Happy Halloween 2010

Less than 25% of the houses in our neighborhood handed out candy, but the kids had a great time and got plenty of candy!  It was just a long walk to get what they did ;)

Tell Me Thursday - Second Born

I took this picture last Saturday, after the National Stuttering Association's Youth Day.  Bo, Nate and I walked down to Tempe Town Lake and enjoyed the beautiful day and the water after an informative morning.

Nate loves the outdoors, and can sit quietly taking it all in for quite a while.  It's rare that he gets the chance, because his brother and sister are more the type to say "Yep. Saw this. What's next??" without any contemplation time at all.  Lydia may change as she grows, but Colin is always on to the next thing.  I was glad he had the chance to sit and watch the water for a while on Saturday.

The Youth Day event was wonderful. Nate said that the best part for  him was hearing other people stutter.  I had never thought about that before, but he probably has never heard anyone who stutters speak before.  For him, listening to the panel of adults speak (and stutter) seemed to relax him. 

For me, listening to the adult panel made me realize that we haven't done anything wrong.  I had some guilt last year for not starting him in speech therapy sooner, and for homeschooling.  As I listened to these adults, almost all of whom have stuttered for as long as they can remember, I realized that giving him that early foundation of unconditional love and support was the best I could have done. He's being teased now, but for the last 8 years he hasn't been teased regularly. (And we're addressing the teasing.  Please don't email me and insist I must do something about it. Believe me, we're addressing the teasing!) But, in the years we homeschooled, he grew up with a familiar group of kids who knew him as Nate, and knew that he needed extra time sometimes to get all his words out. 

Part of the acceptance was because homeschooled groups of children tend to be smaller than school-groups and also because there are many more adults close at hand to keep an eye and ear on what's going on and are able to step in and address anything that comes up.

Nate is very self-confident, friendly and out-going.  Until the last couple months, we have never seen him let his stutter hold him back from anything.  I know that with the right guidance, these few months will just be a blip on his confidence levels.

He is not a stutterer, he is a kid who stutters.  Just as he is a kid who loves to draw, be outdoors, play video games and hug his mom. Stuttering doesn't define him, it's just a part of him.

And, since Saturday? His fluency has been extremely good and he has gone long stretches without a stutter.  One of the panelists said that he has some months where he has near-perfect fluency and other months where he struggles with disfluency almost every day. Nate will probably always have to work at his speech, but it will never hold him back.

Review: Kaplan Online Tutoring

In August, we enrolled the boys in the public school 3/4 mile from our house.  Until this year, we were a homeschooling family and while we followed a curriculum and I knew the boys were intelligent and thoughtful, there has been an adjustment to full-time school outside our home.

Right away, we realized that Colin was a little behind his peers when it came to math.  At the same time, it appeared that Nate may have been a bit behind in reading.  (It turns out he's not -- he was being scored based on oral fluency (i.e. reading aloud), which is difficult because of his stutter and not his comprehension or reading ability.)

When the opportunity came through my email to try out the Kaplan Online Tutoring program, I was eager to try it out.  My boys are computer-savvy and their curriculum last year was primarily an online program.  I wanted Colin to get some extra help in math and Nate to boost his reading skills.

So far, the boys have been working in the program for a couple weeks.  They each took an online assessment test which allowed Kaplan to determine what their current levels were and where they needed help. 

They each took the math assessment and received a score.  Colin was a bit behind, so I'm eager to see his progress over the next few weeks.  Nate was right on track, but a little extra help never hurt anyone!

The reading assessment was a bit more involved.  It took Colin a bit over 2 hours to complete and he felt frustrated by how long it took.  Nate worked at the assessment and got frustrated after an hour.  I contacted Kaplan and they quickly re-set Nate's assessment so that it will be easier for him to complete and will make a more difficult assessment available for him when he's ready.

So far, I have been pleased with the program.  The activities are engaging and a bit funny.  The boys don't mind doing the work and I have already seen Colin improve his knowledge about angles.  The program is very similar to parts of the online curriculum the boys did last year, so they are familiar with how it works and what's expected of them.

