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.