Birthday fun

We have been very busy as a family, on the26th May Ryan turned 12 a huge milestone for us and him - his last year as a child - he officially becomes a teenager next year.  His younger brother Brandon hit double digits, turning 10 on the 30th May - so we did what any "normal' kids would do we had a huge party - I believe I had over 40 people in my little house and for 2 fun filled hours I had no idea what my name was or where I was BUT the kids had a ball!  It was meant to be a bbq and camp fire party,but mother nature had different ideas bucketing rain all day prior - so we moved the pinata to the carport and somehow squashed 18 kids into our living room for pass the parcel.  A Big Thank you to all who attended and helped our boys celebrate their milestones - now I have a year to rest until I decide to do it all again!!!

The fabulous lego cake thanks to "A little slice of ......"

                                                                              More lego than legoland!!!

Staying positive

Its not easy having a child (or two) with a disability but the highs well and truly outweigh the lows.  I am a very lucky Mum, I have two beautiful boys with special needs.
 Brandon has made us very proud with his achievements in Karate, he won a gold medal at camp for sparring, not as a child with cerebral palsy but as a 9 year old yellow belt, and participated in all the activities the other kids did - he has a "do not give up attitude".  He is improving in leaps and bounds at school and has an extremely compassionate attitude to others.

Ryan is an amazing boy, seeing him reading a book to his 1 year old cousin last night was awe inspiring, he wasn't a boy who is in a wheelchair, with a terminal illness - he was Lauras big cousin Ryan who adores her.
Although, I have to plan for the future - as in home modifications and equipment - we try to live for the moment, when Ryan wants us to get on the floor and play lego or watch a really kitch movie like "Kindergarten cop" whilst getting lots of cuddles.  I love the fact that both my boys are loving and caring, love snuggles and telling me how much they love me today.

Who knows what the future holds but today is pretty great!

Circus Fun

Ryan and I just had a lovely afternoon at Silvers circus.  Very wheelchair/disabled friendly, they accept the companion card and have great disbled toilets and nothing was too much trouble. Highly recommended - a good mix of magic, death defying feats such as the "wheel of death" and the Football playing dogs, the audience concensus was a great show.

Easter camping

We had an awesome camping holiday with Ryan zooming everywhere in his wheelchair.  Tarra Valley is awesome as he can drive everywhere, but showering and toileting where a bit of a challenge, we took his shower stool and John had to shower him as the step to the ladies was too high to get his wheelchair over.
 Great news however, the owners are renovating the existing amenities blocks and have asked us to write a letter supporting their application for a grant to put in a disabled shower and toilet. 
If this is approved it will be much easier for him to enjoy camping, close enough to home (2 1/2 hrs) but far enough away to be a whole different world.

Must use the hoists!

Living on Nurofen Plus At the moment - silly Jane lifted Ryan without a hoist and hurt her back!!!
Luckily I picked up Ryans portable hoist last Friday with thanks the genorosity of my beautiful brother and sister in law Rick and Liz, who were married two weeks ago and requested people gave donations to Ryan instead of wedding gifts.  An extremely generous and thoughtful gesture which we are very grateful for.

I have hesitated using the hoists as I thought Ryan was uncomfortable using them,but once ago he has shown his strength of character and thoughtfulness by telling me to use the hoist or "get Dad" to move him.

Everyday he shows me just how amazing he is and that spurs me along to do the best for him.  I am fortunate that he is such a bright,bubbly positive boy with a heart as big as texas and I am blessed to have him in my life for however long that may be, and plan to enjoy each and every day with him.

Is Disney a possibility?

Discovered an amazing wheelchair travel agent Bill at "Travability" and have started investigating the possibility of taking Ryan on a dream holiday.  Bill suggested being based in Orlando and spending time at Disneyworld, Lego land,Kennedy space centre,Universal studios,Orlando aquarium and going on those hovercrafty boats on the everglades in Miami.

Sounds amazing - BUT to do this would cost $20000, so I am asking for expressions of interest in helping me organise a fundraising committee.  You won't be tied down, just enquiring as who could assist at this stage - I organised a dinner dance to fund Ryans bathroom renovations in 2010 and we raised nearly $6000 so I'm hoping that with some help we can do better.

Friends

Ryan was lucky to have a friend over to play after school tonight, the cheeky grins on their faces as they both got off the bus were priceless.  It was awesome listening to them giggling away at youtube and sipping on chocolate milkshakes... Oh for the innocence of childhood.

A Kids world

Kids really do look at the world differently.  Ryan has asked me if we can move his ceiling hoist into our bedroom in a few years, as apparantly he is going to move into the master bedroom.  So were do Mum and Dad sleep I enquired.  "You'll be in a nursing home" he responded!

At 41 I don't feel like I am ready to be put out to pasture yet!

As a parent, I want to protect that innocence as long as possible.  He also is aware that he needs a "wife" to look after him!  Is that what he sees in us that I "look after" his Dad - I suppose I could be setting a worse example than being loving and nurturing.

One thing, neither of my kids will ever be in doubt of - is that they are loved and not just by our words but by our actions too.
There are many arguements for and against Santa,the tooth fairy and Easter bunny, but realistically what harm do they do if they bring a bit of fantasy world and make believe into an increasingly violent and dangerous world.