December 2013 - Praying for Parker

Love Is: Special Needs Edition

I recently read that in stressful situations, love has the power to heal. It heals those that receive it as well as those that give it. In our lives we’ll experience negative situations. But there are two truths to get us through the rough patches...

Published Tue, Dec 31 2013 11:40 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Holding On Tight To My Faith, The HIGH Cost of Health Care, Advocacy, down syndrome, Therapy, Life With Special Needs, Hospital Frequent Flyer, special needs parenting, love is, special needs community, ways of showing love

Mosiah 4:27

It’s just me and Parker here right now. My first chance of the weekend to take a deep breath and ponder as I watch the littlest Hodson boy gazing out the window watching the snow fall. This kids LOVES to be outside. And after several years of snow...

Published Sun, Dec 22 2013 4:38 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Christmas, Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting

The Unique Life of a Special Needs Parent

Special Needs Parents love our children. Desperately. We are willing to do anything for our child and often find ourselves doing exactly that……anything and everything. We celebrate milestones you may not realize have been achieved. While you...

Published Sat, Dec 21 2013 11:44 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, hope, special needs parenting, medically fragile kids with special needs

Changing Christmas

Maybe it’s just me, but for the last several years Christmas has become stressful. It’s become a time where I feel as though I spend the month running around trying to pull miracles out of my armpit, the true meaning of Christmas lost as I...

Published Fri, Dec 20 2013 9:42 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Holding On Tight To My Faith, Christmas, Mary and Joseph, grace

Rion Holcombe, a young man with Down syndrome, is going to COLLEGE!

Rion Holcome, a young man with Down syndrome, is going to college. Yup got his letter of acceptance and everything. You know, this really shouldn’t be a news worthy item. It should be such an every day occurrence that people wonder WHY it’s...

Published Thu, Dec 19 2013 9:24 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Advocacy, Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting, Clemson University, Rion Holcombe, LIFE

Fine motor skill activities on the light table.

Parker’s first learning session each morning rolls in at 7:30 a.m. with his teacher. They work for a half an hour and then it’s time for Parker’s cares. TWO hours of cares later and Parker is ready for more time in his little classroom...

Published Tue, Dec 17 2013 7:16 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs Homeschooling, Therapy, Life With Special Needs, sensory activities, homeschooling kids with special needs, special needs parenting, Meeting a kid's sensory needs., fine motor skills, light table activities

And Barney it is.

I was bemoaning to my Mom a few weeks ago about how Parker really isn’t ‘into’ anything. Oh, he loves balls, books, and dismantling the Christmas Tree. But nothing like my other kids had. Barbies. Sports teams. Littlest Pet Shop. So...

Published Mon, Dec 16 2013 7:37 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting, Purple Dinosaur, Barney, I Love You Song

Dreaming of Growing Blueberries in Utah

I know that most blogs are posting words in hues of green and red and here I am talking about growing blueberries in Utah. If you knew how long I’d been hoping to be able to score some whiskey half barrels for this project, you might under stand...

Published Mon, Dec 16 2013 8:54 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, Victory Garden, special needs parenting, back yard gardens, inversions, blueberries, utah

How too many in this world view those with special needs.

I had to check to make sure that this was a satire site. The post, entitled Belgium: Senate Approves Measure Allowing Doctors to Euthanize Children had to be something from The Onion, right? It couldn’t be reality. It couldn’t really be reflective...

Published Fri, Dec 13 2013 12:23 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs, Life With Special Needs, Politics of Special Needs, murder, euthanasia, Belgium

Great FREE PRINTABLE PACKS

I love homeschooling Parker. My philosophy of teaching includes a lot of hands on learning time. I don’t purchase a curriculum, but rather put together my own each year which includes some pretty great Free Printable Packs that cover all kinds of...

Published Wed, Dec 11 2013 9:26 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs Homeschooling, Stuff We LOVE!, Christmas, homeschooling, Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting, educational ideas, Free Printables, special needs blog

West Jet Christmas Miracle

I loved watching this and I may even have needed a few tissues to get me through. I hope you enjoy it as well! I think the elves had as much, if not more fun than the recipients! West Jet Christmas Miracle The post West Jet Christmas Miracle appeared...

Published Tue, Dec 10 2013 6:27 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Stuff We LOVE!, Christmas Miracles, Better to Give than Receive, West Jet

Tamiflu, Puke and Fevers

It started when Reed told me Kenny was staying home from school because she had just puked. Awesome sauce. I can’t think of anything I love more than a day of praying everyone’s head winds up in the vicinity of the toilet when their guts come...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 9:24 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: frugal living, Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting, Puke, laundromats, flu, Tamiflu, H1N1

Montessori Inspired Christmas Suncatcher

One of the best things about Christmas are the crafts I’ve made with my kids. Nothing fancy. Nothing expensive. Simple things that tend to make my heart sing when I uncover them from the Christmas boxes all these years later. Now I understand the...

Published Mon, Dec 09 2013 7:34 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting, fiine motor skill activities, suncatchers, kids crafts, Montessori inspired crafts

Popping The Question

I swore to myself that I’d never ask The Question. My ability to remain hopeful was stronger if I didn’t know. But after a particularly disappointing heart cath, well……I had to know. And so I found myself Popping The Question....

Published Sun, Dec 08 2013 12:44 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Holding On Tight To My Faith, Believe, courage, faith, Life With Special Needs, hope, special needs parenting

The Flannel Shirt Tradition

My Dad has always loved him a flannel shirt. They wear like iron. Get softer the older they get. And allow you to keep that furnace on a lower setting during the winter. What’s not to love. I smiled when Rigel come dashing up from downstairs in...

Published Thu, Dec 05 2013 1:22 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Life With Special Needs, special needs parenting