Reflections of 2007...warning ...long ...bring coffee lol

Well it is finally the end of one year and almost a New Year. This year for us has really been a hectic one. In fact it has not been my favorite year however their has been a few good things to come out of it. I say it has not been my favorite year because it has had a lot of lows in it, a lot of uncertainty. It started off on january 4h when I lost my favorite cousin to the war, shortly after that my husband was laid off quite unexpectedly, then Trix and his seizure and subsequent hospitlization, ( I know I have talked a lot about that this year...please forgive me it really rocked me to the core...I am still trying to get over the nightmares),I felt as if Honey Nut and Lucky Charms kind of got lost in the shuffle of all the panic over Trix and his medical and sensory issues this year as well.I think that is it for the lows. However there have been some really good things as well. Through all of the lows I realized that God was doing a lot of overhaul and work in my life. I noticed quite quickly that when hubs got laid off so unexpectedly that although initially I panicked, I very quickly relaxed and felt a sense of peace while he was searching for work. Normally I would have panicked the entire time, he was out of work for about two months and since he is the major breadwinner that is a long time. I somehow knew everything would work out ok. It did he got a new job at a great company that has been around for awhile. Almost everyone at the company he went to work for has been there for years and when I say that I am talking 10 and above people. That is hard to find these days. It was also a blessing that he was laid off when he was because he normally would have been gone for the day already when Trix needed medical help..I was in a complete panic and just dont' know what i would have done without him there. He is such a strong man. I shudder to think it was a possibility that if he was not home at the time Trix might not be here today and that is an inconceivable thought for any parent including my husband. The company he is with was so impressed with his interview that they came up an insane amount in pay just to hire him on. They love hubs at this company ( I may be a bit partial here but it shows they have great taste)I know he will be here for a long time. God took care of us both financially and emotionally this year. I felt all year long as if he was doing some serious overhauling in my life and my families life as well. For instance Hubs has even started coming to church with us once in awhile. We are talking about a guy who is just not a church guy and I have prayed and prayed and prayed about it. He is coming around...albeight slowly but in the way God is working him too. For me the biggest struggle this year is learning to turn my life completely over to God. It is not easy for me to give up control especially when it comes to my children. I am their Mommy and I have always been a "fixer" by nature and that instinct in me just got stronger when I became a Mom. So when I started realizing that I am supposed to turn over my control to God well that did not sit well with me. I have actually really struggled with that but am slowly releasing control. I released control to him when hubs was laid off and when I did that Hubs got a really good job, good things came out of a time when most people can only see the bad side of it. I released control when Trix was in the hospital...actually on his way to the hospital...I was driving behind the ambulance and praying feverishly to God and told him I am turning Trix over to him and to please take care of him...he did. In 95% of all seizures...they can tell you had one but cannot tell you what caused it. They were able to pinpoint a cause for Trix that is a rarity, another way he took care of him...that seizure lasted 40 minutes...that usually causes some sort of brain damage...Trix did not have any of that.
After everything settled down a bit and back into routine for which I was grateful...I was surprised as anyone when I realized God was not finished overhauling my life! And people say he has no sense of humor. :) He does. I started hearing a call to change my career. huh? what? I was settled in homeschooling and running a daycare out of my home. But although God wants me to continue to homeschool (a fact I am so grateful he is still calling me to do)and I know he wants me to have a lot more time with Honey Nut and Lucky Charms as well,he has been gently leading me into another area. Life Coaching. I am slowly but surely working on that.
No I will not be a counselor, I will however be someone that will help people set goals, be a listening tool for them when they figure out how they want to make their lives better then they already are, help them achieve what they want to. He is using this as a way for me to better my life too! Life coaches do a lot of learning along the way. The best part about it is that I can do it from home so I am still able to be with the kids. I am nervous financially. It will take some time to build my business. I told the parents in my daycare that I was closing in June, however I told them earlier then I probably should have to give them adequate time. Mainly the special needs family I have, well that was a little silly because they all found someone starting in January instead of June! I had planned all along to keep one family who really fit in with us and whose parents really had a hard time finding good childcare, so I still have that family and that is great. But my income in a couple weeks will be less then half what I was making! Acck! Oh well I will break out the coupons, re-budget, and trust that when God closes one door he always opens another. I am sure he had a reason for this season in my life to end a little earlier then I planned. Again there I go with trying to control it...I am still struggling to learn to turn over complete control to him. I will say at first when the families told me they had found other care sooner...I was a bit stressed and worried. Even though they all had asked me seperately if I could just keep their families only for childcare. But then I looked back at 2007 and all the ways God helped me and carried me through a less then stellar year. Then I relaxed more and again have that same sense of peace that he gave me earlier this year. So my realization here is that I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be GREAT!
I hope all of you have a safe and happy New Year. If you read this far...here is a cyber brownie for you.
The Cheerio Queen

My amazing husband....

My husband is AWESOME! We are going to be celebrating our 10 year anniversary this year and he still sees me as the young bride he married, the one who wore a size 6, who used to care what she looked like. For Christmas he gave me an early anniversary present becuase well...he could not wait till our anniversary in two weeks (he is such a big kid)and he loves to spoil me. I would love to be noble enough to say that I don't like being spoiled just having a cool husband is great enough but hey...I do love to be spoiled although I don't require it. He started making noise about my wedding ring recently and wanted to know what size it was. I did not know but he asked me to take it off. I told him I have never ever taken it off and don't intend to now. However the truth was that I could not get it off. My fingers have swelled up since we got married and added three kids, and I love to cook so you do the math. I did not want to tell him that so I stuck to the excuse that I am superstitious. He was relentless though that it was not healthy to have a ring on my finger that I could not take off. He insisted we have a jeweler look at it. You guessed it the jeweler had to cut it off. That had to be a low point for me. He did not understand why I was teary eyed that they had to cut off my ring to resize it. He did not understand why I was mad at him for insisting that it come off it did not hurt and my plan was to get healthy so it would fit again. But then he came home a week later with a package for me, he said he had stopped and picked up the ring. I opened it and what he had really done was got me this new sparkly diamond wedding band! He also got my old ring back and did not have them resize it. He knew it meant a lot to me.Isn't he great?
So this year hubs was brave enough to get me the gym membership I asked for. Yes you read that right I asked for it. He looked positively terrified that I asked for that. I could see the wheels in his head spinning as he contemplated...is she really asking me for this seriously? Or is this something I go and get for her and she is going to suffocate me in my sleep with her tacky mom sweats on Christmas night? hmmmm. Over the next few weeks he would occasionally ask...are you sure that is what you want? When I replied yes each time he asked he raised an eyebrow at the baked goodies I somehow always seemed to be holding. Hey the kids helped me make them and did most of the work so I had to make sure their efforts were rewarded with them getting finished off didn't I? The truth is the reason I asked for the membership was because I have come to a point where I am so uncomfortable in my own skin I feel like I am wearing someone else's and I have no one to blame but myself. I could reason that we have had a lot of stress this year with hubs unexpected layoff, my taking on extra daycare kids to help out, Trix's seizure issues, losing a very close family member to war etc. ...BUT when it comes down to it...I just flat out did not take care of myself, I did not work out (I did for a month in August but then the weather turned cold), I did not watch what I ate and now when I look in the mirror I cringe. To me it does not look like me. I have had a few people tell me I am not as big as I think I am however they do not have to look at me when I get out of the shower. They are not the ones who feel yucky all the time like I do, I get colds now and they stick for a month, I feel sluggish and tired. So since I got myself into this position I have to get myself out of it. ;) My goal this time however is not necessarily to lose weight (although I want that to happen), my goal is to get healthy again. My kids deserve a Mom who is healthy, my husband deserves a wife who is healthy and active, and hey when your so out of shape that your arms get sore while you are holding them up in praise and worship in church something needs to be done about it. So I will use that for motivation over the next few months, I am going to start by detoxing from sugar. I hear it takes two to three weeks to completely detox so if I sound a bit crabby it is nothing personal...I am just detoxing. I guess instead of petitioning for chocolate to become it's own food group I should be petitioning for it to be labeled a narcotic. After all when something is labeled a comfort food how can we expect to not become addicted to it? I am not saying I will never eat another piece of it (I am not an extremist you know)but I suppose chocolate for breakfast is not the best way to get out of those tacky mommy sweats I have been pouring myself into...oops I mean wearing. For inspiration I will tape a picture of myself now to my fridge...do they still make those gadgets that make snorting pig noise when you open the fridge? If that does not work I have a couple blogs I will check out. Tales from the scales is a good one and even better I have a blogging friend named Jan over at Just a mom that's more then enough...and she is a real inspiration. Check out her blog for hot momma pics! she has worked so hard and looks fantastic. Considering she has a lot going on in her life she has not used it as an excuse and plugged on. Plus she is really funny. Another inspiration is my dear friend Jess. She also is in great shape and worked really hard at it. I will go look through her blog again and re read her story. Maybe instead of tivo'ing desperate housewives I will add the biggest loser to my lineup. :)

