Kids in the Garden

This summer has flown by! My last post was about the grow box, we are on our second planting in the grow box!
Our garden this summer has yielded some fun and yummy food! I took some photos of the garden and the kids in the garden today. (neighbor kids included)

Three types of tomatoes, three kinds of lettuces, two types of squash, carrots, watermelon, two types of pumpkins!

This year is the first year I actually made pickles! 

(neighbor gave us the cucumbers!)

E, lil'E, Prissy & E
lil'E, Prissy & G'man

Fall has proven to be just as daunting since we pulled the kids from a brick and mortar school to an online public. My girl Prissy is repeating the 4th grade due to 2 bad teachers in a row. Leaving her FAR behind her pears but being pushed forward by a school system that adores the words, No Child Left Behind, but can't follow through.
Our kids are now enrolled in Utah Connection's Academy - in the one month that we have been in this school, its proved itself to be a much better fit for our duo!

Today with the neighbor girls help we took a small video of G'man and E playing Linus and Sally in the Great Pumpkin. Then I played around with the camera and took some fun shots of the kids!

We have had a fun and crazy summer! Lagoon, Comic Con, Weddings and lots of great days with good friends!
I will try to post here more often!
Right now I am still juggling getting used to helping two kids with lessons and getting them used to self regulating - this is a slow transition but this school offers so much more! So far my kids are in a type and computer class. They will be in a language class and they can take music!
All dedicated, great classes through the school starting NOW in grade 3 for my boy not grade 7!

Thanks for staying with me - even when I have been MIA so much the past year!

MRA and Life Updates

Last fall I found a "ding" special on the fridge. You may drool over my stainless steel beauty, but I got 600.00 off due to a dent in the front!
Where is the dent?
Its hidden under one of the fun magnets I placed on the fridge!

This week with our tax refund the hubby bought me (and had it delivered for free from Lowes) my new stove!!!
This is an AMAZING stove! It has a center long burner that is perfect for cooking fish OR you can remove the middle grate and place a griddle there (included) for grilling bacon, burgers and anything else that you want.
Also another fun feature on this stove is that you can run the oven and the broiler at the same time! For less than 600.00 this stove packs a great bargain! Not to mention it rocks the reviews.

In short my kitchen is quickly turning into my dream kitchen. It might not happen like on a design show, beautifully done in 2 weeks, but we have plan and are working toward that goal by doing a little bit each year.

Hubby celebrated his 40th last month and his seizures are doing much better. However, in January he started to have thunderclap headaches.
Today he had an MRA. Last year we had an MRI but it didn't show enough detail.
 I am not sure I want to know an answer. I am scared they will find something and scared that they won't.

My health has also had a strange few months, but I am on track now. I have been diagnosed with PCOS and HS. I am currently trying to heal my gallbladder, liver and spleen to see if I can balance my body's chemistry.

The kids have been in great health with the minor hiccup of catching Fifth disease last week. Prissy broke out into a massive full body rash and was diagnosed with it. Both children were kept home from school at the end of last week since they were contagious.
Fifth disease or slap cheek is not relatively bad - unless you are pregnant.
This week we have played catch up on homework, as well as making sure Prissy is getting caught up.

I am frustrated with the school system. My daughter comes home with a report card full of N's which means she is so far behind they couldn't give her a grade, and yet we have to have continual meetings with the teacher and principal to try to get her into a one on one setting.
My son is averaging a B+ and yet he gets a one on one teacher.... how this makes sense is beyond me.
I am getting pissed off with the No Child Left Behind CRAP that keeps pushing my girl into a higher grade when she can't pass ANY tests.
How can the "No Child Left Behind" help my child when she ends up in the 7th grade at a 2nd grade reading level?
Fact - It can't.
It's sole purpose is to make it seem like they are working on fixing a broken system. A fake band-aid if you will.

(Also do NOT comment on this and try to explain how she is supposed to get help to get caught up because the help she IS getting is keeping her at a second grade level and they are NOT trying to get her any further help unless we are in their face demanding it.)
I know how the system is "supposed" to work. Supposed to and Actually doing are two very different things.

Crazy Hair & Everything Else!

