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My Family....


fall 2008

Our Story

Nicholas was my first child born. He was only five lbs one ounces at birth and had breathing troubles that later turned into chronic asthma.I ended up raising nicholas at a very young age alone. I left a very volitale and abusive relationship with his father. My hope was taking him from that situation would make our lives better. I had no idea at the time what I was in store for as nicholas battles would be come harder and harder as life went on. Nicholas always struggled to meet up to his peers. He was a happy baby though always silly and fun. But at age three something changed. He became almost unresponsive to redirection. I constantly struggled to keep him on track or to even get his attention. He was defiant and never followed directions. School was always a struggle and I always blamed the daycare for what was going on and sat in a pit of denial. At only three years old he was kicked out of daycare because of his behavior. I knew that day something was seriously wrong. I began my struggle to understand what was going on with him and how to fix it. I started with simple reward systems, diet changes, herbal supplements and intense counseling it masked the problem but nothing seemed to work.Things seemed okay for a while but they really began to change. He started to get aggressive and easily flustrated. He constantly talked back and could not handle social situations or changes. I made the gut wrenching decision to begin ritalin medication of concerta. It was a drastic mistake he had a very rare reaction to the drug. Within minutes of being in sunlight he had third degree burns across his his forhead and nose and checks the skin started peeling away from his face within minutes. He began acting sparatic and uncontrollable emotions emerged suddenly I received a panic call from his preschool.Once I got him home it took myself and my grandmother along with my mother to restrain him. He was screaming hysterical and crying I had never seen this behavior before. His eyes were glassy and his heart was racing out of control. I rushed him to the emergency room to seek medical assistance. They told me he had a reaction almost like being on speed the doctors could only watch the meds take their course and prepared me for a very long night. Their was nothing they could medically do. It was the most frightful night of my life. I held him as he screamed and cried uncontrollably and restrained him when his behavior became untamed. I cried for hours watching him I felt so helpless and afraid I was going too loose him it was four thirty am before I was able to get him to sleep. That morning nicholas awoke around ten completely lathargec and his breathing was slow. I called the family doctor but she was no help. I knew to never try these drugs again and it was years before I allowed doctors to try a then new drug out strattera which was a miracle drug. Finally he was controlled through this medicine but it took a lot more to get us there. But even that lasted a short time.After our frightful bout with ridilun I kept pushing the counselors to search deeper but no one would listen but I never let up. One of the aides at his school quit because she was so stressed out by him and his behavior. He was jumping off tables throwing toys and his behavior was borderline psychotic. I removed him from the program for a few weeks but nothing helped he returned and I began utilizing the school system.When nicholas entered kindergarten I was blessed with the knowledge and wisdom of a what most would call seasoned teacher. She immediately recognized the signs of his problems and became the voice that would begin a process I as in no way prepared for but desperately needed. After months of fighting I finally got the school to do testing at kindergaten level for beahavioral problems and he was diagnosed ADHD. I knew this diagnosis was not accurate but with it he began to receieve resources through the school district that are still implemented today.Since this diagnosis I have switched one family doctor and two counselors to the one we have now who is by far amazing but other diagnosis have been added include Bipolar and PDD (pervasive develeopmental disorder). Both of these conditions are serious conditions the PDD is on the autistic spectrum (don't even get me started on that) but not considered true autism and the school to this day is non compliant with any diagnoses of ASD. Since I have not went through FORMAL testing for this condition he is still labeled specific learning disabled (sld) they may add cognitive later on but the emotional disabled is what I am fighting to have proven. His las IEP testing was done shortly after our home caught on fire last year. We lost everything including the home and all contents as you can imagine this was devastating for him. The rules state to emotional disabled testing can be done within 6 months of a traumatic incident. We are now at six months