My friend Leah is having a contest for 3 lovely Christian books for little ones, so stop by her blog here & check it out! The contest ends Aug 22.

My sweet blogging friend, Vania at Mama's Oasis, was kind enough to give me this award. I have to say, the last thing I ever thought this blog would be called would be "brilliant"!  Thank you for your kindness, Vania. I pray the Lord uses this blog for His purpose & glory.

Here are the rules:

1 - The winner can put the logo on their blog.
2 - Link to the person you receive the award from.
3 - Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
4 - Put links to those blogs on yours.
5 - Leave a message on the blogs that you nominated.

I know not all bloggers like dealing with awards, & tags, etc. I find them a fun "break" of sorts. Tags can be done as wanted, awards are a nice way of knowing your blog has made some sort of impact. So I will nominate some folks, & they can do with it what they would like.

Here are my nominations (several are fellow autism & special needs mommies):

1 -  Karla at Let's Get Real
2 - Janne at Janne's Jabberwocky
3 - Christina at The Perils of Parenting
4 - Denise, at Our Adoption Journey
5 - Dawn, at My4sweetums
6-  Leah, at Ponderings From My Heart
7 - Donna, at Lottahugs

Enjoy!

It's July 20th, so I figured it was time to replace the June calendar on this blog... I seriously doubt anyone cared much, or perhaps didn't even notice (nor did I), but I am now no longer calendar challenged.

We'll see how I do next month...

My friend Leah tagged me, & even though my answers will probably be very boring I figured I'd go ahead with it!

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

Ten years ago I was taking care of a 2 month old Storyman & a 3-1/2 year old Big Guy (I have pictures to prove they were that little once). We were living in a rental home & were about a year away from buying our first home. Walls were starting to break down that would lead to my salvation the following year.

2. My Favorite Snacks

Nothing I can actually eat!
I do enjoy goat's milk yogurt, & La Loo's goat's milk ice cream
Love goat's milk cheese (sense a theme?)
Fruit
Newman's Own fig bars (they come in wheat free)

3. Five Things On My To-Do List Today

1. Prepare the remedies & supps as usual for everyone, & do laundry
2. Get roasts in crock pot
3. Homeschool AM through early afternoon
4. Make a shopping list for pick up on Friday
5. Prepare lesson plans for next week

4. Things I Would Do If I Were A Billionaire

I would put all my kiddos on the homepathic treatments that Big Guy & Little Guy are on, & myself as well.
I would plan & build up a community for Christians with autistic children where we could all help & support one another & have an "autism friendly" homechurch together.
I'd make a fund for parents who couldn't afford treatments for their autistic children & make sure they all had a chance for recovery.
I'd adopt special needs children, autistic in particular, & put them all on special diets & natural treatments & insure a safe future for all of them.
Those are my own desires, but I would also give wherever the Lord led.
And Leah, I'd also own goats & have someone to milk & care for them for us too; great idea!

5. Five Jobs I've Had

1. Cashier in a supermarket
2. Babysitting
3. Microfilm superviser
4. Ad Agency Secretary/Receptionist
5. Legal Secretary

Best Job I've had - Stay at home homeschooling MOMMY!! I wouldn't trade it for anything!

6. Five Places I've Lived

Been in the same state all my life - boring!

7. Five Random Things People Wouldn't Know About Me

1. I'm a curriculum junkie (trying to reform).
2. I'm backed up on organizing pictures by almost a year.
3. I save too many things (trying to reform, in some areas).
4. I'm very sentimental, especially where my kids are concerned.
5. I like playing Zingoes Pop in Webkinz world to unwind now & then!

8. Five CDs That I'd Have To Take On A Desert Island

Can't say, really... I'd rather have my laptop!

9. People I Tag Are...

Denise
Dawn
Karla

I was tagged by my friend at Our Adoption Journey. The rules are:

1. Write the title to your own memoir using 6 words.
2. Post it on your blog.
3. Link to the person that tagged you.
4. Tag 5 more blogs.

Here's my memoir title:

Living and Learning On The Spectrum

Unique, huh?

I tag whoever is interested! Please leave me a comment & let me know if you decide to do the tag!

For all my new visitors I felt like I should point out that I didn't create my blog, I had a fellow homeschoolblogger, RugbyHS, put it together for me. Unfortunately she's been recovering from an illness & is not working on blogs right now . I do hope she'll be back at it soon; she's wonderfully talented! I have picked at it since; she made it pretty easy for me to follow so I don't think I've done any damage (or anything she couldn't "clean up" for me!).

