I'm alive!!!

My blog has been neglected lately along with my kids, my camera, the housework and my poor husband! Why you ask? The answer is Ebay!!!



I have often thought about selling coupons (you can't actually sell coupons but rather your time to find, sort, clip and ship them) on Ebay and finally decided to jump in with both feet. I'm so glad I did because in the past 15 days I've made well over $200!! It is perfect for us, I am able to bring in as much money as a regular part time job and still be home with the kids! AND, not only am I making money but I'm also saving a bunch having all of these coupons to use! I have high hopes that this turns into my own little business that I can easily run right from home. I even put Cody to work clipping coupons and separating the pages of the inserts. It's very addicting too, I've been digging through the closet looking through the bags of kids clothes I have to see what else I can sell ;)

I also wanted to say I have a new found respect for moms that work in and outside of the home and also raise a family, how in heck do you do it!? This is taking every ounce of my spare time which I had none of to begin with I might add. ;) I am now getting up at 4:30-5:00 in the morning so I can have an hour or two to clip and sort my coupons before the kids wake up and staying up an hour later in the evening so I can do the same.

I'm excited!!!

We met with the director for therapeutic riding on Monday to see if we could get Brooklyn enrolled in their program. The meeting went great and I am so excited, not only is B going to ride but so is Devin AND Danyelle is going to volunteer there! Woot! I was afraid that they would say Brooklyn was too young because their website says ages 3 and up but she said the younger the better. I brought up Devin having speech therapy and asked if he would be able to ride and she said "absolutely!" He will love it I think, I can't wait to see the look on his face the first time we set him upon the horse. I can just see his little grin in my mind.

Our first day is this Sunday. I know Kathi said they will start B out on a miniature horse at first to get her accustomed to the movement and the rhythm and eventually she will ride the bigger horse. Not sure about Dev, I think I may ask that he be started out on a smaller horse too just to be safe. I am thrilled though, riding is supposed to be so beneficial in all areas of development for the disabled, I really hope she benefits from this! I will be sure to take a ton of pictures! ;)

I don't think I posted about her eye dr. appointment. She still has Strabismus which basically means her eyes deviate. We have another appointment in October and if they don't correct themselves by then he said to plan on doing surgery on the muscles of her eyes.It makes me cringe just thinking about it but I think the surgery is relatively simple and recovery time is short and painless. I was relieved when he said he didn't recommend patching her eye at this time. I went through that with Cody and it isn't much fun.

I will be scarce for a day or two. My laptop AC cord fried and both of the little kids are sick. Dev has ear infections in both ears and B has one ear infection and pneumonia. It's been a busy week to say the least.

I thought I would say hi and gab about what I've been up to since we returned from vacation since I've been so terrible at updating my blog with posts that don't contain pictures. ;)

All the kids are doing good. Danyelle has been taking dance lessons and has her first concert this Saturday. I'm excited to go and she what she has learned over the past few months. Tuesday afternoon she had an orthodontist appointment to see if she needs braces for an overbite. Turns out she will need them and will have to wear them for 2 years. She isn't happy about it and I feel bad that she will be self conscience about them especially since she will be entering high school. High school, can you believe it!? Where do the years go? I never dreamed I'd have two in high school and two in diapers! lol Anyways, we are waiting to hear how much our insurance will cover, if any, and then she will have x-rays and have them put on. On the way to her appointment after exiting the highway I was stopped at a yield sign and was rear ended by the guy behind me. Scared the shit out of me I tell you. Thankfully it didn't do any damage but it made us late for her appointment. He hit us so hard it knocked all the change out of the cup holder and pushed the console back about a foot. My neck felt fine after it happened but for a few days after it was very stiff and sore.


I got a call from Boston saying our insurance won't pay for B's Neurology visit (which we already knew). If I understood them correctly when we were seen for the first visit at the Neurologist there was still a chance that it would be covered but since they have since found out it will not be covered they aren't charging us for the visit but won't see her again unless we pay for the visit upfront which is $500-700. Really pisses me off actually, we did agree to pay for the visits but they said payments would be fine. So, I asked if Dr. Hawash could call me to discuss her EEG results and what a big surprise it was to hear they hadn't even gotten the report or the scan from Maine Neurology. I f'in hate that place, every single time we see them they don't do what is expected. I did hear from the Dr. yesterday and she said that she has a immature brain pattern which is expected considering her delay. I mentioned that the Dr. here called it Static Encephalopathy and she said it wasn't static, it was underlying. I understood that static was a good thing because it isn't progressing but now I don't know. I asked her if her brain would get wore and she said exactly what everyone has said, we won't know, we don't have answers, it all depends on Brooklyn's progress, blah, blah, blah. It is so discouraging not knowing what the future holds for us or for her.
Tomorrow we see her eye Dr. again for a follow up. I'm not sure if the amount of time her eyes deviate has gotten more frequent or not. It certainly happens often so I wonder if there is a chance he will want to correct it surgically. We are still working hard at therapy. Lisa told me on Friday that she found a crawl assistant which hopefully will allow us to maneuver her arms while it supports her trunk so she will learn what her arms need to do in order to crawl. She got the lift put in her shoe last week and we are trying to get her used to that. I broke down and cried yesterday after she fell over from a sitting position for the third time. Sometimes it is so hard to be positive when you watch her struggle just to sit up on her own.

