Randomness

Jason and I attended a wedding a few nights ago at Dress Pavilion at Devou Park. The ceremony was in the gazebo outside and then the reception was inside immediately following. It has such a beautiful view of the city at night. Anyway as the groom danced with his mother I got to thinking. I am a lucky girl because one day I will get to have three dances when my sons grow up and get married.

I hate how the seasons seem to just run right into each other. Not only speaking of weather but holidays and such. School supplies are already on the shelves and it feels like the kids just started their summer break. Soon I will be purchasing uniforms for two kids and buying crayons, pencils and glue. I think I even saw a Halloween decoration out when I was a the dollar store the other day. Life is in full swing.

While shopping at Kroger's the other day I saw King's Island tickets on sale. I stopped and added up what the cost would be for our family and quickly decided it was to great to spend right now at their ages. The next day when I went into work there was a sign posted that our company picnic was going to be held at King's Island. I was so excited to say the least and hurried to call home and share the news. Jason. Me, Ethan and Jude will be going for the day. I will find a sitter for the younger two since they will not enjoy it as much as us. By the way I am looking for a sitter that day if any of you blog readers are interested.

Realalization

For the past year since we moved into this home are finished basement has been the toy room. For the past year of it being a toy room it has been a mess 90% of the time and they don't want to play down there 80% of the time. I am not sure totally why that is except for the facts that 1. who wants to play in a mess 2. Kids always seem to want to be by the adults. I can remember playing in my playroom for hours when I was growing up. What can be better than having an entire room dedicated to toys and ours even comes with a bathroom. Anyway much to my dismay I have decided to try letting them have some of their toys in their rooms. Hopefully this will go over better since they seem to enjoy playing in their rooms. They are also required to straighten up their rooms daily so this should keep the mess to a minimum. I am going to still keep some of the toys down stairs and will problem go through and purge some toys or pack some away. Our thoughts our to put a couch and chairs down there by the tv. We have an air hockey table and a dart board(for adults obvisouly and darts will be secured between uses). It will be a family game room so to speak. Wish me luck!

Home Depot Kids Workshop

Cute picture of the boys


One of the nice gentleman working noticed I am always taking the pictures. So he offered to take some pictures when I was helping the kids.



Ethan





Love this picture od Caleb





Jason and Caleb

Sorry my pictures are kind of blurry. My camera is doing some weird things these days.

Pics of what we have been up to lately

Jason, Aubrey and Jude on the train at the zoo


Amy and Ethan at the zoo



All my boys




Jude and Aubrey at the splash park





Caleb bowling

Family Updates

I think I will start from youngest to oldest this time.

Aubrey went for her 9 month check up yesterday. I know I can't believe she is 9 months already. She is doing well and growing like a weed. She weighs 20 pounds and is 29 1/2 inches long. She is sitting up and rolling around but no crawling or pulling up on furniture yet. She does scoot backwards a little when she is on her belly. I can't say that it makes me sad she is not mobile. She is eating like a little piggy. All her fruits and vegetables. We will probably start meats in the next couple weeks. She claps her hands and even on cue. She says la la la la and mouths Da Da Da. We are working on bye bye.

Caleb is a little stinker as always. He is into everything and you always have to keep your eye on him. He likes to pretend to cook but unfortunately wants to use the real oven. We have melted Legos not realizing they were in there. He also loves to put together his flexible race track and loves his babies. His babies are his stuffed animals. He carries them around and rocks them. Puts them in Aubrey rocker and hugs and kisses them saying " Awe Baby". I love that he has such a sweet little sensitive side. He also is in love with the Zoo and is finally starting to venture into the pool a little more(we could barely get him in the water last year).

Jude is enjoying the summer. His hair is white blond and he is working on is golden tan. Which he doesn't have to work to hard. He is into fixing his hair lately. He gets up everyday and and uses Jason's gel to fix his hair. I just did hair cuts and left the top longer so he could spike it. He really enjoyed bible school and is looking forward to starting Kindergarten in the Fall. He is becoming a really good underwater swimmer and is a pretty good bowler.

Ethan is really growing into a big boy. Even though he can push the limits sometimes he really can be a good boy and very helpful. He is also enjoying his summer vacation and becoming very tan. He loves the diving board and slides at the pool. I think he will probably be a dare devil child judging by the rides he chose to ride at our towns festival. He is becoming a more confident reader and excellent at math. He also just lost another tooth on the bottom and has three more that are getting close.

Jason and I are doing great. Busy as usual with work and home life. We have a big to do list of projects we would like to get done around the house this summer.

