Active Imaginations

Scene: Storey's closet/room after her nap.
Storey: My eye! My eye!
Me: What happened to your eye?
Storey: Pooh Bear kicked me in the eye. It hurts.

I've always known that Pooh Bear was trouble.
Scene: Finishing family dinner at the table.
Zak: Storey, here's your vitamin.
Storey: My vitamin! Oh, it's a Jesus vitamin.

No words. I'm sure someone sells Jesus shaped vitamins (note to self:profitable business idea), but these were definitely bears. Scene: On a walk after dinner.
Zak: Look at the goats!
Jakson: It's the holy goats!

The "Holy Ghost" does not, in fact, live on a farm and eat grass. Don't worry, we'll cover those details in our next Family Home Evening.

What's for dinner?

Because I'm selfish and really need some new dinner ideas, I started a group on Facebook for sharing recipes. In an ideal world, my vision for the page would become a reality.

Vision: People trading daily recipe links and helpful cooking advice, all becoming gourmet cooks from the experience, and......world peace.

Probably not going to happen, but won't it be nice not to have to wade through all of those sub-par recipes on random blogs to find something to make for dinner?

Come and join in-it's a palatable party.

Me, Domestic Goddess

Now that I'm going to have a little more time on my hands (ha.ha.ha.) because I won't be spending all of my naptimes sewing, I've been making a list of other goals I want to accomplish. Top of that list? Canning. Learning to can would be so resourceful of me. On CSN (remember that site I told you about that sells everything from console tables to Halloween costumes?) I found a great canner set and have been bookmarking recipes/tutorials. So far, I plan on canning salsa and peaches.

Any advice for a canning novice would be greatly appreciated.

I'll be sure to keep you posted on my progress (or my complete failure).

This weekend

Go to the Redbox and rent this movie. It will change the way you look at things, give you a glimpse into the mind of autism, and a little taste of what my life is like.

A well spent dollar.

Good News

Just got a phone call letting us know that we received a scholarship that will help pay for a portion of Jakson's therapy!! I am so relieved (I've been using that word a lot lately). And because the amount we get is dependent on last year's tax return, we will be paying a little less we had previously planned on.

There's the silver lining of that layoff.

I know that many of you have offered up prayers in our behalf. Thank you. So much. Mark it up as another miracle on this journey.

Want to make one?

Remember this wreath?I've posted a tutorial for the Halloween version over at the Noodles & Milk blog.While you're there, check out all of the other awesome sewing tutorials!

Classic

A pink trike

A couple of months ago (this is WAY overdue) CSN Stores sent me a little Italtrike bike for Storey to try out. I knew that she would fall in love with the pink one. This child is obsessed with pink. I guess that's what happens when Mommy doesn't like something...

We ended up giving her the trike for her 2nd birthday. I was really excited because she's been watching her brother ride his trike, but it was way too big for her. This one advertised the size as 18M and up. Perfect!! Unfortunately, after putting it together (very easy!), we realized it was much larger than we had anticipated and her short legs didn't end up being able to reach the pedals. So sad! Then she just wanted to be pushed around everywhere-not great for the back.

Other than that, we have been really happy with it!! I love the little storage bucket on the back. Storey is constantly putting little treasures or stuffed animals in there to ride along and the colors are perfect for a little girl. It is also lower to the ground so it doesn't tip over easily (Jakson's bike tips all the time, but he doesn't care). I definitely recommend it. You can find it here (available in boy colors as well).

Disclosure: CSN Stores provided me with a trike to review. All portions of this review are 100% my opinion.

Two steps forward

We've been taking some major steps forward with Jakson's therapy. It is such a relief to think that he'll finally be getting the help that he needs from knowledgeable therapists and other professionals-though it of course comes at a financial cost. I am certain it is going to be worth every.single.dime.

So should I start with my bad experience or the good one? Let's end on a positive note....

