WFMW!

Wow that holiday really screwed me up I forgot it is already Wednesday! Ok here is my tip for the week and although it is not new and probably already been posted in this blogroll before it is worth posting again. :) CD players, portable that is. Are great for my kids! yes I know everyone right now is saying "hello we are in the ipod generation now" but until I have one I am certainly not springing for my kids to get one lol. Truthfully that is my long term goal but I because they are younger I am test starting them out on cd players. I got them for 14 bucks each at a local store so they are affordable and if the kids break them then I have not wasted too much money. Plus they come with headphones and not those silly ear buds which never seem to stay in. But my point being this helps keep them in bed at night, quiet in the car (whatever you know what I mean..the endless super important questions such as "why does that cow look cross eyed?") and it is also really good for Trix with his sensory issues. He tends to make a droaning on noise like a long boring humming noise when he is trying to block out other noise and reset his senses. It sounds like he is playing with cars and making one continuous vroom noise. He can keep it up forever. He is also a fan of listening to the same cd over and over and over and over again. This way he can do that within reason and only on a cd approved by mom and dad of course, and he has stopped doing that other noise so much. It is also wonderful because we try out new cd's from the library for FREE all the time and the kids get exposed to different kinds of music, also can I just say one other word? Books on CD 'nough said! Those are great! As soon as the kids show me they can take good care of their cd players then I will probably go for the ipod because the one thing that is frustrating is reminding them all to put their cds back. I am thinking of doing my own cd library similar to the dvd library I did last week and making them check them out ! lol :) Works for me!
Don't forget to visit Shannon at Rocks in my Dryer for more great tips!

http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/

The Cheerio Queen

weight loss challenge

Ok so this week I did work out faithfully but was not so faithful with the calories. I did fine until the weekend and it was hubs last long weekend before he goes back to work at his new job. by the way thanks again for all who prayed for us and I know it was a lot of you. :) Anyway so I fell off the calorie wagon this weekend and again refused to weigh myself because of two reasons, one I have an extra visitor this week (ewww tmi I know)and two I just was not in the mood to hear the scale laugh at me today when I stepped on, nor did I want to hear it shout "what are you kidding me? BWAHHHAHAAA" So I skipped it. I know my pants are a little more snug this week and I only have myself to blame for that. But as they once said at a WW meeting "you did not get fat in one day" so your not going to take it off in one day either. I will however say I totally enjoyed the breakfast buffet brunch that we took my Grandma too on Saturday it is a seafood brunch at a 4 star restaurant that we go to maybe once a year. We had a blast and the italian jewish guy that cooked the pasta for me (which in itself blew my whole calorie counting thing) was so funny...just to listen to that guy talk he was hilarious and he makes a killer pasta out of white whine and pesto sauce. I am not doing weight watchers but if I was I bet that pasta dish blew about 4 weeks of points right there lol. I will however say the one thing I did do right this week and weekend was I drank a lot of water instead of pop. I am proud of myself for that because I *HATE* water. I would rather drink something else anyday it is too plain for me but I am forcing myself to drink it anyway. In fact we took the kids to see Shrek III this weekend and I did NOT order popcorn or candy and when I did get something to drink it was water. I didn't even complain when the water bottle I bought was $4.75! But oh well. I also today am feeling gross and yucky because I did not watch the calories or sugars I had this weekend and now my body is paying for it...okay lesson learned. :) I know we all fall off the wagon it is how you handle falling off that counts though. :)

I have been reading a book called eat healthy, stay healthy for kids. I am slowly tinkering with the kids diet especially Trix's with his sensory issues. The main reason is I am working with different foods to see if I can help some of his meltdowns a bit and see what else I can do . I also want our whole family together to get healthy. Even though I have joined this weight loss challenge I really want to focus more on eating and staying healthy. A wakeup call for me as to my attitude towards it is when recently my 8 year old daughter asked me if I thought she had gained weight or if she looked slim or fat in her pants. Please the kid is a stick. ok maybe not a stick but she is thin and built a lot like I was at that age. I also do not weight myself in front of her because she saw me get on the scales once and then for two weeks she obsessively got on the scales and fretted if she was one pound heavier. I always tell her " Honey Nut your perfectly healthy and weight exactly what you should for your age". So I think the key to my own weight loss is going to be more about everyone getting healthy and staying healthy rather then "losing weight". The weight will come off eventually. That is part of the reason I keep putting off my step on the scale, however I will get on the scale next week. So far I have been using the "do my pants fit method" Hey did you know that when you put on your pants your not supposed to huff and puff like a smoker who just ran a block? (no offense to smokers by the way) We just got one of those water coolers for the house and the kids love it and so do I...they are more likely going to go to that nifty thing that puts out water, then beg mom for a juice box or milk even. I am slowly cutting out sugar from their diets albeight slowly because they will go into cardiac arrest if I do it all at once and the plan will fail. :) I read that book because the author is a public school principal who worried when she got into her new school and realized how many overweight kids there was and how many discipline problems she had to deal with before 10am every day. She made her school a sugar free school and even got the bus drivers and parents to help at home etc. within a month she noticed a huge percentage drop in discipline issues, higher test scores, and happier kids. Who by the way she realized really did not care about the no sugar treats at class parties. They wanted their parents to come spend the day with them on their bday rather then bring in a bunch of suagry cupcakes etc. Pretty amazing isn't it? Ok well this "quick post" turned into a novel. Good luck to all who are particpating in the mayday challenge this week. and CONGRATS to those who have lost. I love to post on everyones blog but I don't have time. :)

The Cheerio Queen!

Why do I love homeschooling?

Good Morning! I was going to post yesterday but got busy when our trip to "just the library" also turned out to be a trip to the outlet store for summer sandals for two of the kids. :) Then I stopped by a "curriculum garage sale" from a retired teacher and picked up a few things.

Anyway, I am often asked by some people why I chose to homeschool and do I really like it?
The answer for the latter question is NO I do not really like it...I LOVE IT!

