Pots 'N Pens

I'm blogging over on Pots 'N Pens today with a yummy treat. Go check it out and look for an update about what has happened in my chaos. Wow, way too much. You know that saying what doesn't kill you makes you stronger? Yeah, well I'm could win Mrs. Freaking Ironman for life after this. See you all later.

 

The ZOO

A few weeks back we took the kids to the zoo. They had a blast. It was so much fun seeing Riot's reaction to the animals. His favorite were the giraffes and tigers, of kitties as he called them. Seth freaked out when he saw the bears and the polar bear swimming around. Paisley fell in love the the seals and sea lions. Dom liked it all and said it was too much fun to pick one.

We goofed off at the drinking fountain and acted like it was eating us. Even Jess joined in on the laughs at how the kids were loving the carousel. I love these kinds of memories.

A bunch of monkeys watching a bunch of monkeys.

 

AHHHH! It's gunna eat us!

 

Dom showing Riot the elephants.

 

Rhinos!

 

This was a lucky shot. The seal swam by just as the photo snapped.

 

The bears, the bears!

 

Riot kept calling, "Kitty kitty." Seth told him, "No, kitty." and showed him they grawl. Riot now rawrs at cats.

Seth and his wolf.

Not too happy to be in this photo.

Jess' attempt at a family photo. Close.

 

Seth's New Bike

I just realized I never updated about the kids' lemonade stand. If you are a Facebook friend then you have read this but for those that aren't here you go! It was a successes. HUGE! They had people come from as far as Brigham City and numerous others from Cache Valley as well ad our own area here in Franklin County. Dom and Paisley were so grateful for the support and turn out, meeting well beyond their goal of $400.

The two worked very hard and sold over 1,600 cups of lemonade and dozens upon dozens of baked goods. All within 4 hours. That night we had Seth pick the bike he wanted. The only set back, the company only made the model he liked in blue. Though out this time the only request Seth asked for was the bike to be the color green.

Two very nice Facebook friends instantly offered they knew of two guys, Kevin and Derek Atkinson, that would paint the bike the perfect color for Seth. When we told Seth his bike was going to be green, he smiled and shouted,"Green!"

The bike came and was painted. When we picked up the painted parts, Seth couldn't stop smiling. He couldn't wait to get home and put the bike together.

 

Finally the time had come to ride. Seth smile was contagious to anyone who saw it. I'll admit, I cried seeing him so happy. Dom and Paisley jumped on their bikes and took off along side him. After they got back, they both told Jess and I that selling lemonade was the best thing ever and they would do it again just to see their brother that happy.

They finally get to ride all together again.

 

First Day of School!

School started today and it couldn't have come at a better time. The kids were starting to bicker non-stop. They were even getting excited to start a new year. We'll see how long the excitement lasts as the homework gets sent home and strict bedtime of 8pm. Seth wouldn't let me get a photo of him today so you only get to see the two middle kids. And, I'm lucky to have gotten Dom. I had to howler at him to come back after he rode off on his bike. You'll see how much he loves getting his photo taken below. Such a boy. Hey, can't blame him. I HATE getting my picture taken as well.

 

Dom first day of 4th grade. And apparently it's no longer cool for mom's pictures.

 

Paisley's first day of 1st grade. I can't believe how big she is getting!

 

 

Snack Time

Having a snack on the kitchen floor. All is well and calm.

Seconds after I take the picture...Seriously!

OOPS!

Hey mom! It's fun to scatter these around with my hands! Notice behind him Paisley thinks this is hilarious.

And it just get better...

PLAYING WITH MY FOOD ROCKS!

Pretty Awesome!

Hello everyone! I have two announcements to make, one big and one not as big but still makes me happy.

First the big! This Saturday (yes, tomorrow) two of my children, Dom and Paisley, are having a lemonade stand up at Stokes Marketplace's parking lot from 11-2 and get a cold cup of lemonade. This isn't just a regular lemonade stand and this is why...

A few weeks back Dom came to me pretty upset. At recess a kid teased (I'll be nice and call it that) Dominic about his older brother, Seth, and called him a very hurtful word that starts with "R". Dom and I talked for a few minutes and he calmed down. Later that night he asked if he could make a YouTube video to tell his point of view towards his brothers and sister. With the help of my sister-in-law, Dom made his video.


Just days later Dom and Paisley wanted to find a way to earn money, actually work, so they could help buy their brother a specially adapted bike for Seth. I had to support them in this. What kids come to their parents and ASK to WORK for money? Then not want to use the money for themselves but get their brother something that would make him happy. I'd say some pretty awesome and unselfish kids, that's who.

