Raising Chickens and Special Needs Kids

[Cynthia12]

She does look happy!

 

[Blooie]

I'll will, I promise. Little Diane is doing well - got some neck spasms and head pain (duh) but they have her on medication and as soon as they start to work she'll be feeling better, I'm sure. Right now she's jumping through hoop after hoop....the kid who hit her had insurance and she's trying to arrange for a rental car so she can get back and forth to work. Dustin (her hubby) has a job with really odd hours, and Little Diane is working two jobs, so she needs the wheels!

And Evan is feeling tons better. He even went back to work today. Yep, work. His paternal grandparents volunteer at the Sertoma Butterfly House in Sioux Falls. It's a beautiful place, and he has always loved it there. So three years ago Gramma Jan and Grampa Paul started taking him with them....before they knew what happened he became one of the most popular guides there! Lots of kids are intimidated by the butterflies fluttering all around them and some get pretty scared. So Evan is the "kid guide" and he does a bang up job reassuring them, teaching them, and getting them excited. He also gives tours to adults! Yep, that's our boy. Jan posted two pictures of him back at work today - in one there's a group of boys from a summer camp he's teaching, and the other picture is Evan in his Butterfly House official T-shirt. There's one little boy standing next to Evan who was really scared...notice how Evan is with him - so proud of him!

At the Butterfly House there is a memorial stone to Evan's big brother Austin. There's a bench in front of Austin's stone, and when he's not busy Evan likes to sit there and just remember.


Official Butterfly House Guide


Reassuring a little guy who wasn't sure he liked the butterflies.


The first year as a volunteer, he just wore whatever he had. But the second year his grandparents surprised him with his first official T-shirt and name badge!


Evan's favorite place in the Butterfly House.

So yep, he's feeling much better!! I love that his other grandparents always send us pictures and tell us what he's up to when he's back there. And we do the same when he's here at home. Makes a divorce so much easier on the kids if the parents and grandparents don't play head games with the kids stuck in the middle, and none of us do that.

 

[sdubski]

I'll will, I promise. Little Diane is doing well - got some neck spasms and head pain (duh) but they have her on medication and as soon as they start to work she'll be feeling better, I'm sure. Right now she's jumping through hoop after hoop....the kid who hit her had insurance and she's trying to arrange for a rental car so she can get back and forth to work. Dustin (her hubby) has a job with really odd hours, and Little Diane is working two jobs, so she needs the wheels! And Evan is feeling tons better. He even went back to work today. Yep, work. His paternal grandparents volunteer at the Sertoma Butterfly House in Sioux Falls. It's a beautiful place, and he has always loved it there. So three years ago Gramma Jan and Grampa Paul started taking him with them....before they knew what happened he became one of the most popular guides there! Lots of kids are intimidated by the butterflies fluttering all around them and some get pretty scared. So Evan is the "kid guide" and he does a bang up job reassuring them, teaching them, and getting them excited. He also gives tours to adults! Yep, that's our boy. Jan posted two pictures of him back at work today - in one there's a group of boys from a summer camp he's teaching, and the other picture is Evan in his Butterfly House official T-shirt. There's one little boy standing next to Evan who was really scared...notice how Evan is with him - so proud of him! At the Butterfly House there is a memorial stone to Evan's big brother Austin. There's a bench in front of Austin's stone, and when he's not busy Evan likes to sit there and just remember. [COLOR=B42000] [/COLOR] Official Butterfly House Guide Reassuring a little guy who wasn't sure he liked the butterflies. The first year as a volunteer, he just wore whatever he had. But the second year his grandparents surprised him with his first official T-shirt and name badge! Evan's favorite place in the Butterfly House. So yep, he's feeling much better!! I love that his other grandparents always send us pictures and tell us what he's up to when he's back there. And we do the same when he's here at home. Makes a divorce so much easier on the kids if the parents and grandparents don't play head games with the kids stuck in the middle, and none of us do that.

Wow, that is so wonderful!

