A gold and 2 silvers

This weekend 2 of our children competed in a first aid competition that had multiple scenarios.  These 2 have been members of St John Ambulance for a few years and have been progressing with their skills over the years.  When the oldest first joined she was extremely shy and suffered terribly with anxiety and obsessive compulsive disorder(OCD), her anxiety and OCD was so debilitating that it limited her ability to participate in almost everything.  With time, patience and a lot of work she has overcome a lot, today she was able to lead her first aid team as they won 2 silver medals.

It was a "gold medal" for the younger of the 2 and her team.  This was the first medal she has ever won, they hadn't even finished calling her name and she was up on that stage ready to accept her medal.  When she got home she bounded up the stairs with such excitement recounting the first aid scenario and showing everyone her medal.

Three other siblings also attended this competition as spectators and casualties.  Being a casualty is exciting as there is a make up crew that makes you look as if you have life like injuries and you get to put all your effort into your acting skills.

A club like St John Ambulance that teaches and practices first aid week after week is great especially for children that need structure and routine.  They are taught first aid progressively and practice building routines, yes the scenario changes but the steps remain the same. In our family with so many medically complex children having just about everyone with first aid skills is a huge benefit.  It is true that not all can independently put these skills to work when required but as with any group there are leaders and they can encourage followers or know how to handle distractions.

MS Walk

This weekend we are participating in the local MS walk/run  which is an annual event for our family. Our teens have been out in the community collecting donations for this cause, some of us will walk/run at this event and others will volunteer doing first aid, setting/cleaning up or working at the check in stations.

For us, volunteering is a way of "life" we want our children to grow up learning to give and not expecting to receive everything.  All of our family is raised this way know matter what their challenges/circumstances are. Check out this link  if you are interested in participating.

The MS Walk

Every year over 40,000 Canadians in more than 160 communities across our country lace up at the MS Walk to raise vital funds for people living with MS.

This family-oriented, community-supported event offers walking routes of varying lengths – including a wheelchair-accessible route – and features start/finish line activities such as inspiring words from MS Ambassadors (people living with MS), entertainment, team awards and more.  

SECURITY CLEARANCE REQUIRED

With 2 children with high special needs fast approaching adulthood we have been busy working on accessing adult services.  Finding adult services is similar to youth services in the fact that they all seem to be "top secret".  It baffles me that information about the various supports available are not readily accessible, you would think that the services for people with special needs would be easy for these individuals to find.  I totally understand that each service provider is trying to protect their budgets but really it should be easier.

When we are planning out activities for our young adults we need to consider the fact that they need a (competent) adult with them at all times.  Although these 2 function much lower than their chronological age they see their peers going to college, getting jobs, and becoming more independent and have visions of themselves doing these things also.  With these 2 challenges we have our work cut out for us as we try to come up with a plan that meets their needs and dreams.

We have applied on their behalf for a disability pension that they meet the requirements for and we are working on "community living" supports however this is just a fraction of what we envision for our young adults.  We want them to have activities to do each day, we do not want them sitting watching television or playing video games all day long.  The other thing is, as wonderful as special needs programs are we want our children to also participate in some activities with the general population.

Our first step is finding "work" this could be paid employment or a volunteer job or a few volunteer jobs.  One issue when looking for employment paid or volunteer is that our young adults fatigue quickly and may not be able to work full time, also it can be very draining for the employer working with them so a short day once a week may be more successful.  We also want to find something of interest that each young adult can feel a sense of accomplishment from.  This is where the work for us begins because it's not like working with our typical children that can go out and make a life for themselves.

Our daughter envisions herself being a famous singer or actress and she would also consider being a first aid instructor.  These dreams are beyond her current reach so its time for some brain storming.  We are looking at her current hobbies, interests and activities seeing what can be expanded into an "adult plan" as high school will be coming to an end.  She currently volunteers at "therapy" for a couple hours per week where she cleans the equipment and does a bit of office work.  Working/volunteering at a place that provides therapies for people with special needs works well because they are already used to dealing with the challenges she presents.  Numerous members of our family volunteer at St John Ambulance and this is why she thinks being an instructor is a good idea.  She is unable to do the activities the other members are doing but after some brain storming we found that they need a person to restock the first aid kits on an ongoing basis.  With us going in and photographing everything and making up a visual for her this helps her to be successful with the task.

Our son enjoys/needs physical labor but requires a lot of guidance so finding opportunities for him takes looking in a different direction.  A neighboring community has a small museum that a group of senior males volunteer at doing repairs and maintenance.  After us approaching them they have agreed to have our son work with them one morning a week.  A friend has a landscaping business that requires laborers and as full time would not work she has agreed to having him on call.  We have worked with her discussing what his challenges are and what makes him successful.  She knows he needs support preparing for work and doesn't have the skills for planning ahead so we work with her.  When she wants him to work she schedules that with us, we work with him ensuring he packs and wears appropriate clothing for the job, has his safety gear, brings a lunch with water and arrives on time.