The two asked the grocery store manager if they could use the parking lot and gained permission. I posted the event on Facebook and bought ingredients to make some juice. Well, the events invited grew to over 1000 in two days and so far over 100 people have replied to come. We made another trip to the store and bought some more lemonade.

A local newspaper contacted me a few days after the Facebook post and asked to run the story. This brings us to the second announcement. The editor of Cache Magazine allowed me to write the article. I'm published! Here is the link to the write up in Cache Magazine.

So there you have it.

If you get thirsty tomorrow, I hear it's going to be in the high 80's, come up and get a cup of lemonade.

How It Feels

My son made a clip to help explain to others what its like to be the only sibling who doesn't have Fragile X Syndrome. Watch and enjoy.

I miss those warm summer days when you could just take a nap outside. Glad my son could enjoy it.

One Year Old!

Riot turned 1!

 

I can't believe how fast this time has gone. Here are some highlights of his party.

One of his presents was a mini baby grand piano. He LOVES it! We think he looks like the Peanuts character, Schroeder, because Riot gets all intense when he plays.

When we sang Happy Birthday Riot didn't know what to think. You can tell by the expression on his face he's not for sure if he likes it or not.

And the cake smash! Now this he loved. By the time he was done all you could see were two blue eyes peeping through a frosting covered head.



A Wild Girl

A lady stopped me at the super market the other day and complimented me on "how well of a mother I turned out to be." I smiled and told her thank you. As I grabbed a loaf of bread off the shelf she spoke up again. "I really thought you were going to turn out to be a single mother living off welfare." This took me by surprise and everything I had to keep a grin on my face. I couldn't believe she had said this to me.

I calmly said, "I guess everyone can be full of surprises." Trying to get a way from her, I stepped away and acted like I was trying to decide between creamy or chunky peanut butter. It didn't work. She followed me.

"I mean you were so wild. And your husband. Boy, with the background he came from you would never know by the way you two are so close to the church." She leaned against the handle of her shopping cart.

Now, it's one thing to say something about me, but bad mouth my husband, you're going to have a problem. I did stay calm but only because we were in a public place. The only thing that came to mind that I should do is kindly excuse myself. Which I did by making up that I had to hurry and get my daughter to dance practice.I checked out without getting the rest of the items I'd gone in there for.

For the rest of the day I couldn't get what this lady had said to me out of my mind. After I got the kids to bed and was rocking my baby to sleep, I thought about my younger days.

Yes, there was ONE YEAR in Jr. high that I made a few bad choices, but had long since made peace about them with the Big Man upstairs. In high school, I did have a steady boyfriend that I married. I mean yeah, I did stupid things with a few of my friends like t-p the Biology teacher a few times, but really who hasn't toilet papered someones house before. I never partied because I was on the drill team, a cheerleader, or played on the school softball team and had random weekly drug tests. I worked or had dance class every night of the week so I didn't have any time to do anything. But, I ended up a teen mom though, so maybe that was what she meant. I did marry the father of my baby and he is wonderful. In my honest opinion, the best. And for his back ground? What, that he didn't grow up in the church makes him a lost cause? I don't think so. He is very faithful and honest in his daily doings and in his marriage. 

After going through this mental list, I couldn't understand what was so "wild" about me or what I did. I realized whatever she thought I did didn't matter, because in my eyes I wasn't wild. This just showed me that there are still some very judgmental people.

I consider myself a very religious person and this judgement that was being held over me bothered me. I hope that you all know I DON'T judge anyone. It's not my place nor my right and I'm very thankful for that. I think what make a person good or bad is how they treat the ones they are around and their honesty. There are people who have done bad things to themselves and others. I'm not going to go out of my way and be friends with them. I'll be kind when I come into direct contact with them but I'm not going to look at them and think that there's no hope for them. I'll let our Maker do that.

So, what I guess I'm saying is I don't give two hoots what you think of me because I know what kind of a person I am. And that is what counts to me.    

An Illegal Name?

I've been busy writing away on a story lately (between cleaning up barf- see previous post), and developed a new character. As all characters in a story, it needed an name. The typical Bill or Steve wasn't fitting either so I turned to my number one helpful tool, Google.

Looking over the links I found an article that was titled 10 Illegal Baby Names. Yes, I had to read this. It started out mentioning at the beginning of 2011, the Pope declared war on naming babies after celebrities, fruit, or popular sports cars. In an address to parents he asked that when thinking of baby names, they should 'give your children names that are in the Christian calendar'. Here's a link to the original article where it goes on to talk about what names are illegal in what countries.10 Illegal Baby Names

Good thing I'm not Catholic, because I highly doubt he would have agreed to my last baby's name.

