Joshua and Andrew's New Walls

We rent the house we live in. It is actually a 3 bedroom, but we have only used 2 of the bedrooms for their intended purpose. The master bedroom is actually on the main floor of the house and the other two bedrooms are upstairs. We have made the master bedroom a playroom for the two younger boys. There is a room in the basement that had been added by one of our landlords relatives. (This house was a family home) The last people to rent prior to us, had 3 girls. They weren't the best tenants and did things without permission. They painted the basement room's walls. These were the handprints. Needless to say, Joshua and Andrew used this as their playroom but weren't thrilled with the walls. They had a sun and clouds too! I didn't get a pic of the tree and pretty pink flowers!
We decided to finally give the two older boys their own room. We have lived here almost 2 years. I made a phone call to our landlord and asked permission to paint. He had no problem with it. He didn't like what the previous people had done and he actually likes us!
We decided to go with maroon and gold. That is the school colors. The boys loved it! Scott did the outlets the opposite color of the wall they are on.
It has a drop ceiling. This is what Scott did with the ceiling. Some clouds had been painted on it so it needed to be painted over.
This is the closet door that you originally saw the handprints.
Please excuse the spots, my camera does goofy things sometimes! Here is one of the walls. Since Bill (our landlord) graduated from Ross also, he loved the new room! Scott put alot of hard work and effort into this project, and we all are grateful! The 2 older ones are now in their own room and love it!

Visit from a dear friend!

This is my friend Tracy and her little boy, Gavan. I have known her for many years. She is currently living in Arizona. Her husband is a nurse, and they've had a traveling position for a few years. She was able to visit for only one day at the beginning of this month. I wish I could see her more often, especially since she's had Gavan. I miss that baby so much. This was only the second time I was able to see him. Please pray for her. She will be moving back to Cincinnati next spring. Her husband wants a seperation, and they are going to be living seperately starting at the end of June. I've seen too many marriages fall apart recently. I'm not sure what is going on in this world. Dave's told her he just doesn't think he's "in love" with her anymore. I don't understand how you can have this beautiful baby (he will be 1 in June) and decide you don't want to live as a family. Please pray he will see what is right, and for Tracy to have strength in this hard time. Especially pray for Gavan's future! Jared took the picture of them on the couch. Excuse the mess on my table!

Joshua really loves this boy too! It's so hard for me to see my baby hold other babies!

He's just too cute!

We love you Tracy and Gavan!

Joshua and Will

This is a picture of Joshua and his friend, Will. Joshua was complaining that I didn't have enough pics of him on here. Will is the same age, both his parents are very tall. Will is as tall as I am!

Family Visit

Since Martha was forgetful with her camera (I know it's shocking) on her visit with us while she was in Ohio, I thought I'd share my photos. This is a picture of 4 of the 11 cousins. I am the oldest grandchild, Paul (Martha's brother) was next in line, then Martha, we spent most of our younger years together. Usually, it consisted of me and either Paul, or Martha, ganging up on the other that wasn't with me at the moment. I spent many of my childhood years bruised and beaten since I was always the fat one that couldn't run! Anyway, I'm getting off subject. As we grew older, we are all very close. Since I was raised as an only child, I am so thankful for my relationships with my cousins. I love each and every one very much! I just wish I could spend more time with Martha! This is Martha's true side that most of you don't know about. Remember I mentioned my childhood bruises? This is Martha abusing her brother, Paul. (I am in so much trouble when she sees this)
Ethan and Jared are two peas in a pod. I was taking photos and they wanted their "silly looks". They are so cute together, and as you can see, they both sweat the same! They had not been in water!
This is Seth, Aaron, Joshua, Alex (another cousin's son), Andrew, Jared, and Ethan. You can see Andrew is as happy as always. I had to force this picture on him! What I found funny is Seth is only 9 months older than Aaron. Look how much taller he is! Aaron is the runt of the family.
Here is the "real" photo of Paul, Martha, Me, and David (Martha's other brother).It was so much fun with all of us being together. I just wish it could have lasted more than just a few hours......
I love you all!

