Stuttering

If you've met Nate, you know he stutters. He started around the age of 3, and never stopped.  We thought he would outgrow it over time, but instead it got suddenly worse about 6 months ago. (He turned 7 in May)  We had discussed it with his pediatricians over the years, and they agreed that he would likely out grow the stutter, and we should watch it.  

Last spring, he suddenly began stuttering more often and added a physical lunge of his head while stuttering. At this point, we knew we needed to find outside help. When the school year started this fall, I called over to our local neighborhood school and inquired about the process.  It took me a few tries to get to the right people, but once I did the process moved along -- as quickly as it can in a bureaucracy.

The speech pathologist we've been meeting with is a very sweet, kind woman who has done everything to make Nate feel comfortable and understand more about his stuttering. We're still in an evaluation period, so we don't have a plan yet, but that should happen in the next couple months.  I was worried that we would be treated differently because we home school, or they would accuse us of delaying treatment because he wasn't in a traditional school setting.  Instead, everyone we've worked with has been wonderful. We haven't encountered any negative home schooling vibe, but instead we've been praised for the efforts we have put forth and the different ways we've handled his stuttering up to this point. That has been a relief, as I had beat myself up enough.

Scientists don't know why people stutter, and that can be frustrating for people who stutter.  There are plenty of myths out there, but none are true - - the fact is that something happens and there is no specific trigger or reason that some people stutter.  Telling kids to slow down doesn't help -- being patient and allowing them to finish their statement does. They know they're stuttering, and don't need to be reminded of the fact.

Nate's a kind-hearted, intelligent boy with the need to touch and feel everything around him. He's not afraid to speak in public, and I'm always grateful for those strangers that are patient with him and let him finish speaking.  Sometimes he does struggle too much, but I won't step in unless he indicates he'd like me to intervene.  In fact, there are plenty of times when he is more willing to converse than his older brother, who has no speech problem!

He gets a kick out of the fact that James Earl Jones stuttered -- I mean, how much cooler can you get than Darth Vader?  There are plenty of famous people who stutter, but the most easily recognized for Nate was Darth Vader.

We found that information at the Stuttering Foundation's website, and while the website was a little difficult to navigate -- the information provided was wonderful. I ordered a handful of pamphlets and books that were extremely informative and not expensive.  Nate especially appreciated the book written by a young girl about a child that was made fun of because of her stutter.  I really appreciated that some of the books (including the one Nate enjoyed) are available for download at no cost. 

I haven't ever really talked about Nate's stutter -- other than with him, his dad and our pediatrician.  It's always just been part of him, and we haven't felt the need for much discussion. As we move into speech therapy, I'm sure that I will write about it sometimes.  We're discussing it more at home now, and paying more attention to the different kinds of stutters he has.  We're learning more about it, and I'm eager to learn new techniques to help him lessen his stutter. The team I'm working with right now is committed to teaching me all I need to know in order to help him, and I'm grateful for them.

A Review, A Giveaway and A Day Turned Around

Contest is now CLOSED!  Thanks to all who entered!  I used random.org to determine the winning comment and it was Therese's comment.  She has been contacted via email.  Watch for more giveaways in the future :)

Have you ever had one of those days that was full of minor annoyances and inconveniences that seemed to mount with every step you took?  Yea . . . that was my Tuesday this week.  It seemed that every way I turned, something else happened to darken my mood and I was having a hard time shaking it.


BlogSpark sent me 2 coupons, a $10 gift card, and the El Tacador! game to enjoy a Taco Night in our home.  Before my day had gone downhill, I had decided that Tuesday would be Taco Night.  My lousy day wasn't going to stop that -- especially since Nate LOVES tacos.

