The hits keep coming....but here we stand.

Well, the week started off great....then 'dun, dun, daaaaaaa'....the stomach flu got us.  I find it funny they call it the stomach flu, when it really has nothing to do with influenza at all.  Let's think for a moment how we actually get a stomach bug.

Ugh.  The dreaded NOROVIRUS...a family of nasty little viral gastroenteritis buggies.  Spread by....fecal/oral route.  Nastiness.  Also spread by touching contaminated surfaces, then that little germie germ makes it into your system.  The nasty little buggers spread like wildfire.  Washing hands is the best defense, but when your 2 1/2 year old is barfing all over, you might just not catch every germ.  Especially when he pukes ON you.  C went down with it Wednesday...

And then he felt fine on Friday!  I thought we were in the clear.  I took C with me to pick up my race packet in Overland Park for the Rock the Parkway half marathon.  While down in that area...hmmmm, Leawood, and more importantly Lululemon and Trader Joe's is just around the corner!!! 

Shall we go???  LET'S!!

Nothing good in Lulu, since they've taken all the black wunder unders and wunder under crops out of stock because apparently booties were visible while bending over.  Not cool.

So onto Trader Joe's.  I believe I called it Snooty McSnootville.  No lie, some of the people that shop there are totally rude and snooty.  The people that work there on the other hand are so nice!  And I don't think I'm wrong in this...a friend of mine had the exact same sentiments. ;-)

I got my pizza sauce, various canned goods and some beautiful flowers that were on sale.  Hello?  $5.99 for 14 roses?!?!  Sold.

 

So there I was, driving home on 435 minding my own business when my stomach started talkin' to me.  Pain....like I'd never felt before.  And nausea, oh my word...the nausea.  I had to turn the A/C down to 62 degrees and blast it on me so I could continue driving.  I looked to my right to see if I had a bag to puke into...viola..my Lululemon reusable bag that usually holds diapers for the car.  Yep.....65 mph and I'm barfing into a bag.  I finally pulled over and finished. 

That night it got SO much worse.  I've never experienced a stomach bug on a level like this.  GROSS!  It was to the point where I looked at Shaun J and told him..."We have to go to the hospital".  We went, I got an IV in, with an open flow of saline and some Zofran (thank the Lord) and then something for the stomach cramps, then Dilaudid for the pain. 

Sidenote---How are people addicted to Dilaudid?!?!?!?  I felt so horrible.  Yeah, it took the pain away, but I felt so weird.  Like I just wanted to sleep. 

Oh and while I was going through all this, I told Shaun J to go home and what happens on the way home?  SE pukes in the car.  It's got him too!

 

 

Needless to say...the Suburban now smells like puke even with multiple cleanings of SE's seat or maybe it's just burned into my olfactory senses?!?! Shaun J came down with it Saturday morning.  Yep, ran through the whole family.  And with all the people that come into our house on a daily basis....I've been disinfecting like a mother!

 

So obviously I was unable to run my half marathon.  BOO. But I'll run one....someday. LOL.

 

 

So thanks to Autism Speaks KC, we went to the Kansas City Zoo for FREE!!  I took the boys by myself since Shaun J was 1. still recovering and 2. had school work to finish.  Here are some of my thoughts on the zoo and yes, I was/am a little judgey mcjudge face....but I have a point right??

 



 

 

 



Yes, I talk fast.  Not auctioneer fast, just fast.  Not fast like that girl that was Vanessa's friend on The Cosby Show, just faster than some people.  LOL.

Here are some other shots from the zoo.  We had fun, really.

 

SE watching the Polar Bears

 

Yes, Orangey was in attendance

 

 

I don't even remember what animal this is, but it was cute.

 

Winding down

 

Another sidenote: How in the world could someone have a chimp as a pet and not expect it to at some time maul their face or a face of someone else...completely off?!?!?!  Those things are big!  And strong looking!!  Just a thought from the chimp exhibit today.

Okay that's it for now.  I really need to hit the hay.  I promised myself that I would start
Jamie Eason's Live Fit Trainer after my half marathon.  And even though I didn't complete the run due to unforseen circumstances.....I will start and finish this program.  Even though it will consist of my waking up at 4:45am to make it to the gym by 5am to get done by 6am.  UGH!  Oh well, I will have those Jillian Michael's tank top arms by June baby!!

Also today, after mowing the front and back yard (I already told Shaun J that when his PhD program is over I'm never touching another yard appliance again....mower, weed whacker...none of it!) I decided to yank out 3 ugly as sin perennials that were by our stairs, and to not make it look horrid, I had to rake all the old mulch out and replace it with nice pretty new mulch.  Not bad for a day's work right?!?!?!

Purdy, huh?!?!?!?!

