What 'cha doing? Wordless Wednesday!

Latin

Telemann's Minuet 14

 Pretending to sleep!

 Dreaming

 Waiting for a walk!

What are you up to today?

Spring Sensory Giveaway!

Some of you know that one of our yahoos has been diagnosed with a sensory disorder.  Li is our four year old.  She is full of life and teaching us so much.  She is the most energetic kid I have ever met.

She is friendly and outgoing and inventive.  She indulges in all of her senses, from smelling every bottle of shampoo on the drugstore shelf to slowly rubbing lotion up and down, and up and down, and up and down her legs!  She will take enormous amounts of time washing her hands um, arms after playing outside because those bubbles are just too much fun to just wash her hands and rinse them straight down the drain.

Li has a hard time with her senses, too.  She cannot handle bright light.  She frets if she hears a repetitive noise and cannot make it stop.  She has a hard time chewing and swallowing broccoli.  She would rather tuck that green veggie into her cheeks like a chipmunk instead of actually eating it.  She ends up with broccoli juice running down her shirt!  She can be incredibly un-huggable...and yet very huggable at the same time!
Li is not all that excited about wearing jeans.  She spends most of her time in leggings and really cute skirts.
Which is fine with me, because she looks, well, really cute!

Yep, our Li makes life really interesting and really fun. 
Understanding her sensory disorder helps us understand her.

It is always good to connect with others that are struggling with the same issues.  So we have joined a
 SPD blogger network.

Networking is always a good thing, right?

When I was rummaging through my reading this morning, I found that SPD  and Soft Clothing were having a giveaway! 

Check this out:

From the Soft Clothing website:

Soft Clothing for All Children and The SPD Blogger Network are co-sponsoring an incredible Sensory Friendly Spring Giveaway!  2 Grand Prizes will be given (one for boys, one for girls), and will each include the following sensory friendly items, which focus on fine motor development, dramatic play skills, sensory integration, creative expression, auditory exploration, and of course, fun!  Whatever holiday or season your family celebrates, there is something in this stocking for someone you love!

Your Sensory Prizes!

 Puffy Easter Basket (Chick) Pottery Barn Kids (boys prize)

Puffy Easter Basket (Rabbit) from Pottery Barn Kids (girls prize)

"I'll Tell You Why I Can't Wear Those Clothes," by Noreen O'Sullivan

Soft Seamless Sock 2-pack

Vestibular Wedge

Sensory Body Sock

Alex Toys Monster Bubbles

Alex Toys Sack Racing: Frog and Monkey 

Squiglet Fidget Bracelets 

One complete Springy Soft look for girls OR

One complete Springy Soft look for boys

 

 

Go check it out! 

 

 

I am hoping to share more about our adventure with Li here on our blog.  If you have a child with sensory disorder, please leave a comment!  I would love to hear your stories! 

Under the Trellis- March

The weather is finally starting to warm up!

The Yahoos have been out everyday, playing under the trellis!

I wonder how different this will look in a month!



Wordless Wednesday!



Endless Gifts...

they keep coming.  everyday.  amazing.

51.  happy horn honking...

52.  that HE holds onto me...and not the other way around

53.  newlywed neighbors to remind me of the beginning

54.  another week growing with Li

55.  Kiki's "woooo hoooo!"

56.  poppafisherman's warm apple crisp and homemade ice cream....yum

57.  e-mail invites to dine...that pop up at just the "right" time

58.  the hope stored up in heaven...

59.  the coffee... that is "cafe," and the giggles that erupt

60.  the miracle that for some reason God made me the wife of poppa fisherman and the mama of FOUR yahoos...

Five a month goals...

So last month I decided to join Jessica in her five a month plan.  Here are the goals that I chose for January, and how well I did.