Prissy loves Crazy hair day! Each year we try to do something different - as I am not the amazing hair mama this is about as good as it gets!
G'man does not laugh at himself and really hates it when anyone else does - hence I was banned from touching his hair... poor kid.

Last night I had a meeting with his speech teacher, teacher & principal. The meeting is called an I.E.P, however, speech isn't like normal I.E.P's.
We talk about progress, about goals... and about his very rigid, self imposed, standards. You see my son aims for the moon and is very upset any time he misses.
Very upset.
Melting down, tears and self directed anger for coming short of his own goals.

We (myself and the team) all just want him to try, even if he fails, he learns and gets better.
He, doesn't see life that way. For him, right now, its all or nothing.
I am at my wits end. Thankfully, despite his growing tantrums his teachers love him.

Ps. if you are dropping by for the first time I am not a "Mommy blogger." I am not the amazing crafty, art project, every moment filled with kodak moments.
I am a brutally honest mom who fails more often than not. I have two kids that are both struggling with reading (I'm a writer, hence the irony.)
We have insane and crazy moments.

Two weekends ago I ended up in the ER with Prissy because she stabbed herself in the finger with her Epi Pen. This weekend while playing outside in the snow, she ran out of her boot.

She ran out of her boot.
In the snow.
And left it there.

When she realized that she didn't have a boot on anymore, did she come inside? Go back and grab the boot?
Nope.
She wrapped her jacket around her foot and kept playing.

....I promise I could not make this up.
The insanity gets worse... its been 5 days since she walked out of her boot and guess what?
Even though its a black and hot pink hello kitty boot, its still lost somewhere out in the snow.
We have looked, all of us, every day, for hours.
I feel like singing, oh where or where has my little boot gone? Oh where oh where can he be?

Then last night, after bathing the kids I go in for a rare long hot bath.
While my head in under water I hear loud voices. Upon resurfacing I find my son on the other side of the curtain of the bathtub - crying.
I cover up, open the curtain and find him holding a bump on his head.
First words out of his mouth?
"Mama, *Prissy* just tried to kill me."

Yup 10 minutes into my bath and already the world is ending. I really should know better. I should know by now that I can not take a bath while they are awake or at home.
After questioning both of the children and my husband, no one knows anything or saw anything.
All my husband knows is that one moment my son was sitting, then his sister walked over, and then his head was hitting the floor.

In spite of everything, somehow, I have managed to convince my children's teachers, doctors ect. that I am an amazing mother.
These day's I just smile, nod and wonder if this is how most mothers feel. Like somehow we've defrauded them into thinking we are better or different than we are.

Bullies, School and Parents

This year has been a hard year for a few of us parents. I have written more than one blog post on bullying this year.
Today my being at the school and staying until after first recess for the last three months finally paid off - I found the bully.
I also found out why one of the boys LIED (that would be mine) and the other wouldn't TALK (that would be J).
The Bully is a GIRL.

Today as I walked outside with G'man I found J at the end of the ramp pushed up against the cement steps by a girl in his class.
Now this girl is a pro, even in the first grade. She was close enough and leaning over him (6 inches taller than he is) but still far enough away that any teacher or duty would think they were just talking.
She was talking or rather threatening to choke him if he didn't give her his "duckies" (plastic ducks on the end of a necklace).
I told her to stop it and sent them both off - in separate directions.
5 minutes later I saw that she had once again pinned him, this time was holding onto his jacket so he couldn't escape.
Not only did I pull her aside to talked  with her teacher, I also called his mother and let her know what I found out. She has been very worried about the bullying and even more worried that they haven't found who was doing it.

She came a little while later to talk with the principle. This is where our semi good day of finding the bully went down hill.
The principle didn't help.
Didn't listen.
And talked down to the parent.
J's mom is going to the district - maybe they will listen.

Hint -
Do not tell a mother its not that big a deal.
Do not tell a boy that has been bullied to tears for months that he isn't afraid of her.
Do not spend the whole time trying to make light of the situation.

