Thankful blog hop!

Tomorrow will be my One Year Anniversary in the blogging world. I started last November because I wanted to blog about every thing I was thankful for, a way to count my blessings so to speak. So I thought it would be fun to do a hop with this! If you want to join in then all you have to do is the following...

1. Blog each day in November about something that you are Thankful for in your life!

2. Put this button on your page:)

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That's it! Please join me and leave me a link of where you are and I will come visit you this month! Happy Blogging:)

Is ignorance bliss?

I have written about this before but my son was diagnosed with Autism at 15 months. I love him with all my heart and it breaks my heart when I hear how people react to the word "Autism". I was recently around a person that kept making comments and hurtful things and as a mother I couldn't stand it any longer. How dare you say anything negative about child that is not yours? It really shows how ignorant you truly are when you continue to make comments after you know. To me it's no different than making fun a child with cancer. That is how cruel your actions seem to another person.
Many people will NEVER know what I go through during a week. You never see the meltdowns that he has behind closed doors. You never see how he cries because he thinks that he has no friends. You never see the dance he does before he has to go to the bathroom. You never see how he struggles to make a simple sentence with his spelling words. You never see the looks or hear the whispers that I get when we are in public. By the way these were just a handful of things off the top of my head.

Yet, on the other hand...You may or may not see how truly smart he is in just about everything. He is an amazing artist. He can build anything out out Lego's or paper. His most recent paper building is Bugs Bunny's Home...I will have to take pictures and show you later. He has a smile that will liven up your day. He is really sweet and tells me all the time that he loves me. He is an awesome helper and great with his sister. He is extremely passive so he isn't the first one to throw a hit. I have had to tell him to hit back - only circumstantial and not all the time. But if he doesn't then sometimes the other kids won't stop hitting on him. I have also taught him that there is no shame in walking away.

So unless it's your child that your exposing all their social faults to the public around you, then keep your mouth shut. Because when you are supposed to be the "grown up" it is definitely not cool for you to talk about kids that aren't yours in such a negative fashion. You don't know what that parent goes through and how hard they fight for their child. I am an open book and will answer any question. But you need to educate yourself before you speak. Your ignorance isn't bliss it is just plain ignorance.

Sorry, I had to vent...but mama bear came out and I couldn't breathe.

Wordless Wednesday: Pumpkins!

Five Qestion Friday...

This is my very first Five Question Friday! It looks like fun so I thought I'd participate...

I’m liking up with The Life of a Sippy Cup Mom!

1. Where do you escape to when you’ve had enough?
Ha! I don't think it's possible to escape...lol! If I can get a babysitter the a coffee house will be fine with me. I usually go hide in my closet....it's really big. I sometimes also escape to the shower:)

2. What shows are you watching this fall?
I am loving the show Parenthood (not the movie). I love that they are doing an awesome job of portraying Autism/Aspergers. I also love Castle..really cute. We always watch the Middle. We also love College Football in the home:)

3. What was the longest roadtrip you’ve ever taken and where did you go?
That's a hard one. I think the longest trip was when I was little and we went to Washington DC. We had a lot of fun but now days we stay close to home. Baby Girl screams in her car seat so traveling is difficult with her. Hopefully we could do something like that with our kids.

4. Do you plan on taking your kids to Disney World?
I would love to take them to Disney. I went when I was younger and so we definitely plan on taking them. Maybe we could plan that for next year?...hmmm

5. What is something people would surprised to know about you?
If you know me then you KNOW me. I am an open book. I think people are a little surprised about all the stuff I can cook. It has taken a long time for me to get good...but my husband doesn't complain...lol!

I hope you all have a blessed weekend!

Leave you blog address below if you do this and I will come see you!

Coffee perfection...

As you know I am a coffee addict! So with that being said I have to need my coffee.I always make it early & I drink it all day long. I like it hot, I like it cold, with ice, lots of cream & a little sugar...I love coffee! I love all the flavored creamers. My favorite so far is the peppermint one...hopefully will be back soon!!! If my house could smell like Starbucks then I would be in heaven:)

I have only had one really nice coffee maker and it started to leak water so it got tossed, (by my husband). My latest coffee maker was a hand-me-down and it worked. So I would set it up to brew my coffee every morning. Then one morning I went in and it didn't brew my coffee! Oh no! I checked to make sure I put water in it, because I've done that before. Yep, it had water. After a few minutes & finally coming face to face with my denial...I declared my beloved coffee maker dead. :(

Died on 9/21/2011 :(....my ugly beloved coffe maker.

SO what was a coffee addict to do?!? I need my coffee! I thought for a minute and remembered that we had something that I could use...could this work?

Yep, old school percolator!

Could this be my life saver today? I had only used it a few times while camping. It worked then, so why not now. I prepped it and placed it on the stove & prayed. Moments later I heard it working. I was so excited! I know that it is so not the same but it makes me coffee.

I've been doing this for almost a month now and I have learned that I cannot rush the process. If I want really good coffee I have to allow it to do it's thing on med/high heat for about 20-30 minutes! For me that is a long time to wait on coffee. I would much rather have it ready for me when I wake up, but right now that is not a possiblity. At the moment this coffee addict is just happy to have coffee in the morning.

Recycle...

