Awesome!

This is a really powerful video. The speaker is an abortion survivor and tells what happened to her. But, she also has something to say about the beauty of people with special needs and a call to action for men and women to do what is right in the name of Jesus.

Gianna Jessen, abortion survivor | Gianna Jessen, supravieţuitoare a avortului from provita on Vimeo.

I am working...

I am working on some printable guides for making sure you have all of your paperwork and medical information in order when your special needs child (or medically fragile child) begins school for the first time or just begins a new school year. It has taken me longer than I thought it would. But, I am steadily reaching that goal! My next blog post will be the presentation of this guide. I am hoping that it will be available on Friday - but it might be Monday (I hope not, LOL!)

Totino's Prize Pack Winner!

The winner of the Totino's back to school prize pack with bonus Box Tops and free pizza coupons is.......


Jenna Wood!

I will be contacting you shortly for your mailing information so you can get your prize.

Now, look at all these ideas for things to do while snacking on Totino's Pizza...

1) Watch TV.

2) Have Family Talk Time.

3) Color.

4) Sort through school papers and place the ones that go back to school in a special spot to grab quickly when packing the school bag for the next day.

5) Have a sock puppet show.

6) Share with the neighbors - AWESOME!

7) Read a book.

and, lastly,

8) Surf the web and read e-mail and/or blogs!

All of these sound really fun! Thanks for sharing everybody :)

Starting School with a Special Needs Child

I promised last night that there would be a post with tips on starting the school year off when you have a special needs child. My daughter not only had special needs but was medically fragile. There may be some items that you do not need to do. I hope that is the case for many of you reading this post. These are all things I have done for Megan to get ready for a new school year to start.

1. Pick up all forms for medical needs about 10 days before school begins. These include, but are not limited to: general health questionnaires, medication administration sheets, permissions for procedures at school, and whatever else the school needs in documentation to care for your child..

2. Fill out said forms and take them to the doctor's office to be signed. I usually made an appointment because it does take the doctor quite a while to sign them all. Then, I didn't spend so much time on the phone faxing and then calling to remind the office that I still needed them.

3. Go to the pharmacy and get mini-bottles with the current prescription information on them for each medication to be given at school. Then, you can pour the liquid (or otherwise) medication into them to keep at school and just send home when refills are needed.

4. Remember to ask the pharmacist for extra syringes for the school bottles for the liquid medications. Go when the nicest one is there so that they give you at least one for each mini bottle you need.

5. Write out a schedule for everything your child needs throughout the school day with the corresponding time it should be done. Include the medications and dosages on this too - the separate sheets the doctor signed for you should correspond with this schedule.

6. Write out a procedure page for each piece of equipment your child has that needs to be used by the school staff. (For example, the nebulizer, suction machine, feeding tubes, feeding pumps, etc.) This tells step by step how to use the equipment. Yes, I still had to go in for a couple of days and show them how and then watch them do it too. But, each year, the number of days I had to go at the beginning of the year lessened as the staff was more comfortable with everything that needed to be done.

7. Write a page regarding any emergent needs your child has and what should be done if any of them happen. For example, how should the school treat your child if they have a seizure, their g-tube malfunctions or comes out, they act out of character for themselves, they have trouble breathing, etc. Also include if they should just jot you a note to read, contact you, or call 911.

8. Ask the teacher to inform you if anyone is coming to school sick so that you can keep your child home, if needed.

9. Pack a bottle of hand sanitizer to have for the classroom and have other people/students wash their hands or use the sanitizer before touching your child.

10. Pray for your child, their teachers and aides, and yourself. You are all going to need it!

Is pizza your child's favorite after-school snack?

Preparing your child’s back-to-school shopping list can be hectic but choosing the perfect after-school snack should be effortless. (Especially, with the invention of the microwave and frozen entrees and snacks. It's no secret around this blog that I love candy and junk food food that can be easily prepared.)

This fall, Totino’s is also helping to support your child’s school. Totino’s Party Pizzas will now carry Box Tops for Education! Now through September 15, Totino’s is offering two Box Tops for Education on every Totino’s product.

