My Funny Valentines...

First things first.  I owe America... maybe the world... a sincere and heartfelt apology.

I am not a Pinterest Mom.

Why an apology?  Because I can see what people search for on Google to land up on my blog.  Sometimes it's "Chasing Rainbows"... other times it's "Kate Leong" or some version of that name... "Cerebral Palsy"... "adorable children" (okay - I made that one up) and many other search terms that are quite curious.

But I get a TON of traffic from crafty Moms who search for the Chore Chart I made last year and even more traffic for last year's Valentines.  I gulp whenever I see them land here... because what they will find is not at all what they're searching for.  That chore chart?  We used it for maybe two weeks before it found it's home in the basement with all the other rejects from our playroom.  And the Valentines?  I felt so bad after making them last year.  Because that was just it - I made them.  The boys had very little to do with the Valentines for their friends.

So this year, the boys were very involved in the Valentines for their friends and family.

Brian took this very seriously.  The other day, the two of us sat down and he wrote his name and decorated the ten cards for his classmates, teachers, Daddy and Miss Sara.

He's getting really good at writing his name independently, so it was great practice!!

Then he dictated to me exactly what he wanted to say to each of his friends.  Like his friend, Josh. He likes holding hands and playing in the gym with him.

Some cards got a little... deep, shall we say.  But hey - the kid has a big capacity for love, what can I say?  I wasn't going to edit him - every card had a personal note from his heart.  You

won't find that on Pinterest.  It's too... simple.  And simple is what I do best.

I scrolled them up, put them in a dollar store bag with a Valentines pencil for each of his friends and VOILA!

Don't get me wrong, I love looking at Pinterest.  But I don't like to feel pressure to always have perfect crafts or perfect cupcakes or perfect birthdays... it's just not me.  

Getting Gavin to participate is not as easy.  He's not a fan of most things that seem like therapy.  So the hand over hand I'd have to do to write his cards or even help him draw on them is not fun for him.  So we went shopping!  Lucky for me, I have a spy in Gavin's classroom.  Miss Sara told me what Gavin's four other friends' favorite things were and we bought gifts accordingly for each of them.  One little girl got bubbles... a little boy got a truck... we  made it personal for each of them!

Tonight, my Valentine and I will be going out to dinner at the Capital Grille - courtesy of Miss Sara.  She gave us a Christmas gift for free babysitting and a gift card to this restaurant!

Thank you to all of you who continue to vote for me in the Parents Magazine Blog Competition!  It means so much to me to have your support.  The way I see it, the more exposure this little blog gets means the more exposure my little boy gets.  Wouldn't it just be the craziest thing if someone out there in the world saw Gavin and led us to a diagnosis for him?  Hey - my tagline is "A Mommy's Quest to Make the Impossible... Possible."  This is definitely true and why I am begging you so much for votes.  I am, as always, so grateful for the love and support from my readers!!

I'm feeling the love today!  Hope you are, too.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Chores!...

I decided that the boys should start doing some simple chores. Little things like "Feed Fishie" or "Practice in your walker" or "Give Mommy a massage". Oh wait, that last one is from Ed's chore chart.

Well anyway, I couldn't find any charts online that I liked. Some of them seemed too "old" for the boys. And most were just for one child - not shared by two. So I made my own with poster board, post it letters, scrapbooking stick on bling for the icons, card stock and velcro dots. Oh and a black sharpie to make my pretty uneven squares. What can I say - I'm a chore chart rookie.

I thought Gavin and Brian could each have an "icon" that would represent them on the chart. I chose a smiley face for Gavin - no brainer.

And I chose a cupcake for Brian - pretty obvious as that's one of his favorite things.

I didn't want to make "permanent" chores - so with velcro and some card stock I created chore cards that could easily be switched with new cards down the road. Each day as the boys accomplish their tasks, they place an icon in the square for that day. And I stuck the icons (that come with a sticker on the back already) onto hard cardboard to make it easy for little hands (or big, arthritic hands like mine!) to pull them off the velcro.

Brian gets excited to do his chores because he loves getting to put his little cupcake in the square. And to be honest, Gavin's chores are really our's. It is sometimes easy to forget to work with him each day on the many things we need to do for him. This chart is a daily reminder to make time for putting him in his walker...having him try some solids at a meal...and doing an activity at the table. Today he worked on the iPad...

The chore chart isn't Pinterest Perfect, but I'm pretty proud of how it turned out! It's just how I wanted it for our purposes. Now...I just need to find the perfect place to keep it!

This morning we had a blast. Brian was off from school for President's Day so Miss Sara and I took the boys to the YMCA for Gavin's "Superstars" class! It's held on Mondays and Fridays in a special room that is FILLED with all types of special needs equipment. There's also other things like trampolines, padded gymnastic mats, a ball pit, a jump house, a balance beam and a few slides. They have several people supervising and at least one was a Physical Therapist that is there to help you with anything. We mostly did our own thing and had SO much fun. These are less than HALF of the photos I took. Don't underestimate the difficulty of bouncing on a trampoline and photographing your child at the same time!

Brian's favorite thing was the ball pit - he could have played in there all day!!

And Gavin's favorite activity was the swing. He was so happy and content!

I'm seriously going to look into the possibility of getting one for our house. I'm sure it's unlikely...but it can't hurt to look, right? I mean check out this video and you tell me if you wouldn't feel the same way!!!

Brian loved the swing, too, as you can see...

Gavin even sat up and held onto a swinging 'pony' and tried out a different type of gait trainer while we were there.

And Brian got out a LOT of energy. It really was so much fun.