so the push for that testing has begun.Nicholas has been diagnosed symptomatic of autism particularly Asperger Syndrome and has been labeled high fuctioning autistic by both his family doctor and his psychiatrist. In fact everyone on the planet sees the autisim in him EXCEPT the school so to shut them up I will fix that. He can make eye contact and his behavior has been modified at times. He still cannot control his emotions and social settings are still a complex situation for him. Processing is difficult for him he cannot move from one thing to the next quickly there has to be a complete break form one event for him to move on or he gets lost in the clouds.For instance if he is writing with a pen and you ask to use his pen he cannot hand you the pen and move away to another task. Instead he will sit there requesting it back frequently and make subtle remarks to the fact he was using that pen for this or that reason. He will get disgruntel and if time enough passes he will merly try to take the pen back himself as oppose to it being given back. He simply cannot break away in a timely matter from what is in front of him once he has interest in it.He cannot handle suspense, loud noises or change. He gets fixations on specific things and goes with it as expressed in the ink pen situation. He is at a reading level of an fifth grader. He can udnerstand complex stories and books. He is currently writing the script for star wars 7 in which he plans on holding on to and directing when he gets older. His math skills are poor in fact he is repeating third grade this year because of the trauma of the house fire he was not able to recover and meet basic standards to move on. Yet he is still doing second grade math and cannot do cursive writing.After years of begging and counselor changes and moves here and there nicholas is finally getting the testing we need. I am happy to say that neurological testing will be done the date is to be set within the next few weeks. This testing will allow us to pinpoint what is going on with him and how he processes the world around him.In the meantime he will conintue to receive all the services he has. I have located an advocate for him here in town.and also have him authorized for disability services through our local community mental health facility. I still let him play sports. Even though he is not the star of the team the acknowledgment alone makes him feel accepted. I will continue to put him in activities like this and the more I do so his ability to fit into social settings shall progress as they already have.He has a good medicine regimen and he still sees his counselor and psychiatrist and family doctor. At school he has three hours a day in a resource center and the rest of the time he is in the regualar curriculum room. I do have him riding the bus this year to and from school which has added a good sense of responsibility to his day. He receives occupational therapy, physical therapy and counseling at the school.We do various activities and I let him live as normal of a 9 year old boys life I possibly can NEVER treating him as a child with a disability. My method is simple push him far if I cripple him he will never get anywhere. I have seen a response form him with this and the harder I push him the harder he pushes himself. Always seeking recognition his prayer was answered when the school told him he was selected to be an aide in the 3-4 year old preschool. Because of his medication nicholas is much calmer he is a sweet loving boy who loves hugs. He is not afraid of touch and we use the brushing technique with him. He absoluetly loves his baby sister. The school has seen his interaction with her and thinks this technique of using the aide opportunity for compliance in the classroom is just what he will respond too. During his time as an aide he will assist with crafts and read books to children. It will give him the big brother status at school he misses when not at home. He is not a danger to himself or others which makes him and ideal candidate. He is also a reading buddy for a kindergartner.I will continue to follow our plan we have in motion now and as I already know that can change. I am optimistic of this testing and YES I would love it to come back that he has NO signs of autism BELIEVE me I am okay with that but for the mean time i have already began falling into place as a mother of a child with this and even if he is not diagnosed with this disease I will continue to help other parents.If you think you're child is autistic here is what you Consult with doctors and the school Find an advocate in you're area to assist you with the process Push for autism testing through the school or counseling center Make sure to keep you're child in with a counselor and a psyciatrist Try to use as many resources in one place as you can for instance his counseling center, advocate and DD services are all affiliated with one another so their is no lack of communication.I hope this helps you and I will write more soon

