Merry Merry Christmas

hope you all are having a great holiday

we are doing good.

just remember some people have a hard time during these fun days

a thought or a prayer or an understanding ear can mean a lot for anyone who is having difficulty this time of year

(((hugs))))

Target!

So we have known for awhile that a new store is going to be moving in near us...used to be a grocery store, but they moved.

The other day DH told me he thought he read on the sign it was a Target.

So I went and looked at the sign and could not find anything :(

So I did a little google searching :)

and :)

:D

yes Virginia there is going to be a TARGET right near us WHOO HOOO!

OK it's the little things that make me happy :)

maybe next year I wont have to battle traffic to go to a Target :)

tonight, um I mean last night, I was in traffic so long that I gave up on Target.

Ok i just read some more and it's not going to open until 2010.

melatonin

The dr told me to give him one MG before bed
got the pills at the drug store they are 3MG so I was trying to cut it in thirds PITB

today at Trader Joe's I found 500mcgs of chewable pills
I had to google search to be sure that 1000 mcgs = 1MG

who would have thought that math stuff would come in handy LOL
should have paid attention in school better

actually Mapboy was int he store with me and he knew the answer

so I can say that while I think I am pretty smart I am not smarter than a fifth grader ROFl

hope you all have a great holiday


oh the stuff really does help the boy sleep :)

snow days and all

Ok so what do you think?

Tomorrow we are supposed to get hit with a storm
a foot of snbow they say

Messy's school has called for a half day sending the kids home at 11:45

OK

Mapboy's school has sent this notice.

7/8 Field Trips Canceled Due to Expected Snow  -

Regularly scheduled classes will take place

so is his school going to change thier minds and send the kids home early?

because if they do it will be impossible for me to pick him up AND be at the bus for her at the same time


if they are keeping their word then that will be okl...well except the part about me driving in the snow to pick him up

if it were not for the fact that he is just back to school from his suspension, Would just keep him home, but I don't want him any more behind

I could keep her home but...well it's her birthday and she wants to go to school on her birthday KWIM?


*sigh*

he had Quality night tonight, I sent Dh with him to the school and I stayed with thegirls, but I heard he did quite well :) he certainly is in a good mood

:)

good moods are good :)

Maybe we can blame Santa for all our troubles LOL

remember this from years ago?

thanks for reminding me Mel

:)

we could use some prayers

we are having issues with the boy

a kid was bullying him in school
not real bullying, just minor stuff
but to mb it wasn't minor
last week he got detention for losing his cool and throwing something that ended up hitting another kid. He had a few days off because of the ice storm he didn't even do the detention yet

today was his first day back

argument with the same kid

the school has suspended him.
my kid, the little mapboy


I took him right from the school to the doctor's
Told them I wanted to take him off his meds that I would rather have a happy jumping around hyper kid that this

They convinced me that part of ADHD is impulsive behavior, and that this was probably an impulsive reaction to the bullying

they upped his meds, and told me to give him meletonin at night so he can be more well rested

and I need to find a therapist for him

*sigh*

I wish I knew what was the right thing to do :(

not much to blog about

power failures, and school closings.

we have power, but no school

Messy is having trouble because her schedule is messed up

at least it's warm today, I can finish putting the Christmas lights up...maybe :)

I wonder if the laundromat has power?

I'm just happy to have my computer back

lesson learned

If I am going to have my blog set to moderate, then I need to check the dashboard and see if there are comments *blush* somehow I thought I would get emails

sorry I will check it more often

I am making a few changes

No room for the tree so I'm moving my desk back upstairs

I might actually get things done without the constant distraction of the computer ROFL

maybe Santa will bring me a laptop and I wont have the issue anymore.

I found it!

Yes I put it in an odd place, I remember why because Messy had taken it and I wanted it out of sight, out of mind

little did I know how out of mind wt would be ROFL


Ok now I need a ton of people to tell me this is normal and I am not getting Alzheimer like my mother


come on friends lie to me!!!! LOL

Messy got her finger slammed into a door at school

Blog entry

lets just say we had a day and leave it at that
ok ok I'll tell ya about it, it's good to write this stuff out
her finger is not broken

and she did a pretty good job considering

life is good

and a bowl full of ice and a few drops of food coloring makes for a fun time and an iced down finger :)

and a mess


did you know that food coloring doesn't come out of wood grain?

now I know :)


funny Dunkin donut thing

I usually don't like DD I am a Starbucks girl, like my coffee to taste like coffee not water :), but the turbo is not bad there so in a pinch I can tolerate it


AND Starbucks didn't have a drive thu and I had two sleeping girls in the car, so DD won out.

So I say "may I please have a large turbo hot with cream and splenda"

pause and a young man's voice came on with an attitude that can ONLY come from a teenager LOL

"Excuse me?"

so I repeated my order and got this reply with the same attitude in the tone
"you want a larger Carmel coffee with Splenda?"

"NO" I said and repeated my order louder and as clear as I could manage...waking up one of the girls in the car

his answer?

"yeah I got it! A larger combo with a hot coffee"

"NO"

he tells me to pull up to the window

I was laughing because I have been on the other side and remember how sometimes these things happen, but the scathing attitude that I got from this kid when I saw him, as nice as I tried to be, I had to force myself to not say "keep you coffee" and driving away. but I stayed with it LOL

$2.93 it's not that good, it has no splenda in it at all

You want to hear something crazy?

I can't find my camera


I haven't been using it as much lately
So I vowed the other day I was going to get it out and take some pictures because I love that so much
Love taking pictures.

I can't find it
I thought maybe DH had it because he was talking about using mine for when he needed an auto focus since his doenst work

but he hasn't seen mine since November 30th

*sigh*

we were at my brother's house
Dh says he remembers taking it out of My Brother's house, but I never uploaded the pictures
could I have lost them on the drive home?

*sigh*
:(

too much spam

seems I attract more spam comments than actual comments

*sigh*

so sadly I will have to change the settings :(

I wanted to take a minute to blog

Blog entry

*

Mondays are so crazy for me

but I wanted to take a minute to blog




what are you getting your kids for Christmas?

are you buying less this year?
I always say I am not buying much, then I go crazy

this year is no different but at least now we have an excuse "we want to help stimulate the economy" LOL

this year Santa is bringing one big gift for the whole family...its a big one :)

and a few small things

I have convinced the almost three year old that Santa is not going to bring her a puppy dog, but instead a nice doll, now to find a good realistic baby doll that will be as good as a real puppy dog LOL
I also wanted to get a doll stroller we have one that the girls fight over, and I thought it would be nice to have two KWIM.

I found a fantastic deal on those cameras for kids at the L&N going out of business sale :)

and we got the whole scholastic books DVD set

Oh also I am going to set up a fish tank and get fish and hide them until Christmas morning :)

they all want fish


Dh got me a GPS and gave it to me early

I can't seem to find anything to get DH :(

I got him a new hair cutting trimmer, but when he needed it last week I gave it to him.

Ok now my big dilemma
sorry but I am sure I will blog about this much before i decided so if you get sick of it just skip on :)

do I get Messy's hair cut?

now she has autism, and doing her hair is a chore, it's long and curly and snarly and messy and she doest really like me working on it so....

should I get her a nice short cut?

every time i get close to thinking about it I go and buy hair stuff so i wont

last time we got her a hair cut she was upset for about three weeks, she likes her hair she will not like the changes a short haircut will make, even though it will make for happier mornings

*sigh*

Don't worry be happy!

Blog entry

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_MED_CONTAGIOUS_HAPPINESS?SITE=WBZAM&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT
Dec 5, 12:34 AM EST

Good cheer may spread itself, a study suggests

By MARIA CHENG
AP Medical Writer
Buy AP Photo Reprints

Your Questions Answered
Ask AP: Bottom-up bailouts, gas pump tampering

LONDON (AP) -- When you're smiling, the whole world really does smile with you.

