Happy Fourth of July

I admit it, I am a sappy, get-goosebumps-in-any-given-corny-moment, lover of all things passionate and beautiful. Hearing "The Sound of Music" surprisingly played by the Army Band--goosebumps. Birds cast in shadow flying across a twilight blue sky? Goosebumps. The closing scene of a musical production? You guessed it, goosebumps! (and often a tear or two, I just can't help myself!) But today, as we watched the parade downtown and the Active Duty colorguard came up the street...as people stood and applauded or saluted the soldiers or put their hands on their hearts.....well, as my youngest would say, goosebumps times a million!

This was a picture of America. A snapshot of our wonderful country. The street was awash in shades of red, white, and blue: clothing, hats, balloons, streamers, decorations on storefronts, everywhere were the colors of our great nation. This is a holiday that people seem to truly remember exactly what the day means and the freedom this day reminds us we are so blessed to have.


As the four soldiers came marching up Main Street, flags in hand, feet marching in precise unison, the applause that was heard was not deafening. It wasn't the sound of a crazed crowd for a celebrity, nor the sound of screams, hoots, and hollers of fanatic fans at sports games; no, this applause was different, it was powerful, meant to be heard and meant to send those soldiers a message of love and support and thanks for what they do. The applause was deep and loud, and filled the air with such American spirit and pride it was palpable and contagious. One of the most remarkable things was that neither the soldiers holding the flags, nor the soldiers that followed driving the several military vehicles, broke their military attention-aside from an eye contact here and there, or a small nod or wink to a child. The discipline they held upon themselves was incredible to see, and I believe that discipline expressed is what made the reaction of the crowd that much more respectful, passionate, and beautiful. There was one man shouting "Thank you!", (and even that was subdued) but aside from that there were no voices, it was Americans standing together, shoulder to shoulder saying thank you to those Armed Forces personnel; and as I observed this and the quiet reserve of those soldiers, yes-goosebumps times a million, but also tears in my eyes from the pride and love of our wonderful country.

Political parties? Campaign races? For today, we come together to show the world that America stands strong and proud.

My Pepsi Refresh Project!!

Excited doesn't begin to describe how I feel! As some of you know, last year I tried to get my idea--to provide no-contract, prepaid, wireless internet modems plus 2 netbooks to Providence House--approved for the Pepsi Refresh project. I tried for months; each first of the month I'd wait until midnight and start submitting, and each next day I'd find out I wasn't one of the first 1000. Eventually I stopped trying through the Refresh project and created my own facebook page to try and raise the money on my own, as well as educating people about the realities of Domestic Violence.

On a whim last month, I checked the RefreshEverything website one more time, and found that I had arrived on the last day for submissions for July. I hated the thought of finding out I didn't make it again but decided to try just one more time. Imagine my excitement when I got an email saying my idea was initially accepted, and then two weeks later when I got an email telling me my idea had passed the idea approval committee! At 1am on the 1st of this month, I checked the website--I was literally shaking as I clicked the mouse (yea yea, I'm a total emotional dork lol), and...and.......the website was "down" for maintenance. Yes, seriously!!

The day was busy, but I checked my email with my phone while I was out--nothing. I had a quick conversation with someone while I was out about how my life experiences helped me choose my new path and immediately I remembered about the grant and checked my phone again. There was an email from Pepsi Company but nothing from Refresh. Now that was not nice at all if-you-ask-me but really, who's asking, right?

Once home I got real busy real quick with the "Mom's home Mommy Mommy Mommy can I can I can I's", (okay truthfully the kids were really good and not very needy yesterday even with M not feeling well; there my guilt is relieved) then I remembered I needed to check. I looked quickly at my phone and THERE WAS AN EMAIL FROM PEPSIREFRESH . I didn't dare open it on the phone cause, well...if I was going to be disappointed I might as well be sitting at the computer where I could immediately switch over to Facebook for some Bejeweled Blitz therapy. I got on the computer, checked the email and...well at about 4 o'clock did you hear my "YES!!!!!"??

This project is so important to me. I know the importance of safe internet during times of crisis, I know the need for internet access during times of crisis. I've been able to help a couple people over the last year or so with getting internet access, but  I want to be able to help many women have this valuable resource. I can't explain the drive in my heart to get this done; I can only say that Providence House provided us with unconditional support, encouragement, and education during the hardest times of our lives, and this is one small way to begin to give back.

Please help me by voting as often as you possibly can, and by sharing the link with as many people as possible!
 *******CLICK HERE TO VOTE!!*******You will have to create a user id/password, but only to vote and share, they will not spam your inbox. If you have Facebook you can log in with your Facebook info.


Thanks in advance, and....
I'M SO EXCITED!

Story of the World Lapbook link

I asked for help with some lapbooking ideas that were listed as part of our Story of the World lesson plans on Homeschool Tracker ... I didn't get the exact one I was looking for, but thanks to Patty at Shiver Academy , I now have some terrific activities to go along with our SOTW Ancient History Volume 1, and wanted to be sure to share them with you, too.



Run of the Mill Family Blogspot --------> there are tabs on the home page for Story of the World.

Enjoy, I know we will :)

Carnivals

I should have known better, I really should have known. Actually I'll let myself off the hook just a bit because I had not imagined how very crowded it would be at the carnival. For everything else-did I mention yet that I should have known better?

M and her friend had a good time. Two twelve year olds walking around a carnival with a pocket full of tickets--yep, that works for them!  And D was so happy to be away from THE PUNISHER so he had a good time, too, once he found friends to walk around with.

