Why We Can Never Own Fondue Forks In This House

This week has been a crazy busy week. The kids are off for Spring break, and any semblance of organization has gone out of the window. I have fallen completely OFF the commenting wagon, so for those of you who have continued to visit me and comment, I truly love you and know you've got my back :) It is just easy to make a list of all the things flying around in this crazy head of mine...

****The boys started throwing up on Monday, I guess with a quicky stomach bug. It hit in the evening late just when you yourself are falling into bed exhausted thinking that not one. more. thing. can. happen. today. or . you. will. die.

****I knew they were fine by the next morning when I saw Jake eating a Hostess chocolate cupcake, and I asked "do you think that should be the very first thing you eat???", and his response was "well it's the last one in the house?!?!?! And I didn't want anyone else to eat it!"

****I worked at the Freestore on Saturday and am still LOVING IT. Since I am going to AZ in a week, I felt sheepish about requesting a particular Saturday off, so I signed up for THREE Saturdays in April instead of 2! I will love it, but I come home exhausted, and I know Mike feels the same being the Mom for the day:)

****Oh yeah, I"MGOINGTOARIZONAINAWEEK!!!!! I'm so excited! Lacey~ I hope you don't mind if I show up with just the clothes on my back, cause with the way things are going, it's lucky I will just get there! Whew! But I can't wait, and know that whatever gets done, gets done, and whatever doesn't...will have to wait.

****Matthew started soccer last night, and who should appear on the soccer field, but HIS BEST FRIEND! We couldn't believe it! They are on the same team. You can NOT request stuff like that. It is not allowed at all. So we are thrilled, and had no idea. This is going to make it a great season for him!

****I got the kids Easter baskets stuff today. I was worried when I would get it done. Now I am ready for Sunday!

***Mike went to the Dermatologist to get a mole removed from his forehead. They took one from his stomach too. Lol~poor guy...he is healing all over! In the past three years, what with the Vas., Lasik, Hernia, I say...NO MORE DOCTORS!

***Jake got his hair cut, new jeans, and new shoes. I have been working on that boy this spring break. I have also enjoyed time with my boy.

****Tatum and I have been walking at night. She has become my new walking partner. It has been so cool to have a built in exercise partner in the house :)

****Oh....and the fondue fork. I am tired by the end of this post. Do you have rascally boys? Do you find dangerous SH** everywhere that they get into!!??!!! That was where I started off with this post....in the back yard, picking up debris from my boys and one was a random fondue fork stabbed into the ground.

Yup. Their all mine....

Matty's Eyes

Since Matthew was about three I feel like I have had to fight for him. Fight to help him. What I was fighting against, I never really knew. Something wasn't right though. Something was off. He was a beautiful baby with a smile that could light up a room and long blond curls that we grew long. He has been as precious and wonderful as he had at moments maddening.

When he was two he didn't talk. Hardly at all. He had made up words he would use such as "la la" for music, and "wee" for swinging, "ow" for kitties. I remember laying in bed one day and our reception on our baby monitor had picked up a neighboring house. Their 2 year old was calling 'Mama!". For a second there I thought it was Matthew and I was so excited thinking he could say Mama!
I found the tapes Signing Time to help with Sign Language, I had him tested for hearing. He failed hearing tests...he passed hearing tests...We went to the city and talked to speech dr's who confirmed he had a speech delay.
I took him to Speech therapy. I got him signed up for county preschool speech classes. Before he was 3 and a half he was doing great!
By age four he was a mile a minute, and a handful and a half. He wandered off so much if was a common occurrence for the family to have to drop everything and hop on bikes to spread out and try to "find Matthew". He definitely went to the beat of his own drum.
Preschool came, and soon a bad instance of temper and Matthew stabbing another child in the hand with a pencil. We were mortified of course. Did he not have the verbal ability to express himself and became so frustrated? Did he have other problems?
A roller coaster year in Kindergarten with a very damaging teacher who's way to teach in class was for the kids to have lady bugs that would "loose their spots" one by one if they were not good in class. (aka loose privileges) Matthew would come everyday saying his ladybug flew away. (got taken completely off the board) (NOTE: If you are a teacher...please do encouraging thing..positive enforcement! Not negative. You get so much more this way!)
Throw in that I was pregnant that year and by the end of Kindergarten they were wanting to hold him back.
1st grade his teacher was on maternity leave for the center core of the year and we started meeting with the school cousler about "anger issues". He would just shut down. Refuse to do his work. Not look at you. Not respond. Or Throw thing have anger fits.
Me at home was doing everything I could to control him. His anger fits were getting crazy. The kids would call it "Matthew's going wild MOM!" and I would have to come running....

