Second Chance at Life.

Concerns about The Boy.

2011-09-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

Our vacation was wonderful, full of family and canning. I will be posting pictures soon. I know that The Boy had a good time, however he started to have more of the uncontrolled head shaking, sometimes his hands and shoulders were shaking as well. He didn't seem to notice and when I brought it to his attention he said that it was just happening on it's own. I don't know if it was stress, because of being somewhere out of his normal setting, all the people around when he's not really used to it, or just something that happened. I'm worried about it though, it could mean something else is wrong. I'll have to watch and make sure I tell his Doctor when we see her next.

He is also complaining about not being able to see to read unless he is up close to the book or the computer screen. So, we will have to go get his eyes checked soon as well. I'm about due for a new pair of glasses myself so maybe we can go together.

He is still a bit on the innocent side compared to other kids his age. Not so much a problem for the most part, but it could lead him into trouble.

Making blueberry jam.

2011-08-08T21:27:00.000-07:00

Last year I tried to make blueberry jam without pectin, well actually I mean without added pectin since they already have pectin in them. Anyway, it didn't set and I was disappointed by it. So this year I decided to give it a try with store bought pectin. My downstairs neighbor gave me a nice size bucket of blueberries after I sent down some green beans from our green bean harvest.

First I had to smash or squash or smoosh or crush the berries.

Then I put the jars in the canner to heat up while I cooked the jam.

It took a lot longer to reach the proper temp for the jam to set than I expected. I tried dipping a spoon in and watching the jam drip off to see if it was "sheeting". I don't even know what that really means LOL. And then I tried putting a little on a cold plate to see if it would thicken up enough in a minute or so.

One it finally got there I ladled it into jars and got them ready for the canner.

I put them in the canner for 5 minutes as the directions said. By this time the water in the water bath canner had been boiling for a couple of hours and I discovered that the steam was condensing on the ceiling when a big fat drop landed on my head. EEWW! It was a little gross, because there was a little build up of grease up there. But on the positive side my ceiling is clean now!

I then took the jars of beautiful blueberry jam out of the water bathe canner and set them on the counter to cool. It was so satisfying to hear the ping of the jar lids sealing.

Here are the finished jars all ready to go on the shelf.

It tastes wonderful too!

Canning season starts.

2011-07-25T16:06:00.000-07:00

Well, canning season has started. I've been able to can a few things so far this year. In June I started with strawberries that my niece picked. We, my neice and I, made strawberry lemon jam and just plain strawberry jam. They both turned out great.

Strawberies ready to make jam.

Strawberry jam.

Strawberry-lemon jam.

Then I picked cherries with Jennifer, and made cherry jam and cherry preserves, then made a pie and put the last of the cherries in the freezer. The jam didn't set up at all, it was a no pectin added recipe. I'm not sure how the preserves are supposed to be, but they didn't do what I thought they would either, the pie was good and I'll probably be able to make another pie with the frozed cherries I have.

No pectin added cherry jam.

Cherries.

Cherry preserves.

Cherry preserves a different view.

Cherry pie, it was a little sweet but I liked it anyway.

July 23rd Jennifer and I took our kids to a harvest for green beans. It was fun and we picked quite a bit, about 5 1/2 5 gallon buckets. I brought home almost 2 buckets full. I made some pickled, Dilly Beans, green beans with nearly half of them, I'm going to blanch and freeze the other half.

Dilly Beans.

I'm looking forward to canning more fruit and maybe even more vegetables if I can get a pressure canner.

Cherries.

2011-07-16T22:05:00.000-07:00

Today my friend Jennifer and I went out to pick cherries. It was with Salem Harvest, which sponsors harvests to harvest fruit and vegetables from professional farmers as well as private people who have fruit trees, vines or bushes that produce more than they can use. We harvested cherries from an orchard that had been professionally picked before, what we harvested was what was still green at that time. We donate at least half of what we pick to the local Food Share and get to keep the other half for free. This was my first harvest, I can't wait for the next one.

I am tired, but part of that is I went to bed late, around 2:30 this morning, and got up early, around 7:30. And part of it is that I'm not in very good shape.

Now I have a 5 gallon bucket nearly full of cherries. I'm planning on making jam and preserves. I don't think I'll have enough to put some up in light syrup this time, but there might be another cherry harvest soon. I'm looking forward to picking pretty much anything else. Blueberries, peaches, apples, pears, maybe even some vegetables.

About Cars 2: The Video Game

2011-06-02T17:43:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I'm a Bzz Agent, which means that sometimes I get products to try or I get to see some content about something before it's available in the store. I'm then supposed to tell people about what I've seen or tried, the good and the bad. I sometimes have coupons to give for those items as well.

<img src="http://img.bzzagent.com/image/cars2.jpg?Type=activity&Activity=2965383858&Campaign=7051320655&Uid=277783&token=cc850de48532fbde4f89436ceef03ca5" alt=""/>

Anyway, today I'm Bzzing about Cars2: The Video Game. From what I've seen so far it looks like it will be a fun game for families to play together. You will be able to join C.H.R.O.M.E. and play spy's and have combat races! I like racing games so I'm particularly interested in this game, I think that The Boy and Messed Up Daddy will enjoy playing it with me. We like the characters from Cars so that should help make it fun too. You can go to their facebook page to check out some of the content. The game will be available June 21st, so we don't have too long to wait. You all know how much I hate to wait for things. LOL So go check it out and let me know what you think. Does it look like something you would like? Why or why not?

Work out issues.

2011-04-08T22:09:00.000-07:00

I have to admit that I've fallen off the work out wagon, so to speak. I got discouraged when, after working so hard for months, all I was able to loose was 15 or so pounds, but I continued because I thought I was building muscle mass, which weighs more per inch than fat does. Then I was over whelmed when I gained it all back plus 5 more pounds, all while working out 4 or 5 days a week. I don't think that I started to eat more, or eat bad stuff while I was working out, but it's possible. So I gave up on working out all together. I tried to walk 15 minutes a day, but the weather got in the way, and I wasn't really feeling into it anyway. Now I'm feeling like a failure, and I don't know what I'm going to do about it.

I NEED to loose the weight. It's a health issue. So far I haven't had any really problem because of my weight, but it's only a matter of time. The Boy is still very young, I need to be healthy for him. I need to live long enough to see him grown and on his own. I worry about him because of his special needs and his other problems, he still needs me. I just don't know what to do.

I've been thinking.

2011-03-03T16:18:00.000-08:00

I've been thinking about my weight problems. I am easily distracted from working out or any other kind of exorcise, that's one problem. I like doing it when I do, but ... it's easy to find something else I "should" do instead.

My biggest problem however, is my relationship with food. I really like food, the taste, the texture, the action of eating. This makes it easy for me to over eat, it's the "just one more bite" syndrome. I also get obsessed with some foods, it's more than a craving, it's much harder to ignore one when it hits. It's not just one food either and I never know which food it will be or when it will happen. I'll eat a whole chocolate cake because I can't stop myself, or recently it was Honey Barbecue Chicken Bites. I got them by accident a couple of weeks ago and ended up eating the first bag in one day. We had some the other night, The Boy didn't eat all of his, I sat here thinking of his leftover bites trying not to go get them. But I couldn't stop thinking of them, just sitting there in the fridge waiting for someone to come and eat them. Finally I couldn't stand it any more and went in there and took them out, warmed them up and ate them. Even though I wasn't hungry, in fact I was still full from my own dinner. I have to get control over this, I have to stop eating when I'm not hungry, and I have to stop spending so much time thinking about food.

A double knit hat.

2011-02-01T23:10:00.000-08:00

I decided to try a double knit hat. I wanted it to be reversible. Or as The Boy said "completely reversible" LOL. I've made one other double knit project before, a pot holder. It was fun, and I wanted to try it again. I already had two shades of blue so all I had to do was find a pattern for the colors I would stay interested in doing but wouldn't be too hard to do. I found an snowflake pattern that was just right. Figuring out how to do ribbing in double knit was interesting and took a few tries, but got it done. Then I had to figure out how to work it in the round with double point needles. I had some problem with laddering between the needles especially on the "back" or inside because I couldn't see that part as clearly as I could the "front" or outside. But I think it turned out pretty well. Here's some pictures.

You can see the laddering a little bit here.

The ribbing is a bit loose, but it works for The Boy.

Finally finished the left glove. Picture post.

2010-12-07T21:14:00.000-08:00

Now I'll wash them and get them ready to give as a gift for Christmas.

The finished right glove. (pictures)

2010-12-04T23:44:00.000-08:00

Gloves.

2010-11-26T22:36:00.000-08:00

I've decided to try to knit gloves. I've made mittens, but wanted to make gloves. I made a green right glove, it looks pretty good, but is a bit big around my hand. I'm making a purple on right now and if it keeps on as good as it is so far I'll make the left one to go with it. Then I'll make another pair in the green for myself. I'll work out how to make the pattern smaller because The Boy wants a pair as well. If they work up as fast as I think they will I'll even make some with out finget tips for Messed Up Daddy. I'm not using wool, that's a little expensive for me right now. But I got some nice soft yarn from Dollar Tree several months ago, I have quite a bit of it and it works well for the gloves, as far as the sizing and thickness goes. I think they will be warm too.

So here are some pictures I took today of the purple glove in progress.

One skien of yarn is for the hand part and the other is the fingers.

The hand just before the fingers are added and the thumb with just a row or so until it's done.

The way it looks on, I had to hold the camera upside down and use my left hand to take this. LOL

Tooth problems, again.

2010-11-16T19:42:00.000-08:00

The Boy has a large cavity in his first permanent molar. It was giving him a lot of pain last week. We finally got a dentist's appointment with Messed Up Daddy's dentist. They looked at him and couldn't even get an x-ray. They referred us to a dentist next door, who supposedly worked with more children than the first office did. So we made an appointment with them, for 4 days later. We took him in, they did get x-rays but wouldn't do anything because they decided he was "special needs" because of the Cerebral Palsy. I thought they needed to know about it because it involves his mouth, how his tongue works, and the drooling as well as the way he feels the tooth brush and the taste/feel of toothpaste. So even though he is pretty normal otherwise they decided not to do anything, disregarding his pain. Luckily his tooth stopped hurting soon after that.

Now I have to find a Pediatric Dentist who will take him. There aren't any in town who are on our preferred provider list for insurance. I am going to call the insurance question line and see if they will pay as if they are a PPO because it's kind of an emergency. Anyway it will be expensive.

Right now he is doing fine. No pain and even remembers to brush his teeth after breakfast and dinner without much argument. Even when he does argue a little a reminder of how bad his tooth hurt gets him moving. Keep your fingers crossed that we will find something and that the insurance company will pull through for us.

Madsen Cargo bikes.

2010-10-13T22:04:00.000-07:00

I love this bike. I want one, and have for a couple of years. They are having a new link contest, all you have to do is post one of their banner links on your blog or Twitter, and you are entered to win one of their bikes. You will notice the new banner over there to the right, if you click on it you can go look at their bikes and enter to win one yourself. Good Luck!

Finished Aprons, new photos of the Autumn apron.

2010-10-13T20:45:00.000-07:00

My favorite picture. I guess I got the pockets crooked and it doesn't hang quite straight at the hem point.

The little girl I babysit wearing the blueberry apron I made for The Boy. She wanted to be in the pictures with me.

Messed Up Daddies favorite picture. Notice how long my hair is getting.

Finished Aprons

2010-10-11T16:47:00.000-07:00

I got the Christmas themed apron finished the other day. And made the adjustments needed on the Ivy apron. Here are some photos of the three aprons I'm made so far. The first is the autumn themed one I made last year. This picture is not a good one, I really didn't feel like having my picture taken, but ... anyway.

I was cooking and not really in the mood to have my picture taken. I think I've lost some weight since then, but maybe not much.

This is the apron I made from the kitchen curtain fabric. I like it quite a bit.

Messed Up Daddy likes to take pictures at odd angles.

The Boy made me smile. I like this pattern quite a bit too. I'll probably make more of them eventually depending on the fabric I can find to use.

A bit closer on the Ivy apron. I like the lace and ivy ruffle. I didn't iron it before I put it on so you can see a fold in it. I'd also worn it a couple of times to wash dishes and cook dinner so it's a tad dirty.

Marmalade batch two.

2010-10-03T22:53:00.000-07:00

I made the second batch of marmalade the other day. Well, I guess it's really orange jam since it doesn't have the peel in it. The flavor is nice, it doesn't have that bitter after taste that marmalade usually has. Te recipe I used called it marmalade so I guess I will too. The recipe says it will take a couple of week to set, so I'm not so worried about it this time around.

Here are some pictures.

Notice the lighter color.

The 9 jars I was barely able to fit into the canner.

Close up of a Better Homes and Gardens jar.

See the difference in color between the batches.

All the "Marmalade" together.

Marmalade up date.

2010-09-29T22:47:00.000-07:00

The marmalade I made before has set at least a little bit now. I won't be able to tell for sure until we actually open a jar.

I made more marmalade today, this time I didn't use the peel and did use pectin. According to the recipe it could take two weeks to set, so this time I won't worry so much. LOL It's a much lighter color, more yellow than orange. It really tastes good, even in it's runny state. I got 10 half pints out of the recipe, I couldn't fit one of them in the canner so it's just going to go into the refrigerator until we are ready to eat it. I don't have pictures yet, but maybe tomorrow.

I used some of the other marmalade, the ones in unsealed jars, to make a really nice orange sauce for chicken. I added some garlic powder, ginger powder, and red pepper flakes to about a pint and a half of orange marmalade. I cooked it in a small pot for several minutes. I made chicken nuggets. Cut boneless/skinless chicken breasts cut into approximately one inch cubes, shook it up in a bag of flour with garlic, salt, and black pepper in it. Then I used the deep fryer to cook them and served the sauce as a dipping sauce. The kids loved it, and so did I. Messed Up Daddy wasn't home so he didn't get any. The Boy and I ate it with fried chicken a couple of days later.