A paper being published Friday in a British medical journal concludes that happiness is contagious - and that people pass on their good cheer even to total strangers.

American researchers who tracked more than 4,700 people in Framingham, Mass., as part of a 20-year heart study also found the transferred happiness is good for up to a year.

"Happiness is like a stampede," said Nicholas Christakis, a professor in Harvard University's sociology department and co-author of the study. "Whether you're happy depends not just on your own actions and behaviors and thoughts, but on those of people you don't even know."

While the study is another sign of the power of social networks, it ran through 2003, just before the rise of social networking Web sites like Friendster, MySpace and Facebook. Christakis couldn't say for sure whether the effect works online.

"This type of technology enhances your contact with friends, so it should support the kind of emotional contagion we observed," he said.

Christakis and co-author James Fowler, of the University of California in San Diego, are old hands at studying social networks. They previously found that obesity and smoking habits spread socially as well.

For this study, published in the British journal BMJ, they examined questionnaires that asked people to measure their happiness. They found distinct happy and unhappy clusters significantly bigger than would be expected by chance.

Happy people tended to be at the center of social networks and had many friends who were also happy. Having friends or siblings nearby increased people's chances of being upbeat. Happiness spread outward by three degrees, to the friends of friends of friends.

Happy spouses helped, too, but not as much as happy friends of the same gender. Experts think people, particularly woman, take emotional cues from people who look like them.

Christakis and Fowler estimate that each happy friend boosts your own chances of being happy by 9 percent. Having grumpy friends decreases it by about 7 percent.

But it also turns out misery don't love company: Happiness seemed to spread more consistently than unhappiness. But that doesn't mean you should drop your gloomy friends.

"Every friend increases the probability that you're at the center of a network, which means you are more eligible to get a wave of happiness," Fowler said.

Being happy also brings other benefits, including a protective effect on your immune system so you produce fewer stress hormones, said Andrew Steptoe, a psychology professor at University College London who was not involved with the study.

But you shouldn't assume you can make yourself happy just by making the right friends.

"To say you can manipulate who your friends are to make yourself happier would be going too far," said Stanley Wasserman, an Indiana University statistician who studies social networks.

The study was only conducted in a single community, so it would take more research to confirm its findings. But in a time of economic gloom, it also suggested some heartening news about money and happiness.

According to the research, an extra chunk of money increases your odds of being happy only marginally - notably less than the odds of being happier if you have a happy friend.

"You can save your money," Christakis said. "Being around happy people is better."


Sooooo
Messy says she wants you to be happy!

A Moo funny

sitting in the doctors office for Mapboy, who has strep by the way, she noticed a poster on the wall, it was a poster explaining what Asthma is and it had a picture of what lungs look like with various Asthma related issues. she pointed to it and said " mommy what's that!" so I told her that that is a picture of what lungs look like, I placed my hands on her chest and told her to breath deep, and when she did I told her that her lungs were like a balloon in her chest and they take in and let out the air when she breaths she sat for a few minutes looking at the poster, then she looked over at me and put her hand on my chest and said "wow mommy you have two weally weally big ones!" ROFL I almost fell off the chair :)

Ten years old, huh? A decade. Double digits. The big one-O.

Happy birthday Map Boy


now for updat4es

IEP went well

Messy is doing ok academically
she is really struggling in other areas
she does well with other kids socially making friends, something we worried about with her, but her biggest problem is sitting still for more than ten minutes

she will disrupt the class to get up, or yell or just be silly because she can't stand having to sit still when it isn't all about her KWIM?

she also has trouble seeing people in unexpected places. Like seeing mom at school, a classmate at the store, or her autism specialist at school, the specialist sees her one hour a week at home, and one hour a week at school.

her other biggest problem is accepting change in her schedule


speaking of, today is a half day so we are waiting for her bus to drop her off...I hope it went well :(


Today is Mapboy's 10th birthday he is a decade, he is also sick as a dog LOL poor kiddo at his school one of the teachers makes balloon hats for kids on their birthday, he says it's no big deal, but I think secretly he was looking forward to getting the balloon hat :) He wants his own facebook account ...I told him it would be silly for me to give him his own facebook account since he can't use it until he is 14 ROFL do you believe that some of his friends have facebook accounts? middle school is crazy.

He got his computer back in his room, with some new nifty unhackable nanny type software on it :) not sure if I told you all that he used to have it in his room, but he went and hacked the software so he could sneak on the computer in the middle of the night...DH has convinced me that he will not be able to hack this one.

I have a friend Jo who has been living out of state FOREVER and is moving her family back here, it's nice to see her now and again :)

I am going to break out my camera

and break out of this silly depression I've been having

so look for more pictures soon :)

thanks for reading

IEP anxiety?

Is that normal, or am I just a complete loser?

*sigh*

I keep saying to myself "these people have good hearts, these people have Messy in their hearts"

DH is home

I have to got going on typing up IEP stuff for Messy

and some other stuff for the other kids

this is such a busy time of year
I need to get prepped for the IEP meeting, and I need to get prepped for Thanksgiving
I'm thankful to have the IEP meeting :)

So I'll probably be busy for a couple weeks
not that I have been overly active lately LOL

it's always something right?

I saw a new bird today

It's been so long since I've seen anything new

this is a bird of prey

have not identified it yet
and thinking a juvie peregrine, but I can't imagine a peregrine living around here no cliffs, no tall buildings *shrug*
so I am searching for what it might be

I actually picked up my camera and took a picture of it before it flew away :) but it had the wide angle lens so it's hard to see
going to pick up the boy he is so much better at Id-ing the birds than I am so I'm bringing the bad image I took, and the bird ID books :)

it really is exciting when you see a new bird, I think I have become bored with birdwatching lately because I haven't seen anything new.

OK

I know I am sure no one else is as excited about seeing a new bird as I am LOL

but...

tonight

Dh is coming home tonight

whoo hoo!

here is the pics

school photo rant

sorry I have to rant
from the web site of the photography place that did the boy's school pics

Q: What will my child's pictures look like?

Unlike most school pictures, our unique portraits are taken outdoors, allowing for a natural, softly focused background. The outdoor setting also helps the students to relax, creating a portrait parents are proud to display. Please read your upcoming Portrait Day Notice for specific information about possible weather delays. If necessary, photos may be taken indoors with a neutral backdrop.

OK does it say in there that the person who chooses the spot does not understand that you should not sit the kids with the sun behind them? I mean the class pic is so pathetic you can't even see the kids faces

plus my kid has transition lenses and so we got a shot of him in sunglasses WOW how wonderful

remind me not to order them next year sheesh!

oh yeah the best thing about it is the little note that came in the package

ROFL

picture retake day is November 17

let me guess that they didn't have any kids who needed a retake SINCE WE DIDN'T HEAR ABOUT IT TIL TODAY! and a quick look at the calendar will tell you that today is November 18th I had to check twice!

