A Family In Need *St Aubin Family*

I have to admit something readers, I'm at a loss for words. Usually they just flow through me, to be poetic or meaningful, truthful and daring, sometimes even funny. But recently I have been at a loss. You see I have a friend who is very dear to me. She has helped me more times then I can count, she is an inspiration  to me and to others.

But you see this friend needs our help, I want to share with you a few links so you know the story. First I need you to read this post. Its important to the main story of all of this, as to why our friend needs our help. Now you can hop on over to Living with Logan and read her wonderful post.

You see Jackson is set to have major brain surgery in a few weeks. As a mom I can't even imagine what Gina must be going through, but as a mom I also realize that I can do my best to help her and her family with anything possible.

So here is what is happening. We bloggers want pictures, cards, banners, posters, videos anything fun and outrageous sent to the St. Aubin family. We want to totally make Jackson's hospital room over when he is ready for it. We want him to see bright colors and dinosaurs and trains, rainbows and balloons! 

Grab your kids, crayons, markers...and yes posibiliy your wallets and lets do the St. Aubin Family proud!

Send it all here!!

Cards/care packages/ letters:
Special Happens / St. Aubin Family

 9609 S. University Blvd., #630303

 Littleton, CO 80163

There is also a facebook page that you can follow to be updated with all the information of the family you can find it here Jackson's Journey

In addition to that we thought some care packages for Gina's other children and herself and husband would be wonderful gestures, as this is a entire family in need. If you have questions regarding that feel free to message me either here in comments or on my Facebook page.

What I've decided to do is raise some money to send to her family. I am going to do that with my jars with a sales event I'm calling "Jars for Gina"

 

Used as an Example

Proceeds I get from all orders tagged with "Jars for Gina" will go to the family for their expenses in their time of need. Head over to the page Jars By Lisa and lets help this family in need!

Adventures of One Sock *Kickstarter~~ An Update to Perks*

Most of my readers know that right now me and the YuckMouth daddy are knee deep in trying to fundraise for his new book *Adventures of One Sock*

Thanks to some really great friends I have a new list of perks in addition to the ones that will be awarded by the KickStarter fund. They are listed as followed.

Katrina Moody of Kat's Media and More
Is donating -


For donations of $100 or more Katrina will create for you 1 full blog graphic package, with a custom header, blog button, social media icons, etc. Then for the first 5 people who donate $25 or more they will get a social media graphics or blog buttons customized!!

So if you know any bloggers or people who run websites and are looking for a new design share this with them!! Its extremely worth the price and then some!!

Cynthia G of  CGregoryRun
Is donating -

For every donation of $25 or more a barrette that she makes from her wonderful stash!


Myself from Jars By Lisa

Donating -

For every donation $10 or more is offering up either an extra fridge magnet or bookmark

I am super excited for whoever gets a new blog layout!! 

Adventures of One Sock ~~ We Found An Artist!

I'm writing the blog jointly with the YuckMouth Daddy today. We have something special to share with our readers. I actually have a lot to share with you all so expect a lot of blog posts in the next few days.

First of all our search for an artist has proven fruitful! We were searching for someone who wanted to work on this project, that would stay with us ongoing. While I was worried how the new look would clash with the old look, I knew that when we found someone it would just speak to me and the Daddy and especially to Racer. This is after all his book, about him and for all the kids and families of children who have Autism.  So who did we find?

Well her name is Natalie S. I have a small bio about her that I will share.

Natalie Silva is a graphic designer/illustrator with over 4 years of professional experience. She lives in Houston, Texas with her 3 very spoiled dogs. She graduated Suma Cum Laude in 2008 and has since worked on several book covers and various other design projects. She is excited to be illustrating her first ever children’s book. 

You can find more about her on her website www.natalieannsilva.com

I had sent her pictures of Racer and of the dog Rodger and this is the beautiful piece she came up with!

We loved it!! Racer loved it and it was the look and feel I was hoping for! So we are excited and pleased to be working with Natalie S.!!

During all of this we have started a new KickStarter fund to help us raise the money to finish off the second book. We're hoping to have it finished by Racers birthday as this years birthday present for him. Last year we got totally lucky and his book proof actually came on his birthday!

If you are at all inclined to please take a look at the KickStarter fund here. We'd love the support of the community to get this book finished and out on the market! There are a few perks to donating as well, in addition to what goodies you can get by donating on KickStarter I have also created some One Sock gear! 

 Each one of these are fridge magnets with two images from the book. For each $10 donation made to the book you will get your choice of one of these magnets, that includes free shipping!

I can change the colors of the puzzle pieces in the background as well as the letters! But by donating you can earn some free book gear!

I also have bookmark sized ones for every $3 dollar donation. Same look just smaller! So please donate, and share if you can't!  You can check us out on our new Facebook page Adventures Of One Sock and check out the One Sock gear at both the facebook page and also on my jar page Jars By Lisa

We more then anything want to share Racer and Autism with the world! Autism hasn't defeated us it has made us stronger and we want to share this with the world!

Thank you friends and Family and readers! Your support throughout our lives has been a blessing!