Anyway, for all complimenting my blog, thank you & it's thanks to Rhonda that it looks this nice!

5 Minutes For Mom are hosting their annual blog party. I've been coming across this on several of my friend's blogs so I decided, okay, why not? It's a party I can actually attend since I don't have to leave the house!

Here's my introduction: I'm Michele, a Christian, stay at home, homeschooling, mommy of 6, married almost 18yrs. Big Guy, 13-1/2, my oldest, is severely autistic. You can read his story here. Storyman & Butterfly are much higher functioning, but definite spectrum issues. My Little Guy, 2-1/2, is also more severe. I haven't written up his full story yet but bits & pieces are everywhere here. I have the most adorable little 7m old twin girls - my Ladybugs. Current pictures of everyone are here.

I hope you will visit me for a while, & check out my categories on Autism, Vaccines, Homeschooling, Kids & Fun, Family Life, Animals etc, & leave me a note so I can visit you too!

Two years ago today I set up a blog here at HSB - Happy 2nd Blogging Anniversary to me!

Two years ago today my Little Guy was only 4 months old. Now he's 2 years old & I have 4 month old twins.

Two years ago my Butterfly was only 3; now she's 5, with 6 fast approaching.

Two years ago my Storyman was 7; now he's 9. Early next year he'll be 10 years old - two children in double digits!

Two years ago my Big Guy was 11; now he's a "teenager" (if only in chronological age; not developmentally or otherwise).

I started the blog for a few reasons. I always loved writing & this was a nice, low key way of enjoying that outlet for myself again.

It also seemed like a great way to share pics of the kiddos & family happenings with those we don't see much.

It's a bit more of an "outreach" now ... a way to share our blessings & the way the Lord is working in our lives. I hope that I always give Him the glory for anything that does happen to get done, give Him the glory for this family & all that He's given us, for His help in the treatment & healing of these children He's given me (His children).

I thank Him for the opportunity & blessing to be able to educate others about autism, the various causes, treatments, effects on the child & the whole family, society, & of course, to share our personal journey.

Now & then I get personal emails that tell me this is reaching others, touching others' hearts, especially those who feel no one understands. They come here & feel understood, I hope, because there are others out there like them.

Someone recently told me she felt my blog is a ministry, in particular regarding warning about vaccines & toxins, etc. I do know the Lord can use us all in many different ways, if we keep ourselves open to it. I pray I can bless others here, somehow, some way.
For now, with His blessing & guidance, I'll keep on blogging!              

Thank you, Faithful Grace, for this very nice award. I am always glad to hear the blog is helping people.  Now & then I get personal emails from people who have gathered info or support they needed, so I do hope it continues to bless others.

Eric Novak started this award, here are the rules:

Rules:

1. Awarded parties must nominate five people who have not received the award.

2. The blogs that receive the award must serve some purpose.

3. In their post about the award they need to link back to this entry.

4. Awarded parties must post the award banner on their site. The banner must remain linked to this site.

Janne A Southern homeschooling mom of 9 with children of varying special needs; lots of great & varied info as well as personal experiences.

denisebp Beautiful family; inspiring adoption stories.

Eclectic Education Lots of great information & homeschooling resources here.

Hearts For Family Great Christian blog; full of excellent thought provoking posts.

A4GivenSinner A very personal purpose & trial; strength in faith. There's a definite purpose for all going on here.

Enjoy!

I received this very sweet  "award" from my friend Mommaofmany recently:



The feeling is mutual! Thank you very much & for your very nice words about my blog!  

I think the protocol is to pass it along, which is always very hard to do because I love all my blogger friends.

KarlaKAkins  is a special mom with special needs autistic twins. She's a grandma, a pastor's wife, & she rides a motorcycle! She's been such a support & prayer warrier for me.

quietcajun  is a wonderful mom of 5 with some beautiful kiddos, & she's also parenting children with special needs, particularly higher functioning autism. She has a beautiful blog & is a sweet friend.

Vanna  is not just a blogger friend but an "in person" friend, although now we're states apart - gotta love email!. She's probably the truest friend I've ever known. She's got some great curriculum reviews on her blog!

shoppernumber6   is also a friend outside of blogger land, although not in person, but in "Yahoogroup land". She's a mom of 6 with twins of her own! Her son is Storyman's pen pal, & they make each other little books. He just loves it!