Let me back up a bit as to why we chose to homeschool. actually to be very truthful "I" chose to homeschool and spent a year convincing hubs it was a good idea. I had some help from the local public school two of our kids were in although they did not realize it. When I first heard about homeschooling it was through a parenting book called Creative Correction written by Lisa Whelchel aka Blair from The facts of life on tv. Lisa herself is a homeschooler and while I loved her book Creative Correction I found myself really intrigued about the fact she homeschooled her kids. Imagine my surprise as to the fact she also happened to have written a book on homeschooling! So I raced down to the library and checked it out. The way she wrote it was to interview 15 homeschooling families and started off the first chapter telling about her own, then she dedicated each chapter after that to the families she interviewed and let them tell their story in their way. By the way if your thinking about homeschooling this is a genious way to write a book and read it. There is so many different ways to homeschool and no one real "right" way. It is all about what is best for you and your family. I immediately brought up the idea to Hubs which he immediately shot down. Ok I figured I had a few years before the kids were even in school anyway. At Kindergarten time for Honey Nut Hubs was still insisting she attend public school so I thought ok fine. She did pretty well for kindergarten but I was secretly disappointed in it. For one thing around our district the kids are supposed to have a PHD by the time they finish Kindergarten and if they don't "measure up" then they are labled as being behind and need summer school, which they want US to pay for. So we did the summerschool thing for a month that is how long it is...but it is for the bargain price of 320.00. :) pathetic. anyway then she went into 1st grade and trix went into the special education preschool program which happens to be held at the same school Honey Nut was going to. this was a new school to them because we moved (same district different boundary line) and also my mother in law who lived with us had just passed away so there was a lot of changes in store. Honey Nut did not handle them that well. Trix did ok till spring when his sensory issues kicked into high gear. Without going into detail becasue it would make this post about 14 pages long, I will say that the school they changed to was "not the right school for us" The principal had some good ideas but did not want to handle any kids that required actual work, or had any issues, and she was backed up by the dean of students . Together their solution to everything was to "send the kids home". Ok great! I missed my kids anyway and it just reinforced my desire to homeschool much more. The way they chose to "dismiss" any issues also made a clear point to Hubs. So in a funny way I should thank them because if it weren't for the fact that they handled things the way they did I may not have convinced hubs to agree to try. lol It was not an easy decision though. Even though in my heart I was convinced it was the right choice, I was in a word T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D. What if it was the wrong decision? What if I was screwing up my kids education? Well what choice did I have I was getting calls from the school almost daily so I completely quit answering the phone lol. Oh and did I mention that the principal when she found out I was pulling my kids out to homeschool called me to "warn" me that this is a "very big decision and a lot of work" that I need to really be careful with my children that this could not be a good move for them. oh yeah I just woke up one day and said hum dee dee I think I will homeschool. :) lol I laughed at her and told her that at least at "my school" they won't be labeled problem kids when they actually werent.

We started. Here is some of the things I have witnessed since we started homeschooling.
1. Honey Nut is a lot happier and is finally understanding the work the school was ready to pass her on in order to put her onto the next more difficult subject fully knowing that she did not understand what was already being taught.
2. She enjoys schoolwork now and loves that she can work on something until she is finished and not because the bell rings.
3. My children are much closer now.
4. Honey Nut is starting to really enjoy reading and has a newfound love for it. A subject she used to hate.
5. Trix has a lot less issues with his sensory skills because he is getting the one on one time he needs and I am able to work around his sensory processing issues now that I know what works for him and what does not. He has made HUGE strides!
6. Trix speech is so much better since I have been working with him to the point even my dad who was not thrilled with my decision even mentioned he has noticed a big change in Trix and his communication. I don't need his approval of course but it is nice to know he noticed something we have worked so hard on.
7. Lucky Charms is and has always been very advanced and I knew that if I put him in a public school that unless he was fortunate enough to get a teacher who could make sure she had extra stuff to do for him when he gets through assignments so fast...he would be getting into trouble.
8. My children have learned more about real life as well...I mean the day to day running of a house, they all are able to fold and correctly put away their own laundry at 8,6,and 4.5 years old.
9. We have gone on fun field trips, started up a new hobby called letterboxing, Honey Nut now loves to scrapbook with me and is making one of her work for this year.
10. The best thing I have witnessed is the kids working together instead of fighting all the time. Honey Nut sat down and read to her siblings and the daycare kids the other day without being asked. My favorite thing is when I see them working together in the backyard to build a fort, or play a game.
Well for such a "big decision" I think I did pretty well. Since Hubs was laid off he was actually able to see what we do during the day and he has quit asking me "are you tired of this yet do you want to put them back in school next year?" I think he is a tough one to crack and although I think he is still working on being completely convinced I do believe he has seen the benefits and is a lot softer on the subject now. :) He is really excited when the kids come running up to him to show him one of the things they just completed. For instance Honey Nut just finished her math book, ok so she is at the end of her 2nd grade year and that was the end of the first grade mathbook (it comes in two books) but that is ok because she actually understands it better because she had no idea what she was doing at the beginning of the year with it. we are doing this year round and she is already sailing through the next level and she is not being made to feel bad about it. It actually took me awhile to re teach her the stuff the school glossed over, and made sure she really understood it. now that she does her confidence is much higher, she says she feels smart now. :)
let me make a small disclaimer here. I am not against public schools, in fact I know there are some good ones out there, the one my kids were in was not good, every story I have heard this year from parents going through the same troubles justifies my decision even more, and the school they were in was just not right for OUR family. In fact it is a elementary school in a district that is top in the state. However I am very pro homeschooling, but I know it is not right for everyone it is right for me. :) I love being the one who witnesses it when my kids "get it" in a assignment, or when they are excited about learning about butterflies etc.
Ok this turned into a really really really long post and I need to start the days assignments so I will talk with you all later. I hope everyone has a great long weekend!

The cheerio Queen

wfmw

So this tip I came up with the other day and it has worked WONDERS! I am sure all you moms can relate to the issue of kids getting into the dvd's and either, the dvd's get scratched, lost, or are all over the place because they are not put back properly. We worked really hard with our children to get them to not touch the dvd's however because of the type of shelf we had they would pull out the dvd cases and decide what they wanted to watch, or they would be prone to sometimes trying to pick a movie and put it in on their own. But the real irritation was that the dvd cases were not getting put back right and the shelf always looked messy. So I came up with the idea to get one of those leather bound cd "book" holders that you keep cd's in your car in. So I sent Hubs out to get one. He came back with the case you see above. Not exactly what I had in mind, however I loved it when I found out it has a LOCK! We put all our movies in it by type. i.e. kids movies, comedy, chick flicks, sci fi etc. Then we also made an inventory list on the computer. We wrote numbers on the outside of the pages the cd's are in with a sharpie as to not mark up the cd. When we did the inventory list we put the corresponding numbers to the plastic sleeve page. When the kids want to watch a movie we break out the list and they choose one. Then we flip to that number and whala there is the movie. The best part is no more finger prints on the movies, or scratches etc. It also allows us to control how much they are watching. Even cooler we have a dvd player in the car and so we can just get the case and bring it with us on long trips! So no more mess! Works for me! don't forget to click on the link and check out more cool wfmw ideas!