*sigh*

ok I am still having a good day just a splattered bug on the windshield of my life ROFL

yeah I like quoting Garfield :)

yesterday ...what a day!

dropped the boy off at school, and noticed an idiot light on
was rushing to get Messy home to put her on the bus so I thought "I'll check that out when I get home"

Nope what the light was saying is that my car was overheating

so by continuing on I caused a back up of pressure, which caused a piece of the radiator to blow out and spray coolant all over my engine, which meant the belts slipped so the car wasn't getting any juice from the battery. so when I put my foot on the break to let the guy merge in front of me the car stalled out and died right there, in the middle of the highway.


when the tow truck came, they couldn't tow us because I had two kids in the car and he said he wasn't authorized to transport children
the care van came and said "I'm not authorized to transport children" but he and I convinced the tow truck guy that it was probably safer for the kids to get off the highway, and they pushed my car to the breakdown lane. WHEW! I tell you it was by the Grace of God that we are all here today!


waiting for the state police...one came...nope he isn't going to transport kids either, but another will. the next statie got out of hsi car and shook his head wildly at me "no way! I am not authorized to transport children" sheesh he seemed angry with me, and what is the deal with them saying the same thing? what are they reading from the same script? the the cop says "isn't there someone you could call" yeah sure dude I haven't thought of that<-----that was sarcasm who can help me? remember DH is 12 hours away, so it has to be someone else who isn't taking their own kids to school, and can fit two kids in their car *sigh* got my friend Shaine after she got home, she came and got us, and she drove us to the garage, and then to the second garage because when I talked to DH on the phone he said he wanted them to tow it to our regular place...I didnt like it but I paid for them to tow it from one garage to another.

anywayto make a long story short, yeah I know it isn't short, we got the car fixed
and we paid a lot of money.


so the sunny side of the story :)

the damage was not as bad as it could have been
the police man told me about an expired sticker instead of giving me a ticket for it
I got to have the most delicious tomato soup for lunch I love Panara!
my autistic daughter did not FREAK out when things didn't go on her schedule she handled it AWESOME!
of any day for the car to break down Monday is it because Mapboy goes to the after school homework help thingy on Mondays so I didn't have to pick him up until 6:30 which was perfect timing.
I got to see my good friend and have lunch with her :)

I learned a valuable lesson about idiot lights as my garage guy said "the idiot lights don't work if you are such an idiot you don't listen to them" ROFL
I am so glad this didn't happen when my cell phone was not working

now I am off to get a new sticker before my good luck runs out :)

hope you all have a nice day

a quick note to my mom

this morning I have a deeper understanding of my mom and her life

I've quoted her about 7 times and I haven't felt like that was bad once LOL
I bet she is smiling down on me

Mom,

you were right, I do understand things better Now that I have kids of my own, and
heck anything they have done is nothing compared to some of the crap I did, remember when I jumped rope on your station wagon? Heck when I was MB's age I was sneaking cigarettes in the back yard!! Please I can take a clogged toilet anytime!


So I'm sorry for the bad things I've said about your parenting, and thanks for all the love

M-A

now that that is out of the way


we are all staying home from church because of colds and sneezing and sniffles, but we need to go to the store because we need bread and milk

boy still has a boatload of homework


mommy is going to jump in the shower

finding the good

good I bought a trash can today

I wanted to get it at the going out of bussiness sale at L&T
but I went a few days ago and they were gone

Today I had a 10 giftcard thingy for Kohls and it's int he same shopping center as L&T and so I popped in and they had the trash can I wanted :)

went to Kohl's and decided that instead of buying fancy dresses for the girls for the family Christmas party, I got them matching pink leggings and matching tops with Gingerbread cookies on them I feel smart because these clothes can be worn anytime right? and now the girls can play all they want with the cousins right?

The boy needs shoes but...he is into Mens sizes so it's hard to find affordable shoes that the kid likes KWIM? boy the prices go up when they get into adult sizes huh? no fighting on his part about wanting 300 dollar sneakers YAY!


Made Chicken soup with rice for dinner and read the story a zillion times because it's one of my FAVES :)


Good Good Good

no negative talk about highlighters on refrigerators, or kids with homework, and ADHD, or jumping on couches and throwing toys down the stairs to make Mom 's hair turn gray

nope no negtives AT ALL

Life is good

:)

Now I am off to put together food donatiosn that the kids are doing for Sunday school :)

Tomorrow will be even better :)

awe you can't look at this without smiling

OMgosh is it all sneaking up on me?

my kid is going to be ten in three weeks


NO I did not say that wrong!!

three freaking weeks!!!!

TEN YEARS OLD!!!

then shortly after that Messy will turn SIX!


and then Moo will turn THREE!!

ugh

I do this every year, I just chill out in October, then in November I'm hanging out and thinking about Thanksgiving and then WHAM!!! all of the sudden I am hit with the craziness.

I will not go crazy this year


actually is there any time of the year that isn't crazy?

maybe life is just crazy and I should stop waiting for the craziness to clear up, and just enjoy the chaos LOL

Not a day to honor animal doctors

please teach the kiddos what Veterans Day really means


yes it's my pet peeve but I wont yak too much about it this year

My boy knows what it means
My girl doenst seem to have the ability to understand the concept
the baby is too young even though she isn't a baby anymore *sniff*

--------------------------












So per drs suggestion we are skipping his medication on weekends and days off
observe

my conclusion is

he really does need the meds

it does really help him

*sigh*

a moo funny

a friend has been visiting for a few days, can I say it is good to finally get some time to sit wiht a friend who is over 10 years old :)

what did my Moo do?

we were in the kitchen having tea

she was up in her room playing and as usual took her shirt off

came down stairs and said "wook at my nipples day are small, but you have big nipples and mommy has big nipples"

ROFL

yikes

I don't even know how she knows the word nipple

what's up with that?


I'm glad she didn't say that to the lady who visits from the school LOL

OMGosh I just love these kids so much!

boy can they trash their rooms like rocks stars

what is up with that?

Sorry I've been neglecting my blog

seriously I was so busy AND every time I went on the computer I was playing that stupid Hatchery game on facebook LOL

anyway Dh is away for a few weeks

and
I am not happy about it

this morning I pulled into the driveway from Dropping boy off and school and up pulls the bus to take girl to school

sheesh I didn't even have time to wash her face

luckily braiding her hair is on her morning board so it was done but wow that was cutting it close :(

had big battles with Mapboy last night over homework

what can you do?

in the end he finished it all and I made him do half of the homework that is due for Friday

he thinks I am the meanest ever

maybe I am

I'm trying to stay positive

new president, new government

change and all

but my self esteem is really lacking right now
I got a nasty email from someone who I thought was a friend
it was about politics what else? well and religion
another person who thinks they are such a great Christian as to judge weather or not I am Christian enough

it's all very depressing


so i will just cut out and go off tot he laundromat

yes my washer is still broken

yes I know I should just take care of it myself instead of waiting for DH

*sigh*

I am so happy

We started a new story board for Messy thsi morning
new morning routine

it is perfect!

I just wish i had remembered to put in "take medicine" but that is no biggie

instead of rushing around we actually had time to color before he bus came

beautiful morning


Do you know anything about artificial ponds?

Last year Mapboy and I created a little artificial pond...yeah it started out as a bird bath, but it was actually cheaper to get the little pond kit so we did it

anyway last year I left it all winter and in the spring it was DISGUSTING and I vowed to empty it out before winter this year

So I went to do it but

started taking out the water (it's small only 35 gallons

but as I got down I found a frog
upon investigation we found 4 frogs hibernating in the bottom of the pond

ok change of plans I don't want to kill the frogs so I added some water back in it and replaced the filter and turned on the pump


but what am I going to do?

keep the pond filter running all winter? what will happen when it freezes?
should i turn off the filter?

will the frogs be OK?

*sigh*

Sad news

In regards to Julian King the Missing boy


They found the SUV and the body of a child inside

:(

I don't want to say anything bad but

why is it that a white boy is kidnapped in Nevada and it was on the headlines, you couldn't even go anywhere without seeing that blond boys beautiful face


So now there is a child missing in Illinois and really, the only reason we know about it is that the kids aunt is famous....seriously do you even think it would have made the national news?

is it me? can anyone explain to me why MSNBC has an artical abotu it without even a picture of the child, so you could say something if you saw him? CNN has a picture of him, you have to click for it, Fox News you have to search for hte story but at least they have a picture of the child there

this is frustrating

why is it not news? why is it not everywhere you look?

just wondering if there was a reason other than "he is african american"

is it me?

maybe I am jsut too grumpy this morning

I pray the little boy is ok

:(

sorry I forgot toupdate

Moo's refluz has improved, but not enough to stop giving her the meds

So we will see them again in a year

the testing was HORRIBLE

but sahe did so good

Love Children's Hospital they are so good to my babies :)

back to helping the homework Monster :)

just adding a picture :)

moo's test day

Today we go for the lovely tests they do at the urology department of Children's hospital

Please pray that they find she has grown out of this kidney reflux thingy

and and wont need surgery, or will no longer have to take antibiotics every day.

we have 4 appointments today, starting with the first test at 10:45 AM and the last one is at 4:30 PM


Messy's fields trip has been canceled due to weather


and I can't find my recipe for apple pie I have a folder full of my favorite recipes, but the apple pie one is not in it

:(


I tried to google but, do you know how many apple pie recipes are out there???