1. Read my One Year Bible Everyday.
I managed to keep this goal!  Meeting with the Lord in HIS word every day has been such an encouragement, and HE helps me along through the day.  It is a discipline I have always tried to keep up but having this list and the accountability really helps me.  I also decided to keep a blog about my readings.  Keeping up the blog has also helped keep up the discipline, and it forces me to think through what I am reading.  The more accountability in my life, the better!
2. Memorize Colossians verses...two a week.
This goal was harder for me to maintain.  So far I have managed to memorize four verses.  So I have done a verse a week.  Not too bad, for someone who is terrible at memorizing and tries to avoid it at all costs.  More about this in my goals for February.
3. Work with LiLi on learning/writing her alphabet.
LiLi has been working on her writing and her alphabet.  I would like to work on this more consistently, though.  I think we need to make the goal more precise..like once a day...or three days a week...something like that. More coming for February.
4. Clean/organize my desk.
Nope. Did not happen.  Pathetic!
5. Write a note of encouragement every week.
This I did manage to do! 

So here is my goals for the month of February

1.  Read my One Year Bible Everyday. Same plan.

2.  Memorize Colossians, two verses a week.
I really want to manage two verses a week.  I am following a plan and would like to keep to it.  I also found a website called Scripture Typer.  It is a great tool and I have been using it for a week.  I think if I consistently keep at it, I should be able to keep up a two a week pace.
3.  LiLi on her learning her alphabet/handwriting.
Li has really been doing well with this, but trying to work at this everyday is a bit much for her.  So we will make it a goal of three days a week, probably Mon. Wed. and Fri.
4.  Clean and organize my desk.
I will conquer the desk.  I will!
5.  Write a note of encouragement every week.
One thing I have been thinking about lately is how much we do not say.  And for some reason we tend to say the things that are negative and we keep the positive stuff to ourselves. 

If you are interested in making goals for yourself this month, or are just looking for an interesting, inspiring blog to read, check out Jessica's blog.  Jessica and her hubby are currently raising their five children overseas.

Blizzard 2011

I have fond memories of the Blizzard of '79.

Now the yahoos will always remember the Blizzard of 2011.

The mound to the left of them...that is right up against the back window of our house.

3 ft. of snow blocked our back door.

The girls and the dog pranced and dug and pranced some more.

Pretty cool day!

The story of Li...

Lili is yahoo number three. She came to us as a 6 day old baby. She was scheduled to stay just two months while her birthmama tried to get her life in order. Li was the hardest baby we have EVER cared for....and we have cared for quite a few. This kid would SCREAM the whole time she was awake. Constantly. Nothing would stop her...until she fell asleep...exahusted. Honestly...there were many, many days we looked forward to her heading back to birthmama. Sometimes we felt as though we had been taken hostage by this kid. There were days the girls and I would huddle in a corner of the house and pray. 

But she did not leave. Her birthmama could not care for her, and asked us to become her guardians. We said we would.  But it was a difficult decision to make.  We wanted to do what we could to love this little thing, and we wanted to honor God in how we lived our life.  We knew that if she had come to us biologically, we would not be wondering if we should "keep" her.  So she stayed.  And we prayed, trusting the Lord would provide the capacity and the wisdom to love her in the ways she needed to be loved. 

You see, LiLi has sensory disorder. She would scream in a desperate attempt to cope with her senses. She would scream at a truck passing by, scream if someone tried to tickle her arm in a friendly gesture...scream at toilet flushing in the church restroom, and scream at the friendly YMCA nursery worker who was merely trying to help her feel more at home.

We did not understand her at all.  Finally, when she was about 2 years old, we found help through a therapist who worked with her, and with us, week after week, helping her learn to cope with "life."  Li learned how to manage the things that frightened her, and by the end of the year she was amazed by the trucks, giggled at the toilets, and looked forward to hanging out with the Y nursery workers.  And we learned that a bear hug was much more effective.

After working with the therapist for a year, we decided to try preschool.  It was a rough start, but slowly Li began to feel safe.  She started making friends.  A daily schedule helped Li.  Occasionally there a transistion she could not manage.  When she hit a wall, her teachers knew how she would react, and learned how to usurp "the scream!" 