To celebrate this event, General Mills (Totino's) has teamed up with My Blog Spark to offer a great prize pack consisting of a backpack and school supplies, a coupon for free packages of Totino’s® Party Pizza® and Pizza Rolls® Snacks, as well as 25 Bonus Box Tops. (Yup, I already got mine.)


Now, here's how you can win one of these awesome prize packs as well.

Leave a comment on this post telling us what your child’s favorite thing to do is while snacking on Totino’s after school.

Or, tell us any tips you have to make surviving the back to school season easier - now that we've all just begun a new school year.

This giveaway will be open until Friday morning, September 17, 2010! Good luck!

Tomorrow, I will be sharing tips for starting the school year with a special needs student.

Yoplait Giveaway Winner!

The winner of the Yoplait Splitz prize pack for free coupons for Yoplait Splitz yogurt and this cool picnic tote is:


"I would really like to try the banana split one. I think that would be an interesting yogart flavor. Cool giveaway!
Dee Dee Gerber"

OK - Dee Dee, e-mail your address to me by Tuesday so I can turn your info in to the prize pack patrol! You can use the e-mail link on the left hand side bar.

To answer your comment, yes the banana split one is good. That's the one I got.

Also, I agree with Karen who said she'd like the yogurt to be peanut butter flavored. Great Suggestion! Since there's more than one flavor in the Splitz pack, I might add chocolate to it too!

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! I have another giveaway lined up for next week! What is your favorite kind of pizza?

Yoplait Splitz Review and Giveaway!

My Blog Spark, a company who helps bloggers promote new products for companies, sent me and all my readers a coupon for $.75 off a package of Yoplait Splitz, a new tasty yogurt.


Yoplait Splitz combines flavors in the same cup to provide maximum enjoyment for your taste buds. Ken, Monica, and I tried the Strawberry Banana Split flavor and it was indeed a treat to our taste buds - very creamy too. They also have Rainbow Sherbet and Strawberry Sundae flavors. A four-pack was regularly priced at $2.69 at our local Meijer store, less with the coupon. Download it today for your discount too!

Yoplait Splitz is also great to freeze and then include in your lunch box. Monica loves to do this!

My Blog Spark and Yoplait also sent me this prize for trying Yoplait Splitz and telling you all about it - Awesome!


This insulated picnic time tote is really nice. When it came in the mail, I was thinking about who I could gift this awesome prize to. Then, when Ken saw it, he said I was gifting it to him so he could replace his cheap grocery store reusable tote. I guess it would be an upgrade for him.

Guess what? They are also sending one of you guys this prize pack as well (as long as you comment on this post). I am not paying for this giveaway - so all of you who won't enter a giveaway from me knows that the only one who loses out on this is you if you don't enter.

For one entry - leave a comment on this post saying which flavor you would like to try or suggest that they make.

For 2 extra entries leave a comment saying that you followed Yoplait on Facebook or Twitter. (Leave a separate comment for each.)

The winner will be announced on Friday morning, September 10, 2010!


Fine print: *This coupon offer for a free pack of Yoplait Splitz is not valid in some states, including California, Idaho, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, Nevada, North Dakota and Tennessee.

(Please note that it is very important that you disclose that the Yoplait Splitz, the prize pack, information and the prize package for giveaway were all provided by Yoplait through MyBlogSpark.)

Beautiful on the inside too!

Monica, the beautiful, is attending a new school this year. We thought it would be a better fit for her and a fresh start. Monica is in the fourth grade and really loves her new teacher.

This afternoon, after school, Monica was talking with the teacher of the other fourth grade class because she has a very special student in her room. Monica told her, "If you need any help with your very special student this year, you could let me know."

"Oh really?" the teacher replied.

"Yes, I know what she likes. She needs someone to talk to her, read to her, and touch her. She would really love it."

The teacher said, "You know what? You're right. She does love all of those things."

To which Monica replied, "she's like my sister."

What a great gift she has to be able to see the needs of others.