W/W Our First "Couple Picture"

Another Wordless Wednesday. A couple of weekends ago Eric and I had our first couples pictures done. I believe it was time. We have been together almost a year. I usually do not smile in pictures because I hate my smile and I think I just look goofy, but this man puts a smile on my face I can not hide. 

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Happy Homemaker Monday/Last Day To Enter Giveaway

Another Monday. I have been neglecting my blog for the last week but I will get to that in another post as to why. It is for a good reason. Good thing I dont have a lot going on in my blogging world to have to play catch up. 

The Weather... Right now it is a nice 82 degrees here in Arkansas. Very Very unusual for July! Last year we were above 100. Makes me wonder what the winter will bring. Going my history and patterns it will or can be I should say, a bad winter. 

Right Now I Am...Sitting in my spot on my couch and have a dogs paw stuck in my upper back. My dog Missy (chihuahua) likes to sit on top of the couch directly behind me. 

On My Reading Pile...I am not much of one to read. I do read a lot of internet articles so the tabs open on my computer are some tutorials on some bracelets I am putting together. 

On My T.V...Right now, Borderlands 2 is being played. The oldest boy claims he has not gotten to play the xbox 360 much on his own lately so he wanted to play while his dad is at work and before he takes it over.

What I found While Surfing The Net...As I mentioned above I am searching for tutorials on bracelets and came across this awesome site with over 26,000 patterns for bracelets. The site is friendship-bracelets.net

Whats On The Menu For This Week...Chicken, Chicken and more Chicken

On My To-Do-List...My most dreaded chore, laundry!!

Looking Forward To This Week...Nothing spectacular going on around here

Looking Around The House...Man I need to sweep something awful. Guess that goes on the to-do-list

From The Camera...Unfortunately I have not broke out the camera at all for awhile but always taking pictures from my phone. Here is Logan waiting for the bus this morning. He got super excited when he seen her pulling up the drive this morning. 

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Autism Bracelet??

Here lately I have been having an un-accomplished feeling, like I have done absolutely nothing. Yeah, that feeling sucks. 

My SO and I have thought about starting a riding group where we raise money for the local special schools around in our area that are dedicated to autism. My son attends one of these schools. It is slow going. Finding other people who want to be involved is not an easy task, so we are just going to tackle things on our own. 

First things first. We have thought about selling something that is geared towards awareness. 

Since I have had this feeling of un-accomplishedness (yes a Melissaism) I decided to make a bracelet. You remember the ones we would make in school for our friends? Im not very talented so I thought I would try this again after many years of not doing it and just adding puzzle piece charms to it. Here is the finished product. It only took me about two hours to do it. Not long at all.

Hmm I wonder if anyone would want to buy something like this for the proceeds to go to a great cause? Helping our local schools and organizations for autism. 
I actually ended up wearing this as an anklet. To big for me as a bracelet. I have small wrists.

If you would be interested in checking out the facebook page for Arkansas Riders for Autism you can check it out HERE

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HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND

My First Giveaway

I am very happy to announce that I am hosting my very first giveaway! I have never done this before so please be patient with me. This is a huge step for me and I am totally excited about it. 

There will 2 winners!

My very first giveaway is for Noxicare Pain Relief Cream

Noxicare™ Natural pain relief is a breakthrough natural, patented pain relief formula that is a proprietary combination of 7 of the world’s most potent natural pain relievers that quickly and effectively alleviate inflammation, muscle aches and nerve pain (burning feet)—with NO known side effects and without a prescription

To enter the giveaway please enter through the rafflecopter and good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Late Bus and Thomas The Train

The last couple of days have been pretty un-eventful, which is the way I like it! Tuesday morning Logans bus to school was late. They are supposed to let us know if they are to be more than 20 minutes but of course we did not get that call and Logan and Eric were getting very impatient.

So Eric asks the person on the bus, not the driver but the one who buckles all the kids in if she could call us...Her short snappy answer, no, I dont have service on my phone. What??? What sense does this make?

So we call the director and get the response "I will have a talk with them". 

Almost 20 minutes late today as well with no call. I guess I will just make it the new time he will get picked up from now on. I do not want to cause a fuss over 20-30 minutes. Now if I can convince Eric the same we will be good.

Today was wal-mart day and it is Logans favorite place to be. Now one of Logans obsessions is Thomas the Train. He loves him. I have been seeing the pillow pals for sale at $25 but have been eyeing them over the last couple of weeks and the price dropped to $10. I had to get it before there were no more. 

I think he approved. I could tell by his smile and his happy yelling!

