Spring Wind Up

Well, Aaron & Matthew's Spring (regular) baseball season is over...now we await the announcements for the All-Star teams...I pray they make it this year. Poor guys were handed a lemon of a coach, whom I suppose I will assume the responsibility of firing. He was and remains such a loud-mouthed, "know-it-all" jerk, whom is easily manipulated by every breeze of desention that whips his way...don't you just LOVE people like that? God handled that situation, though, thankfully... School is almost over...working on our last 6weeks, then EOGs in July... Aaron still struggles daily & Matthew fights against his Asperger's, as well, however, by God's grace, we are still managing to excel...and I say this because of the observations that I make with other homeschoolers, both near and far. Sometimes, I believe I may "expect" too much from them, but can a good, Godly education really hurt? Seriously, can one truly know too much? All I can do is be willing to listen & follow God's path for our education & not base our standards upon others. Our pharmaceudical journey continues, with what seems to be a change every month now, but to no avail...Chris & I are stuck in the deep abyss of "do we or don't we medicate our kids"... We are praying that God will interveine & heal our lands, so to speak. We believe that God will touch our little boys & heal their little minds one day, but until then, we can only ask him for wisdom & discernment to get through our days. We are currently in search of a new homestead, somewhere we can settle down in & plant our roots... We're no longer going to be relocationg, unless God directs us to. The bad thing about trying to find properties... #1: There are homes that we can afford. #2: There are homes that we adore. Now if we can only combine those 2, we'll have a perfect match! Will post as soon as I know about our All-Stars & if/when we find a house to buy...until then, just keep praying for us.

Spring Fever!

Well, Spring is here & our baseball season is in full swing, if you'll excuse the pun. We are busier than ever this spring because of We LUV Marriage... This is a grass roots conservative group that I am Co-Executive Director of & we are hosting a rally Sat. May 9, so super busy planning & preparing for it! School is well...meds are changed...and we still want a calm life without any scripts! Will update with some pictures from our Easter & Spring Break & Baseball soon. You can check out We LUV Marriage's website at www.weluvmarriage.com

Last Day of our Break...

Just sitting around enjoying our last day of our "block break" before we begin our 5th 6 weeks tomorrow. Been raining for so many days in a row now! Still dreary & cold, but let the boys play outside anyway. They were getting cabin fever! I suppose we have a few "sick days" built up, just in case! They can't wait for Spring...and for school to be out for a while! Happy St. Patrick's Day!

New Heltsley Christian Academy Website

We now have a HCA website that you can go to and see what's going on in our school. For the boys' pretection, the site is private, so if you want to get in, just email me & I will gladly give you the ID & Password. Zachary's 2nd Semester project is to be the official Webmaster for this site, thus forward all complaints to him! (ha,ha) To see our site, visit www.scholastic.com/classhomepage

School Days

Life is sweet when mathematical concepts are welcomed by a child's mind. Our 2nd semester at HCA began with a dreaded lesson in cross-multiplication, but to my surprise, Aaron has grasped the concepts better than anyone could've imagined...in fact, he's not only "got" that, but is doing amazingly well with Long Division! Thank God for small miracles! And you know the best part? The fact that he learned it from me... he would've never had the success he has had, if he were still in public school! It's also amazing to see how Matthew is picking up the Multiplication tables, simply by osmosis. Matthew has such a ststistical mind though, so we never really worry about him. School is coming along as best as it can go. Everyone seems to be doing well and adjusting after our long Christmas break. We are gearing up in our next 6 weeks to begin our preparations for our EOG tests. Pray for us!

Busy Lives!