And then there was Zachary. My little Zachary. It was all too much for him upon arrival, but like a trooper and the optimist he insists on being he wanted to go go go. Our first stop was the funhouse; as we started to walk in and he saw the mirrors and windows maze up close, he got scared and wanted to leave. I promised him nothing would jump out or fall or open up. Keeping him held tightly to me, we moved forward. It dawned on me quickly that this was screaming "ROTTEN MOTHER you-couldn't-have-chosen-a-more-antispectrum-thing-if-you-tried!!" but we were almost through the maze with people in front and people behind, so on we went. He became even more apprehensive when we approached the stairs, which appeared dark and ominous-until I realized we were actually seeing them in a darkened mirror; the actual stairs clearly led up to an open air view. I let the way at Z's insistence and, thankfully, all there was at the top was a spiral slide to go down and it was over. I was so disappointed there weren't all the other typical funhouse type things like the rickety bridge or turning hallway, but it was perfect for Z. He got to the bottom and was at once relieved it was over and proud that he did it. He grabbed my hand tightly and on we went; what broke my heart, just a little bit, was I could feel him trembling. I can't begin to describe the feelings that went through me as I felt him shake like that, I was so sad that something that should be fun for him was actually producing loads of anxiety and fear for him, and I was putting him through it.

Next was the food area where I was leading us to get our funnel cake! The game booths were all around the food booths and Z wanted to try any and all of them. I had tried to explain to him, before we left the house, that carnival games are not like those at Chuck E. Cheese's or any arcade and that they are very hard to win, but once there he just wanted to play. We tried the first game and predictably, we lost. It didn't make sense to him-in his mind we would play games and win stuffed animals just like he has seen on tv shows, and when it didn't work like that he got more agitated. This wasn't the case of a spoiled child and please try to keep that in mind the next time you might see a child like Z, especially an older child, upset about something like that-autism might very well be wreaking its havoc. The next game he tried was a basketball game. I explained to him that the balls were bigger than the nets and it was very hard, and I had him promise me he understood he was playing just for fun. We waited at the counter while the teenage boy ahead of him took his shots. The second ball bounced off the wall, hit the counter right in front of Z and slammed onto his mouth. Yes the worry of injury and pain he might feel upset me; however what broke my heart even more than earlier was the look of utter shock and sadness on his face. Thankfully no blood, no fat lip, and he fought back crying and walked right back up to the counter, with the corners of his mouth involuntarily turning down as his wounded soul kept trying to cry. The man behind the counter felt SO bad, he gave him 4 free shots and game him a little Sixer's basketball even with the missed shots; Zachary said thank you and we walked away. We took to steps, he said "Why did this have to happen? I just wanted this to be the best night of my life, why did this have to happen to me?" and began to sob. He stopped crying quickly and for the rest of the night went back and forth between sad and angry; and from that moment of emotional overload he just couldn't keep the optimism going. Everything became too much-the sounds, the shoving, the dodging; I imagine that for him it was like what you see in a film or tv sequence, when they flash at each thing coming at the character, flashing in rapid succession until the character finally runs screaming away. He wanted desparately to get away but, well, I didn't think it was a good idea to leave my other 2 kids there-not to mention my friend's daughter, too! lol.

I did the only thing I could think of, the one thing that I knew you just couldn't do without spirits being lifted--EAT COTTON CANDY. Believe it or not, it worked! A little bit anyway. I must digress just a little bit here by saying that whoever invented cotton candy was a genius. There is pure joy in that bag full of fluff, in that sticky cottony mess on your fingers you have to lick off, and in that hunk of fluffy sweetness that dissolves in your mouth.

Back to the story. By now the slight trembling I had felt in Zachary earlier had turned into shaking, and I held my arm around his shoulders tightly as we walked. He was so unhappy, and then something magical happened: the lights came on all the rides. Rather than being more jolting to him as you might think, the lights blinking to the music became his calming focal points; he found a rhythm to soothe him back to coping mode. That was when we went on the Ferris Wheel. I wasn't going to go on it because the story of the 11 year old falling was still very fresh in my mind, but I decided that-with Zachary asking to go on-if he was going to conquer his fears than I sure as heck better do the same! It really was a beautiful ride and when we stopped at the very top the first time we had a spectacular view of a glowing orange marble of a sun setting on the horizon, with Philadelphia's silhouette in the background.

Walking back to the van, Zachary worked on convincing himself it was a GREAT night. He repeated the good stories of the night, talking about the little basketball and how brave he was in the maze and the ferris wheel ride. He did a good job and did convince himself; I'll keep what I know as my little secret. Okay so writing it all here isn't exactly keeping my secret but well, you know what I mean. ;)  I think that in spite of it being such a difficult night, he progressed-even though I know that he knows what a rough time he had, I also know that he knows he made it through and it turned out okay. Well that was confusing but hopefully you know what I mean there, too.

"Love Big. Hug Freely."

That was the Facebook status post of Hallmark earlier today. In the moments after I read the status, those words told me to embrace every moment and the people that flitter in and out of those moments. Nothing is permanent--allow me to rephrase that: no thing is permanent. Love is truly forever, it is the one essence of ourselves we possess that can be felt forever. To love big is not about worrying about being hurt, or appearing weak; no, to love big is to create a physical presence of soul that can never be taken or removed. I believe the soul does go to rest in a wondrous place after our time on Earth is done; however I also believe that somehow parts of the soul remain. Scientifically it has been proven that human beings produce energy, and energy never disappears--once created it only regenerates. So if we can allow ourselves to love BIG we can know we will leave behind not only memories for those still here, but a presence that our loved ones can feel and pass on to others. Hug freely, let go of those fears, and cherish every fleeting moment as another opportunity to wholly exist.