A bad experience:
Last month we met with the school district for an evaluation to see if Jakson qualified for the special needs preschool. What they failed to tell me was that it was merely a preliminary screening and wouldn't determine whether or not he would be accepted, only what full evaluations he would qualify for. Very frustrating. Especially since they didn't schedule the real evaluations until 3 weeks after school started and in order to continue with a routine, I went ahead and put him back into the preschool has been attending for the past year and a half.

According to their screening, he was in the 85% for speech and wouldn't qualify for speech therapy-a statistic I vehemently disagreed with and one of the main reasons we wanted him to attend preschool through the district. Fortunately, I was able to speak with a very helpful parent at the Parent Center in Salt Lake (an advocacy center that helps parents find resources for their children and understand their rights), before going back for the final eval. and learned that it is my right as a parent to request the full evaluation. If the district refuses, then I can take him to be evaluated by a private practice and the district must pay for it. Armed with new knowledge, I insisted that he get the full speech evaluation. They tried to give me the run around and told me that they weren't sure they could do it, but in the end, Jak was evaluated. Annoyingly, I overheard the speech therapist complaining about it for about 10 minutes. This is the same woman that told me during his screening that Jak doesn't speak in complete sentences (he tends to only use concrete words like verbs and nouns) because I don't expect it of him.

And then I imagined kicking her in the shins.

It's all about self-control, people.

The full speech evaluation indicated that he is in the 14% for speech overall and only in the 7% for reciprical communication. Now that's more like it. I almost turned to the therapist and said "I told you so", but again, I resisted. Unfortunately, because his score is 14% (the therapist told me "this is a very good score"-don't get me started.) and they only offer services to the bottom 7%, he still does not qualify. At least my suspicions were validated.

Jakson, for reasons unknown, DID qualify for the full eval in both gross motor skills, and cognitive development. I was quite surprised, but didn't argue because I thought maybe they had discovered something I had not noticed. He ended up scoring above average in both areas. The Kamikaze Kid scoring above average in gross motor skills (climbing, throwing, jumping)? Shocking (she says sarcastically).

His cognitive scores resulted in the psychologist pulling me aside to talk to me about changing his diagnosis-she felt that he was "too smart" to have autism. My friends, I just about lost it. Autism has NOTHING to do with cognitive skills in most cases. In fact, many people with autism tend to be extremely bright. The shaky fist almost came out. So.much.self.control. It was at this point that I decided that no one at the district has any idea what they are talking about. Ironic, since I am/was a public educator.

Needless to say, I left that whole encounter as angry Beth. He did qualify for the preschool, but since they aren't going to offering him any sort of therapy, I don't think we are going to send him. Anxiety induced meltdowns for six months? No thanks.

A good experience:
About the same time that I set up the evaluations through the district, I set up a consultation with Autism Journeys, a local all-inclusive therapy clinic specifically for children with autism. Going in, we knew that the prices were going to be high, but time keeps on ticking and the earlier we start Jakson with therapy, the better off he will be in the long run. All of this time we've been putting it off, thinking that we are going to move, but it has gotten to the point where we know we just need to move forward here.

All three of us (Zak, Jakson, and I) sat down with the owner/founder of AJ and an occupational therapist to discuss what therapies would be beneficial, if they thought he was a good fit for their programs, etc. I can't even begin to explain to you how refreshing it was to finally talk to someone who knew what she was talking about. We talked about Jakson's restlessness, his emotional and social developmental delays, she answered our questions, gave us (helpful!!) advice, and reassured us that Jakson has fantastic (she actually used the word "insane") potential. It was the first time since we received his diagnosis that I have walked away from a meeting about Jakson without thinking, "I am a terrible parent" or "I just can't do this."

Jakson is going to put on a IDP (individual development plan) which is basically an extremely detailed IEP. There will be a team of professionals (OT, speech therapist, psychologist) working with us to determine Jak's needs and modifying his therapy according to his immediate issues. For instance, he had his chair taken away today in Primary because he just cannot sit still and was apparently rocking it all over the place, so that would be something that we will address with the team-things to help him cope and thrive in his current environment. As I've said previously, we are not looking for a cure, we are wanting to give him the tools to be successful.