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Christmas memories

Christmas With The Jones Family 2008



Madison & Nick At Grama's Christmas Eve

We began Christmas as we always do. This year was a little weird because a lot of Christmas Eve traditions got skipped. I had to use store bought cookies for Santa because all day I had a plumber here taking apart my toilet because madison put my hot roller clips down the toilet and flushed it! My mom ran late making dinner sooooo dinner was Yup Mc Donald's, double chees burgers, fries, chicken wraps and chicken nuggets with some jones soda....nummy!





We opened gifts there and the kids came home and got ready for mommy to play santa. Once all gifts were out I couldn't sleep for fear the would wake before me and open everything and I would miss it so I had a sleepless night.


Christmas morning they were over joyed and everything went off without a hitch

I wrapped the wii just as I had planned wrapped the wii box... put that in another box ... wrapped that box...then put THAT box in another box and then wrapped that one with ribbons and bows to boot haha it was great!
Nicks reaction was more than I could ask for he opened it seeing the wii sports and goes awesome wii sports he totally didnt get the fact it was a wii till I told him then he knocked me almost over with hugs!!


The next big gift suprise was the guitar hero for the wii! He literally wigged out lol~!


Then was on to the gift that I was so over joyed that I found...the football that glows in the dark he had lost in our house fire...boy was he ever stunned


At some point I lost madison amist all the wrapping paper, ribbons and bows....






We topped off the morning with a nice healthy breakfast minus grama as roads were really bad in Michigan.




So that was christmas at our house more to come from my gramas soon!

Monday, December 22, 2008

I have a terrorist in my house!!!

My house has been taken over by a terrorist. It is small and vicious. Relentless to say the least. She is three years old and she has tipped this house upside down these past few weeks. Here are her crimes....

Destroying of property....

She climbs every where. First attack was the tub. Namely anything shampoo or body wash that she could run off with and dumb on her bedroom floor. Those bottles are in a high shelf out of reach.
Then we graduated to the drawers in the va
nity and emptying them out dumpin all of mommy's bads in the toilet and watch them float! Another thing on top shelves.
Then we moved on up the criminal profile ladder to climbing up the toilet onto the vanity and into the big mirror medicine c
abinet and clearning it out. Luckily she couldn't get into anything. I have not found a solution to locking that so all that has been moved.
We have a lock on the bathroom door but the know has a slice so the person needing to get in all they have to do is have something that can fit in that slot to turn the dial generally i use butterknives YUP she learned how to do that as well! I put an eye hook up she took a chair and unhooked it!

Refrigerator thief....
We have had and I am not countin here one bottl
e of surplus sized ketchup dumped on terrorists bedroom floor....a jar of miracle whip..two bottles of ranch and peanut butter! Their is now a child lock on the fridge. I am waiting to see how long it takes her to figure that out.

Damage to walls....

I have a new hiding place for my purse as she has now gotten into that took my lip stick and mascara and eyeliner and painted the bedroom wall!

Escaping captivity....
I now have a baby gate that blocks her from both sides of the house. YAH that took her a mira second to figure out if she takes her table and chairs set and uses the chairs puts one ont he opposite side of where she is standing and one on the side she is standing she can clim
b up and OVER the gate :D weeeeeeeeeee aren't we smart!

Destruction to self...
This was just friday.....preschool has been telling me let her pratice cutting paper with child scissors okay I did this. At the kitchen table. I had to go to the bathroom for a moment. I come back out she's gone. Nick comes down the hall saying mom maddy's hair looks different. YO
U GUESSED IT she gave herself a hair cut! OH JOY the week befor xmas......christmas pics set for sunday have been cancelled.

Here mug shot.... the side view so you can see her hack job!


And finally today nick left the door unlcoked so she got into the bathroom and flushed a makeup compact down the toilet the plumber has come and fixed the issue.
To resolve this nick has those spy sets and one set has this alarm you put on the back side of you're door so you're parents can't see it and the alarm goes off when they enter....that is now on the bathroom door pending reinstilation of eyehooks at a much higher level!

I fear what is next! Say prayers please!

Looking back at the joy they brought this year

Looking back at some good times this past year more to come soon....
This is Madison at the apple farm we go their every year usually a few weeks before Halloween. We began a new tradition this year and went on Halloween day. We bought fresh cider and donuts and cookies from their little bakery for that nights feast with all our trick or treating friends.


Out of all the photos I have taken this year this one tugs my heart strings. It reminds me of happy family moments. They are far and few as we are always swarmed with so much going on. It is nice to reflect back to a nice day of just having fun and enjoying a great day. We also went to the pumpkin patch that daey as well. We only go to one pumpkin farm very year. The pumpkin patch isn't that far from the apple farm which is why we go. This year we really did up the yard with hay stalks and even corn and squash to decorate we also bought our first scarecrow he is now part of our decoration family.

That little angel face just captures my heart. I am so lucky to even have her here she is truly a miracle. The mere fact she survived after birth is an honest blessing. This will be one of the photos I take to her nurses at the NICU on her birthday. She truely enjoyed that day.