With everything else going on, it's a struggle some times to fit in the time to do the online work (we tend to clip homework to clipboards so they can do it in the car), but Colin is eager to improve his math skills so I know he'll make the time to do the work.

I will be posting again next month and letting you know how it's gone and what the boys' reactions have been.  Until then, let's hope Colin learns his 8X multiplication tables!

"I wrote this review while participating in a Test Drive Program by Mom Central on behalf of Kaplan and received the products necessary to  facilitate my review. In addition, I received a gift certificate to thank me  for taking the time to participate."

Wordless Wednesday - Second Born

Review: Gorton's Fish (And A Giveaway!!)

For some reason, I avoided fish tacos for years.  They just didn't sound good to me.  Then, a little over a year ago I tried one, and found that I liked them!  I was even more surprised to find out that Colin likes them as well!  Since Colin tends to be our pickiest eater, I was a little amazed to find that he likes them. I couldn't believe it took me so long to find out my entire family would be happy eating fish tacos.

My fish taco recipe is pretty simple.  I cook up some frozen fish fillets, mix up coleslaw mix with a bit of tartar sauce, and wrap it up in a soft tortilla.

Gorton's recently sent me coupons so I could try their fish in my yummy fish tacos.  I recently made them with the beer battered fish fillets and they were gobbled up.

I was surprised to learn that Gorton's has been in business since 1849 in Gloucester, MA.  They are committed to green practices and also seafood sustainability.  They also sell a wide variety of seafood products.  I knew about the battered fish, including tilapia, but they also offer grilled seafood, including shrimp.

Until November 30, you can visit their subsite -- We Love Fish Tacos -- and upload a picture of your fish taco for the chance to win a trip to Mexico.  Visit their main site, www.gortons.com to find recipes and coupons.

They provided me with 2 coupons to give away to my readers! Each coupon is good for any Gorton's Frozen Seafood Item and expires on 12/31/11.  

Giveaway Name: Fish Taco
Mandatory Question: Have you ever had a fish taco?

Giveaway ends November 2, 2010.  Entries must be completed on the giveaway form.  Link to all giveaway rules can be found in the right column.

*Disclosure: I was provided with coupons for free product.  No additional compensation was provided, all opinions are my own.*

I Need a Drink! (Review: Alizé Premium Vodka)

For a change of pace, Bo is traveling this week for work.  While we miss the extra adult, we're actually just fine, but the title of this post made me giggle a bit.  I will enjoy a drink tonight after we're done with music lessons and spelling practice and the munchkins are settled into bed!

About a month ago, I received samples of Alizé Gold Passion and Alizé Red Passion. I never knew France distilled vodka, but I am glad that I know it now! These vodkas have a very smooth and lightly fruity taste.  One of my easy, favorite ways to enjoy it is to pour a shot into diet Sierra Mist Cranberry soda. 

We were hoping to throw an adult Halloween party this year (anybody reading remember our first Halloween party together? Bo dressed up as a prince -- tights and all!! gosh, I wish I could find those pictures.) but the stars didn't align for us with major job changes, travel and more.  We're already planning for next year, and I think it will be fun to have these drinks for our guests.

Alize shared some fun Halloween cocktail recipes with me, so if you are throwing your own Halloween party this year, I would definitely pick up a bottle or two of Alizé Gold or Red Passion premium vodka!  They have 2 other flavors you might want to try as well -- Bleu and Rosé.

Devil’s Punch 2 ounces Alizé Gold Passion 2 ounces Bacardi Limon Splash of Canton Ginger Liqueur Splash of Cranberry juice Splash of Lime juice Splash of Ginger ale
Passion & ‘Pagne 3 ounces Alizé Red Passion 3 ounces Taittinger Champagne Serve chilled in a champagne glass.
Mad Scientist Sangria 1 ounce Alizé Red Passion 1 ounce red wine Chill Alizé Red Passion and red wine. Just before serving add 1 ounce ginger ale. Serve in a wine glass and garnish with a slice of apple or orange.
Vampire Kiss Martini 1 ½ ounce Alizé Red Passion 1 ounce Alizé Gold Passion 1 ounce premium vodka Top with lemonade and serve in a martini glass.

