Courage & Coffee

Walk With Me 2013

This will be our 2nd year participating in Easter Seals Walk With Me! Ethan is an ambassador for this event, and we are putting together a team! Here is a link for more information about our team! We would love for you to join us!!!

http://es.easterseals.com/site/TR?team_id=126429&fr_id=3216&pg=team#.UbspbOe1FJs

I asked Ethan why he loves Easter Seals so much.

Here's how that conversation went....

Me - "Ethan, why do you love Easter Seals?"

Ethan - "I love Easter Seals because Payton (the therapy dog) keeps me calm. I love playing with my friends & my teachers.

Me - "What do they help you with?"

Ethan - "They help me to not do bad things."

Me - "What are "bad thing."

Ethan - "Not sharing with friends, taking toys away from kids, and not crashing on the floor."

This conversation would not have been possible had it not been for Early Intervention. When Ethan was diagnosed at 2 years old with classic autism & sensory processing disorder, Ethan was talking....but not much. His go to form of communication was through large & out of control meltdowns. He could not express himself in any other way. Because of this, our entire life was becoming more & more isolated. We couldn't take Ethan many places. His heightened senses would cause high anxiety & an increased chance of a meltdown. It was very difficult to participate in typical childhood activities & family outings.

A year ago, we enrolled Ethan into Easter Seals Intensive Therapy Autism Preschool Program. Since that time, Ethan is functioning so well in many typical environments like school, stores, church, playground, movies, and even at home! He is expressing himself with his words more than his meltdowns, he is eating more foods, he is becoming more independent, and he has become a seriously social butterfly!!!! He's even asking to have friends come over & play at our house!

This child who was once so withdrawn into himself is now asking every waiter & cashier what their name is, he is initiating conversations with kids in stores & playgrounds. He says "excuse me" to everyone we pass while shopping and LOVES to greet anyone who comes to our door.....especially the people delivering pizza. :0)

And this is just Ethan's story. Easter Seals is FULL of stories like his. Stories full of hope & promise. Stories full of obstacles AND overcoming them!

Easter Seals is not just an organization. They are people. No....not people......miracle workers. As I parent, I have given all I can to help Ethan achieve his best. I want to do everything in my power to help him, and I pray that God would help him where we are limited. And God gave us Easter Seals. I would give every penny I had to this group if that was even possible.

Your donation is helping kids walk & talk. It's helping kids understand the world & how to LIVE in it. It's helping families become STRONG. Your donation is helping provide miracles. For real.

WE HOPE YOU CAN JOIN US ON THIS DAY OF CELEBRATION! PLEASE JOIN OUR TEAM & WALK TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE! If you can't make it to the actual walk, we pray that you will support our team with a financial gift. 99cents from every dollar stays in Central Illinois....awesome!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ethan Wolfe & Family

Puzzle Piece Rewards System

Weeks of sticker charts!
DLTK's Custom Chore Charts!

For a long time, we have been doing the typical sticker chart to encourage Ethan to use manners, maintain good hygiene and become more independent. After a sticker chart was completed, Ethan would get $1 for his bank. That worked for awhile but then the novelty wore off. Getting a sticker for brushing his teeth was no longer worth it to him....and the battles returned.

So, we began to up the ante! Each night, we would count his stickers & he would earn 1 coin per sticker. And when his sticker chart was full, he would still earn a dollar.

Want to know a secret? I would just re-use coins already in his bank, so it didn't cost us any extra money. Shhhh....don't tell Ethan!

Well, that worked for awhile, but soon that began to wear off too. The battles were beginning to start again....fighting to brush teeth, fighting to self dress, and I was losing my currency with Ethan!

24 piece puzzle from Dollar General.

And, once again, the Changing Challenging Behaviors Workshop from Easter Seals came through for us!!! Ms. Dona, leader of the workshop & Ethan's ITAP program, showed the class several strategies & examples. Corey & I immediately knew that we had found our solution.....puzzles.

How do puzzles work in place of a sticker chart? For every demonstration of desired behavior, Ethan earns one puzzle piece....instead of one sticker. Once Ethan has completed a puzzle, he gets to pick a prize/toy out of the prize bin I've put together. Things from the dollar store, happy meal toys, garage sale finds....nothing that costs more than $1 each. ETHAN LOVES IT!!!!

In the middle of a puzzle!
Almost time for a trip to the prize bin!

It has been working longer than anything we have tried before! He loves gaining a puzzle piece, loves putting the puzzles together, loves digging for toys in our prize bin! Initially, I was cutting up the cardboard boxes of his fruit snacks, cereal, pop tarts, and other recognizable logos. But once Ethan got the hang of it, we needed to go to more puzzle pieces so he wasn't earning a toy EVERY day.

I am thrilled to report that this is STILL going VERY well, and he loves earning puzzle pieces!!! Now our battles are diminishing! Picking up toys, brushing teeth, turning off the computer, trying new foods, behavior in new places, and other issues are able to be a managed so much better with this new form of "currency." HOORAY FOR PUZZLES!

Route 66 Road Trip

To celebrate the end of school & beginning of summer, we decided to kick things off with a quick road trip to Pontiac, IL. Just a couple of hours away, the thing that attracted us to this small, rural town is it's the home of the Route 66 Hall of Fame. I thought my car crazy guys would enjoy this kind of getaway. We decided to leave right after Ethan got out of school. We got there about dinner time, ate at a restaurant, and then checked in to our hotel....complete with a pool. Of course Ethan wanted to swim ASAP, so we did. The place was so quiet & we had the pool & hot tub all to ourselves. It was wonderful. We just decided to lounge around in our hotel for the rest of the evening.

The next morning, after breakfast & a Ethan "swim" in our room's whirlpool tub, we were ready to head downtown. I think this place is the friendliest place on Earth! You should visit! It was VERY low cost (all museums were FREE), and lots of things to do! Now, I'll just let the pictures speak for themselves....get ready for a Parade Of Pictures From Pontiac!

First stop...Route 66 Hall of Fame & Museum!

This is the van that Fillmore from Disney CARS was modeled after!

Leave it to Ethan to find the state capital on the map!

Next, located just upstairs, was the Livingston County War Museum.
This was VERY cool! Not on our to-do list, but one of the coolest places we visited!

Keep climbing the stairs in this building & you'll find Route 66
in professional pictures.

And a JAIL! Me & Ethan pretending to wash our hands.

And Corey wanted to pretend to use the toilet.....oh Corey!

I LOVED this Route 66 photo!

Up another level was "Living in the 1940s"

Then, the Pontiac-Oakland Car Musuem

Oh man....you are looking at one happy kid!

He kept coming back to this car...lol!

These little "Art Cars" were located all over downtown.

And finally, the Walldogs museum. This place payed tribute to the
artists who painted the wall murals all over Pontiac.

I even found an antique shop! SCORE!

You can bet that if this was my husband's blog, there would be a lot more cars posted.
I decided to post this one especially for him. This was at the antique place, and he thought it was hilarious.

Ethan was WORN OUT from our day. Here he is with his two souvenirs.

I love these vintage signs!

Last Day Of Preschool!

The day finally came....Ethan's last day of Preschool. When Ethan first woke up he was full of energy & super excited for the day. However, once at school, he was a total bear! Did any of you notice that it was a full moon at the end of last week? Any of your kiddos in "moods?" Mine sure was! I told his teacher & principal that I was actually a bit grateful for his fowl mood. His attitude caused me to be frustrated & exhausted...instead of contemplative & sad.....it actually worked out! How's that for a positive outlook! LOL!!! HAPPY PRESCHOOL GRADUATION, ETHAN!