He will be starting in the next couple of weeks. It is such a relief. The cost is extremely high ($1200/month without a scholarship, $720 with the scholarship) and I worry how we will pay for it and save for a home at the same time, but we are taking this step into the dark knowing that the Lord will provide somehow. We should find out if will receive the scholarship this next week. Prayers would be greatly appreciated.

For Fun

Folks, I took five hundred photos last night. 500!! In one hour. That's gotta be some sort of record. With so many to choose from, I had good odds at getting a couple decent shots despite my novice camera skills. It was great practice and so much fun.

Wanna drive up next weekend and do it again, guys? Do ya, do ya, do ya?
A few of my favorites (in no particular order)....

Let there be light

Tomorrow I'm going to be taking family pictures for one of my best friends who is currently in Utah (one good thing about UT-everyone has family to visit here, so we get to see them too!). And yeah, I don't normally take pictures of other people..... I'm totally nervous that I'm going to completely screw up or suddenly forget how to use my camera, so I've been cramming like I'm in college (only this time I'm hoping to actually retain the information), reading everything photography related I can get my hands on and practicing different techniques.

Last night Zak was kind enough to play with the kids while I experimented with backlight and full sun shots. It was fun to mess with different manual settings on the camera.

Taking a step back

Three years ago (almost to the day), I opened a little Etsy shop. In the beginning, it was a method of therapy. I had been suffering from post partum depression and needed a productive/creative outlet during naptime. Etsy served as a sort of Prozac. It was a way to continue to stay home AND still be immersed in the outside world.

A couple of years later, during Zak's unemployment, the shop paid our bills. Suddenly it was no longer a hobby but a real job. I introduced birthday supplies into my repertoire and started selling 4 or 5 items a day. We felt so blessed. Looking back, I don't know what we would have done during those months without it.

Since Jakson's diagnosis in April, though the shop has continued to grow, I have felt impressed that the its life is coming to an end. I've been dismissing the thought for the most part. I have many excuses-we need the money, my customers will be so disappointed, I've worked so hard, I'm almost to 1,000 sales....but, the feature in Brides magazine!! Despite my best efforts and Jonah-like attitude, the promptings have not subsided. The Lord has been telling me that during this season of my life there are more important, more eternal things I should be focused on. And I'm learning that sometimes (more often than not) the Lord asks us to do hard things. But I also know that He blesses those who are obedient, and frankly, I need all the blessings I can get.

As a result, I've decided to finally follow the impressions (before I get swallowed by a whale) and have made the decision to remove most of the items (including all banners) from the shop. That said, I still won't close completely unless I feel impressed to do so. The remaining items are destash fabrics, tabletop pennants (like the ones in Brides Magazine), and my newest product Fabric Wall Letters, all of which won't require the kind of time and attention that I've been devoting to Etsy for the last three years.

A few months ago, I hired a good friend whose husband was laid off and she will continue to make Max costumes and all of the ribbon banners.

Believe me when I say that this has been an incredibly hard decision to make and not taken lightly. I love Etsy. I love the relationships I've developed through buying and selling and the joy I get when customers tell me how much they love their products. I'm excited to continue my Etsy journey on a much smaller scale. I'm even more excited to have some time to realign my priorities and devote myself to my family.

**I will still take custom orders every once in awhile, so if you are a reader of the blog and would like a birthday set made, I would be happy to make it for you. Just email me. Every once in awhile I will also be adding ready-made banners to the shop. I still have a lot of fabric to use up!!

QUILT ALONG WEEK THREE: SEWING THE QUILT TOP

**Those of you who have been following along will realize this soon, so I'm just going to point it out. On week two's instructions I told you to cut out 44 filler squares and 64 baby clothes squares. Wrong. Math has never been my strong point. Just ask my mother. Anyhow, the CORRECT numbers are 40 filler squares and 60 baby clothes squares (or 56 squares and one larger 8.25" x 8.25" square for the middle). Sorry to cause confusion-I'll be sure to have Zak count things from now on. Oh, and the instructions have been changed to reflect the correct numbers.

