Praying for Parker

Apple Picking

My parents have a small but growing orchard in the land behind their home. Funny thing about apple trees. Some years you get so many apples that you couldn’t find enough people to give them away to. Other years you get nuthin’. Read More....

Published Sun, Sep 11 2011 7:32 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: A Day In Our Life

Apple Picking with Parker

My parents have a small orchard on the land behind their house. This year’s apple and pear bounty are on track to be epic! Parker and my Mom showing off the first (not quite ripe) apple of the season. This variety of apples make excellent pies....

Published Sun, Sep 11 2011 8:35 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Recipes, recipe for apple pie filling, apple picking

A year’s supply of peace of mind.

I’m still up to my chin in preserving our harvest. Reed just mentioned that maybe we should put up another load of our chunky, hot salsa. Luckily I still have some of the onions and peppers we grew in our garden this season. At the same time I’m...

Published Mon, Sep 12 2011 6:47 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: A Day In Our Life, Garden Goddess, From Scratch, food storage, gardening, preserving the harvest, lowering food costs, real food, food prices, putting food by

Speech Therapy

Parker has speech therapy on Tuesdays. We’re lucky. His speech therapist is superb. Parker loves to wear his passey muir valve and really let his voice be heard. Today’s lesson began with some time at the mirror. This is were Parker works...

Published Tue, Sep 13 2011 6:01 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: A Day In Our Life, speech therapy, iPad, tap to talk, communication devices

Educating Your Child With Special Needs

It’s a hot topic. Especially where I live. Educating your child with Down syndrome. Or any other ‘different’ for that matter. Do you choose a small groups/life skills class? Total or partial inclusion? How many hours a day in a typical...

Published Wed, Sep 14 2011 9:34 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: A Day In Our Life

What is it about a haircut?

A sweet friend comes to my home to cut my hair. It’s been a lifesaver. This week she also cut Parker’s hair. Easy Peasy, no? Not even close. First is to have Parker assume the special haircut position. Yes, this indeed required the...

Published Thu, Sep 15 2011 7:11 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: A Day In Our Life, down syndrome, Special Needs, hair cuts

Dear Nurse Ratched

I bet you were surprised when you got the call that our family was no longer in need of your services. Not even the Saturday night shifts. I was intent on dismissing you a couple of months ago. But the nursing service asked me to keep you on for at least...

Published Tue, Sep 20 2011 4:05 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: down syndrome, Special Needs, Life With Special Needs, night time nurses

September’s Sensory Tub

There’s a lot of learning that can go on in a sensory tub. Unfortunately, many teachers see sensory tubs as only a preschool/kindergarten activity. You many remember my post on making your own Sensory Tubs on the Cheap. Sensory tables don’t...

Published Thu, Sep 22 2011 8:42 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs Homeschooling, special needs homeschooling, sensory tables, Sensory Tubs

Hawk Walk 2011

Some of you may not know that Parker’s Dad is a Principal. Reed is actually the Principal at the school that Parker would go to…..if Parker went to school. Parker’s name is proudly displayed on an apple, along with the names of...

Published Thu, Sep 22 2011 6:27 PM by Praying For Parker

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

September’s Sensory Table

There’s a lot of learning that can go on in a sensory tub. Unfortunately, many teachers see sensory tubs as only a preschool/kindergarten activity. You many remember my post on making your own Sensory Tubs on the Cheap. Sensory tables don’t...

Published Thu, Sep 22 2011 8:42 AM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: Special Needs Homeschooling, special needs homeschooling, sensory tables, Sensory Tubs

On Hawk Walks, Brave Heroes, Weird Rashes and Pulse Oximeters

The stage was set for a magnificent day. My kids had even talked their Dad into letting them join Parker for his very first Highland Hawk Walk. The 16 year old felt it was important for him to be there in case Parker got tired and needed someone to carry...

Published Fri, Sep 23 2011 7:39 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: down syndrome, Special Needs, Life With Special Needs, Frequent Flyin' ar the PCMC, pulse oximeters

It’s because I know what COULD happen…

that tends to make me a little freaked when Parker gets sick. As a new parent of a medically fragile child with special needs I was familiar with typical childhood stuff. Chicken pox. Colds. A broken arm and two rounds of stitches. But then Parker...

Published Sun, Sep 25 2011 7:32 PM by Praying For Parker

Filed under: down syndrome, Life With Special Needs, Frequent Flyin' ar the PCMC, medically fragile kids, speical needs

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

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