We'll Try Again on Monday

So, on Thursday Jenna and I had a fantastic day. We had a blast. I took her to the humane society where we played with kittens, walked puppies, and saw the big dogs. It was fun. And then I took her to my house where we played in the pool, watched a movie in the house, and did a craft. We topped it off with an ice cream run. She hugged me at the end of the day.

I went into Friday excited, thinking it would be a great day. I need to learn to not have expectations, because I think it would save me a great deal of heartache and frustration. Jenna was not in the mood to do anything but watch tv, which made for a lot of fits, tantrums, and a lot of her telling me to leave and go home. It was so discouraging after we had such a great day on Thursday.. 

But I'll go back on Monday with a smile on my face- and we will try again. 

Friday photo dump:

Shaving cream is the bomb.com

Love that grin!

My little monster 

She had to be a monster too. 

she is so cute. 

Love this little girl. 

Who knew dish soap and water could provide hours of fun?

Cousin date!

Happy 18th birthday to this kid!

Cupcakes Jenna and I made

Blessed. 

On bad days, we sometimes have ti improvise. So she watches a show on my IPAD and gets work done at the same time. 

Also. I would like to ask you all to pray for my grandpa. He was diagnosed with basal cell carcinoma yesterday. I really have no idea what that is, other then it is a form of skin cancer. They found it on his neck, and he goes in for a full body scan to see if it's in other places on Monday. Please pray that they don't find it anywhere else. 

Jenna

I haven't really told you all much about my summer job so far on this blog. To bring everyone up to speed:

I am working with a 16 year old girl named Jenna for the summer. Jenna has autism, is nonverbal, and is mentally handicapped. I work with her M-F for eight hours a day (Originally I was working 9 and a half hour days, but my hours got cut a bit).

Working with Jenna this summer has definitely not been what I thought it was going to be--which is a blessing in many ways and a struggle in others. Originally I was a little concerned I would get bored quickly- 9 and a half hours days are long days when you are with only one other person for their entirety. It's safe to say in this case I was wrong; very wrong.

Jenna definitely keeps me busy and on my toes the entire time I am there. We spend most of it doing crafts, puzzles, playing games, and working on simple things like making meals, doing laundry, and going to stores to work on things like waiting in line. 

The first 9 days were probably the hardest. The first day went great, but every day after that things seemed to be going downhill quickly. Avalanche quickly. At the end of the week I was exhausted and Jenna's mom was commenting on how tired I looked. Not exactly what I wanted to be hearing at the time.

The second week was also difficult- it seemed like the more I went the more Jenna came to dislike me and the more discouraged I became. Most of the week I left in tears. Trust me- hearing "shooo" "go home" and "go away" for hours on end gets to you after a while. 

It was the Thursday of the second week that Jenna and I experienced our first major breakthrough; and she was happy, no excited, when I got there. As soon as I walked in the door she was literally jumping up and down wanting to tell me something. 

The way Jenna and I communicate is interesting. It is a mix of sign language, what words Jenna can speak, and the words that come out of my mouth. For the most part we can now understand each other. I've learned how sounds she makes mean certain words- for example she makes a specific sound that means grandpa (but doesn't sound like grandpa at all). But that morning, she was wanting to tell me something. The trick that morning was figure out exactly what it was. Turns out she had seen a bird in the bird feeder we had made. It's the baby steps friends. Baby steps.

That day Jenna and I bonded. And since then things have been going great. That's not to say we don't have our moments because we certainly do. That's not to say Jenna doesn't occasionally tell me to go away or shoo and that's not to say that I haven't left with tears in my eyes. But- it's the little things that count:

• It's her laughing at me when I accidentally spill glue on the table
• It's her jumping up and down because she's excited to tell me something
• It's seeing the look of pure and simple joy on her face when she completes a big project- like a popsicle house
• It's hearing her mom tell me Jenna's always so excited to show her what she's made that day over and over again
• It's the progress Jenna's made in waiting in lines
• It's how she laughs when she finishes a puzzle or wins a set in a matching game

It's these little things that make all the frustrating times so incredibly worth it. 