My first try at orange marmalade

2010-09-22T20:58:00.000-07:00

I'm not sure it's going to set up, but I've read that it can take a couple of days so I guess I'll just have to wait and see. It tastes fairly good, for marmalade. I'm going to make a second batch, one with less orange peel so it'll be sweeter.

I ended up with 11 half pints and 1 pint

I lit a candle behind them.

Aprons

2010-09-13T20:33:00.000-07:00

I finally got the Christmas apron finished. I bought the fabric for it about a year ago, so I was feeling frustrated with myself. I'll have to get some pictures of it one of these days. (This will be kind of hard since I don't like having my picture taken and Messed Up Daddy won't model it for me. LOL)

I also tried to make another apron from some fabric I salvaged from kitchen curtains that I knew I'd never use. It is a green and white stripe fabric with a trim that has ivy printed on it. The curtains were pretty but they were cafe style and I prefer plain old straight curtains, even in the kitchen. So I used one panel from the lower part of the curtains, it had the ivy trim with some eyelet lace about half way down. I separated the top section, which had been sewn on to make a curtain rod casing, that let me have almost double the length for the apron skirt. I used the casing for a waist band, I also took apart another panel so I had a long enough waist band to have ties as well. I didn't get the skirt gathered quite right, I thought I needed it to be wider than I actually needed. So I'll re-do it eventually.

I had a lot of congestion and pressure in my head all week end, so that's all the sewing I got done. Maybe next week end I'll get the green one redone and make another. I still need to get the towels for the apron I want to make that is like the one I have that's my favorite one for washing dishes in since it keeps more of the water away from my cloths..

What I did during my Summer Vacation.

2010-09-02T19:45:00.000-07:00

I had a very nice time during my vacation. It started on the 21st of August, my Mom with my Son and Grandson came down to pick The Boy and me up to take us up to her house. We went to visit my niece and her family, my brother/her Dad and his son came over too. We had such a great time visiting that we ended up staying in town for another night. Messed Up Daddy was surprised to find us at home when he got in from work. Sunday, the 22nd, Mom came and we were able to get out of here with little trouble.

It was kind of a surprise when, a couple of hours after we got to Mom's, a couple of friends of mine showed up with their girls. The little girls, there were 3 of them, picked black berries, played in the dirt, built interesting structures with pieces of branches and sticks they found in the yard, and had great conversations with the boys. The older girls helped pick berries, visited with Mom, Son #2 and me. (My Dad wasn't home for most of their visit)

We had hamburgers and chips. The Vegetarian Boy had a vegi-burger and chips. The Older Girls made a very tasty black berry crisp/cobbler/crumble that we ate with old fashioned vanilla ice cream. My Mom loved that they didn't seem to mind pitching in and just doing things. She would like for them to come back for a visit some time.

They left a little later than they had planned, hoping that the girls would fall asleep on the way home, but I got a text that they were awake the whole way home.

The rest of the week wasn't as full as I'd planned, the garden is running late and isn't putting out as much as it usually does so there wasn't much to can while I was there. We did get some peaches and blueberries. Canned the peaches and froze the blueberries. I brought peaches home with me that I tried to make jam out of and got syrup instead, and then I froze the rest because I ran out of lids. I plan to get lids soon so I can try to get the peach syrup to jell, and I'll see how it works out to make jam from frozen fruit.

We sorted through some of Mom's craft stuff, I brought home quite a bit of yarn, and two pieces of fabric I plan to make aprons with. We went through some of my Grandmother's things and other stuff my Mom had in storage. I brought home some vintage table cloths, and a few other things.

I came home on Sunday, the 29th. My last day off was September 1st. My vacation ended with a Pampered Chef party at my Niece's house.

For the most part, The Boy and I just spent time with Grandson, Son #2 and my Parents. It was a very nice, calm, fun vacation, even if it wasn't very productive.

Peachs and blueberries.

2010-08-17T17:47:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago I got some peaches and blueberries from a produce stand, the girl working there promised that the produce they sold had been picked either late in the day the day before or that morning. The peaches were really sweet and tasty, the blueberries were great, I could have eaten them all that evening. However, I wanted to make jam so I stopped myself from eating them and went in search of no pectin added recipes for peach jam and blueberry jam. I was able to find a couple and decided to make them the next morning while it was still fairly cool. I got 10 half pints of the peach and 6 of the blueberry.They taste wonderful, the blueberry is ... well it isn't jam. It's more a syrup with blueberry chunks in it. It's pretty in the jar, and tastes great but doesn't work very well on toast. The peach turned out nice, it's soft set, just thick enough not to drip off my toast. In other words it's just about perfect! Next time I'll get pectin for the blueberries, I'd like to be able to eat it on toast.

Here's some pictures of the finished product. Maybe one day I'll get good enough to take pictures as I go ... but don't hold your breath. LOL

A closer look.

The whole spread.

The short jars.

The short jars are half pints just like the others. I thought they were cute and for $5 I thought they would make nice gift jars. I'll have to get some more, because the blueberry didn't turn into jam.

I'm planning on making some pineapple jam, because The Boy loves pineapple, and some jalapeno jam just because it sounds interesting.

Tortilla pictures.

2010-07-26T23:49:00.000-07:00

I need to work on my technique, I need to learn how to make them bigger and thinner. But they were/are delicious!

One of the bigger ones.

All but the three we ate while still almost too hot.

One of the smaller ones.

Cooking and recipe search.

2010-07-22T16:19:00.000-07:00

I'm going to make homemade flour tortillas either today or tomorrow. The recipe is a whole wheat recipe, but can be made with all white flour if desired, it's also lower fat than the "normal" recipe. I'll try to remember to take pictures of them and post about how they turned out. I have a pot of red beans on the stove right now, I"m thinking of making it into chili. I'd like to make corn bread, but I'm out of baking powder and wont' be going to the store until tomorrow so that will have to wait until then. I have a apricot squares recipe I want to try with peaches instead. I have a couple of cans of peaches in the cupboard that I think will work really well with this recipe. I'm trying to cut back the sugar in these kinds of recipes, it's easier on the waist line that way. I'm also searching for other recipes that I can make, things that we would normally buy at the store but would be cheaper and better if I could do them at home. I want to do pasta, for example. I already do bread, biscuits and pancakes. I can and have made cake from scratch, frosting hasn't ever worked for me though. Any other ideas?

It's summer time, The Boy updates.

2010-07-22T16:10:00.000-07:00

The Boy is enjoying his summer, I haven't heard the dreaded "I'm bored!" from him yet. He does like to play outside, he has a computer and a DSi, and I warned him that I could always find things for him to do if he was bored. I haven't noticed much in the way of tremors with him. His running is still a bit awkward and kind of slow. He is reading more, but not books. He reads nearly everything he sees on TV, signs in the store, and things that have to do with his various video games. We started telling stories yesterday, he is learning how a story goes together and is adding more detail to his own stories.

We got a sprinkler play thing that the kids seem to like. It shoots balls up into the air on a stream of water, and has 4 other streams of water that come out of the sides. So far this summer we haven't had much in the way of really hot weather, so they haven't been playing in it much. I think they played in it 3 days one week and 2 days another. It looks like it might be hot enough this week end so maybe we will get out and they can have some water fun.

Updates about My struggle to loose weight and Father's Day.

2010-07-22T16:06:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad girl concerning my exersizeing. I haven't really do it since school let out. I did a few days of the Wii Fit, then had a few days of massive head aches. Then I did a day or two, and stopped because I caught a stomache bug of some kind. This week I thought I'd start again, but ... it didn't happen. I did however break a serving size barrior last week. I'm eating and feelig satisfied with even less. For example, I had gotten down to 2 what I'd call medium size fajitas but couldn't seem to get past that. Last week I made myself only one for dinner, there was plenty incase I wanted more, and once I'd eaten it I thought of having more, but that was because I LOVE the taste not because I actually wanted more. So I didn't have another and it was okay. I haven't mesured my body in a while, but I think I've lost some inches. My belly appears to me to be the same size but it feels ... softer now. It's easier to squish and mush around and might fit into even smaller cloths if I'd try them.

Okay, so I was looking at some older posts and noticed that I never came back and told you what I got Messed Up Daddy for Father's Day. I got him a PSP, it's something he has wanted for a couple of years and we just never got around to getting him. So I started saving for it. I found a good deal and got the Piano Black one with 2 games and a starter kit. The starter kit had two chargers, one for in the house and one for in the car, two game holders, and a carry case. I ordered a pair of ear phones and an other case. The second case is aluminum with a textured finish, I saw it and thought that it was perfect for him. He had been guessing about what it was, he thought he could find it if he looked in my usual hiding places. He DID guess that it was a PSP, I of course told him that I could neather confirm or deny that guess just as I did for every other guess he made. He didn't really think I had gotten it for him, in fact he had started talking with someone who had gotten several of them when Blockbuster (I think) closed and sold off all their rental stock. He was selling them for just $50 less than I spent for everything I got and it came with one charger, that's it.

The Visit that didn't happen, at least not like I wanted it to.

2010-07-17T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well, son number 2 isn't going to be able to come here for a visit after all. He found out that there is a warrant out for him in our county. H learned that it was from 2002, he left the area in 2001. Once he gets home he is going to call and find out what happened and why it was issued. He wasn't a good boy in his teens, he got into a lot of trouble, however, he said that he had taken care of all the stuff he had to do for anything that was still on his record before he left the state. We think it's possible that one of his friends used his name when he got arrested at some point between when he left the state and when the warrant was issued. Or it could be from something a long time before that, something he forgot. Either way, he can't come here without risking getting arrested, and that would be a bad thing because he's here with his son who is only 11 and doesn't need to go through that. So the up shot is, I'll be able to see them for a couple of days at the end of this month. My Mom is having a family gathering at her place, DS #2 (Dear Son number 2) and my Grandson are up there now and will be there at least until after the gathering. So a Saturday and a Sunday will be all I get this time.

Trying out a new Blog set up.

2010-07-07T22:21:00.000-07:00

I am trying a new blog design. I'm not really sure that I like it. I'll keep it for a little while and see how I feel about it in a couple of days. If you have any thoughts please feel free to post them in the comments.

In other news, well not really news I guess. LOL I've been playing with the Wii Fit Plus, it's a lot more fun then the EA active workouts are. The Hula Hoop game is a killer for my legs, my right leg more so than my left. I think my left leg is slightly shorter than my right. I can have the balance board measure my center of balance and it appears that I stand leaning to the left and on the heels of my feet rather than the balls. I don't know how to stand any differently. But the good news is I've lost 6 pounds since the last time I played with the game. I'm now about 313 instead of 319! That makes me feel better since I thought I'd only lost 2 in the 3 months that I have been working out. (I took 2 weeks off trying to adjust to having Aidan home all day.)

I'll probably switch back to the regular workouts soon. Because I think I need the structure of having a set workout with particular exorcises done at certain points and on certain days. I think I'll talk to my Doctor the next time I see her about all this. Maybe I'll ask to see a nutritionist. For some reason I'm more likely to do something if a Doctor or some other authority figure says I should.

Exercise

2010-06-09T21:41:00.000-07:00

I've started a new Exercise program. I'm not doing the 6 week challenge this time. I started creating my own workouts. Monday everything was set at medium, I've been doing easy until now. It was about 30 minutes long and burned about 600 calories. It also kicked my butt! It took all day for me to recover. So I thought I'd try one of the preset workouts. I like the step aerobics that I've had n the workouts so far, so I choose a 30 minute workout that was supposed to be about 300 calories burned. It was also set to medium. I don't think I'll do that again for a little while. I'm still recovering today! I don't think I would have been able to finish it except that it was broken up into 3 ten minute "classes" so I could get my heart rate and breathing back to normal, and cool off some before I committed to the next part. Today was a rest day, thank goodness, but tomorrow I have to do another one. I'm not sure what I'll do yet, but ... I'm ready to do it. I have to do it, The Boy still needs me.

Doctor's appointment and other stuff.

2010-06-02T22:41:00.000-07:00

It looks like I forgot to write about the Doctor's appointment. It wasn't very exciting really. We talked about The Boy's balance issues, it may actually be more like vertigo than a balance problem since he is within fairly normal range when standing on one leg or walking heel to toe. She doesn't think we need a neurologist to see him since we already have a diagnosis. But if at any time any of us feel we need more information, she will do a referral to one in Portland.

There are only 9 days of school left! My only worry is that The Boy and Little Day Care Girl act more like siblings everyday, and that means they fight nearly all the time. It's usually because she wants his attention and he just wants to be left alone, but sometimes he goes out of his way to do something to bug her.

I hope I can get back in the habit of taking pictures regularly. I enjoyed taking pictures and editing them, and it's nice to have photos of certain times during our lives. Once I got my big expensive camera I stopped taking pictures all the time. I think I'll get out the point and shoot and see if I'll take more snap shots if it's near by. I can use the other one for more planned pictures.

I ordered Messed Up Daddy's Father's Day gift Sunday. It will be here by the end of next week. There are 6 parts/things in this gift. I'd tell you about them but I don't want him to accidentally read this before we can give it to him. He's going to love it, and will be very surprised that I got it for him.

I got a DSi XL a week or so ago. Messed Up Daddy kept suggesting I get it and the cooking program I've seen advertised and mentioned that I wanted. So we were at Best Buy and we looked at all the DSi systems and decided that the XL was the best one for me. The Boy likes to play it too, we got a game just for him because eventually we plan to give him a DSi of his own. I don't know when for sure, but maybe in the next couple of months. Or, if things go badly financially, it might be at Christmas or for his birthday.

