Ups and Downs.......

Well this week has been plumb full of them.......
Stinger started on a new med-which I guess is interferring with his other meds as he isnt sleeping again. ......going on two weeks now........I havent really noticed that BIG of a difference in him-hes been getting light headed, ha sbeen having egg burps and hasnt been sleeping and isnt hungry....so lets tally it here-well its all not so good right? He even told me yesterday that he didnt want to take them anymore. So today we didnt. I know if I called teh dr he woudl say just to give it more time-but I really cant do that. So we made the decision that that one just isnt going to work. Hes sleeping tonight-go figure......Might have had some positives if we had waited a bit longer but the neg right now are just not something we are willing to put up with. Especially since he has lost 5 pds since his last Dr apt.
But on Tuesday it was awesome with his therapist!!! We made a deal that if he comes out of his room and interacts-even if its for 5 min he would get computer time. WOW! Guess that is the ticket ard here. Mrs K worked with him at group therapy-which is why I think he has been so resistant to her) and she has been coming over for abt a year nowto work on behaviors at home and abt-and each and every time Stinger will have nothing to do with her. He would get VERY upset and say he hated her. But on TUESDAY when I announced she had arrived Stinger ran up the stairs and I opened the door and he said "Hi Mrs K."!!!!!!!!!!WOW!!! I think both Mrs K and I abt died right there-LOLOLOLOL. She was dumb struck and said "Well Hi Stinger!!!!!" with her jaw at the floor looking at me. LOLOLOLOLShe was SO excited and ran out to her car and came in with a great big tub of builder marble construction toys. Stinger actually SMILED!!!!!!!!!So they played together for abt 45 min and she let Stinger keep the set for a week since he was playing so well with her and Monkey Boy.
But WOW!!!!! Complete sucess!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I was SOOOO very proud of him. And way to go Mrs K for suggesting this incentive. I still cant get over how he met her at the door-he has NEVER I repeat NEVER done that with any visitors except Papa/Nana.

So Its been a whirl of a week progressing in this area and then frustrated with the med merry go rd......sigh.....but Ill take one step forward to two steps back any day-kwim?!!!!!

Tomorrow Ive got Birthday Table with Flamingo-she is so excited to have me come and eat lunch with her-LOLOLOL. It will be fun. She even helped me decorate the house tonight-shes doing all these independant things....wah........:( So When she does say that she is excited to have me come to school with her-can you even guess how happy it makes me!LOLOLOLOL
Then Im stopping off at the post office to REGISTER!!!!!!!

Sheesh-Momma Bear is slowly getting there-LOLOLOL But this year Im really making it a priority as I feel so strongly abt issues we are facing and views of teh candidates. Speaking of I missed the debate tonight:( But I tivo'd it and its coming on again on FOX( make sure you watch it on this channel as I didnt last time and hmmmm....some things were missing in the speeches....) at 12-so guess what Ill be doing in a couple hours-LOLOLOL
From little recaps I hear she blew it up!!!!!! WHOOT!!!!! REAL PALIN-REAL!
-have you checked out O'Reilly-LOLOLOL He is really letting the ones who dropped the ball with Fannie/Freddie hear abt it!I saw snippets and BOY-Ive Got to go find that!!!!

Best Friends

Sucess-Today With Therapist!! WHOOT!!!!

Who's Fault Is This Anyway???....LOLOLOL

Okay-Ive been trying to digest all of this and I just cant get over that there WERE signs of this crash coming-as early as 2004!!!!!!
The Democrats are blaming the Republicans etc......I wasnt quiet sure until I watched this video-which clearly states otherwise.....

http://hotair.com/archives/2008/09/29/video-democrats-insist-nothing-wrong-at-fannie-mae-freddie-mac-in-2004/

Okay-so now that we have that settled-LOLOLOL

I was listening to Glenn Beck today and he was talking abt inflation and how people need to be looking for sales and buying shoes for their kids NOW etc for in the future. I couldnt believe it-if this is really going to happen-its scary-eh?

