Saturday, May 28, 2011

Lowes Build and Grow Clinic

I love the Lowes Build and Grow Clinic because it's free, fun, keeps the kids occupied and it teaches them a thing or two.

Can you tell Mica's a sound effect kid?

The boy's and I trotted off to off to Lowes once again to their Build and Grow Clinic.

They made planes this time! I went by myself, so it took twice as long, which is totally ok.

Grandpa Spiehs is right, Isaak likes to hammer anything, but the nail. LOL At least his pressure is light.


When I was helping Mica pound in 6 nails, I got done and realized that Isaak was trying to put nails in himself. It was totally alright. He keeps things out of his mouth except for his clothing. *Bad habit he got from his cousin Evan - Chewing on his shirt! '

Mica loves to do these projects! He enjoys looking at what the steps are.




More sound effects from Mica!

Pet Feather



We went to a craft store and there was a boa hung up on one of the shelves. Isaak saw a feather that had fallen off of it right below on the shelf.
  • He picked up the feather and said, "Mommy isn't this so cute?" in a high pitch little voice. 
  • I said, "Yes Isaak it's darling!"
He's been caring his pet feather around for one evening and a day.

What was once a feather, is now a blue blob.

Book Review: Lonely Girl, Gracious God


I was sent a book, Lonely Girl, Gracious God A Mother's Story of Autism's Devastation and God's Promise of Enduring Love on behalf of Bring it On! Communications. You can buy this book on Amazon.

About Lonely Girl, Gracious God:

This is a very inspiring biography and autobiography. It's about a mother that raises a girl that has autism. For a long time Lauri, the mom and author knew something was wrong with her daughter, Farema. Lauri spent much of her time hiding her daughter's odd behavior from others. She just didn't know what Farema had. Doctor's even had a problem diagnosing little Fee. Autism was just starting to be researched at the time of Farema's childhood. Something in Lauri longed for Farema to be normal like her three older sister's.

Days became long. Lauri felt the need to keep Farema stimulated socially. One day she took her for a ride. She was looking for anything to do. They spotted an ice skating rink. Farema skated with ease. Many other individual sports such as biking, horseback riding and swimming came naturally for Farema. Ice skating seemed to be Farema's calling. 

Ice skating was the solution to Farema coming out of her shell. She moved into her own home, skated for the olympic ice skater, Scott Hamilton and got a job at the local skate rink. Everything seemed to be looking up for Farema. 

Lauri never expected that Farema was doing too much. The 20 something Farema had a giant set back. Farema got lost in her own world.  


How This Book Related to Me:

I totally could relate to Lauri's feelings in the beginning. My son Mica had many problems when he was a baby. He was born with a cyst under his tongue; making his tongue mis-shaped. We were told that Mica may never talk. He had to see a team of doctors; much like the team of doctors that were talked about in the book. I worried about him not being able to communicate vocally.

Mica had a funky crawl. He tucked up one leg under him; not using it at all. I did some research at the time. His crawl was a key characteristic of autism. I was afraid something was wrong with our son.

We are so lucky that Mica is a normal boy. I worried so much for nothing. At the time it seemed so very important to me. You want your kids to fit in with others socially and to do well in life.

I just found out that one of our neighbor's has autism. He is Isaak's age. I never knew the importance of autistic kids needing social interaction with other kids their own age. I mistook autism as a disorder where kids were better off by themselves. I'm so glad that I understand the disorder so much more through reading this book! 

This story helped me to understand that although we strive for normal {whatever that is}, we have to take things as they come. Except a situation for what it is. Most importantly, don't take things for granted like we often do. 
  
About the Author:

Lauri Khodabandehloo is a major supporter in the autism community. She is a contributor for Chicken Soup for the Soul; sharing her heart felt story about raising Farema, her daughter that has autism.

Disclaimer:

The opinions on this post are my personal take on the products. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. I am not compensated to provide my opinion except for receiving the products themselves to test out. Bring it On! Communications provided me with a free sample of this product to review, and I was under no obligation to review it if I so choose. Nor was I under any obligation to write a positive review or sponsor a product giveaway in return for the free product.

If you have questions about this post please contact me at: alissa4illustration@hotmail.com 

Friday, May 27, 2011

Baby Birds

Mica drew this nest at Grandma and Grandpa's house yesterday. He did a good job drawing and writing his name!

Isaak had a bird's nest outside his bedroom window. He had fun watching them! He said, "They're so cute!" They have now flown away.

Bird's Nest By: Mica 5 years old

Thursday, May 26, 2011

This Week I Feel Pretty Proud of My New{ish} Blogging Skills

I'm no expert on blogging. Especially compared to some of the other blogger's that are out there. I'm getting better though.

I changed my banner without huge issues. I only had to make one change after doing it. The font, "PLANET OF THE APELS" doesn't exist. I had to draw it in Illustrator. It was kind of a pain.