The Cheerio Queen

Christmas...and a new year....

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas! As you can see by the pics above...our kids were terribly disappointed in their gifts. I must say it was a very nice Christmas this year. Hubs and I made a pact to only attend one or two parties and the rest skip and stay home. We want the kids to be able to enjoy their new stuff and not have stress with running to and fro with different get togethers. Christmas Eve I had one of my daycare families and then when they left Hubs and the kids and I all piled in the car to deliver cookies to the fire stations (especially the one who responded to our house earlier this year when Trix had his huge seizure)and we also delivered to a policeman we know from church. Then we came home and lounged around after dinner. We read stories with the kids, watched a christmas movie and then attempted to put the kids to bed. It was my fault...Trix fell asleep on the couch and when I put him in bed he sleepily asked me if it was Christmas yet. I told him no but santa would be here soon...boing..his little eyes popped wide open! He was awake till 10:30 and up at 4:30...oh well I told the kids (he woke up the other two) that we would not be investigating what Santa brought until at least 6am. So Dawn if you read this nope your not the only one who was up before it was light out! lol We opened gifts, and I made homemade cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate for breakfast (ok so it was homemade from a pop open can, and instant hot cocoa...remember I was up till almost 11 the night before and awake since 4:30) but nevertheless it was a cozy fun day. I did make a prime rib dinner with mashed potatoes, corn, fruit salad etc.and afterwards we played games with the kids. In the picture above Trix beat Daddy at the fishing game which is funny since my husband is such and awesome fisher usually but apparently not at fisher price lol. :)
Now onto my New Year...I normally don't make resolutions because I never stick to them but this time I am going to stick to one...my biggest resolution is to get healthy again!

Nice people....

While reading the news online this morning I about dropped my hot chocolate cup (ok that is a mouthful but I dont like coffee...there I said it...I am a Washingtonian and I hate coffee forgive me.) Anyway as I was reading I was shocked to see a ..dare I say it? N-I-C-E story in the news! It was part of that "pay it forward" trend that is starting to catch on. Especially with the hustle and bustle of the holiday season upon us, and after watching shoppers beat each other up...errr I mean search for the must have toy of the season or whatever else they need it was nice to see this story. A woman at a starbucks bought her morning coffee and then decided she was in the Christmas spirit so she paid for the lady behind her, and started a chain of events that went through 490 customes as of 8 am today...I am not kidding. This woman did this yesterday morning at 8am and it has been going strong even into today. Here is a link to the article http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2004084452_webstarbucks20m.html

As for us...our hoiday season so far is going beautifully. I am done shopping for the kids, just gotta finish up for my mom and hubs. The cookies, peanut brittle, and fudge are almost all baked. I am so excited I have been working on a tradition with my kids since they were little and they actually came up and asked me about it this year in a very excited manner. The tradition is that each season we bake and bake and bake. Then on Christmas Eve the kids and hubs and I all pile into the car with tins of cookies, and candy and homemade cards that the kids made...and we deliver them to our local fire stations and police stations as a thankyou for giving up time with their family to protect us. My little ones LOVE this tradition. I am glad because I want them to look back on their holidays as stress free and remembering the true spirit and not just the rush of shoppers, and fussy parties. Although we have been to a couple parties this year...we have tried to keep everything low key.

anyway if I don't post till after Christmas...well I am just enjoying my family.
Merry Christmas to all my blogging friends and hope your holiday is fun, memorable, and stress free. :)

The Cheerio Queen

Hello again....

I am sorry it has been so long since I posted. I always have big dreams of posting every day or even every other day but I just have not been able too. When I do have time I often am tired or just have not had anything to blog about. Most o fmy blogs update you on my family although my goal was to use my blog to talk about topics...especially homeschooling. I do spend time reading quite a few blogs for inspiration on homeschooling ideas, along with inspiration on family life, christian living etc. I want to highlight a few blogs that i normally read becuase I think they are ust really good blogs. No I am not part of any blogging awards committe or anything like that but these are blogs I really like to read for a chuckle, inspiration, ideas etc.

the first one I want to talk about I actually just found and it is really neat. Her blog is "Large Family Mothering" This woman homeschools 14 children! I am not kidding she really does. She also recently wrote a really neat post on coming back to family life. I found it so inspiring. I am the type of person she was describing in this article she wrote and posted recently. Check out this article and then explore her blog...http://ladyofvirtue.blogspot.com/2007/12/return-of-family.html
the second one I want to highlight is : It coulda been worse! All I can say is if you want to laugh then this is definitely a blog for you to read! Deedee is hilarious and humble about raising and homeschooling her "three quirky children" as stated in her bio on her blog. I don't think I have ever read her blog where I have not laughed at what she writes and i mean that in a good way. :) check her out at: http://fiddledeedee.net/
the third blog I read every day mostly for inspiration is one I have talked about before. "By Sun and Candelight" is a very inspirational blog and one that as a homeschooler myself I check every day because she always has such cool crafts and ideas for celebrating seasons. Oh and I always check to see what her kids are reading for books because so often I get stuck in a rut of one kind of books for the kids...she has awesome ideas. She makes you feel as if your a guest in her home just through her writing and it is obvious her kids are very blessed. She is also a nature lover so you should check into some of her awesome posts on nature. Dawn is one of those people that writes so well you feel like she is a friend of yours even if you have not met her in person lol. Check out her blog at: http://www.dawnathome.typepad.com/
The last one I want to highlight is "Getting Ahead" if you are looking at ways to be frugal then you should visit Jennifer over there. :) She has some GREAT ideas! She is a homeschooling mom of 4 who recently went through a period where she wanted to pay a dental bill and so she actually made it on $25 dollars a week for a family of SIX for groceries..also using what she had stockpile in the house. I am impressed she also payed off her dental bill. She has some of the neatest ideas and seeing as how my goal for this year is to "be healthy, and more frugal" I will be visiting her blog a lot. :) Go visit Jennifer and her adorable kids at :http://getting-ahead.blogspot.com/

Well those are some of the blogs I like to read...how about you? If there is a blog you love to read that you want to share then leave me a comment. :)

I hope everyone has an awesome holiday season. :)

Take Care,
The Cheerio Queen

Happy Thanksgiving!

yes a post today! Mainly it is just a bragging post lol. It is mostly going to be showing pictures of the kids that we just had done for the year. Hubs and I have not had any done yet lol. I decided to wait until I see if Santa brings me the gym membership I asked for. then I will do some before and after pics in a few months...maybe. lol.

