Balloons, Birthday Bowling and Shady Business

Oooooooh Yeah! (the the voice of The Macho Man Randy Savage)

I have a 4 year old people!  Yes.....you heard that right.  A 4 year old.  SE is FOUR!!  WOO!!

On Saturday I found it totally funny that the TV Land channel had a Golden Girls marathon on and that was what I was watching as I went through 3 days of latent labor with SE back in 2009.  Goodtimes I tell you, goodtimes. LOL.

Last week...a little stressful.  On Monday...both boy's ABA therapists called in sick.  That's one of two things that SUCKS about home therapy.  That kind of stuff doesn't happen at centers because they have subs; socialization opportunities with other kids is the other thing my kids miss out on (we make that up in other places).  BUT with home therapy for us, the 2 cons don't nearly outweigh the benefits.  My kids learn to generalize their skills to home, home therapists can go with us to other locations, such as the Y and stores and it saves me gas! :)

 

  So I put on my teacher "hat" and the boys and I headed into the playroom for some "therapy".  Hahaha.  So a 3 year old that gets bored and sidetracked easily and a 2 year old with little to no instructional control versus one adult who hasn't prepped ANYTHING for a couple hours of homeschool who also happens to be their Mom.  Freaking awesome.  Yeah, it went just how you would expect.  Good for the first 20 minutes then crashed and burned.  I ended up letting one watch a video in our room while I worked with the other one on one.  Not ideal, but hey.....you gotta do what you gotta do right?!?!

 

I ended up doing the same thing on Tuesday morning.  Late notice from SE's therapist meant no time to prep as well so I just had stuff ready to go for C.  Ugh.  Then on Wednesday C's therapist had an emergency and couldn't make it.......so I did a hodge podge of activities for him.  THANK GOD for Pinterest!  Seriously.

 

On a side note....Pinterest doesn't make me feel like I'm an inferior mother, or that I'm not crafty or that I don't come up with good ideas.  Quite the opposite.  I think it's freaking great!  Awesome ideas for just about everything!!!

So on Friday, because I'm an awesome Mama, I took cupcakes (30) to school for SE's birthday celebration there.  SE saw the box and immediately yelled..."CUPCAKES"!!  Ah, he is my son huh?  SE's class (3 kids) was combined with the other special needs class and they enjoyed Elmo cupcakes and goodie bags.  I got enough for SE to take them to the other 2 classes.  When I walked into one of the other classrooms with SE and his teacher, a kid stood up and said..."YES"! and put a little fist pump in there.  I could do nothing but chuckle.  Kids are so funny.

Also on Friday...it was like 83 degrees here!  What?!?!?!  Yeah..it's above 80, so the shorts came out.  I was praying that my shorts from last summer still fit.  Truthfully I wanted to be in a size 6 by now, but through my little sidelines and bumps off the wagon I was just hoping the 8s would fit.

 

Yeah buddy!  They fit!  I'm still planning on buying 6s by June.  It's only about 10lbs or so away.  I think I can do it!  It's getting to be a little hard, but I'm determined to keep plugging away.  145lbs is my goal weight and that will mean 45lbs lost since January 2012!

 

And taking advantage of the crazy nice weather.....I took the boys to the park!

 

SE on the slide! Sidenote: I totally understand now why my Mom used to yell at me to not crawl around on my knees when I was a kid. SE has already torn the right knees of 3 pairs of fairly new jeans!!!  Next thing you know I'll be telling him money doesn't grow on trees.  Man,  I wish it did! :)

 

 

 

Holy Schmoly!  Look at C's hair!!! Super long yes? Super cute? Of course.  I trimmed it up a bit, but no major haircuts.  I like the shaggy messy look on him, it's cute!  And yes, they are dressed alike...on purpose.  Irish shirts for my little Irish boys!