With my coupons, I purchased the "Stand 'n Stuff Taco Dinner Kit"  The kit comes with 10 yellow corn taco shells (with wide bottoms that stand by themselves), mild taco sauce and seasoning mix.  With my gift card, I bought shredded lettuce (yes, I know I could shred it myself . . . but did you see how I talked about my lousy day up there?  I wasn't taking any chances!), cottage cheese (what?  you don't eat cottage cheese on  your tacos?  You don't know what you're missing!) and refried beans.  I had ground beef and shredded cheese in the refrigerator, and salsa in the pantry. (another aside -- apparently I'm full of them today -- but thanks to an amazing coupon, I purchased 5 lbs of ground beef for 99 cents!!!  And a couple months ago I stocked up on 10 lbs of shredded cheese when the packages were 99 cents.  I love a bargain!)

My dear, darling, wonderful husband made the taco meat and prepared our dinners.  I had intended to have rice, but somehow I forgot until the last minute -- so we just had tacos.  The shells in this kit were great, although Lydia did have a hard time getting her mouth around the shell because it was so wide.  I broke it apart for her and she ate it like a tostada instead.  The seasoning was perfect -- not too spicy, but not bland either.

The real hit of the dinner, though?  And the thing that got me OUT of my bad mood?  The game "El TacoDor!"  When I was at Table Talk at General Mills in August we played a version of this game during lunch and it was funny.  It looks like they've refined it a bit since then, and while I admit to being a bit skeptical about playing it during dinner -- this silly game made dinner time fun and had us all laughing!

There are different categories and different funny things to try, act out, or talk about.  There is a score sheet, but we didn't play with scores.  The game I enjoyed the most was taking the word SPICY and naming words that started with each letter to describe the people at the table.  We each took a letter, and then came up with a word to describe each person.  It was fun to hear the words my kids came up with, and had us all laughing.

You can visit the official El TacoDor website and print off your own game sheet. There are different game sheets available, score cards, and even certificates! Keep watching for pictures and videos from families enjoying Taco Night.  There are even some coupons available to print.

We had so much fun at Taco Night, that I want to share the fun with one of my readers! Thanks to BlogSpark, I have a Taco Night kit to send to one of you!  It includes 2 coupons for Old El Paso Products, a $10 gift card, and your very own laminated El TacoDor game sheet!  For your chance to win, leave a comment & tell me what you like to top your tacos with! 

Comments will be open until Monday, October 26th at midnight -- so enter now!  Don't delay! Giveaway open to US residents only. 

Tell Me Thursday - purple

My purple photo for Wordless Wednesday was of Lydia's room!  We finally (!) emptied the room of the old office stuff and got it ready for our princess to move in. Bo finished turning our back patio into an office months ago, but I was stuck for some reason on emptying out the rest of the stuff that was piled in that room.  Once I stopped calling it the "old office" and started calling it "Lydia's room" something shifted and I was able to empty it out.

We let her choose the color. She went back and forth between pink and purple, so we headed over to Lowe's and pulled out pink and purple paint chips.  I fanned a few out at a time and let her choose, and we finally narrowed it down to this one -- I believe it was called "Vinca"  It's a beautiful lavender, and I like it quite a bit!

Bo painted her room, and then spray painted the toddler bed pink, and steam cleaned the carpet. We moved in her Hasbro Playskool Dream Town Rose Petal Cottage

Moved in her old changing table (with the extended top taken off) and my old dresser (from when I was a little girl -- which needs painting, but that will have to come later)

And our little girl has her own room! She's still not sure about sleeping in it, but we know that will come with time.  Our routine for most of her life had her falling asleep in our bed, then being moved, that we're still following that. We read books and snuggle till she falls asleep, and then we move her to her bed.  The early morning hours find her in our bed again, but we know that with time she'll spend full nights in her purple room.

She's very proud of her room, and will invite her brothers in about as often as she orders them back out. She likes to tell everyone she meets that her daddy painted her room purple ;)

Did you play Wordless Wednesday?  Don't forget to follow it up today with Tell Me Thursday!

Wordless Wednesday - purple

 

 Play along at Wordless Wednesday!  Come back tomorrow for Tell Me Thursday! 