This is our newest addition to our decorationg meat mister scarecrow. He is made of wind sock material so he is very pliable. I am very pleased with the way this scene turned out looks so festive and the leaves from our bushes set them off! Here is our halloween feast. I made sloppy joes mix in the crock pot. The kids put em on fritos its called an express taco they eat em at school all the time and now it is a staple in my home. Along with that are the cider, donuts, cookies and of course the apples we bought at the apple farm as well. We had such a great day that day.
These memories are some I will cherish going into the new year just love days like these......

Friday, December 19, 2008

It's breakfast time this year.....

Each year I make a special Christmas morning breakfast for the kids. We plan the menu ahead and shop Christmas eve for the food. The kids like to go as they pick up a special something or other for that morning that we run past and is just fun. I also basically do that cause I love the rush of Christmas eve. I love shopping rushes I live for black Friday sales and 4 a.m. lines for the hottest toys! This year I did things a little extra early because our car is broke down and I am depending on rides till it is fixed. I picked up main ingredients and left off small easy to pick up items to get on our small trip. I also got a few things that are premade to save the time in the kitchen to spend more with the kids. For the first time ever my mom will be joining us Christmas morning and eating with us. The reason being is the kids have gotten a few toys this year like game systems that they can't open until Christmas morning because I do Christmas at my moms on christmas eve night so she would ruin their suprise by giving it to them then. Instead she will be bringing them chrismas morning. So we will have one more mouth to feed that is fine with me! Here is this years breakfast morning feast.
Scrambled eggs
Candadian bacon *usually I buy a small breakfast ham to cook however oscar mayer came out with the precooked candaian bacon slices just like their precooked bacon you get fourteen slices for under three dollars. I can pan sear them so they get that home made taste and save time!
Fresh fruit we will have apples, bananas and oranges to choose from
Pancakes with a maple butter and michigan syrup... I preorder that it tastes so good!
Home made breakfast bisquits i.e. the pillsbuyr ones in a can hehe
and for drinks we have milk, orange juice and I picked up a thing of that welch's sparkling white grape juice that looks like it's in a champagne bottle thought that be fun. I am picking up christmas plastic wine goblets for it to go in they will choose those christmas eve.
I am sure I will add to the menu or the kids will but it is a nice feast and I love to cook it for them! Anyone else got some breakfast treats?

Oh christmas tree...

Finally figured out how to hook the christmas tree up. Barely a week before christmas and I am JUST starting to decorate the tree. The house on the inside and out have been done for weeks. I have just been swamped. I had the tree up and assembled. But my tree is prelit and the cords are so confusing. My ex was here last year so he did all that. DUH I shoulda watched him do it. But now I figured it out and the tree is lit and so is the angel. Garland tines are on a few bows and the kids home made ornaments have been put up top. We will do the rest tonight as a family I put on christmas music and we go to work! I can't wait! I got all my chirstmas shopping done including the wrapping stuff so I will be spending all weekend wrapping gifts. I even got those awesome round boxes from hobby lobby yesterday. I got the 16" ones so inside I am individually wrapping a pair of pajamas for each of the kids and a fleece blanket. I will then fill in the gaps of space with tissue paper. The boxes are so cute! Nicks is blue and has a bunch of christmas sayings with a burgandy top. Maddy's is green with santas aroudn the bottom and says ho ho ho. I love boxes i also got some cute lil gift bags just adds a lil bit of charm under the tree. I got nicer gift tags and ribbon and bows. I also got candy canes that are plastic ornaments made of red beads and will tie one to the ribbon of a gift for a family member and then they have an ornament from our tree. The kids were snowed out today so neither one of them had a christmas party at school. My feeling is the teachers knew all week the storm was coming that should of been done. I knew ahead so maddy gave her goody bags to all her classmates yesterday. Nicks room has commitees instead of parents having to send treats for every holiday you're child is on a specific holiday list and that is the only holiday you are "required" to send treats. You are always more than welcome to send them but you do not have to if you don't wish too. I like sending them on big holdidays for the kids but the smaller ones I will pass on. I did drop off the teachers gifts yesterday as well so I know they have thiers. Beyond that christmas is ready I am not doing any last minute shopping except for the baiscs for the christmas morning breakfast see upcoming post on that. And batteries of course! That's it I am ready for chrismtas. Cookie day is sunday so watch for pics of that!

