I live super close to a Canada Day Celebration. My dad took me to the celebration on Sunday. We got there in time for cake, I got to eat chocolate cake. Then I got my face painted with a butterfly, but it was a very long wait because it was so busy. We were lucky because the celebrations were so close that we did not have to drive, we were able to walk back and forth which was lucky because there was not a good enough bathroom, out houses do not work for me. I had to go back to the house for my feed, but we went back to the party after. I got a tattoo of a rose, they are my favorite flower because it is my birthday flower and it is the symbol of our city too! There were bands playing so we were able to see those, a few of the ones who preformed were ‘Big Smoke Revival,’ ‘Dextress,’ and ‘Sawbones.’ After the bands were done playing, my dad and I went back to my house and watched the fireworks, we had some friends over and everybody watched the fireworks in the driveway!

I have been busy with Roseclub and look to be even busier this month. We are going neon bowling next week and to Kray Farms in Lacombe the following week. I am forward to them but I have to take my unpowered wheel chair because it is hard to get around in my normal one. There are too many bumbs and when we go to a bowling alley there is a ramp that I cannot get over because my chair is too heavy.  I cant wait to show you guys my next few adventures and what it is like for me to go to these places, it might show you what it is like for me and how I overcome these obstacles.

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My Birthday was June 7th, On June 6th, I went to Red Deer for the ‘Self Advocacy’ conference. When we got to the hotel, we couldn’t find any parking, we had to drive around a lot. We need a lot of room for my ramp, and none of the accessible spaces had the space. I was excited to attend the conference, but this was frustrating. When we finally got parked, we went in and checked in, our room was pretty good. The conference started out with Zumba, I really enjoy dancing so I went up to the front and had fun. At the conference they gave us all nametags and on the nametag we had to write something that other people should ask us about, mine said “Ask me about my Birthday.”

The next morning, I woke up, and it was my Birthday, I am now 23! This was a big day for me, not only was it my birthday but I  was giving a presentation at the conference about body image. the morning started out good, we had breakfast and the whole conference sang Happy Birthday to me, it was really special. Then we listened to a speaker talk about why it is important to be happy in all situations. Everyone at the conference had to split into smaller groups to watch different presentations. I got to present one, 27 people attended! I was so nervous because I didn’t know the girl who was supporting me to present and I haven’t done a presentation in a long time. It went amazing! It was different from my other presentations because I was talking to adults, and not grade 5 students.

Throughout the conference they were giving out door prizes, I won one on my Birthday! To end the conference they had a big dance for everyone. I danced the whole night away, it was such a great way to end my birthday. The next day, my mom took me to the mall to go shopping, I bought a lot of stuff. Mostly clothes.

Thursday February 1st was Roseclub Valentine’s Craft night. I really like doing the craft,  I did it all by myself. It was really neat.

Thursday February 8th I went to Hospice Society’s CFCW Critters VS Camrose Minor Hockey Coaches at the rink with Becca & Craig. It was very fun to watch. They threw out free t shirts to the crowd. There was a mascot walking around the rink. Becca and I shared poutine it was really good!

Tuesday February 6th we did our first presentation of the year at Bawlf School. Mrs. Holm had us come to her class. Here is a picture of me presenting.

Friday February 9th we did a presentation at Ecole Sifton, Mrs. Barclay’s class. I left the  the presentation and felt like I made a difference!

I am working on a book it is all about my Learning Board Project and how it came to be. I called the book “A Young Advocate with a Dream” The Secret Story of Kelsey’s Learning Board Project.

 

February 12th my staff Karli and her husband Alex came by with their new addition baby Wren so we could meet him. I got to hold him he was so cute and so tiny.

Thursday February 15th we had another presentation at Sparling School. Mrs. Dunnigan has us come to her Grade 5 class.

Thursday night we celebrated my roommate Theresa’s 49th birthday. It was really fun. We had a pizza party and we had her favorite cake “Black Forest”. It was so fun when she opened her gift you can really tell that she is so happy. We are going out on Saturday to celebrate at Mr.Mikes with our roommates and maybe some other friends of Theresa’s.

We have so many presentations lined up this month and next month. We are really looking forward to this year! This is my 4th year doing presentations and I LOVE IT!

