Chosen One!!!

On June 3rd, 2009 we received a phone call informing us that Kannin was chosen for the Children's Autism Waiver. We had initially signed up for this program last August, just days after Kannin's official diagnosis. We were unaware, at the time, what exactly the Autism Waiver was. It was a new program and they were unsure of how it would work...but they started drawing families. The State of Montana would pick 40 families over the next 9 months at RANDOM! So this opportunity is basically like winning the lottery!

(The official notification letter!!!)

Kannin will be receiving extensive therapies for Speech, Occupational Therapy and ABA. All therapies will be first billed to our Insurance and the State Waiver will cover the rest. All medical for Kannin will be covered...well checks, immunizations, therapies, EVERYTHING for the next THREE YEARS!!! Diapers as well, are covered! We will have an aide in our home up to 20 hours a week as well working one-on-one with Kannin. We were really in a state of shock for days; we may even still be shocked! We have a long road ahead and I am sure stressful days that we can not even comprehend right now... but who are we to complain! We are blessed to be given this opportunity as only 40 children in the state were chosen! We are so thankful, excited, terrified, blessed and relieved!

Our little guy Kannin (4yrs old)

One day he will understand how this program

will change his life!

Father's Day

Matt wanted to stay home and relax for his Father's Day this year. The boys gave him all Patriotic things this year. They gave him Patriotic Flip-Flops & T-Shirt (and the boys got matching shirts too). We also gave Matt a flag. We have never had one and it was about time we get one.Ryder was so excited to put our flag out. Ryder learned the Pledge of Allegience this summer in T-Ball.
Daddy & Ryder show off the new flag.

P.L.A.Y. Project - Visit 1

Our first official visit with Kelly Melius, our P.L.A.Y. Coordinator was Friday June 19th.

(P.L. A.Y. stands for Play & Language for Autistic Youth) We will have 10 visits will Kelly throughout the next year. Each visit will be 3-4 hours long, in our home or at a location we determine (park, pool, etc.) We talked of Kelly's visit all day and he was very excited for her to come. When she arrived, Kannin met her at the door and called her KelKel. We video taped portions of our play, following Kannin all over the house. We were upstairs in his room, living room and kitchen and bounced on the moon bounce and played in the Toy Room in the basement. It will be interesting to view the video clips from our session as we will be receiving a DVD of our session with evaluation after every visit.

Kelly tries to join Kannin in his solo playing. We constantly asked Kannin..."What do you want? What does Kannin want to do?" We have always had to guess in the past because of his lack of communication. He opened up more and more to Kelly throughout the session.

"Where is Kan Kan?" He loved hiding from daddy and surprising him.

Kannin is very responsive to deep pressure sensory activities. He loves squeezes, rolling on the floor, us sitting on him ( I know it sounds like torture but it is one of his favorite pressure activities) and he loves being thrown up in the air and wrestling with dad. We incorporate counting with the picture you see above. Matt will lift Kannin up in the air while Kannin lays on Matt's hands and we make Kannin count "1-2-3...GO." Matt will then throw him up in the air and then catch him. It makes him use numbers and words. We will incorporate "Throw" instead of "GO" to get a new word out of him next.

I turned on one of Kannin's favorite songs..."I Kissed A Girl"...I know...CRAZY choice for a 4 year old...but he loves the beat! He danced and danced and even let Kelly join in.

He danced and spun to the music. We would pause the song and make him tell us to turn it back on. We asked him..."What do you want Kannin"...he would then tell us "Moosi" (music) and point to the CD player. Music was a new word for him that day.

More P.L.A.Y. with Kelly

Kelly hides from Kannin and looks for his initiation of wanting to play or for a comand for her to "Come Out."

"Where is Kelly?"...This was a game where Kannin would hide and Kelly would as well. It was the one game that seemed to hold his attention for the longest. He loves the element of SURPRISE I think.

Kannin has been obsessed with "Disney Car's" for years. We have EVERY "Car's" Car ever made. Lining up of his cars in perfect lines is one of the odd characteristics that Kannin has done for years that first flagged us for Autim. Above you see Kelly & Matt playing with Kannin and his cars. We really were trying to get actual "Car" play out of him...like driving...honking...crashing. He picked out his favorite 2 blue cars and was off running. It is difficult to keep his attention with functional play...but we will get there someday!

The last hour Kelly was here we went outside and showed her how he plays in the outdoors. We brought out his little activity pool and got a few words out of him. We also went in the backyard and had Kannin swing...which is his FAVORITE outdoor activity.