Ciao!http://rocksinmydryer.typepad.com/shannon/

The Cheerio Queen

May Day challenge

Good Morning everyone! I still have not weighed in because like I said last week I always wait at least two weeks before I get on the scale as the first two weeks of any diet are tough for me. I will say however that I am doing good in the working out dept. I have been going tice a week to my water exercise classes (those are the only days in my schedule to get there I would actually like to go 3 days a week) and in between trying to get out in the yard with the kids more. Although this week has been rainy. In any case I told the kids this weekend I would try and go swimming with them to get in that third day. After I get more used to my workout routine again then I will try and add in two days of walking in between those water exercise classes and the day of swimming with the kids. My goal is to at least have some sort of workout 5 days a week. As for eating I am doing better on portion control. I usually have a slimfast for breakfast, and then either a frozen diet dinner for lunch or something I made for lunch but on one of the kids plates. I try and do that at dinner too. my husband thinks I am nuts. lol I want to go on nutrisystem but it is so pricey. I mainly wanted to do nutrisystem to get the initial weight off and then go back to portion control but we will see. :) Either way I know I am losing a little bit of weight because my clothes fit better. My arms don't feel as flabby either. :) I can also wear my pants without them cutting off the circulation in my waist. Oh the little things we call bliss! oh yeah and here is another thing I have done to help myself...I hate water...I do I don't know why I just don't like it ..it is plain and boring to me. so I finally broke down and got some crystal light. they have lots of flavors and I am still getting my water. For me the lemonade, raspberry ice, and strawberry banana are my fav flavors so far.

Hope everyone else is doing great! Have a great week...I will be busy today as Honey Nut has a girlscout meeting tonight and it gets over half an hour before water exercise, I have to literally drop her off in the driveway and get back over to the pool for my workout! I know if I miss one class it just sets me off. Can't wait to see how everyone else is doing! :) Don't forget to check out everyon else's stories at: http://talesfromthescales.net/

The Cheerio Queen

Monday Meme...

What Your Favorite Color Pink Says About You:

Blissful --- Content --- RomanticIdealistic --- Expressive --- ArtisticFunny --- Quirky --- Individualistic

http://www.blogthings.com/whatdoesyourfavoritecolorsayaboutyouquiz/">What Does Your Favorite Color Say About You?

For me this is right on. I am most of these things. I am told I am creative, energetic, compassionate, loving, maternal, content, happy, always try to see the good side of situations, naive, and very optomistic. :)

Here is the meme: oh and I tag whoever wants to do it. I don't like to tag specific people because some like it and some don't. :) If you do the meme please send me a comment and let me know you did it so I can read your answers....I am also nosey lol. Have a happy productive Monday!

You Can Only Type One Word
Not as easy as you might think.
1. Where is your cell phone? purse

2. Your boyfriend/girlfriend? hot husband!

3. your hair?blonde

4. Your mother? close

5. Your father? grandpa

6. Your favorite thing? family

7. Your dream last night?none

8. Your favorite drink?crystal light

9.Your dream car?1960 corvette

10. The room you're in?family room

11. Your ex? who cares.

12. Your fear? snakes

14. Where were u last night?home

15. What you're not?liar

16. Muffins?blueberry

17. One of your wish list items? suburban

18. Where you grew up? at home

19. The last thing you did? dishes

20. What are you wearing? sweats

21. Your TV? on

22. Your pet or pets? cat

23. Your computer? fast

24. Your life? happy

25. Your mood? good

26.Missing someone?yes

27. blog? Yes!

28. Your car? minivan

29. Your work? family ceo/daycare owner

30. Like someone?yes

31. Chocolate? favorite!

32. Your favorite color? pink

33. When is the last time you laughed? today

Sunday Musings...

Happy Sunday everyone! Of course I am happy..the picture above is what I was doing yesterday! My mom and I went for a "day at the spa" together. We were supposed to do it Mother's Day weekend but they were full so that is ok. we both had gift certifcates so we went together it was in a word AWESOME. Although so I would not feel guilty while indulging in a day there while Hubs was child wrangling...ooops I mean watching the kids lol ...I did deep clean the kitchen.
Honey Nut went with her brownie troop on a horseback trail ride trip that the girls earned after selling so many girlscout cookies this year...they even had enough left over for boots for all the girls...let me tell you I have not gotten Honeynut out of her pink cowgirl boots since she got them.
In any case my mom and I spent a wonderful day at the spa and then afterwards we went out to lunch. I was a little bewildered to find myself coloring on a napkin with a pen because I am so used to helping someone color at resteraunts lol, but otherwise it was a blast! I mean afterall we had massages, facials, manicure, and pedicures. I was so relaxed and in such a good mood when I got home that Hubs is actually considering loosening his wallet a little to make this more then a once in a ten year thing.
I went to sleep at a reasonable time too...thought I would get a good nights sleep..wrong. Trix had the sniffles yesterday and it turned into a full blown cold overnight and Honey Nut was up awake till 4am this morning because she was also stuffy, and not to be outdone Lucky Charms is also stuffy this morning. Of course when I got up at 4am with the other kids I gave them some childrens cherry nyquil so they could breathe and in my sleepwalking did not think about the fact that they were in MY bed when I gave it to them and it is RED and they hate it, and Trix refused to close his mouth after it all went in and he drooled all the medicine out on my sheets and right through to my mattress! So I had to go grab some oxyclean and make a mixture to scrub it out of my mattress before it became permanent. I don't know if you all know or not but it is very hard to put a mattress in the washing machine. go figure.
The kids are missing Sunday School today which upsets them but we promised if they are feeling a little better by afternoon we might still go get them the new sandals they have been begging for. it is an outdoor mall. We were planning on taking them to visit Grandpa and Nana but decided that unlike other family members who shall remain nameless...we don't want to take sick kids or kids with a virus over there and get them sick. It is just rude. I wish the daycare parents I care for would remember that too when they bring their sick kids to daycare lol. So all in all it is a good weekend. I hope you all are having a great weekend. :)

The Cheerio Queen

Lots of news and pics! (long post grab some coffee first)

Trix lost his first tooth!
Happy Friday! ok so if you look to the left I think you can guess what some of our good news is! Trix lost his first tooth yesterday! He also lost his second bottom tooth a couple hours later but we don't know where he lost it he just appeared and said it was lost so we left a note for the tooth fairy explaining that he lost two teeth and not just one. :) Let me tell you , no one has ever seen a child more excited about losing his tooth. You would have thought it was Christmas around here. He had to get on the phone and call Grandpa, Nana, Great Grandma and the milkman....this is huge because Trix hates to talk on the phone. Then last night at bed he was so