I finished the 6 week challenge last week, I missed a few workouts which were added to the end of the challenge. I think I'll start a new one on Monday, which will be the 7th. I don't know if I'll go for the next level yet or not. I did get down to 316 pounds on the last day. So it seems I lost 3 pounds in those 6 weeks. I guess I'm not eating small enough servings or I'm still eating too much sugar or fat or both. I'm working on that all the time, eating smaller servings and cutting back on the processed sugar and fatty meats. I will, eventually, get down to my goal weight of 145 pound. It may take me years, but I'll do it. I have to take it slow, because I'll start to feel deprived and end up bingeing and going wild for junk food.

The Boy's updates.

2010-05-16T20:34:00.000-07:00

We had a call from the Doctors office saying that The Boy's MRI is normal. I've talked to other Moms with kids who have mild CP, and they all say that it took a neurologist to see the damage. So I guess after we talk to the Doctor on the 24th we'll see if she will give us a referral to see one.

Some days his tremors are much more pronounced than other days. Yesterday for example, we were watching a movie on TV and he had three shaking spells in a row. It's like he is cold and shivering from head to toe, actually it's more like toe to head as it seems to move upward sometimes.

He also had a harder time talking than normal as well. When that happens he pauses for a few seconds like he's searching for a word, but I think that he is trying to find a way to get the word out rather than finding the word itself.

We are going to discuss his balance problems, and see if there is something we can do to help him there. He's afraid he will fall off his bike or his scooter because he feels off balance when he is on them. He says he feels off balance when he climbs up his ladder on his bunk bed, and sometimes when he is walking down stairs. He will sometimes tell people he is afraid of heights because he feels off balance going up ladders and such.

Eventually we need to get him in to see an optometrist, to check the tracking problem and see if there is anything else we should be aware of. Then, I hope, we will be done with Doctors for a while.

My workouts.

2010-05-05T22:00:00.000-07:00

I've missed 2 workouts so far in this 6 week challenge. I missed Monday because of going for The Boy's MRI. I don't feel too bad about it, since we walked about 3 miles that day. I also missed one when we took The Boy to his last Doctors appointment. I was going to make it up and do a workout on one of my rest days, but that weekend I was sick, and the longer I don't do it, the easier it is not to do it.

Anyway, I think that the balance board weighed me at a lower weight the first time, because I didn't have the extenders on the little feet. We have carpet, a low shag with a rug over it. I didn't think that the carpet and rug were thick enough to make a difference, but once I added the extenders I weighed in at the same weight as the bathroom scale. I'm at 315 now, I weighed myself for 3 days in a row and got the same weight. So I'm fairly sure I'm finally down a couple of pounds, for a total of 5 so far. I'm working on eating less, for example: I used to eat 5 tacos, now I eat 2. It took quite a while to reduce that far, but now I'm full with less. I'm looking into some lower sugar treats that I can either make myself or find pre-made at the store. I think that lowering my sugar intake will be harder to do than reducing the amount of food I eat was. I'll figure it out eventually. At least I can see some progress, finally.

MRI complete.

2010-05-03T23:13:00.000-07:00

Today was The Boy's MRI. He did fairly well. We need to remember that it takes nearly twice as long for medication to take effect with him than expected. He also needs twice as much. We tested the pills the Doctor gave us to calm him Saturday as she directed. One pill had no effect at all. So today, an hour before the MRI was scheduled for, we gave him two pills. Not much happened until it was over, walking to the bus stop was ... interesting. He was kind of floppy, and was a bit unsteady on his feet. A couple of hours later he was back to his normal self.

We won't find out anything about it until the 24th. His Doctor didn't have any other time open before that. We did get a print of his MRI for him to keep, however. I don't know anything about what it should look like, so I can't even give myself a hint about what it shows. I need to figure out how to make a smaller print, maybe cut it down to only one of the views. Then we will put it in a frame and hang it on his wall. He's probably the only kid we know who has a picture of his brain. LOL

He had a hard time keeping completely still. I think he was stressed out, and his head seemed to jerk, and he couldn't seem to keep his mouth still. However he did try very hard to be as still as possible. And they did get the scans they wanted. We went to Panda Express for dinner, as a treat for taking the pills without argument (he really hates to take medication), and for trying so hard to be still.

If I figure out how to copy the MRI images we have I'll post them. If I don't ... I guess you will just have to wait until we talk to the Doctor about them.

Updates

2010-04-28T16:02:00.000-07:00

The Boy

The Boy has a MRI scheduled for Monday morning. He isn't sure he wants to do it, he says that he won't do it, but he said the same thing about the testing he had at the CDRC. We had his IEP meeting yesterday. He is still on level for reading, but seems to be starting to have trouble. He can read a story of nearly any length at grade level, but he can't always tell you about what it is he just read when the story is longer than a couple of paragraphs. He is doing okay in math, he's behind a little but his teacher thinks he can do better he just has a problem demonstrating that he can do it. He still needs social support to understand non-verbal cues, how to join a group that is already playing, and a few other things other kids seem to know. He is going to stay in his classroom next year. Now that we know more about what kinds of problems he is working with we can work out things that will help him with things, and hopefully in a year or two he can join a mainstream class with just a few adaptations. They agree with the CDRC's recommendation that we look into a non-school related OT. I'll have to call insurance and see how much they will cover and see what we can do.

Weight Loss

Monday was the begging of my third week doing the 6 week challenge. I think there is something wrong with the way the balance board weighs me. Two weeks ago it said that I weighed 301 pounds, on Monday it said that I weighed 317 pounds. I know that a pound or so might have been because I'd just finished my workout, and there might have been some swelling in my muscles because of that. There might also be a pound or two extra due to water retention or bloating. But I don't think I can account for 16 pounds that way. Maybe I didn't do it right the first time, since my bathroom scale was about that far off the first weigh in. I guess I should weigh myself with the bathroom scale again and see where it puts me.

I'm feeling kind of bummed. I'm working out 4 days a week, about 20 to 45 minutes a day, it's still a little bit difficult for me, it gets my pulse racing and I sweat quite a bit, I haven't really changed my eating habits much since I started working out and what I've done has been to reduce calories. So you would think I'd see at least a few pounds lost. Messed Up Daddy has been very sweet about it all, he has encouraged me to work out when I've felt less than excited about it, and he's listened to me when I've complained and supported me through this as well. He keeps reminding me that I was such a couch potato before I started this that I had very minimal muscle tone, so maybe it's all gained muscle that is keeping me from loosing weight. Maybe I've lost some pounds of fat, but gained more pounds of muscle. I do know that my hips are a little slimmer, and my upper thighs are smoother.

EA Active More Workouts.

2010-04-13T18:26:00.000-07:00

Today was my second day using the More Workouts "game". I used the balance board, so yesterday I imported my avatar from the other one and it had me weigh in. I think I like the balance board better than my bathroom scale, because it says I weigh 301 pounds while my scale says I weigh 317 pounds.

Anyway, the workout was fairly hard, both days. My stomach muscles are not used to curl ups or curl punches, so that's an area that is feeling a bit sore right now. My legs, well my thighs anyway, are sore too. Squats and lunges and a new obstacle course with running and some other things worked them out more than they are used to. I'm liking this new work out, it has better warm up routines and cool down routines with stretching. It's a 6 week challenge so we will see how it goes. I'm still on the lowest level.

Messed Up Daddy says that if I will get up an hour earlier he will work out with me. I'm not sure he's really ready to commit to it yet, and I don't want to give up my much needed sleep. We will see if he will change his mind and work out with me anyway.

Where I am in my battle with my weight.

2010-04-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

Okay, so Monday was my last day of my third 30 day challenge. Things are getting easier, I'm not so out of breath when I walk up my stairs. I'm making it through the exercises quicker and with less breathing problems. I weighed myself Tuesday and I weighed 320 pounds, so that's 2 pounds less than last week, and 6 pounds less than when I got the scale.

I'm thinking about what I'm going to do next. I got the More Workouts from EA Active, it has some ab workouts and I've heard that the warm up and cool down exercises are better than the one I've been doing. So I think I'll start a 6 week challenge either Sunday or Monday. I want to add an afternoon workout as well, but I'm not sure I'll be able to stick with it. I want to do the Wii fit Plus games with the kids, because they are a workout, and the kids and play with me. I'm just not sure I'll actually do it. It's hard for me to change my schedule for anything, and if it's something I'm not really excited about, it's much easier to find a reason not to do it. I'll keep you informed on how that works out.

After the evaluation.

2010-04-04T23:40:00.000-07:00

I'd hoped that we would have some answers after The Boy's evaluation. We don't. We do have some ideas, a tentative diagnoses of Cerebral Palsy, a very MILD case. It effects his mouth, so he drools. It effects the way he puts words together so he seems to be a bit behind in the way he communicates. It effects the way his body moves, so he's a bit awkward when he runs. It effects his hand-eye co-ordination so catching a ball is difficult for him and it effects his hands and fingers so his writing is and will probably always will be difficult.

We need to get a MRI to find out more and to clarify for sure that it's C.P. and not something else. We have an appointment with his Doctor for April 23rd, we will discus the reports from all the specialists who saw The Boy on Wednesday and she will then refer us to the MRI clinic. Hopefully it will only be a day or two from his appointment with his Doctor. And then we wait for the results to be sent to the Doctor, who will call us to make an appointment to discuss the results. From there I don't know what we will do. I'm not sure of treatments or therapies or if he would be a good candidate for any of them. I do know that it will help his school to help him so he can find the ways he learns best.

There is a medication that the Developmental Pediatrician recommended that would help with the drooling. It limits the amount of fluid his body produces. So less spit, less tears, less liquid in his intestines. Which also means that he might have severe dry mouth and eyes, not be able to cry tears, sweat less and it could cause constipation as well. I'm kind of torn about the medication, it would make things at school easier for him if he didn't drool. But the thought of medicating him twice a day ... not a good thought for me. The side effects could be a problem, and he doesn't take medications well. Maybe we will let him know it's available to him and when he's ready he can choose for himself.

Right now I'm feeling a little ... scared, frustrated, in a hurry to find answers, happy we have some kind of answer, and yet unhappy that it isn't THE answer. This boy is so important to me, more than I thought possible. Not more than my other boys, including my Grandson, but just as important in a different way. Probably because I'm older, and I think I'm more knowledgeable about things, I feel I'm doing a better job of being a Mother this time around. I don't think I was a bad Mom before, just young and inexperienced in life.

So, we haven't received our copy of the report, I'll post what that says or at least how I understand it when I've had a chance to read it. I may have misunderstood what the Doctor and the Social Worker said.

Messed Up Daddy doesn't want to believe that it could be C.P., I think he envisions someone who has Spastic C.P. and perhaps has some retardation, and he can't reconcile that with who The Boy is. He will have to learn the different types of C.P. and how they effect the person who has it. C.P. does not mean retardation, it is brain damage but that doesn't always affect learning and mental ability.

I'll stop rambling now. I'll be starting a new exercise session in a couple of days. I got 2 new "games" for the Wii, the Wii Fit Plus with balance board, and EA Active More Workouts. I think I'll do the More Workouts, it has a 6 week challenge, and do the Wii Fit Plus in the afternoons and on rest days because it's more like playing and the kids can do it with me. I'll post more later about everything.

The first day of the last week.

2010-03-29T22:15:00.000-07:00

I forgot to weigh myself on Saturday, the last day of the third week like I planned to do. I finally got around to doing it today. I weighed myself after my workout and after I had a sandwich for lunch. I now weigh 322, which is 2 pounds more than I weighed last week. It's kind of discouraging, I know I don't eat as well as I should, but I AM eating less and I'm eating better than I used to even a month ago. I know it takes time to loose the weight, I just didn't expect to keep gaining. Don't get me wrong, I'm not going to stop exercising or working on what I eat and how I prepare it. It would be nice to have a number that shows that I'm actually doing something that makes a difference. I tell myself that I'm building muscle and muscle weighs more than fat, so maybe I've actually lost a few pounds of fat and the gain is muscle. I REALLY hope I'm right.

Evaluation

2010-03-25T19:36:00.000-07:00

We finally got an appointment for The Boy up in Portland at Dornbecker Children's hospital for an evaluation. I'm not sure what all will be done, but we will be there for about 6 hours, and he will see different specialists. My Mom is coming down to take us up there, which works out since she was able to get an appointment for some tests she needs. Hers are at the same hospital one floor up and near the end of the time we expect to spend with The Boy's appointments.

My concerns are:

He drools nearly all the time. He says that he isn't aware of it when it's happening.
He's still behind other kids in the way he communicates, to me it seems like he's 6 months to a year behind. The kinds of things he talks about, what he is interested in, and the way he behaves with other kids is part of this.
He runs awkwardly, can't really catch a ball, and doesn't really draw or color well.
Sometimes, when he is stressed or tired his head shakes and he blinks his eyes more than usual.
He over reacts, emotionally, to some things, and under reacts to others. Mostly over reacts.
He is unaware of basic social cues, he doesn't understand about personal space, even though we have been talking to him about it for years.
He has a very big imagination, and sometimes it seems that he forgets that he isn't Lava Girl or someone from some other movie or TV show. (Usually girls.) He doesn't understand why people might feel uncomfortable with that when dealing with him.

So, we are hoping that they can help us figure out what is happening, and if there is a medical reason for any of it. We need to know so we can help him work with whatever is happening so he can do as well as possible in school and in his social life. He's a good kid, he is fun to be with, he's usually well behaved, and he's learning to read in leaps and bounds.

Half way through. Day 14 of 30.