We have a large landscaping rock out in our front yard. It has become our little babysitter. This large rock is the object of Kannin's obsession! He will sit on it for hours and bang his little shovels & rakes. (Which is called a STIM...a Self Stimulatory action common in Autistic children) It is HIS rock and he is not very likely to share it with ANYONE. As you can see above...Kannin became VERY comfortable with Kelly and allowed her to share his rock...even allowing her to hold one of his little rakes. This will be fun to see how Kelly's PLAY techniques will allow us to be present more in Kannin's world...or more so...bring him into ours!

"All Drains Lead To The Ocean"

On Wednesday we bought the boys a fish. Ryder has been begging for a fish for 2 years. When I lived in SD, Tysen & I had a BIG tank with lotsa fish but I was not wanting such a big responsibility that a large tank would create. I finally caved and got a small fish bowl. We bought a kit that had it all (bowl, rocks, plant, & food). Ryder picked out one fish and we brought it home. He thought for several hours about the perfect name. He came up with Marley. I think he was intending on Marlin...because that was Nemo's dad...but he got stuck on Marley. The first night we had Marley, Ryder informed me every 20-30 minutes..."My fish is still alive"... to which my response was always..."Of course he is. He will live a long time if you take good care of him." The next afternoon I was on the phone with a friend and Ryder says, very calmly, "Mom...The fish is dead." I went to check it out. YEP! BELLY UP!!

Ok...now I had to explain death and loss of loved ones to my 5 year old because this was his first experience with death! I said..."Oh Ryder, I am so sorry." He interrupts me by saying... "That's ok...We will just go buy another Marley!"

Ryder decided to flush him down the toilet because all drains lead to the ocean...according to NEMO! So we had a prayer then a flush!!!

Ryder showing off his new fish "Lil Marley"

Ryder fishes Marley out of the bowl...

...puts him in the toilet...

...says a prayer and Flushes him out to sea!

This is immediately followed by..."Ok...Let's go to Walmart and get another Marley!"

His grieving process is OVER! And so the game to keep fish alive in our house STARTS!!!

He Can Do It!!!

We have been working very hard with Ryder in his quest to ride his bike..."Sans" the training wheels. Tonight he did amazing...he FINALLY got it!!!

First Day of Summer School

Kannin started back to school this morning. He will be going "Summer Session" Mondays through Thursdays from now until July 23rd. The bus comes at 7:13 to pick him up and brings him home at 11:35. He was so excited about starting "Pre-School" again after a 2 week break. He has been a member of the S.T.A.R. Program since this past October. It is a special Pre-K for Autistic children. There is a max of 10 students. He has learned so much from S.T.A.R. and they are all great there! It makes it easier to send your little boy to school early in life when the teachers are wonderful!

Kannin waiting for the bus...7:13 am!!!

YES I SAID SEVEN THIRTEEN A.M.!!!

Here comes the bus...

Little Kannin barely peeking out the window as the bus takes off.

BOLD REMINDER!!!

The boys and I headed home yesterday from SD back to Billings. We had a pretty good trip...even though it was 7 hours!! We stoped in Bowman, ND where we usually like to stop. They have a really nice Truck Stop / Convenience Store. Clean bathrooms are hard to find when you are on a cross country road trip but we know they have really clean ones...so that is where we stopped. I decided to eat lunch there and not in the car, since I did not have Tysen's help feeding the boys as he stayed back in SD for the summer.

They have ready made food so Ryder picked a corndog and Kannin had Chicken Nuggets. I set them both up at a booth and gave them each their OWN ketchup cup. For some reason...Ryder felt the need to dip his corndog in Kannin's ketchup. Ok, let me me tell you...NO ONE TOUCHES Kannin's food. Even if Kannin doesn't want his food...it is HIS and NO ONE is allowed to touch it! It really is one of his characteristics with his Autism. He proceeded to "LOOSE IT!" I quickly got him a new ketchup cup and tried to avoid the issue and he DID calm down. Thank Goodness!!!

I asked Ryder why he did that, because he does know that we DON'T TOUCH Kannin's food! He said that HIS cup had Ketchup on the rim from dipping his corndog in it and Kannin's had not been used yet so it looked clean!..."Are you kidding me?!?" We nearly started World War III over ketchup on the rim! My frustrations began to build. While still sitting in the booth I leaned over and said to Ryder, in the calmest voice I could muster up in hopes to avoid further stares while my teeth were tightly clinched...