 

[TexasLisa]

Great news for Little Diane. I am thinking she may be going to a chiropractor for her neck. My sister, Dad, and I were broadsided and I can remember how sore I was in the following days.

Evan, is an amazing young man. Is he planning on continuing this vocation in college? We need more people like him and Kendra!

 

[Blooie]

Great news for Little Diane. I am thinking she may be going to a chiropractor for her neck. My sister, Dad, and I were broadsided and I can remember how sore I was in the following days.

Evan, is an amazing young man. Is he planning on continuing this vocation in college? We need more people like him and Kendra!

Thanks. You know, Evan was a typical rowdy 6 and 7 year old kid - loud, fast, always jumping or bouncing and whatever else kids that age do....then Kendra was born. She was very easily startled and had that big myelomeningocele repair on her back - he always worried that he'd make her jump and rip out her sutures. He stays with Kenny and Jenny on Fri, Sat, and Sun nights while Tam works her overnights, so he's at home there as he is at his house. Just another part of the family. He takes his role as Katie and Kendra's "big brother" very seriously, and they really are more like brother and sisters than cousins. He learned to moved more quietly. He and Katie got great joy from making Kendra smile. They learned to be very patient, showing Kendra over and over again how to play with a particular toy, or the iPad, or whatever. Every one of her achievements were celebrated. "Guess what, Gramma? Kendra rolled over! She really did!!" Then his other grandparents started taking him to the Butterfly House with them. Everything he learned about gentleness and patience he put to work there without even realizing it.

He can still break a lamp by walking into a room if he's excited about something. <sigh> He's 11 now and he has more clumsy moments than he used to. But he's going places. He wants to be an engineer. He is the one who "invented" the seater we used to support Kendra when she was learning to sit. Just two pieces of plywood, in a wide right angle shape, padded with foam. We made slots in each piece of wood and ran a silk tie through it. We put it on the floor and Kendra sat at the point where the two pieces of wood met, in the angle, and the tie went around her tummy. Worked amazingly well!! He and Katie came up with using a pool noodle on the guide bar handle of the wheelchair. Kendra would toss her head back and hit the pole. So we split a pool noodle and slipped the metal pole into it to protect her little head. Should have seen their faces when it worked just like they said it would!


They adore Kendra!


The "Miracle Noggin Protector 100", invented by Evan and Katie.

Pretty proud of these kids - maybe too proud. But it's my thread and I can hijack it if I want to!

 

[TexasLisa]

Hijack away Blooie!

If I had my way, I would award Evan and Katie the highest award in the medical community. That is pretty awesome the ideas they are coming up with. Kudos to parents and grandparents. These kids wouldn't be that way if it wasn't for them.

Keep the stories coming!!

 

[Henriettasmum]

I am so very pleased for you all. A positive outlook and lots of emotional as well as physical support can work wonders. All the best to you all.

 

[Cynthia12]

Richard sure is keeping busy this summer. Has done a lot of youtube, and now this.


Today is going to be a BIG production day! Working with The Mormon Channel, Amber Lynn Stopped by from American Idol (in this picture) and Ashley Hess today and I'm super stoked! Vlog about it on my channel Monday!

 

[Cynthia12]

Richard likes to post Sunday thoughts. He posted this one today, I really like it.


Sunday Thought: Just something one of my friends shared today that I want to share with you. We are all in this together. Everyone has trials, some the same and some different. Regardless of our trials, the Savior can help us through them, instead of turning to harmful alternatives. He suffered pain of every kind not just for our sins...but for our trials so he can help us get through them better. Nobody is exempt from trials (although some tend to add on trials unnecessarily through consequences), therefore we are expected to hold our heads up high through them because of his help and our own divinity. I think the difference between suffering without Christ's atonement vs suffering with it in our lives is that those without it will suffer deeper and longer. "The spirit quickens all things...".
Happy Sunday everyone!

 

[3goodeggs]

He is a young man to be proud of.