!

Wordless Wednesday with Explanation

Its that time again for Wordless Wednesday Link ups. You can Click HERE to find the link ups!

This time I have to put an explanation on the photo, well just because I think it needs it.

 Feet are just disgusting to me as well as to my Eric. That is why I had to snap this picture when I realized what we were doing. Holding Feet!!! Both of us were busy on our phones and so we could not hold hands so instead we were holding feet. Not even realizing it. 

If you want to join up with the Wordless Wednesday Link ups click HERE to find a list of them. 

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Monday Night Battle

Tonight Logan has decided to fight his sleep. It's not to common for him to do this because we usually have melatonin on hand but unfortunately we are out. Tonight has been rough one. Bed time is at 8 and someone is still awake. 

Oh yes so instead of me trying to let him cry it out I went and got him to cuddle and rock him. In the process I got bit. Yup he bit me. This has become a more frequent re-occurrence. Now I have to figure out how to get my non-verbal autistic son to understand biting is not acceptable. 

OUCH!

Understand The Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS)

Yesterday I finally got my sons evaluation scores back. In reality you know what they will say and expect to see the low scores but seeing it on paper just kind of makes it more surreal. That is if you can understand the things. 

They used the CARS-The Childhood Autism Rating Scale

Here they evaluate the child on 15 areas

• Relating to people
• Imitation
• Emotional response
• Body use
• Object use
• Adaptation to change
• Visual response
• Listening response
• Taste, smell, and touch response and use
• Fear or nervousness
• Verbal communication
• Nonverbal communication
• Activity level
• Level and consistency of intellectual response
• General impressions

The child is then scored on a scale of 1-4 on each of these tasks, half points are also rewarded. 

1 is normal for the childs age

2 is mildly abnormal

3 is moderately abnormal

4 is severely abnormal

After this they total it all up. The scores range from 15 to 60 30 being the cutoff range. Scores 30 to 37 indicates Mild to Moderate Autism, 38 to 60 is indication of Severe Autism.

 My son scored a 43.5 which placed him in the moderately to severe. General impression scored 3 which is Moderate Autism

Then here it is, in black and white--Logan exhibits the symptoms consistent with the diagnosis of 299.00 Autistic disorder (per DSM-5 299.00 Autism Spectrum Disorder, Level 2). 

This is not the only test they administered but I guess it is the one that plays the main factor in a diagnosis.  Logan needs a lot of speech therapy because he is non-verbal and this made a difference in his scores. 

Our next step is to fill out an application for the Autism Waiver Program for more therapies in the home. He will receive those and the ones at school as well, that is if he is approved. (keep fingers crossed) 

It seems like a lot of therapies but early intervention is important. Maybe someday Logan will find his voice. 

Wordless Wednesday 7/10/13

Wordless Wednesday is by far one of the biggest hops I have seen so far. There are so many of them. I have some that I do link up with posted in my blog hops tab. Feel free to link up as well! 

On to my Wordless Wednesday Picture of the Week
By the way feel free to follow my facebook fan page. I post giveaways, updates and recipes and fun and cute photos at time and advocate for autism. Check it out--------->

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Macro Monday 2

Found out on our hike to Petit Jean Mountain in Arkansas

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Increase Traffic To My Blog(I need pointers)

So here it is, it has been two years or so since I started blogging. At least I think. I have spent all day today trying to figure out how to increase traffic to my blog. 

I participate in blog hops, comment on others I have a pinterest, facebook and twitter. I have opened an account with link referal. 

So fellow bloggers what else is there that I can do to increase more traffic? What are some things you do to increase your blogs? 

The best ones I have found are the blog hops and of course link referal I have received ratings on the site. Pretty cool. It started out rough because I had some issues where my link was broken but I got it fixed and got things rolling. 

Here is the link if you would like to give it a shot

Linkreferral

All suggestions I am open to and please share in the comments so others can see as well. 

Thank you to my readers who do follow. 

Sunday Social 7/7/13

This week I decided to skip out on the Sunday Scavenger hunt and just do the Sunday Social. I do not believe I have ever done this link up before so it may or may not produce results. I am a little late on it. After all it is almost Monday. So here we go.

1. What is the best trip you have ever been on?

I have not been on many trips ever. Just to Florida which I did not like. I was ready to come home and was crying before our 5 nights were up. The best food I ate was walking a mile from the motel or hotel, whatever, the fountain blue in Miami to the KFC! I got severely sun burned the first day we were there so I set it up for the most horrible rest of the week. 

