Special Exposure Wednesday

Sometimes...she catches me off guard with her beauty...

Deployed Thanksgiving Recap

I'm a little late in posting about Joe's Thanksgiving, but still wanted to post some pictures and thank everyone who sent the canned goods over to Afghanistan. They received so much food! They were able to have a very nice Thanksgiving with enough food left over to plan a Christmas meal too.

These pictures show just some of the boxes received!













And this drawing from Bethany's sweet son Mason...



And speaking of Bethany, check out her blog - you could win an Ipod Touch or a quilt; just for a $10 donation to Zhora - from Reece's Rainbow.

My First Brain Box

Marie over at All Access Pass To Jack has a series called Life Is Therapy - this product is a great example of an every day life experience that doubles as therapy; and fun therapy at that!

Last week we received My First Brain Box from Timberdoodle.

My First Brain Box is geared towards ages 3+ but Lucas was interested in the cards and would point to objects when I asked him, "where are the birds?" or answer "what is this?" questions.

I like this game for Kayla because it helps with things she's working on in speech therapy and the classroom - like improving sentence structure, using longer sentences, visual memory, and observational skills.

Included in the box are 55 picture cards with 6 questions on the back, an hour-glass sand timer, and a die.

To play the game you study a card for 10 seconds, flip it over, roll the die, and then answer the corresponding question number for your card. If you get the answer right you keep the card - the person with the most cards wins.

Right now I'm starting off holding the cards up for Kayla to look at while I'm asking her the questions like, "what animal is the giraffe looking at?" and then we'll work on the memorization and recall skills.

Besides asking the questions on the back you can also have your child look at the picture and then tell you a story about what they think is happening; great for emerging imaginations.

This is a game that both Kayla and Lucas can even play together - just by looking through the cards with each other and talking about what they see on each card. I'm even planning on grabbing a handful of cards when I know we'll be out somewhere and I need something to keep them occupied.

The cards come in a sturdy box and they'll grow with your child as their skills and age increase - as I mentioned, I can use this with Lucas now for identifying objects, colors, and counting...and then use it as the game when he gets older.

There are also other versions of the "Brain Box" - US Presidents, USA, Animals, and World.

The folks at Timberdoodle also threw a Hot Rocketz in our box. I haven't tried it out with the kids yet; I'm sure they are going to fight over it! So I'm going to order another one and give them as stocking stuffers. They are made of soft foam so they also float; I'm sure Kayla and Lucas are going to love playing with this. You can receive a free Hot Rocketz with any order by using bfreerocket at checkout; add the rocket to your order and then add the coupon code - good until Dec 21st.

I received My First Brain Box and Hot Rocketz from Timberdoodle for a review with Mama Buzz.

BJs Gift Card Giveaway

I don't have a membership to BJs Wholesale Club but I had an opportunity to shop there with a free 60-day trial membership and a $25 gift card.

I wondered if BJs had any gluten-free products and was happy to see a fully-cooked rotisserie chicken that was clearly labeled 'gluten-free' (picked it up for dinner that night) and clearly-labeled gluten-free sliced deli turkey breast. I wanted to see if they had any gluten-free cereals or crackers but Lucas was done so we left before I could really explore those aisles! It did seem like there was a large selection of cereal so I'm sure they at least carry Chex cereals!

A Christmas present was also bought there (can't say what it was as this person reads my blog) and the cost was $20 less then what was advertised at 2 other local stores - what a nice surprise that was!

Despite not being able to explore all the aisles like I wanted it was still a pleasant shopping experience- the store was brightly lit and spacious, the aisles were wide and clear from clutter.

BJs offers savings of more than 30% off grocery store prices and they accept all manufacture coupons so you can save even more money.

They have a special new member offer of $45 (my mom signed up for this when we were there shopping) which includes a $10 coupon (that you can use that day) and an extra 2 months of membership (she also received free bananas!). You'll also receive

• A Member Savings Book with more than $1,000 in coupons and instant rebates
• "Sign up and Save" coupons worth $117 in savings
• 2 cards (one for you and someone else in your household)
• A no risk 100% money back guarantee on the fee if you are not satisfied

Now for the fun part - I have a $25 gift card to give away to one of my readers. Just leave a comment telling me what items you'd love to stock up on at BJs and make sure I have a way to contact you!

So this gift card can be mailed out in time for Christmas the contest will end some time Wednesday night.

BJs Wholesale Club and General Mills provided me with the free trial membership, coupons, and $25 gift card (and one to give away), through My Blog Spark.

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The 12 Days Of Giving ended yesterday and for the final day I bagged up a lot of extra toiletries I have, and all those free samples I collect, for donation to the Children's Aid Society. Thanks Bethany for this idea - it's made me stop and think of little ways that I can give each day!

Friday Freebie

Freebies received: Olay Body Wash, Oregon Chai Tea Latte Mix (yum! this was really delicious!)