What a difference!

Last night was nicks first practice with his coach since the incident Saturday. What a difference in his coach. I don't know what the director said to him but he was so different with nick. He actually took the time to focus on nick during practice and teaching him defense, working on his shots even had his son working with nick. Nick responded well got four baskets in right off the jump. Now when I first walked in to practice the coach was waiting for the gym to be opened. He says to me I am going to try and get him more play time this week. I looked squarely at him and said their will be no more trying about it he gets it or you will get it! He looked at me and smiled and began talking to one of the refs. He knew I wasn't playing with him no more. So anyhow in practice was awesome it is the best practice yet and he really is working with nick well. Yes nick is ruff around the edges but after what I seen yesterday their should be no reason for him not to play or for the coach not to play him. As my aunt said this is a recreational and teaching program. I do know that is what the director told him. Getting to the game tomorrow shall be interesting to say the least. It is snowing cats and dogs in michigan. My car broke down yesterday hoping to have it back today but if not I will use my gramas car. We are expecting up to ten inches of snow by the end of this afternoon. Add to that we have an 8am game that i have to drag two kids out for. I dare him not to play my son fairly tomorrow. My last butt chewing of him will seem like a pep talk compared to the one he will get so I better see that same coach come out of him saturday in the game as I did last night in practice. I will post the update tomorrow!

Monday, December 15, 2008

Update on the situation with the basketball coach!

I spoke to my aunt earlier and basically it boils down to this. The director will be having a talking to with him. If he complies with the rules the director will be attending our next few games to be assured that all children on this team are getting fair play.
If he does not comply with the rules then he will be removed as a coach PERIOD. Nothing will happen to my son. He will not be put on a new team no money will be refunded they will simply replace him with a coach that wants to coach children the proper way. Their is actually a list of names of people who WANT to coach but did not get a chance to which is amazing as their is a total of 72 teams this year amongst all the age groups.
So I am content and am awaiting to hear what happens. We have practice on Thur. so I guess we will see if his coach is there. If I hear anything more before then I will update. I don't know if the director is just waiting to see the coach there Thurs. but he does have it written down to call him according to my aunt.
Thankfully the staff there recognized my concerns and are taking action as they should. My son has legal rights as well and I will not hesitate to use these. But I am assured that will not be necessary. Regardless I have his advocate waiting in the wings to pounce if this kid has to be treated like this one more time! I am hopeful that will not be the case keep you're fingers crossed!

How to vote sorry for not saying lol!

On the left margin of my page you will see two bubbles that say this site has been voted for such and such. Click on those you do need to make a account to vote though. However once you do you can vote for other blogs and also nominate a blog but I don't think you can nominate you're own blog. Anyhow that is how you vote for my blog ty!

If you thought soccer moms were protective you never met this basketball mom!