Finding work/volunteer activities for our soon to be adults is a challenge and time consuming but having done this with another adult child we know the many benefits to the child.  This will be a great confidence builder for them and as their skills increase they may be able to do more and hopefully eventually support themselves.  Having our young adults out in the world also opens more doors for them as others see them being successful. Another benefit is that them going to "work" provides the competent adults to look after them so we as parents are not needing to be there 24/7. I look forward to your comments please let me know what opportunities you have found for your children and how you make it successful for them.

Stay tuned for more posts on adult supports/life for our young adults.


shared at http://www.lovethatmax.com/
http://www.hdydi.com
http://www.faithfulmomof9.com/
http://www.motherwifeme.com/allaboutyou-link-pin-party-week-14/
http://theadoptionsocial.com/weekly-adoption-shout-out/the-weekly-adoption-shout-out-waso-week-62/
http://www.growinghomeblog.com/growing-homemakers-link-141-2/
http://cornerstoneconfessions.com/2014/04/t2t-linkup-99.html

http://teachingwhatisgood.com/

Anything but clothes!

Today my daughter and I were getting creative!  She is participating in a fundraising fashion show benefiting  a classmate that is in need of a lung replacement due to cystic fibrosis.  At this fashion show they will be wearing outfits from various local business and they also will be wearing an "anything but clothes" outfit of their own creating.  Each participant is free to be as creative as they would like the options are endless - party supplies, pencils, straws, flagging tape, disposable cups, etc.

Are chosen medium is a space blanket with the support of duct tape and double sided tape.  We started with an old t-shirt and taped/reinforced a cut line down the back of the t-shirt for getting out of the outfit when complete.  We then taped the bodice for shaping and support.  The next step was to tape a black garbage bag to the bodice which will provide modesty if the foil tears while walking on stage.

  Once the foundation was made we added the space blanket. Twisting a long narrow strip of the blanket we centered it at the top of the  bodice and secured it using 2 sided carpet tape. At the back we left the long lengths to tie into a bow which helps disguise the opening.

We then used more 2 sided tape at the waste and added panels to make the skirt.  We used more 2 sided tape to seam the panels together.

We cut off the additional length to make the dress the desired length.  Used more 2 sided tape to secure everything where we wanted.  Once we had the desired look we cut off the parts of the t-shirt that were not required in the dress and cut an opening for getting the dress on and off.

And the grand finale the completed dress, ready for the dress rehearsal

shared at:http://extremeparenting18.blogspot.ca/2014/04/anything-but-clothes.html
http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2014/04/hhms-favorite-posts-hip-homeschool-hop-4814/
http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/
http://momssmallvictories.com/home
http://somethingsplendidblog.com/?p=1882#more-1882
http://www.serenityyou.com/2014/04/serenity-saturday-131.html
http://www.lovethatmax.com/
http://cornerstoneconfessions.com/2014/04/t2t-linkup-99.html
http://www.growinghomeblog.com/growing-homemakers-link-142/
http://www.notjustahousewife.net/2014/04/show-me-what-ya-got-160.html

http://apeekintomyparadise.com/2014/04/google-growing-circles-blog-hop-growingcircleshop-2.htmlhttp://www.bystephanielynn.com/2014/04/sunday-showcase-242.html

When traditional swimming lessons aren't enough

The kids have been busy learning to swim which has been proving to be a very labor intensive endeavor for some.  Learning to swim has always been a priority for our family especially since we live at a lake.

With many of our kids they took swimming lessons each summer of their childhood in the lake.  Our community has a section of the lake that is like a "pool" with a wharf around it, a slide, diving boards and life guards/instructors. At the beginning of summer each year the water was always freezing cold so the children would have hot chocolate after each class and by the end of summer you had trouble getting them out of the water.

For some they also participated in a recreational swim team during the fall/winter/spring at a local indoor pool. Practicing weekly for 2 plus hours each session really increased their swimming skills.  We would also visit different public pools for family swimming.  With all this swimming all but one became very competent swimmers and then we adopted our sibling group of 7 which are proving for us that swimming is a challenge.
We have needed to change how we have been teaching swimming as we have 8 children struggling to learn.  Our almost 19 year old has been taking multiple sessions of lessons every year for 13 years now and still struggles to get across the width of the pool.  When she gets tired she just stops swimming, she does not have a fight or flight reflex so when combined she stops swimming, she sinks to the bottom of the pool and then needs to be rescued.  Unless she has someone directly with her she must wear a life jacket so she can happily bob along in the water.

The other 7 children all have uncontrolled seizure disorders along with a multitude of other challenges and are still relatively young.  Of this group the 5 that are being home schooled plus their almost 19 year old sister are currently taking semi private swim lessons.  With a few phone calls (actually quite a few) we were blessed to secure the ultimate lesson set up for this group.  Our 6 children (assuming they haven't had a seizure yet that day) are the only people in the pool with their 3 instructors.  This set up has been working amazingly well as the kids are being well supported, they aren't as overwhelmed as they would be at a busy pool and they are having fun with the hope of learning how to swim.