- Sign up to receive a free water bottle.
- Take a quick survey and receive a free Delallo 2010 calendar with recipes and coupons.
- Fill out the form for a free sample of Gas-X Thin Strips.
- Sign up for a Beech-Nut Baby Starter Kit.
- Request a free Charmin Extender.
- Get a free, full size bottle of Olay Quench Body Lotion when you submit for a full rebate.

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12 Days of Giving day 11: We had a Christmas brunch at MOPS today and instead of doing the usual gift exchange we were asked to donate boxes of cereal to the church for their food baskets. I gave 3 boxes to this cause.

Celiac Disease and Autism

Since Kayla was diagnosed with Celiac Disease I find myself tuning in to reports, studies, articles, blurbs -anything really - that mentions Celiac Disease. Just like she when she was first diagnosed with Down syndrome I wanted to read and learn all I could about that as well.

In the November issue of Parents magazine there was a small piece that mentioned a connection between Celiac Disease and autism, which I found interesting. This wasn't saying a child who has CD is also likely to develop autism but instead a child whose mother has Celiac Disease has a three-times-greater risk of autism. It goes on to say Celiac Disease may be most dangerous in pregnancy when it's untreated because it blocks absorption of nutrients and can cause premature delivery and low-birthweight - known autism risk factors. This finding is from the July online issue of Pediatrics. I found more information in this article.

Speaking of Celiac Disease can I just vent my frustrations over it for a few minutes? I try not to complain about it because it's manageable and it's just a permanent change in your dietary lifestyle, but it sure can be frustrating as well!

Yes there a lot more gluten-free products on the market now to make it easier to shop, and restaurants are providing more gluten-free options and providing a list of menu choices that would be considered safe to eat ... but there is still so much more to it. Especially around the holidays when it seems there are so many functions you go to where food is being served. The majority of food Kayla can't have because they are cookies, crackers, breads, pastries, pies, cakes etc. It takes some getting used to the preparation of going out - finding out what is being served, and making sure my purse is stocked with snacks that she can have. I feel bad when I have to tell her "no you can't have that, or that, or that..."

I'm trying to keep it in perspective, though sometimes it gets the best of me and I just really, really wish she didn't have Celiac Disease!

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12 Days of Giving day 9: I was in line at the store with several items in my cart. I noticed the gentleman behind me only had 1 item ... so I gave him the opportunity to go ahead of me ... which he really seemed to appreciate. It's neat how opportunities for giving present themselves in even the smallest of ways.

Day 10: Today the MOMS Club met for our monthly meeting and we were asked to bring items to donate to the Children's Aid Society; I gave a bag of Lucas's clothing.

Special Exposure Wednesday

Let the picture taking with Santa begin!

An Auction for Lily

12 Days of Giving Day 7: I have a bunch of Lucas's clothes I've been wanting to give to a friend for awhile now. I finally got them boxed up and sent on their way!

My friend Michelle (whom I met when I went to Wisconsin) is in the process of adopting a girl with Ds from Eastern Europe via Reece's Rainbow. Michelle's daughter Ruby has Ds, and Ruby is also a twin; however Lydia was still born. The girl they are planning to adopt is named Lilya (which they'll change to Lily) and she is also a twin (her twin doesn't have Ds and wasn't given up for adoption). Lilya's last name starts with a Z - and so does Michelle's! So many neat connections between Lily and Michelle's family!

Michelle is having an auction to raise money for Lily's adoption; there are 38 wonderful items to bid on! So for Day 8 of giving I'm going to give some bids on some items for Lily's Auction and cross my fingers that I'll win something...and in case I don't win anything I'll give a donation to their adoption fund.

The Specials

I think I first heard about The Specials from Lee at My Life With Gabriel ... and now I'm hooked!

The Specials is an internet-broadcast docu-soap about 5 housemates in England. Sam, Hilly, Lucy, and Megan have Down syndrome and Lewis has Williams syndrome. 4 of them attend college and 1 works. It's a peek in to their lives following them as they go to school, work, out on the town (karaoke and dancing seem to be favorites!) and dealing with relationship issues.

Here is episode 1:


You can view episodes 1-9 to get caught up (episode 10 of season 1 will be out today) and they are short clips - 8-14 min long (leaves you wanting more!)

This is a great 'series' and I'm looking forward to seeing more of this group!

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12 Days Of Giving: Day 5 - Kayla's school had a Winter Wonderland and a couple Marines were there collecting for Toys for Tots, so we gave a new toy to them. Day 6 - I gave my kids the gift of fun :) We went to La Plata's "Olde Tyme Holiday Gathering" for a train ride, face painting, crafts, story time etc.