We are having fun going through our summer fun list. We have spent several days at the splash park and pool, gone bowling, visited the zoo several times, enjoyed our week at VBS and afternoons at the park. Our 4th of July weekend is packed with parties and a Home Depot workshop on Saturday morning.

Decluttering

I just found this really good article about decluttering your life I thought I would pass along. Just some food for thought. Have a a Great Day!!

VBS Day Four and Five

Day Four

Our Saint of the day was St. Juan Diego

We made brownies

Our craft was Our Lady of Guadalupe Wind Socks(very cute)

The kids broke open a pinata for activity which was filled with WWJD? bracelets

In music we did a mexican hat dance and practiced our saint song

In our story we learned that St Juan Diego was
- A Mexican peasant
-Virgin Mary appeared to him twice asking him to go to the bishop and have him build a church on that site where she appeared
-The bishop did not believe him after the first appearance and asked for proof
-After the second appearance she made roses grow in the frozen soil
-Juan Diego gathered up the flowers in his cloak and took them to the bishop. When he laid the flowers before him the bishop did not look at the flowers for all he saw was the image of Mary on Juan Diego's cloak


Day Five

Our saint of the day was Blessed Kateri Tekewitha

We made corn bread

Our craft was Indian rain sticks

It was hot and because of the rain last night the Mary Garden was mushy so we sat and passed around different hand made Indian items and ate Popsicles

In music we did a mexican chant about Blessed Kateri

Our story about Blessed Kateri we learned-
-She was a Mohawk Indian
-Orphaned at age 4 (parents and baby brother died of smallpox)
-growing up she wanted to learn more about Christ and became christian like her mother
-she was baptized at the age of 22 and given the name Kateri which is Mohawk for Catherine
-Her christian views were frowned upon by the Mohawk tribe so she left the tribe and traveled over 2 months to the catholic mission of St Francis Xavier
-Kateri's motto became " Who can tell me what is most pleasing thing to God that I may I do it?"
-She made a vow of perpetual virginity so she would remain unmarried and live a life devoted to Christ
-She died at age 24 of small pox and her last words were Jesus I love you.
-Moments after dying all her smallpox were cleared away
-She is still in the process of being canonized a saint

The day was finished off with a Procession lead by St. Joseph and each tribe wearing crowns of the saint they picked for their tribe(Ours was St. Nicholas and Ethan's was St. Rose). We all sang and did the hand motions for When The Saints Go Marching In.


Bye the way way my ankle is feeling much better. After wrapping it,applying ice, and keeping it elevated. I was able to make it through the last two days of bible school. It was a really great week both the boys and I enjoyed ourselves and learned a lot. I will definitely be volunteering again next year.

VBS DAY THREE and a hurt ankle

Our saint of the day was St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton

We made chocolate chip bread

Our craft was book marks with beads and a Cross at the end

We practiced When The Saints Go Marching In and learned another song in music

Our outside activity just turned into playing on the playground because it was so hot

Our video was a couple different veggie tales movies

In our story about St. Elizabeth Ann Seaton we learned
- She was the first American born saint
- Did not become catholic until after she was married
-Her mom died when she was 3 so she often prayed to the Virgin Mary for motherly guidance
-She started the first catholic school and it was free because most families could not afford to pay
-She founded the sisters of charity which that is the order that run Mount St. Joseph college in Cincinnati
-She died at the age of 42 of tuberculosis

Now the hurt ankle part. While taking 6 boys to the bathroom I managed to fall down a couple steps.I twisted my ankle but it didn't feel to bad. hen when I got home I was walking down my steps at home my ankle gave out and I twisted it again really hurting my ankle. It is wrapped with ice and I am waiting for the swelling to go down a little to get some x rays to determine if it is sprained or if something is broken. It hurts really bad and I can hardley walk. I am really hoping that tomorrow it feels better.

VBS Day Two

Our Saint of the the day was St. Francis Of Assisi

We made banana bread

For craft they made animal puppets(Ethan's group made bug catchers)

In music we learned another verse to When The Saints Go Marching In and a song about animals

Our story was about St Francis of Assisi
-He grew up as a son of a rich merchant and did not want for anything
- He went to war where he was captured and imprisoned for a year where he became very sick.
This is when he was called from god to serve him and aide the poor.
- He gave up all his worldly items including the clothes on his back to do as God wanted
- He was name the patron saint of animals because of his gentleness with them and because in the village where he lived there was a dangerous wolf which would hurt other animals and small children. This wolf right away took to Francis and became tame.

At the end of the day we gathered in the Mary Garden where we had a blessing of pets. Jason brought Ruffles up to get blessed.