Sorry this is long and I am just trying to touch the tip of the ice burg here to help you understand...

This year after working with Mental Health through his school, he has come a long way. I think alot has to do with maturity, and alot has to do with getting him the help he needed to work out his feelings. But a new problem has surfaced (or maybe it was there all along?)
His grades are struggling and his teacher is really upset about his reading and writing. After having him in the extra government assisted reading programs, that teacher too suggested there is more of a problem, and that we should go get it checked out.

That is why today we went to Dayton to see a Behavioral Optometrist. To see if he has a tracking problem. Now we already have been to the eye dr. and he has 20/20 vision. But this was something else.

Right away, when she called me back she said....there was a substantial tracking problem. When he looks at words they aren't in focus. Kind of like if we are laying in bed and our eyes are open and in a glaze...not focusing. He had to try really hard to make them stay that way. He also has a convergence insufficiency. His eyes don't zone in at an object in tune together. (I hope I have all that written down right?)

Any ways, I asked her if over time, wouldn't his body work it out and figure out how to focus and make it work. She said no. She said what we see now is the result of how it will be. It will only get worse. The body doesn't know how to work it out.

BUT...with therapy...they can train his body how to learn to focus correctly. This can save him. Help him learn to read. Do good in school. Not struggle. Not get so frustrated. Not be so down on himself. Get good grades easier. Grow up not hating school. Go and have a good education. Go and have a good career. I see so much from this.

I know this may seem like a bunch of nonsense to you, but there have been so many times I have felt so lost for him. This could be an answer. This is someone saying they can help. This is someone diagnosing a problem and working with him.


I feel like this could be a fresh beginning for this guy. A positive new start. And I am so ready to begin!

Spring Pictures

Jake's 6th Grade pictures have come back. It's a pivotal time, my guy starts junior high next year!

He's made quite the name for himself in class for the long hair and is known by the kids for the head sweep he does to get the bangs out of his eyes, Lol.

This year I will have TWO teenagers in the house...oh gosh...

I will have to keep him humble with stories of his love of Blues Clues, and Santa, and {{sob!!}}

Sassafrass and Kitty Cats

For Summer's Third Birthday, Mike and I took her to the zoo for the 1st time. Since the older kids were in school, it was just the 3 of us. She was excited and nervous. She couldn't quite

comprehend what a zoo was and got scared that the tigers and bears could "get her", so the day before, fears started to surface. She said she only wanted to see elephants and giraffes. We tried to explain that they were in cages, but Oh to define what goes on in a 3 year old's mind! We fared pretty well. Being newly potty trained, it was our big trip out in underware, so our pink potty went to. Like literally! She went in the back of the van in the parking lot, (big fun, I know.... I gave Mike the job of disposing of it, LOL!) and then we took the bucket part in the stroller basket underneath for the actual zoo trip. I took it in with us to the restrooms, and by golly...not one accident! She did it!

Hands down her favorite part was the cat house. She loved this. She ran window to window and had a blast. Mike and I could NOT BELIEVE IT when we came to the window of a newer animal, and it was coatimundi's!!!!

Her cake was of Alice of course!!! (no I didn't make it...not this year!~)

OH~NO SHE DI'NT!! Well, okay! YES I DID! Look what we got her!

A cat stroller from the humane society!~LOL! Not only do the cat's LOVE being outside safely, but....

Summer is loving pushing them around :)

Real Dreams

Do you ever have dream so real, that when you wake up, you don't realize it wasn't a dream until later in the day?

And then when it dawns on you that it was just a dream, a like awakening happens in you and you just have to stop and pause in your day and process it, digest it, convince yourself that it never really happened, that it really was just a dream...

This may seem stupid to some, especially to those of you who are not animal lovers, to catch up on the story of Pumpkin you can read here... but the other night I had the MOST REAL dream.

It was the night before Summer's birthday, and I dreamed it was the day of Summer's birthday and the family was in the family room celebrating...opening presents and having cake. Setting the scene for normal happenings. I looked out the back door and I SAW her. She had found her way back! After all this time she had! It really and truly was her! The body we found must not of been hers after all, and THERE SHE WAS!