LOL

lobster, apples, and some changes it's good to step out of your comfort zone

Dh talked me into buying lobster

it was a good price
and we heard a news story about lobster fisherman basically going out of business because they were not getting enough money for the catch, yet Lobster was still priced high for hte consumer

So to do our part for the local economy LOL

we bought lobster

I looked up online how to cook it :)

success


I didn't take the picture

that was the guy who wants to be a professional photo0grapher that took it :) (DH)

it was easy and I learned a few things

Lobsters are easy to cook

it's not as hard as I thought to put them in the pot

they don't scream like people say

the men in the family LOVED it

the women had issues :)

actually I loved it, but the girls did not want to touch it

well until after when they played with the shells LOL

----------------

We went apple picking this weekend
to the same place MB broke his collar bone

we had not been back since, and it was a big step for the boy, because he had a little fear, and in his head the Hay maze he fell from was HUGE, but they were not really that big, and he easily climbed up and played around with the other kids on it. My new Header is him on the haystacks :)

on the other hand

it was higher than Messy's height
which meant I could not let her climb on it
I kept Moo off too so Messy wouldn't feel left out :(

but we had fun feeding goats and picking apples

this is the same place Messy has a field trip to go to this week

*sigh*

I know I haven't been updating much

why?
what is my excuse?
is it
a) computer trouble
b) busy life
c) addiction to the hatchery
or
d) all of the above

ROFL

hope you all have a nice week


Oh I had to change the setting as someone posted a spam thing and a phishing thingy in the comments and I said "Oh no you didn't!" and had to take that ability away

sorry

is this pink enough?

ugh I swear the other pink killed my eyes

the pink is the problem

it actually hurts my eyes

man I need to find a new pink

tips for Kids with Autism and Halloween

WOW do I wish I saw this BEFORE!!!
From the Autism Society Of America

http://www.autism-society.org/site/PageServer?pagename=halloween_tips

Tips to Make Halloween Enjoyable for Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders

The very things that can be so exciting to neurotypical kids—wearing the costume of a favorite character, being outside with other kids who also have on costumes, knocking on doors to ask for treats, and getting treats from every house you visit—can be anxiety producing for children with autism spectrum disorders.

Wearing a costume is unfamiliar, as is going from house to house to ask for treats. New routines and behaviors can be enjoyable for kids on the spectrum when they are approached with planning, and the necessary supports are identified and provided. Following are some things you can do ahead of time to help your child enjoy this child-focused occasion:

1. Begin early (even a month before) to prepare your child for Halloween activities. Read a story about Halloween and the activities that surround it, like carving pumpkins, wearing costumes, and trick-or-treating. Teach your child the skills involved in participating—knocking on the door, holding out the bag, saying “trick or treat” or using assistive technology (a picture or device) to communicate the message, and then saying “thank you.”

2. Help your child choose a costume that will reflect his interests. Let him practice wearing the costume around the house while practicing the skills. If wearing a costume is irritating, ask him if he would rather wear face paint, a scarf, or a hat on Halloween. No costume is also OK.

3. Write a social narrative describing what your child will do on Halloween. Include in this story information about wearing the costume (if she will) or face paint, and carrying the trick-or-treat bag. Identify which houses your child will visit, what your child will say at each house, and what she will do with the treats she receives.

4. Create a visual schedule with the Halloween activities for the evening marked on it.

5. Let your child practice trick-or-treating with familiar individuals and houses. If he has a restricted diet, give these individuals special treats for him.

6. Keep the trick-or-treating session short and comfortable. If two houses are her limit, that is fine.

7. Teach your child to give out candy for trick-or-treaters. Use role play to let him practice the skill before Halloween. Write a social narrative about this aspect of Halloween so he will know what to expect and what to do when the doorbell rings that evening. This way, even if his trick-or-treating session is short, he will be involved in the celebration.

8. Remember, practice helps make any activity feel like a routine!

From The Sphere (Fall 2007-Volume I/Issue 2), newsletter of the Ohio Center for Autism and Low Incidence. Reprinted with permission.

did ya ever notice?

when you put the recycling out the night before like you are supposed to

they never show up until 2 pm to pick it up

but

the one time you get lazy and wait until morning to put it out

yup

they got here early

sheesh

busy day

today was hectic
my schedule didn't work today, a combo of a few minutes late leaving and traffic caused issues, we didn't get back to Messy's bus, so we had to take her to school, which she actually handled WAy better than she has in the past she usually doesn't like anything to be different from her normal routine.

then it was picture day for the boy and I forgot the paperwork, so I had to bring it to him
I didn't want to drive there and back, and then turn around and go pick him up, so I tried to grocery shop near his school before I picked him up....what a mistake LOL I like my store, maybe I am a bit like my daughter

ok does anyone else think it's odd that a nine year old (Mapboy) wants me to tivo the debate so he can watch it???


when I was that age I hated anything to do with any of that
if they interrupted my tv shows then I would be upset but other than that the government ran without me noticing.

ok was that a poor job done by the school I went to? or a great one done by the school he goes to...or the opposite? is it healthy for a nine year old to understand what "lipstick on a pig" means?

I know they were learning about it in school, they were talking about planning a field trip to the campains' headquarters, but it fell through.

seriously the kid didn't ask me to tape the redsox in the play offs, he asked me to tape the presidential debate

---------------
on another note MB is going on a field trip tomorrow
freedom trail, I wish I could go! it is cool living here sometimes :)

Oh darn I forgot some things at the store

is there a twelve step program for furniture?

So one of the things I remember when I was a kid was a bed, it looked like a castle it was a loft bed with a play area underneath, my father had plans to build it for me, we would sit and talk about how cool this bed would be we drew pictures of it and I really thought he was going to make it...but the bed never got made :(


OK so that may explain why I am really too emotionally attached to this bunk bed, we bought it, and painted it to look like a castle....ok it doenst *look* like a castle to you and me, it is no way even close to the one my dad dreamed about, but to a five year old and a two year old, it looks like a castle! LOL

So Now the epilepsy Dr says NO to bunk beds
Ok I'll be honest I didn't think of it as an issue, but what can I say?
We can't put the 5 year old on the bottom, because the 2 year old really is just too small for bunk beds KWIM?

so silly me thinks, OK we will sell the bunk bed and use the money to buy a trundle
ROFL

Dh didnt think anyone would buy a painted bunk bed (why is he always right?)