Day one of Vacation Bible School

Today was the first day of VBS at our church. I agreed to be one of the tribe leaders this year. The theme for this year is When the Saints go Marching in. The patron saint for the week is St. Joseph obviously since that is our parish. Ethan is in the Dan tribe with several of his friends from school. I am the leader of tribe Simeon and Jude is in my tribe which consist of 9 children going into kindergarten next year.

Our saint of the day was St. Therese The Little Flower

We made wheat bread(we will make a different bread everyday)

The kids painted wood garden signs

We learned a song about St. Therese and started learning the verses and hand motions to When The Saints Come Marching In

One of our Deacons told us a story about St. Therese
- She became a french nun at the young age of 14
- She died at 24 of tuberculosis
-She saw the good in everyone and viewed people as flowers
-Her jobs in the convent were cooking and cleaning. She was proud of these jobs and would offer them up to god.
These our just a few facts about St. Therese

The kids then watched a movie and then we met in the church for a final prayer to end the day.

Splish Splash

The weather around here has been down right stinky.The kids first week out of school it pretty much rained all week. That being said yesterday we decided to embrace the partly cloudy 75 degree chance of rain weather and head to the splash park. I am glad we did because it turned out to be a great outing. The crowd was minimal due to the above stated and the weather work in our favor. No rain and the sun even manage to make some appearances. The kids had fun and below are so pictures of the evidence.


Ethan going down the slide



Caleb in the center of sprinkling water

The boys met some friends

Aubrey even took her turn to splash

I just love this picture of Caleb. I love to get up close pictures of the kids showing their features and expressions. So darn cute!

Birthday Albums

One thing that I have learned over the past years scrapbooking is that I prefer smaller albums. Albums that are dedicated to one specific subject or event. I like the larger 12 x 12 albums but I find them very overwhelming. I now only have 1 12 x 12 album which is a family album. I have smaller albums like birthday books for each kid, school albums and this year I am going to make a summer album.



This is a picture from Ethan's birthday book.

Here is a picture from Jude's birthday book.

This is from Caleb's birthday book.

I have pages made up for these books up to the age of eighteen. I love them because after their birthday I pick a favorite picture and pop it in the album. In one book I will have a glance at every birthday for eighteen years. I don't have Aubrey's album made as of yet but I will post photos when I get it put together.

Summer Fun

The kids are out of school and the summer in finally here. Hip Hip Hooray!! Here is the Summer Fun List I made up a couple weeks ago and posted on the refrigerator.

1. Zoo




2. Silverlake( The recreation center we belong it has an outdoor and indoor pool and lots of other things for the kids to do)




3. Splash Parks




4. Berry picking




5. Bowling(Super Bowl in Erlanger has free bowling for kids June1st- July 3rd)




6. Putt Putt Golf




7. Reds game




8. Movies( Great Escapes in Wilder has a free movie for kids on t,w,th throughout the summer).




9. Chicago




10. Home Depot kids workshops(1st sat of every month 9-12)




11. St. Joes Crescent Springs festival August 8,9,10




12. Vacation Bible School (June 22- June 26)




13. Summer reading program at the library

I hope everyone has a great summer!! Below are a few pictures from saturdays visit to Home Depot.

Surprise For Me

Look at my surprise I received Friday while I was working. My sweet hubby hand delivered these beautiful roses. No it was not my birthday, anniversary of marriage or the day we met. No I am not pregnant. It was just because which makes them all the more special. The card read " Thanks for all you do and who you are".

Back in the swing of things

I love scrapbooking and card making but have been putting them on the back burner these days. Life can just be so darn busy around this house. I am trying to get back into the swing of things and hopefully get those creative juices flowing again. This is just a photo of a recent birthday card I made.

Schedule Madness

When I was at my parents on Sunday we were talking about schedules, calenders and such. My mom made the comment that looking at my calender gives her headache. I would have to agree that to an outsider it must seem a little crazy. In any given month you may look at my calendar and you would see

1. My work schedule
2. Jason's work schedule
3. School schedules ( Ethan, Jude and Jason)
4. Doctors appointments for four children
5. Chiropractor appointments for 6 people
6. Eye doctor appointments
7. My haircut appointments
8. Various meetings at church( Holy name society, mops, volunteer work)
9. Birthday parties
10. Any other extra activities or gatherings

With that being said I have to to say that I am so thankful for only having to deal with school schedules for three more days. Then it will be off for summer break and hopefully a nice fun filled summer for the kids and a slight break in the schedule madness us.

