This camper is headed off to summer camp... sleep away camp! Ohmygod I'm nervous. This is a first for us. But it's going to be great. We've got this. We've done the research and chatted with our friend, Mabels Labels, Julie Cole. Julie shared her expert packing tips and some valuable "camp for newbie parents" insights. Grab your flashlight and some bug spray and let's do this! *** Mentioned in this episode: Julie Cole Talii Towels Julie Cole’s Ultimate Guide to Camp-eBook *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery). Read more and find ..read more

Content Warning: I share some unpleasant/hateful comments left on our Instagram page. This is not what we had planned for our 100th episode. In fact, I had a really creative and "inspiring" episode planned. But for the reasons mentioned in this episode, it didn't happen. So here we are. Please enjoy this episode where we share a few things learned throughout the course of 100 episodes. And I try to stay on topic. Maybe I'll finally master that by our 200th episode. :) *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery). Read more and find the t ..read more

For Rare Chromosome & Gene Disorder Awareness Day I put on my scientist hat (I'm not a scientist... I barely passed high school chemistry class!) and share... in VERY basic terms... what we've learned about chromosomes and genes and how it all relates to rare genetic disorders like Avery's. *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery). Read more and find the transcript for this episode at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠averybrightlife.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. And, come chat with us on social! No seriously, c'mon over! It's fun there. Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@LisaThornbury ..read more

Avery's big brother aka "Bruh" talks about growing up with a sibling who has disabilities. He also shares how he views the future as a 'lion hearted' trustee in Avery's Microboard. *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery). Read more and find the transcript for this episode at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠averybrightlife.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. And, come chat with us on social! No seriously, c'mon over! It's fun there. Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@LisaThornbury⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠aVERY Bright life⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Questions or Partnership Inquiries: averybr ..read more

In this ode to Mother's Day and Nurse's week, I share how my mom was the original mama bear (I learned from the best) and talk about nurses and their "secret magic." I also over-share why my husband had to take a flashlight to my undercarriage. ? Avery independently recorded and edited her own jokes this week and recorded a brief segment on what she loves about her mom. ? *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery) Read more and find the transcript for this episode at ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠averybrightlife.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. And, come chat with us on social! No s ..read more

If you have a child with developmental disabilities, you might want to check out cheerleading. This sport is active, accessible, inclusive, empowering, highly social, and a lot of fun. In this episode we talk about our experience with cheer and Avery hops on to explain what she loves about this sport. This episode was prerecorded and will air on the day Avery's team competes at the World Cheer Competition in Florida. Go Team Canada!! *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery) Read more and find the transcript for this episode at ⁠⁠⁠⁠av ..read more

I'm feeling a little "meh" lately. Not happy, not sad. Just flat. Maybe you can relate? *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery) Read more and find the transcript for this episode at ⁠⁠⁠averybrightlife.com⁠⁠⁠. And, come chat with us on social! No seriously, c'mon over! It's fun there. Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠@LisaThornbury⁠⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠⁠aVERY Bright life⁠⁠⁠ (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Questions or Partnership Inquiries: averybrightlife@gmail.com Have a comment, question, episode suggestion or just want to say hello? We’d love to hear fro ..read more

I don't love talking about the dark stuff. But I feel like the more we know, the better prepared we are to protect our vulnerable kids. *Content Warning—not for younger or sensitive listeners. *** This podcast was recorded in Garageband and edited by Lisa Thornbury (with assistance from Avery) Read more and find the transcript for this episode at ⁠⁠averybrightlife.com⁠⁠. And, come chat with us on social! No seriously, c'mon over! It's fun there. Instagram: ⁠⁠@LisaThornbury⁠⁠ Facebook: ⁠⁠aVERY Bright life⁠⁠ (formerly Forever In Mom Genes) Questions or Partnership Inquiries: averybrightlife@gmai ..read more

We're reposting an old episode this week. Mama's got a sore throat and sounds like a toad, so Avery is helping out with the intro. Please enjoy this happy little episode from 2021. *** Hey! It's Sponge Lisa Tight Pants here. We spongey empath types tend to soak up the vibe around us so when the world is hurting, we hurt too. So, in an effort to avoid dwelling on the dark and heavy feelings, we're trying to highlight some of the bright, fluffy, happy, cute things that are all around us.  Based on the popular and positive TikTok trend where people are listing the little inconsequential thin ..read more

Kelley wrote the book we've all needed! It's going to become a go-to handbook for so many parents. I wish there had been something like it when we were starting out on our disability parenting journey. I felt pretty alone and lost back then (and still feel that way from time to time, even now). This book is going to spare so many parents from that feeling. I hope you'll have a listen to this longer than usual episode. We talk about the book, get to know more about Kelley (spoiler alert: she's awesome), and connect over our mutual love of tacos and to-do lists. Visit Kelley here: kelleycoleman ..read more