Skyline Chili part 2

If anyone tried the recipe, let me know if it turned out how you like it.

Thanks!

Mother's Day

Just a quick Happy Mother's Day to all my fellow bloggers! I hope you have a very blessed one with your families!

Aaron

This is Aaron Charles, his middle name is after my grandfather. He was born September 22,2000. He weighed 7lbs. 4oz, and was only 19.5 inches, this is very small compared to my other children. I knew from the beginning something was "different" about this child. My original fear was miscarriage (I never had one, or the fear of one prior to this pregnancy), after his birth I feared crib death. Irrationality is not usually what I'm about, so I thought I was crazy and told no one of my fears. Aaron was the perfect baby. Rarely did he cry, and he slept alot. At 1 month of age, he was diagnosed with failure to thrive. He weighed his birth weight! He was also diagnosed with a poor suck reflex and low muscle tone. We switched him to a bottle and tried all different types of nipples, and he gained plenty of weight. By 3 months I was worried that he had never attempted to roll over. By 6 months I was REALLY worried that he had not rolled over! His first neurologist visit was at 9 months. We were originally told that by the time he was 3 years, you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between Aaron and any other 3 year old. Well, that doctor was way off! Basically, we still see lots of specialists and therapists. We have no technical diagnoses for him. He has low muscle tone that affects all of his body (mouth included), so speech is delayed (but has come a long way) and he likes to chew on things. He has had multiple brain MRI's that have shown the cerebellar portion of his brain is permantly damaged (affects speech, tremors and balance) and he has a degree of mental retardation. He lacks the "common sense" ability and will wonder off or in the middle of a busy street without fear. He does know all his letters and sounds and is reading sight words. I've learned he memorizes rather well, and better to music. He will never "outgrow" his condition, but he will improve on it gradually. The only problem we face is that if the muscles are already weak, (the energy cells on his muscle fibers only function at 40% also called mitochondrial dysfunction) we don't know the future of other muscles, primarily the heart. Currently, the heart is strong! He is still not potty trained (ever changed a 6 year old's diaper, who weighs 70#) and will be undergoing testing of the bladder. Looking back, I feel God was trying to prepare me in the beginning that this journey wouldn't be easy. I misinterprated it to be miscarriage etc. I must say that even though we have some really rough days (he throws fit often like an autistic child) he is the sweetest most accepting child that loves everyone he meets!This is Aaron's fancy stroller (classified as a wheelchair) since he tires easily.

These are the braces he wears on his legs since his ankle muscles never properly developed.

Sometimes he thinks he's our puppy! We really have to watch what he sticks in his mouth, because almost everything goes into it.

He also likes to be silly alot. He puts boxes on his head to pretend things. I do not believe, at this time, that he realizes that he is different from anyone else. I know that time is coming, but now I'm thankful. He doesn't realize his limitations (at times I wish he did!) and the disability doesn't stop him from trying anything. Many times he can figure out ways around it, or thinks he's doing something he really can't (like jumping). He has very protective brothers (and a mom that will tear anyone apart who messes with him). His brothers get very upset when he's stared at. This week we had our first incident of a kid calling him a retard and making fun of his legs. Joshua told us and we informed the kids parents. I know we will have many more of these incidences in his lifetime, so my goal is to educate people. I have never wondered why this happened to me or him. I often wonder why God trusted ME. I feel God has alot more trust in me than I have in myself. I know there is a reason for everything, and I am using my life and experience to make it my mission to teach others (children and adults) what it is like to have or live with someone with a disability. I also someday would like to be an advocate for parents of special needs kids, because it is so difficult to know what to do and how the system works.

We love you Aaron!

I forgot to add a couple of other facts: He finally rolled over at 9 months, crawled at 15 months, and walked one week after his 2nd birthday. His first words weren't until he was 14 months and sentences were after he was 3 years. He will always have to wear some type of leg braces, the hope is someday they will be smaller and just in the shoe.

Please remember to keep our family in your prayers, the road is long!

Skyline Chili

This is for Gene!

