A Fabulously Flawed Life

This semester Davis was accepted into the Rocky Top Therapy Center .  It's an amazing program that our school district provides for kiddo's who lack specific types of social development.  Such as improvement in the individual's confidence and discipline while improving gross and fine motor skills, posture, balance, and coordination.   Davis went every Tuesday morning from 7 - 9am for nine weeks.  He picked his horse, Swifty, and every week he cleaned, fed, and took care of him.  At the ranch Davis was taught how to learn the body language of Swifty, build trust, and developed a strong bond with him. Davis' confidence skyrocketed thanks to this experience and the therapists were so incredible to see the specific needs of Davis and taught him how to find his "calm place" that he uses on the horse in real life experiences as well. At the end of every session, they ended their day with "ups and downs" where they gathered in a circle and shared o...

This is a very short video clip of Davis catching his first football during a game! A while back I overheard my oldest son, Davis, say that he "would never be a sports person".  I'll be honest, I gasped and it made me really upset.  What really bothered me was that at 10 years old he had already decided something so profound about himself. Naturally, I took that boy aside and we had a chat.  You see, I have raised Davis with the drive to allow him to experience the world so that when he gets older, he'll have all the facts to decide for himself what kind of person he does or does not want to be.  I feel so passionately about this and have  sought out specific experiences to try and make them well-rounded individuals. I'm not fully explaining myself the way I'd like to.  But raising a child with high-functioning autism - I decided when he was toddling around that he would live in OUR world and I would not allow him to slip away and live inside his own...

Every year one of my fabulous friends hosts an adult only Christmas Gag Gift Party. It's one of my favorite nights of the year! This year the runner up for the best White Elephant gift was larger than life size stand up poster.  I'm quite sure that this is going to pop up at all kinds of places throughout the next year.  I was bummed that I didn't get it as I had all kinds of plans for it.  {{evil laugh}} Chanda made this hysterical vinyl lettering tile, "HOME Where The HO & ME Come Together".  {{bwaahaa!!}}  Holy Crap that's so funny. This year, there's been a long-running inside joke about the "panis". Therefore, Lisa D made a panis reducer complete with suspenders. It was hysterical. Urban Definition:  Medical term for fat that hangs over the waist line "like a separate entity". Lucky us, we ended up with the Luggable Loo and His and Her's portable urinals.  Yep, we were stoked.  {{said sarcastically}} I don't h...

  This Thanksgiving was hands down one of the best we've had so far.  Now that the boys are older, traveling, bunking in a strange cabin, and being away from the Xbox is a lot easier!  The boys seem to surprise me daily as they're growing up and becoming responsible young men.  Who knew that would actually happen?!? {{giggle}}   This year was just like the past two, we traveled with some of our favorite people on the planet and picked a mountainous place to celebrate Thanksgiving.   This year it was Hot Springs, Arkansas. We've created our own traditions and rhythm:    Hiking, Cooking, Eating, Playing board games, Campfire, Smores, Skit Night, Turkey Bowl, 3D Movie, and a lot of laughing!   This year the cabin was out of this world!  It had a huge hot tub and the kiddos took full advantage.  Never-mind the 40 degree weather. {{snicker}}   We all went hiking, took family pictures, and had a picnic lunch.  It w...

Do you remember when Proctor and Gamble flew me out and I got to meet Tim Gunn ?  Well, I got another great trip this time to the head offices at Marshalls & TJ Maxx. I already blogged about it over on Tip Junkie and that lead to another great gig. They have contracted me out to create three gift guides for them. 12 Days of Christmas for the Family - complete with printable tags and poems Gift Guide for Men - I'm giving away a $200 gift card {enter quick!} Gift Guide for Kids So that's what I've been doing - shopping! {{giggle}}  It has actually really opened my eyes to a completely new way of buying brand names.  I tell ya, this one has been life changing.  I do not like to dig through stuff - I want to see it laid out pretty on a cute rack.  Well, they do that at both TJ Maxx and Marshalls - it just takes a bit getting used to the layout of the stores. HA!  Who knew I would be the one to learn so much and have such a great time showing pe...

Davis ~ Spy Gear Last year the boys and I started {quite accidentally} a tradition of going to Toys R Us and letting them take pictures of their Christmas wish lists. Davis ~ Mind Flex The two older boys scoured the store with the camera while Jason and I tried to convince Drake that he does indeed want something other than Batman.    Davis - Transformers Devastator Showdown Dylan ~ Nerf Dart Tag   I think it's so much fun seeing how the boys pictures turn out and what they end up asking for from Santa. {Neither of whom believe anymore but they play along.}   Dylan ~ Ultimate Mission Spy Set I used to do an e-mail wish list and every November I would e-mail all the grandparents what they wanted.  I have become a lot less obsessive compulsive and now just post their pictures in hopes of making their shopping trip a little easier.   Dylan ~ Spynet Laser Strike Dylan & Davis ~ Halo Toys from Mega Blocks You see, we have 7 sets of grandparent...

  Today I had a lovely lunch with my girlfriends at Panera Bread and saw these yummy gingerbread cookies. I immediately thought of my little sweeties at home and bought them.  They were soft, gingery, and delish! The rest of the day, I shopped for the next gift guide segment I'm doing for TJ Maxx and Marshalls.  I found the coolest gifts for men and will feature them on Tip Junkie on Monday with some crazy cool prizes.   With every job I accept, I find myself learning a new skill and stretching myself even farther.  Working with TJ Maxx and Marshalls so far has been a dream job and I'm terrified that I'm going to mess it up.   Right now I'm working hard to stay true to myself, deliver relevant content to my readers, and make the brand happy.  This is all so new to me that at times I'm a little lost.  Hopefully, my geniune excitement for the project with show through and people will like the final product.  {{crossing fingers}}

I landed the coolest job with Charming Charlie in October. I made three broken jewelry projects they've posted them on all onto their site.  My favorite by far was the broken jewelry initial that I made entirely out of Charming Charlie accessories.  {{squeal}} I've hooked you up with video as well as pictured instructions.  Here you go:   How to Make Jeweled Wood Letters  How to Decorate a Frame with Broken Jewelry   How to Decorate a Mirror with Accessories   How to Embellish Your Handbag I'm such a dork in the videos but I really like how the projects turned out.  Each one has it's own vibe and it was such an amazing opportunity. The silver "C" I made is my favorite.  I believe they're going to give it away on CharmingCharlie.com but I haven't seen it live yet.

Thanks to my dear friend Lisa for the cake!  A little piece of heaven. This year I spent my birthday in the most beautiful place on earth for a crafty mom-preneur, The Creative Connection Event. I blogged all about what I learned and who I met over on Tip Junkie: How to Launch a Business How to Use Social Media as a Marketing Tool Entrepreneur Lunch Panel Taking Business to the Next Level Getting Published and Editorial Credit The Future Face of Retail ~ The Digital Marketplace As an aspiring business woman myself, I was honored to rub shoulders with uber successful women like Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, blogger, turned business woman, turned author, she's the next "Rachael Ray".  Ree is so gracious and it was a highlight getting to chat with her several times throughout the weekend. Heather Bailey, graphics designer and blogger, who now licenses her designs with major corporations and has a fabric line, pattern line, and stationary line. I'm sure ...