2010-03-20T19:49:00.000-07:00

Today was the half way point, according to the program, in my 30 day challenge. I guess that's because day 30 will be a rest day and tomorrow is a rest day. Anyway, it was a good work out. I'm starting to enjoy it most of the time. Except for squats and some lunges, and that's because my knees hurt when I do them. Actually it's not my knees exactly, because it's not the joint, it's just above my knees. I'm hoping that will stop as I get in better shape.

I weighed myself this morning, after my workout. I've gained back the 4 pounds I lost last week. I don't know why.

I started a food journal to keep track of what I'm eating, and since I'll probably be the only one to see it, I have been very honest about what I eat. The next step will be to actually measure it out. I've done pretty well keeping the sweets to a minimum without feeling deprived, and not having too much fatty food. I'm only eating when I'm hungry, not just when it's expected. For example, yesterday I didn't eat dinner with the kids because I was still full from snack. I ate my dinner a couple of hours later. I do need to increase our vegetable intake, neither of the kids like veggies except for corn so that might make it harder but I'll just have to try.

Day 10/30.

2010-03-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

I really didn't feel like working out today. My stomach felt ... heavy is the best way I can describe it. I'm tired, I feel like I should sleep another couple of hours. I pushed through thanks mainly to Howard's support. I had a long run near the end, and felt like I was going to throw up once I finished it. After resting, taking a shower and eating some lunch I feel much better now. It might have been because I was hungry even though I didn't think I was, but if I eat before I work out I feel uncomfortable, over stuffed and it causes my breathing to be restricted during some exercises. Maybe I drank too much water at the wrong time. All I know for sure is that I really hope I don't ever feel that way ever again.

2010-03-13T21:02:00.000-08:00

I just finished the first week of the second 30 day challenge. I weighted myself and I'm 4 pounds lighter than I was when I got the scale. I've noticed one little change, when I sit in chairs with arms on them I don't ooze through the spaces any more. I just barely fit, but I can sit down without squeezing myself in and I can stand up without prying myself out or lifting my chair up on my hips and thighs like I used to do! Progress is encouraging.

I think I'll either get books or the second EA Active workout, as a reward for finishing my second 30 day challenge. I'll have to decide which I want more when the time comes. I need a lighter cooking cook book, and I've been reading the Percy Jackson books, I have 1, 2, and 4 I need to get 3 and 5 some day soon. Oh heck, maybe I'll get the books AND the exercise game at the same time. :)

2010-03-09T21:57:00.000-08:00

I got a bathroom scale the other day. I won't tell you how much I weigh, but it's quite a bit more than I thought it would be. It's more than the last time I remember having it taken at the Doctor's office. So I need to adjust the amount of weight I need to loose, by about 30 pounds.

What this means to me is that I was quite a bit heavier than I thought when I started to eat less fried foods and reduce the sugar I eat. I can now wear cloths I couldn't get into a before we moved here, so that's 3 years. I still believe I've lost about 20 pounds since I started to reduce the serving sizes back then. I should be loosing even more because of exercising regularly. I guess I might have gained a little because of muscle weighs more than fat. I know that I've gained some muscle in my legs and arms mostly. Howard says that my bottom is less jiggly and more muscular, so that would make a difference.

I started another 30 day challenge on the seventh. I decided that I needed to do it on easy again, because it still gets my heart beating fast and hard, and sometimes breathing gets kind of labored. It IS easier now than it was the first few days of the last one, so it's working. I'm in better shape now, I feel better too. I have a long way to go, even longer than I thought, but I'm determined to get it done.

Weight loss and exorcise.

2010-02-05T16:27:00.000-08:00

I've had a slight bit of success loosing weight by cutting back on the portion sizes I eat, and eating less fried and sugary food. I'd guess I've lost about 10-15 pounds over the last couple of years. Now I think it's time that I actually do some scheduled exorcise.

Today was my 5th day using EA Active for the Wii. (2 days working out, 1 rest day and 2 days working out)

I think I can keep this up for a while. I hope I don't find something else to distract me from working out, like I've done in the past. The easy level is almost too hard for me, but I'm getting through it. I have to take out the jumping exorcises, so I don't bother my downstairs neighbors. The running is really hard for me, I get out of breath really easy. But, so far anyway, I have been able to push on through with only a minute or two pause to get my breath back. The last couple of workouts seemed much easier than the first two, I still have one more work out to do to have done all of the variations. We'll see how I do when I do the first two again.

Howard says that he can tell that I'm getting more toned, especially my legs. I don't see it or feel it yet, but I like that he says he can. He tells me how well I'm doing and encourages me to run just a little bit farther before I stop to breath. When I get the second player equipment, I'm going to get him to workout with me.

Wii Sports came with the Wii, so we have been playing that some too. Bowling, and golf are my favorites, tennis is okay, but I have a problem with baseball and boxing is a real work out. So all of us do some active playing, and we have a lot of fun together.

Hot Wings, peanut brittle, and a scarf.

2010-01-12T20:39:00.000-08:00

I've recently learned how to make peanut brittle, well actually it was pecan brittle. I've made one batch, I poured it too thick, so it was kind of hard to eat. I put in too much salt too, but that was okay. I'm planning to make another batch, maybe with walnuts or almonds or pecans again, this time I'll be really careful with the salt and try to make it thin enough to eat properly.

Messed Up Daddy made some Hot Wings for me over the week-end. I LOVE hot wings! They are actually very easy to make. I like the traditional recipe, with a hot sauce like Frank's or something. It needs to be spicy and taste of vinegar. But I also like some not so traditional flavors too. Tabasco has a flavor called Sweet and Spicy that works well and tastes great. I think I could eat Hot Wings nearly every day of the week.

When I get my next pay check, I'm going to go get some green and yellow yarn. I plan to make The Boy a scarf some time soon. It will be half Ducks and half Beavers, because I'm a Duck lover and Messed Up Daddy loves the Beavers. That way he can display colors of which ever team he feels strongest about that day. I'll try to post pictures when I get it finished. I might try to put OSU on one end and U of O on the other. We will see what happens.

50th birthday party.

2009-10-28T17:43:00.000-07:00

I turned 50 on October 16. My family, well all of them that could anyway, took me to dinner on the 18th to celebrate. One of my best friends and her children were there too, helping to make the day special. We had a great time visiting and catching up with the comings and goings in each others lives. My niece and her family were having some trouble getting the people they bought their house from to move out. So they weren't feeling very festive, but they came and I think they had a good time anyway.

Here are some pictures the Howard took during our dinner. We got trainer chop sticks for the kids, and some dollar tree whistles for them as well.

Traditional family roles.

2009-10-08T14:46:00.000-07:00

I may have mentioned before that I feel at conflict with myself sometimes. On the one hand, I'm very much an old fashioned wife and mother. I like stay at home with the kids, I like knitting, sewing, cooking and even feel a bit of pride when I manage to keep the house clean for several days at a time. I like planning things for my family, and bringing it off well.

On the other hand I also enjoy working, or going to school. Maybe because the kinds of jobs I'd be doing would revolve around kids and families. I like being out and about, spending time with other adults, and making money.

I think I've found a good compromise, at least for now, watching kids in my home. I can usually find the time to do the things I like to do, and still make money. Being a good housekeeper is harder to work out, because I feel that my JOB is watching the kids not cleaning the house. Right now I work for 11 hours 5 days a week. I do the big cleaning on week-ends, and do the daily dishes in the morning between waking up to get The Boy to school and walking out the door to get him on the bus. Sometimes I do some dishes or other cleaning while the girl I babysit is napping. I can knit and watch her, but sewing has to wait until the week-end because it's kind of noisy and demands more attention than I'd like to take away from watching her.

My husband and I are equals in our marriage. We are not the same, however. Our talents and educations differ and that helps determine our roles. I'm much better at watching the kids, cleaning, and other domestic things, he is better at things that need more physical abilities, like moving the furniture, and dealing with tools. I deal with the people stuff, he deals with the mechanical stuff. He fixes our computers, I call and deal with people about bills or other problems. I'm sure I could make it without him, I just wouldn't like it as much. I'm sure he could make it without me, he just wouldn't like it as much either.

We seem to have fallen into more traditional gender roles. It's not because either of us thinks that's the way it should be, but because that's the best way to use our individual talents and strengths. There are people who seem to feel that I'm not a very good feminist because I do more of the old fashioned wifely things. Or that my husband is a male chauvinist because I don't work out side the home. Neither is true. I'm learning that what other people think doesn't really matter. It's been a hard lesson for me to learn. I have to keep reminding myself of some advice my Grandmother gave me, "Do what makes you happy, because at least one person will be happy. Trying to do things just to make other people happy doesn't always work." I'm trying to remember that as long as our family is happy it doesn't matter what other people think.

Dried Chiles - Samples from Marx Foods.

2009-09-17T17:48:00.001-07:00

Just before I went to my parents house for vacation I received a box with some dried chile samples. I talked to to Dad, who grew up in the South West, about what he would do with some of the stuff I got. The only thing he thought of was to use the New Mexican Chile to make either Enchilada sauce or Chili con Carne. I'm still looking for a good Chili recipe.

I use some of the De Arbol Chiles to make some Chile oil. I put several of the dried pods in a bottle of Olive oil. It's been sitting on my counter for about a week now, I haven't noticed much of a flavor from the Chile just yet, but I'm hoping I'll be able to taste it eventually. I wonder how long it will take? I guess I should check around on line and see if I can find the answer.

It looks pretty, but I wish more of the chile would sink to the bottom.

The other chile's I got, and need to find recipes to use them in, are:

Japones Chile

Puya Chile

Smoked Serrano Chile

New Mexico Chile

and Chipotle Chile

All of them, except for the Chipotles, are medium in heat. I took a small piece from each of them and re hydrated them to taste them. That helped me pick one for the oil, but didn't help me think of anything to do with the rest.

So if any of you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them. I'm excited and frustrated about them. They smell wonderful. If all else fails I guess I could ground them up and have some Delicious chile powders.

The First day of First Grade.

2009-09-09T16:34:00.000-07:00

I somehow didn't get things together early enough to get pictures of The Boy on his first day of school this year. He was so interested in changing to go out to play I didn't get any after school either.

He didn't want to talk too long, he wanted to go play, but said that he had a good day. I'll get him to talk later, after dinner and find out some more information. I'll ask about the kids in his class, and his first school lunch.

I missed him all day! Little Day Care Girl missed him too. I couldn't wait for him to get home, and he just wanted to leave me again. LOL

I'll try to get pictures tomorrow, no promises though.

Turnovers.

2009-08-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to making my own puff pastry. I think it will be easier this winter when the weather is cooler.

Anyway, I made a pineapple-apricot filling and made turnovers. I don't know if it's because I cut it wrong, or because of the way I tried to "seal" the edges but it didn't puff very well. The flavor was out of this world! They were rather light and flaky, but not as puffed as I thought it would be.

I have half of the dough left, and some cherries that were frozen that I'll make some filling out of, and I'll try again soon.

Here are some pictures:

Why The Boy won't be using the clippers any time soon.

2009-08-16T17:54:00.000-07:00

The Boy gave himself a hair cut a few days ago. Don't worry, it's okay, really.

His Dad was trimming his beard with the clippers, The Boy was "helping" and at one point he held the clippers for his Dad. He decided to find out how the vibration would feel against his forehead. He liked it quite a bit and before he knew it, or his Dad could stop it, he ran the clippers across the side of his head. Cutting his hair to about an eighth of an inch. But that isn't were he stopped, he moved the clippers almost to the top of his head and clipped another strip of hair. Dad told him to come and show me what he had done.

After looking at it and discussing what needed to be done, it was decided that the only thing that could be done was to cut the rest of his hair to the same length. It's shorter than I would have liked, but it will grow out again.

Here are some pictures.

2009-08-07T20:14:00.000-07:00

Last week the weather was too hot for me, so we got an air conditioner. Things have cooled down quite a bit, thank goodness. I haven't done much, I've researched how to make puff pastry, but didn't make any yet. I've kept up with the dishes, and kept the apartment mostly clean. Of course I've babysat. I haven't done much creative stuff. I'll get in the mood again pretty soon, I'm sure. I put up the curtains I ordered, they are WAY too long, so I'm slowly getting them hemmed up. Instead of being floor level they are now just long enough cover the window. I think I'll hem the other pair one inch longer.

Day Care Girl is learning more and more words all the time. We are working on body parts, beyond the starter parts like eyes, nose, feet, and tummy. I'm adding in colors now too. She can count to 4 without help, so we are working on that as well. I really want to get those little puzzle mats with the alphabet pieces on one and numbers on the other.

The Boy is excited about going back to school. I'm going to miss him very much, he will be in first grade so will be in school all day. They are going to try to get him in a regular class room for reading and math, but he will have the special class room for support and social stuff. He still doesn't understand when other kids are being mean to him. I'd say his social interaction level is closer to a 4 or maybe even a 5 year old, he seems so innocent to me. School starts September 8th this year, I think.

Howard sometimes seems to appreciate what I do, the home baked bread, and the fact that I'm here for The Boy whenever he needs me to be. Other times, he seems to resent that he has to go to work and I get to stay home. He will mention that I don't make much money, and that he thinks I should get an other job or more kids or in some other way I should do more. He sometimes just says that he wishes he could stay home and cook, clean, take care of the kids, and whatever else he thinks I'm doing all day.

He wants a car, but if we get one all the extra stuff we can get now, and the savings we could be saving, will not be affordable any more since we would have to pay insurance, gas, upkeep and maybe even car payments. I know it's hard for him to have to ride the bus to work 4 days a week and have to hitchhike the other day, it's hard for me not to be able to go get groceries whenever we need them, or go run errands around town. However, he is the one who applied and was excited about working some place so far from anyone we know. He is the one who says he wouldn't take a day schedule no matter what, and he is the one who doesn't have a license and so wouldn't even be able to drive himself to work anyway. Most of the time he is okay with things, and is happy that I am making some money so we can get some of the extras we have had to live without for so long. He usually likes the things I do around here and often tells me how much it means to him. I just needed to vent about the rest of the time.