Oh how good it felt to SEE HER AGAIN! The old ache of friendship and love washed over me as I ran out and scooped her up. The kids were so excited! We couldn't fathom how she had found her way back. Yes, she had wear and tear of time and travel on her, and needed meat on her bones, but nothing a little love and food couldn't fix.

I guess with the way it really had happened I never really got to grieve her loss. You know at first she was just gone for a few days, and it was "where is that darn cat!" And then it was..."well we hope someone took her in, and she is safe somewhere..." Even when we found the body on the curb of the road it had been months and part of me denied it. I don't know.

This dream has awoken something because I have been a weepy mess. All day yesterday I kept checking the back porch, convinced my dream was maybe a prediction. Maybe she really would be there!

She never was.

Tatum told me last night maybe Pumpkin was checking in with me. How sweet is she. How sad am I to be 35 years old and sitting here crying over my cat that died a year ago, lol!

Anyways...it's funny how dreams can throw your day out whack so badly. Maybe they are just little reminders sent from ones we love??

Randomosity

Funny picture to describe Mike... Funny Picture to describe Me....

**Jake starts Flag Football tomorrow, My mom and her husband are in Mexico for the week, Spring break is next week for the kids, Spring cleaning has started NOW for me, My VERYGOODBLOGGYFRIEND Jewls and her husband have just been blessed with their son!!!~go See!!!, We are traveling to Dayton to take Matthew to a Behavioral Opthamologist next week...eekk! This could lead many places :( , Summer turns THREE tomorrow and we are taking her to the ZOO for the first time!, She is OFFICIALLY potty trained and IN underwear!~oh PRAISE BE!, Tatum picked up an extra day at work and now works Thursdays too, Spring has sprung and it is GLORIOUS!

Oh, Oh, OH!!! And go check out my friend Trish!!! She is having a SUPER BIG GIVEAWAY that you DO NOT want to pass up :)

This is the way the ladies ride....I mean eat...

No, I did NOT set her up to eat this way, but when I walked back in the kitchen this is HOW she was eating....the heathen. :)

How To Choose The Sex Of Your Baby

That seems like a laughable title...amiright??

I will start off by saying, that I believe people become mothers in many wonderful ways. Whether by the wonderful gift of adoption, or the help of medical science. I also am no fool, and know that God is our Heavenly Father and makes all things possible. I give Him the credit for our blessings.

But I also know he gives us free will, and intellectual minds, and chances to make choices to help things along. So in this case, I went with it. This was a post I was on the fence to write about due to people's strong views, but it also is information I know at one time I was craving to hear. So I will just tell my story...okay?

When I had Tatum I was young with a capital "Y" and honestly I don't remember really strongly wanting a boy or a girl. I was having a baby, and that was ALL I could digest. When we got the ultrasound they couldn't tell what she was, so we went the whole pregnancy not knowing. It was a really cool moment (and the only one I got to experience, since I found out with all the others) when she was born, and the doctor lifted her up into the air announcing like in the movies "IT'S A GIRL!"

When I had Jake, I really liked having a girl and would of been happy being a mother of all girls, but when we found of he was a boy, I was equally thrilled..we got one of each!!

When Matt was due, convincing Mike to have another baby was hurdle enough, and when I found out I was having another boy (which my 3 year old boy at home was a VERY BUSY GUY!) I remember talking on the phone to a friend who was a mother of all boys. She knew I had had the ultrasound and asked what I was having. I said "yay! another boy!" , after she congratulated she said something very important to me. She said "you know, it's okay to feel a little disappointed. You still love your baby SO MUCH!" I was very happy. But did miss Tatum getting the chance to be a sister (something I never had) and I did so want another girl.

Now years later, When Matty was 5, my boys had worn me down. They had caught the bushes on fire. They had broken bones, and been to the ER. They were wonderful, crazy, busy boys. I wanted more children. I had always wanted a full house, but not all boys, lol!~ (Mike has a child from a previous marriage that we don't get to see though (a boy) and since the Male decides the sex of the baby THREE out of FOUR of his children had been boys.....oy...the record was not in my favor)

I was working in the church nursery one day, and this mother that had Five boys...F.I.V.E. brought up her newborn baby girl to show me. I asked her how in the world she did it, and she very easily did.

Dr. Landrum B. Shettles.

She said you have to follow it to a T. Study it for months. Live it. Love it. Learn it.

