Update on the rottens . . .

I thought I would update you on the post that I vomited out last week about how badly my kids were behaving. We have changed things up around here. I thought I would share a few changes we have made with you.

I have made a conscious effort to get up earlier. Ever since the kids have been going to daycare with me we have a quick exit routine. I get up about 30 minutes prior to having to be at work, get them up, get myself ready in about 5 minutes while they wake-up potty and brush their teeth. I throw clothes on them, we run downstairs and grab a breakfast from the breakfast basket and eat in the car while we travel the 7 minutes to work. We have it down to a science. I value my sleep.

Well, since I had the meltdown I have decided it is time to change the routine. I get up earlier, at least an hour before work, take them downstairs to get ready so we have new scenery. I actually make breakfast! Sometimes I even make something the night before and I can warm it up. I pick clothes the night before. See, McCartney has had MAJOR fits about clothing since she could walk. Dressing time is a HASSLE, she has to choose and she takes 3 FOREVERS. I have put my foot down. She gets no choices. I choose. She lost the privilege of choosing her clothes with all the fits. She may or may not earn it back.

They get dressed and then they eat while I get ready at the new little table I put in the kitchen. No television. No fits allowed. It has been working.

We have put our foot down on just about everything. No arguing, just do it. No fits, or you go to your bed. Everything they do when they are asked earns a sticker on their chart. Brush you teeth without a fit, you get a sticker. Go to the bathroom upstairs alone, sticker. Clean you plate, sticker. Put away your shoes, sticker. Each sticker is worth a nickel. This is now their allowance. The chart has 20 spaces per line so they know that each filled line equals one dollar. Dustin is on the same program. They can earn more than one sticker for a job as well. Dustin has more chores around here to complete each day also. The other day Dustin stole a whole package of melting chocolate and ate it. I deducted it from his earnings. It was nice to try to make a connection for him.

It is working. They are not perfect, but much improved! They know we mean business and they are sent to their bed if they throw a fit. They hate being upstairs alone so it works as a major deterrent.

I am also being more active. I find one job each night that needs done outside. I love working in the yard and it is my time. They can go outside with me, but they irritate me they go right back inside. This is my time to decompress. One fight with a sibling, they both go inside. One time screaming at me, inside. You argue, inside. It works. When daddy decides you can come back out, we try again. The new little dog loves to walk, so when I run out of yard work, walking the dog will also work, but I have lots of weeds!

So thanks for all your encouragement and you ideas. We are trying. That's about all we can do!

Fun Monday times . . .

There is a city pool right near my house that offers a free swim for special needs kids each week. On Monday evenings we get to swim for free with other families of special needs kids. It is fabulous for us because there are only about dozen people there so there is little stimulation for Dustin to get him all riled up. We also don't have to worry about his behaviors too much and we are not looked at like horrible people for having a really tall kid that acts like a 5 year old. Not only do the other families expect behavior like his, but so do the lifeguards. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate this swim night. It is good for the littles as well since we can swim as a family and everyone has a good time together.

This pool has a fabulous slide. Usually you cannot go down with kids on your lap or catch your kids at the bottom. But, during "special needs swim" you can do both. Last year Harrison was very fearful of the slide and wouldn't do it. Tonight I finally bribed him to go down with me, then he let me catch him like I do McCartney. Finally he wanted to try it himself, not to be outdone McCartney wanted to do it alone too. They did it! (like 100 times!)

Look at that smile. Priceless!

The newest video . . .

Okay, every time I post one of these people always ask how I did it. I have NO IDEA. The hubby is the producer and the videographer and the special effects manager . . . .

He is talented and the kids love it!

Enjoy!

Dipped Pretzels . . .

So very easy, and could be boring, but you can do some really interesting and fabulous combos if you just think outside of the box.

I hadn't made covered pretzels in years. I was in the grocery and found these adorable honey wheat mini pretzel twist rods. I thought they would be perfect for dipping. And they are festive and look great on a platter.


This was the fist batch I made a couple weeks ago. I had some Witlon melts in the cabinet so I used those. I remembered that I also had some white dipping bark left over from something or another. These are simply sprinkle ones and chocolate/white drizzled combo ones. I also had some walnuts so I dipped the pretzels in white bark, sprinkled on crushed walnuts and drizzled choclate over to hold them on. They are fabulous, chunky and I think are becoming my trademark!


We had a July 3rd party to go to last night and I decided the kids would love these little-more-than-a-bite-size treasures. I was right! They were a hit. I once again made all of the above and more. While I was standing in front of the pantry looking for inspiriation I found marshmallow-lovers hot chocolate packets. They have an entire packet of marshmallows only, so I made S'mores pretzels. They were gone in 2 seconds! I had nuked too much white bark and was out of ideas. I had been eating celery and peanut butter and the peanut butter jar was still on the counter. I decided to try to add a hunk of peanut butter to the white bark. I rewarmed it and it worked. Voila! Peanut butter dipped pretzels drizzled in chocolate. Yum!



Which bring us to today. We are heading to a cook-out at my parents house and my kids were begging for more pretzels. They would have been ADORABLE with red, white and blue sprinkles, but I am too cheap and too lazy to run out to the grocery. I did all the old favorites (using chunky peanut buter this time) and added white dipped pretzels topped with crunched up butterscotch candy canes (I know it's July don't judge) and we shall see how those are received. I ran out of pretzels so I also dipped some Town House crackers to fill the platter. I dipped those in chocolate and drizzled the left over peanut butter mixture to half. Mmmm!

