Toilet Paper "Art"

Some months back, I came across this post on a children's craft site, and I thought this could be more than kids art.  From there I began with my first toilet paper/paper towel roll "art" piece, seen here:

I generally followed their concept. 

I'm working on a much larger project now, but here are the step by steps:
1. Use TP or PT rolls that are clean of paper remnants and flatten with your hands.

2. Measure out and mark desired width of petals.  For the above project I used .75", but pictured is about .5" petals.

3. Cut apart into petals.

4. Arrange petals into desired shape.  For the above project, most of my flowers were 5 petals, but some were smaller.  I used Tacky Glue to adhere the petals to each other.

5. I used bobby pins to hold them together.  I typically let whatever I worked on each day sit overnight, but I'm sure it doesn't require that long to set.

6. I made about a dozen flowers before beginning to arrange them.  I then filled in sparse areas with a petal here or there until I liked the design and began glueing the larger design together.  For this project, I used approximately 225-250 petals.



This is one part of an ongoing decorating project on the wall above our family room TV cabinet.  It was easy and free since I already had the glue and TP/PT rolls.  Since I started doing this, I've had a few people provide their rolls to me as well so I won't soon run out of supplies!

There are endless possibilities with shapes that can be created, painting the piece, etc.  I've started a Pinterest board of TP art ideas.  My current project is a take off of the turquoise project pictured there.

What Autism Looks Like From Here

If you've seen one child with autism, you've seen one child with autism.

This saying is recited regularly within the autism community.  I hope to utilize my blog to humbly (I know I'm just one mama with small readership) to raise autism awareness.  It's such a vast disorder and we all try to understand it from those we know or hear about.  I'm chiming in with so many others trying to explain this disorder, but I can only speak to our experience.  Since each autism experience is unique to the individual, a definition or list of symptoms/associated behaviors may not help you understand my child. 

The Autism Spectrum consists of a handful of diagnoses including what is called Autism or Classic Autism.  This term and more recently Asperger's (which is also on the same spectrum) are the terms you hear most often.  Deane (and a whole LOT of other kids) are diagnosed as PDD-NOS (pervasive development disorder - not other specified) which is a sort of catch all for exhibiting similar characteristics of other spectrum disorders and is often a less severe form.  Our primary reason for seeking evaluation was Deane's language delay and some "quirks" in various sensory areas.  We weren't looking for a diagnosis, but we felt relieved to have a place to start.  Today, I'm grateful for the label to give us a frame of reference, but with so little understood about autism, the information and variety of opinions and views available are endless and of varying degrees of credibility.

Since getting diagnosed and immersing ourselves in this world, we now understand there are many more areas of Deane's life that are connected to this condition.  For example...
Sleeping - Deane didn't sleep through the night (except for a couple of flukes) until 13 months and continued to wake up multiple times each week at least once each night until about 32 months when we introduced a weighted blanket.  Chris has been the one to put Deane down each night and almost every time he woke in the middle of the night since I stopped nursing (around 9 months).  I made the weighted blanket, it was the least I could do.  (Knock on wood) The blanket has almost completely eliminated his night waking.

Deane sleeping on the boat; his naps are rare these days.

Speech - At 2 years, Deane didn't put together two word phrases. At 30 months, his vocabulary was about 50 words.  Today at 3 years, his vocabulary is in the hundreds of words, although you don't hear a large variety on a daily basis.  He remains very echoic (repeats what we say).  His spontaneous language development has been slow - most of its is related to a specific need or repeating information from a show or activity.

Visual - described here

Doing some natural environment work at the Quad Cities Autism Center

Hearing - Deane's tolerance of loud, abrupt noises has improved.  He resists (understatement) getting his haircut and we have heard from older individuals with autism that the sound of the scissors cutting is horrible with this heightened sense of hearing.

Eating - Deane is picky like many kids, but fortunately he love fruits and vegetables.  I have considered dabbling in the biomedical world with modifying his diet but I'm not there yet.

Textures/Touch - Before the last few months of occupational therapy, Deane had a huge aversion to squishy textures.  This has improved quite a bit.

I have so many photos of Deane on a screen; just seems it's one of the few times he is still.

Social/Emotional - Deane likes to play alone but will acknowledge other kids.  He does better with older children and adults since they tend to cater to him.  His limited communication makes teaching him concepts like sharing or "first, then" more difficult.  New places and busy loud environments can be overwhelming.  And places that require calm and quiet like church can be horrendous depending on the kind of day he is having.  His reaction can be similar to a small child (clingy, scared), ambivalent, tuned out, or full meltdown (like a tantrum except he doesn't understand what's going on).