Oh my gosh. I did.

Now it does take alot of dedication. Alot of gross dedication. Involving charting your body's mucus, among many other things. And it does make sure that you are in it for the right reasons.
It tells you straight up, that if you do all this, and you aren't absolutely thrilled STILL when the baby comes out and it isn't the sex you were wanting....then you are totally doing it for the wrong reasons. DON"T!

Because after all. A baby is a beautiful precious gift. And once their here, none of that really matters...

But it was a really cool journey that Mike and I got to experience for our last sha-bang in the baby making biz-ness!

Summer's Three Year Pictures!

Just to help you appreciate the BIGNESS of my girl, I will walk you down our once a year photo shoot memory lane. Don't worry...it's very short, lol with her only being 3.

Here was her One Year Picture...
And her Two Year Picture....

And I proudly add to the collection her Three Year Pictures!!!

By George, I Think She's Got IT! {{Thank the LORD!!}}

The last few days have been monumental in potty making history here.

Summer peed IN the potty, in a breakthrough moment the other day, were you could SEE the light go on in her head. She was unsure this was okay! and nervous and elated and thrilled and proud.

Since then she has peed many more time in the potty, and today brown graced the pink potty. We went right out and bought that girl pull-ups.

I have NEVER had a tougher nut to crack than this one, so please cross your fingers and toes that it keeps going in this direction. As it is at this point, I do not get to leave the house it seems and we are half naked most of the day....so I am hoping she catches on sure and tight :)

They are Called Coati's

This was the one time we actually got dressed up and went out for the night. Other wise we were in bathing suits :) We went to the Japanese restaurant where they cook your meal on a grill in front of your table.

It was our last evening there, and alot of fun.

By this point though, we were both feeling the sun burn...

On the morning we had to leave, we got up really early and set out to find the family of CoatiMundi's. One of the workers had told us that a family of them lived in the trees behind building 22.

We filled our pockets full of grapes, and took apples from the breakfast buffet and set out. Boy did we find them!

Babies, Mommas, Daddy's. Coaties of all sizes!

Look Here to read more about them.

It was probably one of the funnest parts of the trip!

Don't you love how they stand like a bear and begged :)

We said goodbye to Mexico....such a short visit! But what a wonderful time!

Our Daring Exploration

So, On one of the days we were there, Mike peeled me off of the lounge chair by the pool (good thing he did guys cause I am now dealing with sun poisoning) and convinced me to take a real walk on the beach. I half heartedly threw on my cover up and with bare feet we set off.

As we made some progress in the opposite direction from the way we had walked before, we realized that this way on the beach was not commercial. There were no hotels or resorts. Ours was the last in line. It was just ocean, beach and jungle. It was happily appreciated by both of us and we drank in the beauty of the day.

Now for you to get the feel for our resort, let me tell you that where we stayed the last time was maybe 10 minutes from the airport. This time it was a good 30 to 40 minutes. But when we arrived we pulled into a dirt driveway that did not appear at all that a luxurious resort could appear from. We drove and drove down the dirt and rocky one way path through the Mexican jungle a LONG WAY before our resort appeared.

It WAS set back in the middle of it seemed No where.

So when we walked this direction on the beach we weren't really surprised at how unbuilt it was.

Off to the right at one point we saw this...
And then we saw this....

We were so curious and debated back and forth about whether or not we should go up and explore. It obviously was vacant. And there wasn't No Trespassing Signs posted. But we didn't know if you even HAD to post signs like that in Mexico.

What we did know in our wild with probably overcautious mind was that last year at this time people's head were being found decapitated all over Mexico. And we also knew that the horseback riding in the ocean tour that we went on last year had since been held up by gun point. We also knew that people kept saying just not to leave the resort.

But we are silly Americans.

And probably watch too much "Weeds".

So we quickly ran back and got our shoes and my camera, and had the funniest exploration, but yet on edge time ever!

If you click on the picture below you can see the lizard on the pile of debris

This was from upstairs look down to the courtyard

It was literally room after room after room!!

Then on our adrenaline high took this beautiful shot of a boat

and found a snorkeling stop with carved drift wood. Can you tell what these are??

We found an old boat and I wanted to get Mike's picture by it. He went to lean against it and jumped off. Lol~there was a lizard inside! It ran to hide but not too well...Can you see the tail?

It was a great memory that we made ourselves just off and being together.

And we lived to tell...Lol!