G5 Weekend Report

This weekend was fairly uneventful because I was sick all weekend, EXCEPT for Kaylee's little stroll!! I did make Chinese food Thursday and Friday night and it came out pretty good. Mark proclaimed my General Tso's chicken was the best Chinese food he had ever tasted and almost ate the entire platter of chicken! Friday night, I made Pepper Beef and Veggie Fried Rice. The flavor was great, but I think next time I will just spend the couple extra dollars on better quality meat. It was a little tough. But hey, what do you want for $3 package of meat!




Saturday, Kaylee and Ethan gave their sick mommy the royal treatment. It was nice to have a relaxing day playing with them. We played beauty shop with Kaylee's Disney Princess Beauty Set.


The kids pretty much entertained themselves for most of the day which was nice. Ethan showed Kaylee how to play Kirby on the DS.


Sunday was another day filled with feeling sick, though I did still manage to get some cleaning done and grocery shop. Then we watched the Oscars and Ethan fell asleep in my lap. I was glad to see that Slumdog Millionaire won so many awards. It was a great movie. Very different from other movies. However, I would still like to see Milk and The Reader, since they also won in the best actor/actress categories. I would also like to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

I do look forward to HP and the Half Blood Prince that will make it's debut around Javi, Kaylee & my birthday! Woo hoo!


Hope you all had a great weekend!

G5 Weekend Report

Rain, rain is here again. We are pretty happy though, because we need it badly! It sure didn't slow us down from indoor activities. Friday afternoon we had a bowling birthday party we attended. It was so much fun!! Javi had only been bowling once before, but he did fantastic. Guess all that Wii bowling is paying off!!



STRIKE!! On the very first frame!!


Kay was my arm jewelry the entire party and Ethan slept in the stroller all the way until it was time to have pizza and cake. He did manage to get to bowl in the game after eating. He bowled one frame right before we left. He hit one pin and was thrilled ;) To bad I couldn't get any pics because I was helping him bowl.

Mom and Dad had a movie night after the kiddos went to bed. It was nice to relax and listen to the rain while we watched our movie.

Saturday, we had another bday party to go to. This time it was at Playtown, which is an indoor play place. We had a really good time and got to meet some new friends. Javi made friends with a boy named Ethan, who is a celeb in the Autism Community. His team won an award for money raised for the San Diego Autism Walk Now. They were like two peas in a pod. I made friends with his mom, Lisa. We plan to get them together to play again really soon.



Our Ethan had a great time too! The big boys included him in there dramatic game of Sonic the Hedgehog, where they each decided to be a different character. Ethan also had fun playing on this motorcycle. He even put some gas in at the play gas station.



Sunday was a lazy day for the kids, but mommy spent a good portion of it cleaning after we made breakfast. The kids played and watched Boomerang Network. Kay helped mommy dust the living room. It was too cute!





We had a pillow fight, which Ethan enjoyed immensely!


Then mommy got a much needed break to go see a movie with a friend. We got to see "He's just not that in to you". OMG, what a cute movie, but definitely a chick flick!! Good thing it was just us girls ;) Can't wait to see it again.

Hope you all had a great weekend too.

G5 Weekend Report

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!!  We sure did. 

Friday night, we hung out at home.  Mark had gone in to the office for the first time in a couple weeks, so I decided to cook a special dinner.  It was a Pinoy feast!  I made lumpia and pancit.  It was my first attempt.  I made chili sweet sauce to go with the lumpia.  Yum!!  The lumpia was great, but the pancit, not so much.  I have never used rice sticks before, so I think I may have over cooked them.  They were a little gummy.  I'll have to get some advice from my neighbor who made us a Philippine Feast a couple weeks ago for next time.  Otherwise, the flavor was good.

Saturday, Kaylee and I went out shopping with a neighbor friend of mine.  The boys stayed home to play video games.  Mark has been working a lot lately, so it was nice to get some male bonding time in with Ethan.  We were supposed to go to this great resale place, but it was closed so we got lost in Cost Plus World Market for a couple hours.  I love that store!  I did purchase a gift for the bday party we were attending that evening, which was a Twilight theme.  

Rushed home to get dressed in my vamp gear.  Did the whole undead thing with the makeup ;) Wore all black, the whole nine yards.  Kay was my little vamp baby.  She wore her punk rock cute little outfit.  Looks like something from L.A.M.B., Gwen Steffani's kids' line.  My little cutie.  I was running late, so I forgot my camera.  I don't have any pics :(  My friend Natalie took some pics, so I will just have to wait on the pics.  We had fun at the party.  They had everything all decorated to theme.  Complete with themed food ;)  Wooden spears of meat (kabobs), bleeding red velvet cupcakes, Type O- and O+ blood on tap (sangria), just to name a few...Kaylee was tuckered out by 9pm, so we headed home.  It was a twilight party, so of course, that's when it began, so she lasted for quite a few hours.  