Saturday I woke up early and went to the grocery store to get some donuts (SE's fav breakfast) and balloons.  I was the first person at the store getting donuts.  Freshly baked!  Yum!!  (And I wonder why I'm not in a 6 yet).  I also got some balloons, one had "I'm 4!" printed on it.  SE was in LOVE with the balloons, and when C got up, he was too.

 

 

Then we got real high class and took the boys to Walmart so SE could pick out a toy for his birthday.  And not just any Walmart....the Leavenworth Wally World!  Holla!!!

 

 

Here he is with his new truck.  Um....yeah, he has the SAME truck in GREEN!  Oh well, it was his birthday, not mine and that's what he wanted.  Notice the apparel change?  Yeah, talk about a 30 degree drop in temperature from Friday to Saturday.  Blech!

 

From there we went to the StrikeZone bowling alley on post.  It was SE's first time bowling so we were a little curious to see how he would do.  He thought it was pretty cool!

 

 

He was like a little jumping bean!  So happy and proud of himself while bowling.

 

C had fun too.  Best moment?  When he took off down the lane to our left and I yell, "Get him"!! to the hubs and he gets onto the gutter and runs and grabs him.  C made it a little over 1/4 of the way down the lane before he slipped and fell and Daddy got him.  Who knows how far he would have made it.  Nice that a bunch of the hubs co-workers were there too.  Super not embarrassing at all.  No....really.

 

 

Sunday we went swimming at the Y to the south of us.  It has a lazy river that C thought was the bees knees.  That boy is fearless.  SE tolerated it well, but liked the regular pool better.

 

A lot of crying after we got out of the pool even though both boys' fingers and toes were all pruney and their lips were turning blue.  They are water dogs, but they still need to learn to swim. * Insert registration for spring and summer swim lessons here.*

 

So yes, SE's birthday was a blast.  But here comes the shady biz. 

 

Checking our bank account yesterday I noticed a debit for $634.40!  Here's where I spit my green tea out in astonishment.  So I get on the phone to the bank and tell them fraud had occurred on our account.  They closed out my checkcard and filed a claim.  Also told me the store that the thieves bought the clothes from.  I called the store, told them I didn't make that purchase and they said they would refund it.  They also told me the name and address of the perp. <--That's SO Miami Vice.  Chang Nguyen at 9341 Blanche Ave in Garden Grove CA.  Now, hoping this moron was stupid enough to use his/her real name (unlikely, but I'm hoping), I filed a police report at the local sheriff's station.

 

 

 

  That zapped my entire morning and early afternoon into oblivion.  I didn't get to my laundry I had planned to do and even worse...C needs a new pair of shoes and I don't have a checkcard to buy them with!!  I'll be the person in line that whips out her checkbook and everyone will rolls their eyes and groans.  I guess I'll have to turn to them and scream..."My checkcard is in the mail, cut me a break!!!!"

 

So on the upside, our account should be credited at end of business today and my new card is on it's way.  Thank goodness.

 

Other than that it's the same stuff different day.  Half marathon is coming soon and I only ran 2 miles on the treadmill this morning.  Felt horrid.  I hate the treadmill.  Running outside is the only way to go.  So planning to do 10 miles on Friday or Saturday.  Did 7 miles on Friday last week and it wasn't bad at all...minus the annoying shorts chaffing my thighs.  Sounds like I need a trip to my local Lululemon huh?  Me thinks so.  C'mon tax return.....let's make it happen!!!  I need some Wunder Under capris!!

 



 

love,

Supermama rosie

Busy Busy Bees!!!

Is it just me or did last week fly by???

We were SO busy!

From a new therapist for C, a therapy team meeting for SE, a KU study for C, a summer school eligibility meeting for SE and my test to determine my resting metabolic rate!  Then the weekend.....we were busy busy busy!!!