Well, you're all great in my book, but again I love all my blogger friends so God Bless you all for sharing your lives & being so supportive & encouraging!

I've been tagged!

My nice blogger & Yahoogroup friend LadyM tagged me. I've seen this one going around & have enjoyed reading them.

Here are the rules:

*Link to the person that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog.

*Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself. 

*Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

*Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

7 random and/or weird facts about me. My husband was getting ready to go to work when I asked him to help provide me with these & he said he "didn't have time". Being he laughed when he said it I'll take it that's not such a good thing (& that he was responding to the word "wierd")...

1. I bring hand sanitizer with me everywhere & keep some in the van for me & the kids.

2. I like peanut butter on bananas (& got Storyman liking it too).

3. I prefer to do the driving everywhere (for good reason - sorry dear! ).

4. I like making my own cards, address labels, & stickers.

5. There's a lot I would love to do with & for my kiddos but can't due to autistic limitations & this often makes me sad...

6. I internet shop (even for food) & do Ebay buying & selling.

7. My main "purse", for years, has been a diaper bag.

Storyman wanted to add that I have long curly hair, have babies a lot, ride in a giant car, & like taking pictures for my blog. By the way, you're tagged darling!

I will tag the following people for if they'd like to "play":

KarlaKAkins
quietcajun
Grace Academy
Storyman
KayinPa
educatingmummy
MommylovesRJ

My  sweet blogger friend "friends4tea" (sorry, her blog is password protected), blessed me with this award! Thank you SO much; that was incredibly NICE of you, friends4tea!  I'm sure I don't deserve this one...

Anyway, in keeping with tradition, I will pass this along. Now, ALL my blogger friends are nice, or I wouldn't be friends with them! So technically this gets passed along to everyone.

Here are 5 top picks:

Vanna - She's in the process of moving at the moment, but I will let her know she's receiving this. If you knew her you'd know why!

KarlaKAkins - I just gave her the Blogger Reflection Award & I absolutely must pass this one along as well!

quietcajun - What a sweet, talented lady & a beautiful family!

RugbyHS - She's responsible for the beauty of my blog; what a great job she did. She's going through a rough time right now, & could use prayers.

"Friends4Tea" - She's getting this right back!

And of course, to ALL my blogger friends, who are SO NICE!

I've been generously given the Blogger Reflection Award twice now, once by my friend quietcajun a while ago, & most recently by my friend DanielleW. I want them both to know how much I appreciate it & that I apologize for the delay in acknowledging it.

Even though my blog has a lot of personal stuff & things that are just for fun, I do hope some of it can be a blessing to others. I also hope I'm not portraying myself as better then I am, because there are many daily struggles & lots of imperfections, but then that's why I chose the title "I Can Do All Things... Phi 4:13", & that is why it's my life verse. I can't do anything without Him, & the little I do get done I can only give Him the credit for. I could do a lot more but it requires connecting with my Savior on a daily basis, something I'm often neglectful of & need to work at changing. So there it is.

The protocol is to pass this award along to, I believe, 5 other bloggers, so here goes...

KarlaKAkins - She's my hero  & very often my prayer warrier... She has 5 children & her twin boys have autism. She's a teacher, a grandmother, a pastor's wife, & she rides a motorcycle! You've got to read her blog & see the pictures - she's awesome!

Tiany - I know she's probably received this award before, as many of my blogger friends have & it's well deserved. Her blog is inspirational & challenging. She has the most adorable children!

Jedi4Sweet - Her upbeat attitude in the face of many challenges never ceases to amaze me. She has a deep love for her Savior & everyone around her & she is definitely shining her light in the world for Him!

Janne - She's a Southern mom of 9 children, many with varying degrees of special needs. She's faced & continues to face many challenges & meets them head on with an honesty & sense of humor that is refreshing. Her blog is inspirational & entertaining!

momofsix - She's a newer friend of mine & I'm so glad to know her. The title of her blog is "Homeschooling while on my knees" & that to me, says it all. There a humbleness & humility to her & she knows it's only through the Lord that we can get anything done. As a new mom of 6 myself I will check in with her often!

I have to also give it back to my friends quietcajun & DanielleW, because I always enjoy their blogs & am privileged to call them my friends.

Blessings to all my blogger friends - you're ALL incredible!!

