Skiing 2012

Although the calendar says it's winter, we've been very fortunate to be having a mild one this year. Luckily (for Michael), there is snow at Mad River Mountain where Michael participates in adaptive skiing.

He LOVES it! He signs "please more go bye" almost every time he swooshes past us. At times, we noticed that he's leaning forward in the sit-ski trying to make it go faster, the speed demon.

Here's video of how they get him on the lift. They leave him strapped into the sit-ski and then lift him onto the seat and attach the tether and lock him onto the back of the lift.

We signed Michael up for Friday and Saturday sessions, so even Grandma Kita was able to see him ski this year (and we got to watch her race)!

This year, the volunteers advanced him to an even bigger hill and he is enjoying it immensely! We can hear him on the lift making excited noises and sometimes hear him coming down the hill.

We are so glad to have this wonderful program (minus the freezing cold part-brrr!) so close to our house. Last weekend, they had an extra lift ticket because a student didn't show up. So they gave the ticket to us and Gary skied for the first time ever. Of course, I didn't have my camera to capture it all (dang it!)...but he did amazing and even came down the hill with Michael once.  :)

Florida, Pre-Day 1

Florida, Day 1 Pre-Day 1

Well, let me back up a day to Wednesday, the day before vacation. It started off full of hope and excitement, but ended up pretty crappy...literally. Gary and I dropped off Arty to be kenneled on the way to drop off Gary at the airport for his flight to Florida. He was going to drive down with his dad and the boat, but his dad left a week early and Gary couldn’t leave with him because of work. So Gary bought a one way ticket to FL for later in the week (he’ll help drive on the way back).  Anyway, I drop off Gary at the airport and start to head back so that I’m home before the boy gets off the bus (it’s almost an hour drive from the airport to our house).  About 15-20 minutes into my drive, I get a phone call from Gary...his flight is delayed by an hour. Oh geez, had we known, we could’ve stopped and had a nice leisurely lunch together (a rarity, for sure). Nothing we can do about it now. Sigh. I make it home in time to mow, get the boy off the bus and continue mowing while he plays in his rock pit (that makes for a happy boy). During that time, I get another call from Gary...his flight is delayed even longer by 3 hours. So instead of arriving in Florida at 3:30, he’s now landing at 6:15pm. That makes for a long day of travel considering I dropped him off at noon. I always try to look at the positives and while this sure sucked for Gary, it could’ve been worse if Michael were with him or if it happened to Carole and I the very next day.

Gary’s bad luck mojo left him after he landed and it came to visit me that evening. After dinner, it was time for the Michael’s bath. He always plays with his water toys after getting shampooed and soapy. That’s the stage he was in, the playing part, when I received a text from Gary asking me to find something off of the desk. Michael is usually fine in the tub for me to be able to do quick tasks, like make his bed which is right across the hall from the bathroom, with me popping my head back in to make sure he’s fine (yes he’s 11, but he has special needs and the fear of him having a seizure and drowning make me a bit protective). So I figure I have enough time to run down 7 steps, check the desk and then make it back to the bathroom without anything happening. 

Well, let this be a warning to all parents to never leave your child unattended. 

Apparently, it was enough time for Michael to drop a deuce....in the tub. No, no, no! This isn’t happening. This was not part of my completely planned out scheduled evening that included something along the lines of getting the boy to bed on time, painting my toes and maybe having a glass of wine. Crap, in the literal sense, has ruined our evening. I say “our” evening because I had to give the boy a shower in the other bathroom to clean him up before I could even tackle his bathtub. He HATES taking a shower and it was torture for both of us. Poor kiddo. 

You know I usually include a picture with each blog post, but I didn’t think you’d want to see a tub full of poop.  You’re welcome.

The only bright side to all of this, was that we were headed to warm and sunny Florida the very next day. Oh yeah, did I mention that the weather we were having in Ohio was 50 degrees and rain for almost the entire 2 weeks leading up to our vacation? And that the weather in Ohio was going to be upper 70s and mid-80s and beautifully sunny the ENTIRE time we were gone? Oh, and the weather forecast for Florida, the Sunshine State, was possible rain, rain, and thunderstorms for every. single. day. of our vacation. 

It made me almost not want to leave. Almost.

still the one

My husband is looking oh so thoughtful in this picture. Deep thinking. Meaning of the universe. Penny for your thoughts. I know the lines of his face and what he's gone through to earn each one of those lines; ruggedly handsome. Total hotness (but I might be biased).


I know what he's thinking in this one though:  "I hope she gets that camera out of my face soon. Why'd I buy it for her again?" You love me, that's why you bought it for me...and I'm going to use it to take pictures of the people (and places) I love.  My snapshots of a good life!

14 years...and he's still the one.  :)

1st day of school (2011-2012, 5th grade!)

The boy has been back to school for almost 4 weeks now. We've adjusted to the earlier hours...well, mostly adjusted...6am comes awful quick when you've had a summer of 9am's (and even a few 10am's).  Michael is in 5th grade, which is a new building in our district. We were concerned with how he would adjust to all of the changes and our concerns were unwarranted because he is doing fabulous!!

First day of school:  cold and tired in the morning.  Happy in the afternoon.   :)

He seems to really enjoy the new routine, teachers, school and his new classmates. The first 2 days were filled with such sad tears, but by the 3rd day the tears had tapered off and he only cried during Art (which broke my little artist heart...and Gary laughed at the school note because he said art class would make him cry too).

