Greenspot Farms

Today our T-Moms group from Trinity went to Greenspot Farms. The girls were excited to go on a field trip and didn't mind that they were the only "older" kids there. The weather today is actually colder than usual, but it makes it feel like fall and we even got to wear our jackets and sweatshirts. I know that sounds silly to those of you who live where it gets really cold and you have to bundle up, but here it is a treat when we don't have to wear shorts and t-shirts to the pumpkin patch because it's 90 degrees out.

We met Jess, Ethan and Alayna there, so it was fun for the boys to chase after each other. :) Our group did the paid tour which was nice. We saw the "bee" house and learned all about honey & bees and they got to have a taste of some fresh honey. They had allot of animals to see and pet and Gracie wanted to take a picture of everything, so allot of the pictures are Gracie's handy-work :) We went through a tree maze and at the end was the pumpkin patch, where each kid got to pick out there own pumpkin. The little boys thought it was fun to pick them up and then drop them, thankfully none of them ended up cracking open. After getting pumpkins, we went on a tractor ride around the farm.

I brought a snack for us all and the boys sat/stood by a bench to eat their cookies. Grady scooted up under the bench like it was a table, which was really cute :) The cookies are so yummy and all 3 boys devoured theirs!! (Thanks Mom)

FYI the farm isn't very stroller friendly, Thank God for slings!!

I snapped some pictures of Ethan that turned out really cute! (Jess, we should go back and take lots more pics!!)

It made for a fun morning!

Good Neighbors=Yummy treats!!

After being gone all day yesterday with the babies and Hope in Orange county for my sister in laws baby shower, we came home to a sweet treat! Our next door neighbor Ellen and her daughter Taylor were baking for a community bake sale and gave us lots of yummy treats! She brought us over a box filled with rice crispy treats, Carmel apples and a chocolate cake. The rice crispy treats were gone today after church when the kids shared with all the neighbor kids and the Carmel apples got eaten before I made it home last night :(, but the cake is for me. I managed to take a picture before anyone ate it. Not only did everything taste delicious, they wrapped everything up with cute festive cellophane and ribbons, which just made my day!


Thanks Ellen and Taylor for thinking of us and sharing your yummy treats, they were so tasty!!!

Neecee's baby shower

James' youngest sister, Denise, is due the end of this month and today was her baby shower. (someone else took a picture of she and I, but I don't have that one yet)
She was showered with lots of great gifts for their baby girl, Isabella, and we all had a great time. It has been fun to watch her grow up, as she was just 8 when James and I met. I am looking forward to having another niece and seeing her as a mom (Oh, how life changes!)

We can't wait to meet baby Catoda :) We're doing a little photo shoot later this week, so I'm looking forward to that and will post more pictures soon!

Blogging project

I got to thinking after my last post and I wanted to get all those unfinished posts blogged, so in the next week or so you will see lots of posts from me in an effort to catch up. One of my new goals is to actually complete my posts as they happen, so there'll be current posts too. I'm really trying here! My life needs more organization!! Hope you'll endure my blogging as I catch up :)

Zach's new behavior

My sweet boy is struggling once again. The poor kid, if it's not one thing it's another.
Zach has always struggled with his behavior, as most of you know and was diagnosed with ODD at the age of 2 1/2. Early on we contributed a lot of his behavior to his lack of hearing and his inability to communicate his thoughts and feelings. However over time we have realized it is much more than a hearing/communication issue. While his hearing loss might contribute to his learning disabilities, his behavior is another story. He struggles with severe aggression, anxiety, compulsiveness and lack of attention. Over the past few years he has been on medication which has dramatically improved his impulsivity and lack of attention, as well as his aggression. Pretty much since pre-school he has struggled at school with any type of change and/or authority, in addition to socialization in regards to boundaries, personal space and social cues. This year has been no exception. The first few weeks of school were horrid and caused us to question how we were handling him. After settling in to his new teacher and class his behavior has greatly improved and school is now manageable for both him and his teachers. However, he has recently started OCD type behaviors with excessive hand washing, not wanting to touch things and/or others, as well as a fear of "poison." So back to the Dr we go...