Michele

I had to finally comment on the changes they've made to supposedly "improve" HSB. I've waited to see if they would iron out a lot of the issues, but it seems like it's not getting better.

 

My vote is they should take the time to put it BACK the way it was!

 

Thankfully, I haven't had as much trouble with my blog as many others, several of whom have left HSB for easier to navigate blog sites. The only reason for that is I had my blog professionally done. If it had been my own codes, etc, I'd have left a long time ago as well.

 

However, I cannot get my blog entries to take spacing. My previous post has been edited many times & I've put spacing in several times just for it not to be saved for whatever reason. So entries are not as easy to read nor do they look as nice.

 

Many of my HSB friends have either left or are extremely quiet at the moment, hoping things will be "fixed" soon. I hope that HSB will take seriously the amount of complaints about the changes they've made, & go through great measures to fix the site back to it's user-friendly state.

 

In the meantime, I've considered beginning another blog elsewhere as well as things have changed so much here & unfortunately not for the better. I'm waiting though, & not going anywhere just yet. If I do I will post the new site.

 

That's my $.02 on the HSB "situation"...

I had a nice comment in my previous post that they noticed it was my birthday in my profile. Actually, looking closely the actual date in my profile is Dec 22, 2005, which would make me 1yr old!

 

I obviously did not enter my actual birthday, however, today IS my 1st anniversary of blogging here at Homeschool Blogger!

 

Looking forward to lots more blogging to come...

TA DAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The new & improved “I Can Do All Things...Phi 4:13” blog is complete!

 

How in the world did I do it?  The time efficient way: I *hired* someone to do it!

 

Many, many thanks to Ronda, my friend at RugbyHS, for her time, expertise, & creativity in putting this together from scratch for me! Don’t go anywhere Ronda, there will be questions (there have been already!).

 

It probably took me two weeks to decide on a set & Ronda pretty much took it from there. She has a great way of visualizing, & even though I was not able to do the same, I blindly trusted as she led the way. It was definitely the right thing to do!

 

This webset was “me”. Roses are my favorite flower. The rocking chair porch (even though I don’t have one), is definitely my thing. The whole comfortable, country look fit me perfectly.

 

I love the picture frames & lace under the sidebar headings. The ribbon effect is wonderfully creative. It's like ribbons hanging from the wall with pictures on it; lovely!

 

Ronda even made me a custom avatar! The symbol for autism, a puzzle piece, was made to perfectly match. Even the bullets are little puzzle pieces!

 

Scroll down to the bottom to see my puzzle pictures come together! Ronda found that one & suggested it; great find; really "fits" in!

 

The background was purposely subdoed which made my blinkie racks stand out better. I thought I was going to have to give them up but due to her creativity again, they could stay.

 

My pictures proved to be a little too large which made the blog too wide & created the need to scroll. Again, Ronda to the rescue & now things seem to be looking great! Hopefully, I can keep it that way. I was told to take good care of her “design baby”! I will, Ronda. I know I’m not flying completely solo either!

 

Well, here I am, new & improved, & ready to keep blogging. So stop by anytime to check up on me & my family, read some of my ramblings, or just to say “Hi”!

 

And thanks again Ronda, for a job WELL done!

My blogger friend, Ronda, of RugbyHS, is working on a whole new design for me. I have some decisions to make; it took me 1-1/2 weeks to choose the set so this should be interesting. Anyway, I hope to work on it a bit today & tomorrow. Ronda is doing most of the work though. So eventually I will be looking completely different with everything in working order!

 

Jump on over to her site, where you will be directed to her current project (me). Feel free to leave opinions/suggestions!

 

Stay tuned!

There are times when my blog looks kinda odd; it gets all scrunched on the bottom. It looks find on my screen, but in other places it doesn't. So I wonder if this is how folks are seeing it, or is it normal? If not I may have to simplify!

 

This new look has been my little project lately. This took a bit of playing around with before I could get it together, so if you don't like it, please don't tell me!

 

I think I'm done with this for a while. Although maybe I better get started on the Fall look soon....

Well, this blog is coming along rather nicely  . Fiddling with the template is actually quite fun; frustrating at times, but also fun!

 

A BIG thank you to my friends Dana at gottsegnet, and Leah at friends4tea, for helping me along with this process!!  Visit both their lovely blogs for lots of great information & interesting articles!
Surely there will be more changes to come... (I get bored easily ).