To get started for this week, you'll need all of the squares that you cut out, a sewing machine (dust it off! open that box! you can do it!), an iron, and white thread.
Instructions:

1. Lay out your quilt. First lay out the baby clothes squares. There is no right or wrong when it comes to order of the squares-it's all a matter of taste. The outside border of the quilt is 10 squares by 10 squares (use baby clothes squares). The inner box of baby clothes squares (not the center) of the quilt is 6 squares by 6 squares
2. Once you have a layout that you are happy with, fill in the blank areas with the white (or other solid) squares. The two areas should be 8 squares by 8 squares and 4 squares by 4 squares.

3. Take a picture of your quilt just in case a small child runs through your sewing room and the squares go everywhere.
   
4. Now it's time to get sewing. I sew each horizontal row, starting at the left. I pile the row up, with the left-most square on the top. That way when I get to the sewing machine, I can remember the order of the row.

5. Take your top two squares and line up the edges, right sides together. Sew, using a 1/4" seam along one side. Do NOT pull off the machine and cut the thread.

6. Now take the next two squares and place right sides together. Place under the sewing foot and continue sewing the squares together. I'm not sure what the real sewing term for this way of sewing squares is, but I call it continuous sewing (wow-sounds so technical). It saves so much time when sewing a quilt top. Rather than sewing and cutting between each set of squares, you just continue to sew. And once you've sewn all 10 on the row, you get something like this

7. Snip the threads between each set of squares. Now take the first two sets, right sides together and line up the edges. You may want to pin, but I am lazy and a terrible example to others. Sew, using a 1/4" seam.

8. You should now have 4 squares sewn together in a row. Take the next two sets of squares, right sides together, line up the edges, and sew one side with a 1/4" seam. Then take the last two squares and sew them onto the end.
   
9. At this point, you should have a set of 4 squares and a set of 6 squares. Place right sides together, line up the edge (pin if you want), and sew one side with a 1/4" seam.
10. Da! Da! One full row of 10 complete!
11. Continue to repeat steps 4 through 10 for the rest of the rows all the way down the quilt.
12. Skip to step 20 if you are not using a large square in the middle.
13. If you have a large square (8.25" x 8.25") for the middle piece, you'll need to do something a little bit different when you get to rows 5 and 6. You have 4 squares on either side of the large square. Start by sewing those 4 together on both rows.
14. Next take the two rows of 4 on the left and place them right sides together (line up the vertical seams), pinning the seams together between each square.

15. Sew the two rows together using 1/4" seam.

16. Do the same thing on the right side of the large square.
    
17. You should now have two rows of 4 on each side of the large square.

18. Take the large square and place it right sides together with the left 2 rows. Sew together using a 1/4" seam.
19. Sew the left two rows to the large square by lining up the opposite edge of the large square with right sides together. Sew using a 1/4" seam
20. Now that you have all of your rows sewn together, you need to iron your seams before finishing up your quilt top. You want to iron the seams of each row in the opposite direction. For example, you will iron the seams on the first row to the left and the seams on the second row to the right. This will help your quilt lay flatter.

21. Starting with the top, take the first two rows, place them right sides together, line up the squares ,and pin each seam.
22. Sew using a 1/4" seam.
23. Take the third row, place it right sides together with the first two, line up the seams, pin and sew it.
24. Continue doing this until all of the rows are connected. And....your quilt top is complete!
25. Do a little dance.

Supplies for week four:

• 1 1/4 yard of cotton fabric for the back of your quilt
• 1 1/2 yards of quilt batting (I like Warm & Natural 100% cotton, but this is a decision left to you)
  
• yarn for tying (if you are going to tie your quilt-you can also machine quilt it)
  
• spray adhesive for quilting (can find this in the sewing area of Joann's or even Wal-mart)
• white thread

Almost done!!

