It's A Goodwill Haul Y'all!! Owls and pioneer woman!! Two of my favorite things!!

Made another visit to the goodwill today (with my kids, again it was worth it!). I go at least twice a week. The employees probably wonder where I put all this stuff ;) Also purchased some vintage items but that is on my vintage blog! 

     Found some awesome decor! An old farm canvas 1.99, wood bowl with burgundy outside 1.99, berry ring .99, owl hand painted in drift wood 1.00 and pioneer woman salt and pepper shakers 1.00 for the set.

 
      Of course i got kid items too. Books were .10 a piece (even the teddy ruxpin with tape, that of course will be put on ebay), star wars light saber key chain new in pack 1.00 and a new in pack fidget spinner 1.99 (yes my son is still into those, he only has 20 what is 1 more haha).

It's A Thrift Haul Y'all!! Pink backpack, sakroots purse and kids stuff oh my!!

     I'm back after a year and a half absence but I came back with a thrift haul y'all!!! It is yard sale season and of course it is always thrift store season. On this blog I am just showing kid items, clothing for me and other odds and ends if you want to see my vintage items and most decor head on over to my a thrifty vintage collector blog. Now let's get started!

     First off I'm starting out with a church sale I went to last weekend. I got this awesome sakroots purse it seems this was a $60 purse brand new I got it for 1.50, anchor tote for .25 and this awesome vintage bracelet and earrings for .75 a piece. Also picked up 2 grab bags for small toys (there was littlest pet shop in the bags I sell those on ebay**update**most of the littlest pets were fake) for 1.50 a bag and a melissa and doug garden puzzle for 1.50.

  Now it is goodwill time. These items are from last weekend too. First off is a heschel supply company backpack in pink, it is new without tags and sells for $40-$90 (I picked this up to try to sell on ebay). It was 1.99. Also picked my son up a spirograph (from the 80s) for 1.99 (not pictured son took of with it already) and  2 books for .10. Hermit crab sand was 1.99 glad to find that since I just spent $8 on the same thing! I got a lot of other vintage items/ owl decor but that is on my vintage collector blog.




   

Just Checking In.....

     Hello there! I did not post 1 time in 2017, new record for me ;) I can not believe I have not written a post since October of 2016 I have no idea what happens in October but for some reason that month is popular for me to stop. A lot has happened in 16 months (my goodness you could have a baby and it could have it's first birthday in that many months, I have not done that thank goodness but it is possible). No I have been super busy being a mom, not just any mom but an autism mom. Both of my boys are now diagnosed with autism (50% chance to have 2 kids with it, of course I would win the lottery on that, only lottery I can win) so as you can imagine it has been quite hectic.
     My oldest was diagnosed in 2014 and it has been hard with school, he is not a school kid but this year he has enjoyed it. I do think it is because we finally made the decision to put him on medication for his anxiety I do feel that was causing a majority of his issues with school and the bus. Ever since he has been on it (which was early summer 2017) he seems happier more at ease, he does not worry as much. So it has been an easier year with that, he still has some issues but it is way better than it ever was before.
     My youngest was diagnosed in May of 2017 he is 4 and non verbal. We are working on his speech he has been going to "school" since December of 2017 but he just moved to the autism school in our area at the beginning of March of this year. At first he was going from 900-130, we have now made the decision for him to go from 900-245. They feel he will benefit from going longer, as I have said before you just have to hope they are doing what is best for your child. I can honestly say that I believe they are, since he has started going there (less than a month cause they had snow days and spring break) he is already becoming more verbal with sounds and noises. So the must be doing something right!
     I am having a hard time finding my place now. With both my boys in school for the whole day I struggle with what to do with myself. Don't get me wrong I have plenty to do around the house but I had always thought once both boys was in school I would go back to work. That is not possible at this time. The school my son goes to still calls me about coming to get my oldest if he has an off day. They have appointment to go to almost every month. They have aba everyday in home. I take and pick up youngest for now. Summer is 2 months long no babysitters then.... Wow I am really being a debbie downer. That is how it is sometimes, I can be so down and out then the next day I am back up. I am sure it is like that for a lot of special needs parents.
     Okay... Well now that we are caught up I am going to try to keep this blog updated with post that are what I started this blog for, to show you can get nice things and dress your kids on a thrifty budget. I will at times have autism posts but mostly thrifty things from now on. So here we go, I hope I make it past October this year ;)

Our life with autism..... The great pants debate....

