January 2013 - Praying for Parker

Montessori Inspired Snow Art Activities

What do a toilet paper roll, potato masher and a bit of big bubble wrap have in common? They all helped in our Montessori inspired snow art activities! The snow found us yesterday. All 14+ inches of it. It began early in the morning and didn’t...

Published Tue, Jan 29 2013 9:17 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs Homeschooling, Art Activities, Montessori inspired activities, Montessori inspired art, crafts for children

Learning Shape Words

Parker knows his colors. He knows his shapes. What we’re working on now is learning shape words. I decided to put together an activity that would review shapes and colors with learning shape words. Nothing fancy here. Just some foam...

Published Wed, Jan 23 2013 7:16 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs Homeschooling, Life With Special Needs, Math Activities, homeschooling activities, shape word activities

What you don’t know can sometimes serve you well.

They rushed to get Parker’s genetic testing back to us before the long Thanksgiving weekend. Even though I repeatedly told them that I already knew Parker had Down syndrome, they felt that it was important we had it on paper signed by someone at...

Published Sun, Jan 27 2013 8:00 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Advocacy, Special Needs, Life With Special Needs, Trisomy 21, The potential of a child with Down syndrome.

Inversion

When I look out any of my windows I see what looks like fog, but is actually smog….winters in Utah often mean weather inversions. A weather inversion basically means that there is a ‘lid’ over the mountains that refuses to let anything...

Published Tue, Jan 08 2013 9:27 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: chronic lung disease, Life With Special Needs, Hospital Frequent Flyer, Judy Sierra, Born to Read, weather inversion

Stove Popped Popcorn: A Tutorial

We eat a lot of popcorn around this joint. It’s cheap. It’s healthy (if you don’t drown it in butter….). It’s quick and easy to make. Yup, stove popped popcorn You would be surprised how many people, when they see a big pan...

Published Thu, Jan 17 2013 6:26 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Stuff We LOVE!, frugal living, Recipes, stove popped popcorn, whole grains, healthy treats

Sleep Study Nightmares

In the mood for some good old fashioned misery? Then a Sleep Study is just the ticket! Packed with frustration, pleadings, and prayers that all the funky stuff you’ve witnessed while your kid sleeps shows up during the night someone is actually...

Published Sun, Jan 06 2013 5:11 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Primary Childrens Hospital, Life With Special Needs, Frequent Flyin' ar the PCMC, sleep study, obstructive sleep apnea, sleep apnea

Tracking Health Patterns

I have the medical binder for Parker, complete with pages of history, meds, vent settings and the like. Now I’m taking notes on a daily basis in my quest to keep Parker healthy. Tracking health patterns can help prevent problems before they get...

Published Fri, Jan 11 2013 8:00 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, Frequent Flyin' ar the PCMC, medical binders, healthcare, tracking health patterns, managing health care

International Day of Acceptance

Acceptance. Such a beautiful word. A more beautiful reality. An International Day of Acceptance. Imagine. A world where everyone chose to embrace diversity. 3E Love is a social entrepreneurial experiment to change the perception of disability....

Published Mon, Jan 14 2013 7:54 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Advocacy, Stuff We LOVE!, acceptance, Life With Special Needs, 3E Love, Anne Hopkins, International Day of Acceptance

Make it Do or Do Without.

The final test in frugality for many is the ability to make it do, or do without. When first beginning a frugal lifestyle, people tend to look at how much they save as their benchmark of success. As time goes on the reality hits that even at 90% off,...

Published Tue, Jan 29 2013 6:59 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: From Scratch, frugal living, simple living, thrifting, Coupons, a debt free lifestyle, Re-Purposing

Cheap Hand Soap

I’m always on the prowl for things that will save me money on items we use everyday. Saving money is the next best thing to actually making money. You know that whole a penny saved is a penny earned thing. I was excited when my local Smith’s...

Published Thu, Jan 17 2013 9:03 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: frugal living, Coupons, cheap hand soap, couponing

Combating Rising Food Costs

It never fails. Each time I go grocery shopping I find that prices have gone up. Again. Rising food costs have made it absolutely necessary for me to revamp my Price Book. As Reed and I prepare for our next son to leave on an LDS mission, and as we work...

Published Mon, Jan 14 2013 7:41 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: From Scratch, frugal living, food storage, DIY, Victory Garden, Coupons, prepping for hard times, rising food costs, price books

Organizing Themed Homeschool Units

I recently completed my quest of finding the best way of organizing themed homeschool units. There is something about homeschooling that takes this wanna be minimalist and turns her into a sort of educational hoarder. Before I consider Parker has mastered...

Published Mon, Jan 21 2013 10:06 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs Homeschooling, Stuff We LOVE!, homeschooling a child with special needs, organizing flannel board stories, organizing themed homeschool units

Resolved.

Is it terrible of me to say that I am thankful that Christmas has been boxed back up and safely tucked away for the year? By the time Christmas Day comes, I’m resolved to have all the decorations down and put away as soon as possible. ...

Published Wed, Jan 02 2013 10:33 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, Family and Friends, Weight Watchers, Dreams for 2013, New Year Goals, New Year Resolutions

Simply Preparing

Parker and I are over at Simply Preparing today talking about the glory of food co-ops and the money they can save you. Cause saving money is always a good thing, right? I even talk about the vast amount of nuts I purchased and vacuum sealed in my Food...

Published Wed, Jan 16 2013 2:12 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: frugal living, prepping for hard times, Simply Preparing, food co-ops, prepping on a budget