Just because she is a girl doesn't mean she's sweet, or that she won't hurt him - or that she hasn't hurt him in the past.
I say that the next time she puts a finger on either one of our boys - they come home with a scratch, a bruise or a cut and we will call the police and file assault charges.
We will defend our boys.
This is not something that is okay.
Threatening to choke someone is not okay.
Bullying done by anyone is not okay.
For a school that has a zero bullying policy, they sure didn't listen today. Something I really hope the district pays attention to. As much as I like the Principle (and I do) this is not right.
My witnessing her threatening to choke him should have been grounds for a red slip, not a slight scolding.

Hence the saga continues.
The sad thing is I am sure if we had pulled in a boy the matter would have been dealt with, quickly.

Unseen Scars - Bullying

For the several hundred that read my last post on bullying and how its hurting my son, here I am, updating you.
Things are better.
Things are worse.

Its hard to separate my life at the moment from the life of my son. He is hurt. Yet that is such a pitiful way to describe what has happened to him emotionally.
At night he is plagued with nightmares, of being hurt, of even being killed on the playground. He is in first grade in a regular city. Not too violent, not too sweet and rather poor.
At school I cannot leave him. Every day I have to be there in his class until after first recess - at which time I have to be there on the playground.
If I have other obligations or I'm sick or his sister is sick - he comes home before first recess sick.
Again he is not having accidents on purpose. He is literally making himself sick with fear.
Right now I am looking into free state psychological help, the co-pays alone for meeting with a child shrink would kill us.

So again today I went to school with my son. We did class work in which one of his class mates had me biting my lips to stop from laughing.
They have a game called silly sentences.

She did this all by herself in spite of my trying to get her to exchange man for dinosaur and to remove the word happy.
I have to give props to his teacher - how does she read these and not lose it?
I would also like to point out that the rest of the sentences the kids came up with were not off color like this one, they were cute and silly.
We did recess as in the photos above and then I left to run home before returning again for my PTA meeting.

Now as I said my son is better - its been three weeks since he has been bullied on the playground.
And he is worse because the fear is so deep rooted in his brain that he can not move past it yet.

This is yet another reason I am so happy that I joined the PTA this year. I was able to talk to them about it today and we are moving forward with the Watch Dogs, program. Where dads (and moms) join a program and then dedicate extra hours to being on the playground, before and after school and they help keep the playground a safe place.
It would have started at the beginning of the year, however, we lost our main leader and its been a struggle to move forward.
Thankfully we have two new dads who are eager to help. (The main gist of the program is to help bring dads into helping at the school.)
I love that I have another place to voice what is going on with my son and have even more people to help support and implement changes. 

Prissy's Parade

Magna Home Coming Parade October 2012

To insure that the parade had more than 5 entrants they invited all the school clubs in the area to join the parade.

So my daughters after school, HATS, program joined in.

My daughters pleading for me to take her, wait and watch was poetic.

"Mama, your ruining my life!
This could be my only chance to be in a parade!

Please, Please, Please let me be in the parade!"

Yes, I'm a bad mama, I didn't want to go to the parade.

However, knowing how much she wanted it and how many friends she has made in the program, I went.

She had the time of her life and I got some amazing shots of Magna Main!

The men (hubby and son) stayed home and played Mario.

My daughters face is painted up to look like a cute bulldog since her school is the Bulldogs!

You can double click the photo to see it really large 

October - Anti Bullying Month

October

Its amazing with so many things going on that October is Anti-Bullying Month.

Yesterday, I was called (again) by my son. He had another accident. It was 10:11 am.
This is the second time in two weeks that he has had an accident at school before 10:15 am - which incidentally happens to be first recess.

Now I want to be clear - he is not having the accidents on purpose to come home or to get me to come to the school.
However - due to a bully at school - he is making himself physically ill, just thinking about recess and the drama that comes.
His BFF J'Man has come home with foot print bruising right over his kidneys as well as a long (5-6 inches) fingernail scratch on his chest.


My son has been pushed down the steps twice and hit once in class. The kid that hit him, is not the playground bully and has been moved to another class.
Now the hard issue is my son has speech issues, he is in speech therapy, but due to the fact that he didn't really start talking until he was four - he is behind the other kids.
Which makes it hard to understand his description of the bully.
His BFF is a great talker - but scared of repercussions and has been unwilling to point out the bully.

