Driving Around and CHOCOLATE

After we went to Dry Falls, we drove on to Highlands. We did not stop anywhere in Highlands except for a gas station to get a drink, but then drove back to Franklin to go to the chocolate shop. The kids were absolutely exhausted on the way back.Aidan fell asleep and has not taken a nap..,.. well... in a few YEARS without his medication! I kept checking on him to make sure that he was okay. Here are a few pictures that I wanted to share!

JohnAlex was SO tired!!!

I think she thought she was being sneaky!

Lillian looking out the window. I think this picture is really cute!

This is the CHOCOLATE SHOP!!!!!! I cannot come to Franklin without going to this place. Highly recommend it! ALL homemade!!!

And now on to the next post! These are taking longer than I thought they would

Dry Falls

By the time we got to Dry Falls, Lillian was determined she was NOT going to see a waterfall. The Cullasaja Falls with the noise really scared her. It took a phone call from my mom talking her into it to convince her to get out of the car. My mom told her she wanted a picture and she had to walk down to take it.

By the time we got to Dry Falls, Lillian's fatigue and arthritis had set in. I carried her all of the way down and all of the way back up at Dry Falls. Down, she was super nervous and did not get down the entire time! On the way back up, she tried to walk for a bit but it only lasted around 5 minutes before she began limping. I didn't mind carrying her though so she could see the falls! We got TONS of great pictures there!!!

This is the view from the top. This is the distance that we walked down to the falls

Lillian with her Daddy

She NEVER makes silly faces like this!!! I have no idea what she was doing. lol I love this picture just because she IS doing it and acting silly! We need more silly days like this!

This is behind Dry Falls. It gets its' name from the fact that you remain DRY while behind it! Lillian was less than thrilled behind the falls, but the boys just loved it!

On the walk down

On the walk down to the Falls ... no one would look at the camera!

I just love this picture of Lillian!!! I may share in the upcoming days variations of it and edited versions of it and another one that I really like of her from this trip!

We highly recommend seeing Dry Falls and the walk down (which is NOT a hard walk at all) if you are in the area of Franklin or Highlands, NC. We had a wonderful time with lots of great pics!

Katie's Falls and Cullasaja Falls

After the reunion, we went on the road to visit some waterfalls! The first one was Katie's Falls. This waterfall was named after Trey's great aunt Kate by her father. Only Trey got out at this one but we could see it from the car easily. There is nowhere to really pull off of the road here and get out. It is one of the smaller falls that we saw.

Katie's Falls. It is not as easily seen right now because of trees in the way.

Trey had the BRIGHT IDEA to walk down to this waterfall. I got out and looked to see how to get down and decided there was NO WAY I was walking to this one with 3 kids. To get to it, you have to go over the guardrails on the side of the road, then down a steep hill with NO path to direct which way to go. So we did NOT go down to this waterfall, but this was the view from the road!

Be prepared: the next fall we visited, Dry Falls... well we took LOTS of pictures!!!!!

Playing in the Cemetary and Moore Reunion

We traveled to Franklin, NC on July 15th for the Moore Reunion which was held on July the 17th. We were not at the Moore Reunion long as everyone in our family was excited to just eat and go to look at the waterfalls. I don't think ANY of our kids realized you usually have to WALK to the waterfalls, but more on that later!
The Moore Reunion.... the kids' favorite thing to do??? Playing in the CEMETARY!!! hahaha Of all things to do, they enjoyed that the most.
Here are some pictures from the reunion:

He was taking a rest on a nearby tombstone at Elijay Baptist Church

They played a beanbag game right next to the cemetary. This is Lillian after trying to play the game.

There were two boys there close to Aidan's age... the other 3 are mine!

Trey thought they were nuts! Beside of him is his mom Phoebe

Beautiful stained glass window at Elijay Baptist Church: Franklin,NC

I will be posting a different post for each thing that we did. It is less confusing that way. Lillian and the boys did fairly well at the reunion. No one really ate that much, but they did eat something! Lots of stimulation for them that they were not used to!

Now on to the next leg of our trip!