The boys had a great boys night in.  They ate junk, played and watched movies.  I didn't want to take Ethan, just in case he was scared by the costumes.  He doesn't like parties much, so he said he wanted to stay home with daddy anyway.

Sunday was a lazy day.  It felt great!!!  Don't remember the last time I was that lazy.  We laid around all day and watched movies.  I didn't do one single productive thing except feed everyone.   We had a "carpet picnic".  Ethan, Kaylee and I packed a picnic basket full of goodies and laid out a plaid blankey on the carpet.  It was fun to pretend we were out at the park.  We tossed the ball around too just like at the park and we made origami too.  It was too gloomy and patchy rain to have a real picnic, so it was the next best thing ;)  

I made some yummy loaded baked potato soup for Sunday dinner.  It was d'lish!!  I'll have to write out the recipe sometime before I forget it.  I improvised as usual!

Hope your weekend was nice and relaxing too.  Have a great week!!

G5 Weekend Report

It was such a nice weekend, celebrating Ethan's birthday!  We certainly have been enjoying the cake all weekend.  It's officially gone!  I think it's the first time we have ever finished a birthday cake.  Ethan had about six slices through out the weekend.  I figured, why not?  It's his birthday cake and he doesn't get it often.  Enjoy it while you can!  My mom took the last few slices home for my grandparents to enjoy.

Let's see...since you already know what we did on Friday.  Let's go straight to Saturday.  We pretty much lounged around for most of the day.  We played wii with the kids and had left overs from the "breakfast for dinner" from Ethan's bday party.  In the evening, my mom and I went to pick up chinese food, our usual Saturday dinner, from the little place a few blocks away from our house.  The people know us and they are really nice.  They make all of Javi's stuff special order because of his diet, which is really cool!  We dropped by Home Depot while we were up there to purchase some duct tape to fix our dryer.  The vent hose just keeps falling off.  There is nothing wrong with the cuff that attaches it, but it just keeps falling off.  I suspect it's because I dry large loads and it shakes the darn thing loose.  Anyway, we ate chinese and watched movies, just relaxed.  It was nice.

Sunday morning, we did much of the same, except for I went for a morning jog!  My first in quite a while.  It's time to burn off some of those Xmas lbs!!  Woo, I have gained a few too ;)  I am really motivated, so I am confident I will stick with it.  I have also been trying to eat healthier...again!  I got kinda "lax" during the holidays, so it's time to get psycho again.  

My Normal Diet...

Breakfast is a small bowl of oatmeal with raisins and a coffee.  Then for lunch, a fruit smoothie and a small snack (half sandwich, or soup, luna bar, etc.).  I usually have an afternoon snack like half a banana or hummus and pita, then a normal size dinner (no larger than a salad plate full), which typically includes at least one veg.  I try very hard not to eat sweets, but on occasion I like to have a piece of chocolate or a cookies.  I love love love fancy coffee, so I can usually just reward my self with a coffee and I'm good.  Of course, try to drink as much water as possible too.

This is my NORMAL diet.  You don't want to know what I have been eating for the last six weeks!!  But I'm sure it's not much different what everyone has been eating ;)  I'd like to try to work out, strength training at least 3x's a week and cardio 3x's on the off days.  I'd also like to incorporate yoga at least 2x's a week.  

Sunday afternoon, I took the kids to my friend's Natalie and Steve's house to watch the Charger game.  Mark stayed home to catch up on some rest.  The ladies and I played Texas Hold'em during half time and in to the second half, since at this point the Chargers were a little behind.  It was quite the roll reversal.  Steve had done all the cooking for the game, then he played with the kids a little while the ladies played poker!  It was most entertaining for me to witness this.  Steve did a wonderful job hosting the football party.  I know all the ladies are a tough crowd.  Besides Ethan, he was the only guy ;)  

Ethan discovered he is quite good at Golden Tee.  They have a stand up arcade game in their living room, so Ethan had a good time.  Sure he was amazed by an arcade game being in their living room.  Kaylee discovered that she really likes dogs.  She loved petting Apollo, Natalie's golden retriever.  I could tell Mark saw my wheels spinning when I told him that Kaylee liked their dogs.  He just said "NO PUPPIES".  I whole heartedly agree, since I've been there may times already.  Maybe sometime in the future, we can look in to rescuing an adult dog that is already house trained.  I do really miss having the companionship of a dog.  We always had a dog when I was growing up.  It would be really nice for the kids to also have that kinship.

