RETHINK Autism and a lot of Rambling...

Well folks, this is my first official week of homeschooling. I'm learning a lot, but it has surprisingly gone really well! Praise God!! We have done many activities, along with reading lessons, and special lessons for J-man. I was so very worried on how well he would do with MOM as a TEACHER.... well I'll let you in on a teeny little secret. This week he did better than his little brother. Now, I know they'll each have their days, but something I discovered about him (that his teachers already told me) was that he is a VERY hard worker! We were introduced to a program called ReThink Autism. Its basically a step by step training program to teach your kiddos skills they lack. Its a form of ABA Therapy, but they show you how to do it and you do it yourself at home. They customize what lessons will be best for him and you record his results and after he masters something, you can go to the next step. Its amazing to me what he is already improving in this week alone! In addition to this program we are working on his writing, and reading. He can read the words (yes, no, dog, cat, and his name) No pictures needed. We will add mom and dad soon. Tibby has been working on independent work for just about 5-10 minutes. He has also been working on this reading book. We are on lesson 13 and he IS reading a few words now! Now, I will say, it is not his favorite book, but he is doing really well. We have also been doing hands on work, cutting (J working on this too), crafts, and cooking. So far, its been a pretty successful week! I saw something I want to get the boys over on the Pioneer Woman's blog. They're called Block Play People offered at Lakeshore. They are SO neat looking. You can get different families, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Indian, and White. They also have Community helpers and people with disabilities. We are BIG into culture, compassion, and diversity, and I think this would be just a great play and learning tool. Dan (my hubby) is from an extremely diverse family. His parents (white) had 5 girls, then the adopted 5 boys (Dan 1/2 black 1/2 white, 2 black, and 2 Korean. Dan always says their family was like a big package of Skittles walking down the street! I plan on doing numerous in depth studies on other cultures, packed with learning where they are on the map, the food they eat, the way they live, and the traditions they have. I also plan on our boys learning another language. Of course it will be a year or so, but I'm already so excited and planning the activities we will do and the food we will eat! Well, I didn't mean to make this post so long, so I will wrap it up with saying: I hope you and your families have a blessed and safe New Year. I hope to meet many new people and share many great memories!

Read the Bible in 90 days with us!

I am SO excited about this, and I know there are a few of you out there reading this, so I thought I'd post this and see if anyone wants to join in. Reading the entire Bible is kinda scary...reading it 90 days is really scary sounding. What a commitment, but well worth it! Just pace yourself, take an hour (or so) a day and read THE Living Word of God. What an increadible experience, I am so thrilled!! Hope to see some of you join in. GOD BLESS YOU!

I'll be posting a few times about this journey, that way I'm held accountable and WILL finish!

Sign up HERE You thought you could get away with a simple agreement to yourself?! Don't be silly! =]

Pictures from the past few weeks

The MOST Wonderful Time

How was your Christmas? I'm telling you, this has been the absolute BEST Christmas I've ever had! Just like I imagined when I was little. I always wanted to be a mom. I wanted 3 kids (except when I imagined it, I'm sure there was a girl in there) I wanted a white house in the country with a big wrap around porch. Now, I could do without the country part if I needed to, but the rest is still very dreamy to me. Anyways, I imagined Christmas to feel magical. Us in the kitchen baking, cozy nights around the fire, crafts and memories being made. AND IT HAPPENED THIS YEAR. Everything was that way (minus the white house and porch). We filled our days with memories and coziness. My heart was so happy I think it could explode. After 8 yrs, this is the first time our son truly enjoyed himself and the toys. He has played with them! PLAYED!!! Did you know that you have to teach some kiddos with autism HOW to play? The difference this year as opposed to the past, is God. My relationship with Him. HE is my joy, my strength, and giver of LIFE. It has been so wonderful in fact, that I was sad to see it end. I also know that the new seasons God offers are going to be and feel just as wonderful (they won't always be perfect) but in His presence they will be special. So, I am welcoming the new seasons in our life and embracing them! ***Ok, so now just to say I am a goal setter and a list maker, and I have already come up with my goals for the new year. This year though, I'm keeping the focus on ENJOYING every day all while working hard. *Get out of debt...we are SO close! *Learn to love being ACTIVE. Walks, hikes,bike rides, swimming, WII, tennis etc... *Be creative every day. (with the boys, our home, our budget, and meals) *Continue strengthening my relationship with God! (Pray.Fast.Read) *Love, pamper, and take care of myself- just a little bit more than usual *Read a book a week. I LOVE to read! (I'll make a new post on some of the FANTASTIC books we got for Christmas soon)