Classical Education, Mae Brooks and My experiences

I just had to share some of my personal thoughts on something that was on my heart and mind today. First I want to share a quote with everyone:

"For we let our young men and women go out unarmed in a day when armor was never so necessary. By teaching them to read, we have left them at the mercy of the printed word. By the invention of the film and the radio, we have made certain that no aversin to reading shall secure them from the incessant battery of words, words, words. They do not know what the words mean;they do not know how to ward them off or blunt thei eduge or fling them back; they are a prey to words in their emotions instead of being the masters of them in their intellects...We have lost the tools of learning, and in their absence can only make a botched and piecemeal job of it." Dorothy L. Sayers "The Last Tools of Learning"

Okay what brought all of this up besides I have thought this for a while? I am reading the book "The Well Trained Mind" A guide to Classical Education at Home by Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer. If you have not read this book, I HIGHLY recommend it!!! It just made me start thinking about how the public school system failed me especially in my high school years. Thankfully, reading was in my blood and I loved it and no one could ever possibly take that away from me. While others in middle school were looking for the easiest books for AR just to reach their minimum, I was reading classics that those other kids missed out on like Little Women, Charles Dickens, Gone with the Wind. I tend to lean towards the classics although now I do read some other things too. Reading is one of the most important things to me, but learning to READ using phonics is not what I am referring to when I make that statement. Oh reading is SO much more than that!!! Reading is your outlet from the horrible things happening in our world today. Reading allows you to live in a different time, live in someone else's problems for a change and have the opportunity to question, debate and dream! That is one of the things this book is talking about. The LOVE of Reading has been lost. However, not only has the LOVE of reading been lost, but the ability to analyze, comprehend and truly understand what is being read. Reading helps to  learn to see through and reason which are traits that are essential in being successful in life now.

With all of that said, I was educated in the public school system. This is by no means a bashing of the public school system at all. However, I do want to share my experiences. There were a few teachers along my journey that facilitated learning in a way that it SHOULD be and encouraged individual thoughts, questioning etc. It seems so many teachers do not like questions, do not like to be questioned at all. They expect their students to sit quietly in a desk and listen to what they have to say and then take a test on it which DOES NOT CAUSE COMPREHENSION, UNDERSTANDING OR A LEARNING OF IT!!!!!!!!!!! Okay and with that rant:

There were those that were essential to my education. One of the 1st that I truly remember being like that was Ginger Gillenwater whose last name is now Burton. She cared about her kids in her class and had this passion for teaching and learning about her students. I loved her so much that I even attended her wedding with a good friend of mine! The next one that I truly remember is Martha Stooksbury who taught Math. She loved Math and not only taught the facts and memorization by why you arrived at that answer. Math, as many know, is NOT my favorite subject but she was a wonderful teacher!!! The next one that I remember is Mollie Bolton. I remember being in her class debating some of the books that we read (I was in the advanced class) and having discussions that later when I reread those books as assignments again and had to write papers in high school, those discussions that we had in 8th grade Reading class were invaluable to look back on and remember the points that were brought up! Not only did Mollie Bolton LEAD those discussions, but she ENCOURAGED them which is something many teachers just do not do. Again, a lot just want to give out assignments, have the students be quiet and have students who pass these tests and do well on standardized tests to make them look good. When I had Mrs Bolton, never once did I hear about the standardized test given or that we had to be at a certain point by a certain time of year or anything of that nature. She seemed to enjoy the discussion and class as much as we did.

Many that live around wher we do will remember the next one that I remember as she has touched so many lives.... Mrs Dorcas Fairchild. She is a teacher and woman who taught me grammar and taught it WELL! Not only did she teach me grammar, but she that was the beginning of my OCD thing with always writing with correct grammar and being very picky with it. She also encouraged independent thinking as we studied the classics, poems and plays. I will never ever forget Dorcas Fairchild! She is an unusual woman, but no one that had her ever forgot her.

The next teacher I had that was amazing was Mrs Jackson who taught junior English. I felt so bad for her at times as we did not really have a sophomore English teacher so she had her work cut out for her that year. She had to not only teach the material she had planned for the year, but review grammar, the way you write papers, etc. I remember many wonderful discussions about the Crucible, The Scarlet Letter, etc. She is/was an amazing teacher!!!