One of my sons favorite sports is soccer. Hence the name of my blog. But the past year or two nick has wanted to dabble into other types of sports. He played basketball for the first time two years ago. He enjoyed it and would of played last year but he was wore out and wanted a break.
We started this fall out with flag football and boy did he ever get into that we will
certainly be doing it again next year. But this fall no soccer we are now doing soccer in spring. His regimen is fall football, winter is basketball and soccer in the spring. I must say I felt weird not playing soccer this fall. But I did enjoy the new sport and so did nick.
We went back to basketball this winter. Nick is doing much better in it. He is even getting baskets! But we hit a glitch. We have a coach this year that won the trophy last year and is on a high off it. The first game my son never played! Now let me first say this is recreational basketball. Their is a draft and the coaches pick their players. This coach picked my son we did not pick him. Secondly the rules state that each child must play for eight minutes total each game. The coach was aware of his mistake after the first game and apologized. I let it go.
So then came this past weeks game and he did it again. Nick played. If you want to call it that. For about a lil over a minute the first half and less than a minute the last half. This was completely unacceptable.
At both games I had parents yelling go over there and get after him and wanting me basically to tell the coach off. I had last week talked to the director and asked him what to do he advised me let the coach fix it. So I did but he did not fix it.
I went right over and told that coach after the game all about himself. I told him he was only trying to win and great we won so freakin what my son didn't win he didn't play! How dare you treat him this way I know he is not the best player but my son has to deal with enough scrutiny from people because of his differences how dare you treat him poorly too. What kind of role model do you find yourself to be. Do you have any idea what it entails to get a three year old and ten year old up and outta bed on a saturday morning dressed and ready for a game and arrive by 10 a.m.! I didn't sign up for this but we did not pick you .. you picked him so if you don't want him find a coach who does or tell pat (director) to give me my money back! I then stormed off and did not even give him the chance to explain! I was furious and out for blood and dang near wanted to sock this guy. He kept saying the thing is and i cut him off with the thing is what you want to win oh trust me we got that!
So basically after cooling off while the team pictures were being done I ran into the ref from our game. He also was the ref last week and had confronted the coach about it then. He also was not happy and told me that I need to see the director. So I went over and got pat.
Now see my aunt works for the rec department in fact she signs all the kids up... posts the standings the schedules and all that online. So I know these people. Pat knew I was ticked and we went into the rec office. I told him everything that had happened and what I said to the coach. I told him I felt bad because I did it in front of the kids and I was not trying to disrespect the coach but on the flip side my son needed to see me stand up for him and that is precisely what I did. I also told him you can't tell me if his precious mister future nba player was treated that way he wouldn't blow his stack too! Heck his son never sat out the whole game! Pat agreed and told me he would contact the coach.
Later that day I calmed down and thought okay if this guy is my sons coach we need to hash this out. So I sucked it up and nicely called him to talk he was nice and all we spoke for a meer second and he stated he was at the barber shop and he would call me back when he was done. Today is monday I have yet to hear from him I am not suprised lil chicken!
So I don't know what will happen here but I am furious over this and will not allow my kid to be treated this way. He may be six feet 200 some pounds but I am not afraid of him at all! So say prayers for me this all works out! I will say my son was rather proud of his mom and I am proud of him he handled it very well!

Thursday, December 11, 2008

A little bit of closure was first on santas list today!

Well today some closure came for my family. Specifically my son. As I mentioned in my previous post this christmas I am focusing on finding identical items my children lost in our house fire and bring them back for Christmas gifts. In this way I feel I can bring closure to this situation for all of us especially my son who was old enough to realize the magnitude of our loss.
His birthday had taken place just weeks before the fire. He had his first ever over night birthday party with three of his buddies. One of them was bobby who has now moved away. Bobby had gotten nick a glow in the dark football. Nick loved this gift so much and was yet another toy lost in the fire.
This past fall my son began playing flag football which brought back memories of his lost gift. Many a times he mentioned that football and his desire to have one. It was even on his list to santa.
And so began my search for that football. I have been to every store in this town and no football such as that one was around. Not even at toys r us. I gave up hope and stopped looking.
Today I had to go to target to get some extra Christmas gifts for a few of nicks friends. One of the gifts was a basketball. On just a whim I looked in the football section for just a basic football for nick as he has none.
And there it was! The glow in the dark football. Same size...same brand and same everything as the one lost in the house fire. Not one that was "like" something he had lost it was the actual item. I grabbed the football in pure glee and tears just came flooding out of my eyes. I cannot express the image that popped into my head of him opening that gift Christmas morning and finally be able to give back to him something that meant a lot to him.
I am finally feeling like I am giving my kids back a piece of what was lost to them. Of all the gifts I have bought for my son this one has the most meaning to me and I am ecstatic to see his reaction!

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Favorite family holiday traditions share them please!

Tis the season to share those special times that you and you're family share. It reminds us all of the season upon us and may inspire others to begin new traditions. Here is my special thing I do with my children.
We are a family who loves to bake and make home made candy. Yes the kids dip into the goodies along the way but they really love baking especially making chocolate dipped pretzels with sprinkles!
Each year we bake a cake and then on Christmas night when gifts are all unwrapped and bellies are filled we turn down the lights...light the birthday candles on our cake and sing happy birthday to baby Jesus. I think it brings the whole concept of the birth of Christ into light for my children and makes it feel more as a holiday that is more than getting the new hottest toys. I want to hear you're guys traditions! I would like to add a new one this year I look forward to reading them.

Monday, December 8, 2008

What goes around truely does come around.....