I also was the bestest mom in the whole wide world and took out SE's truck.  It's the small black F-150. LOL.

 

This was before he 4 wheeled it into the yard and ran over a bush. LOL.

Ah well, I must get to bed now.  Adios amigos!!

love,

Supermama rosie

How appropriate..Autism Awareness month, the real deal.....

So let's make some people AWARE.  Really what needs to happen is two things in my opinion.  1.  People in general just need to be more compassionate and empathetic to special needs people/families and 2.  We need ANSWERS.  The statistics are alarming.....to those of us who care and actually know about it.  Hello....1 in 50 now!

Unfortunately for most people, Autism is a far off disorder for them.  They may know a family with a kid that has Autism, or they might have seen Rain Man or something like that.  That not only gives people a false impression about what it's really like to live with an individual with Autism, but creates those stupid stereotypes that all people on the Autism spectrum have these "super brain powers" that can help others win money or something.  Let me tell you, if SE and C were giving up the lotto numbers, we'd have won that 550 million Mega Millions jackpot a couple months back. :)


So let me tell you what it's really like and why (before people jump to judgement that my children are misbehaved and spoiled) my kiddos act the way they do.

Every kid on the spectrum is different, even my two are complete opposites almost.  SE is a people pleaser and looks for approval upon completion of a task and C couldn't care less if you thought he did well or not.  C is much more advanced verbally than SE.  SE follows directions quite well.  C....doesn't.  Both have, in essence, hit their terrible twos a little late and everything that has been coming out of their mouths is....NO! 

SE also is very opinionated and likes things to go his way (like most 4 year olds), the only problem is his coping mechanisms for not getting his way are: shrieking at the top of his lungs, laying down on the ground, crying and requesting hugs, and not completing the task.  The screaming is the WORST.  It is blood curdling.  I think he could wake the dead with those screams.  In addition, every time he pulls out one of these banshee like yells, C screams and covers his ears because it's too much for him to handle.  Lovely.

Friday was just a crap day ALL DAY LONG. 

It started out with SE screaming his way through therapy.  I know he doesn't want to work at home, I feel like I'm torturing him everyday.  I've come to the conclusion he's just not a home based therapy kid.  While it's convenient for me, it's not working for him.  So, I have an appointment next week to check out a new center that's about 20 min away from our house.  Only caveat....they don't accept our insurance.  The good news is that they are going to start the process to be able to bill our insurance.  Bad news is that we have Tricare, which involves the government, which means it will take 2x as long as it should.  BLAH!

After the whole therapy ordeal, SE went to school and I took C with me to the bank and Lowe's.  He helped me pick out a bird feeder and I got the necessary parts to fix our leaky kitchen faucet (since I can't seem to be able to remove the existing one to replace it...a whole other story).  Then we went to Sam's where I needed to buy diapers for the boys....and they didn't have the size I needed. Sidenote:  yes, SE still wears diapers.  He's actually afraid to even go into public restrooms and forcing him to do so will cause a meltdown of epic proportions.  So the potty training process will go slowly for him, but I'm convinced he won't walk across the stage of his high school graduation wearing one. :)

Decided to get a haircut for C...nightmare.  We went into one salon here in town (the one by the grocery store, for those that live where I live) and SE screamed.  Even when I tried to bribe him with candy.  Everyone stared at us, but no one said ANYTHING.  A girl walked in a couple minutes after us and they immediately helped her.  Needless to say...I was pissed.  So I took both boys out, buckled them back into their carseats and went 1000ft over to Cost Cutters.  So much for supporting the small local businesses in my town.  And yes, I did write a horrible review on Yelp for the first place. 
 
SE screamed again as we went in, but the candy did help.  C, on the other hand was like...."uh, what's up with this?!?!"  I gave him a sucker, but that wasn't helping.  I sat him on my lap and he screamed, squirmed, cried and wiggled though the whole thing.  The stylist was very understanding though, which was good, but didn't make me feel any better.  SE kept asking me for hugs because he was hearing C cry so much.  Couldn't help him out there, which made him upset.  Finally finished the haircut and the total was $11.50 with tax.  I tipped her $10 because I felt so bad.

