LoveLeigh Miscellaney

Hi to everyone!

*Had a wonderfully great scrapbooking kind of weekend.  I was able to get 11 pages done.

*I am doing my first 5K run on April 16th!!!!  The Downriver Dash is raising monies to help w/ child and family programs at The Guidance Center, this is a wonderful place and I'm doing this to help support because they have helped in our transition of understanding my ADHD son and helping him succeed in everyday life.

*My little 6 year old, isn't much into music, not sure why because myself and his dad are big music listeners.  So this morning on the way to my mom's house, I said, "wanna hear some music?"  Odd question because he always asks for us to turn it down or off.  He says, "no" then says, "actually do you have Michael Jackson?"  I just smiled I am big huge fan of MJ music, so I found OFF THE WALL in the visor and we jammed all the way to grandma's. 

*I watched 4 movies this weekend, it was great because I don't get alot of time to watch movies and relax w/out someone calling for me to help them w/ something.
-Grown Ups                       :O) :O) :O) :O) :O)             

-Last Song                          :O) :O) :O) :O)          

-Message in a Bottle            :O) :O) :O) :O) :O)      

-Yogi Bear                          :O) :O) :O) :O)

Time to Earn

I'm trying to get it together w/ my son and his ADHD.  I've tried so many things, it was looking up.  It's going back to how it was before with his aggression coming back.  I know that I need to limit his time on anything electronic.  I was at the dollar store yesterday and came across this spinner.  It gave me an idea......

I thought I can regulate how much he plays.  He has to prove himself in order to play his gaming. I woke up very early for a Saturday morning and decided I wanted to get this new project done.

I figured while I had the help I would have him punch out all the circles.  When he earns a spin, he will do just that; spin.  Whatever number he lands on is what he gets.  It ranges from 30 mins to an hour.  I'm sure he'll be praying for #5 each time he spins, thats the ULTIMATE REWARD!

Does he fully understand the rules of this, I hope so for our (mom & dad) sake.  He's probably going to raise a fit but that's what happens.  I can stick to it, it'll be dad that I'm worried about.  Not sure how much time he has on all these devices a day, but its alot, so he is going to be very limited.  There will even be days he gets nothing, this will help him understand good behavior and choices gets a spin.  If not, "No Spinny For YOU!"

The boy will survive and we will too, just coming up with new ideas on how to handle those bad moments are tough.  So I'm willing to try anything, we'll start this tomorrow.  Have you had this experience?  What are things you've done to reward your child for good behavior?  I don't want to focus so much on the bad.

Have a nice weekend, its a cold snowy one here!
Edited on 1/31/11 @ 453pm:
The boy had an awesome 2 thumbs up kind of day at school.  I guess he talked all the way home about how he gets to spin.  His 1st spin and he gets 2 hours, your choice.  He was so happy I guess, Dad got to do it with him, he has 5 minutes left to play, hope Dad follows the rules.  I'll be home in 30 minutes.

Into the 8th Day

Well here we are on the 8th day of the new year. I haven't been around much, taking care of family stuff and trying not to pull my hair out, so far I haven't.

I'm wide awake and its just after midnight, I typically am in bed around 830 or 9 at night. Tonight though I thought I would blog a bit. Its been since October since my last post. I want to get back to blogging again. I really enjoy it and shouldn't let the things that I like slip by the way side. I'm a dork I know but its fun. I've done that too many times in the past 8 1/2 years. Your probably like wow, you can really determine when things started to change. Well sure, it's simple I fell in love!

So tonight I've changed my layout and created a new banner so its new and fresh.

Mostly I wanted to share some things that I did in 2010. I've got photo's too :O) because you know my camera stays in my purse; you never know what might happen or c'mon my son turned 6 and he still experiences the first time he ever_______.
So my pictures may have been posted before but who cares right, if they're reposted it must of been pretty special or just a fav.

I started blogging in January 2010 to give some inspiration to other scrapbookers, but found that I was GETTING lots of inspiration from my fellow crafters. I even make cards now.
This post might be long, but I don't have anything else going on at the moment. Like I said, I'm wide awake the boy is sleeping and the "non-husband" isn't home, he's out with some friends. Speak of the devil he just walked in the door.
This past year delivered some good & bad and it gave me some answers.

