Happy Thanksgiving!

yes a post today! Mainly it is just a bragging post lol. It is mostly going to be showing pictures of the kids that we just had done for the year. Hubs and I have not had any done yet lol. I decided to wait until I see if Santa brings me the gym membership I asked for. then I will do some before and after pics in a few months...maybe. lol.

Until then I will leave you with the pictures of the kids. I hope everyone is having a wonderful turkey day and is finally in a triptophan coma with loved ones lol. :)

In the mean time...Here is what I am truly thankful for on this Thanksgiving.

Update on the neurology appt yesterday.

Hello and thanks to those who emailed me asking about how Trix's appt went with the new neurologist yesterday. So I figured rather than email everyone seperately I would come up with a blog on it.

Hubs really likes the new Neurologist. He just felt like he was a better fit for our family and did not brush off our concerns. the last one had a little bit although he was good. Anyway Hubs came back with a mixed bag of results. I saw mixed bag because really it is a big mixed bag of emotions for me.
Trix has had more seizures recently then even Hubs and I realized and let me tell you I am always watching him like a hawk to the point Hubs keeps telling me to relax I am not doing him any favors. I know he is right but to be honest it is hard to just turn your emotions or sixth sense off with a switch. Anyway when describing how Trix has been lately especially over the weekend the neurologist said more then likely he had at least 2 seizures on each day. The issue with Trix is most of his seizures are not the "tonic clonic" like most people think of where one is shaking, and falling to the floor etc. His are more what they call "partial seizures" where he zones out, sometimes he gets really whiny and says he does not feel good but cannot tell me what does not feel good etc., this weekend it came out that he was just plain out of it...almost like he was in a funk. He did not want to eat dinner which is very out of character for Trix...he is ALWAYS hungry. lol But in any case he basically had 2 back to back seizures both Sat and Sun in the afternoon and it took a long time for his brain and body to reset. As I looked back to all the days I kept record of how strange he was acting I realize he has had a LOT of seizures lately. The mixed bag of emotions comes in where I am in one sense somewhat relieved to have my concerns validated, but frustrated and disappointed that he has been doing worse and not better. I know I should be grateful that he is not having 10-20 tonic clonic shaking seizures every day like some people have to go through but ...well I am just a mom who does not want to see my child like this at all.
So we got Trix some new medicine which the main side effect is it will make him sleepy, the second "possible" side effect is gall stones. Sheesh that is only a possiblity i need to make sure he stays hydrated and he should be ok. However he will be taking both the medicine he is currently taking plus the new one for awhile as I am supposed to wean him off the first medicine. Apparently you cannot just stop the medicine. For the next two weeks he will probably be very sleepy. I have to take him back to the neurologist in two months. If after a couple weeks the new medicine does not work, then we have to try one more medicine. Truthfully I am praying that one of them works because if the 3rd medicine does not work then we are looking at Brain Surgery for it. YIKES. I am not prepared for that. I of course will be getting 2nd and 3rd opinions before it comes to that and I know they can do some great things with surgery these days but the thought of my baby on the table having his (in my opinion brilliant) brain being operated on is not the greatest thought in the world. However I always as a mom go to the worst scenario lol. I am working on just focusing on trying new medicine instead and hoping beyond all hope that one of them works for him. He is getting to the stage now where he is really frustrated with all his seizures, and keeps asking me "mommy can we stop these seizures so I can feel better?" That tugs at my heart. I went to an awesome ladies thanksgiving night out last night for our church ladies, and was talking to a friend of mine who is also one of Trix's helpers and she told me that when he was in church on Sunday he asked her on his own if they could pray to God for his seizures to stop. See he is such a bright boy. I think what bugs me most is that he is more and more aware of his seizures and is partially conscious during them so he is remembering them and the fact that i have no control to stop it or fix it is the real issue with me. Oh well on a brighter note this new neurologist is really good and I did get some validation of my concerns and I at least have a few more answers then I did before which is nice. Ok on that "uplifting" note lol. I need to go make lunch for the kids who are all staring at me wanting to know when they are going to eat haha. I promise from here on out that I am going to try and post more happier posts.