Now THATS Love

Me: Do you think I am a good mom? (wondering a little today) Tibby: You are a VERY good mom! Me: What makes you say that? Tibby: because you love me.....and I love you! I love you more than CARS, more than cupcakes, more than movies, more than Song-it (Sonic), more than my brothers, and more than snowmen. You look beautiful today mom. What I did to diserve this much love, I have NO idea. It melts my heart and makes every single minute worth it. These boys are beyond special.

My Mind is Going Non Stop

Ever have one of those days when your mind just won't shut off? That drives me crazy! I am thinking about this coming week. I have just a few more errands to run, a few more gifts to wrap, a little bit of organizing this home school stuff, and things I want to do BEFORE Christmas?! Where did the time go? And there I was just a tooting my own horn (in my head of course) thinking how much better I am doing this year......I must have been a DISASTER in the years past! Know what else?! I NEVER got around to doing Christmas cards. I've done them EVERY year, but this year...NOPE. I keep telling myself, that I worried about doing the cards so much in the past, that I didn't have the time to do the projects and baking I have done with the boys this year, soooooo. Hmmmm are the Christmas cards really THAT difficult? Apparently for me they are. Projects for this week will include the gingerbread house, Christmas light scavenger hunt, and making a few more goodies for family and friends. Are you getting everything done? If so send me a note telling me HOW? I really am enjoying the season though. It has been really nice and a lot of fun spent with family and friends. That's all that matters. Enjoy this week and be blessed. I'd say I'll be back here this week, but as you read above.... well I'm not making any promises.

Quote I love

“How can we understand forgiveness if we haven't recognized the depth of our sin?” — John Henry Newman

ONE week left

This is the last week of school around our casa. Then home school and therapeutic learning center, here we come! But first, I am going to fill this weeks with fun Christmas-y activities, crafts, and treats each day for the boys when J gets home from school. I have quite a bit to do this week. I HAVE all the boys' gifts, they just need to be wrapped. The bad part? I still need to go the rest of my hubby's gifts, parents, and in laws, grandparents, and teachers. WOW. Usually I'm a little more organized than this. I don't want to get myself overwhelmed, so this week, I will finish my hubby's gifts and wrap all of the gifts I have. I will also finish the teacher's gifts (since its the last week of school) That's IT. I'll finish the rest next week (unless I find something while I'm out...which I secretly hope I do) My sweet momma is going to get the boys tomorrow and take them home with her for the night, then she is going to help with any cleaning, laundry, wrapping, shopping, or cooking that i need to get done this week. Isn't that just SO sweet of her?! I really just like having her a round, but the help is really appreciated! I encourage you to ENJOY this week with friends, family, good food, and cozy nights. Take some time to get some things done, but don't get stressed out. What fun is a mom who spends the MOST wonderful time of the year trying to be perfect to the point of being just plain exhausted? Have a blessed week!!

A fun GIVEAWAY at one of my favorite blogs!

How yummy are these? EOS Organic Lip Balm Smooth Sphere. Head on over to PRISSY GREEN's blog and enter the giveaway. And while you're there check out her other giveaways and the whole blog. You're in for a treat!

Websites we love for kids learning and crafts

Starfall Great for reading, my boys love this site

Nick Jr

Berenstain Bears really cute! they tcan dress them up, do trivia, color pages and more

Boohbah really interesting. The kids can use the mouse to glide over different patterns to make music. Great for kiddos who don't have all the mouse "skills" down.

Peter Rabbit SO sweet! I lOVE it!!

Thomas and Friends

Scholastic great info and fun stuff for the kiddos

These are just a few we use to have fun and keep up with some basic computer and learning skills to the boys. They really like to play the games.

