Sensory Socks & Iowa State Fair

 OK so these are the supplies you will need.  We made 10 sensory socks- which cost $20 total.  $10 for 20lbs of rice, and $10 (actually less) for 10 pairs of large men's socks.  Of course you don't need that many if you only have a couple of kiddos, but you can and use them to stack etc. 

 They are modeling the finished project!  CUTE models!!!

 OK so I doubled up the sock because well - I am a list girl, a double is better just in case person.  :)

 We did 2lbs per sock (which is what they had at therapy), but you could easily do a 3lb or a 1lb. 

 I got a funnel- one that had a pretty open mouth and it worked great! 

 I tied the inner sock first stuck the knot down inside and then knotted the outer sock. 

So why??  Well the other day at therapy they had Michael picking them up with both hands to throw in occupational therapy.  He loved it and it is GREAT exercise for him.  When I felt the rice in the sock it felt very similar to those fun pillows they sell at Brookstone with the silky feel.  Sounds weird, but trust me they are fun to "feel".

You can punch them, swing them around (don't hit anyone or anything), stomp on them and express feelings safely.

You can squish them easily- and they feel fun!

You could easily make faces on them which could be really fun- making sock people or animals!

AND for little who need strength building it is a fun weight to play with!

Weight- weighted blankets are great!  This is an easy version to place in the lap while doing homework or other quiet activities.  You can lay them on their shoulders, on their stomach as they lay down, back.   This gives your child a deeper touch feeling which is quite soothing to those who crave it!  :)   

So there is your sensory fun tip!!  :) 

 So the rest of the pics are from the Iowa State Fair from our vacation....  :) 

 Fun, cute animal babies!! 

 baby ostriches.......

 Baby ducks.... I think..... he he he ....I could be wrong!  There were babies of everything that day ;). 

 Turkeys....

 OH and my favorite!!!  Baby chickens!!!  Literally fresh out of the eggs!!!!

 Don't be surprised if we end up with baby chickens soon!!!!!  :)

 YUMMMM!!!!!!!  PIGS!!!  Taste great :).  Sorry vegetarians..... but I love meat. 

 SO we decided to splurge and get the kids 1 item from any place they wanted!  Some had funnel cake, some cotton candy,

 Michael said I am tired.....this wore me out!!  Too CUTE!!! 

 Root beer float!!!  OH and don't forget my cute prize ribbons!!!

Hope your week is going GREAT!!!!

***WE HAVE OFFICIALLY LAUNCHED OUR INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If you are interested or have questions- please contact me!!!

813-360-7368 or email me wrights@christianadoptionconsultants 

We are a walking billboard......

 I guess I never thought about it much before we started fostering/adoption.  It never really worried me and yet it was something that happened.

 Now I joke around about it, but today I thought I would share my thoughts with you on being a walking billboard. 

 It is something that became apparent to us since our first official visit with Abigail.  We took her to Burger King so we could eat and play on the playset.  Come on people this was our first chance at being parents and we couldn't wait!  Couldn't wait to show her off to the world.  Couldn't wait for people to notice we were parents. 

 Couldn't wait to play with her on the indoor playset (since it was early March in Iowa and still pretty cold outside- that was before we got used to southern weather). 

 See.....this is a "hidden mickey".  They have them all over the theme parks.  Some a lot more obvious, and some more hidden.  This is your average family. 

 Blending in......sometimes really well.  There are even families that choose to keep it that way with adoption, and I can't say that I blame them.  After all it takes a lot to step out of the norm.  To take on your families (some of you do this daily - we never had that issue) and some of your families would even disown you completely for it :( and that is horrible.  Some people want a child that looks like them because that is the way it usually happens having children biologically :) and there is NOTHING wrong with that!!! 

 Well, needless to say on that first visit with Abigail....we found out quickly that we would not blend in anymore.  We heard right off the bat as we were in line with her to order our food, "look that white couple has a black child".  BAM!!! 