Things to do if you are 4 and refuse to sleep at night

1. Slip on your Max costume to check the fit. Jump around a lot.
2. Fiddle with your nightlight until it breaks. Scream because you are deathly afraid of the dark.
3. Yell that you have to go to the potty. Go into the bathroom, realize that you don't actually need to do anything, go back to bed.
   
4. Change your pajamas at least 3 times. End up with completely-inappropriate-for-summer flannel polar bear pajamas.
5. Move all of your bedding to the closet.
6. Lie inside the closet and kick the walls-it makes such a satisfying sound.
7. Yell that you have to go to the potty. Go into the bathroom, unroll half a roll of toilet paper, realize you don't need to do anything, go back to bed.
8. Figure out how to use a matchbox car to unlock the bedroom door from the inside.
9. Unlock the door and look around until Mommy or Daddy yell from downstairs.
10. Repeat #9 & #10 four or five times just to make sure parents are really paying attention.
11. Read a dinosaur book out loud, complete with dying moans when the dinosaurs eat each other.
12. Lie on the floor and yell into the air conditioning vent. Tell mom that you need her to make you a dinosaur blanket.
13. Scream and cry because dad didn't give you the medicine that you gagged and threw up two hours earlier.
    
14. Collect all of the pajamas that have been thrown from the drawer (see earlier escapade). Layer all of the shirts. Decide to change your name to Hanz, or maybe Franz.
15. Yell that you have to go the bathroom. Go into the bathroom. Ask mom for a magazine to read. Sit on the toilet and read said magazine (preferably Food Network) until mom notices you aren't doing anything. Go back to bed.
16. Throw a huge tantrum because you ___________ (don't like water parks, want to see Megan and Kiefer, run out of water in your cup, can't find your dinosaur, forgot to take vitamin, etc).
17. Realize too late that you actually DO need to go to the bathroom.
    
18. Poop in your underwear.

Oops.

It's been one of those weeks.

I apologize to anyone (anyone?) who is following the quilt-along for not posting a new set of instructions this week. Things have been a little crazy between shop orders, Jak's surgery, and spending hours on the phone trying to figure out what the heck we're going to do about therapy, so bloggy things have been set on the back burner. I plan on getting the tutorial ready and scheduled for Monday. Stay tuned.

More later. It's late and I'm exhausted.

First Day

QUILT ALONG WEEK THREE

This week's Baby Clothes Quilt Along is going to be postponed until Tuesday-we're spending the holiday at the Dinosaur Park!!

The Dinosaur Park is almost better than Christmas for bribery purposes.

There I Am!

Open up September's issue of Brides Magazine.
Turn to page 170.
Look closely.
Closer.

Current Events

Yesterday I took the kids to preschool back to school/meet your teacher day. That's right I said the kidS. As in plural. The preschool Jak has been attending for the past year and a half has a class for two-year olds--perfect for Storey. She can go and talk someone else's ear off for a couple of hours each week. And I can go to the gym without paying a babysitter. It's a win-win.

Actually it's a win-win-win. I get a break, Storey will have the active social life she's dreamed of, and Zak will have a more fit, less frazzled wife.

Well, in theory anyway.

School starts for them next week, but it doesn't really feel like the start of a new year since Jakson has been attending all summer long. Doesn't do well with change in routine and all that.....

And he might be deaf in his left ear. I think I mentioned that previously, but we finally have a sedated (?!?) hearing test scheduled along with another ear tube surgery. The hearing test they need to conduct requires a child to sit still for two minutes. Not gonna happen with our anxiety ridden child, so the ENT has scheduled it while Jak is already out for his surgery. It should be interesting to have a really accurate idea of what's going on with his hearing.

I'm still going to the gym (applause! applause!) but counteracting my efforts with a continuous supply of delicious desserts. Like this one. So, so good. I am feeling less guilty about the sugar intake since I am running some of the calories off. According to the scale, I have lost a pound. One. Almost makes me never want to go back, but Zak assures me that I LOOK skinnier.

Isn't he a good husband? A liar, but a good husband.