roshambo & UVA appt.

or more commonly known as rock, paper, scissors

i took this video last month....the kiddos love this game!

it's a great keep-em-busy-in-the-car game....i admit, it can get a little out of hand sometimes - u know? when the rock beats down the scissors....or the scissors come after the paper & accidentally take an eye out! ~lol~

but it's great fun!

and it can get tricky to determine a winner when there's more than 2 people playing....especially when i join in & play too....but they don't care...

they just enjoy bonking each other!
;0)

-----


i'm heading over afton mountain today for jaden's annual eval at UVA
(hour & fifteen minute drive)

we both love the Kluge Children's Rehabilitation Center & all the people there! jaden enjoys chatting with the doctors & nurses, and he always leaves with a new beanie baby that he'll give a name & treasure as a special friend for months (until something else captures his interest ~wink~)....so far, he's collected a lion, an octopus & a sea horse (i only remember the sea horse's name - Saluna)

as soon as i mention that we're going to Kluge, jaden will...
first - repeat the UVA Children's Hospital commercial that he sees on PBS (word for word)
second - ask me if he'll b getting any shots when we go

i explain to him that this visit will b just like all our other visits....that we'll meet with the doctor (who he loves!) and she'll just chat & play with us

then we'll get there, check in, fill out our paperwork, wait our turn & get called back

as soon as the nurse takes us to the weight/height station, jaden will start...

"no shots today, right?"

the nurse will reassure him there will b no shots this visit (shoot, there's never been any shots at Kluge, and jaden knows that - but he's terrified of needles!)

it doesn't matter how many times he's told by me & the nurses/doctors, each new person that tends to us or stops to speak to us, will get the same request...

"no shots! ok?"

say a quick prayer for us today - it's been raining cats & dogs here all night/day....we need the rain, but driving over that mountain isn't fun, especially in the hard rain!

soup & gas

my lunch...

hearty tomato basil soup with wheat crackers
(from the can, but still mmmm, good!)

perfect on this cold fall day

-----

and i only paid $1.94 for gas today!

that meant that the $100 that it was taking to fill my tank in april, now will fill it up twice!!!

finally, relief - praise God!

pomegranate

have u ever eaten a pomegranate?

they're chuck full of vitamin C, also containing vitamin B, potassium & antioxidants!

i first tried this yummy fruit last fall....and was hooked!

i'd loved the juice, just had never tried the actual fruit....i'm sure u may have tried that infamous pomegranate juice, or sampled some of the juice in your mixed drinks & never knew it.....grenadine syrup is made of pomegranate juice & used in lots of fruity mixed drinks.....my personal fav drink, containing pomegranate juice - martinis - mmmm! (when i make these at home now, i like to throw some squished arils into the drink too! yummy!)

here's how u get to that yummy fruit...

cut the top off (the end with the outy belly button), then score the skin/rind & break the fruit apart....then with your fingers, get as many arils loose as u can, dropping them in a bowl of water....discard the pulp & rind

the white pulp that falls with the arils will float on top of the water, and the arils will sink to the bottom

pick out the pulp, rinse & repeat, and then drain the arils

(i took this photo of ours at home)

corinn & i like to just eat these by the handful!
i keep a baggie in the fridge & we snack on them whenever we feel like it

they pop in your mouth & the sweet/tart juice is so good!

gabby will try one or 2 every now & then, but isn't a huge fan

this is what jaden thinks...

it's that whole texture issue with him - he won't even give em a chance! he loves to watch me opening/preparing the fruit - completely fascinated by it....and he begs me, to let him, pop some arils with his fingers (warning, the juice will stain!)....but that's about it!
;0)

besides making juices/drinks & snacking on them, they're also great to throw on your salad, baked in muffins, cooked into jellies & meat glazes, blended in smoothies....the list goes on & on!

ok, now i'm hungry!

just go try em!
:0)

for your service...

thank you!

weekend recap - the boys r back in town!

saturday morning started off the same as usual...saturday morning cartoons!

jaden LIVES for "4 kids tv" on fox every saturday morning....and this saturday, he got to go online & register with their website to become a member!

he's asked to do this before (when seeing the commercials promoting it), but with our old dinosaur PC, the simplest tasks would take forever!

well, i just recently bought my sisters 2nd laptop from her....she had one & then her job gave her one....so she sold one of them to me real cheap....can't beat that!

so this saturday, he got to sign up & start earning points! :0)

that afternoon, we headed to the park to burn some energy....the forecast called for rain here & there all weekend - but we didn't see a drop! it was chilly & a little windy - but we still had tons of fun outside

mama pushing the merry-go-round


we love the river down by the local park....it's perfect for skipping rocks!

saturday evening, gabby finally decided to get her top right tooth out (3rd one lost)! it has been wiggling for quite some time now....but once she started messing with it on saturday, she said she heard it click & it was actually sitting crooked in her mouth


so after messing with it all day & almost getting it out on her own, she finally let me pop it out for her right before bed!

