Making Goals Monday Blog Hop

I have decided to host my 2nd blog hop - Making Goals Monday. I thought this would be a great way to start the week and get you thinking about things you would like to achieve during the week. You could either have short term, long term or daily goals. I have started thinking about this because I have become involved in a program where I have Personal Helpers and Mentors through Ozcare Sunshine Coast.

The Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs) service:

• aims to provide increased opportunities for recovery for people whose lives are severely affected by mental illness
• takes a strengths-based, recovery approach, and
• assists people aged 16 years and over whose ability to manage their daily activities and to live independently in the community is impacted because of a severe mental illness.

The Personal Helpers and Mentors, employed by each service provider, support participants in their recovery journey, building long-term relationships and providing holistic support. They ensure that services accessed by participants are coordinated, integrated and complementary to other services in the community. A Personal Helper and Mentor:

• helps participants to better manage their daily activities and reconnect to their community
• provides direct and personalised assistance through outreach services
• provides referrals and links with appropriate services such as drug and alcohol and accommodation services
• works with participants in the development of Individual Recovery Plans which focus on participants' goals and recovery journey
• engages and supports family, carers and other relationships, and
• monitors and reports progress against each participant's Individual Recovery Plan.

The lady, Del who has started coming to see me is helping me to work on areas which I have been struggling with, mainly getting organised and having a routine. Now you might ask with 5 kids don't you have a routine to survive? Well yes and no. We have a sort of routine but it is not consistent and doesn't really help me to keep on top of the things such as the cooking and cleaning and washing. Now when I tell people this they are like you can't be too strict with a routine because you have kids. But when you have children with Autism and Asperger they actually need a pretty strict routine to help them cope. That is why I think my boys do well at school cause it has a pretty good routine and rules. That is another thing that we need to sit down and do is a set of house rules that is visual.

So my goals for this week:

1. Sit down with the kids and work out house rules that we all agree on.
2. Work out some a job roster for everyone (have been saying that we should do this but haven't done it yet)
3. Work out some rewards - such as maybe having BBQ down at the park, doesn't really have to cost anything.
4. Before getting on the computer put a load of washing and tidy up the lounge and kitchen.
5. Spend some one on one time with each of the children with something that they want to do.

I think that should be enough for now.

Now the rules for this blog hop:

The rules are simple.

1. Add your blog title and URL.
2. Follow your hostess - Accepting and Embracing Autism and Featured blog (there won't be one this week due to being the first one) Also follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Network Blogs.
3. Follow any other blogs you wish
4. Make sure you leave a comment so that you'll get a follow back.
5. Feel free to add your own goals that you would like to achieve.
6. Grab our Catch a Wave Wednesday button if you'd like so that followers will know where to leave a comment.
7. I will return the love. 

*Each week I will randomly select one of the blogs listed in the Linky to be the feature blog for the next week.*

<a href="http://acceptandembraceautism.blogspot.com/search/label/Making%20Goals%20Monday"><img src="http://i515.photobucket.com/albums/t360/sez77/Blog%20Hop/Monday/RhonnaFarrer_2ps_PinkOctoberFree_Template1-1.jpg" alt="Making Goals Monday" width="125" height="125" /></a>

Making Goals to begin the week in a good way.

1.	Accepting & Embracing Autism	10.	Style 'n Decor Deals *Always Follows Back*	19.	CraziBrain
2.	Adventures of My Life	11.	Twins Plus One, Three Times the Fun	20.	melody-mae
3.	ohmygoshbeck!	12.	No Filter Mom	21.	milestone monday
4.	CREATE WITH JOY	13.	The Steady Hand	22.	Mixxed Reviews
5.	Mrs. T, Naturally	14.	My Sweet Potato 3	23.	Someday I'll Learn
6.	Deal Hunting Diva	15.	Mrs. Pancakes	24.	Tough Cookie Mommy
7.	WarmSunshine	16.	Athletes4Life	25.	Craft for Kids - Piggy Giggles
8.	Terri's Little Haven	17.	TC30
9.	Planet Weidknecht	18.	LoveFitnessLaugh

(Cannot add links: Registration/trial expired)

You can also find me following other blog hops here.