Either way if the $700 billion deal passes or it doesnt-I see it being bad. If it passes these companies will have still no regulation and will continue to do what they have been doing...if it doesnt pass we the people will still pay as it WILL trickle down to us sooner or later.....

Guess we are darned if we do darned if we dont......Makes me ill how our country though is so divided even during an economic crises. Sheesh......still name calling trying to out the other party. The whole thing just makes me sick....

Pepper Sleeping-What a Clown-LOLOLOL

Simple Woman

FOR TODAY 9/22/08

Outside My Window...there is a beautiful night sky filled with stars

I am thinking...and wondering if my friend will be on tonight-she has been on my heart lately as she is going through some trials with her son and shes starting the process as I did with Stinger not so long ago....a VERY LONG and gruelling process...school, medicaid, services etc.....eh-yi-yi!

I am thankful for...my family- how even on the worst day I go to bed at night thanking the Lord for each and every minute of it

From the kitchen...dishwasher running

I am wearing...tee shirt and sweats

I am creating...hmmm need to be creating something as Christmas is right ard the corner-eh? Im such a slacker.

I am going...to be on the puter awhile as I havent been on all day and Ive got a zillion emails to get through....

I am reading...Its so Hard to Be Your Friend

I am hoping...This week will be a good one as we are starting some new things with Stinger

I am hearing...my English comedies on the TV and my little wee Pepper trying to get comfy on the couch-she makes these CUTEST noise/ whines-they are adoreable-like shes yawning and whining at the same time....

Around the house...kidss are ZZZZZzzzzzing *knock on wood*all is quite

One of my favorite things...puppy breath all in my face-ahhhh-LOLOLOLOL

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:
trying new things/med/social goals with Stinger, Book Mobile tom,

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

This is Pepper-our new addition. Shes a Great Dane mix and Im just in LOVE ...yet again......LOLOLOLOL-go figure-eh? LOLOLOLOL

A Note on Homework......

WOW!!!!! If I only had received this...back then......VERY valueable lessons here---and oh sooo true!!!!!!

Mom, does this sound like you? If it does, you are making the cardinal error of the parent of a special needs child. You are enabling the school to avoid providing a Free and Appropriate Public Education (FAPE) by masking the nature and extent of your child’s disability. Step one in addressing this problem is to stop helping your child!“All we do after school

Have a family meeting and explain to your child that they have two types of teachers: their parents whose job it is to teach them how to be responsible human being who contribute to society, and their school teachers whose job it is to teach them things like math and reading. Tell them your job is by far the more important one, so you can’t waste your valuable time with them teaching math or reading. Let them know that you will do the following to help equip them to handle homework and school projects:

· Give each child their own unique place to work

· Provide them one colored bin for each subject with a duplicate copy of their text book, and any supplies they need for that subject all color coded. For instance, the math bin might be blue and in that bin you would have the textbook, the workbook, graph paper, pencils, erasures, rulers, calculator, compass and anything else they will need.

· Provide each child with a special shelf to store their subject bins.

· After they have changed into play clothes, you will give them a snack and one hour to run around and play OUTSIDE.

· When it is homework time, you will help them read the assignment directions. Make certain they know what they need to do. Do one example, and watch them do one example. Then, you and they will estimate how long the paper should take. Let’s say 30 minutes (shorter periods of time would be appropriate for children under 10). You’ll set the timer for 70% of that time – about 20 minutes, and when the timer goes off they know they should be near done. If they are, they can just hurry to finish up. If not, they can continue working at the pace they have been working.

· If they don’t finish the assignment, you will write a letter to the teacher stating: “Joey worked diligently on this assignment for 30 minutes, but lacked the skills to complete it. Please re-teach this in class tomorrow.”

· After one subject is done, you will your child 10 minutes to do something physical. Then repeat the process for the next subject.

Special Situations

If your child has ADHD, you might also want to tell the child that you will provide an IPOD with noise cancelling headset and they can listen to fast paced music of their choice while working. You may also want to consider providing a caffeinated drink to help them sustain focus during homework time, and perhaps a fitball chair, so they can gently bounce and self stimulate while working.

