Really? You felt the need to rap that?

I will be the first to admit that I don't listen to a lot of rap.  I find the misogynistic lyrics and foul language often heard in rap disturbing.  I don't like it when I hear cuss words in any music.

I can appreciate the ability to rhyme off the cuff as well as the ability to speak/sing lyrics at an incredibly fast pace and still be intelligible.  (I used to be involved in debate in my younger days.  "Spewing" as we called it was a highly valued skill).  

Forgive me, however,  if I am a little skeptical of a rapper's recent apology for using the line, "I'm aritistic, you n***** is autistic, retarded".

The lyrics in question are on a collaboration with another rapper.  Albums go through a lot of production.  It seems to me someone in the development chain could have and may have pointed out how offensive those lyrics would be found.  

It also seems likely that one or more persons (including the rappers) could have seen the lyric and let it through with the intention the rapper would apologize if there was any kind of uproar.  (Going with the idea that there is no such thing as bad publicity).  

I understand this rapper's album is competing against Kanye West's for the top of the charts.  The birth of Kanye's daughter has increased his visibility.  This apology has now put the competing rapper in the spotlight.  (On the chance this was done for publicity, I won't name the rapper in question).  It all seems a little convenient to me.  

I personally think his lyric is misguided and uneducated.  I really would like to think it came as an off the cuff rhyme and no one thought twice about it, but I do have my niggling doubts.  

It is a nice apology. I truly hope he has come to realize what some of the struggles we families with Autism face are.  Even more- it would be nice if he became an advocate for Autism awareness.   Even though Autism rates are climbing, too many people do not really understand Autism as evidenced by the whole situation.

I'm posting the apology below with the rapper's name concealed.  You be the judge.    

From Yahoo:

**** wrote that when he first heard a backlash from those who deal with the developmental disorder he immediately realized he went too far.

"I was instantly embarrassed that I would be ignorant enough say something so hurtful," **** wrote. "What makes the crime worse is that I should have known better."

**** goes on to write that he's inspired by those who reached out to him: "I have now read stories online from parents about their struggles and triumphs with raising an autistic child and I admire how incredibly strong you have to be to do so," he wrote. "It's touching. It also makes what I said even more embarrassing for me. I feel real shame."

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The Best App to Make a Busy Mom's Life Easier

(Updated Nov. 2014).  

First of all, let me start off by saying I have not received any solicitation or compensation to write this post.  I honestly just want to share the number one app that has made my life easier.  If I can help other busy moms save a little time and money by sharing, then I have done my job.  

So what one app has made my life as a mother of six easier?  Menu Planner. There are other menu planning apps out there, but this is the one I chose based upon reviews I read and the functions it offers.  

So how has this app made my life easier?  Menu planning and incorporating new recipes into our diet is a snap.  Grocery shopping is streamlined.  As we run out of items at home, I can throw them on the "list" and not lose the list since it is on my digital device.  (In my case it is my iPad).  I am notorious for losing small slips of paper. 

I have a large family of eight, and groceries can take up a large portion of my budget.  I learned a long time ago if I have a plan for our meals and go to the store with a list of all the ingredients I need for that plan, I save money in several ways.  I save money because I can plan our meals around weekly store specials.  I save money because I only buy what I need on my list.  Sticking to the list cuts down on impulse buying and duplicate buying. (How many times have you gone to the store, come home and realized you already had an ingredient?)  Using a list also cuts down on the likelihood you will forget an ingredient and have to make a second trip back.  

Menu planning is great, but finding the time to go through my recipes, find the meals, and record the ingredients needed was a challenge.  Even when I planned a week with most of our favorite recipes I would often find I had forgotten a key ingredient like green onions.  And with six kids I would often be interrupted when I was trying to plan.  If I left my cookbooks and recipes out, I would have a big mess to clean up later.  I honestly came to dread meal planning time.

This app changed all that.  It took a little bit of time to set up, but once I had my recipes in, all I need to do is find a few minutes here and there to pick the meals and fill the calendar.  Most of the time a few minutes here and there is all I get. 

 A filled calendar from several months ago.  Sometimes when a recipe makes less than what my family needs, I put it in the calendar multiple times to make sure I can double or triple a recipe.  

Being able to plan my meals has made a world of difference in my family.  And the best part is once I'm done putting in my meals, it automatically generates my grocery list.  

