The Heymann Family Journal

Organize Your Plasticware This is HGTV on line.

I woke up this morning wishing I could sleep another...month. I have a bad head cold. I was no where near ready to face the week. Jessica needed a shower. Her hair was not only too long, but dirty. She is autistic. They say Einstein was autistic too. You know what his hair looked like. She hates to have her head touched. Did I say hates...I mean REALLY; REALLY HATES to have her head touched!!!! So washing her hair is a traumatic experience (for me). After I washed her hair (wishing to be back in bed) Juergen got the great idea to trim her bangs. I'm remembering last Monday when I got the phone call from Jessica's teacher. A stressed out Jessica bit her teacher and sent her to the hospital. I'm thinking, no this is not a good idea. She is already stressed enough. Juergen does it anyway. I get scratched and pinched. I've got bruises. Jessica goes to school looking pretty good. I guess that mattered to her. She looked good, and laughed all day. She was a treasure at school...

We went on a church retreat this weekend. It was actually with a sister church, not our church. It was in a youth hostel in the vineyards. The youth hostel is a converted castle fort. It was a wonderful location! The people are also great! That's why we went...the people. I unfortunately got pretty sick. Jessica was also sick. Nicole gave us some kind of head cold she had earlier in the week! I spent a good part of the weekend in my room listening to audio books about ADHD. The wonderful part was watching Philip, Thomas, Sarah and Nicole all play from morning to night. Sarah had a meltdown because she had to go to bed. Thomas had a temper tantrum because he didn't want to leave. The tantrums were not fun, and the sickness isn't fun (I'm still sick). I would not have missed it...I use to play like that as a child. It was as it should be. No need for computers or TV. No need for mom and dad to entertain them. They just played and played and played! It was great!!! Too bad...

Doctor quit private practice, sold her house to open clinic for uninsured HERE .

Thomas spent the past 2 afternoons playing with two boys that live in our neighborhood. On the one hand I think this is great. Thomas had no friends. There was 2 other boys that would play with him from time to time. One boy basically told him, "you are not my best friend...you are (at best )my 3rd or 4Th friend". That really hurt Thomas deeply. The other kid is nice, but 2 years older. They aren't in the same grade or even the same school. During the break at school, Thomas felt so alone. So now he is playing with these other kids. Good, right? Well, today I found out Thomas has been giving them Lego so they would play with him. Buying friends. I said, no more giving away toys. He fell apart. His self worth is just so weak. Please pray for him. He needs a real friend. Someone who will accept Thomas for Thomas. He is a great kid, but he has zero self worth. He needs a real friend as much as food and water! One real and good friend would mean the world to him...but you can...

We got the house! Here is the vacation house . It has a yard, and winter garden. Isn't it cute!!!

The kids have another two week vacation just around the corner. In classic Heymann style, we had no plans yet. We have spent most of this year processing the loss of Juergens mom. We are doing OK. Like they say, it hits you in waves. I get to spend a week with my own parents at the end of July. I'm really looking forward to doing not much of anything. I really just want to see them. But right now I'm kind of tired. I wasn't looking forward to two weeks at home with the kids. So we have decided to go to a little spot of heaven just a few hours away. Garmisch-Partenkirchen. It's a little town south of Munich in the alps. The hiking is good, and they have a good indoor pool with waves. We will get loads of exercise, and hopefully sunshine. Lots of sleep, and good food. This is my favorite place in Germany. I've been there a dozen times, but I never grow tired of it. I haven't got confirmation on the reservation yet. Hopefully it will work out OK. It's just a si...

This women helps to feed 2000 poor kids in Mexico.

I have decided to bring Nicole to San Diego, but not go to Mexico with her. Instead I hope to fly to Oregon to spend a week alone with my parents. I haven't done that for 20 years I think. Even before I married Juergen, I would visit Mom and Dad with College friends. Nicole and I are going to fly in and out of LA. We have already booked a hotel 3 blocks from Disneyland. We hope to go to Disneyland and Knox berry farm for a few days, then spend a few days in San Diego before she goes to Mexico to build houses, and I go home to Oregon. After her missions trip and my visit we will spend another long weekend in San Diego (Nicole was born there) then fly back to Germany. At least that is the plan for the end of July. We are still raising money for the house in Mexico. Any money you donate will go to building matrials for a house. They cost $5000 in materials. Juergen is paying for my trip...and Nicole has been working for 2 years to pay her own way. It is starting to seem real now....

