Joshua's amazing painting @ the FAST Gala Auction

This is one of Joshua's amazing paintings, that he has allowed to go to FAST this week, for the auction on Saturday night, at the FAST Gala. He was pretty excited about sending it! It's on a 18''x24'' canvas. I saw in an e-mail tonight that FAST is having the Gala auction automated, which means that Gala guests and those at home will be able to bid using their cell phones or iPads, or computers. That is amazing! I am sure it will really help to bring in more money, when so many more people will have the ability to bid from home! I will try to post the links/info on how to do it, when I get more information.

In only 3 sleeps from now my daughter, my mom and I, will be on our way to Chicago for the FAST Gala! This will be my third time to go, and I really get more excited about it each year than I was the year before. So many more friends are made, and friendships that I already have are strengthened by the time together. Sometimes it feels like I have two lives, my Angelman Syndrome life, and my regular life but really that's not too odd for this Gemini lady, who has always felt as if I have two personalities. I love the support I get in the Angelman community, and I also really love giving others support when they need it. Our kids are amazing, AMAZING human beings, and a joy, but they really do require a lot of us, and sometimes it really takes the support of the community to get through some of the tough stuff. We are very blessed to have one another!

Just a Little Snuggle...

Love this boy!!!!!

Snaggle Toothed Pooh Bear

I haven't posted any pics of the Pooh Bear in a while, so here are a few. He's just lost his two front teeth and looks adorable!

Actually his dad pulled one of them and his dentist pulled the other one. He was very brave at the dentist. I was so impressed by his new dentist and the staff there. They were so sweet and gentle with Joshua! I will be recommending Dr. Hoffman to all who ask for a dentist referral, from now on. Joshua did fantastic with the papoose board, it calmed him down immediately. I was so impressed with that. They had a flat screen tv right over his head and he watched Tangled. He and his Sissy watch that one together a lot, and it's the only cartoon that he will watch. He is usually not too interested in cartoons, and prefers The Wiggles, Sesame Street, Barney and Blue's Clue's; real people, grown up's and kids, puppets, muppets and such.

He will go back to the dentist in a few weeks. At that visit, he's going to be getting sealants on his back molars. He will be disappointed to not get his teeth polished, I think, he adored the vibrating and tickling! At least they will still be using Mr. Thirsty, the suction tool, that one is pretty funny too!

We WON!

FAST won the Vivint Gives Back contest. I am very late in reporting it, sorry! ;-) Here is video that you can watch of our family, and Paula Evans, chairperson of FAST, accepting the check at Vivint, in Provo, Utah.


FAST - Winner of Vivint Givesback Project 2011 from Marcel Cairo on Vimeo.
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I'll try to write more very soon, about the whole experience of going to Vivint, it was FABULOUS! Thanks so much to everyone who helped us to win this, it's amazing how many parents, and family, and friends, and even sales people at the mall (seriously) that were voting! What an experience to feel all of that love and support pouring into our community! Love one another~Yvonne

Hope is...

16 more voting days left.

So thankful for all who have stuck in this long and helped us to get where we are. Like Dory says "Just keep voting. What do we do, we vote, vote.." or was that swimming?

It only feel like the contest that never ends...

It's awesome to have the end in our sights.

Hopefully, on August, 27, 2011 we will have 250,000 reasons to celebrate!

Overheard today: Caylee is taking Joshua to potty before bed and he is a hooting and hollering in there, he really thinks going to the bathroom is a LOT of FUN!!! He cracks me up! I just stuck my head in there and said 'ewww it's stinky in here', and it's a good thing he's wearing a seat belt or he would have fallen right off of the pot!!

Love one another~ Yvonne

Looking For A Cure...

The Many Faces of Joshua in 2010

Walking...

Joshua is so very, very proud of himself. He really wants to walk SO badly, it's the darn balance disorder he battles with, but he keeps trying every day. He works so hard.  I really believe this WILL be the lucky walker for him. Another mom, who has a daughter with Angelman Syndrome, gave us this walker. Her daughter, Erinn, learned to walk using it.  I've never seen him take to a piece of equipment like this before. He does somewhat like his gait trainer, BUT the problem with it is that he still leans forward so much of the time in in, and he can sit and coast in it! He also can't just sit down while in it, say on the floor if he goes over to others who are playing, and they sit down, he is still strapped into the gait trainer. With this walker, a Kaye Reverse Walker, he can walk over to something/someone and then decide to sit down, and then get up and go again. 

Joshua also, will NEVER usually hold onto anything! So to see him take to this, and HOLD the handles like he does, is truly amazing. The only things he will normally hold onto, are things that he is bringing to his mouth to chew on, or toys to bang something with! It has to be useful to him. So I'm just beyond amazed! ;-)

He usually PREFERS to only use *me* as his mobility partner.  I will keep updating, I am beyond excited!!!