So to start the week off after doing some research, I've decided to start some homeschoolish workboxes for the boys.  Sue Patrick invented this way of organizing a homeschool program to help her son who has....autism.  The structure of the program plays right into the need for routine for our kiddos.  Interested?  Here's her website: Sue Patrick's workbox system

No, I'm not pulling SE out of preschool or anything.  I do think they both need some additional structured learning at home.  We already have the appropriate space for it (the therapy room) and I bought a nifty little drawer cart for the work.  First time I've been to Kmart in like 8 years. 

I also got sucked into Pinterest for some homeschooling DIY activities.  So after some Amazon shopping, laminating, coloring and gluing...here's a couple of the things I came up with:

Most are focused on color identification and fine motor skills for C and some counting, color sight words and shape identification for SE.

I also picked up some necessary ingredients to make some marbled homemade playdoh.  I'll tackle that tomorrow.

On Tuesday we had SE's monthly therapy meeting, so all 3 of his therapists and his BCBA came that morning and worked on some new goals and things for him.  It's always a little overwhelming for him to have 4 people in the room working with him, so I usually stay in there with him.  But this Tuesday was a bit different, it was the first day C and I met his new therapist.  I really didn't want to have the old one leave, but our schedules weren't lining up anymore and well......that kinda crap happens. Boo.

C's new therapist is pretty cool.  She's a BCBA that owns her own company and has been working with kiddos for a LONG time.  Sweet.  C liked her and she picked up right where our other therapist left off.  Then an hour into that, C's Occupational Therapist came and we had 60 min of therapy.  Then 45 min later, C's Speech Therapist came and we had some more therapy. 

So that meant that I had 7 different therapists in my house that day.  9:30am to 3:00pm.  LOL!  Wow.  I've decided that I'm not going to be too hard on myself for not having the house immaculate when they come over.  Clean yes, immaculate...hell no.

Wednesday...yep, summer school is on tap for SE.  While that only means 2 weeks in our school district....it's something.  Could be nothing, so I'm grateful.  SE's insurance covered therapy (and C's too) will increase in the summer since school will be out.  Even better.

Thursday a BCBA and another therapist came to complete an assessment for a KU study on joint attention.  So far he has met all the eligibility requirements for the study!  WOOO!!  Hopefully our number is chosen to be in the "experimental" group, which would mean an hour of joint attention therapy a week for 36 weeks!  Considering this is an area C needs some work in.....that would ROCK.

 

So on Friday I had my appointment to get my resting metabolic rate calculated.  So basically the amount of calories I would burn if I just sat around all day.  So I took C with me and we went to the Army Wellness Center and I got hooked up to the machine...

 



LUUUUUKKEEE  I AM YOUR FATHER........ 
That thing was so tight on my face!

Here's what C did while I chilled with the mask on:

A little work on the iPad.

Well...they told me I can't really get my full results until I go to the 'Uping your Metabolism' class.  If that's not an indicator I need to get to work, I don't know what it.  The hubs assures me that everyone goes to that class, but it still sucks.  My RMR? 1224.  Shit.

That SUCKS.  I would like to think that the fact that I have hypothyroidism has something to do with my craptastic rate of burning calories, but my levels are only a "little" low.  Not enough for a higher dose of my meds.  So I have some work to do.  And that means, strict calorie counting and building some more muscle so I can lose these 10lbs. 

So while I was meal planning before, this time it will be more structured.  Measuring and being exact with portion sizes.  I sorta started yesterday, just to feel what it would be like to eat 1500 calories.  I was hungry.  But I'll get used to it.  Drink more water, stick to eating every 2-3 hours.  I know I can do this.

Knowledge is power.  Now that I know exactly how many calories I'm burning, I've formulated a plan for success.

I should also mention that while the scale was giving me 25% body fat, by ultrasound it was 22.3% !!  Yeah Buddy!!!!!  Just really 4% more to get rid of!  SCORE!!!  That was the highlight of my day!  I'm just glad she told me that before I got the RMR score. 

So, meal planning and portion control.  Here we go.  The 2 on top are portions for my husband and the others are mine. 