Honey Nut's first scrap page!

excited that he was still up at 9:45 when I got home from water exercise waiting for the tooth fairie. He kept asking me...Mommy? how does she get in the house, what color are her eyes, is she nice? Then after I answered all of those he went to bed...finally some peace...not quite. Two minutes later..."Mommy? can we go look on the computer and track where the tooth fairie is and how soon she should be here?" This was because he remembered the Santa Tracker from xmas! You would think being up so late he would sleep in right? NOT! That child was up at 5am grinnning ear to ear proudly clutching a dollar in

Mommy's scrap page

each hand that he received for each tooth and a hand written note by the tooth fairy herself complete with a little glitter over her name. Bless his heart he is so cute...he does not even know that when mommy went to bed after he finally fell asleep that she actually cried just a little because this is her first baby boy and a little bittersweet to see him grow up. I know I am a woos. The Other big news...HUBS GOT A JOB! He has been in lots of interviews but this company came across and Hubs was the only one who fit their qualifications..apparently they have tried others in the position because they needed

kids doing puzzle time

the position filled. The only problem was their pay was quite a bit less then Hubs commands for a salary. Nevertheless he held fast and said I can take a little dip but not as low as your position normally pays. Afterall the medical is good but not as cheap as it was at the other company. We prayed and prayed and prayed for God to find him the right position. Yesterday he got the email proposal...This company loves my hubs...they not only went up over their max but they went up quite a bit higher then even hubs or I expected! The best part? S-T-A-B-L-I-T-Y.
This company has it...the dept hubs is in has 3

Reading time!


total people in it and they have all been there 8 years or longer which is pretty much unheard of in credit. Hubs is a credit analyst. So he took the position and even has two weeks to play around and have fun with no stress of getting a job since he has one now...the position does not start until June 1st. Medical kicks in one month later which is good. Then he just about went into complete euphoria and passed out a few minutes later after he sent the accept email for the position...the reason? The company is having their summer get together in June. They invited Hubs and a guest and it is to a suite at the baseball game! I mean the "suite" where all the hoity toity people sit..it is fully catered and they have lots of other stuff too. How cool is that? I want to thank everyone who prayed for us because we have been able to float along well since Hubs got laid off originally. We have managed to stay afloat and not fall behind which is great. The Lord really did take care of us.
Last but not least the pics I have posted are some of the homeschooling things we have done. The one above is Honey Nut and Lucky Charms during reading time which I am excited to say they are finally becoming avid readers. They like this time. I had to turn them into that they were not born with a natural love for reading which pretty much devastated me because I am a huge reader and grew up in a home were reading is almost a sport. :) Also the pic of my scrap page was when I told Lucky Charms it was time to go home from the park. Even funnier I showed him my page and you know what he said? " Mommy, I don't yike that page, it is not very nice to do that to me" he said this with a huge frown and look of disapproval LOL! Of course Hubs and I fell out laughing. He was not pleased that I showcased the temper tantrum haha. Maybe he will think before he reacts then haha.
Well if you read this far then here is a *cyber cookie* for you....fat free of course for those of us on the may day challenge.

The Cheerio Queen

WFMW

Ok so this is not a new tip but one worth mentioning. :) I have been checking out different cd's from the library for the kids to help "control the mood" so to speak around the house. I noticed that there is more hectic times then others throughout the day around here especially as a homeschooling mom with a full daycare. :) In any case I have always made sure to have mozart on during school work because I for one know it works to help improve math and especially speech. As you all know Trix has sensory integration dysfunction and what tipped me off to the fact that something was not right was the fact that he was not speaking, he was trying but everything he was saying was coming out wrong. If you know me you know that talking is something I am known for. lol Anyway I read about a study where a child was autistic and had years of speech therapy etc but would not speak, then the doc did a controversial "mozart therapy" treatment twice a week where the mother would bring in the child and they would put earphones on the child and play mozart music. In a few months the child started speaking! Clearly too! I figured it was worth a shot. So I started playing it before my son went to school and within 3 weeks my son's teacher called me to ask if I had gotten him speech outside of school because she had noticed a big difference in his speech! One other thing I noticed was that he was calmer and not so "overload on his senses" too. So I dug back into my preschool teacher memories and started experimenting. I have certain music I play for different times of day. Usually when it is creative play like with playdough or gak I put on whatever kids cd I checked out from the library, school work is mozart or some form of classical, lunch time is either smooth jazz, or sometimes I will get quiet time cd's from the library to help transition the kids from activity, to lunch, to quiet time. My kids love music and get a good appreciation for different times. Interestingly enough my son with the sensory issues has the best ear for good music! He is passionate about his worship cd and will dance for an hour if I let him, he also loves big band swing music. :) ok so it is not rocket science but at least my days are not as hectic, I also will play softer music right before we get in the car to go somewhere where I want the kids to behave. It calms them down.
works for me!
The Cheerio Queen

Tuesday 2post!

Ok so after posting the other day about not posting pics of the kids a dear friend emailed me and mentioned that it is not quite as scary as I thought it was. She should know her hubby is a police sergeant and a darn good one too. He also teaches womens self defense courses and he does that out of his own compassion for teaching women knowledge to protect themselves. If your ever in my area let me know and I will find out when his next class is. He is great...he mostly teaches you statistics as well as some moves. I totally trust what he and my friend said so I decided since I have the new camera and am so

Lucky Charms reaction to having to go home from the park! lol




excited about some of the pics I have been taking with it that I would show off my angels. Hope you like the pics! I am pretty partial of course so I think they are adorable but here are the pics and get used to me being the overly proud mommy who shows off 7 million obnoxious pics of her kids lol!Thanks Jess!







My sweet boys...arent' they cute?

















Honey Nut posing for mommy :)
















Trix...gotta love that face!

Till Next Time!
The Cheerio Queen

Tales from the scales...