I agree that some of the names mentioned were bad but then some were fine. Reasoning's for these authorities rejected the names because; they cause offence, could cause the child to have self esteem issues and/or insecurity, weren't keeping with religious traditions of their country, or in the case of Germany, if the name doesn't clearly show if the child is a boy or girl it isn't allowed. Boy, that one would be a problem here. I know quite a few names that started out for boys then used for girls and vise versa.

In Japan, the name Akuma was rejected because it means Devil. I don't know if I would want to name my child after Lucifer but to each their own. But, what about the couples that name their child after Christ? I don't personally know of any people name "Christ" but I do know a Jesus (Spanish pronunciation Hay-Seuss).

Personally, I like original/unique names. I also like classic ones like Charlotte, Olivia, Benson, and Mathew.My husband and I chose unique names (to us) but spelled them as they sounded. That was another reason names were refused. creative spelling. Our reasoning was so who ever saw the name could pronounce it correctly. But you know what. My son, Dominic, still gets the occasional Dom-a-nique.

If America ever adopted this I think there would be a lot of citizens getting name changes. With that, I want to tell my children, Seth, Dominic, Paisley, and Riot I hope you enjoy your names.  

Oh, No.

Last week I quit nursing my baby. Well, he just turned one a few days ago so I guess he isn't a baby-baby any more. About six months ago we found out he is allergic to bananas, not a fun day on that one, so I'm really picky when I give him foods. This kids wants to eat all the time too. Being 12 months old, we did a straight transition from breastfeeding to sippy cup. He did okay during the day but since he still wakes up two times in the night he wants a bottle, not that cup.

When my other kids turned one, I gave them cows milk in their cups and did the same with number four with out thinking twice of it. I was wrong.

He became overly fussy the moment I stopped nursing. I guessed it would happen because this kid wanted to nurse every two hours up until we stopped. Oh, and the diapers were nasty runny. Riot got his shots the day after his birthday and is also getting some molars and yet again I guessed this could be linked to the runny nose and nasty diapers.

On day three of cows milk the fussiness grew to whet I thought were outrageous temper tantrums. He would scream so loud he'd arch his back. I'd try and sooth him by lightly rubbing his belly or back while holding him. He'd cry even more when I touched his stomach. Then came the vomiting. Like Old Faithful had been placed in my son's mouth and went off a few seconds after he's finish a bottle.

Today while rocking him because he hadn't wanted to eat anything, it hit me. He has to be allergic to milk. I thought back to when he was first born and he would get a really upset stomach if I'd drink milk. You'd think I was a new mother by not connecting the dots, but when you other three kids aren't bothered by any foods I never thought about it.

If any of you have any tips on this let me know. And don't be a smarty pants and say, "Don't feed him milk products." 

Oh, the joys of being a parent. Lovely, aren't they?  

Fragile X Syndrome Awareness Day

I found this clip and thought I'd share it since a few of my kids have FXS. Hope you enjoy and help spread awareness.

Check it out!

I'm blogging over on Pots 'n Pens today. CLICK on over to what's up!

The Right Thing

I sat down this morning after taking my kids to school to watch the morning news. A couple and their kids were being interviewed about how they did the right thing. I'd tuned in a few seconds after the segment started and waited to hear what they had done. My jaw dropped as the news reporter went on about their story.

This couple had purchased a home in Salt Lake City, Utah. The day they closed, the husband went back to the home to soak in the realization of their purchase. He said the home was an older but very large home that had been empty for some time. He walked back to the study he planned to turn into a man cave and noticed a hidden door. Puzzled of how they and the Realtor had missed this. He pushed it open and found a secret hide away room. The room had no lights, so he left the door open to see and entered excited about the possibilities his kids could have playing in this room when he tripped over a box. When he opened it, he couldn't believe his eyes. It was full of money! Rolls of money, each containing $100. He looked around again and found seven more boxes chuck full of the same thing. The total ended up being over $50,000.

He called his wife and her instant reaction was they had to return the money to it's owners. They did! Gave every last dollar back! Yes, this was the right thing to do too, but my knee jerk reaction was, "What?! Do you know how nice that money would have been?" But, then I thought, what if it was me that had been saving the money and forgotten about it? I know I'd would've wanted it back. I wonder though, who would have forgotten they had the much money stashed away in a secret room? Maybe an elderly couple that over the years lost their memory little by little and ended up in a home then had someone else clean out their home. Who know, but whom ever it was got their life saving back.

