Spring Break was full of creations

"The desire to create is one of the

deepest yearnings of the human soul.....
Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment.
We develop ourselves and others when we take
unorganized matter into our hands and
mold it into something of beauty."
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
I like creating stuff.
'Specially happy, colorful things
that make me want to sing.

I saw this somewhere??? Just scrapbook paper, some branches, and floral wire will do it! Oh, and lots of glue.
Some leaves I just hot glued right onto the branch,
and some I did the wire-thing.

Martha's egg garland
wheatgrass seeds planted in pots

“Progress, and improve upon and make beautiful everything around you. Cultivate the earth, and cultivate your minds. Build cities, adorn your habitations, make gardens, orchards, and vineyards, and render the earth so pleasant that when you look upon your labors you may do so with pleasure, and that angels may delight to come and visit your beautiful locations."
Brigham Young to the Saints of his day

That quote inspires me.

Yarn egg from Family Fun

One of my most favorite things
in the world to do is
sit & craft something.
For me, my family,
the birds,
a neighbor,
while listening to some soothe-y music.
Ahhh.
And in the kitchen,
ooooobviously,
is where my other favorite crafting takes place.

Lemon White Chocolate Chip
cookies delivered to the Hunk
while at work (our basement)

These are deserving of their
very own post.
And better pictures.
More later.

My pregnant sister, Brooke,
the very creator of BrookeesCookees,
brought these Spring cookies over.
A ball of chocolate chip cookie dough on bottom,
a yellow (!!) Oreo in the middle,
and more chocolate chip cookie dough on top,
baked.
W-w-w-w-ow!

Mia was invited to a
Tangled b-day party.
I did my very first french braid
on her hair.

This was the invitation to the party.
The details were on the back.
CUTE!

one of the party favors

My pa-in-law
found this at Habit for Humanity
and thought of me.
He was spot on
because......

I LOVE it.
xoxoxo it!

There's been lots of creating
in the garage.
A very functional creation for Bugg!
Brian & his dad have put lots of
time & love into it
and it is almost done!

I spray-painted my little heart out
this past week.
Bright Sun was my favorite to use.
And eating several of these muffins.
I set out to my pretend Bed&Breakfast
but was quickly interrupted by Rooskii
wanting a bite of my muffin,
then spilling my drink on the bedspread.
But, hey, I got a good picture.
And a few lines from LM Montgomery.
And yahoo!
I created another post for you!
It's been awhile.

cake mix cookies

Go from this......

to this......

in 10 minutes.
For reals.

Cake Mix Cookies
any cake mix
1/3 C. oil
2 eggs
chocolate chips
oven at 350 degrees for 7 to 10 minutes
I like soft cookies
so I take them out when they're a bit doughy still.
Remove immediately to cookie rack.
They'll firm up a bit.
I love this recipe when I want something
in a jiffy.

no falling here

I felt kinda vulnerable all day.

I thought I was going to fall into
the pit of despair any second.

Today was Kindergarten Registration.


It hit me, right in the heart.
If Wyatt were typical,
we'd be skipping off to register him for Kindergarten!
Such a fun event!
He'd be all giddy about starting school,
getting a new backpack & lunchbox,
and playing on the playground.
Mia would be so excited
because she'd have a sibling at school with her
and a buddy brother on the bus.
She would help him learn to read.
My heart would swell,
watching the 2 of them look out for each other.
But here is the awesome part:
It only hurt for a second.
Then I was on my merry way.
Previously,
things like that would send me
spiraling head first into a black hole.
I would cry, ache, grieve,
moan to my husband
and then eventually, press forward
until the sun came out the next morning.
But on this day,
by gad,
it was beautiful!

I couldn't wait to see my boy come off the bus today.
I knew his cheery & smiley self would
reassure me that he is just perfect the way he is.
That if he were a typical almost-5 year old,
he wouldn't be the Bugg that we know & love & ADORE.

Bugg will go to school next year.
He'll be in a special class.
And we will get him a new backpack & lunchbox.
He will play with new friends
and go on field trips.
Mia will continue doing what she always does:
she'll help him learn textures and sounds,
make him giggle,
cheer him on when he stands or sits and does his tricks.....
and my heart will keep on swelling.

we stayed in pj's all day long

Yesterday was fantastic.

Conference weekend always is.

A weekend at home in jammies
eating lots of treats and being filled
with the words of living prophets....
a very sunny weekend for sure!
Er, inside at least.
Outside......

It snowed so much
that we lost our satellite signal
and the Hunk had to dig out the dish.

from the Friend magazine

Bugg chucks his mass tangle
of shiny red beads
overboard.

In between Conference sessions,
we took a drive to the woods
to view the spring-turned-winter splendor.....

Any chance this mama gets,
I'll stand him up!

It's Monday.
I got dressed today, btw.
Dishes done?
No.
Have a great day!

Special Needs at Disneyland is super special

"A dream is a wish your heart makes....."

And like every parent,
I made a wish long ago that I wanted to
go to Disneyland with my own little family.
But how was it going to work out,
I wondered,
with our special son in a wheelchair?
Boy, did we find out and in true Disney fashion,
it was magical!