Over time I have pulled both his Teacher and the Principal into this matter and they are both willing to get to the bottom of it.
First and foremost for me though was getting my son to last a full day at school.
So today, bag in hand I went to the school and helped out in his class all morning long.
His teacher - being wonderful - allowed him to stay in during recess.

Hopefully soon this will be taken care of and my son will be able to enjoy recess once again. Until then though, I will be at the school in the mornings.
Doing whatever it takes to get my son safely through another day.

Now this is becoming a HUGE problem! Not just because of this bully, but all the "bullies" that have been put back into the Salt Lake County School District this year.
You see due to budget cuts, they downsized special needs classes as well as behavioral classes. 
So in a state that has the highest amount of Autistic kids in the nation, not to mention societies worsening parenting problems and the behavior issues that are coming from it.
Instead of increasing our teachers for the flux of kids that need the extra help - they keep decreasing it!

If you have ever thought to yourself that you don't need to worry about budgets for special needs children because your kid isn't one - think again. If a kid with violent behavior doesn't have a class to go to - he ends up in a class with yours.
This is something that affects EVERY child, not just some.

I truly feel for my son's teacher and principal. They don't want these issues. They know that several kids in the school shouldn't be here - in fact last week a boy was taken out of the school in handcuffs because he broke another child's hand!
They also have to work within a broken system.
They have to wait until the ticking time bomb goes off and hurts someone before they can re-force the school system to place that child back into an appropriate class.

My nephew, has Autism. My nephew is wonderful and I love him. He is also in a behavioral class because he is a violent child. Luckily, he is not in Utah and will not be placed back into an open classroom - not for several more years.
Both families need the help! Mine to keep from being bullied and my sisters to keep her son from hurting others and himself.

Its rather odd that while I am going through this with our family today's viral news is of a media Anchor getting bullied for being, "FAT".
Showing that bulling is not just a childhood issue.
Her response to a very idiotic bully was amazing - READ HERE.

This is yet another reason that I support DOVE, for trying to change people's views on "the right look."
I am proud of this news team for having a "heavier" woman as an anchor.
Yes obesity is a bad thing, yes its a growing trend.
However, so is Anorexia. 
Being happy and accepting yourself is key!
Labels and cruel words are not okay - at any age or for any reason.

As a chunky woman I can attest that losing weight is NOT easy. I don't want to be fat. I don't want to have my middle baby tire.
Its not something I choose to keep.
I am eating "right" and increasing activity in my life.
But to have someone judge me, or others like me just because we don't fit the ideal image, well that says alot about you.

Please talk to your children - make sure you know what is going on. Also be aware of your negative words - they do hurt.

Rainy Day Randomness

                              Today it rained - a good long soaking refreshing, earth quenching rain.

Maybe you don't know my luck, but today for the first time since school started - today is the day that I got the call from school that my son had an accident, was sick and needed me.
Me, the woman who gave up her car 5 1/2 years ago, me the woman who is no longer driving her husband to work because he gets up so early, me the woman who is now getting rides with a great friend, me that is a few weeks from getting another car!

I called up my friend begged her to put her two babies back in the car, run over, pick me up, wait, then drive my son and  I home.
Luckily she is wonderful!

I have spent the day helping my son with his homework, projects and of course laundering his soiled clothes.
Tummy Trouble is not fun.

After hubby came home I ran to the school for both of my children's S.E.P's, and then to work at the book fair with the PTA for a few hours.
I am thankful I can help! Not having a ton of money I collect all labels, all bonus school points and now I have time to help out the school's PTA!

 

With fall comes new challenges and new allergies. My poor little girl has such a hard time! Each day its something new!

These are the new items I have waiting for bath bubbles and hand cream, even the scents - bath bubbles will be scented with Sugar Cookie & the hand cream an Autumn Harvest smell!
I have designed the labels and slowly but surely this party is coming together! Two months to go!
Can you tell its been a while since I was able to throw a really fun party?! I am so excited!

Last Randomness

This is my neighbors house - two years ago it burnt down. Last summer it was bought by a couple who has worked very hard to restore and fix the inside.
The last few weeks they have been working on electrical, plumbing, wall panels... they have fixed the roof and removed all the crap.
Yet... its raining and the windows are still open!!!