I almost can't wait until the next carry-in to make more. I have grand thoughts for dipped pretzels with some ground and roasted coffee beans, Fruit Loop pretzels, toffee pretzels, Oreo pretzels and maybe even some with dried fruits! I will definintely keep you updated!

Copy posted at my recipe blog. Head on over and visit! If you have any really good ideas, send them to me in email and I will post them and give you all the credit!

Introducing . . .

Wikipedia . . . also known as Wiki. A little guy who needed a home terribly, he was found a month ago in a thunderstorm in another county. The girl who found him already has 2 other dogs and one was none too happy about the interloper. We couldn't let him go to the pound. Not too certain yet if we will keep him or if we will find him another home. (she did file a found dog report and we had him scanned to see if he was chipped)

A - freakin - dorable!

The one in which I get judgmental . . .

Let's just say I know this family. This family is receiving government assistance for a variety of things. That in itself I have no issue with. I would not even have an issue if in fact this family happened to be new to this country. I might even know that both these parents are working and thus contributing to the economy and paying taxes and if they qualify they should be able to receive some assistance. Let's just say for the sake of arguing that this hypothetical family might possibly be receiving government subsidized housing and food stamp assistance. They could possibly also be eligible for funding that pays for a portion, if not all of their childcare. If this family actually existed I may know that they are good people and I wouldn't ever think that they could be swindling the system.

Let's say I also knew another family who is "working poor". They work their tails off and let's say possibly adopted a child out of foster care. That child could be unable to be left in childcare or too old for any programs, so one parent had to stop working. They sacrificed and yes, it was their choice so they shouldn't be whining. Let's say this family just had to repair the air conditioning in their 6 year old minivan to the tune of $1200 and had to forgo this year's planned vacation.

So here's where the judgmental portion of this fictional story may come into play. One family could be driving a 6 year old minivan that needs repaired, you know the one family who doesn't qualify for government assistance because they "make too much" (ha!), and the other family could be driving a new Lincoln Navigator.

Could there be extenuating circumstances? Sure. But, man o man, it might make one of these families irritable and even jealous. This woman might just be mean and judgmental. You decide.

Our zoo visit . . .

We didn't video the fit McCartney threw at the end of the day, but it would've made a great ending for the video! LOL

An amazingly insightful post . . .

There are times I am at awe over "my friends" and their ability to share pieces of themselves and their insights all over this blogosphere. There are times I feel so honored to be a part of people's lives that I can't hardly stand it. There are also those times when someone writes something that is so beautiful that I feel blessed to read it from their perspective.

There are times that I am flabbergasted at the strength of someone like MckMama who parents a medically fragile baby and does so with grace and humor. (I am also astounded at the number of comments she can receive in a post!) Others like Moriah's parents and my dear friend Amber, who is quite frankly amazing, live challenging lives with children with health issues. Equally strong and amazing are people like Lisa and Cindy and Kari and Claudia who take on really tough kids and do so with grace and mercy. There are those like Mandy and ElmCityDad who have lost children and live everyday missing their beloved babies. Then there are those like Cali who have realized their dream and finally have a darling little one to hold, even as she is struggling to adjust to life with her darling GM in a nursing facility. Each one of you touch my life in ways you may not even be aware of. I have 120 subscriptions in my google reader (whatever did I do before I used you beloved google reader?) and I make certain before I go to bed I am at zero unread posts. All of you are a part of my world and I thank you for it.

Back to the beauty I was struck by today. . .

You MUST go read this post by Thorn.

The weekend from Hades . . .

So, as far as my ablation goes. . . it is heavenly! I have had no pain, no spotting, no discharge (lord, I hate that word). I would do it 100 times over! If you have been offered this procedure, RUN to your nearest GYN and schedule it now! If you haven't and you done having children and having terrible cycles . . . . go do it! I will let you know what I think of it on or about July 21st for sure.

So, now for a vomiting of the issues I have been having . . . . you have been warned.

The weekend was horrific because my kids are horrid! My two littles are either picking up behaviors that they have seen from Dustin (our FAS child - for my few new readers) or simply because I have RUINED them. I have no idea what to do any longer. EVERYTHING in my life is a battle. They will do nothing without counting (1-2-3 magic is not working at all!) or screaming and threatening and even with those two things they still do not do anything they are asked. I am a mess. I am frustrated and I hate the fact that my kids are awfully behaved.

Yesterday we went to the Zoo. McCartney ahd a major meltdown and screamed from one end of the Zoo to the exit. Harrison, not wanting to be outdone, matched her scream for scream. it's a sad day when Dustin is better behaved than the littles! This morning, McCarntey had another meltdown, this time over clothes, then shoes. She ran out the door and down the block screaming the whole way. (Dustin anyone?) I am so done it isn't even amusing.

I feel like I am the worst mother on the planet. I am tried of hollering, I am tired of threatening. I am tired of being mean. I want to enjoy my kids, but I can't when they act like this. Some of you may recall the fits we were having last spring due to some constant pain she was having. Those fits are nithing compared to the ones we are seeing now. Last week at daycare she toppled a table and chairs in her room. She threw them over! In front of other kids. Holy mercy!

They will not go anywhere in our house alone. They won't even go to the bathroom unsupervised. I know it is because with Dustin we have never allowed them to be alone, now they are old enough and they will not do it. I have ruined my children.

I need help. I know that the key is following through and consistency. I know it will be long haul. But it sucks. I feel horribly and I know that my attitude and my feelings affect theirs. Good thoughts, suggestions, prayers and straightjackets are welcome . . .