Hello everyone,

Just checking in on my weight loss challenge. I am not sure I lost any weight this week because I did not weigh in yet. The reason being, the first two weeks I don't like to check the scales. I like to focus on eating healthier and starting and exercise program. :) You can read down below about my choice in water exercise and how that first class went. I am eating much better. I picked up slimfast again for breakfast. Hey it works for me, I also usually either eat whole wheat pasta for lunch, or whatever frozen diet dinner is on sale this week..usually weight watchers. The reason I chose these is because I am super busy during the day and am more likely to stick to healthier eating if I don't have to think ahead and pre cook something, or get to where I am hungry and then start looking in the cabinets and hoping I don't find something that is not so good for me. This is tough for someone who is still praying every day that they declare chocolate a food group of its own. *blush* I do try and use portion control any other time except for when we went out for lunch the other day to celebrate mothers day and we stopped by claim jumpers and I had to have the cheeseburger so I did not dissappoint the kids who were "taking mom out". If you don't know their cheeseburgers are not exactly the same size as the 99 cent ones at mcdonalds. They are HUGE. To my defense though I was not able to eat all of that or all of the fries and decided to take them home for later ...waste not want not you know. But when we got home and I went to have it for dinner later...the kids had eaten it, ok so I was not so thrilled but at least it helped keep me on the right track. I will go to water exercise again tonight. I do have a quick tip for portion control though, I know a lot of people use kids plates for dinner because they are sectioned off , but I use the left over cleaned out containers that the frozen diet meals come in! Hey who knew they are not just good for holding finger paint?

Good luck to everyone who is posting today! I hope everyone has a success story! and if you don't that is ok we are still with you anyway! I do feel a lot better today then I did last posting day. :)

Be sure to check out the May Day Weight loss challenge over at :http://talesfromthescales.net/

Till Next Time!

The Cheerio Queen

Happy Monday. :) a picture and a weekend update!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day! I know I did. Here is a recap of my weekend.

Saturday is when we spent most of the day celebrating early Mother's Day. It was a chance for us to get out as a family and just hang out together. When you run a home daycare it makes these times so much more special...the kids wake up and ask "Is their daycare kids today Mommy?" I always say nope it is a "mommy daddy day" . We headed out with a mission. Daddy needed a new suit. It was an investment he has been wanting to make for sometime and since he is still interviewing we thought this would be a good one. Clothes really do make the person and the difference when you are commanding a lot higher salary then say a gig at a second rate restaurant (no offense to people who work at restaurants by the way lol). After some searching and speaking with a very nice salesperson , and a little sticker shock we finally picked out a great suit for DH. I told him not only are we investing in a suit for interviews and work but now he will be taking me out to restaurant's on date night that do NOT have a drivethru! :) After that we headed out to the mall to see about hitting some sales because of course we have been suddenly having unusually warm weather a lot earlier this year and the kids have outgrown everything they wore last summer so last week with it being so warm they were pretty cranky because they had to wear pants. Which brings me to my next question and one that may spark a little debate. Hopefully not.

Here goes: Girls....when I was pregnant the first time I was so excited to find out I was having a girl. My dreams of pink, yellow, and lavender bows, and frilly dresses, patent leather shoes etc. were running rampant in my mind. Oh I could think of all the cute outfits she could wear. And since she is my only girl...boy did she! From newborn to size 6x that is. Then when she moved up to size 7 I went into cardiac arrest one day when I took her out shopping for a dress. I noticed this once before when she turned 5 and started kindergarten but there was still more cute clothes then the alternative. The alternative being "hoochie mama" clothes. Explain to me what possible benefits could come from an 8 year old girl wearing something that I as an adult in my mid twenties and single would not wear? What good is it to allow my daughter wear a pair of 24 dollar shorts, that in all reality I could accomplish the same thing with a 5 dollar pack of princess underwear at walmart and in those packs you get at least 6 pairs...they both cover up the same amount of skin. I am not sure what they are charging us for with these clothes...there is hardly any fabric used. one thread is not enough for my daughter who I am trying to raise with some dignity, and taste. The dresses if you can find them are either the fabric consistency of a belly t-shirt, or a flower girl dress (and even those are starting to look a lot sexier), the skirts are short but the salesperson who was about 10 explained to me that it is still tasteful because they have built in shorts underneath. ????? built in shorts underneath? Skirts should not have to require that just to be acceptable. Frankly I don't care of the shorts were sewn onto triple thick tights with shorts...they are still too short! Not only that but the shirts...low cut? What 8 year old had bo&bs that are big enough to pull off that look? Don't get me wrong I know some girls develop very early these days ( a fact my mom brought up at church yesterday when Honeynut was singing and standing next to a girl who was about 9 and she was developing already..I pray for her mom)but there is no need to wear a shirt like that. Call me old fashioned but I miss cute dresses like drop waist dresses, and dresses that went down to *gasp* girls knees? Don't even get me started on the stilettos they are calling dress shoes for girls. ugh. I think I need to get a sewing machine and teach myself how to sew, this way I can make cute dresses that are not necessarily conservative but appropriate.

Lastly and this is a long post I know...yesterday was Mom's day as you all know, we all went to church and Honeynut sang with her leadership team at fellowship time. This was great especially because she tends to get nervous and panic at the last second, so when she did none of that but actually sang where you could here her you can bet I was clapping the loudest in the room for her. :) My Mom came to see her sing and she loved that. I received two treasure boxes from the boys when they were in Sunday school yesterday that they had decorated and put in a little slip of paper that said "I love my mom because" and the teacher filled in their answers. Then Honeynut made me a darling teapot card with a bag of tea in it. :) , and boy did I get a surprise when Hubs gave me my mothers day present from him and the kids...a new digital camera!!! I mean a NICE digital camera! So when you start seeing pics on here that is why. :) Sorry none of them will be of the kids. My blog is public and it is amazing how many weirdos and stalkers, out there. (I just don't want to take a chance lol) In any case the pic of the duck at the top of the page was taken by my new camera!

I finally ended the day with going to pick up hubs new suit which had to be altered and the kids came with me (yes I wanted it that way lol) and as I was driving down the road I noticed it got quiet...I looked behind me in the backseat and all three of my reasons for being a proud proud mommy ...where fast asleep . I thanked God for the many blessings he has given me and said a silent happy mothers day to myself. :)

Hope all your days were great!

The Cheerio Queen

Happy Friday!