They did do the right thing. They also set an example and proof that their are good, honest people still out there.  

When Does it Matter?

I need to warn you this story is going to bounce around all over the place, but it needs to so you get my point. As the end of another year comes to a close, I look back at what has occurred this past twelve months. This year was full of events from the best of times to the worst with the highlight of 2011 being the birth of my fourth child, Riot, to then the crashing devastation and sorrow of my friends’ loss of their baby girl, Karlie Ann. I’d hoped to end the year on a good note.

I look forward to the Holidays every year. It is a blast to watch my kids get excited while putting up the tree and watch their faces light up when they see what Santa brought them Christmas morning. Right after the jolly holiday is my birthday and I have an extreme amount of mixed emotions about my birthday. My mom always made sure to make my day special growing up. She’d make sure to wrap my presents in birthday paper and keep it separate from Christmas. But, I’d always over hear the pillow talk of my parents through my bedroom wall at night, worrying if they’d have money to buy me something after they’d spent so much on Christmas. My mom would never tell me they worried though, but kids hear. She’d some how pull through and I’d have a great present.

So, because of this I’ve always made sure my kids have an awesome birthday. From the moment they wake up to the second they close their eyes for bed that night, their day was full of fun. Each year they are served a breakfast of their choice, we plan it out a few nights before so I’m prepared. They get to be “the king” or “princess” for the day and are vetoed from any chores. It’s a day all about them.  My husband even gets this treatment. Well, he still had to go to work if it’s a week day. I really try to give him a “day off” to the point he doesn’t have to lift a finger when he gets home.

This year as my birthday approached, it was kinda a big deal to me because it’s my last one in my 20’s. Next year I’ll be hitting the big 30. I hoped it’d be special. My husband asked what I wanted. I gave him a list and even showed him in the stores. Like, walked him right up to it and handed it to him so he wouldn’t have any mixed signals. The only thing I was iffy on was what to do on the actual day. We’d talked a lot about how I’ve never had a group get together or party since my thirteenth birthday. Finally, the night before arrived and with no party happening I decided to have my family (my kids and darling husband) make root beer floats and watch a movie. The day came and as I woke to screaming kids I knew it wasn’t going to be any different of a day than usual. My sweet mom did remembered me though and got me a present to open. My kids wanted to go to my sisters instead so I could out to dinner with my husband, so the root beer floats were out. (And my sister is awesome because she kept my two middle kids over night so I could get some “alone” time with the husband)

As we came home and my husband fell asleep on the couch (the “alone” time isn’t going to happen) while my oldest played a video game, I realize it’s just another day. Moms don’t get special treatment and that’s okay for me. It’s my job to spoil everyone. Are birthdays supposed to be a big deal because they never are for me? Maybe they are just for kids and all they need to be for me now is a day to grow older. While I sighed and walked upstairs to put my baby down for the night, I am grateful to be able to have that. Knowing there are parents who have empty arms. I’d trade any birthday so they could do this one more time. I know I’m lucky and kissed my baby’s chubby cheek and went to bed.

From One Trip to Another!

My husband and I were able to go Christmas shopping together for the first time in years. I know what you are thinking; I leave the husband home with the children and go blow our paycheck on everything in the store. WRONG! The honest truth, my husband is the shopper in our household. Crazy I know.

Every year the Black Friday ads come out and my husband plans out the gifts down to the very last item. Between the kids circling their wish lists and Jess' dog eared pages, I can't understand who wants what. He gets so excited to shop for the kids, he will go fight the crowds alone, without me, in the unspeakable early sales. I stay home in my warm bed. You know, safe from the lady who pulls out the pepper spray.

I sometimes have a friend or two that want their hair done after work and I'll color it or what not. But this means it's also after work hours for my husband and if the calender says it's December and we haven't finished Christmas shopping, he will leave me and get it done. I get so upset when he does this because I would like to help pick out their Christmas too, just not the early morning sales. He won't wait just one more day so I can go. Nope. He has to get it done when the itch needs scratched. Then to top it off, Jess will call and ask, "What color would they like? This shade of red or the maybe the darker shade?" WHAT?! Like I can tell what shade is what over the freaking phone. (Yes, he does this because he knows how ticked I get.)

Anyway, this year we went on a weekend together and put a serious dent in the list. The day had gone perfectly. We'd brought our 8 month old baby with us. He is still in a carrier carseat and we snap the seat on the basket. When we put the seat on the cart, we heard it snap on and even checked to make sure it was sturdy before we pushed it. Everything was fine until we checked out and were leaving the store. Just as I pushed the cart where the cement meets the black top of the parking lot, there was a lip just enough to catch the front wheels. The next thing we heard is a loud SNAP and saw the carseat falling to the ground.The seat flipped mid air and landed on it's side. The momentum causeed it to roll over and stop right side up. I'm freaked out, chasing it as it tumbled. Jess is shocked and responded like any distraught father would and yelled, "Holy shit!"

