The face of Autism - Becoming informed

While going through my Masters Program at the University of Florida for Special Education, I learned some valuable lessons about how to treat people with disabilities.

One message that stuck with me was to not define a person by their condition. You should never refer to a person as "an autistic child." Instead, say "a child with autism."

"People before the condition," is what I learned and what I hope to leave with you today.

My niece is a brilliant, beautiful girl, full of joy and energy. She has suffered mild to severe seizures since birth. It's been a few years since her last severe seizure, but doctors believe she continues to have silent ones.

The seizures left her with delays in cognition, coordination, and most of her motor skills. She was formally diagnosed with autism two years ago.

The most heartbreaking piece to our puzzle is not the challenges she faces; she is determined to succeed. It's not the added responsibility to her single mom; my sister is the most hardworking person I know!

The hardest part is dealing with people who don't understand; seeing adults ignore her because they've given up on her, and watching kids exclude her because she is different.

As her family, we can chalk it up to ignorance when we hear people judge her or her mom, but as a nine-year-old girl, sensitive about her self-image, it is beyond damaging.

That's why autism awareness is so important. Education is the key! An informed public can make a difference. I invite you to get to know a family with a child who has autism. Your life will be better by it.

I recently saw this quote in Pinterest and couldn't have said it better myself.

Make a difference! Be informed.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo,

Debra

Hip Hop Birthday! (Take two)

1....2....1-2-3-4!!!!!

On November 22nd, my little "Man-boy," as he now refers to himself, turned 4.

Based on his personality, I had two definite directions to take for his birthday: books or music because if you ever lose him, you'll find him either engrossed in a chapter book or dancing in front of a mirror.

Last year his theme was the cartoon Super Why? and revolved ar

ound the alphabet and primary colors. This year, I went in the other direction and decided to throw a hip hop themed party. I initially thought of doing a rockstar or music party, but a hip hop theme seemed more like him.

The main elelements of the event were boom boxes, vinyl LPs, and cassettes. Hope you enjoy the concept as much as we enjoyed our time there.

Decor Details:

Can I be totally honest with you? I will, because this IS my blog and I AM naturally a totally honest person...this party did not turn out as pretty as I envisioned. Definitely more fun than pretty, and for that, I can't complain. After all, little Man-boy wanted it to be "cool not cute." Thank God for my amazing arsenal of vendors whose beautiful goodies made up where I fell short.

There were many things that went on the last few days to take my attention away from the final details and many things that did not work out according to plan on the day of. It made me sad for about a minute, before I shook it off in the name of enjoying the moment. Now, looking back at the pictures, I feel al ittle disappointed again but, remembering how much fun my little man had, makes it all ok. (let the record show though, that I'm already working on his 5th - I refuse to be caught off guard again!!)

Although it wasn't all I had hoped for, there were a few decor elements I loved. The night before the party, my father in law brought us boxes full of LPs, strobe lights, and an antique turntable that had been in the family for years. I used the turntable to display the cupcakes. My husband made a wall using the vinyl LPs to suspend over the dessert table. Piggy Bank Parties designed a gorgeous banner from their "Glow in the Dark" collection to coordinate with my son's color scheme! As for the main table, We made a garland from spray-painted cassettes and placed it beside a giant number 4 I made and covered with metallic silver paint as well.

Actitivites:

As the guests arrived at the little shop, they played on the indoor slide and tree house. When all the guests were ready, the first thing they did was get their hip hop gear on. Each little guest received star glasses, a personalized VIP tag, a metal studded cuff bracelet, and a hat. For the first group activity, the kids decorated their own hats. As they finished their designs, they got to scribble "graffitti" on the plexi wall.

After all the kids had their hip hop star gear on, the group went outside to watch some live performances on the lawn by singer Kelsi Maria and the OneWay Hip Hop Dance team. The Birthday Boy even made an appearance as guest dancer!

Once back inside, the kids got their wiggles out while playing the "Hip Hop Stop" freeze dance game. After dinner, the kids resumed the dancing at "Joa's Friends Got Talent" free style dance competition complete with a strobe light. It WAS as awesome as it sounds. Envision break-dancing 3 year olds...pure awesomeness!!!

Food:

You can't really tell from the photo but, when you walked up to the food table, the platters resembled a boom box design with speakers, a tape deck and buttons. We enjpoyed coming up with clever names for the food items printed on labels designed by the super talented Kristy from Itsy Belle.

Street Rap (assorted veggie and beef wraps)

Re-Mixed Greens (Salad)

YO!gurt (Vanilla yogurt)

Chips and Salsa

Cuban Sliders

Fruit Skewers

Sweets:

Microphone Pops from the amazing Renee at Bee's Knees Creative

Fondant Cupcake Toppers by the fabulous Lynlee of Lynlee's Petite Cakes

(cupcakes baked and iced by Daddy as is our family tradition)

Boom Box Cookies and Chocolate #4 Pops by my long-time friend Melissa from The

Sugar Loft Events

Chocolate Donuts Shaped like headphones (I tried...)

