Thursday, July 12, 2012

A Stranger's Perfect Timing

Some know, some don't know. The last 7 months of family life has taken a drastic turn. This so called path that life threw at us, had knocked us down to our knees begging for understanding, and so many cries to God for strength to get through just to get one more breath in to be able to move forward. Somehow, someway we are here today, stronger than we were, we see that light at the end of a very dark path. It is not officially over, but there is a new, perhaps even brighter path forming in front of us. (I apologize for how broad this is, but I am not yet ready nor do I know if I will ever be ready to share this chapter of my life with the world. There are a very few select friends that know and have shown me an overwhelming amount of support, each night I give thanks to The One above for these people).

Enter the month of June with me. The girls are in full swing of their 8U (8 and under) softball season. We versed this one team, one that stuck out for me because, one they had the same dark green uniform as our teams shirts, and two because there coach (or assistant coach) was so stinking loud and obnoxious, lets face it we all have encountered that person. All I could do was shake my head with disbelief with her sarcastic nature. She flat out yelled to a parent "Come on, in the 9 years you have known me, when do I shut my mouth?!" Whoa!!!

So our De Soto team keeps playing and we come out with 0 wins, the other De Soto team wins I believe 3 games, 2 of them to our team and one against another team. Now we have entered July, so when entering this Wellsville 8U tournament, even though we combined our 2 De Soto teams no one expected us to do well in the tournament. The second we got to the fields and settled down, I hear that dreaded loud voice again, all I could think was "oh, great its that team again." Somehow we won the first game, by 1 point, but its a win!! She came up and said "Good game De Soto" followed by that clearing the throat we know we will win over you type thing. All I could do was repeat her words back to her, we shared a brief smile and walked separate ways.

Day 2 of our tournament we thought we would play the winner of last nights other tournament and it ended up not being so. (wipe the sweat off the brow) Our girls pull out another win, 16-7 as a team we are all beaming with pride and go to the adjoining park to let the girls play some. Then here she comes, being loud as ever. Even though I tried to move away from her I somehow ended up right next her. She talks, I listen. She yells "Bean, what are you doing?!" we all look over and see a girl sliding down the slide doing the spreads (or splits, I get those 2 mixed up). So then we start talking gymnastics, Kaitlyn is a gymnastics enthusiast. We have her enrolled in a company that just told me they would not advance Kaitlyn because of her "attitude" but yet she still has all the skills mastered for this level. So I asked where she went, she told me but they are a competitive gymnastics, I know Kaitlyn is not ready for that just yet. She continues and says she has problems with companies because of the fact her daughter is missing a foot. (How completely ridiculous)

 The next night we had to verse her team, she is still loud but now I am seeing a different side to her, so I am becoming a bit more accepting. We win this 3rd and final game 10-8, we are the Champions of this tournament! We head to the park once again this time to celebrate with a cookie cake (from Sam's, it's a must try if you haven't had one!) and watermelon.

Here she comes again and she had to tell another child that it was ok to tell her son to get away from her. That he has Asperger's and sometimes he doesn't get the social cue to leave people alone. The word Asperger stood out about as much as I just bolded it for you. Jayden has had this "different" personality his entire life, it really wasn't until the last few years I began to question his development. He is still pretty clingy and as he ages it makes people feel uncomfortable. Not to mention that there is a clear delay in reading, but the school is blaming on fluency problems.

I release this part of me, and ask her how she knew, how did she find out? She just said let me get your number and I will get you a number. She walked away and came back. This time Jayden was standing right beside me. I just introduced them "I said Donna, this is Jayden." Its like a light switch in her demeanor had switched, her posture even changed. She held out her had and said "Jayden, my name is Donna, its so very nice to meet you." Jayden just gave an awkward smile in return. He stepped back and she looks at me in my face, and says "I definitely see it. She turns to Jason and says be prepared for not many nice things to come of this." Her son, her precious child is 13, has a 4.2 GPA but is the subject of torment at school. She told me that her son refuses to go into the locker rooms at school, kids twist his chest and poke him. He has even come home on three separate occasions and wanted to kill himself.

This is where the differences are coming into play, Jayden lacks not only social skills but academic skills as well (maybe this is why it's been a difficult journey to the Asperger's diagnosis, as Asperger children tend to be known as mini professors because of their outstanding abilities) It appears to be true for Donna, however. Just ask Jayden about the Titanic and you might find yourself amazed at his knowledge of that.

So while I am scared of the official diagnosis, (his assessment is planned for July 19) How life has lead me to this loud, obnoxious lady is beyond me. It is not my position to question it either, just accept it, and embrace it. She has walked this walk, and I finally have met another person who understands this difficult portion of life. We exchanged numbers and have already been texting this morning :)

My love for Jayden will never change, he will always be my baby boy and I only hope for the absolute best for him. Jason said something to Donna last night and her response blew me away. Jason said "It's ok, we will get him (Jayden) fixed." Donna shook her head no and said "no, he's fine there is nothing to fix because he is perfect."

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

After a fun Summer comes an Update!