(this pic was taken on sunday morning)

for some crazy reason - the tooth fairy didn't come saturday night!

luckily....er, i mean unfortunately, the little baggie with the tooth in it, slipped out from under gabby's pillow & fell off her top bunk, on to the floor....so i explained to gabby that maybe the tooth fairy couldn't find it & she would come back the next night to look again

she did! ;0)

sunday, daddy went to go pick up the boys so they could spend the day with us....they met up with us at the church - the 3 youngins were sooooo excited to see their big brothers!

love this sight - all 5 of my kiddos heading into church - TOGETHER!

gabby was especially thrilled - she was glued to curtis, corey or both at the same time, ALL day!

after church & lunch, we headed to the local skate park

corinn was so proud she could go down the ramps!

gabby asked curtis to trade her for a second so she could try out his skateboard

then made him chase her to get it back :0)

check out some of curt jr's awesome moves!

there's also a playground at this park

found a caterpillar

sunday evening was our Thanksgiving meal at church....i had totally forgotten about it, but was psyched it ended up being on a day we had the boys (boy, let me tell you - they can eat!!!) ;0)

one thing i'm LOVING about having a laptop now - i can have it right in the kitchen with me!
it's the little things! ;0)


i found a recipe online for pumpkin chocolate chip muffins - sounded awesome!

so i started mixing everything up....then realized - no chocolate chips (very weird, u can tell i haven't been making many cakes lately)

i finished making them without the chips....and whipped up a cream cheese icing for on top instead

they were aight, but nothing to write home about ;0)

look at these ladies waiting in the food line with big bro - could they be any more smitten?!

(sorry for the stinky cell phone pics - forgot my camera at home)

now this is what i call a perfect ending to our weekend!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

omg - my stepsons are coming over!

out of the blue on thursday, curtis jr called curtis sr to ask if he'd come help him with a half-pipe he's working on in his back yard.....of course, hubby was thrilled to get a call at all - and agreed to come by today & they'd work on it together

the last time i posted about them (right after the boys' bdays in august), we were still unsure what the truth was - where they were living, where/if they were going to school....and they acted like they were really too busy and/or too far away to come visit....the 3 younger kiddos were having a hard time understanding why they didn't get to see their brothers - it was all up in the air & a lil messy

curtis sr didn't ask any questions this time - he just showed up.....come to find out, they're living down here - in the ex's grandma's old trailer, across from her mom's house.....the boys are going to high school locally (thank God!) & curtis jr is even on the school track & football teams!!!

the hubby picked them both up, took them to home depot for 2x4's and plywood, went back to their house & worked on the half-pipe.....the ex didn't even come out of the house (big plus! and actually really surprising - maybe she's growing up?).....the half-pipe's not finished, and hubby has plans to go back with a drill to give to the boys & the last few supplies needed....his work schedule & their school/sports schedules make it hard for them to plan much in the immediate future - but it's awesome that baby steps are being made!!!

AND we get to have them all day tomorrow!!! hubby is picking them up in the morning, they're going to church with us & then will spend the day with us! we'll prob hit the skate park & who knows what else....just give the kiddos as much time as possible to reconnect....u would not believe how excited the younger 3 are to see their big brothers! especially gabby! ;0)

i thank God for this! i pray that we're on our way to having the boys back in our lives! i plan to print out their high school football schedule & we hope to make it to the next home game.....i really think the boys are maturing & realizing that no matter what's going on between their mom & dad, their relationship with us is important!
PRAISE GOD!!!

jiu-jitsu drills & a pattern bracelet

last night, i made sure to take some videos of jaden during his jiu-jitsu drills....he needs to practice more at home, and since curtis is working 2nd shift now, he can't b at training to learn the drills & then help jaden out with practicing....so i caught these videos - they can watch em & practice together! :0)

u can see, balance is hard for jaden....he wobbles on a few drills & this new kata he's learning is trickier than the last....he's getting it tho! it's only been since july that he started & he's making great progress!