We have the wii. I just found out about wii fit. I wonder if the balance exercises would be good brain training for the boys? Learning breakthrough program, and the Dore program are both programs that incorporate balance and eye tracking. I wonder what would happen if I made the boys use wii fit balance exercises 2 times a day for 6 months (15 minutes a time)? The wii fit cost under $100, while the Dore program is about $5000, and the Learning Breakthrough programe runs just under $500 with shipping.

Today Philip rode the bus home from school. That may seem like no big deal to you, but it was a step towards growing up. He had to wait almost one hour after school for the bus, and then get into the correct bus. He played with his friends then came home. There aren't any teachers watching to see if he did it right. I said a prayer, and waited for him to come home. He was so proud when he arrived. I was proud too. He doesn't need mommy to drive him anymore!

I got a comment about a program that is like Dore for brain training. It's called the learning breakthrough program . It's much cheaper but basically does the same thing. This is something I think we need to order for the boys! Thank you for the hint Julie! I love to get your comments. I take your ideas to heart, and they often lead me in a good way!

Dore is a center that helps kids with ADHD. They have the centers in the US and other countries. They are not in Germany. They do physical exercises that help the brain.

I thought this womens ramble on you tube was pretty good. My kids are still pretty young. Nicole is almost 15, but we are very close and talk about everything. I'm trying hard to cultivate a relationship with the boys (I can not say we have that honest relationship yet). Thomas doesn't open up about anything. He holds it inside then blows up. How much do you trust your kids? Nicole told me she is happy when I step in.

I'm so tired because Jessica hasn't been sleeping well. I miss Juergen but I also need him. I need a break.

I listen to the Bible( The Bible Experience) on CD in the car. I do allot of driving on Fridays. Today I was driving Thomas. We heard the part where Jesus is taken into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil. The voice of the Devil sounded mean and with authority. Thomas thought it was Pharaoh. I said no, that's the Devil. He did not know who the Devil was. I told him the Devil is this very beautiful angel that God created. He was so beautiful, and had so much power that he thought he should be equal to God. So God kicked him out of heaven. In this story he was trying to get Jesus to worship him. Thomas still did not understand. I decided to put it in terms he could grasp. I said that the Devil was like Darth Vader, and Jesus was like Luke Skywalker. Then Thomas said no Jesus was Obi-Wan, I said no...In this story Jesus is Luke because the Devil (Darth Vader) is trying to get him to join the dark side of the force. He got it. Now we know Darth Vader is Luke's father, so that...

Juergen sent a few photos from India. He is busy working so he does not have a great deal of time to take pictures. He will be doing some touring on Saturday before he flies home (God willing, he will be home for breakfast on Sunday morning). I asked him if he had anything to say about India. He said the only word he could think of is contrast. It is a place with allot of contrast (old/new, rich/poor). Thomas and Nicole are both home sick today. Apart from that we are doing well.

I some how managed today even better then yesterday. The kids have been super good. Maybe it's the extra sleep? Maybe it's the change in diet (no chocolate, rice milk instead of cows milk, and fish oil)? Any way, the kids have been wonderful! Today was Sarah's gotcha day. 365 days ago we met our little girl in Nanjing, China. What an amazingly hard year it has been. But she is doing great! I finished the book, "Like Sound through water". I also talked to a person who can set the boys up in a program called "Fast forward ". this is a speech language training computer based therapy. It cost allot of money, but it was the main thing that helped Karen Foli's son Ben process language (the boy from the book). I'll be talking to Juergen when he returns home. If you have used Fast Forward, or know someone who has, please let me know. I am hoping Juergen will post some photos from India. He told me the Internet connection cost 12 €. that's outrageous!...

I was able to speak a few times with Juergen today. He is there to work. He was pretty tired from only 3 hours of sleep. He hasn't seen much of India. What he has mentioned is the amount of building that is being done. It's not like Shanghai where whole blocks are torn down, and new high rise buildings are going up. Instead you see a new building being sandwiched in between old run down shacks. Loads of very well off people share the street with very poor people. The contrast is pretty strong. I guess the thing that stood out the most were the cows. I guess there are lots of holy cows. Nothing you would expect to find anywhere else in the world.