Unbelievably, he's even met one of his IEP goals already (hold a container with one hand while putting an object in the container with the other hand)! This is a big relief considering last year we were thinking of pulling him out of school and we were researching what options he had (let me tell you, there weren't many).

I am beyond thrilled (and relieved) that the school year is starting off so well for him and it's just what he needs (and us too)!  Yea!

buffalo chicken burgers...one of MY new favorites!

It's been awhile since I posted a recipe on here...heck, it's been awhile since I posted anything at all!  So I thought I'd try to get back to blogging by starting things off with a yummy, quick recipe I found on Tasty Kitchen.

This "burger" is very easy to make and so, so flavorful!!  Definitely one of our go to dinner ideas for sure!

Buffalo Chicken Burgers

Prep Time 15 Minutes Cook Time 20 Minutes

Servings 4

Difficulty Easy

Ingredients

• 1 pound Ground Chicken
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• ½ teaspoons Pepper
• ½ Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
• ¼ cups Parmesan Cheese
• ¼ cups Buffalo Wing Sauce Plus More For Drizzling (I used BW3's medium sauce for mine and a secret recipe sauce Gary gets from a golf buddy every year...his is really spicy)
• 4 slices, Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• 4 hamburger buns
• ¼ cups Ranch Dressing (or bacon ranch dressing would be good too) for drizzling

Preparation Instructions

Preheat grill or skillet.

In a large bowl combine ground chicken, salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, parmesan and buffalo wing sauce. Mix until just combined. Form into patties (they will be pretty "wet").

Grill or pan-fry patties until brown on both sides and cooked through, about 8-10 minutes. In the last 2 minutes, place 1/2 ounce of cheddar cheese on each burger. Place burgers on whole wheat buns and top with a drizzle of ranch and buffalo wing dressing.

The first time we had these, we ate them with corn-on-the-cob.  Celery and carrots would make a good side dish too.

father's day 2011

We went to Gary's parent's house to celebrate Father's Day.  Gary and his dad spent the morning golfing...which isn't really a special Father's Day treat, because that's what he does every weekend (as well as Monday and Wednesday evenings and sometimes Friday afternoons).

But the real treat was instead of grabbing a cold turkey sandwich or leftovers from the night before, we (meaning Carole did all the work, while I kept her company and we chatted away) prepared a feast of the boys' most favorite foods:  grilled chicken (for his dad) and ribs (G's favorite), homemade mac & cheese, grilled asparagus, baked potatoes, salad, homemade cherry pie (G's dad) and angel food cake with strawberries and whipped cream.  BTW, we totally have to wear pants with elastic waistbands whenever Carole puts together one of her amazing feasts.  Just keepin' it real.

G's sister started to put the meat on the grill, but Gary took over from there because he IS the grillmaster.  He has a knack for knowing exactly when to take food off the grill precisely when it's done and not a second longer.  Juicy and moist.  Did I just use juicy and my husband in the same sentence? Is it getting warm in here?

Anyway, after filling our bellies and sitting around chatting, the games came out.  We are a game family. At every family get-together we play games... real sit-down-around-the-table games.  In fact, we host a family game night every Friday all summer long.  This time, a few games of Canasta were played (Carole, Tina and Gary), along with Sequence (Richard, Carole, Dillon, Ashley, Tina and myself) and Rocks (Michael).  We also watched Rory McElroy win the US Open too.  Michael loves to watch golf, so the big boys suffered through watching it with him.  Huge sacrifice on their part.  NOT.   :)

 Happy Father's Day to Gary, Richard and my dad....big hugs to you all!

medical stuff

Sorry to be so few and far between with posting updates around here.  We're dealing with a lot of medical issues for the boy and some tough decisions....like being able to (possibly) surgically remove the spot in Michael's brain that causes his awful seizures, but removing that part of his brain has a risk of potentially making him blind.  Oy vey...we also have a lot of hurry up and wait appointments as well to deal with his tethered spinal cord and decreased walking, knees continually dislocating when his legs are straightened and other possible surgeries to address those issues as well.  In addition to our daily routine of Conductive Education, speech therapy, independent life-skills (like self-feeding, dressing, bathing, etc.), and still trying to have fun and ENJOY life...which we are totally doing too.  Really!  :)

So while doing some research on the seizure surgery, I ran across this presentation that really caught our attention.  There are two topics that he touches on (one he barely discusses), but we were able to key in on right away.  The first is that seizures could be reduced/stopped non-surgically.  The second, is that those with learning disabilities can increase their learning....through neural prosthetics.  So cool.

Here is the cliff note version if you don't want to watch the video:


Ed Boyden shows how, by inserting genes for light-sensitive proteins into brain cells, he can selectively activate or de-activate specific neurons with fiber-optic implants. With this unprecedented level of control, he's managed to cure mice of analogs of PTSD and certain forms of blindness. On the horizon: neural prosthetics. At the MIT Media Lab, Ed Boyden leads the Synthetic Neurobiology Group, which invents technologies to reveal how cognition and emotion arise from brain networks -- and to enable systematic repair of disorders such as epilepsy and PTSD.

http://www.ted.com/speakers/ed_boyden.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/ed_boyden.html

Impressive stuff to say the least.  Now...off to search the net for clinical studies for this new breakthrough.   :)