M&M Candies (Birthday Boy's favorite candy in his favorite colors)

Favors:

One of my favorite elements of the party was the favor bar. I designed little boom box favor boxes for each child personalized with their name on it. Each child got to take their box to the favor table and fill it up with their choice of: gloves, glow sticks, stickers, notebooks, pencils, lollipops, tootsie rolls, m&ms, and giant erasers. Instead of using the traditional crinkle paper, I decided to fill the bottom of the favor jars with tape from old cassettes. It was so fun watching all the little people walking around holding their mini "boom boxes!"

The Thank You cards went out in a note inside a CD case with the top songs from the party. The little guests are STILL jamming to those!

Thanks for reading!

An enormous and sincere THANK YOU to my spectacular Vendors:

Venue & Appaman B-Day Boy Top - the little shop in Tioga Town Center

Invitation & Printables - Itsy Belle

Fondant Cupcake Toppers - Lynlee's Petite Cakes

Microphone Pops - Bee's Knees Creative

Boom Box Cookies and #4 Pops - Sugar Loft Events

"Glow in the Dark" Banner - Piggy Bank Parties

Live Music - Kelsi Maria & Anthony Acevedo

Dancers - OneWay Hip Hop Team

Photography - Catherine Deason

Find us on Catch My Party to see more photos.

{Prayers Wanted} The West Family's Story

The first two things I learned upon meeting Rebecca West were she was pregnant with twins, and they were seen holding hands at their last sonogram.

From that moment, I was smitten by them!

Rebecca and her husband, Jason, already had a beautiful little girl and were looking forward to adding two more princesses to their castle.

Tragically, at just 24 weeks, Rebecca had to go in for an emergency c-section. Ellie Grace and Emmie Claire were born on January 14, 2012 weighing 15.2 oz and 1lb 2oz respectively.

Just seven days into their difficult journey, before they were even able to hold her, the West family had to say goodbye to their precious little Ellie Grace due to a severe infection.

Sweet baby Emmie

Thankfully, the West family is not alone. As part of a larger community of faithful friends and believers, The Wests are covered with prayers. Even my 4 year old recently told me his class at school prays for baby Emmie "every day, Mommy, EVERY day!"

Holding Mommy's hand

The West family is witnessing miracles every single day and is beaming with hope. I have personally been so touched seeing them, each Sunday, mustering up the strength to come to church and worship through their grief with beautiful smiles on their faces and with more love than you can imagine.

I'm in awe of how this family has resisted the understandable desire to succumb to grief and has chosen instead to be thankful and joyful in the midst of this trial.

Meeting her baby sister for the first time.

Reading to her baby sister.

All they ask is for as many faith-filled people as possible to stand with them in prayer, believing Psalm 118:17 - Emmie Claire will not die, but LIVE, to proclaim the works of the Lord!

Please take a moment to follow this miraculous family's journey at www.caringbridge.com/visit/ellieandemmiewest

If you would like to become involved, please visit www.marchforbabies.org/djasonwest to find out how you can help.

{Milestone Moment} One year Etsy Anniversary

One year ago, on a night like tonight, I took the plunge and opened an etsy shop. I'd been going back and forth about it for a year and finally figured, "what've I got to lose?"

What I love about the etsy community is how it keeps me on my toes. I'm already a pursuer of excellence, but with etsy even more so. What started out as a meaningless pastime has become (at least in my mind) a corporation. Whereas I used to simply describe my products in a few sentences, I now outline a detailed marketing and advertising mini-campaign for each product I list. Can I tell you how much I LOVE that?

I truly enjoy tapping into so many of my interests: photography, digital design, styling, etc just so I can list a single item. For someone like me, who likes to stick her nose into all kinds of industries, and who gets bored easily if boxed into one area of interest, it's been heaven.

Being on etsy has given my a deeper sense of pride for what I do not only as a creative person but also as someone who is now making a valuable contribution to my family's finances. My son can attend a quality private pre-school two days a week and my daughter can enjoy ballet lessons all because of my etsy supporters.

I'm looking forward to what the year ahead brings. My goal this year is to have at least 10 items available in my shop at all times.

Here is a sneak peek at the latest items making their way to my etsy shop real soon

Thank you so much for taking a chance on me and trusting me with your events. To show my appreciation, I've set up discount code "1YEAR" that you can type in at checkout to receive 10% your entire order.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/TiTisTuTus

xoxo,

Debra

{TuTu Tuesday} Mardi Gras

If you're from Louisiana, you are fully aware Valentine's Day is not the only celebration in February.

Here is a tutu set I designed last year around this time.

All photos courtesy of Patricia Bishop Photography

I love the bright bold colors of the Mardi Gras celebration.

I'm not planning on advertising mardi gras much this year, but if you are interested in a mardi gras tutu, headband, or garland, I welcome your emails at averagemeetsamazing@yahoo.com

Thanks for reading!

Debra