hurricane a few days before.  

Yet, he told me he was praying for my child.  Every day.  My child who has every opportunity available to him and an abundance of resources at his disposal. Davidson is praying for him every day.  And I get to tell Jack that one day.  I get to show him Davidson's picture and tell him that this man who had never met him and was surrounded by tremendous need - not to mention his own - prayed for God to give Jack everything he needed.  That's how big our God is.  

D.L. Moody said, "We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine."  Not at any time while we were there did Davidson talk about his burdens or how difficult life could be for him.  He didn't have to tell us that he was a beacon to a dark world.  His light shined bright enough that everyone could see it. 

Keep Calm and Trust Snape

Like many of my other friends, I'm having a love affair with Pinterest.  Nothing I've made so far has been very impressive, but that's due to my poor craft skills.  The ideas were top notch.  I showed my crayon wreath for Jack's teacher in an earlier post.  My latest attempt at DIY Craftiness was t-shirts using freezer paper and fabric paint. We are headed to Universal Studios for the day during Harry Potter weekend and I couldn't be more excited.  I made Jack these super cool t-shirts to wear while we're there.  Like I said, they aren't brilliant, but Jack totally digs them.  He really wanted a Voldemort shirt (because he normally aligns himself with the bad guy and yes, we're a little concerned about that:), but I talked him into Snape instead - the bad guy turned good.

Now, I just need to talk Piper into dressing up as Hermione and we'll be all set!  Happy Pinning everyone!

So Much To Do

I mentioned that we took Jack to a child psychologist in July for pyschoeducational testing.  Our main goal was to get some recommendations of implementations we could try this year to help Jack be as ready for Kindergarten next year as possible.  Jack's pediatrician had recommended a doctor in the Atlanta area that specialized in ASDs and seemed to be giving other parents some really great information.  I wrote in this post about how much I liked the doctor during the testing.  It took us a while to set up the meeting to receive the results Ben and I really wanted to speak with her about the results together since we would be discussing lots of hands on things we could try to implement at home with Jack.  Due to Ben's work schedule, it was about a month later when we finally spoke with the doctor and received the results of the testing.  We were excited to get some recommendations for how to proceed in a way that would be most beneficial to Jack. We know that he is going to have some struggles in school, but we don't want any of those to be because we didn't provide him with something he needs now.

We wanted recommendations and boy, did we get some!! The doctor was fantastic and so thorough in giving us some really useful and practical information.  She also gave us a duel diagnosis:  Sensory Integration Disorder and Asperger's Disorder - no surprises there, but it is nice to have the diagnosis that we feel is correct.  But much more important than that was a list of ways to get started doing what will help Jack be as successful as possible in school and every other area of life.  Some of the recommendations were for Jack as he grows and gets older and I really appreciated those as well - the ability to grow with him as he learns new things.

Some of the suggestions she had were:

OT services:  We were planning on this anyway, but some of Jack's major issues have to do sensory processing weaknesses and fine motor difficulties.  We have found a private OT about 90 miles from us with a full sensory gym and were pleased with our evaluation there last week.  We begin weekly sessions with them after Labor Day.


Picture schedule providing a visual source of information about his day.


"Projects" designed to increase Jack's appropriate social behavior


Structure to help Jack talk about his day to assist him in communicating more effectively (i.e. Instead of "How was your day?", break it down into "On the way to school, I..." and "One thing that happened today at school was...", etc.  Many times, those broader questions make conversation difficult for children with Asperger's.)


Using visual strategies with Jack as much as possible


Use his interests to help teach skills that he won't learn naturally (i.e. Use movie previews and people's facial expressions in them to talk about feelings and attempt to intuit how people feel in certain situations.)

These are just a couple.  We have nine pages of recommendations like this, but much more detailed with examples of exactly how to implement each suggestion.  How great is that?  Of course, the other side to that is that it seems like SO MUCH TO DO and can be overwhelming. But, having more suggestions than we can handle right now is such a better feeling than the "I have no idea what to do" feeling.

We are taking it one thing at a time.  We've implemented the easier ones and we are about to get started on a picture schedule for Jack each day next week.  We have also started implementing some conversation exercises and connecting feelings to facial expressions.  And like I said earlier, we felt the OT services were the most important thing at this time and we are headed in that direction.  Jack also is seeing a PT and working with a special education teacher once weekly from the school board.  Add all that to one fantastic preschool teacher and we are feeling good about this year.

But the best thing is that this 20 page report we got from the doctor was full of some really great things.  It talked about how Jack tested in the above average range for cognitive abilities and how he showed very superior academic skills and she even felt that if his IQ test had not included fine and gross motor skills, he would have tested even higher than he did in the above average range. {Sorry for the bragging there, but the kid is brilliant.  I mean, every parent knows that right - it was just very nice to see that belief backed up with testing:) } And even better than all that was how she talked about how adorable Jack was and how interesting to talk with and all the really cool things he did throughout the evaluation.  But even better than all that was that there is nothing at all in that report that says Jack isn't going to be a healthy, successful, loving, caring and wonderful person.  Yes, we have so much to do, but it is all in helping Jack become the person God created him to be and I'm so excited to watch that happen.  So very excited.  And I am so thankful that I'm the person that gets to do that all day, every day.  So let's get started!