How the time does get away from us! It hardly seems like yesterday since I posted & now it's months later...sorry about that...will work on it. Anyway, Thanksgiving was great. We went to Mema & Granddaddy's house. Everyone was on their best behavior and no one got hurt. It was a scuccessful day! Christmas, too, came and went like a tidal wave. So much preparation and yet it's over so quickly. Mema & Granddaddy came to stay with us and then we had some friends over for Christmas Dinner. It seemed like our Christmas this year was going to be quiet and subdued, but ended up being a wonderful day filled with many visitors and lots of happy memories. Our New Year's was quiet, as usual. (That's the way we like it.) We like to think that the peace and tranquility we reserve for the midnight moment will transend into the next year. So far, it's just wishful thinking, though. Our Valentine's Day was filled with love for one another & lots of hugs & kisses...we don't really do the whole commercial candy thing...mainly because sending salutaions of love in the form of sugary substances and goofy charactures of stupid cupids seems so superficial. I'd much rather my boys know that I love them from my heart, than from a candy heart with a U R Nice sentiment branded on. So, that leads us up to St. Patrick's Day...which I'll update on next week.

Aaron's Now a Hunter!

Busy time of the year, this is! But we love it! Full of fun, family traditions & yummy food! Chris has decided that they boys are getting to the time in their lives where they venture into the hunting aspect of life. Not merely for sport, but for food. We would never kill anything that we didn't intend to recycle into sustenance for our family. Afterall, the is the intended life cycle by God, who provides us with the animals in the 1st place! Any way, Zack & Aaron take turns going with dad & it was Aaron's turn on the bitterly cold morning on Wednesday, November 19, 2008. It was about 24 degrees (with a wind chill in the teens) and they had been out in the woods for about an hour & Chris had not 10 minutes prior reveiwed the sighting-in & shooting lesson, when all of a sudden Aaron spotted 2 deer about 180 yards away. Well, Chris, assuming there'd be no way Aaron could possibly hit one of them, gave the go-ahead for Aaron to take a shot. Well, he shot & in fact, did hit the deer, only missing the heart by about 3 inches. The Lord has definately blessed Aaron with the gifts of good eyesight & a steady hand. So, needless to say, Aaron has been on top of the world since then...now he wants one with big horns...along with Zack! Hopefully, we'll be boasting, in a meager way, of Zack's 1st deer in the next few weeks. Enjoy the pictures & until the next deer story.....God Bless!

Where Did Time Go?

Our Fall has been a complete whirlwind! Fall Baseball is such a short season, so they cram as much in as possible in that short time-frame. Plus, I am heading up the Fall Festival at our church, so haven't had a lot of time to blog, but here's an update as best as I can do...

We now officially have 2 sons with Asperger's Syndrome with ADHD. In order to not "over-medicate" Aaron, we are living with him the way God made him...with just a little help. Matthew has now been clinically diagnosed with the same, so we're starting the entire proess over with him, trying to find the right "cocktail" of meds, if you will. The Dr assured us that Matthew will be probable 3-4 meds, because his "peaks" are different than Aaron's, with the ADHD. They are both about identical with their AS. So...other than flanning to the Dr's office that is about it. Our 2nd year homeschooling is getting better. Everyone is getting used to our schedule...in fact, Aaron has really bucked down. After our 1st 9 weeks of school, Aaron has concluded that he is going to be a "Pioneer" when he grows up...gotta love the simplicity of a child's mind. Matthew is doing as well as he can right, seeing he can't focus for more than about 30 seconds at a time...no joke! His reading is improving & he's even learning some pre-cursive, which he now admits is harder than he anticipated. Zack is still our most neuro-typical child. I think he gets frustrated being NT once in a while, but I told him to never take his "normalcy" for granted. Our family is going through a season of change right now, but our faith will carry os through. The Lord is really speaking to us about the direction in which our family should be traveling. We're excited to see what God has in store...we are truly willing vessels. If I don't get a chance to post again before next week...we trust you will have a Happy All Saint's Day, Nov. 1. Will post some pics from our church's Harvest Festival soon...God Bless!