Natalie's dog, Apollo

G5 Weekend Report

I know it's been a while since I had a nice newsy blog post so here I go. Warning this is going to be a long one, so congratulations in advance if you make it to the end ;)

Friday was just a relaxing evening. I wasn't feeling very well, so I took a nice hot bath and read the book I have been *trying* to read for the last two months with little success. I was having a discussion with a friend about books, so it prompted me to pick up the copy of "Eat, Pray, Love" that I still have on loan from Carrie. I have a deep admiration for reading, but it is one of the few pleasures that I can't commit to these days. I am not a patient reader. If I love a book, I will forego sleep and "crack out" as Mark calls it until I finish it. This is the reason audiobooks have worked out so well for me. I can multitask. I can clean, fold laundry or even listen while I am driving. Needless to say, books are one of my favorite guilty pleasures. There really is nothing like relaxing in a hot bath, enjoying the fragrant bubbles and the crisp feel of a paperback page turner.

Saturday, Ethan and I went to Target to do some returns from the holidays. We took a look at some toys while we were there. Ethan picked out a Star Wars Light Saber as one of his birthday gifts. Not my first choice, but we had a mom and her college age son chuckling as we discussed what not to do with the light saber. We discussed exactly how, where and when it was appropriate to play with it. I'm sure they must have been reminder of when he was a small boy asking for a similar toy. After Ethan made his promises not to hit the kitty, sister, brother, parents and any other animate or inanimate object in the house, we tossed it in the cart. Nothing like a light saber-wielding four year old! I'm sure he'll forget all those promises made. This saga to be continued.... Saturday evening, we watched the Chargers game, or rather listened to and watched the stats online, since our cable box is still out. With all the holidays and festivities, I haven't had a chance to return the box and get a new one. We aren't that big on TV around here, so I can go weeks with out really missing it (and have since it's been broken for about three weeks). I have tried reseting it twice with no luck.

Wow, the Charger game was a real nail bitter!! The game went in to OT, tied at 17 all. Chargers picked up the win 23-17. Woohoo!! I was invited to go out with some friends to celebrate the underdog's victory at the local pub, but preferred the company of my snugly sweetheart. We *tried* to watch "The Good Shepherd" with Matt Damon, but Mark fell asleep as usual. He tried so hard to stay awake this time too!! Mark can rarely make it through watching a movie with me without falling asleep. He says he just gets bored when he isn't doing something else at the same time. I completely understand this because I can rarely sit still long enough to watch a movie with out doing something else like folding laundry or doing dishes, or picking up. He's always telling me to sit still. I can usually make it through one movie with out falling asleep though ;)

Sunday, I took Ethan to Toys R Us to return a video game and also checked out some video game options for a bday present. We also decided on "grab bags" for his bday party at school. This is the concept we came up with:

It's a container with lego blocks, Lego Fruit snacks and Nilla Cakesters (some of Ethan's favs), and it will also have a juice box and a napkin inside. I thought it was fitting since we plan to go to Legoland in lieu of having a birthday party with friends over. We do, however, plan to have a family party on Friday evening (Ethan's actual birthday). We are going to have breakfast for dinner. Ethan's absolute favorite meal of the day is breakfast, so I plan to prepare a breakfast buffet of biscuits and gravy, pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs and hash browns. Then top it off with a Game Boy cake. Ethan's choice of cake theme this year. I don't want to get too ambitious, since we have other things going on this week also. It will probably be a round cake with a life size Game Boy made of rice crispy and fondant on top. I was thinking of putting the #4 on the screen.

Sunday afternoon, we took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese. We had a lot of fun. It was great to go, since we hadn't been in so long. It was a really nice way to close out the vacation too. Mark has the pics, so I will have to post them to flickr later. I've been waiting for two days to get the pics, so I' just going to post with out them.

Javi was away in AZ at a family reunion with his dad. He had a great time while he was away. He got to meet some of his family on his Nana's side.

Last week I took some pics of the new arrangement of our family room that I never posted. We decided to move the playroom in to the family room and make a little play nook in the corner.



I moved my office back in to where the playroom used to be and made it in to the study. We plan to put my mom's small dinning set in her also, but for now we are enjoying having the extra space so Kaylee can test drive her walker. As you can see in the pic, we also have a kids desk set up for the kids to share.



Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Happy 2009!!