OK so apparently a bunkbed loses value when it is painted by a mom and her kids to look like a castle ROFL

here am I thinking I have this thing of value and I can't even give the thing away.

so the new plan is to take the thing apart and put it away until the littlest one is old enough to climb up to the top, of course you do know that by that time it wont look like a castle to them anymore. ROFL

a whole month

I am keeping my blog pink for the whole month of October!
well I am going to TRY and keep it pink

As you may know I like to change my blog around a lot LOL

rambling on

The news had a horrible story about a 7 year old boy who broke into a zoo and killed some of the animals

how awful


I have a headache

and I see Messy's bear today is bear day at school
and I thought she put the bear in messy's backpack :(

gosh can I be more pathetic?

it's picture day today at Messy's school

you know one of the good things about her going to school, is that at least now I can have a nice picture of her at least once a year...because we know I just don't have enough pictures of her LOL

seriously the fact that she was interested enough to tell me she wanted to wear her hair down, and she wanted to wear her sparkly wale shirt

is AWESOME

of course I let her wear the 2 dollar walmart shirt I CANNOT believe that she asked to wear it :)


She also told me she wants to be a witch for Halloween I can do THAT too :) although a few minutes later she asked if she could be santa claus

I'll be honest I think she really means she wants to *BE* Santa ROFL

gosh she seems almost normal ROFL

Wacky Wednesday

Wednesday is turning out to be my really busy day

the school specialist comes over today

so even if I did have everything all done I would still be fretting over how clean the house is.

argh I am obsessed


last week I left a cleaning product out on the counter

I NEVER LEAVE CLEANING PRODUCTS OUT!!!!

and of course she noticed it

sooo the rest of my day will be checking to make sure I haven't left anything stupid out

I really stink at this stuff

a cute moo story

she has those magnetic letters from leapfrog that stick on the fridge, or they go into the little thingy and sings the song "A says ahh, A says ahh, every letter makes a sound, A says ahh" and so on LOL between that and the leapfrog movies she has the letter sounds down pat :)

well those magnets are not approved for the car, wouldn't be safe in an accident, but she must have smuggled it into the car

she does have animal, they are mostly beanie babies but she has a few others.
now she sits behind me in the car so I don't usually look at her directly usually through the mirror but she will say "mommy I got a bear" and I will growl at her and she will grown bacl,a bd then she will grab a cat and say "mommy I got a cat" and we will meow You know LOL


Well she said "mommy I got a bee" so in my head I pictured her with her little bee puppet and I said "buzzzzzzzzzzzzzz buzzzzzzzzzzzz" she didnt say a word so I looked in the mirror at her shocked face she held up her little magnet and siad "mommy it says Ba"

ROFL

you gotta laugh

they still wouldn't pay for it

well I got them to pay for Messy's Lamictal, but they would not pay for Moo's Bactrim

what are you going to do?

I so cannot wait to hear the Dr say that the reflux has gone away and I can stop giving her this crappy stuff whoo hoo! October 21s a day of tests for her, they wont be fun, but I CANNOT WAIT see this is me being optimistic :)

not the best parent alerrt (it doenst sound as good as "bad mommy alert" but it's better for my self esteem)

paper he has been working on is due tomorrow
he did well writing the first draft which is graded by peers
second draft is graded by the teacher

Teacher has a list of rewrites
he doest want to do it.

I talk to him about the importance of planning ahead

I tell him that we really need to go to the store and get bread and bologna and milk


the boy said it


"why didn't you get those things yesterday when daddy was home?"

I told him I had forgotten

yup he said it

he really did

he set me up and I fell for it


yes I should plan ahead too


off to the grocery store with three grumpy kids, one who is trying to do his paper in the back of the car LOL

bad mommy huh?

I could complain but.... I am so darn lucky!

So moo's medicine has run out, but her drs appointment isn't until October 21 so you can blame me for that I wasn't paying attention but they wont refill her prescription it's expired

Messy's medication has been increased
no one told the insurance company...the insurance company wont refill it
Dh called the epilepsy clinic because the regular drs office is closed
the on call dr sent in a refill for 12 pills and we are to call our dr Monday
we figured that was set
umm no one still told the insurance company so yeah they wouldn't fill the prescription

Mapboy is on a new medication

Dh had his dr transfer all his meds to 90 supply to utilize the new money saver thingy at the drugstore

So DH's medication with the new cheaper program 70 bucks (it's really a lot cheaper)
MB's old medicine 35 bucks (no you can't return it) new medicine 35 bucks
Messy's 12 pills to tide up over until this morning was 46 bucks ( no it's not refundable )
Moos medicine well that is zero since I haven't gotten a call back from the dr yet

so in the last week the drugstore has gotten 186 bucks from us
and tonight it will be 70 more for the two girls

you know it's really scary to think of all the meds my family takes
:(
but it's funny, like what can go wrong will go wrong kind of thing

"umm yeah sorry I couldn't make my mortgage payment because I had to buy drugs" ROFL

Gosh you knwo it isn't really funny at all

we are so freaking lucky to have insurance to help us pay for all this

sheesh I can't even imagine having to pay for all this in full?

late night blogging

can't sleep got into a heated discussion with Dh...that's never good
I would make a terrible debater, I just lose control of my brain and say things wrong

I wish I wasn't like that

speaking of debates...RE: Presidential Debate, I found it interesting that all the people believe that their guy won the debate

I'm not going to share my opinion of it LOL
frankly I'm not a big fan of politics.
but I do find a lot of humor in it all....even stuff that should NOT be funny...I know I'm pathetic.

I don't understand why I have allergy symptoms today it's supposed to be very low right now
but it's bad


the sox got killed tonight, I didn't watch it because I had to record the debate for DH, but i watched part of it on gameday and then I had to stop KWIM it's never good when they lose to the Yankees but they got pounded :(

rain is good


my composter has rodents in it :( what's up with that?

so the meeting at the school was...interesting

the whole thing was completely done by the boy

they gave him a form to fill out, and he was supposed to just answer the questions

the good part?

the only academic issue he had was that he has trouble with the the way thsi school does word problems in math.

the bad part

the whole rest of his presentation was about being bullied and trying to make friends and not be shy

again the teacher was shocked to hear him talk about being shy---he doenst seem shy to her


*sigh*

also wanted to mention that I'm more than a little nervous about this banking thing

just a couple pics of moo to get your morning started

Photo by machris



sepia

Photo by machris

ok here is the scoop

I've been kind of fighting the school nurse because she has messy listed as restricted activity, which means she can't swing, she can't climb, no slides...what else is there?

sand box

ok my usual very active jumping all over the place kiddo is sitting still for HOURS all day long and they wont let her get exercise she is happy to sit in the sandbox for recess, but is it what is best for her?

so I was trying to not only get them to let her climb, but to get them to encourage her to be more active

*sigh*

finally I got them to relent if I got a note from the doctors saying she didn't require restricted activity

so I am sure now you can figure out why I am upset...the doctor agreed with the school nurse

even though she has never had a seizure where anyone saw any outward reaction AT ALL!!!
in the hospital study they determined that her spacey times had nothing to do with seizures and everything to do with daydreaming.


but she does have seizures

So she is on restricted activity on the playground


not only do I feel like a rotten mom

but now I have proof *cry*


how am I going to get her to get exercise?

come on, I don't care what they say, it cannot be good for her to not get any exercise except for jumping on the couch when no one is looking.


and you know what? they are wanting her to not climb anything higher than herself....what does that mean in regards to her bunk bed

sheesh :(

I just didn't think it was dangerous :(

the fine line is blurred

there always is more to the story than seems isn't there?

I want what is best for my kids

I just don't always know what that is

love google CALENDAR

Dh changed his schedule and changed the day off of Moo's "all day of tests" day

I got an email

a quick phone call

all fixed

whoo hoo

much better than the arguing

"you said you took it off"
blah blah blah

love it!



sorry really busy this week

with drs appointments and half days of school and all


edited to fix it even though I also like google maps,i was referring to the calendar man I need a cup of coffee

very busy this week

the boy has three half days

this should be fun :)
they are having student led meetings

so instead of parent/teacher
it is parent/student/teacher

I can't wait
:)

did you ever do something and think...

Gosh I am exactly like my mother LOL

MB was acting quite a bit sick this morning...the mommy flag was waving I got an inkling that he just wanted to stay home, and maybe he wasn't as sick and he was acting KWIM so I told him the family rules that from now on go with school

for every day of school you miss, you must be restricted to the house for one week, that means no weekend trips to the zoo, no going out for a treat, no nothing

he quickly decided that he was feeling better

Gosh I hated that rule when I was a kid...but it always worked, it gave me the incentive to go to school on those days when I just didn't want to KWIM?

and of course I am worried that maybe he really is sick, and I am making him go to school sick...he did have a milder version of what messy had over the weekend but he seemed in great spirits Sunday night.