Pajamas Winner

Thanks to random.org, comment #16 is the lucky recipient of a pair of KN pink pajamas, in support of Breast Cancer Research.  Jennifer said:

I have a pink ribbon magnet on my car and have purchased silver bracelets with pink ribbon charms for the women in my immediate family. Thanks for hosting this giveaway and raising awareness to for this cause :)

  She's been contacted via email.
Thanks to all who commented and shared the link!  Please consider financially supporting the Breast Cancer Research Foundation -- whether with a purchase of pajamas or a direct donation.

Thanks to KN for donating the pajamas and their PR firm for helping coordinate this giveaway!

Money Saving Monday #29 - Libraries!

How often do you go to the library?  We go at least once a week, sometimes twice!  Our library has limited hours, which means we have to plan well in order to make it there when it's open, but I love the library and always have!

I read many, many books throughout the year.  For a while, I was tracking the books on this blog, and I would often read 15 - 25 books a month. I think that's probably still true, maybe a bit higher when I consider books that I use for prepping a class.  Definitely higher when I count in children's books!

The library allows me to read a wide variety of books without investing a penny. I rarely buy fiction but borrow it from the library instead. I borrow cookbooks from the library before deciding to purchase them.  I borrow tons of non-fiction and research books from the library.

Colin loves to read series, and I encourage him to borrow them from the library whenever possible. Nate loves non-fiction books, and will often come home with books about robots, volcanoes, and how-to-draw. Bo likes to read mysteries and downloads books from the library to read on his Sony e-Reader.

Now, this doesn't mean I don't also buy books.  I receive Amazon gift certificates for some of the reviews I do on this blog, and they all go to buying books.  We currently have 30 shelves full of books in our home.  If I had to purchase ALL the books we read, however, we wouldn't be as well-read (or we'd be bankrupt!) 

In addition to books, we also borrow audiobooks and dvds from the library.  Our library has a page on their site giving an idea of how much money is saved by using the library.  When I filled it in (conservatively) we saved over $10,000 last year by using the library.  I knew it saved money using the library, but I didn't guess more than $10,000!

Libraries often have classes and events that are free, have a wide variety of magazines and newspapers available, and have computers available for use. They are a wonderful resource in communities, and a fantastic money saving place to visit!

Clearing Out

I have been teaching (out of the house) less these days, which isn't great for my wallet, but has been good for the house.  After realizing we've lived here for eight years (EIGHT! I still find that hard to believe, since I've never lived anywhere for eight years in my life before.) I decided I needed to do some purging.

I'm very lucky that we have a large kitchen, with many cupboards and drawers.  Unfortunately, that also means that we've allowed them to fill up. I had 6 "junk" drawers in my kitchen!  I emptied them one at a time this last week and threw out tons!  Then, I emptied 4 cupboards and re-arranged the items.  I still need to re-arrange a few more, but the ones that are done look great!  I emptied my towel drawer and got rid of all the bibs (nobody wears them around here anymore!) and sets of 4 napkins and placemats (we're firmly a family of 5!)

This purge also helped motivate me to empty Lydia's room.  That room had been our office since we moved into this house, and it had become a catch-all.  Over the summer, Bo worked diligently closing in our back patio to make an extra room so that we could give Lydia her own room. He finished a couple months ago, and we moved into the "new" office, but that left a mountain of crap in the "old" office. I finally stopped calling it the "old" office and began calling it "Lydia's room" which seemed to switch something in my head and I was able to clear it out (well, except for the closet.  That still has to be done . . . )

Bo patched all the holes this past week and we let Lydia choose her paint color.  It was a toss-up between pink and purple -- but a very pale lavendar won out in the end.  Today is painting day -- tomorrow is carpet cleaning day -- and if all goes well she'll be in her own room by the middle of the week!

We have a toddler bed that we picked up years ago for free that was white iron.  It's simple, but cute.  Bo spray-painted it a pale pink this week, so she'll also be moving out of her crib and into a bed.  It's time, but it's also a little bittersweet.


