At Kellerman's we come together..weather rain or shine

We just returned from our annual family reunion... we went to Helen, Georgia...and it was beautiful... if you remember the movie (as if you could or would forget...sheesh!) Dirty Dancing,
it seemed as if we were there... we spent most of the time in the cabin..relaxing!!!!!!! It was so nice to not have to make it to any appointments....just my massage!!!!! Thankyou so much Dad for such a great giftie!! It was great! The Masssage Therapist came to the cabin and gave us ladies our massages...i was relaxed in the peace and quiet...the massage was icing on the cake...ahhh!
It rained a few nights..and i thought of when Lisa said in the movie..."remind me never to get married at Niagra Falls...." (was is married or honeymoon...?..i'll have to check that out..) anyway...ahhh..relaxed i am....

There was a jacuzzi at the cabin..... Lookee who LOVES jacuzzis! He was so happy in that thing....until...
well.....somebody isn't completely potty trained..... hmmmmm..
It was much fun while it lasted!!

I love this picture... this is Sammy's PawPaw....we went out for breakfast one morning and they sat together with Gamana Rose...Sammy did really well with all the new faces and places..

Here i am with Sister-in-law....Rita... she was leaving after breakfast..and hubs took this picture of us being happy! notice my Joxlette making a fantastic vacation appearance.... being my own sales representative doesn't end just because i am on vacation!!! (posting new beauts THIS week!!!)

I know this may look silly... a laundry mat on vacation....???...

But what a haven for a boy and his loot!!! I remember going to the laundry mat as a small girl... LOVED those pushy carts..

i wonder if i can get one for our house???

Pretend cereal anyone???

Ok..Truely..if you have TONS of laundry to get done...go to the laundry mat with the kids..... they LOVED it!!! Big tables for playing cars on... pushy carts for transporting loot.... and then there is...

The spin cycle!!!

and while you are waiting..(not as long of a wait as doing laundry ALL DAY LONG!!!! in your 1 washing machine......and 1 dryer...there are tons of dryers justa waiting to hurry up the process... you do have to pay though... but again.. for the time you save and the field trip for the kids...it might just be worth it!!)...anyway...whilst you wait...take some picts of you and your sweeties!!

This is where it really started feeling like Kellerman's... this little lake/beach was the perfect place for our kiddos to explore and enjoy the day!!
After we left..Sammy seemed to be so much more attentive... more eye contact... more sounds... he just Loved that place!!

This was a favorite!! He would walk out to where i was and hold his arms up so i would spin him around in the water!! Ahhhh!
No fear...only Happiness!!

I love this picture...this was right after we got there... they went straight for the water!!it is rare that they are both in the same picture...and this one so captured those first moments by the shore..

These bears were at the cabin next to ours... One of Smylie's favorite songs right now is..."we're going on a bear hunt".. evertime we would pass these guys..the song would begin...and the day we left..as we were driving by...we told him to say goodbye to the bears...and he looked out the window and said.."Goodbye bears......We Love You!"..... awwww!
Here he is in the middle of saying something very important to that bear!!

Lastly... PawPaw and Gamana Rose.... Smylie is trying to say Grandma...but this sounds great right now too!!! Thank you both so much for such a great vacation!! We ALL needed that!

WE Love you!!

....games and lectures jokes and music...happily combined!!

Have a love-fully!!

Sammy's early..playings

Doubleshot

Can you believe i have actually tried what i like to call "stinky coffee" cappachino" (how do you even spell that??)

It's good with ALOT of sweet stuff in it!!! Not my fave Earl..

****note..super cute posie surprise towel from my new friend Jes... from KadyHope... I just love it..it came with us on our picnic last week..and it is helping introduce THE post!!

Thanks friend

Okay...here is THE post!!!

If you are just visiting for the first time..great.. you will be all caught up by the end of this one!!!

I have been pretty vague in my postings regarding our boys..

I am sure you have seen (or maybe not) how we go here and there...or Miss Kathryn comes to visit...OT..Speech...

This past year of Lemons is what i am going to share...

so get ready...

Last September...Sweetums had his 2 year well visit/checkup

and i was asked if we had any concerns... my only concern was that he did not have any words/speech yet...

so the Dr. referred us to a place called Babynet.