*sigh*

Dh is turning my bbq idea into gourmet

he is making stuffed pork chops
me? I am not too keep on the idea of eating anything today, but it smells good :)

it's nice out but I don't feel like going outside

didn't help that this morning I went outside just in time to see a hawk flying overhear with his breakfast YUCK! I think ti was a squirrel

not going to church today

feeling the sickness Messy had
Messy has no voice
Moo is grumpy
and MB is sneezing up a storm
wanted to go apple picking but I think that trip was nixed before it was even started LOL

sox lost

pats play today

maybe I will throw together a pats party for just us family
no one will mind staying home if I make good food right?

I'm in a good mood

Dh came home last night

so good to have him home

hopefully he doenst get sick now

a cute moo story

LOL so I was washing some dishes and I spilled a tiny bit of water on the floor
I was out of dish rags in my kitchen drawer, so I had to go tot he hall to grab some more
while I was in the hallway Moo came running into the kitchen, well as you may know 1 tile floor + some water + 1 toddler = disaster she slid and scraped her knee against the cabinet :(


she got up and came over to me "mommy mommy my knee is bwoken, it's all wed and wet!"

isn't she cute?

the good news is 1 toddler with a bloody knee + 1 hello kitty bandage = happiness

goodnight all it's been a long day and I am TIRED!!

just a little whine and I wont say anything any more!

years ago a company that sells campers stole eight thousand dollars from my husband and I when they declared bankruptcy shortly after we ordered a brand new camper from them.

the AG of my state first said that they could not do anything about it

the lawyers got to work

the company owed a lot of money to a lot of people
after rereading several times the dates of the transactions, and the date of the file, and all that I pointed out to Dh that they cashed the check after they filed for bankruptcy, Dh pointed that fact out to the lawyers who got together and sued the company.


all the while we are still getting sales papers from the company, we are told that it is a company of the same name, but it is the brother of the guy who filed bankruptcy and not the guy who took our cash.


soo the AG did get some money from them

guess what?

the banks and the companies all got paid first before regular ordinary everyday people who saved up to get a camper got a dime

in the end we got almost three thousand back and we were damn happy to get that...not really happy about having to declare it on our taxes, but happy none the less


The whole ordeal made us feel powerless

the big guys get everything first, the rich guys have more power

you know all this crap that is going on, is making us feel that way again

none of the other stuff is important

the people in Texas have no homes no food, no water, no power, NO HELP!

as long as the big guys get paid!

I honestly do not think I can watch the news anymore


OK back to normal now


any ideas on where I can find little girls underwear that doesn't have colorful designs on it?

seriously 2T and 4T are close enough in size, and my eyes are poor enough that I get a headache sorting them KWIM?

do they literally mean to wrap a blanket around?

when they say "wrap a blanket aroudn your tomato plants, a frost is coming tonight"

no complaints

I coudl complain that my girl got sick coming home from dropping the boy off at school

I coudl complain that I cleaned the car yesterday, and today she loses her breakfast all over it

I coudl complain that I have no way to go to the school open house

I coudl complain that I seem to have trouble typing the word "could"


but I am not, I will look at the bright side

I get to spend the day with my girls!

could
c o u l d
c o u l d

man I can't believe how bad I type!

Wow the bus came on time today!

yay! she may actually get to school on time today!!!

I didnt get but a couple of pictures and I hadnt changed the ISO so...

here is one from yesterday!





















and what the heck

here is one of the boy


poser LOL

Did you ever have some one on your mind

I've been thinking about a friend of mine from WAY back

before kids
as in...the last time we talked on the phone my oldest was a baby!
for some reason I can't get her out of my head

So I wrote her a letter, and I actually put it in the mail!


I hope she lives in the same place, we used to be neighbors Way back before Dh and I moved back to Massachusetts.

it's been a long time, gosh her kids must be all grown up now

she was a good friend and she has never met my children.
it's kind of sad to think of friends that I have drifted away from

sad


but writing the letter was cool!

oh boy today is a busy day

today starts up the home visits
hard to squeeze these things in between the picking kids up and school and all that LOL

going to be busy for a few days

I have so much to accomplish in just a few days

DH is going to be gone for a bit

school stuff is happening at both schools

love that "being in two places at once" trick

ohh I almost forgot I need to vote today
voting day means half a day at the public school...at least it's not both schools half a day LOL
I wish I could vote at her school, i would jsut pick her up, but No it's the other side of town...who figures out this precinct stuff?

OMGosh this was so funny!

have I ever mentioned my affection for google calendars?

I know when DH has something planned
I know when his trips are

If he changes anything on his calendar I get an email

but the best is MB's school uses it too so I subscribed to their calendar and
I get an email when they put something on theirs

how cool is that?

so since DH was not at home

I could not leave the kids with him while I helped out in the nursery
our church has the kids in the service for the first 15-20 minutes and then they go out to the Sunday school class

OK so they said I could bring them with me and just take them to Sunday school at the designated time

boy: "mom I'm in the fifth grade now you know...I am pretty sure I can sit in the sanctuary for church until I can go to class"

yikes I said "um I am not going to leave you alone in church"

MB said "mom at school you don't even have to sign me out remember? I can sit in church!"

SO I asked a few people to keep an eye on him and let him go

*sigh*

the good news is that the people who I asked to watch him said he was awesome, even helping the people around him get the right page in the hymnal.

this growing up stuff is H-A-R-D!!!!!!

I love babies

Today I will help out with the babies at church

my favorite job of all!

guess what we did in art class mom?

the pure overjoyed excitement in his voice

"mom mom mom, guess what we got to use in art class? "

not even able to wait for my answer he went on
"we got a camera, and we went and took self portraits, and I got an HP and Jacob was my partner and he got a Nikon coolpix and we get to use mac notebooks and we are going to learn how to use photoshop, and I'm going to take a picture of the big map and make it behind my picture!!!!!"

finally he stopped to take a breath and then he smiled and said

"this is the coolest school ever, I have to write a report...a narrative the point of view of an animal in the zoo, mom they have this organizer that makes it so easy to figure out how to do it...I LOVE THIS SCHOOL!!"


*sigh*
what a difference a day makes

I can't wait to go to the open house next week!

:)

well the boy got in trouble in school

he was horsplaying

he forgot that horsplaying is not allowed at this school

if it happens again he will get "in school suspension"

after that suspension


love this school

really they don't mess around

I miss my messy girl

I miss my sweetie pie, my little messy kid all day

I even miss the stuff she does that drives me crazy

I miss the craziness

I miss the messes
I miss the asking me every five minutes to help her put three Zs on her pictures of sleeping animals.

I even miss the times when she comes up to me and throws something in my face screaming uncontrollable with me trying to figure out what the heck she is upset about

She is doing fantastic in school

and she comes home and doenst want to play with me, she wants to play with her sister

can you believe it???? right now they are up playing with the stuffed animals and the doll house doing voices for their animals...it's really quite normal!!!!

we move on right?

we need to potty train the little one and become a diaper free house

I'm getting things in order ok I am still working on the papers but I hope to have that done soon

love the flylady even thought it's all so cutsie and annoying I still love it :)

dh comes home tomorrow night

hope you are all doing well

oh yeah the pictures!!!! I will add them later

here is an older one of DH and Messy
I am so behind on pics I will get them off my cards TONIGHT!!! after I locate the health records paper that I already sent to Messy's school twice

I know I copied it but I should have scanned it in and kept it on file

who would have known they would lose it twice, and then *I* would lose it!

help I am under a pile of school paperwork and doctors letters and notices ROFL

ok I promise I will get the pictures up, but I MUST put all these papers in their proper file spot before I do that so It might be tomorrow LOL

tons of random chatting ...if it makes sense to you, you get a star!!

the schedule troubles is killing me yikes...it's not easy trying to be in more than one place at one time....some of the other moms have it harder than me, so I must stop complaining...I met a woman today who actually mastered picking up a kid at one side of our town and getting her kid here at the new middle school in another town ten minutes apart... it's an 18 minute drive so I must follow her next time LOL I just have to remember that if I am a few minutes late they are not going to think I am a bad parent.....really that is my fear that someone will call DSS because I am late getting there KWIM?