Summer Update

Well, it has been a while since I posted, but I haven't had the time! July 8th, Aaron was put into the hospital where he enjoyed a fabulous 5 day, 4 night, all-inclusive, summer vacation...complete with scans, pokes, pricks, and heavy duty drugs! Come to find out Aaron had an unexplainable "Septik Shoulder and Staph Infection". They were intending to perform 2 operations on him, one locally & one Friday under General...however, God saw it differently. The bulging fluid wasn't on top of the joint, like they had originally thought, instead was underneat & intwined with his shoulder components, so they were going to have to "take Aaron apart". The Drs were apprehensive about this because of Aaron's age...so they waited to see if the meds only would clear things up...which they said did...we believe God touched Aaron and healed him! Anyway...Aaron was released late Mon afternoon, July 13...day after my bday. Then the following week, we agreed to allow Aaron to go to church camp at the Wilds in Brevard, NC. We trusted God to protect him, which He did...the following week, was VBS at church AND our Homeschool year began...Aaron has run intermittent fevers during this time...at the end of VBS, Sun pm, it reached 102.3, so back to the Dr. we went Monday...where they claim a "viral something"...who knows why Aaron is feverish & now he is down to 67 lbs. We'll be looking elsewhere should these symptoms persist. Last week, Fall Baseball started...and Aaron & Matthew are on the same team! Can I say WOW!!!! The Lord knew that we needed a break! We don't really want Aaron playing, but he wants to play so bad & promises to tell someone if he feels bad...I think his fingers were crossed! ha,ha Finally, yesterday, our family was able to join the church we had been attending since we moved to the area, and Chris & Matthew got baptized. I do have pics of these & will post in next couple of days, but for now...gotta go teach school. Jo

All-Star Baseball

Well, the season has officially begun and is now in full swing...no pun intended. All 3 boys have made the All-Star circut this year, which puts a strain on our shuttle service, but it's well worth it. Baseball has a calming effect on the boys like nothing else...even when they make an error. I am proud to say that our oldest has now put 5 balls over the fence, in practice...his games begin tonight...we're eagerly awaiting a home run in a game now! Aaron's coach is just so full of compliments for him, which pleases us to no end. Kinda makes us feel like we're doing something right. Matthew's team went to their 1st tourney this past wknd and boy was it HOT! Thank God for a breeze! They played very well together, even though they came in 4th. All in all, this summer ball season is turning into an outstanding one. I will post more pictures as the tournaments continue. Please say a prayer that the price of gasoline will plumment! All this traveling is breaking the piggy bank!

Father's Day

It was a Happy Father's Day at our house. Grandparents were here...great day at church...Daddy got off work early...and we ate at "Fuddy's" (Fudrucker's). Our Saturday was super busy, we were at church for an all-day yard sale (7a-7p) and Aaron had a birthday party to attend, in the middle of all that. Anyway, Sunday morning, the little boy, whose bday Aaron attended, came to church, and sat with Aaron- he was so happy to see his friend there. After church, Aaron went scrambling around to find his friend, I found out why once we were on the way home...this little boy didn't have a Bible, so Aaron gave him his Bible that his granddaddy gave to him. I thought that was just about the sweetest thing in the world. I know God was pleased with his selfless act of kindness. This is our last week of homeschool for this term, and we are testing this week, so keep us in your prayers, that Aaron & Matthew will not fall apart & be able to complete their tests, without any stress...and without having to take 10 million breaks!

ALL-STAR Baseball!

This is the 1st year that all 3 of our boys have made an "All-Star" team, this is Matthew's 1st available year! We're so excited and proud of their accomplishments. They excel at something positive in spite of all they have working against them! Talk about using your enemy to win your battles! I'll update you along...the Regional games begin June 30 and will continue through June 13, with 3 series running during that time. Aaron & Matthew are excited that the team colors are purple, because that's mom's favorite color. The coaches love working with the boys...because they are so literal-minded, any coaching they do, it sticks! and they can count on the boys to follow what they say to a T. They both could easily hit one out of the park this season, if "all the stars line up in a row", or the Lord offers a good breeze. All of our boys are awesome at baseball. It's truly a gift from God!

