Christmas 2009 will definitely be a Christmas that I will remember for the rest of my life. All because of three little words, “I love you”. Those three words coming from that sweet little boy made time stand still and in those few seconds, God showed me what was possible. I had been staring down a long dark tunnel full of uncertainty and a million questions, and a light broke through. At the time of my oldest sons Autism diagnosis, he only knew a hand full of words. He would say, mommy, daddy and a few family members names and that was it. We were faced with a lot of unanswered questions abou ..read more

Has God ever spoken to you through an 8-year-old and put you in your place? It happened to me the other night. I won’t lie to you, his questions ruffled my feathers. We ended storytime and said our prayers. All of this was over Jonah and the Big Fish. If you have ever had the pleasure of teaching my son in Sunday school or church, you will know his slight obsession with Jonah and the Big Fish. He’s been intrigued by this story from the Bible since the beginning of his time, haha! We are reading through a children’s Bible right now and the stories are going more in-depth than just your regular ..read more

I’m one of those moms that have a love/hate relationship with “back to school”. I’m excited that a new school year is here but super sad at the same time. I’m sad because Summer is over, haha. Summer brings us days of lounging by the pool, binge-watching movies, weekday picnics, staying up late, waking up late and not in a hurry to be somewhere. It brings us much needed rest. Summer can also be a little hard on both the boys. They both genuinely love being at school. They get bored and honestly, there’s just not a lot of wiggle room for me to entertain them all Summer long. They both thrive o ..read more

People are always going to stare. That’s just a fact of life. They could be staring at us in a loving way or staring at us in a rude and ugly way. We’ve seen both. So what’s the best way to handle all the staring? That’s the golden question that seems to be asked by parents who have children that are newly diagnosed. They want to know what they are supposed to do when their kid is on the floor screaming, yelling, crying, hitting, biting, kicking, all the things a public meltdown can bring. Let that sink in for just a moment. These parents that are new on their journey are worrying about what ..read more

My sweet, smart, silly, talkative, energetic, strong-willed boy. I watched you spin out of the church today talking 90 miles an hour about the fun you had at VBS. I look at you and see this big ball of energy. You are a force to be reckoned with. You and I butt heads daily. When you were a toddler, it was all day every day of a never-ending argument with you. I would often have to remind myself that I am the adult and I am in charge. You like things your way and will stop at nothing to get it. That is until I threaten to take all your legos and dump them in the trash. That is how I get your a ..read more

I’ve read a few articles that say, autism moms, have similar stress to combat soldiers. As a military spouse, I could never compare my life with that of a combat soldier, but I do understand what the articles are trying to say. Special needs parents also don’t like to talk about their own problems. Being a special needs mom is absolutely stressful and for me, anxiety started creeping into my life not long after my second child was born. Because I didn’t feel depressed I didn’t mention it to the doctor. I thought what I was feeling was normal for the life that I had. My husband is in the milit ..read more

I was sitting on the couch this morning reading through my morning Bible study. Drinking coffee while my 8-year-old son and 2-year-old daughter are howling like wolves because they have made a wolf pack. My giant 13-year-old son comes thudding loudly down the stairs. He flops himself down on the couch and puts his head in my lap. We look at each other and I say to him “They’re acting crazy aren’t they?” he looks back at me and giggles a little. I look at my other two wildlings, look back at him and I’m thinking about how early I have to wake up to get myself and these three kids ready for chur ..read more

Christmas 2009 will definitely be a Christmas that I will remember for the rest of my life. All because of three little words, “I love you”. Those three words coming from that sweet little boy made time stand still and in those few seconds, God showed me what was possible. I had been staring down a long dark tunnel full of uncertainty and a million questions, and a light broke through. At the time of my oldest sons Autism diagnosis, he only knew a hand full of words. He would say, mommy, daddy and a few family members names and that was it. We were faced with a lot of unanswered questions abou ..read more

Has God ever spoken to you through an 8-year-old and put you in your place? It happened to me the other night. I won’t lie to you, his questions ruffled my feathers. We ended storytime and said our prayers. All of this was over Jonah and the Big Fish. If you have ever had the pleasure of teaching my son in Sunday school or church, you will know his slight obsession with Jonah and the Big Fish. He’s been intrigued by this story from the Bible since the beginning of his time, haha! We are reading through a children’s Bible right now and the stories are going more in-depth than just your regular ..read more

I’m one of those moms that have a love/hate relationship with “back to school”. I’m excited that a new school year is here but super sad at the same time. I’m sad because Summer is over, haha. Summer brings us days of lounging by the pool, binge-watching movies, weekday picnics, staying up late, waking up late and not in a hurry to be somewhere. It brings us much needed rest. Summer can also be a little hard on both the boys. They both genuinely love being at school. They get bored and honestly, there’s just not a lot of wiggle room for me to entertain them all Summer long. They both thrive o ..read more