I will say that I Love the fact that MB's school has gone green, everything is on the website!!!! no folders full of papers!!!!and they use Google calendar,and because *I* use Google calendar all I needed to do is a few clicks and now I get an update every time they update it :)
unlike the public schools that all have online calendars and none of them use them. it's frustrating that I have to fight to find out things, or they will send home notices for things that are past... more on that later

I went to the PTO or whatever you call it last night for MB's school

it was ok I really kind of felt bad because I can't really volunteer for most of the stuff and every parent is supposed to do at least 25 hours of volunteer sheesh how am I goign to be able to do that? I don't know.


you know what else I love about this school? Umm friday he had an issue with some kids on the playground...there was no hidingit from me, the social worker at the school called and left a message on my machine right away....I called her back and we talked on MondayI told her that I thought he would benifit from a social skills group..I've got his name on a waiting list for one at the local hospital, and .today is Tuesday and when I picked him up, he was all excited to tell me that he was picked to be in a social group (with the social worker) that meets for lunch every tuesday "mom the group is COOL we eat lunch and then play cards and talk about good things, and also some not so good things that might be bugging us!" in the old school he was getting bullied every day and only when *I* saw him upset, and I dragged the info out of him, and *I* called the school and got it confirmed that "yes the kids do pick on him from time to time" did they do anything about it.


guess what I got home from the girls Kindy class yesterday??? yes Yesterday September 8th her first day of school, I got an invitation to "kindergarten playgroup day" yes that sounds neat Sept. 5th

and I got an announcement for an ice cream social....yup that was Sept. 5th too not too impressed with all that...last year I blamed the boy for not getting flyers to me until after the date is past, but now I am wondering if its the school, because obviously messy didnt get this flyer before the 5th since her first day of school was teh 8th LOL

Today was ok, she is doing great in handwriting and art (big surprise there huh)

oh and they told me I need to pack an extra snack because she has snack in the first class, lunch in between, and snack in the afternoon class...I totally forgot that fact! Oh and I was right the class is now officially peanut free, it really should be, how can you keep peanuts off of kindy kids hands??? impossible!

hmm I am betting she will be eating not much dinner if she will be eating lunch and two snacks every day haha

ok sorry I know this is just a big messy post but I have to go and get dinner ready
Dh is away so I am breaking out the zitti WHOO HOO!!!!


I love pasta :)

(next week when I am complaining about why I can't lose weight remind me of this LOL)

first day of kindergarten

I dropped the boy off at school a few minutes early
got home at 8 AM Plenty of time for Messy's bus at 8:20 right?
when it got to be 8:30 Dh called the school

bus isn't supposed to be there until 8:45

OK

when it got to be 9:05 Dh called the school

*sigh*

bus finally got here at 9:21

It's so quiet here
moo fell asleep on the floor playing

it's going to be a long day :)


no I didn't get a picture of her first day of school

I'm pathetic and my batteries were dead

now i am about to call the social worker at MB's school

since he got into a fight Friday apparently a kid told him to attack another kid in a joking manner...being MR literal the boy thought he was serious, being he so wanted to make friends so badly at his new school, he decided to do it.

nope not sure how to make things right :(

sad today

it's too quiet here

I am going to make a phone call and I wont have to go in the other room, I can sit at my desk and call.


*sigh*

So my son is a middle schooler, my day off, and the photo challange

I didn't cry the whole time

the applying for the school
the getting accepted
getting the news that the school was moving
filling out mountains of paperwork
that first day of school...dropping him off..seeing him tentatively walking up to the other kids...who all seemed to look 5 years older than my baby LOL
the odd feeling of picking him up where they just let him out and I didn't have to sign him out

no tears about my baby being a middle schooler

But today I am reading over the student handbook, and the contracts...I need to sign the contract and part of it, I need to sign that I am familiar with the handbook, so I am trying to get familiar KWIM?

so what on the handbook did Get me so upset

the legal part, the part where they talk about drugs, and weapons and violence, rape and sexual assault...the part where it says

Additionally, per civil rights afforded to all individuals, students who are pregnant at
(name of school removed) are permitted to remain in regular education classes and participate in
extracurricular activities with non- pregnant students throughout their pregnancy.
After giving birth, they are permitted to return to the same academic and
extracurricular program as before they participated in before they left.

Ok so all the progress I thought I had made over the years I am still that mom who was so terrified to put her kid on the kindergarten bus, that she decided to homeschool him


I will not homeschool, I will not homeschool, I will not homeschool, I will not homeschool, I will not homeschool, I will not homeschool, I will not homeschool.

the photo challenge today is Trees :)

I didn't take them yet, but today is my day off :)
yes my Dh is watching the kids all day, so I am off to find some trees :)

pictures

just a couple pics

I learned how to do textures

I've been afraid to try but it was really easy

my last post LOL

man I am a bid distracted today

a LOT going on

We are waiting for a call form the epilepsy doctor

apparently the blood test showed that they need to increase the dose

then I am going out to luch wiht a friend

dh is watching the kiddos

cool huh?

Well The boy loves his new school

and I can drop him off at 7:30

so i can be back at the bus stop for the girl at 8:20 no problem!!!!!

in the afternoon he gets picked up at 3:00
she gets out at 3:18

we still have o idea when the bus will drop her off, but I am assuming that I will make it :)

it takes 18 minutes without traffic...of course in the morning there is always traffic...and more traffic going back home than to the school .and if your stupid enough to pull into a parking lot at the boy's school expect some delay time because all the other kid's moms are not going to let you back out of the spot ROFL

lesson learned..at least I learned it before the kindergartner starts :)

picking him up was crazy he isn't an elementary kid anymore, middle school just opens the door and lets the floodgates out ROFL
it reminded me of my school when I was a kid on the last day of school ROFL

he of course left his lunch box and thermos at school yeah am I surprised?


Messy, her first day is Monday

we went in for a story time
after a few minutes they decided they are going to need to buy a chair for her.
I was very pleased with the sped teacher talking with her about Messy's goals

financially for at least now we cannot swing the after school homework help thingy for MB
:(

but we are working on tightening up the budget because I think it's going to help us KWIM?


oh one of my fave restaurants is closed

it's probably our fault since we don't go out to eat all that much anymore LOL I actually can't remember the last time we went

you think I am kidding? I am really not it's surprising that as much as I love to cook, I also Love to eat out

not anymore when dinner at McDonald's cost 36 bucks, you decided to cook at home more ROFL

only I would feel guilty because I didn't eat a a restaurant and they closed
LOL

ugh I have to get rolling on Messy's school papers
you would not believe the stack of forms I need to fill out!

well I met the teachers and aids today

the most amazing thing? Messy saw her old teacher there who just happened to be there with her son who is in Kindergarten and Messy of course freaked out because she knows her and sees her in an out of order place....but then she saw her old Aid from preschool, the woman was also there with her daughter and she quietly came up to me and said hi knowing Messy might freak out, but messy turned around and saw her, buried her head in my shoulder for a minute and then popped her head out and smiled at her she stayed there for a bit while I talked and got a little shy when the aide talked to her again, and then she just got comfortable with the idea and was smiling at her and even talked to her a little

this has never happened before

heck if *I* go to her school she freaks out because I am not a school person so this is MAJOR

she loved her classroom

loved the Other room, I'm not sure what they call it, but it's a small classroom for kids with autism apparently there are 4 kids in that class.