If your child has Bipolar Disorder, Depression, chronic fatigue or lethargy, you may also want to mount a full spectrum light over their study area. This is the closest replication of natural sunlight available and is reported to improve overall mood and feeling of well-being. It is claimed that while doing visually demanding tasks such as reading and writing it helps reduce eye fatigue. It has also been reported to improve sleep quality at night and level of alertness during the day; with positive impact on the scholastic performance of students. The effects are probably greatest for those living in the northern hemisphere or areas where there are frequent gray skies and children are indoors rather than being outdoors and exposed to natural sunlight.

Learning Disabilities

If your child has dysgraphia, consider what assistive technology will facilitate homework. Perhaps you can scan dittoes or worksheets into your computer to a PDF conversion and permit your child just to type answers. If they have to write spelling words ten times, maybe you can permit them to type the words instead. For children with dyscalculia who have been unable to learn math facts and multiplication tables, permit use of reference tables for homework. For those with deficits in organization and planning, consider making a simple PDF template for book reports and research projects that your child can use. Remember, homework is suppose to be about practicing skills already fully comprehended in school, so anyway you can make the practice more manageable is a positive move.

Making learning easier

If your child has a specific learning disability in the area of reading that is impacting

their mastery of science, history and math, consider renting or purchasing educational

videos that can be used as a review of or introduction to material they will be learning

in school. For instance, if they were studying Renaissance artists, you may want to get

some videos on Monet, Manet, Renoir, Cassett and so forth. One good source for this

type of DVD Devine Entertainment - http://www.devine-ent.com/. They have a series on

famous artists, famous composers, and famous inventors, as well as a music series, and

are currently working on a series on famous writers. For DVD’s on famous historical '

characters check out http://www.NestFamily.com where you will find a superb animated

educational series on historical characters. One way to utilize these is to select videos

that support whatever your child is learning in school and have your child view enjoy

them while eating breakfast. That way it feels unrelated to school, but, they are

processing vital information. Another excellent source for educational DVD is Early

Advantage at http://early-advantage.com.

Document instead of correcting

DO NOT correct homework! Sign the papers so teacher’s know you reviewed them, but leave the errors there so the teacher’s see what your child is struggling with. You may even want to circle these with colored highlighter so the teacher doesn’t miss them. Invest in a copier, and Xerox each piece of homework before you permit your child to turn it in, this will be valuable documentation if you later end up in a due process hearing.

What to tell your child

Let your child know that if they have done their best and can’t complete the work the fault lies with the teacher for not teaching it well enough, not with your child. Praise your child for effort and patience. Let them, know that you will be in constant communication with the school to improve the instruction they receive and they have no need to worry. Then, set up a reward system for staying on task gradually increasing the agreed upon time for each subject. The reward might be 10 minutes to jump rope, hoopla hoop, ride their scooter or skate board, ride their bike, and jump on the trampoline. Always try to make the reward a physical activity as this increases endorphin levels and improves your child’s frustration tolerance while simultaneously, circulating oxygenated blood to the brain and improving their ability to learn.

Boosting Self-esteem

Many children who have trouble with school develop poor self-esteem and tend to clam up and not communicate about their feelings. To help reduce this, I suggest that parents take twenty minutes each day that they would have spend on homework and go for a walk with their child (or some other free physical activity that both enjoy). First, the exercise increases the endorphin level and helps both you and your child calm down. Second, it provides a time for some fun. As you go along you can play search games, have scavenger hunts, or play word games. You can joke and tease or just be quiet. This special time is a bonding time that will benefit both you and your child especially if you don’t mention school and don’t give directions. Make the one and only rule for this time clear before you leave “Walk side by side with mom, so you are safe.” The rest of the time, just enjoy your child’s company. Keep in mind that when you do things with your child that they do well, it helps them see themselves as competent. So, this quality time functions well to boost their self-concept and provides them a time to share concerns and frustrations with you if they want to. But, if they do, just listen. Be a sounding board without offering any advice unless your child specifically asks you for advice. For instance, if your child says: “I hate math, the work is too hard”. Don’t begin asking questions regarding what they find hard or if they asked the teacher for help. Just say: “Yeh, math can be really tough”. Sympathize, but don’t direct. This provides support in a way that doesn’t feel critical.