Maybe tomorrow I will post more about the awesome Thanksgiving ladies night out at church! The guest speaker was wonderful and it was really great to just have fellowship and of course food. :)

Been awhile I know...

As usual life just gets crazy busy sometimes. :) Hubs and I had a great time in Ocean Shores it was so nice to get away for a couple days...of course we are complete nerds...we were ready to go see our kids by the next morning so we left a little earlier haha. What can we say we love our munchkins! In any case things around here have been as usual busy. I have honestly not taken anytime to blog because I am working on that other biz I told you about to build since I am closing the daycare in June. On top of that I have been pretty uneasy lately because Trix has been having more seizures, behavior issues which we think is caused by his seizure meds (every time we up the dosage he gets more impulsive, and has more behavior problems), he has been acting really strange for the last week complaining of sudden headaches etc. So we are taking him to the neurologist today. Actually Hubs is I have daycare kids so I am sending hubs with a big list of questions. He has a new neurologist as his other one retired to write a book. Personally I am ok with that because it will be a second opinion. I just cannot help the feeling that something more is going on with him but yet I cannot figure out what it is. It bugs me because I am a fixer and want to fix whatever is going on but I can't and that is frustrating for me...plus I am a Mom and my heart and instinct tells me more is going on that meets the eye. Well in any case I am going to keep praying I know God has a reason for this I just wish I knew what it was.
Otherwise everything else is going well. We are gearing up for Turkey Day this week! I am really looking foward to that! The kids are doing well. Honey Nut is doing really well in her school work and has been coming along well with the k12 curriculum we are using. Lucky Charms is doing well also but is trying to be stubborn and is very frustrated to find out Mommy and Daddy are even more stubborn then he is. lol.

This weekend we went to the Pacific Science Center. Yes again, we are really getting a lot of use out of that membership we got as a gift last year! This weekend when we went we used the free passes for an imax movie there. We saw Monsters under the Sea which is not as gruesome as it sounds it was talking about prehistoric fish, shark, and water dinosaurs that lived many many years ago. The cool part about it was that it was 3D so the kids got to wear the cool glasses. They LOVED it! Especially Trix..he kept reaching out to touch the fish. Of course in all my wisdom I forgot the camera so I have no pictures for this post sorry. I did take it with us to Ocean Shores but we spent the first day at the Casino, and the second day on the beach but it was so cloudy because of the time of year that I did not take any pics. Although it was still beautiful. I love the Ocean and Ocean Shores is one of my most favorite places in the whole world.

Oh yeah we have been doing some Xmas shopping online this year. It is just easier. One of the pitfalls of homeschooling is that I have all the kids with me all day so it is not as easy to get the shopping done lol. That is ok I still love having them with me all the time. They really are awesome kids.

I have been reading a really great book called: "The Mom your Meant to Be" by Cheri Fuller. It is a Focus on the family book. One of the things it told me to do in the first chapter is write down all the things I love about each one of my children, and then also write down what frustrates me most about my children. Then pray about it and thank God for both of those lists of traits! I will show you one of the things I wrote that I liked about each of my children but that is it. :)

Honey Nut~ Compassion...This little girl is the most compassionate child I know. She has such a huge heart and is always wanting to do something nice for someone, or help someone who is blue.
Trix~ Humor...Although he has had some communication issues...when he is on a good communication day Trix is really very funny! He has a great sense of humor and is always able to make you laugh no matter what situation your in.
Lucky Charms...loving...This is a child who loves with everything he has in him. He will not just hug you he will hug you with every ounce of love, and strength he has (and he is a strong little guy so watch out if he hugs you around the neck)he has such a trust in everyone and everything and has no fear at all.

Tonight I am attending the Women's Thanksgiving night out with the church gals. I am really looking foward to some girl time, and great prayer and learning.

Well anyway that is what I am doing up to now. :)

If I don't write again for awhile it is because I am up to my eyeballs in schoolwork,holidays etc.

Happy Holidays!
The Cheerio Queen

quick post

Hi all,

Just a quick post with a pic from Halloween of my little trick or treaters. Aren't they cute? Actually I had a couple more pics but they did not turn out because Trix was so frustrated waiting to go by the time I took the pic that all he did was cry. lol yes he has a mask on but you can see in most of the pics through his eyes that he was crying lol.