 

 My grocery list.  See the sections of the grocery store?  I love it!  It saves me running back and forth and missing ingredients in an aisle.  

If I find I have a spare ingredients at home I can look up recipes by the ingredients for her want to have a recipe calls for half of the bell pepper I can easily look for an second recipe use the other half of the bell pepper and therefore no waste.  I can also assign prices from several grocery stores as well as choose the section of the grocery I will find the item.  The list is categorized by grocery department.

You can see I've assigned cheese to "dairy" and the provided place for the store prices. 

 

 Some of the other recipes that call for shredded cheddar cheese.  I don't use many of them these days since Baby Girl is allergic to dairy, but you get the idea of how you can look for other recipes to use. 

There is a pantry function which keeps track of items on hand and you can set it up to populate the grocery list when it gets low from use.  

 

If I had a recipe that called for any of these items and I didn't have any on hand, it would show marked in the "list" column as well. 

The app also let the auto import recipes from the sites. My favorite is Taste of Home and Food Network. I used to be a subscriber to "Taste of Home," and now I have access to the recipes through Meal Planner. 

 

 The import recipe screen.  You click on the bookmark icon and it pulls up the compatible websites.  You can also type in the URL in the top bar and do a manual import from that site.  This is a great option for food blogs. 

I will warn you that occasionally when you auto-import a recipe it will put the size of an item you need in the ingredient name so instead of listing the zucchini as 1 medium, it will list medium zucchini, 1 instead.  It's not really a big deal, but I just like to have fewer items on my item list and use the quantity section to tell me size.  I just copy and paste the sizes to go into quantity section to solve the issue.  

You can input recipes of your own as well, and the more ingredients you enter, the easier it becomes to pick from the drop down menu.  You have the option of adding photos if you want.

 

There are several ways of entering in ingredients for a new recipe.  Typing by hand, copying and pasting from a list, or choosing from a drop down list of ingredients (once you've built it up).  

The recipes allow you to rate them on a scale of five stars.  When we try a new recipe, I asked the family their opinion and we rate it.  This lets me easily know whether or not it's a meal to make again.  

 

 This was a pretty popular meal. 

When I am looking at recipes, I can sort them by a number of methods including the last time I used them. When you choose that option, the "Never Been Used" recipes show up first.  It makes it easy to keep your meal rotation fresh and fun.  

 

Our "Never Used" recipes.  

Looking at the recipes from A to Z. 

Looking at the recipes through the favorites filter. 

I can look at my planning by a month week or daily view.  When I look at the overall picture I can balance out our meals and make sure that we don't have too much too much beef, chicken, fish or vegetarian meals in a row.  

 

Daily view of the meal planner. 

Meal planning is so much more fun since I got this app.  It is only $2.99 and it really has made an important "mom job" easier.  

Do you have other suggestions for apps that have made your life easier?  List them below in the comments.

Autism and Research

Over the last few years we've spent many, many hours at our favorite Autism medical center. We've had evaluations, therapy sessions, meetings with licensed clinical social workers and physicians of all sorts.  In the last year we began to participate in a study for siblings of ASD kids.  Baby Girl has been evaluated twice now for her development.

The first study she was ahead on some things (motor skills) and a bit behind in communication skills.  The most recent study she was ahead on motor skills again, but she is even further behind in regards to communications.  It's hard to say why she is behind.  Is there a true problem?  Does she not flex her communication skills beyond vocalization because there are so many people attending to her?  Am I too good at reading her body signals and anticipating her needs because she is my sixth child?  Is it that I am splitting attention between her and her other siblings so I just don't practice skills and sounds as much?  

I don't know the answers now, and I'm not sure when or if they will become apparent. I've been so focused on her lack of weight gain and getting her to clap and wave that I admit I've neglected verbally "labeling" items and trying to get Baby Girl to duplicate sounds.  

She also has more sensory issues with sound than I realized.  Up until now I thought she just hated her bath.  All you had to do was shut the bathroom door while the bath water was running and she would start crying.  Once in the tub she would cry and cry and try to stand up all the time.  She screamed when we had to wash her hair and rinse it with water.  One of the researchers suggested perhaps it was the sound of the water running that was scaring her.  

As an experiment for her last bath, I ran the water before I brought her into the bathroom, and gave her some new bath toys.  No tears were shed.  A breakthrough to be sure.  I'm not sure if it was the new toys or the already run bath, but we'll find out when I give her next bath with the water already run.  (I'll keep the new toys out of sight for a minute).  