 

On Sunday the 14th I took my new water colors and my new coloring book from Miss C to my parents. The book is kind of like stained glass you can see through the paper. It was really fun and this is my first painting.

On Tuesday afternoon I did some work experience  at Centra Cam. This time I folded towels. I did a pretty good job!

On Tuesday evening my Moms friends and I went to Starbucks to celebrate Lisa’s 50th birthday. She was away in New Zealand and just got back.

On Thursday I finished my Learning Board Poster on Fill Your Bucket. Check it out! What are ways you fill your bucket?

Ways my bucket is filled:

• When people tell me they like my BLOG!
• When people tell me I walk well in my walker it encourages me to go farther!
• When people say you do so well on your school presentations!
• When people take time to understand me 🙂

My first Special Blog goes back to when I started school and how things could have been different.

FRIENDS……

• Positive – could make friends no problem
• Negative – I couldn’t go to their houses, they had to come to my house. Their houses always have stairs. So that means I couldn’t go to most of my friends birthday parties.

HAVING AN AIDE….

• Positive – They could help me with school work and there was no chance for bullying.
• Negative – I was always with the adults because I couldn’t go play and I heard all of the adult gossip and things about other students. It was hard for me because sometimes you don’t want to know about everyone’s business!

PLAYGROUND…

• Negative – There was no where for me to play! The equipment wasn’t designed for kids with disabilities. I can’t even go on a playground because they are usually covered in rocks or sand! My wheelchair can’t move on rocks or sand!

A positive would have been something like this…..

This summer I got to go on a swing at Camp L.G. Barnes in my wheelchair.

I can’t help but think of how great it would have been to have something like this when I was in school. We looked up a few things on the internet and these are cool accessible playground things for kids. It would be great to see this at a playground in Camrose.

This was a project done in the United States. You should check it out!

http://www.globaldisabilityrightsnow.org/impact/armenia/playground-everyone

INACCESSIBLE SCHOOLS

As I started doing my presentations I found not all schools are accessible.

The schools I went to while growing up were easy to get around in my wheelchair, everything was on one floor. Chester Ronning didn’t have a Wheelchair Door Buttons but they do now. In the Comp they had elevators and a lift. I was thankful for this.

I found the following when we went to do school presentations:

• One school we could only get in the gym, if I had to use the bathroom I wouldn’t have been able to without someone carrying me up the stairs.
• Another school I could only go in the Band Room. The school had a ramp to get into the school but there were stairs inside.
• Another school had a wheelchair system in place but it was only for one student that used it.
• One school has stairs right when you come in the front door. I had to use a side door to get into the school. This school also had a larger bathroom that was supposed to be for wheelchairs but I couldn’t even get in the bathroom stall with my chair and we  had to leave the door open while I went to the bathroom…….AWKWARD!

When we do our presentations we have to ask can I come to your school and can I get into your school! It isn’t a question they think about….

Don’t get me wrong I love going to the school’s it’s just another part of having Cerebral Palsy. I just have to figure out different ways to do what I need to do!

On Saturday the 6th Miss C and her Mom came back to Camrose to exchange Christmas gifts. I got a canvas picture of us from our last visit. I also got lots of coloring books, water coloring markers, hair dye & a nail polish set.

She also bought me a star in the sky named after me. Here I am holding the certificates! It feels so special to have her in my life. I am not close to my Grandparents so if means so much to have someone like her.

At Centra Cam I started reading a series called “Strange Museum” I am reading the first book called “The Midnight Ride”. The book is about a family who owns a museum and they have 2 kids Jack & Maddy it is a really good book.

I started to plan my birthday party… it’s in JUNE! I want to go to the Cheesecake Factory in Edmonton! I also want to go Millenium Place to go swimming. I know it’s early but I love parties!

Starting next week I am going to do a Blog once a month talking about my life with Cerebral Palsy. I hope you start to follow my Blog and see what challenges I face every day. I am excited to share my story with you! It’s been 1 year since I started my Blog!

 

New Year’s Eve December 31st I went shopping for new games I bought Sorry & Trouble. I also bought some ice cream.