It has been another busy week but hey that is life with the Cheerio family. :) I am off for the weekend with hubs! We are going away (ok one night but hey it is something) to Ocean Shores! I will try and take some pics while we are there. We are excited I think it has been since before Honey Nut was born that we just took off for a weekend just the two of us. Gee I hope we have something to talk about after an hour or so...you know to get through a real conversation. In kiddieland an hour conversation between two adults takes a day and a half usually. lol No seriously we are looking forward to it!

Scenes from Fall

Did you like those pics? I thought you would like to see some scenes from fall around the Cheerio Household. :) Today we carved the pumpkins that we picked last weekend. It was a beautiful sunny warm day here today very strange for WA this time of year! But also very welcome. I got out and cleaned out the minivan today and washed it and vacumed it. The boys got to ride their quads today that was a lot of fun for them! Yesterday Honey Nut went to a bday party that was also a costume party...she is Hannah Montana this year and was so excited that Mommy finally let her wear makeup and glitter on her face to complete the look. She also won the costume contest at the party!! Well this week is another busy week so posting will be minimal but I am trying to keep up!

wordy Wednesday...

I was going to do Wordless Wednesday but anyone who knows me understands that me and the phrase "no words or no talk" do NOT go together. lol I wanted to post these this pic of Trix and Daddy mowing the lawn yesterday it was so precious! He loves to mow with daddy and waited by the window all afternoon until Daddy came home. At first Hubs mentioned the mower would not start and he had to work on it a bit but Trix waited patiently for him to get it started. Yes you read that right...Patiently. Normally the word patient and Trix go together like oil and water but that is not the case lately. You see those vitamin supplements coupled with him going off dairy or (either/or) seems to be leading him to be calmer and much more focused! It was such a gradual change that I did not notice at first until he went to OT at the school the other day and the OT asked me if he was on ritalin now. I said no why? she said she got focus out of him and patience out of him she had not seen before and Trix told her he was taking a new medicine that was sweet. lol I explained to her that He is now taking : A multivitamin with a big immune booster, DHA oil (omega 3 fish oil) and most recently the passion flower. That is really strong but he is such a good sport about taking it. To me it smells yucky and does not look much better but he is taking it and I am really noticing a difference. I know the DHA helps as well for brain power, focus, behavior issues, etc. So far so good. Anything to keep him off medicine if I can.

It has been two weeks to the day that Trix went dairy free and also our whole family...we agreed to eliminate dairy from our diet as well in support of Trix. I have made a few recipes that everyone seems to like. I also just got a new cookbook titled cooking dairy free. I noticed our systems were "cleaning out" the last couple weeks...I was afraid everyone was sick but the nutritionist said no it is your body ridding itself of toxins and cleaning itself out. I also noticed another pleasant change as a result of going dairy free...I have lost about 3 pounds without dieting or exercise! That is always nice.

Otherwise things here are fine...the kids are doing well, hubs is having fun at work, he and I are saving for our trip to Vegas this January to celebrate our 10 year anniversary! Neither of us has ever been so we are excited.

To go with my post mainly being about our families diet I would like to link you to one of my favorite bloggers Katherine over at "raising five" http://raisingfive.blogspot.com/ She has a cool personality and I love how she is so humorous about the antics of raising five kids. She is definitely a cool mom in my book. Her blog today is about eating at home at what my kids call "the family table" lol do ya think they watch enough nick at nite? Anyway just go check out Katherine's blog you will be glad you did. :)

Ciao for now!
The Cheerio Queen

weekend fun...