Dev is definitely a 2 year old. lol Lately he's been taking off his diaper several times during the day so we've introduced the potty to him. To my surprise he's been peeing on it several times a day when I ask him if he want to go. I don't think we will be done with diapers for awhile but it is a start, right? Speech therapy is going ok I guess, no great progress to report. While we vacationed with my sister he did pick up to words from her little boy, no,no,no and bubbles. It is strange how he has learned from a child and can't seem to imitate adults when we try and teach him things. I suggested to his therapist that maybe we could try a group session with him or to include another child to see if he picks up new words from them. She agreed and is going to try and work it into her schedule. He is signing like crazy though and I only have to show him new signs once or twice before he knows them. It's pretty neat.

Cody will be 18 in a week. He's been talking a lot about what he needs to do to make some positive changes in his life. First he needs to work on getting his GED and now that he is 18 that needs to be his first priority. Second, he needs to work on getting his permit which we've sent in for so hopefully he will have a date soon. And third, he needs to find a better job and work full time and start saving some money for a car. He wants to go to a community college and can start that process once he gets his GED. I have told him that he is going to start paying rent if he's going to live here. I was undecided about charging him rent, if he was making an honest effort to get his GED, to save money and to better himself it wouldn't be an issue but after the crap he has pulled over the past few years I think he needs to learn some responsibility and I'm hoping it shows him that he does need an education if he wants nice things in life . I've thought about setting the money aside for him so he has savings for a car but I don't know. What would you do?

I've been spending time trying to get back into couponing which means finding the deals online and making numerous trips to the store. I am so happy, I contacted my newspaper carrier and he is going to save and drop off the extra coupon inserts for me! Yayyyyy! Yesterday I went to CVS and bought 2 Fab laundry detergents, paper clips and 2 dove shampoos and paid a penny! At Walgreens I bought 2 All laundry detergents, 2 packages of tinfoil and 8 pkgs. of Band Aids and spent $8.02 which should have been a dollar less but for some reason one of the $1.00 off Band Aid coupons wouldn't go through. I sent Dale to Wal-Mart on Friday with a pile of coupons that I printed off the internet and the total was $31.00 and he paid $4.00 after coupons!

I've also been trying to get motivated to begin WW again. Haven't I said that a million times? I haven't been writing down my points as I should but have been sort of keeping track of them in my head and as of this morning I had lost 2 pounds! I wish the kids didn't have so many therapy sessions so I could fit an exercise routine into my day and still be able to shop, clean, cook and spend time being a mom. There isn't enough time in the day.

MIA!!!

I have had a crazy busy week which is my excuse for not posting to my blog. We are leaving tomorrow for our vacation to the Outer Banks of NC, I can't begin to express how excited I am! A week of sitting on the beach, enjoying a few adult drinks ; ) and spending quality time with my whole family. Yesterday Dany and I met my sister at the mall and we got a pedicure and manicure! I haven't had my nails done in years and never had a pedicure so I'm feeling quite pampered this morning. :) I have so much to do today and a few errands to run but thankfully Dale is home to help out.

I will be able to check in during the week and hopefully will be able to get my Weekly Winners up!

See you on the 26th!

Today has been one of those days! You know, when you just want to run far, far away and never return. Devin has been skipping his nice long nap during the days since we've been busy doing outside things this past week. I figured today he would be able to catch up on some much needed rest.

Wrong.

I did manage to get him to sleep, only to have Brooklyn wake up from her nap and start screaming when she saw me walk by her crib which of course woke Dev up. I tried for another hour to get him back to sleep but he just would not settle back down.

Oh well, my house really didn't need to be cleaned anyways. *snorts*

The afternoon has only gotten better. The microwave I thought was broken, turns out it was just locked. Cody had his permit test today and I thought he had a ride there. He phones at the last minute letting me know I have to bring him. Great. I had some adult company for a change that I had to run off so I could rush to get him there by 3:00. Once we were there I realized I'd forgotten some paper work so I dropped him off and had to run alll the way back home to get it.

He fails the test, which I'm not surprised about. I never once saw him open the book to study. Of course he has every excuse for why he didn't study but that's not why he failed. The questions were stupid, the correct answer couldn't have been the right one, blah, blah, blah. Typical. He knows everything. Why study?

Once I'm home I try, with no luck, to get B down for her nap. I gave up and just pray that I can get them both in bed and asleep for the night by 7:00 so I can unwind with a few drinks of the adult kind. Oh yeah, Cody needs a ride to work at 7:00 so it will be after that I guess.

Our vacation can't come soon enough. I am ready for a break.