When planning activities for your child (especially if they have special needs) think outside of the box.  If something isn't working talk to people and see if you can find a solution that works.  Don't give up keep trying!  Please comment and let me know of different solutions that you have come up with for things that weren't working for your child.

shared at http://www.growinghomeblog.com/growing-homemakers-link-141-2/
http://cornerstoneconfessions.com/2014/04/t2t-linkup-98.html
http://abidingwoman.com/
http://http://teachingwhatisgood.com//
www.aboverubies.ne

Keeping the spark alive - don't let the inferno of life take over!

With the many demands on parents it is easy to loose sight of how important it is to nurture your relationship with your spouse.  Divorce rates in general are high but then you add additional factors like parenting 1 or more children with special needs or raising a large family the risk of divorce increases.  Children require a great deal of attention and as parents it is easy to focus so much on the child's needs that we loose sight of ourselves and our relationships.

My husband and I, like most parents, are extremely busy with the regular day to day activities of working, keeping up with household chores, making meals, schooling the kids, after school activities, etc then on top of that you add everything that goes with raising children with special needs.  With all these demands it is not uncommon for parents to give up on time for themselves and their spouses.

Knowing that you need to work on your relationship and take care of yourself is the easy part making it work can be very difficult.  Currently we have a child care person come in once a week so my husband and I can get out for "date night" and many nights when date night rolled around after the placement of our youngest 3 children all we wanted to do was sleep.  On more than one occasion my husband or I would verbalize "do you think we should just go out to the travel trailer and have a nap".  As tired as we were we made a commitment to one another to make time for us.

In an earlier phase of our life we were parenting children with severe emotional issues that limited our ability to hire a child care professional, we could not find anyone willing to care for the children.  During this time we had to squeeze in time for us when we could.  This meant when the children were at school we would meet up at lunch break for a quick date assuming the school hadn't phoned suspending anyone.  Or we would sacrifice sleep and make an extremely late dinner.  We would have the kids involved in activities and on a really good day they would participate in them and we might be able to squeeze in some time.

Whatever you are going through in your parenting path right now find ways to connect with your spouse.  Get up early for a cup of tea or coffee before the kids get up, phone or text to say how much you love and appreciate them, schedule regular dates, do little things to make your spouses life easier, make time for one another. Remember when the kids are grown you still want to know that person who is sitting across the table from you, so keep the spark alive.

shared at http://www.faithfulmomof9.com/
http://www.lovethatmax.com/
http://www.motherwifeme.com/allaboutyou-link-pin-party-week-13/
http://theadoptionsocial.com/category/weekly-adoption-shout-out/
http://schummexplosion.blogspot.ca/2014/04/the-climb-networking-blog-hop.html
http://hdydi.com/2014/04/07/parenting-link-19/
http://richfaithrising.blogspot.ca/

What have we been learning at school?

A glimpse of what the older kids have been working on during the last term.  We study the basics each morning and then add a unit study to bring our learning to life and make it a bit more interesting.  For our unit study we have been reading the "Sign of the Beaver" and studying various topics brought up in the story around aboriginal people and their culture.  We are also using Northwood Presses - Native curriculum here  We also included some aboriginal hobbies/art for our art class and some cooking.

The "Sign of the beaver" tells a story of a 12 year old boy Matt James Hallowell, and his father, who, as early settlers, together build a log cabin in the wilderness of the 18th century North America.  Matt is left alone to guard the cabin while his father heads back east to collect his mother and sister.  Alone, Matt has to work together with native Americans.

In the story the characters hunted and gathered their own foods so we researched ways of hunting, snaring and fishing to gather food.  We all tried making snares for catching small game.  We also researched edible plants and went into the forest and identified them.

For cooking we made some "Johnny Cake" which is a type of cornbread.  Most of us found it to be very dry and bland.

We read about a bee attack in the novel and researched remedies that the aboriginal people used for a variety of alignments including healing bee stings.

We studied kayaks and learned that the Inuits were the first to invent them, when they invented them, what they were made of, etc.  We also learned that the Europeans kidnapped the Inuit and had them make kayaks for them based on the Inuit sketches.

For the art aspect of our studying we did some soap carving with guidance from the book  Soap Carving for Children This book teaches how to make carving tools out of popsicle sticks and then teaches how to carve using bars of soap.  We also made moccasins from kits that we purchased from here

We studied the homes of aboriginal people and made models of plank houses and demonstrated the different parts of the house.

For our final project/report each child chose an aboriginal band to study, report on and present to our family and friends.  Each child was given free rein on how they wanted to present their research one did a power point presentation and 2 did poster board presentations along with an oral presentation.

A field trip to the Provincial Museum finished up this terms studies in the First Peoples Gallery.  The museum has a handout with questions that can be answered from information presented in the displays which was a great encouragement for the children to read and learn from the displays.

shared at http://www.hiphomeschoolmoms.com/2014/03/hhms-favorite-posts-hip-homeschool-hop-4114/
http://www.weirdunsocializedhomeschoolers.com/weekly-wrap-up-the-one-in-which-spring-sprangor-is-it-sprung/