*Disclosure: I received samples of Alizé Gold Passion and Alizé Red Passion.  The recipes and images were provided by Alizé.  All other commentary is my own.  No additional compensation was provided.*

Dairy-Free Pumpkin Cookies!

I recently made these soft pumpkin cookies from the Very Best Baking site.  I first saw the link on Facebook, then a couple of my friends on FB made them and raved about them, so I had to try them!

They were delicious!!  Instead of butter, I used  Earth's Best Vegan Buttery Sticks so my sister could eat them, and skipped the glaze (not really necessary and I didn't have any milk substitute in the house).  I also used 2t of Penzey's pumpkin pie spice instead of the cinnamon & nutmeg the recipe called for.  And, as long as I'm making all these disclosures, I apparently also made them larger than suggested since I ended up with 30 cookies instead of 36.

Ever since my sister found out about her dairy allergy, I've said we'd experiment with cooking (especially baked goods) so she could still enjoy sweets.  This was my first try with a dairy-free baked good and I'm happy with the result.  The vegan sticks did not cream as nicely as butter, but the flavor is very good and you wouldn't know they were dairy-free.  Now that the weather is cooling off, I am going to make more dairy-free treats!

Lydia helped make them, and the boys came home from school to find freshly baked cookies!  They're no substitute for chocolate chip cookies (but, oooo, maybe next time I'll add chocolate chips to these!), but were a delicious snack!

Water Saving Flushes

While we are not extremists, we are always looking for ways to save/preserve/conserve our environment.  The handle on the boys' toilet broke a couple days ago, and when we went looking for a replacement, we picked up a HydroRight Dual Flush Converter to replace the handle/flap on both our toilets!  (Our flapper has had a leak for a while now and we knew it needed to be replaced.)

These converters help save water by getting rid of the flapper (main source of leaks) and also giving users the choice of two flushes.  The box claimed that it could be installed in 10 minutes -- and they were right!

Bo was joking around a bit and sent Nate into the bathroom with the instructions and told him to go ahead and replace it.  Nate did a great job starting the project, but did need a little help to finish it up.  So, I can also say that it's so simple a bright 8yo can do it!

I'll be interested to see if we will notice the difference in our water bill next month, but we could see the difference in how much water each flush uses just by watching the tank.  With a house of 5, we flush the toilet quite a bit!

Today! International Stuttering Awareness Day

Nate gave this presentation last spring to friends, family and his enrichment class.  He did a wonderful job, and shares some great information!

Since today is International Stuttering Awareness Day, I thought it was worth re-posting.

Nate wanted to give this presentation to his class in video format. The school blocks YouTube, and I didn't have a PC-friendly copy to share with his teacher so he decided to have me record him again. (After we did this video, I figured out how to make it PC-friendly and was able to send last year's video to his class.) You can see the extreme difference between last May and now. He is embarrassed by this video and has agreed to let me post it only for a brief time. I wanted to post it to show that he HAS regressed and I'm not being unrealistic in my expectations. I also wanted to post it to give hope to others who are struggling with stuttering. We know that he will improve again, and learn the tools to help him kick stuttering.

This version of the presentation breaks my heart. His stuttering is the worst it has ever been and I don't have an explanation why. It may be the stress of outside-schooling, or a developmental stage, or something else.  His speech has gotten progressively worse since the start of the school year.

** Edited **

The 2nd video has been pulled in respect of Nate's wishes. I'm happy to report that his speech has taken a turn again and he is more fluent than he has been the last couple months. We know that it will be an up and down experience, but he will continue to use his tools in an attempt to have more fluent days vs. disfluent ones.

I also want to thank those of you who left extremely kind comments, and sent wonderful emails. They brightened Nate's day, as well as mine and Bo's. Thank you!!