When I worked with Jacob, laughter was a part of our routine. Jacob laughed at just about anything.

It wasn't until I started working with Jenna that I realized how amazing and wonderful it is to hear a laugh. 

Those first few days I didn't hear Jenna laugh. I didn't really realize until she did it how desperately I needed to hear it. Now, I start off the day trying to get her laughing. It makes all the difference. 

I guess this post is kind of all over the place. But if there is one thing I want you to take away from this post, it's this.

Children, teens, and adults with autism desperately long for their worlds to make sense. Our job is to love them and care for them exactly the way they are and to help them make sense of the world in whatever way they can, all the while showing them God's love.

It's life changing. 

Just an Update

So- in the midst of my crazy life, I have not been so good at blogging! Hopefully next week I'll get more into the swing of things!

I feel like I have much to say and very little to say all at the same time. So let's start with the basics.

I talked in my last blog about my first day with Jenna. It's probably best at this point to say our first day was the best day and each day after that got significantly worse. By the time Friday finally came around I was exhausted- mentally, physically, and emotionally. 

I'm still excited to work with Jenna. I know I am going to learn a lot because this precious young lady has a lot to teach me. But I am definitely holding fast to God's promise to replenish the weary as I get ready to go into this week. (Jeremiah 31:25)

I'll definitely write another post just about Jenna sometime in the near future, but for now I'm going to give a quick update on the rest of life as well.

As some of you know, the Sytsma family is here! They have been here for a little over a week and I am absolutely loving spending time with them! As always, Millie brings a joy to my heart that no one else can. She can make me laugh harder than just about anyone and has been such a blessing to come home to when I have had a rough day at work and just need to be loved on and hugged. 

Also this weekend Alyssa came to visit!!!!!!! It was SOO good to see and spend time with her! I am so blessed by the amazing friendships I have been able to form at Trinity. Alyssa and I took Millie and went to New Buffalo, MI on Saturday and spent the day shopping, eating ice cream, going for adventures, and playing at the beach.Then Saturday night we came back here and Alyssa and I had some quality one-on-one chatting time before curling up on the couch and watching Despicable Me with Millie. It was so good to be able to talk with her about Jenna, God, and just life in general. I am so blessed by our friendship and am so thankful God put her in my life!

These girls rock my socks. 

I. am. Blessed.

And now- I am heading to bed. I need some serious shut eye! I hope that you are all having wonderful summers so far! Love to all.

Day One- Done! First Day working with Jenna

Before I start- let me just say that few things in life make me happier than Dunkin Doughnuts Mint Chocolate Chip Iced Coffee- especially after a long 9 hours of work! 

Anyways, as the title of this post states, today was my first official day working with Jenna!! 

Last night I ended up getting pretty nervous- I don't know why but I ended up having a little bit of a freak out as I started getting ready for today. Those nerves carried over into the night and I really didn't end up getting much sleep. I think I was nervous because of a) not really knowing Jenna at all b) I felt an overwhelming pressure to impress her mom today and c) because the first day of anything is always a bit nerve wracking.

After tossing and turning all night- I finally crawled out of bed (being very careful not to step on any of the little fingers and toes of those who are sleeping on my floor) at 5:15am and rolled out the door at 5:45. I managed to not get lost and arrived promptly at 6:15am all ready to go. Jenna greeted me briefly at the door, all up, showered, dressed, and ready to go! By 6:30am Tina had hit the road and Jenna and I were left chilling in the living room.

We were both still a little groggy so for the first little bit we watched some cartoon she loves. Then around 7am I made her breakfast- she's not hard to please. She really would probably eat just about anything which is really nice. 

She took her time eating breakfast, finished her show, and we started painting!

I have come up with this rather long list of activities for Jenna to do- all of which I really think she will have fun with. Tina told me she loves painting and using her hands as long as she doesn't get them very messy. So I figured a great way to start out the day would be by doing something she loves (painting) while combining it with something else she loves (fairies). We made a fairy house!