Dining Out

We love to go out to ocassionally eat as a family but the cost to do so can be expensive. Over the years we have discovered some shortcuts to keep the bill down.

1. Look for restaurants where kids eat free. We keep a mental note of what restaurants offer kids eat free and on what night. You can also go to http://www.mykidseatfree.com/ to get a list of restaurants in your area.
2. Look for a dollar menu
3. Skip the kids menu and order a regular entree and split it between the kids. Especially when you are at a restaurant that offers chips and salsa or rolls prior to your meal. My kids seem to fill up even before the entree arrives.
4. Order water or one drink and split between the kids. Most restaurants even fast food offer free refills.
5. Be aware of the kids meal prices before you go. Some kids meal prices are outrageous($3.50 to $ 5 is too much). We like Bob Evans because most of the kids meals are $1.99 and there meal choices are healthier than most.

Books

I like to read but have some really bad habits. For the most part I read educational type books like about parenting, diet or nutrition, money or self help of some kind. It's not that I don't enjoy reading fictional books but that is where my bad habits come into play. Yes, I like to read but finding the time is a whole different story and when I do find the time I usually fall asleep. I have a bad habit of starting books and never finishing them. I have several books with a book mark just sitting there about half way through the book and I have never returned to read them. The bad thing about fictional is that I would most probably have to start from the beginning again because depending how long it has been I will probably have forgotten pieces of the story. The good thing about the educational books is that I can flip through and read the pieces that I find most interesting and helpful and maybe read the rest later. Anyway one of the books I am currently reading is Wild Things the art of nuturing boys by Stephen James and David Thomas. It is a nice book that does not just give you parenting strategies but lets you understand the mind of a boy as to what they are thinking and feeling at different stages of their life. It's a definite read for any of you raising little boys.

Photo Shoot

Today I decided to go to Devou Park to take some 8 month old pictures of Aubrey. I love taking pictures and I have been trying to mess around a little more with my camera's options. Getting pictures taken at a photo place can be so expensive plus sometimes I realize afterwards that I ordered to many pictures. Then they just end up sitting around in the envelope. What a waste of money. So I think in the future I am going to try and photograph my family and see what kind of results I can get. Maybe I will splurge once a year for a family photo. Anyway here is a sneak peak at today's results. You might have one of these photos coming your way. If you would like a certain one just let me know.

Witch Doctor

In our house I am frequently being to referred to as the witch doctor. Now I am not casting spells or doing voodoo of any kind. But when my kids our sick I have an unconventional way of treating them and I believe in a lot of preventive maintenance. Don't get me wrong I do believe medicines have there place and would certainly use them if I felt like they were needed. I just like to go the vitamin and herb route first. That being said I thought I would share the various vitamins and herbs that we use in our house. We purchase most of our vitamins from Swanson vitamins online or our chiropractor.

Vitamins Adult

Jason and I both take a multivitamin and mineral supplement. Mine is a prenatal(since I am always pregnant or nursing).

We also take a Multi Omega 3-6-9 supplement(Swanson brand)

Probiotics(Swanson Brand)

Vitamins Kids

Nordic Naturals Multivitamin and Omega 3 - both of these are gummies and they are organic

Natures way probiotics(click here for info on yeast in your body)

Sickness in addition to a chiropractic adjustment

Elderberry Syrup(sniffles,coughs anything respiratory) by Nature's way or Swanson brand

Nutribiotic Ear Drops w/ tea tree oil and grapefruit extract(earaches or questionable ear infections

Tea Tree oil by itself is also great to put in a pot of boiling water to admit into the air (helps colds or congestion) Do Not Ingest

Jason and I also like Defense Plus by Nutribiotic( take at first sign of illness)

Sometimes things just need to run there coarse and in those cases a humidifier, Vick's plug ins or vapor rub and a mothers love will do the trick

Note* These are just therapies that I have found works through my own personal research and I am in no way prescribing anything. I encourage everyone to research there own therapies.

Theriot Cafe

My hubby Jason who is a wonderful father and an excellent cook has decided to start his own recipe blog. So head over to www.theriotcafe.blogspot.com to get some ideas.

Not to much going on around here today. Laundry, cleaning, taking kids to and from school. We did manage to get outside and enjoy the nice weather with the kids at the park. So glad the weather is perking up and just in time for summer break for the kids.