Ok so in going with the may day weight loss challenge...I decided to go back to what works for me. Water Aerobics! I cannot say enough about this. It is how I lost all the baby weight from my 1st and 2nd pregnancies, although I did not go back to it after I had baby #3 and since he is now 4.5 I guess I just cannot say it is "baby weight" anymore lol. Last night I huffed and puffed and squeezed my way into my suit it was late..the class I am taking goes from 8:30-9:30. :) Gee I am such a party girl. I walked into the pool and took my place on the bench with the towel wrapped around my waist...no need to gross out and scare other people with my stark white legs, and jelly roll in the middle...making it look as though my swimsuit was blousing almost. ick. When it was our turn to get in the pool I realized there is a difference between the last time I did this and this time. Last time it was in the shallow end, but this time it is in the deep end...I am guessing it is probably better for the workout because in the deepend you are always moving to stay afloat, but when they said here put these W-E-I-G-H-T-S on your ankles I was starting to get suspicious! I quickly glanced over to the instructor to see if she was the person I might have accidentally cut off in traffic while I was looking for that all important lipstick because you have to look pretty when you sweat and huff and puff. Nope was not her. It turns out these keep you from sinking in the deep end. They forgot to mention they make you float too. I get into the lukewarm water and the instructor in her cute little perky 18 year old voice says "ok lets run and punch!" excuse me? I signed up for water aerobics again so I would not have to run. Plus how do you run in water with weights on? hmmm ok I will give it a try. I did, maybe not fast but I did move eventually. at one point we were instructed to cross country ski in the water while pretending to pull a rope with our hands out of the water...oh and we were supposed to be moving during this. I vaguely remember admitting to another classmate...well I am cross country skiing but I don't know if I am moving or not...does letting the movement of the water swoosh you forward count? My favorite part has to be when I finally am able to move and get a good groove going and the perky little instructor says "ok! now turn around and go the opposite way!" of course because now all the water is comign at me and I am trying to keep my head above the water and not drown, but hey I am still moving. Finally after 9 hours oops I mean 15 minutes, we switched to a few other exercises. At the end we moved the ankle weights up to our arms and put the hand water dumbells under our knees and did crunches...ok i have to admit this is my favorite part because these are crunches I can actually do! In fact in all honesty most of the exercises I do in the water...I could never do out of it without kicking myself in the head, or passing out that is. There is something about water that makes us feel graceful, perhaps it is the wild splashing to keep ourselves afloat, or the chlorine in our eyes from the passing avid exerciser who is ten times faster then everyone else, or perhaps it is the fact that we have like zero weight in the water...that is until we get OUT of the water. When we do that it feels like we gained ten pounds. Either way although my arms are a bit sore today mainly because I overdid it myself, I do feel better after having a workout and I met one new lady who was about the only one there last night over 20 and she is actually right where I am at so it is nice to have someone to keep me going and motivated. I will still go back. My plan is to attend two days a week and on saturdays I am going to take the kids swimming. that way I get 3 days a week in the water, add that to portion control and hopefully in a couple months I will start to resemble myself again instead of the supersized me. :) I hope everyone has a good weekend and most of all a Happy Mothers Day!

The Cheerio Queen

TAGGED!

Yesterday was a great day! the boys both did well at gymnastics although Lucky Charms did not listen as well as normal because his coach was at nationals and the fill in teacher does not command as much discipline as his regular coach does. :) Then afterwords Trix was dropped off at the school for speech and occupation. Then last night we finally went grocery shopping. We have been going through and cleaning out our cabinets and eating the stuff that has been sitting in there awhile..some of it was pretty good and none of us got food poisining so I guess that is good. But we needed a BIG shopping trip so after daycare kids left Hubs, and kids and I went shopping and filled up our cupboards. After the kids went to bed and I had put all groceries away I looked at my full cupboards, full fridge, clean house, and happy sleeping children and content hubs and thanked God for how he has provided for us so well since hubs has been out of work. No he has not found work yet but in a way it has been good because my dad had his gall bladder out this week which kind of came up rather suddenly and hubs has been available to help out. My parents own a company and hubs has been out helping do service calls and keeping things going while dad recooperates so I know God had this in his plan. :) I do wish he would work a little more on our time as far as revealing what hubs next job will be but as my Pastor says...God works on HIS time not ours. That does not stop me from praying that he please "speed his time" up a little. However like I said if I stand back and look at our life right now I can see that he is doing a LOT of work on it and so I will continue to be grateful for what he has done so far. We are not in the streets, our kids are clothed, happy, we have groceries, a nice place to live etc. So things could be a lot worse. When I was upset about Trix having such a serious seizure a couple weeks ago I received a phone call from another mom friend of mine who is a first year homeschooler as well...when I asked her how she was doing with it etc. she said great but then she told me about one of her sons who had fallen off a ski lift 2.5 stories off...miraculously he survived, he broke his neck and is in a neck brace and has had a lot of physical therapy, a lot of doc visits, etc. But I realized then that my situation with Trix could have been so much worse, yet he was completley over his seizure etc. I prayed and thanked God for taking care of trix and of my friends son who is by the way doing much better and should be getting the neck brace off soon. :) Well i should finish up with my tag and get going...today is library day and I am thinking about the park too because we have been having some of the most beautiful weather here adn I want to take advantage of it.:) If I am feeling really domestic today I just might pack a picnic lunch too!




How cool I have been tagged by Mom Tu Tu for this so here is my answers. I have done these before but never actually been tagged so thanks Mom Tu Tu for including me lol. :) I am part of the "popular mom blog group" now! haha

7 random/weird/habits or things about me:

1. I have to sleep with my head covered in the comforter. Don't ask me why I know it is weird. maybe subconciously I am blocking out the kids? Of course I passed the habit onto Trix he does it too. lol

2. I pray every day for chocolate to become an actual food group. I am not kidding. One has to have their priorities you know.

3. my sign is cancer and hubs sign is aquarius ...according to astrology charts we are not compatible lol although I can tell you after being married for 9 and together for 10 years we are very compatible ...but I still believe in astrology.

4.this is not news to anyone who knows me but I am about the most maternal person you will find.

5. in highschool I was called "mrs. cleaver" as a nickname. I am not kidding

6. in highschool my girlfriends voted me "most likely to drive a minivan"...nice now but not the image you want in highschool.

7. I am addicted to memes/surveys. I am thinking about starting a 12 step program for them.

8. I know it says 7 random things but I am making number 8. I tag...whichever one of my readers wants to do the tag...the reason being I am still slow in blogging and have not figured out how to link anyone elses blog to mine without just putting in their URL. Like when you see other people blogs and you see them talk about another blog and so you click on their name insteaad of the url address and it takes you to their blog. If I ever figure out how watch out my blogging friends! I will be sending readers your way! ;)

The Cheerio Queen

WFMW

Hi all just a quick tip since I cannot think of any good big tips today. Lucky Charms was up last night coughing and kept me up. It never ceases to amaze me how such a little guy can cough for so long, be in a dead sleep and STILL refuse to take his cough medicine without requiring me to basically sit on him and pry his mouth open lol. I felt so bad for him though my little angel.

anyway onto today's tip. :) This one is a cooking one. When making grilled sandwiches, or quesadillas or anything requiring you to butter the outsides of the bread or tortilla before you put it in the skillet....I use the butter SPRAY instead of spreading thick messy butter on both sides of the bread. This way you still get the golden color but without getting your counter, hands, whatever...messy. I simply put the sandwich together spray the top of it with butter spray, and then turn it upside down in the skillet, then while in the skillet I spray the other side. The advantage of this is that some of the butter sprays they have out there are in different flavors like butter garlic spray. Also these sprays are easier to put on in moderation! Works for me!