(Something else I was told is that Jenna loves cameras-probably a good thing too ;) )

The fairy house took most of the morning- Jenna worked carefully and slowly to make sure she got every piece of wood possible. It was fun to watch her concentrate and work really hard. This was also when we had our first melt down- let's just say she DOES NOT like it when the paint colors mix together on the paper plate. It took a few minutes to calm down from that- but soon enough we were back to work and we finished the fairy house around 1pm. (We stopped for a bit so I could make her lunch). It turned out pretty darn cute!

Another pro of making the fairy house was that I was able to get an idea of how long projects like this are going to take us. I wasn't sure how quickly or slowly Jenna would work- every child is different. Jacob would have finished a project like this several hours sooner than Jenna did- but wouldn't have painted so carefully and thoroughly. 

After the fairy house was done Jenna took a break and watched some tv while I cleaned up lunch, let out Molly (their adorable lab), and set up the next thing I had planned. Jenna is your typical teenage girl- she absolutely loves jewelry, especially rings and bracelets. 

I had a ton of pony beads left over from babysitting Quinn and Dyllan this year so I brought those along today in case we finished the fairy house and Jenna felt up to making bracelets. (This week I am planning on doing mostly fun things and less of the things that they want her to be working on, just so I have time to get to know her a bit. Starting at the end of this week I plan to start introducing and doing more of the other things- all the while making sure she is having fun) Jenna was all over it; she spent lots of time picking out her beads and the cord she wanted to use. It went really really well for the first little bit- and then we had melt down #2....she dropped her bracelet and the beads went all. over. the. floor. But she calmed down and started again and she ended up with three beautiful bracelets.

Jenna and her fairy house

Other things we did:

• Puzzles! Jenna likes doing puzzles which is so good for her. We worked on puzzles for about twenty minutes- she did not want help at all. She did both of the puzzles and then ran around the kitchen dancing when she finished.

 Jenna took both of the pictures of the puzzles. It's also safe to say she DOES NOT like doing puzzles that are missing puzzle pieces. 

• Bubbles! It was so fun watching her dance around the yard popping them.
• Sidewalk Chalk- because who doesn't like sidewalk chalk? 
• Side note- ever wonder how you play with sidewalk chalk and avoid messy hands? Use a paper towel! 
• Library run! Jenna has a picture book communication system and something she kept asking for all day was to go to the library. I figured it wouldn't hurt to take her so we went while the fairy house was drying. We sat in the children's book section and read Clifford books for about a half hour before Jenna was ready to head back to the house. (the library is only about 5 minutes away)

Overall impressions from the day?

After today I feel a whole lot better about this summer. I think I really just needed to get to spend some time with Jenna to get to know her a little bit and now that I have done that I feel more at peace. Kind of like (for us Trinity education students) how when you get your aiding placement for the semester, you feel kind of nervous and wonder what your teacher and students will be like and how they will act and such. That feeling doesn't really go away until we enter the classrooms on that first day. I felt that same kind of feeling today- but now I feel really good- and excited about this summer. It's going to be really fun- but there is no doubt that it is also going to be lots of work and that there will be challenges along the way.

I think one of the biggest challenges is definitely going to be learning how to best communicate with Jenna. She only speaks about ten words total but she signs- and I am so thankful I had the opportunity to take sign language at Trinity because I would have been so lost today without it. (I also already picked up about 5 new signs ) 

Overall though- I'm just excited. This is such an incredible opportunity. I am going to be able to be Jenna's teacher this summer- but she also has so much to teach me and I'm seeing that already and I've only been there for a day. I hope that God uses me in the life of this precious young lady- and I am so excited to see how His plan for both Jenna and I this summer unravels and unfolds.

THEY'RE HERE!

Around 7:45 tonight the Sytsma family arrived :) 

Here are a few pictures of some of the crazy kiddos and I :) Lets just say that reorganizing my room to live 3 people instead of one is now completely and totally worth it!

Stay tuned for posts on:

First day of working with Jenna- and all about her
Highlights from the Sytsma's being here
and life without my brothers who are on a week long camping trip in the Ozarks.