Until then I will leave you with the pictures of the kids. I hope everyone is having a wonderful turkey day and is finally in a triptophan coma with loved ones lol. :)

In the mean time...Here is what I am truly thankful for on this Thanksgiving.

Update on the neurology appt yesterday.

Hello and thanks to those who emailed me asking about how Trix's appt went with the new neurologist yesterday. So I figured rather than email everyone seperately I would come up with a blog on it.

Hubs really likes the new Neurologist. He just felt like he was a better fit for our family and did not brush off our concerns. the last one had a little bit although he was good. Anyway Hubs came back with a mixed bag of results. I saw mixed bag because really it is a big mixed bag of emotions for me.
Trix has had more seizures recently then even Hubs and I realized and let me tell you I am always watching him like a hawk to the point Hubs keeps telling me to relax I am not doing him any favors. I know he is right but to be honest it is hard to just turn your emotions or sixth sense off with a switch. Anyway when describing how Trix has been lately especially over the weekend the neurologist said more then likely he had at least 2 seizures on each day. The issue with Trix is most of his seizures are not the "tonic clonic" like most people think of where one is shaking, and falling to the floor etc. His are more what they call "partial seizures" where he zones out, sometimes he gets really whiny and says he does not feel good but cannot tell me what does not feel good etc., this weekend it came out that he was just plain out of it...almost like he was in a funk. He did not want to eat dinner which is very out of character for Trix...he is ALWAYS hungry. lol But in any case he basically had 2 back to back seizures both Sat and Sun in the afternoon and it took a long time for his brain and body to reset. As I looked back to all the days I kept record of how strange he was acting I realize he has had a LOT of seizures lately. The mixed bag of emotions comes in where I am in one sense somewhat relieved to have my concerns validated, but frustrated and disappointed that he has been doing worse and not better. I know I should be grateful that he is not having 10-20 tonic clonic shaking seizures every day like some people have to go through but ...well I am just a mom who does not want to see my child like this at all.
So we got Trix some new medicine which the main side effect is it will make him sleepy, the second "possible" side effect is gall stones. Sheesh that is only a possiblity i need to make sure he stays hydrated and he should be ok. However he will be taking both the medicine he is currently taking plus the new one for awhile as I am supposed to wean him off the first medicine. Apparently you cannot just stop the medicine. For the next two weeks he will probably be very sleepy. I have to take him back to the neurologist in two months. If after a couple weeks the new medicine does not work, then we have to try one more medicine. Truthfully I am praying that one of them works because if the 3rd medicine does not work then we are looking at Brain Surgery for it. YIKES. I am not prepared for that. I of course will be getting 2nd and 3rd opinions before it comes to that and I know they can do some great things with surgery these days but the thought of my baby on the table having his (in my opinion brilliant) brain being operated on is not the greatest thought in the world. However I always as a mom go to the worst scenario lol. I am working on just focusing on trying new medicine instead and hoping beyond all hope that one of them works for him. He is getting to the stage now where he is really frustrated with all his seizures, and keeps asking me "mommy can we stop these seizures so I can feel better?" That tugs at my heart. I went to an awesome ladies thanksgiving night out last night for our church ladies, and was talking to a friend of mine who is also one of Trix's helpers and she told me that when he was in church on Sunday he asked her on his own if they could pray to God for his seizures to stop. See he is such a bright boy. I think what bugs me most is that he is more and more aware of his seizures and is partially conscious during them so he is remembering them and the fact that i have no control to stop it or fix it is the real issue with me. Oh well on a brighter note this new neurologist is really good and I did get some validation of my concerns and I at least have a few more answers then I did before which is nice. Ok on that "uplifting" note lol. I need to go make lunch for the kids who are all staring at me wanting to know when they are going to eat haha. I promise from here on out that I am going to try and post more happier posts.

Maybe tomorrow I will post more about the awesome Thanksgiving ladies night out at church! The guest speaker was wonderful and it was really great to just have fellowship and of course food. :)

Been awhile I know...

As usual life just gets crazy busy sometimes. :) Hubs and I had a great time in Ocean Shores it was so nice to get away for a couple days...of course we are complete nerds...we were ready to go see our kids by the next morning so we left a little earlier haha. What can we say we love our munchkins! In any case things around here have been as usual busy. I have honestly not taken anytime to blog because I am working on that other biz I told you about to build since I am closing the daycare in June. On top of that I have been pretty uneasy lately because Trix has been having more seizures, behavior issues which we think is caused by his seizure meds (every time we up the dosage he gets more impulsive, and has more behavior problems), he has been acting really strange for the last week complaining of sudden headaches etc. So we are taking him to the neurologist today. Actually Hubs is I have daycare kids so I am sending hubs with a big list of questions. He has a new neurologist as his other one retired to write a book. Personally I am ok with that because it will be a second opinion. I just cannot help the feeling that something more is going on with him but yet I cannot figure out what it is. It bugs me because I am a fixer and want to fix whatever is going on but I can't and that is frustrating for me...plus I am a Mom and my heart and instinct tells me more is going on that meets the eye. Well in any case I am going to keep praying I know God has a reason for this I just wish I knew what it was.
Otherwise everything else is going well. We are gearing up for Turkey Day this week! I am really looking foward to that! The kids are doing well. Honey Nut is doing really well in her school work and has been coming along well with the k12 curriculum we are using. Lucky Charms is doing well also but is trying to be stubborn and is very frustrated to find out Mommy and Daddy are even more stubborn then he is. lol.

This weekend we went to the Pacific Science Center. Yes again, we are really getting a lot of use out of that membership we got as a gift last year! This weekend when we went we used the free passes for an imax movie there. We saw Monsters under the Sea which is not as gruesome as it sounds it was talking about prehistoric fish, shark, and water dinosaurs that lived many many years ago. The cool part about it was that it was 3D so the kids got to wear the cool glasses. They LOVED it! Especially Trix..he kept reaching out to touch the fish. Of course in all my wisdom I forgot the camera so I have no pictures for this post sorry. I did take it with us to Ocean Shores but we spent the first day at the Casino, and the second day on the beach but it was so cloudy because of the time of year that I did not take any pics. Although it was still beautiful. I love the Ocean and Ocean Shores is one of my most favorite places in the whole world.

Oh yeah we have been doing some Xmas shopping online this year. It is just easier. One of the pitfalls of homeschooling is that I have all the kids with me all day so it is not as easy to get the shopping done lol. That is ok I still love having them with me all the time. They really are awesome kids.

I have been reading a really great book called: "The Mom your Meant to Be" by Cheri Fuller. It is a Focus on the family book. One of the things it told me to do in the first chapter is write down all the things I love about each one of my children, and then also write down what frustrates me most about my children. Then pray about it and thank God for both of those lists of traits! I will show you one of the things I wrote that I liked about each of my children but that is it. :)

Honey Nut~ Compassion...This little girl is the most compassionate child I know. She has such a huge heart and is always wanting to do something nice for someone, or help someone who is blue.
Trix~ Humor...Although he has had some communication issues...when he is on a good communication day Trix is really very funny! He has a great sense of humor and is always able to make you laugh no matter what situation your in.
Lucky Charms...loving...This is a child who loves with everything he has in him. He will not just hug you he will hug you with every ounce of love, and strength he has (and he is a strong little guy so watch out if he hugs you around the neck)he has such a trust in everyone and everything and has no fear at all.