He is already on 3 medications and we would like to keep his medication to a minimum and his functioning at a maximum. The hard part is finding the middle ground. He is having some blood work done to check various levels and hopefully that will give us a better idea of how to treat him.

He is such a sweet loving boy, but lately the "monster" is coming out too often and my sweet boy is disappearing. He already has a limited diet with no dairy, melons, apples, grapes or bananas, red dye and his extra sensitive gag reflex makes it difficult to eat allot of "whole" foods. I need to look into the Feingold diet more and try that to see if we can see improvements in his overall behavior. In addition we are trying to limit over stimulation that ultimately results in out of control behavior (DS, computer, TV, playstation or Wii) Obviously, we don't want him on meds forever, but... We are kind of stuck at the moment, or at least feel that way.

Please keep us in prayer as we try to figure out what is best for our sweet boy!

Finishing the unfinshed

I am queen of unfinished projects. As I've mentioned before I am a project junkie. It's like I get project ADD :) I start something with the greatest of intentions and before you know it, I'm thinking of another project and starting it without having finished the first one! The thing I can't understand is, I'm totally a type A person, and the unfinished-ness (that's not really a word) drives me crazy and increases the chaos level by 10! Hmmm, why am I making myself crazy? I'm not quite sure. SO, in an attempt to finish what I've started, little projects to big ones I am making myself a list of projects that have been started and not finished and one by one I will begin finishing them!!

So let the list begin...
Blogging- I counted just the other day, and I have 33 unfinished blog entries (Wondering why would I even bother, I have no time for scrapping our life, so blogging and then buying a book is much easier and a tells a more complete story of our life)
Shredding- I have a box of things that need to be shredded and since my shredder broke I've gotten a "little" behind
Window coverings- Just about every window in our house is covered half a#@ and have all the stuff to finish them, but...
The boys room- still has no paint on the walls & decor is unfinished
Girls clothes- I started sorting the too small, too stained etc... and need to finish in order to get what they need for the colder weather.
Patio chair covers- need 2 sew 2 more covers & restitch the velcro on the 4 I already did
The loft (this will require $$, but we need to get it done!)
The classroom- while it is functioning and used every day, it's not finished!!
Patchwork- while running electrical we cut a few holes that have yet to be finished
Ceiling- still no drywall, texture or paint
Garage wall- no paint, molding or baseboards
The backyard-dirt box, swing set, planters, bank, BBQ island, wood chips!
Laundry Room- laundry area remains unfinished from new washer and dryer
Baby Sewing- I have started burp rags, diaper/wipes cases and blankets all unfinished for friends and sisters
Notes and Cards- I have purchased cards and notes for people and have yet to write in them and send them and NEED to do so!
Trailer- I've started getting it ready for storage, but I need to get a move on it and get it off our street!

Okay, I'm so bad that as I'm writing this list of unfinished projects, I'm thinking of all the other projects I'd like to start :( No more projects until these projects are done!!! Anybody have an extra weeks worth of time and an extra $5000? I'm just kidding, but by the time I'm done I think that's what it'll take. The problem I'm finding is the need for both time and money, as well as the fact that some of these projects I obviously cannot finish on my own, so I'll have to take that into account, as I prioritize these projects. It is my goal to have all of these projects done with the exception of the loft floor (we're saving to put hardwood in our whole upstairs) by December 1st. I'm planning on having a Christmas party and would like things a little more finished. So, feel free to ask me about my progress and my effort towards not starting any new projects, as I might need some help in this area :)

Wish me luck as I get to work and finish up what I've started!

Not a watermelon?

So, since we found this mysterious fruit growing in our planter in the back yard we thought it was a watermelon, but looking at it lately is had the rind of a cantaloupe. It still isn't very big, so we haven't picked it yet, but we'll have to before long as it's supposed to cool down and it might freeze Within the next couple of weeks I think we'll pick it and cut it open and give it a taste :) We are all anxious to see now if anything else will grow there next year. I guess we'll have to wait and see.