Gems, Canonization, Chanel Lipstick, Urban Exploring and Webkinz..Five Things Meme

I was tagged by Niksmom at Maternal Instincts...Flying By the Seat of My Pants.
I am way behind on tags. I don't think I will be able to catch up so I am starting fresh. Please don't be upset if you tagged me and I never accomplished the tag. Some are more appealing to me than others and once I start procrastinating...well, you know how it goes.

Five things found in your bag: An adorable note I found where Maizie was figuring out how many gems she had left to find. I put it in my purse and enjoy looking at it when I am bored.Above: A canonization card for Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto. They were said to have seen an angel three times and Mary six times. I picked this up somewhere and loved the picture. Below: Maizie's I.D. bracelet that needs to be updated again. I have got to get that done!

Above: My lovely tube of Chanel lipstick. Color is Santa Barbara. Melissa gave me this in return for some portraits I took of Alex.

Below: Saf-T-Pops sucker put in my purse by Maizie. She gets these at Pizza Hut and always wants to save them for later. They sit in my purse and get all nasty and then I throw them out.

Five favorite things in your room.

A family portrait Maizie drew spontaneously at about age four. Guess who is in the middle.

My "Surrender" rock that I bought myself when Maizie was placed into foster care at age three months due to an adoption reversal risk. It reminds me that God is in control.

My Bunnykins mug. I had this since I was a child. I was always fascinated with the image. Inside the mug I keep a picture of my Grandfather, his brother and their German Shepherd.

Need I even explain? I love Joe and this apple was a gift I gave him when we were dating back in 1992.

My antique Alice in Wonderland books given to me by my Mom.

Five things you have always wanted to do.
*Go on an artist's retreat somewhere warm and beautiful.

*Urban Exploring On a grander scale than I have done in the past.

*Visit Africa

* Spend at least one full hour watching an animal of interest at the zoo.

* Go to Israel with Joe.

Five things you are currently into.
*Playing Webkinz with Maizie

*Lost

*Planning a Weekend Away

*Reorganizing/Decorating House

*Photography

Five people you’d like to tag.Meljo, Pregnantly Plump, Gathering Up the Pebbles, Is This What You Do All Day?, Autism Blog

Emergency Information I.D.'s

We ordered Maizie her emergency information shoe tag and bracelet. Fiddledee is the company we went with. I had to explain to Maizie in advance what we were ordering and why it was important for her to wear one of these tags.

She still asks me daily about why she has to wear it. I simply tell her that in case of an emergency a doctor or someone trying to help her would know her name, phone numbers, that she is Autistic and on medication for a seizure disorder. Maizie does not seem to understand that she is autistic. She is very familiar with her seizure disorder since it is what slows her down and makes her feel sick. The Autism we tell her is a special part of who she is and that it can make some things more difficult for her, like finding her words. Also, her autism is what gives her special gifts like her incredible reading and spelling ability and her compassion and intuitiveness. Recently, we have had to add in the chromosome disorder. That is really confusing to explain. Not that we dwell on these things but she does need to begin understanding more about herself.

Here is the shoe tag. There is a tiny compartment that holds the information. It came with about three sheets for the information. I simply filled out one sheet with Maizie's name, address, our phone numbers and wrote that she has a Seizure Disorder and Autism. The paper folds up easily and fits right in the snug compartment. The other two sheets will be saved for when her information changes. It was difficult for me to open the tag. Maizie has been unable to pry it open. She tries despite me telling her it is not for any of us to open but for emergency use only. Maizie was quite excited by the look of it on her shoe. Luckily, she likes the hot pink color.

My only complaint would be that the smaller shoe strings do not stay securely on the side latches. So, I had to keep the bracelet part attached to it and strap that onto the shoe. This makes it stick up a bit more than what I like but it works.
This is the I.D. bracelet. It is relatively soft and came in a variety of colors. Maizie picked out the pink camo design. We ordered an extra packet of information papers so when one gets ruined, lost or outdated we can easily switch it. We ordered a child's size and I think it will fit her for quite some time. I am glad I did not get the adult size. I think it would have been too big.
Maizie is not as excited about the bracelet. She has complained it itches her wrist. When she wears long sleeves she seems to like it over the sleeve to stop the itching. I have a feeling if we were not around she would quickly remove this bracelet, considering it irritating therefore rendering it quite useless in an accident or emergency.

It can be worn around the ankle and this may be an option for when she is wearing flip flops in the summer. However, I have a feeling it would be removed also. Eventually we may have to order a necklace which I think she would be more likely to wear for longer periods of time. The company has this one below which I think is awesome. I know Maizie would love it. The information is engraved on the back for up to five lines.

Cookies, Church and Medical I.D.

Last night we decided to continue our sugar cookie Christmas tradition. Christian enjoyed helping Joe push the roller. I think the kids enjoyed mixing up the colors the best. Give them some white frosting and food coloring and I think they would be entertained for hours!


This morning at church my nephew Daniel performed a trombone solo. He was so nervous. It did not help that like a typical thirteen year old he forgot his sheet music and Grandpa had to drive all the way back to their house to get it. Once he began playing though he did very well. I hope that he continues to volunteer to play. It made church much more exciting!

Remember how we were trying to get Maizie to sit through a service, or even better just sit in the room for a few minutes? She kept telling us, "I will do it when I am ten!" Well, today she officially turned ten and she sat through the service! I am still in a state of shock.

Maizie did great except for when Pastor Peter got a little animated and she leaned over and said, "I don't like him yelling! I gotta get outta here!" Maizie and I sat outside for just a few minutes and then we went back in for Daniel's closing song. Even still, this is huge progress! I so enjoyed sitting next to her!

On the way home Maizie was filling out a worksheet in a Hello Kitty journal. It asked for her address and phone number. I said, "Maizie...you try and remember. I think you know it!" We have been working on it for almost two years now! She had a couple of the numbers reversed and needed me to sound out the start of the street name. Possibly, on another day she would have been able to come up with the info correctly? I would like to think so. Add in major stress and I doubt she would remember her full name. The other day when she had a blood test the nurse said, "What is your full name honey?" I waited...and waited. Finally Maizie said, "Marie". Ahhhhhh!

What do you do for children who just can't seem to memorize their personal information? We used to have a medical I.D. bracelet we purchased from Lauren's Hope. It was very stylish and had all the important information on it. Maizie hated it. She did not like the feel of the bracelet. Money well spent. Argh. This site has newer ideas than when we bought from them a few years ago so maybe we will try putting it on a tennis shoe or the velcro ones. Maizie seems interested so that is a good start.

I am sure there is some obvious thing I could be doing in this area but I just can't think of anything other than these tags.