Tonight I am attending the Women's Thanksgiving night out with the church gals. I am really looking foward to some girl time, and great prayer and learning.

Well anyway that is what I am doing up to now. :)

If I don't write again for awhile it is because I am up to my eyeballs in schoolwork,holidays etc.

Happy Holidays!
The Cheerio Queen

quick post

Hi all,

Just a quick post with a pic from Halloween of my little trick or treaters. Aren't they cute? Actually I had a couple more pics but they did not turn out because Trix was so frustrated waiting to go by the time I took the pic that all he did was cry. lol yes he has a mask on but you can see in most of the pics through his eyes that he was crying lol.

It has been another busy week but hey that is life with the Cheerio family. :) I am off for the weekend with hubs! We are going away (ok one night but hey it is something) to Ocean Shores! I will try and take some pics while we are there. We are excited I think it has been since before Honey Nut was born that we just took off for a weekend just the two of us. Gee I hope we have something to talk about after an hour or so...you know to get through a real conversation. In kiddieland an hour conversation between two adults takes a day and a half usually. lol No seriously we are looking forward to it!

Scenes from Fall

Did you like those pics? I thought you would like to see some scenes from fall around the Cheerio Household. :) Today we carved the pumpkins that we picked last weekend. It was a beautiful sunny warm day here today very strange for WA this time of year! But also very welcome. I got out and cleaned out the minivan today and washed it and vacumed it. The boys got to ride their quads today that was a lot of fun for them! Yesterday Honey Nut went to a bday party that was also a costume party...she is Hannah Montana this year and was so excited that Mommy finally let her wear makeup and glitter on her face to complete the look. She also won the costume contest at the party!! Well this week is another busy week so posting will be minimal but I am trying to keep up!

wordy Wednesday...

I was going to do Wordless Wednesday but anyone who knows me understands that me and the phrase "no words or no talk" do NOT go together. lol I wanted to post these this pic of Trix and Daddy mowing the lawn yesterday it was so precious! He loves to mow with daddy and waited by the window all afternoon until Daddy came home. At first Hubs mentioned the mower would not start and he had to work on it a bit but Trix waited patiently for him to get it started. Yes you read that right...Patiently. Normally the word patient and Trix go together like oil and water but that is not the case lately. You see those vitamin supplements coupled with him going off dairy or (either/or) seems to be leading him to be calmer and much more focused! It was such a gradual change that I did not notice at first until he went to OT at the school the other day and the OT asked me if he was on ritalin now. I said no why? she said she got focus out of him and patience out of him she had not seen before and Trix told her he was taking a new medicine that was sweet. lol I explained to her that He is now taking : A multivitamin with a big immune booster, DHA oil (omega 3 fish oil) and most recently the passion flower. That is really strong but he is such a good sport about taking it. To me it smells yucky and does not look much better but he is taking it and I am really noticing a difference. I know the DHA helps as well for brain power, focus, behavior issues, etc. So far so good. Anything to keep him off medicine if I can.

It has been two weeks to the day that Trix went dairy free and also our whole family...we agreed to eliminate dairy from our diet as well in support of Trix. I have made a few recipes that everyone seems to like. I also just got a new cookbook titled cooking dairy free. I noticed our systems were "cleaning out" the last couple weeks...I was afraid everyone was sick but the nutritionist said no it is your body ridding itself of toxins and cleaning itself out. I also noticed another pleasant change as a result of going dairy free...I have lost about 3 pounds without dieting or exercise! That is always nice.

Otherwise things here are fine...the kids are doing well, hubs is having fun at work, he and I are saving for our trip to Vegas this January to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! Neither of us has ever been so we are excited.

To go with my post mainly being about our families diet I would like to link you to one of my favorite bloggers Katherine over at "raising five" http://raisingfive.blogspot.com/ She has a cool personality and I love how she is so humorous about the antics of raising five kids. She is definitely a cool mom in my book. Her blog today is about eating at home at what my kids call "the family table" lol do ya think they watch enough nick at nite? Anyway just go check out Katherine's blog you will be glad you did. :)

Ciao for now!
The Cheerio Queen

weekend fun...

So this weekend was almost a really nice weekend! I will explain the almost part later. It started off with Saturday when the kids Grandpa came and got them and Hubs and took them all to the local model train show. I was going to surprise my Grandma and take her too lunch but she had already left to do some errands so all of a sudden I found myself in an empty clean house (I know perish the thought but since I was plannign on going out I wanted it cleaned up) with nothing but the deafening silence! My hubs said to me...honey you can have alone time today. Huh? What is that? I have not had "alone time" where I was not running errands or the like in about 8.5 years. So I sat down to "catch up on my tivo shows". But after one of them I was bored. I forgot what it is like to feel that way. I decided to go to the Sunshine Nutrition Center up the street that a friend had recommended to me, so I could pick up something called "calm child" for Trix. When I went in there I swear I heard that music you hear when you discover a great revelation. The guy behind the counter was so friendly and knowledgeable and for the first time I actually got advice that did not make me feel like my son is a hyperactive freakazoid. No docs have not put down my child of course not...but for those of you with kids like Trix you know what I mean. The looks you get when your describing what you think is your child's ahem..charms, only to find out that they think your child is either not disciplined enough, doing something weird, or needs some sort of medication to slow him down. No this guy actually explained that he thinks my son my have an iron deficiency, and need more vitamin B to help his focus, however unlike most vitamin stores..he did NOT try to sell me 12 different vitamin bottles at the bargain price of 50 dollars each, in fact he listened to me describe my son, and then made some suggestions but insisted I should start with ONE thing first. That's it. One thing. WOW I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of the calm child he gave me Passion Flower. The only problem is Trix hates it. I will have to see if I can disguise it in his food. It is pretty strong and smells gross to me. we will see. If not I will just go get the calm child lol.

Sunday I taught Sunday School at church and then in the afternoon the kids and I went to the Pumpkin Patch while Hubs stayed home and got his "alone time". Of course silly me did not think about the fact that this is WA state and we are not known for being super sunny and dry but are known for being rainy. But hey it was pretty dry when we left, I did not however factor in the muddy terrain of the pumpkin patch. OOPS. See above picture and you can see the kids shoes...yes you heard me right. I forgot to bring rain boots. Actually to tell you the truth I am not sure their boots fit this year I will probably have to get some. Oh well. They had fun, especially watching Mommy try and push a wheel barrow with 3 pumpkins the size of each child through that slick mud. I managed to not fall on my own pumpkin but the kids got muddy enough that we had to go back home before we went halloween costume shopping which was the original plan. So I called hubs and asked that he set out three outfits for the kids so they could change on the hardwood square by the front door rather then decorate the house in muddy pumpkin theme. After that we were off.