Tune In To Monsuno!

A while back I wrote about a new show coming to NickToons, called Monsuno you can read about that here. I've been asked to write another review and seeing as how my kids love the show I jumped at the chance.

Its the classic good vs evil combined with digital monsters! Suitable for both younger viewers like my boys and the older tween set! I've watched a lot of episodes with my kids but its something I know I can put on for them and not have to explain or "explain away" what is going on with the show. With so many "kid" directed shows this is one every mom can be happy with.

If you don't have cable you can catch them online! The NickToons site has lots of the episodes on there!

About “Monsuno”Millions of years ago, “Monsuno,” a living DNA, hitched a ride to Earth in a concentrated asteroid pocket. When it landed on Earth, the impact drove the dinosaurs into extinction. The “Monsuno” DNA lay dormant until a scientist named Jeredy Suno activated it, sending a rippling wave of movement back into action. By doing so, Jeredy may have reignited the end of the world but he also created its salvation, the “Monsuno” monsters. Now, it’s up to his son Chase to learn the secrets of “Monsuno” and help save the world from impending destruction.


Taken from NickToons site

Yesterday, tonight and tomorrow are all new episodes! Make sure you check them out on NickToons 8:30 ET! You can also check out the Facebook page for updates, pictures and toys!

If you've tuned in or have been watching, I'd love to hear your feedback!

Godzilla...Crapzilla? Or I'm Over Thinking Things

Last night I happen to catch the 1998 version of Godzilla on cable,  Racer was awake with me so we both watched it. As I’m watching this movie I remember working on this movie back in the day. Now many people don't realize that this movie was filmed majority in LA and not in New York where the movie is based off.

I remember the many nights watching sets and mini Dinos which were Godzilla's offspring in the movie. The many scary places in LA we worked just so they can get away with it looking like New York. I remember security guards getting sick from buying food from people who lived in the raunchy hotels in LA. I even remember working on the Taco Bell commercial they had for this movie. You know back in the day when food franchises backed Big Budget movies. This taco Bell commercial I didn't have the job babysitting the 2 Taco Bell dogs as I did in my (Life After Wrap) book. I remember people laughing at the fact that the Taco Bell dog was doing a commercial with Godzilla when they would ask what commercial we were shooting.

 I remember doing work on the P Diddy music video for Godzilla. Huge monster movie, huge Food franchise giving tons of promotions and even a huge music artist doing a music video for the film. 

So then I ask myself many times, why did this film flop? Yet 10 years later the movie "Cloverfield" didn't? Both movies are based in New York; both movies had Monsters destroying a bridge and a large Army attack scene. Godzilla had baby raptor looking Dino's attacking at Madison Square garden which was filmed in the sub station over in LA's Persian square. In Cloverfield the creature had little bug like creatures they came off it's body. Cloverfield had JJ Abrams backing the movie while Godzilla had the Boys Dean Devlin and Roland Emmerich who brought us Independence Day. Both movies had trailer that hid both their Monsters from the public eye and not show their entirely til the middle of each movie. Godzilla had named Actors while Cloverfield had unknowns in their movie. Was it the Taco Bell Curse that gave Godzilla such a bad rap that it didn't make any money. If you don't remember Godzilla wasn't the first movie Taco Bell pushed in their promotions, they also had that big promoted push for films like Tim Burton's PLANET OF THE APES,  and even the long awaited Gorilla  movie CONGO, and DEMOLITION MAN all movies that flopped at the Box office. (Even tho Planet of the Apes came out in 2001 it still suffered the Taco Bell curse)

One thing that Cloverfield didn't have that Godzilla did was a Brand. Godzilla has been around for years and many generations have grown up liking the fire breathing creature. Do you think if they kept Godzilla's original look the movie would of been much more successful? Or did the studio ruined Godzilla while JJ Abrams had more say in his making in Cloverfield? 

Both movies I enjoyed watching just Godzilla for me I have a little more attachment working the streets of LA in places you wish never existed. I remember my father (Senior) giving me a piece of the Madison Square Garden that was blown up in the movie, or the little Taco Bell dog from the commercial they gave away after filming which I still have both today. Little Hollywood Treasures like that makes the movie watching experience much more enjoyable knowing I was there when they made this movie come to life.

A Mothers Frustration ~Dear Vice Principal

Dear Vice Principal,

There are a few things I  need you to know. While my son may seem like a behavior problem and that I'm wishful thinking that he has some sort of special need that would explain away his problems. There is an entire back story you don't know about.

While you've only had these problems with him for the last 4 months, we've been dealing with this for the last 3 years. It started in first grade, when he had a teacher who wasn't so firm or strict I'd call her wishy washy. The problems started then and I voiced my opinions when it started getting out of control. We were referred to SST, then we were lied to about missing paperwork, and paperwork that was never filed and then it was well we filed the wrong paperwork because there is new paperwork. Cut to this teacher retiring and now we'll never know the truth.