And now for the person that was my best friend and the most memorable in teaching me to love writing, love reading but to question, debate and discuss everything I read::: Mae Brooks. I miss her like crazy! I spent many hours with Mae going over papers, correcting papers, discussing the books that I had read, but not just being corrected but having discussions on WHY I thought certain things were wrong and how I would fix it before she would lead me in the right direction. Up to the point that I had started seeing Mae for help with writing, I had never been taught in school how to properly write a paper, edit a paper and come up with a finished product. Mae taught me that invalueable skill that has carried over into my adult life and as I have been told, writing remains one of my strongest areas. Not only is it my strongest area , but I LOVE to write! I write for fun which I know many do not say this. As a matter of fact, I even edit papers and such for something fun to do. (yes I am a bit nuts!) I feel like I am giving back a part of Mae Brooks. More than a wonderful teacher, she was a kind woman who had amazing incite into absolutely every part of life! She gave me guidance with college, with writing, with life in general, support when I needed her and spiritual things and things of the heart. In turn, I loved Mae very much and considered her my very best friend. I spent lots of time talking to her about church, school, the kids who she adored, her life and the stress she often had, but Mae always looked ahead into the positive. Oh yes there were times I found Mae down as we all get down. I am thankful I had a part in picking her back up some of those times and was able to give back a bit of the help she gave me. I am just so amazed that right now she is HEALED for forever! No not on this earth like I would have liked, but right now she is with God in his loving arms walking those streets of gold with never a worry again. How amazing! Sometimes it is hard to fathom. Oh yes at times I miss her so much that tears come into my eyes, but I would not wish her back here not even for a second because she is so happy in heaven! 

The other night I had this dream that I have yet to share with anyone as of yet. I dreamed that I was at the hospital again to see Mae and Claude was there. I walked in to see her and I talked to her and she said to me "I will be fine because I know where I am going." In my dream, I cried an I said "I don't want you to leave." Then in my dream it is almost like I looked away and then when I looked at her again there was a gold light behind her and then she disappeared and I woke up. I woke up in tears because the dream was not only beautiful, but it made me miss her that much more. However, it was like God was saying to me, she is fine because she is in my hands. That is what I needed since I have missed her like crazy here lately. When I go to church now, her absence has been felt so strongly lately! 

I just wanted to share all of that from my heart and I hope I did not ramble too much. If anyone is reading this who does not homeschool and thinks well I would LIKE to do that but I can't, please email me or contact me or SOMETHING! If I can do it, anyone can! The reasons most give me are more excuses such as I don't have the money to homeschool, I don't have patience, I am not an organized person. For those that know me well, you know I am NOT a patient person at all and I am NOT organized. However, when you are giving your children the LOVE of learning, you would be surprised at how patient you can be and how you can learn to organize. 

Have a Great Day!

Re-Evaluating Therapy

Today I have began re-evaluating the kids and going to therapy like we are right now. For those that do not know, we are in therapy 2 days per week currently.... 1 day for an hour and a half and the other day for another hour and a half. The therapy center could not accomodate one of the kids on the 2nd day now, so they moved that day to ANOTHER day. When doing that, that makes us being down there for TWO HOURS and with an hour with Aidan waiting in the waiting room (anyone that knows Aidan knows that just will NOT work) and Lillian waiting WITH Aidan for 30 minutes. In addition to this, it seems progress has halted right now. This morning I spoke with the center again who said they were going to work something out and the didn't. In addition to that, they already filled their slots for the day we WERE coming on without anything being set in stone.

Okay with that said, I began thinking okay how much progress are they really making with this? And the answer? Not a lot! Aidan still cannot write his first name correctly. Lillian has made progress in Speech but it doesn't stay the same, fluctuates a lot from day to day, hour to hour even minute to minute. Her Physical therapy come and goes. When she has swelling, she cannot do her sessions and the physical therapist is just not sure on her limitations due to her arthritis. As for JohnAlex..he is getting feeding therapy, but here lately I am not getting progress reports with him most of the time so I don't even know how much to thicken liquids at home etc.

It is a very hard decision to leave this center. Aidan has been here since he was 3  years old and Lillian since she turned 1 year old and she is almost 4 now. (next month) However, we are considering leaving the center and going somewhere else just one time per week. We are about to start our schoolwork back and switching to Sonlight. The kids are very excited to do this and we will be attending our co-op 1 day a week as well so we just cannot go to the therapy center two days per week. We work with them often at home... This is not a decision I am making lightly and it is a hard one to make, but I have to do what I believe is best for my children and I do not feel that going to therapy 2 days per week like this and then be gone another day to co-op is NOT good for them or for our family's sanity!!!

