A rare moment...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

We caught Joshua actually being STILL on the couch! It is a very rare sighting, indeed! I had to capture that moment on video. Kevin, Caylee and I watched in amazement. THEN we realized the only reason he was lying so still is because his arm was caught in the couch cushions! LOL!

Maybe one day he'll lay around like that without being stuck...but I'm not holding me breath, he has way too many things to do! :-)

Love one another!~Yvonne

Odds and ends...

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Caylee and Joshua playing around tonight. Joshua looks so funny with his legs going up and down, sort of like a frog jumping. :-)

Cay and I had co-op today and while she was in her classes, I sat out in the cafeteria and played around with Joshua's new communication device. It has a very large instruction book, plus instructional dvd's, online classes, or local workshops too. Yes, it's that complicated! Ah... Good news is his new speech therapist says she knows how to program them! It will be going to therapy with us tomorrow, and she'll be taking it home with her to work on getting things programmed in that are both fun and functional for Josh. So far he likes to watch You tube videos on it! :-)

I actually made it to the gym to work out tonight!!! HUGE accomplishment for me. I was working out steadily for months, that is until Kevin's back went out and I drove him all over for appointments and therapies and to work and back, plus all the usual of going to Joshua's many therapies, and Caylee's activities. I just didn't have energy then, or the time, and got out of the habit. So, today is a fresh start.

Joshua is getting heavier and I have to get some muscles back or I'm not going to be able to lift him any longer. It's not just his weight, it's his weight combined with his wiggliness. He loves The Wiggles, and he aspires to be a Wiggle, so he never stops wiggling. He must practice, practice, practice! I love that little wiggly boy!

Off to bed for me now, tomorrow is a busy day. Joshua has speech, and physical therapy and then we'll grab lunch and head over the the ENT's office. His tubes have come out of his ears and the holes don't seem to want to close up on their own. So, we'll see what the doctor has in store for us.

Love one another!~Yvonne

Soy Ice Cream

We don't eat dairy at our house, and we missed having ice cream so badly that we bought a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. We have tried quite a lot of recipes in it, but this plain ole' vanilla recipe is our favorite. We can each add whatever we want to afterwards. I like to put cinnamon, and pecans, and ginger snaps in mine. YUM!

Vanilla Soy Ice Cream (I don't remember where I found this)

Serves 4 (or Caylee and I) :-)

1 C powdered sugar
4 egg yolks, or 1/2 C of egg beaters
1 tsp. of corn starch
2 C soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract (if you are gluten intolerant make sure to use a GF extract)

1. Put the egg yolks, sugar, and corn starch into a bowl; whisk the mixture together.

2. Heat the soy milk; slowly pour the hot soy milk into the mixture while continuing to heat.

3. Add the vanilla extract.

4. Gently heat the mixture until it thickens.

5. Let the mixture cool in the refrigerator for 3-4 hours.

6. Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker; make ice cream following the instructions of the machine.

Put whatever toppings you enjoy on it. Stawberries, blueberries, banana, cookies, honey, candy bars...endless possibilites.

Furry friend...

Josh loves to play the piano, he stands there for up to 10 minutes playing sometimes, and that's a LONG time for him to do any one thing. He is usually more like a little hummingbird, quickly flitting from one toy to the next.

Today, Happy joined him at the piano and listened to his excellent playing. Every few minutes Happy would lick the spit bubbles from Joshua's chin. Now, that's a great friend!

A yummy GF cookie recipe...

Gluten-Free Recipe of the Week:
Chocolate Peanut Butter Treats

Difficulty:
Easy

Makes about 16 servings


Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1-1/2 cups light corn syrup
1-1/2 cups peanut butter
6 cups EnviroKids Koala Krisps
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Place the sugar, corn syrup and peanut butter in a large saucepan over medium low heat. Stirring constantly, cook the mixture until blended and the mixture begins to bubble. Remove from heat and set aside.

Combine the cereal with the chocolate chips in a large bowl. Stir in the hot peanut butter mixture until combined. Spread the mixture into a 13x9" lightly greased baking pan. Let cool to room temperature. Transfer to the refrigerator and let chill for 15-20 minutes or until set. Cut into squares or fun shapes with cookie cutters. Serve.

from Gluten Freeda Magazine

Sweet...

This was on the magnadoodle when I came home yesterday. Tiffany and Josh are doing so well together. I know the feeling is mutual, he loves her too!

Love one another!~Yvonne

Potty training...

Or maybe potty timing would be the better phrase! hehehe! I've been keeping record today or all Josh eats or drinks and when he wets or poops his diaper; exciting times in the Hamrick house! Tonight about 15 minutes after his last bottle I sat him on the potty (the kind that fits over the regular toilet seat) with a step stool under his feet and after about 4 minutes he peed! I had to help him aim it down so it wasn't hitting mama in the face, but otherwise it went well! After he went, I helped him walk to the back of the toilet and flush and then he got to stand on the stool and wash his hands, all of that definitely made it worth it to him; he was laughing his head off! It was so cute! We went back to the living room and Daddy and Sissy cheered for him too, and that made him laugh all over again!