The last day of Kindergarten.

2009-06-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Today was The Boy's last day of Kindergarten. I had thought of dressing him in the same outfit as he wore on the first day of Kindergarten, but the bright yellow shirt is a little stained. Messed Up Daddy took these pictures after school today.

Hiding behind his certificate.

With Mom, showing off the certificate.

It used to be a "Black Butterfly".

I'm glad it's over. I've missed him since he's been in school. He seems fine so far about not going to school next week, and for the whole summer. However, I'm not sure that will last very long, since I can still use not going to school as a threat to get him to behave the way I want.

The wedding, a story in pictures.

2009-06-02T16:28:00.001-07:00

My favorite before the wedding picture.

The Bride and her Grandmother.

They had just finished doing the Brides hair.

The Bride and her Father.

The Bride and Groom's first kiss as a married couple.

Introducing Mr. and Mrs.

The wedding party at dinner.

The Bride hugging her Father. During their dance.

The first dance as a married couple.

Preparing to cut the cake.

Grandpa taking a walk with the Daughter of the Bride.

Walking with Grandpa, with Mom's wedding bouquet.

THE END.

(There are many more pictures, of the Bride and Groom, Their children, Family and Friends. Pictures of the dancing, and kids playing. I'll post some of them later.)

The perfect bike for me.

2009-05-18T23:52:00.000-07:00

Madsen Cycles has a cargo bike that looks like it would be perfect for me. I could take the kids for a ride across the bridge to the farmers market, and bring home our purchases. It would be terrific for shopping, or taking everyone out for a picnic. Here's the link to the cargo bike MADSEN Cargo Bikes what do you think?

Results of our IEP meeting at The Boy's school.

2009-05-08T22:41:00.000-07:00

The Boy is doing quite well in school, academically at least.

He's right on track with reading, maybe even a bit advanced, and he's doing well in math. He loves to read and is always playing with letters and words.

His speech is still a bit off, but it's more of a communication problem. He speaks clearly, and has a fairly large vocabulary, but doesn't know how to explain, or describe something.

He was screened for vision, and seems to have depth perception problems and distance vision problems. We need to take him in for an exam.

He didn't finish the hearing screening, he says that the beeps made his head feel wobbly.

He is going to stay in the ERC, where there are more adults in the class room and is set up for adaptive educational opportunities, for the rest of this year and for next year. They will main stream him for reading and math next year, if it works out the way we all think it will.

He needs to learn some basic social stuff, like personal space, and how to read non-verbal clues. He doesn't seem to understand when people are being mean to him or want him to step back a pace or two.

His hands are fairly weak, and he hates writing and drawing. We are working on that still this year in school and home. Next year we will continue and see if we can find anything new to do to help him.

The Doctor's office is looking into getting him a referral for some neurological testing to see if there is a neurological reason for some of the things we have been seeing. They want to get him in as soon as possible, so they are looking at a few places in Portland that do the testing we think he needs to see which one will be quickest and which one our insurance will pay for. I don't know what we will do if the insurance doesn't pay for any of the testing.

He is showing some signs for epilepsy, but there are also some signs for other neurological disturbances. Of course it might not be any thing we have thought of, it might be nothing except for is own personality.

Easter, a photo post.

2009-04-17T19:55:00.001-07:00

These are the Easter Cake Balls.

They are white cake, with cherry frosting and milk chocolate.

I tried to shape some sort of egg shaped.

They were really good.

Three silly children.

This is what happens when you let the Daddies watch the boys play.

I tried to get fancy with the chocolate covering.

The boys played Nintendo.

The girl played with her eggs. She wouldn't let me push her hair out of her eyes.

Another picture post, Strawberry-chocolate-white chocolate Cake Balls.

2009-04-05T13:42:00.000-07:00

This is about half of the strawberry chocolate mix.

A Strawberry chocolate ball before it was dipped.

My Pizza pan works well for cake balls. It holds about half the cake balls I made.

I had enough white chocolate to cover about 1/4 of all the cake balls I made.

A couple of them got kind of messy.

The prettiest one. Top view.

The prettiest on.

Cake Balls, a picture post.

2009-04-01T19:47:00.000-07:00

Here are the cake balls I made the other day. I just finished up dipping the last of them this afternoon. They took longer to do than I thought they would and I didn't feel comfortable doing them while my Little Day Care Girl (Now on know as LDCG) was here, and need the morning for dishes and cleaning. I got them done with only 15 minutes until she got here today. They are chocolate, with chocolate frosting and of course dipped in chocolate. The first batch were dipped in semi-sweet chocolate, the last batch was dipped in a mixture of what was left of the semi-sweet and some milk chocolate. Everyone loves them, I've even had someone suggest that I make them to sell!

The tray with 4 left over semi-sweet dipped cake balls

along with the milk chocolate dipped ones.

A bit closer look.

My favorite one.

Another close up.

Another look at my favorite one.

Baking with cake mix, and other stuff.

2009-03-26T13:44:00.000-07:00

Last week I was hungry for spice cake. I needed something quick to make, because I had a Daycare child here and didn't feel comfortable being in the kitchen for more than a few minutes at a time. So I decided to try improvising and used a yellow cake mix and just added 1/2 teaspoon cloves, 1/2 teaspoon allspice, 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg, 2 teaspoons ginger and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. I made the cake as directed on the package. I baked it in a 9X13 cake pan. It turned out fantastic! I'm not much for frosting, so I got a can of spray whipped cream to top it with. YUM!

Another way to use cake mix, You take any flavor cake mix and bake according to directions. Let cool and then crumble into a big bowl. Add any flavor of frosting and mix well. Roll into half-inch balls and chill in refrigerator for about an hour. Melt down baking chocolate (like Ghiardelli's) and dip each ball into the chocolate and then re-refrigerate until chocolate is set. If you use the right kind of chocolate it shouldn't melt on your fingers and can be kept at room temperature for a good while. I found this recipe on Baby Center, in the Cooking for your Family group. I haven't tried them yet but they sound good. You could probably put them on sticks if you wanted to, that might make it easier to decorate them. You can roll them in crushed nuts or candy, add sprinkles or drizzle another chocolate over them. I've heard of people making them with white chocolate, and almond bark.

There are cookies you can make using a cake mix as well. I'll have to go looking for some of them. It's always nice to be able to put together something a little bit different, without all the hassle of a from scratch recipe. And it seems that every now and then cake mixes go on sale, sometimes 10 for $10 or something. Of course I'm going to keep making things from scratch most of the time, because I like knowing exactly how much sugar, salt and fat things have. I like that there are no artificial preservatives. But there are times when I just need/want something quickly and mixes fit the bill.

Long day ahead of me.

2009-03-18T14:20:00.000-07:00

Today is going to be very hard. I got about 4 hours of sleep last night, I NEED 8. Two of the Kids came at 8:30 this morning, the other came at 2:00PM. I'll be watching other people's kids for about 16 hours when it's all over. Tomorrow it will be about the same, two will be here early, and one at the normal evening schedule. I just have to make sure I get to sleep earlier tonight. One good thing for tomorrow, I'll be able to have half an hour sleep in the morning, since The Boy doesn't have school. Next week is Spring Break, so we will see how it all works out.

Corned Beef, with pictures.

2009-03-17T15:49:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We had our corned beef last night. It wasn't horrible, but it's not something I'll be having more than once a year or so. I'll try different recipes and see how they work. Maybe next years will convince me to have it more often, who knows? This time I cooked it in the slow cooker, with small red potatoes, baby carrots and sliced onion. I didn't rinse the corning spices off, and added some beer. The only thing that had any flavor from the beer was the potatoes. I liked the carrots and onion, the meat was okay, I didn't like the potatoes at all. Now I'll look for recipes for next year. LOL

So here are a couple of pictures I took of our dinner.

Sad news from California.

2009-03-06T08:23:00.000-08:00

Howard's cousin's daughter died yesterday. She was 28. The family in California is devastated, they are very close. The Boy really liked her when he was little, he called her Miss Emily and thought she was a princess. So far all we have is a short newspaper report of the accident. I can't remember how many children she has, at least 2 but could be 3 or 4. I can't imagine how her Mother must be feeling, I can't even begin to think of loosing one of my children. Yesterday they were waiting for he Father's brother to get there before they told him.

She was a beautiful, sweet, caring young woman. Her family meant everything to her. My heart is breaking for them. Her Mom and Dad, her Husband and children, her brother and sister, and all the Aunts, Uncles, and cousins who loved her.

Here is a copy of the News Paper report from the Merced Sun-Star. I stared out the name of the other driver to protect his privacy, even though it was printed in the paper I don't feel it's important for my purposes to have it printed here. I'm sure he is feeling awful enough.

One killed in highway wreck near Chowchilla

A 28-year-old Chowchilla woman was killed on Thursday morning when she crossed Highway 152 against traffic and was struck by a westbound car.

According to the California Highway Patrol, Emily Tatum was driving a 2000 Toyota Camry southbound on Road 10 when she attempted to cross Highway 152. ******************of Clovis, was westbound on Highway 152 in a 2008 Dodge Charger traveling at 65 miles per hour when Tatum tried to cross in front of him, pulling out directly in front of the ****** car. The front of the Dodge collided with the driver’s side of the Toyota.

**** had only minor injuries. Tatum had dropped her six-year-old child off at school, and was on her way to work. Both parties were wearing seat belts. The accident is under investigation by the California Highway Patrol.

--Carol Reiter

What I did yesterday, and what we woke up to this morning.

2009-02-26T17:16:00.001-08:00

I spent 9 hours yesterday helping The Boy make his 100 Days poster. I cut out 100 hand prints, 50 small ones and 50 larger ones. (His and Mine) Then we glued them together in groups of 4. The I glued them to the poster board. (The Boy fell asleep before we started that part.)

100 days of school,

100 Helping Hands.

We woke up to snow in the yard, on the road and still falling! We expected school to be delayed, so that morning Kindergarten would be canceled. But it wasn't, so we waited for the bus and The Boy played.

The Snow made the Bus late.

But The Boy got to play in the snow.

These are just some extra pictures of the snow and the tree that is getting ready to bloom soon.

The Boy has an other birthday!

2009-02-18T14:35:00.000-08:00

His birthday was February 14th. The day before they had a small celebration at school, with a big card signed by everyone in the class, singing "Happy Birthday" (which I'm told he handled well, no crying or hands over ears), and a small treat. This happened at the start of their day, and then at the end of the day (for kindergartners) they had a Valentine's Day party with some treats. Right now he feels lucky to have a Valentine's birthday, because he gets treats twice in one day.

His actual birthday was quiet. Messed Up Daddy had to work, so we decided to have The Boy's Birthday Party on Sunday the 15th.

The party was nice, we had family a friends there, we ate pizza, and had cupcakes. The Boy got some Hot Wheels cars and track, and a Candy Land game. He was very excited about everything. The kids all played on the floor of the Pizza place with the cars and track, helped by two of the grown men who were there. (Messed Up Daddy and My nieces fiance)

And now for some pictures. I didn't get as many as I wanted to, I got distracted visiting with everyone I missed some good ones.

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

This is the cake The Boy picked out. It's make from chocolate cupcakes,

and has star shaped candles.

With the candles lighted.

The Boy and My Sweet Little Great Niece.

The kids playing.

A New Rock Group I discovered yesterday.

2009-02-05T16:02:00.000-08:00

This group is really awesome! The guitar player is amazingly cute, their lead lady singer is exciting, and the drummer, well he's multi-talented he also plays the guitar. I have a few pictures to share.

They are called

"The Boy and The Grandparents"

they really rock!

The guitarist is called "The Boy", The Drummer is called "Grandaddy", and the lead singer is known as "Grammy".

Here is "Granddaddy" playing the guitar.

Oh yeah! I forgot that "The Boy" also plays the drums and sings with "Grammy". What an amazing group!

Happy Valentines day, more than 2 weeks early.

2009-01-30T12:51:00.000-08:00

Messed Up Daddy, I've decided to call him that because it connects us and he thinks it's strange, ordered a Valentines Day present for me, it was delivered yesterday. I was surprised he ordered it, but I knew it was coming. I've wanted one of these for years!

I couldn't wait to make something with it, so I went looking for a brownie recipe that used cocoa powder instead of bakers chocolate or semi sweet chocolate chips, because I have cocoa and don't have the other stuff. I found one, and quickly put it together.

They didn't turn out very brownie like, the flavor is good, but I think I made them too thick.

They are nice though, a good chocolate cake kind of thing.

So, got any good recipes that I can use my new kitchen toy making? I'm going to make bread in a day or two. But I already have a loaf and nearly a half here.

Photos from my new camera.

2009-01-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

The only thing I did to these pictures was crop them a little bit. I probably need to do some adjusting with the high lights and shadows.

Rain drops on the grass.

A big smile from The Boy.

The Boy running around at the bus terminal.

Back to work, hopefully.

2009-01-14T13:01:00.000-08:00

I should hear from The Daycare Mom about her new work hours. She has an interview tomorrow, with the manager at the same place she was working at before. She says that they want her to come back, and will give her a schedule tomorrow.

I'm really glad that she is going to go back to work, and so I'll have my job back. I will only get about half the hours of a normal month, but even a little bit is good. We've missed having the kids here. I hope she gets things worked out and can work full time as soon as possible.