Li has come a long way.  We have learned what she needs to help her cope.  LiLi needs to move...a lot!  We have enrolled her in swim class and gymnastics.  When she is not in gymnastics, she is practicing all of her moves.  Constantly.

We have her scheduled to do something everyday.  If she has a day off, we have to take her somewhere to keep moving.  If we are stuck at home she is sent outdoors unless the weather is impossible.  Some days I make her run steps, do jumping jacks, or forward rolls all the way down the hall.  If she starts to struggle, Jeff grabs her legs and makes her walk on her hands.  He may throw her on the coach a half a dozen times.  We will load up the laundry basket with her baby sister and a pile of toys and have her push it all over the house....just to keep those senses under control.

Last night Jeff and I were a little overwhelmed by Li.  She wanted bedtime to go a certain way, the way it usually goes, and it was not.  She had discovered the plan while Jeff was discussing it with the other yahoo involved.  Her big sister was not going to bed at the same time, and she was not happy.  She was in her room, doing her crazy dance, trying not to scream. 

Her scream, at this time of night, is very, very, very hard to take.  We were all tired.  We all wanted to curl up in our beds, and enjoy our bedtime rituals.  So when LiLi did scream, we all wanted to join in.  And quite frankly, sometimes we do!

Last night both of us grown ups could have gone down that path.  Oh...I so wanted to jump up and start hollering at them all.  I wanted to hop all over the floor and throw a temper tantrum.  And so did Jeff. 

But God grabbed a hold of our hearts.
He whispered to us...

Look at your Li.  Look at her through MY eyes.
I made her.  I created her...just for you.  I created her just to help you see...

Li experiences life, in a way, perhaps, we all should. 

Li experiences life...fully.

Every inch of her being experiences life....fully.

While we are sleepwalking through the day...
Li chooses to DANCE!

Our little LiLi, the kid who sucked the life right out of us....
 is one who now teaches us how to LIVE.

What do you do...

when you cannot sleep? I usually watch old movies.

But I just cannot do that tonight.

Tonight, I am lying in my bed, alone. I am alone, because my favorite guy in the whole world, is keeping watch over his favorite guy in the whole world. Jeff is sitting with Grandpa Jay...as he eases from his earthly home, into the next.

It is hard to even contemplate what our life will be like, without Grandpa Jay.

The other day, Li-li was bouncing around the house, saying...."Hey....bayyyybayyy! Hey....bayyyybayyy!"

That's what Grandpa Jay always says.

Jeff is so much like his father. I am so incredibly thankful that he is.

How we do Li-Li's beads!

This is what our Li-Li looks like after we wash and condition her hair. Isn't she a ham?

We start sectioning her hair using long clips and metal comb. I'll post pictures of the tools later.

Sometime we get creative in our sectioning. It is popular to do zig-zags. Just a note...we have been told to straighten her hair as we section it...but we have not been able to pull that off!
Straightening makes the hair much shinier and not as fuzzy when you braid and bead it. The best way to straighten is using a hot comb. We have not tried that yet.


This time we made bigger sections, using a small black elastic to hold each section. The larger sections we split into 5-6 braids per section. The smaller section only needed 1-3 braids each. We add 8-9 beads to each braid. The more beads, the heavier and neater the braid. We use a beading wand to add the beads. Once you string the beads on, you secure the braid with a black elastic. You wind the end of the braid around the final bead, and secure the end ABOVE the last bead, to make a loop. Again, I'll post pics of the tools, and how to use them, the next time we bead her hair. I just did not get around to it this time!



It can take 2-4 hours to bead her hair, depending on the style and how many sections we are using. We keep her happy by doing this later in the afternoon or evening, and having a good DVD playing as we do it. She is pretty patient about it!
We can usually leave the beads in for two weeks, although she does get a bit fuzzy headed by the end of the second week.

Backyard family time...

We were all hanging out today, and Mac decides that every Saturday should be just the family, hanging out back, enjoying each other.

Yep...it has been a good day!