2.What is your best idea for a girls weekend?

I got nothing. I can not imagine going anywhere without my kids or at least my significant other. I have never taken off for a girls weekend. My friends have but they all seem to go off to Vegas. A little to rich for my blood. I would get into some trouble. 

3.What is your best idea for a couples trip?

My honey and I have had the best trip to Eureka Springs Arkansas. We rented a cottage for two nights with a jacuzzi hot tub, champagne and roses. We went shopping, out to eat and took the ghost tour at the Crecent Hotel as well as horseback riding. It was wonderful.

4.What is the best vacation on the cheap?

HaHa nothing is cheap these days! But I would suggest just getting on the bike (motorcycle) and just driving and getting a cheap old hotel somewhere to rest then go on. This is something we do plan on doing on some kid free weekend. 

5.What is the place you most want to visit?

There are two on my list. Australia and Egypt. I have no idea as to why considering both are pretty hot climates and I am not a fan of heat. I am miserable in anything about 85 degrees. 

Linking up with

Bloglovin' Issue? No Meltdowns At the Display

One of the hardest things I have discovered about blogging is not the writing one or coming up with a subject (there are plenty of hops out there that help with this) but its the coming up with a title. So I do apologize if my titles are somewhat cheesy but I just try to give it a small summary on the subject.

Anyway I have started using bloglovin' a lot more lately but have realized that my blogs are not being updated there? I have searched the FAQ page and can not find a solution. My RSS feed is valid so I have no idea. I emailed customer support days ago and still have heard nothing. Anyone else experiencing any of these issues or know what to do about it?

Our Fourth of July was a pretty good day. Started out normal and slow but that is the way a mother likes it. Most of the time. My SO (significant other) and I got into the pool for awhile and it was nice to play around and relax in there just him and I. It was to cold to bring out Logan. 

We all ate dinner then went off to a fireworks display. Logan enjoyed his time at the park but he was not a fan of the fireworks. 

I had to keep his eyes covered the entire time or he got upset. On the brightside, no meltdowns. I don't know why he could not watch them or why they appeared scary to him. He may be to sensitive to those sort of lights?? I have no idea.  Any answers to the parents with autistic children??

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The Eve of The 4th

Its the day before the big blow out!! Hope you all have better plans than we do. We will just be hanging out at home. Nothing special. Maybe make it a pool day. Spend all day in the pool, throw some chicken into the crockpot with bbq sauce and let it cook all day. Later in the night when it gets dark we will attend a fireworks display. I am hoping Logan will be able to handle it. It may be to loud for him though. His first year he slept through it. Last year I had to hold him the entire time and walk far away then he was okay. I guess we will be in for a surprise this year.

Today was just a normal day. Started off getting Logan ready for school and in order to get some cooperation I have to turn the t.v. on every morning. If I do not do this he cries the entire time. At least when the t.v. is on he will smile and let me get him dressed.

 Focused on that t.v.

I get my baby off to school and nap!! Best part of the day. Pretty much all I did besides the normal house work and taking a small minute to myself in the pool. 

Best investment I have made

Foot shot!

My honey should be home from work soon. My night will be complete when that happens. Tonight was also a leftover night. I don't like to cook much. 

Everyone enjoy your holiday!!

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Wordless Wednesday 7/2/13

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Accident Waiting To Happen Perhaps?

My son is a dare-devil. That is the only word I can come up with. He absolutely has no fear of anything, except Max the tax guy. Those are seriously creepy commercials. 

I had been reading stories already this summer about children drowning in pools and it was an accident. I of course being a mother did not understand how such a thing could happen. How could a parent not know when their child disappears and gets in the pool. I said this until today. My son got away from me and was up on that ladder quicker than I could get there. He did not fall in. I got there in time but now I see how it can be so easy. I had to remove the ladder from the pool completely. This did not stop him. He was trying his hardest to find a way into it. My mom sent me in the house to get something for her and she was right by my son and she looked the opposite direction and he was back on that ladder again. 

I am sorry to all those parents that their children have had those unfortunate accident. My hear does break for you because it can happen in a second and nothing you can do can stop it. 

I am not so sure if this is part of my sons autism that makes him so presistant, stubborn and fearless or just being a normal two year old. My girls never were this brave. 

If my son could do this I would not worry so much

There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this. Some people going as far as considering it child abuse. I, myself think this is amazing and wants me to try to get Logan into swimming classes. This is coming from a mother who does not know how to swim. These are skills everyone should know. I applaud the parents of this child or any parent that teaches their kids so young. Just amazing.