Till next time,

The Cheerio Queen

May Day Weight Loss Challenge

Ok so I am hopping on board for this one. It is good to have motivation and other success stories or "been there done that " stories are always helpful. :) Let's see they said we are supposed to give history so here goes. My history with weight actually did not start until after I had kids. Before kids...my youth etc. I was one of those "never worked out, ate anything she wanted" people. Don't hate me it was just my metabolism I guess...and besides boy did I pay the price after my first child was born. For the first time i was in a size 12. Now before you club me over the head and tell me how many people would love to be in a size 12 you have to remember that when your a size 4-6 all your life...going to a twelve is a BIG deal. (pun intended) lol. I am only about 5'4 which is not super short but it is not tall either. After I had my daughter I joined water aerobics and for me that was the ticket. I had tried walking, running (what a joke I run a block and need oxygen plus it blows out my knees) sit ups, yoga etc. But I joined water aerobics and in the water I felt graceful and I know that there is no way i could do half of what I do in water that could be done outside of water lol. Anyway within about 2 to 3 months I was back to pre-pregnancy size and shape. I even was in Parenting magazine by the way. I was renewing my subscription online one day and they had one of those surveys asking how you lost the baby weight so I typed in water exercise. They thought it was cool and asked me to write a small story on it and sent me a camera to take after pics. Trouble was...just as I hit that perfect size and weight I got pg with Trix. lol But I sent them in anyway and I have a cool article with a pic of me and Honey nut for her baby book. Anyhow after I got pg with Trix I went from regular water exercise to a prenatal water exercise class and worked out my whole pregnancy. I did not want to make the same mistake I made with Honey Nut thinking that since I had always been able to eat whatever and not work out and gain an ounce that I would only gain "baby weight". Besides in the prenatal water exercise class they had a pregnancy safe hot tub and since us ladies could no longer fit in our bathtubs we used that as our motivation to go to class twice a week. :) You should have seen the water level in that hot tub rise as we all eagerly dove head first in it after class. After Trix was born the weight just shed off. When he was about 7 weeks I went back to working part time at night and had no time for the water exercise class but tried to watch what I ate. Then I got pregnant with Lucky Charms. I tried to do the water exercise with him but again I was working at night and made excuses not to go during the day. After I had him I lost some weight but not as much as I wanted to but I did not try that hard either. I reasoned that I had 3 kids in 4 years and they were all under 5 so I was too busy. I was also to busy to eat right too. Trouble is by this time I was pushing 30 and once I added the third child into the mix it shot my metabolism to crud. So I could not longer eat anything I wanted without paying the price. I also added heartburn to that too so the spicy foods I liked so much were not sitting well. Hmm who knew finishing off the kids mac and cheese and dinosaur chicken nuggets would not help with my weight LOSS??? Now I am faced with the fact that my "baby" is 4.5 going on 45 and I can no longer call it "baby weight" with a straight face that is. Also another motivator is my well meaning mom who recently lost a bunch of weight on her own by joining and training for a body building competition for women over 50 (no i will not say her exact age if she reads this she will die just knowing I said she was over 50..she looks like she is in her early 40's), I say well meaning because as she was losing weight and could not longer fit into her larger clothes she was giving them to me! I know she meant well but I did not want those clothes and took them to be nice but even more loathed the idea when I realized I FIT those clothes. uggh. So anyway my pity party is over and I realize that I am the only one who is responsible for my health, and weight. I eat pretty well especially since I have been trying to keep candy away from my house. I am home all day with kids so it is easy to just run to the kitchen when it is right there next to the table we home school at. I usually take recipes I like and try and find ways to cut the fat out of them. I have added a lot more whole wheat to my diet etc. I thought about following the south beach diet because I have a friend who followed that and she looks AWESOME (yes Jess I am talking about you :)) but she also works really hard at the gym too. Since I have a home daycare I cannot go during the day but for me since Water aerobics has worked so well (the resistance of the water and all) I am going to go back to that starting Thursday. It is on Tues. and Thurs evenings however tonight I have a brownie meeting for Honey Nut and since I am one of the leaders it is not fair to just ditch them lol. My goal is to lose about 25 - 30 pounds to be healthy and fit into my clothes. It would be nice to open up those vacuum sealed bags I just put all my cute thin clothes into. :) I will go ahead and post here on Tuesdays with every one else to let you know how I am doing. oh and GOOD LUCK to the other participants! Don't forget to stop by and check out the other stories or join up at : http://www.talesfromthescales.net/

Hopefully thinner,

The Cheerio Queen

Recipe and silly boy stories...

Ok...so the other day I wrote a post on Gooey Gunk that the kids played with and in one of those "fried mommy brain" moments I forgot that most people might want the recipe for that DUH! lol

I got this from a magazine like book calle "The Fantastic Book of Kid Concoctions" by John E. & Danita Thomas. What a great book...they even have recipes for sidewalk chalk in there. :) how cool i sthat?

Gooey Gunk
Solution A :
1 cup water
1 cup white glue (not washable)
2tbs. liquid tempera paint or 7-10 drops of food coloring (I used food coloring it worked great)
Solution B:
1 1/3 cups warm water
4 tsp powdered borax laundry booster

1. Mix ingredients in solution A together in a medium bowl.
2.In a second medium bowl, mix the ingredients in solution B together until the borax is completely dissolved.
3. Slowly pour solution A into solution B (DO NOT MIX!)
r. Roll solution A around in solution B 4-5 times.
5. Lift solution A out of solution B and knead for 2-3 minutes.
6. Store Gunk in an airtight container or plastic ziplock bag.

Note: when I made this...the reason they say don't stir is because as soon as you put solution A into solution B it will gel up. Also I store mine in a ziplock back but if you have old playdough containers this gunk stores very well in there and if you have boys they will love it stored this way because as you pack it back in the playdough container...it "farts" or makes a noise just like that. My brilliant geniuses just love playing with it by putting it in and out of the container to see who can make the loudest noise. lol So comforting to know these guys will someday be taking care of us and choosing our nursing home isn't it??