Follow Up with the school

If your child has problems with homework for six consecutive weeks, then it is time, to take all your copies, and Xerox them. Attach these to a letter to teacher indicating that clearly your child is not learning from the classroom instruction, and you want a conference with her to discuss more effective methodologies. Bring your spouse and if possible the child’s grandparents to this meeting so everyone will be on the same page. Be sure you leave there with an agreed upon plan that will include some standardized pre-testing and a repeat of that testing in six weeks to monitor progress. Generally, I like to see one of the interventions be that the child will complete homework after school with their teacher. This way the teacher is working one on one with the child and witnesses the problems for themselves.

If your child continues to have homework problems for an additional six weeks (now three months into school) write the IEP team stating that you need to have the team meet to brainstorm changes to the IEP that will empower your child to make meaningful progress as the current IEP is not doing so. Whatever they agree to needs to end up in the IEP and needs to be initiated by baseline testing and followed up with repeat testing in six additional weeks to insure that the intervention they have selected is actually appropriate.

NOW THATS APPROPRIATE!!!!!

THEME:

Since I’ve been making you work really hard on the previous Memoir themes I decided to take a little break, and do something fun! This week I want to invite you to share a few of your favourite things - er - sites. I know the list of favourite things could be never-ending, but I’ve made a list for you to do regarding your favourite homeschool things. Just copy this list and add your favourites underneath the appropriate category. BUT by all means you’re welcome to add your other favourite things on the post as well!

• Magazines/Carnivals - in print or online

any parenting special needs mag

• Freebie sites - any sites that offer freebies or often have giveaways

Teacher resource sights- my new favorites are learningtreasures.com and timesaversforteachers.com,Free Homeschooling Resources TheHomeSchoolMom.com,Homeschool Freebie of the Day

• Homeschool news/informative

HSLDA websight

• Forums/book clubs

IEP forum, HomeschoolingAspies forum, Keepers at Home,AmblesideOnline

• Inspirational/encouraging/motivational -

TO TRAIN UP A CHILD, What God Provides,
http://thesimplewoman.blogspot.com/

• Youth/kid - sites geared towards youth/kids or owned by the

• Organizing/crafts - sites that you look to for organizing tips or crafts

• Homemaking/Homesteading

• Bible-focused - sites mainly about God’s Word

• Homeschool Method - sites that offer a lot of info on a certain method

An Old-Fashioned Education ,Contenders for the Faith & Keepers at Home,

• Family blog - sites that give you a glimpse into another family’s life, run by a family

Lisa's Ramblings ,MOM - Not Otherwise Specified,Fiddle-dee-dee

• Teaching Tommy
• Fighting4Fape
• Special Hearts-shes got an Aspie too and I love this lady-her hints are AWESOME!!!!!!!
• CURIOUSITIES
• Nature Study Handbook-WHOOT!=AWESOME BLOG!
• Homeschool Talk
• Brightword-excellent advocacy for our kids :)
• http://www.backyardcapers.com/homeeducation/virtualfieldtrips.html

Some Children Have to Work Too Hard to Learn

HSLDA Launches Struggling Learners
Newsletter

Is this neat or what??!!!! Talk abt HSLDA covering everything. For those of you who dont know what HSLDA is it is a law/advocacy/homeschool organization who will go to bat fro homeschoolers everywhere-will defend them against school districts butting in when NOT wanting etc......
Anyway-here's the first newsletter:

Past experience has shown that the parent is the best teacher for a
child who is struggling with the learning process in any way. Our goal
is to help equip parents to identify their child's struggle and
teach their child successfully at home…and have fun doing it!

Future editions of this newsletter will be available only by
subscription through the HSLDA e-lert service. Sign up now! >>
<http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5504>

It is always puzzling to a parent when one of their children doesn't
learn to read or write as quickly as their siblings. Sometimes parents
find that giving the child more time to mature works well. Other times
the child struggles with the learning process in spite of being given
more time.