Second grade, this is the horror story that I wish never was. This is the year the problems got worse, when he was leaving the classroom and running around campus. This is the year his teacher demeaned him in front of his classmates. This is the year that his teacher ripped his Easter Basket and Bunny in front of him and told him he couldn't go to the Easter party. This is also the year that the school finally decided to test him....at the end of the school year mind you. So that the testing would take longer, so that it wouldn't be complete because his new third grade teacher wouldn't know enough about him to fill out her questionnaire about him.  I cried watching a video of the destruction he caused when his paper was ripped up, at the end of that video my son was sitting hiding under a table.

Third grade....this was the year I was hoping for. Finally we'd get Wolverine some help, this was going to be the year EVERYTHING changed. The year started off slowly, he was doing ok in his class then like all previous years it took a steep dive into the previous behaviors. He was sent home 3 days out of the 5 most weeks. There were days he'd never make it to class because he would hide and then walk around campus. Who was watching my son? Who was making sure he was safe in the one place he was supposed to be protected the most in?

The IEP day  came, I wasn't nervous one bit because with all the problems Wolverine was having who would deny him services? I was seriously wrong, I sat in that meeting gap jawed and in shock. Here sat a group of professionals telling me that all of Wolverines problems weren't anything more than a lack of parenting skills. He excelled at 1:1 testing. He's a bright kid they said, you just need to enforce more that he goes to school and to each class. (because you know, we weren't showing him how important it was already)

It didn't matter that his teacher noticed a entirely different change in him when it was time for a change in classrooms. It didn't matter that he was leaving class and running around. It didn't matter even more that he was at or near borderline for DEPRESSION, HYPERACTIVITY, AGGRESSION, ATYPICALITY, WITHDRAWAL AND ATTENTION PROBLEMS.

None of that mattered because he wasn't learning disabled....so it had to be the parents right? It didn't matter that both I and his previous teacher noted the same scores and that Wolverine himself had the same scores as both I and his teacher.

I refused to sign this IEP, I knew they would have to take it back to the district, I knew that I could also ask for outside testing to be done at the cost of the school.

But at home trouble was brewing that most people didn't know about. We were about to be homeless, that 30 day timelime I kept in the back of my head was soon forgotten because we lost our house, we lost our dogs and barely able to move in enough time to have a roof over our heads.


Which brings us to current. Lets see what we already know.

1. We know that further testing was requested by the SpEd district.

2. We know that it was never done, that I was never contacted to have that testing started or done.

3. We moved into your school in Jan, plenty of time for that testing to have been finished. For them to realize
    there was more to Wolverines problems then previously stated.

4. Wolverine in the 5 months he has been at your school he has been suspended 3 times. With this last time coming to a head because you decided to put yourself between Wolverine and the wall. That you have threaten to call the police if that happened again.

But let me tell you what I know, what I know to be true for a parent who already has one child with special needs. Who makes it her life's work to help others, to inform herself of laws and regulations and behavior plans and the ins and outs of an IEP.

1. If Wolverine had been tested earlier for an emotional disability, it would have been found that he has one.

2. Because of that he would have a behavior plan. A plan in place to prevent the issues we are having.

3 He'd have a para, because he is a runner. He will ditch when it gets to much for him. A para would know how to handle this kind of situation. YOU never would have been called in to forcibly remove my son from a classroom.


But here is what I really know, YOU have no idea how to handle a child with a possible special need. YOU have no idea what is and what isn't with a special needs child. The perfect example of this is when you told me "well shouldn't Racer be fine now because we punished his bully?" If you knew ANYTHING about him or Autism you'd know we were dealing with a lot more then just a bully but a frame of mind. But my biggest issue with you.....is the fact that YOU made the decision to put yourself between Wolverine and the wall. YOU put yourself in harms way. YOU have no idea what is going on in his head and YOU have no idea how to handle the situation.

But I promise you that once Wolverine gets his IEP once he's protected and plans are in place to prevent him from getting suspended again and again. That YOU will never have to handle him again.

Sincerely,
Frustrated Mother

Lets Help Harrison! Guest Post By Natalie D.

I have had the honor or meeting some really strong and awesome moms recently! One of them happens to be Natalie D! Here is her story and lets help Harrison!!!




My son Harrison is 5 years old. He has a global developemnet disorder including speech of a 3 year old. After his sisters birth I suffered from blood clots from a c-section i had with my daughter and 4 strokes 3 being TIA's and one big one i can not go back to work . My husbands job just got days cut , so now we are looking at less money for our family .
He needs to see a pediatric specialist for a more formal diagnoses so we can access services which we are currently not eligible for. He also obviously because of his speech delay needs to see a speech therepist. We have used up the speech therepist services the government does provide but he needs more. He is on the waiting list for early intervention and we have been told he will not be getting services until feb 2013. Harrison needs help now. Please help us see Dr Jarman and provide a few sessions with a wonderful speechie we have found for him until Dr Jarmans appointment.

UPDATE! : Harrison has an Appointment made with Dr Jarman on August 9th , The cost of the inital first consult is 350.00 

we would personally like to thank everyone who has helped our son so far , we are very humbled by your support.

If you can donate please follow this link....  Help Harrison