On that subject..boys...they are adorable but G-R-O-S-S. It is no coincidence that the saying goes "boys are made of frogs and snails and puppy dog tails" lol. My boys fit this description to a T. I wrote earlier this week about how touched I was that my older son who has sensory issues was actually playing the "big brother" part and reading to his younger brother and younger daycare boy...and how they were laughing and then I realized why...not for the joy of the book but for getting to talk about dog poo, dirty diapers, and ugly underwear. Well just when I thought they could not top that they did.
They were out on the trampoline pummeling...oops I mean playing together when I noticed they were playing what I thought was tag...one of the boys would reach out and try and touch one of the other boys on the shoulder but the other boy would run away...upon looking closer I realized they were not exactly playing tag...I leaned out the door to listen closer and realized they had declared Booger war on each other! They were actually trying to wipe boogers on each other and the funny thing is even though I was trying not to toss my cookies while informing them that this was NOT an appropriate game to play...they really seemed surprised they were having fun and not hurting anyone or anything, they were also laughing those full belly chuckle laughs that boys get when they are having a blast with no cares in the world. They had no idea Mommy was trying to save them from G-E-R-M-S. But hey maybe they are onto something who knows lol. Afterwords I checked on them again. They were back to laughing as well and having fun and i kept hearing a noise (this was while i was making lunch) ..I checked outside to see them blowing raspberries on their arm to see who could make the loudest fart noise again. I give up.
I just have to accept that my sweet baby angels who cuddle up to me when they do not feel good, and even sometimes ask me to marry them, are still gross little boys who like gross things, and nothing I do to "head it off at the pass" is going to change that lol. I love them anyway they are and can be icky, gross, have bad habits etc. but they are mine and think they are talented, creative, incredibly funny, and charming. I can hardly wait for the undewear on the head dancing to start...I just hope it is at least clean.

till next time
The Cheerio Queen

WFMW (birthday edition)

Good morning! I have 2 tips to go into this.

With three children who go to parties all the time it gets expensive not only for the gifts but for the wrappings too. Whoever invented gift bags is an angel sent by God strictly to Mom's! lol Anyway I do two things to make this easier and more affordable. The first tip is during the year especially after xmas and other holidays I pickup toys on clearance...usually I get some that i know are hits for the year and for both boys and girls and I have an actual "toy space" in my closet so when we get those invites I don't have to break the bank running out to buy a gift at regular retail. I usually pick things that can be used a lot and anything that encourages "family time" such as puzzles, games, movies (I have been known to make movie baskets) etc. This way I know it is something the birthday child will love and can use. ;) My 2nd tip is one of my favorites. I not only reuse the gift bags (come on we all do lol) but instead of wasting money on tissue paper I actually use empty grocery bags to fill in the gift bag. It is cheap and also helps out the parents of the birthday child by creating a "self cleaning" gift. The kids can take out the grocery bags after taking out gift and use the grocery bags for cleaning up any bows, wrapping paper,empty card envelopes etc. Or they can use it to hold the "little parts" of gifts, or one to hold the gift cards. I found this tip by mistake when I ran out of tissue paper one year and was in a panic so I stuffed it with that and was about to apologize to the birthday girls mom for such a tacky filler when she got all excited and realized how she could use them. She still thanks me for that "tip". Little does she know it was my blunder lol! I do it all the time now.

Works for me!

The Cheerio Queen

Gooey Gunk and other stuff...

Happy Tuesday everyone. I know your curious about the title with "gooey gunk" in it. This is a silly putty like product I made for the kids to play with. It is similar to playdough except it feels like jello but does not stick to your hands. In fact it is a cross between playdough and silly putty. I LOVE this stuff! It is great sensory for the kids to play with, and it does not stick to the floor like playdough does either. The cool thing about this stuff is it reforms itself after you play with it. like if you cut it with playdough scissors and then stick it in a bag in pieces it will reform itself to one big glob again. Very science like if you ask me. ;) I got the recipe from the childrens director at church and finally got it made up. The kids are having a blast with it...especially since it is called "gooey gunk" hehe.
Today we did school and Honey Nut finished her 3 pages of math right away first and then moved on to spelling. She is loving the webpage "spelling time" that I posted about earlier. If I can ever remember which blog I read about that on I will give proper credit where it is due. I am eternally grateful to the other blogger who mentioned it. I read too many blogs I think. haha.
The boys are doing great with their handwriting and picking it up fast. I also figured out with the right books and especially if they are from the library the boys are getting more into reading. Who would have thought that the book has to come from the library to be "cool" . Hey I am just happy they are getting into it I come from a family of hardcore readers. I LOVED reading when I was little and still do. I also love reading to the kids. Honey Nut and I have been reading "Little House on the Prairie" lately and she loves it. Right now she is more of a "want to be read to" reader but I am hopeful. I think I need to dig out the pizza hut coupons I got for reading. I am also thinking about making an incentive chart as another alternative. For every so many pages she reads she gets a point and when she gets say 15 points or so then she can do something special. For instance she wants desperately to go to the dollar tree and pick out some more special girly makeup with her Nana ...she has her own makeup bag at nana's house and they do makeup when she is there. So I am thinking of making it so she can earn that trip.
The boys are into this book called "I Stink"...I am not kidding. It really is called that lol. It is by Jim Mcmullen and it is all about a garbage truck. I was touched this morning when I saw my older son who usually uses books only to whack his younger brother with...actually reading it to him this morning and they had one of the daycare kids up there too. I thought oh how sweet he is reading and they are laughing. ...but then I heard him naming the stuff off that the garbage truck in the book "eats" and realized the reason he was so eager to read it was so he could talk about the dirty diapers, and puppy poo the garbage truck takes away along with the ugly underwear . No wonder he was so eager to read...but hey it is a start and if he can find joy out of a book even if it's main content is about gross boy stuff well then so be it. :)
Today has been good so far...hubs is on another interview...please keep him in your prayers. One of the jobs he was hoping to get a call back on called today to say they hired someone else which was a little discouraging but I know it will happen when it is supposed to. :) The kids are done with their schoolwork and are upstairs watching a movie for quiet time so the little ones can take their naps. Pretty soon I am going to get off here and start dinner prep so when my afterschool daycare charge gets here I can give him my full attention. I don't know if I ever mentioned this before but he is special needs..he is such a great kid and so fun to have but he does require quite a bit of attention for the hour he is here and it make it hard to get dinner on the table on time if I don't do prep work. Plus I just realized it is super quiet upstairs and even though my little ones are watching a movie supposedly I think they need to be checked on. :) Hope your Tuesday is going great!

The Cheerio Queen