An award?? Really?!? Squeeeeee!!!

LOL....sorry for the squeeing, I never expected to win any kind of blogging award! I need to apologize first and foremost for taking so long to respond to this!

Laura, I'm humbled and thrilled that you thought of me, thank you! You all need to check her out at iamtheglue I think you're quite an amazing person....what with having a newly dx'd kiddo on the spectrum (and plunging head-first into all the reading and researching and googling that goes with it) and spear-heading the pilot Autism Ambassadors group for Derek's school; you also work a FT job that has been stressing you out, suffer physical pains every single day.... you ALSO are an incredible mom to *7* children (shoot me now, gah....I don't know how you do it!). I am tired just *typing* all those things out....and I'm quite sure I didn't hit everything (like, oh, I don't know...cleaning the house? Taking care of hubby? Doing laundry? Etc etc).

Now! It is my turn and here are the rules...
• You must thank the person who has given you the award.
• Copy the logo and place it on your blog.
• Link to the person who has nominated you for the award.
• Name 7 things about yourself that people might find interesting.
• Nominate 7 other Kreativ Bloggers.
• Post links to the 7 blogs you nominate.
• Leave a comment on each of the blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

Seven things about me that are interesting...well, at least seven things about me, lol

1. I crochet to help relieve stress and unwind.
2. I love love love reading!
3. I volunteer with a dog rescue, breed specific Small Paws
4. I absolutely loathe doing laundry
5. I have a secret obsession- I love Kid Rock's music!
6. I am awful at Mafia Wars on Facebook.
7. I have enough yarn that my husband says I should open my own yarn shop

Seven amazing bloggers that I want everyone of you to go and visit-

Amalah
I don't remember exactly when or how I came across Amy's blog, but I *can* tell you that it's been a mainstay on my list of "must-read" blogs, lol. She is incredibly gifted -She's funny and serious, snarky and sympathetic, all the while not afraid to say it like it is. She's got 2 gorgeous boys and shares pictures of them all the time. She's fun to read, she can (and will at any given time) make you laugh, cry and/or say "Exactly!" or "Whoa, been there, done that-not fun". I'ma shut up now, go read Ms. Amy!

Yarn-A-Go-Go
Rachel is a truly remarkable woman. She's a knitter (which is how I got "hooked" on her blog-sorry, couldn't resist the pun!), she's a writer (her first book comes out April of 2010...watch for it!) and lives in sunny California. She's got mad skillz in her knitting (she makes gorgeous sweaters), and her writing is fantastic.

The Kerrie Show
What to say about Kerri....wow. What *not* to say? Kerrie and I go waayyyy back, lol, clear back to high school (20 yrs this year! YIKES!). We recently reconnected thru Facebook and I've been reading her blog since! She's an awesome homeschooling mom of 4, with another on the way! She's also a writer, she's got an e-book out there, as well as lots of parenting articles!

Motherhood (Oh, And Everything In Between)
I just recently started reading Danielle's blog after "meeting" her (online) thru a mutual friend we have. She took the time to indulge me in a question re: special needs kids and teachers. Danielle is a stay-at-home mom of 3, 2 boys and 1 girl. Her blogs run the gamut of topics....I especially love reading about the antics of her kiddos!

Mariposa Farm Alpacas
Have you ever seen an Alpaca?? The owner of this blog is my cousin Deborah, we grew up spending parts of our summers together and I love her to pieces! She's an alpaca owner as well as a research scientist; she dances (and teaches dance), she sings and volunteers at her local zoo, she "tweets" and is active on Facebook as well. I don't know that there's anything that she *doesn't* do, lol. Give her a read, check out her Alpacas!

Fiona's Blog
Ahhhh....Fiona. Fiona is the daughter of another cousin of mine (Hi Aimee!). There's not tons of writing on Fi's blog, but whenever you need a "pick-me-up" you will always find beautiful pictures of Miss Fi! Her mama,Aimee, is also my cousin Deborah's sister- keepin' it in the family ;-)

My Life with Aspergers
This is a blog that I've learned so much from. The keeper of this blog is John Elder Robison- also author of "Look Me In The Eye: My Life With Asperger's". I've only recently started reading it, going back to the beginning, and it's helped me to understand so much about Aspergers. His blogs have taught me how to look at situations from the POV of someone who has Aspergers and challenges me to search out alternative solutions that I encounter with my oldest.


Holy Moly.... I am truly tapped out right now! I hope you all enjoy the blogs that I've linked too :)

Why does it have to be so difficult?

So.....what do you do when your spouse doesn't GET the issues that your oldest child, who happens to be an Aspie, has??? I mean, c'mon....seriously. I *know* that it's been difficult to deal with....I *know* that it's hard to understand....but, damnit, we HAVE to deal with it correctly or there's going to be bigger issues down the road.



We got Bubby a Nerf "protecter" for his Nintendo DS....much needed, especially since Lil Man likes to grab things from your hands and throw them....down the steps. Yeah. So, got the protector, put it on the DS and after spending about 10 minutes with it on, Bubby wants to know can he take it off....he doesn't like the way it feels on his hands. Duh. It didn't even occur to me (us) that he may have sensory issues with it.....he's particular about what he feels on his skin....and he doesn't like "rough" feeling stuff-no one does but what's "rough" for him isn't necessarily rough for someone without sensory issues. So, when he came to us and asked if he could take the DS out of the protector as long as he wasn't up and walking around because it "feels funny" ....well, I didn't really think it was a big deal. But nope, Randy had a fit over it. And when I told him that it's likely a sensory issue and we should give him time to adjust to it. He said he (Bubby) needs to keep the damn DS in the protector and just adjust. *scoffs* Because it's just easy peasy pudding pie for Bubby to "adjust", right? He still doesn't like to feel a shirt's cuff seam on his wrist.....but now, about 5 yrs later, at least he's not still tearing holes in the sleeves so he doesn't have to wear them anymore. Or, what about the seams on socks? It's pretty dang hard to find seamless socks let me tell ya, but I do it because it just bugs him so much. Any kind of ribbed or textured shirt? Not getting worn by Bubby....it's either "itchy" or just plain ole "I don't like how it feels Mooooommmm". So, am I going to force him to use the protector all the time? Heck no......as long as he's sitting down I don't see that he needs to keep it in the protector.....but if he's up and about? Yes, he'll need to have it on.

Last week we had a pretty special night..... Thursday night they had an awards presentation at Bubby's school for kids who scored "Proficient" or "Advanced" in Communication Arts and Math. He got medals and certificates for "Proficiency" in both subjects! We are soooo PROUD of him! He told us after the presentation that he wants to get "Advanced" next year and I was like "Wow! He's got some high goals for himself" .....which he promptly shot down when he finished his announcement with "because the Advanced medals have way cooler pictures on them Mom!" LOL......

In other school news......Bubby has completed most of his IEP goals. One or two of them he's having issues with, but, his speech therapist/case manager says that she expected it because the curriculm is getting more difficult. He's still got all A's and B's on his report card so I'm pleased.....but, am accepting right now that the IEP will have to be redrafted for his move to 5th grade this fall. Hopefully I'm better able and equipped to deal with all the meetings and such this time around.....last time I was a nervous wreck and had major panic attacks. However, we'll be dealing with the same people-with the exception of his teacher of course- so I expect that it will be somewhat easier on me.

Now I'm off to dig up info to share with Randy about sensory issues and Aspergers and ADHD.....wheeeee!!