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Dec 26, 2015

Christmas Cheer


As an autism mom, I'm grateful for whoever it was that left us a little Christmas cheer on our porch on Christmas Eve!  It was such a cute and happy surprise.  It cheered both Kevin and I up, as we opened the origami money ornaments and opened the slips of paper to read the fun jokes, spiritual quotes and scriptures.  This was such a great idea.  I hope someday I can copy it and spread the Christmas cheer to another family that needs some holiday brightness.






Dec 25, 2015

Autism Proof Ornaments 2015


If you saw my previous posts, you know I've always struggled to make our Christmas decor functional.  This year I decided to make more of these ornaments.  (Tutorial here.)
Merry Christmas everyone!





Dec 23, 2015

Paracord

As an autism mom, I'm grateful for the Paracord bracelet kit I got for Christmas. This afternoon I was really antsy and decided to try and make a bracelet.  I found a very good tutorial here:  http://www.thereadystore.com/diy/5845/make-your-own-paracord-bracelet/
I was pretty proud of my final result.

However, as you can see in the video above, the person who is the most grateful for the paracord is Jason.  He loves playing with any long string that can make twirly designs in the air.  :)  If you need to keep Jason occupied for any length of time.  Such a cutie!


Jul 29, 2015

Solving the Window Dilemma

As an autism mom, I'm grateful for the idea I came up with inspired by my cousin Laci.  She's a contemporary artist, http://lacimccrea.deviantart.com/ , and for fun, during seasonal times, she will paint store windows, etc.  
Now on to the reason I'm grateful for her.  My oldest son has an issue with being naked in his bedroom.  I normally don't mind if he's naked in his bedroom.  That is his space.  However, He's going through puberty right now.  Too much information?  And his bedroom window faces my neighbor's, who happens to have two sweet little girls.  I don't know if it is part of the puberty, but he has also become pretty destructive and knocks things off the walls, tables etc.  He also rips things up.  One of the things he likes to destruct is his curtains.I have tried blinds, curtains on a rod, curtains hooked into the little blinds clips, etc.  He tears them all down the second he gets in his room.  It's very frustrating to think of my pubescent son standing at the window in all his glory.  
Last night, I said a prayer that I could figure out a solution that he couldn't destroy.  This morning, I started thinking about my cousin, Laci, and her window paintings, and I realized that maybe I could try painting my son's windows.  I knew that seasonal store window paintings would have to be washed off, so that also eased my mind about painting windows in a home that I rent.  
I asked my cousin for advice on how to carry out my idea.  She told me that any acrylic paints will work. The cheapest paints are harder to get off later because they are kind of thin and watery.  She suggested finding the paints at an Art store or a craft store like Michaels.  I decided to use white paint, so that it wouldn't darken his room.  It turned out great, and the best part of all is that no one can see inside.  

So grateful for a solution to this problem. If I ever need to, I can easily wash the paint off with soap and water.   


Jun 4, 2015

Those Other Parents that Understand

As an autism mom, I'm so grateful for those other parents that understand exactly what it is like to experience raising children on the spectrum.  It's just a fact that if you meet another parent with kids with autism, you have an instant friend and support.
I felt like this blog post said it perfectly because we can all relate to so many of the signs on the list:
38 Signs You Might be an Autism Parent
Just thought I'd share this insight I had one day.  I firmly believe that before I was sent to this earth for this test we call life, God called me into his office and said, "Hey Christine, I have an experience in mind for you.  It will be extremely unique and you will be able to learn so much.  It will also be extremely hard, but it will be worth it."   And I know that the thought of that made me excited and nervous, and here I am, in this experience that is extremely unique, has taught me so much, is extremely hard, but also so very worth it.  Being an autism mom...there's nothing like it.