Camera Critters

Yes, yes, another photo meme! I'm going to have to actually sit down and blog about something, I'm getting too fond of just posting photographs. ;)

This one is called "Camera Critters." Each Sunday you post a picture of any critter, be it a cat, dog, mouse, insect or wildlife. Just click on the header to learn more about this new fun meme!

Here is my 7 1/2 year old pain in the ass wonderful German Shepherd Tyson. The photo is a bit underexposed but it's still a great shot. :)

Good morning!

It's early. 5:10 am to be exact. I just made a cup of cinnamon hazelnut coffee, hung the "Do Not Disturb" sign around my neck and turned on my laptop. I'm finding that in order for me to have a few minutes of "me" time in the mornings I need to force myself to wake up before the roosters crow, or in my case before the crows crow, ;) and before the kids are up for the day. For the longest time it was 6:00 but it has become earlier over the past few weeks. Mornings are my favorite time of my day though so I'm really not complaining. I can think without distractions and sort out what I need to do, forgot to do or haven't done yet. This hour of quiet time keeps me sane, or close to it. It has become my favorite time of the day. :)

Have I mentioned how quickly an hour goes by?

Blog etiquette, that is the question. What are the do's and don'ts of the blogging community? Are there unwritten rules that I have yet to learn? I am a newbie blogger, if you will, and that is something I have wondered about for some time now.

My first question is about comments other bloggers leave. If they ask you a question, do you comment back to them on your own blog or on their blog? Maybe by email? And if you reply to them on your blog, do they normally visit your page again looking for a response?

I am also confused about adding blogs to your blog roll. There are a few blogs I like to visit regularly that aren't on my blog roll and I haven't added them because I'm not sure if that is something you ask permission to do? And if I don't add them and continue to lurk on their blog, is it considered "stalking?" :P

I need some feedback from the experienced bloggers, pretty please! ;)

Ladybugs!!

Over the weekend I noticed a cute little ladybug in our bathroom. He was a little dusty which made me wonder where in heck it came from it being the middle of winter in Maine. He (or she) looked to be enjoying himself in the sunshine coming through the window and since that is probably the only bug I don't mind I left it alone....... kind of.... ;) I wanted to get a neat picture of him so I poked at him a few times to try and get him to move but he wouldn't budge. I noticed some greenish/yellow stuff around him and I wondered if I had poked him a little too hard and killed him. I was telling Dale about it and he guessed I had literally scared the shit out of him. :P

Feeling bad that I may have squished the poor little thing (I didn't poke him that hard, honest!), I went to check on him later that afternoon. He was perfectly fine and sitting beside him was another ladybug! So today I checked on Mr. & Mrs. Bug and they've apparently been very busy cause have since had two ladybug children! lol

I'm so curious as to where they are coming from, especially since it's still pretty chilly out so I Googled facts about ladybugs. Wow, the things you didn't know about these little creatures! Here are some cool facts:

-A ladybug beats its wings 85 times a second when it flies.

-If you squeeze a ladybug it will bite you, but the bite won't hurt.

-Ladybugs hibernate in cold weather.

-Ladybugs won't fly if the temperature is below 55 degrees Fahrenheit.

-When the temperature is about 59 degrees Fahrenheit, lady bugs become active.

-Ladybugs chew from side to side and not up and down like people do.

-A lady bug lets out a yellowish liquid when it is mad. The liquid has a bad smell to its predators. (whoopsie, sorry!)

- A lady bugs top flying speed is about fifteen miles per hour.

-The eggs of a lady bugs are not visible to the naked eye.

-Ladybugs grow to adulthood in about 3-4 weeks.

-All ladybugs are born black.


How neat is that!? I also learned that they like humid places and that our homes are normally very dry in the winter and often times they die of dehydration. I set out a little bowl of water for them on the window sill. :P

I'm alive!

I know I haven't posted in weeks. The holidays have kept us busy and Dale's been on vacation so I haven't been on the computer much. I am going to be getting rid of the Christmas look and will start posting regular updates again!

Happy New Years everyone!

Randomness about my day...

1. It was long.

2. I witnessed a car accident this afternoon and was the one who contacted the police. Thankfully nobody was hurt. Still wondering how in heck she didn't see the huge mini van coming her way?!

3. I called the Neurology office to make sure they received B's referral. Big surprise, they hadn't. Called her PCP again and they claim to have faxed it, twice even. After a bit of attitude, they finally managed to do what they should have done weeks ago the first time I called . Geesh.

4. I waited anxiously by the phone hoping to hear from the geneticist. Nothing. Think I may call tomorrow.

5. I spent another day searching the net for a possible diagnosis for Brooklyn. I swear if I don't have answers soon I will slowly go insane.

6. I got all of my laundry caught up and even managed to put away two baskets of clothes! ;)

3D Sidewalk Chalk Art

Just cause it's late and I can't think of anything to blog about tonight.

My mom sent these to me in an email awhile back. How neat are these?!