Friday, February 24, 2017

You Are My Sunshine

Well I think Jacob's busy schedule is slowing down for a minute. I love when people say Jacob being homeschooled isn't good for him being socialized. I've even beat myself up over those words numerous times. But then I sit and look at all the activities and opportunities he's involved in I just SMILE!!!I am truly blessed to be his mom and teacher.
Jacob has Hydrocephalus (Water on the brain) and has had four brain surgeries since he was seven months old. His Neurosurgeon explained Hydrocephalus to me like this, "We're all born with a hole in our head for the fluid to circulate and drain but Jacob wasn't born with that hole. "He explained to me how placing a shunt in his head would drain the CSF (cerebrospinal fluid, a clear fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord) from his head but could be complications like shunt failure,infection,etc. Which would mean more surgery. There was another surgery that could be done, Third ventriculostomy ( uses a laser to make a hole ) that had less risk. So my husband and I talked about it and chose the laser surgery hoping for less surgeries for Jacob.Unfortuntly it was unsuccessful and Jacob's head was growing instead of being normal size.The next step was to place a programmable shunt in his head.A programmable shunt can be opened and closed without surgery to control the flow of CSF but a person with this type of shunt can't be exposed to magnets. Shunt was successfully placed without complications.
I was trying to keep Jacob from using his health issues as a crutch in life but have recently come to terms that I was in denial about my child having special needs. No one wants their child to have health problems and certainly not multiple ones. He was doing well with the Hydrocephalus, so well he only had to see his Neurologist yearly. Then the summer he turned six he began spacing out, then starving afterwards and body stiffing up. My Mom and I rushed him to the local hospital where they transported via ambulance to the hospital where his Neurosurgeon was. Jacob had a third brain surgery but his shunt was fine. After spending several days in ICU he was diagnosed with Epilepsy which is common with head trauma.But through it all he was my sunshine.
So another bump in our journey......


Friday, February 17, 2017

Official 2017 Night to Shine Highlight Video featuring Gary LeVox of Ras...

For those that don't know the Tim Tebow Foundation sponsors Prom for those with Special Needs around the world.Jacob attended this year for the first time and it was awesome.He got to walk the red carpet,dinner,shoes shined,hair done,ride in limo/Viper,pictures taken,a buddy to chill with all night,and each person attending got crowned the prom queen/king.Here's the official video for everyone to enjoy.

Monday, February 13, 2017

Busy Weekend =Lazy Monday

    The weekend started Friday with Prom.Jacob is a Special Needs kiddo so he went to "Night to Shine "prom sponsored by The Tim Tebow Foundation.
He had a blast and wants to go again next year. Everyone had their own buddy all night so I just got to breathe and relax. Jacob walked the red carpet,ate dinner, shoes shined, pictures made,rode in a Viper and was crowned prom king.
No he didn't dance because the loud music messed with his hearing aids.
    Saturday was another busy evening for Jacob.Friends from church took him to see "Resurrection of Journey ".Another awesome night for him.
    No rest on Sunday.After church the youth and children hosted a Valentine lunch.They served the whole meal and cleaned up.So proud of our kiddos.
Afterwards we came home and vegetated until bed.A little schoolwork and housework done today but I have to admit it's been nice just staying home and taking it easy.Tomorrow starts the craziness again. ......

