Braille is FUN. No, really, it is!

I just started my 'Introduction to Braille' class through Hadley School for the Blind and so far I have completed 3 assignments. I know the alphabet in braille, proficiently. I am so proud of myself. Since the day we found out Colton was blind I knew I wanted to learn to read and write braille so that I could not only do things as simple as leave him notes in his lunchbox but also things as important as check his homework each night. A while ago Colton's VIPS teacher let me know about Hadley, they allow families with visually impaired members to take several courses free of charge. I plan on taking as many as I possibly can over the next couple years. I am so thankful that Hadley is giving me this opportunity to enrich my child's life.

So far, in this particular course, I have learned to read all the letters of the alphabet in braille and how to emboss them with a slate and stylus. A slate and stylus is just like a sighted person's pencil and paper. See picture below.
It is difficult because you use a completely different group of muscles when embossing than those you use while writing with pencil and paper. And, you have to write each letter and word backwards from right to left, because when you are finished writing you have to flip the paper over to read the braille. Next, we learn how to use a Braillewriter which looks similar to a typewriter. All in all this class is incredibly fun and very educational. I am so excited to put my braille skills to use.

What is this BlastOff you keep talking about?

Lots of people are asking questions about the BlastOff network I have been promoting on Facebook and Twitter. Well, when you open your internet browser everyday you are linked directly to your homepage. BlastOff is a new FREE customizable Internet homepage that combines social media like facebook, twitter and myspace with other services like shopping. If you follow the mall link on your BlastOff page when you wish to shop online you will get cash back for shopping at stores like Target, Sears, Kohls and Barnes & Noble, plus many many more. AND when you refer your friends and family to the BlastOff homepage (simply by inviting them to your page and them signing up) you will get cash back on ANY shopping they do through their BlastOff page. Now, it is only a small portion of cash back but any extra money is extra money to me so I'm certainly not complaining. So if you still have questions view the video below, it explains BlastOff in a little more detail. THEN, if you wish to sign up just visit http://ppl.blastoffnetwork.com/Darnell. BlastOff opens to the public today, October 22nd, at 1:00 eastern time so visit the site any time after that. What have you got to lose? It's free, It's fun, It's easy. If you have any question or comments leave them below and I will make sure to get back to you. Thanks guys.

Teeth and Halloween!

FINALLY, I have a picture where you can actually see Colton's teeth, he has tons but it has been hard to get a good picture of them until now! I was beginning to think they were camera shy. This weekend while watching UK beat Auburn Colton was grinning ear to ear and I snapped this pic.
I love that smile!

We have been in the Halloween spirit around the Darnell household, watching spooky movies and reading haunting books. We are participating in the National Federation of the Blind's early literacy program; Braille Reading Pals. We read every night for about 15 minutes (print/braille books) and then log what book we read on our chart. At the end of the program we can send it in and Colton will get a prize for participating. Early literacy is incredibly important to me so I jumped at the chance to take part in this program. Colton loves to feel the "bumps" (braille) as Mommy reads. This is how visually impaired children begin exploring words, the same way young sighted children see the words in the books. Anyway, we are reading Halloween/Fall books right now so I thought I would share a few of our favorites and maybe you too can check them out.

A Very Brave Witch by Alison McGhee

Five Pesky Pumpkins by Marcia Vaughn

Goodnight Goon by Michael Rex

Stellaluna by Janell Cannon

Too Many Pumpkins by Linda White

Blogger FAIL!

The Darnell's are still here! We have just been crazy busy and pretty stressed out after the move. We have everything situated (besides the dining room table that we are $aving up for) and have just been taking a BIG relaxing break the last couple weeks.

Colton is growing!!! See...

he is going through a growth spurt and taking steps now with assistance! He can push himself on his John Deere *pictured above* and is definitely starting to exhibit symptoms of the TeRRibLe TwOs! We picked out his costume for Halloween, he is going to be the cutest dragon ever. I can't wait.

My lovely little sister celebrated her 20th Birthday yesterday, Happy Birthday Samantha! I can't believe my LITTLE sister is in her 20s, gosh that makes me feel incredibly old.

I promise I am going to try to be a better blogger starting now. So, don't give up on me just yet.

9-11

Eight years ago I was a sophomore sitting in my World History class at Franklin County High School. We were having a relatively normal class period when a teacher from the classroom next door came in and told us a plane had crashed into The World Trade center. We all just looked at him, silent. A few students managed to blurt out "what?". His answer, "they suspect a terrorist attack", triggered a switch that forced us all out of our seats, down the hall and into his classroom to watch the footage (the television in our class was broken). At first I didn't know exactly what to think, I just stared at the image on the TV, that image that we all have burned into our memories. Within a couple minutes the second plane crashed into the second tower. For a second I thought they were just replaying footage that someone had caught of the first plane. I'm a very optimistic person so up until this point I had been certain that this was just a horrible, tragic accident. Once I realized that I had just witness a second plane crash I lost all optimism. Our country, the greatest country in the world, was being attacked by terrorists. I stepped out of the classroom into the hallway pulled out my old Nokia cell phone and called my mom. I don't remember exactly what was said but I do know that I begged her to let me come home from school, she wouldn't allow it. The rest of the school day consisted of walking into the classroom, the teacher taking roll, then turning on the TV. I remember the cameramen zooming in on the people who were jumping out of the buildings before they fell. That was by far the MOST disturbing thing I had ever seen. I felt so bad for those people, for their families. I tried to imagine what was going through their heads as they were waiting to die. I prayed that God would grant them some feeling of calm. I tried to imagine what I would do if I were in their place, would I jump, would I fight to get out of the building, would I just wait to die? I didn't really cry that day, I was too shocked, too scared. That night I had horrible panic attacks. I had nightmares, very realistic nightmares. I stayed up most of the night thinking that everything was different. The next morning everything was different but not in the way I had thought. I was afraid we would all be too scared to come out of our houses, to function. But being the great nation that we are, we continued to live our lives. We weren't going to let anything get us down. We were different, we were stronger than ever before.

Wordless Wednesday - With Some Words

Here are a few pictures from the surprise 25th anniversary party my sister and I gave my parents this past weekend. It went wonderfully. Now, for house news, we are moving in this weekend!!! We are all super busy so this will probably be my last blog in our old house, I'll be back soon... plus, there is always twitter. Enjoy the pictures.

Wordless Wednesday - Lean On Me