Christmas decor

I'm really loving the touches of RED and

the cranberry work really nice to add that touch.

I am really enjoying this Christmas season filled

with family and friends!

Romans 8:28

And we know that in all things God works for the

good of those who love him, who have been

called according to his purpose.

Cranberry Blondies.

These are SO easy and really GOOD. I made them gluten free by using RICE FLOUR, instead of the other. They turned out great.

I got these a long time ago from BH&G

Nonstick cooking spray 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 1/2 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. baking soda 1/4 tsp. salt 2 eggs 1 tsp. vanilla 1 cup all-purpose flour 1/2 cup dried cranberries 1/2 cup coarsely copped white chocolate 1 cup fresh cranberries 1 recipe Cinnamon Whipped Cream (optional) Directions 1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 11x7x1-1/2-inch or a 9x9x2-inch baking pan with foil; coat foil with cooking spray and set aside. 2. In large mixing bowl beat butter with wire whisk or electric mixer until softened. Whisk or beat in sugars, baking powder, soda, and salt. Whisk or beat in eggs and vanilla until combined. With whisk, or with electric mixer on low speed, beat in flour. Stir in dried cranberries and white chocolate. Spread butter in prepared pan. Sprinkle with fresh cranberries; press in lightly with a spatula. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. 3. Cool on wire rack 1 hour. Lift with foil to remove from pan. Cut into bars. Serve with Cinnamon Whipped Cream. Makes 12 bars. 4. Cinnamon Whipped Cream: In a chilled medium mixing bowl combine 1/2 cup whipping cream and 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon; beat with an electric mixer on medium speed until soft peaks form.

what a BLESSING

So, in one of my recent posts I wrote about homeschooling and autism. I will be the first to admit, I am a little bit scared of the whole situation, but keeping our kids together and not leaving anyone out is a must in our family. As I mentioned in that post that as SOON as i obeyed, God lead me to where to start and said He will take care of the rest. WELL! Guess what?! The place he goes to therapy for speech and OT just opened a Therapeutic learning Center. Its small, christian/home school based, and has a waiting list. We're on it. They called and set up a meeting with us, and told us they have ONE opening and were praying about it and picked Jaiden. We told them about us wanting to home school and they said they would shorten his day, so that we could get our homeschooling in, and they asked if Tristin could join him a few days a week! They do that so these kids have language support! SO, wow God sure handled that one for us! We will begin homeschooling in January, Jaiden will get extra support from going to therapy and the learning center a few hours a day, and our boys will get to be involved in each other's lives even more when Tristin gets to go with him a few days a week! Oh and something I love about this is that by joining a homechool support group I was worried Jaiden would be the only one with special needs and Tibby (tristin) and B (brighton) would be the only ones with a sibling with special needs. In this situation Jaiden will not be the only special needs kid, and the days Tibby joins him, so do the other kids home schooled siblings, so he'll make friends in the same situation at the Learning Center! Praise God!!

lets see what we can do about this.

awesome. project 320 please check it out. merry christmas!

Advent Calender

Sorry for the fuzzy picture.

I have been wanting to make and advent calender for a while now, but everything I thought of was not exactly what I was wanting....until I went to the dollar store and saw these teeny tiny little buckets! Exactly what I was wanting! And 3 for a dollar! I went home, printed out some numbers and tied some ribbons. Inside, I put a slip of papaer with a family Christmas activity to do together each evening. Some include: make ornaments, gingerbread house and train, Christmas light scavanger hunt, reading the Christmas story, dance to Chritsmas music, give our gently used clothes and toys to the women's center, and many more! I great way to do something special each day. Now off to watch Home Alone with the family!

It beginning to look a lot like Chrismas!

I am READY!

(these beautiful pictures are from

Country Living)

Does homeschool and special needs mix?

