Saturday, March 23, 2013

Some Updates, education and lots of photos!

Recently my family has found out some new information that we must all work through. First off, back in February we found out the my 5 year old has a Lazy Eye. He has to wear an eye patch 1-2 times a day for 1-2 hours at a time on the other eye to help his lazy eye improve. He now has glasses as well that he must wear 24/7. He has been pretty good with them so far. The first few days were hard, but we do not have issues now! He still looks like the Jerry McGuire kid! LOL On Thursday (3/21/13) he had a doctors appointment to finish up his immunizations for school, we are waiting now to hear back from the school as to)if he is getting in or not. He had a bad reaction to the immunization the following day (1% of kiddos have this reaction) and now gets to soak in an oatmeal bath and then get his leg wrapped to prevent him from scratching it because he says it is itchy. (see photo below) While at the appointment Thursday I discussed with his doctor the fact that he spits (makes shooting sounds and saliva goes everywhere) all the time and has his hands in his face playing with just his hands or with toys. I discussed this with a different doctor when he was about 18-24 months old and they said that he was fine as long as I could get his attention and make him stop. Well, it has started to be that we can not get his attention and make him stop anymore. At the appointment she counted this as 2 tics (1 for spiting and 2 for the hands). Then as she was talking to him and asked him to do something for her he made a throat grunting sound, I am not sure how to describe it. And that made 3 tics. She asked me if he does a couple other things (I do not remember what now) and the answers to those were yes! Totaling at 5 tics!

The reaction to the shots! 5 cm long!
Here is where the Education part of this blog comes in. My 5 year old son has Tourette Syndrome or rather a form of. I feel so very bad for my small guy. This time last year we were learning how to use his medicines for his severe Asthma and now we will start neurological appointments and treatments. Things just do not seem to be getting any easier for him.

Tourette Syndrome (further referred to as TS) is:

Source: National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Tourette Syndrome Fact Sheet

"Tourette syndrome (TS) is a neurological disorder characterized by repetitive, stereotyped, involuntary movements and vocalizations called tics. The disorder is named for Dr. Georges Gilles de la Tourette, the pioneering French neurologist who in 1885 first described the condition in an 86-year-old French noblewoman.

The early symptoms of TS are typically noticed first in childhood, with the average onset between the ages of 3 and 9 years. TS occurs in people from all ethnic groups; males are affected about three to four times more often than females. It is estimated that 200,000 Americans have the most severe form of TS, and as many as one in 100 exhibit milder and less complex symptoms such as chronic motor or vocal tics. Although TS can be a chronic condition with symptoms lasting a lifetime, most people with the condition experience their worst tic symptoms in their early teens, with improvement occurring in the late teens and continuing into adulthood."

You can use the link above to read more about TS on your time. This little guy has a tough road ahead of him. But at least we now know why he is the way he is. He does some of these things because he can not help it. He is often unaware he is doing them. And now to help his brothers understand him too will be easier. 

Now that this has all been lifted off my chest....

I took my oldest to get a hair cut last week before leaving to his Aunt and Uncles house with Grandma to help is Aunt out with some things that are going on with her. And to have a mini vacation with Grandma! While there, I decided I needed to come back with the baby and get his hair cut too! He had a pretty interesting mullet going on! Now he looks like a little boy again!








BEFORE










AFTER














Little dude here enjoys watching Baby Bach one of the Baby Einstein movies. He gets so distracted and will not pay attention to ANYONE!







Here he is enjoying a new movie I picked up for him yesterday on dad's lap!









Enjoying some Cheerios and Veggie puffs after nursing in the store parking lot yesterday!







He noticed the camera and this is his reaction! LOL







Well, That is all I have for now. I am sure that I will be back with loads more of information since now I am waiting for the nurse to call me back because the 5 year old's reaction to the shots just got worse and we found another spot on his leg! I may be going back to town tonight!

~TTFN!

Monday, March 18, 2013

Photo Monday 12


Thought this was pretty.
I would love to go to a place like this one day....

Hobbiton, New Zealand

~TTFN!

Monday, March 11, 2013

My Silly Guys!

I know I have not posted many things just about my kiddos lately, but here is something I hope brightens everyone's day as it does mine!