Here are some pics from our New Years Eve gathering. We had a lot of fun. Javi was a party animal!!! He stayed up until 1:30AM!! We karaoked at the tail end of the evening. Unfortunately, I didn't start snapping pics until after midnight. I'm usually pretty good about that too. Guess I should have appointed someone to be the camera person. I was busy playing hostess, cooking, talking, making sure everyone was comfortable, so we missed taking pics of half our guests that left early. I started out more dressed, but changed in to sweats about 11:30. Wanted to be comfy to ring in the new year. Unfortunately, Mark missed out on the countdown. He wasn't feeling too well. Guess those two martinis were too much to handle after a one year sabbatical from drinking.

There was a progressive party going on in the neighborhood, so we did rove a bit (Mark and I took turns). Javi ended up going to every party ;) I'm telling you, I'm going to have to watch that kid! He stuck near the girls most of the night. Thanks again to Audrey, our neighbor for helping out with the kiddos.

Hope you all had a happy and safe New Years Eve! Have a great weekend and here's to another year of friendship and love.

Countdown to the New Year!

Been a busy week so far with the countdown to the new year. We have been preparing and getting the house all spiffed up and ready to receive guests for new years eve, plus, I just like to start the year off clean. I just usually wait until after all the holidays are over, but with the party I was a little premature ;) We have been purging cabinets, refrigerators, closets, garage, toy boxes. Pretty much, most of the house (except my master closet, which I did last month). Even did a little furniture rearranging! Yep, you know me!!

Jamie our helper has been a GODSEND!! She is truly a gem. She is both my hands (not just my right hand woman). She helps me with my OCD too ;) Although, don't know if it's helpful to be my accomplice *wink*. We have done so much over the last few days. The house looks truly amazing!! She actually helped me do yard work today! Way above and beyond the call of duty! I did manage to even steal away, sans children, this morning to go to drop off donations at Goodwill and go to Costco with my friend and neighbor. That was nice! Thank goodness she comes tomorrow too, I will be like a chicken with my head cut off, I'm sure. I am always a psycho the day of a party. I have most of my prep work completed. Just saving those last minute things, vacuuming, wiping down the bathroom, etc. Oh, how I love to entertain guests! I don't know why, because it is so labor intensive, but I love to have people over and cook, talk over a cocktail, have everything look pretty. Silly, I know!

Ok, I am going nuts with the smell of that cake baking. Yep, decided to make a simple cake, nothing fancy because of time constraints. Also can't wait to test out my new bread maker tonight after I frost the cake! Thanks mom!

Hope you all have a fantastic NEW YEAR!!! See you in blogland next year!!!

Clean up, Clean up, everybody clean up...

Out with the old and in with the new.  It's that time of year.  We are going to start our sort to make room for our new toys.  It's a good habit to get in to.  I don't want the kids to be pack rats like me and Grandpa Jim *wink* (I know you read this Grandpa).  The old toys don't get thrown away, they go to a good home, to someone that really needs them.  That is what I tell the kids when this time rolls around.  We purge every Christmas and Birthday (July).  I usually start it the week before, of toys that I know they no longer play with and they finish with the ones that are a tougher decision.  We have been doing this for the last few years, so the kids really don't know what it's like to keep stuff they don't use, so it's easy for them to let go.

Other than that, it's a day to start cleaning up the house and getting ready for the new year.  You may think I am a neat freak (ok, I am a little) but, I am really not a psycho or anything.  Our home looks quite lived in.  Too lived in for my tastes!! But I never wanted to be that mom that makes her kids put the toys away when they are in the middle of playing with them because I can't handle disorder.  It just makes me a little nuts when the whole house turns in to a playroom.  My kids and husband are NOTHING like me.  They don't care when things are messy.  It doesn't seem to phase them.  Ethan is a little bothered, but he can still make a pretty big mess.  He just doesn't like other people to ;) Sounds like mommy!! LOL  You should see my kitchen when I cook.  I am a really messy chef.  Appropriately enough, Mark tucked some Clorox wipes in my stocking this year.

I am hoping to have the house all purged and clutter free by our NYE party.  We decided to have people here.  We haven't had a party here since Ethan's birthday last year, so I thought it would be fun.  I like the fact that we won't have to leave the house.  We are going to have kids here too.  We'll be playing Wii karaoke, American Idol 2, that we just received for Christmas and grubbing out to some yummies.  It should be a nice relaxing time.  I LOVE to entertain, so it's fun for me.  I love cooking and having people enjoy my dishes.  Making a Mexican themed spread of appy's.  

Ok, better get to gettin' this house isn't going to clean itself!  Although I wish there was a self clean option ;) I'll post some Christmas pics later!  I'm also dying to use my new breadmaker, but I have to finish the kitchen before I bust it out.

