Grandma Benny

That is what I called my Grandma when I was little. I remember asking Mom if we could go down to Grandma Benny's? Grandma and I had alot of fun together....camping on Cranberry, our trips to Williamsburg, VA to see Tim, hanging out together, taking her to the dr, fixing her hair, celebrating many of her birthdays, etc. Now after 96 1/2 years my Grandma Benny doesn't remember me......dementia has set in and she comes and goes, not sure what she talking about and the signs of old age. We had seen this over the past few years, but I always thought Grandma would outlive us all, she was to stubborn to do other wise. Now, her mind is gone...her body is the same, her face, her eyes, her hands, but when she talks, it's not Grandma. I called her the other night and she talked and I thought good she remembers me, then she asked...."who is this?" I cried, because at that point I knew I had lost my Grandma Benny. I had planned to take my Mom and SPencer to Florida for spring break, but now, I am led to the mountains of WV for a visit with my Grandma...she may not remember me, depending on the day. My heart breaks for my Mom, it is so hard to see her Mom, the one that she has had for 75 years, say horrible things to you, things that hurt you, have no recall of things and search for things that are long gone. It is hard to see someone you love act differently, I can't even begin to imagine. So in ending this post is a tribute to my Grandma Benny, remembering all the good times shared and a tribute to my Mom for being a strong lady! I love you both with all my heart!

Sleep Study!

As I sit here in the quiet of my classroom.....my assistances are helping out by giving me 30 minutes......I reflect back on last night.....I'll call it the "night from HELL!" Wish I had a copy of the pic they took of him, but I don't so use your imagination. First Mike and I are loudly discussing in the way to the hospital, then we hit a terrible storm on 85 where everyone thinks they can still drive 70 in rain that is blowing sideways, we pull into the hospital lot, Spencer starts with the "....um, um, um..." sound he makes when he knows we are entering the medical community, make our way to the 5th floor, he starts flopping like a wet dishrag, brush teeth, say prayers, sing song, read "Goodnight Moon", he's out! THEN......enter the sleep tech, who was very nice and patient with him I may add, but she started for get it, he's flipping, flopping, rubbing off wires, pulling off cords, working his toe to get the SAT monitor off, you name it. Dad and the tech gave up, I stayed out thinking it would be best. Then we let him get back into sleep again and here we go....3 of us now. The SAT monitor is attached, little toe working really hard to get it off....fighting us all the way, but we keep putting things on because at this point I know he'll wake up period if we touch him while he sleeps......2 hours of hooking up probes, wires, monitors, etc.....and finally everything is attached. For these 2 hours I'm laying on the bottom part of his body holding his legs, waist and left arm secure....Dad has the head and right side. OK....we're done, but now his is sticking his Gene Simmons tongue out trying to lick off the things attached to his face....let it never be said my son does not have problem solving skills, because he CAN figure his way out of things! The tech leaves so we can calm Spencer down and hopefully get him asleep. This takes much longer than it should, about 45 minutes. He still is fighting and by golly he's a strong little man, scares me when I think about him getting older, so finally he starts to fade out. In a last ditch effort, he raises his head in a swift jerk and POW!!! head butts Daddy....I heard the crackle in the nose. I sent Dad out so I could hopefully finish calming and putting to sleep. I did and for about 2 hours he slept, then started waking and pulling things off, removing everything. Around 3 the tech came in to where I was sleeping and asked for my help...he was in a tangled mess. As she was taking the leads off she asked if we could try and put them on again. I asked if she had any data when he was asleep and she said yes for about 2 hours. "Fine with me" I said! Dr. Gualt can live with that because I refuse to wrestle with him to attached all the hundreds of lines again....by that time it would have been 5 and there is no way he would have went to sleep. She agreed and said that was fine, so @ 3:00am we're headed up 85 home. HOME SWEET HOME!!!! We got in went to the potty, ate a cereal bar and drank some milk and then off to bed for the remaider of the night @ 4:30am. At 5am, my freakin' alarms go off.....so I'm up and off to work....no day off for me since I'm out of days and can never seem to catch up with the drs we see, but that's ok. Dad is home with Spencer, they are relaxing and enjoying the day and I'm here @ school fighting to keep my head above water, but.........Edward keeps me going!!!!!! Thank you fantasy world!!!

FB & Edward have a hold on me!

I swore I wouldn't get into the Twilight series, but lo and behold the media specialists at my school hooked me hook, line and sinker.....already finished Twilight in a week and started on New Moon Thurs and over 1/2 through it....so hooked and Mike can't believe I'm reading them! Besides Edward, FB(facebook) has me hooked also. I can get on there for hours and read about my friends, updates, the groups, the quizzes, etc....then of course there is 24 on Fox that I absolutely love and I really think Jack Bauer could take care of all of our problems with terrorists!