In other news, I got a new camera. It's a Nikon D40 D-SLR, I really like it. I'm still learning about it and will be trying different things as I can. It's a bit big and bulky compared to my old point and shoot, which makes it hard to just grab it and go, but it has a quicker shutter speed so capturing the moment is easier. I ordered a tripod for it, so I can do low light/natural light shots, and fireworks shots this summer. I've always wanted a tripod, and it was a mark down on Tiger direct so it was cheap. I'm very excited to try some of the manual settings. I'll post some pictures I've taken with it soon. I already have several of The Boy and a few other things, I just have to put them in the computer and edit them, if needed.

My family grows a litte bigger.

2009-01-12T13:36:00.000-08:00

My youngest brother, Mark, and his dear wife are adopting a boy from the foster care system. He came to live with them this week-end. I'm so excited! They have wanted a child for years, and now they have this wonderful little boy. He is 8, he will turn 9 in February. He's cute as can be and will fit in with the rest of us really well. He likes movies, reading, cars, boats and trains. This past month has be a crazy one for Mark and his new family. This time last month they didn't know they were going to get my new Nephew, and now he's all moved in and part of our family. There have been meetings, and tons of paper work. There will probably be more of those before it's all finalized, but it will be so very worth it.

Congratulations Mark and Eileen!

The Boy has BIG dreams.

2009-01-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

I was talking to The Boy the other day, about what he wants to be when he grows up. I suggested the typical, Fireman, Doctor, and "A cook like Daddy", all of which he said no to. So I asked him what he wanted to be. You will never guess his answer ... Okay I'll tell you, he says that he wants to be "Chef Gordan Ramsey" when he grows up. Not Chef "The Boy". MY boy wants to be GORDAN RAMSEY himself LOL. Now to break the news to him that he can't take over someone's life just because he thinks they are cool. (I guess I watch too much Kitchen Nightmares and Hell's Kitchen when he's around.)

And so the New Year starts.

2009-01-01T16:05:00.001-08:00

Happy New Year! So far the year is starting out okay. The Boy and I are watching Loony Tunes on Cartoon Network. We had toast and hot chocolate earlier, and will probably have more after dinner. I found an instant hot cocoa mix recipe and mixed some up, it's really good and it's nice and warm when we are feeling chilled. There is some bad news however, I'm probably unemployed again. My Daycare kid's Mom has been having a hard time with her Ex. There have been problems that made her late to work and one night she didn't home from taking the kids to see him and his family until after 2AM. So she's missed work a day or two, with weather and the kids and her Ex, so they fired her. I understand why they had to do that, they need to be able to depend on someone who works for them. But until she finds another job, I will only be getting a few hours here and there while she looks for work. If it takes too long I'll have to open up those spots and find new kids.

It not all bad news though. I'll be getting a good pay check in a couple of weeks because I worked quite a few hours last month, I only get $2.20 and hour but that is per child so when I have all 5 it's actually $11 and hour. In fact I had each of the older 3 for 33 hours more than the approved amount of hours for last month. I'm going to send a letter setting out the details of what happened, with the snow days and I don't think they took into account that she worked some week-end hour, and all the week day hours were late afternoon/evening hours. (2 PM to 10 PM) So we will see if they will cover those extra hours or if she will have to.

I want Hot Chocolate, and toast. I'll have to make bread before I can have any toast. It takes about three hours to make bread. (About 30 minutes to mix and knead the dough, two one hours rises, and 30 minutes to bake.) It's worth it, we all prefer home baked bread. I need to make more apple butter, and perhaps more pumpkin butter as well. I don't know when I'll get the apples but I have plenty of frozen pumpkin.

Our Holiday, in pictures.

2008-12-26T12:16:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from our Christmas. It was quiet, Howard had to work, and other plans were postponed due to weather.

Our "tree".

The Boy checking out the presents. (M0st of them are for him).

A book he got from Grammy and Grandaddy.

The Boy and his Daddy gave me toe socks.

Here are all his presents.
I hope all of you had a wonderful Holiday.

Happy Winter Solstice!

2008-12-21T12:32:00.000-08:00

Today is the first day of Winter, I guess it officially started around 4 AM or so. The weather co-operated and we have a pretty winter scene outside. However, it's ice on top of the snow on top of ice, so it's a mess if you need to go out in it.

Here are a few pictures I took this morning at 8:30, it's only about 1 degree warmer now at 12:43 so it looks nearly the same out there right now.

Close up of an evergreen bush with the layers of ice.

This is the top of the same evergreen bush.

Ice on the cast iron porch supports.

A poor little rhododendron, frozen and ice covered, but strangely pretty.

Our neighbors made these snowmen yesterday late in the day. You can just see the smaller one peeking out from behind the bigger one.

Winter weather photo post.

2008-12-20T07:52:00.000-08:00

We've have snow, and freezing temps for the last week. This meant NO SCHOOL! Winter break started a week early I guess. So here are a few pictures I took this week.

This first one is titled:

All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!

(However, The Boy doesn't understand he says he wants

"All the Hottest toys.")

It was almost dark when The Boy finally talked his Dad into taking him outside. Mom had to go out too in order to get the necessary "Snow Day" pictures.

The next day was better, the sun actually came out. We had a great day.

There was some beautiful color in the sunset that evening.

This is a street half a block away from out apartment. We were waiting for the bus to get some shopping done before the next wave of snow and ice was supposed to come.

An old, non functioning water fountain, The Boy thought we should try to take the ice out but it wouldn't come out. It did wiggle around some though.

The Boy and his Dad playing in the snow. The snow ball Dad is making? It hit ME on the shoulder mere moments after I took this shot. It got snow on the camera, luckily it seems the camera is snow resistant.

I'm working again!

2008-12-20T07:37:00.000-08:00

After a lot of waiting and worrying, I finally have some Daycare children. They are a family with 5 kids, Ages 2, 4, 6, 7, and 9. They are really good kids, well behaved, interested in learning stuff, and friendly with Aidan. As long as things keep working out for their Mom with her job, and nothing happens to take them away from Salem, I'll be watching them close to full time. The pay rate around here isn't very good, she gets daycare assistance, but the hours I have all 5 together I make pretty good money.

Howard has been home from work for the last week, because of the snow and ice on the roads between here and the casino. They called and told him they changed his schedule. He will never think that me staying home and babysitting is easy ever again. The kids were here for only of the days he was home, they were really well behaved those days, but he felt drained those days when they went home. Plus there were 2 of us! LOL I think he has a greater respect for what I do now.

The next thing I need to do is figure out how much I need to keep out for taxes each month. I don't think I'll make enough to really make much difference for tax purposes, but I'd rather have some money in Savings I can spend in February than have to figure out how to come up with some extra money to pay taxes. With Earned Income Credit, and all the other credits we can usually depend on, we should still have a plus at the end of everything. I guess I'm still worried that we'll end up owing if I don't save, even though we will probably be fine if I don't. It's not a bad thing to get in the habit of saving, right?

Sadness, memories, and Holiday wishes.

2008-12-10T19:08:00.000-08:00

I'm feeling sad today. I'll admit to watching all the ABC soaps, every day I'm home to watch them that is. So, today was the funeral for a still born baby girl, born to young parents on One Life to Live. I was reminded of our little Erin Marie. It's been over 10 years since she was still born to my Oldest Son and his fiance, but now and then I think of her and wonder what kind of a girl she would be now, what color of hair would she have? What color would her eyes be? Would she be like her Dad and be into computers? And I tear up missing her.

It helps to think of my Grandson, he turned 10 this year. He's a lot like his Dad, the good and the bad. I miss him too, because he lives all the way across the country from me, but I know that his Mom is taking good care of him. And that his Dad is trying his best to be a good Dad for him. I talked to my Grandson on his birthday, he was a bit distracted as 10 year old boys tend to be when talking to people they don't really know, but he was nice and polite such a good boy.

It's a bit strange thinking about my Grandchildren, who would both be 10 now, while watching my 5 year old son play with his toys. It's not the usual order of things. I'm kind of old to be raising a young child, at least in the eyes of most of society. However, I feel much younger than I really am. Perhaps it's because of the boys. I'm still in touch with some of their friend who still live around here, or maybe it's because of The Boy, he keeps me busy and doesn't let me get too set in my ways. Or it might be because I have really good friends who are younger and they keep me interested in things and more aware.

This time of year always brings memories of family for me. Those who are still here and those who have passed. So now I have to go plan for the Christmas presents I'm going to make for my family this year. I have things I need to remember to get when my Mom comes to take me shopping this Friday. I hope you all have a nice evening, and that the coming days are not too stressful.

Texas Pepper Jelly e-Cookbook giveaway.

2008-12-05T19:39:00.000-08:00

I just discovered this Web site for Texas Pepper Jelly, it looks interesting. I'd like to try some of the jelly some day, I'll have to look for it at the store next time I'm there. I've looked before and didn't find it, so maybe it's not or it wasn't in stores here in Oregon. They are having a give away, if you leave a comment you will get an eCookbook, and if you post about it in your blog you could get a knife as well. I want the cookbook, especially if I can find the jelly. I know some of you cook so I thought you might be interested in this as well.

Picture Post

2008-11-28T15:49:00.000-08:00

Sitting and waiting for the bus.
Do I hear Geese?

Good Moring.

This is how my Spider Boy sleeps.

Pink Apple Butter Bread.

2008-11-28T15:33:00.000-08:00

The Boy and I made the Apple Butter Bread yesterday. I think the water was too cold to activate the yeast correctly. I didn't have oil so I used butter but forgot to adjust the amount of salt, so it's a little salty. I didn't have any Whole Wheat flour so I used all unbleached all purpose flour, I know that changes things somewhat, but I already changed it with the butter so ... I also added 4 drops of red food coloring, because The Boy asked me to. Other than a little bit too much salt, The Boy and his Dad didn't seem bothered by the saltiness so maybe it's just me, the taste was nice. It might be because it was Thanksgiving and our minds were preoccupied with all things Thanksgiving, but it tasted and smelled as if it had pumpkin in it. This morning I used it to make french toast, that was really yummy. I'm going to try it again in a few days and see if I can get it to rise better. I want to try Pumpkin Butter too. Maybe for Christmas.

Here's a couple of pictures of the Apple Butter Bread all sliced up and ready to eat.

You can see the slightly pink coloring, maybe next time we will add more drops of color.

Parent Teacher Conference, yesterday.

2008-11-25T14:20:00.000-08:00

For some reason I thought our parent/teacher conference was at 1:30, I guess it was actually at 12:30, but we got there early. The Speech teacher happened to see us and took us to the classroom. We had 30 minutes to talk to them, instead of an hour as scheduled, but we covered it all in that time.

The Boy is doing well, he is in a classroom with Kindergarten, First and Second grade kids. All of them have a few different problems. Things like Downs Syndrome, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Speech Delays and other learning disabilities. We don't know what, if any, disabilities The Boy may have. He is a little delayed, and seems really innocent for boy almost 6 years old. There hasn't been too much in the way of testing to figure it out yet, but we are working on it.

The Boy is in the highest reading group, he is picking up reading pretty quickly. He is still working on some comprehension aspects, sight words, and being able to retell a story sequence.

Speech seems to be going well, he is communicating appropriately, asking good questions, and contributes relevant information during discussions.

He is still having trouble with writing, he really dislikes writing, and won't practice very often, so he isn't dong very well yet. I'll have to keep working with him on it. The teacher wants him to use colors rather than markers when he is drawing or writing, because it will make him work a little harder building up strength in his fingers. He also suggested getting more Playdoh, since the stuff we have has dried out, or clay for more strength building play. Maybe that will help make writing easier for him.

Math is an on going project. He isn't showing them his knowledge of numbers as well at school as he shows us here at home. But for kindergarten he is doing pretty well, or so they told us yesterday. There are a few things that we can work on here at home, now all I have to do is find a way that will be fun enough that he will want to do it.

He needs to learn how to stay on task and finish his work in a reasonable amount of time. He's not too far off an average kindergarten kid in that area.

All in all we are all pleased with his progress this grading period.

Pumpkin stuff.

2008-11-07T16:08:00.000-08:00

I have 4 small pumpkins, I'm planning on cooking them up and making some pumpkin butter. I want at least 4 pints of pumpkin butter from them. I'll buy some canned pumpkin to make some pumpkin bread or pumpkin butter bread, because I don't think my little pumpkins will make all that much. I'll probably try to make at least on pumpkin pie, and I want to make pumpkin pancakes too. I wish I had more pumpkins.

I haven't been knitting much this year, at least not like I was last year. I also haven't been taking very many pictures. I guess this year is my non creative year. I've been baking bread though so I'm not feeling totally deprived.

School pictures.

2008-10-28T15:53:00.000-07:00

We got The Boy's school pictures back yesterday. They are pretty nice for school pictures, not great, but good for what they are. The photographer obviously told him to show his teeth when he smiled, so his mouth is kind of strange, but that's fine. Now I want to scan he 8x10 to post here for everyone who would like to see it, but don't really want a hard copy of their own. I'm not sure if its okay to do that. Copy right and all. So, what would you do?

Sunshine and rain.

2008-10-24T12:27:00.000-07:00

It looks like those of us who live in Oregon are going to get a few days of sunshine. I think it's Aidan's fault. You see he got a new umbrella day before yesterday, and he really wants to use it. So of course the weather will be nice for as long as possible. It's like washing a car is an almost sure way to get it to rain. So we will be enjoying the sun while we have it, and we will enjoy the rain when it comes.

Happy Birthday!

2008-10-16T15:16:00.000-07:00

To me and all the other October birthday people out there. My brother Cody had a birthday last week, and a blogger friend had a birthday on the 14th. Both of my Mother's parents had birthdays in October, as well as her sister. (All three are gone now.) My friend Soloman also has a birthday this month, I believe it's the 31st. (Or am I remembering wrong? Hennifer or The Girl, I know you two will know.) I'm 49 today, can you believe it? I feel 29 most of the time. I don't mind my age at all, it's hard to deny it anyway since I have a son who is 29, another son who is 26 and a grandson who will be 10 in December. I'm sure I look fairly close to my age, being over weight helps me look my age. I have several friends who are late 20s or early 30's, and The Boy is 5, which helps keep me feeling younger and looking at the world with a younger set of mind.