Friday Freebie

Freebies received: Mueller's Meal Planner, Dentek Floss Picks, Garnier Skin Renew, Nakano recipe booklet

- Get a free sample of tea from the Golden Tea Company.
- Upload your child's photo and first name and get a free personalized video message from Santa.
- Fill out the form for a free Aveeno Tote Bag.
- Request a free sample of Excedrin Extra Strength.
- Get a free sample of Benefiber Orange.

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Day 4 of the 12 Days of Giving: The school's newsletter was in Kayla's backpack yesterday; the nurse asked for donations of sweatpants to keep on hand for accidents. Kayla has a couple pair she's outgrown so I put those in her backpack this morning.

12 Days Of Giving

Bethany at Life With Bubba, Chicky, and Nika came up with a great idea to start this holiday season - the 12 Days Of Giving.

Bethany posted this quote from Barbara Bush: "Some people give time, some money, some their skills and connections, some literally give their life's blood. But everyone has something to give."

Everyone has something to give. How true is that? I think a lot of times we get caught up in the monetary aspect of giving - especially when times are tough - and we think we don't have anything to give because we can't afford it. But there are other ways to give if we just get a little creative.

So for the first 12 days of December Bethany proposes to just ... give! And to inspire others, share a post every day on how you're giving.

Since I'm a few days late getting this post up I'm sharing three ways that I gave for the first three days of December.

1. Through the website Feed It Forward I 've been sending free $10 restaurant gift certificates to friends and family. You can send a free gift certificate to 30 people a day until Christmas. That's a lot of free gift certificates to give out. All it takes is a few minutes of my time to to log in and submit names and email addresses.

2. Another way to give that doesn't cost anything is to send free printed postcards to deployed military personnel via Let's Say Thanks. All you have to do is select a postcard design (which appear to all be drawn by kids), include a personal greeting, and click on send!

3. Today I gave a donation to the National Military Family Association. Besides supporting military families in general, the NMFA also created a few specific programs - Military Spouse Scholarships, Awards, and Operation Purple. The mission of the Operation Purple camps are to empower military children and their families to develop and maintain healthy and connected relationships ... especially during deployments. I'd love to send Kayla to one of these camps, but it starts at age 8.

If you'd like to join in on the 12 Days Of Giving, just go link up on Bethany's blog!

Special Exposure Wednesday

Kayla's school picture ... when I first saw it and compared it to her last school picture I thought she didn't change much! Then I realized that last school picture was the 'second' set of school pictures that are done every year. So it was only 6 months ago. She even has the same watery left eye!

My little girl is growing up.

More Alike Than Different

The National Down Syndrome Congress has an awareness campaign called More Alike Than Different.

The campaign aims to bring awareness that individuals with Down syndrome have a lot of similarities with their peers in terms of their abilities, hopes, dreams, relationships ... and life in general.

The message of being 'more alike than different' is given by self-advocates (watch the video). As part of the PSA for this campaign the NDSC created posters of individuals with Down syndrome and asking questions like, "Who's A Better Teammate, You or Me?" and "Who's A Better Baseball Fan, You or Me?" Under the tag line is a "did you know..." informational message about individuals with Down syndrome, .

You can now make your own More Alike Awareness Poster by sending a photo and your own version of the "Who's A Better..." tag line and they will create an 11x17 poster image to send back to you.

Here is what I sent in for Kayla. I love how it turned out!

The small print says, "Did you know kids with Down syndrome learn to walk, run, and jump too? I started jumping when I was 3 years old and haven't stopped yet!"


You can view more images in the More Alike Poster Gallery (Kayla is #74, if you click on it you can see it enlarged).

The Child King

Two years ago I mentioned in a post a new holiday movie called The Child King.

With the holidays in full swing I thought I would mention this movie again, for those who might not have heard of it.

The Child King is an inspirational story about a determined young man with Down syndrome who takes his little brother on a life-changing quest to find Santa at the North Pole...The Child King is being hailed as a new "new holiday classic." 100% of the profits from the sale of the DVD go to the non-profit Child King Foundation. This organization administers funds and disburses grants to organizations, charities and individuals that assist those with intellectual disabilities.

I purchased this 2 years ago and watched it with Kayla. It's going to become a tradition for us to watch it every holiday season (will miss it this year since it's in storage!). Kayla enjoyed the movie and finding "Santa" along the way.

Here is a clip from the movie:

Friday Freebie

For US:
- Get a free Veria relaxation pack which includes 2 samples of facial moisturizers.
- Receive a sample pack of skin and beauty products.
- Send a $10 restaurant gift certificate to 3o people, every day for 30 days (until Christmas) - for free! Through Feed It Forward™, you have the opportunity to give from the heart and enrich the lives of people around you through the gift of meals and memories.
- Get a free slice of pumpkin pie at Bob Evan's - expires Nov 29.
- Get a free sample of Pampers Extra Protection.
- Get a sample of Huggies Little Movers.