Happy Halloween!

Halloween is such a "unique" time of year. There are so many things happening all at the same time. It's officially "fall", which is my favorite season, we can wear big slippers around the house and noone cares and then there is this "holiday" thrown into the middle of parent/teacher conferences, mid-term time and I won't even mention the pressure of the costumes.

We carved pumpkins tonight. Why? I'm not sure. I think it was a really fun family time for me and the kiddos and definitely cheap entertainment. Last year, the kids were really small and we didn't carve pumpkins, this year.... well, since they are both in school asked me, "when is it pumpkin carving time?" so we did.

Dylan has major tactile issues and even though he's very "into" it, he doesn't like to touch things that are slimy. He did ask to touch "the guts" with a spoon but doesn't have the dexterity or strength to do anything except pull one seed out at a time... wow, this is almost"painful"?

We had no rhyme or reason to the faces. I actually drew about 10 different eyes, nose and mouths and just asked them to point to which one they wanted their pumpkins to have. Cece seem to be more of a "smiley" personality when Dylan just wanted "scary guy". I don't think I was able to carve them for any type of contest but as far as the kids go, they loved them.

After the "slashing" of the pumpkins, we washed, soaked and toasted the pumpkin seeds. They were amazing... I've never really had them turn out but was a little more patient this year and roasted some really good "beans"; that's what Cece calls them.

A costume was easy for Dylan, he's wanted to be a football player for a long time and since "Jumpstart" donated a costume for him, well it was a given. Cece has changed her mind so many times that I give up. Originally, I was going to make Dyl a player, Cece a cheerleader and me the coach. Cece now has decided that she can't make it through this season without being a ladybug.

I knew I had some red fabric and black felt, so I was able to add a little batting, put her in black leggings and we had a hit! She is a smiling ladybug and very thrilled.

It always seems like Halloween comes up really quick but then I remember it's only 6 weeks until Christmas. "Holy Buckets", I just put away the red, white and blue!

Zero Hero

As I have stated many times, I have been given the opportunity to be Dylan's at home "art mom" and am loving it. This week, I made 40 "Zero Hero" puppets for his classroom. I have no idea what they are for. Actually for this project I wasn't given anything except a picture and asked to make them them by Wednesday.

So Dylan and I had a lot of fun "bonding" over this one. We talked about the face and what makes up your face. I would sew the cheeks on one and then ask him what parts were missing. I asked him what he thought of his new Zero Hero pal... his only response was, "does he have a dog? I don't like dogs."

Dylan was born addicted to meth. He has several disabilities that are challenging to both of us on a daily basis. He has hydrocephalus, which is extra fluid on the brain, was born with congenital club feet which after 14 surgeries on his legs, he is now able to walk... somewhat. He had a tethered spinal column, spina bifida, a right eye displacement, paralyzed on his right side and only a 1/3 of his brain.

I was told that at birth his pediatrician didn't recommend circumcision because he wasn't going to make it through the week. That he would never walk or talk. He most likely would never eat and breathe at the same time which would leave him needing a feeding tube for life. When he began to smile and coo, the doctor said it was just a response but not a reaction to any kind of stimuli, that he didn't have the brain capacity to mimic people around him.

Dylan, is my "Zero Hero". Right now, He walks... most of the time, talks a LOT, has 20/20 vision. He's never had a feeding tube and eats very well. His hydrocephalus is controlled by a shunt that goes from his head down to his abdomen. He is gaining more strength on his right side, daily. He will independently use his right arm, when cued. Actually, today was the first day that I could tell Dylan to "get dressed" and he did it all by himself... it only took about 47 minutes, but that's not the point, right?

His pediatrician will often call and ask about Dylan and then remind me that he no longer puts any limitations on patients because of the progress Dyl has made totally on his own. He also has a picture of Dylan on his desk which is a double-fold holding a picture of Dylan at birth and current picture that we send often.