So this weekend was almost a really nice weekend! I will explain the almost part later. It started off with Saturday when the kids Grandpa came and got them and Hubs and took them all to the local model train show. I was going to surprise my Grandma and take her too lunch but she had already left to do some errands so all of a sudden I found myself in an empty clean house (I know perish the thought but since I was plannign on going out I wanted it cleaned up) with nothing but the deafening silence! My hubs said to me...honey you can have alone time today. Huh? What is that? I have not had "alone time" where I was not running errands or the like in about 8.5 years. So I sat down to "catch up on my tivo shows". But after one of them I was bored. I forgot what it is like to feel that way. I decided to go to the Sunshine Nutrition Center up the street that a friend had recommended to me, so I could pick up something called "calm child" for Trix. When I went in there I swear I heard that music you hear when you discover a great revelation. The guy behind the counter was so friendly and knowledgeable and for the first time I actually got advice that did not make me feel like my son is a hyperactive freakazoid. No docs have not put down my child of course not...but for those of you with kids like Trix you know what I mean. The looks you get when your describing what you think is your child's ahem..charms, only to find out that they think your child is either not disciplined enough, doing something weird, or needs some sort of medication to slow him down. No this guy actually explained that he thinks my son my have an iron deficiency, and need more vitamin B to help his focus, however unlike most vitamin stores..he did NOT try to sell me 12 different vitamin bottles at the bargain price of 50 dollars each, in fact he listened to me describe my son, and then made some suggestions but insisted I should start with ONE thing first. That's it. One thing. WOW I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of the calm child he gave me Passion Flower. The only problem is Trix hates it. I will have to see if I can disguise it in his food. It is pretty strong and smells gross to me. we will see. If not I will just go get the calm child lol.

Sunday I taught Sunday School at church and then in the afternoon the kids and I went to the Pumpkin Patch while Hubs stayed home and got his "alone time". Of course silly me did not think about the fact that this is WA state and we are not known for being super sunny and dry but are known for being rainy. But hey it was pretty dry when we left, I did not however factor in the muddy terrain of the pumpkin patch. OOPS. See above picture and you can see the kids shoes...yes you heard me right. I forgot to bring rain boots. Actually to tell you the truth I am not sure their boots fit this year I will probably have to get some. Oh well. They had fun, especially watching Mommy try and push a wheel barrow with 3 pumpkins the size of each child through that slick mud. I managed to not fall on my own pumpkin but the kids got muddy enough that we had to go back home before we went halloween costume shopping which was the original plan. So I called hubs and asked that he set out three outfits for the kids so they could change on the hardwood square by the front door rather then decorate the house in muddy pumpkin theme. After that we were off.

I have an 8 year old daughter...any of you who have an 8 year old daughter are probably very familiar with Hannah Montana. It is a cute show although a little corny. But in any case that is the latest craze with the girls in that genre...however I am not complaining...after all when I was that age Madonna and her torpedo bras were the role model me and my friends were wanting to follow. In any case honey nut wants to be Hannah Montana for Halloween so we headed off to Party City to find the coveted outfit. They had one but not in her size and frankly I was secretly grateful to not have to pay 30 dollars for something she won't wear more then once or twice. So we settled on the hannah montana wig, and then we will make one of her outfits out of clothes she already has...Honey Nut was concerned she would not look enough like her until I told her she was goign to get to wear makeup...that did it. After that we went to target to find the boys costumes because what they had at party city was not really what they wanted and so expensive.
So we walked down the strip mall towards target and that is where the "almost" part of our weekend fun came in. As we were walking merrily down the sidewalk Trix was a couple feet ahead of us as he always does and all of a sudden he stopped and covered his ears. He only does this when nervouse or upset about something so I asked him what was wrong and then I looked further ahead to see what he was looking at and low and behold there were two guys...probably in their twentys FIGHTING. I mean really beating each other down. Ok so the area we were in was not a bad area but not the yuppiest either but come on. Like I want my kids to witness this...so I shuffled the kids back behind a pillar so they would not see this and tried to talk to them louder then the shouts of expletives we heard until things dissapated enough that we could either go into the store, or back to the car but it was a walk to the car and I knew that the kids would be turning around to watch. After a few minutes things settled down and the disagreeing parties each left. Then when I saw that a few families with young children went into the store I figured it was ok to go in. I just explained that some people don't get along and handled things wrong and lets go costume shopping. All was quickly forgotten luckily by the kids when Trix got his "race car costume" actually it is motocross but hey it had a cool helmet mask and he thinks it is racecar, and then Lucky Charms got some sort of a warrior thing with padded chest and arms. He was disappointed to find out it did not come with a gun though lol. Figures he is such a boy.

Hope you all had a good weekend!
The Cheerio Queen