For the first time in 9 years, we won't have a baby's bed in our room. Even when the boys had their own room, we had toddler beds in our room so they had someplace to sleep when they came in during the night. It worked for us as a family, but I confess that I rarely admitted it back then.   A couple months before Lydia was born, we got rid of the toddler beds, but moved in her bassinet and changing table.  When she grew out of her bassinet, we built her crib in there.


There's so much more de-cluttering I need to do around the house, but what I've done feels good. If only I can keep up the momentum!

Tell Me Thursday - An Office

Did you try to guess where the picture was taken for my Wordless Wednesday post?  It is a shot of Carl Sandburg's office, from his home in Flat Rock, NC.  We had the chance to tour his home while we were in NC in mid-2008. 

The grounds were beautiful, and it was fascinating to learn more about him and his wife (who was quite the champion goat breeder!)  One of the fun facts I remember is that every room had a bucket of walking sticks, because people would often bring him one as a gift.  The land around his home was very hilly, but he actually never used a walking stick!  Another fun fact was that he was good friends with the president of a television manufacturing company, and so had a TV in almost every room -- even though he didn't watch.

Did you play Wordless Wednesday?  Don't forget to link up your Tell Me Thursday story!

Review: Come & See: Catholic Bible Study: Wisdom

Catholics sometimes take their faith for granted, and it's often true that as a group, we don't study the Bible as much as other denominations.  I like the opportunity to delve into something and understand the history surrounding the work, and I remember truly enjoying the New Testament classes I took while attending a Jesuit college.

I have not spent as much time in the intervening years studying the Bible. I was eager for the opportunity to review a copy of Come & See: Catholic Bible Study: Wisdom, thanks to The Catholic Company's review program. This book is an extremely thorough and comprehensive study of the Wisdom books of the Old Testament.

The introduction of the book provides ideas of how to gather a group together for study, materials needed, and practical considerations. If you've never formed a study group, or even if you have, the book gives straight-forward and helpful information.

Each of the 22 chapters provides a suggested social activity, steps through the reading with additional insights and relevant quotes, and finishes up with a series of study questions -- complete with space for answers directly in the book.

While I would love to create a small study group around this book, I realize that the time isn't right for the commitment.  I am working through the book on my own,and have learned more than I knew before and am enjoying the opportunity to study and think about the Wisdom books critically.  Anyone who knows me well knows that I love to learn, so this book is a welcome addition to our home library.

I would recommend this book for anyone desiring to know more about the Wisdom books of the Bible (Books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, Wisdom and Sirach.)

This review was written as part of the Catholic book Reviewer program from The Catholic Company. Visit The Catholic Company to find more information on Come and See - Wisdom - Catholic Bible Study for Adults .  In exchange for a copy of the book reviewed, I have shared my honest opinion.

Review: The Sound of Sleigh Bells (and Giveaway!)

The Sound of Sleigh Bells, by Cindy Woodsmall, was a sweet, romantic story set in an Amish community. I hadn't read anything by Cindy Woodsmall before, so I wasn't sure what to expect from the book.

The story is of a young Amish woman, her meddling (but well-meaning) aunt, and a young man who may be able to heal old wounds. 

I found characters that were kind and gentle-hearted, and the situations seemed real and believable. I know I already used the adjective "sweet", but this story was sweet. I enjoyed reading it very much.  It wasn't predictable, but it was definitely enjoyable.

I have a copy of this book to give to one of my readers! Please leave a comment below letting me know you'd be interested in reading this sweet (there's that word again!) Christian romance and you'll be entered in the giveaway!  The giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents.  The comments will close on October 21, 2009. Winner will be chosen via random.org and notified via email.  Good Luck!

Waterbrook Press is a Christian publishing division of Random House. In exchange for my honest review of this book, I received a review copy of my own and a book to giveaway.  No other compensation was provided. If you would like to join their "Blog for Books" program, click here!

**Comments are closed! Giveaway has ended & winner contacted.  Thanks for your interest, and watch for more giveaways! **