Since I've been cloth diapering I am more aware of what we throw away. I hate to admit it but living in the apartment we would empty the trash can daily. Ouch! Now that we have moved into the house, we have began to recycle. We are super excited to be "helping" our planet. I know that we could have done it in the apartment but it was just a little crazy to figure it out. What we are finding out is that 90% of our trash is recyclable!!! WOW! That is crazy! I can't believe it! I looked in the trash can & the recycle can last week and the recycle one was stuffed full and the the regular trash can had only 1 bag. (They are both 96 Gallon trash cans!)

I have been teaching Little Buddy what it means to recycle. It really cute to hear my son yell out, "This has a triangle on it!!". We are teaching our children that this in important. We want them to see that we can make a little difference in our world.

We have even be up cycling. We've used cereal boxes as paper holders. We even decorated them so they are really cute. We use toilet paper rolls for art projects. We hope to use some milk jugs to start planting some seeds for our garden we want to have this spring. We have stacked some boxes together to make a "secret hide out". Have a little imagination and go wild!

What kind of blog are you?

I have been blogging for almost a year, my "Blogaversary" is the first of November. I have been writing on and off because of learning to home school, raising a new baby, and then moving. Of course there are times that I just didn't know what to say or didn't want to share my life at that moment. I love to write because after being home all day with a child that doesn't talk much and a baby...I need some grown up conversation. So I blog.

Over the past year I have noticed that there are different kind of blogs. There are informational ones, anything from homes to Autism to breastfeeding. There are personal ones, where they share every bit of their life's journey and you feel like you are right there with them. Then there's my favorite...the review/giveaway blogs. I love that they share all the info with you on a product. Trust me if I had money I would be broke from all the stuff that I fall in love with.

So what kind of blog do I really want to be? I would love to share our everyday stuff that I think someone would like to read and enjoy, but I would LOVE to learn how to be a review/giveaway blog as well. I wish there was a blog to tell you how to start this too!

I send out emails to different companies to see if they are interested in some one to review their product and I never hear back?.? I have heard back from a few...Zookies! (love them), Moms Crafts 4 U (super sweet), Snack Taxi (cute bags), and I have one more coming!!!  (I can't wait to tell you about her store!!!....keeping it a surprise for now. ) So if you have taken a chance on me thank you! I am forever grateful and I still tell people about you and your business.

My question is how do you do this? Is there a secret sign up place that I don't know about? Do you have to drive the business people crazy before you actually hear back from them? I am asking for help...so thank you for any and all information:):):)

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month

Pregnancy loss hits very close to home and I struggled with even talking about it at all. Yet, I know so many that have lost their baby within the first trimester, some who lost theirs in the second, and even a couple that lost theirs at the very end. Even one of my dear friends just lost their baby to SIDS. So this post is for those that have been in or experiencing this now....may God Bless.


July of 2008, we found out, after months of trying, that we were finally pregnant. We told everyone right away, because we were super excited & just knew that everything would be great. Little Buddy was super excited and couldn't wait for "her" arrival...he just knew it would be a girl and named the baby "Kate". Well, of course we wouldn't know for months if he was right so I allowed him to name the anxiously awaited baby. Our family was happy for us and we eagerly set our doctor appointment and waited. I was extremely sick. Morning sickness stayed with me all day and I couldn't hardly eat. I felt terrible but still excited.

The day of my appointment came and I got all dressed up and my husband did too, we were planning on going to lunch to celebrate. We sat on the edge of our seats to be called to the back and we they did I wanted to sprint down the hall. I got up on the silly table where there do the ultrasounds and the magic wand looked for my baby. There in the shadows laid "baby Kate". BUT WAIT!!! There was no heartbeat. Nothing. The nurse sat silent. I held my breath as tears ran down my cheek because I knew something was wrong. I was immediately asked to get dressed and was escorted to a doctors room. Were they told me that I was no longer pregnant. The baby never fully developed. I got in the car and broke down from there and wept all the way home.

Thoughts were flying through my head..."What do I tell everyone?", "Did I cause this?", "How am I going to tell my son?", " What's going to happen now?"...and the faster they came the harder I cried. I decided to have the DNC because I was teaching at the time and didn't want something to happen while I was at school. I remember not liking to have to make that decision. When I told Little Buddy...he broke down completely and cried for weeks. The morning after is when it hit me that I no longer had my baby and I broke down again.

It took a long time for me to heal emotionally. I was never mad at God even though I never, and still don't, understand. I actually turned to Him more during this time. Because I know that ALL GOOD THINGS come from Him and he would NEVER want me to hurt like this. The one that was getting "joy" in it was a murderous thief, the Devil and I refused to give in to thinking that God took my baby away.

I did heal and I will never forget "baby Kate". Little Buddy still talks about "baby Kate". I know that she is in Heaven and Jesus and all my friends and family that are already there are loving on her and telling her what her mommy, daddy and brother are like. That brings me comfort when I am missing her and wishing she was down her with me.

A wife who loses a husband is called a widow.
A husband who loses a wife is called a widower.

A child who loses his parents is called an orphan.
There is no word for a parent who loses a child.
That's how awful the loss is.

- Ronald Reagan

Here is a video I found on another's blog...get some tissues.