I'm worried that she will not do well in the regular classroom but I know she will love the other class

tomorrow I go for a meeting with her team

Gosh good thing Dh took the day off because he was supposed to be away and no way I woudl be able to get a sitter on such short notice


I *THINK* that the insurance company will be covering regular speech therapy since the dr thinks the speech problems are caused by epilepsy not autism...
HOPE
really they should change it so autism is covered how many kids go without therapy because they can't get it covered?

it's just silly

a lot of people get rich in the world of autism and it isn't the schools, and it isn't the parents

The boy starts school tomorrow

he is nervous

No pictures please

About 12 years ago DH and I went to buy a condo on the beach
it was BEAUTIFUL every room had a view it was just what we wanted, it was part of our "well we can't have kids we might as well have fun" plan. it was WAY too expensive, but I was waiting on a promotion and we WANTED it
I remember it was a cold day, we interviewed with the owners and filled out the paper work
and after we went to the beach to soak in the peace that only the ocean can bring on a cold winter day the ocean was PERFECT!

But it was windy and the wind kept whipping the sand in my face
it HURT a whole lotta hurt! So maybe the beach is not always peaceful

a couple days later we learned that another couple beat us to the condo so we didn't get it :(

a couple days after that I trucked my burning itchy painful face to the doctors

Rosacea was the diagnosis some cream, a few changes in lifestyle.. the interesting thing was when we moved to out new apartment that was far away form the ocean we learned that the person who lived there before me had a rosacea newsletter sent to them...so I learned about changing your lifestyle
no more spicy food, no walks on a windy beach, no hot soup or hot coffee, special make-up

I have never had my face bother me as bad at that first outbreak

I even stopped using the cream, maybe the doctor misdiagnosed, I mean she said I was going to have trouble getting PG, and now I have three kids right? I even introduced back some hot coffee, and occasionally A piece of hot chili chocolate.

*sigh*

Friday night Dh brought me home a chocolate chipotle brownie

I ate it and complained about not really being able to taste the peppers but it was heating my face up


well now I have a full blown rosacea outbreak

NOW like 12 years and three kids and a house later NOW it's bothering me

it's just like that first time the itchy, the burning the annoying

ugh
I look like WC Fields

no pictures pleas LOL

the pics

So I learned a few things
I have never been a fan of B&W photography I am a color girl. I'm guessing probably my pics are not good enough to be enjoyed without the distraction of color LOL

I set my camera to monochrome and went into my garden and took some pictures (about a hundred) it was fun but when I got them up on the computer I couldn't help wishing I could see them in color.

Well in DPP you can change the B&W pics to color by clicking standrd style picture I guess the information is saved in the camera.


SOOOO the other thing I learned is that I am still a color girl I didn't get converted into a B&W lover LOL although I have been known to admire OTHER people's Black and whites :)


I might post up the colored versions after I get done with dinner














cherub in the garden


purple flower





Rose of Sharon

Purple cone flower

magenta colored flower, I forget it's name

grapes I can't believe the birds have not eaten them...they are starting to look like raisins


Bee on a butterfly bush

strawberries

another bee, there were a lot of them today



so are you into black and white?
or color?

photography enthusiasts unite!!

I know some people do Friday photo on their blog but mine is different

mine is a challenge

take ten pictures with the same theme and post them on your blog.
it's not a contest it's just fun!
this week is black and white pictures
I don't care if you have a black and white setting, or you do it post production

fun is the key

first I want to talk about my love of photography and it's limitations

I love photography I love taking my camera out into my yard and snapping pictures of flowers or other plant life. I love taking pictures of my kids. I love taking my camera on hikes and to zoos, or in to the streets in the city.
I even love experimenting, I have a light box and various lighting things that I love to play around with. I do not have fancy schmancy equipment I don't have my own backdrops, I have no aspirations to take pictures of other people's kids....I'm not that good, nor do I expect to become that good, I have bad eyes and I am at this time limited to using auto focus because I can't get the diopter settings right. I have new glasses that are the trifocal progressive lenses that I cannot get to work looking through a tiny viewfinder...I'm sure I will get it right at some point but for now I am just sticking to the auto focus yeah I will try my macro from time to time but usually I get a headache LOL
and because of that I have gotten away from my hobby and I MISS IT!


so I am going try to do this challenge once a week
join in if you want but I'm not into the whole "you must follow these rules" things
which is probably why my blog is so quiet LOL


this week black and white I'm going to take my pictures now and will post them later.


Next week trees-leaves...trucks...branches...or animals living in, or even kids climbing on or standing in front of

rules are not important fun is!

messys new teacher

specializes in teaching kids on the spectrum

she got a letter today from the teacher asking her to wear sneakers on the first day of school, and to bring a folder :)

Messy was so excited she put the letter on the fridge and keeps bringing it to me to read to her :)

I cannot WAIT for school to start for her

she has regressed quite a bit in the few weeks she has been out :(


on another note we are almost crib free
Moo has been sleeping in the big girl bed every night, but I still have not taken down the crib :( I need to do that.





on another note MB's school is kind of scary
we went on a tour of the building and it is BIG And I just don't see how they are going to be set up in this new place in a week they have no books ion the library and no desks in the classrooms. the boy is making a map, isn't he cute? I met some of the moms one I know from church, one I know from the homeschool group. his teachers seem nice


oh would you pay 300 dollars a month to have someone help you ADHD kid do his homework?

WOW WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!

I know this is silly, but I am SO SO excited

we found a sandwich that messy will eat!!!!!
and there is not a drop of peanut butter on it!!!!!

it's bologna, american cheese food (I refuse to call it chese) and ketchup

her new school is not peanut free, but I know that at least one of her classmates has a severe peanut allergy, and since she wears EVERYTHING she eats I think it might be best not to send her with PBJs. but I was thinking I would have to do thermos' full of mac and cheese every day whew



this makes lunch for schools SO much easier
now if we can find a way to get some veggies onto that lunch box I will be in heaven LOL

My new Header---mommy brag

My boy took this image I took of his school bus last year
and made it into my new header with PSP

he taught me how to use texture on text which I didn't know you could do
he made it look like crayon or chalk :)


cool huh?

what do you mean no TV?

I really think I am going to call the dish tomorrow and get my satellite service turned off
i got Dh to agree to 6 months No satellite

I really have to do something about my Tv addiction

all the shows I quit watching over the summer are going out of reruns soon and I am afraid I will slip back into my old ways because I really want to know what happened to Horatio Caine

You know that before I had kids I never ever watched TV well not ever, but hardly ever.

yes that was before we got the satellite and Tivo and my coworkers were all shocked I had never seen the show "Friends" LOL

what happened to me?

If the redsox make the world series it will be REALLY hard

we will save 100 bucks a month and I will have Messy's software in No time :)

and I will have the time to start working on building that workout room for us at home :)

can I do it?

Today we tested

how long does it take to get to the school
drop the kid off and be back for the bus for the girl?

18 minute one way--no traffic
we tried two ways
highway - 12.4 miles 18 minutes
back roads - 8 miles 18 minutes

ugh how can I be in two places at once?

I guess it will have to be worked out

maybe I can find a sitter for her bus time???

*sigh*


OMGosh I saw the most amazing thing today

I went out to cook chicken on the grill
I heard a squirrel chirping quite loud so I looked at first I saw nothing and took a step in that direction...well off flies a red tail hawk with a squirrel in his grasp
then he dropped the squirrel and it went thud onto the top of our shed, then rolled onto the ground

WOW those hawks impress me every time I see them

here is a picture I took of him from winter time




no I didn't get a picture of him now..who takes their camera out to cook chicken on the grill?



what the heck I'll throw in my favorite picture of a squirrel from last may

Oh I think the squirrel was fine he got up and disappeared :)