When it comes to my Zero Hero, it's definitely Dylan because it's "NOTHING" (or 0) that will stop him. Thank you, Jesus... every day for saving this lil' guy for me. He's the reason I believe, the reason I accept, and the reason that I know my life could always be a lot worse, at least I wasn't born addicted to a lethal substance and still showed everyone around me how to smile.

Brain Overload

One of my most favorite things to do, when I'm not sewing or making crafts for Dylan's class, is to work at the church. I don't actually even like to call it "work" but better to serve. This used to be something I did on almost a full-time basis but since I decided to make school a priority and I'm taking 20 credits, well... unfortunately, the church is just a special gift that I give to myself.

Today, I hired a babysitter and rather than cleaning my house, which is a huge list... or studying, I chose to go to the church to do some cleaning and organizing. My lil' office has been so neglected so I was able to get things more in order. After putting away a few things from the last couple of Sundays, and catching up on the latest messages, I was able to put some work into our large-group classroom.
For the months of October and November, we are doing the creation story. I made a display of what God created each day during the week and then put it up on the wall. Next, I made really large "tissue flowers", but since I made them out of different colors of blue, I think they look like clouds. I hung several from the ceiling.

I actually organized the curriculum for each of the preschool classrooms so they will all have activities and be prepared for a story on Sunday morning.

I love my church and how they have just brought me in and LOVE me, no matter what.

Communications 101

I thoroughly enjoy my Communications class. Let me give you the rundown... it's a class of about 35 students in which only 10 of us do NOT live on campus. So, the majority of the students are the traditional, young adults that are either still living at home or have just moved away from home and now live on the meal plan for nutrition. They thrive on donuts for breakfast, a nice lunch in the dining hall ,and then pizza or whatever they can scrounge up for dinner.

This class is held in one of the older buildings on campus. It's very "old-school"... you can still see all of the air ducts in the 14 foot ceiling(which have been painted to orange or blue), it smells like an old house attic, tile for floors, and all of the desks are very small and make a lot of noise. The technology is that of the 80's... a tv with VCR on a huge cart, a pull down screen that can never go back up and an overhead projector that allows the instructor to display things on the wall in a crooked manner.

Today, I gave my informative speech. I chose the topic of "some of the the affects that meth has on newborns". I am able to speak at Dylan's school, do really well when it comes to PTA meetings, or leading workshops at Jumpstart for a group of parents but when it came to delivering this speech in front of these young adults and my instructor (who happens to 1/2 my age), I was quite shaky. I was sweating, trembling and could hardly breathe. So then what... just pray!!! I want to be an example for other students and to not be afraid to speak about something that I have a passion for... well, I did it! I think most of them found it to be entertaining and not too boring. I can't wait to see my score, hopefully... an A+... YAY!!!

Remember, I wrote this speech the day it was assigned as to my fellow classmates that jotted down a few things the night before it was due. I spent several hours carefully researching the stats that I needed including doing an interview with a social worker from the IDHW, instead of hoping the instructor wouldn't look up my "fake" resources. I also had my visual aids professionally printed and mounted as to not bring in anything or just accepting the deduction or better yet, a semi-skewed picture that was printed from the library from a website that didn't really go with my speech.

Like I said at the beginning, I love my Communications class and all of my classes. I have learned to get over a few social phobias that I have and learn to enjoy the crowded surroundings with other people that have a LOT of bodily function issues... lol!

A Little Bit of a Crush

Most women of my age are pretty good at decor and making their houses look inviting and warm. Within 10 minutes of meeting me you'll learn that I love Jesus, I like things neat and I have a bit of an obsession over Tom Hanks. Unreal... I know! I own thousands of items that are of "my Tommy". I celebrate his birthday every year, which is July 9th. He's exactly 10 years, 6 months and 11 days older than me. I little bit... oh, let's just say "non-traditional".

Here is a picture of the bookshelf that is in my "office".

This is what I look at while sitting at the computer.

Yep, so this non-trad momma has movie posters up in her "office"... yes, it's actually my bedroom!