drill 1

drill 2

drill 3

new kata



during training, corinn pulled out a bracelet from her backpack (after we finished the girls' homework)....it's the same pattern bracelet her teacher was telling me about at PTC's....her teacher said Corinn was the ONLY kid in the class to create a 3 color pattern (instead of just using 2 colors) with their bracelet....at'a girl! ;0)


and i couldn't post a blog about the other 2, without posting a pic of Gabby too....so here it is, a random cutesy pic of my girl! ;0)


today's weather was gorgeous (70 degrees baby!), but we're supposed to start getting rain tonight & a cold front is coming in

we're thinking about taking the kiddos to the indoor waterpark this weekend since curtis is off, but we'll see....and i hope to finally make it to kmart to start our Christmas lay-a-way, but we've got to find someone to watch the kids while we do that....boy, i miss the days when we could take them along & make up some crazy story about what we were doing & they'd buy it! ~lol~

have a great weekend guys!

check it out!

Jaden was featured on Faces of Autism today!

This blog was started by Casdok, who also blogs at Mother of Shrek - what an inspirational & loving mother & advocate for her son! (C is autistic, non-verbal)

Faces of Autism is such a simple idea - but a really neat one!
I've been hooked on reading the captions to the photos all day....& then clicking on the blogs of the parents that have submitted the photos - drawn into so many personal stories & so much inspiration!

Thanks Casdok for creating such wonderful blogs!

catch-up

i wanted to catch up with u guys on 2 things...

first, i wanted to update u on the job front with curtis

the job that we thought was too good to b true - was!

unfortunately, he was promised the world...told over & over how wonderful the job & benefits are - and then found out, not so much....they said that he came in around the wrong time, and if he'd "just hang in there for a couple more months", things will get better.....scammed maybe? i don't know? but EVERY SINGLE tech that was in his training, has quit!

curtis tried his best, gave it one hell of a go & hung in as long as he could - we just simply couldn't "hang in there" for a few more months....we need stability....it came down to the fact that he was working way too many 12 & 13 hour days, and NOT getting paid what he should/deserved/was told he would make :0(

so, he left "the perfect job" & started a new one! ~lol~ and only missed 1 day of work (love that man!)

he's working 2nd shift now, which kinda sux.....but he's back to doing electrical work - which is what he knows & loves....and he's home with us in the mornings - so able to help me get the kiddos ready for school, pack lunches, etc (big plus!)....so far (it's been a little over a week), he's really digging this job....the pay is good, he can get as much overtime as he'd like (which is good, this time of year), he's working on his own time (no supervisor breathing down his neck), and it has it's own special benefits - he's back up on the Massanutten mountain (but with a totally diff company than last time), so that means our fam gets to use their facilities as often as we'd like - for FREE! (golf, skiing, pools, indoor/outdoor water park, go-karts, etc, etc...) AND, we get our vacay deal back!!! that was definitely one thing i was missing from his old job!

thx once again for ur prayers as we faced this hard decision....again, we didn't know what God's ultimate plan was, but we are thankful that our faith carried us through the rough times & led us to another wonderful opportunity for our family!

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second, i need to finally get these awards posted...i was given 3 awards recently, and just haven't had the time to post them

this one from wendy....& two from laurie - this one & this one

i've never gotten/passed along awards before, so i might b breaking the rules....but i'm going to try & combine these a little, to make life easier on me & on the ones i "tag" ;0)


i'm awarding the brilliant blog & I ♥ your blog awards to...

Dear Trevor - i love your truth! i love reading all about the good AND bad times that ur family goes through....ur faith & determination inspires me!

G5 Family - u guys rule! it's neat to hear about ur crazy busy life with THREE special needs children! i don't know how u 2 do it! and i also enjoy getting to ready about life on the west coast - CA is so different from VA :0)

WeSnLaNi - i adore ur pics - great photog skills....plus give-aways & a bunch of neato kids crafts & ideas too!

M/B & Baby Makes 3 - i love seeing first-time parenthood through ur eyes! u have an AMAZING eye for photography & graphic design....loving ur new etsy shop & blog, & all the creative ideas u pass along to ur readers!

Little Bit Funky - talk about creative! BC turned me on to ur blog & i've been hooked ever since! love hearing about adorable little Moses & seeing all the AMAZINGLY fun stuff u create!

these awards are simply to say "i like your blog"...feel free to pass the awards along to ur fav blogs if u so choose ;0)

this one has some questions attached to it...

so here goes:

1. Do you have the same friends since childhood?
actually, no - we moved when i was just starting the 3rd grade, so i lost & made new friends then....one cool thing is, in April, i get to make the wedding cake for my BFF from kindergarten thru 2nd grade! we ran into each other a year or so ago & she rang me up when she got engaged....pretty cool, huh?