 THERE IT WAS!  WE WERE NOW A WALKING BILLBOARD! 

 We took it in our stride.  Didn't even jump across the restaurant and smack that person- which believe me we wanted to do that!!!!!  NOT JOKING!!!!!!!!!!! 

 Instead we talked about the incident.  It didn't slow us down or make us change our minds, but something in the back of our heads told us that we would never be the same.  That our family would never be the same.  That we would always stick out. 

 People that is well before we continued to add more children to our family!  That was when we had one child....who just happened to not have my skin color or my hair.  She didn't share eye color with my husband.

 As soon as we added even a couple more children it was even more obvious to people that we are a Target as we go out in public.  We are the family that people just can't stop looking at.  Oh and it is really funny when some of our summer staff members took our kiddos out to eat, or better yet when your mother in love and your staff member look after your kiddos while you fly out to do interviews - umm yeah. THAT was funny!  To hear them both go on about the stares....a younger man, older woman, and 3 children that looked nothing like either of them ;) he he he he he......HILARIOUS! 

 However, when it gets really personal.........that is when it gets tough!  Like with social workers who believe that dark skinned children shouldn't be in your home.  Or a CASA worker who says your children shouldn't be adopted by you because you just don't have enough pigment in your skin.  Or when your neighbor talks to your other neighbor and says...."better watch out they have a lot of black kids over there".  Or when you child hears the N word for the first time.  Or when boys come and say racist nasty remarks through the fence.  Or when your neighbor cusses at your children, and yells at them because you have "too many" children and they are not the right skin color! 

That will tear you apart!!!!!  That will eat you up for dinner!!!!!  BUT GOD!!!!!!! 

 You have to make a choice.  A very conscience choice right then and there to not take junk, but to do it in a way that is Christlike as well.  That is really hard.

 You see from the beginning we have taught our kiddos to know that when people stare at us there are several reasons: 

1) We obviously have drop dead gorgeous children!  It's true!  I mean who wouldn't stare at children who are so beautiful?

2) They are normally (ha normal isn't a word we use often, and doesn't mean it always happens) pretty awesomely behaved in public!!  People are amazed that they are polite and respectful. 
***Note to others:  If you see children acting wonderful in public - please compliment them.  You should see my children's eyes beam.  In the same breath when my children or other people's children are having a rough time- DO NOT CONDEMN and DO NOT STARE!  Children NEED a safe place, they need space, they have sooo many needs a lot of people do not understand....and that could be a whole separate post altogether. 

 3) Obviously now we drive a 15 passenger and have 9 children with one in a wheelchair.  One of our children is the same skin color and the others are obviously different shades.  We just don't fit any norm of any kind anymore.  So it's ok.  It just is.....

 BUT it still means we are a walking billboard! 

 It's like these flowers if you looked at all the flowers individually they would be beautiful, but together they look amazing with the patterns you can see across the lake.  I love it.  Sometimes people get this idea that they have the right to nose up in your business.  THAT STINKS!  Sometimes you get people who are going to hate.  THAT HURTS! 

One thing though.....as a walking billboard we always get the "floor" to speak to others in love about how GOD CREATED OUR FAMILY!  About our passion for families and children who need help!  About children across the street, single moms down the road, and families across the world that need THE CHURCH TO ARISE!  We "GET TO" share about our family and answer awkward questions over and over because it educates and helps others to change and shift their views. 

WE are a walking billboard.......that gets to share CHRIST with others who may have never asked about our faith or God, but we gladly get to tell them anyway! 

WE are a walking billboard that speaks volumes about the fact that skin color, physical and mental ability, and DNA doesn't determine family!!! 

THAT we can handle!  With God's amazing sense of grace and love to others who need to hear the Gospel of Love lived out through this very imperfect family. 