I was asked hundreds of questions about Sammy's abilities..

and i was abruptly awakened from life as i knew it.

how could i have missed so many details..i thought to myself..

it is not like anyone else was taking care of him.. it was only me..until Dada came home from work... and then, well..it was us.. This WAS the hardest time for us... Sammy scored well below average in speech/language at the age of 2... he was considered to have the language of a 10 month old..

What?? we thought..everyone develops differently...

he will catch on soon...

we met Kathryn through Brightstart in October.

we were immediately placed on waiting lists for speech and ot, and kathryn came once a week...

our first days of "early intervention" were intense..

homework consisted of leading Sam in an activity for just 3 minutes..TORTURE!! He hated it! He has made remarkable gains.. and will sit for an hour at a time now...

we are so grateful!
In the meantime..... our amazing friend Brownie works for Developmental/Behavioral Peds..and offered to send us a packet of info/ forms...just in case... there is a waiting period of about 6 months or more to get in...so we got a head start..

I hated filling out those papers... they were part of the beginning that brought me to my knees...

When did your child.....?

What do you think is the problem....??????

But we finished them... and gave them to Brownie....

and waited.... and we were all set with appointments in February.... During the early days.. as i was talking with someone from Babynet... i mentioned how i didn't really think anything of Sammy's delay in speech..because Myles was/is a late talker... there we were...on another track to get Myles tested.. because of their ages they were being assessed by different people... off we went to all sorts of appointments..

Our biggest appointment for Sammy was April 17th...

there were points of high anxiety in the waiting...

it was to be our informing conference...

Sammy started Speech and Ot in January... it was explained to us that he was having some sensory issues..and needed "more input" ...so he began to LOVE the swing!!!! he was so at peace with that thing.. not that he was wild by any means... but it helped him focus more... we are still working on so many things.. still no words...waiting patiently...

Thank you for reading on.... this is so helpful for me to put in words...i am trying to be as thorough as i can...as i recollect i am remembering some of the toughest times in my life... My heart has been examined..assessed...evaluated...in the process of our boys having the same done to them.... I am not the same as i once was. And i am grateful.

We were scheduled back to back appointments..April 16th for Myles and the 17th for Sam.... Myles was placed in a preschool for children with special needs... we thought he would start in the fall.... he started the next Monday!!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHH!

This is Mr apprehensive we are talking about!!!! and his MOM!!

Those first couple of weeks were....crazy... but he ended the year making many gains...and his teacher wanted him to continue in his progress..so she recommended that he go to the summer school program as well.....and HE is doing great!!!

He will continue to go in the fall... and it is our hope that he meets and exceeds the goals that are before him....

April 17th.. Sammy is diagnosed with Autism.
What do we do now? This is the word i wanted least to hear..
This is the word that has changed my heart forever..
The puzzle piece is the symbol for Autism.... i asked the Dr. if the piece meant that there was something missing..... her words were so very comforting to me (and when i say me... i am including hubs too...) she said... "All the pieces are there... it IS a very intricate puzzle...and you may need to (totally speaking to my crafty natured selfy) use some glue to get some of the pieces to stick together.. and you may need to use some scissors to trim around some of the edges... or one of the chipboard sanding ma jigs to smooth the edges.."(ok..she didn't say that last one...but you get the picture) ... I thought... I've got glue!!! I've got scissors!! ...I've got ma jigs!!............. We CAN DO THIS!!!! so the picture i left with that day was of a crisp blue sky... I LOVE crisp blue skies..
have you ever tried to work on the "sky" part of a puzzle?? it is the trickiest part..all of the pieces look the same..and you have to figure out where they all go...grrrrr! Okay..so we have pretty blue sky and 10 billion puzzle pieces to put in place... This puzzle is not getting put away..it will not get rolled up and put under our bed....until we remember it 5 years from now and sell it for 50 cents at our yard sale..... (don't think badly of me..
no cleaning under my bed for 5 years...and poor Kisses from an earlier post... we ARE rotten....!!!!) So, I wanted to make something with my hands that would symbolize this for me visually...Sammy helped..and I couldn't be more pleased...

My Mom had given me this frame a couple years ago and i thought it fitting for our work of art....

The morning after when i woke up it hit me so hard..

These words would not leave me...

" I am pressed but not crushed, persecuted, not abandoned...

struck down but not destroyed....

I am blessed beyond the curse for His promise will endure..

For His Joy is gonna be my strength"

I felt so encouraged through the days that followed..and still, those words never left me..