Maybe you are a parent who has recently taken your child out of the
school setting because he was not learning well, despite an Individual
Education Plan and special reading and writing classes. Your child is
likely suffering from a block in one or more of his "learning
gates." One of the main learning gates is the "writing learning
gate," and consequently is the most common to be blocked by a glitch
in learning.
Writing Gate Blocked—When Copying Doesn't Work
God designed our left brain hemisphere to concentrate on new tasks, such
as driving a car, or riding a bike. After concentrated practice, that
task is then transferred over the corpus callosum (the brain midline),
to the right brain, which is responsible for automaticity of processes.
If we imagine the left brain hemisphere as the "thinking
(concentrating) brain" and the right hemisphere as the "doing
(automatic) brain," we can see how this transfer allows us to
"think and do" at the same time. Then we can think and drive at
the same time, or think and ride our bike at the same time.

Generally, when we teach a child how to write, after six months of
practice that writing is expected to cross over from the
"concentrating brain" to the "automatic brain" so the
child can now "think and write" at the same time. For many
children, this transfer does not easily occur. Thus, they have to give
energy, or a level of concentration, to a task that other children do
not have to do. Dr. Mel Levine, in his book One Mind At A Time, calls
these blocks, "energy leaks."

This often solves the mystery of why many children learn their spelling
words easily by writing them in a workbook, or writing them five times
each, while other children can write words hundreds of times and still
not store the spelling word in their long-term memory. Now we realize
that these struggling children have to use their "batteries"
just for the writing process, so that the learning process cannot occur.
Thus, the method of copying to learn is totally ineffective for these
children. We need to help them open up their writing gates.

These children are very commonly thought of as "lazy, sloppy or
unmotivated." We, unknowingly, make them re-copy work that is
sloppy, not realizing that they have a bona fide writing block. The
majority of the time, when a child who loves to listen to mom read
stories, but says that he doesn't like or even "hates"
schoolwork, he is struggling with a blocked writing gate.
Characteristics
Let's look at some of the symptoms children who have blocked writing
gates present to us daily:

* Frequent or occasional reversals in letters or numbers (after age
7)
* Letters made from bottom to top (vertical reversals)
* Writing is very labor intensive
* Copying takes a long time
* Math problems solved mentally to avoid writing them down
* Writing appears sloppy and child is often considered lazy
* Oral recitation of stories is excellent, but writing is minimal
* Capital and small letters mixed in writing
* In math, lining up numbers in multiplication or division is
difficult

No child has all of these characteristics, but if your child has
several, you may consider this an area he or she is struggling in. If a
child has many of the characteristics, or is over age 9 and still writes
reversals, they may be labeled with dysgraphia. Many times these
children are considered "gifted with a glitch." They are
excellent in verbal expression, but way behind in written expression.
Writing paragraphs and longer papers are something that they take great
pains to avoid. They give one-word answers whenever possible.
Compensation
When a parent recognizes that their child has a blocked learning gate,
and is not just being sloppy or resistant to writing without a reason,
then steps can be taken to alleviate some of the writing burden on the
child, until the problem can be corrected.

* Reduce the amount of writing a child needs to do during the day. Do
more answers for chapter questions orally. Limit the amount of writing
in workbooks.
* Reduce or eliminate copying for 3-6 months. Save the child's
"battery energy" for writing paragraphs, or a paper once a week.
* Use another method of learning spelling words that does not include
writing multiple times. Resources include Sequential Spelling
<http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5497> or Right Brain Spelling
<http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5498> .
* Teach the child keyboarding for some writing projects (However,
most children who have dysgraphia, or a writing glitch, also find
keyboarding quite labor-intensive also.)
Correction
There are various methods that can be used to take the stress out of a
child's writing system, and make the whole writing process more
fluent. Here are a few:

* NILD has a private therapy program that incorporates "Rhythmic
Writing" <http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5499> to help reduce
the stress in the writing system.
* "The Source for Dyslexia and Dysgraphia," from
LinguiSystems <http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5500> contains ideas
on how to correct writing problems.
* The "Brain Integration Therapy Manual"
<http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5501> by Dianne Craft, contains a
daily "Writing Eight Exercise," that opens the child's
writing gate and eliminates reversals.
* "Handwriting Without Tears"
<http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5502> is a writing program that
works well after a child has a strong midline.
Conclusion
A child can have a learning glitch, or block in a learning gate, that
causes him to struggle everyday with schoolwork, without the
parents' knowledge. Using some simple checklists, the parent can
identify this problem and design the school day to be less frustrating.
More importantly, the parent can avail herself of all the wonderful
corrective techniques, so that the child does not need to struggle with
the burden of having to work so hard at writing, or with a dysgraphia.
God has wonderful answers for us. He leads us in so many ways, and we
are ever grateful!

For more information on the Four Learning Gates, and how they can be
affecting your child's daily learning, visit the HSLDA Struggling
Learners website <http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5503> . This site is
designed to help parents both identify and correct many of the everyday
learning challenges that children experience. Of particular interest is
the "Smart Kids Who Hate to Write"
<http://www.hslda.org/elink.asp?id=5505> article on that website.

BCM Assignment #4

Week 4 Theme

Planning your homeschool is a lot of fun, especially if you’re going to be trying something new. Just like finding a shiny new penny you’re excited to use it. Mother Dear has been planning some new curriculum for us, and I am plenty excited to get started on it. This week I hope you’ll share something new you’re using, why you’ve decided to use it, and if you have used it how you like it. Make sure to include the publishing information and where you got it from so others can look into if they like.

My Theme

Okay so Ive not been on the ball lately...Ive missed the first three assignments-LOLOL, but better late than never-right!

As most of you know Stinger is very behind his peers in Language Arts. Last year with K12 we were at 1st grade level. He was doing fairly well and so this year I thought I would bump him up to 3rd grade. Oops! Hard lesson there..... So Im putting the 3rd grade curriculum away until he is more ready for it and I found a really good sight online called learningtreasures.com
Its got up till 3rd grade spelling lists and really fun worksheets related to the words to do each day of the week and Friday we will be having a test. Shes adding to them all the time-she has other subjects as well.
Stinger was VERY reluctant to go back to 2nd grade material , but when I showed him the worksheets he was excited. So I guess its a perfect fit for him. The worksheets are FUN!!! Crosswords, scrambles, word searches-all things he LOVES. A kid who used to give every excuse as to why he could not do spelling today-is actually going through his worksheets first thing-after Science and History of course. ;)LOLOLOL And that smile is Golden!!!

We Will NEVER Forget !!!!!

This is the BEST tribute to 9/11 Ive witnessed!

I'm not ashamed to admit that tears came to my eyes as I watched
this, and a huge lump developed in my throat.

http://attacked911.tripod.com/

Media At It Again.......

I received this email this morning seams the Dem are freaking out-LOLOLOL...and so it begins.......sigh.....

"This morning, while doing something I shouldn't have been doing - flipping through cable news channels *slap slap* - and still feeling the afterglow from Palin's speech last night at the RNC, I heard on both CNN and MSNBC (Morning Joe show) that Palin had CUT special need funds in Alaska during her reign as Gov'r. Someone on another list posted about how Palin would be someone "for us" (mother's of special needs) and I posted a "not so fast, time will tell; seems she cut the budget from $8 to $3". I've been watching/listening all day to see if anyone else was reporting on this, but so far, the only thing I've heard is a continuance of the same news that Palin cut special needs funds. Long story short, I found other information which indicates that "reduced" isn'tthe correct way to describe what she did. In the interests of special needs, here's information I ran across which I think gives a true picture of what Palin did with the special needs budget - she INCREASED IT! Yay, Palin!

http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/TWSFP/2008/09/newest_palin_smear_she_cut_spe.asp

>From the publication Education Week:
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/04/30/35recaps.h27.html