Kid you not!
These people have poured thousands of dollars and hours of hard work yet it will be  could be all ruined again if they don't fix the windows before it rains much more. If the rain of the last 24 hours hasn't already re-damaged things!

On a happier note! At the end of this month we will have been in our home for 2 years! I am so very happy!
We have a long way to go on the yard and lots of work left yet on the inside as well, but two years down - 28 more to go and its ours!

Mummy Kiddy Play Date

G'man's best friend H1, invited him over to play today. This gave Mama H and I some much needed girl gab time.
Mama H has four adorable children all under the age of first grade! Her house is always bursting!

During our time H1 showed G'man that he could now ride a bike without training wheels - my son not to be out done immediately had to practice!
 

Upon arriving home Papa immediately had to take off G'man's training wheels. Sad to say I have known full well that my son could have had his wheels off all summer.
I kept them on not for him, but for Prissy!
Her balance is not near as good as G'man's and she falls alot!
Keeping my children from sharing their toys is like telling them not to breathe - so the training wheels stayed on.
Now my daughter is learning how to ride without the benefit of training wheels and I am armed to the teeth with bandages!

One week of after school program for Prissy and she still loves it! I am so happy! 

Tidbits of Life

G'man, my first grader and one of the joys of my life. He is still having a hard time at school. He has found a few friends. He is no longer the lone man out and yet yesterday he came home with a bump on his head.
When I asked how it happened he told me that a kid he didn't know pushed him down the concrete steps.
My emotions on this are varying and intense, but above all is worry.
Please pray with me that he will be safe, that kids won't stand by and allow others to hurt him.

This week I went through and worked on re-doing my book cases. Layering, moving and side stacking for better visual impact. I am pleased with the results - its not so much of an eye sore as it is restful.

Also I started using a Home Made Face Cleanse
and redid my fridge shelving

To see the full post on my new shelving protectors please Click Here.

Other than these small things I have been under the weather this week, struggling not to come down with my children colds. Next week I am hoping to be able to help in G'man's class, in the hopes that I can help him somehow...

Arms, School, Car & Me

 

Prissy getting her cast off before and after photo

The arrow shows that even after six weeks of having five pins and a cast in her arm is still broken.

They had to take the cast off and get her arm moving or it won't regain full movement.

Everyday we do arm exercises working her arm into mobility - right now its half way there.

So as many have noticed I took some time away from blogging and facebook. Much has been happening.

Prissy started the second grade this week at her new school - she loves her new teacher, her class and the food at this school!
LittleMan starts kindergarten this next Monday going for half days. He already met his teacher and really likes her. I am grateful that the school is much closer to home.

Two weeks ago (round about) our car broke down. REALLY broke down. After some quick thinking we decided to trade it in and find something new.

We found a 2007 Dodge Grand Caravan - its a slightly darker blueish/purple then what is shown in the photo.
It has the stow and go seats - rides like a dream and I LOVE IT! Great thing it also uses less gas per mile then our old car so I am a very spoiled woman right now!

Now on to why I haven't been on for a while - as many of you know I have been searching for my old self. I have seen shrinks, doctors and have found diets to help balance things back into place.
I have fired my shrink - it doesn't do me any good to have someone sit there and constantly agree with me - if I wanted that I could talk to a mirror.
My doctor took what my shrink had tried to do (Zoloft and sleeping pills that kept me awake) kept the Zoloft but switched me to Melatonin.

Two nights of sleeping and the weight hasn't yet stopped pouring off of me - so far I am down about ten pounds without effort.
After a few months of sleep I should be able to stop the Zoloft, its a stop gap until my body catches up with the sleep. I hope that my diet - following the eating by blood type has helped balance out other chemical issues my body had been dealing with.

Now I know that sleep is important, but being a mother you get used to NOT sleeping. In fact due to my daughters Asthma issues I am even better at not sleeping then most parents. I haven't slept a full night long for almost 8 years. Until the melatonin. Ironically my Dr. told me to buy the 1 mg doses and then work my way up to 3 or 4 depending on what works for me. So far one is just fine.

After all the years of gaining weight - dieting, exercising and trying new things it was SLEEP that I needed. I feel much saner and closer to my old self then I have in years. I am praying that the weight loss continues, but feeling awake and energetic is enough for right now.