So HAPPY BIRTHDAY! To anyone who has/had a birthday this month. I hope you all have a wonderful birthday and a great month.

Forgotten birthday.

2008-10-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

I had migraines for most of the last week of September. That's the only excuse I have for forgetting that my Grand-nephew had a birthday during that week. I have a gift for him, but forgot to call or send a card. I didn't hear about a party either, so I guess I'll have to keep the gift until I see him next. It's not much, I wish it could be more. Anyway I feel a little guilty for letting it pass and not at least calling. I don't think that his Mom reads my blog, but his Grandpa does. So, Mark I'm sorry I missed your grandchild's birthday. I hope he had a great day, because he is a great kid. Love to all of you.

Baking.

2008-10-06T15:04:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was very busy baking. I made a pizza from scratch. It was a thick crust pizza. I had some frozen leftover pizza sauce, and some inexpensive sausage. I planned for this and got some grated Mozzarella cheese. The Boy likes pineapple, and I like tomatoes so we had that to add as we wanted. It turned out pretty good, except I over cooked the cheese. Next time I'll cook the dough for 20 minutes then add the toppings and finish off the last 5 to 10 minutes.

I also baked 3 loaves of bread. I used a recipe I found on a Cooking for Your Family message board. It's called Amish bread. It's a good basic white bread. (I've made it with some whole wheat flour and it turns out really good. However whole wheat flour is fairly expensive and right now we can't afford it.) I doubled the recipe, it usually makes 2 loaves. I made it into 3 loaves instead of 4 because my loaf pans are a little bit bigger than normal pans. They turned out really well. I was pretty busy for about 3 hours, making the pizza dough, then the bread dough, baking the pizza while the bread did it's last rise, and then baking the bread while we ate dinner. I get a little over heated a lot these days, so I had to spend all down time sitting in front of the fan to cool off. I want to do cookies, but I want chocolate chip and don't have the money for chips. Oh well maybe next payday.

Ramble about financial options.

2008-09-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

I haven't found any kids to babysit yet. It would be good to have 2 or 3 full time kids. I want to have a couple hundred dollars to ease up the budget some. So we can get extras once in awhile. H's pay checks pay our bills, and buys food. Sometimes we just barely make ends meet, but they always meet. Thank goodness. So if I can't find some kids soon, I guess I'll have to start looking for something I can do when H is home, something that won't cost much for transportation and that I won't have to spend much for work cloths. Data entry from home would be good, if I could find it. Something online that would allow flexibility? So far I haven't found anything to fit those conditions. I don't think we can afford daycare for The Boy, even part time. Well, if I found something that paid well enough to cover daycare, food at work, transportation, cloths and still let us have 2 or 3 hundred a month after all that, then it would be worth it for me to work outside the home. It's been suggested that we apply for food stamps, we probably qualify, but I'd rather not unless we absolutely have to, and right now we don't have to.

I don't have money to start an on-line business, advertisement and what not is out of our budget right now. I'm not sure that would be the best thing for me anyway.

We have decided that we want to get a house some day. H was impressed when we were looking at M's new house. (They were finishing up the moving in process about 2 weeks ago when we were there for M's birthday.) So, since our typical pay checks pay our bills and get some food, we decided to put at least half of every Tax return check in a savings account. If we can do it, and not dip into it during the year, we should be able to have a decent down payment in 6 to 9 years. We probably should save all of it, but with The Boy's birthday in February, and computer/camera/other electronic stuff we want to get, I don't think it's realistic for us to expect to save more than half. If I get some income myself, we might be able to save more money and be ready quicker than that. I'm not sure we can save anything to tell you the truth. There are always things we need or want to get, cloths or shoes for The Boy, bikes for all three of us, special foods, rented cars to go places with, helping pay for gas so my Mom can come visit, Holiday gifts, and birthday's. But we are going to give it a try.

First Day Of School, with pictures.

2008-09-04T22:12:00.000-07:00

Wednesday was The Boy's first day of school. Kindergarten is wonderful so far, so he tells me. He likes his teachers and the other children in his class. And he enjoys playing on the playground. We will see how he does as things progress.

Here are a few pictures I took on the first day of school. I know that every other blogger with kids has probably done this millions of times, but this is OUR first day of Kindergarten. I didn't get to do this with the older boys, the Internet wasn't around for the public when they started Kindergarten.

Kindergarten starts soon.

2008-08-29T14:04:00.001-07:00

I'm starting to feel nervous about The Boy starting kindergarten. The first day of school for him will be September 3rd. He is in the morning class, the bus will pick him up at 8:11 AM, school starts at 8:45. The bell rings at 11:15 for him to leave school to come home. I'm not sure what time the bus will drop him off. There will be 11 or 12 children in his class. I talked to his teacher yesterday, I told him about the sensory issues, we discussed an OT coming to watch The Boy in class, and talking to his Doctor about the things I see as problems. I need to get his school supplies, and he needs new shoes. However, it will be at least 2 weeks after the first day of school before we can get shoes. Gotta pay the rent first.

Anyway, I don't know what I'll do all morning without my boy. Even on days like today, when he is pushing his limits and being extra loud, I'm going to miss his sooo much. I'm looking for children to babysit, I sent in an application to get on a referral list through the state. I'm still looking for work at home jobs that are flexible enough to fit in with my life.

Here's two silly pictures I took of The Boy today. He is so cute and can be so sweet.

I'm a Mother-in-law now.

2008-08-15T14:27:00.000-07:00

Does that mean I should start being meddlesome or mean? LOL I'm glad that Christopher decided to forgive me for not telling him when we moved to California. (In my defence, I didn't have a phone number to call, not even a message number, to let him know.) Anyway, the Wedding was beautiful. I love my Daughter-in-law and hope we will be able to get to know each other better. Christopher seems so happy, and they fit each other well. I'm not sure what else to say so here are a few pictures that Christopher's Grandma took, his Dad's Mom.

Christopher before the Wedding.

The Bride and Groom.

The Ceremony.

(For those who know, yes that is Colin preforming the ceremony.)

Introducing the Newly Weds.

My Mom and Me.

The bride getting into the cart that will take her and the groom to the reception.

Rambling post about employment.

2008-07-30T13:11:00.000-07:00

I'm going to have to find a job. I wanted to wait until The Boy was in First Grade to start looking for a full time job, but with the economy the way it is right now I'm not going to be able to wait. They are cutting Howard's hours at work, and the promises they made him about a management position were just so much fluff as far as I can tell. Everything costs so much these days, even with the pay check we were expecting to be getting by now things would be tight. So I'm looking for some thing that will not only pay for child care, my student loans, but also be able to add something to our account. Howard is looking for something in town, something that will pay what he is making now. He has several skill areas, forklift driver, cook/prep cook, dishwasher, as well as computer skills. There are nearly 3 times the jobs, right now on the Employment Department website, for him as there are for me.

My experience is old, the last job I had was in California driving and doing paperwork for a Mobile Tire Repair business. Working in Schools, well it's been something like 20 years since I did a practicum in a school. (I did have a little bit of substitute work a year or so after the practicum but that's still a long time ago.) Day care doesn't pay much, but if I found one or two kids to babysit I wouldn't have to pay for Day care for Aidan so it might work out okay.

So anyway, I'm looking for a day shift job, or any shift babysitting, here in town that I can get to on the bus and pays well. If Howard stays where he is I won't need insurance, because he has it and we are all covered. But if he changes jobs, we will have to manage insurance somehow.

Graduating to Orange Belt.

2008-07-26T14:31:00.001-07:00

The Boy got his Orange Belt today. At his level it's given for improvement, not skill. He has learned quite a bit, but he has a way to go before he is ready to go into the black belt academy where he will be tested on his skill level. Here are a few pictures of him with his belt and medal.

Chah Reot (Sounds like Chariot and means Attention)

Kyeong Nae (sounds like coonyea and means bow)

A punch.

These pictures were taken with a camera phone so the quality is not very good, plus there was a smudge on the lens.

5 and 6 year olds who "tested" or graduated to the next belt.

(The Boy is third from the left including the lady in black)

The Boy with Master Lyon, and two instructors.
Kick!

The Boy is in the middle.

Punch!

High Block!

ONE MA'AM! TWO MA'AM!

Sitting in line watching others test.

He's fourth from the left.

The Boy did really well, he only got distracted a couple of times. He kept wanting to see what the other kids were doing, but tried to keep on track. He still needs to work on his form, looking people in the eye when they are talking to him, and not talking in class. He's really proud of himself and is enjoying the classes.

I'm really proud of him, he has learned quite a bit, and is working on the things he needs to work on. He even spontaneously remembers to say "Yes Mom!" or "Yes Dad!" several times a week!

Baking bread.

2008-07-12T17:28:00.000-07:00

I've been baking bread lately. I'm trying to save a little money, however I'm not sure how much I'm actually saving. I know that the cost of flour, yeast, salt, sugar, milk and butter is less per loaf than the cost of a loaf of bread at the store. But I'm not sure how much electricity I use baking bread. It is very yummy bread, H and The Boy seem to really like it. I enjoy making it, and eating it, so maybe that in itself makes it worth the time and electricity it takes to bake bread every two or three days. I'm trying recipes, looking for one that makes a good amount of bread (2 or 3 nice loaves), and has good flavor.

I've tried 2 so far, the first didn't rise very well, I'm not sure why, maybe I miss read the amount of yeast, or the milk was too hot. The second make 2 really huge loaves, they are so big over the top of the bread pan that they tend to crush the bottom portion if left in the normal upright position too long. Next time I'll make 2 smaller loaves and some dinner rolls, or try for 3 loaves.

I have a couple of other recipes I'm going to try eventually, I may have to take the best of the different recipes and make up one that works best for us. I want to make some potato bread, and get some quality whole wheat flour.

I wish that my stand mixer wasn't so old. It was made in the late 1960's into the middle of the 1970's, it's a Kitchen aide model 4-c. I could really use a dough hook for it, and a bowl that is actually made for it would be nice. But it's old enough that the company has no idea where I can get replacement parts. I called them about it last year. Maybe one day I'll have the money to get a new one, or get lucky enough to find the parts on freecycle or at a garage sale or something.

If you have any good recipes for bread, or ideas that might be helpful, I'd love to hear them. Thanks.

Update, and summer plans.

2008-07-02T21:54:00.000-07:00

Our computer has been in Texas for the last 3 weeks or so. It had a bit of a break down, and needed a new motherboard. We thought that it would be gone until the 21st of this month, but they got it done faster than expected and it arrived Monday morning! We are all very excited to have our computer back. We didn't know how much we each used it until we couldn't use it any more. Howard has some maintenance to do before all is well again, but it's getting there. I'll be able to do pictures in a few days so you can expect a picture post soon.

The Boy started Taekwondo classes today. We are paying for them with out economic stimulus check, I'm not sure that we would have been able to pay the $595 for 6 months of classes, 2 uniforms, membership in the ATA (American Taekwondo Association) and some other paperwork kind of stuff. He's loving it! We are hoping that he will learn self control, respect, and confidence as well as self defense. I like the school and the teachers there, they are willing to give him some personal help as he learns what he needs to learn in his classes. There are 2 other boys in the class, both are about 5 or 6, they are at different levels in the training. The teacher doesn't stop the class to show The Boy what to do, he asked an other teacher to stand by The Boy and help him with the form, standing still, all the things the other boys know already. It was good, he is learning quickly, and didn't disrupt class any more than the other boys did. In January we will look at how The Boy is doing, what he does best and if he is ready to go into the Black Belt Program, which is a specific program aimed at getting the student trained to Black Belt and beyond. It involves more discipline and has a stricter set of rules. There are different degrees of Black Belt, and once a student reaches a certain degree and is old enough they can teach lower levels to pay for their further training. The Boy may or may not be ready to do that in January, (if he is ready before January we will do what we need to do to change him over to the program) if he isn't he can still continue with the Basic Program as long as he wants to and as long as we can pay for it. In February we usually get our Tax return so we will be able then to pay for the next 6 months or whatever. (The Black Belt program is a 2 or 3 year commitment from what I understand from our introduction class.) Maybe someday we will have enough money to take a family class, although with Howard's schedule it would most likely be just The Boy and me.

I'm planning for August. Christopher is getting married on the 8th, and my Dad turns 70 on the 10th. I need to figure out what to get as a wedding present, and decide if The Boy and I will stay at my parents after the birthday party and help Mom do some canning before The Boy has to start Kindergarten. I'm excited about all of it, my FIRST baby is getting married! My soon to be daughter-in-law is a sweet woman, I'm very happy to welcome her to our family. I wish I had a little bit more time and money to help out with the birthday bash, but I'll do what I can. It's going to be great fun. If all of the FAMILY members who have said that they would like to come to the party actually make it, there will be something like 27 adults and 12 children, 3 of the children are teens, I think the oldest of the other children is 8 or 9, and the youngest will be 1 year old. Of course some of them won't be able to make it, I think that 6 of the adults have cancelled taking 2 of the teens with them. Even if it's only my Dad, Mom, my brothers, their wives, children and grandchildren, Jessica and her boyfriend, Me, Howard and my 3 boys it will be wonderful! I love family!

The weather has been kind of hot, and very muggy. I overheat quickly these days, so I keep water close, and stop at the store to get sports drinks if we are out and about too long. We are enjoying summer so far, and are looking forward to The Boy starting Kindergarten in September.

Concerns of an over protective Mom.