Summer was such a whirlwind of FUN!!! I love taking my kids to places to explore, to learn, and most importantly have a wonderful fun bonding experience. These are the years my kids are going to look back on and know that their life is beautiful, even under the worst of scenerios. Here are a few snapshots of over the summer, I must admit that many times I opted to leave behind the baggage (AKA camera) and focus on the here and now.
















And now, Fall is going to be upon us soon, and that means those BEAUTIFUL, vibrant, colorful leaves that I find myself more and more attracted to each year that passes. Mother Nature is certainly a force to be reckoned with (both good and bad!) I know I will be bringing out the camera more to capture the colors of Autumn.

Love & Blessings to all :)

{PS...The end group of photos are edited with the help of a Photoshop Action set that I am THE PROUD OWNER OF....Bohemian Symphony Collection. I can see the difference and it is AMAZING to say the least. You can visit her page here, www.ohsoposhphotography.com check her out, I promise you will LOVE her, she is such an inspirational woman who prides herself in offering help to others. A trait I find highly admirable.}

Monday, April 4, 2011

Spring is springing!

Yes, Spring has started to spring. It seems that we are taking 1 step forward and 2 back. Yesterday the Kansas City metro reach a high of 91, today so far 46 and we have a wind chill of 34. How can this be??!! I want constant beautiful weather, the kind of weather you can walk outsidee barefoot if you don't have 4-legged animals that like to leave behind their treasures, if you know what I mean, but I do adore flip-flops!!

In a little under 2 weeks my son and I will be going to Florida, sounds like we are instore for a great time and hopefully the weather will be much more accomidating to my wishes of warmer weather. In the meantime the trees are starting to show bits of green, some are flowering, I do hope they continue and will not be harmed by the potential freeze that is instore for us tonight. I still can not wait to get my kiddos all dressed up in their Sunday best and take to the land of Kansas to get some fab spring photos. If I wasn't sick yesterday you bet your bottom dollar it would have been given a try yesterday. So I wrapped myself in my coat and marched outside to take a few snapshots of the beginnings of Spring, my most favorite time of year!




Saturday, March 26, 2011

Kansas City Union Station

I LOVE this place. In the modern day we seem to rush by so quick buildings are becoming "up to date" and everyone seems to want to update their surroundings. The Union Station brings you back in time nearly the second you walk inside this place. It is magical, glorious and just breath-taking. Seems so odd to me that so long ago this place was buzzing with travelers and the only way to travel was by train. This place seems to dwarf people. If I could I really would spend an entire day in that place simply soaking in it's beauty, the beautiful architecture, the massive doorways, the amazing chandeliers and the most favorite part for me, the ceiling.

I have been having problems with my camera and in between shots it will read "Error 99, please turn the camera off and on again or take out and replace battery" so needless to say I couldn't take the time to do this with 3 kids anxiously awaiting visiting Science City, conveniently located in/near the Union Station. Hopefully I can go with out kids and with a properly functioning camera sometime.




This last photo is of a photo inside the Union Station back in the day, so the last 2 photos are of the same area, just a whole lot of time has passed between the 2. Amazing right?! If ever in the Kansas City area, I strongly encourage this to be on your list of places to visit!


Wednesday, March 23, 2011

My favorite time of the year is upon us

Spring!!! Who doesn't love spring, well ok don't answer that because I will tell you it is my son. My son has severe allergies to tree pollen. So along with beautiful new spring greens starting to sprout, my son gets swollen eyes, full body hives and asthma, poor kiddo. I still can't seem to contain my joy for this time of year, good bye brown, hello color!!!

So do what I want to do so badly, go out, walk smell the fresh air, look for the pops of color coming, at least in the Kansas City metro area showing up. When a bit more color comes out and I can escape the house, I plan on brining out that camera of mine and having a clicking good time!!

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Blizzard 2011 in Kansas City

Here we are the first day of February, and the biggest storm that many meteorologists claim to have seen. I coming from the Northern area of Iowa, it is not. It is a reminder of why I hate snow, I mean yes it is pretty, but the wind that makes it blow is not pretty, and the cold temps that snow requires is far from pretty. I always get excited for the first snow fall, but any additional snow...forget it!! Schools cancelled classes for today last night and already have cancelled school for tomorrow. The kids may enjoy their snow days now, but I don't think they will like any make-up days they have coming!

So for my friend in Little Rock who is only experiencing thunderstorms, these pictures were taken in the comfort of my garage, because I am too afraid I will ruin either my camera or my lens.


Monday, January 31, 2011

A Passion

I want to share a passion of mine with you today, photography and babies!! I would like to see if I could make some extra money on the side doing something I love, pictures. I just need to figure out how to get myself out there amoungst all the wonderful photographers!

A wonderful friend of mine celebrated the birth of her 4th born child into the world and I was ever so fortunate to be able to photograph little Elijah. I also watch him and his siblings during the week while her life is continuing to change, she is going to school to better herself for her children, I am proud of her, and ironically we are trying to go into the same program. I hope when this winter weather finally decides to go away, that I will take more photo's of him, I've grown quite attached to that little man, all the fussy glory and all! So with out much more, here are some of my fav photos of baby Eli.