I hadn't had a car pmt since 2008, unfortunetely I was also going on being w/out a car for 2 years. Dumb! Why? It broke down and the rest is too long to explain. I did not enjoy being driven by Bill's mother each morning and sometimes driven home too. It wasn't cool at all, helpful and thankful however. Not that I'm concerned w/ being cool, but that was just very uncool. I did finally get a car in October, I'm sportin' a '06 Ford Fusion.
Life has been so much better since having a car again. Having that freedom to drive off on my own is wonderful, oh I forgot to mention that Bill has a stick shift and I couldn't drive it, and he wouldn't teach me, not cool again.

Let's see I went to Key West with my sisters, mom and aunt in April and it was awesome to say the very least.
Good times were had of course, lots of laughs, gettin' on each other nerves, many cold, cold beers and plenty of food, and layin' by the pool. I started an album of that trip that I've gotten probably 85% of it done.
When I thought I was done I realized I didn't have some pictures and was totally bummed because I thought I was going to get to complete an entire album on a scrap weekend trip. That was another trip I took w/ my sister and our friend Corrina. That trip is always a must at least once a year. It's in northern Michigan its at a place called Harold's Resort in Traverse City off of Spider Lake.
We have a blast each time, just scrapping away. Kathy is the lady that runs the resort and does these weekenders in the off season and she is just wonderful and I would consider a friend now. I think that I've done the trip at least 5 times. She feeds us well too, its amazing the food she has, especially the stuft french toast. Oh man I start looking forward to that weeks before its time to go. Its that good!
Another small trip we took was in May to the Tulip Festival in Holland, Mi.
I've always wanted to go and finally I made it there. It was unfortunetely cold and the tulips weren't doing so well. Bill wasn't impressed, Lucas was mildly impressed. He was all about the hotel and pool.
His first time at a hotel.....see the first are always there. On our way home we stopped in Marshall, Mi for a visit to Turkeyville USA. We had heard about this place like 7 yrs ago and we finally made it. We came home a different route so that we could hit it up. It was really good, Bill was satisfied with this.
When he describes it to people he always says, " you know in Forrest Gump when they are talking about all the different shrimp? Shrimp scampi, shrimp kabobs, shrimp salad etc, well thats how it is at Turkeyville.....turkey dinner, turkey corndogs, turkey hamburgers!" Its so funny.
I made many and plenty of trips to Kentucky another long story, only thing tellin' about that is that I've done that trip (5 hrs down & 5 hrs back up) there and back in one day at least 3 times. That doesn't count the times I stayed for a weekend. Or my other family members did the trip there and back. Yikes! I'll just say it involved my neice Shelby and she is very loved by us. lol
I almost forgot about the dreaded annual canoe trip. It is and will always be hell for me.
Photo above bad canoe trip, photo below good canoe trip (its for the day only :O)


Lucas started 1st grade and at a new school.
Its been rough, but things are looking up. He has been labeled ADHD. I have accepted that and want to do what I can to make him wanted and accepted by family, friends and just everyday people that come into contact with him. He's adorable, smart and just fun. He deserves good things and things are looking up. His dad wasn't for medication but sometimes dammit you need to try something new to see if it will help. It has and his dad is thankful now on the route that we've chosen. My boy's therapist is wonderful, she really helps him learn new ways to focus, and helps us understand what he's going through. Yea, and my son has a crush on her too. Amazing!
We are still learning and making way to a better life for him, but there are still some bridges we need to cross. We'll get there, I've learned about patience the past 6 months.

OOh, my mom turned 60, haha! That's bogus isn't it not her age, but me laughing about it. We through her a party and it was Detroit Tigers themed.
She loves them and it was fun to dress in that gear and all guest did too.

This is all so random and scattered....we met up with some wonderful neighbors from the old neighborhood where I grew up.
Mom still lives there. Lots of reuniting on this past year with old neighbors/friends. I even got to join a "book club" haha the Black Dagger Brotherhood, and again haha.
Even though I've only made it through book 2. I <3 Rhage! I have a crazy feeling that I just might love Zsadist!!!! What book is he again?




Damn, I've hit that post button twice. Guess I should add the pics and stop talking about 2010 and move on cuz 2011 is here and I've got another 357 days to go. Have a wonderful year and keep blogging and following, I look forward to seeing what you've created. I love comments!

Blog at'cha later!

P.S. The pic below could have, wait did make the top 3 best things of 2010! The return of Roka Blue!!!!