Any input on this would be appreciated!!!

Bays Mountain Field Trip 06/30/10

I have had many ask us: well how do you get your kids to sit still at home? How do you get your days in with going places like that? How do you KNOW what is school without formal testing every year? well How can your kids learn without doing workbooks etc? And many more!

So here is the answer to that: Learning does not mean sitting at a table in a chair doing workbooks, listen to a teacher lecture, being quiet not able to ask questions etc for 7 to 8 hours per day. Since WHEN has school been changed from fostering that love of learning to sit still and do your work and don't bother me type of learning??? I believe that if you engage your children in activities to stimulate their brains, their minds, and encourage lots of questions, then THAT is the way a child learns... but not only learns, but gets that yearning to WANT to learn and LOVES to learn!!! Yes, my kids don't learn at the same pace at every other child, but then again, who is really normal anyways?? Yes, two of my children are behind academically due to their chromosome deletion causing learning disabilities and trouble retaining information. HOWEVER, my kids LOVE to learn!!! They love books and recognize them as that they are a privelege not a necessity. That is something many in this country have forgotten. Something other countries who are less fortunate than the United States know very well, but a fact that MANY just do not fathom here in the United States anymore. Now that I am finished with my rant (and I promise there will be more on this later), I decided to "show" and tell you about what school is at times for my kids. Our definition of "school" does change daily and isn't the same everyday, but that is just fine. As long as they are having fun, learning and stimulating their brains, who cares anyways?!?!

Our church, FBC of Rogersville, took a trip on June the 30th (yes I am getting behind) to Bays Mountain Park. This of course was a fun trip, but also very educational and for our kids, it was SCHOOL! If anyone lives in the area or is VISITING the area, I highly recommend this park. Our family will definetly be going back sometime just on our own to spend the day. (hopefully SOON but definetly when the weather starts to cool just a bit) Their website is: http://www.baysmountain.com/ and here is a bit about our day! Thanks to all of the adults who got this trip together for the kids and who have worked hard to provide trips for the kids all summer long!!!

The kids learned that a baby deer is a fawn. They also learned that their mothers, does, have the fawns and leave them in an area where they will be camouflaged. The fawns are very still as to not draw attention to themselves and wait for their mother to come back. This fawn was in an area that the doe may have felt it was well camouflaged, but it was actually just right off of the walking trail. You frequently see deer all in the woods at Bays Mountain Park. Adorable!

The kids learned that a "daddy deer" is called a buck and that at certain times of the year, they have velvety horns. Aidan was not happy to learn that the bucks are what his Poppy are always after and try to kill for our family to eat! Hopefully he will forget the image of this soon! lol

These are slider turtles as Katherine told the kids. She taught them that when they feel threatened, they SLIDE off of the log into the water very quickly. The ones sitting on the log does not even look real in the picture. She also taught the kids that the ones at Bays Mt are so used to people that they do not feel threatened by people standing around staring at them!

This is not a very good picture, but this is a buzzard. The kids learned that buzzards are a type of predator that eat dead animals. Lillian looked at me in disbelief when she heard that!

This was by far by anonymous vote of me and the kids our FAVORITE animal during the trip to Bays Mountain Park. This beautiful creature is a screech owl. We all learned that this owl has never screeched, but loves to "sing." He is a very friendly owl that is 11 years old, just turned 12,  and only weighs around I think the man said 11 ounces. The volunteer who we are VERY thankful to got this owl out to fix his cage, but let us see him, take pictures of him and made some children (and adults) very happy!!! This was the HIGHLIGHT of our trip to Bays Mtn! I do not know the volunteers name, but we thank him for doing this!!! If you go, stop by to see this owl!

This is near where they do the barge rides at. This water area is filled with lily pads, algae and some other plants. Lots of frogs thrive here!!! The kids got to see just a couple of frogs hopping around.

This was one my kids did not really have much to do with! Lillian touched the body one time. It moved, she jumped and did not like the feel of it and got FAR away from it with Sharon. (don't think Sharon cared much for the snake either) Aidan did not even touch the snake but loved looking at them through the glass. Thanks so much to Sharon for helping with lifting the kids up over and over to see all of the snakes.