Then we went to the grocery store because I needed some last minute stuff for dinner.  Told SE about 5 times before we parked, but as soon as we did, he started kicking the seat.  UGH.  So while holding C, I dragged SE to the door, because you can't leave your kids in the car anymore like our parents used to do to us.  I promised SE a donut as a bribe to keep him moving and happy.  What does he do right after we walk in??  Lays down and screams.  Awesome.  So after 5 min or so of working with him to get up we make it to the bakery.  He's all hunky dory because he got half a donut.  C is also a happy camper, eating his half and riding in the cart.  So...I'm searching for natural cheetos, SE's fav.  No, he will not eat regular cheetos, crunchy or puffy, he will also not eat baked cheetos.  As I'm looking, SE is getting anxious.  I tell him we will be done soon and that sets him into a meltdown, right in the middle of the aisle.  Sigh.  People stare.  Usually I can brush off the dirty looks, but today....I'd just had enough.  I try to hold back the tears.  We get to the checkout and SE is still acting cranky and there is an aisle open.  But the girl working there won't meet my gaze.  So I go into the next lane.  After I finish loading my groceries onto the belt of the next lane, the girl who wouldn't look at me asks the person that came up behind me if he was ready to check out.  WHAT?!?!?!?!  Hello....... last straw.  The guy that ignoring checker (that's her new name) called over decides he's forgotten something, so he turns back into the store.  I look at the girl and say, "Oh, you're open now"?  She says, "Oh yeah, I'm open, I can help you right here".  So what do you think I say?

"Oh, you can help me now?  Funny how you were unavailable when I was loading all these freaking groceries onto the belt over here.  But NOW you can help.......whatever".

Now I know that was wrong.  But in my defense, I was frazzled.  I had reached my breaking point.  I checked out, took the boys to the car and here's what happened:

 

Yeah, I know my hair looks crazy and everything but.....that was me in the moment.  A honest moment.  Something most people never see from me or other special needs parents because we're so good at hiding it.

 

 

Now, these days don't happen all the time.  Maybe once every 4 months or so.  But they DO happen. 

 

And here's what I want.  I don't want sympathy.  I'm not throwing a pity party.  I want people to have EMPATHY.

 

 --the action of understanding, being aware of, being sensitive to, and vicariously experiencing the feelings, thoughts, and experience of another of either the past or present without having the feelings, thoughts, and experience fully communicated in an objectively explicit manner

 

                                                                                                            --courtesy of merriam-webster

 

I want people to NOT JUDGE parents when their kids are having some issues in public.  And that goes for special needs AND typical kids.  Yes, we have to discipline our children, but they're still just children.

 

And most of all......I want the medical world to accept that Autism is an EPIDEMIC and we need to find out why now 1 out of 50 children in America are diagnosed with it.  I want the government, big Ag and big Pharma to put our health first and money second.  Crazy, I know.  Like that will ever happen, but it's a hope! 

 

So that's all I have for right now.  Saturday and today were AWESOME days for both boys.  We got some park time in and had a lot of fun! 

 

 

 

 

 

I absolutely adore my children.  They have strengthened my faith, increased my patience and most of all expanded my heart.  They are my world.  I thank God everyday for my family.

 

 

 

 

love,

 

Supermama rosie

 



Spring Break Adventures!

Ah....Spring Break.  The sun, the sand....wait, what am I talking about??  The SNOW, the road closures, the driving through blinding snow with zero visiblity, the tours through the small towns of Lamar, Las Animas, La Junta and Rocky Ford and the 18 hour trip total (twice the amount of time it should have taken).  Did I mention SNOW and ZERO VISIBILITY?!?!?!

 

 

 

 

Okay, so it was pretty craptastic driving through that mess.  I'm talking stuff like, "Am I still on the road"?  I actually asked the hubs that a couple times.  Thank goodness the boys were sleeping, I don't think I would have stayed sane with a trip through western Colorado paired with hearing Thomas the Train saying...'Fenders and Fireboxes'!

 

 

The smiles on the boys' faces and Gamaa and Papa's were totally awesome when we finally arrived!

 

 

The week was a whirlwind!  And I didn't even really get to see most of my friends!  But....we, all 4 of us, had a lot of fun. 

 

Monday: Went to see SE's old speech therapist.  What we thought would be a fun reunion was marred by SE's relentless resistance to actually go in the building.  The source of the contention you ask?  A playground outside.  Playgrounds or Papa Golfs and we call them now....are his most favorite thing in the world.  And being a kid on the Autism spectrum, he doesn't get over stuff like this easily.  Luckily, Pam was awesome (since she works with kids like SE and C all the time) and he came around and showed off some speech skills.  Last time Pam saw SE she was working on vowel sounds...not even words with him.  Now he has a large somewhat functional vocabulary.  C was just happy to play with all the toys and as we told Pam of C's diagnosis I could almost see the heartbreak in her eyes.  Yep, it's tough..but with the help of early interventions I'm sure both my boys with go far.

 

After the speech reunion we went to see another friend who works at a newly built Autism center.  Now, when we lived in CO, SE was diagnosed 1 1/2 months before we PCS'd.  So I didn't even have a chance to look for a center.  But I tell you what, if we ever got stationed there again, both boys would go there.  And the best part??  They only take Tricare (military health insurance) AND they work in conjunction with the Wounded Warriors and other military services to offer some awesome other programs.  One they provide...support groups for parents!  Um.....THAT'S AMAZEBALLS!!!!!  While I have friends here with kiddos in my situation, I have yet to meet any other military spouses with younger kids with Autism.  And while I know many fantastic moms here in KC, dealing with having a special needs kid with the military is a special situation and there are many intricacies that are unique to Tricare/military life.  It would be nice to have someone to talk to on that level.