2 pounds ground beef
3/4 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. onion powder
3/4 tsp. paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. rosemary
1/4 tsp. all spice
3/4 tsp. sugar
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. thyme
1/8 tsp. oregano
1 large can of tomato juice

Brown meat and drain grease. (I then place mine in a crock pot- it is the easiest way, or you can do on the stove in a pan) Add all ingredients to meat. Pour can of juice on top. Add a little water to cover all. And simmer.
This is the easiest thing to make. We make homemade 3 ways and coneys too.
The only reason my friend believed that it wasn't canned Skyline was because the meat wasn't as fine.

Hope you all enjoy!

Andrew

This is Andrew Scott. His middle name is after his father. He was born Dec. 30, 1997. I was due on Dec. 16th. I had the cute baby's first Christmas outfits that went unworn. He weighed in at 9lbs. 13oz. and 22 and 1/2 inches long. (Yes, God gave me hips to deliver large babies!) He has never been small a day in his life. He is built for football and loves to play it. When all the other moms are nervous about their "little boys" getting tackled, I'm the mom of the boy doing the tackling. Obviously, I'm not nervous about him playing, he is the biggest kid on the team. At last check, he is 4ft. 10in., and weighs 117lbs. (Did I mention I grow them big?) He has a very strong personality. I give him credit for not being fake. Andrew is who he is, all the time. He is the one I always thought would be sent to the school office in trouble. Thankfully, that has yet to happen. He is a very bright child. In fact, in recent years, we have come to realize how smart he is. With his personality type, he doesn't "ooze" brillance. At his conference in Nov., his teacher told us she believed he had already benchmarked 3rd grade and possibly 4th. (This was at the beginning of 3rd grade) The really cool thing about his type of personality is, he asks every teacher if they are a christian. This usually occurs prior to the first full week of school. We are in the public school system, and have had christian teachers to this point. (My older son's teacher this year is an atheist- I wonder if Andrew will have her) He doesn't make fun of kids with disabilities, he has a very soft spot for them. His current teacher's brother has Down's Syndrome and volunteers in the classroom. His teacher cried when she told me how thankful she was to have Andrew in her class since he treated her brother like he was no different. That made me cry too! He befriended a boy with a muscle disease, and some degree of mental retardation (a lot like his brother) and made sure he played with him at recess. These are the things that make me most proud, and I need to remind myself of when he doesn't want to listen to anything I have to say! He does spend a lot of his time grounded (currently), but I couldn't, and wouldn't want, to imagine life without him! We love you Andrew!

Mess

As I was checking Martha's blog, I heard noises in the kitchen. It seems Aaron wanted to crack eggs. Thankfully, I only had two left in the carton. I didn't enjoy cleaning it up, but he still didn't seem to mind!

Me

This is me. No it's not a self portrait, it was taken by Joshua, in the position I'm usually in, chauffer! I thought you all may want to see what I actually look like. (Now I know many of you wish it would have remained a mystery!) I just turned 34 on April 19th, and I really still can't believe I'm that old! I was raised in a Wesleyan Holiness church, but my grandparents are the ones who took me. My parents were not christians (my dad was saved in 1993) so the rules of dress and hair didn't "apply" to me. Actually, my mom hated long hair and forced me to keep it short (so short I was mistaken for a boy even at the age of 12)! Once I was allowed to grow it (my teen years) I have kept it on the longer side, for the most part, but not long enough for it to go swimming in the toilet! (That was just for you, Angie) I am in the process of attempting to grow out my bangs for the first time in my life. It is driving me crazy! Two years ago, I lost 63 pounds, as you can tell, I gained it back! I am a stress eater, and it was a rough year and a half. I need to lose it again! For the past 8 years we have attended Springdale Nazarene Church. It was WAY out of my comfort zone to leave the church I had attended since I was 5. It was for the best. The children's department is wonderful, so is our pastor. My old church was really small, elderly, and other "issues" I won't go into. I have found a "niche" I didn't realize I had. I teach the 6th grade girls S.S. class (way different since I have all boys) and really enjoy doing outings with the 5th and 6th graders on a monthly basis. Scott and I both will be attending the preteen mission trip in June.