***NOTE:  I do not in any way condone those who ask awkward questions and are not respectful!  We have a generic way of telling our story that is not revealing, but still allows us to talk about adoption in a healthy way.  We do talk with our children often about sharing our story with others, and want their input.  We also don't put up with nasty comments that hurt our children's feelings!  It is so very important to allow your children to tell you when they are uncomfortable, or when their feelings have been hurt.  It is also important to talk together how and when to share things as a family!  :)

Our Home School has gone SENSORY

 So I have had a lot of people ask me about how do I include sensory activities into my school day at home- or for some of you after school for our children? 

 If you have children who seem to have too much energy, who always are bumping into things, chews incessantly, can't sit still, is a child from a hard place, ........

 There is a strong chance that adding in sensory activities to your daily routine - can have a huge effect on you and on them.  As in you will get to keep our mind, and they will too! 

 It's a win-win!!!

 The above pictures are all from our garage- so you don't have to be fancy!  We have incorporated doing rotations daily.  These rotations don't have to take forever- sometimes we do a 30 seconds on each activity and sometimes it is 10 minutes depending, but they help in lots of ways!  This rotation included, bouncing a ball, mini trampoline, 2 step climbing up and down, jumping jacks, box of beans, hula hooping, tapping your right hand to your left knee and your left hand to your right knee alternatively while "marching in place". 

Sounds strange you say?  Yes, a little, but let's look at the whole picture. 

The whole picture is that our children NEED to move, and the more we help them connect the left and right sides of their brain the better!  Let's look at more activities......

 Joanna is modeling our "wiggle seat".  We have 4 of these.  Sometimes we use them to "step on" to create an input on the feet.  They are smooth on one side and rubber "prickly" on the other side.  For those who have issues sitting- they give a constant input and ability to wiggle while sitting!  Genius!  Also you can use a big exercise ball as well - those can be used for lots of great sensory activities!!! 

 Here is another crazy activity.  One of the main points of sensory activities is to help give input.  So different textures, feels, cold, warm, soft, hard, prickly, smooth, bumpy, and everything in between! 

 I threw down a couple of blankets and put down a bunch of pillows as well as towels.  We had the kids roll over the "obstacles" several times each. 

**Beware some children have a hard time with vestibular input which is round and round or in this case rolling.  If you do the Hokey Pokey and you turn around....and your child melts down there may be vestibular issues.  Our children all are great with craving and enjoying it!  Whew- so this works awesome for us! 

 Back to the sensory activities!  You can have Velcro pieces under the table while your kids do homework.  Have a squishy ball or a ball with "bumps" on it under the desk your child works at.  Chewlery (sold on Amazon) works GREAT for those with children that love to chew- pencils, fingers, clothes!!!  They have bracelets that look like coils, but are safe to chew as well as necklaces with "charms" on them made for chewing as well. 

 Some children need weighted blankets, vests, or lap blankets.  This gives constant heavier input to children who try to sit still, but can't.  Or try to sleep, but can't.  For those constantly on the go- these items can help tremendously!  Or if you have a cat that likes to cuddle up and sit or a dog- they work great for a lap companion while your child is working at the table! 

You can buy these blankets, but they are pretty expensive (due to weight) or you can go on You Tube and get step by step instructions.  The materials are at a local crafts store!

 Also, just allowing your child to stand while doing desk work can be awesome!  :) 

*Yes, this is me.....rolling on the floor and the kids took a pic :).  Yes we love homeschooling in our pj's and if you come to visit- I may be in my pj's :)  just sayin'.

 So the next several pictures are of another rotation we did.  We had the cheap 99 cent tongs and small blocks we use for Math.  I put the blocks in bowls- one set on the stairs and one set on chairs.  The kids had to get the blocks with the tongs from one bowl to the next.  Without dropping ;) them and they had a little race. 

**Note to self.  Some of our children have competition issues......ahhhh......so sometimes you have to take a break and remind them this is supposed to be fun!  ;)  I am sure none of you know what I am talking about right? 

 I go all out for sensory so these were $1 items from Target!  ;)   the gloves and bracelets with spikes.  I also have on the table in the picture- a chew tube that I got online. 