I felt like i needed to tell someone who didn't know me... so i typed to Julie...from Joy's Hope.... my Spring swappy partner... it felt safe... She was so very encouraging and said she was sending me a giftie... something that had given her strength during a very hard time in her life.....

This stranger.....already knew.... I was so pursued by the Lord during this time when i should have been feeling only sadness...

I was feeling incredibly loved....LOOK!

Mind you...I never told Julie those words were a constant source of strength for me.... and she went and sent me a 5 foot piece of wood...SHE had made in 2001!!!!!!!! The Lord used her

story...her hurting from then ...to comfort me...us...and maybe even you too!!!! What does that mean...??? All of what i do and think and feel and say..i try with the purpose of making Him delighted by...JOYFULL by... and that strengthens me... That makes me Joyfull!! So, now that (if you are still with me) I have said all of that...i will post more on some of the fun stuff we are doing as we journey through Autism... We are so blessed...

This past Tuesday, Myles was diagnosed with autism too!

The Joy of the Lord is my Strength!!! Nehemiah 8:10

This billboard was put up a couple weeks ago en route to Myles' school..... It took my breath away then..and still does....

I believe this mountain will be moved.....

I believe our boys will recover...

Myles...early writings...

Hugs...and Kisses

So here is my new wonderful Bistro set from my parents...

It is sitting pretty in our "side garden"... one day this space will look it's very best... for now...we love what we have!!

Smylie..errr...Screamie...refusing me a kiss....

Then he changed his mind...

Smylie just loves picking these apples from the tree..
please, disregard the runny nose... just focus on the eyes..and you'll be fine!!

Look at this guy...now that's a different way to play with pots and pans....silly boy!

Soooo....we took Kisses to the vet...(for the first time in a loooong time...we're rotten...) Smylie went with Dada and was a BIG helper!! He has been extra affectionate to her since their big excursion... In August she will be returning to her new favorite veterinarian....to have half of her teeth extracted!!! BleGH! Hopefully it will cut down on her (super) stinky breath!!! I bet you feel like brushing your teeth right now...i sure do!!!

Look how funny this is... is she smelling his head or trying to see what he is looking at???

And look at this beaut!! My Sweet Friend gave this to me for my Birthday... I love it... look at all of us sitting pretty on the leaf!!

It will be a great addition to our growing side garden....

now i just have to decide...water...or food???

For me.... water....to wash down my popcorn...and then straight to the toothbrush and toothpaste... (sorry mommy...wink wink)

have a love-fully!

Birthday Fun!

Look at my yummy cake (from Publix...where shopping is a pleasure..).. Hubby was in charge of this... I Loved it!!! And look how old I am!!! Ahhhh! I love being 23!!!

Wearing a Joxlette to compliment my Birthday attire!!! Do you need one for your upcoming birthday?? Or someone else that is so special to you that they just MUST have a pretty that will let them know!!

Smylie nearly bit that rose right off the front! he Loves Happy birthdays...and the cake that goes with them!!!
The loot from that pretty bag in the last post!! all of my favorite colors.... Thankyou so much my foster family!!!

So, we packed a picnic lunch and headed downtown this afternoon... we have this amazing watery-park that shoots water up from the ground... sweetums loved it..smylie kept his distance..

And then....we headed to this secret garden.... how wonderful...

we told Smylie we were going on a bear hunt....to find Winnie the pooh....and looky what we found....(notice his little piglet in the side pocket of his backpack!!) he was thrilled to see Winnie the pooh!!

Smylie..at a distance...keeping his eyes on pooh!!


Sweetums...need i say more!!??
At our picnic sight... such a great garden...we are remembering the details...would love to have the same in our yard some day!!
Sammy sat in my lap and ate his bagel and banana...

Sorry..you can see the bagel in this picture...

Does anyone else LU-UV These nuts like I do???

They are so very good for you... if you google "pistachio" there is tons of information on this yummy good for me (and you) snack!! Put them in a pretty bowl and grab a couple in the afternoon (or when you feel the munchies coming on).. evidently they won't make you gain any weight...as long as you just use them as a substitute and not in addition to all of the other munchies!!!

And look at my new Cuppa....isn't she a beaut !??

I don't have a long Cup of Joy post today...but lookee inside my cup... I LOVE this verse... and this midweek you will (finally) know why!!

The...

end...

Have a love-Fully!!!

ps....more birthday loot to show later...