As many of you know from reading my blogs in february will be the two year anniversary of the house fire my children and I survived. Unfortunately we lost everything we owned in the fire. I learned a lot of things after that fire. Main being whom to count on and whom not. A lot of community and local businesses stepped up to help my children and I replace what we had lost as we had no renters insurance. It has been a tough two years to rebuild but I am in a position where this holiday the children will receive christmas gifts that directly will replace what they lost in our home. This christmas will have a new meaning of rebilding and hope for what we have to come. I wanted this christmast to bring back the toys that once made my children happy. Madisons will again have her shopping cart she use to run thru the living room and kitchen that was melted into the carpeting of our burnt home. The baby doll that as soaken wet from the water from the fire hoses. A few dvds nick had enjoyed watching. A new game system to replace the ones he also lost and also a hand held video game system to replace the ones he lost as well. I spent more money on this christmas then in past years. Oddly enough the christmas before our fire I had done the same thing but bigger more expensive items and to that date was our biggest christmas ever. It is bitter sweet this year but my children will be so suprised at the gifts this year. They truely deserve it as they have gone through so much after that fire and current situations.
So during my shopping season I am reminded of the kindess that came from area stores. Two in particular stuck in my mind. Kohl's and Jc Penny. My sons school district had given us a gift card of a generous amount to replace things we needed from JC Penney. Kohls was contacted by family as I had worked there some years before to help our family.
I still remember the kindness of the empolyees and manager the day I went shopping at JC Penney. They went above and beyond to help us. I was able to replace the main room that brings my family together...the kitchen. I love cooking especially with my chidlren. And dinner time is the one time in a day we all get to sit and eat and sometimes be silly. I was able to replace my pots and pans, stock pots, knive set, dishes, flatware, kitchen towels, glasses, small electronics you know the toaster, can opener etc etc some storage items, mixing bowls, baking pans and sheets, meausring cups other gadgets and lots of other things that make a kitchen just that .. a kitchen. JC Penney made sure that the amount of money I had on that gift card covered the items I had needed. They made us tax exempt and also discounted many items to make things work. I felt so blessed that day and felt a piece of my life was put back in place. I couldn't wait to use new kitchen items in our soon to be new home.
So this past friday I had to go shopping for family members and also to get nicks basket ball shoes for his first game saturday. I went to JC Penney first to get his nike's as I knew they were on sale there. That's me always lookin for the bargain lol. I also knew kohl's had their bath towels on sale for $2.99 that evening that was the gift for my grandmother I planned to pick up as well. After getting my sons nikes I passed the bed and bath section at JC Penney. I noticed they had their towels for $3.88. Now knowing me I always go for the deal and kohl's was only across the street.
But then I remembered that time after my fire and all that JC Penney had done for us. I also remembered what kohl's didn't do for us in that they never contacted the family back to assist us. And in that moment I stepped away from my bargain antics and bought the five bath towels At JC Penney. I also bought cordinating hand towels, my grandmother a large fleece blanket with snowmen on it and my mother a fleece blanket as well with angels decorating it. I also purchased the shoes for my son there too. I spent a little more then I intended that day but to me I made the right choice. My mom questioned me when she learned where I had purchased my grandmother's gift. She knew I always loved kohl's towels. I explained to her my reasons and she smiled at me and said I am so proud of you. You really have learned so much and grown you amaze me.
I knew I had made the proper decison more than ever after that statement. You see sometimes it's not always about the bargains and deals it is about giving back and that day I gave bak to a store who gave so much to us. I plan to give back more this holidays and help out as much as I can in a small way giving back to also a community that took me and my childrens tramatic incident and turned into a blessing of little angels giving to help us. I just wanted to share this with you all in holiday spirit. Happy shopping and as always.... Happy Holidays!

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Vote please!

My page has been nominated for two awards and I am so honored for it. Please vote for the page if you wish to by clicking on the little icons on the left. You can also nominate me or any other blogger for a few categories. Thanks mom for the nomination you really have been a great support the past few months. I appreciate all the love thank you!

Hello everyone I am back!

I have missed everyone so much thank you for all you're support in my sons journey. Alot has changed we did not have a computer for a very long time so I plan on updating you alot so please keep watching my page for all the new stuff!

Music that inspires us