I have always prayed about homeschooling our children. When Jaiden was dx with autism, I guess I assumed home school wasn't for him, but I kept praying for his schooling and the other boys. Well, God let me know, that YES, he wants us to home school. OK, that sounded fine to me, Jaiden has an excellent teacher and is offered such great programs at school, and our other boys need whats best for them also. Problem solved! Whoa....wait just a minute (1 1/2 years later) God gently reminded me that He gave me His answer and it was to home school our boys.... did that just mean the ones that are easier for me? I don't think so. Jaiden is just as much a part of our family as the other boys, he is loved just as much, we want to share our moments as a family with him, he is just as sweet and precious, he can even be just as big of a toot, and in the end we want him to know God and to love God as his main focus. Even though he does have a great teacher, God revealed to me that being with them for 7 hrs a day, God is not brought up not even once. AND, yes Jaiden is doing well, but how much more could he thrive being in his home where he is comfortable, surrounded by people he loves and that love him! I'm not going to lie, I am scared. On the day when I acknowledged His voice, He led me right where to start with Jaiden and let me know that He will take care of the rest when we get there. The last thing that I prayed for that day, was to let Dan know the same thing about homeschooling Jaiden. I would gently bring it up and see where it goes. I told Dan, he was pretty silent about it and prayed about it the next day. That night when he got home from work, he said, "Jeana, lets do it!" I think it would be WONDERFUL!" So there you have it folks. God can get His point across....if I just slow down and listen.

What did I tell ya?

Baby its Cold Outside!

Ok, ok, so I live in Texas and it was in the 70s today......but tonight a cold front moves right on in and it seems like it may be here to stay (at least for a while) It is supposed to be in the 40s all week! I'm sooooo stinkin excited! In preperation for this cold front, I'm making a cheesy potato soup tonight and we're going to watch more Christmas movies on the Hallmark channel.

Have a blessed weekend....I've got some posts I'm working on, some crafts, and pictures to upload. See ya soon!

Random Pictures

Reflections

I have NO idea what I'm doing, but I like to practice anyways! Sometimes I think I'm obsessed with pictures haha. I am actually setting a few photography goals; which are to take pictures everyday and the other is to take more pictures with me and the boys and my hubby and the boys together....that way they'll have tons of happy pictures with their parents when they get older! So my goal is to take these pictures all throughout next year and while I'm at it, save up for a GREAT camera. I have a few in mind, so I'll stick to this goal and reward myself with a new camera this time next year....wootwoot! =]

Pirates of the Canyon

Pirates of the Canyon is a balloon festival here that lasts all weekend and has all sorts of activities. Friday night they lit them and watched the balloons glow. Saturday they had all the balloons chase the oldest balloon in our city, then that afternoon was trick or treating and vendors were out. Then on Sunday morning at sunrise they launched all of the balloons out of the Canyon (the second largest Canyon in the US fyi!) Soooo beautiful!

ALVIIIN!

busy.busy.busy.

Well, this week has been a crazy one. I have overslept 3 days this week! Good grief, I think we need to SLOW down a bit. God didn't create us to be tired, overwhelmed, grumpy, and frazzled. I believe He created us to be rested and to rest in Him, to take things on day at a time, to fill our moments with living, and to feel at peace and with joy! Its time to focus on priorities and learn to let the "other" things go. It will be okay. To end my hectic week, and to kick start my being focused, I am headed to Santa Fe NM, to regroup, spend some time with a great friend, and doing what a girl does best...shop! Have a blessed weekend, and I pray you don't let yourself get overwhelmed, but to sit and enjoy what God has given you and to feel refreshed! Enjoy!

We went to the pumpkinn patch!

It was COLD

We really need to fix those shutters.

We will actually head to the reall pumpkin patch one of these weekends when Jai can be there and is not in school. Hopefully we'll get it in, cause

I'm headed on a NO BOYS trip to Santa Fe NM soon!! =]

Fall is in the air!

We went for a walk, and man it was beautiful!

We had no agenda, so we expored and found all the signs of fall!

We were gone for over an hour, when the weather started to get COLD and rainy.

So we went home where it was nice and cozy!

Our entry and floors!

Still need to hang some stuff and add baseboards, but here it is! We did it ourselves...the floor we did through the house is 1000sf. Plus my hubby pulled up a lot of tile. Poor man!