Love one another!~Yvonne

Just some fun...

My little cute kid winning, cover model! ;-)

Joshua is in the Connections "The Special Needs Kids Directory" Fall edition!!!! There is a great story about him and Angelman Syndrome on page 16!!!!

He is on the cover, and there is a FANTASTIC picture of he and his big sissy, Caylee, on page 18 with the article! 

Thanks Connections!

Water boy...

Love this picture! It never ceases to amaze me how much JOY Joshua gets, from just a splash of water! I could watch him play in it all day, every day.

FUNNY Family!

Video of Joshua cracking up because his daddy put some glasses on, he doesn't wear glasses, and Joshua finds it HILARIOUS! Sissy joins in too!

M.....More!

Joshua is now consistently using his m sound for more! Sometimes it even sounds like the word more! I truly could watch him do this all day long, it's so exciting! :-)

Love one another!~Yvonne

Daddy catching our Angel...

Teaching the Alphabet

I love these fun play-dough mats that you can print out (the link is a pdf file). (Here are more ABC activities from the same site, Alphabet Resources) I love that it has a colorful picture of an object that begins with each letter, AND the upper and lower case of each letter! So many things only have one or the other of the letter case. You would want to print these on cardstock, and laminate the pages, and then your could have your child/children roll their play-dough into long snakes (a great fine motor activity) and lay them into the outlines of the letters. You could also use vis-a-vis markers or maybe something like these, Crayola 8ct Dry Erase Crayons Large Size, to work on tracing skills also. I found the link to these pages at this blog, it's a very cool Montessori style teaching blog. I love the Montessori way of teaching pre-schoolers. I love that it incorporates so many motor skills activities that the pre-school age needs to work on.

My son Joshua, who is 6, and has Angelman Syndrome, struggles with large and fine motor skills. I can find so many ideas, in the Montessori teaching style, that I can use to work on those skills with him. I need to do ALL activities with him using HOH (hand over hand), it takes a lot of repetition for his brain and hands to get on the same page. He KNOWS exactly what he wants his hands to do, but his arms and hands just don't cooperate with his brain. It is super frustrating for him, but he works SO hard, and doesn't give up! He is a such a fighter and I am always inspired by him, and he doesn't give up just because it's hard, but he keeps on trying over and over, AND he does it with the best attitude! I can, and do, learn a lot from him everyday about perseverance, and doing it with a happy heart! He is such a living example to me daily of Philippians 4:13: I can do ALL things through HIM who strengthens me.

Love one another!~Yvonne

Joshua and the Motorcycle

You haven't seen a kid who loves motorcycles until you've seen MY kid who loves motorcycles!!!



We are forever trying to find motorcycles when we are out driving around. We actually go for drives on the weekends, just to find them. This one kept us truly amused on our trip home from Galveston yesterday! It passed us once and Joshua squealed with delight. Well, we've always wanted to get his reponse on video, so...Hubby takes off weaving through traffic after this motorcycle, with Caylee and I cheering him on. It was quite the chase! We finally got past him, so that he could again pass us, and we could roll Joshua's window down and wait for the response! :-) It was GREAT, and so much fun. Some days when it's nice out there are so many out for drives, and he is such an ecstatic little boy! Of course, we enjoy his response just as much as he enjoys the motorcycles!!

It's the little things in life, ya know?

Love one another!~Yvonne

Joshua SWIMMING!

Joshua has just recently begun to swim in the pool, with only a floatie around him. I am so happy for him, and for us! ;-) The freedom is amazing, for him and for us! ;-) He twirls around and around and swims from one side to the other, chasing kids or toys. The pure joy is so evident on his face. The first couple of times he did it, I think he was truly amazed and so proud of himself. I love my Honey Man! Enjoy a picture and video from today's swim!

P.S. I think he may have swimmer's ear. :-( Will be calling the pedi in the morning to get it checked out.





Love one another!~Yvonne

Joshua LOVING The Wiggles!

It was such a HUGE blessing to be able to take Joshua to see his favorite group and to watch him enjoy it so much! My heart felt so full of love and thanksgiving, watching him. He sat for a full 2 and 1/2 hours, completely mesmerized!

We not only got to watch the show, but also got to meet The Wiggles and have our picture taken with them. Joshua wasn't too thrilled about the picture at the time, he wanted to visit with the guys, and instead we were having him turn away from them and look at the camera! He didn't find that to be the best use of his short time with them. I kind of agree, but I'm glad that we have it, and he did enjoy looking at it last night. :-)



I also bought Joshua the PERFECT shirt!



All in all a VERY good day!

Love one another!~Yvonne

Joshua and Johnny Joe

Just a swingin' ...

He loves this swing! Joshua craves constant movement, so swinging is not only FUN, but important! ;-)