Part of our struggle with Baby Girl's weight is she seems to have texture issues with some of the foods I offer her.  Toddler foods often have milk in them, so I have to work to find safe alternatives she can have.  Quite a few times I've given her a allergy safe "toddler" food and she just spits it out.  The most common denominator for why she spits the food out is texture.  I'll keep trying, because I know it is important to expose her to new things, but it worries me nonetheless.  

So is my baby heading towards being high functioning on the autism spectrum like her brothers?  I don't know.  We'll keep working with her and watching her.  I am grateful we are a part of this study so  professionals can keep a fairly close eye on her.  At our next visit we should have a better idea of how she is doing.  

In the mean time I'm going to ramp up my efforts to increase her communication skills.  If I recruit her older siblings perhaps it will benefit the whole family.  

Wish us luck.

Review of Vintage Mickey

As I was thinking of countdown activities to do with my kids, the idea came to me to have the family watch every Disney movie ever made.  then I realized 1) If you count sequels and all live action movies, it is a verrrrry long list, (more movies than watching one a day for a year).  2) Not all of the Disney movies have tie-ins in the parks.  That being the case, I decided to tweak the list to include original animated movies (no sequels) and all movies that inspired attractions found in the Disney parks.  This opened up Star Wars and Indiana Jones for viewing.  

So how to organize my list?  We own some of the movies Peter Pan, 101 Dalmatians, etc.  Some of them I know we will have to borrow from Netflix or the library.  If you are interested, I will be posting the list in a PDF format in the future so you can use it for potential countdown activities.

Walt Disney once said, "I only hope that we don't lose sight of one thing - that it was all started by a mouse."  So, following Walt's advice, I decided to start with the mouse that started it all.  I looked online to see if I could lay my hands on Steamboat Willie, the first Mickey Mouse film.  It turns out it is part of a collection of short films with Mickey Mouse starting in 1929 called, Vintage Mickey. When I was looking for an image for this post, I found that Disney has now uploaded Steamboat Willie and other original shorts to YouTube. 

This review will include our ASD point of view.  

Steamboat Willie starts out with Mickey Mouse steering a steamboat and whistling--an image I think most Disney fans are familiar with.  The cartoon progresses and we find Mickey being chased off the wheel and yelled at by a "Pete"-like character.  Mickey is apparently the hired hand.  Minnie boards the boat and has her music she is carrying eaten by a goat.  Mickey cranks the goats tail and it begins to emit music from its mouth.  I think it was "Turkey in the Straw".   Mickey Mouse then proceeds to run around and manipulate or "play" other animals to create additional music.  

My kids were appalled by Mickey's behavior.  They couldn't believe Mickey was so rude he would pull off suckling baby pigs to pull on and play music with the mother's teats.  At one point Acroboy, who loves Mickey Mouse more than anyone I know, exclaimed, "I hate Mickey!"

The next short wasn't much better.  Mickey tries to get barnyard animals to help him build an airplane.  He finally succeeds by modifying a car in a cartoonish manner and pulling off the tail feathers of a frightened turkey to create the plane's tail.  Once he has a working airplane, he takes Minnie up in the air.  He tries to get a kiss from her and when that doesn't succeed, he does some aerial acrobatics that scare Minnie into his arms.  Then he kisses her and she slaps him. She is not really having any of it and manages to leave the situation by parachuting out of the plane and using her bloomers as a parachute.  

My kids were once again outraged by Mickey's cad-like behavior.  

This is a challenging collection of cartoons for kids on the Autism spectrum to watch.  My kids don't pick up on social cues and rules naturally, and I often have to let them know the rules for acceptable and unacceptable behavior, and now we watch a movie where a beloved character is breaking all the rules I've taught them.  (Don't touch other people's things, respect other's personal space, don't touch, hug, or kiss unless you've been given permission, etc).

I had to explain to them that the cartoons were at least eighty years old (and older) and it was a very different society than the one we live in today.  I had a history teacher who once taught us to not judge the past by today's social mores.  Now I find myself trying to pass that lesson on to my children.  

My husband and I could see other reflections of early twentieth century America through the pastoral setting of most of the cartoons.    We have seem to have completed the shift from the agrarian based society to an urban emphasis.  

