Ronda's Family Life

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Ronda's Family Life

Picture from Christmas 2001
(I hope to get a more current one up soon)

Hi, my name is Ronda. I am 44 years old and I have 3 kids. Kelly,14, Amber, 11½, and Ian, 10. I live with my husband Jay and his daughter Emily, 11. We hope to add more in the future, as I had a TR done in March 2006. I am a stay at home Mom with several full time jobs :o) (mom, taxi driver, laundress, dishwasher, lol, etc.) We got married on 7-21-00. It was very exciting, you could say it was "MAGIC", as in we got married at the Magic Foundations annual conference.
We both were married to very abusive partners in our past. We have learned to overcome those difficult relationships and have grown stronger from it. We also are interested in Domestic Violence Programs, and father’s rights groups (if you want more info on great Iowa groups, just email me at the bottom of the page).
I am a domestic abuse survivor and we are survivors of people trying to sic CPS on us. :o) It’s very tiring that some people won’t grow up.
My husband has adopted my oldest son, which he was very excited about. I enjoy bowling, making candles, and sewing as my hobbies. I also volunteer at my children's school, and love being around all the kids, and meeting my children's best friends, and being able to help the students with their education.
We live in Iowa

Kelly, our oldest
Kelly is involved in Boy Scouts and Band, and he likes to babysit. He is in high school this year, and can hardly wait to get his driver's license. He is hoping he will get to help pick his brother and sister's up from school.

Kelly school Picture 06-07

My Angel Amber
Amber is the Angel of my life. I spend a lot of my online time looking for info to help her lead a better life, and to try to help other parents advocate for their children's needs. She has Septo Optic Dysplasia / Optic Nerve Hypoplasia. She is blind with some light perception in one eye, and takes daily hormone replacements. She is developmentally behind and is considered to be on the Autism spectrum with an official diagnoses of PDD-NOS, she is also dx'ed with MR,SID,ADHD, and a whole bunch of other letters of the alphabet. She does understand a lot more than she is able to communicate. She participates in our regional and state Special Olympics, and has won several first place ribbons, and medals.
I enjoy going to conference's on vision issues and education, as you can learn a lot of great info at them, and you get the chance to network with other parents. I am involved in the FOCUS families group as an area coordinator for the Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and Wisconsin areas .

Amber school picture 2006

~*~Amber my Darling Angel~*~

I watch my daughter Amber locked in her own little world.
Does she know I am there, is she aware I love her?
Is she aware of the cruel world around her?
The stares? The behind the hand remarks?
Or the people who don't expect her to lead a normal life?
The people who think she is sleepy because her eyes don't look right?
The people who wonder why she isn't walking or talking yet?
The kids who call her “the baby” because she doesn't understand, and cries?

Yes, Amber knows I am there, and She knows I love her,
because of her cuddling against me and her beautiful smile.
I am glad she is not aware of the world yet; she has time enough to learn of other people
and their cruel remarks & stares.
She will walk and talk in her own time, no one else's.
She will also lead a normal life, normal for her, because she is special.
She's my Angel !! She's my Darling Angel !!
I Love You, Amber !!!

~*~A Poem in progress by Ronda~*~

Emily (Daddy's girl)

She is now able to read Braille and do math problems in Nemeth code, altho she is behind grade level at this time, we hope she will be able to catch up in the future. She has the same diagnoses as my daughter.
Did you know that Emily stands for:

Every
    Minute
  I
         Love
            You

Emily Spring picture 2003

Ian my Baby
Ian is in Cub Scouts and has a lot of friends in school. He is in the Gifted and Talented Program, and above grade level in all his subjects.

Ian School Picture 06-07

Favorite links

Disability Resources Online From a Parent of a Blind Child

FOCUS Families

Recipes useful for Kids with Disabilities

Please feel free to e-mail me My Email

Last Updated 3-21-08