Are they not CUTE? This is Aidan and Lillian looking at the deer. JohnAlex did not go as Trey was working and just could not keep up with all 3 that day.

Lillian had a wonderful time. She was the easiest one to get to cooperate and stand still for a picture.

This is Lillian with Nikki... I am not sure how she spells her name. My kids all just LOVE her and her Nana keeps them while I go and sing in the choir and keeps JohnAlex on Sunday mornings as well. I couldn't do without her.... and Nikki as well! Nikki is such  big help!

I do not have pictures of the remaining things we did. The kids saw the exhibits on the inside. Then a Boy Scout troop had donated to us tickets to go and see the Planetarium Show "IBEX:Search for the Edge of the Solar System." This was a VERY interesting and informative show. Lillian was a bit scared of the fact that the entire ceiling was filled with stars, flying things that blast off, and huge planets. IBEX is a very interesting mission and that we will definetly be trying to find out more current information on as time goes on. They actually are doing  a MAP of the edge of our solar system. The results were surprising so more information is currently being gathered to find answers.

Lillian slept on the way home. Both of the kids suckered me into buying them small stuffed raccoons that WERE adorable I have to admit! Lillian also attached herself to a container of lifelike bugs (weird since she HATES bugs!!!) and insisting on taking them with her so we also ended up with the container of bugs (which we can use in school so I agreed on that) and a stuffed deer for JohnAlex. So for anyone planning a trip: BEWARE OF THE GIFT SHOP!!!!

Thanks so much to FBC Rogersville for this wonderful trip, the Boy Scouts for the planetarium tickets, James Sells who drove the bus and wife Carla who planned our itinerary. Special thanks to Katherine and Sharon who helped me a great deal with Aidan and Lillian on this trip!!! I could not have done with the two of them!

And THAT is the conclusion of a GREAT school day!!!!!!

An Off Day

I will be posting hopefully very soon about our Bays Mountain Trip. However, for now, I want to just take a moment and describe a bit about what our day has been like today. As any parent would say with a special needs child, we really do not have a "typical" day because you  never know what is going to come up. When we start a more organized school day, then things will be a bit more predictable although never completely.

I started off the day with Lillian waking me up by "fussing" at me for getting on her pillow. Then I slowly woke up and realized that I was sandwiched in between Aidan and Lillian in Aidan's bed. Aidan was lying crossways taking up the entire half of the bed so I could not get on his pillow, but Lillian decided to be possessive of HER pillow. I did the smart thing and just got up for the day instead of pressing the issue. I have learned to pick my battles and this was NOT one I was going to argue over!

Finally, Lillian decides she has to go to the bathroom so I took her. Aidan meanwhile was still asleep. I sat down with Lillian and worked with her on eating her breakfast. Then she asked for some cheese, so I gave that to her. I cleaned house in which Lillian decided to drag things OUT while I was doing this. Meanwhile, Aidan is STILL asleep despite noise, trips into his room and light. Lillian is very impatient on things and when she wants something, it has to be NOW. She will hang on me, whine, and constantly bother me until she gets it. More on that later... we are working on trying to get her to understand she is NOT the only child that I have.

Aidan got up and stayed up for about 10 minutes and then went BACK to bed... in my bed this time and insisted the lights be off. He complained of a headache and did not want the light on. He stayed in bed until around 1:15pm. At some point, I decided to feel of him. He felt hot to me, but I am cold always and could not tell if it was from just being covered with a blanket which he insisted upon despite the hot weather right now. I took his temperature under his arm as I just did not want to bother him with the rectal. It read 96 so I did decide to check the temp rectally which was 99 but that isn't too bad so I just let him sleep. He did get up, but having a VERY "off" day. He is repeating things constantly today and even stuttering. The repeating is normal, but the stuttering is not so normal for him. He also insisted today that he could not wear anything blue today. I asked why and he says I just can't. Blue is not a color for today. So Okay! I can go with that considering he only has one blue shirt and most do not have blue on them. Aidan kept insisting that he was going to a fire at my  mom's house tonight and still can't figure out what he is talking about!!!! Eye contact has been less today as well. Lillian threw his Froggy under the bed and screaming, crying, throwing himself in the floor was his reaction to this. I picked him up off of the floor and tried to explain that we can GET Froggy then tried to explain to Lillian (who is not understanding what I am trying to tell her) that she cannot throw Froggy under the bed, nor throw Froggy anywhere and Aidan is very attached to it.