     Well...... It has been 6 months again LOL. I swear... It really should not be this hard but here we are again!
     On to another installment of our life with Autism. This is going to be about the great pants debate.... As my son gets older he gets even more particular about what he wears. When he was younger till about the age of 6 he did not care what he wore, now I have to go through an act of congress to get him to ok a shirt or worse PANTS.
     When he was first diagnosed he would wear jeans he did not care, I will even go as far to say he liked them..... What??? Soon it became no jeans only "comfy" pants (jersey, cotton, sweat, you know lay around the house stuff) of course I did not want him to be uncomfortable so I took the jeans out of his wardrobe. Then it became he only like "comfy" pants that were not hot (so no sweat pants) so of course again I took those out. Now it has gotten to I only like silky pants (basketball jersey material) not cotton pants at all, ugggggggghhhhhh.
     Of course I want him to be comfortable especially at school because he has enough behaviors going on to add anything to it. So I took the cotton pants out too, which was pretty excruciating for me. Because he only wore one particular kind of cotton pants, they are sold at walmart in the 365 brand. Last year I only bought one pair of each color and half way through the school year he had ruined two pairs and walmart had no more left in his size. So being the prepared mom I try to be I bought two pairs in his size now and one pair of each color in a size up in case he grew over the year. So Yes that is twelve pairs of pants he will not wear. Guess what..... The price tags on the pants were stickers so of course since they were going to be stored I TOOK THE TAGS OFF. I mean these are the only pants he wears..... Right? Wrong! Because now he only wears SILKY "comfy" pants. Oh the joys of being an autism mom ;)

My Son's Confessions......

Was reading my son a story where they were talking about a girl rolling her eyes, sooooo my son precedes to tell me..... Momma that is what Daddy does, I say oh really, he says yeah whenever you say dinner is ready....... Hmmmmmm good to know kid........

Our life with autism....... IEP hell.....

     Let me start off by saying I know we have it way easier than other families that have to deal with school systems but I feel that in all cases at one time or another something goes wrong or is left out. So with that being said let me get started. When I have to go to an IEP meeting even though everyone is very nice and accommodating I always get very bad anxiety. It is not fun going into a room with at least 5 other people that want to tell you what your child does wrong or how he spit at them, took his clothes off, cussed like a sailor or just flat out refused to do his work. It is hard because to you they only want to focus on the negative none of the positive which in the end I think out weighs the negative.
     In my first post about our life with autism (if you have not read it here) this is the post I was talking about to come read. When we first started our IEP meetings I was naive I thought they would do what was best for your child but I came to find that was not true. We had about 3 different IEP meetings last year and not one time was I told my son's diagnosis of autism would not be in his IEP of course I did not ask for a copy to take home to read either but did not think I had to. Now wish I would have because I certainly would not have said ok to that. So of course that cause problems when school started this year because he could not get the services he needed cause he was not considered a child with autism. They finally amended it to be in there but by then he was in his new school and had they put it in last year this year may have gone differently.
     My advice for handling an IEP meeting is to not take any chances if you want to take an autism advocate then do it (it is my son's case worker for his dd waiver but there are advocates around where ever you live you just have to research and find one) wish I would have done that so I would have understood more. Do not go in blind make sure you read and research so you know what they are talking about. If you need support take someone with you (I never had to because he case worker and DTT are awesome they were very supportive and helped me a lot this year). Also before you sign anything ask them for a copy to take home and read to make sure everything is in it that you feel needs to be had I done that his autism would have been in it last year. A lot of people will tell you to go in there guns blazing ready for a fight but I say if the school is trying to work with you and you have had no issues try to listen first then if they want a fight bring it. Most importantly do not let it get you down and upset you they will tell you things you do not want to hear but deep down you know your child is awesome and just has a few different quirks to deal with, they will be fine in the long run it is just a bump in the road of many.  

I Am Still On Adult Time......

     Just checked in on the old blog here and realized I have not posted anything since October of 2015......... I only Posted 4 times last year all together I have not idea why it is so hard to set down and write a blog but for some reason it is. I have about 5 unfinished blogs that never got posted, maybe one day I will get them up we shall see. My life is crazy as ever even though I stay at home my oldest is in school and has his appointments he has to go to, and my youngest who is a little over 2 is not talking so that means speech therapy and Occupational therapy oh yay but I will get into that in another blog post..... Maybe...... We adopted a little dog from our local shelter in November we named her Miss Rosie she may make an apperance or two, that was a hard experince for me because I did not want to go through what I went through with my Annabelle girl but my oldest wanted another pet so here we are. She is the sweetest little thing ever we love her so much. My oldest is going in to the second grade and just turned 7 two weeks ago which I can not believe this adult time in a bitch. Well guess that is the only update I have for now lets see if I upload anything in the next year or if I will be reading this in a year and thinking, hmmmm guess I better post an update.