eSpecially Ben

I write this from bed, feet propped up with plans of a nap in my near future. In fact the nap was so near in the future, I finished this Sunday night. My eSpecially Ben teammate, Ryan, is watching ACC basketball on the sofa, nursing sore muscles and joints. After running through the streets of downtown Charlotte, we are wiped out. A day later, we are still recovering. Clearly, this is a "before the race starts" photo. This is us looking fierce. As we left the house and made our way to the starting point, our energy and enthusiasm was high. We had read about Charlotte history the night before and felt relatively comfortable answering trivia questions. When we got there, we were happy to see 13 teams assembled. Many teams came wearing costumes and Ryan and I regretted not wearing our eSpecially Ben t-shirts with capes. 80's Girls Caped crusaders TR Pixies Guys Just Trying to be Girls Not sure what they were going for... The race st

  With a backpack full of snacks, water, cell phone and maps, Ryan and I will end this whirlwind of a week by competing in our local Amazing Race tomorrow. We enter this competition with little information and preparation. My grandiose plan of t-shirts, capes and marathon study sessions ended with a broken dishwasher and residual exhaustion from the About.com Awards. From what we know about the race, we start by answering trivia questions about Charlotte. If answered correctly, we get to take off minutes from our final time. At 9:15am, we take off in search of clues of specific locations in Charlotte, take a photo and then find check-in stations to turn in our pictures. Sounds easy right? Ryan cannot wait to get this over and I am curious to how it will all work. This could be a great marriage team builder or we could end up walking on opposite sides of the street. Ryan is a great puzzle solver and I know the city fairly well, but that does not mean we may have heated discussion

Although this little King has not won an Award just yet, he is still a winner in our house. On Monday, Ben's speech therapist, Kenyatt, came in from after his session with Ben to tell us a few things: 1. Ben is making the "H" sound 3 out of 4 times. 2. Ben made the "M" sound one time. 3. Ben understands that he has to do certain things to make these sounds. He gets the concept. You can jump for joy now. Kenyatt has been using Prompt Therapy with Ben for awhile now. From what I understand of the program, Kenyatt touches Ben's face in specific places for certain sounds to be made. It cues (or prompts) Ben to make the sound. My mom and I have tried to get Ben to make the "H" sound using Kenyatt's technique on several occasions and it has worked. What does this mean? For me, it means that Ben understands communication. Kenyatt will continue with the therapy and try to increase sounds and shape them into words. The first word he will try

Check out other special photos here.

I am writing this before these awards are over. Some of you do not realize that this contest has been going on since February 11. Many people did not come into the game until a week ago when the race became frantic. Three and a half weeks of emails, Facebook messages, Tweets and every other gimmick known to the technical and non-technical world of promotion has been used, reused and then regurgitated once more. If I have friends and family left after this, I will be surprised. In a moment of lucidity, I thought about Hartley's Life with 3 Boys and the other blogs trying to do the same things I pride myself in - spreading the word about children with special needs, trying to connect with others and enlighten others about our situation. Something about this race seems contrary to that purpose. Then, my competitive streak takes over, and I am at it again. Some family members have asked what will I do after this is over. Not to worry, something else will take its place. I think

Ben's class has done several of these painting in class.  Put the tape down first, paint, let it dry and then voila, your masterpiece is complete.

Turn up your volume. In case the video does not work, use this link: eSpecially Ben Video