Saturday, May 26, 2012

I *knew* it was all MY fault! ;)


Click below for the laugh of a lifetime!! ;)

So, I ran across this gem of an article yesterday. I totally laughed my ass off. But, it brings some light-heartedness to a topic that plagues just about any mother of an autistic (or any special needs, really) child.

Read it. Laugh. Share it. and please know, that NOBODY really thinks anything *we* did, caused our children's autism.

Happy Saturday all!

Friday, May 25, 2012

Special Needs Ryan Gosling

Thanks to Sunday Stilwell of Extreme Parenthood for starting the SNRG craze.
Click here to see the other week 16 SNRG blog entries!

So..... I've seen these Special Needs Ryan Gosling pictures floating around the internet for the last four months. I find them extremely hilarious and knew I wanted to jump right in. So, here's my first foray into the #SNRG craze! ;)

Have a HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY weekend to all of my American friends and bloggers - eat lots, stay safe and remember, without our military we wouldn't have the freedoms we do today.

Take Care!

Monday, May 21, 2012

What a sweet boy!


So... the backstory on the picture.....

Ashton is OBSESSED with the "blue notebook" that his teacher and I communicate back and forth with. He'll seek it out at school and write (scribble) and the same thing at home and it's usually just jibber jabber, messy and you can't read it anyways. Well, I decided yesterday that maybe he NEEDS to write in it. To pass notes back and forth to his teacher or to me. Well, LOOK WHAT HE WROTE THIS MORNING!! No input from me, NO verbal cues to write neatly and spaces, NOTHING!! I was SHOCKED that he wrote so neatly without verbal cues, and that he came up with this thought ALL ON HIS OWN!!!! Sooooo sweet!!!

Friday, May 11, 2012

Sweetest Mother's Day gifts ever! :)

I HAVE THE TWO BEST BOYS AROUND!! :) Mom loves you both VERY VERY much!!

This was probably the first year that I can remember the gifts and crafts
that came home for a holiday, actually being made by Ashton. I LOVE THIS!!! :) 
Sweet boy with the card his teacher helped him make and the flowers and vase he made!
I really LOVE that he loves me because I'm Happy! :) And the other side says "Love Ashton"....
If he messes up, he doesn't erase or cross out, he writes over top of the other letters.... ;) 
The vase is beautiful as are the tissue paper flowers! Love this!! :)  
and not to be left out, Holden with the beautiful flower he made and brought home :)



5 weeks 'til school's out!

Woot!

I am constantly amazed at the quality of pictures I can get from my iPhone 4S.
... the one taken above was 5/10/12 :)
<3 LOVE MY BOYS <3
Wrestling has been over since March, the spring soccer season just ended (though we're already getting ready to sign up for fall soccer! lol) and other than wanting to run a race or two, Holden is done with sports for the spring! We're going to sign him up for British Challenger Soccer camp again (he had a blast last year), Ashton is doing 3 weeks of Camp Gonnawannagoagin and hopefully Holden will attend one of those weeks as well, as a peer volunteer (he's FINALLY old enough!). Then we also have a family camping trip planned for July. Combine all that with 20hours of 1:1 academic instruction for Ashton as part of his IEP, free bowling, zoo and aquarium memberships and $1 movie days, we're gonna have a blast this summer! Even considering a few trips to Busch Gardens this summer too!

Yay!

Holden is gearing up for SOLs at school, they start next week (reading and math this year, 4th grade). His grades have finally stabilized again after a medicine dosage increase. He's excited about SOLs, because that means no homework! lol Silly boy! I think he's glad to be done with the hustle and bustle of sports too. It means more time playing outside and more time for video games! He better enjoy the video games now, because come summer vacation time, he's going to have to earn that time. He gets sucked in and then doesn't want to stop playing, even when given time limits. We'll see how well that works. He's really maturing a lot though and reports from teacher and staff at his school is that he's a very polite, patient, kind and sweet boy. His class recently went on a SOL-geared field trip to Jamestown. He loved it and was very patient and kind with a few of the other more "talkative" students. ;)

Ashton is Ashton! ;) Seriously, he's doing great. Still doing his classwork and attending to his group lessons. We finalized his IEP and there are some great goals with some very good short-term objectives. He's already progressing along nicely with them and that really helps. We whittled away the accommodations and modifications and now have a great set of resources that should help him, rather than hinder him in the school environment. He also got approved for ESY services; 20 hours of 1:1 academic instruction. This should facilitate the familiarity with his teacher, the consistency of which she teaches, and help him continue to make up for lost time during his 6th grade year and the start of his 7th grade year. The other thing we did is make sure that he'll be considered a 7th grader in the fall again. He's a little on the young side anyways for a special ed 7th grader, plus, this means he'll have 2 more years at a wonderful school, with wonderful and caring administration and have the consistency with a wonderful, supportive and loving learning environment which at this stage in his development, he needs. This is seriously NOT a bad thing! This is an awesome thing for Ashton. :)

So, that's where we are at! 5 weeks 'til I will have a 5th grader (!!!) and a repeat 7th grader! Wow! Time sure is flying by! Have a great Mother's Day to all the mother's out there!

Monday, April 30, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 30 of 30

Just this past weekend at Mustang Fest at Ashton's school.
the boys had a fantastic time!! :)

I hope you've enjoyed our "Face of Autism" series this month :)

Sunday, April 29, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 29 of 30

This is when getting direct eye-contact in pictures got hard.....
18-19months .... VERY difficult but still OH SO cute!!!

Saturday, April 28, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 28 of 30

I know this was around 13-14months .... look at the long hair in the back!
He LOVED straws back then!!!!

Friday, April 27, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 27 of 30

I'm guessing 15-16months old.... he had started to slip into his own world
and getting smiles in pictures was getting harder and harder

Thursday, April 26, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 26 of 30

Gummy Grin!! He had to of been around 9-10months old here :)
Look at those HUGE blue eyes he had!!!!!

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 25 of 30

Halloween 2006 (so, age 7) - His laugh is EXACTLY the same!!!
He was trying to eat the stem of the pumpkin and I caught him mid-giggle ;)

Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 24 of 30

Well, we got our confirmation - it looks like this was lucky #3!
Ashton will get to surf with Surfers Healing again this summer!!
Thanks to Emily Peat for taking this gorgeous picture of Ashton and his surfer last year!

Monday, April 23, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 23 of 30

In honor of today being Surfers Healing Virginia Beach signups... 
one of my favorite pictures of Ashton and his surfer, Kalani, from his first year!

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 22 of 30

Ashton was trying to whistle and TOTALLY cracked me up in the process! LOL!

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 21 of 30

I was messing around combing his hair after his shower this morning,
and he said he wanted to keep the spiky hair - so spiky it is!

Friday, April 20, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 20 of 30

Look at that SUPER AMAZING report card!
ALL As!!! WTG Big Guy!!! We KNEW you could do it!

Thursday, April 19, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 19 of 30

Look at that sweet happy face and those bright and shiny eyes!
My super handsome boy! :)

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 17 of 30

Another picture from the same trip/day as yesterday's..... 
look at that smile on his face!!! :)

Monday, April 16, 2012

Our face of Autism - Day 16 of 30

This was a shot that was completely unplanned but remains one of my favorites! :)
Ashton kissing a camel at the Reston Petting Zoo in June 2007 when we made a trip to NOVA