I have an 8 year old daughter...any of you who have an 8 year old daughter are probably very familiar with Hannah Montana. It is a cute show although a little corny. But in any case that is the latest craze with the girls in that genre...however I am not complaining...after all when I was that age Madonna and her torpedo bras were the role model me and my friends were wanting to follow. In any case honey nut wants to be Hannah Montana for Halloween so we headed off to Party City to find the coveted outfit. They had one but not in her size and frankly I was secretly grateful to not have to pay 30 dollars for something she won't wear more then once or twice. So we settled on the hannah montana wig, and then we will make one of her outfits out of clothes she already has...Honey Nut was concerned she would not look enough like her until I told her she was goign to get to wear makeup...that did it. After that we went to target to find the boys costumes because what they had at party city was not really what they wanted and so expensive.
So we walked down the strip mall towards target and that is where the "almost" part of our weekend fun came in. As we were walking merrily down the sidewalk Trix was a couple feet ahead of us as he always does and all of a sudden he stopped and covered his ears. He only does this when nervouse or upset about something so I asked him what was wrong and then I looked further ahead to see what he was looking at and low and behold there were two guys...probably in their twentys FIGHTING. I mean really beating each other down. Ok so the area we were in was not a bad area but not the yuppiest either but come on. Like I want my kids to witness this...so I shuffled the kids back behind a pillar so they would not see this and tried to talk to them louder then the shouts of expletives we heard until things dissapated enough that we could either go into the store, or back to the car but it was a walk to the car and I knew that the kids would be turning around to watch. After a few minutes things settled down and the disagreeing parties each left. Then when I saw that a few families with young children went into the store I figured it was ok to go in. I just explained that some people don't get along and handled things wrong and lets go costume shopping. All was quickly forgotten luckily by the kids when Trix got his "race car costume" actually it is motocross but hey it had a cool helmet mask and he thinks it is racecar, and then Lucky Charms got some sort of a warrior thing with padded chest and arms. He was disappointed to find out it did not come with a gun though lol. Figures he is such a boy.

Hope you all had a good weekend!
The Cheerio Queen

Decisions Decisions....

Lately my life has been full of decisions. It seems no matter what I do I have to make 35 billion different decisions a day...and hubby still cannot figure out why I get frustrated when he comes home and says "whats for dinner I don't want to decide" grrr. lol I know all this comes with being a mom and wife and I am not the only one on the planet who makes deicsions all day. However I have been into making some big LIFE decisions. God has been doing an awful lot of "overhauling" in our family. With it has come new decisions etc.

For me personally I have been feeling serious callings to do lots of things when my own schedule is already full. I have been cranky, over tired, frustrated, no real fun to be around, and irritable. Just ask my hubs and kiddos. They have taken a lot of "cranky mommy" lately. Before you ask no it is not just a "certain time of month" lol. I just reached that point lately where you feel like you are doing everything but at the same time not really doing anything at all. Does that make any sense? I think a lot of us mom's feel that way. I have gotten to the point where my career as a daycare owner is no longer a career but just flat out a boring job that I am starting to resent. I feel as if my own children are with me all day but never get to really see or spend time with me. So after much consideration and juggling of finances I finally made one huge decision. I am closing my daycare in June. I wanted to give the parents time to find new care but specifically one of my families has a child with special needs and it will take them a long time to find a caregiver. Personally I will miss all the daycare kids, however on another level I have to say that for the first time in quite awhile "I FEEL GREAT"!

I feel great that I will be able to work with my own kids again, not to mention get my house back lol. I feel great to know that i will be able to work with Trix on his issues more. All 3 of my sweeties have been complaining for a few months now that they are tired of sharing mommy and I don't blame them.
You are probably wondering if I have come up with anything new for a career that I can actually work around my kids..why yes I have...but you will have to stay tuned for that revelation later I am still putting finishing touches on it!


As for a weekly update...this week has been busy and has flown by. Yesterday we had a windstorm that while it was consistenly stronger then normal, was not quite the "tornado" the news made it out to be. It was enough to knock out power and screw up traffic, as well as keep the kids excited. We turned it into a homeschool lesson on nature, hubs had the camera so I could not take the darling picture I saw yesterday. THe kids all lines up in kitchen chairs in front of the back door drawing and writing their observations on the windstorm! It was darling to see them laughing their little hearts out as the wind whisked away the flag on the 10th green of the golf course we live on lol. Afterwards when we lost power and all the daycare kids had gone home we decided to go to the store, and get some firewood and stuff for smores and we made those in the fireplace in the living room where we ate our dinner too. This was a huge treat for the kids as they never get to eat in there but they loved it.

Hope you all had a great week!
The Cheerio Queen

It's Fab Friday...or is it?

This is what happens when you let a six year old play up in his room when he promises to be good. That my blogging friends is baby powder a full economy size bottle of it. Even the poor gorilla was not safe. It has been a heck of a week in the cheerio household. Mainly all the daycare kids have been sent to me sick all week. Between teething and colds it has been busy. Isn't it funny how some parents insist their kids are "just fine" at home even though they are sick with you all day? lol. Apparently their kids only get sick at school and daycare...that is where they have all their fevers, green snotty noses, nausea. Once they get home their crabbies go away, their fevers miraculously disappear, and they are perfect angels for their parents. yeah right. I gotta get outta daycare soon lol.

Trix started with a new occupational therapist this week. The lady he was seeing was in a car accident over the summer and still has not recovered we are praying for her recovery. The new lady was great! She also had the patience of an angel since my regular babysitter was not here to watch my other two kids so I had to take them in addition to extra daycare kids in with us. So in I march yesterday with 6 ACTIVE kids in tow. She wisely directed us to the indoor gymn type room. I can tell this lady is going to be great!

I saw a nutritionist for Trix on Wed evening this week. We are going to try a few th ings but the first thing she wants to do is eliminate ALL dairy from Trix's diet. The doc and the ENT neglected to tell me that the chronic ear infections that led to Trix's tubes in his ears was a classic sign of a milk allergy. I had tried to take him off milk once before because I had found through some research that it can help calm down a lot of his sensory issues, but after about a week he was so obnoxious and frustrated and honery that we finally gave it back to him and he was fine. So I thought he needed it. He LOVES milk and after talking to the therapist I realized he also loves cheese. I started thinking aobut his favorite foods and almost all of them have some sort of dairy in them. She explained to me that he craved it because your body treats foods your allergic too like a drug. So basically my son is getting "high" off of milk...if this is what he is allergic too. She also explained the reason he was so obnoxious when I tried to take him off it before is that he was going through withdrawls. She told me for the next two weeks to keep him completely off dairy and then after that we will slowly reintroduce certain foods and see if we can pinpoint anything. I will say this lady is great! She told me the reason the docs never told me this before is that they are trained to treat symptoms but not necessarily find out why or what is causing it. I do not want to make it seem like i do not like docs though because I do. I just think that from a preventative side this is a better idea.

Otherwise we are deep into the school thing and getting ready for the holidays. :)

Yay it's Friday and a new post!

YES you are seeing this right a new post in under a couple weeks! lol Told ya I would try!

I am going to try and get back to posting about some topics again but here is another quick update.

The boys and hubs and I have a small tummy bug but nothing with fevers or anything just enough to keep us feeling yucky. Don't ya just love fall? New germs etc.? lol No seriously I am praying that we have a much healthier year then last year. About every 3 years or so we will have a bad winter when we are just sick all the time with colds,stomach flu, fevers, etc. That was last winter and part of spring and even into June. So this year i am hoping good will come out of it! Other then that we are pretty good. Hubs is getting ready to go out of town on business next week so this weekend is laundry weekend. yay...NOT. Oh well at least we will be inside snuggling with the kids in between loads. :) The kids alwasy look forward to "mommy daddy days". They have to share me the rest of the week with daycare kids so the weekends they love.