Here's my reference:



I changed my button. I was happy that I only had to tweak it in a small way after I uploaded it. I remember the first time I did this I had a headache afterward! All I could get to show up was code and no picture, then picture and no code! You can grab my new button if you like me. ;)


The Apel's





I changed my background color from green to blue. It's my own background, so I did have to go into Photobucket, re-upload and mess with the coding. I was putting it off because I did not remember how I did it in the first place. Once I looked at my html coding; I saw where I had put it.

Ya last year I messed around with my background, and my whole blog disappeared. That didn't happen this time! YAY!

Then I changed my Favicon. I didn't even know what that was a year ago. It's not a bird like it sounds. It's the little planet symbol up above. Nothing fancy, but now you can pick out my blog easier from your other tabs. Here's a great tutorial on making a Favicon.

I want to learn because I teach my students how to do this stuff. Someday I'll dive into WordPress. I've already played with it. There are problems with it just like there are problems with Blogger. Then making comments are SLOW! Even with the added app. I don't know how many times I've made a comment, and it said, "You're making comments too fast! Slow down." Sorry! ;)

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Rock Pretty Baby

I found another company that's pretty dang sweet! It's called Rock Pretty Baby. They have a lot of eco-friendly products.

This robot shape sorter is sweet! It's like a puzzle. This would be great for Isaak's age! I think Mica would want to play with it too.


I love these snack containers. I've seen them at other stores. I like how they are stainless steel and can be put in the dishwasher! We go through snack containers like crazy. Especially when my husband watches our 2 nephews plus our own 2 boys. 
This is a Gro-egg: Color Changing Digital Room Thermometer. Such a sweet idea! I love that it lights up like a night light and it tells you the temperature. Blue is too cold, red is too hot, orange is getting up there and yellow is perfect. I think this would be great for a bedroom or if you hang out downstairs where the thermostat is not. My Organized Chaos is giving away one of these!

 

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Brother Protector

Isaak's started being protective of his big brother Mica. There has been twice where we put Mica in timeout and Isaak said both times, "Don't put my brother in timeout!"

Even though he's protective with Mica, he's also the first to throw something at him. Such a bad habit that we're trying so hard to break. I can't count how many times I've said, "NO THROWING!" Off to timeout Isaak goes! Isaak must think that he's the only one that can discipline his brother. Hummm by throwing a toy at him.

Wordless Wednesday - Isaak's Birthday Toys

A Marble Track

A Slip 'n Slide





Isaak did go down, but I didn't get photo's. Here he is drinking the water. Does anybody else's kid drink bathtub, pool or sprinkler water? YUCK! I heard it's common though.

Three Year Appointment


Isaak had his 3 year appointment yesterday. Mica said twice, "Well I'm glad I don't have to go to get shots! Mommy will Isaak have to get shots? If so I don't want to watch!" Way to rub it in Isaak's face Mica. I just said, "I don't know if Isaak will get shots; I let the doctor make those decisions. Remember shots are not bad, we get them to help us."


Isaak put on the funky 3D glasses to see and tell his shapes. He wouldn't say them. Then he was playing with this toy and said, "Look Mommy a square. Look Mommy a circle." I told the nurse to listen.


This 3 year old is 38.5" tall, which is 69.03%. He's tall! He is 32 pounds and 3.2 ounces, which is 56.28%. The doctor says he weighs perfectly for his height. Mica was always tall, yet skinnier then Isaak!

Isaak got his last meningitis shot and his finger pricked to check for lead. He did good! He barely cried. Then this morning he was limping. Daddy wanted to know why he was limping. I knew it was from his shot. Isaak likes to milk attention. :)

Things we have to watch out for: His birthmark. He has one on his spine. If it gets darker, it's a concern. The doctor says with 2nd children they are often times more lazy then the first. Isaak tends to be lazy with activity sometimes. More so then with Mica.

I'm Going to Call This Astro Boy

This is a boy shooting off a rocket. Mica tells me that the rocket turns into food. Maybe a potato. I like the face!

Preschool Graduation Number 2

Did I mention that we were busy last week! Yep, and I've been trying to get majorly caught up!

Mica's second graduation went well.

 Here's my handsome boy!


 Most of the pictures of Mica ended up looking like this that night:


I have to show this. This is when Mica was singing Zacchaeus. It was the part where he was climbing the Sycamore tree. Mica over exaggerates actions! He wanted little to do with the singing, but a lot to do with the actions.


Magic Cabin

I like a lot of the stuff at Magic Cabin! On Savvy Mom! is giving away a $50 gift card to Magic Cabin!

If I won, I'd spend it on getting something for Mica for his birthday. Here's just a few things I know he could use and would like: {a firefly lantern, a portfolio and a rock polishing kit}

Disclaimer

The opinions on this blog are my personal take on products and topics relating to motherhood. This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me.

I am not compensated to provide opinions on a variety of topics. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are my own. If I claim to show knowledge of certain topic or product I will only endorse products or services that I feel, based on my expertise, are worthy of such endorsement.

If you have any questions about this blog, or want to get in contact with me please email me at: anapeladay@gmail.com