...and then there were EIGHT!

Today was not the most exciting 12 days activity.  We wrote out Christmas cards to our teachers and wrapped their presents.  It had to be done, so I thought why not try to spice it up and make it an activity!  I actually wanted Ethan to stamp some of the cards, but as it turns out, no stamp pad!  So, he helped a little with the presents for all the teachers and therapists while Javi wrote his cards out.  Ethan got tired and bored with this activity very quickly, so we never got to his cards.

We have 15 presents for teachers, aides, and therapists.  We actually don't even give them to every one either.  I only give them to people we know well and the kids see regularly.  I would be giving out 25-30 presents if we did one for everyone they work with.  Not that we don't appreciate what they do, it just would get really pricey to do one for everyone.  They are little Christmas boxes filled with assorted yummy chocolates.  They look pretty cute.

We presented Jamie, our friend and helper, with her present today.  I gave her a "bonus", a gift for her, and one small gift for each of her two kids.  She cried and said it was "too much".   I only wish I could have done more.  She actually told me it was the first present she has received in years.  I couldn't believe my ears!!  She has been going through kind of a rough time lately, so I wanted to do something special for her, since she is always so good to us.  She has offered on more than one occasion to just watch our kids with out payment.  She even came when I was sick and tried to leave with out me signing her time card.  She is such an awesome person.  I wanted her to know how loved and appreciated she is.  We really are fortunate to have found someone that is so great with me and great with our kids.  It felt good to do something nice for her.  She really is more than a "nanny" to us.  She is a good friend.  That is what the spirit of Christmas is all about.  It wasn't about the gifts, or bonus, it was about sharing that bond of friendship and appreciation for each other.  The exchange of thoughtfulness.  It didn't matter who gave what.  That is what gift giving is all about.  We can sometimes get wrapped up in the reciprocating monetary values.  "So and so bought me a $10 item, so I have to buy him a $10 item.".  It really takes the fun out of giving a gift.  A gift as defined by the dictionary:

A gift or present is the transfer of something, without the need for compensation that is involved in trade. A gift is a voluntary act which does not require anything in return. Even though it involves possibly a social expectation of reciprocity, or a return in the form of prestige or power, a gift is meant to be free. 

So while we are out shopping and wrapping and getting caught up in the Christmas hoopla, remember the true meaning of a gift this Christmas.  

To me the greatest gift one can have are friends and family like you...Thanks for following the G5 family blog.  We love you!!! 

It's a Princess...just like Mommy

Ethan: Look mommy!! (playing Super Mario Galaxy, while Mommy was checking email)

Mom: Yeah baby, what's up?

Ethan: It's a Princess, just like you!

God, I love that kid! He's my boy!  

On this weekend's agenda:

Friday, we are celebrating the 1st day of the twelve days of Christmas.  We will be doing a different activity every day.  Today, I think we will be doing Elf Yourself.  I know the kids will get a big kick out of it.  I will also be sending out our holiday cards today, so look for them in the mail sometime next week.

Saturday, I will be heading out to do some more Christmas shopping and hanging out with the kiddos.  Of course another 12 days activity in the evening, then after kids go down, wooo hoo, it's ladies nite!!  I am going over to Carrie's house for some girls fun.  We are going to have some app's and a little vino.

Sunday night is our neighborhood Christmas party, so we will be stopping by, or I will.  Still haven't really gotten a definitive answer from Mark on whether he wants to come ;0)

Cracking up to be a busy weekend.  It's the holidays!

Christmas, in full swing

It's been a busy week.  I have been out shopping for Christmas every day this week.  I was trying to wrap as it came in, but I got about one thing wrapped and shoved the rest in the closet.  I know I will be spending my typical evenings of blogging, tweeting and facebooking, wrapping presents like a little elf.

I am 100% done with Mark's shopping. 90% done with Javi's, 60% done with Ethan's and 40% done with Kaylee's.  I will be happy to get 'er done by early next week.

We have our tree up, but we are waiting to trim it.  We wanted to wait, so we could do it all together this weekend.  The rest of the house is decorated.  I finished that on Monday.  I have been waiting to put up the exterior lights.  I have actually been debating putting them up at all.  With the energy crisis going on, I think I will probably just put them up before Christmas and turn them on on Christmas Eve, Christmas day and New Years.  I thought it would be a much more eco friendly approach.  We have exterior decor, but why waste perfectly good energy and money making the house look pretty for passers by?  I think we can muster holiday spirit with out the lights being on 24/7.  We have yet to switch to solar powered LED's, but hope to invest in them one of these years.  Then we can enjoy them eco style!!