 

 

This is me and and the boys at Colorado Autism Center with Lee Anne, a family friend of many years (the hubs has known her they were in 6th grade!), one of the great people that love our kids for the unique individuals they are and helps them to develop into the great people they can be!  C and SE were totally loving the center's gross motor room.

 

 

 

Tuesday: My mom and I went up to Denver.  I absolutely had to go to IKEA and my mom wanted to check out the Charming Charlie up there. (Sidenote: Colorado Springs really needs a Charming Charlie).  We had lunch at IKEA...no, not the meatballs...they looked a little dry.  I got some more of my dinnerware (light blue and lovely), some chairs for the boys' therapy room and some misc stuff.  Then we headed to Charming Charlie and then to Park Meadows.

 

 

Let's talk about trying on ridiculously priced hats in Nordstrom's.  Yes.We.Did.  And we looked fabulous doing it.

 

Wednesday: Build a Bear day.  Autism Speaks teamed up with Build a Bear for an Autism Awareness Bear.  All was well until we walked into the mall on the wrong side......the indoor Papa Golf was RIGHT THERE!  UGH!!!!  We should have checked the location before we went.  Poor planning on our part.  Needless to say....that set the tone and the hubs had to wait outside the store with SE while C, Gamaa and I made 5 bears.

 

 

How cute are these little guys?!?!?!  A portion of the proceeds go to Autism Speaks!  WOOT!

 

 

Thursday: Went to lunch with my mom at Uwe's German restaurant for some wiener schnitzel, fried potatoes and veggies.  YUM!  And that evening we went to dinner with our good friends Vince and Amber. (Why is everything revolving around food??? LOL) Vince is in law enforcement and Amber, well....she's one of the most courageous, loving, inspirational women I know.  Without divulging her whole health history to the public, I'll just say that she's a cancer survivor who has also battled some pretty serious other health issues, yet every single time we are together you'd never even be able to tell all the trials she's been through.  I'm a better woman for knowing her. :) 

And I would have taken a photo, but I forgot....if you can believe it.  We were too busy talking, eating and laughing!

 

Friday: 2nd Amendment Day for the Os!  We headed to Sportsman's Warehouse to pick up some ear protection for myself, mother in law and the boys.  I also got a new Mossy Oak hat.

As we went further back in the store I saw some freaky stuff. 1.  The sign that said 'Gun line starts here' at the end of the counter with a fence like rope separating the merchandise floor from the gun cases...never seen that before! 2. The absolute lack of selection in handguns or really any gun for that matter.  Wow.  And 3. The ammunition shortage.  I thought it was bad at Specialty Sports the previous day, but holy cow it was bad at Sportsman's too!  And the sad thing is, it's like that everywhere!

 

Empty ammo shelves.

Then it was up to my in laws' cabin for a short time, then off to the "range".  We went to a place in the National forest that had obviously been used as a range before, as people had left plenty of casings around.  UGH!!!  Nothing drives me crazier than people that don't leave things as they found them.  BTW-we cleaned up all of our casings.  C was still napping when we started shooting (kid can sleep through a F-22 Raptor at an airshow, what's a couple rounds fired?) and my mother in law and I took turns watching SE who loved sitting in the driver's seat of Papa's truck pretending to drive.

When C woke up, we put his ear pro on and sat him in the stroller.  How redneck is that?!?!   "Here, watch my baby while I shoot this .45"!  LOL.  But he was safe and we had fun.



 

 

Saturday: Goodbyes to Gamaa and Papa and the long drive across Kansas back home.  At least I-70 was open on the way home. :)  After a long drive we stopped in Cabela's and I got to pick out the newest addition to our family.

 

 

It's a Ruger SR40C.  Now, I know that not everyone who reads this is a gun fan.  But we are.

We both grew up with guns in the house and have developed a healthy respect for them and will teach that along with proper safety to our boys.  We have a safe and it is WAY out of reach for them.  My feeling about guns, etc will be discussed in a later blog. 

 

I will eventually get my CCW and this will be my companion. :)

 

Sunday: Easter and lack of unpacking.  Missing family already.

 

So that's our Spring Break summed up.  It was SO fun.  Next time we go out to CO we're gonna have to stay for 2 weeks.  I didn't get to see so many people that are important to me!!!  Summer isn't too far away right?!?!?

 

Love you all!!!



 

love,

Supermama rosie



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