2. What do you value most about your friends?
their honesty - if ur friends won't tell u the truth, who will?!

3. Are your friends your sounding boards?
sure, especially my best friends (Curtis & Misty)....i always ask their opinion & really take their advise into consideration before making big decisions!

4. What is your favorite activity to share with your friends?
gosh, this one is hard....because not only my life, but the lives of my friends are so busy & hectic, i don't actually get to share too many activities with friends.....i guess my fav would b when i'm able to go visit my BFF, Misty, in NC (or she comes to see us) & we decorate cakes together....she enjoys decorating too & it's fun having a glass of wine & creating together!


feel free to join in on the fun & post ur answers....and maybe even pass the award on to some bloggers u'd like to have answer them

PTC's

parent/teacher conferences, that is

all 3 were AWESOME - my kiddos rule!
;0)

Corinn (preK) has ALL S's - in EVERY area!
(S for satisfactory, P for progressing & N for needs improvement)

ok, well except knowing her birth day (yes, they grade them on that) - she's not really interested in remembering when she was born ~teehee~

here's the note from her teacher at the bottom of her report card...
"Corinn is a joy to have in class. She is sweet & caring. She is also incredibly bright. She is quick to catch on to new skills. She is also kind & helps others who need help when she finished her work. She is a good role model for others."

her teacher told me how she loves to keep Bryan (my nephew, that's in the same class) in check ~lol~ she told me how once, another little boy was having trouble writing his name....Corinn stopped her work to go & help him out & then wasn't upset at all that it made her last to finish - that's my girl! ;0)

she's already well above the benchmark for PALS (preK/kindergarten version of SOLS) for the end of the year! so we're good to go! :0)

Gabrielle (kindergarten) also has ALL S's in EVERY SINGLE area!

she's already scoring a 5 (the highest) on her written language, because she's already forming words!

she's already got an 88 on her PALS test & they have to reach an 81 by the end of the year!

here's the note at the bottom of her report card...
"Gabby is such a grown up young girl. She is a natural born leader & other students are really attracted to that. She always has a smile to bring to the class & enjoys being around others. She is very helpful in countless ways. She helps me any chance she gets, as well as helps others in any way possible. Her heart is made of steel!"

her teacher said Gabby must get tired of hearing her name....everyone is her friend & there are 2 little boys that particularly look up to her....one has some behavioral issues & the teacher says "he puts Gabby up on the highest pedestal" - she's great at keeping him focused & on track....the other little boy is deaf & is just learning sign language....the teacher says he's constantly signing Gabby's name & wants to do every activity with her! she's always coming home, anxious to show me the new signs she's learned & she talks about this boy a lot - so i think the feeling is mutual ;0)

Jaden (2nd grade) got 4 B's (reading, writing, spelling & math), 1 A (social studies) & an A+ in science!

he's definitely getting deeper into the grind of academics & things aren't quite as easy for him as they used to be....but he's doing VERY WELL & is keeping up just fine in the regular classroom!

his report card note says...
"Jaden has such a wonderful imagination! I have really enjoyed getting to know him this year. He is such a smart boy! I struggle at times with keeping him focused on the task at hands & getting the work completed, but we are working with him on this."

his teacher did say that sometimes, just when she thinks he's tuned out & isn't paying attention, she'll call on him and he will know the right answer! she said she's amazed at how well he can retain information that he finds interesting & he's doing very well with learning to focus in a group setting

he still meets with his resource teacher every day - this year it's a new guy & i worried about how that would work out....but it turns out, this gentleman has an adult autistic daughter & he's taught me a few little tricks with Jaden! he says that Jaden is doing very well with him too - he loves earning his computer time & is doing well with a new reading program they're trying on the computer

here's his note....
"I have enjoyed working with Jaden thus far this year. He is very bright & creative. We will work on goals especially modifying behaviors to more positively impact his academics. I would like to explore use of computer based academics."

and lastly, a note from his speech therapist....
"Jaden is off to a good start & is working hard in speech class. We are working on staying on topic in conversation & responding appropriately to comments/questions. He needs some prompting to stay on task, but he is willing to do what is asked of him most of the time."

needless to say, no complaints from this proud mama!
♥ ♥ ♥

Joe came to town & my Xray...