Energy - I wasn't sure what to call this area.  Many kids with autism are also considered to have ADHD illustrated by limited attention span, can't sit still, etc.  We are recognizing that Deane has trouble keeping his body/nervous system comfortable in most situations where he's required to focus, interact, etc.  This may go unnoticed in typical toddler/preschool play, but it can also be illustrated by total lack of consideration for his bodily safety, inappropriate outbursts, needing to move away/take a break while focusing on something, etc.  Our work with Floortime therapy will hopefully help Deane to better recognize how to quiet his nervous system and regulate more appropriately.

Last week was our first week of reduced services, going from 21-22 hours/week to 9-10 hours/week.  I have embraced the natural end of Early Intervention services (at age 3) and decided to cut several more hours of services to focus on areas that have seemed fruitful, particularly play based therapy and real world experiences.  I think this will be healthier for our family dynamic and for Kate's development. We will continue to attend Quad Cities Autism Center (Applied Verbal Behavior Analysis instruction) and receive OT weekly, but the remainder of our intervention efforts will be provided by yours truly unless we introduce school services (this process continues).  It's very important to keep Deane engaged in order to make progress.  I will admit this is hard and some days it was nice to know a therapist would be showing up.

I'm sure reading through this list many parents could see their child described in some or many of these attributes.  This is one reason why it's difficult to determine that there is something wrong because you want deeply for everything to be ok.  This is also exactly the point...our children are much more like typical children than they are different.  It's my job to help Deane sort out these challenges so he can be all he was meant to be.

9/11 - When the world stopped turning

One of my objectives of my blog is to share the story of our life for our kids.  I can't recall anything as pivotal during my lifetime as the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Winter Garden Atrium near WTC in 2000.  View photo of damage before reconstruction.

Chris and I returned on Monday, September 3, 2011 from our engagement trip to New York City. It was a strange connection that just 8 days later this massive tragedy occurred where we had just shared such a special time. I will always remember that whenever we told others about how we got engaged, they would respond with a sort of wowed sadness because 9/11 was such a part of everyone's day to day consciousness.

Chris and I visiting the plaza area between WTC buildings in 2000

That's me standing in front of "The Sphere" in between the twin towers.

My own personal "where were you" story is:
I had class in the auditorium at the Pappajohn Building (business school at Iowa) at 9 or 9:30 that Tuesday morning. I believe it was Microeconomics.  Just beforehand, I went to the Copy Center and someone said a plane hit the World Trade Center. I remember thinking "that sounds bad", but I had absolutely NO idea what this really meant. When we got to class, I think the teacher mentioned something was going on, but we continued with class. I really don't think we had any concept of what was really happening or the impact it would have. I remember there was a delay and confusion about whether what happened was intentional or an accident until the second plane hit, but those of us that weren't watching television didn't see this realization set in.  It wasn't until I returned to our apartment at 115 N. Dubuque that I understood that buildings were falling in downtown Manhattan, people were dying, panic was everywhere, and that people actually wanted to kill Americans.
I remember watching the TV constantly for the following days and all conversations revolving around what had happened.

A photo I took of the skyline prior to the attacks from a harbor tour boat

It's amazing that my own children will never know what the world was like before these extremists altered our feeling of security and defined terror in a very tangible way. It is my prayer that we continue to honor those that were lost and their families by appreciating the liberty we enjoy so that the intened message of this devestation is never fully known by our children.

Making of a Cars Party

Here are the few experiments I worked on for Deane's Cars 3rd Birthday Party.  All are based on images I found and pinned on Deane's Birthday Pinterest board.

Cake

This was the first birthday cake I've made for my kids, but I saw this example and wanted to give it a go.  I did a step by step because I would have appreciated one myself.  For the cakes I used this recipe based on Magnolia Bakery's Vanilla Cake.  The layers were pretty thin even though I increased the recipe size for 4 9" rounds.  I would just double the cake recipe, but not increase the frosting portion.

 Here are my four rounds stacked, two on top of each other.  I froze them all for about two hours after cooling to make them easier to carve.  I did shave the middle sections so they would fit together to shape a better 3.

 I carved a 3 out of the top layer only.  I had put a thin layer of frosting between layers.

Frosted the entire thing; wasn't going for overly smooth.

I ground up about 1/2 container of Oreos and used a teaspoon to sprinkle it on the 3.  Again, I was somewhat careful, but it's good to do this level first since there will likely be spillage.

I dyed a small bag of coconut with green food coloring to make the grass infield.

I created a border for the track with yellow, red, orange and blue M&Ms.

The dashes are 1/3 of a piece of Orbitz.  The wintergreen flavor is white (as opposed to the other mint flavors which are light green).

I used 100 calorie dark chocolate Fudge Stripes around the outside for the wall of tires.

I couldn't find the chequered flag ribbon as the original creator suggested and tried to use a paper one I made, but neglected to adhere it when the frosting was still fresh.  I don't think it was a necessity. The cake was moist, but denser than a typical birthday cake.  It tasted just as a remember Magnolia Bakery's vanilla cupcake tasting.  I did purchase the Lightning McQueen and Mater for $3.50 each, but I made my own flags by printing the chequered print and glued them around half of a skewer.