Art Mom

This is the 3rd year for Dylan to be in a structured classroom. The first two were considered preschool and now that he's five, he's in Kindergarten. I thrive at making things for his classroom and volunteering my time. Unfortunately, because of time constraints and the demand of a full-time school schedule, I'm not able to commit to any time IN the classroom. I talked with his teacher and just asked if there was anything she needed done outside of the classroom. The next day, I received 10 requests for projects that she'd like "done up". Oh, this will be easy,sewing crafts are my specialty.

Here is a picture of the 40 mice that she requested. This included cutting all of the felt, hand-sewing all of the eyes & ears, sewing the body, filling with split peas, braiding yarn for the tail and then finish hem for each of body.... a total of close to 25 hours. Next to these are little triangle blocks of cheese that each one comes with to complete the bean bag toss game.

We also have ghosts to do, Superboy puppets, BINGO games, and the "Counting with Apples" (which includes cutting 10 trees and 67 apples for each game). This task may be a little more than I was hoping for but since I don't get to be in his classroom, or go on any field trips, or even pick him up from school - this is the alternative to helping out.

THANK YOU to my sweet friend, Janae for always loving Dylan as though he's one of her own children and doing my Dylan run so I can attend classes... LOVE YOU!

Facing Reality!

I'm sure I've stated it several times and will continue to do so until I've got it into my head and faced reality, I'm taking 20 credits. That's huge and this is something I will accomplish with great success but will never do it again... for real! I knew going into this that I would make some sacrifices but now, I'm really missing the little things that used to make me smile. None of Dylan's shirts are ironed, my filing system has become a huge pile in my room, my bathrooms haven't been mopped in over a week (typically a daily thing) and I don't remember the last time I cooked a meal that didn't include something being microwaved. I truly love school and the idea that I might actually become a grown up but then again.... I'm trying to redefine non-traditional and want everyone to see things in a different way and not just because I'm 40ish that I do things a certain way. My friends and family will ALL agree that I don't do anything in the traditional style, so therefore I know that these little voids in my life are only temporary and for a short season. God has way too many things in store for me to think about even think about quitting, that's just not in my vocabulary.

Homecoming Decorations

We have been truly blessed that Cece is getting the opportunity to attend BSU CC. It's the Children's Center on the BSU campus and is my idea of amazing. During Homecoming last week, each of the classrooms were in competition. The prize was a bowling party at the Student Union Building. I chose to make some decorations for the classroom. I made 18 football jerseys with each one of the kids' names painted on them (here is a picture before I put on the embroidered bronco logos) and cut out 20 footballs. I then made 45 tissue flowers supporting the orange/blue colors so when they were hung, they looked like pom-poms. It was a hit. The teachers hung them alternating the jerseys and footballs with the pom-poms all around the room so this large classroom was full of color and supporting the team.

Life throuh a 3-year olds eyes.

One of my favorite things to do is to give Cece the camera and just say, "take some pictures for me." I think it's so fun to see what she thinks about and what she defines as priorities in her life. I have several "up close" pictures of her sippy cup, her potty chair, each stuffed animal and doll in her room and of course several half shots of Dylan. I'm not sure there is one picture of his entire face. I think most of us would benefit from taking a few minutes to literally stop and smell the roses or just take some pictures.

The Flu

As this non-traditional woman, I try to make sure that every thing is in order at all times. Unfortunately, I did not schedule sickness into the formula.

I can tell you the last time each rug in my house was washed, according to the laundry schedule, the last time the kitchen floor was mopped (every night), or when Cece last wore her white shirt with the embroidered butterfly because it's hung in a specific spot as to not "rewear" the same outfit within two weeks.

I, however, can not tell you the last time I had a headache that wouldn't quit, when my body had felt like it's been ran over - several times, or when I've ever gone 3 days without wanting anything to eat/drink except for orange juice. I think it's just God's fun way of saying "slow down".

I've taken my share of echinacea, vitamin C, Airborne, and gallons of OJ in hopes of knocking this thing out. I've gone through the the shakes of freezing, onto sweating, and back to freezing all in a 2-hr span. I will say that I'm quite drugged on Tylenol PM and Nyquil in hopes of getting a good night sleep and feeling all better in the morning.