 Oh and the squishy dinosaurs also a buck.  The kids love the textures.  Things like clips are great for pressing, and playing with as fiddle toys too.  You can get a pack of them for a few dollars. 

 We did chalkboard- standing, writing, gives input in a different way than a pencil. 

 This giant crayon I got from Target (if you Pinterest you can also make one to) was fun to play with - place cardboard under the paper for better "input" or feeling while coloring. 

 Sensory has a lot to do with pressure.  Did you know our brains respond differently to different kinds of pressure.  Our brains can also "reorganize" just by getting that input? 

I am here to tell  you that this has rocked our world!  When our  children get upset to the point of flipping a lid- or sometimes before we hit that point- we can do a sensory activity and our world is back and we can regain our control! 

 There are also many studies done on the effects of left to right side of the body and right to left side of the body exercises, stretches, and movements in general that help with dyslexia.  These same movements help with getting our bodies back under control. 

 Silly putty- oh fun!  I know again- I spared no expense on this cheap and wonderful toy that bounces, stretches, snaps, and works with newspaper writing. 

 If you have questions about sensory issues and what it all means do some research.  The best book is Out of Sync Child!   It has loads of information about the different kinds of out of sync children.  Some children are adverse to textures- either on their body such as hating tags in shirts, not wanting to wear shoes, etc. Or in their mouth like our Michael who doesn't like anything in his mouth and never put toys in his mouth.  Some children crave input and will walk into things on purpose to get that input.  They may constantly rub their hands on the objects as you walk along in the store, or rub things, chew constantly on anything and everything. 

There are other follow up books too, and one of them is Out of Sync Child Has Fun.  This book has many many many ideas for sensory input.  The other number one and free place to get sensory ideas- PINTEREST!!!  If you go to our board you can go to the sensory board there- tons of ideas for every age!!!!! 

 Well hello- sometimes random pictures show up on my camera.  Hmmmmm.......I wonder why?  ;)

 Good ol fashion play dough, moon dough, shaving cream, ice cubes, stones, beans, rice, small toys, plastic  tubs, water, $1 items from the store, squishy balls, Velcro, these are all things that have helped us improve our homeschool day! 

 Yes and sometimes we get a little crazy around here! 

 But I mean who wouldn't enjoy these crazy squishy gloves with plastic hair? 

 I have a saying.....if it helps us learn let's do it! 

 If it helps us calm down when we are having a problem calming down- give it a try. 

 All of these activities have helped! 

 Did you know just blowing up balloons- or in this case a punch ball can help. 

 How often should you do sensory activities? 

 Ideally every 2 hours! 

 Some children need it more often.  Some children don't need it at all.

 Some of our children aren't in real need, but hey it is fun to do.  So why not go crazy as a family - right? 

 The other part about sensory/emotional needs is helping our children cope with situations by role playing ahead of time.  So we got a set of puppets.  Have you ever thought of role playing discipline issues?  Try it- it works! 

Do something like........the giraffe and zebra get in a fight over a toy.  Practice the wrong way and then without your intervention have them practice a right way to handle it.  Surprising what they come up with.  Then when you are connecting and correcting you can use a reference from those role plays.

Remember- what is taught is sometimes learned, what is done is engrained in our brain! 

Also, we created a feelings ball.  For children from hard places or any child for that matter sometimes talking about feelings is hard.  So make it a game.  I wrote in permanent marker on a beach ball several different feelings-positive and negative.  Examples:  Angry, stressed, joyful, excited, shy, happy, sad, etc.  (Again I go all out and spend $1!)

We threw the ball to each other.  When you catch the ball you pick one of the few words staring at you (giving choices) and let them share something general (as in in general when I get to go swimming it makes me happy) or a specific memory or activity (as in yesterday when we went to the pool it made me happy). 

Sometimes it is general feelings our children share, and it also has brought out amazing insight into how my kids are really feeling.  In a society that sometimes masks everything over this does us all good!  Don't forget that you as a parent need to participate and let your children hear you talk about your feelings too!  :)