FF

Hi everyone, Yay its the weekend! I hope that you are fortunate enough to have Saturdays and Sundays off. It gives me something to look forward to every week

Here is my FF this week. Last year we took the boy camping and he had a blast, met some boys around his age, fished, played, had a leach on his ankle, got to be in the Noise Parade. It was a good weekend.


On a side note, I've had to make some changes for a little bit at work. My son is struggling so much at school, and as I announced a couple of post back he is ADHD. We have decided to put him on medication and until that happens I've decided to go part-time at work. I HOPE this gives him what he needs to make it through the school day. He was only at school one day this week. November 1st I'll be back to my regular schedule hopefully. I can't really afford to not bring home a 40 hour check. Its a sacrifice I made to stand by my child and do what is finally right for him.

Have a good weekend, enjoy and create if you have time. I'm going to try!

Answers this evening

I am anxious to leave work today. Thankfully my boss said I could leave earlier then normal. We take our son back to the counselor today and will be re-opening his case to find new ways to handle his ADHD/ODD. She had recommended meds before and he did go see the doctor for an evaluation and Dad said no. I could have died, I've known for some time now that would be what our son needed to get through a day of school, or a visit w/ family. He is so stupid, and now he is practically begging for the little man to be on something. It's a shame but I want to scream at him and tell him "I told you so!"

Well the time has come and we can get the proper help for the little man. I do believe life will be better, and my son will be able to fit in. He is 5 and I often think about getting him into karate, soccor, church even, but terrified of his behavior. To often he is let down because we don't return, so now I am hoping that I can sign him up for stuff and he not be labeled as that problem child. He truly is sweet, but it gets overlooked all the time, by everyone.

Here is a pic of my little man, I just look at him and I know that he is something GREAT! But that's enough I want everyone to know that he is something GREAT!

It happens so much that he isn't included fun outings, because of his behavior. That isn't fair. Look at him playing in the water, guess what he was so good that day, anytime we take him there actually. I want him to be included, I want friends to last, I want adults to enjoy being around him. I'd like him to be invited someplace for once. Instead of us always having to do the inviting.

I believe alot of answers will be answered tonight. I also believe some things are going to take time to happen. I've waited this long and so has he, we will get through this.

I'm a mom w/ a son that has ADHD.....

......ok so I've said it. It's not a bad thing, right? Of course not. How silly for me to think such a thing. I have been foolish for a minute about it, but I'm not any longer. I am taking over and will create a better life for my son.

So this is way off from my regular postings that have to do with papercrafting. At times I sway to another subject. Life isn't only about scrapbooking!

So here's a little history of my life w/ my son. My son is 5 and will be 6 in November. He is an only child. We as parents love him very much and in very different ways. We are total opposites when it comes to beliefs, and that creates many, many problems. I know what is right for my son, his dad is quite ridiculous when comes to doing whats right. The problem is "what is right and what is wrong in this particular situation?" HE BELIEVES SO STRONGLY IN NO MEDS APPROACH. But has done not a damn thing in 6 months to help his only child cope with this. He as the dad now realizes that his son needs a chance at being a good student, a well behaved child, that others want to be around. Our son has been labeled by his teachers, the entire school, family and friends, nobody gives him a chance. 6 months ago we learned that he is ADHD.

He is now in the 1st grade and boy has he kept me runnin'. He has struggled since pre-school, it only gets worse. He needs help, I need help, his dad needs help. He needs it in the sense that he needs to be able to focus, have fun, understand and he needs help with his self control. I need help because I can't do this alone, I lean towards my mom, not the father of my child, I have the view that isn't a good one when it comes to dad. And well dad needs alot of help, he is so self absorbed and ignorant that I'm not sure what will come of this.

This doesn't need to be a hard life for our boy. I realized today while driving to go pick him up from school for misbehaving our smart, loving boy can't help the misbehaving he has no self control whatsoever. He has a condition that hasn't been handled properly. How can I continue to punish him, when he is so confused and unsure of what to do. He is 5, have we been to tough on him? Have we created a bad child because we were grounding him, taking toys away etc? Not sure really. Its important to distinguish between being bad and not having control to do whats expected. My same question comes up again, did we over do the discipline?

I'm going to be there for my son, listen to him better, and get him the help that he needs to maintain a good focused life. He is quite brilliant, cute as a button, fun and very loving, I don't want to confuse him any longer. I will research more then I have and read blogs to get maybe a better outlook at what other parents go through. How they handle they're experiences with ADHD. My son wants to be understood and loved like the rest of us!