October 2011 - Praying for Parker

Twitter Party: The Organized Cook Weekly Meal Plan

What do you think of when you read the words dinner time? I think of once a month Costco runs. Couponing. An ever shrinking grocery budget. And how tired I am of cooking the same old thing over and over again. It’s stressful, this nightly thing...

Published Mon, Oct 03 2011 1:28 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, twitter party, Toni Spilsbury, weekly menu plans

Home Canned Apple Pie Filling: A Recipe

With a bumper crop of apples sitting all over my house I’ve been canning up a storm. The luxury of having homemade apple pie filling sitting on my pantry shelf for a quick dessert is worth all the sweating and hard work done before hand....

Published Wed, Oct 05 2011 3:28 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: From Scratch, frugal living, Recipes, home canning, apple pie filling recipe, Victory Garden

What is the worth of a life?

As I stood watching a medical team access Parker after his first life flight to Primary Medical Center, a Pediatrician made his way toward me and shared this bit of reality: Over 50% of all marriages end after the birth of a child with special needs....

Published Thu, Oct 06 2011 9:45 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: The HIGH Cost of Health Care, Advocacy, medicaid, Carl Wimmer, Life With Special Needs, post traumatic stress disorder, Politics of Special Needs

Into Autumn

It’s been cold here the last several days. They kind of days that make a girl scurry out to the garden to collect all the last bits to harvest. I’ve been baking and freezing pumpkins. Have you seen how expensive they are this year? ...

Published Sun, Oct 09 2011 7:42 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: From Scratch, frugal living, Victory Garden, ginger pear jam, making jam, dehydrating tomatoes

Practising Halloween

When my older kids were little thoughts of Halloween began sometime in August. What they wanted to be changed daily. As the pumpkins in the garden turned orange and the air turned chilly, my kids were making plans with friends to come to our house for...

Published Tue, Oct 11 2011 11:20 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: down syndrome, Special Needs, Halloween, Life With Special Needs

Cornbellys: A Night of Fun

It’s been a tradition in our family for Dad to take the kids to the corn maze each October. It’s been since Parker was born that I’ve been able to go. But last night, for the first time in a loooong time, we decided to change things...

Published Tue, Oct 11 2011 6:17 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Corn Belly's Corn Maze, Family and Friends

Trying to calm my fears.

“There comes a time when you have to choose between turning the page and closing the book.” Yesterday I made the choice to close the book. I’ve been in a flux over the agency we’ve been going through for Parker’s nursing...

Published Wed, Oct 12 2011 8:17 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Holding On Tight To My Faith, down syndrome, Life With Special Needs

Practicing Halloween

When my older kids were little thoughts of Halloween began sometime in August. What they wanted to be changed daily. As the pumpkins in the garden turned orange and the air turned chilly, my kids were making plans with friends to come to our house for...

Published Tue, Oct 11 2011 11:20 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: down syndrome, Special Needs, Halloween, Life With Special Needs

Great Inventions: Special Needs Style

Have you have stopped and thought: Man, I really wish someone would invent something that would make (fill in the blank) easier. For example. Parker now sports a cuffed trachs. Cuffed trachs are a pain in the a@@. At the bottom of the trach there is a...

Published Thu, Oct 13 2011 2:01 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: cuffed trachs, Life With Special Needs, kids with trachs, kids with special needs

How much consumerism will be in YOUR Christmas?

Yeah. I know. It’s only October. And here I am bringing up Christmas. Smack me. Seriously though. Now is the time to decide how much consumerism will be going into your Holidays. You know what they say about when you fail to plan…. There are...

Published Thu, Oct 13 2011 9:43 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Christmas, frugal living, less is more, frugal Christmas

Rite of Passage…..

He’s been talking about this for years. It’s been one of those things that I’ve always kinda pushed to the back of my mind. But yesterday the undeniable proof arrived in the mail. Now all he needs to do is earn enough to be able to buy...

Published Sun, Oct 16 2011 11:07 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: frugal living

Dehydrated Fruit for a Blenderized Diet

I love creating a blenderized diet each morning for Parker. I try to go organic as much as I can, using as high quality foods as possible. It can be a challenge to do this on a modest food budget. But it can be done. One strategy I use is gleaning. Gleaning...

Published Sun, Oct 16 2011 7:45 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: From Scratch, blenderized diet, blenderized diets, frugal living, g-tubes, Recipes, g-tube feeding, I love a tubie, kids with g-tubes

One tooth lost…..

I’d known that tooth was loose for over a week. The bottom tooth, front and left. The exact same tooth all of his siblings lost the very first time. It was different this time though. The big brothers and sisters would wiggle a tooth until it hung...

Published Tue, Oct 18 2011 4:41 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, tooth fairy, first loss tooth

Quick and Easy Ravioli Lasagna: A Recipe

We’re working out the nursing issues. New ones are orienting. Nights are covered. But during the day it’s just me and the Hero, and lemme tell ya, this kid is a full time job. There isn’t time for anything but keeping this kid going...

Published Wed, Oct 19 2011 7:54 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Recipes, quick dinners, easy raviolii lasagna

Buying Artwork at Yard Sales

I love yard sales. I keep a list all year long of items to look for during the next yard sale season. This summer my list included artwork for my walls. I scored and scored big. woot! Most of the 5 items I purchased I only needed to clean up some. But...

Published Sun, Oct 23 2011 4:52 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: frugal living, yard sales, thrifting, spray painting picture mats, cheap artwork, decorating frugally