Haircuts

One way in which we try to save money around our house is for me to cut all the boys hair(even the big boy). If you think about it I have four boys who need haircuts roughly once a month. Now if I was to go to a barber/salon I would be paying at least $10 a haircut(that is actually low I think it is about $12-$15) per person. That is $40 a month and if you multiply that by 12 that is $480 dollars a year. That would be a lot of money going out in haircuts. It makes me not feel as guilty going to get my hair done. Sure I could let Jason cut my hair but I don't think that look would be very appealing on me. Anyway I love fresh haircuts on my boys. Caleb's did not turn out as nice this time because half way through he decided he was done. Then I had to hold him down to finish.

We also groom our dog ruffles when he needs a cut. The kit was $29 dollars at Walmart and another $5 for the nail clippers. It cost somewhere around $39 to have him groomed by someone. I would not say that he is fit to show after being groomed but that does not matter to us. I do think we are getting better because this last time he looked cute and it took half the time plus he did not squirm as much.

Caleb

Allergy Test

We got Ethan's allergy test back and they are completely negative. Now on one hand I was disappointed because I had hoped that by finding an allergy I could remove it from his diet and see some results with his " ADD/Impulsive problem". On the other hand I am relieved because having an allergy to let say wheat(gluten) or milk(casein) would be a little stressful for it is not easy to remove that from your diet. Plus we eat alot of whole grain foods because it is good for you and I would hate having to start buying white bread or very expensive gluten free bread.

So my next step is going to be doing a yeast test. Give him supplements to kill the yeast and boost the good bacteria he should have in his gut. This is a good idea that anyone should consider doing because most people don't realize that they probably do have yeast in their bellies(which can cause you to crave sugar and other junk food) and need a little boost of the good stuff with probiotics. To be perfectly honest though I don't know that this is going to make a difference with his " ADD/Impulsive" problem because I do not believe he has a problem. Ethan is a typical 7 yr old little boy who struggles with reading , has alot of energy,needs more guidance and stricter punishments for wrong doing, and is being misdiagnosed by his teachers. Don't get me wrong I think teachers are great and respect there job. I do think there are kids out there who do have ADD. I have read stories about there behaviors and maybe they do need some medications to help. Sure Ethan may exhibit a quality or two of these children but overall he does not. I will continue to go down my list and try my different options but in the end if there is no change then there was nothing that needed to change. I guess at that point we will switch schools or home school. I will continue to pray that the Lord gives me guidance and helps me make the right decisions for Ethan's overall well being.

Mother's day

I hope everyone had a nice Mother's Day. We actually celebrated on Saturday because Jason worked today. They treated me to lunch out(some other than McDonald's), a new purse and outfit, Ethan made me a heart shape pin that had his picture inside and Jude made me a necklace with his picture. He also sang me the mommy song and made a really cute card. The card was decorated on the outside with drawings. This is what it looked like on the inside
My Mom

My mom is 15yrs old.

Her favorite color is pink.

She has brown hair and blue eyes.

Her favorite food is shrimp.

Her favorite thing to do is clean the dishes.

It then said Happy Mother's Day and Jude's signature. It cracks me up that he thinks I like to do dishes.

Just a little of kids say the darnedest. Today we were at my parents house and we were going to grill out for dinner. Shortly after arriving I decided to go ahead and prepare the salad, cut the fruit and get the chicken marinating so when my sister Chris arrived (who is expecting) everything would be ready except grilling the meat. Jude came up to me and said "Mom why is Mama making you do all the work". It was very cute.

Frustrated

I am sitting here this evening feeling very frustrated. Why am I frustrated you ask? Well I am currently in a little battle with Ethan's teachers. They have recently brought up the ADD word. That dreaded word that makes my heart skip a beat. My Ethan is sweet and tries real hard to be a good boy. But he is a boy and little boys are active high energy little creatures and that my friends is what is causing this ADD talk. They want me to put him on medication because there is no doubt in my mind that they want immediate results and that is what medications give you. I am scared to put him on medication. Those medicines have bad side effects like loss of appetite(Ethan is already skinny), insomnia, depression, nausea and vomiting, heart problems and those are only some of them. I want to go the natural route and evaluate his diet, check him for food allergies. Unfortunately this route does not give immediate results. Sometimes it takes several weeks before you notice changes. I am okay with that but his teachers are being very pushy and making me feel like I am putting Ethan in a losing situation by not medicating him.I am praying that the lord will give great insight in this situation and help me make the best decisions that will help Ethan. I am trying to educate myself as much as I can on this subject. The content is large and sometimes cn be very overwhelming. Right now I am just patiently waiting for Ethan's food allergy test to come back so we can hopefully have a starting place.

Blogging Again

So I have decided to give blogging a try again. I have started several blogs before but after several months I would just give up on them. Maybe because I didn;t have time or maybe because I felt like I didn't have anything to write about that might interest others. Any who here I go again.