Applauding himself after nearly burning off his hair.  Mom was helping him, but since he doesn't know how to blow well, he managed one of the candles himself and she got the other two.

"3" Photo Board

 Decoupaged these photos that I printed on card stock so they would handle the adhesive better.

Paper Banner

 It says "Deane is 3"  I used my Cricut and downloaded Cars images and chequered flag print.  I cut various sizes of rectangles and rectangular frames and the letters and used my Modge Podge to make each section.

Custom T-shirts

(Photos out of focus because he was not interested in having his photo taken.

Step 1:  I cut out the 3 and Heart using my Cricut and the Lightning Bolt was something I found on Google images.  I printed and cut these out on card stock.

Step 2: Lay them over the fabric you are using to see how much fabric you need. 

Step 3: Lay the iron on product on the fabric piece you need and cut the same amount.  Iron on as described on product.

 Step 4: Trace your cut out card stock upside down on the surface of the iron on product.

Step 5: Cut out images and place on the clothing item (or whatever you are using) to check placement.  Remove the back paper and iron on as described on product packaging.  There are some iron on products that can be sewn and some that you are not supposed to sew.  The one pictured above is the latter.

It was a nice afternoon with some of Deane's favorite people.  It was great to have all of my grandparents here.

 Group picture (almost everyone included).  It was perfect because Deane just opened up one present at a time while we all snacked and talked so he got to enjoy each one.

 My Mom with the babies crawling all over her.

 My Dad showing Deane the fake butterfly in a mason jar I found at Wal-Mart.  He is still very interested in butterflies.  I will say that this gift is sort of annoying now that it's been sitting on my counter a couple days just flitting around.

My Dad with Kate, just cuddling.

Our dinner menu:

Snacks - homemade salsa, chex mix, veggie & ranch dip

Chick Hick's Chicken with Sally's Sauces - Chicken Cutlets with Basil-Parsley Sauce and/or Meat Sauce

Mater's Taters - red, white and blue mini-potatoes with Olive oil and Lawry's Seasoned Salt

Flo's Fruit Salad

and of course, the King's CAKE, with ice cream

Birthday Boy - Deane is 3!

Today is Deane's 3rd birthday.  He is such an amazing, cute, sweet, smart boy and we are so incredibly lucky to have him in our lives.  Here's a rundown of today:
Waking up with balloons.  Got this idea here, but we just blew up balloons and started tossing them into his room right after he woke up.  This worked since he still sleeps in a crib and is used to waiting for us.  He wanted us to put them all in his crib and hide under them like a ball pit.  He kept coming back to this throughout the day.

Having breakfast with the dinosaurs.  I remembered I had pinned this cool idea for a "Mater" sandwich and tried to recreate it on the fly.  I asked Deane if it looked like Mater and he said No. :)
 

Playing in Grandma's flip flops.  My parents are awesome and they came over to help us get stuff done since I had to cook for the party and Chris needed to work on garage and mow.  Dad mowed and Mom babysat...and cooked...and did laundry.  They are awesome.

Opened gift from Great Aunt and Great Uncle to keep the fun quotient high

Cuddling "Miggy" (his blanket, derived from mispronunciation of "blankie") and Mommy

Watching (part of ) Cars before lunch

Lunch at Buffalo Wild Wings (while the storms rolled in and out) while of course also watching Dino Dan on the iPad

We went for a ride in th rain and Deane had a well deserved birthday rest

When we got home, we introduced the "big" present, a bounce house that I read far too many reviews about.  There was a theme of gifts that are helpful to building skills for Deane (I think this will be another post).  Of course Deane was equally excited about the mattress we removed from the bed that had been in the location where the bounce house is sitting. 

We sat on the deck, again in the storms.  Deane listened to "Life is a Highway" on my phone (a current favorite song) from on top of the small slide while Kate tried to scale it.

Deane had chicken nuggets for his birthday dinner and told Chris, "Great Job", when he served him the microwaved nuggets.

After baby sister went to sleep, we worked on cleaning up the garage.  At 30, I'm not very excited to be spendin my Saturday nights cleaning the garage, but Deane certainly didn't care that he was spending his birthday evening getting dirty in the garage.  He is a boy through and through I guess.  He tried on a bike helmet he discovered and every pair of Chris's shoes that reside in the garage.  He kept saying "scary" whenever he put on a new get up.

And as you might expect, a birthday boy needs a birthday bath after all of that playing.  His dinosaurs of course also needed a bath.  Now it's Daddy and Deane's turn for some quiet time reading books and going to "weeps". 

I'm planning to talk about how lucky we are to be sharing today and all of our days with our little man.  Birthday party tomorrow, Deane style.

Happy Birthday Big Boy!