Lillian has bothered Aidan all day long doing things just like this. She has also been hitting on the computer, throwing the phone, screaming at Aidan, etc etc etc. Then when she does these things, Aidan gets really upset and starts the screaming and yelling. Overall, just a very "off" today in which I had to get both of them ready to go, extra clothes for everyone, pull-ups, medicine, "good milk" (Lillian drinks this for nutrition and growth), sippy cup, shoes etc. In a bit, they are all going to my  mom's house to stay while I head to a movie with a family friend and her daughter and friend.. ALONE! WITH NO KIDS!!!

How did I manage this?!?! Honestly, I am not sure besides the fact I just told my mom that I WAS going, told my husband that I WAS going and got Bethany to get the tickets online in which then no one could say I couldn't go. Sneaky?!?! Yes, but necessary! So I know you probably think I am NUTS by now for being SO EXCITED... no ECSTATIC.... for getting to just go to a movie with friends. However, as a mom of special needs kids, I don't get to do this... EVER! I don't ever get to go really anywhere alone or do anything fun alone. I love my children and devote my life to them, but sometimes, everyone needs a moment to themselves. It is called sanity time!

Sooo... I am ending today with this: I am heading out! Taking the kids to my mom's, meeting up with good friends and for the night... I am NOT going to think about medical, developmental, medicines, behavior or anything else relating and I AM going to go and have some FUN! Stuff myself with popcorn with extra butter, enjoy a meal with NO INTERRUPTIONS from kids, and see ECLIPSE AT THE IMAX THEATER!!!!

Au Revoir!

Fun Time with Friends

A Few weeks ago, I got the opportunity to see some friends who were really missed during the time they were away. We are so thankful that they got to share their testimonies and Jesus with others, but we sure did miss them!!!! Ever since, Aidan has talked and talked about Joshua and Jacob, Lillian has constantly wondered when we are going back to see Hannah and Sierra and JohnAlex said he likes to go "upstairs" to play. JohnAlex kept insisting to go upstairs to play and no matter HOW many times Sierra tried to correct him and tell him it is downstairs, he still kept insisting he wanted to go upstairs. haha

Lillian had a really great time playing with Hannah, along with everyone else.

Lillian enjoying the day with Hannah

Lillian also had a really great time drawing with Sierra and Anna as well.

And let's don't forget about time with Uncle Jeff!

Lillian and Hannah enjoying very brief cuddle time with Uncle Jeff

I really enjoyed being able to have some "adult" time and talk to Missy as well. I really needed that! Everything went smoothly and surprisingly all of the kids played really well together! I was really surprised honestly! If you are wondering why I really only have pictures of Lillian, Aidan really never came around me while we were there and he and JohnAlex played a lot with everyone else. Sierra took these pics and she was mainly with Lillian and Hannah. We ate dinner with them which was DELICIOUS! Thanks so much Missy and Jeff for the meal! Then afterwards, Uncle Jeff built a fire to do S'Mores! All of the kids were just ecstatic!!! We did not anticipate how big of a problem those Texas sized marshmellows were going to be though. We had such a great time around the fire, fixing S'Mores and just catching up on the time we had been away from one another. Here are some pics from the fire:

Hanging out with Good Friends... and I am wondering WHAT Jeff was doing! lol

Lillian was eating a strawberry marshmellow... TX sized!

Aunt Missy helping Lillian with her S'More

Lillian and Aunt Missy. I think Lillian liked that S'More complete with a strawberry TX sized Marshmellow and chocolate! YUMMY!!!!!

These were one of those times that we will definetly remember! I really miss having cook-outs with friends, just hanging out with another family especially a family who UNDERSTANDS!!! This is a family that I believe God just linked us with. I wish we were able to see them more, but we cherish the times we have together! 

Fun At Dollywood

Yesterday, I went with the kids to Dollywood for a while. We really just had a pretty great day! It warmed my heart to see Lillian attempting to ride some rides, JohnAlex LOVING the Scrambler and Aidan having the time of his life!!! It was just an overall great day, but kind of bittersweet as well! Lillian really struggled with her arthritis all day long. She had a lot of trouble with fatigue, being tired, swelling which we eventually had to put bandaids on her feet from the blisters it was making from the swelling. She tripped and fell several times and rode in a stroller a lot of the time except for riding or doing activities. It was the first time I have ever saw her just WANT to really ride in the stroller which broke my heart.