We got to our baby (who'd been asleep right before the fall)  and found him wide eyed looking around like  "What the heck just happened?" Not a scratch on him.The handle had been in the upright position and acted like a roll cage. Thank goodness I'd made sure early in the week his straps were the right tightness over his shoulders. 

Two things were learned from this; ONE: the carseat did protect him but how the latch unhooked from the cart scared us. If we had been in a wreck, would it have come undone and thrown the seat around the car? Who knows? TWO: When I called the seat's company to tell them what had happened, they told me carseats are NOT made to latch onto shopping carts and the safe way to transport the baby in the store if he is still in the carseat is to set the carseat it's self in the basket of the cart. This is how we now do the seat/cart shopping.

Woo, what a trip right? Start off with a nice enjoyable shopping trip then end it with a scary accident. I'm glad he is alright and nothing happened to him, but it freaked the shiz out of me. So, on that note, I hope you all have a safe Christmas shopping season.

Happy Holidays!

Pots 'N Pens

I'm blogging over at Pots 'N Pens today. Check out the tasty post.

Holy Crap! I Am My Mother.

Growing up my mother taught me how to clean through a series of index cards. These cards were the devil to me and my older sister. She listed house hold chores on them. Sure, you may think whoopedy ta, a list of chores. Let me explain these cards. One card was labeled "Daily Chores" and had the things you do everyday like make your bed, pick up clutter, and wash the dishes. She also had cards for every day of the week with additional chores to do along with the daily card. Saturday was the list from HELL Let me also add that there was also a card to do "Monthly" chores like scrub walls, shampoo carpets, etc. that were done on the first Saturday of the month, again also with the daily and original Saturday chores as well. It got to the point we knew what chores were on what day. I'd even do those chores at the homes of people I babysat for. (Yes, I got asked to tend  A LOT because they knew they'd come home to a clean house) I hated those freaking cards, but they did teach me how to properly clean.

Now that I am a mother myself, I've come to find my life seems to get away from me and my list of chores gets so backed up I don't know where to begin. With my children that have Fragile X Syndrome or Autism I've found schedules and lists are a life saver. Really, they are something we can not live without. We have to plan out our whole week in advance, then the night before we have to chart out the next day down to the hours some times. My life is full of lists! I don't think I'd function if I didn't have a list or chart to go off of.

Disorganization in MY home ( I don't give two hoots what yours is like. Really I don't because I don't want anyone judging me so I won't judge you.) drives me insane. Literally, up the flipping wall. Guess what my mom and I made tonight? CHORE CARDS! Yep, I am going to use the very thing I hated on myself to get my house in order.

As a child they seem mean and boarder line mental, but looking at them now it's genius. You only have to do certain things on certain days. Well, you still have the pesky daily things and it is not set in gold. You can miss, add, decide you don't feel like doing that one that day. But it only gives me five chores to do a day and not fifty. For me, it will work. Plus, maybe I can get my kids in on the chores too. Wait, who am I kidding?  

My Life As A Movie Scene

We had an moment right out of the movies last night here at our house. Who knew my favorite Holiday flick would come even closer to my heart. Only this particular scene isn't one you'd really like to relive. I've always loved A Christmas Story and it felt like the writer had hid out at my house while growing up and took notes for the film. Amazingly my life still plays out like the show only this time my role is the mother instead of Ralphy.

I made a delicious roast yesterday. Mouth watering, moist, flavorful roast perfect for french dip sandwiches today. After I took the meat out of the roaster, I packed it away in the fridge to soak up the Ague sauce all night. Bedtime rolled around and I came down stairs to gather the kidlings up to bed. What did I find on the counter? The Tupperware container, EMPTY! The patio door was open and I heard Seth laughing. I ran to find my dog and cat chowing down on the roast. Yes, I cried, but it probably sounded more like a scream of horror. My husband followed my wail and it happened. He said it. That famous line from the movie. "Sons a *****'s!"

SO, tonight's dinner was fed to the dog. We won't be going to the Chinese restaurant like the movie characters did though. We will most likely be feasting on something more like I don't know, cold cereal.

"PAMPAS'S!" 

***don't worry, we didn't yell any "bad words" at my child nor called him any. We love him and now laugh at this whole thing.***