Category Archives: Video

Sam reading Different is Awesome

We love the book Different is Awesome by Ryan Haack!

Recently the Pastor at our church, Calvary United Methodist, was talking about finding our gifts and sharing them with others. Sam said that he wanted to read Different is Awesome for the Church to share his gift.

Pastor Todd and Sam
Pastor Todd and Sam

We talked to our Pastor, Todd Outcalt, and he loved the idea. The Church leadership thought sharing this awesome book with the congregation, Sunday School classes, and anyone else that could use the super message found in the book would be great. After talking to Ryan about the idea, we set up a time with Morgan Evans (one of the Church’s tech guys) to record him reading and then Morgan put together the visuals.

Continue reading Sam reading Different is Awesome

My Special Hand – Episode 17 – Bike Riding

It’s been all too long since our last video episode! We’re still here though and still doing things our own special way. This month as it started warming up outside we had one goal in mind, RIDE OUR BIKE WITHOUT TRAINING WHEELS! It’s been a long time goal filled with successes and failures. Sam made the leap into being a bike rider a few weeks ago and he hasn’t looked back. He’s even had a few wipeouts that hurt really bad but he still has great love for riding his bike. Check out our little video episode we put together showing off his biking skills.

As the video shows we’ve only made one minor modification to his bike and that was after a discussion with our super friendly local bicycle shop, A1 Cyclery in Indianapolis. Kevin from the shop suggested a “wing” type handlebar grip to extend the handlebar grip area and provide more surface for Sam to put his little hand on. So far it seems to be working great.

What kind of modifications have you tried out on your bike?
Continue reading My Special Hand – Episode 17 – Bike Riding

My Special Hand – Episode 16 – Snow Tubing at Perfect North

Long time no see friends! Winter has been especially cold and brutal where we live (and from the sound of for most of you as well), so we’ve been locked inside for most of the season.  However there have been a few not-so-terrible days sprinkled in.  On those days we’ve tried to get out and do some fun in the snow stuff.  One of those things included traveling to Perfect North Slopes in Lawrenceburg Indiana to go snow tubing.  We made a couple of videos from us going down the hills, check it out.

What kind of adventures have you been up to this winter?

LivingOneHanded visits MySpecialHand!

We were so lucky at the beginning of Sam’s school year. Not only did we get such great support from the school and his amazing teacher, but great support came from so many of the other parents as well. We also received a lot of support from the Limb Different community as a whole, but especially from our dear friend Ryan from LivingOneHanded.com.

He and his family were headed through our town on the way to the Helping Hands Midwest Picnic; he asked if Sam’s school would be open to him delivering his “Different is Awesome” talk. I told him that I thought it was unlikely given that it would be the second day of classes but that I would ask anyway. Sam’s teacher was thrilled at the offer and asked if the other three kindergarten classes could join as well. Ryan loved the idea.

The day of the talk came and Sam was so excited to share one of his limb different friends with his new classmates.

Ryan juggling was a big hit.

Continue reading LivingOneHanded visits MySpecialHand!

Kindergarten Update

Popular question we’ve been getting lately is… “So how is kindergarten going???”

Short answer: TOTALLY AWESOME!

Long answer: Sam endlessly talks about all his awesome friends from school.  His amazing teacher has been great to work with.  Sam is beginning writing with purpose and surprisingly well (his brother was not fond of good penmanship).  He has taken to reading very well, he’s excited to read TO us at bedtime now.  He’s had his first evaluation and everything is looking good.  We talked to his PE teacher and she said there has been only one activity she’s had to help him adapt, the crab walk (that’s hard to do with two hands). The kids recently had their first music program with a Thanksgiving theme.  Here’s one of the songs they performed.

Sam is in the second row, part of the “brown feathers” group (closest to the camera).

We hope you’re doing well!  Leave us a comment to let us know what you are up to or if you have questions!!

Coming soon, second day of kindergarten surprise special speaker complete with video clip!

Helping Hands Midwest Picnic Video

Two years in a row we’ve compiled photos from the great weekend that is the Helping Hands Midwest picnic. Such a great time with so many amazing families. Check it out if you’re in the midwest.

Music by the wonderful Tony Memmel.


http://www.helpinghandsmidwest.com/
Can’t wait for the 2014 Helping Hands Midwest Picnic!

My Special Hand – Episode 15 – Camp No Limits Missouri 2013

Songs in this episode courtesy Tony Memmel: http://tonymemmel.com
Summer FUN!!!
Our first trip to Camp No Limits (http://nolimitsfoundation.org) in Missouri, June 2013. What a great time with an AMAZING bunch of people! There was so much to do with so many new friends. We will definitely be back next year!! Check out their webpage to see where the nearest camp is to you and check them out yourself.

What fun stuff have you done this summer?

Thanks for watching, we’d love to hear from you in our comments!

My Special Hand -Episode 14 – Snapping with a Lucky Fin

Our friend Ryan from The Lucky Fin Project – http://www.luckyfinproject.org – shows us how she snaps with her lucky fin. This video is a first in a series of Visitor Videos. We are blessed to have such great friends at the Lucky Fin Project!!

What unique skill do you have?


Thanks for watching, we’d love to hear from you in our comments!

My Special Hand – Episode 13 – Zipping our coat

Happy one year anniversary to My Special Hand! We decided for such a big occasion we should tackle a video that has had a lot of requests. Zipping our coat! It’s a very fitting video for us as we started our site after watching a video from LivingOneHanded.com about how to zip your coat. We’ve become great friends with Ryan from LOH and I contacted him about using his video in ours. If you haven’t watched his videos please check them out: https://youtube.com/user/LivingOneHanded

This milestone wouldn’t have been possible without Ryan or you! Thank you Ryan for inspiring us and Thank YOU for watching! See you next time!

Thanks for watching, we’d love to hear from you in our comments!

Helping Hands Midwest Picnic 2012

Slideshow of the Helping Hands Midwest Picnic from August 2012. http://www.HelpingHandsMidwest.com

Sam (and family) went to this picnic last year (see our post here) and it was such a good time. We took our photos with those from Helping Hands Midwest and made this slideshow. It is pulled together nicely with Tony Memmel’s music. http://www.TonyMemmel.com

This event is a place where families who have a connection to hand differences can come together and celebrate these blessings in our lives; meet other families with similar challenges, journeys and share our stories.

Thanks for watching, we’d love to hear from you in our comments!