Thursday, February 9, 2017

SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review

              SchoolhouseTeachers.com Review
    I am so excited to become part of the Homeschool Review Crew and start reviewing the Yearly Membership from SchoolhouseTeachers.com
https://schoolhouseteachers.com/start-here/#considering-membership
http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/high-quality-self-paced-online-homeschool-resources-schoolhouseteachers-com/.There are numerous classes with a variety of  subjects and Electives to choose from for Pre K thru 12th grade. There aren’t per student fees so it’s an awesome deal for families. It is a great online product with downloadable, printable work as well as videos and online classes. There’s a Homeschool Parent Support on the site and even a Homeschool Planner to help you keep classes in order. Each course gives a list of “How To Use The Course”,” Course Introduction”,”Components”,how long the course should take and even a Certificate of Completion you can print out for your student. I also liked that they let you know when certain courses would no longer be available on the site so you can chose whether there’s enough time to complete it.
I enjoyed looking through all of the high school subjects and had a hard time picking which ones to start with. I let Jacob, my 17 year old son with Special Needs pick classes he wanted from the High School Homeschool Courses. I had already chosen several courses and he added Foreign Languages, History and Electives. He has recently become very interested in learning about Christianity and the different Religions so he chose to do the History of Christianity and Hebrew. I was happy to find so many courses that he was interested in because it’s usually hard to keep his attention focused on too much. He’s eager to start his schoolwork every day since we’ve started using SchoolhouseTeachers.com. I’ve always spent many hours looking online at different Unit Studies but now all I have to do is come here because they have them as well.




    I like that we can do these studies on the go or anywhere there’s internet. There are some days the car is our classroom because we have appointments to go to but still need to do our school work. I have printed the worksheets out for the classes we’re working on and put each class in a different color folder. We don’t have to be online for all the courses so even if we aren’t connected Jacob can still work on Spelling. I wish I would have joined SchoolhouseTeachers.com years ago and saved so much wasted time and headaches putting curriculum together. There’s pretty much everything here you need to teach your kids in any subject at any level even those kiddos that are Special Needs.

   All SchoolhouseTeachers.com members are eligible for a silver membership of applecore which keeps track of attendance, grades and more. There’s a transcript service (gold membership) when you purchase a year membership. I believe this is a win-win deal for those with high schoolers that will need records for college. There is a “College Choice Guidance” course that’s designed to take parents and student through the four years of high school in preparation for college. There are also courses for SAT-ACT Math Test Prep and Writing College Admission Essays.

SchoolhouseTeachers.com ~ (http://www.SchoolhouseTeachers.com/)







Wednesday, February 8, 2017

The Garden Winner

We have our winner of The Garden cd by Kari Jobe. Congratulations Jocelyn Rutherford! !!!

Wednesday, February 1, 2017

"The Garden" Review/Giveaway

“The Garden” CD Review
 Kari Jobe is a premiere female Grammy nominated worship leader in Christian music with hits like “Forever“ and “I Am Not Alone“. She has recorded her new cd,”The Garden” after facing death and life-changing situations during the past year. Thinking prayers hadn’t been answered during her difficult times she was reminded of God’s presence in the midst of pain. Most of The Garden’s 14 tracks speak to hope in the midst of loss and peace in the midst of uncertainty.
 The tracks on this cd are very calming and I felt a peace come over me as I was listening to it. The words speak deeply to your soul and make you think about all God’s blessings we don’t see at first.” Speak To Me” is my favorite song on this cd because it reminds me I need to listen for what He is telling me.
“Everyone who’s seen something grow out of the dust realizes God was up to something in the midst of pain and questions. He never promised that it would be easy or that it would be pain-free, but that He would never leave us or forsake us,” Jobe offers, adding, “I’m more aware of His presence than I think I’ve ever been. God has surrounded us with things that will be life-giving if we take a moment to realize it. God’s always at work in our lives. He truly does go before us and prepares the way for the journey ahead.”
“The Garden” will be released on February 3,2017.
Buy link: http://smarturl.it/thegarden? IQid=blog

I’ve been given one “The Garden” CD to give away so leave a comment to enter. I will draw the winner on February 8,2017.

“Disclosure (in accordance with the FTC’s 16 CFR, Part 255:  “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising”):  Many thanks to Propeller Consulting, LLC for providing this prize for the giveaway.  Choice of winners and opinions are 100% my own and NOT influenced by monetary compensation.  I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post.
Only one entrant per mailing address, per giveaway.  If you have won a prize from our sponsor Propeller /FlyBy Promotions in the last 30 days on the same blog, you are not eligible to win.  Or if you have won the same prize on another blog, you are not eligible to win it again.  Winner is subject to eligibility verification.