my youngest brother, the baby of the 4 of us, came to town yesterday....he hadn't registered to vote in richmond, where he attends VCU - so he had to come home to vote....he was only in for the day, so i ran the kids by my parents' to see him, right after corinn's dance class & jaden's jiu-jitsu training

he had his roommate & his dog, chip, along.....the kids LOVED chip! this was our first time meeting him....what a sweet dog!


but they love their uncle joe even more! ;0)

(check out jaden's eyes - he has this thing of trying to make sure he doesn't blink for pictures now! ~lol~)

------

and for anyone that's interested, here's my chest xray from yesterday

showing him the xray, helped Curtis better understand what i was trying to explain to him

(click on image 2 enlarge)

Election 08

i am soooo proud to be a part of this historical event!

i don't want to get into politics here, but i'm also not one to censor my feelings/opinions because of being afraid of what others will say/think

i come from a family FULL of republicans - my brother Joe & I are the black sheep of the family because we don't always vote republican - just to vote republican.....i also work with a TON of hard-core republicans.....shoot, my BFF is a republican!

i value each & everyone of my friends & families opinions!

and as i tell them...
i am NOT a democrat!

there are things that Obama stands for, that i don't agree with

there are values & morals that McCain has, that i also have & support

but i don't vote for an individual, just because he/she is a democrat/republican....i vote for who i think will do what's best for this country....who i feel will work for the people & will do whatever it takes to turn this country around....and i think Obama will


i'm proud to say that i cast my vote for him!

and i have to admit, i'm surprised by the numbers...

51% of white America voted for Obama!
53% of households making $200,000 or more voted for Obama!


Curtis & i didn't really let the kids know who we would be voting for.....they'd talked about both candidates at school.....Jaden even got to participate in a mock election.....without having a clue who his parents would be voting for, he chose Obama - saying "i'm Barack Obama's biggest fan!" ~teehee~ (McCain won the school)

Gabby showed a lot of interest in the election - not so much on who we'd b voting for, she just wanted to know about the candidates....if they had kids, what their wives names were, where they live & how to spell their name ;0).....especially the night that Obama came to Harrisonburg - when we got home that night, Gab wanted to see a picture of Obama, and then of course of McCain too.....she so did not want to go to bed last night either - she begged to stay up & see who won....but i explained to her that it would b pretty late before we knew for sure....i was so tempted to wake her up once Obama was declared the winner, just to give her the news - but i didn't ;0)

it definitely was a close race if u look at the popular vote (which i wish we would - i don't agree with the whole electoral votes thing)....America is ready for change, ready to thrive again, ready to be proud of this country again!

and i'm excited to see what's in store for our future!

---
edited to say...thx to BC who posted this about this today
well said!!!

prayer request...

sunday evening, i was rubbing my neck as i sat in front of my computer & noticed a lump at the base of my neck, just at my collar bone....it was rather large (about the size of a ping-pong ball) and when i looked in the mirror, i could actually see the difference in the 2 sides of my neck

-

i called my family doc yesterday & made an appt to have it checked out...but i really wasn't crazy about the 2 week wait

-

then last night, i noticed it was larger & could actually feel 3 lumps

-

after much "persuasion" from curtis, i called my doc to see if they could squeeze me in today, but they couldn't....so i went to emergicare after voting this morning

-

i suspected an infection in my lymph nodes, but couldn't figure out why i hadn't had any pain, fever, etc.....someone even mentioned my wisdom teeth being pulled a few weeks ago - maybe an infection had started there & traveled down my neck.....but again, no pain or other symptoms

-

so, the doc feels my neck & says "nope, not from your teeth....let's take your white blood cell count & get a chest xray"

-

huh?

-

sure enough, there's another tumor/lymph node/mass, in/around my left lung

-

good news is, my white blood cell count is high - so i'm not riddled with cancer....and the fact that the swollen nodes popped up in my neck so quickly is a good sign too

-

bad news is, they don't really know what it is yet & i'll have to have a biopsy to find out

-

so i have an appointment with a pulmonary doctor on the 19th.....then i'll find out if it's lymphoma, infectious lymph nodes, or what?

-

please say a little prayer for me.....i'm not concerned yet - no need to worry, until there's actually something to worry about.....i'm just hoping the "lump" on my left collar bone doesn't get any bigger or start causing me any pain for these next 2 weeks, as i wait for my biopsy.....right now, u wouldn't notice the lump unless u were looking for it - but it's definitely obvious.....and of course, i pray that whatever is going on, it something that's easily treated & i'll remain as healthy as i've always been! i'm one tough cookie!

;0)