International Stuttering Awareness Day! (October 22, 2010)

Tomorrow is International Stuttering Awareness Day!  My 8yo, Nate, has a severe stutter.  He began speech therapy last year, and made significant progress.  I've shared parts of his story over the last year, and I want to share another part today.

He has stuttered since he was about 3, but we were encouraged by different pediatricians that he would outgrow it.  The stuttering seemed to come and go, and since we homeschooled it wasn't much of an issue in school.  He's friendly, and even though he stuttered he still talked to strangers and shared his thoughts with others.  The stutter never seemed to hold him back.

We noticed it getting worse when he was 7, so we approached our local school and had him evaluated.  He qualified for speech services, and received one-on-one therapy from the school's speech pathologist twice a week during the last school year.

This year, we made the decision to enroll both boys in the local public school.  One of the biggest surprises I had was to find out that he no longer had one-on-one speech therapy.  He was grouped with 3 other boys, and he told me that none of them stuttered.  As the year has progressed (they just finished first quarter), I noticed that his speech has gotten worse not better.

At the end of the last school year, he could speak 2 or 3 sentences before stuttering.  Right now, he can rarely speak 1 sentence without stuttering.  His stuttering is becoming more pronounced, and secondary behaviors are increasing.

I had the opportunity to sit in on one of his speech therapy sessions, and found that he received about 5 minutes of practice during the 20 minute session.  The other children in his group have completely different problems with their speech, and while I understand their goals may be similar (fluent speech), they can't possibly learn anything from each other.  I also understand that budget concerns and great need stretch the speech pathologist's time.  I have the highest respect for her, yet at the same time feel that I must advocate for my son.

I sat in his session the week before Fall Break, and my husband and I had many conversations about what to do and what our next steps should be.  On Thursday of that week, Nate came home with a huge bump on his head.

After many false starts and stutters, he was able to tell me that he was walking and talking with his head turned.   He slammed into a metal pole pretty forcefully with his head because he wasn't looking where he was going.

I asked, "Did you go to the nurse?" as I got an ice pack out of the freezer.  (It was a very large lump!) He told me "No".  I asked, "Did you tell Mrs. 3rd grade teacher?"  He replied that he tried to, but she pretty much ignored him.

After a few phone calls (and voicemails) I was able to speak directly to his teacher.  She had no recollection of the conversation at all and felt terrible that he was hurt and didn't receive help.  She asked him if he struggled telling her, and he told her that he was able to get it all out.  She then asked if it looked like she was paying attention and he told her "No".

She & I both told him that he MUST push for help when he needs it!  He has to make sure that he has someone's attention, maybe start the conversation with "This is important!", or even write a note if he is having a hard time talking.

This was the first time that I ever realized that stuttering could be a safety issue.  Nate is a sweet, kind and sometimes shy child.  He sat the rest of the day with a big lump on his head, and never said another word about it.  The lump is still noticeable (much smaller, though!) 2 weeks later.  I worried about what would have happened if it was something more serious?

I am sure that he did manage to say all that he needed to, but didn't feel up to trying to repeat  himself a second time, so decided to let it go.   I hope that we have impressed upon him the importance of speaking over and over again if necessary, but I am also even more pushed to find additional help for his speech.

Tomorrow Bo, Nate & I are attending a National Stuttering Association conference.  I am eager to connect with parents and professionals, while Nate has the chance to connect with kids who also stutter.   I want advice and help on how to handle the oral fluency reading tests he has to take regularly in the classroom.   I want to find out what other resources are in our area.  I want Nate to know that he is not alone in his stutter!

I know this is long, but I'm going to close with some pointers when you encounter someone who stutters.

• Please don't complete their sentences for them.  (believe me, their siblings and other family members probably do it too much as it is already!)
• Pause and let them finish.  Even if it looks like they're staring away, they may have a silent block and they're still trying to get the words out.  Even if it means that you'll have to keep silent for 30 - 45 seconds, you're doing them a favor by letting them complete their thought.
• Never, never, never mimic their speech.  As difficult as it may be to believe, we've had adults as well as children mimic Nate's speech.  It is not funny, and it does not help.