Life is crazy and busy - I have much around the house that I am catching up on but I will try to blog more often. ;)

Barbies and Funny Faces

Now that school is out (last day was yesterday)

We are having a bit of boredom crisis

My summer plan HAD involved a lot of water and hoses.

Now that that's out...

I get to see lots of funny faces

(my son really hasn't grasped the concept but he tries hard)

I also think there will be a lot of dressing of the barbies

Grandma specially made the Pink Nurses uniform to help with Prissy's recovery!

Life is always interesting here!

Prissy's Class

We ran by the school to turn in Prissy's doctors note, inform them of her next several days off and to take her lunch order off the list for a field trip she had been scheduled to go on.

Then we ran down the hall to her class where we informed her teacher that she would be missing her big school play. (Yes she is sad about that but more scared of getting her arm hurt)

I also emptied out her desk so that when she does go for her last and final day - she won't have to carry anything.

Her class was sad that she got hurt and it was cute to see three boys trying to gain her attention - they all wanted her to know how sad they were that she was going to miss the next week.

Next time she goes I am sure they will all love to sign her new (very pink) cast. So here is good-bye to the first grade!

A rant and then back to the blabble

I am upset, to say that I am angry or livid would be fine as well. I will be meeting with the Principal of my daughters school!

 Let me re cap the story for you starting back a few years. Anytime I took Prissy to a new Church she would come out of her Sunday school class wet. Why? Because she hates to ask strangers to let her go to the bathroom. She hates talking about the potty or anything to do with the bathroom.

I explained this to her teacher on Prissy's first day of school, I also made Prissy promise to raise her hand and ask to go to the potty when she needed to.  On Wednesday, my daughter has been sick but well enough to attend school. She asked her teacher if she could use the bathroom and was told, NO. Because of this my daughter came home from school with her pants stuck to her and poo caked to the inside of her cloths and body.

She had had diarrhea and had been unable to hold it. When I wrote the teacher wanting to know why this had happened and what we could do to make sure it never happens again. Did she express sorrow that my daughter had been dirty all day long? Did she explain that my daughter needed to have told her that she had had an accident?

NO.

Instead she pulls my daughter off to the side and says, "Remember why I told you, you had to wait? Alli was in the potty and only one of you can go at a time."

Pause. Blink. Your kidding right? I asked the teacher for a plan that this would never happen again, I mentioned Dr.s notes and talking with the principal. Did I get a letter back? Anything? NOPE. As I said I can not have my daughter coming home dirty, staying in school dirty, due to a snotty teacher who doesn't seem to care that my daughter spent the day filthy!

 How dare she! What type of teachers are we producing now? Is this what they are taught in college? I have been fine with her teacher up to now. She is a little airy, fluffy and ditsy, but she is a first grade teacher. I am just still in shock that she is acting like this was fine! I can tell you that when I was in school this was not ok. If a kid was sick or had an accident they were taken to the office and taken care of. Rant done - for now.

This is my bookcase, the bookcase I had my books on before as well as my movies. My hubby was able to fit his books onto his book cases. Our friend Shayne gave us a really great entertainment center that I am currently in the process of filling up with movies.

That said, why on earth do I have eight more boxes of books that don't fit on my bookshelf? My sweetheart has so nicely offered to buy me another two bookcases. This way everything will fit nicely. (Again)
Seriously I know it all fit before... somehow...

This is my new bed sheet set that I pick up at a bargain! I think it will be great! Nice, light, comfortable and looks amazing in my white bedroom!

So much is going on all at the same time! My daughter, my first born is turning 7 on Saturday! I don't have a clue what we are going to do for her b-day yet! Yelp!

Next up in our never ending world of adventure, we now have a deadline for when the house must be done, bathrooms, kitchen, guest rooms and bedrooms. Why? Well I am Blessed of course! Both of my sisters are coming for Thanksgiving! One from Cali and the other from Nebraska.

This I am excited about! I just need more plates (and they stopped selling mine right after I bought them) and I need folding chairs! We will be 9 people in my new home and I am thrilled that I have enough room for everyone!

Well I am off, I have to clean up as much of the mess as possible and make it at least look like I have been busy as my father and stepmom are coming for a visit tonight.