My boys are such little hams sometimes! Of course, part of this was due to my second son's teacher making their Monday Meetings more fun! Today was Mustache Monday! We were sent a template that had 3 Mustaches printed on it. Each child from her class was to choose their favorite, cut it out and then wear it to class! Well, I have 3 little boys that got to wear them! (Number 4 would have eaten it rather than wear it!) I figured they might pick the same one, so I printed out 3 pages of the same thing and........... They each picked a different one! LOL! Only my kids I tell you! In any case, they all looked extra adorable with their mustaches on! Here they are.....

My little 5 year old in the middle there cracks me up!
He looks like some gun-slinging cowboy from the old west!
Or a slightly "mad" scientist!

Aren't they just oh so cute?! LOL

And then of course my little Mini-Me has to go and steal the spotlight today too! As we were dropping Daddy off at work he was attempting to put on a pair of the glasses his older brothers got from their recent(ish) eye appointments. You know, the kind that roll into them selves.... To make this story short, Daddy helped him out by getting them on his face and then not letting him take them off until he could snap a quick photo with Mommy's phone! Ha ha... Here is that one as well!

"I look cool! Right?"

Love it!

And, believe it or not, that is NOT snow in the background.... It was the blinding sun! LOL Today was actually warm enough that I got our outdoor Christmas lights taken down! Go Me! 

And now that this day is done and I have, hopefully, brightened your day... I am off!

~TTFN!


Review: Schick Hydro Silk Razor!

As I have previously stated, I am a BzzAgent. This means that I get offered opportunities to try out products for little to no cost. I test the product and give my feedback to BzzAgent and I also tell you here!

This time I got the chance to try out a new razor! I have not yet been able to get my legs nice and silky smooth since the birth of my youngest son. I am not sure if that has to do with my other medical issues that took place after my little guy was born or if my body just decided I no longer need to have smooth legs! I was so excited and had hopes of this razor being the end all for that issue I was having. Sadly, for me at least, it was not. I get to have soft silky smooth legs for roughly an hour after I shave and then they are back to icky and dry again! (Until I get to another product I am testing, that one has started to work on my legs! I will post about it another time though!)

On one hand, I enjoy this new razor for it's easy to grip handle, swivel head, multiple blades and the fact it takes up a little less space in the shower than my Schick Intuition does! (Yes, I am a Schick gal!)

The other hand though, I have to use shave cream with this new razor. This is something I have not had to use for YEARS! (I think I started using the Intuition when it first came out.) So, it ends up taking me just a tad bit longer to shave when using the Hydro razor instead. And often I do not have the time for that with being a Mother to four rowdy boys!

I may or may not continue to use the Schick Hydro Silk razor in the future. I also still have 3 coupons that I am willing to share. They are for $5.00 off and if you use them at Wal-mart it makes this awesome razor $0.97!!!!!!!!! WOW!!!!!! So, if you would like one of the coupons still available just comment below or if you followed this link from Facebook you can let me know there as well! (Blog Facebook)

All in all... I give this razor a 3.5 star rating. I do not hate it, but I will keep a tight grip on my Intuition if push comes to shove!

~TTFN!

Sunday, March 10, 2013

Photo Monday 11

Here we are Sunday night and I am a little ahead of the game... So! By just about 45 minutes early... Here is Photo Monday! LOL.....

I do believe I will try this out!
It has been getting warmer and the kiddos will enjoy this one....

My cousin had the great idea to use the ice cube tray that was designed to make the ice cubes that go in water bottles and I think that is brilliant! I may try both ways!



ENJOY!!

~TTFN!

The Little Guy Got Photos Taken


More pictures to share...

My sweet little guy here turned 5 at the end of February!

So, I decided we needed some 5 year old pictures taken! 

And here they are!







With Easter around the corner I thought this picture was appropriate!






Of course, I had to jump in and take a photo with my little guy as well!

He picked the background and was hamming it up for the camera!






This is the photo I have chosen to be his "school" photo! He is so adorable here! One of my favorites!

Of course, his glasses were a challenge as he likes to put his head up to have his photos taken and this is one of the few with little to no glare!