Towards the end of the collection, Mickey Mouse begins to act more like the lovable character we all know.  The last cartoon was of a surprise birthday party Minnie threw for Mickey.  There was piano playing and dancing and it made my kids laugh.  Acroboy decided Mickey Mouse was okay after-all.  

******

I'm having a hard time figuring out how to wrap this review up.   Like I told my children you can't really judge the past based upon today's societal norms.  I personally am not a fan of slapstick (though I watched my fair share of "Tom and Jerry" in the past).  The humor in these cartoons is often outdated and slapstick.  (Mickey stealing kisses was funny in 1930, but would get him hit with a sexual harassment lawsuit in 2013).  I enjoyed watching "Vintage Mickey" for the educational value of seeing what was considered funny in the late twenties and thirties of the last century, as well as comparing and contrasting the leaps we have made technologically in the film industry since the first film.  (Brave is worlds apart from Steamboat Willie).

This film was more challenging for my children to watch.  My kids didn't really know how to handle a Mickey who did not abide by the rules of what we've taught them is acceptable behavior.  (Why should Mickey be allowed to invade the personal space of others or not respect their belongings?)  They are at an age where they appreciate slapstick more than I do, so they enjoyed some of it more than more than I did. 

All in all it was a mixed experience.  I can recommend this movie for its educational purposes, but if you watch it with your kids, be prepared to explain differences in humor from different eras.

Baby Girl has reached 20 pounds!!

We had a follow up appointment with the pediatric gastroenterologist.  We are going to continue to treat baby girl for acid reflux and then we will rescope her in August.  When we weighed her I was extremely happy to find out Baby Girl has finally reached 20 pounds.  She just barely crosses the 20 pound mark, but she does cross it!

I'm grateful for the continued prayers on my little girl's behalf.  We're not out of the woods yet, but I am confident that a loving God knows what is best for us.

Family Activity: Butterbeer Beverages

My kids are HUGE Harry Potter fans.  When we went to Universal IOA, we also bit the bullet and ate at the Three Broomsticks. The atmosphere there is pretty good, but the food is pricey (it cost us over $100 to eat there) We had a challenging day and you can read about it here:  {{sigh}} 

I thoroughly enjoyed my fish n' chips, and my husband enjoyed his food.  The kids either did not care for theirs, but ate it anyway, or they wanted to let it go to waste.   I ate a lot of what was left on their plates.  

We were even of split opinions on the Butterbeer.  I loved it, my husband liked it and the kids gave it mixed reviews.  Two of the boys did not like the foam.

A couple of years ago Lawboy came home from a Harry Potter activity with some homemade Butterbeer.  It was really gross.  The stuff at the park was much better.  After a lot of searching I came across this recipe for Butterbeer.  It is still very sweet, but much closer to what we had in the park.  I am going to copy the recipe and link below, but I think the next time I make this I will either useless of the brown sugar mixture, or just less brown sugar.  

Frozen Butterbeer
http://prudencepennywise.blogspot.com/2011/04/harry-potter-world-and-butter-beer.html

Servings: 4

Ingredients

		1 cup light or dark brown sugar
		2 tablespoons water
		6 tablespoon Butter
		1/2 teaspoon Salt
		1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
		3/4 cup heavy whipping cream (divided)
		1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
		Four 12-ounce bottles cream soda

Directions

Frozen Butterbeer

(adapted from Fox News Recipe)

Estimated cost: $6.00 Place your cream sodas in the freezer about 30 minutes before you plan to have butterbeer. (This recipe takes about one hour because of cooling time.) 

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine the brown sugar and water. Bring to a gentle boil and cook, stirring often, until the mixture reads 240 F on a candy thermometer. Stir in the butter, salt, vinegar and 1/4 heavy cream. Set aside to cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes). Once the mixture has cooled, stir in the vanilla extract. 

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine 2 tablespoons of the brown sugar mixture and the remaining 1/2 cup of heavy cream. Use an electric mixer to beat until just thickened, but not completely whipped, about 2 to 3 minutes. To serve, in the bowl of a blender, combine about 1/4 cup brown sugar mixture, 1/2 cup cream soda and two scoops of vanilla ice cream. Blend until smooth. Pour into glass and add additional cream soda to fill to the top. Stir with a spoon to blend. Top with whipped cream mixture. Repeat.