My parents became more aware of her struggles and her difficulties yesterday. They begin to say to put her in the stroller before I had even said anything as they watched her struggle to walk very far at all, trip, and walk very stiff. Despite that though, that has just become a daily challenge for us. I did her stretches with her to help a bit. All of the kids just LOVED riding on the train! They also REALLY enjoyed Shakonahey which is a show that is largely centered around the story of the Cherokee Indians and the Great Smoky Mountains. Shakonahey means "blue smoke" in Cherokee so we all got a little bit of school in as well.  For those of you that do not know, we homeschool so we do school on the road, in the doctor's office, at Dollywood, on field trips, at Nonny's house, just WHEREVER! Hands-on Learning is the BEST!!!

The kids rode the carousel as well. The first time that Lillian had gotten on it, she REFUSED to ride on ANY type of animal that moved while the other kids eagerly climbed on a horse. She finally was talked into sitting on a bench on the carousel and decided by the end of the ride that she would indeed ride on a moving horse. Everyone got back in line and she allowed my mom to lift her up onto.... A HORSE THAT MOVED alongisde her siblings! Inside, I was just jumping for joy! As I sat and watched her on a horse that actually moved (and cling to my mom... but she did stay ON the horse and by the end, was smiling!), I began to think back to when I was pregnant with JohnAlex. I brought Aidan and Lillian to Dollywood and got on the Carousel with Lillian (as I was the only one that could really hold her back then). She was SOOOO terrified of the carousel!!! I sat her on a horse and she screamed and cried for the ENTIRE RIDE! This was when she was almost a year old and I even got a picture of it. It reminded me of just how much PROGRESS she has made. She rode on this moving horse yesterday not liking it but she made herself do it and even smiled by the end. PROGRESS!!! Small progress, but with special needs, small progress is so much better than none and I am HAPPY with small progress!!!

Aidan did pretty well with Dollywood. He did have some episodes of small tics and repeating behaviors. He kept falling while we were there, but overall, MUCH MUCH better than I had expected!!!! JohnAlex was thrilled that he got to wear PULL UPS at Dollywood. They were actually Little Swimmers but I didn't have the heart to tell him that. haha

And now for some pictures of our time there......

Aidan with Sue at Dollywood

Lillian on the train

JohnAlex and Benjamin on train

Explanation of blog title

JohnAlex, age 2 1/2

Aidan, age 5 1/2 and sister Lillian, almost 4

I am extremely new to blogging so for those of you that are veterans, please be patient with me and share any suggestions that you have! I have been meaning to start blogging for quite a while now!

First and foremost, I really need to explain the title of this Blog.... More Than A Diagnosis! We have been through the diagnostic process for a long time. Doctors have tried to piece the puzzle pieces together to get the entire picture or pictures, but have yet to actually do that. The other day I began to ponder on our journey with the doctors, medical, a false MSBP accusation and just all of the things we have been through. I began to realize what doctors just often do not realize... my kids are so much MORE than a diagnosis! The first thing the doctors want to know is just what diagnoses have been made. Too often they are not looked at like 3 fun loving, adorable, beautiful children who I want the absolute best in love for! They are looked at like specimens trying to find every little thing that is wrong with them. Oh yes, I know there are lots of things going on and I do not deny that! However, I have come to the point that I try to enjoy every single moment with them. Life is all too short! None of us know what the future holds, so I want to savor each moment, each milestone no matter how late, and each time I am told "I Love You" even if not in those words with their little voices. They SHOW me how much they love me everyday in countless other ways, and I am quick to let them know in actions and in words just how much I love them as well.

This blog wil have all of those moments that I savor and cherish each day in my heart. I will also share some medical stuff on here but not in a lot of details as much as our FEELINGS on the things we go through everyday in raising 3 special needs children. It sure isn't an easy road... So many do not understand. I hate to say that even a lot of times family members do not understand. I just hope I can help someone else and give those without special needs children a looking glass into what our lives are like from day to day.... Enjoy!