2008-05-30T16:52:00.000-07:00

I need to figure out how to teach the boy how to deal with a feeling I don't fully understand. He says that things get to be "Too much." sometimes at school, or when playing with other kids. The noise they make, the way they touch him, and not wanting to play the same games they do. The way he talks about it, it sounds like it builds up and doesn't go away for a long time. Sometimes it's still there from the day before. WE need to figure out a release for him that doesn't involve hitting or screaming.

He has always been fairly easy going. He wouldn't fight back when the cousins in California (Howard's side of the family) would hit him or take the toy he was playing with. He would just move away and do something else. He took the move back to Oregon with little problem. Not long after we got here he started screaming when he didn't get his way, or when he thought he was getting in trouble. Not every time, but often enough that we all noticed it. Maybe that was his age and lack of language to explain how he was feeling, or maybe it was the start of these problems. When we stayed with my niece, he didn't do anything for weeks when her son would bite him. But he finally had enough and began to pinch and sometimes scratch him to stop him from biting. It took less time at school for him to start to push or hit kids that pushed or hit him first.

As far as I can tell the other kids are often the first ones to hit, however I know that he probably has done something else that provokes it. I don't think The Boy means to treat others in a way that would cause others to hit or push him, but he still has trouble with personal space, and he drools quite a bit, which make people uncomfortable. I think he is sometimes too rough with what he thinks are nice touches.

I need to figure out how to teach him about personal space, and how to keep his mouth dry. We need to work on what to do instead of pushing or hitting someone who is irritating him, whether it's hitting, pushing or just bugging him. He is a good kid most of the time.

Any ideas? Anything that has worked with other kids, or things that have helped you control your negative feelings? I could use all the help I can get. Thanks

The problems you can get into when talking to Teens.

2008-05-26T22:40:00.000-07:00

We have some friends who have a boy who is 14 or 15. He's a very bright and usually polite young man. His Mom and Dad are divorced. Dad Married a woman with young children, and he adopted them. I think they are 4,5,7 and 8. Mom has 2 kids with her new husband, they are 1 and 2 now.

I've heard rumors that the Teen can be really cruel to his younger siblings. He says mean things, teases them, pushes them down etc. I think he is feeling displaced. He was an only child for a long time, and now he has to share the attention of his parents, who seem to spend much more time and energy with the little ones than they do with the Teen. Ive heard Teen talking about some of the things he does to his brothers and sisters, like stepping on their feet, calling them names, and throwing Lego's at them.

Anyway, we were at a BBQ with Teen, his Dad, Step-Mom and siblings, There were other friends there as well, but none of them were close in age to Teen, leaving Teen pretty much on his own. Eventually Teen started talking to some of the younger people there, they tried to include him in their conversations and tried to be friendly with him. I think they were feeling sorry for him. Eventually Teen started to ask some rather personal questions, he kept pushing for answers even when they didn't want to talk about it. (He asked them how old they were when they had sex for the first time. And about doing drugs. For example.) 2 of the young men thought they would use their experiences to illustrate what not to do. They honestly answered his questions, and told him how they had thought, at the time, that doing those things was cool. They told him that they later regretted what they had done, and knew that they had been wrong. After that Teen and his family went home.

A few days later we heard how the Dad and Step-Mom were very upset with the 2 young men for some of the things Teen said they had told him. He said that they wouldn't stop talking about sex and drugs even when he asked them to. He misrepresented how the subject came up and didn't mention that the young men had told him how much they regretted what they had done when they were younger. His parents wouldn't listen to people who told them the whole story.

We also found out that he had told his parents that Howard had threatened him. Which I suppose was partially correct, Howard did tell him that if he ever saw him throwing rocks at The Boy again he would drag him kicking and screaming to his parents and suggest a rather drastic punishment. Probably not a good thing to say, but Howard had just seen Teen throw a rock that narrowly missed The Boy's Head and was understandably quite angry about it.

This family won't talk to anyone directly involved with the things they have problems with, they won't listen to anyone telling them what they had seen and heard. They are choosing to totally believe their son.

I feel badly for the 2 young men, they were wrong to talk to him about the things they did, they are feeling guilty over the whole thing. One of them says he is going to lie if asked such questions in the future. He feels badly that he will purposely lie to someone, but feels that it may cause less trouble. (I think that talking frankly with a young person you don't know well, is probably not a good idea. Not because I think that young Teens will lie, but because you don't know their maturity level and it may be more than they can handle. Of course I don't think a 14 or 15 year old should be asking adults questions about sex and drugs either, at least not at a back yard party.)

I'm actually rather proud of Howard. He's changed quite a bit since becoming a Daddy. Before The Boy he would have grabbed the Teen and at least shaken him, no warnings given. If the person had been older than 18 he would probably have started a fight. Now he will give warnings if appropriate by his standards. (which usually means someone is young and probably just needs to learn or needs a reminder.) Or he will call the appropriate authorities to deal with the situation. The parents for someone 17 and younger, or the police for someone 18 and older, even though he would prefer not to talk to the police because of his own not so stellar background.) No one gets away with harming or threatening to harm The Boy while his Daddy is around.

So I guess the lesson here is not to talk to young people you don't know very well about things of a very personal nature. You can be friendly with them and talk to them about other things. Just be more careful than these 2 guys were. They were wrong, and they know it. And maybe Howard should have gone directly to the parents instead of talking to the Teen himself. I think he thought he was helping the Teen to keep out of trouble with his parents.

Anyway this has been bothering me for quite awhile, and I decided that I'd rather get it out than keep running through it in my head. Thanks for getting this far.

The Boy, another Update.

2008-05-20T14:17:00.000-07:00

We had the meeting with The Boy's school about his kindergarten class room. At this point he will be going to the LRC or Learning Resource Center. There are more adults in that class room, so when a child needs one on one attention they are more likely to be able to get it. It will also be easier for the OT, if there is one involved with him, to visit him in class. It seems to be noise that is his biggest problem right now, so fewer students will also cut down on potential noise in the class room. We do know and understand that even a small number of kids can make huge amounts of noise, so it isn't perfect but probably the best we can do and still keep him in a classroom with other kids. (The Boy wants to GO to school, he wants to be with other kids, and riding the bus is one of his favorite things.)

The OT will be seeing him soon, they want it taken care of before school is out so he can start with everything in place. We are still thinking that he has SID/SPD (Sensory Integration Disorder/Sensory Processing Disorder) mainly because of the problems he has with sounds. He did make a big step forward yesterday, however. We decided to cut his hair, usually this causes screaming and thrashing unless we cut it when he was sleeping. Yesterday he did say that he didn't want his hair cut, but then he sat fairly still and didn't cry or anything until the very last. He said that "It's getting to be too much!" and covered his ears. We quickly finished and talked to him. Thank goodness he is more able to explain what is happening to him! He said that he could "hold it" for a little while, but that the sound and vibration got to be too much. (We were using clippers, scissors are a problem too and take longer.) He says that it's kind of like it hurts, but not really. It's almost scary, but not really. It's just "Too much".

Now we need to focus on finding ways for him to work around the problems he is having. How to walk away when it's getting to be too much. How NOT to hit when someone hurts him, or pushes things too far. It won't be easy, so much of the play I've observed with the boys in the class is rough, loud, and intentionally rude both physically and verbally. It doesn't take long for things to get to be too much. We have to figure out how to modify The Boy's reaction, to these kinds of things. To everyone around him it appears that he is over reacting, to him he's taken all he can and he has to do something to make it stop. Lashing out will usually do that, where talking or asking them to stop won't. He doesn't want to go tell the Teacher, because he doesn't think that's right. There isn't any place he can go to get away either.

Most of the boys he is having problems with also hit, and push. They step on each others toes, and lay down on top of each other. They push and lean on each other, put their legs or arms on each other and other children, The Boy does these some of things too, because he thinks it's fun, because the other boys think it's fun. He leans against other children, he puts his arms or legs on other children. He does these things at the wrong times, with the wrong children, and since he isn't the bully type that some of the others are, he gets a loud reaction that gets the teachers attention and gets him in trouble.

I hate to say anything negative about The Boy's Teacher and her assistants. They are good people and are doing as well as they can, I think. However there are things they should be doing differently, not just to keep The Boy out of trouble, but to keep other kids from getting in trouble as well. The problems happen mostly during free play. During that time, there are usually 2 adults watching the 18 or so kids. One of them might be reading or doing an art project with a few kids, the other will be involved with a few more playing or reading or something. Leaving several children basically unsupervised. Needless to say it's usually the 3 or 4 boys who like to play rough with each other and with others who are left to their own devices. These boys push and hit and trip each other. They are often the ones that The Boy has hit, usually because they hit him first. I just think that one of the official adults should be watching the whole class in general, observing what is happening, and stopping the rough behavior before someone gets hurt. I did mention it at a meeting with the Home Educator, who said he would suggest it to them, however I have been in the class room and nothing has changed. Oh well, there are only a few days, about 22 including weekends and holidays, left until school is out for the summer. I hope his Kindergarten class room will work better for him

Another Update post.

2008-05-02T16:37:00.000-07:00

My Step-sister (my Dad and her Mom lived together for several years while she was little. He helped raise her and was probable more of a Dad to her than her bio-dad was) is pregnant. The baby is due November 17. Not big news but it's going to be interesting. She will be 21 November 11, but I'm not sure she is as mature as my niece who will be 21 in December. (She's the mother of 2 now and has always been more mature than my step-sister.)

I found a virtual public school a couple of days ago. It looks interesting, but it's not available in Oregon. It's an on-line school that is free, just like public school. You get all the books, and supplies delivered to the door. The kids get a computer and Internet connection too. I looked at a kindergarten science lesson (I just scanned it I'll have to check it over better later) about life in a pond. It looked like something we would like to do. I want The Boy to actually learn something, but I'm worried that in the special needs class rooms we are considering having him attend he will not get enough actually education. He's smart, but is having problems learning how to deal with other kids. Maybe I'll find something I can afford or another virtual public school that IS in Oregon, to supplement what he will learn in school. Education is very important to me, I worry that his education will suffer while everyone is focusing on his interactions.

I'm still working on getting paid for babysitting The Boy's twin. She doesn't make much money and it seems that most if not all of her money goes to her other bills. I DO understand that she has to pay rent, and get food for her child. I just need to have that money. So I called DHS, because I'd filled out forms to get paid through their program before she moved. They WILL pay me for all the past hours if she calls them and tells them that I did babysit from day X to day X. I'll get a billing form in the mail, and it will take a few days to get the check for the portion they will pay. (something like $171) She will have to pay the rest, which will be something like $114. So now I wait and see if she will do it. (I called her and let her know) I've been stiffed for babysitting before, so I'm not going to hold my breath. We can cover the bills as is, but there won't be enough extra for the things I want to do.

No more twins. And other updates

2008-04-16T13:55:00.001-07:00

Well, The Boy's twin moved closer to the Casino over the week-end so we won't be having him around any more. We are going to miss him a lot. I'm hoping that he will come and visit some times.

So I'm looking for something else to do to make some money. I'm not sure what that will be, because I'll need a really flexible schedule. I feel that I need to be available for The Boy. I also need a few extra hundred dollars, to be able to have the things we want to have and to still be able to eat. LOL So, if you know of any work from home opportunities that are for real let me know okay?

In other news, Howard might be getting a better job soon. It's by now means a done deal, but if he gets it he will be making $11 an hour and will be a manager. He's also looking for things here in town, because it would be easier for him to get to work and home again. But so far there hasn't been much that would be worth it at this point.

The Boy has been having a much better week so far this week. I just hope he can keep it up. I don't know what we will do about Kindergarten next year. I'm not sure he is ready for it yet, and I'm not sure Howard will agree to sending him to a Special Education Kindergarten, where he can learn social interactions, in a smaller class room, along with academics. I've considered Homeschooling him, but I'm not sure I have the ability to do it correctly. In smaller groupings, and one one one, he is so sweet and co-operative. (Most of the time, he is a normal little boy who gets antsy some times.) We have meetings with teachers to talk about his situation. If he will stay where he is for the rest of the year (2 months?) or will go to WESD in a special education class. Then we will have a meeting with the school that he will be going to kindergarten in, about if he should be going there or should be going to the WESD Kindergarten class. By the end of May we should have it all figured out. We just need to find out what he needs to help him do the best he can in school. (I told Howard that I want The Boy to be the Nerd who makes One Million dollars every couple of weeks, rather than the Popular guy who flips burgers. I don't think he agrees with me completely. He wants The Boy to be the Popular guy who makes One Million Dollars every couple of weeks. LOL)

Depressing, death related, post feel free to skip.

2008-04-16T13:32:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling sad today. I've been thinking about the members of my family who have passed on. There are 4 members of my family who died from Cancer.
My Dad's Mom (Maude Bea) died when he was just a baby, from "cancer of the female organs".
My Great Grandmother (Mom's Dad's Mom) had cervical cancer.
My Mom's youngest brother's wife (My Aunt Gail) died of breast cancer, and her daughter (Theresa) isn't expected to make it much longer because of it.
My Mom's older sister (My Aunt Carline) and her husband (My Uncle Jim) both were diagnosed with lung cancer, he passed away not long ago, and now my Mom thinks her sister isn't going to be around much longer either.

I've spent more time thinking about heart disease and other circulatory problems than I have about cancer. As far as I know 2 family members have passed from heart related disease. My Dad's Dad, (Grandaddy) when I was about 5 or so, and my Mom's Dad (Pa, or Pop), who had circulatory issues and passed from a stroke. My Mom's Mom (Monie) had some circulatory issues as well, but I believe it was complications of Parkinson's for her.

I should go have a cup of coffee, or get a Pepsi, and relax. It's good to remember those who have passed. They were all important to me in their own way. Even the ones who died before I was born. I miss the ones who are gone, and wish I could spend more time with the ones who are going.