This one I fell in love with too and even ordered a special picture made with this one that should be here in roughly 2 weeks!








He  saw the sunflower a few photo shoots ago and asked then if he could get a photo with it but that was in the fall and I didn't think it would have worked for then. So, being Spring time I let him this time!





And of course, our reason for the photos in the first place!

Sadly, the giant white 5 has gone missing from the portrait studio so we improvised!

I found a giant 5 online and printed it then cut it out on red poster board and then stenciled out his name and we made it work! I love this photo so much I have several copies of it coming as well!








That is all for this post! I am so proud of my handsome little guy and getting used to his glasses!

Here is the topper for today in news with this kiddo as well...

I got online this afternoon and started the enrollment process in the online home school his brothers go to! 

All that is left is to fax in the paperwork that is required and for him to be approved! 

Yippee!!!!!

~TTFN!!!


Recent foods! Yum!

I know I said I would post these awhile ago... So here they are!

These are some of our most recent and oh so yummy meals... I have more photos but have not gotten them on my computer just yet... Hope you enjoy and that it doesn't make anyone too hungry.....

Greek Meatballs

Chicken "Noodle" Soup with Rosemary Dinner Rolls

"Honey" Ham with Cabbage

My Mom's Breakfast "Hash" and Eggs

My Breakfast "Hash" and Eggs

Parmesan Crusted Pork with a small salad and Sweet Mustard Dressing

4 "sauces" I made the other day...
Ranch Dressing - 1g carb per 2Tbs
Russian Dressing - 0g carbs per 2Tbs (family favorite!)
Sweet Honey Mustard Dressing - 1g per 2Tbs
Dill Sauce - 1g carb per 2Tbs (used with fish!)

I saw the following on Facebook and figured I would try it out... It was not as easy as it looks! The dang noodles kept breaking on me! LOL... The 5 year old loved them though!

Just before they started to cook!

On their plates!
They each got 5 chunks of hot dog to start and the baby got a couple that were cut up for him!

A close up! Next time I will need to cook them longer!
The noodle inside the hot dog was still super crunchy!


That is all I have for now. My youngest has decided he does not need to sleep when others do...

~TTFN!

Friday, March 8, 2013

Help out my boys if you can....

2 Boys No Longer Bullied | What's Your K12 Story?

My boys need your help!!!

They are in a contest at school! They are the week 1 winners! But they need your votes, or likes, to be the winners of a Kindle Fire HD!!!

How it works:

After you click the link a page will open up!
On that page a window should open!
That window will have my boys' story on it!
Once you are there you can click on the purple "Like This" button!
Once you have clicked "Like This" you have brought us one vote close to a win!
The top 10 out of ALL the stories with the most votes will get a Kindle Fire HD!

At this time the most votes are in the 300's to the lower 80's for who has the most!
Please Please Please VOTE for my guys!
They really want to win!!!



2 Boys No Longer Bullied | What's Your K12 Story?: I decided to make the switch to K12 and ORVA starting this school year because my boys had been being bullied at their school. They were constantly being pointed at as the one who started it......... Read more by clicking the link!

A huge Thank You in advance to all! And please, spread the word, if you don't mind.
Sharing can be done by either sharing this blog post, or clicking any of the many share links on the link itself!
They have given you the ability to share on Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest and so many more places as well as email and Blogger!

Thanks again!

~TTFN!!!

Monday, March 4, 2013

Photo Monday 10

My Boys' Bean!


When we first started home school we were told that there was going to be outings with the other kids that go to the same school in our area!

The first outing was a meet and greet type thing. This is where my 1st grader met his teacher for the first time in person and the boys got to play with the kids their age and with the older kids.

They had different activities and one of those was to learn how to plant a bean! They had little pots and soil and beans. Each of my boys made one. They were forgotten and left outside when we got home and it wasn't until about a week or so later that I brought them in. I combined all the dirt with the one that had a sprout so that it then became every one's and not just one person's plant was growing. After a week of just sitting there it took off! And this is the result now several months later. I would also like to add that this part of the plant has creeped up the side of our avocado tree and is into the upper pane of the window. It is very tall! Plants are awesome! I hope I can get more to grow this year!

~TTFN!