NEW Meds

Well, it's been a week today that Aaron began his Abilify...so far, so good. He doesn't seems to "lash out" quite as frequently or at such a high frequency! He still has his usual ticks, picks, and shakes, but those we've learned to accept. His counselor has given him "homework", because at his last session (he was un-medicated) she saw & talked with his other side, which doesn't feel or want to feel emotions, good or bad. Needless to say, Aaron had intentionally been getting more hugs, from us & from his brothers. Not feeling or wanting to feel loved is not an option around here! Our school session is almost over for our summer break, so we're wrapping up 3rd grade. I beleive we'll be able to go on to 4th on every subject, with a heavy review in Math. This week Aaron's "lightbulb" went off with his "multiplying-double-digits-with-regrouping", which in itself is amazing! Matthew is still Matthew...but he is removing himself more from situations to go calm down. He's still a chatter box but I think that might be genetics. He's finishing up 1st grade well & is reading better than I thought I could teach him to. He's the only one whom the public schools didn't teach to read & to hear him read so eloquently, makes me tear up, because I did that! I taught him how to read, well, me & God helped in a BIG way! So, for now, that's about it, just taking it moment-by-moment, while preparing for EOG tests. Pray for us.

Fun @ Uncle Earl & Aunt Jean's

Saturday we took a day out to visit with Aunt Jean & Uncle Earl on their farm. Uncle Earl babies his fish in his pond so that we can always catch something! This was a good warm up for our day on the lake, Sunday. It was such a great day. Uncle Earl & Aunt Jean are Aaron's favorites & he loves to hear what new nickname Uncle Earl gives to him. Last time it was "Possum", but now it's been changed to "Mister". So, of course, now Aaron insists everyone call him "Mister". Uncle Earl also taught Aaron how to "open-cast" fish, so that's his new obsession, at least this week! Uncle Earl taught Matthew how to use, let's just say, "brown boogers". Needless to say, we haven't heard the end of that story either! On top of everything else...Aunt Jean fixed us supper! That was an added surprise. Sure beat having to go to Ponderosa or Cracker Barrel! Lillie went with us & had a new experience of being around other dogs...she wasn't sure what to do with herself. I think Aunt Jean's dogs were glad to see her leave. Overall, we had a great day! Uncle Earl loves to play with the boys...he had girl grandbabies. And the boys love to absorb any and all wisdom from Uncle Earl that they can. He's a wealth of knowledge...you know the everyday kind of learning, not that old book stuff. He knows stuff that fellas just ought to grow up knowing! Everyone needs an Uncle Earl & Aunt Jean...we're so blessed to have one! They love like no other, even by not doing anything, you can just catch a fresh breath of Jesus when you're around them! I've always been thankful for them & now I'm thankful that my boys get to share them as well. Unfortunately we didn't get to see my cousin Tracy & her husband, Chris, they were on vacation. Maybe next time!

Fishing

We have been fishing for the past 2 days. Yesterday, we spend an entire day on the water at Lake Gaston...one of the best decisions we have ever made! It was very therapeutic for the boys. Aaron adored riding in the boat & being the recipient of all the overspray. Aaron also won the "Strangest Catch of the Day" Award, when he caught an old hat! He was pleased. Matthew spent the majority of his day in & out of "Time Out" for losing his temper, but overall it was a fabulous day! Especially when Chris jumped into the lake...wallet and all! Lillie also went, she has a new found love for boating...and swimming! We'll let you know how all the fish taste!

Aaron's Tree Follies

We have a big old tree in the backyard that has a climbing rope attatched. Aaron has just learned, after a year of trying, to climb up the rope to get into the tree. I told him that he doesn't need to climb any farther that the bottom branch, which is about 9-10ft. high, because he could fall, and if he did then he definately would get hurt, or break a bone. In Aaron's logically sound mind, he decided to us the climbing rope as his safety gear, after all that's what repellers do! So he tied the rope around his waist (thank God!) and started to climb up to the 2nd branch...mind you he's outside alone...bad choice in itself! He slips and is left to hang on for dear life! Luckily, we had just returned about an hour earlier from a visit with g'parents, so things were still being retrieved from vehicle. When husband went back for another load, he heard Aaron screaming for help...to which he put off as Aaron playing...baiting him to come check on him & then jumping out to scare him...so Chris played along & went to see Aaron, instead of a joke, he found Aaron almost breathless and hanging on for dear life, while the rope continues to tighten around Aaron's chest (& lungs). Poor Aaron had rope burns & bruises completely around him...Aaron called it his equator. Needless to say, Aaron is no longer allowed outside, even remotely near the tree without adult (30+) supervision! And the moral to this story...Don't let Aaron watch any more documentaries about repelling, while giving thanks to God for not letting the rope slip around his neck! Life with Aaron......it's always something!