Juergen's flight was delayed a few hours. This made his day very long. He got to the hotel at 2am. He isn't staying at the nice hotel once booked. They had a reservation problem, so now they are at some not so interesting place (sad). I am pretty sure Juergen will not post photos for a day or two. He has some interesting observations on India, but I'll leave that to him to write. I managed to get the kids to bed early last night. They all slept well. I made them a good, hot breakfast. They even had an extra 20 minutes to play before school. I hope the rest of the day (week) goes as well! I should be cleaning my house today; instead I'm reading a book about Auditory processing Disorder (APD) called "Like sound through water". I'm convinced Jessica, Thomas, and Philip all have a degree of APD. Karen Foli's story is so much like my own story. I can not help but notice how much people love their children, and feel so helpless when something is wrong (for ...

The weather has turned very cold. It's even snowing today. The heat went out at Philips school and I had to pick him up early. I also pick Jessica up from school on Mondays. Today Jessica's teacher, Frau Grimm was almost in tears. It seems the school wants to give Jessica another teacher next year. Frau Grimm has been Jessica's personal teacher for 10 years. She is a second mother to Jessica. I'm going to try to keep a cool head about this and pray. Jessica only has two more years of school. I want her to finish her school time with Frau Grimm. Please pray with me. Juergen went to India this morning. I'm sure we will be OK, but I miss him. TD Jakes preached once about 80% and 20%. All of us have 80% of our lives working well, and maybe 20% that does not work so well. We can lose sight of the 80%, and fix our eyes on that 20%. Some people will even leave the 80% looking for that part they feel is missing. Juergen is my 80% (plus some). When I look at him, I know I am...

Juergen goes to India (Delhi in the North)on Monday. I was able to sleep in this morning until 10:30 am. I lay in bed wondering how in the world an I going to get the kids to school by my self each morning. Our morning schedule is manageable because we divide the work. I honestly don't know how I'm going to do it! Apart from that, I think I can handle 5 high maintenance kids for a week with out Juergen.I expect very good gifts...GOOD GIFTS JUERGEN!!! He will be taking my camera. I'm hoping he will blog the whole trip. Then you'll get a first hand look at this waking giant. Incredible India.

I'm looking into a hearing therapy called The Tomatis Method that is suppose to help people with Autism, ADHD, dyslexia, and Auditory processing disorder. In other words, all the problems my kids seem to have. There is a clinic near us that does this therapy. Pray our kids Doctor will give us the OK to get this treatment for Jessica, Thomas, Philip, and Sarah (who is also having some speech and language issues).

I think Philip and Thomas both have ADHD ( Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ). Thomas has taken the tests and we will receive the results on Friday. Philip must also take the tests. I'm reading a book called, "Delivered from Distraction" . In fact, I can not put the book down. I was up until 2am reading it. I'm exhausted. I would have stayed up all night to finish it, but I have responsibilities. I'm sure ADHD is not the only problem Philip has. He may also have an Auditory processing disorder or dyslexia . It all sounds awful, but living with kids with undiagnosed special needs is really the awful part. ADHD, APD, and Dyslexia can all be treated. It is stressful to see your child struggle to learn, and struggle to make friends. Knowing what is wrong can be so helpful. Now if they do have ADHD it means computer time and TV time need to go bye bye! It also means a special diet that does not include chocolate (Nutella is Thomas' favorite food). Not fun!...

Here is a story on Autism in China . Tomorrow is world autism awareness day. My oldest daughter Jessica has autism. She can not talk but she can write. She recently wrote about her Oma who just died. I will post her writing tomorrow on my autism blog . Just because someone can not talk does not mean they have nothing to say. I hope you will read it tomorrow April 2ND. Say a prayer for Jessica. I would never have had the compassion I have if Jessica was not sick. She has been the most powerful teacher.

On April 1, 1957 the British news show Panorama broadcast a three-minute segment about a bumper spaghetti harvest in southern Switzerland. The success of the crop was attributed both to an unusually mild winter and to the “virtual disappearance of the spaghetti weevil.” The audience heard Richard Dimbleby, the show’s highly respected anchor, discussing the details of the spaghetti crop as they watched video footage of a Swiss family pulling pasta off spaghetti trees and placing it into baskets. The segment concluded with the assurance that, “For those who love this dish, there’s nothing like real, home-grown spaghetti.” The Swiss Spaghetti Harvest hoax generated an enormous response. Hundreds of people phoned the BBC wanting to know how they could grow their own spaghetti tree. To this query the BBC diplomatically replied, “Place a sprig of spaghetti in a tin of tomato sauce and hope for the best.” To this day the Panorama broadcast remains one of the most famous and popular April Foo...