Now, while I will be undoubtedly obsessive compulsive about what I'm eating, at least until this portion control habit is formed; I will STILL have my donut day with my kids.  They enjoy it and of course, so do I!  Can't cut out too much or I'll fail.

Here's the beauty I had today....

Yes, that's a maple iced donut with bacon.  Freaking GOOD!  I'm proud to say that's the only donut I had though!  Power rings, as our friend Vinnie calls them....can be addictive.

Saturday night, was Kids night out at the YMCA, so we dropped the boys off and went bowling.  I won!  WOOT!  The hubs pulled out like a 180 game for the last one though!  Sure, he picks the last game to really start playing!  LOL!

By the way.....am I MANIC or FRANTIC?!?!?!

Freaking weird bowling balls.  I couldn't resist the photo op though.  Had to.

And in other randomness......

Here's the valance I made for the therapy room (blue) and the one for the boy's room (red chevron).

 

 

 

That's it for now.  Going to relax for the rest of the day, hang out with my boys and of course.....

 

 

WALKING DEAD!!!!!!!!

 

love,

 

Supermama rosie

We survived...SNOWMAGEDDON!!!

Okay seriously....that was a crap ton of snow.  And it's STILL here.  Freaking 2 weeks later!

Man do I miss that whole snow one day, sunny the next..snow gone thing Colorado Springs has going on.  Hmph.  The snow is still a good 4 feet high where we shoveled it.

Tommy Turtle got completed covered up with the second snowfall!!  I had planned on making a Stegosaurus over Tommy, but naptime refusal by two little boys made that a little on the impossible side.

So...I want to say at least 50% of my neighbors have snowblowers.  We have arms and a shovel.  I would say they need to come share the wealth, but shoveling burns calories...so I guess we'll just deal with it. 

Lucy had a GREAT time in the snow.  It was awesome to see her romping around.  Too much fun.  What wasn't great.....the wet dog smell after.  ICK.

 

 

So being basically stuck in the house with a dog, an almost 4 year old and a 2 year old.  Not exactly my idea of super fun.  Don't get me wrong....I LOVE my family.  But everyone gets a bit of cabin fever.  On the first day of the second snowstorm the hubs had to leave to for school in Utah.  So while I was dealing with the craziness of the kiddies with no therapy or school and a dog that keeps whining to go outside to play every 5 minutes, hubby was here:

 



Um...what?!?!  Yeah, that's what I thought!  This is the pool at the house he and his classmates rented.  Pretty nice digs!!  I think this may be a great reason for me to go purchase some new Lululemon stuff.  Even things up a bit.  Yeah...me thinks so.

So since the snow has been so bad and I was not able to run outside and I absolutely hate the treadmill, I decided I try some workouts with the TRX system in the basement.  Lord have mercy....it was AWESOME.

I absolutely loved it.  I'm converted for sure.  It's hard work and I LOVE IT. 

Let me tell you....my core was so sore after the first workout and that's a good thing!!  If you want a great workout, check it out.

So now it's a new week.  Snow is melting and trails are semi clear.  The hubs, C and I got 5 miles in this afternoon while SE was at school and I found something out the hard way.
If you don't use it, you lose it.  Running stamina that is.  I was up to 10 miles before snowmageddon.  That 5 miles today almost killed my knees.  Fo sho.  I thought I was going to die.  It sucked.  Gonna have to get back in the saddle though.  My half marathon is only 5 weeks away.

So at the end of this month we're going back 'home' to visit our parents and friends for some much needed rest and relaxation. 
 
And one of the first places I'm going...

 

 

Who's with me?!?!?!?!  Provided there's no snow...I'm afraid of the incline with snow on it. :(

 

 

Then....I'm going to



Because Mama needs her Patsy's caramel corn!!  And since C is all about popcorn nowadays
I do believe he'll LOVE it just like I do.  :D

Later taters!!!

love,

Supermama rosie