Anyway the subject I picked for today is more like a shameless plug. We are homeschooling this year again and LOVING it. However I heard about a program last year that I meant to do this year and that is called K12.com
I realize some people might not consider this homeschool as it is technically public school online. However there is different ways to enroll. You can retain your status as a homeschooler, and only enroll part time, OR you can enroll full time and although your status is public school...it is done at home under the teaching of the parent. We chose to do it full time this year just to get a feel for it. The best thing is if I decide it is too rigorous and don't like it then I can pull them out. They do all the testing etc. I get to talk to a teacher once a week by email or phone and go over anything I am having trouble teaching, my kids can ask her questions too. Even nicer...they send you all the materials and curriculum free because it is "public school" and run through a public school district. They keep all the records etc. I was a little hesitant at first but went ahead and took the plunge and so far it has worked well. It was like and early Christmas when the UPS man backed into my driveway and unloaded about 6 boxes full of stuff. When I say they include all supplies they really do...there was really nice magnifying glasses. 11 full bottles of tempera paint, compas, world maps laminated etc. all the workbooks and teacher guides too. I return some of it at the end of the year except for unreturnable stuff like paint , used workbooks etc. they pay the postage to return it. it is great. I log in every day to find out the days assignments and they walk me through what to do with the kids and how to do it..including teacher and kid tips. what I really love is that Trix has an IEP (individual education plan) or special ed thing where he can do a shared district meaning he stays enrolled in our district for his occupational and speech therapy, but is enrolled in this other school district for the rest of the stuff. (k12.com is only done through certain districts in the different states). Anyway there is my topic and plug for the day. For us it really works. :)

Have a great weekend !

A FALL MEME

So I am still trying to post more frequently but things have been so hectic around here lately. Trix has been having a lot more seizures than normal so we have been dealing with that and schoolwork. :) Trix did have a checkup with his neurologist yesterday and they decided to up his meds dosage to see if that helps. I personally am not all that thrilled with the idea because it makes him super sleepy and his appetite decreases when he ups the dosage. I have that motherly instinct that i can help these seizures decrease or not occur at all by changing his diet. All 3 of the kids had checkups last week and they are all healthy but my pediatrician advised me against the ketogenic diet for trix because there is apparently a lot of side affects and it is very strict and hard to follow. He does not usually advise me against anything so instead I called a nutritionist. I am going to meet with her next week. I figure she studies foods and it's affects on people and maybe she could help me design something for trix tht would help not only his seizures but also his sensory issues. I know all the docs say it has nothing to do with it but there is far to many stories of success with changing diets and helping childrens medical issues go away or minimize to backup my instincts.

Anyway that is a brief update. Here is a fall meme that one of my most favorite blogs posted today. She made it up herself. I love this blog because it is such a comfortable cozy blog the way she writes it that it is almost like curling up with a good book and a cup of hot cider on a blustery day. Seriously she almost writes like "chicken soup for the soul" type. She is a homeschooler who has many great ideas. I always check there to see what neat project she has come up with. Oh and her kids are sooo cute!

Ok her is her meme:

When does fall begin for you? For me it starts around labor day. I start looking forward to it in August though.

What is your favorite aspect of fall? I love the falling leaves and letting the kids jump in them, the apple picking, the hot apple cider, and the new homeschool routine for me and the kids.

What is your favorite fall memory? it is always taking the kids to the pumpkin patch and apple picking.

What do you like to drink in the fall? I love cider, sleepytime tea, and starbucks carmel apple cider.

What's your favorite fall food? I would have to say the return of "comfort food" all the casseroles, stews etc. I love to make homemade applesauce, and pumpkin bread. Starbucks makes a yummy cream cheese pumpkin muffins.

What is fall weather like where you live? At the beginning it is crisp and sunny and pretty but towards the middle and end it turns rainy and colder, however I like that because I love to curl up inside with the kids.

What color is fall? different shades of orange: bright orange, burnt orange, mellow yellow, deep greens beautiful!

What does fall smell like? apples, cinnamon, hot cider (do you see a cider trend yet? lol), pumpkin spice, nutmeg, woodstoves burning

Holiday shopping in fall: yes or no? Yes I try, but I don't decorate till the day after thanksgiving.

If you could go anywhere in the fall, where would you go? I like it here but have always wanted to go to new england or vermont for fall. I hear it is unebelievably beautiful.

What is your favorite fall sport? none I am not a sport person unless it is spring and baseball.

Do you have a favorite fall chore? I like getting the school supplies organized for the year!

What is your least favorite thing about fall? the fact that before halloween has even arrived the stores have all their christmas stuff out. grrr. fall is my favorite season
What is your favorite fall holiday? Thanksgiving

What's your favorite kind of pie? Pumpkin pie or fresh apple pie with extra nutmeg.

What was your favorite Halloween costume? One year i was minnie mouse and my mom designe the costume it was fun.

What was your favorite Halloween candy? Candy Corn and snickers

What was your least favorite Halloween candy? black licorice YUCK

Which do you prefer, the Farm or the Fair? farm

Do you have a favorite fall book? no not really.

How about a favorite fall poem? no on that one too lol.

I tag anyone who wants to do the meme. Please sign my comments and let me know you did it so I can go read your answers:)

How was your weekend?

Hello,

Here is an update. Again I am still trying to get our new routine worked out lol. What do you think of my new look? I thought this new title was a good fit ha!

We all had a pretty good weekend. Honey Nut and Trix both grew out of their pants, and jammies so this weekend was a shopping weekend. I was wondering...how come it is that they get to a certain size and the price of their clothes DOUBLES or TRIPLES? I used to be able to get my daughter several pairs of jeans for 10 bucks, this weekend it was 20 dollars ON SALE!That was for jeans that looked like jeans. Is it just me or are the new look of the jeans "dirty looking" I think the "worn" look is what they are going for.. but personally as a former owner of acid wash jeans(come on you know you still wear them or at least own them in the back of your closet...how about a pair of parachute pants?) I feel more then qualified to judge the jeans they are wearing nowadays and to be honest these jeans are uglier then the pre- ripped jeans that were so popular. I was looking at these jeans that were on sale for the bargain price of 48.50 per pair, and finding myself trying to keep from gagging. Ok at the risk of sounding like a valley girl..."Like Gag me with a silver spoon","as if", "I am so sure" these jeans flat out looked dirty and dingy. In fact in my younger much more immature days my friends and I used to secretly make fun of the kids wearing jeans that looked like that...it meant that they were poor, or just dirty. Ok so obviously I don't do that anymore and am apalled if I catch anyone of my children making fun of another child...but I cannot believe that people would wear these jeans let alone pay for that. Oh well I guess I am offically old.

Trix is at an akward fitting stage where one size does not really fit ..it is either too big or too small. he needs an in-between size. Poor kid.
Other then shopping and spending way more then I wanted to this weekend...we had a nice one. Hubs and I thought it would be fun to do a "Fondue night" on Saturday for dinner. The kids had a blast dipping their dinner, and dipping their fruit and chocolate fondue dessert. Plus we let them eat in the family room while watching a movie...this is never allowed. So this was a big treat for them.

In other news. Church was great on Sunday and the big news is that Trix who has been having trouble with his sensory issues and behaving in class finally filled his sticker chart enough to earn the right to move up to his big sisters sunday school class! He has worked so hard. I prayed and prayed all through church and even though there was about 5 or 6 numbers that I saw come up on the screen his was NOT one of them! He was so proud! Bless his little heart. He is finally entering his easier time of the year. He has a hard time with spring and summer. Fall and Winter is his best time for attitude, senses not going on overload, and for his learning. He does most of his learning this time of year. :) I concentrate hard on his schoolwork now. Plus all his occupational therapy is starting up again. My goal this year is to get him up to a level where he can start the online school program I just started Honey Nut and Lucky Charms in.