"Ryder...We have 4 hours left to drive. It is very important to do what mommy says. DO NOT cause any screaming in the car. DO NOT take anything from your brother. DO NOT kick my seat anymore. DO NOT ask me how long til we are home! PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE GOOD AND HELP ME OUT!!! God is watching you! UNDERSTAND???"

Now...We use God and Grandma's name alot in deterring our children from bad things. We do remind them that they are being watched at all times and when they do something bad we tell them that "Grandma would not like that! Shoud I tell her what you did?" or..."Would you do that in front of Grandma?" It works everytime! Grandma really has alot of pull! We occationally throw God's or Jesus' name in there instead of Grandma's and it sometimes is just the leveredge that they need to make them think of what they do, before they do it. Maybe not the best means of parenting...but we do what we gotta to get by! I have wondered how many times God or Jesus watches and listens to me while I say those things to my children.

I took a deep breath and said..."Let's Go!"

As I was cleaning up the table from our quick lunch...I looked out the window by our booth and saw...

"JESUS CHRIST IS LORD"

"Not A Swear Word"

I guess he does watch me. He does hear me. And here was my sign as a reminder of HOW to use his name. (I took the picture as we were pulling out of the parking lot.)

Time With Grandpa

When grandpa got home from work today...

the boys attacked him! They love Grandpa's rough play!

Kannin, Grandpa Roger & Ryder

Ryder helped grandpa mow the yard.

He even got to drive the mower himself! What a big boy!!

All leathered up...What a couple of "Wild Hogs!"
Oh...except for the cute Sponge Bob shoes Ryder is sporting!




"Get your motor running! Head out on the highway!"
"BORN TO BE WILD!!!"

South Dakota Trip

We celebrated a Be-Lated Birthday for Kannin with an Ice Cream Cake!

Mmmmmmmmmm!!!

(Ryder, Grandma Dorothy, Grandpa Roger, Tysen, Grandma Kris and Birthday Boy Kannin front and center)

Kannin LOVES his Ice Cream Cake!

The cake MUST have been good because EVERYONE was quiet!

Ryder shows grandma Dorothy his Army Men.

More South Dakota

On Sunday June 7th...my dad took Tysen back to Mobridge to spend the summer with his dad. The boys will sure miss him this summer. They will not see him until Mid-August.

I told the boys to give Tysen a hug goodbye and they attacked him.

This was a close to a hug as we got...

Kannin (4) Tysen (12.5) Ryder (5)


I taught Ryder how to play Allowance the Game. It is alot like Monopoly but you earn and spend $ as you would when you get allowance.



Ryder waiting for his turn...

...and now he is counting his money! He is just like his dad!!! LOL!!!

Tysen's Ride

We came home to see my parents this past weekend in S.D. We arrived on Saturday afternoon and as soon as we got here...there was a surprise for Tysen. A friend of our family's...who am I kidding!?!? EVERYONE in Timber Lake is either friends or family. Anyway...Jake Kraft took Tysen up for a helicopter ride. He was so excited. I have been up in a heli about 8 years ago and have told Tysen about it often. It has always been something he wanted to do! What a great way to start his summer vacation!

Jake & Tysen getting ready to take off.

Tysen is so excited...you can see the smile on his face!

And they are off!

They went for a 10-15 minute ride and even went over my parent's house where Tysen's little brothers were watching!

Thanks Jake for starting out Tysen's summer on an awesome note!

Tysen Graduates from 6th Grade

Tysen will be entering Middle School this fall! WOW!! How did that happen to me? He had his 6th Grade Graduation from Bitterroot Elementary on Thursday June 4, 2009. It was an awesome ceremony complete with 2 slideshow, all the kids did photo collages of pictures from their lives, they all received diplomas and refreshments were served afterwards. It really was a great night. We now live in a different school district so our little guys will attend a different Elementary School. So...this was a bit of a goodbye for me too. Bitterroot Elementary was an awesome school with amazing teachers. We will miss going there!

Bitterroot Elementary Principal welcoming everyone to the 2009 6th grade graduation.

Tysen with his classmates getting ready to enter the gym.

Tysen and classmates lined the walls of the gym with their own photo collages. It was really neat to see all of the boards. Tysen waits to go up for his diploma.



Congrats Tysen...You are officially a 7th grader!!!

More Bitterroot Graduation

Tysen hugging his first Bitterroot Teacher...Mrs. Seward (2nd Grade)

Giving Mrs. Beals a hug. He really enjoyed Mrs. Beals last year!

Hunter receiving his diploma.

David receiving his diploma.

Tysen's First Bitterroot friend...Trevon, receiving his diploma! Trevon & Tysen started the second grade together as new students in 2004.