I'm thrilled to share with you
some of what we experienced.
And really, our day at Disneyland was enhanced
by having our Bugg with us.
We never ever felt left out,
uncomfortable,
or disappointed.
We were accommodated and included!
It is like everyone working at Disneyland
was meant to work there!
Amazing.
Okay.

Typically, when arriving off the freeway,
you'd enter this way in the right lane.
But,
for handicapped parking
you'll stay in the left lanes
and go this way into the Express Lane............

You'll be directed into a parking garage.
While you'll still need a tram ride
from your car to the park,
it is a lot closer.

You can take the tram,
or,
this van just happened to be waiting
outside the parking garage.
Both have lock-downs for wheelchairs.
And the drivers were so nice
and thorough, making sure Bugg was safe 'n snugg.

City Hall is located on Main Street,
just past Mickey's flower face.
This is where you can check in
and tell them your special needs
and get a special pass to jump to the front of the lines.
We didn't need to get a special pass
because the wheelchair was the pass.
But if someone is mobile and not capable of standing
in a long line,
City Hall will issue a special pass,
which is also good for 5 additional people
with the special guest.
COOOOOOOL!
And by the way,
everyone (3 & up) pays for admission to the park.
Even the "special" ones.
It is so worth it, though.
Bugg was able to go on most every ride.

We were the proudest parents ya' ever saw!
We are at Disneyland!
And our Bugg gets to enjoy it with us, too!
Okay, so I cried.
Let's just get it out there.

The Baby Care Center:
a place for all things "baby."
It is absolutely adorable inside
and there's a Nana in a cute apron to help & assist, too.
There's a sign outside that says to leave
your stroller outside.
But wheelchairs are welcome!
(it doesn't say that, though)

There's cushion-y changing stations,
little potties,
high chair,
tiny tables,
I think I saw a fridge.
Everything is super clean.
It is really awesome!
Entering a ride through the exit

Most rides for wheelchairs and special pass holders
are all about the exit to the ride.
That is where we got to enter.
This sign means that Bugg will have to transfer.
Meaning, he'll have to get out of his chair
and sit on the ride.
This only worked if we could either hold Bugg on our lap
or sit next to him and help him be supported.

The Disney website has a really detailed list
of the rides and wheelchair accessibility
that we printed,
so we could know beforehand which rides could
accommodate Bugg & how.
In the picture above,
you can kind of see a sign on the right.
There is one of these at every ride entrance
to let us know how Bugg could ride.
This one was "it's a Small World" and he was able to stay
in his chair and be fastened down onto a special boat
that had a ramp.
Check this out.......

How happy it made us to see our
big boy so happy, too, & riding along with us!
Here are some more rides....

Buzz Lightyear

Bugg & Dada

Carousel

Bugg was pretty chill on most the rides.
But every now & then,
he'd give one of his happy lil' squeals
and smile and giggle.
Oh, my heart must have burst a thousand times
that day!
I was holding Bugg & my 1 year old was
sitting next to me

Even though we were able to skip
the main line,
we still had to wait in the special line.
Most of the time,
we waited less than 5 or 10 minutes.
We waited 20 or so for Pirates.
No shock there.
That is such a crazy cool ride.
When the ride is a transfer like this one,
we were able to leave his chair
right where he gets on the ride.

The rider switch pass is great.
It is specifically used for kids that are too young
or too short to ride the big roller coasters.
For example, with this switch pass
my husband & our 6 year old daughter, Mia,
would ride the roller coaster
while Bugg & I & Ella (1 year old) waited for them.
We would wait at the exit and when they got off,
we would switch places and then
Mia & I would go on the ride together
without having to wait in the line all over again.
But I'm thinking this would also work
even if we just had Bugg.
We wouldn't put him on a roller coaster even if
he were tall enough.
He'd hate it and his head control isn't strong enough.
Make sense?

Did you know you can pack food
into the park?
I wish we'd brought in more soft foods for him
and kept it in a fridge somewhere.
I think you can store it at City Hall or Baby Center??
Anybody know for sure??
Because Bugg can only eat soft foods,
it was tricky trying to find stuff that would work for him.
(Their macaroni was super soft & easy goin' down
but overpriced for the amount you get.)

Bugg was loved everywhere we went.
I guess everybody puts on their best selves
when they step into this magical place.
Taking this picture,
people courteously stopped crossing the bridge
so we could catch our boy standing all grownup-like.
And they cheered him on.
It was so sweet.

Of course, it is a lot of work
to handle a day at Disneyland with children,
one of which is in a wheelchair.
But it was so so beautiful.
The memories will be there forever.

And our sweet Bugg.
I may never know how much he really got out of it.
I don't know if he'll ever remember it.
Or appreciate it.
And maybe he would have been much more
comfy staying home.
But he had his share of smiles.
And we were able to enjoy this trip
together.
I'm all about creating memories
and family bonding.
It was way worth every effort!!!!


So do any of you have any tips
to add to this?
Click HERE to read more about our trip