To that note and I know this is getting long but I will try to wrap up. The new schooling program I am using for homeschooling is virtual school online where the district sends me all the materials I need and instructions and I do the teaching and the kids send their work into cyberspace. Because it runs through a public school district there is no cost to me except for some of the extra supplies. It goes the way i feel public school should go in that "I" decide what level the kids are at, and they take an assessment as well when they are ready to move up. They do not move to the next level until THEY are ready too...not when the "school" says they should lol. So it is kind of the best of both worlds for me. Hubs is happy because the records are all through there and even though he supports me in homeschooling more then last year lol. He is no longer asking me every month if I still want to homeschool and he is seeing the positive effects of bringing the kids home and how they are much better behaved, closer, and less stressed. It has been a postive thing for all of them but especially for Trix and his sensory issues. I am able to work at his pace and not force him into situations he is not ready for and here he is not labeled a "resource room child" or a "sensory behavior problem child".

Ok well this is what happens when I wait so long to post I have to put so much into it that it takes forever to read lol. If you read this far here is a cyber cookie, brownie for you...it is fat free for those on the "tales from the scales" diet lol.

6 kids, naptime, a broken stroller,and a trip too urgent care....

That is the recipe for the hectic disastrous day I had today! lol So it did not go as I had planned. The day started out normal enough, the kids had a good breakfast, did their chores, and I had just finished up some laundry and was going to get started on schoolwork at quiet time with my daughter after lunch. I just put all the little ones down for nap time when Lucky Charms offered to help me clean the kitchen. I joyfully said sure here throw away this empty tin can that the peaches were in, oops...mistake...he agreed but also picked up the lid for it as well and on his way to the garbage can 2 steps away he accidentally dropped the lid which consequently sliced his little foot wide open. :( Of course blood started splurting out everywhere...the floor, my clothes etc. I put a gauze pad on it to stop the bleeding and investigate. Problem was he soaked and I mean SOAKED through 3 of those gigantic Gauze pads immediately and the split second I did see the cut I could see that although it was not terribly deep it was really wide and long, and bloody...anyone walking in that second would have thought they were walking into a war zone.
So new plan everyone back up from quiet time, no problem I am still remaining calm and I proceeded to pack SIX kids in the minivan. This is not easy since they are all in carseats or booster seats. But hey I got it done in less then an hour so I was pretty proud of myself. I was thinking this will be ok we will just go to the urgent care up the road no problem. Yeah right.
I got there and there was already an hour wait and they were giving me a hard time about having 6 kids with me. Like I can help that. lol Oh well I wound up packing all the kids back into the minivan and collapsing the stroller and heading to a differen Urgent CAre and they were so much nicer and more helpful and very patient. The kids all and all were pretty good considering the time of day it was.I discovered there that my double stroller was broken and there was a huge screw missing which is why it was leaning to the right and very hard to turn. They wound up stitching up Lucky Charms (liquid stitches this time) and then because they did nto want to risk him reopening they wrapped it with so much gauze that he wound up looking like he was in a cast.
The kids put up with a lot so I got them ice cream from DQ on the way home as they all slept in the car.


Get home and let the kids outside to enjoy their icecream as it was sunny and hot today anyway. I was just starting to pat myself on the back that I managed to hold my cool, and stay patient with everyone involved in this minor crisis including the snotty lady at the first urgent care who was inquring if there was "anyone who could pick up some of my kids" so they could do their work. When I heard my daughter say "Mommy Trix was watching the golfers and he fell over and is laying in the beauty bark and he is sick!" I go out to investigate and sure enough he had thrown up which I thought was odd because he seemed to be fine all day and had eaten normally. I went to pick him up to standing and help him into the house when I realized that his whole right side was paralyzed and he kept falling over and he was trying to talk to me to tell me he did not feel good but not all of it made sense. Great...I realized he was having a petit mal seizure! So I got him into the house and cleaned him up a little and held him until he was through , after I gave him the diastat that I got from the hospital the last time he had a major seizure. Even though this was not a grand mal seizure it is still upsetting to see your child lose total control and not be able to move one side of his body. while he was in the middle of this I hear "mommy!" oh great what else? My daughter informed me that the school bus was there and my special needs charge had arrived and the bus will not release him off unless I am out there. Crud. So I ordered HOney Nut to stay with her brother and I sprinted out to the bus at the end of my LONG driveway and grabbed the daycare charge off the bus and carried him (he is 6 and not light but he takes too long to walk) all the way up the driveway. My daughter helped get him downstairs and turned on blues clues for him and kept an eye on the little ones while I got Trix through the rest of his seizure and he finally went to sleep and so I set him up in my room and switched with my daughter who came up to sit next to her brother and let me know if anything happens so I could tend to the daycare kids.

Finally everyone left for the day and hubs came home, Trix woke up from his nap and had no memory of it and was fine and happy and back to his old cute self. I am tired and need to put the kids to bed. But I will say I did not once lose my cool today, and did not wind up owing the cuss jar any money so I guess it turned out ok. I think I am going to go put the kids down and medicate myself with M&M's and a good book.

How was YOUR day?

Till next time
The cheerio queen :)

9/11....We will never forget

I don't think there is any need to post words today just watch the video. As for me I will hug my family a little tighter and say prayers for those affected.

FINALLY a new post!

Okay okay so i keep saying for sure I am going to start posting more but then..well...life happens. lol Hubs and I were working with an organization called Vine Maple Place which is a place for single parents who are trying to restart their life can go and get back on their feet, what a great thing...they get to get help with finding a job and aquiring skills to get a good job later, they teach them how to pay bills etc. anyway hubs and I were helping move furniture into the apt for a single mom with two boys...Hubs decided to see how heavy one of the recliners were and as he bent he heard and felt a loud crack and pop...not good, he now has to see a chiropractor for the next 13 weeks 3 times a week to fix it, it seems his hip was tilted and it is pinching a nerve so instead of 3 kids I now have 4. Last week I started a few new daycare kids bringing my total including my own kids during the day to 10! although they come at different times, some are only before or afterschool, one is new full time, and two returning kids will be coming during naptimes for the little ones so it is not so bad. Yes we are still homeschooling we are entering our 2nd year and love it so far! Last week was all about figuring our our new schedule, I am still slowly implementing it, it may take another week or two to iron out all the kinks in it. So if I am slow posting again you will know why. :)
This weekend I took the kids to our state fair that is the biggest one around here. We had so much fun except we missed having hubs with us. While we were there the kids got to see Dora (well honey nut is too cool and old for that she said but the boys were thrilled) as we were waiting in line we heard an announcement for an interactive show (like a small play) where they were asking kids if they wanted to join in. The kids all wound up joining. ! Rather then bore you with a bunch of words and also because I have not had my morning devotion time yet I am going to let the pics do the talking. ;)

Trix and Dora!



The kids on the dragon coaster!





Lucky Charms and Dora!





My Lil' Farmer!



My Lil' Germ Police!




My Lil' Onion Princess!

dancing with the stars and other random musings...

