Just when I thought I had it up to my eyeballs.Parenting a child with special needs is a daily, emotional, daunting, exhausting experience. Some days, even weeks go by without skipping a beat and I do all the things without thinking. Others weeks? Not so much. The past few weeks have been a roller coaster for sure. I have hung on desperately while being hurled upside down and turned inside out. By Sunday I was convinced that not a single person on the entire universe around me knew or cared. I was feeling vastly overwhelmed, unseen and forgotten as a...
The perfectly delicious homemade oreo cookie that will have everyone raving!Oreo cookies are an American icon right up there with apple pie and hot dogs. But who needs all those icky ingredients and chemicals that come with the carefully and attractively packaged cookies from the store. (Although I’ve been known to devour those as well.) But not anymore! These guys here, whipped together with your own ingredients, are soft, melt in your mouth, holy goodness that will want to keep going down one after the other! My husband calls them train cookies because, you know, they keep going down one...
Because lengthy stories before recipes annoy me to bits and pieces, here is the recipe without further ado! 🙂 Print Recipe Healthy Baked Oatmeal I love me a bowl of baked oatmeal! When I started my health journey, I adapted my favorite recipe to make it more friendly to my waist. I never proclaim that my recipes are THM because, frankly, I don't have the time to mess with the exactness of it, so I do my best and I have good results, thank you very much! 🙂 Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 40 minutes Servings people Ingredients 2/3...
Keep calm…Benny on! Special needs parenting is hard. I thought I would mention that just in case no one already knew this just by observing the brightly lit chaos surrounding our everyday life. Most people that venture into our home, and notice the ever ready on-demand coffee made, acknowledge immediately that, indeed, we, the Benny people, depend heavily on the brew made from beans. Keeping calm…Benny-ing on is harder than it looks. I realized on one especially exhausting day that we could not keep going without getting Benny on some kind of calming meds. Something to slow him down in his over...
If I could do one thing to help special needs parents, I would magically change the medical supply company frustrations from our lives. I will be bravely honest and admit that I have clenched my teeth, let out a loud oomph now and then, had a complete meltdown or two, and cried bitter, frustrated tears at the injustices served to me by these companies.I have spent hours on hold in the last few months. This is not stretching the truth by one iota, it is actually being generous. Just last week I spent exactly 46 minutes on hold to explain...
Nobody told me. Nobody let me know on that hot, humid July day in 2003, that my life was soon to be a roller coaster ride of oxymorons like bittersweet. Or synonyms and antonyms like joy and sorrow, acceptance and denial, grief and gladness, happiness and sadness, and the list goes on. When that faint cry of a newborn was heard throughout our home, no one, not even God, announced the dramatic change about to bring us down to earth in an awakening so astounding that nothing could have prepared us for. Joy and Sorrow. When we heard the joyful...
These tasty, zesty meatball poppers are a delicious Sunday evening get together treat! I threw this recipe together last evening before visiting the awesome neighbors that live on top of The Mountain. I baked them, but they could easily be grilled for an even more savory flavor. I just made my own mouth water! Photo credits: Laurie Zook. Print Recipe Peppy Meatball Poppers Appetizer This recipe makes 21, one-inch meatball poppers. Course Appetizers Prep Time 10 minutes Cook Time 30 minutes Servings meatballs Ingredients 1 pound Hamburger 1/2 teas Salt 1/2 teas Season Salt 1/4 teas Garlic Powder 1/4 teas...
“He Ain’t Heavy, he’s my Bubby!” I, as Benny’s mom, may be the nurse, the advocate, the lioness and the mother bear that roars at the slightest infraction against my Bubby. I may be the one that changes 50 million diapers a day, okay, not quite that many. I may be the one that has run tube feed after tube feed, through Benny’s hungry tummy daily. I fetch for Benny 24/7. I do laundry, ironing, cooking; I chauffer, clean, and keep up the bookwork for our business. I may or may not have earned my very own medical degree just by being...
The Saturday Morning Confessions of a Special Needs Mom. “You’re such a good mommy.” “You’re super mom.” “Benny is so blessed to have a mommy like you.” I hear this often and it blesses me so much. How do I respond? “Yes, I know. Thank you very much for noticing?” No, of course not! While it makes me feel good, and I know in my heart that I try my best, I also know the times when my own wants and needs rise up and desire to be served first. Like this morning. Hi-Ho to Bob Evans We Go! As...
In my previous life, I was a cleaning fanatic. Does this mean I believe in reincarnation? Heavens, no! Not even close. When I use the term “previous life”, this is what I’m talking about: Previous life: Before Benny. Current life: Anything after Benny! This is how I think of my life. I have been pondering why I look at my life as before and after Benny, but then I realized that it is probably because my fight completely changed after Benny. How I used to fight. Here is a peek into my previous life and what I fought for on...