OK, so much for my world of internet, Edward and tv....more importantly, Spencer goes in Wed night for a sleep study at G'ville Memorial. Hopefully this will give us and the dr insight as to why he is having sleep problems, waking through the night, sleepy during the day, some behaviors, anxiety, weight gain, sensory issues, etc. I really like this young sleep dr who talked alot about down syndrome in children and that sleep is a big concern especially when it effects the heart. He seems to truely understand Down Syndrome and doesn't link all children who have Down Syndrome in the same catergory like "these kids". I am anxious wondering how Spencer will handle being hooked up to all those wires, stickers and strapped down, but we'll see. He amazes me lately how cooperative he is with some people who are patient with him, not Mommie though 'cause the more he doesn't cooperate the more upset I get, thus, we'll let others handle hooking him up. Make sense?! Say a prayer or keep a good thought for us tomorrow night as we go through this sleep study. I'll hopefully post this weekend as to what they found out with the sleep study. Along with the study I have to keep a sleep log for 30 days and we see Dr. Gault on March 5 to see what route we will take.......

Meanwhile I hope you all have a HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!!!

Brother and Sister?

OK, well it's no secret I'll probably never have any more children, but on this day it was amazing as I watched and snapped pics of Spencer and Bubbles(the dog) playing as if they were a brother and sister. It's amazing the connection Spencer makes with Bubbles and how loving Bubbles is to him. Spencer hits @ Bubbles and Bubbles takes it, never once getting mad or upset with him....that would be 1 difference between 2 "real" siblings. Bubbles licks, kisses, nips and gives Spencer all kind of attention. On this Saturday, I thought it was so cute how Spencer was trying to urge Bubbles into his bedroom to play. He would try and lure her by flinging a sock @ her then take off down the hall. Bubbles didn't follow. Finally Spencer got her in there and I left them alone for awhile and then went to check on them. I opened the door and there they were both on top of his bed "wrestlin'" around and Spencer laughing out loud. What a memory and what a thought.....even though Spencer will probably never have a sibling, he has one in his doggy, Bubbles, who loves him and us unconditionally always!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cupcake Makin'

It always seem like I put off things.....and boy I did this time. I should have started cooking with Spencer years ago, but on the weekend time just seems to get away from me with the "have to do" things...you know, cleaning, washing, organizing, folding clothes, ironing clothes, cooking, groceries.....the list goes on. So by the time I have time to cook with Spencer I'm wore out! On our snow day I made a decision that yes this day was the day we were making something....no matter what. So I said @ 10am we'd start, I do better with a schedule. So we did and what fun we had. One of his classmates for Christmas bought all the students the cutest apron and chef hat with their names embordered on them....so we put that on and got busy. Check out our slideshow! It was fun and the beginning of many more days cooking I'm sure!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

SNOW?

This was sight out my back door on Tuesday morning after getting up and starting to get ready for school.....then I find out there is no school in S'burg Co. Districts...WHAT????? I mean come on now.....I would rather go since I'm already up and not have to make it up. Well we have to make it up. It's all weird, but I'm hoping for some REAL SNOW between now and spring!!!! Some good snowman making snow, some good sleigh riding snow and some good snowball snow. I miss that!

MLK Day

Martin Luther King Day.....I'm not really sure, but I think I understand, but then again I don't because I have not been through what some people have been through with racism. I'm just not talking about the Blacks, but the Jews, Indians, Hispanics, Asians, Middle Easterns, people with Down Syndrome, people who have disabilities, people with glasses or braces, people who are overweight, people who are skinny, people who are tall, people who are short and my list could go on and on. I truely believe that on that day when MLK gave his speech he was not talking only about people who are Black or White, but for all people with differences! Let's face it, aren't we all just a little different from each other? So on this day I think about all people who have ever experienced racism, not just one group! Thank you MLK for giving all people a dream to hold on to! Just my thoughts!

It's Been Way To Long!

Here it is a little over 24 hours of 2008 left and I have not posted since the 18th of Dec. We left town on Dec 20th and just returned last night. It was a great trip, somewhat tiring from all the running and visiting, but we enjoyed the visit. We attended Mike's extended family Christmas Party, went to the church I grew up in to their Christmas Program....brought back so many memories of when I was a kid, went shopping, had Christmas eve with my family, Christmas morn breakfast, watched Spencer and his toys, to the in laws for Christmas, went to see Marly and me(GREAT MOVIE!), Mike spend alot of time hunting with his brothers, loved my Mountaineers beating NC, attend my neice Tracy's 30th birthday celebration and the last day just relaxed before hitting the road....here are a few pics of the trip and all the activities. I can't believe this year is gone...where does time go? We all definitely need to slow down and enjoy the simply things in life more especially our family & friends and stop rushing. That is my New Year's resolution....to take things more lightly that I have no control over and enjoy just watching my son play and learn in his way and as the song goes ".....take time to smell the roses." I pray that you and yours have a Happy New Year and God richly blesses you in 2009!

Family Pictures

12 1/2 years in SC....wow can't believe it......time sure does fly and Spencer is 7, Mike is 36 and I'm, well.........a real woman never tells her age! My friend took these pics of us on Sunday for our Christmas cards, which by the way are very late.........don't think we're mad if you don't get it until after Christmas!!!