Hello,

again it has been awhile but frankly it has been a long very busy month. I am actually looking forward to starting our homeschooling year next week along with a new detailed schedule. Then I will have more time to blog hopefully. lol some of the xtra daycare kids will be back in school so my load will be lighter. So since I am rambling I just decided to post about random things today. ;)

First off Dancing with the stars....ok this is a show I love...so you won't be tested after watching...it is entertaining. Today they announced their next 12 contestants. My question is who are some of these people? Maybe I am just getting old but like last season I had not even heard of some of them. I thought it was supposed to be stars...and celebrities? When the show first kicked off they had that dumb blonde bachelorette girl who no one cared about..that was the prelude to some of these people they call stars lol. Last season in spring was my favorite out of all of them. Ok so the winner was not my first pick but he was good too. As much as I love this show there are some things I would change about it and since it is my blog I will write about it don't be offended haha. First: I really hope this season they don't put that stupid jimmy kimmel skit in the results show...clearly it is ABC trying to fill empty space. People we just want the results. I can also do without some of the cruddy music they picked last season. In the spring there were several stars and their dancing partners who had great dances but it was somewhat ruined by the music that the show picked for them! grrr. Take Ian Ziering and his partner who were supposed to do a sexy rhumba dance and the show gave them the "imagine" which is a song about war and was not romantic in the least. Their dance was amazing but that cruddy song took away a lot of the romance of the dance. Other couples were supposed to be doing more serious dances but the show picked songs that sounded like it belonged in the circus. Ok that is my little irritation about the show but for the most part i like it. This season the "stars" are: Marie Osmond,Helio Castroneves,Jennie Garth,Cameron Mathison,Mel B,Floyd Mayweather,Jane Seymour,Albert Reed,Sabrina Bryan,Mark Cuban,Josie Maran,Wayne Newton

Ok lets see again I must be getting old but the only ones i know who they are : Marie Osmond , Jennie Garth, Cameron Mathison, Melanie brown, jane seymour, and wayne newton.

The only ones I care about and consider actual stars are: Jennie Garth, Cameron Mathison, and Jane Seymour. Ok wayne newton is a star but come on. really people lol.

My predictions without seeing anyone actually dance yet is that Jennie Garth, and Cameron Mathison will be in the top 3 probably even the top 2 lol. OF course they are my favorite and yeah I am still a 90210 fan...I was voting for Ian Ziering last year...whatever leave me alone so I am still living in the early nineties lol. Either way I hardly would call a lot of this cast "stars" . Camerone Mathison...well I don't even watch all my children but what a hunk. I bet he can dance. :)

Onto other musings. Both the boys have their quads now and love them..now daddy is insisting he needs a quad so he can ride with the boys...this might have something to do with the fact that when he actually rode the boys quad the other day I may have accidentally mentioned outloud that he looked like he was in the circus on it because they are mini quads and he is a tall big strong guy. lol

Like I said before I will be starting a new super structured schedule for school year mainly because after much evaluating I think last year was a good year for us but it was our first year of homeschooling and we were trying it on for size. I feel like we could have gotten more accomplished then we did and so this year I am changing it around a bit, but it will not just be "school at home" there will be other stuff...plus I think it will help out a lot with Trix's sensory issues. He is the kid who has to know what to expect each day. He is so particular about it that if I say "ok trix we are going to go to the grocery store, post office, bank" in that order and then I change the order around...it bugs him he gets confused and does not do as well. Or if I say we are going to do three things and then only have time for two it is upsetting to him. Before you ask he is not autistic although that is one of the symptoms of an autisitic child but it has to do with his sensory processing disorder. I know we have had him tested. :) I had to push for that because with autism it is not "you have it or you don't" you can be 10 percent autistic or 99 percent autistic.

Oh I lost 3 pounds!!! I have been getting up at the crack of dawn...actually it is still dark and doing my walk/jog 5 days a week and watching portion control. (I still have a bag of m&m's in my cupboard...emergencies you know) but for the most part I have completely cut out pop and switched to crystal light, and have been a salad fanatic lately (yes I still eat other stuff).

ok well this random musings went on too long as usual. lol talk to you later!

the cheerio queen!

hello...

ok so here i am not exactly the next day after my last post but at least within a week. Things here are going well. :) What do you think of my new background? I am slowly figuring out how to pick out different ones, let me tell you though searching for backgrounds and graphics for my site was an eye opener! I will save that post for another day. I have never seen so many rude "graphic sayings" and skin in backgrounds ewwww! I am still workin in the diet thang, and walking although I did not walk yesterday because I got a blister on my heel (but I did do crunches so that should count for something), I did not walk today either because I forgot to set my alarm and don't have time before the first daycare child arrives so I will do crunches at least and definitely walk this weekend. I already feel cruddy because i have not walked in two days ( i suppose the doritos I had last night did not help either) but oh well as they say at weight watchers...you did not get heavy overnight and you won't take it off overnight either.
The diet I have set up for myself is both for health but more for convenience because i am so busy and that is why I tend to graze all day instead of make something healthy. I have been trying to add more water and have almost completely cut soda out of my diet. I do a drink a lot of crystal light (mainly because I hate plain water), one cool thing is they now have portable packs of crystal light that fit well into my purse and if we do go out to lunch or something I just order water and add it in instead of get pop like I am usually tempted to do. * note of warning* If cute little chubby hands get a hold of those packets especiall the raspberry ice flavor which is hot pink...keep a bottle of club soda nearby!! I'm just sayin...those things S-T-A-I-N!

So you all saw that Lucky Charms got his beloved Quad the other day, so Trix had really wanted his own quad too so we jokingly told him ...ok but you have to sell your go Kart first. Did not think he would seriously take us up on it...he did! He sold it and was very proud to do so! His new red quad is on it's way! I am so proud of my kids...if they want something bad enough they will work HARD to get it...and they are at such a young age. Most people are full grown adults well into their mid- somethings before they figure this out lol. My boys are 6 and 5. :)

I don't want to make this post too long but i have to write real quick about my wonderful day yesterday with my friend Julia! Julia and I went to highschool together, she was the colorguard captain and I had joined up with absolutely no idea what colorguard even was just that i thought it would be fun. I was pretty bad at it at first. Julia stayed after school for two weeks straight just to help me learn how to be better! She taught me everything I know about colorguard, she was also one of my two biggest inspirations to homeschool my kids! Julia homeschools her three kids and has never put them in public or private school at all. In a lot of ways I wish I had went about homeschooling like she did because I spent my first year of homeschooling last year "detoxing" from the school system and what I thought I should be doing and teaching based on their methods...until I realized that DUH I pulled them out of that school because I did not like their methods. lol. Anyway Julia's 3 kids are older then mine being that her youngest is the same age as my oldest. She has the sweetest most respectful children. Her oldest daughter is a true beauty! , and a great helper to her momma, her son is the spitting image of her and so sweet, and her youngest is sweet and spunky. The kids all had fun playing yesterday as Julia and I got caught up and had time to just laugh at oursselves being two old married women with kids ...you should have seen us in highschool! She was always such a free spirit, with an addicting laugh and great love for the lord. She is coming up to a challenging time in her life and that is all I will to protect her privacy but if you could all pray for her as she goes through the challenges that God has set out for her that would be awesome!

As for me...we are doing well, going into a busy weekend , starting with a ladies night out for me tonight! I have not had one of those in years. Myself and 3 of my other girlfriends are going to dinner, and a comedy club afterwards. I am so excited! I am also blessed to have a husband who is willing to watch the kids for me after a particularly long hard week at work..thanks honey!

I will type more later!
till next time,
The cheerio queen