Don't forget to BYOB this holiday season!!  That is to say, bring your own bag.  If you don't have your own, be sure to recycle the one's you do bring home.  I made the mistake of forgetting mine last night, so I had them put everything I purchased in one bag, which makes it much easier to carry anyway!  Remember, Santa carries a sack that he uses every year ;)

Well, Ms. Grace, as I've been called for most of my life, has once again injured herself.  I broke my toe while working out yesterday.  Yes, it was only my second work out, since I committed to trying to get healthier by making more time to work out.  Don't worry, I won't let it discourage me.  I'll be getting right back in to my routine as soon as this toe heals.  I am certainly not going to let it slow me down!!

Merry Christmas to Me

I thought the place was looking a little dirty, so I pulled out the vacuum. I started out with the playroom and the living room, everything seems like it's going ok, I'm getting the nice vac lines in the carpet that I love so much.  Then I pull out the hose tool to vac by the front door and no suction.  I looked for a clog, nothing.  So, I turned off the brush and flipped the vac on it's side.  Nothing!!  No suck!  I had just taken the vac apart about a month ago to clean and check filters and it worked great, at least for a little while.  

It's been no secret that I have always hated this vacuum.  We have had problems with it since about a month after we purchased it.  In the two years we have owned it, I have taken it apart about four times to fix it and we have gone through about 10 belts.  I just think we somehow got a lemon, but we never did fill out the warranty card and I am sure it's long since expired.  

Today was the last straw.  I decided to forego the vac repair shop, since it will be about $100 to fix it anyway.  Why spend the money on a vac I never really liked in the first place?  Not to mention, I don't even know if the repair guy will do anything different than I have done (replace filters, check hoses, clean and check the motor). 

So, I went online to start my consumer search on the best suck for the buck, apologies if that sounded offensive, but we are talking vacuums people :)

Most of what I found gave reference to a bagged upright being the best for the money.  Since I am more of an eco person, combined with the fact that I vacuum so frequently, it's just not very cost effective, nor good for the environment to go that route.  Most of the reviews on bag-less uprights point to DYSON.  I have always wanted one, but never could stomach the $400-600 price tag.

I managed to find a DYSON DC14 All Floors with washable hepa filters and telescopic wand for $211 on eCost.  They had the same vac through Best Buy for $289, so I felt more confident ordering it online knowing that a major brick and mortar store also carried it for cheap.  The reviews all checked out plus, I actually have a friend that owns one and loves it. So, I went for it.  With shipping & tax it came to $255 and it will be here in 3-8 days!   

Ha ha, notice how it has a man vacuuming.  DYSON may make great vacuums, but it's no miracle worker!!  Just kidding!  Mark does actually vacuum one of the two times a week we vacuum the house :)  Maybe he would be more willing to tackle the stairs now with the telescopic wand?  It reaches up to 17ft! 

Ok, if not a Christmas present, call it a going away present ;) (WARNING, YOU MAY WANT TO MUTE THE SONG)

Prayers Answered

I can totally say we have had a prayer answered, yes Mark a prayer ;-P

Jamie is our new helper on Wednesday's. We hired her to come regularly after using her to watch Kay during Javi's IEP. She is a total angel. She is fantastic with our kids and a wonderful helper and just a fantastic person in general. We are so lucky to have her. Yay! I will finally get some time in to volunteer in Ethan's class and work on other projects I haven't had the time to commit to. Dare I say, I may even squeeze in some time to myself once in a while?!



Ethan had his Halloween party and parade on Wednesday. I must say, it was nice to be able to give him my full attention that day. He looked adorable in his costume.



All of his friends were absolutely adorable too. We had such a great time.

Javi didn't get to dress up for school, but he tried on his costume and looked very handsome in it.

We were finally able to carve our pumpkins too.  They had been sitting in our fridge all month.  Jamie scraped them for me, since that is the part I hate.  Sensory issue?  No, I think it's just gross and it smells funny.  Ok, so maybe it is a sensory thing ;)

Three cheers for Jamie!  She is awesome.  So wonderful to have help available.  Makes me wonder why I waited so long to have someone help out.

So, if anyone is looking for respite in SD, Jamie is your woman.  But can't have her on Wednesday ;)

Home Update

Well, ultimately we decided not to proceed with the offer on the home. We were so close, all we had to do was sign the offer, but after investigating some other options for financing, that were suggested by Mark's parents, we decided to go with a home in a lower price range.

That home was really perfect for us, but there are lots of homes out there and we will find another that will work better for our pocket book, as well as satisfy our needs and maybe some of our wants.

