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Quietly Thankful

At many Thanksgiving Dinner tables, family members are asked to go around the table expressing their thanks for something special in their life. The usual remarks include God, health, children, spouses, parents and world peace. Even if this tradition does not take place today, it is the time of year that most give pause to the blessings in their life. I am thankful for my wonderful and supportive family, neighbors and friends. My husband could not be more supportive and loving. I have three beautiful boys who care about one another. We are all relatively healthy and happy. But today I write about what I am thankful for, but would never say at a dining room table full of people. Most people choose their cream of the crop thoughts to share among family, friends and relatives.These are not my cleaned up versions, so be prepared. Here are some of the things I am thankful for throughout the year: Turning off the alarm on a day when there is no school. When my friend brings over

Special Exposure Wednesday: School Photos

I remember, and so does my mom, school portrait day when the teacher insisted on parting my bangs for my photo in the 2nd or 3rd grade. That photo is embedded in my brain forever. And those were the days without touchups or perhaps even makeups, because Lord knows I needed a retake. This year when Ben brought home paperwork for school photos and I had to choose a background and package BEFORE I ever saw a photo, I was not pleased.  I love my son, but I do know how difficult it is to get a good photo out of him. I am unwilling to pay for a shot of the side of his head or even better, Ben yelling at the camera. I have enough of those in my personal collection. Metro Portraits did a great job - they captured the essence of Ben. They generously gave me permission to display Ben's photo on this site. When I called them to describe my hesitancy to pay for something sight unseen, they assured me that they would refund me money if I was not happy with the final outcome. Needless to s

Wrench in the Plan

Since Ben's seizures started last spring, it really has been a long and painful process. Always taking Ben's health for granted, I had no knowledge of seizures or their effect on someone. Ben had been making tremendous progress with his gross motor skills. There is a definite difference since the seizures began and medication started. He seems less motivated to walk holding our hands, use his walker or even try to stand. It could be the medicine makes him sleepy or unmotivated. It is hard to tell. Although we have tried a few different medicines in differing doses, Ben continues to fall forward. This unexpected falling puts a wrench in how Ben spends his day. At school, he can fall out of his walker or while sitting in a chair, hitting his head on the table in front of him. At home, while crawling around, Ben can lose control and hit the floor with his face. He has no control when it happens and cannot put out his hands to stop. When riding his new tryke a few weeks ago,

Magic Marker Monday: Stepping Stones

My parents started the tradition of the Halloween Witch when I was a child. The Witch brought art supplies on the day of Halloween, usually hidden somewhere in my room. As soon as our children were old enough, we started the same tradition. This year, Ben received supplies to make stepping stones. Since this was the prized gift, he shared with his brothers. Ben did not mind because he didn't love having his foot dipped in cement, which I thought was the perfect way to decorate the stones. Instead of body parts, we added marbles, buttons and glitter. Easy and inexpensive to do - fun way to spend the afternoon. Check out other works of art.

Spreading Hope Through You Tube

After watching Modern Family on Wednesday night and they talked about Flash mobs , I had to know more about them. Watch this and feel good about the world around you for at least a few minutes. Happy Holidays!

R Word

On Veteran's Day, the boys had the day off so we went to the park. There were only a few other kids there with us. While running and climbing on the playground equipment, the other kids got into a name calling contest that involved only one word - "Retard." I do remember using that word as a kid - I flung it around with words like stupid, idiot, dummy. By the time I was in college, I had more sophisticated shorter words to use, so the "R word" left my vocabulary. At the park, I thought for a second about saying something to these kids. But what would I say? They saw me with Ben and I don't think they were connecting the use of their word with him. It was something they heard somewhere and were trying it out on each other. I chose not to say anything, but it did awake in me the need for more information about the debate going on about the words, Retard and Retarded . Although I am aware of the  R-Word campaign, I was unsure of its focus. Is it abou

Special Exposure Wednesday: The Wet Mohawk

Advantage to long hair. Check out other photos!