Younger Brother, Matthew

Matthew has now been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome as well, but without the ADHA attatched, instead his initials are ODD, which we already kinda knew, from dealing with Aaron. Luckily for our wallets, Matthew will not be placed on any meds, at least not at this time; however, Matthew will be intensely "therapatized", and prayerfully so, he, too, will develop into a well-rounded young man...with a quick temper. God can take care of that too! This diagnosis was a bit harder on us I believe because I know what all we deal with on a day-by-day basis with Aaron, and now I have a double portion of Asperger's. You know I never really thought of asking God "why me?" until a couple of Sundays ago. A lady in our church has a son (now grown) who was born, basically profoundly deaf, but he uses hearing aids & reads lips. She asked me if I ever wondered "why God chose us to go through this". Well, to be honest, I don't have enough time or energy left over to ponder things such as these, especially when it won't change anything, but now, I am beginning to wonder that age-old question, "Why me, Lord?". I do know that it is scripturally sound to question God, but not okay to infuse anger His way, so I'll keep you posted about my ponderings, until then...just pray for us & our daily battles of the front lines of the Asperger's War.

Medication Ups & Downs

After increasing Aaron's Respitdol, he began having major sensory issues, mostly with bladder control & sense of pain, like from cuts & briuses. It was became completely evident that these issues were stemming from his meds. We met with his doctor, who has weaned him off all meds except for Concerta, which by now is an absolute must! June 5, we'll begin a new round of meds...hopefully this time we'll enjoy our merry-go-round ride. But for now, Aaron is Aaron...and we love him for being just the way he is...no matter how stressful it can be.

Baby Brother

After careful consideration, we have decided to have Aaron's younger brother, Matthew tested for an ASD. He has demonstrated concerning behaviors for quite some time now, but we just chalked it up to learned behavior, but now, well, maybe not so much. What a merry-go-round we daily ride upon...all I can say is thank God for Jesus & baseball! They are our stabalizers! Now if we can get in charge of these neuro-disorders, instead of them being in charge of us...ah, that would be the life! Will update about Matthew's on-going diagnostic process as it proceeds... We appreciate any prayers you can send up on our behalf...and so would all the other families who live with ASDs.

Respidol Run Around

Well, we're now utilizing the drug Respidol twice a day, along with Concerta and Lamictal. With the progression of these meds we are also noticing somewhat of a step backwards. I'm not positive, but Chris & I are watching like a hawk for anything other than the meds to be causing Aaron's new behaviors. Aaron seems to be having some "sensory issues" now, with not only his bladder control, but with painful stimuli as well. Also, when Aaron's meds have worn off, he seems to act even more Autistic and sometimes, mentally retarted. The doctor seems to think that this is "normal", however, we don't. We do remember before any meds were introduced & he never carried himself as he does now. It seems to us that all these medications create a "focused Aaron" for a short while, but then delivers back to us a child we don't really know. I'm truly looking forward to meeting with the other physician who is more in tune with kids with AS, unfortunately we are still on his waiting list...until this summer. BLAH! Until then, we will continue on the track we are already on. Oh how I wish there was a cure for Autism Spectrum Disprders...maybe not a cure so much, instead, a reason why...why Aaron? why our family? where did it come from? is it something we did? did something happen to him that we were unaware of? This type of ASD is so un-explainable! It is so frustrating for everyone involved! It's so difficult to explain to others, because Aaron looks so "normal" on the outside & he's so loving & gentle...we like to think of him as our little Incredible Hulk...we don't dare make him mad...Aaron isn't so sweet when he turns green & grows 10 ft tall & can take on the world! (at least in his mind) The most frustrating part is the fact that, just as the Incredible Hulk, Aaron can remember nothing that just occured during his tyraid! It's exasperating, but it has become our life, which we have adapted to. Aaron says he wants to be a "brain electrician" when he grows up so he can help other little boys and girls who have problems thinking straight....at least that's this week! Who knows what next week will bring...an infomercial host???