We are disappointed, but like I have said before, everyone has to start out somewhere in the home market. We happen to be jumping in the market after completing our family, instead of when we are starting our family. We may not have our dream home to start out with, but everyone has to start somewhere. We'll keep looking...there's something out there for us.

Made the offer!

Well, we made the offer on our first home. I found one that was just what we needed. I have a mixture of emotions about all of it. Butterflies, because it's such a huge commitment, but also whether or not our offer will be accepted. I am a ball of nervous energy.

This home is exactly what we were looking for. It satisfies everyone's wants. Here are the photos:




Much more at http://www.previewfirst.com/mls/photos/18597

It is a small home, but it really maximizes the space and it has a very open floor plan. The outdoor living space is GORGEOUS!! Plus, daddy's fav, a stand alone fully permitted guest house/office! It has a pool and two large side yards with garden boxes on each side. A grassy area for the kids to play that is shaded by a tree. The patio is nice, stamped concrete. It really is the perfect starter home. It's beautiful! Fingers crossed we'll get it. Trying not to get too excited, you never know.

Good to be back!!

Ok, so I know it's been a few days since I was last in blogland, but it's been a busy week. I will itemize the week recap:

-Rearranged living room furniture, pics below
-Took down 1/2 our playroom and made it back in to a dining room (it's actual intended use)
-Scrubbed down the entire downstairs, cleaned floor boards, hands and knees old fashioned scrub down

-Decluttered the entire downstairs
-Hung curtains in the den
-Started building an art table for Javi's bday
-Hand building invites for two parties that are to be held next week (Wall-E and Baby Shower for Javi's Teacher.
-Planned and preped for Kaylee's 1st and my bday party (we are sharing the party)
-Made Kaylee's smash cake. She is really in to purses. I know, we are in trouble ;) Just like mommy (I have a few Coach and a Gucci, but hey, I only get them on sale!!) Wish Sharon lived closer, would have definitely ordered it! My cakes are pretty sad looking, but still taste good ;) I just don't have the patience or talent, but I try.

Tomorrow is the big day. The first party in the party arsenal. Three parties in a week!! I'm already partied out! I'm excited for tomorrow, just hope I can stay awake! I am exhausted after all the running around this week.

Well, we (the kids and I) looked at another house today. Here is the virtual tour. Our realtor sent me a link to this one and I just had to see it in person. It looked perfect from the pics and in our range. Little did we know that it had a lot of finish work not pictured in the virtual tour. It was livable, a tub needed to be finished off with a base board and tile, but had a nice jacuzzi tub that was brand new! Had a lot of trim work that needed finishing and the landscaping needed to be redone. One wall needed to be finished off upstairs too. Other than that it was great! We are still keeping our eye on what's out there. Looking for that diamond in the rough. We are looking to buy early next year, so we have some time. Patience is a virtue in today's housing market. There's a lot of inventory, but unfortunately, a lot is still out of our price range in SD. Median single family homes are around 540k, and our range is 450k. Guess we will just wait it out!

Schedule Management

Ok, so I know I have posted about this before, but I feel like it's important to keep your life in order. Although, I wish I could train my schedule to complete itself or add things to it at the speed of thought. I really don't know what I would do with out it.

With three children with special needs, needless to say there are quite a few things to schedule and keep on top of. Here is my schedule for May.



I have multiple calendars, hence multiple colors on the cal that track different items. Javi has his own calendar that is published to his website, I have a Family calendar that is shared with Mark, I have a bills calendar with all the due dates for bills, I have a national holiday's calendar, birthday calendar and one that we fortunately haven't used in ages, Kaylee's Seizure Calendar that I used to track her sz's with.

I border something between organized and anally retentive. I really wish our house was just as organized as our schedules, but three kids under seven, special needs, lots to do equals less than perfect house. My biggest problem is laundry. I have a repetitive task that pops up everyday in Things, but for the life of me I just can't get in to the everyday habit. I know if I just did it every morning right when I get up and put it away for 10 minutes right when I get home from taking the kids it would never pile up. But it's my least favorite activity, so if any item in my things to do list gets dropped, it's usually laundry. As long as we all have clean clothes to wear, we make due.



I also have an iPhone that beeps and warns me when I have a scheduled event and I also have daily clock alarms that are set for picking Javi up from the bus stop and my weekend and weekday wake up alarms. I used to have them set for Kaylee's meds, but now that she takes one drug twice a day, I can manage that now that it's a habit.