New Year’s Eve we had a roommate party. We watched a  movie called New Year’s Eve, ordered pizza and played some games. The games were very fun we played Sorry & Trouble with Tara, Theresa & Jodi. We tried to play Apples to Apples but it wasn’t that fun for us. We stayed up until MIDNIGHT! We watched the countdown on TV and it was fun to celebrate New Year’s!

I also got a new winter coat over the holidays. It is my favorite color!

On December 20th  at Centra Cam we had our last day before the holidays and a Christmas Party. In the morning I went to the Field house and we played games. You can see me here playing basketball and I played catch with my friend  Jody and Joanne. In the afternoon we had our Christmas Party I was an elf and I handed out the gifts. I also played the piano and it went very well.

Friday, December 22nd I had Christmas with my roommates. We buy gifts for each other and exchange them before we head to our Families house for Christmas. We also watch Elf the movie.

Merry Christmas every one!!
This year on Christmas Eve I went to my grandma Sharon’s in Lloydminster who we hardly see!! I saw my uncle Wayne and my auntie Gail, two cousins Eric and Ian!! This was at the senior’s home where my grandma lives.  There is a pool table and a piano!! When we got there my cousins were playing poker dice and we got food ready!! I brought some home made chocolate chip banana muffins and peanut butter cookies!!! We ate  and then we took family pictures in front of the Christmas tree and just visited!! I gave my grandma a homemade card that I made at Centra cam and we gave her some David’s tea!!! It was nice to see everyone since we hardly see family!!! Then when we were leaving my grandma Sharon gave everyone a hug goodbye and it was cold outside!! When we got home we watched some family videos from when we were children!!!

On Christmas Day my brother Joel and my mom made breakfast!! They had French toast, scrambled eggs with smoked salmon on toast!!! Then we open Christmas presents!! After we open our Christmas presents from our family!! My brother Joel and I wrote in my day planner that was one of the presents I got!!!

I got a house coat, facial at Rio’s spa, CD Country Hits, hot water bottle ( just to keep me warm) blue day planner, fur scarf, pajamas (Mickey Mouse of course) I got a White housecoat, pants, sweater, fuzzy cat socks, two word find books, Scarf holder and hair color spray! Miss C got me earrings!

 

Boxing Day my family and I played games all day. I had a facial. I went home in the evening. I had a really good Christmas but it always good to go home and see everyone again.

I caught a cold last week so my Blog is a week behind! I hope you didn’t miss me too much!

On Saturday the 2nd we had our Special Olympics Christmas Party at Centra Cam. Every year Jackie from Centra Cam makes a Christmas meal and Santa comes.

 

On Sunday the 3rd I dyed my hair again. This time RED and permanent. I was nervous what everyone would think. Everyone really likes it! What do you think?

 

In the afternoon we had Karli & Alex’s baby shower. We played games and I almost won the baby bump game. On Wednesday night I had a dream she was having a baby girl and it came on her due date January 15th! We are really excited for them!

After the baby shower I went to my Mom and Dad’s house and I helped Mom do Christmas Gifts for my roommates, my bus driver, my aide Colleen and my BFF Miss C.

On Thursday I decided to make ornaments. I put the clay in the mold and you have to push it down. After it hardens you paint it. I also colored a stocking with bears and gifts while I ate lunch!

I am learning how to play the piano. I’m going to play Jingle Bells on Wednesday for our Centra Cam Christmas party. I am really excited. My Mom and Dad are coming to watch and my old aide Kennedy will be there!

At Centra Cam we decorate all of the doors as Christmas Presents. Instead of my Movement class I helped someone decorate this door! We started practicing Christmas songs for the Christmas Party. Our movement class is in charge of music for the party!

My roommate Theresa and I finished a blueberry cheesecake! It’s always good! I also had bread pudding this week!

 

At Centra Cam one of my projects is to research a disability and provide information so I can help teach others and learn myself about the disability.

The reason I do this is I want to help people understand it is ok to be different and also to understand different disabilities and not be scared of our differences.

The most recent project I did was Visual Impairment. Here are some picture to help you understand Visual Impairment. I will be posting my previous projects as well. It doesn’t hurt to learn new things! I hope this helps you feel the same 🙂