SOOC Saturday Camera back in Action - Nature Shots

Check out the photos below. I have posted ones of each of the kids. We have just recently got the camera running again so before I start taking more photos and posting them I thought I would show the ones I had taken with our new camera already. These are ones of nature and objects around our house.

Camera back in Action - Jessica

Well our camera which we haven't had for a long time is now back in action and I can't wait to go out and do some more photography. But before I share the new lot of photos that I will be taking I thought I would share some of the ones I took when we first got the camera.

Jessica age 3 and half.

Camera back in Action - Samuel

Well our camera which we haven't had for a long time is now back in action and I can't wait to go out and do some more photography. But before I share the new lot of photos that I will be taking I thought I would share some of the ones I took when we first got the camera.

 Samuel age 6 and half.

Camera back in Action - Matthew

Well our camera which we haven't had for a long time is now back in action and I can't wait to go out and do some more photography. But before I share the new lot of photos that I will be taking I thought I would share some of the ones I took when we first got the camera.

Camera back in Action - Nicola

Nicola at home, 2011, age 11 years.

Camera back in Action - Joshua

Well our camera which we haven't had for a long time is now back in action and I can't wait to go out and do some more photography. But before I share the new lot of photos that I will be taking I thought I would share some of the ones I took when we first got the camera.

I will do a few different posts of different things I have taken. The first ones I will post will be of each of the kids. Firstly I will do Joshua.

Joshua at Football for Caloundra Sharks.

Improve your Alexa ranking with the Alexa Blog Hop

Welcome to Alexa Blog Hop. This hop is hosted by Spearmint Baby and co-hosted by Ourfamilyworld, Kelly Lucky You and Scraps of Life. Improve your ranking with this Alexa Hop. Why is it important to improve your Alexa Ranking?

Having a good Alexa ranking (The lower score on Alexa, the better) improves your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and attracts sponsors. Alexa ranking is based on visits and pageviwes. Alexa counts the visits to your blog/site through their toolbar. So, if your visitor does not have a toolbar, it will not count. You can download their toolbar for free. The Alexa Toolbar will allow you to keep track of your daily traffic rank- which will give you an idea of how your blogging efforts are paying off.

If you’ve been participating to Alexa Hop the past few weeks, you have probably seen a significant improvement in your Alexa Ranking. If you are a new blogger, improve your ranking and gain new blogging friends (GFC). Our ranking has been improving since I took part of this hop!!

YOU NEED TO INSTALL THE TOOLBAR. IT IS FREE AND TAKES FEW SECONDS. There are toolbars available for Chrome, Explorer and Firefox.

All our Christmasses - a new Trampoline!!

Well the yesterday we received a very exciting phone call. But first I will explain how the phone call came about and then you will understand why the it was exciting.

After going to the monthly Asperger meeting last year, I found out about this great advocate group.

Parent to Parent provides families with disability specific information and assistance to make informed decisions. I had a lovely lady come out and advise me on places to contact. I spoke to her about my concerns for Matthew. Even though both the boys had been diagnosed at the same time, Samuel with Asperger and Matthew with Autism and ADHD, because Samuel was only 4 years old he was lucky because he was entitled to Helping Children with Autism package.

Holidays Are Here Again!!

As of 3pm this afternoon we will have the pleasure of Joshua, Nicola, Matthew and Samuel for 2 weeks, for the June/July holidays. These are not the easiest holidays due to being in the middle of winter. It means coming up with lots of activities that can be done in doors, although we may be lucky and have some really warm days.

Here are a few things that we might do:

1. Because we live close by we could go and visit Australia Zoo. We recently took the kids and they loved it. Jessica is constantly asking to go back.

Great Asperger Links For Parents

The following links were taken from MY ASPERGERS CHILD. It has some really great information for parents.

HOW TO PREVENT MELTDOWNS AND TANTRUMS IN ASPERGERS CHILDREN

thankful Thursday.

Well I am participating in thankful Thursday. This is something I do all the time as I am thankful for all I have.

There are 2 verses that keep me going when times have gotten tough they are:

Philippians 4:13

 ¹³I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

and
Romans 8:28 Or that all things work together for good to those who love God, who; or that in all things God works together with those who love him to bring about what is good—with those who.

Whenever I watch things on TV where people have been through some devastating things and show such amazing strength it makes me thankful for what I have and admire those who seem to handle it so well.