By the way those are my brothers!!! Are they cute!!!! Any single ladies, let me know and I'll hook you up!!!!(JUST KIDDING) Can you tell I'm in the Christmas mood....1 day left before a glorious 2 week break from teaching!! Anyway enjoy our family pics and hope all of you have a WONDERFUL, GLORIOUS, MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My Terrific Kid

On Monday I attended the Jaycee/Civitians Christmas Party @ Spencer's school. He was recognized as a "Terrific Kid" by them for Fall 2008. He is doing so great! He speech is coming along and alot of his frustration is because he can't communicate his thoughts/feelings. He went up like a big boy and got his reward. Now Mommie has a bumper sticker that says "My kid is a TERRIFIC KID", but then again, I didn't need a bumper sticker to tell me that. I've always known I have a terrific kid!!! Congratulations Spencer and what a great kid you are!!! Mommie and Daddy love you!

Spartanburg Christmas Parade 2008

Spencer's school was in the parade in Spartanburg on Tuesday night. He was a littly iffy at first, but once the float started he loved the ride and waving to the people. Some friends of ours yelled his name, "Spencer, HI" and he immediately picked them out in the crowd and waved to them. They were so impressed that he heard them yelling at him. I love the fact the school, teachers and support staff were willing to do the parade after school and involved the students. I love his school and he is doing so well! Speech is coming along and recently he has starting saying mum, wt(want), ball, dada, oou(you), plze(please), I, ove(love). I'm so proud of the progress he has made over the last 14 weeks in speech. I am sure we will eventually get it! Enjoy the pics....he had alot of fun!

The Boyce Disco

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Elf Me

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Getting to the bottom of the situation!

Today after conversing with numerous people and a process of elimation we have decided that Spencer's buddy on the way from school is pinching Spencer. Don't know the reason, but as I know from working with any kid, they sometimes don't need a reason. Perhaps Spencer dangled his sock or Elmo in front of his face and he didn't like it, maybe Spencer yelled in his dismay of something and the kid didn't like it. I don't blame the kid, but I don't want my son to have bruises either, so the remedy is to sit Spencer in his harness by himself on the bus and his assistant sit across the aisle from him. That way there should be no more bruises. I have noticed bruises for sometime, but we all know kids do things and fall, etc....but yesterday did it! The bruises always seem to be on Spencer's left side, which is what led the nurse to say this. She has been a great help! So has his teacher and the elementary ed person @ McCarthy. I knew if we all worked together we could get to the bottom of this and what happened. I am so glad I didn't blow my stack and go off ranting and raving, because communication is the tool to any outcome involving school and home!!!

Confused!

OK, you guys all know that I try to do what is right, but right now I want to freakin' raise HELL with someone over the bruises I found up and down Spencer's left arm. What the hell........I really don't know what to do....do I go raise the roof off and demand that if he can't be safe that I want a one on one, or do I let the teacher handle it while I cool down. Ms. Patice is great and I know she will help us get to the bottom of the bruises he is coming home with. I am questioning the bus, Mike thinks another kid is pinching him. A couple of weeks ago the same thing...bruises on his hip and arm. I wondered if it was at the YMCA, but no one I talked to could tell me for sure. I want so bad for Spencer to answer me when I ask him "who did this to you." But he can't and I feel so responsible for it. I am at wits end and need you all to pray for me and how to approach this problem and how to deal with it. Spencer can be a handful but still I have never left any bruises like the ones I seen on his arm this evening. He can pull, jerk, squirm, etc and I tug and pull, but never like this has he ever had bruises. HELP....suggestions would be nice, but know I'm trying not to lose my cool but to approach it in a calm manner. I just want to know what happened!!!

Starting the Holiday Festivities!

Well it's here, the hustling and bustling of the holidays! Mike said to me last night that the holiday party and outings always make us alittle irritable. Once he asked me if I was tired around 8pm after rushing home to get little man in bed and I said yes. I asked how he could tell and he said I was a little irritable. Tired and aggrevated......yesterday after we sat in our vehicle watching the Greer Parade, I tried to cut through some side streets to get out of town and cut the curb to close and busted my rear tire. He got upset, I got upset and so that was that....now on top of buying Christmas we need a new tire. I'm trying to take things in stride, but sometimes once again I am so overwhelmed that my anxiety is kicking in and sending me over the top. I am trying so hard not to "lose it" and keep my outbursts down. Please send good thoughts and prayers as we continue through this holiday season for my peace of mind and to enjoy the things that are really the reason for the season.....the birth of Jesus Christ! Thanks so much good friends for that! You are all loved and respected. I know we all have our different issues, but I thank God that I have friends and family to help me through!

By the way.....Spencer will be in the Spartanburg Christmas Parade on Tues., Dec 9 with his school. The parade starts @ 6:30pm if you'd like to attend....8 marching bands.....wow!!