Tonight is Parent Education Night. I really look forward to these events, not only because it's one of the few places I go by myself, but because I get to learn new techniques and interface with other parents (that whole misery loves company thing). I have been thinking of starting a support group for ASD parents of poway unified, but just haven't gotten around to organizing it. Maybe by the next parent education night I will have something put together. We'll see...

Spring Cleaning

We are vigorously working on spring cleaning the house today. It's
nice to get a fresh start for the spring. We are changing filters,
dusting moving furniture and vacuuming underneath, clearing out dust
bunnies and everything. The kids really get in to it too. It's cute
to watch them check the "Chore Board" and get motivated to get to the
next item. Javi is assigned to dusting and helping with the trash,
Ethan is assigned to pick up toys and Mommy and Daddy are assigned to
everything else. We are about half way through, since we have been
working on it for the last few weeks. It feels really good to
freecycle things and get rid of clutter. We are going to do the
neighborhood garage sale soon, so we are getting our really choice
items ready for sale and piling them up in the garage. It feels good
to get it clean, but will feel better when it's all done and we can
admire the work :)

Arrrggggh!!!

Some days I just feel like running out of the house screaming. Normally I work well under pressure, but sometimes the pressure is to much and I just feel like dropping everything. The week started out pretty good, busy, but still good. It is going down hill fast.

To sum up:

Kaylee, neuro on Monday, outcome was extremely positive, already blogged about it by mobile blogging, yay first time doing that.

Kaylee, PT, things are going well and don't know what I would do with out Summer!! She is great and feels more like a friend than a PT for Kaylee.

Javi, new art class on Monday afternoon, outcome positive, although behaviors lately have been hard to manage

Javi, behavior mod initial meeting to overview treatment on Tuesday, outcome was confusing. Don't feel I really know what the plan is other than to calm his stimming and flapping, and get him to be more compliant, DUH!! That is what I asked for!! Still want to know how they plan to help?? I asked and the answer was dodgy. They have had seven weeks to plan this out and I don't feel like there is an actual plan, combined with the fact that she doesn't have any availability during hours when Javi is actually here at the moment, but she wanted to schedule time anyway. OK, whateva!

Ethan, still fighting the good fight with potty training. Had success at school yesterday, which we celebrated by going to McDonald's. Yay, Ethan!! Still, to anyone that has potty trained a kid on the spectrum. This is a very frustrating process for which you need unlimited patience.

Ethan and Kaylee are still sick, it's going on almost two weeks with the runny noses. Kept Ethan home today. I think I will call the doc to see if we need to be seen. I feel like I live in a Doc's office. We were seen just two weeks ago for all of them being sick. Could go broke off the co-pays for three kids.

Javi, very stimmy and frustrated this week, STAR testing going on and our Wii is broken, so his main motivator for good behavior (the Wii buck token system) has been taken out of action. Wii bucks don't work so well if you can't spend them. Have to send that in this week.

Kaylee, teething, need I saw more? She's been biting, crying, wakeful, etc...

House, in a complete state of disarray. I have been trying to purge, spring clean, finish the flooring in the bathroom, clean up the back yard. They are getting ready to paint and our side yard looks like a dump since I cleaned the garage on Friday. Need to call to have a pick up service to take that cr*p to the dump.

House hunting, well, for now, just staying on top of the market, home prices and what you get for the price. We are not looking to buy til next year, but still need to keep an eye on things. Someone please tell my husband that most people start looking about a year before they buy to get an idea of what they are looking for in a house and what they can get for the money!!!!!!!

Holy moly!! Don't have anything in my schedule today!! Wow!! That will change if I call the doctor.

Tomorrow, we have Ethan's IEP, to which I have scheduled respite care for Kaylee. I still have not had a confirmation call, so I called this AM and they said they would confirm it this evening. Hello?? The appointment is tomorrow and I called on Monday to schedule it. If I need to cancel or find someone else, I need more than the night before to do this!!! They totally ditched out with out calling the last time I called and my husband had to take off work. So, I am calling Regional Center to switch respite care service tomorrow. This is unacceptable.

Let's not forget that I also have to squeeze in laundry, cleaning, blogging, researching for my new client, and finding some time to play with the kids, work on things with Kaylee to help her development, potty train Ethan, do homework with Javi (though minimal during STAR testing), play referee to two fighting boys, cook dinner, clean the damn juicer, shop for all the healthy food in the house (which takes twice as long because you have to read labels and everything has to be made from scratch, washed, makes twice as many dishes and twice as long to prep) feed children, bathe children, get them to bed, schedule appointments, and also finding sometime in there to spend time with my husband. Where does that leave time for me??? Which other than the blogging and taking a shower is the only free time I get.

Can you say ARRRGGGGGHHHHH!!!!!???????