I am feeling so much better. That was one whopper of a virus I had. I didn't think it would ever end! It was so good to have Joshua's respite worker, Tiffany, here to help during that time. I don't know what I would have done otherwise! I slept most of the days away.

I'll get that book list on here soon! Caylee and I are really enjoying them a lot.

Love one another!~Yvonne

No energy for blogging...

Sorry I haven't posted our school reading lists yet, but I am feeling horrible right now. My allergies are really taking their toll on me. I cough all night and then I'm exhausted during the day, my head aches, and my throat is so, so painful right now. I just want to curl up in a ball and moan. My family just wishes I would do it in private so they don't have to hear it. :-)

I sure hope that I feel better soon, or find some miracle allergy drug!

Hopefully I will return soon...

Love one another!~Yvonne

"What if there was ablist discrimination?"

The Disability Rights Commission, in the United Kingdom, produced a 3 minute video clip that asks us to use our imaginations in a different way: what if there was ablist discrimination, if the able-bodied encountered whispers, inaccessible buildings and transport, stares, intrusive and rude comments, and more? This is a genuine use of the imagination: to develop an image of a world that was designed and organized so that people unlike me could move about in it easily. It's easy to see, instantly, why the best world is one where there would be access and openings for everyone.

Taken from Monastic Musings blog.



I cracked up when the man in the elevator tells him "I had a friend with all his limbs once." or "I think you are very brave." Brave for what? Getting out of bed this morning, getting on the elevator? Navigating this world that doesn't do anything to help you fit in unless it's forced to by the ADA? I know it is very difficult to think about such things if you've never had to, I didn't, but now I try to navigate my son's wheelchair through the world. There are some stores that I cannot enter if he is with me; no room. Of course that also means to me a mom, that other's with young ones in strollers can't get around either. So there is a common perspective that you can think about it from. What if your stroller didn't fold up nice and neat and go into the trunk of a taxi, or if your baby was the only child in such a contraption; do you think you might some looks and whisperings? It is sure food for thought.

The quote above about having a friend with all his limbs once made me think of how we treat people who are different than us, not only those with physical or mental impairment, but even those of another race than ourselves. It may be our way of trying to find a common ground, but to those who hear such statements all the time it must sound very trite.

I am learning, as I go, see the world though new lenses also. Joshua has blessed me with the opportunity to grow and stretch my viewpoint.

Love one another!~Yvonne

Our new friend and school...

We had our first day with our new friend Tiffany today! She was with us from 10-5 today and it went really well. Joshua seems to really like her a lot, and so do the rest of us, even the dogs love her. We went to speech and PT, and just hung out at the house everyone getting to know each other. Very casual day. Hopefully, she doesn't think we're all TOO crazy! hehehe!

Tomorrow Caylee and I go to co-op. She has her first big biology test; which she is very nervous about I think. I know she will do well though. Caylee loves science and has an awesome memory. In the past our testing style has been me asking her questions or her narrating what's she read in either oral or written format. This is different than that, but she has done very well with the written tests in Spanish 1 and 2. She's a smart girl!

We will start our history/language courses here at home next week. With all of our hospital visits and now Tiffany's first week, we've had to push it up a bit. We aren't too far behind when I had hoped to start though. I'ts going to be a lot of fun, we are going to be reading some really interesting books this year!

Tomorrow I'll post our book list...

Love one another!~Yvonne :-)

My Personality Results...

I don't know, but I love this kind of stuff!

Life is wonderfully boring...

After all the hubbub around here lately, boring is awesome! I did get glutened at a restaurant on Saturday night and I felt pretty cruddy all day yesterday though. I'll take that kind of stuff over hospitals and surgeries though.

Tiffany starts working with Joshua tomorrow!!! We are pretty darn excited it, and that's an understatement. :-)
Joshua has such an aversion to strangers right now. I am planning to just have her with us doing what we normally do: therapy, co-op, shopping, park, watching tv, ect...until he gets used to her being around all the time and they make friends, before I leave them alone togethe, except to be in other parts of the house. It probably won't take too long, but I just want to make sure he's comfortable with her and her with him. I think Joshua's very easy, but then I can read his mind because I'm mama, so I do have an advantage.

It's so nice that the weather is actually cool enough for Joshua to be sitting outside with his dad. Kevin is making a birdhouse in the garage, and Joshua seems to like to watch him do stuff like that. I guess it's the tools...boys do like tools.

our golden doodle, Happy, is not so very happy with his new haircut. Poor guy just mopes around; he used to be smiling all the time, but not now. He is feeling naked and vulnerable and humiliated I think. I don't know what to do to make him feel better either. Poor guy!

Well off to tackle the toy room! I am cleaning toys and replacing batteries. We always need batteries. Joshua only likes toys that he can chew on, or that have lights and music.

Love one another!~Yvonne