Gov. Sarah Palin and state lawmakers have gone ahead with an overhaul of Alaska's school funding system that supporters predict will provide much-needed financial help to rural schools and those serving students with disabilities.
The plan, enacted in the recently concluded session of the legislature, is based on recommendations issued by a legislative task force last year. It will phase in a greater flow of money to districts outside of Anchorage, Alaska's largest city, over the next five years.
Advocates for rural and remote schools have lobbied for years for more funding, in particular noting the higher fuel, transportation, and other costs associated with providing education in communities scattered across the vast state.
A second part of the measure raises spending for students with special needs to $73,840 in fiscal 2011, from the current $26,900 per student in fiscal 2008, according to the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development (emphasis added).

So the Netroots and CNN allege that Palin cut special needs funding by 62 percent, by crediting her with the budget proposed by a political opponent. And the truth is that rather than a 62 percent cut, she's actually increasing special needs funding by 175 percent.

----------------------AWESOME!!!!! She does stand behind what she says!!!!

"ELECTRIC" -Sarah Palin

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!!
I have found a HERO!!!!!!

I actually got to listen to her WHOLE speech tonight. We Tivo'd it last night and sheesh......I dont know what we recorded-but it was a wee smidget of what Sarah said. But the broadcast was made to feel as though it was the whole thing-there was no commentary etc. We missed TUNZ of policy topics etc-the recording started late so thats why I thought we hadnt heard everything-but listening tonight to C-span online-it looks like things were actually OMITTED! How can stations do that? UGH! =MEDIA...sigh.......enough said I guess....

At the beginning she made a special remark abt special needs children. As most know in April she gave birth to a beautiful son with down syndrom. So she is ONE OF US who has an understanding-shes a special needs mom. This is what she said:

" And in April, my husband Todd and I welcomed our littlest one into the
> world, a perfectly beautiful baby boy named Trig. From the inside, no family
> ever seems typical.
>
> That's how it is with us.
>
> Our family has the same ups and downs as any other ... the same challenges
> and the same joys.
>
> Sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge.
>
> And children with special needs inspire a special love.
>
> To the families of special-needs children all across this country, I have a
> message: For years, you sought to make America a more welcoming place for
> your sons and daughters.
>
> I pledge to you that if we are elected, you will have a friend and advocate
> in the White House."

Have we EVER in History had a Vice President utter those words of hope and encouragment?

A friend called me last night and said that while watching and listening to the speech her eyes were tearing up-I didnt understand. Tonight I do.

Im just speechless tonight.....I dont know what else to say......

Heres the WHOLE thing.....
http://rnc08.c-span.org/?z

COUNTRY FIRST!!!!!!

Okay-Im the first to admit that Im not so well informed as far as politics goes. I hardly ever get on this bandwagon. BUT- PALIN has me...whats the word Im looking for here......EXCITED!!!!!!WOW!!!McCain REALLY knew what he was doing when he nominated her as his running mate.

C-DID YOU WATCH THIS!!!!!!!!!!

I havent even seen her broadcast yet-Reviews are alllll over Fox, and it will be on again at 12-so guess what I WILL be watching....be even set to record it as DH dindt want to miss it.

The Liberal Media is sure having a day with her though-but I think after tonight that all will be put to rest. Shes a Mom-one that MANY can relate to. She's just had a special needs baby. She has a daughter who is 17 and pregnant. She has executive experiance-shes even got more experiance than Obama-LOLOL-which I think is tooo funny. And yet still the media is all over these normalicies. I mean what family in America can not relate to this woman? "They"say this is too much for a "woman" to bear. "They" say "5 kids is too much of a distraction"

PLEASE!!!! If ANY woman can do it Palin can-"they" are just petrified that she will take this.....and I hope she does. Our country NEEDS this woman. She WILL get in there and make changes-and changes are what we need!

I was listening to Rush today in the car and I just cant get enough of this woman and hearing all the media try and find something they can get her on...LOLOLOL-its rediculous. But I say search away-the more they speak the sillier and more desperate they sound! LOLOLOLOL

K-Im off to search for her speech on Utube-LOLOLOLOL